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THE LIBRARY
OF

THE UNIVERSITY

OF CALIFORNIA
RIVERSIDE

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
A POLITICAL HISTORY

THE FRENCH
REVOLUTION

A POLITICAL HISTORY

1789 — 1804

?v^yx<^.M 5 V, A. AULARD

PROFESSOR OF LETTERS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PARIS

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF THE THIRD EDITION
WITH A PREFACE, NOTES, AND HISTORICAL SUMMARY, BY

BERNARD MIALL

IN FOUR VOLUMES
VOL. IV. THE BOURGEOIS REPUBLIC AND THE CONSULATE

1797— 1804

T. FISHER UNWIN

LONDON: ADELPHI TERRACE

LEIPSIC: INSELSTRASSE 20

I 9 I o

CONTENTS OF THE FOURTH
VOLUME

PAOX

Chronological Summary . . . . .11

Biographical Note , . . . .26

chapter i.
Opinions, Parties, and Religious Policies before

THE I 8th of Fructidor . . . .29

I. The oaths and the parties. — II. The Directorial or
bourgeois Repuhlicans. — III. The Democrats. Babeuf and
Babeuvism. — IV. The RoyaHsts. — ^V. The religious policy :
the national festivals ; Theophilanthropy. — VI. The re-
ligious policy : Catholicism. — VII. The coup d'etat of the
i8th of Fructidor.

CHAPTER II.

The Religious Policy, Opinions, and Parties after

THE i8th of Fructidor . . . .89

I. The religious poUcy : Catholicism. — II. The religious
policy : the Decadal cult : Theophilanthropy. — III.
RoyaUsm. — IV. Directorial Republicans and Democratic
Republicans. The law of the 22nd of Floreal of the

CONTENTS

year VI (May ii, 1798). — V. Opposition to the Directory.
The insurrection of the 30th of Prairial of the year VII
(July 18, 1799). — VI. Reappearance of the Terror.—
VII. Resurrection of the Jacobins.

chapter iii.

The Fall of the Executive Directory . . 133

I. General causes of the coup d'6tat of the i8th of
Brumaire. — II. Popularity of Napoleon Bonaparte. His
return from Egypt. — III. Preparations for the coup d'itat.
—IV. The " day " of the iSth of Brumaire.~V . The 19th
of Brumaire. — VI. Suppression and replacement of the
Directory.

chapter iv.

The Provisional Consulate and the Constitution

OF the Year VIII ..... 152

I. The 18th of Brumaire and public opinion. — II. The
policy of the Provisional Consuls. — III. The drafting of
the Constitution of the year VIII. — IV. Analysis of this
Constitution. — V. The acceptation by plebiscite.

CHAPTER V.

The Decennial Consulate .... 169

I. Installation of the public powers. — II. The conditions
of the Press. — III. Administrative organisation. — IV. New
manners and customs. — V. Effects of the victory of
Marengo in [the interior. Crime, proscriptions, and the
progress of despotism.

CONTENTS 7

CHAPTER VI.

PAGB

The Religious Policy ..... 192

I. The system of Separation of Church and State under
the Consulate. The Decadal cult. Theophilanthropy. —

II. The two Catholic sects. — III. General results of the
system of Separation. — IV. The causes of the destruction
of this system. — V. The Concordat. — VI. Application of
the Concordat. — VII. New advantages accorded to the
Roman Church.

CHAPTER VII.

The Life-Consulate .... 228

I. The plebiscite of the year X. — II. The organic Senatus
consultus of the i6th of Thermidor of the year X (August 4,
1802). — III. Return to monarchical forms. — IV. The Re-
publican opposition. Military conspiracies. Bonapartism
among the working-classes. — V. Royalism. — VI. Con-
spiracies, actual and pretended : Cadoudal, Pichegru, and
Moreau. The Due d'Enghien. — VII. The establishment
of the Empire. — VIII. The organic Senatus consultus of
the 28th of Floreal of the year XII (May 18, 1804).— IX.
Disappearance of the Republic. — X. General remarks
on the French Revolution.

THE BOURGEOIS REPUBLIC AND
THE CONSULATE

1797 — 1804

A CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY OF
EVENTS, SEPT., 1797, TO DEC. 2, 1804

BY THE TRANSLATOR

To avoid too frequent discursion in the following notes it may be
brieHy stated that Napoleon's military exploits, from 1796 to 1799, were
as follows :

1796. In March he marries Josephine and sets out for Italy. Joining
the French troops near Savona, he lights his way to Milan ; inci-
dentally forcing Sardinia to cede Nice, Savoy, and Tenda. He
then beats the Austrians back to the Tyrol, and occupies Verona.
Mantua is still Austrian, and Bonaparte leaves a siege train in
front of the city while consoHdating his conquests. He fails on
this occasion to get through the Tyrol, but finally reduces

1797. Mantua. Then, meeting Hoche and Moreau after traversing the
Tyrol, he makes towards Vienna. Austria sues for peace ;
ceding, after much delay, Belgium and the lonians, and recognis-
ing Bonaparte's creation — the Cisalpine Republic — to which
she cedes Lombardy. Bonaparte returns to Paris in December,
having left behind him a Republican North Italy. He is feted
and honoured by Paris ; but the Directory fears him, and des-

1798. patches him in May to Egypt, where he beats the Mamelukes
and occupies Cairo. The French fleet being destroyed by
Nelson, Bonaparte abandons the idea of an Eastern empire, and
determines to return through Syria, hoping to overthrow the

1799. Turks. He is foiled at the long siege of Acre, and returns to
Egypt. There, after defeating the Turks at Aboukir, he hears
of events in Paris, and, hastily deserting his army, which he
leaves to Kleber, he lands in France in October. In his absence
Italy is lost ; perhaps its loss during his absence increases his
prestige. He returns with an extraordinary reputation as a
totally independent conqueror, an administrator, and a maker of
States. Largely as a result of his campaigns, France was for a
time at the head of a number of surrounding Republics, all
constituted on the same model.

12 A CHRONOLOGICAL

1797

May. The elections of the year V (1797) unfortunately result in
the return of many royalists as well as moderates. Hitherto
the Directory and the Councils, consisting largely of ex-
Conventionals, all actuated by the desire of giving France
a good working government, and internal peace and
prosperity, after so much intestine discord and external
danger, have worked together with great good feeling, and
with a notable amount of give and take. But the electoral
assemblies having become swamped by royalists and
moderates, the elections entirely change the character of
the Councils, the opposition becoming quickly aggressive.
20. The Councils open their sittings. Pichegru, a royalist, is
president of the 500 ; Barbe-Marbois, another royalist
leader, of the Elders ; in the Directory Barthelemy, a
moderate, replaces Le Tourneur. Barthelemy was absent
from France throughout the whole Revolution ; he lacks
an understanding of and sympathy with its aims.

Opposition attacks at once begin. The Directory is
blamed for continuing the war against the Austrians :
blamed also for the financial situation. The opposition
demands peace, hoping to get the Republic to disarm ; and
the liberty of the press, that the Directory may be attacked.

France, desiring a respite from the expense and deple-
tion of war, half supports the opposition. But the return
of priests and emigres determined upon by the Councils is
not welcome.

Jordan, in a fulsomely sentimental and pseudo-pathetical
speech, depicts all France as desolated by the loss of her
church bells. He earns the nickname of Bell-Jordan
{Jordan-Carillon), and his campaign fails.

Emigrant nobles and dissentient priests crowd back to
France, making no secret of their anxiety to overthrow
the Revolution. The opposition becomes so obviously
anti-Revolutionary that the people forsake it.

The Directory and the constitutionalists of '91 form the
club of Salm, as a rival to the club of Clichy. They
quietly bring the army of Sambre-et-Meuse, under Hoche,
close to Paris, thus violating the 36-mile radius. Their
action being denounced, they feign ignorance or disbelief.
The two parties, ready to spring, watch one another ; the
nation watches them.

The Councils try to gain control of the Ministry by
dismissing three Ministers — Merlin, Delacroix, and Ramel.

SUMMARY OF EVENTS 13

The Directory dismisses and replaces those in favour with
the Councils and retains the three named.

The conflict appears inevitable. The Directory desires
it, since otherwise it can only postpone its ruin until the
next elections. It causes the armies to threaten the
Councils. Bonaparte has Lavalette in Paris to keep him
informed of all that passes. Augereau too has arrived
with manifestoes from Bonaparte's troops, who threaten
to reach Paris by forced marches and crush the royalists.
The Councils protest ; and the troops under Hoche are
moved in to Versailles, Meudon, and Vincennes.
July. Hitherto the Councils have been by no means eager to
force the pace, as the next elections might see them
victorious. Now, however, they begin to prepare. They
decree the closing of the club of Salmj and the Inspectors
of the Hall are greatly increased in strength, and the
guard is placed under their orders.

Sieyes meanwhile makes an able attack on the Jacobins.

Lucien Bonaparte terrifies the 500 by a dreadful picture of

Aug. 10, the return of the Terror. Fouche, at Sieyes' bidding, closes

the Manege. The factitious panic does its work ; the

people sway to the moderate side.

Sept. 3 The Legislative Corps decrees the mobilisation of the

(I'jth of National Guard for the following day, when the Councils

Fructidor). will also pass a decree to the effect that the army of

Sambre-et-Meuse must be withdrawn. Three Directors —

Barras, Reubell, and La Revelliere— are to be impeached.

Unless this is done, and the other two Directors consent

to come over to the side of the Councils, the sections, with

Pichegru to lead them, will march upon the Directory

at noon. However, Pichegru hesitates, and the idea of

immediate force is abandoned.

Barras, La Revelliere, and Reubell decide to strike.
During the night the troops, under Augereau, quietly enter
the city and occupy the quays, the bridges, and the
Champs Elysees. 12,000 men and 40 pieces of cannon
Sept. 4. surround the Tuileries. At 4.0 a.m. Augereau demands
admission.

In the gardens of the Tuileries are 800 grenadiers
— the guard of the Legislative Corps. They do not
oppose Augereau ; they cheer for the Directory. Augereau
enters the Tuileries, arresting Pichegru, Willot, Ramel,
and the Inspectors of the Hall. Such members of
the hastily-convoked Councils as arrive later are arrested

14 A CHRONOLOGICAL

or turned away. The Odeon and the School of Medicine
are appointed as their places of assembly.

At 6.0 a.m. Paris awakes to find the city in the hands of
the troops. Everywhere are placards announcing the
abortion of a dangerous conspiracy. Letters from Moreau
and Conde containing details of the plot are also printed.
Paris is exhorted to remain quiet, and in fact does so.

When the Councils are assembled the Directory hastens
to give this military coup d'etat an appearance of legality.
A message to the Councils states that had the blow not
been struck that morning, the Republic would have been
lost : the conspiracy being located in the place of session of
the Councils. The Council of 500 appoints a Commission,
consisting of Sieyes, Poulain-Granpre, Villers, Chazal, and
Boulay, and instructs them to draw up a law of public
safety. This law is simply an act of ostracism by which
41 members of the Council of 500 are sentenced to depor-
tation ; 1 1 of the Elders ; two Directors, Barthelemy and
Carnot ; various ex-officials ; and 35 editors or journalists.

The elections of 48 departments are declared void.
Laws favourable to priests and emigres are repealed. The
royalist party, in short, is ruined, broken, deprived of its
weapons. This is its fourth great defeat.

(Of those deported some were sent to the lie de Re ;
some further, to Cayenne. Some escaped deportation ; of
these Carnot was one.

As a result of the coup d'etat, priests and nobles were
excluded from the State. Non-juring priests were banished.
The royalist outlaws ceased to fight. Ex-courtiers and ex-
officials of the Monarchy were banished. Nobles could
become citizens only after a term of seven years.

At this period — towards the end of 1797 — the Directory
reached the summit of its power. It was victorious in its
wars, and was now at peace. The treaty of Campo-Formio
gave France Belgium and Lombardy at the price of a
part of the Venetian Republic ; a treacherous and a foolish
bargain, as it left the Austrians a foothold in Italy.

The congress of Rastadt was to conclude peace with the
Empire. The Coalition of 1792-3 was a thing of the past.
Even England treated for peace ; but insincerely. The
cession of Belgium, Luxembourg, Nice, Savoy, and the left
bank of the Rhine, and the suzerainty over Genoa, Milan,
and Holland, was more than unwelcome to the English
Government. Pressed by the opposition, however, it

SUMMARY OF EVENTS 15

despatched a plenipotentiary to France ; but the negotia-
tions were abortive and war continued.

On the other hand, the Directory had no finances and
suffered from this very peace. Its safety lay in continued
victories. It dared not disband its huge army. Taxation
and the reduction of the national debt, which ruined many
investors, had caused the gravest discontent. Seeking an
outlet for its military energies, it finally invaded Switzerland
and Egypt.)
December. Bonaparte returns to Paris ; welcomed by the people
with the wildest enthusiasm ; feted, honoured, and flattered.

1798

The Directory sees his return with mingled feelings. It

wishes for war, and it does not desire his presence. He is

offered the " army of England " ; but the invasion of Egypt

is the undertaking actually reserved for him. He sails from

May. Toulon on May 19th, with a fleet of 400 sail.

The neutrality of Switzerland had already been violated
in the matter of expelling emigres. Geneva and Vaud were
imbued with French republican doctrines. Berne, the seat
of the old Swiss aristocracy, was the headquarters of the
emigtes and a nest of reactionary conspiracies ; and the
policy of the Confederation was largely dictated by Berne.
Now the Vaudois invite the French to free them from the
yoke of Berne. This determines the Directory, and war
breaks out. The Swiss are conquered with difficulty.
Geneva is annexed, and the Constitution of the year III is
forced on the Helvetian Republic ; leaving it the seat of two
hostile factions.

Rome is the next State to be created a Republic. A riot,
ending in the death of General Duphot, excuses this
measure. France is now at the head of five Republics.

The elections of this year, however, are not favourable to
the Directory. The effect of the cotip d'etat of Fructidor is to
break the royalist party. The result is the undue strength
of the ultra-republican party, which has re-established the
old clubs under the new style of Constitutional Clubs. The
extreme republicans, strong in the electoral assemblies, have
to elect no less than 437 deputies : a result of the coup
d'etat of Fructidor. The Directory, desiring to maintain a
balance between the revolution and the reaction, and to
avoid a relapse into Jacobinism, makes use of a law passed
by the Councils in the previous spring ; a law permitting

16 A CHRONOLOGICAL

it to judge the operations of the electors. On the 22nd of
Flo real the majority of elections are annulled ; thus breaking
the power of the extremists.

1798-9

(Henceforth the Directory is no longer constitutional,
and it has turned upon the two chief parties. Consequently
it can hardly last ; and in fact it satisfies no one. It now
consists of Merlin [Douai] and Treilhard, both lawyers;
La Revelliere, absorbed in Theophilanthropy ; Barras,
treacherous and dissipated ; and Reubell, courageous
but narrow.

To make matters worse a general war breaks out again-
The plenipotentiaries are still negotiating at Rastadt when
the second Coalition opens the campaign ; Russian troops
enter Germany and the Austrians advance. The French
diplomatists receive twenty-four hours' notice and a safe
conduct. But they have hardly left Rastadt when a party
of Austrian hussars deliberately attacks them, although
aware of their identity and the safe-conduct. Jean de Bry
they leave half-dead in the road ; his two colleagues are
killed outright. The Legislative Corps, horrified and
indignant, declares war.

But already there has been fighting in Italy and on the
Rhine, and the Directory, distrustful of Austria, has passed
a law of conscription, raising 200,000 men. Naples has
advanced upon Rome ; Sardinia upon Liguria. Both Powers
were defeated, and the Parthenopian Republic was pro-
claimed in Naples. Joubert held Turin. By the time the
general campaign began Italy was reconquered.

The Coalition attacks France through Holland, Switzer-
land, and Italy. An Austrian army enters Mantuan territory,
defeating Scherer. Souvaroff joins the Austrians ; Moreau,
replacing Scherer, is also defeated, and retreats in a north-
westerly direction to join Macdonald in keeping the
Apennines ; but the latter is overpowered on the Trebia.
Austria and Russia then turn their attention to Switzerland.
The Archduke Charles, after defeating Jourdan on the Rhine,
is joined by some Russian troops and prepares to cross the
Swiss frontier. The Duke of York lands in Holland with
40,000 English and Russian troops.)

1799

May. The elections of the year VII are republican, as were
those of the year VI. The Directory is unable to stem the

SUMMARY OF EVENTS 17

flood of foreign disasters and domestic discontent. Reubell
retires, and is replaced by Sieyes, an open enemy of
Directorial methods. Both moderates and extremists
demand an account of the condition of France. The
Councils are in permanent session, desiring the dismissal
of Treilhard, Merlin, and La Revelliere. Barras keeps out
of the way.
June i8. Treilhard is deposed on a constitutional point. Merlin
and La ReveUiere finally retire, the Councils being insistent.
They are replaced by the moderate Ducos and the republican
Moulin. This amounts to a coup d'etat on the part of the
Councils. The government is thus beyond the pale of
constitutional law and utterly unsatisfactory to all parties.

Sieyes, who had been comparatively inactive since 1789,
felt that his time had come. He knew the army to be the
only possible instrument of reform ; he sought therefore for
a soldier. Joubert had been sent to Italy in the hope that
he might return a second Napoleon.

Against him in his attack upon the Constitution of the
year III Sieyes had Gohier and Moulin, the 500, and the
Manege, or extremists. Barras, whether in earnest or not,
was conspiring with Louis XVIII ; and the royalist party
was awake to its opportunities. Everywhere it looked as
though the Republic would be defeated. The royalists
hoped for the appearance of the Coalition and the restora-
tion of the Monarchy. Already restive under the law of
hostages and that of compulsory loans, the party took the
field again in the south and south-west ; and the Chouan
war also revived.

At this juncture, fortunately for the Republic, the French
troops begin to recover their losses.
Sept. 20. Italy is again lost, but Brune foils the invasion of Holland,
forcing the Anglo- Russian army to re-embark, and Massena
25. opposes the progress of the Austro- Russian troops across
Switzerland. Twelve days of able strategy and wonderful
activity enable him to force the Russians to retreat, after
beating Souvaroff and Korsakoff at Zurich. In Italy, how-
ever, Joubert is killed at Novi, in the course of a defeat.
Even here, however, the allies are forced back before
long.

Still Sieyes seeks his general. Moreau is suspect ; Hoche
and Joubert dead ; Massena only a first-class cavalry man.
Jourdan and Bernadotte are of the Manege. Sieyes has to
mark time.
VOL. IV. 2

18 A CHRONOLOGICAL

But Bonaparte, on his disastrous return from Syria, has
received his budget of news.
Oct. 9. Hastily leaving his army, he lands at Frejus on October 9th.
His passage across France is a triumph. Paris fetes him ;
all seek his favour. Here is an independent conqueror ;
an administrator ; one who can handle millions, and who,
most rare of qualities, can leave himself free for greater
efforts by delegating his authority to the right men. A
man to handle almost any situation ; perhaps a man
capable of handling this and Sieyes with it. So Sieyes
fears. But there is no other choice ; he must have Bona-
parte with him, for he cannot oppose him. He hangs
back; their friends bring the two together.
Nov. 6. On the 15th of Brumaire, Sieyes prepares the Councils by
means of the Inspectors of the Halls. Bonaparte is to
^ sound the troops around Paris, and their generals. An

extraordinary meeting of the moderates of the Councils is
arranged. The Councils are to be got out of Paris; the
rest is for Bonaparte to perform.
Nov, 9. The secret is kept. On the morning of the i8th of
(18/// of Brumaire three of Sieyes' henchmen go down to the Elders,
Brumaire.) who have been convoked by the Inspectors, as arranged.
The business of the three is to alarm the Elders, or to
afford an excellent pretext for pretended alarm. It; is
stated that all the roads of France are thick with Jacobins
making for Paris ; the Revolutionary Government will be
re-established ; red ruin will return— if the Elders are not
wise and courageous.

A fourth conspirator, Regnier, demands a decree ordain-
ing the removal of the Legislative Corps to Saint-Cloud,
Bonaparte, appointed to the 17th division of the Army,
shall superintend their safe removal. The decree is im-
mediately passed.

Bonaparte awaits the news in his own house, surrounded
by general officers. Outside are three regiments of cavalry
— about to be reviewed. At 8.30 he receives the news.
The officers draw their swords in token of adhesion to his
project ; he marches at their head to the Tuileries, takes
the oath of fidelity at the bar of the Elders, and places
an officer of his own at the head of the Directorial Guard.

Sieyes and Ducos hasten to the Tuileries and resign.
This leaves only three Directors — Barras, Moulins, and
Gohier. They find that their own Guard is loyal to Bona-
parte. Barras resigns and goes to his country seat.

SUMMARY OF EVENTS 19

Only the 500 are left to be reckoned with. The decree
of the Elders is posted on the walls, as well as a proclama-
tion of Bonaparte's. In this he speaks as a master, in a
way to astonish and alarm the repubhcans. " What have
you done," he says, " with the France I left in your hands ?
I left you at peace, victorious ; I find you at war, de-
feated. . . ."
Nov. 10. The Councils proceed to Saint-Cloud ; Sieyes and Ducos
{igih of accompany them. Sieyes wishes to arrest all but the
Brumaire: moderates. Bonaparte is so used to the discipline of camp
and field that he hardly as yet realises that a revolution
cannot be effected by issuing orders ; he refuses to be a
party to these arrests. The Elders are to meet in the
Gallery of Mars ; the 500, in the Orangery. The re-
publicans wait uneasily about the chateau, indignant at the
display of force.

At 2 p.m. the Councils assemble. The campaign opens
in the Orangery, where Lucien Bonaparte presides.
Gaudin, a Bonapartist, proposes a vote of thanks to the
Elders for the measures of safety decreed. A violent
uproar follows. Finally one Delbred proposes the oath
of fidelity to the Constitution of the year III. The oath is
taken.

Bonaparte, hearing of this scene, hastens to the Elders.
He complains that he has done their bidding ; yet men are
execrating him as a Cromwell. Yet, he says, how can
he ignore his orders ? France has no government at this
moment I Four Directors have resigned ; one is under
police protection. Let the Elders decide what shall be
done !

Here one Linglet proposes the oath that has just been
taken in the younger Council. It is a critical moment : the
oath once taken, the coup d'etat must fail. Bonaparte
hastily declares that the Constitution does not exist : it is
dead. Three times has it been over-ridden. All parties
swear by it, yet violate it. A new social compact is called
for. The Elders applaud, and rise to their feet in
agreement.

Bonaparte now hastens to the other Council, guarded
by a few grenadiers. At the sight of the waiting bayonets
the deputies rise to their feet ; the advancing general is
met with an outburst of cries : " Outlaw him I Outlaw
him! Down with the despot!" He is roughly handled;
the grenadiers close round him, and he retires, greatly

20 A CHRONOLOGICAL

agitated by his failure. Political tumult is so far more
dreadful to him than shot and shell.

The Council continues its cries of "Outlaw him/" It
proposes to sit " permanently" ; to return to Paris, guarded
by part of Bonaparte's own division, commanded by
Bernadotte. Lucien Bonaparte resigns his presidency
and lays down the presidential insignia.

Bonaparte, surrounded by officers, is still not himself.
Le Febvre sends a detachment to bring Lucien from the
Council. Being thus rescued, Lucien mounts by his
brother's side, and addresses the troops ; declaring that
daggers have been drawn upon their general in the
younger Council (a convenient invention) ; and that the
majority of the Council is now in bodily fear of a small
desperate minority. He will enter the assembly with the
troops ; all members who refuse to follow him out are
traitors.

Bonaparte himself speaks. It was hoped that the
younger Council would save the country ; but it is a nest
of conspiracy directed against him. May he rely on his
soldiers ? They cheer him ; he gives the order to clear the
Orangery. The order is executed with fixed bayonets,
Leclerc crying out that the Legislature is dissolved. At
5.30 there is neither Council nor Directory. The coup d'etat
of Brumaire is successful.

People do not foresee in this coup d'etat the end of the
Revolution, but the restoration of order. The royalists
hope that Bonaparte is merely clearing the way for Louis
XVIII. The proscribed look for amnesties. No one an-
ticipates a despotism. An exhausted nation looks for
recuperation and order. Bonaparte the man of action,
initiative, and ability, seems the man for the times.
Nov. 12. A Provisional Government is appointed, of three Consuls
and two Legislative Commissions — drawn chiefly from the
late conspirators — and is entrusted with the formation of
a Constitution, &c. For three months all parties are
satisfied. The compulsory loans and the law of hostages
are abolished to quiet the emigres. Certain shipwrecked
emigres are released from prison, but banished ; many
priests return. But 36 extreme republicans are to be
sent to Guiana, and 21 are placed under supervision. The
people considers the act unjust ; the Consuls accordingly
commute the general sentence to one of supervision.
Meanwhile there is conflict in the Consulate. Sieyes and

SUMMARY OF EVENTS 21

Bonaparte cannot agree as to the Constitution. Sieyes is
all for institutions that shall prevent personal power ;
Bonaparte wishes to rule as a master. Sieyes is in favour
of the commune, department, and state. His constitution
of the year VIII. is most able and ingenious, though com-
plicated. It leaves Bonaparte the position of Grand
Elector, with a revenue of six million francs, a guard of
three thousand men, and Versailles for a residence.
Bonaparte refuses to " fatten like a hog on a few millions."
Ducos and the Committee of Constitution siding with
Bonaparte, Sieyes does not insist.
Dec. 24. In December the Constitution is proclaimed — a garbled
wreck of Sieyes' work. The Government consists of three
Consuls, a Council of State, a Senate, a Legislative Corps,
and a Tribunate. The Senate is primarily appointed by
the Consuls ; the Consuls only can propose laws. The
Senate selects the two lower assemblies from the lists of
candidates sent in by the nation. There are no more
electoral assemblies. The people is politically wiped out.
Bonaparte is first Consul ; Cambaceres second Consul ;
Lebrun third Consul. Talleyrand is appointed to Foreign
Affairs ; Fouche to the Police. By employing these four
Bonaparte hopes to gain a hold over all the parties. The
Constitution itself is accepted by a plebiscite of over three
million voters.

1800

January. About this time the western troubles terminate. The
leaders of La Vendee capitulate ; the Breton leaders are
beaten, killed, or have laid down their arms.

By February all France is quiet.

Bonaparte makes overtures of peace to England and
Austria, which are refused, to his secret relief. It is decided
to continue the war. A proclamation calls the nation to
arms in the name of honour ; England hopes to degrade
France ; is said to be busily bribing the enemies of
France, &c. The army of the Rhine (100,000) is under
Moreau, whose lines are opposed to Kray's. Massena is
with the army of Italy, opposed to Melas. Bonaparte
leaves Moreau and Massena to do their best, and gathers
a secret reserve near the Swiss frontier. Ostensibly
Berthier is to command it. Many doubt its existence.
Moreau having driven back Kray to a certain point.
May. Bonaparte suddenly arrives in Geneva on the 9th of May.

22 A CHRONOLOGICAL

Taking certain divisions from Moreau, he does relieve
Massena, as was to be expected ; he crosses the Alps by the
St. Bernard pass and cuts off the Austrian line of retreat,
occupying Milan. Establishing himself in Alessandria,

June 9. the Battle of Marengo is won on the 9th of June, On the
14. 14th of June Melas, owing to a risky piece of strategy, is
able to defeat him at Marengo ; when a charge of cavalry,
together vi/ith the return of a column under Desaix, turns
the defeat to victory. Melas, on the 15th, signs a conven-
tion abandoning tlae greater part of Italy ; though had
he continued the battle it is said that he would have won.
(Moreau, freed from his instructions, completed the
Austrian defeat at Hohenlinden in the following
December, when treaty followed treaty until Napoleon
could pose as the pacificator of Europe.)

July 2. Bonaparte is back in Paris in forty days, having regained
Italy and struck the Austrians an almost mortal blow. The
enthusiasm of his reception is unbounded.
14. Bonaparte is present at the Festival of the 14th.

His policy about this time is to pacify the defeated
factions by employing them in the State. To leaders who
abandon their causes he is generous.

Dec. 3. Moreau wins the battle of Hohenlinden.

In this month Bonaparte narrowly escapes from destruc-
tion by a Breton-English conspiracy. Some Chouans
hatch the plot in England. They land in France and
repair to Paris ; a powder-barrel on a truck is exploded in
a narrow street, but the fuse is timed a few seconds too late.
The police attribute the plot to the democrats. 130 are
deported by a senatns consultus. The true authors, being
discovered, are executed, being condemned by illegal
mihtary tribunals. The 130 deported are chiefly Jacobins,
a party for which Napoleon has an especial enmity.

1801

Jan. 8. The treaty of Luneville is concluded by the Viennese
cabinet, the Empire, and Austria. Austria lays down her
arms, ceding Tuscany to the Duke of Parma. The Empire
recognises the independence of the Batavian, Helvetian,
Cisalpine, and Ligurian Republics.
Feb. 18. By the treaty of Florence, the King of Naples cedes Elba
and Piombino,
Sept. The treaty of Madrid is signed on the 29th.

SUMMARY OF EVENTS 23

Oct. The treaty of Paris is signed with Portugal on the 8th.
Treaties with Russia and the Porte follow.

1802

March. The treaty of Amiens completes the pacification of
Europe, It is signed on the 25th of March.

The continental Powers thus yielding, England is forced
for a time to discontinue the war. The Pitt Ministry
falls. England restores the French colonies and recognises
French conquests.

The French navy has been practically annihilated during
the naval war with England. San Domingo revolting,
Napoleon loses an army in attempting to subdue the
revolution. He causes the death of Toussaint I'Ouverture
by a peculiarly unpleasant piece of treachery.

During this period Bonaparte has been turning his
attention to organising internal industry and prosperity.
Nobles and clergy are allowed to return to France. Dis-
sentient priests may resume their functions and draw their
stipends by taking the oath. An act of pardon affects all
but actual supporters of the Pretender.

Bonaparte travels through the departments ; builds roads
and bridges, and cuts canals. He also gives attention to the
civil, penal, and commercial codes. Civilisation makes
enormous strides ; comfort and prosperity are the keynotes
of French life.

(During this period Bonaparte conceives three projects :
(i) To organise religion — to establish the Church (probably
with a view to his coronation when Emperor). (2) To
create the Legion of Honour — an organised military order
permeating the Army. (3) To increase his own personal
power — for life, if possible. He lives in the Tuileries, and
gradually gathers a Court about him. Negotiations with
Pius VII result in the Concordat, and the creation of
chapters, bishoprics, and archbishoprics. The Church is
established under the monarchy of the Pope.)

Bonaparte finding himself forced to break with the
constitutional party, the more energetic tribunes are dis-
missed by a senatus consulius, leaving only eighty. At the
same time the Legislative Corps is similarly purged, leaving
Bonaparte in the position of an uncontrolled despot.
April 6. Bonaparte proposes the Concordat. The project is adopted
by the Assemblies. Sunday is re-established.

The Concordat is celebrated in Notre Dame with great

24 A CHRONOLOGICAL

pomp. The first Consul arrives in a coach belonging to
the Court of Louis XVI.
May 6. On the motion of Chabot, proposing that Bonaparte shall
be signally honoured by the nation, a senatus consultus
appoints him Consul for a further period of ten years.
Bonaparte, it is found, is not satisfied.
13. The Legion of Honour is instituted.
July 16. The Concordat is signed in Paris.
Aug. 2. The Senate, upon the decision of the two lower assemblies,
and with the consent of the nation as expressed in a plebis-
cite, passes a decree appointing Bonaparte for life. A
statue of Peace is to be erected in his honour.
4. A senatus consultus makes permanent the Consular Con-
stitution, thus excluding the people from the state pohtic.
Electors are chosen for life.

15. The Concordat is ratified in Rome.

16. Elba is annexed.
Sept. 16. Piedmont is annexed.

Oct. 9. Parma is annexed (the Duke having died).

21. Bonaparte marches 30,000 men into Switzerland, to
support a federative act regulating the cantonal consti-
tutions. This gives England a pretext for the rupture of
peace. Bonaparte also is eager for another war, in order
to increase his power. England has formed the Third
Coalition.

1803

May 13. After much negotiation of an unfriendly nature, the British
Ambassador in Paris leaves for England on the 13th.
26. By the 26th the French are in Hanover. The old Empire,
nearly moribund, does not resist. In the meantime
Bonaparte is making preparations for the invasion of
England.

1809

The resumption of hostilities revives the hopes of the
Chouans. Once more a conspiracy is formed, and en-
couraged by the English Cabinet. Cadoudal and Pichegru
arrange to land on the French coast and proceed to Paris.
Moreau is implicated.
Feb. In the middle of February the conspirators are arrested.
Cadoudal is executed ; Pichegru is found strangled in
prison ; Moreau, of whom Bonaparte is somewhat jealous,
is exiled.

SUMMARY OF EVENTS 25

March. Bonaparte, wishing further to cripple the royalists, sends
a squadron of cavalry to abduct the Due d'Enghien from

15. the castle of Ettenheim in Baden. Accused of directing
the conspiracy, he is tried and shot in the trenches of
Vincennes.

His escape renders Bonaparte's person dearer to the
Army and the people. He is overwhelmed by congratu-
latory addresses.

27, The Senate, hearing of the plot, sends Frangois at the
head of a deputation, imploring Bonaparte to " perpetuate
himself" ; and asking him to settle the institutions and
mark out the destinies of France.
April 25. Bonaparte replies from Saint-Cloud that he wishes the
Senate to communicate its ideas on the subject of "the
supreme hereditary magistracy."
May 3. The Senate replies that the interests of France will be
promoted by confiding the government to Bonaparte as
hereditary Emperor.

Curee opens the debate on the subject in the Tribunate.
Only Carnot opposes his motion. Bonaparte's monarchical
and anti-Republican institutions being established, he can
safely accept the supreme power. The Senate, Tribu-
nate, and Legislative Corps all agreeing, the Empire

18. is proclaimed at Saint-Cloud on May i8th. A senatus
consiiltus modifies the Constitution. Princes, marshals,
chamberlains, &c., must be created. The liberty of the
press exists no longer. The Tribunate and the Council
of State will meet in secret. Berthier, Murat, Moncey,
Jourdan, Massena, Augereau, Bernadotte, Soult, Brune,
Lannes, Mortier, Ney, Davoust, Bessieres, Kellermann,
Le Febvre, Perignon, and Serurier are created marshals.
Joseph and Lucien Bonaparte are styled princes of the
Imperial family. Pope Pius VH comes to France to
perform the ceremony of coronation.
Dec. 2. At last, after months of preparation, Napoleon is crowned
Emperor in Notre Dame and anointed by the Pope.
For ten years the government of France remains despotic.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

BY THE TRANSLATOR

The Pretender.

Stanislas Xavier Louis, known as Louis XVIII, was a

younger brother of Louis XVL Born on November 17, 1755, he was
known as the Comte de Provence. He married, in 1771, Marie
Josephine Louise, daughter of Victor Amadeus HI, King of Sardinia.
He is the prince referred to as Monsieur in the text.

A hopeless reactionary, opposing every measure of reform, he was
one of Louis XVI's bad angels. He left Paris on the night of the flight
to Varennes, and, making for Lille, took refuge in Belgium. From
Coblentz, where he and his brother, the Comte d'Artois, held a kind of
court, the two issued royalist proclamations, which made Louis XVI's
position more than ever uncomfortable.

Louis XVni was with the emigres who accompanied the Prussians
on the occasion of Brunswick's manifesto.

After the death of Louis XVI, the Comte de Provence proclaimed
the Dauphin king. Upon the reported death of the latter in 1795 he
proclaimed himself king. From that year until 1807 he frequently
changed his place of residence, being often compelled to do so by
Napoleon's enmity ; but in 1807 he settled in England, On April 26,
1814, he landed at Calais, under the protection of the allied armies.
The Empress regent, upon the ascendancy of the legitimist party, was
put aside for a provisional government ; and Louis XVIII claimed
almost absolute power. He then granted a constitution establishing a
House of Peers and a Chamber of Deputies ; and the ancien regime
was resumed with all its evils. The clergy and aristocracy, as was
to be expected, were easily able to influence Louis and persuade him
to a persecution of their opponents. Consequently Napoleon was
eagerly welcomed on his return from Elba. Louis and his family fied
to Belgium until the fall of Napoleon. From Cambrai he acknow-
ledged his errors, and promised an amnesty. The rest of his reign was

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 27

a time of disorder, persecution, and massacre. Upon his return he
was advised to dissolve the Chamber of Deputies, which was hopelessly
reactionary and fanatical; the result was a series of royalist con-
spiracies against him and his constitution. Nobles and priests
gathered mobs of assassins and massacred the Protestant and
revolutionary opposition in the provinces.

Louis died in September, 1829. His brother, the Due d'Artois,
succeeded as Charles X.

Napoleon.

Napoleon Bonaparte, second son of Carlo Buonaparte and his
wife Letizia de Ramolino, both of Ajaccio, Corsica, was born on
August 15, 1769. Ten years later he was sent to the Royal Military
College of Brienne le Chateau ; after live years he proceeded to the
Mihtary School of Paris. Next year (1785) he was commissioned as
second lieutenant in the artillery, and for some time was on garrison
duty, spending his leave in Corsica. His father died in 1785. On the
outbreak of the Revolution he first saw service in Corsica ; his ambition at
the age of twenty seems to have been to play the part of local patriot
and hero. Joining Paoli's party, he was afterwards elected colonel of
the National Volunteers of Ajaccio. An attempt to seize that town
failing, he returned to France. He had broken leave ; but revolution-
ary officers were needed, and his commission was restored. Again he
returned to Corsica, and took part in an expedition upon Sardinia,
which failed. The French Government now attempting to crush
Paoli and the patriot party, Napoleon (presumably seeing that his
future lay in France, rather than in a futile struggle against her, and
perhaps frightened by the temporary loss of his commission) now
attempted to seize Ajaccio for the French. Faihng again, and so
making Corsica impossible for himself, he and all his family took
refuge in France.

A curious, half-educated youth of scant and uneven culture, but able
in his profession of artillery ; of a mathematical, logical, and cynical
type of mind, endowed with the hardy egoism of the island feudist,
and a precocious knowledge of men drawn from years of brooding
observation of his richer fellow-students and officers ; capable of
intense application and patience ; it is probable that personal ambition
led to an early conception of the role he intended to play. For the
time being, however, there was nothing better to do than to serve
under Carteaux against the rebellious Marseillais of Avignon, with the
younger Robespierre on the spot as deputy on mission. Presently
promoted as battalion leader, he served brilliantly at Toulon, and was
the author of the plan which resulted in its capture. Promoted again,
to the rank of brigadier, he then had a brief eclipse ; lately a Jacobin,

28 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

with the younger Robespierre at his side sending reports to Paris, the
9th of Fnididor was Hkely to be dangerous to him. However, he was
offered a command of infantry in the Western Army. It is significant
that he refused it, at the cost of being removed from the list of active
generals. He thought of going to Turkey, in order to reorganise the
artillery service ; but Barras, who had marked him at Toulon,
appointed him second in command of the army of the Interior on the
12th of Vendemiaire. Next day he was virtually, for the time, military
commander of Paris, and repelled the sections in their attack upon the
Convention.

A man of decisive action, who knew his mind and had command of
military power, was not a wholly convenient person at that time.
Barras, too, had spoken highly of Napoleon's talents. Some four
months later he was given his first great command — that of the army
of Italy. On March 9th he married Josephine Tascher de la Pagerie, a
Creole, widow of General Vicomte Alexandre de Beauharnais. Two
days later he left for Italy. By impressing his army, isolated and far
from troublesome commissioners, with the hope of plunder and
personal advancement, he gained a weapon for his own ambition ;
while he himself began his career as a bold and independent
administrator and maker of States ; disobeying the Directory almost
completely, and keeping it contented and demoralised by a continual
stream of wealth in the shape of "contributions" from conquered
States, and works of art. His further career until the beginning of the
Empire is to be found in the text.

CHAPTER I

OPINIONS, PARTIES, AND RELIGIOUS POLICIES BEFORE
THE i8th of FRUCTIDOR

I. The oaths and the parties.— II. The Directorial or bourgeois
RepubHcans. — III. The Democrats. Babeuf and Babeuvism. —
IV. The RoyaHsts.— V. The rehgious policy: the national
festivals : Theophilanthropy.— VI. The religious policy : Catho-
licism.—VII. The coup d'etat of the i8th of Fructidor.

The series of civic oaths established by law under the
Directory gives an excellent idea of the vicissitudes of
circumstances and of public opinion.

On the 23rd of Nivose of the year IV, the law which
ordered the celebration of " the anniversary of the just
punishment of the last king of the French " enacted
also that on this day the members of the two Councils,
" individually, and from the tribune, should swear their
hatred of royalty." On the 19th of Ventose following
all the members of the constituted authorities were com-
pelled to take the same oath under penalty of deporta-
tion. On the 24th of Nivose of the year V, in order
to give the oath to be taken on January 21st " such a
character as would simultaneously confirm the hatred of
the French of the monarchical system and of anarchy,
and their attachment to the Republic and the Constitu-
tion," the formula was modified as follows : "I swear
that I hate royalty and anarchy, I swear attachment

30 POLICIES BEFORE 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

and fidelity to the Republic, and the Constitution 'of
the year III." On the 30th of Ventose of the year V
each elector, in the electoral assemblies, was compelled
to make the following declaration : "I promise my
attachment and fidelity to the Republic and the Con-
stitution of the year III. I undertake to defend them
with all my might against the assaults of royalty and
of anarchy." The revolutionary law of the 19th of
Fructidor of the year V (Article 32) substituted for
this promise the oath established by the law of the
24th of Nivose of the year V. On the 12th of
Thermidor of the year VII this new form of oath
was introduced : " I swear fidelity to the Republic
and the Constitution of the year III. I swear to oppose
with all my might the re-establishment of royalty in
France and of every kind of tyranny."

Thus, in the year IV the oath expressed merely
hatred of royalty ; in the year V it also expresse;'d
hatred of anarchy (which means the democratic
Republic) ; in the year VII it no longer expresses this
hatred of anarchy. Here we see clearly the oscillations
of general politics and of public opinion. At the outset
of the Directory the anti-royalist reaction which set
in after the day of the 13th of Vendemiaire was pre-
dominant. Then came the affair of Babeuf and the
affair of the camp of Crenelle ; these led to an anti-
democratic movement. Finally, at the time of the
military losses in the year VII, there was a return to
the forms of the Terror.

The great majority of Frenchmen capable of
forming an opinion found themselves, on one pretext
or another, able to accept these oaths, the succession
and diversity of which enlighten us as to the general
progress of the political revolution.

This was exactly what the Legislature had hoped for
in establishing them ; it hoped in this way to institute
some kind of unity of opinion in France, or at least

THE OATHS: THEIR FUTILITY 31

to compel the oppositions of the Right and Left to take
refuge in abstention from poUtical life, rather than lie
to their own consciences. This hope was disappointed ;
the oppositions resigned themselves to taking the
oaths ; these were finally regarded as mere formalities
binding no man to anything. There was a little more
hypocrisy in political manners, and rather more scepti-
cism ; the opposing parties had to disguise themselves,
but did not cease to exist nor to act.

This disguise, transparent though it was at the time,
nevertheless adds to the obscurity and the confusion
of a retrospective aspect of the parties and of their
current opinions. Even to distinguish royalists from
republicans one must look very closely. From 1798
to 1799 all Frenchmen, with rare exceptions, styled
themselves republicans. Some did so from conviction,
because they really were republicans ; others out of
fear, on account of the law of the 27th of Germinal
of the year IV ; ^ others as a matter of reason and of
patriotism, because the Republic alone, the only form
of government at that time possible, could ensure the
independence of France and prevent the return of the
ancien regime. Frenchmen were almost unanimous,
firstly, in desiring military victories and peace, secondly,
in wishing to maintain the Revolution.

Save when they throw off the mask, taking up arms
in Poitou, Brittany, or Normandy, or where they are
surprised in conspiracy, the royalists are extremely
difficult to distinguish. But we may safely call royalists
all whose words and actions tended to destroy all the
principles of the Revolution, and to discredit all the
men of the Revolution.

It is still more difficult to perceive in what the repub-
licans differ among themselves . tWe see clearly enough
that some defend the Directory while others attack
it ; but they are not always consistent ; the meqaber
' Forbidding the proposal of the " agrarian law."

32 POLICIES BEFORE 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

of the opposition on the Left will be " Directorial "
to-morrow, or was so yesterday. But both have a com-
mon meeting -ground, to which they incessantly return
after their quarrels, there to march side by side. I
mean that Directorials and anti-Directorials are all,
to use the modern phrase, anti-clerical. They are in
complete agreement as to the institution of the lay
State ; as to the importance of preventing the Catholic
religion from becoming dominant, and of developing
rationalism by the progress of education and the
celebration of non-religious festivals.

No republican was at that time " clerical." Even
those who, while styling themselves republicans, de-
manded a better position for the Catholic Church, did
not require that the Church should resume the privi-
leged position it occupied before 1789. They were
royalists (Vendeeans, Chouans, or emigres), who made
such demands ; but not all royalists made them.

It was the religious question which increasingly
separated the royalists and the republicans. But it did
not divide the republicans against themselves.

The question which did divide the republicans was
that of political and social equality. There were
bourgeois and democratic republicans. But the frontier
between these two parties, the limits of their camps,
were not well defined. There was a continual flux of
persons and ideas. Their programmes were indefinite,
their words were not ingenuous. The bourgeois or
Directorial republicans did not call themselves anti-
democratic ; some of them did not believe themselves
so. Faithful to the ideas of the philosophers, they saiW
the people only in that portion of the population which
enlightenment and comparatively easy circumstances
rendered independent ; this portion of the people was
for them the true people, and the government of this
people was democracy.' The democratic republicans
' It was in honour of this "true people" that a "festival of the

THE THREE PARTIES 33

did not definitely demand the re -establishment of
universal suffrage. Sometimes, when they summoned
up courage to defy the law of the 27th of Germinal
of the year IV, or were skilful enough to elude it, they
demanded the Constitution of 1793 ; but without insist-
ing on universal suffrage. It would seem that while
disowning the system of Terrorism they dreamed of
a return to the forms of the year IT; of the reconstitu-
tion of a. state of things in which distinguished men,
in Paris, would govern France by means of the breech-
less mob. If they did not definitely cry out for the
universal suffrage, it was because they saw that the
people were not eager to exercise electoral rights ;
they hardly seemed aware, indeed, that they had been
deprived of the rights in question. ^What did they
want to-day? Simply a condition of general welfare.
Seeing them sensible only of their own interests, the
democrats allied themselves with the socialists (Babeu-
vists, equalitarians. Communists) on two separate occa-
sions— in the year IV and in the year VII.

To sum up : between 1795 and 1799 we can distin-
guish three parties, if we can give the name to groups
of men of whom neither the personal composition, nor
the boundaries, nor the programme was definitely
determined : the bourgeois or Directorial republicans,
the democratic republicans, and the royalists.

II.

The bourgeois^ Directorial republicans are properly
the partisans of the Constitution of the year III. Cer-
tainly the other parties also uphold the Constitution,
except in times of sedition ; but only as a matter of
tactics ; the royalists make use of it to reproach the
democrats, and vice versa. The Directorial republi-

Sovereignty of the People " was instituted in thel year VI. Sec
farther on.

VOL. IV. 3

34 POLICIES BEFORE 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

cans uphold it and love it for itself, so to speak, because
they stand by the property-owners' suffrage, in which
they see the basis, the means and form of their
conservative-liberal policy.

This policy is liberal in so far as it tends to re-
establish the liberty suspended by the revolutionary
Dictatorship ; the first words of the Directory in its
first proclamation are : Resolved to maintain liberty
or to perish.

It is conservative in that it seeks to maintain the
institution of property, threatened by Babeuf . Property
being the basis of society as now established, to main-
tain property is to uphold and preserve society.

The words which express these policies are now
entering into common usage.

The word " conservative " is the oldest. It dates
from the time when the Constitution of the year III was
formed. We read, in a report of the 5th of Messidor
of the year III, concerning the public opinion of Paris :
" All are sighing for a powerful government dear to
those who wish to conserve, and feared by the per-
verted multitude whose order is disorder." In another
report, dated the 1 8th of the following Thermidor, we
read that the Parisian public is demanding " a tutelary
and conservative government, in the shadow of which
every one can live without trouble." From this time
the word enters into the jargon of political life. Thus
on the 18th of Floreal of the year VI, before the Five
Hundred, Jean de Bry regrets that the last elections
were not " republican and conservative." In his procla-
mation of the 19th of Brumaire of the year VIII, at
eleven o'clock at night, Bonaparte says : " Conservative,
tutelary, and liberal ideas have regained their former
place (have re-entered into their rights)."

As for the word liberal, this proclamation of Bona-
parte's is the first text I have come across in which
the word is used in the sense of what is favourable to

THE ANTI-CLERICAL PARTY 35

civil and political liberty. But Bonaparte would not
employ a neologism in a proclamation ; hence the word
liberal had for some time already been employed and
understood in this sense.

This conservative-liberal party differed from the con-
servative party such as we afterwards see it under
Louis-Philippe in this : that although it based society
upon property, it did not base it upon religion.

Ardently anti-clerical, it desired, as I have said, and
will now repeat, to realise the secular state ; to govern
by means of reason. It was frankly republican.
Although it would have nothing to do with universal
suffrage, it did desire to preserve some of the forms
and customs of the democracy of the year II. For
instance, it rigidly maintained the republican calendar,
and made its employment obligatory to all Frenchmen.
It proscribed the word monsieur and ordered the em-
ployment of the word citizen. It made the wearing of
the cockade compulsory, even for women. It republi-
canised the names of streets. ' It compelled the directors
of theatres to have republican songs chanted. It
organised and celebrated, with extreme pains, the anni-
versary festivals of the death of Louis XVI. It sur-
rounded France with republican allies : the Dutch,
Swiss, Cisalpine, Roman, and Parthenopean Republics.
Above all, it brought about the coup d'etat of the
1 8th of Fructidor. One of its members only — Barras —
was regarded as being secretly a royalist ; but only
towards the end of his Directorial career ; not because
his relations with the Pretender — if he ever had any —
had ever appeared in the words and actions of the
Directory, which exhibited, from the year IV to the

' Fans pendant la reaction, vol. iii. p. 60 ; vol. iv. pp. 67, 512 ; vol. v.
pp. 42, 55, 61, 228. In Floreal of the year VI the central bureau of the
canton of Paris, without fear of ridicule, saw to it that in drinking bars,
&c., the proprietors should no longer offer " March " beer, but
Germinal beer (vol. iv. p. 664).

36 POLICIES BEFORE 18TH OF FRUCTIDOB

year VIII, a republicanism as ardent as that which had
appeared in the words and actions of the Committee of
Public Safety.

The bourgeois republican party had a club, the Con-
stitutional Club (or cercle), which, on the morrow of
the reactionary elections of the year V, affirmed, by
the mouth of Riouffe, its anti-Terrorist, anti-royalist,
and anti -clerical opinions :

" O Terror," said Riouffe (on the 9th of Mcssidor), " thou who didst
so deeply plunge thy dagger into the heart of the young, growing
Republic ; thou whose lamentable effects have outlived thee in so
bitter a manner, giving rise each moment to obstacles and dangers
which obstruct republican feet ; thou, whose venom is found in all the
plagues of the republic ; thou monster composed of anarchy, brigand-
age, tyranny, and royalism : we consign thee to the execration of the
ages ! Never strive to stretch thy bloody mantle over the republicans,
to stifle them ; in vain ; they fling it off ! "

But the royalist peril was greater and more pressing
than the Terrorist peril ; and at this period, according
to Riouffe, it assumed the form of a league, a con-
spiracy of anti-philosophical writers. They sought to
" plunge the people back into the midst of superstitions
in order to give them back to slavery " ; to lead the
peasants to feudality and servitude and the burden
of tithes, by means of the mass and the sound of bells.
The Constitutional Club was accordingly about to
undertake a propaganda against the clerical reaction.'

This party was the ruling party ; but it was unable
to govern by itself alone. It was obliged to lean in
succession, and according to the circumstances^ upon
the democratic republicans and the njonarchists in dis-
guise ; hence the term, the " see -saw policy " of the
Directory. However, it leaned more often to the left
than to the right ; firstly, because the men of the left
were its natural allies in its an ti -clerical policy ; and

' Discours lu au Cercle constiiutionel Ic 9 Mcssidor an V, par Honord
Riouffe.

THE DEMOCRAT REPUBLICANS 37

secondly, because on accasion, in the case of military-
reverses, the democratic republicans alone were capable
of evoking a popular patriotic movement against the
foreigner allied with the royalists.

III.

Those whom we call democratic republicans, and
who were then stigmatised as Jacobins, anarchists, or
Terrorists, were so uncertain of what they desired, and
so little sustained by public opinion, that they hesitated
to style themselves democrats, or to call themselves
the democratic party. In the year IV they called them-
selves " exclusively patriots of '89," or " patriots par
excellence " ; and, shortly afterward, *' the patriots of
'92." At that time their adversaries Used to call them
" the Exclusives." A police report of the ist of
Thermidor of the year V mentions, among other poli-
tical caricatures, the following: "The Exclusive, a
man of sinister aspect, in the attitude of the Farnese
gladiator, holding before him a dagger on which is
inscribed : Fraternity ; in his other and foremost hand
a levelled pistol, on the lock of which is the legend
liberty; sticking out from his pocket are warrants,
and a legend reading 2nd September.'''' Up to the
period of the Consulate the police often employed the
word " exclusives " to denote the opposition of the Left,
which we now call the republican-democratic party.

They formed a party long without a head, since the
leading democrats had perished on the scaffold. Their
leaders in the year IV were well known, but not of the
first rank ; notably F61ix Le Peletier (brother of the
Conventional assassinated in January, 1793), and Anto-
nelle ; two ex -nobles, of whom the latter was extremely
wealthy. At the outset of the Directory there were
hardly any republican -democrats in the Legislature.
They attempted, almost immediately, to reconstitute the

38 POLICIES BEFORE 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

old Jacobin Club, by founding the Pantheon Club, and
another, the Reunion. The " Pantheonists " were of
most importance. In Frimaire of the year IV they
numbered 934. They tried to influence the depart-
ments. As the Constitution (Article 362) prohibited
correspondence between clubs and societies, they solved
their dififtculty by meeting nightly at the Cafe Chretien,
and by writing, as habitual customers of the cafe, to
the " exclusives " of the provinces.

The Pantheonists had no very definite programme.
They urged the Directory to take severer measures
against the royalists ; and above all they demanded
remedies for the sufferings of the people : the words
subsistence, famine, were always on their lips.

At the Cafe Chretien they were more violent without
being more definite. Robespierre was eulogised there ;
and they read the journal of Babeuf, who demanded
that the Directory should effect a coap-d' etat directed
against the royalists.

We have seen that the Directory, by the order of the
8th of Ventose of the year IV, closed the Pantheon and
some other clubs.

Forced to conceal themselves, the democrats began
to conspire together ; and, as the people of Paris were
troubled as to matters of provisions, as life in Paris
was becoming extremely expensive, a portion of Paris
made an alliance with Babeuf.

There was a " Babeuvist " conspiracy, which was
betrayed by a certain Grisel, an agent provocateur. .On
the 2 1 St of Floreat of the year IV the Directory had
the leaders arrested : Babeuf, Buonarroti, Darthe,
Germain, and Drouet.i Various ex-Conventionals were

' On the same day, in order to deprive the democrats of their
leaders, a law was passed which forbade ex-Conventionals to reside
or stay in the department of Seine unless they exercised public
functions in that department. All ex-functionaries, all discharged or
pensioned soldiers, all accused of emigration, all strangers, and persons

THE BABEUVIST CONSPIRACY 39

involved' : Drouet, Laignelot, Amar, Vadier, Robert
Lindet, Ricord. The leading democrats were also im-
plicated : Felix Le Peletier, Antonelle, the ex-General
Rossignol, &c.

The lorigin of this conspiracy was a " Society of
Equals " formed in the prisons, during the Thermi-
dorian reaction, through the influence of Babeuf, with
a view to effecting an alliance between the democrats
and the socialists ; there was here, as we shall see,
the outline of the formation of a radical-socialist party.

The papers seized at the conspirators' houses showed
that they had formed a " secret Directory of Public
Safety," composed of Babeuf, Antonelle, Sylvain
Marechal, and Buonarroti, and a kind of " Military
Committee," consisting of Fyon, Germain, Massart,
Rossignol, and Grisel. The democratic ex-Conven-
tionals were sounded. There was a meeting at Drouet's
on the 19th of Floreal of the year IV ; the ex-Con-
ventionals hesitated, and did not commit themselves.
However, the very composition of the " secret
Directory " shows that there was an alliance between
the Babeuvists and some of the democrats. The Con-
stitution of 1793 was the watchword and the bond of
union.

The documents especially inform us as to what was
Babeuf's doctrine, and what was the object of the
conspiracy.

Firstly there is a written document entitled :
Analysis of the Doctrine of Babeuf, which was printed

affected by the amnesty of the 4th of Brumaire of the year IV, were
similarly inhibited, unless they obtained a permit of residence from
the Directory, Those who did not obtain such permits were obliged
to quit the department under three days, removing at least ten leagues
from Paris, under penalty of deportation. On the 5th of Prairial
following this law was extended to ex-Vendeeans and amnestied
persons. The law of the 21st of Floreal was abrogated by those of the
9th of Prairial and the nth of Messidor of the year V.

40 POLICIES BEFORE 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

and posted up. Babeuvism is very lucidly summed up
in the following fifteen Articles :

" I. Nature has bestowed on every man an equal right to the enjoy-
ment of all goods.

"2. The end of society is to defend this equality, often attacked by
the strong and the wicked in a state of nature, and to augment, by the
collaboration of all, the common happiness.

"3. Nature has imposed on every man the obligation of labour ; no
one, without crime, can abstain from work.

"4. Work and happiness should be in common.

"5. There is oppression where men are exhausted by work and yet
lack everything, while others wallow in abundance without doing any-
thing.

" 6. No one can without crime appropriate exclusively the fruits of
the earth or of industry.

"7. In a true society, there should be neither rich nor poor.

" 8. The rich who will not part with their superfluity in favour of the
indigent are the enemies of the people.

"9. No one, by the accumulation of all the means thereof, may
deprive another of the instruction requisite to his happiness ; in-
struction should be in common.

" 10. The end of the Revolution is to destroy inequality and to es-
tablish the common happiness.

"11. The Revolution is not at an end, because the rich absorb all
goods of every kind and are in exclusive domination, while the poor
labour as actual slaves, languishing in poverty, and are nothing in the
eyes of the State.

"12. The Constitution of 1793 is the true law of the French, because
the people have solemnly accepted it ; because the Convention had
not the right to alter it ; because, in order to do so, it has shot down
the people who demanded its execution ; because it has driven out and
beheaded the deputies who did their duty in defending it ; because the
fear of the people and the influence of the emigres greatly influenced the
drafting and the pretended acceptance of the Constitution of 1795,
which did not receive a fourth part of the suffrages given to that of
1793 ; because the Constitution of 1793 ratified the inalienable right of
each citizen to consent to the laws, to exercise political rights, to
assemble, to demand what he believes useful, to educate himself, and
not to die of hunger ; rights which the counter-revolutionary act of
1795 has completely and openly violated.

" 13. Every citizen is required to establish and defend the will and
welfare of the people in the Constitution of 1793.

BABEUVISM 41

" 14. All powers emanating from the pretended Constitution of 1795
are illegal and counter-revolutionary.

" 15. Those who have raised their hand against the Constitution
of 1793 are guilty of Ihe-majesU against the people."

In another document, the Manifesto of Equals, a
pretence was made of not violating the law of the 27th
of Germinal of the year IV, which forbade the pro-
posal of the Agrarian Law.

" The Agrarian Law, or the partition of the soil, was the unpremedi-
tated desire of a few unprincipled soldiers, of a few groups of people
moved by instinct rather than by reason. We intend something more
sublime and more equitable ; the common good or community of goods.
No more individual ownership of land : ihe earth is no man's. We
demand, we desire the comfortable enjoyment of the fruits of the
earth ; its fruits are every man's." '

Finally, there was a third document, emanating from
the " Insurrectionary Committee of Public Safety," and
entitled Act of Insurrection. This gave an account
of what was about to be done. Here are some portions
of it :

Article 10: "The two Councils and the Directory, usurpers of
popular authority, will be dissolved. All the members composing
them will be immediately judged by the people."

Article 18 : " Public and private property is placed in the custody of
the people."

Article ig : " The duty of terminating the Revolution and of bestow-
ing on the Republic liberty, equality, and the Constitution- of 1793 will
be confided to a national assembly, composed of a democrat for each
department, appointed by the insurgent people upon the nomination
of the insurrectionary Committee."

Article 20: "'The insurrectionary Committee of Public Safety will
remain in permanence until the total accomplishment of the insurrec-
tion." »

These documents are enough tp give some idea not
only qi the grganisation and gbjeqt of the plot, but

' Buonarroti's Conspiration de Babeuf, vol. i. p. 132.
■ The whole of this "Act of Insurrection" will be found in Buchez,
vol. xxxvii. p. 158.

42 POLICIES BEFORE 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

of the essential ideas of the system which Babeuf had
developed in his periodical, the Tribune du peuple oa
le Defenseur des droits de Vhomme ; which, commenced
and interrupted during the Thermidorian period, had
reappeared in Brumaire of the year IV. In this journal
he loved to enunciate the following propositions' :

"AH that is possessed by those who have more than their propor-
tionate part in the goods of society is held by theft and usurpation ; it
is therefore just to take it from them."

" The very man who proves that by his own strength he can earn or
do as much as four others is none the less in conspiracy against society,
because he destroys the equilibrium by that very fact and destroys
precious equality."

"Social institutions must progress to the point where they deprive
every' one of the hope of ever becoming richer, or more powerful or
more distinguished by his enlightenment and his talents than any of
his equals."

" Discord is better than a horrible concord in which hunger
strangles one."

" Let all go back to chaos, and from chaos let a new and regenerated
earth emerge." '

Babeuf continually praised the equalitarian principles
of the Declaration of Rights of 1789, and he called his
doctrine the System of Equals.

How far was this doctrine popular in Paris? All we
can say is that the people knew of it and gave it
some attention. We read in the report of the Central
Bureau (dated the 23rd of Germinal of the year IV)' :

"In the Faubourg Antoine, a considerable group was gathered about
the placard entitled : Analyse de la doctrine de Babeuf. Farther on a
woman was reading the same thing in a smaller bill ; a citizen, agent
of the Central Bureau, took it fi'om her ; the group dispersed ; a few
demanded if the liberty of the press no longer existed." "To-day, the
28th of Germinal," we read in another report, " we have again found in

' No. 35. For the bibliography of Babeuf s paper see Tourneux,
Bibliographie de I'histoire de Paris, vol. ii. Nos. 10,940 and 10,951. On
Babeuf in general see V. Advielle, Histoire de Babeuf et du babouvisme,
Paris, 1883, and the article Babeuf in the Grande Encyclopedic.

BABEUVIST LITERATURE 43

the markets placards entitled : Doctrine de Babeuf. The inspector
warned the commissary of police, who had them removed." '

According to the Courrier ripuhlicaln of the 24th of
Germinal of the year IV, the women of the Tuileries
distributed the " Analysis " in groups' : " One of them
was seen to climb on a chair in the garden of the
Tuileries and read aloud this seditious piece of litera-
ture. The guard having come forward to put an end to
such a scandalous proceeding, the officious Pantheonists
contrived the female orator's escape." Nevertheless,
the Tribune du peaple was read aloud to assemblages
of the people. In Floreal and Germinal of the year IV
another socialistic journal appeared : the Eclaireur ;
which published a song " for the use of the Faubourgs,"
commencing thus' :

" Dying of hunger, ruined, bare,
Tormented, crushed, what dost thou there.

People ! Thou pin'st away, nigh dead !
While the rich man, with brazen face.
Whose wealth was gotten by thy grace,

Insults thee and is comforted."

The anonymous author (he was Sylvain Marechal) pro-
ceeded to exalt " sacred equality." To what we to-day
should call parliamentarianism he opposed Babeuvism' :

"You, law-machines, you, turning yet.
Throw in the fire nor e'er regret

Your budgets all in white and black !
Let be, poor creatures ! Unafraid
Equality, without your aid

Knows how to bring abundance back ! "

He also exhorted the soldiers to join the people in
order to effect a revolution and realise " the common
happiness."

These verses were sung and applauded in the cafes
at least, if not the streets.

* These and the following citations are from Paris, &c., vol. iii.

U POLICIES BEFORE 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

When the conspiracy was discovered the news was
received with scepticism at first, and then with a very-
definite reprobation. Every ill-natured person was
called Babeuf, as a term of abuse : especially if he
did jiot enjoy the fruits of victory. In Pr atrial of the
year IV a pamphlet was put in circulation with the
object of winning the pity of the people on behalf
of Babeuf : in vain. They were more interested in
Drouet ; to the extent that in the streets of Perigueux
a sentimental romance was sung, of which he was the
hero. The personality of Babeuf left the public in-
different. In Thermidor of the year IV a secret demo-
cratic society, that of the Decius frangais, invited the
people to rise in order to prevent a massacre ; but
without naming Babeuf, and recommending respect for
property. During the trial people murmured at its
length ; but the sentence was received with indifference,
and the police, so attentive in noting the manifestations
of Parisian opinion, on this occasion related few
instances or none. Two journals only ventured to ex-
press themselves openly : an opposition journal of the
Right, the Veridique, lamented a capital sentence based
upon writings which had produced no effect ; and the
democratic Journal des hommes litres called Babeuf
and Darthe " martyrs of Liberty." The Parisian
working classes were unmoved ; Babeuf had never won
the kind of popularity that Marat had enjoyed ; had
never perhaps been popular at all. People gave him!
a passing attention when he spoke the language of the
year J I ; when he spoke of creating abundance by
Terrorist means ; when he fulminated against the Direc-
tory. The political writer was not unpleasing ; the
socialist, it seems, astonished and alarmed,

Babeuf and his accomplices were tried before the
High Court of Vendome. The debates were long ; they
lasted from thq 2nd of V^ntose to the 7th of Prairial,
The accused were 64 in number ; 1 8, being absent,

THE TRIAL OF THE BABEUVISTS 45

were convicted of Contumacy ; among them Drouet
(who had escaped from prison with the complicity, it
was said, of the Director Barras), Robert Lindet, Felix
Le Peletier, and Rossignol.

Neither in the " acts of accusation " nor in the ques-
tions to the jury did the " socialistic " opinions of
the accused appear. The questions put before the jury
were divided into five categories, corresponding with
the five categories of prisoners. They spoke of a con-
spiracy to dissolve the Legislature, or to arm the citizens
" against the exercise of the legitimate sovereignty."
These questions were all resumed in that as to whether
there had been an incitement to establish the Con-
stitution of 1793. The reply was in the affirmative as
regarded Babeuf and Darth^, who were consequently
Condemned to death, and were executed on the following
day (the 8th of Prairial of the year V) ; it was in the
affirmative with extenuating circumstances as regarded
Buonarroti, Germain, Moroy, Cazin, Blondeau, Bouin,
and Menessier ; negative in the case of the 5 5 others,
who were acquitted : among them were Fyon, Laig-
nelot, Ricord, Amar, Vadier, the two Duplays, Anton-
elle, Drouet, Robert Lindet, Felix Le Peletier, Rossignol,
Chretien, Parrein, and Jorry.

The summing up of the President of the High Court
gives a good idea of the inanity of the accusation
brought against the ex-Conventionals. The debates
demonstrated that Ricord and Laignelot, absolute
strangers to the conspiracy, had merely assisted at
a few conferences between the Babeuvists and the
Democrats. No evidence was produced against Amar
and Vadier, who had not taken part in any secret
meeting. It was evident that Drouet was, at the bottom
of his heart, in favour of the Constitution of 1793,
and that a secret meeting had been held at his house ;
but it was not proved that he had in any way partici-
pated in the conspiracy. Grisel had denounced Robert

46 POLICIES BEFORE 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

Lindet as having been present at' the secret meeting of
the 19th of Floreal; but being 'questioned as to Lindet's
description, stated that his hair was white ; it was, as
a matter of fact, entirely black.

But although the democratic ex-Conventionals (with
the possible exception of Drouet) had no share in the
conspiracy, there evidently was an alliance between the
Babeuvists and a very considerable number of demo-
crats, neither deputies nor ex-deputies, whose object
was to overthrow the Constitution of the year III, 01!
at least to ensure that it should be applied by men of
the Left, in conformity with the policy of the Left ; not
only was such an alliance obvious, but even before the
trial one of its signs and one of its results had already
been witnessed.

After the checkmate of the Babeuf conspiracy (but
before the trial had opened) the democrats attempted
to seize the reins of power by a sudden blow. They
knew themselves in the minority ; but might not an
insurgent minority carry the masses with it? These
precursors of B Ian qui (if we may so call them) sounded
the ground first : on the night of the i oth of Fructidor,
at the very moment when the prisoners were about to
leave for Vendome, Paris was filled with white cockades
and royalist pamphlets, in order to excite a republican
rising. The attempt was in vain. On the 23rd of the
same month the democrats, to the number of six or
seven hundred armed men, tried to incite the troops
in the camp of Crenelle to rise, crying : " Vive la
Republique! Vive la Constitution de 1793! A bas
les Conseils! A bas les nouveaux tyrans!^^ The troops
fired upon them. Many were arrested. The Directory
obtained a law enabling them to be judged by a military
commission, which pronounced, between the 27th of
Fructidor of the year V and the 6th of Brumaire of
the year VI, various sentences of death, notably
against three ex-Conventionals' : Huguet, Cusset, and
Javogues .

THE AFFAIR OF GRENELLE 47

IV.

The Babeuf affair, and that of the camp of Crenelle,
led to a reaction by which the royalists profited ; that
is to say, they brought about a state of things which
was known as the Royalist Peril.

We have seen that at the time of the dissolution of
the Convention the royalist party was in a state of
decadence, both in those regions where it disguised
itself and in those in which it was openly fighting.
In Paris the victory of the 13th of Vendemiaire of the
year IV had sent it to earth. In La Vendee Charette
had taken up arms again ; but the Comte d'Artois,'
after a short sojourn upon the He d'Yeu, had re-
etobarked. Hoche set to work to pacify the country
by skilful and efficacious methods, and the situation of
the insurgent leaders became desperate. Stofflet and
Charette were captured and shot ; the former on the
6th of Ventose of the year IV, the latter on the 9th of
the following Germinal. The other leaders entered
into negotiations ; there was no longer a " Royal
Army." Brittany too was pacified ; Cadoudal sur-
rendered on the 3rd of Messidor of the year IV. At
the same time Frotte, who had commenced to excite
an insurrection in Normandy, found himself abandoned
by his supporters, and departed for London. Normandy
remained quiet for more than a year.

Doubtless the resort to arms ordered by Louis XVIII
at the moment when he declared himself King should
not, in his own mind, have been confined to the
departments of Poitou and Vendee. There were other
insurrectionary movements also, but they broke out too
late to profit the Vendeean insurgents. In Germinal of
the year IV a royalist insurrection broke out in Indre,

' The Comte d'Artois went to Edinburgh, where he lived during the
whole period of the Directory. It was from there that, more or less in
agreement with Louis XVIII, he organised several risings in France.

48 POLICIES BEFORE 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

at Palluau. General Ddsenfants quickly suppressed it.
During this time a more serious 'revolt occurred in some
of the communes of the former district of Sancerre
which had not accepted the Constitution nor organised
their municipalities. They formed a little country
existing without laws ; the refuge of deserters and
refractory priests. The rebellion broke out at Jars.
A band of peasants wearing the white cockade
sounded the tocsin, cut down the " Trees of Liberty,"
burned the administrative papers, and to cries of " Vive
le roll Vive la religion! ^^ induced the whole country-
side to march upon Sancerre. They occupied this town
on the 13th of Germinal of the year IV. The Directory
sent out troops under General Ch6rin. The rebels were
defeated, and Sancerre retaken (on the 19th and 20th
of Germinal). Order was restored almost immediately.
But another blow was struck by the royalists almost
at the gates of Paris : at Pierrefitte. We read in the
Gazette frangais of the 25th of Germinal of the year IV' :

" On the i6th of Germinal a detachment of about a hundred men,
armed with pikes, scythes, and pitchforks, marched into the commune
of Pierrefitte, where they forced the municipality to collect and to
deliver over to them its registers and other papers, as well as the
decrees and accounts of compulsory loans and land taxes, which they
burned. They then summoned citizen Douet, schoolmaster, to whom,
as well as to the municipality, they read in the King's name an order
annulling all republican statutes. The secretary to the municipality
was forced to read this document aloud, and at the end to cry " Vive le
roi ! Vive la religion ! " They then dragged the schoolmaster and the
members of the municipality towards the Tree of Liberty. The
schoolmaster, despite his refusal, was compelled, in order to avoid
immediate death, to give the first blow of the axe to the tree ; he then
passed the axe to the municipal officials, who also struck at the tree ;
the brigands finished felling it, and the tree was dragged in the mud
and burned. To complete their operations they fixed to the top of
the belfry a white flag, on which they had forced the secretary of the
municipality to write : Vive le roi et la sainfe religion ! "

I have found no document dealing with the sequel to
this little rebellion ; but the very fact that the journals

ROYALIST INSURRECTIONS 49

had nothing more to say of the rebels of Pierrefitte
shows that the re-estabhshment of order in that canton
was not a long nor a difficult matter.

For the time being, then, the armed royalist insur-
rections had been suppressed. There were only a few
slight disturbances here and there.

The military and diplomatic victories of the Republic
during the first year of the Directory compelled the
French royalists to conceal themselves. Firstly, from
Germinal to Messidor in the year IV, there was the
German campaign, the victories of the army of the
Rhine imder Moreau, and that of the Sambre-et-Meuse
under Jourdan and Kleber. From' Germinal to Ther-
'midor of the same year there was the campaign in
Italy and the victories of Bonaparte : Montenotte,
Millessimo, Mondovij Lodi, the entrance into Milan, the
siege of Mantua, and Castiglione. On the 29th of
Thermidor and the 8th of Fractidor the French Re-
public concluded peace with the Duke of Wurtemburg
and the Margrave of Baden, who ceded their possessions
on the left bank of the Rhine. In Vendemiaire of the
year V the King of the Two Sicilies proclaimed himself
neutral.

But at the beginning of the year V the situation
changed. Although the successes of Bonaparte con-
tinued in Italy (the creation of the Cisalpine Republic
and the victories of Rivoli and La Favorita), in Germany
there were serious checks ; the retreat of Jourdan,
the death of Marceau, the retreat of Moreau, and the
loss of Kehl and Huninguen. Most important in its
effect on public opinion was the check upon the negotia-
tions with England (in Vendemiaire and Frimaire of
the year V) . The war, people said, would last for ever !

On the other hand, the alliance of the democrats with
the Babeuvists had reawakened all the old hatred of the
Jacobins, anarchists, and terrorists. The Papist clergy
(of whom I shall speak again later) were intriguing

VOL. IV. 4:

50 POLICIES BEFORE 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

in the country districts. A vague discontent jarose
against the Directory, which had been unable either
to obtain external peace or to maintain internal peace.
This discontent was neither sufficiently keen nor suffi-
ciently general to encourage the royalists to an
immediate recourse to arms ; but the situation seemed
a favourable one for the execution of a conspiracy.

The royalist party in its secret organisation had two
agencies ; the one military, the other political. ' The
military agency, directed by M. de Precy, took in
Franche-Comt6, Lyonnais, Forez, Auvergne, and the
entire Midi. The political agency, extending over the
entire country, had its seat in Paris. Its leaders were
the Abbe Brottier, Desponelles, La Villeumoy, and Du-
verne de Presle. It established two associations, secret
societies, with passwords and signs of recognition :
firstly, the " Society of Friends of Order," of which
the executive committee was the " coterie of legitimate
sons " ; secondly, the " Philanthropic Institute," which
was composed of timid, egoistical, and indifferent
royalists, and which also recruited itself among the most
ardent of the anti-Jacobins, anti-anarchists, and con-
servatives. Here are the instructions which were given
them' :

"(i) Bring honest men together, and let them form an alliance
among themselves. (2) Oppose the influence of the anarchists in the
primary assemblies. (3) Furnish the Legislature with pure and upright
members ; assist the Government ; be its eye and its sentinel at all
times over the anarchists ; be its reserve in critical circumstances."

Each confederate, in every canton, had to vote for the
candidates denoted by the Institute.

The agents of the King must accept " no engagement

' As to the origin of this organisation, which antedated the 13th of
Vendeniiaire, see Ch. L. Chassin, Les Pacificaiions de I'Ouest, vol. i.
pp. 115-118, The details are obtained from the declarations of
Duverne and Presle. See these declarations in Buchez and Roux,
vol. xxxvii. pp. 437-445.

THE ROYALIST ORGANISATION 51

which might lead to the belief that the King's intention
is to re-establish the monarchy on new foundations."
The King will reform abuses, but " nothing can persuade
him to alter the Constitution of the anclen regime'''
However, it was permissible to negotiate with the King.
It was Duverne de Presle who revealed these facts in
the declaration he made when arrested. He added that
in June, 1796 {Pralnal or Messidor of the year IV),
a party " offered to serve the King on condition that
there would be no change in the then existing Constitu-
tion except the concentration of the executive power in
his person. The King accepted the service, but wished
to discuss the condition. He consequently requested
that a legal agent should be sent him." i The party
did not dare to obey. Duverne de Presle nevertheless
believed that it counted 184 members in the two
Councils ; but he adds that the royalists willingly de-
luded themselves as to the number of their adherents ;
when it came to facts they discovered how few they
were.

Finally the King's agents endeavoured to corrupt
two officers': Malo, the commandant of the 21st regi-
ment of Dragoons, and Ramel, commandant of the
Grenadiers of the Legislature, who pretended to be with
them, ajid delivered them to justice. Brought before
a Council of War, they were condemned only to im-
prisonment. La Villeurnoy was deported on the i8th
of Fructidor.

This conspiracy having failed,^ Louis XVIII seemed

' There were royalists who disliked even these hints at negotiation.
Thus Puisaye protested on January i, 1797 (the 12th of Nivose of the
year V).

^ The Prince de la TremoiUe was then entrusted with the direction
of the King's affairs in Paris, but he did nothing, and left for London
after the i8th of Fructidor. After this the Abbe d'Esgrigny and
M. de Rochecot tried to reform the agency, but without instructions
(La Sicotiere, Louis de Frotte ct les insurrections normandes, vol. ii,
PP-95, 97. 114)-

52 POLICIES BEFORE 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

ta renounce conspiracy and to resign himself to an
" opportunist " policy. In his proclamation to the
French of March lo, 1797 (the 20th of Ventose of
the year V), he appeared to abandon the idea of
regaining his throne by force, and, without denying
his absolutist programme, he encouraged his partisans
to take part in the coming elections and to obtain the
election of moderates and anti -Terrorists.

" Direct men's suffrages," he said, " to men of substance, friends of
order and of peace, but incapable of betraying the dignity of the French
name, and whose virtues, enlightenment, and courage will be able to
assist us to lead our people to happiness. Assure soldiers of all ranks,
members of administrations who co-operate in the re-establishment
of religion, the laws, and legitimate authority, of rewards commensurate
with their services ; but beware of employing, in order to restore them,
the atrocious means that were used to effect their overthrow. Expect
from public opinion a success that it alone can render durable and
solid ; or, if it is necessary to have recourse to arms, at all events do
not make use of that cruel recourse except in the last extremity, and
in order to give legitimate authority a just and necessary support."

In this way the Pretender encouraged the policy of
the disguised and non-absolutist royalists in the two
Councils ; who, provisionally resigned to the Republic,
drew nearer to the Directory when the discovery of
Babeuf's conspiracy rallied all the " conservators "
against the " Socialist Peril " ; and among those who
so rallied were Mathieu Dumas, Pastoret, and Muraire.
The check of the Brottier conspiracy proved to all>
whether absolutists, royalists, or constitutionalists, that
in order to prepare the ground for royalty, it would be
necessary for a certain time to maintain the Constitution
of the year IIL : to destroy, by means of this Constitu-
tion, the social peril resulting from the alliance of the
democrats and the Babeuvists ; to enable ideas of order
to prevail, and finally to bring back the monarchy by
pacific and legal methods. Thus Frotte, who had
returned to France in Germinal of the year V (but

THE ROYALIST OPPOSITION 53

without money and without instructions), stated that
in Normandy there was no desire for further civil war ;
that it was hoped " to attain the monarchy only by
gentle impulses and the decrees of the two Councils."

The elections of the year V gave results in conformity
with the advice and the desire of the Pretender. They
were as " anti-Terrorist " in character as possible. Of
the 2 1 6 Conventionals outgoing, hardly a dozen were
re-elected. The malcontents were elected by prefer-
ence ; the men who criticised the means and results
of the Directory both at home and abroad, and in
especial criticised its religious policy, such as the
rigorous methods of dealing with the Papist priests,
and the law forbidding the ringing of bells. We cannot
say that the question " Monarchy or Republic? " was
put at these elections. The hostility towards the Direc-
tory and the ex-Conventionals was visible not only in the
departments of the west and the north, which were noted
for their moderatism ; it was also marked in fully half
the departments of the south-east, which, we have seen,
were formerly so strongly republican. Although the
departments of Aude, Card, and Pyr^n^es-Orientales
voted in favour of the Directory, those of Bouches-du-
Rhone, H^rault, and Var gave their majority to the
opposition of the Right. The 49 departments whose
elections were annulled by the coup (V etat of the 1 8th
of Fructidor were dispersed all over France ; and
granting that royalism was really a living force only
in Brittany, Normandy, Poitou, and Lozere, and among
a few inhabitants of the large cities, this dispersion
proves clearly that the deputies from those departments
were elected not as royalists, but as forming an
opposition.

But although none of those elected declared them-
selves as royalists, there is no doubt that royalists were
elected. Thus, in the department of Seine Fleurieli was
elected : an ex -Minister of Marine under Louis XVI ; in

54 POLICIES BEFORE 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

B ouches -du -Rhone General Willot, and in the Jura
General Pichegru, who had dealings with the Pre-
tender ; in Rhone, Imbert-Colomes, emigre and Bourbon
agent.

The majority in the two Councils was immediately-
altered. The Five Hundred elected as President, Jby
387 votes out of 404, General Pichegru, whose royalism
had not as yet been revealed, but who was clearly hostile
to the Directory. The Elders elected (by how many
votes the proces-verbal does not say) an ex-diplomat
of the ancieti regime, Barbe-Marbois. On the 5th of
Prairial the Five Hundred had to draw up a tenfold list
of candidates for the place of Director, left vacant by
the resignation of Le Tourneur. We have seen that they
elected to the first place, by 309 votes, a moderate
and ex -noble, the Marquis de Barthelemy, ambassador
to the Swiss. The other candidates elected were all
members of the opposition of the Right (among others
an ex -Minister of the monarchy, Tarbe) with the excep-
tion of Charles Cochon, the only deputy whom the
Directorial republicans had been able to elect, and
who obtained 230 votes. In appointing Barthelemy
Director by 138 votes against Cochon's 75, the Elders
gave a very good idea of the new majority in their
midst.

Here are the chief laws by which this majority
affirmed its reactionary policy :

ist of Prairial, year V. The ex -deputies Aym'e,
Mersan, Ferrand-Vaillant, Gau, and Polissart, lately
excluded as ineligible, are recalled to the Legislature.

9th of Messidor. The law of the 3rd of Brumaire
of the year IV is repealed.

22nd and 30th of Prairial. The deputies de Rumare
arid Imbert-Colomes are expunged from the list of
emigres.

7th of Thermidor . The Clubs are proscribed.

25th of Thermidor and 13th of Fructidor. The

REACTIONARY MEASURES 55

National Guard is reorganised in such a way as to
eliminate the democratic elements which had succeeded
in penetrating it,

2nd of Fructidor. The laws relating to deportation
or the imprisonment of non-juring priests are repealed.

To sum up-: the renewed Legislature endeavoured to
efface all that remained of the Revolutionary Govern-
ment in the application of the Constitution of the year
III, and suppressed a large number of the " laws of
exception " which had formerly been enacted against
the enemies of the Revolution. In the debates relating
to these measures nothing occurred that would allow
people to say that the new majority was royalist ; but
there were royalists in that majority, and they were by
no means without influence.

Faithful to the instructions of the Pretender, they
supported the moderate, bourgeois republicans against
the democratic or anti-clerical republicans. They were
preoccupied atid drawn into groups by the interests of
religion. Even outside the Legislature the more ardent
royalists were supporting the new strategy. In a draft
proclamation, on August i, 1797 (the 14th of
Thermidor of the year V), Frotte exclaimed : " Our
place is anywhere In the ranks where men are fighting
to save France from anarchy and to punish crime."

Reading the journals and the accounts of the pro-
ceedings in the Councils, we see clearly that there was
a state of violent disagreement between the politicians ;
that some were stigmatised as royalists or Chouans,
and others as Jacobins, anarchists, and Terrorists.
iWhen, however, we try to distinguish between persons
and programmes, to make any sort of classification,
we find our foundation slipping. In the correspondence
which he carried on between Berne and the Court at
Vienna, according to the instructions which the royalists
sent him from Paris, Mallet du Pan writes, in Fructidor
of the year V : » ■

56 POLICIES BEFORE 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

" To understand the conduct, the vacillations and uncertainties of the
Legislative Corps, it must be remembered that since the entrance of
the new third the majority of the two Councils has been divided into
three parts. The first, at the head of which are Pichegru, Willot,
Boissy, Dumolard, Quatrcmere, Imbert-Colomes, Lariviere, Boirot,
Mersan, Pastoret, &c., wishes to level the revolutionary edifice by
powerful blows, diminish the authority of the Directory, force on an
external peace, and open up a future for the monarchy. The second,
which comprises, to a great extent, the majority of the Elders, also,
desires the good of the country, but wishes to work slowly ; it fears
the king, the emigres, and all idea of a sudden and complete counter-
revolution. The third, at the head of which are Thibaudeau, Emery,
Vaublanc, and Bourdon, demands the constitution in all its purity ;
it wishes to weaken the Directory, and to preserve the Republican
State ; it hates the King and the more notable emigres for their
reputation, their ideals, and the credit they might possibly gain."

We shall see, in' the light of a single fact, how vain
these classifications were. Dumolard, whom Mallet du
Pan represents as a sort of rebellious royalist, was
then the president of the Council of Five Hundred.
This is how he expresses himself, in that quality, on
the 23rd of Thermidor of the year V, upon the
anniversary festival of the loth of August :

" Woe to him who should exercise the idea of re-establishing the
throne ; what an error, to suppose that those who have reduced it to
dust would labour to rebuild it ; that the founders of the Republic,
forgetful of their glory and prostrating themselves in the mire, are
about to serve as the vile instruments of a liberticide faction, which
would abandon them to the concentrated rage of them who long to
tear them in pieces ! Why, citizens, who is there among you who has
not actively co-operated in the overthrow of the monarchy, or has not
at least proclaimed aloud, in his own circle, the imprescriptible rights
of the people ? Where is he who would traffic with kings ? Who,
having vanquished them when they were all-powerful, would humiliate
himself before them now that they are vanquished ? "

I ask if it is possible to class am'ong the royalists of
his time a man capable of uttering spontaneously go
thrilling a profession of republican faith?

Contemporaries spoke freely pf an Orleanist party.

THE ORLEANIST "PARTY" 57

but apparently it had little existence except in their
imagination. The Due de Chartres (Due d'Orleans
since the death of his father Philippe-^fegalite), who
emigrated with Dumouriez in April, 1793, had been
living, inconspicuously enough, in Switzerland. The
Monlteur of the 3rd of Pluvlose of the year IV an-
nounced that he had just embarked at Stockholm for
North America. His two brothers, the Dues de Mont-
pensier and de Beaujolais, imprisoned at Marseilles,
were set at liberty on the 3rd of Bnimaire of the year V,
when they set sail for Philadelphia. All these remained
in America until the Consulate. .Wihat influence could
they exercise so far from France? Yet those monar-
chists who did not wish to re-establish the anclen
regime must logically have found their candidate in
the Due d'Orleans ; since Louis XVIII had proclaimed
that he did intend to re-establish the anclen regime^
while Orleans upheld the principles of the Revolution,
and had not, when an Emigre, carried arms against
France. The partisans of Louis XVIII were very much
afraid of him. In a proclamation of January i, 1797,
the Comte de Puisaye said : '* The infamous Due
d'Orleans, too greatly honoured by the fate of the
martyrs, lives again in his son ; the factions have sent
the latter to a distance in order to produce him when
the time has come."

After the departure of Orleans for America, he had
circulated a letter from Mme. de Genlis to her old
pupil, in which, after reminding him that there was
a party which desired to elevate him to the throne, she
implored him not to listen ■; '' You to pretend to
royalty ! — to become a usurper, to aboHsh a Republic
which you have recognised, which you have cherished,
and for which you have valiantly fought ! " The
journals spoke much of this letter, which drew atten-
tion to the Due. In Vendemiaire of the year V the
rumour ran tha;t he was in France, at Rennes ; and

58 POLICIES ^BEFORE 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

that his agent, the ex-Constituent Voidel, was about
to be appointed Minister of Police. The reactionary
Courrler republicain (for the 1 3th of Vendemiaire)
pretended that the Orleanist faction was becoming
extremely powerful ; that the Ventre, a portion of the
Mountain, was in its favour. It also stated that the
same faction, in order to lay a false trail, was spread-
ing the rumour that there was a Yorkist faction, and
one in favour of the Archduke Charles. In Frimaire,
at the Cafe du Foy, it was said that the members of the
Legislative Corps used often to dine at the house of
the Duchesse d'Orleans. At the end of Germinal came
a report that the elections were favourable to the Due
d'Orleans. The royalist prisoner Duverne de Presle
gravely declared that the Due d'Orleans was in Paris,
and that he had a faction. This faction was denounced
from the tribune of the Five Hundred by Jean de Bry,
on the loth of Ventose of the year V, and by Dumolard
on the 13th and 15th of the following Fractidor,
Finally, those " who would recall Orleans " were men-
tioned among those whom the Directory threatened
with death in its proclamation of the 1 8th of Fractidor.

Was there really at that time a party, or even one
individual of importance, at work in the interests of
the Due d'Orleans? No text, no fact allows us to
make such an assertion.

iWe see how difficult a matter it is to distinguish the
different groups and opinions in the new majority which
resulted from the elections of the year V ; or to affirm
or deny absolutely that this majority wished to re-
establish any monarchy whatever, whether absolute or
limited. All that we can say with certainty is that there
was an alliance of all the reactionaries. i Had they been

' It is perhaps an anachronism to employ this word at this period.
I find it for the first time in a poHce report of the nth of Floreal of the
year VII, which refers to "incorrigible reactionaries." But the word
reaction had already been used to denote the White Terror of the year

RELIGIOUS POLICY OF THE REPUBLIC 59

victorious in their quarrel with the Directory, it is
probable that, under penalty of an immediate dissocia-
tion, they would have been forced to maintain the
republican form of government, and to form a mixed
government of moderates and royalists.

If we go to the bottom of things, we find that the two
inimical groups who were and are still known as the
royalists and the republicans were above all separated
by the religious question.

The religious policy of the Republic was thus defined
by the Constitution of the year III : ■' No one may
be prevented from exercising the cult he has chosen
so that he conform to the laws. No one may be forced
to contribute to the expenses of a cult. None will be
salaried by the Republic." This was the system of
the lay or secular State ; of the separation of Church
and State, of which we have already considered the
origins and the establishment.

Under this system there was an abundant harvest of
religious, moral, and intellectual life. New religious
groups were seen to form themselves ; new churches
arose ; new cults, evolving from the old religious
groups.

iWe may say that the general policy of the Govern-
ment in matters religious during the whole duration
of the bourgeois Republic was practically this' : to see
that these various religious groups counterbalanced one
another to the profit and independence of the lay State ;
to prevent any religion from becoming dominant ; to
watch over the competition of the churches, and parry

III. The Directory, addressing the people of the Midi in a proclama-
tion of the 14th of Germinal of the year IV, had spoken of the " six
years of tempest and reaction " which they had just passed through.

60 POLICIES BEFORE 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

the mortal blows that eacli would attempt to strike
the other. The State was, as it were, a judge, but not
an impartial arbiter. The Directory had a prejudice
against the Roman Catholic Church. This church was
the strongest ; it was extremely powerful ; it threatened
to dominate the other churches and the State itself ;
the governmental policy was hence to weaken it, or
even, as its dogmas appeared incompatible with the
principles of the Republic, to destroy it.

That the Directory really did wish to destroy the
Roman Church, that at least it did at one moment
desire to do so, results not only from the general
sense of its politics ; it expressed this intention in
definite terms in a letter signed by three of its members
— La Revelli^re-L^peaux, Barras, and Reubell — which
it addressed on the 1 5th of Pluviose of the year Y
to General Bonaparte. In this we read :

" While giving attention to all the obstacles which impede the
consolidation of the French Constitution, the executive Directory has
come to the conclusion that the Roman cult is that of which the
enemies of liberty might in the future make the most dangerous use.
You are too much given to reflection, Citizen General, not to have felt
as strongly as have we that the Roman religion will always be the
irreconcilable enemy of the Republic ; in the first place in its very
essence ; in the second place because its ministers and its secretaries
will never forgive the Republic for the blows with which the Republic
has stricken the fortune and the credit of the former and the habits
and prejudices of the latter. These are doubtless means which can be
employed in the interior in order insensibly to abolish its influence ;
whether by legislative methods or by institutions which will efface
the old impressions by substituting new impressions more analogous
to the present condition of things, more in conformity with reason and
a sane morality. But there is one point perhaps no less essential if we
would arrive at this desired end ; it is to destroy, if it be possible, the
centre of unity of the Roman Church ; and it is for you, who have
been successful in uniting the most distinguished qualities requisite
to a general officer, to those of an enlightened politican, to reaHse this
desire, should you judge it to be practicable. The executive Directory
therefore invites you to do all that you consider possible (without com-
promising in any wise the safety of your army ; without depriving

THE DIRECTORY AND ROME 61

yourself of the resources of all kinds upon which you might draw for
the support of your army, and without rekindling the torch of
fanaticism in Italy instead of extinguishing it) towards destroying the
Papal government ; in such a way that, whether by placing Rome
under another power, or (which would be still better) by establishing
in Rome a form of internal government which would render the
government of priests odious and contemptible, the Pope and the
Sacred College could no longer conceive the hope of ever sitting
in Rome, and would be obliged to seek an asylum elsewhere, where
at least they could no longer wield any temporal power.

This was not an order given by the Directory to
Bonaparte=^ it was a desire which it expressed. The
General would follow it up only if he judged it to be
possible and useful.

This letter expresses as Clearly as possible the
intimate feelings of the majority of the Directory in
Plaviose of the year V, when the victories of the army
of Italy appeared to put the Pope at the mercy of thej
French Government.

On the other hand^ to favour the former Constitu-
tional Church as an element of counterpoise, but to
oppose it in all that it professed contrary to the repub-
lican laws (the marriage of priests, divorce, celebration
of the decadi, &c.), to leave unmolested the Protestant
and Jewish sects, which were reasonable ; to favour
the development of new cults on a rationalistic basis,
so that little by little they might supplant the old cults
on a mystic basis ; gradually to eliminate revealed
religion from the national conscience, while educating
that conscience by a secular system of public instruction
and civic festivals ; such were the tendencies and the
methods revealed by almost all the politico-religious
actions of the Directory ; not only in the period subse-
quent to the 1 8th of Fructidor, when it had resumed
dictatorial prowess against the Papist clergy, but in
the previous period which we are at this moment con-
sidering.

Let us first of all take the rationalistic groups.

62 POLICIES BEFORE 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

The aristocracy of the freethinkers were enclosed in
the official frame of the National Institute. These
survivors or disciples of the Encyclopsedists appeared
to see a religion and a morality in organised science.
They flattered themselves that their group represented
this organised science ; that they were " the living
Encyclopaedia." Except for a very small number, the
formula of their free thought was Deism.

This aristocracy furthered the taste for freedom of
thought in the upper spheres of bourgeois society ;
where nevertheless Catholicism was once more becoming
the fashion ; and it presided, so to speak, over a
larger rationalistic group ; a group of rational and
popular character, which was then and has since been
called the Decadal church or cult. This was an
attempt at a periodical convocation of the whole people
around the Altar of the Country ; there to adore the
mother country ; the country considered as such, but
so beloved, so honoured by so many sacrifices and the
outpouring of so much blood, that it seemed as though
it might offer to the mind of all Frenchmen the advan-
tage of a mystical entity, and so unite them by a tie
universally accepted. The origins of the cult were not
artificial ; the altars of the country had risen spon-
taneously in 1789 and 1790, when the new nation was
founded by the resurrection of the communes, by the
grouping of communes, by provincial federation, and
finally by national federation. Of all the altars that
had since been raised, none had had from the first so
many sincere devotees as this ; and men had seen the
artificial cults imagined by the Hebertists and the
Robespierrists become confounded with this religion
of patriotism ; become absorbed in it, and gradually
disappear. So long as the French gave all their
physical and intellectual forces to the work of national
unification and to the war against the enemies of this
unification ; so long as this cult was a religion of

THE DECADAL CULT 63

warfare, it remained popular, ardent, and absorbing
the whole man. The nation founded, the Republic
once victorious, the cult of the patrie established itself
in men's consciences. The Convention wished to lead
it out into the public places, establish it in the temples,
and organise it by law. Actuated by Marie-Joseph
Chenier's report, it decreed, as a beginning, that there
should be decadal festivals in each commune (Nivose
the ist, year III). It stated, in the Constitution of the
year III (Article 301) : " National festivals will be
established in order to foster fraternity among the
citizens, and to attach them to the Constitution, their
native country, and the laws."

There were already annual national festivals. Thus
the anniversary of the taking of the Bastille had been
celebrated regularly. On the 2nd of Pluviose of the
year II (January 21, 1794), at the request lof
the Commune, the Convention had passed a decree
ordering the celebration of the anniversary of the execu-
tion of Louis XVI ; on July 27, 1793, it had ordered
the annual celebration of August 10, 1792. The
decree of the i8th of Floreal of the year II, besides
the festival of the Supreme Being (which was celebrated
once) and a number of other festivals in honour of
various entities (which were not celebrated at all) had
ratified the three festivals of July 14th, January 21st,
and August loth, while founding yet another : the
anniversary of May 31, 1793 (abolished on the 19th
of Ventose of the year III). On the 2nd of Pluviose of
the year Ilia law had prescribed the celebration of the
anniversary of the 9th of Therniidor. To these political
festivals the Convention added, on the eve of its separa-
tion (by the law of the 3rd of Bramaire, year IV,
title 6) certain festivals of a different character, in the
following terms :

" (i) In each canton of the Republic there will be celebrated, each
year, seven national festivals : namely, that of the Foundation of the

64 POLICIES BEFORE 18TH OP FRUCTIDOR

Republic, on the ist of Vendimiaire ; that of Youth, on the loth of
Germinal ; that of the Espoused, on the loth of Florcal ; that of
Gratitude, on the loth of Prairial; that of Agriculture, on the loth of
Messidor ; that of Liberty, on the 9th and loth of Thermidor ; that of
the Aged, on the loth of Fructidor. (2) The celebration of the national
cantonal festivals comprises the singing of patriotic songs, speeches on
the morahty of the citizen, fraternal banquets, various public games
peculiar to each locality, and the distribution of awards. (3) The
ordering and arrangement of the national festivals in each canton is
enacted and announced in advance by the municipal administrations.
(4) The Legislative Corps decrees each year, two months in advance,
the order and manner in which the festival of the ist of Vendcmiaire
must be celebrated in the commune in which it resides."

Although at this moment we are speaking only of
the period anterior to the i8th of Fructidor, we may
as well note, in order to complete this outline of the
national festivals, that a law of the 13th of Plaviose,
of the year VI established a festival of the Sovereignty
of the People to be celebrated on the 30th of Ventose,
and that a law of the 2nd of Fructidor of the year VI
ordered the celebration of the anniversary cf the i8th
of Fructidor of the year V.

These festivals were actually celebrated throughout
the Republic.

The political festivals of July 14th, August loth,
January 21st, the ist of Vendemiaire, and the i8th of
Fructidor, were attended by the people, who lent them-
selves to the occasion with more or less enthusiasim
according to the place and the circumstances ; that is
to isay, as they felt more or less keenly the impulse
towards anti-royalist demonstrations. The festival of
the 1st of Vendcmiaire (the date of the foim,dation of
the Republic) was that celebrated with the greatest
pomp, at least in Paris.

The philosophical festivals, inspired by Jean-Jacques
Rousseau and Greuze, were less attended by the people,
excepting three of them, which in practice had a political
flavour ; these were : ( i ) the festival of Gratitude, which

NATIONAL FESTIVALS 65

was really a festival of Victories ; (2) the festival of
Liberty, which, being celebrated on the anniversaries
of the coup (V Hat of the 9th and loth of Thermidor,
was in especial an occasion of official anathema, directed
against the Terror and the Terrorist ; (3) the festival
of the Sovereignty of the People, which opened, so to
speak, the period of elections in the years VI and VII.
The festivals of Youth, of the Espoused, of Agriculture,
and of the Aged, ingeniously organised by orders from
the Directory, do not seem to have been appreciated
save by a few curious spectators. The Catholics ridi-
culed these ceremonies, which the Abb6 de Boulogne,
in the Annates catholiques of Germinal of the year V,
called "idea festivals," "civic pantalonades " ; and
went out of their way to throw ridicule on this decadal
worship of the native land.'

The Directory, moreover, did not conceal the fact
that these festivals, essential elements of the plan of
national education outlined by the Convention, were in-
tended little by little to accomplish the dechristianisa-
tion of France ; or, as it wrote to Bonaparte in the
letter already cited, " insensibly to abolish the influence
of the Roman religion," by replacing " ancient impres-
sions " by " new impressions more analogous to the
existing state of things, more in conformity with reason
and a sane morality."

As for the obligatory substitution of the Decad'i for

' The orders of the Directory which in succession organised the
national festivals are extremely interesting. See especially the follow-
ing in the Bulldin des lots : those of the 19th of Vcntose, year IV
(Youth) ; of the 27th of Germinal, year IV (the Espoused) ; of the
20th of Floreal, year IV (Gratitude and Victories) ; of the 20th of
Prairial, year IV (Agriculture) ; of the ist of Messidor, year IV
(Liberty) ; of the 27th of Thermidor, year IV (the Aged) ; of the 13th
of Fructidor, year IV (Foundation of the Republic), and the 13th
of Fructidor, year V (the same) ; of the 28th of Pluviose, year VI
(Sovereignty of the People) ; of the 3rd of Fructidor, year VI (the i8th
of Fructidor) ; of the 13th of Messidor, year V (the 14th of July).

VOL. IV. 5

66 POLICIES BEFORE 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

the Sabbath, and the celebration of each Decadi by
festivals, it was only after the i8th of Fructidor that
the decadal cult was perfected.

In the meantime the Government favoured a non-
official attempt, emanating from private initiative, to
establish a kind of rationalistic church under the name
of Theophilanthropy.

Theophilanthropy was the national religion so often
glorified by the philosophers and poets of the
eighteenth century.

To extract from the " revealed " religions a small
number of dogmas, accepted by all, verified by reason,
transformed into rational principles, and to make them
the foundation of a non-mystical worship, together with
the morality accepted in all times by all decent folks :
such was the aim of the natural religion ; not that of
Rousseau, which was Christianity purified, revealed, and
interpreted by a vicar of God ; but the natural religion
of Voltaire, anterior and superior to Christianity.

Voltaire had imported the idea from England. He
clarified it, formulated it, and popularised it in France,
and the English carried it back again in order to
attempt its application. In 1776 David Williams,
author of a " Liturgy founded upon the Universal Prin-
ciples of Religion and Morality," assembled the English
Freethinkers in a temple, in London, there to adore
God and encourage the love of men. This attempt,
which was applauded by Voltaire and Frederic the
Great, had only a temporary success as a curiosity,
but it remained well known and famous in France.
It doubtless inspired the immediate precursors of
Theophilanthropy : Thomas Paine, Daubermesnil, and
Sobry.i i

' Announcing the latter's work : Rappel dii peuple franfais a la

sagcsse et aux principes de la morale, the journal the Ami des Lois

(13th of Ventose, year IV) defined in advance the new rationalistic

. religion : " We have been praying, for eight months, to be informed

THEOPHILANTHROPY 67

It would seem that the true founder of Theophilan-
thropy was Chemin, a professor, litterateur, and
librarian. He published a " Manual," of which a
" Religious Year " unfolded the principles, joined him-
self to four fathers of families — Mareau, Jeanne,
Valentin Haiiy, and Mandar — and the new sect held its
first session in a disused chapel of the Institute of the
Blind, in the Rue Saint-Denis, on the 26th of Nivose
of the year V (January 15, 17^)7).

The Theophilanthropists defined themselves as
follows :

Their meetings were religious and yet not religious.
Theophilanthropy was a religion for those who had
no other ; for those who had it was merely an Ethical
Society {Societe morale).

The Theophilanthropists addressed themselves to
whosoever believed in God, in the immortality of the
soul, in fraternity, in humanity. The God in whom
they professed belief was the " God of the Reason " ;
for some even the enlarged Deity of Diderot ; and they
were liberal enough to admit Sylvain Marechal the
atheist ; and in Doubs the adepts styled themselves
merely philanthropists. But on the whole this group
was theistical, for deism was then the most popular
form of free thought ; and the Theophilanthropists were
purely rationalistic — no revelation, no mystic dogmas
for them !

But — and herein resides the originality of this
religion — the Theophilanthropists did not proscribe nor
attack nor condemn any other religion ; they respected

as to the morality by which we might once more become the honour
and the admiration of Europe, and rid ourselves of Catholicism,
Mahometanism, Protestantism and other religions fabricated by the
hands of men and presented under a celestial covering. We have
prayed all good citizens to busy themselves with this important work,
and to bring each one a stone for the erection of the edifice of theism
and philanthropy."

68 POLICIES BEFORE 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

them, so they said, and honoured all, avoiding all
controversial propaganda.

" Far from seeking," says Chemin, " to overthrow the altars of any
worship, you must even moderate the zeal which might lead you to
make converts to our own. Profess ours modestly, and await in peace
for those whom its simplicity convinces to join you. ... Be circum-
spect. . . . Do not seek to win proselytes. . . . Dealing, in your
festivals, only with religion and morality, there should consequently
never be anything put forward in them that is not suited to all ages,
to all countries, to all religions, and all governments."

He constantly repeats that men must love the native
land, love the Republic.

There is moraHty and there is religion. Morality
instructs us concerning our duties ; religion leads us
to fulfil them. Morality has a very wide and solid
basis : " Good is all that which tends to preserve
man or to perfect him. Evil is all that which tends to
destroy or deteriorate him." By this word, man, " we
understand not one single rrian, but the human species
in general."

Religion consists especially in assembling, whether
in the family or in the temple, in order to encourage
the practice of morality.

The temple of the Theophilanthropists should be
devoid of pomp.

" A few moral inscriptions, a simple altar, on which
they place, as a sign of gratitude for the benefits of
the Creator, a few flowers or fruits according to the
season ; a pulpit for reading or for speech ; there
is all the ornament of their temples." The speakers
and readers may wear a special costume (a blue coat
with a rose-coloured girdle), but are not obliged to
do so.

The ceremonies commence by an invitation to the
Father of Nature, to which succeeds a moment of
silence in which each quietly examines his conscience.
" The head of the family may assist this examination

THEOPHILANTHROPY 69

by various questions, while eacli answers tacitly to him-
self." Then they listen to speeches, or sing hymns ;
they set themselves face to face with nature ; they
praise the Spring ; they proceed to baptisms, marriages,
and funerals ; they do honour to men who have done
honour to humanity; such as Socrates, St. Vincent
de Paul, Jean -Jacques Rousseau, (Washington.

This cult is remarkable for a perfect elegance and
sobriety of style. In this respect it is aristocratic. It
does not address an ignorant populace, but the scholarly
middle class. It is by means of the finest that it hopes,
without any clamorous propaganda, to attract, little
by little, the mass of the nation.

The Theophilanthropists succeed in grouping about
their altars in a party of very considerable size the
elite of the nation. The relative success of this
attempt to organise natural religion, which until then
had been scarcely more than a particular mode of
thought, gives the movement the value of a historic fact.

The cult formed a numerous and varied aristocracy
of mind. There were ex -members of the Constituent
Assembly, ex -Ministers, members of the Institute of
France, and general officers ; among others we read
the jiames of Creuze-Latouche, Goupil de Prefelne,
Dupont (of Nemours), Bernardin de Saint-Pierre
(whom we meet as godfather at St. Thomas Aquinas),
Marie-Joseph Chenier, the painter David, Guffroy,
Lamberty, Corchand, Combaz, Ulrich, the ex-abbes
Parent and Danjou, the citizeness Augereau, mother of
the general, and many others.

The Government protected the Theophilanthropists ;
sometimes privately, sometimes in public. The Direc-
tor La Revelliere-Lepeaux, while denying that he had
ever been a Theophilanthropist, admits in his memoirs
that he undertook to plead the cause of the new Church
before his colleagues, and to advise them of ** the happy
political results " which the new religion promised.

70 POLICIES BEFORE 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

" The Directory," he says, " came to the same conclusion, and gave
orders to Sotin, Minister of PoUce, to protect the founders of this new
institution, and to allow them, from the police funds, the very moderate
assistance which they might require for the celebration of a worship so
simple and so little costly. Certainly the secret funds of governments
have not always been employed in so honest nor in so useful
a manner."

Gregoire reports that the Directory paid the ex-
penses of the installation of the cult in Notre Dame,
In Messidor of the year V Ginguene, Director-General
of Public Instruction in the Ministry of the Interior,
wrote to his colleague Champagneux, chief of the first
division of the same Ministry, in order to obtain for the
Theophilanthropists the use of the church of Quatre-
Nations : " I believe the Minister cannot render a
greater service to the progress of morality, and I beg
you earnestly, my dear colleague, to obtain of him this
permission," They were granted the use of eighteen
churches or chapels. The Minister of the Interior sent
out Chemin's Manuel into the provinces openly, with
his own signature appended. Soon afterwards the jury
of instruction officially approved of the Catechism of
the Theophilanthropists, which thus became a standard
book. I

An attempt was even made to have Theophilanthropy
declared the State religion. This was the object of
the " discourse concerning the existence and utility
of a civil religion in France " pronounced by Leclerc
(of Maine-et-Loire) from the tribune of the Council
of Five Hundred, on the 9th of Fructidor of the year
V. This attempt came to nothing.

VI.

If we now, from the rationalist groups, pass on to
the mystic groups, formed by the members of the old

* Concerning the favours of which Theophilanthropy was the object,
see Gregoire, Hisfoire des Sedes, vol, i.

JEWS AND PROTESTANTS 71

revealed religions, we shall find that there were two —
the Jewish and the Protestant (the Reformed Church)
which drew no attention to themselves and caused no
discussion during the period of separation. Subjected
to the laws, the Protestants and the Jews confined them-
selves to a silent enjoyment of the liberty they had
obtained after so many centuries of persecution. The
Government had no trouble with either.'

As for the Catholics, whether Papist or not, we have
already seen how, under the Convention, during the
Thermidorian period, they had profited by the new
politico-religious system to commence the reorganisa-
tion of their cult. This reorganisation was completed
under the Directory. AVe read in the Annates de la
Religion of the 6th of Messidor of the year VI :

" At the commencement of Vendemiaire last — that is to say at the
end of September — an abstract was made in the offices of the Minister
of Finance of all the communes which had resumed the public exercise
of their cult. Already, nine months ago, there were 31,214 ; and
4,511 more had applied for permission to resume worship. Finally,
there was no question of Paris in this statement, and the larger
communes were reckoned as having only one church. Here already
we have, practically, our 40,000 original parishes."

In this large number of " parishes," what was the
proportion of Papists and of non-Papists, otherwise
known as the ci-devant Constitutionals and the ci-
devant refractories? We know only that the Papist cult
had a far larger following than its rival.

We have seen how the ci-devant Constitutionals
organised themselves at the beginning of the system of

' On the 2ist of Messidor of the year V, Boulay (of Meurthc) spoke
from the tribune of the Five Hundred as follows : " It is useless to
speak here of the Jewish sect, too weak and too peaceful to give rise to
anxiety. The Protestants we need fear even less ; their principles are
favourable to the spirit of political and religious liberty ; they are the
chief authors of the resurrection and establishment of moral, political
and civil liberty in all the states in which such liberty is more or less a
fact ; French liberty has no more constant and enthusiastic supporters."

72 POLICIES BEFORE 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

separation. Their " national " Church (as they called
it) was not very popular, and in the period before the
1 8th of Fructldor it lost ground. But its priests and
the faithful remained numerous enough for the schism
which it represented to be still formidable to the Roman
Church. In the year V, of the 83 bishops elected or
maintained in 1790 there remained 41 (of the other 42,
9 were married, 6 had resigned, 6 had not resumed their
functions, 8 were dead by the guillotine, 1 3 had died
a natural death). Of these 42 episcopates the faithful
had filled 3 : Colmar, Versailles, and Saint-Omer. The
majority of the episcopal chairs were therefore occupied
on the 1 8th of Fractidor.

At the outset the " vessel of the Republic " and that
of the former Constitutional Church had " kept com-
pany," as Gregoire had predicted. But the relations of
the Church and the Government very rapidly cooled.
On the 2nd of Ventose of the year IV an order of the
Directory provisionally prohibited (though it later per-
mitted) the election of a Bishop of Versailles, because
there had been speeches against the marriage of priests
in a kind of synod convoked by the candidate. Abbe
Clement. The question of the marriage of priests, on
which the ex-Constitutionals proved inflexible, led to
the anticipation of the broils which were later (after
the 1 8th of Fractidor) to settle the question of the
Decadi.

The Directory, however, being conscious of the poli-
tical utility of protecting these schismatics against the
Pope, allowed them to hold synodal assemblies and a
" national Council." The synodal assemblies, convoked
in each diocese, and composed of the ecclesiastics of
the diocese, elected a deputy and substitutes, who, with
the bishop (a member ex-officio) were to represent
the diocese in the national Council. This Council, which
at first had been convoked for May i, 1796, was held
at Paris, at Notre Dame, from August 15, 1797 (the

THE SCHISM IN THE CHURCH 73

28th of Thermidor of the year V), until November 12th
(the 22nd of Brumaire of the year VI).'

Both in the synodal assemblies and in the Council,
the ex-Constitutionals protested that they had never
wished to effect a schism, and attempted a reconcilia-
tion with the Pope. Under the name of the " decree of
pacification " the Council drew up and despatched to
the Pope, on September 24, 1797 (the 4th of Vende-
miaire of the year VI), a scheme of reconciliation. It
stated that the Civil Constitution being defunct, the
Gallican Church renounced it, recognising in the Pope
the visible head of the Church, with supremity of honour
and of jurisdiction ; it accepted all the dogmas, con-
demned presbyterianism, and would admit to the number
of its priests none but citizens faithful to the Republic,
having taken the civic oath, and having undertaken to
maintain the maxims and the liberties of the Gallican
Church ; but excluded no one for his previous opinions.
The following system was proposed to the Pope : the
bishops, in the vacant sees, would be elected by the
clergy and by the people, and confirmed and installed
by the metropolitan. In each diocese when there was
only one bishop (whether of the old or the new regime)
this bishop would be recognised by all ; and it would
be the same in the case of each parish in which there
was only one cure. When there were two bishops or
cures the elder would officiate, and the other would
succeed him.

As the Pope, at the time of the negotiations between
the armistice of Boulogne and the treaty of Tolentino,
had seemed to make advances to the ex-Constitutionals,
the latter hoped that he would discuss the " decree of
pacification " with benevolent intentions. He made no
reply to it.

' The proceedings of this first Council were not printed, as were
those of the second. For the internal debates, see the organ of the
ex-Constitutionals, the Annales de la religion.

74 POLICIES BEFORE 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

The Papist Catholic Church, like the former Con-
stitutional Church, had lost the greater number of its
bishops. Forty-one of them were dead. They did not
all emigrate, as has often been said ; eleven never left
France ; those of Troyes, Chalon-sur-Saone, Marseilles,
Auger, S6ez, Senlis, Alais, Saint-Papoul, Lectoure,
Macon, and Sarlat. At last one of the emigres, Mgr.
d'Aviau, Bishop of Vienne, returned to France in Floreal
of the year V. Some of the absent bishops tried to
administrate their dioceses from a distance. In some
of the dioceses vacant through the death of their titulars
(it jnust be remembered that Louis XVIII did not fill
any of these vacancies) there were vicars -apostolic.
We have, however, no data on which to base statistics,
even approximate, of the dioceses of the old kingdom
which were then reorganised. As to the cures and
vicars, they were numerous enough, in spite of imprison-
ment and deportation.

The Roman Catholic cult, a year after the estab-
lishment of the system of separation, was in a very
flourishing condition, especially in Paris. In the
Annates catholiques of December i, 1797 (the i ith of
Frimaire of the year V), the Abbe de Boulogne wrote :
" The state of the Catholic Church of Paris is still
very consoling to those who are interested in the pro-
gress of religion. Every day new temples are being
opened ; and the affluence of the faithful, very far
from diminishing, visibly increases." The number of
churches in Paris occupied by the Roman Catholics,
which did not exceed fifteen at the commencement of
the separation, was then, according to the Abbe, forty ;
;and the following year, at the time of the Easter
festivals, on the 27th of Germinal of the year V, it
was fifty. In Paris almost all the shops were closed on
the days of the more important Catholic festivals.

The Papist clergy were the refractory priests ; that
is, those who in 1790 and 1792 had refused to take

LAWS AGAINST EMIGRil PRIESTS 75

the oaths required of them. Since then a promise of
submission to the Republic merely had been exacted
from ministers of religion, by the law of the 7th of
Vendemiaire of the year IV. The emigrant priests,
amenable to deportation, returned in hosts to make this
promise. These enemies of the Revolution and the
Republic showed themselves with impunity, and many
of them acted as agents of the monarchy or the reac-
tion. Irritated and anxious, the Convention decreed (by
the law of the 3rd of Bramalre of the year IV) :

"That the laws of 1792 and 1793 against priests amenable to depor-
tation or imprisonment will be executed within twenty-four hours of
the promulgation of the present decree, and such public functionaries
as shall be convicted of negligence in the execution of the said laws
will be condemned to two years' imprisonment. The orders of the
Committees of the Convention and of the representatives of the people
on mission contrary to those laws are annulled."

These laws were severe ; too horribly severe. The
tribunals did not apply them, although, in a circular
dated the 23rd of Nivose of the year IV, the Directory
had imperatively demanded their application. Briot
might well say, as he did, before the Council of Five
Hundred, without exposing himself to any risk of denial,
that before the 1 8th of Fructidor not one of the priests
amenable to these laws had ever been condemned (the
2 1 St of Brumaire of the year VII). So the priests
continued to return to France, to carry on there a propa-
ganda contrary to the principles of the Revolution ;
so that in almost all the disturbances which the Direc-
tory had to suppress the hand of the refractory priest
was discovered. The law of the 3rd of Ventose of the
year III forbade the ringing of bells ; but the bells
were still rung in the country districts. In vain did
the law of the 22nd of Germinal of the year IV declare
penalties against the ringing of bells ; the bells were
still heard. To the republicans of those times these
bells were the tocsin of insurrection against the

76 POLICIES BEFORE 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

Republic. For the peasants, there was no religion
without the ringing of bells. This quarrel on the
subject of bells was one of the causes of the success
of the moderates in the elections of the year V.

The Directory, almost from the outset, showed far
more animosity towards the Papist priests than the
Committee of Public Safety of the year II had exhibited.
In the instructions to its commissaries (in Frimaire of
the year IV) it denounced these priests as agents of
royalism, and relentlessly instructed its own agents
to fight them' : " Balk their treacherous schemes by
a continual and active supervision ; thwart their
measures, hamper their movements, wear out their
patience. . . ." It denounced what we should call
the clerical peril in numerous messages to the two
Councils.

Although all the Papist priests were at one in decrying
to the faithful certain laws of the Republic, such as that
of divorce, or in troubling the consciences of those
who had acquired ecclesiastical property, they were not
all at one as to opposing the Republic for the benefit
of the monarchy. There was a group of opportunists,
of whom a distinguished priest, the Abbe Emery, was
the inspiring force. He advised against the policy of
allying the cause of the Church with that of Louis XVIII,
and counselled the recognition of the Republic, the
giving of the promise exacted by the law of the 7th of
Vendemiaire of the year IV. The victories of Bona-
parte in Italy stimulated this movement by rendering
the chances of restoration more uncertain. The oppor-
tunists had a periodical organ, the Annales religieuses,
to which Abbe Sicard contributed : a type of the
opportunist. They made advances toward the ex-
Constitutionals, speaking vaguely of reconciliation ; and
in the meantime they skilfully relieved them of some
part lof their congregations. Several bishops of the
ancien regime authorised or even requested their priests

PROJECTS OF CONCILIATION 77

to submit to the Republic ; among others, the Arch-
bishop of Paris, Mgr. de Juign6.

After the invasion of the Papal States by Bonaparte
and the conclusion of the armistice of Boulogne (on
the 5th of Messidor of the year IV), the Pope sent to
Paris an official negotiator, the Conte Pierachi, with
conciliatory instructions and a projected pastoral, dated
July 5, 1796, in which he counselled Catholics to accept
the Republic, and to submit to the established autho-
rities. At this moment there were vague projects of
a concordat. Bonaparte, a supporter of the concordat
by principle, perhaps had not dreamed of establishing
it until the day when he should be master of France
(if at that time his dreams were so precise). The
Directory, we have seen, would have preferred that
Bonaparte should have profited by the occasion to
destroy the temporal sovereignty of the Pope entirely,
and thus to lead up to the destruction of the Roman
Church. In any case the negotiations came to nothing ;
and in the treaty of Tolentino (dated the ist of Ventose
of the year V) there was no question save of temporal
interests.

All projects of conciliation, moreover, were opposed
by the majority of the clergy of the old regime ; an
insurgent, royalist majority, who followed the instruc-
tions of Louis XVIII, in which it was stated that "to
submit to the laws of the Republic was to revolt
against legitimate authority, to meddle with sacrilege
and brigandage, to become an accomplice of all the
revolutionary crimes, and to carry scandal and abomina-
tion into the sanctuary." These rebellious priests also
had an organ, the Annates cathotiques, in which the
Abb6 de Boulogne carried on a bitter campaign against
the opportunists.

Although opposed and hampered by the rebels, the
policy of the opportunists was not without effect. Thus,
the Elders (on the 9th of Fructidor of the year IV)

78 POLICIES BEFORE 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

rejected a resolution of the Five Hundred (of the 17th
of FloreaV) which enacted fresh measures against the
priests. I

Shortly afterwards the Five Hundred themselves

' Or rather this revolution enacted measures for putting the laws of
1792 and 1793 into useful and vigorous operation. This is how the
reporter, Drulhe, onthe 9th of Floreal, defined the "clerical question " :
" You have been desirous and will always be desirous that every
citizen should be free to profess in peace such religious opinions as
please him ; for you know that liberty consists in being able to do what
is not otherwise harmful. But you have not been, nor ever will be,
desirous that religious opinions should be employed to excite men to
revolt against legitimate authority and to light in their midst the torch
of internal discord. The legislator is a stranger to the affairs of the
other world ; but he is entrusted with the maintenance of tranquillity in
this. Therefore it is not as priests that you attack these men who
preach civil war in the name of a god of peace, and trample upon the
sovereignty of the people in the name of the king ; but you will punish
them as bad citizens, as rebels against the laws of the country. You
are not persecutors, but, like all this world's governments, you have the
right to refuse to tolerate those who persecute you." The arguments
of the other side are well summed up in this passage of a speech by
Darracq on the 12th of Floreal : "According to the new order of
things in France, the State no longer recognising any religion, we can
no longer deal with priests as priests, but with rabbis, bonzes, and
ministers of all the other religions. Now I ask of the Commission what
it means by refractory priests ? Doubtless it means the ministers of
the Catholic religion, who, disdaining the civil constitution of the clergy,
have refused to take the oath which it exacts. But since it has been
shown that this constitution, and the whole system then prevalent,
were monstrosities and an insult to reason ; since the revolution which
has led up to the Republic has cast all these fantasies into nothingness,
how can the Commission admit the supposition that there still exist,
for you, priests ? . . ." Rouyer replied that priests were those who
formed themselves into a caste. Therefore a special law was required
against them. The nobles also formed a caste, but could be seized and
punished, " Perhaps the priest can be proceeded against with equal
ease ? It is in the heart of a fanatical family that he spreads his
poison of error and superstition ; it is in the secret tribunal, which he
calls the confessional, that he terrifies the weak, leads astray the
credulous, and incites the timorous mind against a government which
he depicts as given over to sacrilege and atheism."

THE CATHOLICS AND THE COUNCILS 79

appeared to relent with regard to the Papist clergy.
A law of the 1 4th of Frimaire of the year V (a resolu-
tion of the 1 6th of Brumaire) repealed, amongst other
articles of the law of the 3rd of Brumaire of the
year IV, that Article 10 which ordered the prompt
execution of the laws of 1792 and 1793.

But as ChoUet stated afterwards, on the 14th of
Frimaire of the year III, from the tribune of the Five
Hundred, " to repeal the dispositions of a law which
merely ordered the execution of other laws not yet
repealed, and not to repeal those laws themselves, was
a kind of monstrosity in legislation ; besides which, the
authorities did not know what to go by."

The great success of the opportunist Catholics was
the result of the elections of Germinal of the year V,
which led to the formation, in the two Councils, of
a majority which we call royalist, but which would more
correctly be called Catholic.

The Council of Five Hundred, thus renewed, ap-
pointed a commission to revise the politico-religious
laws. It was in the name of this commission that the
most eloquent of the opportunist Catholics, Camille
Jordan, made, on the 29th of Prairial of the year V,
a celebrated report. He spoke of the Catholic religion
with an emotional sensibility, but he did not ask for it
anything but what seemed to him, under the circum-
stances, possible. His report was, so to speak, a
minimum programme of Catholic claims, divided into
four parts' : Firstly, he demanded that the faithful
should be able to choose their ministers according to
their will : that is, to choose refractory priests ; '

* " What have you heard," said Jordan, " in the primary and electoral
assembUes ? What advice was mingled with the touching demands
with which you were surrounded ? Everywhere your fellow-citizens
claimed the free exercise of all religions ; everywhere these good and
simple men, who fill our country districts and make the earth fruitful
by their useful labours, held their supplicating hand toward the fathers

80 POLICIES BEFORE 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

secondly, that no promise, nor oath, nor declaration of
any kind whatever should be exacted ; i thirdly, that
bells might be rung ; 2 fourthly, that each cult should
have its own burial-ground. The project presented
by Camille Jordan also ratified the system of separation
and the lay State. It prohibited " collective donations,
which would recall the abolished corporations, and per-
petual donations, which would result in the accumula-
tion," said the speaker, " of property of a kind you
have determined to proscribe." That the different cults
should shut themselves up in their temples ; that the
priests should wear no ecclesiastical costume save in
the temples ; such were Jordan's concessions, and in
case of infraction he proposed penalties of which the
heaviest would be six months' imprisonment.

On the 8th of Messidor of the year V, Dubruel read
a report recommending the abrogation of the laws
against the non-juring priests.

The Council discussed these two projects of the 20th
and the 27th of Messidor of the year V. General
Jourdan made a lively attack upon the Papist priests,
the cause of the Vendeean rebellion.

of the people, while demanding that they should at last be allowed to
follow the religion of their hearts in peace, to choose their ministers at
will, and to rest in the bosom of their most sacred customs, from all the
evils they have suffered."

' He states that "when revolutions are consummated the Catholics
transfer to the new government all the religious obedience which they
gave the old."

' " They have forbidden the bells ; they still ring. The law is
obeyed only in the towns : it is generally violated in the country, and
no religion dominates others by their means, and no insurrection is
rung in by them. The sole abuse they present to-day is the failure of
an existing law ; it is a scandal which it is important to end by with-
drawing the cause. Finally, the repeal of this law is everywhere
solicited. These bells are not only useful to the people ; they are dear
to it ; they are one of the most sensible delights which their religion
presents. Will you refuse the people this innocent pleasure ? It is
good, for human legislators, to be able to grant the wishes of the
multitude at so small a cost."

ATTACKS UPON CATHOLICISM 81

" Why cannot I summon here the shades of those brave defenders of
their country, immolated before royalty by fanaticism ? They will
tell you that those who wielded the steel or launched the lead that
struck them down were directed by the -priests, who wished to re-
establish royalty for their own benefit ; they will tell you that the
inhabitants of the countryside, worthy and credulous, threw them-
selves, crying, ' Vive le rot ! ' upon the bayonets and the artillery, with a
tenacity and a coolness which can only be produced by fanaticism.
But you, brave soldiers, who have left limbs on the field of battle, come
hither and tell your legislators how those of you who fell into the
hands of these rebels were bound to their cannon, and in that cruel
position were exposed to the fire of your comrades ; and that these
cruelties were committed to the sound of cries a thousand times
reiterated of ' Vive le roi ! Vive la religion catholique ! ' Tell them of what
these people led astray by fanaticism are capable, and induce them to
take the necessary measures to prevent the return of such horrible
scenes."

The Catholics found a brilliant defender in Lemerer,
who on the 21st of Messidor delivered an enthusiastic
eulogy of " the ancient religion of our fathers " (and
whose expressions became celebrated).' We see clearly
that at heart he wished to oppose the Declaration of
Rights by the Catechism ; the Revolution by the
Church. The discussion grew keen. Boulay (of
Meurthe) at the same session affirmed that the Roman
Catholics, who had a " foreign prince " for leader,
were more dangerous than the other sects. Eschas-
seriaux the elder cried, on the 23rd of Messidor: " You
who are for ever speaking of the religion of our
fathers — no, never will you lead us back to absurd
beliefs, idle prejudices, and a delirious supersti-
tion. . . ." " Violent protests," says the Moniteur,
" interrupted the speaker. Jordan and Delahaye, secre-
taries, demanded permission to speak. ' I protest,' said

' By the tone of his eloquence and his apologetic methods, Lemerer
is a sort of precursor of Chateaubriand. See in the Moniteur (p. 1188)
the long period in one of his speeches commencing with the words,
" Reason has already overthrown the altars raised by Folly to
Reason. . . ."

VOL. IV. 6

82 POLICIES BEFORE 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

Eschasseriaux, ' that I meant to say nothing to outrage
the Cathohc religion ; I wished to speak of the super-
stitious practices with which it has been deformed,' "
Lemarque also opposed Lemerer :

" The god of their fathers," he said, " was the god of Philippe II, of
Charles IX, of Catherine de Medicis." "Ah ! we do not want this God
of their fathers, for their fathers were barbarians who misconceived and
outraged the true God, and who made Him in their image. The true
God is the God of tolerance, wisdom, and humanity ; not of this
humanity which preaches vengeance, assassination and civil war, but of
the humanity which inspires concord, the extinction of hatred, the
forgetfulness of injuries, and respect for the established government."

Royer-Collard defended the Catholics (on the 26th of
Messidor), and demanded " justice " for them. " To
the ferocious cries of demagogy invoking audacity^
and next, audacity, and then yet again audacity, repre-
sentatives of the people/' he said, " you will at last
reply by this conciliatory and triumphant cry, which
will resound throughout all France : Justice, and next,
justice, and then yet again justice ! "

The Five Hundred voted on the 27th a resolution
abrogating the laws against the refractory priests. The
Elders approved, almost unanimously, on the 7th *of
Fructidor of the year V.^

In thus repealing the laws against the priests the
Legislature violently contravened the wishes of the
Directory, which in a message of the 23rd of Thermidor
had once more denounced " the insolence of the emi-
grants and the refractory priests, who, recalled and

' Was a declaration to be required of the ministers of religion ? No,
decided the Five Hundred, voting by "sitting and standing," on the
27th of Messidor, There were protests, and uproarious demands for
the roll-call. This appeal took place on the 28th, and 210 votes against
204 decided that a declaration should be required. What declaration ?
Dubruel, in the name of a special commission, on the loth of Fructidor,
proposed this : " I promise submission to the Government of the
French Republic." The coup d'etat of the i8th of Fructidor came
before anything was settled in the matter.

THE "CLERICAL PERIL" 83

openly favoured, are overflowing the country on every
hand, fanning the fires of discord, and inspiring con-
tempt for the laws."

The law of the 7th of Fractldor and the " clerical
peril " which seemed to result from it were among the
reasons that decided the Directory upon a coup d'etat.

VII.

The new majority in the Legislative Corps opposed
the Directory not merely on religious grounds ; there
was a continual war of bickering upon all matters ; for
example, on the subject of expenditure, especially mili-
tary expenditure, in which department there had
certainly been malversation and abuses. The Govern-
ment believed that a royalist plot was in process of
formation. It is certain that the deputies and Generals
Pichegru and Willot had an understanding with the
Pretender. If there was a conspiracy to place
Louis XVIII on the throne, they were its ringleaders ;
but they hesitated, held back by constitutional obstacles,
and by the state of public opinion, which they saw to
be as hostile to royalty as it was at the time of the
Terror.

The Directory seemed to be reduced to a state in
which it was impossible to govern ; not only through
the opposition of the Legislature, but because it was
itself divided into two hostile groups. This division is
attested by the official proces-verbal of the session of
the Directory of the 28th of Messidor (of the year V),
in which Carnot, in the name of the majority of the
Legislative Corps, proposes the dismissal of four
Ministers' : Merlin (of Douai), Ramel-Nogaret, Charles
Delacroix, and Truguet, Barthelemy was alone in con-
tending, with Carnot, that the Legislature could inter-
vene in the choice of Ministers. Except for the dismissal
of Delacroix and Truguet, which was voted unanimously,

84 POLICIES BEFORE 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

in all the other votes of maintenance, dismissal, or
appointment which that day were taken, it was by three
votes, always the same, against two, always the same,
that the decisions were effected. The intervention of
Carnot had no other result than the bestowal of the
portfolios of Foreign Affairs, the Interior, War, and
the Marine upon men on whom the majority of the
Directory could absolutely rely.

From thenceforth scission was inevitable. On the
one hand were Carnot and Barthelemy, and on the other
Barras, La Revelliere-Lepeaux, and Reubell. The Two
believed neither in the clerical peril nor the royalist
peril ; and Carnot wished to oppose the factions only
by means of laws. The Three believed in these perils,
and saw no other means of exorcism than a coup d' etat.

This was especially the belief of Barras ; an active,
perspicacious, unscrupulous man. He first of all applied
to General Hoche. In Thermldor of the year V a
portion of the army of Sambre-et-Meuse, under the
pretext of going to reinforce that on the coast, passed
very near the constitutional circle traced round Paris,
which no army was allowed to enter. This movement,
denounced in the Council of Five Hundred, was aban-
doned. But the majority of the Directory did not
abandon the idea of a military coup d'etat, and the
various armies sent in addresses threatening the
royalists ; especially the Army of Italy, commanded
by Bonaparte, who entered fully into the Directorial
plans, and sent to Paris, to act as his agent there, his
Heutenant, Augereau, who was appointed commandant
of the 17th military division. On the other hand, the
republican democrats (ex -Jacobins, Terrorists, &c.)
were reconciled with the Directory as opposed to the
Councils, and the idea of a coup d'etat was approved,
not only by the ardent republicans, but by those more
moderate, such as Bailleul, and by liberals such as
Benjamin Constant, the friend and lover of Mme. de

NECESSITY OF A COUP U^TAT 85

Stael. Practically all patriots were of opinion that
without a new 31st of May the Republic would be lost
and the monarchy restored. The royalists and the
moderates of the two Councils were on their side pre-
paring for a new 9th of Thermidor against those whom
it called the Triumvirs, and whom they reproached for
their external politics, their dreams of gigantic terri-
torial aggrandisement, which, so they said, retarded
the conclusion of a final peace with Austria. These
malcontents had generals — Pichegru and Willot — but
no soldiers but the small guard of the Legislative Corps.
It was to procure more that they voted for a law
which, by reorganising the national guard in an anti-
republican spirit, gave them means of resistance or
attack {Fractidor the 13th).

The Directory then decided to act. The conspirators
knew as much ; they obsessed Carnot with their solicita-
tions, promising him, in the King's name, the highest
rewards. Carnot refused " : he remained neutral. On
the 17th of Fractidor the leaders of the majority in
the Five Hundred decided to vote the impeachment of
Barras, Reubell, and La Revelliere-Lepeaux on the fol-
lowing day. In case of resistance on the part of these
three Directors, Pichegru and Willot would march upon
the Luxembourg with the Guard of the Legislative Corps
and the old insurgents of Vendemiaire. At eight o'clock
in the evening the three threatened Directors voted
themselves " in permanent session," without convoking
Carnot or Barthelemy. They had already expurgated
the members of the twelve Parisian municipalities, and
of several departmental administrations, had added to
Bonaparte's powers the command of the army of the
Alps, and sent for General Moreau, whose sentiments
were doubtful, to come to Paris. The barriers of Paris
were closed ; the alarm-gun was fired ; General
Augereau set out to occupy the locality in which the

' See the memoirs of the Chevalier de la Rue, ed. 1895, pp. 34-37.

86 POLICIES BEFORE 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

two Councils sat. Notwithstanding this, some of the
deputies of the majority tried to assemble there ;
Augereau dispersed some and made prisoners of others.
Barthelemy was arrested. Carnot, being warned,
escaped. Placards, posted throughout Paris, announced
that " any individual who should permit himself to
call for royalty, the Constitution of 1793, or d'Orleans "
would be instantly shot down. A Directorial proclama-
tion announced the discovery of a conspiracy in favour
of Louis XVIII, and published evidence relative to the
secret understanding of Pichegru with the Pretender ;
evidence which proved Pichegru's treason beyond all
possibility of doubt.

On the 1 8th of Fructidor, at nine in the morning,
in pursuance of an order of the Directory, those
members of the two Councils who had been left to
their freedom assembled ; the Five Hundred at the
Odeon, the Elders at the ifccole de Sante (now the
School of Medicine). The Five Hundred appointed
a Commission of five members, in order to safeguard
the public tranquillity and the Constitution of the
year HI, received messages from the Directory con-
cerning the royalist plot ; discussing and voting, during
a permanent session which lasted from the i8th to
the 2 1 St, various extraordinary measures, which the
Elders, after some hesitation, decided to confirm. This
was the revolutionary law of the 19th of Fructidor.
We have already seen that this law annulled the opera-
tions of the electoral assemblies in forty-nine depart-
ments. Besides this sixty-five citizens were condemned
to deportation ; namely, the following members of the
Five Hundred : Aubry, J. J. Ayme, Bayard, Blain
(Bouches-du-Rhone), Boissy d'Anglas, Borne, Bour-
don (Oise), Cadroy, Coucheri, Delahaye (Seine-Infe-
rieure), de La Rue, Doumere, Dumolard, Duplantier,
Duprat, Gibert-Desmolieres, Henry-Lariviere, Imbert-
Colomes, Camille Jordan, Jourdan (Bouches-du-

PROSCRIPTIONS 87

Rhone), Gau, Lacarriere, Lemarchand - Gomicourt,
Lemerer, Mersan, Madier, Maillard, Noailles, Andre,
(Lozere), Mac -Curtain, Pavie, Pastoret, Pichegru,
Polissart, Praire-Moutaud, Quatremere-Quincy, Saladin,
Simeon, Vauvilliers, Vienot-Vaublanc, Villaret-Joyeuse,
Willot ; the following members of the Elders : Barbe-
Marbois, Dumas, Ferrand-Vaillant, Laffont-Ladebat,
Lomont, Muraire, Murinais, Paradis, Portalis, Rovere,
Tronson-Ducoudray ; the Directors Carnot and Bar-
thelemy ; the royalist conspirators Brottier, La Vil-
leurnoy, Duverne de Presle ; the ex -Minister of Police
Charles Cochon ; the policier Dossonville ; Generals
Miranda and Morgan ; the journalist Suard ; the ex-
Conventional Mailhe ; and Ramel, commandant of the
Grenadiers of the Legislative Corps. Among these
prescripts, forty-eight could not be arrested, and
seventeen were deported to Guiana. i

We have already analysed nearly all the other pro-
visions of this law. All individuals inscribed on the
list of emigres, and not finally expunged, were obliged
to leave the country on pain of death. The law of
the 7th of Fructidor, which recalled the deported
priests, was revoked ; and the Directory was invested
with the right of deporting any priests who should
cause trouble. All ministers of religion were obliged
to take the oath of hatred of royalty, &c. The police
might prohibit journals. The law of the 7th of the
preceding Thermidor, which prohibited clubs, was re-
pealed ; as well as those of the i 5 th of Thermidor and
the 13th of Fructidor concerning the National Guard.
The Directory resumed the right of placing a commune

' These seventeen were : Ayme, who was recalled on the 5th of
Nivose of the year VIII ; Pichegru, Ramel, Willot, Laffont-Ladebat,
Barthelemy, de La Rue, Dossonville, Barbe-Marbois, who escaped ;
Murinais, Tronson-Ducoudray, Gibert-Desmoliures, Bourdon, La
Villeurnoy, Rovere, Abbe Brottier, who died in Guiana, and Aubry,
who died in the course of flight.

88 POLICIES BEFORE 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

in a state of siege?; a right which the Legislative
Corps had contested.

There was soon bloodshed ; military commissions,
sitting in thirty-two cities, pronounced some i6o
sentences of death.

Finally, as we have seen, Merlin (of Douai) and
Frangois (of Neufchateau) replaced Carnot and Bar-
th^lemy in the Directory.

CHAPTER II

THE RELIGIOUS POLICY, OPINIONS, AND PARTIES
AFTER THE i8th OF FRUCTIDOR

I. The religious policy : Catholicism. — II. The religious policy : the
Decadal cult; Theophilanthropy. — III. Royalism. — IV. Directorial
Republicans and Democratic Republicans. The law of the 22nd
of Floreal of the year VI (May 11, 1798). — V. Opposition to the
Directory. The insurrection of the 30th of Pratrial of the year
VII (July 18, 1799). — VI. Reappearance of the Terror. — VII.
Resurrection of the Jacobins.

Since the coup (Vetat of the i8th of Fructidor was
determined, above all, by the consciousness of the
"clerical peril" to which the proceedings of the new
majority in the Councils exposed the Republic, it jis
natural, first of all, to consider the period which
followed on the coup (Vetat from the politico-religious
point of view.

The clerical peril resided more especially in the
intrigues of the Papist priests.

The law of the 19th of Fructidor imposed the
obligation of " taking the oath of hatred of royalty
and anarchy, of attachment and fidelity to the Republic
and the Constitution of the year III " on all ministers
of religion. On the part of the Papist clergy this oath
obtained fewer adherents than had the promise exacted
by the law of the 7th of Vendemiaire of the year IV ;
none the less, a large number of priests did take it.

90 POLICIES AFTER 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

Emery advised them to take it. The Bishops of
Marseilles and of Lugon, MM. de Belloy and de Mercy,
gave the same advice to the priests of their dioceses.
In Paris the majority of the Papist priests took the
oath with at least the tacit consent of the Archiepis-
copal Council. Even in the department of La Vendee
there were Papist priests who swore ; about one-fifth
of the whole. The Pope refused to condemn the oath.

There were enough of these new " jurors " to allow
of the subsistence of the " Papist " cult after the i8th
of Fractidor. This cult was strictly supervised by the
Directory, which embarrassed it in its very develop-
ment. Thus in Paris, in the year VI, the central
administration of the Seine closed the oratories, by
an order dated the 14th of Floreal; on the pretext
that in a commune in which the members of the various
sects were allowed a fixed number of churches by the
law of the 14th of Prairlal of the year III, it wasi
impossible for the Papists to occupy other buildings
for purposes of worship. Worship was not forbidden
them in private houses, since the law of the 7th of
Vendemiaire permitted it on condition that " besides
the persons having the same domicile there was not,
on the occasion of these ceremonies, an assemblage of
more than ten persons." The central administration
of Seine, learning that there were assemblies of more
than two hundred persons meeting in private houses
which contained a number of separate households,
decided " that only individuals occupying the same
domicile, and composing the same household, may be
admitted to private oratories, together with persons
from without, including the ministers of religion ; but
that all those persons may not be admitted who while
lodged in the same house do not form part of the
same household."

The congregations of the various oratories thus
closed flowed immediately to the eight churches in

THE "PAPISTS" 91

which the Papist clergy had continued to officiate in
Paris during the period which followed the 1 8th of
Friictidor ; the churches, namely, of Saint -Gervais,
Saint-Thomas -Aquinas, Saint-Philippe du Roule, .Saint-
Laurent, Saint-Eustache, Saint-Jacques-du-Haut-Pas,
Saint-Roch, and Saint-Nicolas-des-Champs. A police
report of the 8th of Messldor of the year VI states
that this Cult was followed with a " kind of fury " ;
notably at Saint-Gervais and Saint-Jacques-du-Haut-
Pas. " The former, on the last Catholic festival, held
about three thousand persons."

The rule was to allow those priests who had taken
the oath to exercise their functions. Those who
attempted to exercise them without taking the oath
were arrested. Thus in Messldor of the year VI the
churches of Saint-Gervais and Saint-Eustache remained
closed in the morning during the hours reserved for
Catholics, because non-juring priests had officiated
there. They remained closed for a week ; until sworn
priests applied for them. Other Papist priests were
surprised in offering up public prayers for the King
and Queen ; they were arrested. A former Constitu-
tional priest, the Abbe Audrein, proposed to the
Directory (in Messidor of the year VI) to profit by
these individual ofifences by closing all the churches ;
to the actual profit of the other Catholic sect. This
was also the advice of Dupui, commissary of the
Directory to the central administration of the depart-
ment of Seine. In a report dated Prairial of the year VI,
he proposed to send police agents in disguise to confess
themselves to Papist priests. If in this way it was
discovered that all the confessionals were employed
in attempting to disgust the faithful with the Republic
and its laws, the whole Papist cult could be prohibited.

The Directory remained deaf to these counsels ; the
sworn Papist priests continued to officiate both in Paris
and in the departments.

92 POLICIES AFTER 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

The question now arose as to whether those should
be invited to take the oath who had refused or violated
the oaths previously exacted. In a circular directed
to the departmental commissaries (dated the 20th of
Ve tide mi aire of the year VI) Sotin, the Minister of
Police, declared that those ecclesiastics who had re-
fused the oath of adhesion to liberty and equality must
not be permitted to take the present oath. W^ere these
alone to be refused? .Were those to be admitted to
the oath who had not taken the oath exacted in relation
to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, or those who
had refused to give the promise exacted by the law
of the 7th of Vendemiaire of the year IV? In this
matter there was no established doctrine, no settled
rule. On the 23rd of Nivose of the year VI the Five
Hundred rejected a proposal, arising from a speech of
Gay-Vernon's, to the effect that ecclesiastics desirous
of taking the oath of the 19th of Fructidor should
no longer be objected to on account of their former
opposition to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy.

The result of this incoherent policy was to leave in
peace those ecclesiastics who remained quiet and to
proscribe or deport the rest.

By Article 24 of the law of the 19th of Fructidor
of the year V the Directory had been " invested with
the right to deport, by means of orders individually
justified, such priests as should trouble the public peace
in the interior." This amounted to a species of anti-
clerical dictatorship which neither the Committee of
Public Safety nor the Committee of General Security
had exercised. The anti -religious " persecution," so
often referred to in Catholic histories of the Directorial
period, consisted principally in the application of this
Article 24.

The only limit to the will of the Directory was the
legal obligation of issuing individual orders of arrest ;
it was not to deport all the priests of any given district

DEPORTATION OF PRIESTS 93

as a whole. It pursued the latter course only in the
case of the Belgian clergy, when it ordered the simul-
taneous deportation of eight thousand priests as agents
of the anti-French propaganda. In the old French
departments there was no violation of this law ; but
the Directory sometimes evaded it to a certain extent
by issuing identical orders of arrest against a number
of persons. On the 3rd of Vendemiaire of the year VI,
for example, it issued the following order :

" The executive of the Directory, being informed that Philippe Bar,
ex-vicar-generai of Saint-Die, dwelling at Charmes, in the canton of
Cliarmes, department of the Vosges, is waving the brand of fanaticism
in the district he resides in and in the parts contiguous ; that he is
there employing all possible means of corrupting the public mind and
of royalising the weak inhabitants of the country ; that it is impossible,
without danger to the internal tranquillity of the Republic, to suffer
that he should continue to dwell on its soil, orders," &c. . . .

On the same day fifteen orders of arrest identically
the same as that which was issued against Philippe Bar
were issued against fifteen other priests of the same
department ; identically the same except in one
instance, when the additional charge was formulated
that the offender, one Charles Barret, was " preventing
soldiers from rejoining their corps."

Here are some further examples of these incentives
to deportation :

On the 28th of Frimalre of the year VI a priest of
the department of Rhone was deported by the Directory,
actuated by this report of the Minister of Police :

" A ci-devant cure, who is said to have been deported, Cabuchet by
name, returned two years ago to the commune of Saint-Bonnet-le-
Troncy. He preaches there ; officiates in public every day, to the
sound of his bell ; he attracts to his sermons the inhabitants of the
neighbouring communes, and even visits them on his missions,
making the most seditious and inflammatory speeches. Before the
i8th of Fnictidor he was openly warning the wives of those who had
acquired national property to induce their husbands to make good
their escape, if they wished to keep them from the gallows. Finally,

94 POLICIES AFTER 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

in concert with another cure of whose name I have not yet been
informed, he has reduced the unhappy farmers to such a state of
fanaticism that since the passing of the law of the 19th of Frudidor,
one of them who had made a deposit in the matter of a purchase of
grain from some citizens who were the holders of national property,
has forfeited his deposit to them, saying that his wife had threatened to
leave his house if he brought in any emigres' corn. The conduct of this
priest tending only to trouble the public peace, I propose, Citizen
Directors, that you should order him to be deported."

During the same month of Frimalre the following
orders of deportation were issued on the report of the
local commissary and of the Minister of Police : against
Thomas, priest of Saint-Claude, who after abdicating
his functions in 1793 had resumed them without com-
plying with the laws of the 7th of Vendemiaire of the
year IV and the 19th of Fructidor of the year V ; who
was, moreover, denounced as corrupting public opinion ;
against Hardy, ex-principal of the College of Saintes,
who professed to be furnished with plenary powers
from the Pope, for having " fanaticised a great part
of the inhabitants of this commune, for having induced
sworn priests to retract, and for having prevented un-
sworn priests from making the declaration prescribed
by the law of the 7th of Vendemiaire " ; against Vallee,
ex-rector of Plouhinec, as having been the " butcher
of patriots " during the civil war ; against Pelissier,
priest of Cuxac-Cabardes (Aude), for wearing vest-
ments and going in procession outside the temple (he
had persisted after warning) ; against Legallieres,
priest of Varces (Isere), for having officiated without
having taken the oath.

For these offences — some vague, others definite — how
many ecclesiastics were condemned to deportation by
Government orders? 1,448 in the year VI ; 209 in
the years VII and VIII up to the i8th of Brumaire ;
altogether 1,657. So much for Old France. In the
departments formed by the annexation of Belgium, 235
were condenmed by various orders later than the 14th

DEPORTATION OF PRIESTS 95

of Brumaire of the year VII, besides the 8,000 con-
demned by the order of that date ; a total of 8,235
for Belgium, or in all 9,892.1

It must not be supposed that all these priests were
really deported, nor even that all were arrested. Those
who were arrested (whose numbers we do not know)
were at first sent to Rochefort, then (on the 30th of
Germinal of the year VI) to the He de Re, and then
(on the 28th of Nivose of the year VII) to the He
d'Oleron. There were three convoys for Cayenne.

1. On the I St of Germinal of the year VI the
frigate La Charente set sail with 193 deported
prisoners, of whom 150 were ecclesiastics. The
Charente having been attacked and dismasted by the
English, the exiles were transferred to the Decade,
which landed them at Cayenne on the 21st of Prairlal.
They were settled at Conanama, an exceedingly
unhealthy spot. Less than two years later only 13
of those deported were alive.

2. On the 1 8th of Thermidor of the year VI the
Vaillante set sail with 51 exiles, of whom 25 were
priests. The ship was taken by the English,

3. On the 22nd of Thermidor of the year VI the
Bayonnaise set sail with 119, of whom 108 were
priests. Settled firstly at Conanama, they were trans-
ferred to Sinnamary (on the 29th of Brumaire of the
year VII), where the majority perished of sickness.
So if we subtract the 25 priests delivered by the
English, 258 were effectively transported. Those who
were not embarked, who were imprisoned at Rochefort,
on the He de Re, or the He d'Oleron, underwent great
sufferings, and a large number died. Besides the above

' These figures are according to M. Sciout {Le Direcloire, vol. iii.
p. 154), who has compiled a summary of the warrants of deportation in
the register and papers of the Directory. I myself have been unable
to undertake this lengthy task. If M. Sciout is violently prejudiced
against the Revolution, at least his researches are usually exact.

96 POLICIES AFTER 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

a few priests were here and there condemned to death
by mihtary commissions.

At no time did these individual persecutions pro-
duce the effect of a general interruption of the exer-
cise of the Roman Catholic religion, either in France
or in a single department even. But they did have
the effect of reducing the royalist priests to a state
of semi -impotence, and they prevented the counter-
revolutionary risings of the year VII from spreading
dangerously far. From another point of view, although
the Directory realised for a time its intention of de-
stroying the temporal power of the Pope, since that
power was replaced, from the 3rd of Nivose of the
year VI to the 8th of Vendemiare of the year VIII,
by the Roman Republic ; and although Pope Pius VI
died a prisoner of the French Republic (at Valence,
on the 1 2th of Fructidor of the year VIII), it did
not realise its design of destroying the Roman re-
ligion, the exercise of which it had to continue to
permit.

As for ci-devant constitutional clergy, we have seen
that at the moment of the coup d* Hat they were holding
their first National Council. Although the Council mis-
carried in its principal design — reconciliation with the
Pope — the schismatics came away better organised
despite themselves. For a time they seemed to pro-
gress as though benefited by the severity displayed
against their Papist rivals.' They firmly refused to

' There are no statistics of the Constitutional Church. But that one
of its ministers who has best described it, Gregoire, was a statistician
by taste and temperament. Figures abound, precise and varied, in his
references to other sects ; but he has given no figures, not even
approximate ones, relating to his own. I fancy he could not and also
that he would not. He did not care to reveal how far his own church
was in a minority as compared with the Papist Church. In 1834
Thibaudeau gave the numbers of this church as being 7,500,000 ; but
v/ithout proof. To what date do these capricious figures refer ? We
do not know ; but the numbers varied according to circumstances.

THE "CIVIL RELIGION" 97

transfer to the Decadl the ceremonies of their Sunday,
and after the end of the year VI they were embroiled
with the Directory on that account ; but the Directory
still favoured them at times, merely as a matter of
strategy, the better to oppose the Papist Church. In
reality the Directory menaced both these Catholic sects,
seeking to destroy them gradually, and to replace them
by a " civil religion," as it was then styled.

II.

The " civil " religion was the " decadal " worship
which was announced before the i8th of Fructidor,
and was already becoming established before that date
by means of the celebration' of many important national
festivals, whether political or philosophical. After the
19th of Fructidor the Directory methodically continued
its policy of substituting the decadal cult for
Catholicism.

Under the Terror orders of the representatives " on
mission " had in many departments rendered abstention
from work on the tenth day compulsory. Legally such
abstention was only compulsory for State administra-
tions. In Paris part of the population abstained on
the tenth day from civic motives ; but the abstention
on Sunday was much greater.

At first the Government tried to render the tenth day
of rest general, to the detriment of Sundays, by issuing
orders and circulars. On the 29th of Brumaire of
the year VI the Minister' of the Interior (Le Tourneux)
addressed a circular to the departmental and municipal
administrations inviting them to persuade the ministers
of the Catholic religion to consecrate the tenth instead
of the seventh day. " Here the request will suffice ;
with you more than advice will be necessary ; and you
must invoke the authority of the law. Moreover, reli-
gious fanaticism will oppose your attempts. Everywhere

VOL. IV. 7

98 POLICIES AFTER 18TH OF FRUCTWOR

almost you will have to contend with prejudice and
habit. Each of those obstacles must be overthrown
by different means ; I leave the choice to your intelli-
gence and your patriotism." This liberty of choice
resulted in the administrators of Allier treating the
priests who maintained the Sabbath as suspects, as
though the Terror was still at its height.' (Gr^goire
complained of this fact in the Council of Five Hundred,
on the 25th of Frimaire of the year VI.)

On the 14th of Germinal next an order of the Direc-
tory prescribed measures for the rigid observance of
the Republican calendar. The administrations and the
tribunals were to cease work punctually on each tenth
day ; the market days were to be fixed by the muni-
cipal administrations so as to refer in no way to the
old calendar, and especially so as to " break off all
connection between the fish markets and the days of
abstention of the old calendar." The central adminis-
trations were to regulate the fair-days of their respective
arrondissements by the Republican calendar. " They
will adhere as far as possible to the old dates, while
nevertheless taking care not to preserve them exactly,
and will take especial care that such days do not
correspond with the fete-days of the old calendar."

The departures of diligences ; the opening of sluices ;
the ,days of rest in workshops under the direction or
for the benefit of the Republic ; dances ; contracts ;
spectacles ; the dates of journals, &c. — all must be
regulated according to the Republican calendar.

In actual practice at least one municipal administra-
tion went farther than this : I refer to that of Brest,
which, on the 2nd of Floreal of the year VI, at the
request of the Directorial commissary,

"considering that for a long period the strict observation of the
Republican calendar had been recommended, but that such recom-

' In Paris an order of the Central Bureau of the canton forbade the
ostentatious observance of Sunday (5th of Frimaire, year VI).

THE TENTH DAY 99

mendations had for the most part proved useless, because one has
always been in opposition to the priest, who continued to observe the
Sundays and fete-days of the old calendar, and to mark those days by
particular ceremonies, which has contributed to perpetuate ancient
prejudices, and consequently to alienate the people from the Republican
regime prescribed by the law of the 4th of Friniaire of the year II,
ordained that, in order to obviate these inconveniences, the temples
of the two parts of this city should be kept closed on the days formerly
known as Sundays, and on fete-days observed by fasting by the sectaries
of the Catholic cult."'

For some time the Council of Five Hundred had
already been occupied with this question of the Decadl.
On the 3rd of Frlmaire of the year VI Dutrot (of
Nord) proposed that it should be declared obligatory,
and he formulated the proposal in terms which were
hostile to Christianity :

" While philosophy cries aloud to you to erase from the memory the
superstitious institutions of the priests, to establish others more
reasonable and more proper to republicans, pay such attention to its
voice that you will not misconceive the destinies preparing for the
French people, if, shaking off fanaticism of every kind, it will hence-
forth take reason alone for its guide."

On the 14th, reporting on his own motion, he protested
against those who had desired, with Lemerer, to place
the Republic under the aegis of " the religion of our
fathers." This religion was only for him " the pre-
judices of ouf fathers," " the superstitions of our
fathers."

" Ah, my colleagues," he said, " do not wait before acting to ask
what the prejudices of our fathers were ; let us act according to our
own knowledge and according to our own reason. Do not let us inquire
into the superstitions of our fathers, when the simplest good sense
commands us imperiously to destroy superstition ; let us dare, dare,
of our own strength, to say boldly that it afflicts humanity, and shatter
it to pieces in the hands of those who use it as a murderous weapon to
assassinate {sic) the progress of man towards philosophy and liberty."

' From the compilation entitled: Archives de la villc de Brest:
deliberations du Conseil municipal, vol. iv. pp. 423-4.

100 POLICIES AFTER 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

The debate upon the obligation to abstain from work
on the Decadi opened on the 25th of Frimaire of the
year VI. Gregoire alone was definitely hostile to
compulsion. Felix Faulcon was of opinion that there
was no need to establish such an obligation except
for the inhabitants of the central communities of the
cantons ; it would suffice to " invite " the people of
the rural districts to cease their labours on the tenth
day. Another deputy, Chapelain (of Vende), suggested
that there were better ways of honouring the tenth day
than by ceasing work. " Do not let us dishonour the
tenth day by slothfullising it {laughter) ; honour
it, on the contrary, by commercialising it {more
laughter).'" Supported by Monmayou, he proposed to
establish festivals on each tenth day. This motion,
accepted in principle, inspired two reports upon
" Decadal festivals " ; that of Dutrot and that of
Bonnaire (on the 4th of Germinal and the 19th of
Messidor of the year VI), in which the prevailing idea
was that of contending against the influence of the
Catholic religion by means of these festivals' : " Woe
to the French people," cried Dutrot, " if the influence
of its priests still fights against the influence of its
laws ; if its institutions still prevail against yours ! "

Two legislative debates — one on the means of making
the Decadi compulsory, and the other on the means
of celebrating it by means of festivals — were carried
on almost simultaneously, sometimes becoming actually
confused : and ended, the former in the laws of the
17th and the 23rd of Fructidor of the year VI (resolu-
tions of the 3rd and 21st of Thermidor), and the latter
in the law of the 13th of Fructidor of the year VI
(resolution of the 6th of Thermidor).

I . Obligation to abstain from labour on the tenth
day. — The prescriptions of the Directorial order of the
14th of the preceding Germinal were ratified and ex-
tended to other matters. Thus not only the " public

THE DECADAL CULT COMPULSORY 101

schools," but also the " private schools and boarding
establishments for both sexes," were required to rest
on the tenth day, and could not take a vacation on any
other day excepting the fifth day (which took the place
of Thursday in the new system). On the Decadi,
there would be no announcements, distraints, arrests
for debt, judicial executions or sales, nor executions of
criminals, nor labour in public places ot highways, nor
in view of public places or highways, excepting work
in the country districts during the time of sowing or
of harvest, and urgent labour specially authorised by
the administrative bodies. Shops, stores, workshops,
and factories were to be closed " without prejudice,
however, to the ordinary sale of eatables and pharma-
ceutical objects " ; all these matters being subjected
to the conditions of Article 603 of the code of offences
and penalties (ordinary police-court penalties). To
these conditions of the law of the 17th of Thermidor
of the year VI the law of the following 23rd of Fructidor
added certain others ; either in order to ratify the order
of the 14th of Germinal or finally to abolish the
Sabbath. The employment of or reference to the old
calendar in deeds and contracts, public or private, or
in periodicals, placards, or sign-boards, was forbidden.
Under no circumstances whatever was any but the new
calendar to be employed ; and the calendar henceforth
would be called the Annuaire de la Republique.

2. Decadal fetes. — Each Decadi, according to the
law of the 13th of Fructidor of the year VI, the
municipal administration, the commissary of the Direc-
tory, and the secretary, were to repair, in uniform, " to
the place chosen for the reunion of the citizens," and
there read aloud : Firstly, the laws and enactments of
the public authorities addressed to the administration
during the preceding decade of ten days ; secondly,
a " Decadal Bulletin of the general affairs of the Re-
public," containing also instances of " civism " and

UBRARY

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

RIVERSIDE

102 POLICIES AFTER 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

virtue, and " an instructive article on agriculture and
the mechanical arts." The celebration of marriages
would take place only on the Decadi, and in the same
place. The teachers of both sexes " of the schools
public or private " were expected to conduct their pupils
regularly to the place of assembly. Finally, each Decadi
would be celebrated by games and athletic exercises.

These laws being passed,' the Directory, with inde-
fatigable zeal, endeavoured to apply them all over
France, and this was the purpose and principal effort
of its internal policy. The quarrel between M. Dimanche
and the citizen D6cadi, as the pamphlets of those days
called it, was no other than the quarrel between the
Church and the secular State. The Directory had
henceforth against it in this quarrel not only the Papist
priests, but the former Constitutionals. The majority
refused to transfer their ceremonies from Sunday to
Decadi. We see, however, that in Vendemiaire of the
year VII, in the rural cantons of Seine, this transfer
was effected almost everywhere. But this was not to
last. The peasants clung to their Sunday even more
tenaciously than the priests. It would seem, to judge
from the few existing monographs, that over the whole
mass of rural France the celebration of Sunday con-
tinued, despite the efforts of the Directorial commis-

* In the short debates which took place in the Council of Elders on
the subject of these laws, the anti-Christian feeling seemed weaker
than in the lower chamber. Thus Brothier, deputy from Saint-
Domingue to the Council of Elders, expounded, in a liberal rather
than an anti-Christian spirit, the superior advantages of a day of rest
on which all the citizens should assemble and which itself was
not sectarian. If all citizens were forced to rest on the tenth day, all
apparent preference accorded to one religion or another would be
abolished. On the other hand Rabaut the younger, a Protestant, was
sensible that the scheme of decadal festivals threatened all revealed
religion to some extent. He regretted that the Government would
not make use of the "vehicle of religion" in order to inspire "love
of the good, the just, the honest."

THE DECADAL CULT ESTABLISHED 103

saries. It is true that the peasants more or less
zealously rested on the Decadi as well. But the desired
result — that is, the general and voluntary substitution
of the Decadi for the Sabbath — was not obtained.

The parish church was usually the place chosen for
the celebration of the decadal ceremonies ; and the
same building was more often than otherwise used
on other days by the other sects. The central
administration of Seine (on the second complementary
day of the year VI) ordained that each of the twelve
municipalities of Paris should celebrate the decades
in one of the fifteen churches reopened for the use
of the citizens. On a Decadi the exercise of other
cults had to terminate in these churches at half-past
eight in the morning, and could not be resumed until
the termination of the decadal fetes, provided that
was not later than six in winter and eight in summer.
During the presence of the municipal administration
the signs or symbols of other religions had to be
removed or covered over ; and during the celebration
of the Decadi no one could appear in the churches in
any costume peculiar to religious ceremonies.

The fifteen churches in use by the citizens lost their
ancient names, and were renamed as follows, by the
order of the central administration of Seine, dated the
22nd of Vendemiaire of the year VI L :

Saint-Philippe-du-Roule : Temple of Concord.
Saint -Roch : Temple of Genius. Saint -Eustache :
Temple of Agriculture. Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois :
Temple of Gratitude. Saint-Laurent : Temple of Age.
Saint-Nicolas-des -champs : Temple of Hymen. Saint-
Merri' : Temple of Commerce. Sainte-Marguerite :
Temple of Liberty and Equality. Saint-Gervais :
Temple of Youth. Notre Dame : Temple of the
Supreme Being. Saint Thomas Aquinas : Temple
of Peace. Saint-Sulpice : Temple of Victory. Saint-
Jacques-du-Haut-Pas : Temple of Beneficence. Saint-

104 POLICIES AFTER 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

Medard : Temple of Labour. Saint -]fctienne-du -Mont :
Temple of Filial Piety.

In general the decadal festivals were celebrated with
more curiosity than enthusiasm. The attendance of
citizens was mediocre. People were drawn chiefly by
the marriages ; in respect of which one of the most
interesting and authoritative pieces of evidence is that
of Dupin, Directorial commissary to the central ad-
ministration of Seine. This is how he gives his
impressions in a report submitted at the end of Vende-
miaire of the year VII :

" The decadal festivals have been celebrated with a degree of success
which, if not very complete, was at least extremely encouraging. A
few municipal agents had neglected to attend under different pretexts ;
the central administration sent for them and i^eprimanded them in
a paternal manner, by which they profited at the succeeding festivals.
Experience shows how right it was to insist that marriages should take
place at the decadal Assembly ; for on Dccadis when there are none
the temple is deserted. It must be admitted that so far our decadal
festivals present no other attraction ; if people are to come there must
be some kind of amusement, and the reading of the laws and the
Bulletin, which is written and edited in a very frigid style, is not
sufficient to offer them. The articles on rural economy interest the
villager, but hardly the townsman. A few experiments in physics,
as the Minister suggested in his circular to the Central Schools, would
produce a better effect. So far the fetes have passed off without
disturbance, for one must not dignify by that name a few ironical
murmurs occasioned by the marriage of an old woman, wearing a
girlish hat, to a deformed young man. I should not mention this
matter in a general report, had not some people on the look-out for
trouble announced that there was a disturbance in the Roch building
last Dccadi ; but I will mention another and far more interesting fact
which proves how very easy it is to undeceive the eyes of the people.
In a rural canton (Pierrefitte) a marriage had just been celebrated in
the decadal temple. The President had delivered a capital speech, the
ring had been presented (the villagers think a great deal of the pre-
sentation of the ring). The ceremony performed, one of those present
asked the commissary of the executive how much it cost to get married
in the Republican fashion. My colleague replied, loudly enough to be
heard by the whole assembly, that far from demanding money from
those it united in marriage, the Republic was fully repaid by the hope

PROGRESS OF THE NEW RELIGION 105

that the young people would give it children worthy of it ; but that
their cure would ask for money without adding anything to the
august ceremony of marriage. Thereupon the married pair and their
relations looked at each other, saying that the cure should do so no
longer, and gaily departed, taking their money with them. In this
canton the decadal solemnity has so impressed the inhabitants that
marriages celebrated in the new style are no longer submitted to the
" visa du cure," a formality which these good folk never failed to
observe in the case of marriages made before the agent of the com-
mune. This is by no means a contemptible advantage that philosophy
has won."

Dupont says farther on : "It seems to me that the
civil religion ought very soon to destroy all the others,
if its ceremonies can be made attractive." This v^as
an illusion ; in Frimaire of the year VII the police
reports gave evidence of " a general indifference." It
was cold in these churches with broken windows. It
was hard to see and hard to hear in them. To remedy
these inconveniences the central administration of Seine
had the temples repaired. By an order of the 1 8th
of Nlvose of the year VI it placed in each temple
a platform for the municipal officers ; sloping benches
for the public ; busts of great men ; an altar of the
Native Land, triangular in form, on the faces of which
were " depicted, by allegorical figures, the principal
epochs of the civic life as established by the law."
The president of the municipal administration inter-
rogated the pupils of the schools as to the Constitu-
tion ; a hymn would be sung of a symphony executed.
If there were occasion, civic crowns were bestowed
on those who had performed acts of bravery. On the
occasion of marriages the president would make
a speech.

The execution of this law improved the fetes ; more
people attended ; the police reports denoted real
progress.

At the end of the Directory the decadal cult was

106 POLICIES AFTER 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

almost an integral part of the manners and customs
of the people ; at least in Paris. In some cities, as
in Besangon, it was celebrated with a great deal of
fervour and success. Generally it did not arouse
enthusiasm. In the rural cantons the municipal officers
complained that the citizens' day of rest became for
them a day of toil, and unpaid toil at that. The
Catholics of both sects took all possible pains to
ridicule the whole affair.

Nevertheless, the decadal system lasted, or more
truly developed, until the day when the bourgeois
Republic came to an end.

As for Theophilanthropy, we have seen that this
rationalistic worship was at its apogee at the moment
of the coup d'etat of Fructidor. The assemblages of
the Theophilanthropists were still favoured by the
Government as being " schools of the sanest morality."
At the outset they occupied only three or four temples.
In Vendemiaire of the year VII they were installed
in the fifteen temples of Paris. The temples were
too many for their numbers ; they could only furnish
a small group of worshippers for each temple ; espe-
cially as their services, which at first had attracted
large numbers of curious persons, had now for a long
time been attended only by the faithful. In Frimaire
of the year VII the commissary Dupin stated that
" they seemed to be disappearing " ; that " those who
attended their meetings from a sense of civic duty
seem to prefer the decadal fetes " ; and that " those
who used to go out of curiosity are no longer attracted."
In Nivose of the year VII the same Dupin writes :
" The Theophilanthropists still exist, but their number
does not increase, and their existence makes no
splash " ; and in Germinal of the year VIL : " No
growth, no falling off."

But one sees and may confidently state that in the
year VIII, in Brumaire, the Theophilanthropic Church

PROGRESS OF THEOPHILANTHROPY 107

was still living, and was still causing the Catholics
anxiety.

The " cohabitation of cults," under the system of
the separation of Church and State, did not operate
without a few quarrels. The Catholics often showed
themselves extremely intolerant, as is proved by the
numerous administrative reports on the subject. Thus,
on the 20th of Messidor of the year VII the Catholics
of Juniville (Ardennes) " insulted those married in
the decadal temple." On the 25th of the following
Thermidor the Catholics of Charly (Aisne) burned the
altar of the Theophilanthropists. In Paris they insulted
them by the most aggressive species of mockery. i The
Theophilanthropists appeared perfectly conciliatory on
all occasions. Thus in Paris, in the year VII, the muni-
cipality of the 9th arrondissement had reserved the
choir and the nave of Notre Dame for the decadal
cult, having relegated the Catholics and the Theophilan-
thropists to the lateral aisles. The Catholics grumbled
and protested ; the Theophilanthropists submitted,
although the destruction was involved of an altar in
plaster-work which they had erected in the choir, and
only requested that they should be indemnified to the
extent of the cost of repairing the altar. In an undated
report referring to these incidents the Minister of the
Interior, Frangois (of Neufchateau), compared, in terms
which for us are instructive, the intolerance of the
Catholics, even of the non-Papists, with the concilia-
tory spirit of the Theophilanthropists.

" This intolerant sect," he says of the Catholics, " will not suffer, in
the places where it exercises its cult, any attributes other than those
which distinguish itself. Where it places the image of Mary that of
Wisdom must be veiled ; and the bust of Socrates or of Plato must

^ Especially during the first year. See Paris pendant la reaction for
this subject ; vol. iv. pp. 383-496. When the Catholics saw their adver-
saries were no longer gaining ground they quieted down.

108 POLICIES AFTER 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

be replaced by that of St. Dominic. Such a condescension would be
weakness. It is quite enough to have left the chapels and one of the
aisles to this malignant and exclusive sect. The Theophilanthropic
sect, on the other hand, accommodates itself absolutely to the attri-
butes of the decadal ceremonies ; they even regard them as auxiliary
decorations of which they obtain the benefit."

These quarrels between the cults fell short of civil
war ; they did not even cause any serious disturbances.
Under the system of separation the cults co-existed with
a bad grace ; but they did co-exist. Just or unjust,
legal or dictatorial, the severities of the Directory to-
wards the most important of the churches prevented
its preponderance, and a religious equilibrium was
established. At the beginning of the year VIII religious
pacification was realised throughout the greater part
of France, and was everywhere apparent.

Although the Directory had not realised its after-
thought— sometimes secret, sometimes openly avowed
— of destroying the Catholic religion, it had by its
policy popularised the idea of the secular State, and
had fortified the secular character which the State had
already constitutionally assumed. It took care to ensure
that public instruction should have no other basis
than rationalism. To cite only one example : the
Minister of the Interior, Frangois, on the 1 7th of
Vendemiaire of the year VII, stated in a circular
addressed to the professors of the Central Schools :

" You must exclude from your teaching all that relates to dogmas
and the rites of any religions or sects whatsoever. The Constitution
certainly tolerates them ; but the teaching of them is not part of public
instruction, nor can it ever be. The Constitution is founded on the
basis of universal morality ; and it is therefore this morality of all
times, all places, all religions, this law engraven on the tablets of the
human family, it is this that must be the soul of your teaching, the
object of your precepts, and the connecting link of your studies, as it
is the binding knot of society." '

' Recueil de lettres circulaircs du Ministrc de I'InUrieiir, vol. i. p. 224.

ROYALIST INSURRECTIONS 109

Shortly before the i8th of Fructidor the Directory
imposed on the candidates for public service the obliga-
tion of having attended the State Schools (by the order
of the 27th of Frimaire of the year VI). It then organ-
ised a rigid inspection of the free schools, closing all
those in which the instruction was not founded on the
rationalistic principles of the French Revolution (by
an order of the 17th of Pluviose of the year VI).

Such was the religious policy of the Directory, and
such was the evolution of the religious parties between
the 1 8th of Fructidor of the year V and the 18th of
Brumaire of the year VIII.

III.

The royalist party appeared to make it its own busi-
ness to demonstrate the reality of the vast conspiracy
denounced by the Directory, thereby justifying the coup
d'etat of the i8th of Fructidor . An insurrection in
Gard, directed by the royalist D. Allier, seized Pont-
Saint -Esprit, but was unable to hold it. At Carpentras,
at Tarascon, in the neighbourhood of Lyons, in the west,
there were musterings of armed men. The Directory
easily ended the matter. It placed Lyons, Montpellier,
Perigueux, Limoges, and a few other towns in which
the royalists had risen in a state of siege. These
royalists, seeing that France accepted the events of
the 1 8th of Fructidor^ were soon suppressed.

They had hoped that the moderates, should the
Republic fall into their hands, would have rallied finally
to the monarchy. But the moderates were beaten,
crushed. Those of the royalists who, with the Comte
de Puisaye, leader of the Breton insurrection, had
always preferred armed attacks upon the Republic to
pacific action, parliamentary intrigues, and coalitions
with the republicans of the Right, felt themselves en-
couraged by events to continue their policy of insur-

110 POLICIES AFTER 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

rection. On December 5, 1797 (the 15th of Frlmaire
of the year VI), Puisaye, Frotte, Chatillon, Bourmont,
Suzannet, and d'Alegre, assembled in London, addressed
to the Comte d'Artois a collective letter, which is
interesting to the historian, especially as the writers
avowed that France was not royalist, as lying courtiers
had made the King believe. Here are their own words :
" ' France,' they say (the courtiers), attributing to their
pretended labours the natural and inevitable change
of public opinion : ' France is all royalist.' It would
have been more correct to say : The French^ or nearly
all the French, are discontented. They should not
have concluded as lightly as they did that the wishes
of nearly all were united and centred on the return of
the King."

Certainly there are monarchists in France, but very
many of them are inclined to choose another than
a Bourbon king. For instance, were the Archduke
Charles to marry the daughter of Louis XVI he would
have excellent chances of supplanting Louis XVIII,
and once on the throne " it is our duty," says the
deputation, " to inform the King and Monsieur that now
among the royalists not a voice would protest, not
a hand be raised to force him to descend." There is
only one means of averting this danger : it is that
Monsieur himself (the Comte d'Artois) should at last
return to France and set himself at the head of his
supporters. The Comte d'Artois dryly refuses, stating
that this is not the moment for an insurrection. Also
the eventuality of which he is warned does not
materialise; on June 10, 1799 (the 22nd of Prairlal
of the year VII), the daughter of Louis XVI marries her
cousin, the Due d'Angouleme.

In September, 1798, the royalist leaders send La
Tremouille to Mitau to obtain a plain statement of
his intentions from Louis XVIII himself ; but in vain.

The diplomatic and military successes of the Re-

ROYALIST BRIGANDAGE 111

public, the terror inspired among the ranks of the
royalists pf the interior by the dictatorial laws, and
the policy of aggression pursued after the 1 8th of
Friictidor ; the progress of republican ideas among
even the rural masses of the French people' ; ^ these
were the reasons why, from the end of the year V to
the beginning of the year VII, neither the Comte
d'Artois nor Louis XVIII would attempt anything. This
was a period without civil war, but jiot without disturb-
ances. What was known as Choaannerie was pro-
visionally extinguished as an insurrection of armed
bands, but persisted as a state of brigandage. The
holding up and robbing of diligences and stage coaches
was one of the means systematically recommended by
the royalist leaders ; means in general employment of
delaying the complete re-establishment of order and
security. The mobile columns which patrolled the
country, and the soldiers who escorted the coaches,
could not prevent the almost daily thefts and assassina-
tions. France was almost terrorised. It was felt that
the government which could not establish the security
of the highways was not sound. This absence of confi-
dence was one of the chief reasons why the impost was
so irregularly paid during all this period ; and it may
be noted in passing that the terrible financial difficulties
from which the Directory suffered were due to the
anxiety caused by the royalists and the refractory
priests.

Yet order would have been re-established if the
military situation had not grown critical ; and if the
first successes of the second coalition had not
threatened the Republic with the danger of extinction.

' The unanimous emotion caused by the news of the death of Hoche
which was reported on the third complementary day of the year V
(September 19, 1797), the popular success of the funeral ceremonies in
honour of the great republican soldier, and the general sorrow of the
nation, attested the vitality of Revolutionary France.

112 POLICIES AFTER 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

Then between Prairial and Fructidor of the year VII
Louis XVIII decided to put his fate to the test, and
the Comte d'Artois organised insurrections in Langue-
doc, Brittany, Anjou, Maine, Perche, and Normandy,
with the aid of Cadoudal, Chatillon, Bourmont, and
Frotte as leaders. He endeavoured to procure a diver-
sion in the interior which would benefit Souvaroff and
the Austrians.

The first of these royalist insurrections, and perhaps
the most serious, took place in Thermidor of the year
VII, in Haute-Garonne, Ariege, Gers, Aude, Tarn, Lot,
and Lot-et-Garonne. It had been prepared from a
distance by the emigres; refractory priests returned
from all quarters, and the insurrection broke out at the
news of the Republic's military disasters, and during
the spasm of discontent which the levy of all classes
had caused among the peasantry. About Toulouse, on
the night of the i8th of Thermidor, an army of fifteen
or twenty thousand men spontaneously assembled — dis-
contented peasants and refractory conscripts, incited to
the pitch of fanaticism by priests, ofhcered by nobles,
and under the command of an ex -General of the
Republic named Rouge. Their purpose was to take
Toulouse, the garrison of that town having of neces-
sity been sent to the frontier. The courage and
presence of mind of the departmental administrations,
in especial that of Haute-Garonne, managed, thanks
to the patriotism of the National Guards, to offer a
sudden and effective resistance. A small army of volun-
teers was organised in Toulouse. The royal army,
which had already captured a few small towns, notably
that of Muret, was forced to beat a retreat, and was
crushed at Montrejeau (on the 3rd of Fructidor of the
year VII). This victory was due solely to the courage
of the republicans of the south. ,When the troops
despatched by the Minister of War arrived at Toulouse
under the command of General Fr^geville the insurrec-

ROYALIST INSURRECTIONS 113

tion was vanquished, and France heard of the beginning
and the close of it almost at the same time.

In Normandy Frotte, who had landed there on the
1st pf Vendemialre of the year VIII, found himself
immediately at the head of about ten thousand insur-
gents. They constituted themselves a " royal and
Catholic army " ; and in a proclamation of Octo-
ber 25, 1799 (the 3rd of Brumaire of the year VIII),
" in the name of the God of our fathers and on
behalf of our legitimate King Louis XVIII," it called
upon " the brave and faithful Normans " to " fly to
arms," promising them that Monsieur was about to
land in France. Frotte dared not or could not occupy
any town.

In the other risings the royalists were bolder, and
attacked the larger towns. On the night of the 22nd
of Vendemialre of the year VIII the army of the Comte
de Bourmont took the city of Mans by surprise, pil-
laged it, and remained its master until the 25th, when
they retired at the approach of republican troops.
Chatillon and d'Andigne attempted to capture Nantes ;
their army entered it on the night of the 27th of
Vendemialre^ but was able only to free some prisoners
before it was put to flight. On the 4th of Brumaire
Chatillon attacked the town of Vannes, but without
success. On the same night a thousand Chouans took
Saint-Brieuc, but could only maintain their position
for a few hours. In Anjou, d'Autichamp attempted to
surprise Cholet ; but the royalists were themselves
surprised by a sortie of the garrison of the town, and
were dispersed (on the 7th of Brumaire^.

On the 1 6th of Brumaire the Minister of War,
Dubois-Crance, in a report submitted to the Directory,
estimated the insurgent forces in the iWest at the
following figures :

"Chatillon, in Anjou, has 3,000 men and hopes to muster 12,000;
Bourmont, in Maine, has 7,000, whom he beUeves he can increase to
VOL. IV. 8

114 POLICIES AFTER 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

15,000 ; Frotte professes to have 20,000 under him in Normandy ; there
are as many more in Brittany under different leaders. The bands are
largely composed of young men subjected to requisition or conscription,
enlisted in the cause by or against their own wishes."

These insurgent leaders hoped soon to be in a posi-
tion to assist the English, the Austrians, and the
Russians. Their hopes were disappointed. The vic-
tories of Brune in Holland and Massena in Zurich (3rd
sans-culottide, year VIII) preserved France from invasion
and saved the Republic. On the other hand, although
the royalists had at the outset enjoyed an astonishing
and rapid success, they had been unable to maintain
themselves in the towns they conquered. In no region
of France was their audacity seconded by the general
and enthusiastic assent of the population. It was no
difficult task to seize upon places whose garrisons had
been sent to the front ; but nowhere was it possible for
them to establish themselves securely. The royalist
leaders knew themselves beaten, not only by the vic-
tories of Brune and Massena over their allies, but by
the failure of their plan to rouse the peasantry. At
the moment when the Directory came to an end these
leaders were considering the question of capitulation.
General Hedouville, a former chief of staff under Hoche,
appointed commander of the " Army of England " —
that is, the forces available for use against the Chouans
— had some experience of such " pacifications." He
at once began to negotiate with the generals of Louis
XVIII. On the i8th of Brumaire of the year VIII
he received in his general quarters at Angers Mme.
de Turpin-Crisse, instructed by MM. de Chatillon and
d'Autichamp to open negotiations with a view to an
armistice.

Thus at the moment of the fall of the Directory
the royalist insurrection in the West was morally
defeated, and the royalist party in general was in a

DECADENCE OF THE ROYALIST PARTY 115

state of rapid decadence. ' In Paris it had been for
a long time reduced to hiding in the salons and the
masonic lodges .2

IV.

The coup d'etat of the i8th of Friictidor was effected
by an understanding between the democratic repub-
licans (then called Jacobins, anarchists, Terrorists, and
exclusives) and the bourgeois republicans (otherwise
called Directorial, or liberal -conservatives). This
agreement did not last. The republicans of the Right
recommenced, at the end of some months, to attack
the republicans of the Left, reproaching them with
their Babeuvist connections and tendencies. At the Con-
stitutional Club, on the 9th of Ventose of the year VI,
Benjamin Constant fulminated against the " anarchists,"
whom he declared were more contemptible than formid-
able :

" They want," he said, "to equal Danton, by recommending anarchy ;
but Danton had powerful conceptions and profound emotions ; Danton
overwhelmed the souls of his listeners, because Danton himself had a

' Is it true that the Director Barras had become the secret agent of
Louis XVIII in the year VII ? Letters patent have been published,
dated from May 8, 1799, in which the King assured him of impunity
in respect of his regicide in the event of restoration. It appeared that
he received a money payment for his treason. He took money again
at the Restoration. In his Memoires Barras states that having received
overtures from Louis XVIII, he spoke of the fact to his colleagues in
the Directory, who requested him to pretend to allow himself to be
bought, and to follow up the intrigue. The fact that one cannot cite
a single service which the royalists received from Barras appears to
confirm his posthumous justification. See Fauche-Borcl, Memoires;
Th. Muret, Histoire des gucrres de I' Quest ; Gohier, Memoires ; E. Daudet,
Les Emigres et la seconde coalition; C. Nauroy, Lc Curieux ; Chassin,
Les Pacifications,

' Dupin says of the royalists in a report : "Shut up in their masonic
lodges, they imagine they can escape the eyes of the police and seduce
public functionaries at their banquets,"

116 POLICIES AFTER 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

soul ; Danton was susceptible of pity, of that virtue of generous hearts,
without which man is nothing to man, and can do nothing with men ;
and his pretended heirs, clumsy gabblers of distorted speeches, cold in
their delirium and petty in their corruption, are narrow and trivial as
the interest that animates them."

But there is no need to speak of Terrorists, of
anarchists. The peril to-day is of another kind. It
is property that is threatened :

" The Revolution was effected for the sake of the liberty and equality
of all, and to leave the property of each inviolable. Wherever pro-
perty exists it should be inviolable ; to touch it is to invade it ; to
disturb it is to destroy it ; it is a miracle of the social order ; it has
become its basis ; it can only cease to be so by ceasing to exist. Now
the Revolution did not intend that it should cease to exist ; it therefore
undertakes to defend it. From what has not been done against pro-
perty results what has been done in its favour ; and all the means of
government, all the measures of the legislator, must tend to maintain
it, to consolidate it, to surround it with a sacred barrier. . . . Who
dispossesses the rich man threatens the poor man ; who proscribes
opulence conspires against mediocrity."

The Directorial republicans were resolute conserva-
tives. But if the proprietors whom they wished to
defend did not rally sincerely to the Republic, both the
proprietors and the Directorial republicans would be lost.
" The events of eight years," says Benjamin Constant,
" afford us the perpetual example of men who have
perished through their allies. It is therefore more
than time to learn to avoid imprudent alliances. The
nobility, who were not attacked, rushed to the rescue
of feudality ; the nobility are no more. Royalty, which
was spared, ran to the succour of the nobility in peril ;
royalty has passed away. Property, which we respect,
and hope always to respect, seems to devote many
regrets and some efforts to the re-establishment of
vanquished royalty. Let property beware ; the decree
is irrevocable ; he who supports that which is bound
to fall only determines his own fall ; and if property

THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICANS 117

grows blind we may well perish with it^ but not
protect it."

During the elections of the year VI it was necessary,
in Constant's words, to oppose " hereditariness and
arbitrariness " together ; in order to succeed it was
essential " to confide the functions of the Republic
only to republicans." i

This incoherent programme was not the one to rally
public opinion. Not that the democrats had a more
lucid or solid programme ; not that they had any
programme at all, as far as can be seen, except to
;change the personnel of the Government. But the
Directory gave them a species of popularity by persecu-
ting them, by excluding them from the functions of
office, by suppressing their journals, while at the same
time it was making itself unpopular by showing itself
surrounded by. dubious functionaries, by stockjobbers ;
a dishonest sequel in which Barras would seem to have
been the leading figure. As a result of these disorders
(themselves the result of the financial expedients to
which the Government was constrained to resort on
account of the continuation of the war), the democratic
republicans (or those who had been such) represented
integrity and virtue.

The elections of Germinal of the year VI were
favourable to them ; they obtained a majority ; less
as democrats than as opponents of the Directory.

The Directory immediately cried out at the " social
peril." In a message of the 13th of Floreal of the
year VI it denounced its adversaries of the Left as
socialists and Robespierrists :

" By anarchists the Directory docs not understand those energetic
republicans, lovers rather then friends of liberty, who arc capable
of submitting the imperious sentiment of liberty to the law ; by this

' Discours prononcc au Cercle constituiionel, le g Ventose, an VI, par
Benjamin Constant.

118 POLICIES AFTER 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

word it understands those men covered with blood and rapine, who
preach the common happiness in order to enrich themselves by the
ruin of all ; who speak of equality hoping to become despots ; men
capable of all baseness and all crime, sighing for their old powers ;
the men who, on the 8th of Thermidor, were Robespierre's agents, and
occupied places throughout the whole Republic ; who since the
9th of Thermidor have figured in all conspiracies ; who were the hench-
men of Babeuf and the conspirators of the camp of Grenelle." '

The Directory ended by requesting the deputies to
take "measures as efficacious" as those of the i8th
of Fructidor, and " to have as little to do with Babeuf
as with the supporters of a phantom king." As a
result of Bailleul's report the Council of Five Hundred
adopted a resolution, on the 19th of Floreal, which the
Elders approved on the 22nd. We have already
analysed this celebrated law of the 22nd of Floreal,
the aim and effect of which was to change, in a revolu-
tionary spirit, the results of the last elections, and to
eliminate a large proportion of the opposition of the
Left.

The preamble of this law forms a long indictment
of the deputies to be excluded. It states that there
is a ,royalist conspiracy " which is divided into two
branches, and has employed two kinds of agents, who
have (apparently taken opposite sides, but who have
actually been marching towards the same end." On
the one hand royalism, flying its true colours, has
elected a few deputies, " On the other hand, and in
a greater number of departments, royalism, despairing
of its own forces, has put a faction in its place, the
corrupted tool of the foreigner, the enemy of law of
any kind, and destructive to the whole social order."
Henceforward it was the official custom to represent the

' If we subtract the insults, this is a very fair historical definition of
the democratic republican party under the bourgeois Republic ; the old
governmental personnel (of the year II) as opposed to the new; the
equalitarian as opposed to the liberal policy.

THE DIRECTORIAL REPUBLICANS 119

democratic republicans as the allies of the royalists ;
and for a long time denunciations were heard of
royalism in the red bonnet.

There is no evidence that this assertion was not
calumnious. The Directorial republicans never alleged
any definite example of this pretended alliance of the
republicans of the Left with the royalists, and I have
discovered nothing to indicate even a momentary agree-
ment between the partisans of Louis XVIII and the
" Jacobins."

Drafted with as much haste as anger, this law did
not merely calumniate those it struck ; it struck them
at hazard. If it eliminated Robert and Thomas Lindet
(Eure), Doppet (Mont-Blanc), Fion (Ourthe), and Le-
quinio (Nord), it is easy to see that it was because
these citizens were really suspected of " Jacobinism "
or " anarchy." But why should the same law allow
equally notable " Jacobins " to retain their seats? It
left unstricken, for example, Monge (Bouches-du-
Rhone), Crevelier and Guimberteau (Charente),
Florent Guiot (Cote-d'Or), Briot and Quirot (Doubs),
Destrem (Haute-Garonne), Genissieu (Isere), and Talot
(Maine-et -Loire), all republicans after the fashion of
the year II, and elected or re-elected to the two
Councils. The truth is that at the time no one was
really conscious of the difiference in the ideas and even
in the personnel of the two parties. All anti-clericals,
the republicans were divided, after the 1 8th of
Fractidor as before it, only upon secondary ques-
tions ; almost the only exception being that the repub-
licans of the Left were for a moment allied to the
Babeuvists.

This alliance was apparently abandoned, in Paris, at
the moment of the elections of the year VI . Certainly
at the electoral assembly, at the Oratory, there
were Babeuvists, or at least persons who had been
more or les§ compromised during Babeuf's trial ; but

120 POLICIES AFTER 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

there is no trace whatever extant of any " sociaHstic "
disturbance during these elections. ^

It may even be doubted if all the deputies excluded
as anarchists were really of the opposition. In Pas-
de-Calais four were excluded out of the nine elected :
namely, Coffin, Thery, Cocud, Crachet. Now Coffin
was the Directorial commissary to the central ad-
ministration of Pas-de-Calais ; Thery was Directorial
commissary to the municipal administration of
Bapaume ; Cocud had been appointed judge by the
Directory after the i8th of Fractidor ; as for Crachet,
administrator of the district of Saint-Omer in 1793,
he had been dismissed as a moderate after the 31st
of May ; the Directory had appointed him, in the
year IV, commissary to the correctional tribunal of
Saint-Omer ; then, m the year VI, he was promoted to be
public accuser to the criminal court of Pas-de-Calais.
Here, then, are four officials appointed by the Directory,
enjoying its confidence, whom the Legislative Corps
has cast out from its midst as anarchists 1 One of the
four — Crachet — called attention to the matter in a
brochure which had a great success .2

Antonelle also, one of the leaders of the supposed
" anarchists," published a criticism of the law of the
22nd of Floreal, in which he took his stand entirely
on the Constitution of the year III. Those of the
democrats who were reputed to be the most violent

' The conservative republicans would gladly have given a contrary
impression. They printed a placard entitled : Tentaiives de realiser
le systeme de Babciif, par la vote des elections, prouvees par une
petite liste alphabetiqiie de quelques principanx electeurs du canton
de Paris, enfaiits cJieris de Babeiif, qui tenaient le de a I'Oratoire.
The list of names is as follows : Audouin, Antonelle, Alibert, Andre,
Boudin, Briffaut, Crepin, Creton, Casset, Clemence, Camus, Daubigny,
Fyon, Fiquet, Gaultier de Biauzat, Groslaire, Jorry, Julien, Lavigne,
Leban, Moreau, Naudon, Pierron, Real, Toutin, Tissot.

^ Appel aux principes, ou Premiere lettre de Robert Crachet, 15
Thennidor, an III. Secondc lettre, i Vcndemiaire, an VII.

THE PEOPLE CONTENT: CHEAP FOOD 121

strongly advised against any insurrection, and their
political behaviour was strictly constitutional.'

The Legislative Corps itself was apparently swiftly
ashamed of this incoherent coup (Vetat. At a dinner
of deputies on the 28th of Prairial of the year VI,
Bailleul having proposed a toast to the law of the 22nd
of Floreal, there were violent protestations, and the
toast was not drunk.

This peril of the Left, so loudly denounced, began
to appear chimerical, especially when it was seen that
the Parisian working-men were indifferent to the demo-
cratic propaganda. The police laughed at the efforts
"of the 150 brigands of the anarchist staff." ^ Why?
Because the famine had ceased, and the means of sub-
sistence were cheap. Since the beginning of Frimaire
of the year V, corn was at 24 livres, meat at 4 soujs
the livre on the hoof or 8 sous dressed. A police report
of V end e mi aire of the year VII stated that the people
were contented to possess at last the three eights that
had been demanded so constantly in 1789 and 1790 :
bread at 8 sous the 3 livres, wine at 8 sous the litre,
and meat at 8 sous the livre. 3 The Redacteur of the
24th of Messidor describes the increasing well-being
of the people in the following terms :

"Another very remarkable change for the better, although little
attention has been paid to it, is the standard of living among the
labourers and artisans ; not only is their ordinary diet better, in so

' See, for instance, a pamphlet entitled ; La grande conspiration
anarchique de I'Oratoire renvoyee a ses auteiirs, by Citizen Bach. The
author attacks the law of the 22nd of Floreal, and speaks in commenda-
tion of the electors of the Oratory, of whom he is one. The anarchist
conspiracy ? it is the work of the usurpers of the sovereignty of the
people ; of the stockjobbers, police-spies, &c. — But no insurrection.
Let us rally round the Constitution of the year III. — Such is the
substance of this pamphlet, which was denounced as a hardy piece
of opposition on the part of the Left.

" Paris pendant la reaction, &c., vol. iv. p. 721.

3 Ibid., vol. V. p. 173.

122 POLICIES AFTER 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

far as they eat more meat and more vegetables than formerly, but it is
more equally distributed. A short time ago two wretched meals
costing 5 or even 4^ sous only, witli plain water to drink, was all that
could be afforded, week in week out, by all the journeymen tailors,
cobblers, saddlers, stone-cutters, &c., of Paris. As a result they used
to guzzle in Nev/ France, Poland, or the Piggeries, all Sunday and half
through Monday, so that all the streets neighbouring on these quarters
were full of drunkards who found them too narrow, and who were
fighting among themselves or with their women, who tried to get them
home. To-day these same men eat and drink less on Decadl and
Primidi, on Sunday and Monday, but in return they have much better
fare on the other days of the week, and usually drink a little wine
at each meal. Their physique and their morality can only be the
gainers by this change of diet."

No propaganda, whether in favour of universal suffrage
or Babeuvism, had a chance of success in the Faubourgs
Saint-Marceau and Saint -Antoine, from which conscrip-
tion had taken nearly all the active young men, and
where, after so much physical hardship and suffering,
mere material life had become so much better than
ever it had been before.

So it v/as not in the streets, but in the Legislative
Corps, that the influence of the democratic republicans
was felt. The coup d'etat of the 22nd of F lor eat had
not eliminated all the new deputies ; enough had re-
mained to work a sensible change in the spirit of the
two Councils. There was a strong opposition to the
Directory, especially in questions of finance ; an oppo-
sition whose object was to draw the Legislative Corps
out of the state of subordination in which the coup
detat of the 1 8th of Fructidor had placed and left
it. The Government was made responsible for mal-
versations which the most indulgent could not fail to
observe in the administration, especially of things
military. Royalists no longer, but ardent republicans

CORRUPTION OF THE ADMINISTRATION 123

like Genissieu, now denounced to the Five Hundred
(on the 19th of Thermidor of the year VI) a " faction
which threatens Hberty by the loss of the pubhc wealth
and the demoralisation of society." The reporter of
a commission which the Five Hundred had instructed
to conduct an inquiry into the matter gave vent to
this cry of alarm (on the 2nd of Fructidor of the
year VI) :

"There is no department of the public administration into which
immoraHty and corruption have not crept. ... A longer indulgence
would make you the accomplices of these men whom the voice of the
public accuses. They will be struck down from the height of their
sumptuous chariots, and hurled into the void of public contempt :
these men whose colossal fortunes are a proof of the infamous and
criminal means which they have employed in acquiring them."

Certainly the speaker affected to attribute these dis-
orders to the " bureaucracy," not to the Directory itself.
But a large division of public opinion was less indul-
gent ; it was to Barras, the self-indulgent rake, that the
thefts of the contractors and the scandals of market -
rigging were attributed ; they were attributed also even
to the honest Reubell, who thus paid dearly for the
lying agents with whom he had weakly surrounded
himself ; Reubell, on whom fell the unpopularity of
his protege, the Minister of War Scherer, and the
accusations formulated on all hands against his relative
Rapinat, commissary of the Directory in Switzerland.
People did not scruple to say that it was from the
salons of the Directory that issued all the corruption
displayed by the cynical noiiveaux-riches who had
speculated in national property, assignats, and army
stores ; and many historians have retrospectively per-
ceived the source of this corruption in the manners
of the society of the day.

But the periods at which most complaint is made of
unfortunate manners are perhaps not those when
manners are actually at their worst. If we read care-

124 POLICIES AFTER 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

fully the absolutely contemporary testimony of eye-
witnesses, namely, the journals and the police reports,
we find that the fashions complained of as obscene
are adopted only by a few eccentric persons ; that
even the royalist journals are written in a more decent
style than was the case under the monarchy ; that
the contributors to these journals cry out at the least
scandal, and that although morals may have been easy
in the garden of Idalia, prostitution in Paris was
diminishing. In PrairlaL of the year VI the Directorial
commissary Dupin wrote :

" Manners ' are not bad ; there is still a sense of public decency, and
in spite of austere critics we may say, comparing the manners of
to-day with those of the ancien regime, that there is less ceremony but at
least as much sincerity and integrity. For some time prostitution has
been less of a scandal than it was. The police are seriously striving to
suppress it." "

So when people speak of the " corruption of the
Directory," as I did myself at a time when I was
wont to put too much trust in memoirs, they are using
an abusive generalisation ; and there is no justifica-
tion for attributing the morals of Barras to the whole
Directory, or the morals of a few dishonest contractors
to the whole of France, If an affirmation were per-
missible, one might almost say that under the Directory
public morality was in a state of progress.

One thing is certain : that the opposition had per-
suaded the nation that the Directory was not dealing
honestly with the public finances. When the electors
assembled, from the 20th of Germinal of the year VII

' The word mceurs used throughout this passage means more than
manners. I have commonly translated it by manners for convenience ;
but its exact significance usually includes morality as well. The
vocabulary of the illiterate classes gives almost the exact nuance to the
word " ways " : "I don't like his ways." — [Trans.]

" Paris pendant la reaction, &c., vol. iv. p. 735. As to the question
of public morality under the Directory, see the whole of vols. iv. and v.

SIEYES BECOMES A DIRECTOR 125

to the 29th, they were convinced that the undeniable
waste and embezzlement was the work of the Directory ;
that there was systematic dishonesty on the part of the
Government and the administrations, which must be
radically dealt with. They knew also that the Army
of Italy, defeated, was in full retreat ; that the Russians
were coming into line against France, while the best
general of the Republic was wasting himself at the
siege of Acre. The newly elected third was com-
posed of republicans of the Left ; nearly all of them
hostile to the Directory. The latter, by a stroke of
ill-luck, lost one of its members, Reubell, by lot, and
replaced him by Sieyes, who was notoriously hostile
to the Directorial policy, and had in his head a plan
of constitutional reform.

When the new third came to take their seats the
Directory had lost all the prestige of its military and
diplomatic victories. Jourdan, defeated, had recrossed
the Rhine, and the French plenipotentiaries had just
been murdered at Rastadt. Discontented and anxious,
the majority of the Legislative Corps, thanks to the
complicity of Sieyes and the seeming treachery of
Barras, was able to prepare a sort of coup (V etat against
the majority of the Directory. On the 17th of Prairial
the Council of Five Hundred invited the Directory
to explain the causes of the disasters to the French
arms, and the means which it proposed as a remedy.
The Directory remained silent. On the 28th it was
summoned to reply, and the Five Hundred put them-
selves in a state of permanent session until the answer
should arrive. Finally the Directory decided to send
a message, in which it spoke of the " causes " of the
disasters in such a way as to justify itself and to
blame the Legislative Corps ; but it postponed the
explanation of the '* means " to be adopted as a
remedy.

The Legislative Corps had opened hostilities by

126 POLICIES AFTER 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

annulling, on constitutional pretexts, the election of
the Director Treilhard, although then of a year's stand-
ing, replacing him by Gohier, an upright and inde-
pendent republican.

On the 30th of Prairial, in the Five Hundred, Boulay
(of Meurthe) declared that " a great blow must be
struck " in order to force Merlin and La Revelliere to
send in their resignations. He reproached the former
with having " put into practice the most disgusting and
tortuous Machiavelism," and the latter with having
" attacked the liberty of the conscience " in order to
favour Theophilanthropy. To report upon the motion
the Five Hundred immediately appointed a commission
of which Boulay was again the reporter. His report,
submitted before the same session was over, vaguely
complained of " arbitrary actions and illegal deten-
tions," and drew the conclusion that a message on the
subject should be sent to the Directory. This conclusion
adopted, the Five Hundred, on the motion of Frangais
(of Nantes), " considering that conspiracies might be
hatched against the safety of the national representation
or one of its members," voted the following resolution,
which the Elders at once converted into law : " Any
authority or individual who shall make any attempt
upon the security of the national representation or of
any one of its members, whether by giving directions
or by executing them, shall be outlawed."

Merlin and La Revelliere-Lepeaux dared not resist
this coercion, but sent in their resignations, and were
immediately replaced by General Moulin and the ex-
Conventional Roger Ducos.

It will be remarked that Barras, formerly denounced
as forming a triumvirate with the other two Directors
just named, was allowed to retain his post. Is it true,
as we are told, that he effected a treacherous reconcilia-
tion with the majority in the Councils by betraying to
them the plans of campaign of the threatened Directors,

DISCONTENT WITH THE DIRECTORY 127

thus causing them to miscarry? In the Memoires com-
piled by Rousselin and Saint-Albin from the post-
humous notes of Barras, we read that the latter per-
suaded his two colleagues to resign by stating that he
would immediately follow their example ; we read also
that he negotiated with the leaders of the Legislative
Corps. He felt that the military and diplomatic checks
which the Directory had suffered had deprived it of
the strength required for an attempt to bring about a
new coup d'etat like that of the 1 8th of Fructidor, and
at the last moment, by abandoning his colleagues, he
made the victory of the Legislative Corps over the
Directory a possibility.

This victory is known as the coup cV etat of the 30th
of Pr atrial of the year VII, although the coup d'etat
consisted only of a purely moral and assuredly legal
pressure. But from that time onwards the Constitution
of the year III, irremediably strained, seemed doomed
quickly to disappear ; and Sieyes, aided by the weak
Ducos, prepared for the realisation of his mysterious
plans.

VI.

It was the external danger — the defeats of the French
in Germany and in Italy — which had led the Council
of Five Hundred to assume, on the 30th of Pr atrial,
the attitude of a Convention. The continuation of the
external peril, the victorious march of Souvaroff, the
threat of an invasion of France, while the best French
general was in the East with a picked army, quickly
provoked a return, in the interior, to the forms of the
Terror.

The need became sensible, as it had in 1792 and
1793, of a strong and almost dictatorial centralisation
of the Government.

It was to re-establish unity in the Directory, to give

128 POLICIES AFTER 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

it strength to save a France threatened by her neigh-
bours, that the Five Hundred compelled La Revelliere-
Lepeaux and Merlin to resign. But the Five Hundred
were suffering from an illusion. Although Barras had
all the appearance of a Government leader, in reality he
no longer directed anything, and was destroying him-
self by acting at the same time (or so it seems) as the
accomplice of all the parties. Roger Ducos did not
count. Gohier was apparently a mediocrity. Moulin
was upright — no more. Sieyes was dreaming of another
republic, of which he would be the elector. The Minis-
try, from Prairial of the Year VII to Brumaire of the
year VIII, was the shadow of the Directory ; powerless,
and divided. Fouche, in the Ministry of Police, was
making ready for any kind of treason ; Reinhard, in
the Ministry of External Relations, was merely the
agent of his predecessor Talleyrand ; Dubois -Crance,
who was about to replace Bernadotte as Minister of
War, and Robert Lindet, Minister of Finance, were
no longer wielding their power under conditions which
allowed them the full play of their clairvoyant energies.
But these republican names — Dubois -Crance, Lindet,
Fouche — seemed to recall and restore revolutionary
forms of government ; and such was the patriotic exal-
tation of the country that on the approach of Souvaroff
all divergencies for the moment disappeared, to make
way for a violent effort of national defence.

The language and the pose of 1793 returned. Just
as after the great popular " days " or insurrections the
vanquished were tried and condemned, so did the ad-
vanced republicans of the Council of Five Hundred
desire (but in vain) to try and execute the three ex-
Directors, Merlin, La Revelliere-Lepeaux, and Reubell :
the " Royalist Triumvirs," as they unjustly called them.
The Council of Five Hundred created something like a
Committee of Public Safety ; a Commission of Eleven^
which soon became a Commission of Seven. The

THE COUNTRY IN DANGER 129

Directory was authorised to make domiciliary visits.
As in August, 1793, recourse was had to the levee en
masse, the general levy, so on the loth of Messidor of
the year VII (June 28, 1799) conscripts of all classes
without exception were called for. As in 1792, the
cry that the country was in danger was heard from the
tribune, and Jourdan proposed to proclaim this danger
(on the 27th and 28th of Fructidor) ; the Five Hundred
refused, but Jourdan's wild words were applauded.
Finally, as we shall see. Terrorist laws were voted, and
the Jacobins reappeared.

In 1793, for the needs of national defence, the Con-
vention had established a forced loan of a milliard upon
"the rich." On the 19th of Frlmaire of the year IV
the Councils had voted a compulsory loan of about
six hundred millions, upon a fifth of the taxable popu-
lation. These expedients had succeeded but ill ; but in
the year VII, under the pressure of national peril, they
were repeated. On the loth of Messidor the "easy"
class was called upon to fill up a loan of a hundred
millions to organise new battalions. On the 19th this
measure took the form of a progressive tax established
in proportion to the tax on landed property. A law
more revolutionary and more of the Terrorist type was
that of the 24th of Messidor of the year VII, called
the law of the hostages. At the moment when it became
necessary to rob the interior of its garrisons in order
to defend the frontiers, no one knew how to prevent
the brigandage of the royalists, the isolated assassina-
tions, the holding-up of diligences, and the pillage
of all kinds that the " Jacobin " journals indignantly
enumerated. By the law of hostages it was deter-
mined that when a department, canton, or commune
was notoriously in a disturbed condition the Directory
should propose to the Legislative Corps that it should
be declared affected by the following measures : the
relatives of emigres, the former nobles, and the relatives

VOL. IV. 9

130 POLICIES AFTER 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

of brigands, both men and women, would be held re-
sponsible for assassination or looting ; they would all
be put under arrest as hostages. For each assassin of
a patriot four hostages would be deported ; and all the
hostages in addition would pay a fine of 5,000 livres.
For each act of pillage, the hostages would pay the
victim a sum, as damages, to be determined. Such was
this law, more threatening than easy of execution ;
indeed, the Government apparently had only begun to
apply it in a few rare cases when the recovery of the
military situation rendered it void and useless.

VII.

Of all the effects of the Terrorist reaction brought
about by the external conditions, the most startling and
important was the resurrection of the Jacobin Club.
We have already seen that the old parent society at-
tempted to reconstitute itself, both at the outset of
the Directory and after the i 8th of Fructldor: near the
Pantheon, or in the Rue du Bac, or in the Faubourg
Saint -Antoine. But the Constitution of the year III
authorised none but " private societies connected with
politics " ; these societies might neither qualify them-
selves as popular, nor become mutually affiliated, nor
correspond one with another, nor hold public meetings
at which members and outsiders were distinct from one
another, nor make any collective petition.

The Directory had until then been able to fetter
or suppress the clubs at will, so long as the country
was not in danger and so long as public opinion refused
to tolerate the Jacobins. But in the year VII, under
the threat of invasion, opinion was so far modified
as to allow of a serious attempt at the reorganisation
of the Jacobin Club against the enemy at home, allied,
as in 1792 and 1793, with the enemy at the gates.
On the 1 8th of Messidor (July 6, 1799) a Reunion

THE RESURRECTION OF THE JACOBINS 131

d'Amis de la liberie et de V egalite was formed in the
Salle du Manege, with the tacit authorisation of the
Council of Elders. In order not to seem to violate the
Constitution by openly re-establishing the old parent
society, the Jacobins had neither president nor secre-
taries ; but " a regulator, a vice -regulator, and anno-
tators." The law forbade petitions ; the Jacobins drew
up addresses and posted them up. The law forbade
affiliation ; there was a " spontaneous " breaking-forth
of sister societies in all the large towns, organised on
the lines of the Parisian society.

The " Reunion " of the Manege had a periodical
organ : the Journal des homines litres ; a worthy
successor of the Journal de la Montagne. It had 3,000
adherents, of whom 250 were deputies. Its regulators
(or presidents) were Destrem, Moreau (Yonne), and
General Augereau, Among its leaders or orators were
Drouet, Felix Le Peletier, Bouchotte, Prieur(Marne), and
Xavier Audouin. Its commission of public instruction
strove to indoctrinate France. It acted prudently,
affecting legal and constitutional forms. But from the
tribune of the club the members not only eulogised the
republicans of the year II ; they did not confine them-
selves to stigmatising the insurrection of the 9th of
Thermidor, to exalting the memory of the victims of
Prairialy or to vaunting the democratic republic : zealous
orators dared to praise Babeuf and Darthe, and to
publish a socialist programme ; so that the neo -Jacobins
were accused of " preaching the agrarian law." '

* These neo-Jacobins were the socialist-radicals, as we have seen.
They venerated the memory of the democrats and Babeuvists. We read,
in a speech by Marchand (of the 2nd of Thermidor of the year VII):
" Goujon, Bouchotte, Romme, Soubrany, Duquesnoy, and you, Babeuf
and Darthe, virtuous martyrs of liberty, as yet we have raised no
obelisk to your memory," &c. In speeches of the 30th of Messidor and
the 7th of Thermidor, Bach proposes "to establish a progressive impost
immediately, using the surplus of what the rich will thus pay for the
alleviation of the imposts on the industrious and laborious class." To

132 POLICIES AFTER 18TH OF FRUCTIDOR

Insulted at the outset by the royalists, by the Incroy-
ables, by the " young men with spy-glasses, curls, and
queues, and black or violet stocks," they were soon
denounced before the Council of Elders as anarchists
and factious people, and had to emigrate to the old
Jacobin convent in the Rue du Bac, where they met
from the 9th to the 25th of Thermidor. On the 26th
the Directory closed their hall, and the club disap-
peared ; after thirty-eight days of a very stormy and
unequal career, which alarmed the bourgeoisie and pre-
pared them to accept as from a saviour guarantees
against this " red spectre " which for a moment had
r,eappeared ; and against the agrarian law, the new
partition of the national property which the Jacobins
had imprudently preached from their tribune.

From this point of view the resurrection of the
Jacobins had grave historical consequences.

reduce official salaries, to make the enemies of the people " stump up,"
to establish relief workshops, to demand an account of the employment
of all incomes over 1,200 livres — such was the programme. Lastly,
would it not be just, when the poor citizens were about to defend the
soil, to declare them co-proprietors with the more fortunate ? On the
1 8th of Thermidor, in a programme voted upon the introduction of
a motion by Felix Le Peletier, the club expressed these desires : " To
re-establish the democratic spirit in the Government. — To establish an
equal and common education. — To give properties to the defenders
of the country. — To open public workshops, in order to destroy
mendicity." For information respecting these neo-Jacobins, see my
article in the Revolution frangaise, vol. xxvi. p. 385.

CHAPTER III
THE FALL OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORY

General causes of the coup d'etat of the i8th of Brumaire. —
II. Popularity of Napoleon Bonaparte. His return from Egypt.
— III. Preparations for the coup d'etat. — IV. The "day" of the
i8th of Brumaire. — V. The 19th of Brumaire. — VI. Suppression
and replacement of the Directory.

The coup d'etat of the i8th of Brumaire, by means
of which Napoleon Bonaparte impounded the RepubHc,
was the distant, indirect, but visible consequence of
the action of the Legislative Assembly on April 20,
1792, in declaring war upon the King of Bohemia
and Hungary.! Since that time revolutionary France
had never ceased to be in a state of war. Despite
so many brilliant military and diplomatic victories, she
could not obtain a general peace. France, as we have
seen, never ceased to be an enormous camp, in which
a system of military discipline was combined with a
constitutional system in proportions ever varying
according to the exigencies of national defence. The
rational principles of the Revolution were proclaimed
and violated in one breath. In order to obtain from
Europe the right to establish the liberty of the future,
it was necessary to suspend the liberty of the present.

' See vol. i. p. 353.
133

134 FALL OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORY

In order to organise a government which should be
powerful enough to conquer both Europe and the re-
sistance of the past, it was necessary first to make
an appeal to the sovereignty of the people and then
to suspend the exercise of that sovereignty. The
consequence was the formation, under the cover of
patriotism, of a condition of public manners and morals
which finally permitted an ambitious general to create
himself dictator.

We may say that patriotism gradually became cor-
rupted. The people of France fought to make France
free and independent ; but also in order to fraternise
with other peoples and rescue them from a state of
slavery. Their victories won France her independence ;
but they also brought her conquests. Then, forgetting
her disinterested promises, the nation wished to retain,
for the sake of self-aggrandisement, what she had
taken in self-defence. At the time of Bonaparte's first
Italian victories, France styled herself, by the voice
of the Directory, the Great Nation. This greatness
consisted in the fact that, by a return to the ideal of
the ancien regime, she had substituted the politics of
interest for the politics of principle.'

Patriotism, humanitarian at first, became egotistical.
It had even become malignant ; especially with regard
to the English, whom France had formerly so much
admired ; and who were now waging pitiless war
upon her ; a war without mercy or loyalty, in which
they pretended to negotiate only to break off nego-
tiations ; suborning all Europe against her ; destroy-
ing the effect of her victories ; standing out, isolated
and obstinate, against the general pacification. Anglo-
phobia had already, at the instigation of the Revolu-

' According to Roederer {(Euvres, vol. iii. p. 326) and Joseph Bona-
parte {Memoires, vol. i. p. 77), Napoleon, on his return from Italy,
remarked to Sieyes : " I have made the great nation." Sieyes replied
" That is because we first of all made the nation."

ANGLOPHOBIA 135

tionary Government, so far corrupted patriotism as to
render it cruel ; notably when Barere, on the 7th of
Prairial of the year II, procured the decree that in
future the French should make no English or Hano-
verian prisoners. This frame of mind, unnatural to
the French character and inconsistent with the
principles of the Revolution, was still further
exasperated, from the year IV to the year VIII, by
the despairing continuation of the war with England.
When the Directory, in a proclamation of the ist of
Frimaire of the year VI, announced its intention of
" being about to dictate peace in London " ; when
it declared that by a descent upon England " the Great
Nation would avenge the universe " ; it was useless
to say that France, " naturally generous," " did not
hate even the English " ; it was futile tO' distinguish
the English from their Government ; the fact being
that the whole Republic was suffering from an erup-
tion of Anglophobia. The failure of this proposed
descent so cruelly disappointed French patriotism that
we can see plainly that the French nation would have
made even the sacrifice of liberty, that it would, at
need, have provisionally abdicated in favour of a single
man, if thus it could hope to come to grips with
England. I

This degeneration of patriotism was also apparent
in the state of affairs and opinion that we nowadays
call militarism.

The generals, first of all severely subordinated to
the civil power, so long as France was fighting to

' On the 14th of Nivose, year VI, in a proclamation, the central
bureau of the canton of Paris stated : " At the name of England the
blood boils in the veins, the heart shudders with indignation." Among
the various manifestations of Anglophobia we may cite the success of
the "Hymn of Revenge" {Chant des vengeances) oi Rouget de Lisle, and
dramas such as La Descente en Angletcrre {Paris pendant la reaction,
&c., vol. iv. pp. 505-532).

136 FALL OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORY

defend herself in order to live, became predominant
from the moment when, as a conqueror, France wished
to retain, organise, and extend her conquests.

Since the general levy had sent into camp nearly all
the young and living forces of the nation, it would
seem that only the Army was still strong and vital.
It was to the Army that the Government must look
for support in its internal policy. The blow of i8th
of Fructidor was effected by the grace of Bonaparte
and the sword of Augereau. Then the Army declared
itself — as in modern times has happened in Spain —
issued addresses directed against the royalists, and took
the civil power under its protection.

It was ardently republican ; but it also ardently
loved its leaders, who had led it to victory. Its con-
quests had progressively assumed a political signifi-
cance. The Army had created republics in Italy ; why
should it not organise the French Republic? '

Since it began to conquer in place of defending,
the Army (like the nation) has learned to love con-
quest as conquest ; first for the sake of glory, then
for the sake of loot. The Hoches, Klebers, and
Marceaus of the Army have done their best against
the instinct of rapine, the craving for prey ; Bona-
parte has excited it, and has placed a sordid ideal
before the eyes of the Army of Italy.

In this manner the pure republican ideal of the
soldiers of the year II has been modified. From
conquest they have acquired the taste for conquest ;
from gain, the taste for pillage. Victories due to the
genius of their leaders have awakened in their hearts

' The Council of Five Hundred seemed to encourage these ideas
by the considerable place which it accorded military men in the lists
of candidates for the Directorates. Among these candidates, at
different times, were Generals Beurnonville, Massena, Ernouf, Augereau,
Brune, Moulin, Lefebvre, Dufour, Marescot, and Pille.

BONAPARTE AND THE ARMY 137

sentiments which later on will gradually give the Army
a Prastorian character.

The Army hates kings and Bourbons ; it shouts
'* Vive la Republique ! Vlvent Vegallte et la liberie!''''
— but it no longer has the love of civil liberty at
heart. Having engineered a coup d^etat at the instance
of civil authority, of obscure civilians, why not bring
about a coup d'etat of its own for the benefit of its
glorious generals? The civil leaders feed it ill,
clothe it ill ; the military leaders led it to glory
and gain ; they love and understand it ; and they
have proved, by the organisation of their conquests,
that they understand civil matters as well as military.

Now it happens that the most admired of these
leaders. Napoleon Bonaparte, is at the same time a
great general and a great military orator, and thus
seems to realise in himself an ancient ideal of the
French race.

Now, since his prodigious Italian victories of the
years IV and V, and especially since the death of
Hoche, General Bonaparte had become the hero of
France, and all men's imaginings were busy with him.
Coming to Paris after exchanging at Rastadt the rati-
fications of the treaty of Campo-Formio, he was received
by the Directory, on the 20th of Frimaire in the
year VI, in an audience so pompous, so theatrical, that
it seemed an apotheosis of the general whose civic
loyalty the Government had already had more than
one excuse for regarding with suspicion. Bonaparte
spoke as a soldier, but also as a politician ; and
having eulogised the Revolution and exalted the re-
publican victories, he ventured to say : " When the
welfare of the French people is based upon the best
organic laws, all Europe will become free." The

138 FALL OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORY

Directors dared not protest against this indirect but
factious criticism of the Constitution of the year III ;
they pubhcly bestowed the accolade upon their general,
thus ratifying his popularity, which became dis-
turbingly great ; what with banquets, medals of honour,
poetry and hymns, and the flattery of the journals,
there was a general paroxysm of worship and adula-
tion, all the more threatening to liberty because it
was for the most part sincere. Intended to command
the Army which is to make the descent upon England,
Bonaparte remains in Paris, and, with the help of
Sieyes, is already playing an audacious part : he
speaks of re-investing the Legislative Corps with its
former authority, and of engineering another 9th of
Thermidor against the Government. The Directory
(we are told) decides upon the expedition to Egypt in
order to be rid of a rival who is already dangerous.

This expedition, although finally disastrous, adds a
kind of Oriental prestige to Bonaparte's glory.
Although he forsakes his Army in order to return to
France, he is regarded not as a deserter, but as ^
hero miraculously delivered. When, on the 21st of
Vendemiaire of the year VIII, Paris learns that he has
landed, on the 1 6th, near Frejus, there is an explosion
of joy in the cafes, in the theatres, and in the streets.
The ex-Conventional Baudin having died suddenly, the
report is spread that he has died of joy. Republicans
and royalists, in their journals, salute his return with
rising hope. Briot (of Doubs), the ardent democrat,
speaking in the Council of Five Hundred on the 22nd
of Vendemiaire, predicts, in lyrical terms, the services
which the sword of Aboukir's conqueror will shortly
render the Republic.^

' On the 27th the municipal administration of PontarHer writes to
the central administration of Doubs : " The news of Bonaparte's
arrival in France has so electrified the inhabitants of the commune
of Pontarlier that many of them have been indisposed by it ; others

BONAPARTE'S WELCOME 139

Bonaparte makes a triumphal journey. '* The
crowd was such," says the Mo nit ear, " even on the
highways, that the traffic could hardly advance. All
the places he has passed through, from Frejus to Paris,
were illuminated in the evening. Lyons is in a delirium ;
a play in his honour is improvised and performed at
the theatre : The Return of the Hero ; or Bonaparte
at Lyons."

The Directory probably foresaw and perhaps pro-
voked this journey ; but it had not expected this
formidable explosion of popularity. It welcomes
Bonaparte with sufficiently good grace, and reproaches
him with nothing. The general appears modest ; he
flatters and seduces everybody save Jourdan and Berna-
dotte ; gives a sabre to Moreau, and at the Institute
persuades every one that the expedition to Egypt was
undertaken purely in the interests of science. The most
distinguished intellects of the time — Berthollet, Monge,
Laplace, Chaptal, Cabanis, Marie-Joseph Chenier, and
others — scientists, poets, and thinkers, are convinced
that this young general, a geometer and philosopher,
will found the republic of their dreams. He poses
as the citizen rather than the soldier, and assumes a
semi-civil costume ; a redingote with a Turkish
scimitar. " He has taken to wearing his hair short,"
says the Moniteur of the 26th of Vendemiaire. " The
climate in which he has lived . . . has given more
colour to his face, which was naturally pale." For
the first time since 1789 the gazettes are full of flatter-
ing anecdotes of a man whose words and actions are
reported as those of Mirabeau nor of Robespierre never
were. And this is not a factitious or concerted
" boom " ; it is an effusion of sympathetic curiosity,
of universal liking. Hoche was admired. Bonaparte
is admired and beloved. Even in the opposition of

have wept tears of joy, and all wonder if it is not only a dream "
(Sauzay, Hist, de la pers. riv. dans Ic dep. du Dotibs, vol. x. p. 474).

UO FALL OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORY

certain far-seeing republicans, who already prophesy
a Cromwell, there is liking. Henceforth France identi-
fies herself with her hero, who knows how to speak
as well as to conquer, and who towers above the heads
of his contemporaries ; all the more because the
guillotine has long ago suppressed his possible rivals,
the flower of the men of thought or action of the
time. The deadly levelling blade that has planed the
nation down makes Bonaparte, already great, a giant :
he fills all eyes ; no other man is seen.

.We can scarcely doubt that Bonaparte returned from
Egypt with seditious dreams of ambition. Conscious
of the extreme outward and inward peril of the country,
he counted on appearing as a saviour. When he
landed, he learned, on the contrary, that France was
saved by the victories of Massena and of Brune. He
had perforce to rejoice in his popularity with modesty
and innocence ; to wait, to manoeuvre, to plot with
Sieyes.

The latter used to say that he needed a sword for
the realisation of his mysterious and complicated
schemes for a Constitution. He would have wished
for a sword " less lengthy " than Bonaparte's ; he would
have preferred Moreau's. But Moreau evaded him.
After his return from Egypt Bonaparte was the only
commander whom Sieyes could approach. The " old
fox " hoped to play with the " young hero." Yet he
half feared what actually occurred. Conversing with
Joseph Bonaparte and Cabanis as to his proposal to
make Napoleon Consul, together with himself and a
third, he said : "I wish to march with General Bona-
parte because he is the most civil of all soldiers. But
I know what is in store for me. After success the
general, leaving his two colleagues behind, will make
the very gesture I make now " ; and passing, as he
spoke, between his two companions, and pushing them
backward with his two arms extended, he suddenly

SIEYES FINDS HIS SOLDIER 141

attained the centre of the room. This anecdote, re-
peated to the general, made him smile, " Hurrah
for men of intellect ! " he said. " I augur well from
that." In Vain did Sieyes try to get Bonaparte to
agree beforehand to his Constitution. The latter would
not hear him ; would not plan with him anything but
means of execution of the projected coup d'etat ; as
for the Constitution, he declared that it must be dis-
cussed by the legislative commissions which would be
drawn from the expurgated Legislature. If Sieyes
would not consent, let him pick another general !
Talleyrand and Roederer, who played an active part
on the backstairs of the conspiracy, prevented a
rupture. Sieyes resigned himself, and his Constitution
was " rejected at the stage of the second draft and
left to the chances of the future."

III.

Bonaparte, Sieyes, and their accomplices were thus
determined to engineer against the Legislative Corps a
coup d'etat analogous to that of the i8th of Fructi-
dor ; but they did not feel confident of success, and
they saw that at the moment public opinion was not
clamouring for a saviour. The French, after so many
contradictory and forcible revolutions, whether popu-
lar or governmental, had arrived at a state of political
scepticism ; an apathy which allowed a schemer to
dare greatly, but not to count upon the enthusiastic
support of a truly national feeling. Certainly the true
republican spirit, the spirit of legality, had been
corrupted by the excesses of the Terror, by the excess
of military glory, and by the weakness or violence
of the Directory. The bourgeoisie, the new social
aristocracy, the possessors of national goods, were
afraid ; both of the Jacobins, who had almost become
Babeuvists, and of the royalists, who were threatening

142 FALL OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORY

the social fabric which had been established since 1789.
Such a state of affairs made a coup d'etat possible
enough, if it were put forward as directed simulta-
neously against the Jacobins and against Louis XVIII.
But it did not necessitate the coup d'etat ; the nation
did not call for it.

Had Bonaparte returned from Egypt a few weeks
earlier, when Souvaroff was threatening the frontiers,
France would possibly have thrown herself into his
arms. But in Brumaire of the year VIII the frontiers
were saved, and the royalist insurrection of the south
suppressed.

Yet one new danger facilitated the schemes of the
conspirators. At the end of Vendemiaire there was
news of the recrudescence of the Vendeean and Chouan
insurrections. Public opinion, however, was not greatly
stirred ; it quickly saw through the factitious character
of this royalist upheaval. The Prussian Minister in
Paris wrote to his Government at this time that con-
fidence was being renewed throughout France ; and
we find that even religious enmities were becoming
appeased.

It has been said that the Legislative Corps, by
the triviality and incoherence of its deliberations,
managed finally to disgust public opinion with the
parliamentary system. But it was really, on the con-
trary, occupying itself calmly and sedately with the
repeal of the Terrorists' laws relating to the compul-
sory loan and the hostages. On the 17th of Brumaire
this debate was on the point of conclusion ; Sieyes
and Bonaparte, if they waited longer, would no longer
have the Jacobins to invoke as a pretext, no longer
be able to raise the red spectre. It was time to act ;
the morrow would be too late. Sieyes still hesitated ;
Bonaparte resolved to take the plunge.

Whatever advantage the conspirators gained by the
glory of Bonaparte and Si^y^s' position in the Govern-

THE CONSPIRACY OF BRUMAIRE 143

ment, it is extremely doubtful whether their coup
(V Hat^ which France did not in any way desire, could
ever have been realised ; but for the fact that the
majority of the Elders were already familiar, not
indeed with the idea of a military dictatorship (which
they held in abhorrence), but with the constitutional
schemes of Sieyes, although no one as yet clearly under-
stood these schemes, and Sieyes himself had probably
not yet resolved upon all the forms and means. The
Five Hundred had voted a resolution to the effect that
all negotiators, generals, ministers, Directors, &c., who
should propose or accept conditions of peace involving
the integral alteration of the territory of the Republic,
or any modification of the Constitution of the year III,
should be punished by death. This resolution, evidently
aimed at Sieyes, was rejected by the Elders on the
2nd of Bramaire of the year VHI. The Five Hundred
resigned themselves to this rejection ; there was no
conflict, but a profound divergence between the
two Chambers. The Elders admit that the Constitu-
tion might be altered ; the Five Hundred feel that
it is threatened, but avoid all open discord ; they
are conciliatory, but are powerless and lacking in fore-
sight. They fear Sieyes ; not without justification.
But they do not fear Bonaparte ; indeed, their con-
fidence in him is pushed so far that on the ist of
Bramaire they elect his brother president ; Lucien,
who has sworn to plunge his dagger into any dictator.
The Elders, having to renew their " Inspectors of the
Hall " (questors), appoint men who are shortly to be
accomplices in the coup d'etat: Cornet, Courtois,
Beauprc, Barailon, Fabre.

Bonaparte spent the 1 7th of Bramaire in making
sure of his officers and his troops. He persuaded
General Bemadotte to neutrality. He sent for Mac-
donald, Beurnonville, and his brother-in-law Leclerc.
As for Moreau, he consented to co-operate because

144 FALL OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORY

he was dissatisfied with the Directory. A contempo-
rary, the historian Tissot, assures us that the Minister
of War learned of the conspiracy on the 1 7th, and
proposed to the Directory that Bonaparte should be
arrested ; they refused, being reassured by the reports
of the Minister of Police, Fouche, The worthy Gohier
was one of the most ardent disbelievers in the con-
spiracy, because Bonaparte had promised to dine at
his house on the i8th. Sieyes, assured of the
complicity of Roger Ducos, and the prudent neutrality
of Barras, did not trouble to put his colleague Moulin
on the wrong scent. Helped by Fouche, secretly
advised by the able Talleyrand, sure of a majority
in the Council of Elders, Bonaparte and Sieyes could
without anxiety set to work on the final preparations
for the coup (V Hat, while the Commission of Inspectors
convoked the Elders to an extraordinary session on
the following morning — the i8th — at eight o'clock.

IV.

At the opening of the session Cornet, president pf
the Commission of Inspectors, vaguely denounced a
conspiracy, and spoke of " poignards " and " vultures."
Immediately Regnier, without giving further details,
proposed that the Elders should make use of the right
which the Constitution gave them of transferring the
Legislative Corps to another commune. He proposed
Saint-Cloud, which insignificant village was chosen to
show that there was no intention to decapitalise Paris.
The two Councils would assemble there on the follow-
ing day — the 19th. "General Bonaparte is there,"
added Regnier, " ready to execute your orders the
moment you instruct him. This illustrious man, who
has merited so much from his country, burns to crown
his noble labours by this act of devotion to the Repub-
lic and the national representation." He demanded

THE COUP UETAT OF BRUMAIRE 18TH 145

that Bonaparte should be appointed commander of the
17th military division, in the province of which was
the department of Seine.

Although the Elders had the right to transplant the
Legislative Corps, they had by no means the right to
appoint any general to a command. Nevertheless the
Elders voted all Regnier's propositions.

The Five Hundred, meeting about eleven o'clock,
Received notice of the decree of the Elders ; and in
order to prevent all debate Lucien Bonaparte, the
president, immediately terminated the session.

The Elders had not waited for the Five Hundred to
meet before acquainting Bonaparte with the decree.
From the steps of his house he harangued the entire
staff of officers, who overflowed into the street. He
replied to the objections of his predecessor in the
command of the 13th division. General Lefebvre, by
informing him that it was a matter of rescuing the
Republic from lawyers. Already he had had the
Champs-Elysees and the garden of the Tuileries oc-
cupied by troops. Having received the decree, he went
to the bar of the Elders to take the oath there ; but
instead of " swearing fidelity to the Republic and the
Constitution of the year HI, and to oppose with all
his might the re-establishment of royalty in France,
and of all kinds of tyranny," according to the formula
decreed on the 12th of Thermidor of the year VII, he
said : " We desire a Republic founded upon the true
liberty ; upon civil liberty, and upon the national re-
presentation ; we shall have it, I swear. I swear it in
my own name and in those of my companions in arms."
Whereupon, installed in the inspectors' hall, he imme-
diately began giving orders and conferring commands ;
and, although no decree had authorised him to do so,
^.ppointed General Moreau commandant of the Guard
of the Luxembourg, in which the Directors dwelt ; and
Moreau accepted this gaoler's place. The barriers of
VOL. rv. 10

146 FALL OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORY

Paris were closed, and the departure of couriers
suspended.

The people of Paris showed themselves indifferent ;
there was no rising, either hostile or sympathetic,
although the streets were full of curious citizens reading
the proclamations of Bonaparte : "In what a state
did I leave France, and in what a condition did I find
her 1 . . . This condition of things cannot continue,"
&c. The Minister of Police, Fouche, and the central
administration of Seine also, by means of placards,
pronounced themselves in favour of the coup d'etat.
Eulogies of Bonaparte and of his liberal intentions
were also spread abroad ; stating that he would be
neither a Csesar nor a Cromwell. The people were
assured that it was merely a matter of a legal revolution.
Thus, for the constitutional promulgation of the decree
of the Elders the signature of the majority of the
Directors was required. All depended upon the attitude
of Barras ; if he were to join Gohier and Moulin, the
coup d'etat already commenced might miscarry. Barras
stood aside ; he absented himself, to the profit of the
conspirators.

Gohier, who presided, convoked the Directory ;
Moulin alone presented himself. Barras sent his resig-
tion as Director to the Legislative Corps. At this
Gohier and Moulin, thoroughly disconcerted, went to
join Sieyes and Roger Ducos in the hall of the inspec-
tors, which they refused to leave ; and all four signed
the decree. Evidently Gohier and Moulin either lost
their heads, or did not as yet suspect Bonaparte.
On their return to the Luxembourg they became
prisoners in Moreau's custody. They protested by
means of a message which was intercepted. Moulin
escaped. Gohier remained a prisoner until the 20th.
The Government was at an end.

THE COUP D'ETAT OF BRUMAIRE 18TH 147

However, the coup d'etat well-nigh miscarried ; be-
cause the republican supporters of the Constitution of
the year III had had time to confer during the twenty-
four hours which elapsed between the decree of trans-
ference and the re-assembling of the Legislative Corps
at Saint-Cloud. The president of the Five Hundred,
Lucien Bonaparte, had over-estimated his influence over
his colleagues, and it was very soon evident that the
Council contained a majority against the schemes of
Siey^s and Bonaparte. Even in the Council of Elders
there was a hostile minority which did not conceal its
indignation as to the violence offered to Gohier and
Moulin.

The Five Hundred opened their session in the
Orangery, and the Elders in the Gallery of Mars, in
the midst of a display of military strength. However,
the soldiers who guarded the chateau were chiefly com-
posed of the grenadiers of the Legislative Corps, so
the deputies were not alarmed.

The Elders sat at two o'clock. The minority de-
manded explanations as to the plot which had been
denounced the day before. They were given the in-
correct answer that Gohier, Moulin, and Roger Ducos
had resigned with Barras, and that Sieyes had been
placed under supervision. At four o'clock Bonaparte,
introduced at the bar with his staff, made an incoherent
speech, in which he stated that he was accompanied
by the God of Fortune and the God of Glory. He
requested the Elders to " prevent intestine broils," and
to safeguard liberty and equality. Some one cried out :
" And the Constitution? " Pie replied that the Con-
stitution, violated by every party, could no longer save
France. He was challenged to name the conspirators,
and he hinted at vague grievances against Barras and
Moulin. The Council insisted ; he became confused,

148 FALL OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORY

lost his head, denounced the Five Hundred, summoned
his soldiers, and withdrew. A republican, Dalphonse,
proposed that the oath of fidelity to the Constitution
of the year III should be taken. The majority appeared
embarrassed. Then came the news that Bonaparte
had just been stabbed in the hall of the Five Hundred :
the Elders formed themselves into a secret committee.

The Council of Five Hundred met simultaneously with
the Council of Elders. Delbrel cried : " We will have
the Constitution or death ! Bayonets do not frighten
us : we are free here, I demand that all the members
of the Council, individually summoned, shall imme-
diately renew the oath to maintain the Constitution of
the year HI," The assembly rose with enthusiasm ;
and each deputy, including even Lucien Bonaparte,
went to swear the proposed oath ; with one single excep-
tion, that of the ex-Conventional and ex-Girondist
Bergoeing.

The Five Hundred were discussing the resignation
and the replacement of Barras, when Bonaparte entered
the hall, bare-headed, holding in one hand his hat, in
the other his riding-whip, escorted by four Grenadiers
of the Legislative Corps armed only with their sabres.
Beside them he seemed smaller than ever ; he was
pale, disturbed, and hesitating. It would perhaps have
been a favourable occasion for hearing and questioning
him. Anger and indignation overcame prudence. The
Five Hundred would not allow him to speak ; they
cried : " Down with the dictator 1 Outlaw ! " Destrem
said to him : " Is it for this you have conquered? "
It has been pretended that at this juncture several
deputies, notably Arena, threatened him with daggers,
and that a grenadier named Thome received the blow
intended for him. It is clear, however, from the most
credible witnesses, even those who were among his
supporters, that there was only a scuffle, in which the
grenadier Thome perhaps had his sleeve torn ; but that

THE SCENE IN THE COUNCIL OF 500 149

no daggers were drawn, nor was there any attempted
assassination. Insulted, repulsed, Bonaparte retired.
His brother Lucien tried to justify him, raised a storm
of hooting, and gave up his presidential chair to another
conspirator, Chazal. It was proposed to annul Bona-
parte's appointment ; to declare that the troops assem-
bled at Saint-Cloud were part of the guard of the
Legislative Corps. Chazal refused to put these motions
to the vote. There arose a general cry : " The outlawry
of Bonaparte ! " Lucien was forced to resume the pre-
sidency for the voting of this decree. Lucien wept,
half fainted, and laid down the insignia of the presi-
dential dignity. He was surrounded, consoled, and
allowed to go in search of his brother, in order to bring
matters to a termination by a " civic explanation."
Chazal resumed the chair. There was now a frightful
uproar. Augereau, coming to resume his place as
deputy, challenged the president to put the decree of
outlawry to the vote.

The decree was on the point of being carried when
the troops entered.

When Bonaparte left the hall of the Five Hundred
he was seen to be very pale ; his head was bent and
he walked like a sleep-walker, pursued by the cry of
" Hors la lot! " (" Outlaw! ") which had formerly sent
Robespierre to the scaffold. The silence of the soldiery
and of the crowd increased his alarm. He got into
the saddle to harangue the troops, but immediately fell
to the ground. He was picked up and surrounded ;
Lucien came up and led him into a hall of the palace,
and then returned to inform the troops that seditious
persons had attempted to assassinate their general, and
that it was the president of the Council of the Five
Hundred who now ordered them to invade the hall
where the assassins were in session, and to disperse the
deputies. Two squadrons of grenadiers, preceded by
drums, entered the Orangery, their sabres drawn. Blin^

150 FALL OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORY

Bigounet, Talot, and General Jourdan addressed them
in vain ; they pushed the deputies before them, and
forced them to go out, laughingly carrying the most
recalcitrant in their arms. The spectators in the
galleries departed through the windows.

VI.

Immediately the Council of Elders instructed a Com-
mission to draw up and propose suitable measures ; and,
in accordance with its report, voted the suppression
of the Directory, the creation of an executive Com-
mission of three members, and the adjournment of the
Legislative Corps.

Bonaparte and Sieyes, however, did not believe that
this vote would be accepted by the general public.

Some members of the Five Hundred, 25 or 30 in
number, held a session at nine o'clock at night, under
the presidency of Lucien Bonaparte ; and, as they
formed a majority, voted a resolution (in conformity
with a report submitted by Boulay of Meurthe) to the
effect that the Directory no longer existed ; that 61
members of the Legislative Corps would be ejected,
among them being Talot, Arena, Briot, Destrem,
Goupilleau (Montaigu)), and General Jourdan ; that
an executive Consular Commission should be created,
consisting of the citizens Sieyes, Roger Ducos and Bona-
parte, who would assume the title of Consuls of the
French Republic; that the Legislative Corps was ad-
journed until the ist of Ventose following ; that during
this adjournment each Council would be replaced by
a Commission of 25 of its members ; and these two
Commissions would legislate, " upon the definite and
essential motion of the executive Consular Commission,
upon all urgent matters of police and finance," and
would prepare " the modifications to be effected in
the organic provisions of the Constitution, the faults

BONAPARTE TRIUMPHANT 151

and inconveniences of which have been shown by
experience."

The Council of Elders immediately converted this
resolution into law, and the three provisional Consuls
appeared at the bar in order to take the oath of " fidelity
to the Republic one and indivisible, to liberty, equality,
and the representative system." It was Lucien Bona-
parte who had had this formula altered ; it was Lucien
again who at the tribune of the Five Hundred compared
this day with that of the Oath of the Tennis Court.

As for the grenadiers who had dispersed the Five
Hundred, they felt that they had saved the Republic,
and re-entered Paris singing the (^a ira.

CHAPTER IV

THE PROVISIONAL CONSULATE AND THE CONSTITU-
TION OF THE YEAR VIII

I. The 1 8th of Brumaire and public opinion. — II. The policy of the
Provisional Consuls. — III, The drafting of the Constitution of the
year VIII.— IV. Analysis of this Constitution.— V. The acceptation
by plebiscite.

It may seem that the history of the plebiscitary
Republic, that is to say of the Consulate, ought not
to form part of the history of the French Revolution
properly so called, because the coup d'etat of the
1 8th of Brumaire opened up a period during which
the development of the principles of 1789 was contra-
dicted and arrested ; a period, in short, of genera,!
reaction.

But this reaction did not appear as a whole and
at once. The disorganisation of the work of the
Revolution by the man in whose favour the nation
had abdicated its rights was not effected at a blow.
Gradually only, and progressively, half -elaborated, the
State politic, fashioned in conformity with the ideas
of the eighteenth century, was abolished as regards
its essential institutions, and replaced by a new form
of government^ archaic both in spirit and in tendency ;
replaced by a species of military and religious tyranny.
A brief history, or rather a sketch of a history, will
suffice to show the workings of this slow and pro-

152

PARIS INDIFFERENT : FRANCE INDIGNANT 153

visional disappearance of the principles whose birth
and vicissitudes we have considered in some detail.

France learned with amazement of this new revolu-
tion, which had no excuse in the shape of serious
internal or external danger. Yet so many days had
been seen since 1789, so many insurreictions and coups
d'etat^ effected by the people or its governors, and
the Constitution of the year III had been so often
violated by the latter, that the breaches of law com-
mitted on the 1 8th and 19th of Bramalre were pro-
ductive of more surprise than indignation. In Paris
the workers of the faubourgs did not rise in defence
of the democratic deputies who were the victims of
Napoleon's move. Since the events of Pr atrial in the
year III the popular element was practically nowhere
in the capital. There was no longer a Jacobin Club
in Paris. Democratic opinion had no longer a centre
nor means of action ; it remained inert. The
bourgeoisie were reassured and confident ; especially
those engaged in the higher walks of commerce and
finance. Consols, on the 17th of Brumaire, were at
.11 fr. 38. On the 18th they rose to 12.88 ; on the
19th, to 14.38 ; on the 21st, to 15.63 ; on the 24th,
to 20 francs. But no one appeared to be particularly
rejoiced, excepting the royalists, who at first were so
naive as to believe that Bonaparte was about to set
Louis XVIII on the throne. They insulted the repub-
licans by means of street-songs and comedies. But
this phase passed quickly, and we may say that through-
out Paris in general the public feeling remained chilly,
nearly indifferent, almost apathetic.

It was by no means the same in the departments ;
there occurred many acts of definite opposition. Many
public officials — elected administrators of departments

154: THE PROVISIONAL CONSULATE

or cantons, or commissaries of the Directory — protested,
or refused to register the decrees of the 19th of
Brumaire. The president of the Criminal Court 'of
Yonne did the same. The provisional Consuls had on
this account to discharge a considerable number of
functionaries. One departmental administration, that
of Jura, was not contented with protestations ; it
actually decreed the formation of an armed force to
march against the " usurping tyrants " ; but its decree
was not obeyed.

Several clubs made their protests heard ; notably
those of Versailles, Metz, Lyons, and Clermont-Ferrand.
The Jacobins of Toulouse unsuccessfully called on the
citizens to arm themselves. There was thus a verbal re-
publican opposition in the departments ; but it was the
opposition of a minority of club-members and officials.
Nowhere, it seems, was it echoed by the masses of the
people ; nowhere was it necessary to repress even an
incipient insurrection in defence of the law. The
royalists exulted in the provinces as in Paris ; but there
were no bloody collisions between them and the repub-
licans. iWe may say that the mass of the nation waited,
without any particular emotion, to make up its mind
as to this new " day," this last insurrection : the doing;s
of Bonaparte, Sieyes, and Roger Ducos.

II.

The provisional Consuls exercised their functions
from the 20th of Brumaire of the year VIII until the
following 3rd of Nivose: from November i ith till
December 24th of the year 1799. At their first session
it was proposed that a president of the Consulate should
be appointed. The Consuls decided against any such
appointment ; the duties of a president should be ful-
filled in rotation, each day by one of them, who should
have no other title than that of Consul of the day. The

THE CONSULS 155

chance of alphabetical order gave Bonaparte the presi-
dency of the first session ; Roger Ducos presided over
the next and Sieyes over the third, and so forth. Conse-
quently Bonaparte was not invested with the dictatorship
on the morrow of the coup d^etat, nor is it true to say
that he then actually exercised it. Although in military
matters he exercised a preponderance similar to Carnot's
when a member of the Committee of Public Safety, it
is impossible to cite any authentic instances of his acting
or speaking as a dictator before the voting of the
Constitution of the year VIII, unless they happen to
be instances which illustrate the preparation of that
Constitution. The policy generally followed during
these first weeks was as far* as possible anonymous, and
the Consulate was only a Directory reduced to three
members ; of whom Bonaparte appeared in public only
with his two colleagues ; truly by no means diminished
or effaced, but in legal standing and official authority of
one rank with them.i

The policy of the provisional Consulate was modest
and conciliatory. The victors of previous " days " — the
3 ist of May, the 9th of Thermidor, the 1 8th of Fractidor
— had boasted of blasting vice and error in the name
of truth and virtue. The new " saviours of the
Republic " are tactful people, who have slipped into
power as best they could : but more roughly than they
had expected ; and who are anxious to atone for their
outburst by being wiser and luckier than their prede-
cessors. The combination of a popular general and
a fastidious philosopher offers not to change society,
but to heal its diseases by opportune expedients. No
one speaks of a military dictatorship ; Bonaparte has

' The Ministry was thus composed : Justice, Cambacercs ; Foreign
Relations, Reinhard ; Pohce, Fouche ; War, Berthier ; Finance,
Guadin ; Interior, Laplace ; Marine and Colonies, Bourdon de Vatry.
(We see that four out of seven former Ministers were retained —
Cambaceres, Reinhard, Fouche, Bourdon de Vatry.)

156 THE PROVISIONAL CONSULATE

exchanged (so the journals announce) his general's
uniform for a civilian's frockcoat ; it is a civil govern-
ment that the new rulers wish to establish. They
neither wish to set the Seine on fire nor to make a
clean sweep and begin anew ; they wish to do their
best for the best, while treading on as few corns as
possible.

Firstly comes the question of bringing the advanced
republicans into line. As the pretext of the coup d'etat
was the Jacobin peril, a Consular order of the 20th of
Brumaire banishes from the continental territory of
France 34 " Jacobins " ; among them Destrem, Arena,
and Felix Le Peletier ; and orders the imprisonment
at La Rochelle of 19 others : Briot, Antonelle, Talot,
Delbrel, &c. But this order is revoked on the 4th
of Frimaire; the 34 are merely placed provisionally
under police surveillance ; so that there is apparently
no actual proscription before the establishment of the
Constitution of the year VIII,

Many of the 61 deputies excluded on the 19th of
Brumaire rally to the new Government. General
Jourdan exchanges a courteous correspondence with
Bonaparte.

Among the survivors of the Mountain of the year II,
Barere writes a letter of adhesion, i which is published
in the Moniteur of the 19th of Frimaire, and makes a
great stir. Even those republican ex -deputies who do
not rally to the Consulate, such as Delbrel, Talot,
Destrem, and Briot, and who perhaps understand that
the cause of liberty is lost, refrain from any active
opposition ; and of the majority of the republicans we
may say that they accept the coup d'etat or resign
themselves to it.

The Consuls send forth twenty -four delegates '* on
mission " to the departments ; among them such ex-

' It was not a merely flattering adhesion. Barere proposes to Bona-
parte an entire scheme of a democratic constitution.

BONAPARTE'S AMBITION 157

Conventionals as Jard-Panvillier, Lecointe-Puyvareau,
and Penieres ; and these new commissaries plead the
cause of the new system with ability, and finally reassure
the republicans. The royalists are disowned ; a point
is made of seeming to maintain and glorify republican
forms. In a circular of the 6th of Frimaire the Minister
of Police, Fouche, hurls anathemas at the emigres^
whom the country " rejects eternally from her bosom."
When the Terrorist laws concerning the hostages are
repealed (on the 22nd and 27th of Brumaire), the
republicans find in this measure no savour of reaction,
but the natural conclusion of the debates already opened
upon these matters in the two Councils before the i8th
of Brumaire.

In a word, the policy of the provisional Consulate
is practically a continuation of the policy of the
Directory.!

III.

It is possible that at this period Bonaparte did for
a moment dream of the glory of a Washington, and that
the policy that appeared so liberal and conciliatory
was indeed sincere. But at the very moment when
this policy had produced its due effect ; when Bona-
parte saw the republicans reassured or resigned ; when
he no longer had any opposition whatever to fear,
his personal ambition awoke, and he exploited the
feeling of general confidence which the moderation of
the provisional Consulate had produced throughout the
nation in order to obtain a constitution which should
make him the master of France.

It will be remembered that the two intermediary

' Concerning the provisional Consulate : see the Register of its
deliberations which I published in the collection of the Society of the
History of the Revolution, Paris, 1894 ; also in my Etudes et lemons, 2nd
series, pp. 213-259, the chapter entitled Le lendemain du 18 Brumaire.

158 THE PROVISIONAL CONSULATE

legislative Commissions, emanating from the Legislative
Corps and provisionally replacing it, were to prepare
modifications to be introduced into the Constitution
of the year III. To this effect they established two
" sections." That of the Five Hundred was composed
of Chazal, Lucien Bonaparte, Daunou, Marie-Joseph
Chenier, Boulay (Meurthe), Cabanis, and Chabot ; that
of the Elders, of Carat, Laussat, Lemercier, Lenoir-
Laroche, and Regnier. These sections apparently
decided at the outset to adopt Sieyes' project as their
working basis. This project, however, was not yet
drafted, and from the famous thinker they could obtain
only conversations and rough outlines. It was supposed
that he wished to reconcile the monarchical with the
democratic ideal. The people is sovereign, but it mus;t
not exercise its sovereignty directly, being* insufficiently
enlightened for such a course. It must delegate its
sovereignty. The " confidence " must come from
below, and the " power " from on high.

Requested to be precise, Sieyes allowed two con-
fused sketches to be extracted from him. According
to the first, the people would draw up lists of notabilities,
from which a proclamator -elector would select the func-
tionaries. The Government would be exercised by a
Council of State of fifty members. The people would
elect a Legislative Assembly. There would also be a
Tribunate, a constitutional jury, and a conservative
Senate, a kind of court of appeal in political matters.
This senate would appoint the proclaniator-elector, and
would absorb him, if he became too ambitious, as it
would also absorb too popular tribunes. This system
was symbolised by a pyramid, having the people as
its base, and at its apex the proclamator-elector . Bona-
parte saw no scope for his ambition in this scheme,
and he derided the proclamator-elector, calling him
the " fatted swine." Sieyes elaborated a second scheme,
in which he confided the executive power not to a State

BONAPARTE FIGHTS FOR HIS AMBITION 159

Council, but to two Consuls, the one for peace, the
other for war. This was to reserve a place for Bona-
parte, but in this plan, as in the other, Sieyes had
multiplied the guarantees of liberty and the precautions
against the ambition of one man.'

The sections of the Commissions inclined to accept
this second scheme. Bonaparte adroitly prevented a
discussion, and formed, at his own house, a little com-
mittee comprising Sieyes, Roederer, and Boulay. He
tried to intimidate the philosopher, and for the first
time spoke as a master. Sieyes was silent, and
apparently abandoned his scheme.

The two sections then elaborated a plan ~ of which
the basis was the qualified suffrage, and political privi-
lege the perquisite of the bourgeoisie ; 3 the executive
power would be organised as in Sieyes' plan. The
journals frowned upon the scheme. Bonaparte
threatened to get a constitution botched up by any-
body or a nobody, and to submit it to the people
himself. Then Daunou drafted a plan, which, under
the names of Consulate, Senate, Tribunate, concealed
merely the Constitution of the year III, democratised
by the suppression of property suffrage. Bonaparte
refused this plan also ; it would have been the ruin of
his ambition. He took it upon him to dictate to
this little committee — unaided (or very nearly so)
— the plan which afterwards became the Constitution

' Of these two plans we know the first through Mignet, who has pub-
lished an analysis of it in his History of the Revolution, and to whom the
original was communicated by Daunou. The second has been pub-
lished by Boulay in a volume entitled: Theorie conslituiiondle de Sieyes,
Constitution de Van VIII (Paris, 1836).

' In the Moniteuriox the loth of Friniaire of the year VIII, and for
the 12th of Friniaire.

3 At this time there was a great effort made to effect the prevalence
of the idea that the bourgeois proprietors should be the sole rulers of
the nation ; that there should be a "democracy of landowners."

160 THE PROVISIONAL CONSULATE

of the year VIII. ' Drafted in Bonaparte's salon, it is
not certain whether it was submitted in entirety to the
vote of the Legislative Commissions, the members of
which signed it individually on the 22nd of Frimaire.
Bonaparte imposed it, as by a new coap (Vet at.

IV.

The Constitution of the 22nd of Frimaire of the
year VIII (December 13, 1799), a kind of caricature
of the plans of Sieyes and Daunou, consists of 95
articles, arranged without any method. The Declaration
of Rights is not even referred to ; there is no mention
of the liberty of the press nor of the liberty of the con-
science ; and it has only one liberal characteristic — the
guarantee of individual security by Articles 76 to 82.

iWhat is most remarkable in this Constitution is that
it deprives the nation — while recognising it as sovereign
— of the right to elect its deputies, to make its own
laws through them, and through them to regulate the
national revenue and expenditure.

In fact, while re-establishing universal suffrage, it
annihilates it .2

It re-establishes universal suffrage, since henceforth
all Frenchmen aged twenty-five or more who are not
hired domestics and have been domiciled for a year
will be citizens and will possess the right to vote.

It annihilates it by the following ingenious arrange-
ments :

All the citizens of each " communal " arrondlssement

' Roederer says that Bonaparte himself "discussed all parts of the
Constitution," and that he " marked them with the seal of his mind,
in giving the authority of the government that uniform force which
ensures at the same time order and liberty."

* The expression universal suffrage began to be employed about this
time. I find it for the first time in an article by Mallet du Pan. He
wrote in London ; doubtless he borrowed the expression from the
English language.

THE NEW SUFFRAGE 161

will reduce themselves to a tenth of their number,
selecting by their votes " those among them whom they
believe to be the fittest to assume the conduct of public
affairs. This tenth will form the communal list,
or the list of the arrondissement, from which will be
chosen the public functionaries of the arrondissement.
The citizens comprised in the lists of the arrondlssements
of each department are again reduced to a tenth ; this
is the departmental list, from which the departmental
officials will be selected. All the departmental lists
must then be reduced to one-tenth, in order to form
the national list of those eligible to " public national
functions " ; that is to say, to the functions of deputy,
tribune, &c. These various lists of candidates will
be drawn up once and for all. As for the vacancies
produced by death, they will be filled once in three
years only. Finally the formation of these lists is
postponed until the year IX, so that at the beginning
of the organisation of the various public services the
electors cannot, and in fact do not, participate in any
manner whatever. Although in time they would have
exercised their rights it would have been a totally
illusory exercise of the national sovereignty : a vote
deprived of all practical consequences. Suppose an
arrondissement to contain ten thousand citizens. If
these ten thousand had had the right to choose even
a hundred only of their number to be added to the list
from which their functionaries were to be taken, they
would thus have exerted a certain influence on affairs.
But for these ten thousand to select at least a thousand
meant that they really selected no one ; the cards were
forced, so to speak ; the demand for such a number
allowed no actual choice whatever ; to make up the;
number every person who could spell would have to be
included ; and it would be all the more easy to exclude
the few persons who were really competent. But there
was no way of excluding a whole party.
VOL. rv. 11

162 THE PROVISIONAL CONSULATE

Such was the farcical electoral system, nominally
democratic, which Bonaparte substituted for the quali-
fied suffrage system of the Constitution of the year III ;
and by which, while seeming to restore to the French
nation the rights which they had won by the insurrec-
tion of August loth (1792), he actually excluded the
nation from political life. And thus, by a parody of
the scheme of Sieyes, he organised his pyramid with
" confidence " at the base, being the source of the
" powers " placed at the apex.

One of these powers, whose duty it was to elect and
maintain, was a Conservative Senate of 60 members
(holding office for life, and over forty years of age),
who, by an annual addition of two new senators over a
space of ten years, would finally reach their full comple-
ment of 80. The origin of the Senate was entirely
revolutionary and dictatorial. Article 24 of the Con-
stitution states : " The citizens Sieyes and Roger Ducos,
outgoing Consuls, are appointed members of the Conser-
vative Senate ; they will unite themselves to the second
and third Consuls appointed by the present Constitu-
tion. These four citizens appoint the majority of the
Senate, which then completes itself, and proceeds to the
elections which are confided to it." Later on the Senate
would fill the gaps which co-optation would produce in
it, from a list of three candidates presented by the
Legislative Corps, the Tribunate, and the First Consul.
The principal functions of the Senate were : Firstly,
to elect the legislators, tribunes, consuls, judges of
appeal, and commissaries of accounts ; secondly, to
maintain or annul such proceedings as should be sub-
mitted to it as unconstitutional by the Tribunate or
by the Government. Its sessions were not public.

As for the legislative power, the Government alone
was able to propose laws. Drafted by a Council of
State, which was the most active member of the
new system, they were submitted to a. Tribunate

METHOD OF LEGISLATION 163

and a Legislative Corps. The Tribunate was com-
posed of ICO members, appointed by the Senate for
five years, renewable by one-fifth each year, and re-
eHgible ; they must be at least twenty-five years of
age. The Legislative Corps numbered 300 members,
at least thirty years of age ; appointed and renewed
in the same way, but re-eligible only after one year's
interval. The Legislative Corps should always contain
at least one member from each department of the
Republic. The Tribunate discussed the proposed laws
and voted for their adoption or rejection ; and sent
three of its members to expound and defend the motives
of these votes or " desires " before the Legislative
Corps.

The Legislative Corps also heard the Government
orators and State Councillors, and arrived at its deci-
sions without discussion, by the secret ballot. The
Legislative Corps sat only four months. When the
Tribunate adjourned it appointed a permanent commis-
sion of ten to fifteen of its members, which was instructed
to convoke it should such a step seem advisable. The
sessions of the Tribunate and those of the Legislative
Corps were public, but the number of strangers present
might not exceed two hundred.

The salary of a senator was 25,000 francs ; of a
tribune, 15,000; of a legislator, 10,000.

The executive power was confided to three Consuls,
appointed for ten years and indefinitely re -eligible.
They were to be elected by the Senate ; but in the
first instance they were designated by the Constitution
itself : Bonaparte as First Consul, Cambaceres Second
Consul, and Le Brun Third Consul.' All the reality of

' The Legislative Commissions were called upon to vote in this
matter. According to contemporary witnesses Bonaparte obtained a
unanimous vote ; Cambaceres and Lebrun each obtained 21 votes in
each Commission. See the brochure : Seance extraordinaire de la nuit
tenue au palais des Consuls, also the journal Lc Bien-I nforme for the
24th of Frimaire of the year VIII.

164 THE PROVISIONAL CONSULATE

power was in. the hands of the First Consul, who was
far more powerful than Louis XVI had been under the
Constitution ofi789-i79i.

" The First Consul promulgates the laws ; he appoints and recalls at
will the members of the Council of State, the Ministers, ambassadors,
and other external agents-in-chief ; the officers of the army by land
and sea ; the members of local administrations, and the commissaries
of the Government attached to the tribunals. He appoints all the
criminal and civil judges other than the justices of peace and the
judges of the appeal court, without being able to recall them"
(Article 41). " In other governmental proceedings the Second and
Third Consuls express themselves in consultation : they sign the
register of these proceedings in order to testify to their presence ; and
if they wish they register their opinions ; after which the decision of
the First Consul suffices."

Practically, there was no legal barrier to Napoleon's
will. Article 45 stated clearly that an annual law would
determine the total revenue and expenditure. But the
Government proposed this law, which the Legislative
Corps had to accept or reject as a whole, without amend-
ments. Out of a kind of derisory respect for the
principles of liberal governments, it was stated in
Article 55 that no enactment of the Government could
take effect unless it were signed by a Minister ; and
Article 72 stated that Ministers would be responsible.
But senators, legislators, tribunes. Consuls, Councillors
of State, and so forth, were not responsible (Article 69).
Agents of the Government could only be proceeded
against for matters relating to their duties in virtue of
a decision of the Council of State (Article 75). Thus
■there was no constitutional check upon Bonaparte. The
dictatorship was already in being ; unacknowledged,
and hidden under formula, but ready to be organised.

The Constitution had to be " offered at once for the
acceptance of the French people " (Article 95). Every-

THE CONSULAR CONSTITUTION 165

thing was done to ensure the success of the plebiscite.
Instead of convoking the primary assembhes which"
had formerly voted upon the Constitutions of 1793
and of the year III, they were regarded as being in
fact abohshed, as the discussions which would inevitably
result were dreaded, and it was decided that the citizens
should vote singly, in silence, in writing, and in public.
In each commune registers of acceptance or non-accep-
tance were opened ; in which each citizen was called
upon " to record or cause to be recorded " an " Aye "
or a " No " (by the law of the 23rd of Frimaire and
the order of the 24th).

As this voting did not take place everywhere at once,
nor even simultaneously (the voting was at the end of
Frimaire in Paris, and during the whole of Nivose in
the departments), Bonaparte had time to prepare public
opinion by various measures. Of these the principal
was a new coup d'etat, which yet further aggravated
the revolutionary character of all that had been done
since the i 8th of Brumaire ; by virtue of a law of the
3rd of Nivose, passed long before the conclusion of
the plebiscite, the Constitution was put into force, and
the Consuls began the performance of their duties,
oil the 9th of Nivose. The majority of the electors had
thus to pronounce upon a Constitution which was
already in operation.

In this way the electors were intimidated ; but by
a tactful piece of policy they were also reassured.
France was eager for peace, at home and abroad.
Bonaparte thought it expedient to make offers of peace
to England and Austria. At the same time he pro-
claimed his intention of healing the wounds caused by.
the civil war and of reconciling all Frenchmen who had
remained in France. The pacification of Vendue had
been commenced by the Directory, who had instructed
General de H6douville, formerly chief of staff to Hoche,
to obtain the submission of the royalist insurgents.

166 THE PROVISIONAL CONSULATE

discouraged as they were by the victories of Brune and
Massena. The honours of this enterprise fell to the
Consulate, as its effects were not visible until after the
1 8th of Brumaire. It was on the 23rd of Frimaire, at
Pouance, that d'Autichamp, Frotte, Bourmont and
others signed an armistice. It remained to make peace ;
Hedouville set about it with a patience that irritated
Bonaparte. By an order of the 7th of Nivose Jie
demanded that the insurgents should lay down their
arms within ten days, under the menace of being placed
" outside the Constitution." But Hedouville's ability
was after all not without its fruits ; at this very time
the left bank of the Loire was making its submission.
The right bank followed suit a few days later ; Frotte,
in Normandy, was still in arms. Jealous of this success,
Bonaparte deprived Hedouville of his command and
gave it to Brune ; six thousand troops were sent against
Frotte, who made his submission, and was captured
and shot in defiance of a safe-conduct (on the 29th
of Pluvlose). This was an end of Vendeean rebellion,
an end of chouannerie . The murder of Frotte was
later in date than the plebiscite ; but the pacification
was assured beforehand, at the time when the citizens
were actually voting.

As for the emigres^ at the outset (see Article 93 of
the Constitution), those were still forbidden to return
to France who had left it voluntarily in order to fight
against the French people. Others — that is, those who
were banished, deported, or proscribed for various
reasons — were the objects of various measures of cle-
mency. A law of the 3rd of Nivose having authorised
the Government to allow all those to return to France,
on condition of supervision, " who were by name con-
demned to deportation without previous trial by an
enactment of the Legislative Corps," the majority of
the " Fructidorised " exiles were recalled, among them
being Camot. Liberal ex-Constituents were also re-

THE PLEBISCITE 167

called, such as La Fayette, La Tour-Maubourg, La.
Rochefoucauld-Liancourt ; and advanced republicans,
such as Barere and Vadier. Pichegru, among the monar-
chists, and Billaud-Varenne among the republicans,
were excepted from these acts of clemency. The order
of the 9th of Frimaire was revoked ; which, while it
removed the proscription pronounced on the 20th of
Brumaire against the 39 republicans, had subjected
them to the surveillance of the police.

All parties benefited by, this policy either before or
during the plebiscite ; there was, so to speak, a general
amnesty of opinion, and when the votes came to be
counted (on the i8th of Pluviose) it was found that
the Constitution was accepted,' if we are to believe the
figures given in the Bulletin des lois, by 3,011,007

' In his Histoire de la garde nationale de Paris, published in 1827,
Charles Conte remarks (p. 388) that the number of signatures in favour
of the Constitution of the year VIII "exceeded by at least three-quarters
the number of citizens able to sign." "... The registers intended to
receive the signatures were placed only in the hands of government
employees. Every individual, whatever his or her age, sex, condition,
or nationality, was not only allowed, but invited to sign. I saw
children sign who had not the least idea of what they were really
doing ; they wrote their signatures in the register as they would have
done in their copy-books. In the towns where the citizens presented
themselves to sign, a list of their names was made, and was copied by
children into the registers. I knew cases in which young people were
employed for whole days in this kind of work. Finally the counting of
the signatures was performed by a commission which the chief
conspirators had formed for the purpose, into which none but their
accomplices entered." This testimony of Conte's has the disadvantage
of being much later in date than the events he relates ; and if it were
contemporary we should have no means of checking it. It is quite
possible that there were not in France at that time three miUions of
men able to write, but the law of the 23rd of Frimaire did not exclude
the illiterate from voting, since it authorised citizens to " cause " their
votes "to be recorded." That there may have been fraud — that votes
may have been " recorded " without the consent of citizens — is
possible, but not proven.

168 THE PROVISIONAL CONSULATE

"Ayes " against 1,562 " Noes." ' Among the "Ayes " I
have obtained, from the register of Paris, the names of
many artists, scientists, scholars, literary men, professors
of the Museum, of the College of France, and the School
of Medicine ; members of the Institute, and, in short,
nearly all the aristocracy of intellect. I also find
the names of the ex-Montagnard Conventionals Merlino,
Leyris, Lequinio, and Breard,^ and the still more signifi-
cant name of the ex-Minister of War, Bouchotte, a
staunch republican. 3 In voting for the Constitution
of the year VIII these republicans believed that they
were voting for the Revolution and the Republic as
against the monarchy and the ancien regime.

In this manner was the plebiscitary Republic
founded in France. AVe call it by this name because
the exercise of the national sovereignty was limited
to a plebiscite under the conditions of universal suf-
frage ; a plebiscite in which the question was simply
one of yes or no ; a plebiscite by which, without knowing
or intending it, the French nation abdicated its
sovereignty to place it in the hands of one man ; or
rather by means of which, in place of the numerous
representatives whom it had formerly appointed to
legislate and to govern, it appointed one single repre-
sentative : Napoleon Bonaparte.

' The registers are in the National Archives. To go through them
all would of course be a task of impossible length. I have only
inspected a few — not even all those of the department of Seine. The
Moniteur states that in Paris there were only 10 votes against the
acceptation, and 12,440 for it.

== The Moniteur states (without proof) that 332 ex-members of the
Council of Five Hundred voted in favour of the Constitution.

3 Bouchotte signed the register of the nth arrondissement, No. 473.
He accepted no employment and no favours from Bonaparte. A
colonel in 1792, he was retired as colonel in 1804, and until his death
(in 1840) held himself aloof.

CHAPTER V

THE DECENNIAL CONSULATE

I. Installation of the public powers. — II. The conditions of the Press. —
III. Administrative organisation. — IV. New manners and customs.
— ^V. Effects of the victory of Marengo in the interior. Crime,
proscriptions, and the progress of despotism.

The three Consuls designated by the new Constitution
commenced to sit on the 4th of Nivose i of the year VIII
(on December 25, 1799), forty-four days before it
was known that the people had accepted that Constitu-
tion. From the time of this first session the tentative
methods of the provisional Consulate were things of the
past^: Bonaparte's activity whirled his colleagues along
with him, in a kind of cyclone. On this day of the
4th of Nivose notable words were spoken, notable
things done. A proclamation of the First Consul to
the French people inaugurated a new condition of
things' : stability of government, a powerful army,
order, justice, and moderation : these were the words
which replaced the language and the principles of the
Revolution. Ministers were appointed, to the number
of seven : Justice^ Abrial ; External Relations, Talley-
rand ; War, Berthier ; the Interior, Lucien Bonaparte ;
Finance, Gaudin ; the Marine and the Colonies,

' They had even held a preparatory meeting the day before, at
8 p.m. The proccs-vcrbaux of the sessions of the Consuls are to be
found in the National Archives.

169

170 THE DECENNIAL CONSULATE

Forfait ; General Police, Fouche.i The Consuls had
a Secretary of State, who kept the proces-verbal of
their sessions, and countersigned the proceedings of the
Government : he was H . B . Maret ; later the Due de
Bassano.

The Council of State had been created and organised
since the 3rd of Nivose. Entrusted with the drafting
of projected laws and the regulations of the public
administrations, this Council prepared the decisions of
the Consuls in all contentious matters. It had the
power of deciding whether any functionary should be
delivered to the courts of justice. It had also the
vague and formidable power of " developing the sense
of the laws " upon the demand of the Consuls. It was
in this Council that Bonaparte organised his govern-
ment, his policy, his rule ; presiding, perorating, and
winning the Councillors to his ideas by persuasion,
before the victory of Marengo had created him a despot,
subjugating them and tyrannising over them by the
expression, often brutal, of his will. We have not the
proces-verbauxoi this Council ; but we have the memoirs
of several Councillors : of Thibaudeau, Roederer, Pelet
(of Lozere) and Miot de Melito.2 Its organisation was

' Here are the modifications which this Ministry underwent during
the Consulate : Justice : Abrial was replaced by Regnier on the
27th of Fructidor, year X (according to the senatus consultus of the
preceding i6th of Thermidor, Regnier bore the title of " Grand-juge
ministre de la justice ") ; War : Berthier was replaced by Carnot, but
only during the campaign of Marengo (from the 12th of Germinal of
the year VIII to the i6th of Vendemiaire of the year IX); Interior:
Chaptal succeeded Lucien Bonaparte on the ist of Pluviose of the
year IX ; Marine : Decres succeeded Forfait on the nth of Vendemiaire
of the year X. The Ministry of Police was combined with that of
Justice on the 28th of Fructidor of the year X. A Ministry of the
Treasury was created on the 5th of Vendemiaire of the year X, and
confided to Barbe-Marbois. Gaudin was Minister of Finance until the
end of the Empire ; and Talleyrand was Minister of External Relations
until 1807.

' See le Conseil d'Etat avant et depuis ijSg, by M. Leon Aucoc,
Paris, 1876.

THE COUNCIL OF STATE 171

at first as follows' : Section of War: Brune, president ;
Dejean, Lacuee, Marmont, Petiet ; Section of the
Marine: Gauteaume, president ; Champagny, Fleurieu,
Lescalier, Redon, Cafarelli ; Section of Finance:
Defermon, president ; Duchatel (of the Gironde),
Devaisnes, Dubois (of the Vosges), Jollivet, Regnier,
Dufresne ; Legislation^ Civil and Criminal: Boulay (of
Meurthe), president ; Berlier, Moreau (of Saint -Mery),
Emmery, Real ; Section of the Interior: Roederer,
president ; Benezech, Cretet, Chaptal, Regnaud (of
Saint -Jean-d'Angely), Fourcroy ; Secretary General of
the Council: Locre.i On the 4th of Nivose, at four
o'clock, this Council was installed, and immediately
expressed the opinion that the Constitution had by
implication abrogated the laws which excluded ex-
nobles and the relatives of emigres from public func-
tions. This was extremely serious : Bonaparte showed
that at need he would be capable of legislating by means
of the Council of State, without the assistance of the
Tribunate and the Legislative Corps .2

In conformity with the Constitution, Siey^s, Roger
Ducos, Cambaceres, and Le Brun had designated those
citizens who would form the majority of the Conserva-
tive Senate. Their choice fell on distinguished men,

' Of these councillors five were entrusted with duties which made
them the assistants, or rather the supervisors, of the Ministers.
Article 7 of the regulations of the Council was conceived as follows :
" Five councillors of State are specially entrusted with various depart-
ments of the administration, as regards instruction only ; they will
follow the details of their departments, sign the correspondence,
receive and demand all kinds of information, and will carry to the
ministers the propositions of the decisions which the latter will submit
to the Consuls." Thus Chaptal was entrusted with the department of
public instruction; Dufresne, with the public Treasury] ; Regnier, with
the national properties ; Lescalier, with the colonies ; Cretet, with the
public works.

" Councillors were sent " on mission '' into the departments, in order
to make enquiries, in the name of the First Consul. Some of their
reports are in Rocquain's Etat dc la France an 18 Bruniaire, 1874,

172 THE DECENNIAL CONSULATE

almost all of whom had deserved well of the Revolu-
tion ; such as Monge, Volney, Garat, Garran-Coulon,
Kellermann, and Cabanis, Sieyes and Roger Ducos
entered on the right of the Senate, which was im-
mediately completed by co-optation until the constitu-
tional number of 60 members had been reached.
These second selections fell upon men less celebrated ;
but we may remark Daubenton, Lagrange, and
Frangois ' (of Neufchateau).

The Senate immediately appointed the 300 members
of the Legislative Corps and the 100 members of
the Tribunate ; nor did it make these appointments
in a narrow or servile spirit. On the contrary,
it composed the Legislative Corps almost entirely of
former members of the various revolutionary Assem-
blies, with a marked preference for the men of 1789,
but without excluding such ardent republicans as
Gregoire, Breard, Florent Guiot, or even personal oppo-
nents of Bonaparte, such as Dalphonse, who, in the
Council of Elders, had vigorously opposed the coup
d'etat of the i8th of Brumaire.

The Tribunate was composed of men whose
character and past career fitted them for the part of a
Constitutional opposition, for which the assembly
seemed to be created : Andrieux, Bailleul, Marie-
Joseph Chenier, Benjamin Constant, Jean de Bry,
Demeunier, Ginguene, Stanislas de Girardin, Jard-
Panvillier, Laley, Laromiguiere, and Penieres.2

The Tribunate and the Legislative Corps fulfilled
their duty against incipient despotism with firmness
and intelligence, and rejected many projects of illiberal
laws. But these assemblies, so distinguished in compo-

' The pivces-verbaux of the sessions of the Senate have not been
printed. They are to be found among the National Archives.

' The proces-verbaux of the sessions of the Legislative Corps and the
Tribunate have been printed. They will be found in the National
Archives. The Bibliotheque Nationale has an incomplete example.

THE ASSEMBLIES: THE JOURNALS 173

sition, did not constitute a national representation ;
they did not even represent the notables, the lists of
whom were not to be drawn up until the year IX.
Their opposition was fruitless and impotent : Bonaparte
had little trouble in overcoming it.

II.

During the provisional Consulate the periodical press
had perhaps enjoyed more liberty than had ever been
the case since June 2, 1793. Thus the Moniteur oi the
29th of Brumaire of the year VIII, in terms at once
respectful and hypothetical, warned the public against
Bonaparte's ambition, and at the same time advised the
latter, should peace not be concluded within three
months, to " divest himself of the civil power," and
place himself at the head of an army. The Bieti-
Informe, in its issues of the 14th and 24th of Frimaire,
freely criticised and complained of the illiberality of
the proposals for a constitution, and contrasted them
with the American Constitution, which it reprinted. We
read in the Gazette de France of the 26th of Frimaire:
" The Constitution was proclaimed on the 24th in all
the arrondissements of Paris. Here is an anecdote
which will exhibit the spirit of the Parisians. A muni-
cipal was reading the Constitution, and every one was
struggling so to hear him that no one heard two con-
secutive phrases. A woman said to her neighbour, ' I
haven't understood a thing.' — ' Why, I didn't lose a
word!' — 'Well, what is there in the Constitution?'
— ' There's Bonaparte.' " It was by means of such
epigrammatic anecdotes that the opposition of the few
opposition journals manifested itself. Bonaparte feared
that they might, in conjunction with the Tribunate and
the Legislative Corps, prevent him from becoming
master. On the 27th of Nivose of the year ,VIII,
-" considering that a portion of the journals printed in

174 THE DECENNIAL CONSULATE

the department of the Seine are instruments in the
hands of the enemies of the Republic," he issued an
order to suppress all the political journals in Paris,
excepting the thirteen following : Moniteur, Journal
des debats. Journal de Paris, Bien-lnforme, Puhliciste,
Ami des Lois, Clef du cabinet, Citoyen frangais, Gazette
de France, Journal des hommes libres. Journal du soir
des freres Chaignieau, Journal des defenseurs de la
patrie, and the Decade philosophique. \

Certainly the better part of the Parisian press was
still maintained ; even the opposition Gazette de
France. But the Moniteur, the most important journal
of the time, had been official since the 7th of Nivose,
and the other twelve were threatened with immediate
suppression, did they insert " articles contrary to the
respect due to the social compact, to the sovereignty
of the people, and the glory of the armies," or if they
should publish " invectives against governments or
nations friendly with or alhed to the Republic, even
when those articles should be extracted from foreign
periodicals." In short, all opposition whatever on the
part of the press was forbidden ; and we may almost
say that the commencement of despotism actually dates
from this order of the 27th of Nivose.

Put forward as a provisional measure, " during the
course of the war," this suspension of the liberty of
the press did not terminate with the Peace of Amiens,
but continued during the entire Consulate and the
Empire also, with various aggravations ; amongst
others (to speak only of the period of the Consulate),
it was forbidden to mention the movements of the
land or sea forces (on the i6th of Pluviose of the year
VIII and the i ith and 14th of Prairial of the year XI) ;
or to give any summary or analysis at the head of the
first page (on the i 5th of Thermidor of the year VIII) ;
to give news likely to disturb commerce or to stir
public opinion (on the 9th of Thermidor of the year

LIBERTY OF THE PRESS SUPPRESSED 175

IX) ; to make any mention of religious afifairs (on the
1 8th of Thermidor of the year IX) or of the state of
the nation's supply of food (on the i8th of Frimaire
of the year X), or to give reports of suicides (in
Frimaire of the year XI ) .

The Government did not authorise the creation of
any new political journal, excepting (in the year X)
an official and ephemeral Bulletin de Paris. On the
9th of Prairial of the year VIII the Ami des Lois was
suppressed, for having published epigrams upon the
Institute. Two other journals also ceased publication,
whether willingly or unwillingly : the Bien-Informe
in Germinal of the year VIII, and the Journal des
hommes litres in Fructidor of the same year. If we
except the Monitenr, the official journal, and Decade
philosophique, a review, which had practically aban-
doned all mention of politics, by the month of Germinal
of the year IX there were only eight political journals
in Paris : the Journal des debats (with 8,150 sub-
scribers) ; the Publiciste (with 2,850) ; the Gazette
de France (with 3,250) ; the Clef du cabinet (with
1,080) ; the Citoyen frangais (with 1,300) ; the
Journal des defenseurs de la patrie (with 900) ; the
Journal du soir (with 550) ; the Journal de Paris
(with 600) ; a total of 18,680 subscribers.'

The political journals of the provinces were not
affected by the order of the 27th of Nivose, but those
exhibiting any signs of independence were suppressed
by individual measures' : such as the Repablicain demo-
crate of Auch, the Anti-royaliste of Toulouse, and the
Vedette of Rouen. The matter was so handled that
only one journal remained for each department, and
that directed or inspired by the prefect. As for the
foreign journals, circulation in France was forbidden

* Report by Councillor of State Roedercr, cited by Hahn, Histoire
de la presse, vol. vii. p. 412.

176 THE DECENNIAL CONSULATE

to practically all, save during the first few weeks fol-
lowing the Peace of Amiens.

A censor's office was at work, in the dark and un-
acknowledged. (Warnings, reprimands, threats, and
examples of suppression reduced the journals (as under
the Directory after the i8th of Fructldor) to a state
in which they no longer ventured to express their
political ideas except by the choice of news, or by
historical allusions in their literary departments ; and
even this they could not do with impunity.

Thus intimidated, the journals became insignificant,
practically negligible. This was not Bonaparte's doing ;
he would have preferred a lively but docile press with
all the appearance of freedom. ' Following the example
of the Directory, he also attempted to inspire and to
edit .2 The directors of the journals had to see that
their writers were acceptable to the Government.
Articles were sent to each journal in conformity with
its former shade of politics. These schemes, however,
gave no one the illusion of a free press.

But it must not be supposed that at the end of the
Consulate the entire press was absolutely domesticated.
After the murder of the Due d'Enghien the Journal
des debats ventured to manifest its reprobation of the
act by publishing a translation of the speech by means
of which Pacuvius, in Silius Italicus, dissuades his son
from his intention of assassinating Hannibal. Suard,

' See the report of Portalis of the 23rd of Brumaire of the year IX
(cited in the Revolution fran^aise, vol. xxxii. pp. 66-72). " The first rule
of conduct is not to leave the journalists entire liberty, but to foster
without affectation the idea, so consoling to the reader, that they are
really free. To this effect it is enough to direct, constantly and in a
secret and invisible manner, the editing of these journals."

' It will be remembered that Napoleon had literary ambitions in his
obscure and youthful days ; so that it is possible that he was actuated
here not entirely by policy, but by vanity, or at least by a half -forgotten
faculty.— [Trans.]

DESPOTISM IN THE CONSTITUTION 177

solicited to write an apology for the murder in the
Publiciste, wrote a letter of proud refusal.

Once the Empire was established these traces of
independence disappeared, and the political press
belonged absolutely to the Government.

III.

Despotism was already to be found in the Constitu-
tion of the year VIII, but expressed only by implica-
tion, and half obscured by formulse, which were brief
and obscure by Bonaparte's desire, as he later con-
fessed in referring to the Italian Constitution. On
the very day when he was certain that the nation had
accepted the Constitution, the mask fell, and the First
Consul presented to the Tribunate and the Legisla-
tive Corps the proposed law (which became the law
of the 28th of Pluviose of the year VIII) concerning
the reorganisation of the administration ; a scheme
to establish an absolute centralisation for the profit
of one man, by means of which the people was abso-
lutely deprived of all rights in the election of officials ;
so that the people retained nothing of its former
sovereignty but the right to elect the justices of the
peace.

The Constitution had declared that the territory of
the Republic was divided into departments and com-
munal arrondissements. The division into departments
was maintained, without further change than the sup-
pression of the department of Mont-Terrible, which
was combined with that of Haut-Rhin, As for the
communal arrondissements^ which the Constitution had
named without defining, it was supposed that the
maintenance was intended of those cantonal munici-
palities by means of which the authors of the Con-
stitution of the year III had attempted to establish
a true communal life. But it was precisely these

VOL. IV. 12

178 THE DECENNIAL CONSULATE

communes, large enough to have a hfe and action of
their own, that might have opposed an obstacle to
despotic centraHsation. All the old municipalities were
re-established as the Constituent Assembly had pre-
viously established them, and as we have them to-day :
that is to say, there was a return to a sterilising
dispersion of municipal life.

Under the name of arrondissements were reconsti-
tuted the districts, abolished by the Constitution of
the year III ; but their number was diminished. As
for the administrators^ the Constitution had made it
clear that they would be appointed by the executive
power ; but not that the administration would be
entrusted, in the departments and in the arrondisse-
ments, to one single man. The law of the 28th of
Pluviose^ Article 3, enacted that " the prefect will alone
!be entrusted with the administration." In each
arrondissement he would have sub -prefects under his
orders. I This was the resurrection of the intendants
and their sub -delegates, yet the system was far more
severe than under the ancien regime; for they could
not be opposed by any body, institution, or tradition
whatsoever.

An explanatory statement enunciates the principle
" that to administrate must be the work of one man ;

^ Doubtless under the preceding system of government the com-
missaries of the Directory attached to the central and municipal
administrations had, by the increase of their powers, prepared the
people for this system of prefects and sub-prefects ; but, as they could
only be chosen from among the inhabitants of the district in which
they were to operate, these commissaries, men of the neighbourhood
as much as agents of the central power, applied themselves to humour
local feeling, even when they caused the Directory to suppress the
elected administrations. The prefects and sub-prefects, on the other
hand, were scarcely ever chosen from among the inhabitants of their
departments or arrondissements, were scarcely ever wen of the country j
a fact which greatly increased the severity of the new method of
administrative centralisation.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT 179

to judge, the work of several." There are two kinds
of judgments. Firstly, judgments which consist in the
redistribution of the imposts ; these are confided to
Councils General, Arrondissement Councils, or to
Municipal Redistributors. Secondly, judgments of con-
tentious matters, debateable claims, &c. ; these are
confided to Councils of the Prefecture.

Appointed for three years, the Councils General and
Arrondissement Councils sat only for fifteen days in
each year, in order to settle the apportionment of direct
taxation between the arrondissements or communes.
The Council General also voted " additional centimes "
for departmental expenses ; these the prefect employed
as he chose, on condition of accounting for such ex-
penditure once a year to the Council General, which
limited itself to " hearing " this account and expressing
its opinion as to the needs of the department.

The duties of the Municipal Councils were slightly
more extensive ; they could audit and discuss the
account of revenue and expenditure handed by the
mayor to the sub -prefect, who gave it its final shape ;
and they deliberated on questions such as loans,
octrois, &'c. The civil commonwealth and the police
were confided to the mayors and assistants. But in
cities of over one hundred thousand inhabitants the
police were in the hands of the Government. In Paris
the system was exceptional, and there was a prefect of
police. Prefects, sub -prefects, members of Council
(General or d* arrondissement^, mayors, assistants, and
municipal councillors were appointed, some by the
First Consul and some by the prefects. As for the
" contentious tribunal " established in each department
under the name of the " Council of Prefecture," and
composed, according to the department, of three, four,
or five members, its members were appointed by the
First Consul, and the prefect might preside over the
Council, and had the casting-vote in case of equality

180 THE DECENNIAL CONSULATE

of votes. I Thus, having distinguished administrative,
matters from matters of judgment, the authors of the
law proceeded to confound them again in the interests
of despotism.

The Tribunate vi^as horrified by the presentation of
this project, and the Hberals of that assembly could
regard it only as codified tyranny. Daunou, who re-
ported upon it (on the 23rd of Pluviose), riddled it
with criticisms, but eventually advised its adoption,
simply because it would be dangerous to reject it .2
The press being mute, the Tribunate felt itself power-
less. There were eloquent speeches against the sup-
pression of all these liberties, but finally the Tribunate
adopted the law by 71 votes against 25, and the
Legislative Corps by 217 against 63.

Thus was organised this system of despotic centrali-
sation-; but at first its effects appeared to be entirely
happy, on account of the skilful manner in which
Bonaparte chose his prefects and sub-prefects,3 and

' The " Councillors of Prefecture " did not receive a salary sufficient
to ensure their independence ; according to the population of the city
in which the Council operated, this salary varied from 1,200, 1,600,2,000
to 2,400 francs. The salary of a prefect was 8,000, 12,000, 16,000, to
20,000 francs. The sub-prefects received 3,000 francs in towns of less
than 2,000 inhabitants, and 4,000 francs in larger towns.

^ Here is the conclusion of his report : " The Commission would have
wished to find in the provisions of the project more numerous and
more direct reasons for adopting it. It has been obliged to lay frankly
before you the faults it has seen. It cannot say to you : Approve of this
measure, because it is as good as it could be ; because it answers all the
demands of the constitution ; because all its articles are the applica-
tions of the excellent principles which preface it ; but it invites you to
consent to it because it would be dangerous to wait too long for it to
be perfected."

3 The prefects and sub-prefects were selected from the flower of the
political and administrative personnel which had developed during the
Revolution. Among them — contrary to the usual statement — was only
a small number of Montagnards. Those who were most numerous,
and most zealous to serve the Consulate, were moderate liberals, ex-

BONAPARTE'S REPUBLICAN SIMPLICITY 181

because at the outset he could accordingly rapidly
effect the various ameliorations of which his genius
conceived. The administration was rapid and simple.
It was found to be equitable. Europe appeared to
envy the French. It was only gradually that it became
brutal and tyrannical, as the master himself degenerated
from a good into an evil despot.

IV.

This transformation was slow, and its various phases
ill comprehended by contemporaries. At the time when
the Constitution of the year VIII was before the
country Bonaparte still preserved a kind of republican
simplicity. It was not until the 30th of Pluviose
that he installed himself in the Tuileries, as he was
authorised by law.' He kept no Consular Court as
yet ; his first thought was to surround himself with a
Court of heroic statues. He ordered that the great
gallery of the Tuileries should be ornamented with
effigies of Demosthenes, Alexander, Hannibal, Scipio,
Brutus, Cicerp, Caesar, Turenne, Conde, .Washington,

Constituents, ex-Legislatives, ex-Conventionals of the Gironde or the
Plain. At the outset many were inclined to assume the attitude of
" representatives on mission " ; to issue proclamations and publish
journals ; they were quickly reminded of the modesty of their functions
as subordinate agents, and rendered a devoted obedience.

* The law of the 3rd of Nivose of the year VIII had appropriated to
the various constituted authorities the following national buildings :
I. The Palais de Luxembourg to the Conservative Senate. 2. The
Tuileries to the Consuls (Bonaparte lived in the apartments of Louis
XVI ; Le Brun had the Pavilion de Flore ; Cambaceres the Hotel
d'Elbeuf). 3. The Palais du Cinq-Cents (Palais Bourbon) to the
Legislative Corps. 4. The Palais d'Egalite (Palais-Royal) to the Tri-
bunate. Thibaudeau says the ceremony of installation in the Tuileries
was still of a character of republican simplicity. Mme. de Stael, on
the contrary, was struck by the regal air of Bonaparte and the servility
jof those about him.

182 THE DECENNIAL CONSULATE

Frederick the Great, Mirabeau, Marceau, Sc He pre-
served a part of the repubhcan etiquette, and no title
was employed but that of citizen. ^ Upon the news of
.Washington's death he issued an order of the day (on
the 1 8th of Pluviose of the year VIII) ordaining mourn-
ing in the name of the ideas of Liberty and Equality.

But beside these republican customs new manners
began to appear ; or rather it was that manners of
the old school began timidly to reappear. The Opera
balls, forbidden since 1790, were reopened; men dis-
guised themselves as monks, parliamentary counsellors,
&c., as much in reaction as in a spirit of parody. A
brilliant reception given by Talleyrand on the 6th of
Ventose of the year VIII (February 25, 1800)
made apparent the First Consul's intention of gathering
about him the society of the ancien regime as well as
that of the new. There were present MM. de Coigny,
Dumas, Portalis, Segur the elder, La Rochefoucauld-
Liancourt, and de Crillon, and Mmes. de Vergennes, de
Castellane, d'Aiguillon, and de Noailles. At the time
of the coup d* etat of the 1 8th of Brumaire and during
the provisional Consulate, Bonaparte had surrounded
himself almost entirely with the men of 1789, liberals,
and members of the Institute. He now began to intro-
duce new elements for the formation of his future court,
and he found them among the people of the ancien
regime. As for the liberals, who took seriously their
parts as tribunes or legislators, and who were alread.y
forming into an opposition, he was out of humour with

' Bonaparte's modesty and simplicity at the commencement of the
Consulate were signalled by a royalist journal published at Hamburg,
the Spedateur du Nord. [It must be remembered that Mme. de Stael's
own manners were noisy, effusive, and ostentatious ; she shocked the
Genevans and amused the Parisians. Reserve and quiet were possibly
qualities she was apt to mistake ; certainly she had a genius for mis-
understanding men. — Trans.]

" Yet he himself set the example of saying Madame in place of
Citoyenne.

"IN THE NAME OF HONOUR" 183

them, and already sneeringly called them the
ideologues.

Soon we shall see him still further modify the French
patriotism whose degeneration had facilitated the
success of the coup d'etat. The word which the men
of the Revolution had habitually associated with
patriotism was the word virtue. In place of virtue,
Bonaparte begins to employ the word honour. On the
17th of Ventose it is "in the name of honour" that
he summons the conscripts to join their regiments
before the i 5th of Germinal. The new patriotism is
the emulation of Frenchmen in a direction determined
by Bonaparte. Honour is the glory of having been
proclaimed as victor in the struggle by Bonaparte.
It is precisely that honour in which Montesquieu saw
the mainspring of monarchies ; and it is precisely a
return to the monarchical spirit, a transformation pi
citizens into subjects, that we now see Bonaparte pre-
paring, by this substitution of the word honour for the
words virtue, Liberty, and Equality with which the
Revolution loved to embellish patriotism. It is no
longer so much a question of loving a country for its
own sake ; men will shortly become accustomed to
love it for the sake of a master ; to love it in its
master, as in the days of the old monarchy.

The negotiations with Austria having miscarried,
Bonaparte has occasion to win fresh military glory,
which will serve him usefully in assuring his domina-
tion in the interior. But the Constitution does not
confer upon him the command of the Army. The
command is given to Berthier, who yields the portfolio
of War to Camot. The First Consul will be present!
at the campaign only as an onlooker ; but that onlooker
will be the real commander-in-chief.

184 THE DECENNIAL CONSULATE

The preparations for war were accompanied by the
taking of precautions against liberty. Three journals
were suspended : the Bien-Informe, the Journal des
hommes litres, and the Journal des defenseurs de la
patrie. The theatrical censorship was re-established
(on the 15th of Germinal of the year VIII) and Paris
saw the last of that Aristophanic comedy which until
then had been able to run its almost free course, but
of which hardly a trace has ever reappeared.

During his absence, which lasted from the i6th of
Floreal until the 12th of Messidor of the year VIII,
Bonaparte dared not retain the exercise of the execu-
tive power ; so the executive was confided, according
to the Constitution, to Cambaceres, the Second Consul,
who acquitted himself well during the interim. It
seems that the governmental machine was able to
operate without Bonaparte ; indeed, it was given out
that the provisional government had determined in
advance the election of the successor to the First
Consul, should the latter perish in the war.i

Victor at Marengo (on the 25 th of Pr atrial of the
year VIII, or June 14, 1800), he hastened to return
to Paris, without receiving all the fruits of his victory.

He was welcomed with honour, but not fulsomely.;
the Tribunate seemed rather inclined to praise the
heroism of Desaix.^ But among the masses of the
country-folk and the artisans there was an outburst
of enthusiasm, and the people began to believe in the
star, the providential mission of the First Consul. This,
it would seem, was the moment when his whole ambi-
tious dream defined itself and became articulate in
Napoleon's mind.

An unforeseen event was about to increase his popu-
larity yet further, and offer new means to his ambition.

' See the memoirs of Miot de Melito, i. 209 ; Stanislas de Girardin,
i. 175 ; and Lucien Bonaparte, i. 410.
' See Daunou's report of the 3rd of Messidor. [See also notes. — Trans.]

MARENGO : AND THE INFERNAL MACHINE 185

On the 3rd of Nivose of the year IX (Decem-
ber 24, 1800), as Bonaparte, driving to the Opera,
was passing down the rue Saint-Nicaise, a royalist,
by name Saint-Rejant, attempted to kill him by the
explosion of a keg of gunpowder concealed in a cart.
Four persons were killed and some sixty wounded.
The First Consul was not touched. His anger imme-
diately jumped with his political interests, and he
attributed the crime to the " Jacobins " : that is, to
those of the republicans who were unwilling to deliver
the Republic into the hands of one man. The time
was past when he willingly went out of his way after
them in order to ensure the success of the plebiscite.
He hated and feared them more than any other party.
The cries of " Outlaw! " with which they had harassed
him on the 19th day of Brumaire still resounded in
his ears. He saw that the occasion was a good one
for ridding himself of some of them and intimidating
the rest. Also he would thus roundly give the lie to
Pitt, who had called the First Consul the son and
champion of the Jacobins, and would appear before
Europe as a lover of order.

Proofs came pouring in that the criminal of the
rue Saint-Nicaise was a royalist. None the less Bona-
parte persisted in his desire to strike the republicans.
It was impossible to obtain a law of proscription from
the Tribunate and the Legislative Corps. Bonaparte
resorted to the expedient of an " act of government,"
drafted in the Council of State on the 14th of Nivose,
by order of which one hundred and thirty republicans
were to be '* placed under special supervision outside
the European territory of the Republic " ; not as
accomplices in the attempt of the rue Saint-Nicaise,
but as Septemberers and anarchists' : that is to say,
opponents.

The preamble of the senatus consuttus by which
this act was approved (on the i 5th of Nivose) shows

186 THE DECENNIAL CONSULATE

that the conservative republicans were not sorry to
rid themselves of the democratic republicans :

"The Senat Conservateur, &c., considering that it is a matter of
notoriety that for many years there has existed in the RepubUc, and
notably in the city of Paris, a number of individuals who, at various
periods of the Revolution, have defiled themselves with the greatest
crimes ; and that these individuals, arrogating to themselves the name
and the rights of the people, have been and continue to be on every
occasion the focus of every conspiracy, the agents of every attempt
upon life, the venal instrument of all internal or external enemies, the
disturbers of all governments, and the pest of the social order ; that
the amnesties accorded to these persons on various occasions, far from
recalling them to a state of obedience to the laws, have only made
them the bolder by habit and have encouraged them by impunity ;
that their repeated conspiracies and attempts upon life have latterly,
by the very fact that they have miscarried, become a fresh motive
for attacking a government whose justice threatens them with a
final punishment ; that it results from the evidence laid before the
Conservative Senate that the presence of these individuals in the
Republic, and notably in this great capital, is a continual cause of
alarms and a secret terror to the peaceful citizens who fear, on the
part of these men of blood, the fortuitous success of some conspiracy
and the return of their vengeance ; considering that the Constitution
has in no wise determined the measures of security necessary to
employ in such a case ; and that in view of this silence on the part
of the Constitution and the laws as to the means of setting a term
to the dangers which every day threaten the public weal, the desire
and the will of the people can be expressed only by the authority
which it has especially entrusted to preserve the social pact, and to
annul or maintain such acts as are favourable or contrary to the
Constitutional charter ; that according to this principle the Senate,
interpreter and guardian of this charter, is the natural judge of the
measure proposed in these circumstances by the Government ; that
this measure has the advantage of uniting the double characteristics
of firmness and indulgence, in that on one hand it removes from
society the disturbing persons who put it in danger, while on the other
hand it leaves them a last means of amendment ; considering finally,
according to the appropriate expressions of the Council of State, that
the application of the Government to the Conservative Senate, in order
to procure from this tutelary body an examination of its own pro-
ceedings and a decision upon them, becomes by force of example a
safeguard capable of reassuring the nation by its continuation, and
of forewarning the Government itself against any action dangerous

REPUBLICANS DEPORTED 187

to the public liberty ; for all these reasons the Conservative Senate
declares that the act of the Government dated the 14th of Nivose
is a measure preservative of the Constitution." "^

All innocent, these proscribed republicans, to whose
number a few more were added without a fresh senatus
consultus, were very unequally treated. The most
notable among them — Talot, Felix Le Peletier,
Choudieu, and the Prince of Hesse — evaded deporta-
tion ; probably thanks to the double part played by
Fouche as Minister of Police. Destrem, however, ex-
member of the Five Hundred, who had severely apos-
trophised Bonaparte at Saint-Cloud, was deported to
Guiana, never to see France again. Some forty of
those proscribed were also deported to Guiana. The
others, among whom was General Rossignol, were
deported to Mahe, one of the Seychelles Islands,

Scarcely twenty of the whole survived, to return to
France under the Restoration. 2

These were not the only measures taken at that
time against the democrat-republicans. By an order
of the 1 7th of Nivose of the year IX fifty-two citizens
known for their democratic tendencies were placed
under supervision in the interior of France, being for-
bidden to reside in the department of Seine or in
neighbouring departments. Among them were
Antonelle, Moyse Bayle, Laignelot, Le Cointre, Sergent,

' According to an oral tradition, reported by Buchez in 1838 (vol.
xxxviii. p. 379), this senatus consultus was not voted without a lively opposi-
tion on the part of the minority. " Garat, Lambrechts, and Lenoir-
Laroche attacked it vehemently. Lanjuinais cried : 'No coup d'etat!
Coups d'etat destroy States ! ' Sieycs alone proposed to justify the
measure by considerations oi public safety ; the t dreadful developments
of such considerations had formerly led to the deportation of a re-
publican party. The debate was suspended and there were negotia-
tions. The executive was exigent, the majority was on its side."

* See J. Destrem's Les Deportations du Consulat et de I'Empire,
Paris, 1883.

188 THE DECENNIAL CONSULATE

&c. The wives or widows of republicans were im-
prisoned without trial : among them the widows of
Chaumette, Marat, and Babeuf .• There was also blood-
shed, and illegal sentences of death were passed. Sent
before a military commission, a number of citizens —
Chevalier, Veycer, Metge, Humbert, and Chapelle —
accused of a pretended conspiracy organised by the
police — were shot on the Plaine de Crenelle. Other
and better known republicans — Arena, Ceracchi, Topino-
Lebrun, and Demerville — were condemned to death by
the Criminal Court of Seine, although they were guilty
only of remarks hostile to Bonaparte, or at the most of
a slight tendency to sedition, and were guillotined on
the I ith of Pluviose of the year IX. As for the true
authors of the attempt in the rue Saint-Nicaise,
the royalist Saint-Rejant and his accomplice Carbon,
the evidence of whose guilt was overwhelming,
they were condemned to death and executed on
the 1 6th of Germinal following (or the 6th of April,
iSoi).

Although many writers have declared differently,
material order was not efficiently maintained under the
Consulate. The royalist brigands held up the dili-
gences, as under the Directory ; murdered patriots,
and looted, in the country districts, the houses of those
who had acquired national property. On the ist of
Vendemlaire of the year IX a band of Chouans carried
off the senator Clement de Ris, who was spending the
summer at his chateau in Touraine ; and on the 28th
of the following Brumaire another band murdered the
" constitutional " Bishop Audrein, on a pastoral circuit
in Finistere.

The gendarmerie, mobile columns of troops, and

military commissions should have been enough to stamp

out these crimes. Bonaparte profited by the public

indignation by obtaining the creation of special tri-

' Yet Bonaparte granted Robespierre's sister a pension.

THE SPECIAL TRIBUNALS 189

bunals, which rid him at need not only of the royalist
brigands, but of republicans of the opposition. By
the law of the i8th of Pluviose of the year IX — which
the Tribunate almost rejected (the votes being 49 for
and 41 against) and which had a fairly strong minority
against it in the Legislative Corps 1(192 votes for
and 88 against) — the Government was authorised to
establish, in such departments as it thought fitting,
a special tribunal composed of a president and two
judges of the criminal court, and three military and two
civil members appointed by the First Consul. This
tribunal was to deal with practically all crimes of a
nature calculated to cause the Government anxiety, and
that without appeal or recourse to a higher court, except
on questions of competence. Bonaparte was thus able
to establish at will in each department a kind of
Revolutionary Tribunal for the purpose of satisfying
his appetite for revenge ; and he did establish such
courts in at least 32 departments.

The progress of Bonaparte's despotism did not alarm
the liberals of the Tribunate or the Legislative Corps,
although this despotism was based upon the increase
of popularity which the First Consul had lately derived
from the treaty of peace concluded with Austria at
Luneville, on the 20th of Pluviose of the year IX. The
three first divisions of the Civil Code, prepared in the
Council of State with the personal and predominant
collaboration of Bonaparte, were the object of lively
criticism on the part of the Tribunate, as being any-
thing but consistent with the principles of 1789, and
marking a reaction in respect of the former project
already partly voted by the Convention. The first
division was rejected by the Tribunate and the Legis-
lative Corps, and the second, also rejected by the
Tribunate, was about to be submitted to the Legislative
Corps, when the Government withdrew the project by
means of an abusive message (in Nivose of the year X).

190 THE DECENNIAL CONSULATE

At the same time the Legislative Corps and the
Tribunate emphasised their opposition by selecting as
candidates for the Senate such ideologues as Daunou.

When Bonaparte returned from his triumphal journey
to Lyons, bringing with him the title of President of the
Italian Republic (in Pluviose of the year X) and all the
prestige of a popularity which was even greater in the
departments than in Paris, he felt himself powerful
enough to chastise by a sudden blow the leaders of
the opposition in the two so-called representative
assemblies.

The time was approaching when, according to the
Constitution, a fifth of the Tribunate and of the Legis-
lative Corps must be renewed. Instead of allowing the
outgoing members to be selected by lot, the First
Consul, inspired, it is said, by Cambaceres, conceived
the idea of commanding the Senate to name those
members of the two assemblies who should retain their
seats ; and as a matter of fact the senatas consalius
on the 27th of Ventose of the year X named 240 mem-
bers of the Legislative Corps and 80 of the Tribunate
as not subject to re-election, and in this way were
eliminated the leaders of the opposition. Among others
were the tribunes Daunou, Bailleul, Isnard, Thibault,
and — most noteworthy of all — Benjamin Constant, who
had proved himself no mean tactician and orator. They
were replaced by more manageable men ; it was then,
however, that Carnot entered the Tribunate. Thus ex-
purgated, these assemblies offered less opposition ; but,
as we shall see, they still preserved a certain
independence.

Peace having been concluded with England, at
Amiens, on the 4th of Germinal of the year X
(March 25, 1802), that general pacification so de-
sired by the French was at last effected, after eight
years of war. Bonaparte concluded that the moment
had come to realise, by means of the Life Consulship,

THE LIFE CONSULATE 191

one of those ambitious dreams for which he had already
prepared by a change in his religious policy. This
change is of such importance in the history of the
plebiscitary Republic that we must devote a special
chapter to it.

CHAPTER VI

THE RELIGIOUS POLICY

I. The system of Separation of Church and State under the Consulate.
The Decadal cult. Theophilanthropy. — II. The two Catholic
sects. — III. General results of the system of Separation. — IV. The
causes of the destruction of this system. — V. The Concordat. —
VI. Application of the Concordat. — VII. New advantages accorded
to the Roman Church.

For a long time — that is, until the Concordat — the reli-
gious policy of the Consulate appeared to be merely
the continuation of the religious policy of the Directory.
On the 30th of Brumaire of the year VIII the Minister
of the Interior, Laplace, wrote to the departmental
authorities :

" Do not neglect any occasion of proving to your fellow-citizens that
superstition will have no more cause for rejoicing than royalism over
the changes made by the iSth of Brumaire. It is by continually
ensuring the most meticulous observation of the laws instituting the
national and decadal festivals, the republican calendar, the new system
of weights and measures, &c., that you will justify the confidence of
the Government."

On the following 6th of Frimaire the Minister of
Police, Fouche, wrote to the same authorities' : " Let
the fanatics hope no more to ensure the domination
of an intolerant cult ; the Government protects all

192

FOUCHE'S CIRCULARS 193

equally without favouring any." On the 26th of the
same month, in a circular addressed to the bishops of
the former Constitutional Church, he excited an emula-
tion among the cults as to which should best serve
the Republic : not in appearance, but in reality :

" Think," he said, " it is futile to speak a different language in your
sermons, which are heard, and in the confessional, which is secret ; the
secret of your inspiration in that tribunal in which you deal with souls
will be revealed by the character of the souls which you direct and
shape."

To the prefects, on the 26th of Prairlal of the year
VIII, Fouche wrote :

" Let the temples of all religions be open ; let all consciences be
free ; let all religions be equally respected ; but let their altars be
raised peacefully beside the altars of the country, and may the first
of public virtues, the love of order, preside over all ceremonies, inspire
all discourse, and direct all minds."

The laws of the 7th of Vendemiaire and the 22nd of
Germinal of the year IV, which forbade the external
observances of religious worship, were still applied. '
When, at the approach of the Concordat, the vigilance
of the authorities was in this respect relaxed, Fouche,
in a circular of the 13th of Floreal of the year IX,
ordered the prefects to keep the Catholics rigorously up
to the standard in the matter of observing the laws.
This circular did not remain a dead letter : on the

' Thus Richard, prefect of Haute-Garonne, wrote to Fouche on the
2oth of Messidor of the year VIII : "A priest has taken it upon himself
to ring the bells in the commune of Gardouch. I notified the mayor
that the first time this priest permitted himself to break the laws he
would be arrested and the church closed. I have not heard that the
action has been repeated. Another priest, in the commune of Lave-
lanet, canton of Rieux, led a procession. I gave severe orders in this
case also, and am convinced that such a thing will not happen again "
(see the Revolution fraufaise, vol. xxxiii. p. 184).

VOL. IV. 13

194 THE RELIGIOUS POLICY

1st of Pr atrial following the prefect of Seine, Frochot,
requested the mayors of Paris to apply it scrupulously.'
Royalist demonstrations on the part of the Catholic
clergy were severely repressed. Thus Abbe Fournier
having spoken, in a sermon, at Saint-Germain-
I'Auxerrois (on the 4th of Pr atrial of the year IX) of
the execution of Louis XVI as a crime, was imprisoned
in the Bicetre as seized with " seditious lunacy."

On the other hand the principle of the secular State
was observed and defended less zealously than under
the Directory, but without any notable lapses. Public
instruction was still based on the principles of 1789,
and even after the signing of the Concordat there was
no immediate change in this respect. The law of the
I ith of Floreal of the year X concerning public in-
struction did not re-establish religious instruction in
the schools of the Republic ; and in upholding the
project of this law before the Tribunate, Roederer, now
a State Councillor, proclaimed " the independence of
the State," declaring that " public instruction and
religion were and should be two separate institutions."

Bonaparte, therefore, continued to uphold the system
of the separation of Church and State : the system of
the secular State. But he did not apply it as the
Directory had applied it ; or rather he did not apply
it in the same spirit. The Directory had hoped finally
though gradually to extinguish the Catholic religion
in France, as being incompatible with republican
principles. The First Consul, until the day when he

' They were to see that the following manifestations were not
renewed : ringing bells to call people to church ; posting notices
announcing sermons, the Christian festivals, &c., on the doors of
churches ; exhibiting palls or mourning draperies bearing a cross ; and
the exposing of dead bodies in such a manner as to exhibit the appa-
ratus or insignia of a cult. "Thanks to the present Government we
are no longer under the rule of atheism nor of intolerance, but under
the empire of a truly philosophic legislation " {Catalogue d'une impor-
tante collection, &c., Paris, Charavay, 1862).

THE DISPOSITION OF THE CHURCHES 195

decided to negotiate a concordat with the Pope, affected
a kind of impartial neutrality, and revoked several of
the militant measures formerly established, whether
against the ministers of the Catholic religion or the
religion itself.

An order of the 8th of Frlmaire of the year VIII
annulled the orders of deportation issued by the
Directory against those priests who had taken all the
oaths in succession, or had married, or had ceased to
exercise their priestly functions before the law of the
7th of Vendemiaire of the year IV.

Three orders of the 7th of Nivose following granted
to the sects facilities and advantages by which the
Catholics must have chiefly profited. Firstly, all
churches not alienated were restored to the use " of
the citizens of the communes which were in possession
of them on the first day of the year II " ; secondly,
from ministers of religion, as from functionaries, the
only declaration henceforth required was to be this :
" / promise fidelity to the Constitution " (a prescription
confirmed by the law of the 21st of the same month) ;
thirdly, the orders by which some administrations had
ordained that the churches should be opened on Decadl
only were revoked and annulled ; and it was stated
" that the laws relating to the liberty of religion would
be executed according to their form and tenour."

Under the Consulate, in the years VIII and IX, the
same religious cults co-existed as under the Directory.

The " civil religion " or " decadal cult " was not
suppressed. An order of the 2nd of Pluviose of the
year VIII enacted that the same edifices should continue
to serve at the same time for the " celebration of the
decadal ceremonies " and the " celebration of the cere-
monies of the cults," and that the administrative authori-
ties would select the hours accorded to each cult, so as to
prevent concurrent services. But the decadal cult was
reduced. Out of consideration of the fact " that it is con-

196 THE RELIGIOUS POLICY

ducive to the national liberty and prosperity to preserve
those national festivals only which have been vi^elcomed
by all Frenchmen, without leaving any memories that
might tend to produce division among the friends of the
Republic," a law of the 3rd of Nivose of the year VIII
ordained that there should be no more national festivals
except that of July 14th and that of the foundation
of the Republic. An order of the following 7th of
Thermidor declared that the observation of the Decadi
as a feast-day should be compulsory " only for the
constituted authorities, public functionaries, and salaried
servants of the Government." '

The rule that marriages must be celebrated only on
Decadis and in the chief town of the canton was im-
plicity suppressed by another order of the same date,
and although this order enacted that the publications of
marriages should be made only on Decadis, it was none
the less a terrible blow to the decadal ceremonies, as
marriages had formed their principal attraction. 2

' This order enacted that "fair days and market days should remain
fixed according to the repubHcan calendar and the orders of the
central and municipal administrations."

=" Some time before the issue of these orders the Consular Govern-
ment had recommended the prefects to apply no longer the laws which
rendered the Dccadi compulsory. Nothing could in this respect be
more significant than the following letter, written from Bordeaux on
the 3rd of Prairial of the year VIII by the ex-Conventional Thibaudeau,
prefect of the Gironde, to the Minister of the Interior: "Citizen
Minister, I ought not to leave you in ignorance of the fact that at the
time of my arrival in this department I discovered a great relaxation
on the part of the citizens and the authorities in the matter of the
celebration of the Decadi and a great eagerness to celebrate the old
festivals. The former are entirely forgotten, and the latter are devoted
to rest and relaxation. This state of affairs has caused no disturbances ;
but there are none the less complaints on the part of people who
attach a great deal of importance to this republican institution. Before
my departure from Paris I had several conversations on this subject
with the Consular authorities. I was told that the intention of the
Government was not to force the citizens to labour or to rest on fixed
days ; that they must be left the widest liberty on this point ; that ex-

SUPPRESSION OF THEOPHILANTHROPY 197

These ceremonies nevertheless were continued until
the application of the Concordat. Practically none
but the public functionaries attended them ; but the
altar of the Patrle was still dressed and honoured in
the principal churches of France, and until 1802 it still
drew its faithful adorers.

As for Theophilanthropy, the friendly relations
which existed between this sect and the Government
were not at the outset sensibly modified by the coup
(V etat, in which several of the followers of this " natural
religion " took part, while others approved, suffering
from a common illusion with the Institute. Bonaparte
left them free for a time ; then he began to regard
them with the aversion with which all " ideologues "
inspired him once he had determined to become a
despot. At the time of the reaction which followed
the victory of Marengo the police had orders to protect
them no longer. On the 20th of Nivose of the year
IX some rioters, probably Catholic, entered Saint-
Gervais, demolished the altar of the Theophilanthropists,
and tore down their decorations. The Government sup-
pressed the cult without waiting for the publication of
the Concordat ; on the 1 2th of Vendemiaire of the

perience had proved that all the efforts to the end of keeping up the
celebration of the Dccadi had proved ineffectual ; that the habits of the
great majority of the nation were in continual opposition to it. I have
consequently had to shut my eyes to what has been done. However,
the common custom is in conflict with the letter of the laws. These
laws exist : they have not been abrogated. It is extremely painful for
an administrator to find himself placed between violations of the law,
which seem to be authorised by the tolerance professed by the
Government, and the imperative mandate of the law itself. Be so
good, Citizen Minister, to confirm my irresolution in this respect, and
outline the conduct which I should adhere to. Greetings and
respect. — A. Thibaudeau." At the head of a summary of this letter,
dated the 14th of Prairial, we read these words : " Let him do all he
can to reconcile the laws with the wishes of the Government until he is
advised of the result of proposals which are now under consideration
to this end."

198 THE RELIGIOUS POLICY

year X (October 4, 1801) a consular order deprived the
Theophilanthropists of the use of the national edifices,
and when they applied for an authorisation to rent
suitable quarters their petition remained unnoticed. »

II.

If we pass from the rationalistic groups to the
mystical cults, we shall find that the Jews and the
Protestants still led their modest life, without any
attention from the State. The sects which are of
interest in the political history of the Revolution, under
the Consulate as under the Directory, are the two
Catholic sects.

The former Constitutional Church welcomed with
joy the coup d^etat, which, in suppressing the Directory,
would presently abolish the " decadal persecution " of
which it had so bitterly complained : " The revolution
of the I 8th of Briimaire arrived," wrote Gregoire, " and
from that moment the clergy could breathe." Bishop
Royer defended the coup d'etat in the pulpit of Notre
Dame. Bonaparte dealt graciously with the Constitu-
tionals. He authorised them, in 1801, to hold a
National Council, as the Directory had done in 1797.
He flattered and consulted Gregoire ; there was any
amount of deference between the parties ; a continual
coquetting. He allowed the Constitutionals to believe
that the Concordat would be to their advantage. The
relations between the State and the Constitutional
Church were, at the end of the period of separation,
excellent.

' Gregoire {Hisioire dcs scctes, vol. i. p. 454) states that Chenier
secretly continued to carry on the cult, in the Rue Etienne, in a school
at which he gave lessons in Latin. The cult was kept up by a few
families, and may be in existence yet, for I remember receiving, a few
years ago, a few numbers of a Theophilanthropic journal. But from
the time of the order of the 12th of Vendemiaire, Theophilanthropy
has had no legal existence nor historical importance.

THE CONSTITUTIONAL CHURCH 199

This Church was not in a state of progress. It could
ill sustain the competition of so many refractory priests
(Papists), who had issued from prison or returned
from abroad in order to make the promise of fidelity.
It was seriously put aback, and the numbers of its flock
diminished. In the year IX, out of the fifteen " national
edifices " bestowed on the worshippers of Paris, the
Constitutionals officiated in five only, while the " re-
fractories " officiated in all the remaining ten. In
the country a non-Papist priest often officiated in an
empty church. In some towns the sect was followed by
only a small proportion of the bourgeoisie ; in others
by a few poor folk only. The fact that at the date of
the Concordat a fairly large number of episcopal sees
were vacant seems to prove clearly that the " National "
Church was national only in name ; that it was not
gaining ground, but perhaps losing it ; that it had
fewer followers than ever, and above all, that it was
poor. I

It was, however, stronger than its adversaries wished
to see it ; it numbered in its ranks an honourable
minority of the nation ; its pastors were virtuous and
distinguished men ; it held metropolitan councils and
a second National Council ; 2 they assembled regularly

' In a report addressed by Hauterive to the First Consul (undated,
but which M. Boulay, of Meurthe, believed to date from the 15th of
Nivose of the year IX) we read : "The Constitutional Clergy is rich in
ministers, poor in followers. There are many priests, but the faithful
are few ; it has good maxims and no credit. . . ."

" In this second National Council, held at Saint-Sulpice on June 29,
1801, to the i6th of the following August (the i8th of Prairial to the
28th of Thermidor of the year IX), these schismatics, against their will,
wrote a fresh letter to the Pope, hoping to be reconciled with him.
At the same time they were inviting their " non-communicating
brothers" to renew the celebrated conferences of Carthage (between
the Catholic bishops and the Donatist bishops of the fifth century).
Each party was to elect eighteen delegates, who were to meet in
Notrc-Dame on September i, 1801. On that day the eighteen Con-

200 THE RELIGIOUS POLICY

and solemnly ; they made a brave show. They were a
living and moving force in the social development of
France, a force which every one reckoned with.

The Papist clergy retained almost the same attitude
as under the Directory. The Councillor of State,
Lacuee, in a report of the year IX, denounced this
clergy as exciting hatred of the Republic. On the
subject of the promise of fidelity exacted by the order
of the 7th of Nivose and by the law of the 21st of
Nivose of the year VIII the Papist priests were divided,
as before on the subject of the various oaths, into
opportunists and insurgents ; the manageable and the
royalists. There were many bishops who urged their
clergy to refuse the " promise," persuaded by the Abbe
Maury, who represented the Pretender in Rome ; and
by the attitude of the new Pope, Pius VII, who, without
committing himself with regard to the " promise," had
recognised Louis XVIII as King of France. But it
seems probable, in the absence of statistics, that the
majority of the lower clergy took the promise and
rallied to the Consular Government. 1

stitutional delegates assembled in Notre-Dame. They waited eight
days, in vain. No Papist appeared, and they separated mournfully.

' On the other hand we have the raw material of statistics relating
to the religious situation in the departments in the tables which the
Minister of the Interior had drav^'n up in his offices in the year IX,
together with the replies provoked by a series of questions addressed
more especially (it would seem) to the members of the Legislative
Corps. I have published this document in my compilation : L'Eiai de
France en Van VIII et en Van IX, 1897). This document shows that
the majority or a large number of priests had made the promise in the
following eighteen departments : Ain, Basses-Alpes, Hautes-Alpes,
Alpes-Maritimes, Ariege, Aube, Aude, Charente, Cher, Correze, Eure-et-
Loir, Gers, Gironde, Landes, Loire, Vienne, Saone-et-Loire, Var. In
the departments of Haute-Marne and Bas-Rhin all the priests made
the promise. A minority only took it in twenty-one departments :
Aisne, Ardeche, Ardennes, Aveyron, Bouches-du- Rhone, Cantal,
Charente-Inferieure, Cote-d'Or, Drome, Escaut, Finistere, Gard, Herault,
Ille-et-Vilaine, Jemmapes, Jura, Haute-Loire, Sambre-et-Meuse, Deux-

SITUATION OF THE SECTS 201

£mery, Bausset, and Sicard presided once again over
this rallying movement, and brought with them a strong
minority of bishops, either residents in France or
emigres. Every day the royal cause was losing ad-
herents from the ranks of the Papist clergy.

III.

Such, at the end of the system of separation of
Church and State, was the situation of the religious
sects in France ; a situation very tolerable from the
point of view of the Churches, and greatly to the
advantage of the State.

Neither the Theophilanthropists, nor the Jews, nor
the Protestants, nor the ex-Constitutional Catholics had
any reason to complain, either of the system or of the
Government ; and indeed there survives no trace of
any serious discontent on their part ; they desired only
to constitute or re-constitute their internal hierarchy,
and it did not seem as though any insurmountable
obstacle stood in the way of their desire. Among the
*' Papist " clergy who had rallied to the Republic the
wish was general that certain external practices, such
as the ringing of bells, should be permitted. It was

Sevres, Vaucluse, Haute-Vienne. In the case of the other departments
the replies to the questions do not give the numbers of the priests who
gave the promise ; but reUgious disturbances are mentioned as occur-
ring in the following twenty-two departments: Calvados, Cote-d'Or,
Drome, D)'le, Escaut, Finistere, Haute-Garonne, Lozere, Lys, Maine-
et-Loire, Manche, Mayenne, Meuse-Infcrieure, Mont-Blanc, Morbihan,
Moselle, Nord, Rhone, Seine-Inferieure, Somme, Tarn, Vosges. No
religious disturbances were reported in the following twenty-two
departments : Allier, Creuse, Ille-et-Vilaine, Indre, Indre-et-Loire,
Isere, Leman, Loir-et-Cher, Loiret, Lot, Marne, Meuse, Oise, Ourthc,
Pas-de-Calais, Basses-Pyrenees, Hautes-Pyrenees, Pyrenees-Orientales,
Haute-Rhin, Hautc-Saone, Vienne, Yonne. The document here
analysed says nothing as to these twelve departments : Doubs, Euro,
Forets, Golo, Liamone, Loire-Inferieure, Meurthe, Deux-Sevres, Seine,
Seine-et-Marne, Seine-et-Oisc, Vendee.

202 THE RELIGIOUS POLICY

believed that when the general peace with Europe was
concluded and the chances of a religious civil war
had disappeared the Catholics would once more be
allowed to employ their bells. As for the Papist clergy
who had not rallied to the Republic, their feeling
towards the whole Revolution was one of irreconcilable
anger and hatred. This hatred and anger, however,
were not shared by the population, so that they became
each day less formidable ; and moreover the grievance
of the rebellious priest was political more than
religious.

Generally speaking, the system of separation had
produced an extraordinary development of the religious
life in France ; an unusual variety of religious groups ;
never had there been so many altars raised in France
as on the eve of the Concordat.

As for the relations of the religious groups among
themselves, the Catholics continued to give proof of
their intolerance. But the shrewd firmness of the Con-
sular Government did not allow them to attain to the
tyrannical predominance to which they aspired, and
so to stifle the other forms of worship. They had to
confine themselves, in the employment of their legal
liberty, to attacking the freethinkers rather than the
other mystical cults.

" Free thought " still numbered a great number of
adepts in cultivated society ; it was apparently in the
ascendant in the Institute, especially in the depart-
ment of the moral sciences ; but it was no longer
the fashion. Militant rationalists, like Fourcroy, were
pronouncing their mea culpa; and although this par-
ticular scientist declared a preference for Protestantism
it was none the less the Catholics who benefited by his
defection. In literature, to glorify Catholicism was
already a means of arriving at celebrity, as was
demonstrated by the example of La Harpe and
Fontanes. Chateaubriand, in March, 1801, published

THE REVIVAL OF CATHOLICISM 203

his Atala, in which, against the background of a
romantic adventure, lie exalted the Gospels and the
Catholic religion : he thus obtained a literary success
the like of which had never been known in France
since the day of Voltaire. Among the bourgeoisie
Roman Catholicism gained ground, but not as an
intolerant and exclusive religion. Neither Chateau-
briand nor his admirers demanded that the altars of
other gods should be overturned. It was only to the
rebellious Papist priests that the continuation of the
liberal system of separation seemed intolerable.

Although Roman Catholicism was spreading, while
the other cults remained as they were, or even de-
clined, there was still a kind of equilibrium between
the groups, and the consequent religious competition
was carried on to the profit of the conscience and of
the State. The independence of the State increased
still further every day, as Roederer remarked. We
have seen that the devotion of a portion of the Papist
clergy to the cause of Louis XVIII was one of the
reasons why Bonaparte decided to put an end to the
system of separation. Since the victory of Marengo,
however, this devotion was scarcely dangerous, and
those priests who were faithful to the King became
every day more rare. It would be more correct to
say that the rebellious royalism of a portion of the
Papist clergy was useful rather than hurtful to the
State, because that very royalism caused a schism in
the most powerful of the religious groups, that one
whose numerical advantage was most dangerous to the
independence of the State.

As a matter of fact the French Revolution had
victoriously, but not without trouble, achieved this
result : that the most formidable of all the forces of
the past against which it had to struggle, namely the
Catholic Church, was now split up into three parts ;
firstly, the ex-Constitutionals ; secondly, the reconciled

204 THE RELIGIOUS POLICY

Papists ; and thirdly, the royaHst Papists, all of whom
quarrelled among themselves ; while a large rational-
istic sect, the Theophilanthropists, gave, by its per-
sistence, an example of the organisation of free thought
as a sect ; and the Hebrews, and more especially the
Protestants, grown more numerous by means of terri-
torial annexations, acted as a counterpoise. The altar
of the country too, honoured each Dccadi, still stood
in the principal churches. Nowhere did the Catholic
religion reign exclusively. Public instruction remained
secular. The State was secular. The State was free,
and its own master.

IV.

Why then did Bonaparte abandon a system so favour-
able to the State, advantages that his own policy had
so ably confirmed, a condition of things so advantageous
to France and to himself? Why did he restore the
Church to its old preponderant situation?

Was it because there was a movement of public
opinion in favour of the Concordat? Quite on the
contrary ; so unpopular was the Concordat of i 5 1 6,
indirectly broken by the Constituent Assembly in 1790,
that in common prudence and as a matter of policy
the convention which was eventually concluded with
the Pope was not given the name of Concordat. Had
there still been a free press we may be sure that
there would have been a revulsion of feeling against
the Concordat, we may almost say a unanimous revul-
sion. Neither among those who surrounded Bonaparte,
nor among his adversaries, nor among any party of
the clergy, nor even at the Court of Rome (where
no one could have imagined that the head of the French
State would spontaneously renounce the advantages of
separation) was there any demand for a Concordat.

Was it that Bonaparte, by birth a Corsican and

BONAPARTE'S RELIGIOUS ATTITUDE 205

a Catholic, was impelled by pious motives to favour
the Roman Church? There is no indication that he
ever possessed the quality we call faith. Many of his
actions testify to his indifference in religious matters.
In Egypt he had honoured the Mohammedan religion
as though himself a Mohammedan. Married by the
civil process, he resigned himself to undergo the
religious ceremony of marriage only upon the eve of
his coronation, and then only because it was essential
to his coronation. If he went to Mass he refused to
communicate. Even upon the conclusion of the Con-
cordat he thought a Te Deuin sufficient. Roederer
tells us that it took the combined efforts of Portalis
and Cambaceres to persuade him to attend a Mass,
and that then they could not persuade him to kiss the
patena. He did not confess ; he did not communicate ;
not even (it appears) in the article of death ; and
his will indicates merely that he died in the religion
of his birth.

Impenetrable to the religious spirit, incapable even
of envisaging religion from the standpoint of the
conscience, he said before Pelet (of Lozere) :

"As for me, I do not sec in religion the mystery of the incarnation,
but the mystery of the social order ; religion attributes to heaven an
idea of equality, so that the rich shall not be massacred by the poor.
Religion, again, is a kind of inoculation or vaccine, which, while
satisfying our love of the marvellous, safeguards us against charlatans
and sorcerers ; the priests are more valuable than the Cagliostros, the
Kants, and all the dreamers of Germany."

He said much the same to Roederer :

" Society cannot exist without the inequality of fortunes, and in-
equality of fortune cannot continue without religion. When one man
is dying of hunger by the side of another who is overfed, it is impos-
sible for him to submit to this difference unless there is an authority
which says to him : ' God wills it thus ; there must be rich and poor
in the world ; but afterwards and for all eternity matters will be other-
wise arranged.' "

206 THE RELIGIOUS POLICY

That Bonaparte, after having presided over the
system of separation with an admirable tact and
success, came finally to desire, and then to effect, re-
union with Rome — in short, to conclude the Concordat
— was no proof whatever of his piety ; it was all done
with a view to swaying the nation's conscience through
the Pope, in order to realise, through the Pope, his
dreams of empire — of universal empire. He also fore-
saw the accessory advantage of ridding himself of the
former Constitutional Church, which had remained
democratic on account of the electoral system which
was its foundation, and of depriving Louis XVIII of
his last means of influencing France, and of pacifying
La Vendee definitely and finally.

Perhaps it was with this design already formed, and
with a view to negotiating a Concordat, that Bona-
parte avoided all mention of religion in planning the
Constitution of the year VIII. In any case, the project
of a Concordat was one of the weapons of war and
diplomacy which he took with him into Italy at the
time of his second campaign. As early as the i6th
of Prairial of the year VIII (June 5, 1800), he
said to the cures of Milan : " The French are of
the same religion as you yourselves. To be sure we
have had some disputes together ; but all that is being
settled and is coming right." The victor of Marengo,
he had a Te Deum sung at Milan (on the 29th of
Prairial) " in spite of what our Parisian atheists might
say of it." Then, through Cardinal Martiniana, Bishop
of Verceil, he made overtures to the Pope with a view
to a Concordat. The Pope agreed immediately to enter
upon negotiations, and sent Mgr. Spina, Archbishop
of Corinth, together with a theologian. Father Caselli,
to treat with Napoleon.

PREPARATIONS FOR THE CONCORDAT 207

Spina arrived in Paris on the 14th of Bramaire of
the year IX (November 5, 1800), and the negotia-
tionS;, at first merely complimentary, commenced
immediately. Talleyrand, the Minister for Foreign
Affairs, who was said to regard the proposal of a Con-
cordat with little favour, held aloof, or was instructed
to do so. Spina dealt principally with the Abbe
Bernier, a Vendeean, who had more or less betrayed
the royalists ; hardly a man to be esteemed, but
extremely intelligent. On the 2nd of Messidor of the
year IX (June 21, 1801) the Cardinal Secretary of
State replaced Spina, with full powers to conclude and
sign. The convention was signed on the 26th of
Messidor of the year IX (July 15, 1801),

These long negotiations took place amid the absolute
silence of the French Press, which had received orders
to say nothing more of any religious matters ; but in
the circles where some knowledge existed of what was
going forward, there was a feeling which the Roman
plenipotentiary, on the 2nd of July, described, when
communicating with the Papal Court, in the following
words :

" The strife which has been stirred up to prevent this reunion with
Rome is incredible. All the legislative bodies, all the philosophers, all
the Libertines, and a great portion of the Army are greatly set against
it. They have said to the First Consul's face that if he wished to
destroy the Republic and bring back the monarchy he could find no
surer means than this reunion."

It is probable that the Abbe Bernier, in his conversa-
tions with Spina and Consalvi, had exaggerated the
boldness and the unanimity of the opposition to the Con-
cordat, in order to impress the Pope ; but the opposition
was real, and it certainly seems that until the end it
was general.

That the negotiations were thus delayed was not
because there had been, even at the outset, any lack

208 THE RELIGIOUS POLICY

of agreement as to the essential point, which was that
the bishops, appointed by the First Consul, should be
installed by the Pope, thus terminating the schism of
the " Constitutionalists." The fact was that at the
outset the Pope was not, as a temporal sovereign, at
Bonaparte's mercy, and he hesitated to abandon either
the bishops who had remained faithful to him or that
Louis XVIII whom he had so recently recognised as
King of France. He hesitated all the more because
he was by no means absolutely certain that the First
Consul would finally prevail against the coalition.
Moreau's victory at Hohenlinden (on the 1 2th of
Frimaire of the year IX) ; the flight of Louis XVIII,
expelled from Russia (on the 3rd of Pluviose) ; the
peace with Austria, concluded at Luneville (on the
2oth of Pluviose), and the peace with Naples (con-
cluded on the 7th of Germinal) ; these were the facts
that confirmed the hesitating Pope, while Bonaparte's
demands increased simultaneously.

At the outset Bonaparte had offered to proclaim the
Roman Catholic religion as the State religion. After
the victory of Hohenlinden he withdrew this offer, and
imposed the arrangement which was adopted : namely,
that the French Government should recognise " that
the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman religion was the
religion of the great majority of French citizens." As
long as he was at war with the King of the Two
Sicilies he showed patience in his negotiations ; once
he had concluded peace with that sovereign he sent
the Pope a churlish ultimatum, which led to the
despatch pf Consalvi to Paris, and the conclusion of
the Concordat.

We need not here follow the vicissitudes of the
negotiations, all the details of which may be found
in the excellent compilation made by M. Boulay (of
Meurthe), and I will not here reproduce the text of
the " convention between the French Government and

RESULTS OF THE CONCORDAT 209

His Holiness Pius VH," which is well known and obtain-
able anywhere. I will only point out how the Con-
cordat modified the politico-religious situation in
France.

The principle of the secular State — or the inde-
pendent State, as it was then called — was not entirely
abolished, as Catholicism was not proclaimed as the
State religion. But in recognising that it was the
religion of the great majority of the French, longe
maxima pars civiiim ; in permitting the Pope to " recog-
nise " that the Consuls of the Republic made an " in-
dividual profession " of the Catholic religion ; in
agreeing that should any one of the successors of the
present First Consul not be a Catholic a treaty would
be drawn up which would regulate the method of
appointing the bishops ; — in all this the French Govern-
ment was establishing the Roman Church in France
on a basis of moral preponderance, and destroying, in
its interest, the religious equilibrium v/hich the system
of separation had established between the religious
groups.

For the rest, this system of separation was abolished
by Articles 2, 3, and 5 of the convention, in which it
was agreed that the Pope and the French Government
should make in concert a new circumscription of the
dioceses ; that the Pope should demand or impose
the dismissal of all the present titulars of episcopal
or archiepiscopal sees ; that the First Consul should
appoint the titulars of the sees of the new circum-
scription ; that the Pope should confer the canonical
institution upon the said titulars according to the forms
established with regard to France before the change
of government, and that he would do the same when
a see should become vacant. The bishops would
appoint the cures, but their choice might fall only
upon persons approved by the Government (Article 10).
The idea of the old Gallican system, that ministers

VOL. IV. 14

210 THE RELIGIOUS POLICY

of the faith were at the same time State functionaries,
was restored by Articles 6 and 7, which exacted from
the bishops and cur6s this oath (very nearly the same
as that which had formerly been required of kings)' :

" I swear and promise to God, upon the Holy Evangelists, to main-
tain obedience and fidelity to the Government established by the
Constitution of the French Republic. I also promise to hold no
intercourse, to assist at no council, to support or communicate with
no league, whether at home or abroad, which might be inimical to
the public tranquility ; and if, whether in my diocese or elsewhere,
I learn that anything whatsoever is being contrived to the prejudice
of the State, I will inform the Government thereof."

In return, the Government undertook to assure the
bishops and cures of a " suitable stipend."

Thus was established, and even aggravated, the old
confusion between Church and State.

In order to ensure that the nation should accept
such a reaction, it was disguised, as it were, with
advantages, direct or indirect, which appeared in some
respects to confirm certain results of the French Revolu-
tion to which the men of that time attached the greatest
importance. Firstly, by the very fact that the Pope
was concluding a Concordat with the French
Republic he recognised the Republic and abandoned
Louis XVIII, whose alliance with the Pope appeared
then to be his only chance of success. Secondly, the
royalist bishops, who, emigres or at home, made war
upon the Revolution in their old diocesan districts,
were to be got rid of. Thirdly, the possessors of
national property originally Church property were re-
assured by Article 3, which enacted that neither the
present Pope nor his successors " should in any manner
disturb the purchasers of alienated ecclesiastical pro-
perty, and that in consequence the possession of such
property, the rights and revenues attached, would remain
incommutably in their hands or in those of their
assignees."

ROME GAINS BY THE CONCORDAT 211

However, these concessions on the part of the Vatican
merely ratified a state of things which the mihtary
victories of the Republic had already assured. These
were illusory advantages for the French, or at most
they were gratifications of the imagination. The Roman
Church, on the other hand, by the destruction of the
politico-religious system established by the Revolution,
by the termination of the schism which had so greatly
disturbed it, and by the Papal right of investing the
bishops, obtained advantages as real as they were un-
hoped for. On July 27, 1801, Consalvi wrote from
Paris to the Vatican : " All the ministers of the foreign
powers were present, as well as all the rich and learned ;
regarding the conclusion of the Concordat as a true
miracle, particularly in that it had been possible to
conclude it far more advantageously than had appeared
possible in the present state of things. I myself, who
saw it concluded, could hardly believe it." The Pope's
delight was no less than Consalvi's. While at Rome
the cardinals were examining the convention, the Pope,
according to the French minister, Cacault, " was in the
state of agitation, anxiety, and desire of a young bride
who hardly dares to rejoice on the great day of her
espousal." «

VI.

The ratifications were exchanged on the 23rd of
Fructidor of the year IX (September 10, 1801). But
the Concordat was not published until seven months
later. These seven months were employed in making
the convention applicable by dismissing the old bishops
and nominating the new, by the vote of approbation
of the Tribunate and the Legislative Corps, and by
the drawing-up of police regulations or articles of
organisation.

' Boulay, iii. 339.

212 THE RELIGIOUS POLICY

Bonaparte had submitted to the Pope the outline
of a proposed Bull of Circumscription of the new
dioceses, to the number of sixty. But it was first of
all necessary to obtain the resignation of the existing
bishops to make a tabula rasa. This, on the side of
the ex-Constitutionals, was not difficult. At the news
of the conclusion of the Concordat they had decided
to resign as a body, and to this resolution they adhered ;
it was evidently one of the conditions of the promise
given by the First Consul to appoint some of them to
the new sees. The " Constitutional Church " thus com-
pletely disappeared, none of its ministers refusing to
enter the Church of the Concordat, so that no trace of
the schism was left.

It was otherwise with the ci-devant refractory
bishops, all of whom did not obey the brief in Avhich
the Pope (on August 15, 1801) required their resigna-
tion. The fifteen who were then in France resigned,
so did the five who were living in Italy (one of whom,
the Bishop of Beziers, sent his resignation to Louis
XVIII). Fourteen of the bishops who had taken refuge
in London refused to resign. Altogether, according to
Abbe de Boulogne, out of a total of 81 bishops 45
resigned, and 36 refused to resign, publishing protests
which they renewed in 1806. Nearly all died still in
a rebellious attitude ; the last survivor, M. de The-
mines. Bishop of Blois, claimed in 1828 to be Bishop
of All France. The reasons they alleged, although they
had nearly all been ultramontanes, was respect for
the Gallican liberties. In reality their motives were
fidelity to Louis XVIII ; that is to say, it was rather as
gentlemen than as priests that these neophytes of Galli-
canism revolted against the Pope, and spoke of him, in
their statements of refusal or defence, as a heretic, a
Jew, a pagan, and a publican. This schism, at first
called Btanchardism, after an Abbe Blanchard who
wrote copiously against the Concordat, attracted so

THE FATE OF THE CONSTITUTIONALS 213

few disciples that it was known as the little Churchy
and the Roman Church was not appreciably weakened
by it.

The slate having been cleaned, it remained to fill
the new sees. Bonaparte had promised to appoint a
number of Constitutionals. This was the condition of
suicide which the Constitutional Church had demanded.
He had no love for these republicans : he would willingly
have sacrificed them.i But the Legislative Corps had
selected Gregoire, the true chief of the Constitutional
Church, as candidate for a vacant place in the Senate
(on the 22nd of Ventose of the year IX), and the Senate
ratified their choice (on the 1 5th of Frimalre of the
year X). Bonaparte understood this warning and nomi-
nated eleven Constitutional bishops .2 The Papal Legate
wished to force them to recant ; they refused to do
so. Finally Abbe Bernier took it upon him to state
that they had recanted through him and secretly. When
they received the news of this false testimony they
protested against the fraud,3 and the Pope had to
content himself with the letter which they had written
him at the time of their nomination, in which they
informed him that they renounced the Civil Constitution
and adhered to the Concordat.

^ Despite the places they obtained, the Constitutionals did actually
find that they were sacrificed. In Gregoire's manuscript notes, from
which M. Gazier has kindly given me extracts, I find the following :
"Constitutionals sacrificed by Bonaparte in Concordat, sacrificed quia
reputed republicans, quia they fear them little, knowing that they have
submitted."

^ He nominated only ten at first. He decided, shortly afterwards,
to nominate two more. Altogether, among the 60 archbishops and
bishops as first appointed, there were sixteen members of the old
episcopate ; twelve Constitutional bishops and thirty-two various
ecclesiastics, of whom about two-thirds were vicars, canons, &c.
(M. Boulay, of Meurthe, vol. v. p. 464).

3 It was Lacombc, Bishop of Angouleme, who protested in their
name in a public letter dated June 4, 1802, published in the Annales de
la Religion, xv. 134.

214 THE RELIGIOUS POLICY

Now that the bishops were nominated it was time
to transform the Concordat into the law of the State.
For this was necessary the co-operation and the vote
of the Council of State, the Tribunate, and the Legis-
lative Corps ; a co-operation which must have seemed
far from being certain, to judge by the discontent
which prevailed even in Bonaparte's immediate entour-
age. Five days after the conclusion of the Concordat,
on the 1st of Thermidor of the year IX, Fouche had
ventured to despatch to the prefects a circular which
was an undisguised satire on the religious policy of the
First Consul. In it he angrily denounced all Roman
Catholic priests. Had they refused the promise of
fidelity? Their case was clear : banish them ! Had
they taken it? Then they were hypocrites ! Their
conduct, said the Minister, was an endless perjury :

"They have sown dissension among the citizens and hatred in
famihes ; awakened party quarrels, disturbed men's consciences ;
made fanatics of ardent spirits, and abused the creduUty of the weak ;
lastly they have revived, in the century of enlightenment and liberty,
all the absurdities and all the scandals of the centuries of ignorance
and superstition.''

The Minister ordered the prefects : i. To expel
from France such priests as had not given the promise ;
2, to expel from the communes " those who, having
taken it, disturb the peace " ; 3, to reserve the churches
for the priests who were officiating in them before
the 1 8th of Brumaire ; that is, almost entirely for the
ex -Constitutionals. The First Consul, if we can
believe it, only knew of this circular through the
journals. He wrote to Fouche on the 21st of
Thermidor^ censuring him and ordering him to revoke
the circular, which the latter did on the 23rd ; but he
dared not as yet dispense with the services of this
Minister who had dared so plainly to thwart his policy.
(Or perhaps the whole affair was only a comedy

THE CONCORDAT ADOPTED 215

arranged between the master and the servant, in order
to make the Cathohcs more grateful to Bonaparte.)

Bonaparte decided to read the Concordat before the
Council of State ; the Council received his reading of
it with significant coldness, and with several outbursts
of laughter at certain mystical expressions. On the
1 2th of Genninal of the year X it adopted the various
acts submitted to it without discussion. However, the
Tribunate and the Legislative Corps had been expur-
gated, so that a favourable vote was obtained : 78
votes against 7 in the Tribunate ; in the Legislative
Corps, 228 against 21 (on the 17th and i8th of Ger-
minal). Nevertheless, the expurgation had not been
sufficient to render these two bodies invariably servile.
If they accepted the Concordat with such a majority,
it was because they passed certain acts at the same
time which seemed to modify its anti-revolutionary
character. Textually, what was voted reads as follows :

" The Convention exchanged in Paris, the 26th of Messidor, year IX,
between the Pope and the French Government, the ratifications of
which were exchanged in Paris on the 23rd of Fnicfidor, year IX, to-
gether with the organic articles of the said Convention, and those of
the Protestant cults, of which the gist follows, will be promulgated and
executed as laws of the Republic."

In this suppression of the rival cults of Roman
Catholicism the liberals of the Tribunate and the
Legislative Corps were thankful to see the two Protes-
tant Churches of France maintained : the Reformed
Church and the Church of the Confession of Augs-
burg. The ministers of these churches were salaried,
as were the Catholic priests, and they were given a
promise that they should be allowed to form the elected
assemblies to which they aspired according to their
historical traditions. In reality the Protestant Churches
were put in leading-strings, and by no means counter-
balanced the predominance, always increasing, of

216 THE RELIGIOUS POLICY

Catholicism. Only too happy in being allowed to exist,
they undertook no propaganda, and did not increase the
numbers of their followers, leaving the field entirely
free for the Catholic propaganda.

There was no Jewish question at this time ; it was
under the Empire that the Hebrew cult was regulated
by the State (by the decree of March 17, 1808).

As for the " organic articles of the convention of
the 26th of Messidor of the year IX," they seemed, to
the men of those days, to oppose a solid barrier to the
pretensions of Roman Catholicism. These were the
" police regulations " referred to in Article i of the
Concordat. It has been said that the Pope did not
ratify them. He did not have to ratify them ; they
formed not a treaty, but a State law. These articles
had been published as if they formed one text with
the convention ; it was this method of publication
that the ""ope disowned. He also complained, but
without vehemence, of the severity of the " police regu-
lations " ; he demanded and obtained certain modifica-
tions of detail, and finally resigned himself.

These regulations were in 77 articles which followed
on without logical order, without visible plan, as though
at random. But they all emanated from an ancient,
royalist doctrine : Gallicanism, the form of which
Portalis, the Councillor of State entrusted with religious
affairs, restored in various reports ; but especially in
the report of the fifth complementary day of the year XI
(September 22, 1803).!

Gallicanism was mainly " the independence of the
Government in temporal things and the limitation of
ecclesiastical authority to matters purely spiritual."
Under the ancien regime the Pope and the King had

' He indicated the outline of a reply to the representations just
made by the Papal Legate on the subject of the "organic articles."
This report will be found in the Droit civil ecclesiastiquc of Champeaux
(Paris, 1848), vol. ii. p. 184.

TEMPORAL AND SPIRITUAL POWERS 217

finally agreed that the temporal power should be inde-
pendent of the spiritual power, but had not agreed
upon any rules distinguishing the temporal from the
spiritual. The King combined spiritual power with his
temporal power ; the Pope combined temporal power
with his spiritual power.

These are the terms in which the legislators of the
new Caesar contested a portion of the Pope's spiritual
domain : " The idea of regarding as spiritual all
matters that refer in any way to sin and morality would
become a principle of universal absorption which would
have the effect of referring everything to the Church,
since morality is all-embracing " ; Portalis even refused
to leave the Church m possession of the whole domain
of conscience : " The law, which is itself the public
conscience, has the power of binding the citizens by
the intimate bonds of conscience." The State would
a^bandon to the Church only that region of the conscience
in which resides the belief in dogmas which are purely
dogmatic, and mysteries purely mystical : the divinity
of Jesus Christ, the Trinity, transubstantiation, &c.
These mysteries, says Portalis, occupy the void left
by reason " which the imagination would incontestably
fill less beneficially." In other words, a Frenchman
who dreams of the beyond, of the future life, does
not think of politics ; he becomes a docile subject.
The State therefore renounces that portion of the mind
which is infected by mysticism, as the sick portion ;
it keeps to itself the sane and healthy portion, and
absorbs it — its temporal power.

Between the spiritual power thus reduced and the
temporal power thus enlarged, there is still a region
of matters undefined ; an indefinite territory. Here the
State would rule, because it is more ancient than the
Church, for the Church is in the State.

These mixed matters the State would undertake.

As for the things spiritual which have been reduced

218 THE RELIGIOUS POLICY

to dogma alone : does the State entirely ignore them?
No : the prince, the head of the State, the Protector of
the Faith, has agreed to protect it only as it is. He
can and should see that these spiritual matters remain
unchanged. He is acquainted with spiritual matters,
not only because he nominates the bishops, but be-
cause he examines into their orthodoxy to see if it is
irreproachable. He sees that the catechism is taught.
He is concerned, in fact, with all religion, with aJl
dogma, and with all discipline.

Thus Gallicanism is not a liberal doctrine, tending
to establish a neutral and secular State. On the con-
trary : Gallicanism tries to include in the province of
the State as much of the province of conscience as is
possible ; to make the chief of the State a kind of
Pope, a rival of the true Pope.

Pius VH was not blinded by this Gallicanism. He
was well acquainted with the royal doctrine. The
Papacy had fought against it for centuries, and had
survived it. But the State was now for the first time
attempting to apply the principles of Gallicanism all
at once, by means of a single police regulation. The
Church, however, which had suffered so many ills with-
out perishing, could suffer this also, which perhaps
would last only as long as the life of Bonaparte ; it
could endure a temporary evil compensated by so many
lasting benefits.

Let us now consider how Gallicanism was put into
operation by the " organic articles."

Generally speaking, the subordination of the Church
to the State was, if not established therein, yet at least
formulated by the clauses prohibiting the introduction
into France, without permission of the French Govern-
ment, of any act of the Court of Rome or of its general
councils ; or by those which referred to the Council of
State, in case of abuses, the actions of the priests.

The encroachments of the State upon the spiritual

CHURCH AND STATE 219

domain were marked by the articles according to which
the Government commissioned those who were to
examine the candidates for the episcopate on matters of
doctrine, forced the clergy to teach the declaration of
1682, to use only one liturgy and one catechism, and
saw that each bishop visited the whole of his diocese in
the space of five years. Concerning the appointment of
cures, the obligation laid on the bishops by the Con-
cordat to choose only persons " approved by the
Government " was thus defined in the organic articles :
" The bishops will appoint and ordain the cures ;
nevertheless they will effect neither the nomination
nor the canonical investment until the nomination has
been approved by the First Consul."

The police regulations relative to public worship
were thus composed : there could be no out-of-door
ceremonies in towns where there were temples of any
other cults ; neither chapels nor oratories might be
opened without the permission of the Government ; the
ministers of religion, once outside the temples, must
wear the ordinary French fashion of dress, in black ;
they must not speak of politics in the pulpit, nor
attack any other cult.'

The lay character of the civil State was maintained.
It was forbidden to the clergy to give the nuptial
benediction to persons not married before the mayor.

This obligation must have been painful to the Church.
It was atoned for in the Church's eyes by a concession
of which the Concordat had said nothing ; the sup-
pression of the decadal cult, which, enfeebled as it
had grown, still disturbed the Church by its persistence.
The suppression was formulated in phrases which

' The prohibition of the use of bells, so much complained of by the
Catholics, was revoked in these terms (Article 48) : " The bishop will
confer with the prefect as to the manner of summoning the faithful
to divine service by means of bells ; they may not be sounded for any
other reason without the permission of the local police."

220 THE RELIGIOUS POLICY

accorded to the Catholic religion one of the charac-
teristics of a State religion, since in Article 57 the
Christian Sunday was fixed as the day of rest for
public functionaries. The republican calendar was only
partly maintained in the case of the clergy ; the latter
were expected to make use of it, but had the option
of calling the days by the names they bore in the old
calendar.

Thus the organic articles were not designed merely
to preserve the rights and the character of the secular
State as organised by the Revolution. On the con-
trary, they effaced some of these rights and a part of
this character. The Church rejoiced therefore ; but
the professional defenders of the State were unable to
perceive the damage suffered by the State, or rather,
returning to the Galilean ideas in which they had been
brought up, they actually believed that the State would
gain by resuming the semi-secular, semi-clerical char-
acter which it possessed before the Revolution ; and
that so constituted it would be the stronger and better
able to ensure its predominance over the Church ; a
predominance which the organic articles had intended
to establish by means of the Galilean system. This
is the reason why the higher officials, at first hostile
to the Concordat, finally resigned themselves to it as a
means of the better control of the Roman Church.

There was practically no further opposition to the
Concordat except in the Army, which had so often
had to fight, during the civil wars, against the Roman
Catholic priests who had turned against their country.
The generals attended the ceremony at Notre Dame
(on the 28th of Germinal of the year X), when the
promulgation of the Concordat was celebrated, with
a very ill grace. Thibaudeau states that when the
First Consul asked General Delmas, " What do you
think of the ceremony? " the latter replied : " A pretty
sermon ! It only wants the million men who were
killed in destroying what you are re-establishing."

THE CONCORDAT IN OPERATION 221

"It was rumoured," says Thibaudeau, moreover, "that the First
Consul had decided that the colours of the troops should be blessed,
and that he dared not carry out the programme, because the soldiers
declared roundly that they would trample them underfoot. A cari-
cature was circulated secretly which represented the First Consul
drowning in a font, while the bishops were pushing him to the bottom
with their croziers."

VII.

It was from April i8, 1802, that the Concordat was
put into operation. To give the history of its appHca-
tion does not enter into the scheme of this book, as
the chief events in its history occurred under the
Empire. But it is well to remark here that in the
histories of this application of the Concordat a powerful
light has been thrown on the brutality of Napoleon
Bonaparte in his quarrel with the Church ; the Pope
carried off, incarcerated, treated with violence ; priests
imprisoned or deported ; seminaries handled like so
many regiments ; missions to the interior prohibited ;
and the regulation of indulgences and prayers by the
State.

How did these measures weigh against the advan-
tages, material as well as moral, which were granted
the Church in addition to those accorded by the Con-
cordat?

The Concordat had only promised, and the organic
articles only granted, salaries at the rate of 15,000
francs for archbishops, 10,000 francs for bishops, and
1,000 to 1,500 francs for cures. According to the
Concordat there were to be cures only in the chief
towns of cantons. The organic articles established
chapels of ease in the other communes, with cures
appointed and recalled by the bishops. These cures
had to be chosen from among the ecclesiastics
who, as ex-possessors of suppressed benefices, and
in virtue of the decrees of the Constituent Assembly,

222 THE RELIGIOUS POLICY

were in receipt of a pension (the maximum of
which had been reduced to i,ooo livres by the Con-
vention). This pension, together with the offerings of
the congregation, would form the salary of the com-
munal priests. It was paid only to priests who had
taken the various oaths. Bonaparte (by order of the
3rd of Pr atrial of the year X) granted it to all, pro-
vided they had accepted the Concordat. Without this
order the great majority of the lower clergy would
have been unpaid ; and this was the greatest benefit
received by the Church next to the Concordat. As
for many this was a somewhat insufficient salary, an
order of the 1 8th of Germinal of the year XI authorised
the Councils General and the municipalities to vote a
supplementary salary for deserving cases. These
assemblies having taken little note of this order, the
Emperor, on the i ith of Prairial of the year XII, as a
gift of good omen, granted each assistant cure (besides
his lodging, which was at the cost of the commune) a
pension of 500 francs payable out of the State budget ;
and a decree passed on September 30, 1807, increased
the number of assistants to 30,000. Pensions were
also granted to canons, vicars -general, cardinals,
and bishops who had resigned on the conclusion of the
Concordat. Finally all these pensions and salaries were
declared unseizable.

The first year the system was applied the expenses
of the cults figured in the budget as 1,200,000 francs
only. We have not the figures of the pensions then
paid to ex-beneficiaries. However, as they were paid
only to those who had taken the oaths it is not
probable that this expense was very great, nor that
the total expenditure for religious purposes exceeded
five millions.

In 1807 religion cost the budget as much as
17 millions, and about 23 millions were paid in
pensions, making a total of 40 millions for all ecclesias-

PROMISES OF THE CONCORDAT EXCEEDED 223

tical expenses. Thus the Catholic Church received
annually from the State about 35 millions more than
was due to it according to the Concordat and the exist-
ing laws. In addition, various measures restored to
the Church a portion of such of its properties as had
not been alienated. Thanks to this spontaneous
liberality it was able so to reorganise itself as to become,
under a new aspect, almost as powerful as under the
ancien regime.

As for the moral and material advantages which
the Concordat did not promise, but which the Church
actually received, we must reckon first in importance
the suppression of the ex-Constitutional schism, the
abolition of the rationalistic cults, Theophilanthropy,
the decadal ceremonies, &c., and also, as the indirect
result of these measures, the fact that a second Con-
cordat concluded by Bonaparte in 1803 in the name
of the Italian Republic specified that in this Republic
Roman Catholicism should be the State religion :
greatly to the displeasure of the liberals of Milan.

One of the classes of the national Institute, that
of " moral and political sciences," had brought to-
gether the most influential freethinkers of the day :
Volney, Garat, Ginguene, Cabanis, Mercier, Lakanal,
and Naigeon — those " ideologues " ' who had always
been hostile to the Catholic Church and who became
hostile to Bonaparte's ambition. By an order of the
3rd of Pluviose of the year XI (January 23, 1803), this
class was suppressed, and its members were distri-
buted among the other classes, so as to break up the
group.

The Papal negotiator had not dared to demand the

' All those who made a reasoned opposition to him Bonaparte called
ideologues. The word had been brought into use by one of the
associates of the class of moral and political sciences, Destutt dc Tracy,
who, in the year IX, published a Projet d'cUments d'ideologie a I'usage
des Scales centrales.

224 THE RELIGIOUS POLICY

suppression of the academic work of the Revolution,
although this secularisation of education, the basis of
which was a rational morale, was one of the chief
grievances of the Church. Even the law of the i ith
of Floreal of the year X had implicitly approved this
process of secularisation. As Emperor, Napoleon
saw it as a Republican principle, and abolished it
(on March 17, 1808) by establishing "the principles
of the Catholic religion " ' as the first basis of educa-
tion in the Imperial University. Free thought was
severely excluded ; every pupil had to be a Christian
or a Jew. The bishops inspected the education in
the public schools (lycees).

Certainly the State assumed the monopoly of educa-
tion, and educated by means of a secular corporation.
But neither this monopoly nor this secularisation was
actually applied to primary instruction, which was given
almost entirely by the brothers of the Christian
colleges .2 These latter had reappeared as early as
1802. The decree of March 17, 180S, legalised their
existence, placed them under the (illusory) supervision
of the University, and exempted them from military
service.

If Bonaparte was merciless with those priests who
thwarted or opposed his policies, he favoured the others,
revoked his own laws in their favour or allowed them
to be isolated, and spontaneously took measures which
continually gave Catholicism more and more the char-
acter of a State religion .3 I am not speaking of the

' The Council of State wrote "the Christian religion." It was
Napoleon himself, according to Pelet, who substituted the word
Catholic for Christian.

^ The law of the nth of Floreal of the year X had already dis-
organised the system of primary secular instruction, by depriving
it of its character of State education and allowing its organisation,
development, and teaching staff to depend upon the whim of the
maj'ors and municipal councils.

3 Among these measures we may recall, besides that of the anoint-

FAVOURS GRANTED TO ROME 225

exemption from military service, as that was common
to the ministers of all religions. I refer to the privi-
leges peculiar to the Catholic religion, as that resulting
from a personal decision of the First Consul's, by which
(on the 23rd of Fructidor of the year X) he approved
of ,the order of the mayors that the citizens should
decorate the fronts of their houses upon the passage of
the procession of Corpus Christi ; or the prohibition of
the marriage of priests, ordained by ministerial cir-
culars (on January 12, 1806, and January 30, 1807),
in violation of the civil code.

Another favour granted the Church was the suppres-
sion of the republican calendar by the senatus consultus
of the 22nd of Fructidor of the year XIII, and the
re -establishment of the Gregorian calendar from
January i, 1806.

Finally, the Roman Church had also the First
Consul and the Emperor to thank for the re-
establishment, whether official or by toleration, of
a large number of religious communities and fra-
ternities. The decree of January 2, 18 12, abolished
these only in a portion of France, in the " united "
departments .

Such were the principal favours, unforeseen by the
Concordat, which the Catholic Church received from
Napoleon Bonaparte : favours of which we may say
that the Most Christian King could not have done more.
The Church was grateful. At the end of the second
Empire a monarchist author, M. d'Haussonville,' having

ing of Napoleon, the provisions of the senatus consultus (of the 28th of
Floreal of the year XII) by which Napoleon was declared " Emperor
by the grace of God " and had to take the oath on the New Testament.

' See the studies by M. d'Haussonville on the Roman Catholic
Church and the first Empire in the Revue des Deux Mondes (from 1865
to 1869), published in book form in 1868-1870 (5 vols.). A work by
Father Theiner, prefect of the Archives of the Vatican, the Histoire
des deux Concordats de la Rcpublique fmnfaisc d de la Republique

VOL. IV. 15

226 THE RELIGIOUS POLICY

maintained that the Catholics owed Napoleon nothing,
the Court of the Vatican immediately protested against
this statement, and, by the pen of the prefect of the
Archives of the Vatican, expressed in terms almost
lyrical its gratitude towards the author of the Con-
cordat, enumerating the benefits received from him.

Such was the religious policy of Bonaparte. It was
thus that, after having himself applied the system of
separation of Church and State with as much success
as ability, he then disorganised that system by means
of the Concordat, the organic articles, and a host of
other measures ; and gradually restored the Catholic
and Apostolic Church of Rome to its old situation as
State Church ; not in name only, but in fact. Depriving
the State of its secular character, confounding Church
and State in the manner of the ancien regime, restoring
Gallicanism, to the profit of his policy, his object was
certainly not to subject the State to the Church, but
to make the Church an instrument of his imperial am-
bition, and, as I have said, to govern men's consciences
through the Pope. This attempt miscarried, in the
sense that Napoleon's throne quickly crumbled beneath
him. It was the Catholic Church that was finally vic-
torious, for the State ceased for a long time to be
secular, and the Church maintained, and still maintains
in France, nearly all the privileges she had obtained.
Even if these privileges had been lost the Church would
nevertheless have retained the formidable numerical pre-
ponderance which she gained through the suppression
of schisms and the abolition of the rationalistic cults,
and the state of tutelage into which the Jews and
Protestants had fallen ; and if the system of separation
had been re-established there would no longer have
been the competition of the other religious bodies by
which the secular State had profited from 1705 to

cisalpine, was printed at Bar-le-Duc in 1869 (2 vols.), but the cover is
dated 1875.

THE CONCORDAT REACTIONARY 227

1802 ; there would have been no serious resistance to
the power of the Catholics, which to-day is only held in
check by means of secular primary instruction, and
the progressive decay of religious feeling among the
rural masses of the French population.

Taking the whole work of destruction and reaction
which Bonaparte more or less consciously accomplished,
it is the Concordat which stands out as the essential
counter-revolutionary measure, both in its conse-
quences and the manner of its application.

CHAPTER VII

THE LIFE-CONSULATE

I. The plebiscite of the year X. — II. The organic Senatus consultus
of the i6th of Thermidor of the year X (August 4, 1802). —
III. Return to monarchical forms. — IV. The Republican opposi-
tion. Military conspiracies. Bonapartism among the working-
classes. — V. Royalism. — VI. Conspiracies, actual and pretended :
Cadoudal, Pichegru, and Moreau. The Due d'Enghien. — VII. The
establishment of the Empire. — VIII. The organic Senatus con-
sultus of the 28th of Floreal of the year XII (May 18, 1804). —
IX. Disappearance of the Republic. — X. General remarks on
the French Revolution.

The conclusion of the Concordat, the Peace of Amiens,
the brilliant success of military and diplomatic affairs,
— a host of events, some fortunate and others presented
as being so, and attributed by all to Bonaparte — pre-
pared the public mind for illiberal changes in a con-
stitution already so far from liberal, but which at
all events limited the power of the First Consul
to a period of ten years ; and it was already easy
for those surrounding him to see that if these changes
were not granted him he was capable of obtaining]
them by force.

The Second Consul, Cambac^r^s, on the occasion of
the Peace of Amiens, suggested to the Tribunate that
it would be only proper to grant Bonaparte a national
reward. The Tribunate expressed the wish '(01^ the

BONAPARTE DESIRES POWER FOR LIFE 229

1 6th of Floreal of the year X) that he should be given
" an emphatic proof of national gratitude," but the
deputation which acquainted the First Consul of this
desire informed him that it was a matter of a purely
honorific recompense. The title of Pacificator or Father
of the People did not recommend itself to Bonaparte's
ambition. He turned to the Senate, to whom the wish
of the Tribunate had been communicated, and the
senators were individually solicited to decree a life-
Consulship.

They had the courage to refuse, and on the 1 8th of
Floreal decided to limit their action to re-electing Bona-
parte to the First Consulship in advance for another
space of ten years. Let it be noted in passing that this
action of the Senate was an act of opposition, or rather
of independence, which was as obvious as it was de-
liberate. The proces-verbal of the session gives proof
of this.

"One member," it says, "in view of the report (concerning the
matter of showing our gratitude) and of the great things which are
still expected of the Government, finds the term of ten years recom-
mended by the Commission insufficient. He proposes re-election
for life, as more consistent with the public interest, and more worthy
of the First Consul and of the Senate. Several others spoke in the
same sense. Others, for various reasons, approved of the proposal of
the Commission. The reporter,' in the name of the Commission,
stated that it had privately discussed the matter of re-election for life,
but that, after having weighed the advantages of the proposal, it decided
that the initiative in the matter should come from the Senate assembled
in general conclave. The senatiis consultiis agreed to give the proposal
priority. A second reading followed, after which the assembly
balloted on the question of its adoption." "

' Lacepede drew up the report in the name of the special Commission
instructed to look into the proposal of the Tribunate.

^ The Register of the deliberations of the Conservative Senate.
We understand to-day why the proces-verbaux of the Senate were not
printed, as were those of the Tribunate and the Legislative Corps :
they were too interesting.

230 THE LIFE-CONSULATE

It is therefore absolutely certain that the proposal to
elect Bonaparte for life was moved and rejected in the
Senate.!

Bonaparte concealed his irritation, and wrote to the
Senate (on the 19th of Floreal) that he was about to
consult the people as to whether he should accept the
" sacrifice " which was required of him, and prolong his
term of ofhce. He then left for Malmaison, in order to
leave the field free to Cambaceres, whose zeal in this
cause was both plucky and ingenious.

Cambaceres convoked the Council of State (on the
20th of Floreal) to deliberate on the First Consul's
letter and the question of consulting the people and on
what they should be consulted. Bigot de Preameneu
proposed " not to confine the expression of the public
will within the limits of the Senate." Roederer declared
that in the very interests of the governmental
" stability " which the Senate had expressed its desire
to ensure it was necessary to submit to the people
the double question — should the First Consul be named
for life, and should he have the right to appoint his
successor? The idea of passing a law formulating the
nature of the plebiscite was rejected, and the Council
of State, despite the opposition of the minority, adopted
Roederer's project .2

Upon his return Bonaparte feigned vexation ; scolded
Roederer, from whom he received a letter of apology,
spoke of annulling the order, and finished by accept-
ance : erasing, however, the article concerning the
right of appointing his successor. The Consuls (on

' Thibaudeau states that Lespinasse proposed the appointment
for life in the Senate. Among those who disapproved were Garat
and Lanjuinais.

' See Thibaudeau (Memoires) and Roederer {(Envres) for details of
this session of the Council. We are not told by what majority the first
question was voted ; but it appears that the second (the right of
appointing his successor) had five councillors against it, who abstained
from voting : Berenger, Berlier, Dessolle, Emmery, and Thibaudeau.

THE QUESTION OF THE LIFE-CONSULATE 231

the same day, the 20th of Floreal of the year X)
" considering that the resohition of the First Consul
is a piece of magnificent homage to the sover-
eignty of the people, and that the people, con-
sulted as to its dearest interests, should know no other
limit than those very interests," ordered that the
French people should be consulted upon this question :
" Should Napoleon Bonaparte be Consul for life? "
The plebiscite was thus formulated by a simple Con-
sular order, and as nothing in the Constitution
authorised such a mode of procedure it was truly a
coup d'etat, which was notified to the Senate (on the
2 1st of Floreal), the Legislative Corps, and the Tri-
bunate, by a simple message, their advice not being
solicited.

The Senate, irritated, appointed a Commission to
consider what measures should be taken ; but this
Commission, with Demeunier as spokesman, declared
(on the 27th of Floreal) that there was nothing to be
done " as to the present."

The Tribunate and the Legislative Corps bowed to
the accomplished fact. On the registers which they
opened for the purpose of recording the individual votes
of their members (which registers have not been dis-
covered) there were registered, according to Fauriel,
only four negative votes ; one in the Tribunate
(Carnot's), and three in the Legislative Corps. Yet
on presenting these figures to the First Consul on the
24th of Floreal, Vaublanc, the spokesman of the
Legislative Corps, gave him the pithy advice to govern
" through political, civil, and religious liberty," and
the spokesman of the Tribune, Chabot, ventured an
indirect but lively satire upon Bonaparte's ambition.

The honour of scrutinising the proces-verbaux of
this plebiscite was inflicted on the Senate ; the plebiscite
was taken, as before, by means of open registers. On
the 14th of Thermidor of the year X '(August 2, 1802)
the following senatus consultus was issued :

232 THE LIFE-CONSULATE

"The Conservative Senate, assembled in the numbers prescribed by
Article 90 of the Constitution ; deliberating upon the message of the
Consuls of the Republic of the loth of this month ; having heard the
report of its special Commission ; being instructed to verify the
registers of the votes given by the citizens of France ; having examined
the proces-verbal drawn up by the special Commission, which states
that 3,577,259 citizens voted, and that 3,568,885 voted that Napoleon
Bonaparte be appointed First Consul for life ; considering that the
Senate, established by the Constitution as the organ of the people in all
that concerns the social pact, should manifest in a striking and extra-
ordinary manner the national gratitude towards the conquering and
peace-making hero, and solemnly proclaim the wish of the French
people to give the Government all that stability necessary to the inde-
pendence, prosperity, and glory of the country, decrees the following :
I. The French People appoints and the Senate proclaims Napoleon
Bonaparte First Consul for life. 2. A statue of Peace, holding in one
hand the laurel of Victory, and in the other the decree of the Senate,
will attest to posterity the gratitude of the nation. 3. The Senate
will convey to the First Consul the expression of the confidence, love
and admiration of the French people."

This statue of Peace of which the Senate decreed
the erection was the only possible expression of its
honourable but impotent desire for the establishment of
a normal and legal state of things ; and all its oppo-
sition, now broken and overcome, could manifest itself
in no more effective manner than by this indirect counsel
to the soldier to whom France had given herself up.

For this plebiscite was indeed the abdication of all
France in favour of one man. He had already won the
stupendous victory of obtaining the acceptance of the
Constitution of the year VIII by three millions of
voters ; this time there had been 500,000 more " Ayes "
than in the year VIII. The interference of the prefects i
was not enough to explain this increased majority. It

' On the 26th of Floreal of the year X, in a circular to the prefects,
Roederer engaged them to obtain as many votes as possible ; but
Roederer was only the Councillor of State in charge of public instruc-
tion, and had despatched this circular unknown to his nominal chief,
the Minister of the Interior, Chaptal. People were still blushing at
the idea of interference in elections.

THE PLEBISCITE 233

was to be explained principally by the fact that the
nation was rejoicing over the Peace of Amiens, which
seemed to terminate for ever a period of ten years'
bloody war. On the other hand large numbers of
royalists who abstained from voting in the year VIII
did vote for Bonaparte on this occasion, out of gratitude
for a senatus consaltus of the 6th of Floreal of the year
X, which granted the emigres a conditional amnesty.; '
and also because the establishment of the life -Consulate
seemed likely to bring about, if not a restoration of
the Bourbons, at least monarchical institutions. It was
the moment for disarming and rallying of a large
number of royalists, much to the indignation of Louis
XVIII (whose abdication Bonaparte had vainly tried
to procure). 2 It must also be remembered that the
Papist clergy, in their satisfaction at the Concordat,
must have proved excellent electoral agents .3

iWe may therefore almost assert that it was a majority
of the Right that declared for the life-Consulate, while
the Constitution of the year VIII had rallied the most
ardent and most disinterested republicans (such, for
example, as Bouchotte). This time the majority of the
men of the Revolution abstained from voting ; and
in the registers for Paris we find hardly any names
of the ex-Constituents, ex-Conventionals, scholars,

' Exceptions from this amnesty were : the leaders of armed
assembHes, the agents of the civil war, &c. The others were
amnestied on the condition of returning to France before the ist
of Vendcmiaire of the year XI (September 23, 1802), and of taking
the oath " to be faithful to the Government established by the
Constitution and not to be drawn into any intrigue or correspondence
with the enemies of the State, either directly or indirectly." Such of
their property as had not been alienated would be restored. These
amnestied persons were to remain under the special supervision of the
Government for a space of ten years.

" See p. 260.

» See the brochure entitled : Quel est Vinilrct de la religion el du
clerge an Consulai a vie et a la longue vie de Bonaparte 1

234 THE LIFE -CONSULATE

members of the Institute, and men of 1789 or 1793,
who had supported the Constitution of the year VIII.

As for the 8,374 citizens who voted " No," we should
think little of such a figure nowadays ; but for the
time, and in relation to the 1,562 votes unfavourable
to the plebiscite of the year VIII, the figure was not
insignificant. Remember that the voting was by open
register ; that to vote " No " was to inscribe oneself on
the register of possible proscription. To oppose one's
neighbours thus in writing called for a very real
courage ; it is a remarkable thing that several thousands
of Frenchmen dared to record their opposition to the
ambition of a man who, on the morrow of the Peace of
Amiens, was adored by all France ; who was admired
by his enemies, and who was in the flower of a glory
not as yet dishonoured.

On the other hand, do we know the actual total of
these negative votes? Are the votes of the Army — at
that time so strongly republican — comprised in the
registers preserved in the Archives? We know that
many soldiers voted " No." In the garrison of Ajaccio,
if we may believe Miot de Melito, out of 300 votes there
were 66 " Noes " ; in a company of 50 cannoneers
there were 38. " The majority of the negative votes,"
said Stanislas de Girardin, " were given by the Army.
It is told, in this relation, that one of our generals
assembled the soldiers of his command, and spoke to
them, saying, ' Comrades, the question is whether to
appoint General Bonaparte Consul for life. Opinions
are free ; however, I ought to tell you that the first
one of you who does not vote for the life-Consulate I'll
have shot at the head of his regiment.' "

Many of those liberals of 1789 who had approved
or even supported the coup of the 1 8th of Brumaire,
were unable to stomach the life-Consulate. La Tour-
Maubourg wrote to Bonaparte that he could not vote
" Aye " unless the liberty of the press were re-estab-

RUPTURE WITH THE LIBERALS 235

lished. " The liberty of the press ! " cried Bonaparte :
" I should only have to restore it, and in a moment I
should have thirty royalist journals and a few Jacobin
sheets. I should still have to govern with a minority,
a faction, and recommence the Revolution, while all
my efforts have tended to govern with the nation."
And he expressed his certainty that the liberty of the
press would unchain the reaction.

La Fayette's was the vote that attained the greatest
notoriety. He formulated it thus : " I cannot vote for
such a magistracy until the liberty of the public has
been sufficiently guaranteed ; then I will give my vote
to Napoleon Bonaparte." With a fine loyalty, he him-
self sent a copy of his vote to Bonaparte, accompanied
by a dignified and affectionate letter (on the 30th of
FloreaV) in which he said: "The i8th of Bramaire
has saved France." He praised Bonaparte's " recon-
structive dictatorship," which had effected great things ;
" less great however than will be the restoration of
liberty."

" It is impossible that you, General, the first in that order of men
who can only be placed and compared by those who regard all the
centuries, should wish that such a revolution, so many victories and
so great bloodshed, such misery, such prodigies, should end, for the
world and for you, merely in an arbitrary government."

The plebiscite on the life-Consulate thus marks the
rupture of Bonaparte with a party of the liberals of
1789, who had effected or allowed the coup of the
1 8th of Bramaire. Their eyes were opened at last:
too late. They were taken by the snare, these
politicians, thinkers, and philosophers of the Institute,
As for Bonaparte, he became the enemy ; and now in
especial was the time when he ridiculed them by calling
them ideologues.

La Fayette's phrase has often been remarked : " The

236 THE LIFE-CONSULATE

1 8th of Brumaire has saved France."' A memor-
able phrase ; it perfectly expressed the naive illusion
of these liberals, who, afraid of democracy, had hoped,
with Sieyes, to obtain from one man the liberty they
had demanded of the laws. Even in 1802 they do not
yet see that the establishment of individual power is
the logical and inevitable consequence of the initial
coup (Vetat. They blame Bonaparte, the circum-
stances, and ill fortune, when they should blame only
themselves. Without them, without their candid and
effectual complicity, the national representation would
not have been violated on the 19th of Brumaire, at
Saint-Cloud. It was they who on that day had impelled
a soldier to the assault of the existing laws, in the
mad hope of thus obtaining better. And after they
themselves had destroyed the laws they were astonished
to find that there were no longer any laws at all.

Their astonishment was childish ; but it plainly
proved that they were not accomplices of the estab-
lishment of the life-Consulate and the overthrow of
the simulacrum of liberty which still existed. Their
opposition left no particular traces in history, because
they were powerless ; but it was none the less real,
not only in the society of thinking men, but in the
Tribunate, the Legislative Corps, the Senate, and even
the Council of State. The courtier Roederer was an
exception, and those who were left of the men of the
Revolution of the year X were horrified and indignant
at the plebiscitary manoeuvre which made Bonaparte
Consul for life. Then they understood too late that
the Republic was dead.

' La Fayette had not yet returned to France at the time of the coup
d'etat. But he returned as soon as he heard the news, and in March,
1800, he was erased from the list of emigres. See Charavay's La general
La Fayette.

THE DEATH OF FREEDOM 237

When Bonaparte was certain of being Consul for
life he resolved to assume what he had before refused :
the right to perpetuate his power by appointing his
successor. This was a grave modification to effect in
the Constitution of the year VIII : he profited by it
to re -shape the Constitution to such effect that, although
the act of the 1 6th of Thermidor of the year X
(August 4, 1802), which ratified these changes, was
entitled the setiatus-consulte organique de la Constitu-
tion^ it was actually almost a new Constitution, and
historians often speak of it as the Constitution of the
year X. This was the personal work of Bonaparte,
who dictated it to his secretary Bourrienne, and then
corrected it with his own hand (Roederer saw this
document and copied it). Then, on the 3rd, 4th, and
6th of Thermidor^ there was held a kind of privy
council, consisting of the three Consuls, and the four
State Councillors, Roederer, Regnier, Portalis, and
Muraire, who approved the scheme after making some
insignificant moderations. It was then passed on to
the senatorial Commission which had counted the votes
of the plebiscite. The Council of State only knew of it
on the morning of the 1 6th of Thermidor, and had to
vote upon it almost without examination. On the same
day, at eleven in the morning, the scheme was sub-
mitted to the Senate, illegally transformed into a con-
stituent body, as it had already on two occasions beeii
turned into a legislative assembly.' Terrorised by
Bonaparte's popularity, and surrounded (so we are
assured) by grenadiers, the Senate avoided all debate,
voted by " Ayes " and " Noes," and without adjourn-
ment adopted the project by an " absolute majority."

» The method of renewing the Tribunate and the Legislative Corps
had been determined by a senafus consultus, and the conditional
amnesty had been granted to the emigres by the same means.

238 THE LIFE-CONSULATE

Although this new Constitution, the fifth since 1789,
did in fact destroy the Republic, though preserving
the name and certain forms, it must not be supposed
that it simply organised the dictatorship of a single
man ; or, rather, although it did organise such a
dictatorship, it also made notable concessions to public
opinion.

Let us consider in what degree Bonaparte's power
was increased.

In the first place, he confirmed his power by a
quality that had something in it akin to heredity : the
condition of inheritance. He obtained the right to
present to the Senate the citizen he wished to succeed
him after his death. Lest the Senate should refuse,
he named a second candidate, and a third, who would
of necessity be appointed in case of repeated refusal.
Bonaparte contrived to appear moderate in imposing
any restrictions whatever upon this privilege, since many
thousands of electors, during the plebiscite on the life-
Consulship, had spontaneously written, after their
" Ayes," these words : With the right to name his
successors

The Senate was deprived of all independence ; it con-
tinued to complete its numbers by co-optation, but from
a list of three candidates selected by the First Consul
from the list drawn up by the " colleges " of the de-
partments. There were then 14 places to fill, the Senate
still consisting of 66 members instead of 80. Moreover,
the First Consul could himself appoint 40 new Senators,
without previous presentation by the departments, and
increase the total number of senators to 120.2 He was
thus able to procure a certain majority. Then it was he

* Girardin says that 95,000 votes were so given.

' Among these 120 members the following were members ex officio :
I, The three Consuls ; 2, the members of the Grand Council of the
Legion of Honour "of whatever age " (Articles 39 and 62).

BONAPARTE OMNIPOTENT 239

who presided over the Senate, » or required the Second
or Third Consul to preside. Although thus subordi-
nated, the Senate found its powers increased ; not only
did it interpret the Constitution ; it also legislated upon
" all that has not been foreseen by the Constitution,
and is necessary to its continued application." It could
dissolve the Legislative Corps and the Tribunate, and
annul the judgments of the courts, when they were
inimical to the security of the State, &c. In short,
it was omnipotent : but by and through Bonaparte.

The Council of State had not accepted so many
despotic measures without opposition ; for the future
such opposition was annihilated by the establishment of
a Privy Council, whose members were to be nominated
" at each session " by the First Consul ; which Council
would prepare each senatas cotisultus. The Tribunate
would be reduced, from the year XIII, td 50 members.

The sole vestige of popular direct election which the
Constitution of the year VIII had maintained dis-
appeared ; the citizens would no longer appoint the
justices ,of the peace, but would merely put forward
two candidates for each vacancy .2

The First Consul was authorised to ratify treaties of
peace and of alliance, merely upon the advice of the
Privy Council, and without the intervention of the
Tribunate and the Legislative Corps. To promulgate
them it sufficed for him to acquaint the Senate of them.
Finally, he received the royal right of pardon.

Let us consider what concessions Bonaparte made
in exchange for these advantages.

The fact that the Second and Third Consuls also
became Consuls for life left the public indifferent, as

' He presided for the first time on the 3rd of Frudidor of the year X,
appearing with an almost royal pomp.

^ In the event of a vacancy the Senate was to appoint a candidate
presented by the First Consul, the same rules being followed as in the
appointment of his own successor.

240 THE LIFE-CONSULATE

these two colleagues of Bonaparte's had no real power.
But public opinion was keenly sensible of a kind of
re-establishment of the exercise of national sovereignty.

The system of preparing lists of notabilities was
abolished, and in place of several hundreds or
thousands of candidates for official positions the
electors would henceforth suggest two only for each
place, submitting these names to the Senate or the
executive power.'

The cantonal assemblies, the electoral colleges of
arrondissements, and the electoral colleges of depart-
ments had the right to elect these candidates by the
secret ballot (see the consular order of the 19th of
Fructidor of the year X).

The cantonal assemblies, consisting of all the citizens
domiciled in the canton, nominated two candidates for
the position of justice of the peace, and, in towns of
five thousand inhabitants, for each of the vacancies in
the municipal council (renewable by one half every
ten years) two candidates taken " from the one hundred
most highly taxed citizens of the canton." Finally the
cantonal assemblies appointed the members of the
electoral college of the arrondissement, there being
no condition of eligibility ; and also the members of
the departmental college of electors, who were chosen
from the six hundred citizens paying the highest land,
personal, or sumptuary taxes, and from the list of those
holding licences or " letters patent."

The colleges of the arrondissements were to comprise
at least 120 members, and at most 200 ; the colleges
of the departments at least 200 and at most 300. The
First Consul had the right to add ten members to the

' This system of candidatures was perhaps suggested by the method
of nomination of the Executive Council as established by the Con-
stitution of 1793, Article 63 : " The electoral Assembly of each depart-
ment names a candidate. The Legislative Corps chooses the members
of the Council from the general list."

THE ELECTORAL COLLEGES 241

colleges df art ondisse merit and twenty to the depart-
mental colleges (of which ten would be chosen from
the thirty most highly taxed citizens of the depart-
ments).

The members of the two colleges were appointed
for life, and elections to fill places vacated by death
were to be held only when two -thirds of the places
should be vacant ; so that these elections, taking place
under the good impression of the Peace of Amiens,
served for the entire duration of the Consulate and the
Empire.

The colleges could assemble only in virtue of ^n
act of convocation issued by the Government in the
place allotted to them. Should a college occupy itself
with matters other than those for which it was con-
voked, or if it continued its sessions beyond the term
fixed by the act of convocation, the Government had
the right to dissolve it. The dissolution of a college
involved the renewal of all its members.

The electoral colleges of the arrondissements put
forward two candidates for each vacant place in the
Council of the arrondissement, and also two citizens
for the list from which the members of the Tribunate
were to be chosen. The departmental colleges did the
same for each vacant place in the General Council,
and also took part in drawing up the list of candidates
for the Senate. As for the list from which the members
of the Legislative Corps were to be chosen, each college
(of either kind) put forward two citizens.

To one considering the foundation of this scheme,
it seemed to be a system of universal suffrage, since
the cantonal assemblies were to consist of all the
citizens. But at the outset (Article 4) they were only
to comprise those citizens whose names were on
the " communal list of the arrondissement." Only at
the period when this list had to be renewed, according
to the Constitution of the year VIII, would the cantonal

VOL. IV. 16

242 THE LIFE-CONSULATE

assemblies comprehend all the citizens. These ** com-
munal lists of the arrondissements " were, to be sure,
created by a vote of universal suffrage, but as long ago
as Fructidor of the year IX (and on them vi^ere officially
inscribed the functionaries already nominated and who
should have been selected from these lists). Established
for three years, they should have been renewed in the
year XII ; it was thus in the year XII that, according
to the new system, these lists being abolished, universal
suffrage should have been installed. The nation was
still awaiting it. Only in 1800 (by a decree of the 17th
of January) was it decided that all citizens should
take part in the cantonal assemblies.

These new assemblies were not to take part in the
formation of the colleges, whose members were ap-
pointed for life. They had only to nominate candidates
for the functions of justice of the peace, and, in towns
of five thousand inhabitants or more, the municipal
councillors. This democratic basis of the new system
was thus an illusion, a sham. In reality Bonaparte
made no appeal to the people except in the form of a
plebiscite. As soon as he had the power to do so he
organised a bourgeois system ; he gave the bourgeoisie
not actual political power, but privileges of influence
and honour. The plebiscitary Republic was at the same
time a bourgeois Republic, the scaffolding of which was
all in readiness for the bourgeois monarchies of 18 14
to 1848.

Here, then, were electors, elections, and the elected.
An appearance of a return to the ideas and practices
of the Revolution made public opinion accept (so far
as it still existed) both the restrictions which made an
illusion of the right of suffrage, and the extension given,
by the other articles of the senatas consultus, to the
personal power of Bonaparte.

BONAPARTE'S CHANGED ATTITUDE 243

III.

From the commencement of the period of the Hfe-
Consulate, Bonaparte abandoned the attitude, so far
approximately preserved, of a president after the
American fashion. In the senatus consultus which pro-
claimed him Consul for life he was no longer " citizen
Bonaparte," but " Napoleon Bonaparte." Thus issued
from the shadows this baptismal name of sonorous
syllables which was soon to become the name of an
Emperor. Fatuous adulation was already to be noted ;
the Journal des defenseurs de la patrie, in its issue of
the 23rd of Floreal of the year X, published a pre-
tended " extract from a German journal," in which it
was declared that the word Napoleon^ according to
its Greek root, signified the " Valley of the Lion."
A circular emanating from the Ministry of the Interior,
on the 1 6th of Thermidor of the year X, invited the
prefects to celebrate (on the 27th of Thermidor — the
1 5th of August) the anniversary of the birth of the
First Consul and of the ratification of the Concordat
by the Pope.i Paris was splendidly illuminated on this
date ; and everywhere the initials A^ B appeared. On
the Pont-Neuf rose the statue of Peace which the
Senate had decreed as a counsel and a warning : but
it was not long to remain there.

Shortly afterwards Bonaparte contrived to be given
a civil list of six millions, which the Minister of Finance,
Gaudin, introduced in the budget of fhe year X, iri

' " This day," said the Minister, " will be henceforth consecrated by
the grandest of memories. It will recall to our latest descendants the
memorable epoch of public happiness, of peace of conscience, and
of the greatest act of sovereignty which a nation ever executed. The
15th of August is at once the anniversary of the birth of the First
Consul, the day of the signing of the Concordat, and the epoch when
the French nation, wishing to ensure and to perpetuate its happiness,
allied its continuance with the glorious career of Napoleon Bonaparte."

244 THE LIFE-CONSULATE

place of the 500,000 francs which the Constitution
of the year VIII had granted the First Consul.

Since Marengo, and especially since the peace, Bona-
parte's apartments in the Tuileries, simple at first, had
become luxurious, indeed almost royal.

There was a Governor of the Palace — Duroc — and
prefects of the Palace (by the orders of the 21st and
23rd of Brumaire). Four ladies were attached to the
person of Mme. Bonaparte : Mmes. de Lugay, de
Lauriston, de Talhouet, and de Remusat. Military and
unpolished at the outset (or so it appeared to survivors
of the monarchy) the court was transformed by the
influence of Josephine, and also by the will of Bona-
parte, who did not wish his surroundings to be wholly
military or wholly civil. At first members of his
entourage wore the French coat with boots and sabre,
which gave rise to amusement. Bonaparte, at the
festival of July 14, 1802, appeared in a coat
of red Lyons silk, without ruffles, and with a black
cravat. After the creation of the life -Consulate, the
small-sword and silken stockings replaced the boots
and sabre. Questions of costume became of serious
importance. To. wear the hair powdered and en bourse
was to please the First Consul ; thus did Gaudin, the
Minister of Finance. Bonaparte did not use powder,
and wore his hair as before ; but he encouraged these
futilities and absurdities of the ancien regime, and
everything else that might transform his officials and
generals into courtiers divided among themselves and
engrossed in imbecilities. The character of this new
court, and the chief quality by which it difi"ered from
the old, was that although women were one of its
ornaments they had scarcely any political influence,
or else they were merely the instruments of Bonaparte's
policy ; Bonaparte being master in his own palace as
well as in France.

Of all the acts of the Consulate that which seemed

THE LEGION OF HONOUR 245

to contemporaries to savour the most of a return to the
manners of the monarchy was the law of May 19, 1802
(the 29th of Floreal of the year X), which created a
Legion of Honour, " in execution of Article 87 of the
Constitution, relating to military rewards, and also the
reward of civil services and virtues." This Legion,
of which the First Consul was the head, consisted of
a Grand Council of Administration, and of fifteen
cohorts (of which each had its particular local centre),
comprising each seven grand officers with pensions of
5,000 francs, twenty commanders with pensions of
2,000 francs, thirty officers with pensions of 1,000
francs, and three hundred and fifty legionaries with
salaries of 250 francs ; all appointed for life. To
each cohort national property was appropriated bring-
ing in an income of 200,000 francs. A hospital was
to be established in each cohort for infirm legionaries.
Appointed by the chief administrative Council, over
which the First Consul presided, the members of the
Legion of Honour were chosen from among those
soldiers who had " rendered signal service to the State
in the war of liberty " (those who had received swords
of honour being members by right), and from among
" those citizens who, by their knowledge, talents, or
virtues, had contributed to establish or defend the
principles of the Republic, or had made men love and
respect justice and the public administration." Each
person admitted to the Legion of Honour must

" swear upon his honour to devote himself to the service of the Re-
public ; to the conservation of its territory in a state of integrity ; to
the defence of the Government, its laws, and the qualities consecrated
thereby ; to oppose, by all the means authorised by justice, reason, and
the laws, all undertakings tending to re-establish the feudal system ;
finally, to co-operate with all his power in the maintenance of liberty
and equality."

Despite these republican formulae, the project of the
institution of the Legion of Honour met with a lively

246 THE LIFE-CONSULATE

opposition from the Council of State (which adopted
it by 14 votes against 10). The orators of the
Tribunate criticised it bitterly as anti-revolutionary.'

This assembly adopted the proposal by only 56 votes
against 38, and the Legislative Corps by 170 against
1 10. Decried and ridiculed at the outset as a civil
institution,^ the Legion of Honour was soon accepted
by public opinion, and its insignia were so sought after
as to become a powerful factor in support of Bona-'
parte's personal ambition.

IV.

After the establishment of the life-Consulate, which
left nothing of the Republic but the name, were there
still those in France who wished to re-establish a true
republic? Was there still a republican party?

Among the more notable democrats of the year II
only Jeanbon Saint-Andre and Barere had rallied to
the Government ; the former being prefect of Mayence,
and the latter employed at an obscure task of drawing
up secret bulletins. The others — Robert Lindet, the

' See the speeches of the tribunes Savoye-RoUin and Chauvelin
at the session of the 28th of Floreal. The former denounced the
Legion of Honour as laying the foundation of a new nobility : the latter
expressed a fear lest the Legion should be intended as a representative
body, and lest the authority of the Tribunate was to be supplanted
by that of a corporation established and distributed all over France, in
its fifteen centres, of which the hierarchy and confederations, sub-
ordinate or collateral, would form a strongly knit and powerful
organisation.

= Mme. de Chastenay, in her Memoires (vol. ii. p. 2), speaks thus of the
first members : " M. Real could not, at first, let us see him without
blushing. I found Garat at Fouche's, the revers of his coat tightly
buttoned up, so that no one should see on his philosopher's bosom
the sign, only too far from equivocal, of the vanity of a courtier ; but
the pitiless Fouche amused himself by forcing Garat to show it to me.
In a few days people grew used to it ; in a few months they began to
envy it."

THE REPUBLICAN OPPOSITION 247

two Prieurs, Cambon, Vadier, and the ex-Ministers
Pache and Bouchotte, held themselves aloof. Among
the men of the second rank, and the men of action of
the same party, the more energetic had been deported
in connection with the affair of the " infernal machine,"
or condemned to death for a pretended conspiracy ; '
the others, terrified, did not stir. Those whom the
police called the " exclusives " were thus reduced to
silence, and although their existence was a source of
alarm to Bonaparte, who regarded the ex-Montagnards
as the most irreconcilable and dangerous opponents of
his dictatorship, no more was heard of them.

There was, however, a republican opposition which
was both seen and heard. It had found a place in
the new system ; it sat in the Senate, the Tribunate,
and the Legislative Corps. Among the more dis-
tinguished members of the opposition was Carnot, who
was, as it were, set apart by the great part he played
in the year II, and his fantastic political conduct of
the year V ; the Catholic democrat, Gregoire ; the
Catholic liberal, Lanjuinais ; and the moderate, bour-
geois ^ ex-Directorial republicans — Benjamin Constant,
Bailleul, Ginguene, Marie-Joseph Chenier — those " ideo-
logues," hated by Bonaparte, who formed the nucleus
of the opposition. The salon of Bailleul was their
meeting-place. 2 Talleyrand had a footing among
them ; a spy and accomplice both. Sieyes was sup-
posed secretly to encourage them .3 The spirit of

' See p. 1 88.

' See, for example, the report of the prefecture of police of the
9th of Frimaire of the year IX, which states that at a meeting held
at Bailleul's house on the 7th it was decided "that they must no
longer hesitate, but must at last show themselves energetic and ready
to break the chains with which the dummy of a constitution had loaded
the Legislative Corps."

3 He said to Bailleul : " Leave the Government alone ; it will cut its
own throat " (police report of the 3rd of Pluviose of the year IX. See
also the report of the i6th of Germinal following).

248 THE LIFE-CONSULATE

Mme. de Stael animated them and associated them,
somewhat as the spirit of Mme. Roland had formerly
animated and associated the Girondists.

Having a horror of the despotism to which they had
so naively opened the door, by their complicity with
Bonaparte in the affair of the 1 8th of Brumaire,
neither the epigrams of the salons nor speeches from
the tribune could satisfy them. They lived in the hope
of provoking an insurrection — not among the working
classes, who no longer troubled about politics, but in
the Army, and especially among the superior officers.

We see them to-day, retrospectively, in the mind's
eye, these generals of the Consulate : Marshals of
France, courtiers of Napoleon's court, and later, for
the most part, the servitors of Louis XVIII. We cannot
realise that under the Consulate they were republicans.
It is, however, the fact that they were. One must
remember that they had all attained superior grades,
either by election or by the choice of the representa-
tives on mission, at a period when republicanism was
dominant. They were the most republican soldiers of the
republican Army, who had formed the glorious general
staff of the year II. I think we may say that if Hoche
and Marceau had lived into the Consulate they would
have been no more republican than Bernadotte, Mas-
sena, Augereau, Brune, Moreau, Jourdan, Gouvion
Saint -Cyr, Lecourbe, Lannes, and Macdonald were from
1800 to 1804. 1

After the Peace of Lun^ville the majority of these
generals, back in Paris, and unemployed, joined the
opposition. Bonaparte sent a few away on diplomatic
or military missions : such as Bernadotte, Lannes,

' There were no generals who were not republicans ; who did not
dream of delivering France from her new tyrant. Thus we read in
a report of the prefecture of police (of the 14th of Prairial, year IX) :
" Last Dccadi, when the salon of the Museum had just been opened, a
young officer was seen ecstatically kissing the bust of Marcus Brutus."

MILITARY OPPOSITION 249

Bnine, Macdonald. Bernadotte, however, being com-
mander-in-chief of the Army of the West, often returned
to Paris. According to Mme. de Stael, when a party
was formed in the Senate he would not take action until
the termination of a deliberation of that assembly. It
was, however, among his staff at Rennes that a kind of
conspiracy was hatched when the promulgation of the
Concordat had unveiled the whole of Bonaparte's ambi-
tion. His chief of staff, General Simon, was arrested
with other officers, and convicted of having drawn up
and having sent to all the armies printed placards, on
which was this passage :

" Soldiers, you have no longer a native land ; the Republic exists no
longer, and your glory is tarnished, ... a tyrant has seized the power,
and who is this tyrant? Bonaparte !" "The Republic, the fruit of
your labour, your courage, and your constancy during twelve years,
is at last no more than a word. Soon, doubtless, a Bourbon will be
on the throne ; or perhaps Bonaparte himself will have proclaimed
himself Emperor or King."

Having railed at the Concordat and the ceremony at
Notre Dame, the placard continues thus' :

" By what right does Bonaparte abuse the weakness of the French
in forgetting his conduct of Vendemiaire,^ and in forgiving his usurpa-
tion of the reins of Government in Bnimairc? By what right does
this bastard abortion of Corsica, this republican pigniy, imagine that
he can transform himself into a Lycurgus or a Solon, to give laws
to a country which can honour him neither for his wisdom nor for his
virtues ? "

Against the perfidy and scoundrelism of the " dis-
loyal knight of Saint-Cloud " a " military federation "
must be formed.

" Let our generals show themselves ; let them make their glory, and
the glory of the armies, respected. Our bayonets are ready to avenge
the outrage inflicted upon us, the outrage of causing them to be

' When he deserted the Army of Egypt to re'iurn to France.

250 THE LIFE-CONSULATE

turned against us on the fatal day of Saint-Cloud : let our generals say
but a word, and the Republic shall be saved."

These republican demands found an echo. On the
1 5th of Prairial of the year X the prefect of Ille-et-
Vilaine, Mounier, wrote to the Minister of the Interior :
" The anarchists of Rennes have unhappily some sup-
porters amongst the troops. . . . The Concordat and
the life-Consulate are exasperating the hot -heads here-
abouts. . . ." There were other conspiracies, with the
object of killing the First Consul, either by assassina-
tion or a kind of forced duel. All was foreseen, dis-
covered, thwarted and strangled in the greatest silence,
without ostentatious severity, so that France and Europe
knew nothing of these attempts.

The Army of the Rhine, which had preserved the
pure republican spirit of the year II, alarmed Bona-
parte ; on the morrow of the Peace of Amiens he sent
the best of it to fight and to die in San Domingo.

Still, in the inactivity of peace the general officers
continued to rail at Bonaparte, and their hunting parties
at Moreau's house, in the country near Grosbois had
the look of conspiracy. To judge by the police report
Augereau, Massena, and Bernadotte were among the
most unbridled slanderers.

That the Peace of Amiens was of so short a duration
was perhaps, in some degree, because Bonaparte could
no longer keep the military republican opposition quiet.
It seemed as though he could only shut their mouths
by employing them in war, putting them in the way
of victories, honours, and booty. The greater number
allowed themselves gradually to be corrupted or
domesticated by these means. The small number of
those who preferred to remain independent were easily
broken later.

There was one republican general with whom it
was never easy to come to terms ; I am speaking of
Moreau. Prudent, taciturn, he afforded no hold over

MOREAU 251

him, no pretext for the denunciations of the poHce, who
at Grosbois and at Paris kept him under active super-
vision. He was waiting, reserving himself. He was the
hope of all the opposition men, republicans or royalists.
The sole fact that the victor of Hohenlinden lived
withdrawn from the Consular court, holding no active
position, refusing to enter the Legion of Honour, refus-
ing to be present at the Te Deum sung in celebration
of the Concordat, was a serious, even a very dangerous
matter for Bonaparte. Should a military reverse befall
him, an eclipse of his star — there was his successor,
waiting in readiness. It was for this reason that he
wished to rid himself of Moreau, as Robespierre had
rid himself of Danton ; for this reason he " amalga-
mated " him (to use a phrase of the Terror) in ^
political conspiracy ; intending to dishonour him, to
expel him from France, thus depriving the opposition of
his head and his arm, or at least of his sword.

The republican opposition, whether that of the iex-
democrats or of the republican soldiers, was reduced
to secret conspiracies, and during the suppression of
the free press had no .means of acting on public opinion.
The republicans of the Tribunate could speak their
minds ; those of the Senate and the Legislative Corps
could influence the stream of events by their votes and
their attitude in public. The opposition of these
pseudo-representatives of the people, who had been
elected by no electoral body, and who represented no
vital national force, was overcome by various measures,
and without much difficulty. Mme. de Stael ' and Benja-

' The famous Mme. de Stael, a voluble, intelligent, tempestuous
Swiss, the daughter of the great Necker — a gigantic egoist, and more
desirous of being a politician, authoress, and grande amoureuse than
successful in any of those roles — had for years held Benjamin Constant
in her toils ; sometimes as lover, sometimes as friend, despite the
eventual marriage of both parties, and numerous other love affairs.
Her only real influence on politics was through Constant, though she
believed that Napoleon regarded her with genuine fear. When in

252 THE LIFE-CONSULATE

min Constant had to leave France. The Tribunate,
expurgated, found itself threatened with almost im-
mediate disappearance ; the Legislative Corps was
reduced to impotence by the lately augmented powers
of the Senate. These two assemblies voted almost
unanimously on the questions of the budget and the
levies of troops necessitated by the resumption of the
war ; and the sessions of the years XI and XII were
devoted, without any incident of particular note, to the
reading and voting of laws such as those relating to
the exercise of the profession of medicine, the organisa-
tion of the body of notaries, the establishment of
" chambers of consultation " for matters relating to
the manufactures, arts, and crafts ; the administration
of matters of forestry, the law schools, and the Civil
Code, which was at last completed.

We find no further traces of opposition in the Senate,
of which the majority has been changed by the
additions made by virtue of the senatus consultus
of the 1 6th of Thermidor of the year X. Bonaparte
finally conciliates this assembly by the creation (on
the 14th of Nlvose of the year XI) of senatoreries, or
senatories, to coin a word, at the rate of " one to
each arrondlssement of the Court of Appeal " (a total
of 31). Each senatory, held for life, is " endowed with
a house and an annual income from national property
of 20,000 to 25,000 francs," the only condition being
that of residence in the senatory for at least three
months in the year. The holders of these lucrative
sinecures are appointed by the First Consul, from a
list of three senators presented to him by the Senate. ^

bad odour in France she commonly entertained a houseful of exiles
at her country house in Switzerland. — [Trans.]

' This was an extremely efficient means of rewarding the zealous,
reconciling the opposition, and pacifying those out of favour. In this
way was tempered the disgrace of Fouche. He was dismissed from
the Ministry of PoHce because the First Consul wished to be rid of

FAILURE OF THE OPPOSITIONS 253

The creation of these senatories is another step onward
in the system of making all honour and all welfare
depend on the will of the master.

Henceforth the Senate was zealous in its devotion to
Bonaparte. It helped to restrict yet more the feeble
prerogatives of the Legislative Corps by a senatus
consultus of the 28th of Frimaire of the year XH
(December 20, 1803), which deprived that .assembly
of the right of appointing its president : henceforth it
could only nominate four candidates, from whom the
First Consul selected the president ; in this case he
selected Fontanes. On the 3rd of Germinal of the year
Xn the Legislative Corps voted for the erection, in its
place of assembly, of a bust of Bonaparte executed
in white marble.

It is impossible to understand this abdication, and
the final failure of the opposition, whether republican
or democratic, military or middle-class, unless we bear
in mind the fact that the members of the opposition were
only a staff without an army. It was by means of the
National Guard that the great anti -governmental insur-
rections of the Revolution were effected. Although
this was no longer a municipal force, although the
Government had taken over its command, and although
the bourgeois elements in it were actually predominant,
it might still have been a powerful democratic institu-
tion, it might yet have been truly the nation in arms,
since all citizens were still admitted to it without quali-
fication and elected their ofhcers. But the Parisians,
working men and bourgeois, were disgusted with the
service of the National Guard. We read in a report
from the prefecture of police (dated the iith of
Pluvlose of the year XI) :

the "Jacobin" who had opposed the Concordat. Made a Senator, he
received the senatory of Aix. Another " Jacobin," the Senator Monge,
was given the senatory of Liege. Demeunier exhibited signs of inde-
pendence ; he was given the senatory of Toulouse. See the Ahnanach
National for the year XII.

254 THE LIFE-CONSULATE

" Yesterday some police agents, requiring armed forces, repaired to
the guard-house in the Rue Grange-BateUere ; they found absolutely
no one there, not even the sentry. The gate was open and the arms
left to the mercy of chance. It was only after the lapse of a quarter
of an hour that the sergeant in charge arrived, and informed the police
that of the twenty-five men of whom this post was supposed to consist,
only five had presented themselves, and even they had gone awaj'.
It is almost the same, every day and every night, with the other
guard-houses."

Other reports speak of the complaints of the working
classes, who are no longer willing to mount guard.
Bonaparte made no attempt to remedy a slackness
that so well served his ambition. A Consular order
of the 1 2th of Vendemiaire of the yea,r XI had estabt-
lished a " Municipal Guard of the City of Paris " (com-
posed of 2,054 infantry and 180 troopers) who gradu-
ally took over the duties of the National Guard. The
latter still existed, but its duties were reduced to mere
parades. I

The National Guard having thus ceased to play a
political part, those who had dreams of overthrow-
ing Bonaparte could have realised them only by an
insurrection of soldiers and the working classes. Now
the police reports show us that in the barracks of
Paris Bonaparte was popular. He was popular even
in the factories and workshops, and the labouring
population of the Faubourgs Saint-Marceau and Saint-
Antoine admired and loved him far more than they
had ever admired Marat and Robespierre.

This was not because he had assumed the pose of a
kind of democratic Csesar. On the contrary, he always
treated the working classes as inferiors. By the law of
the 22nd of Germinal of the year XI and the order of
the 9th of Frlmaire of the year XII he placed them

' The scnatus, consulius of the 2nd of Vendemiaire of the year XIV
gave the Emperor the right of appointing the officers of the National
Guard.

PLENTY THE PREVENTIVE OF OPPOSITION 255

under the supervision of the poUce, obHged them to
carry certificates, without which they would be arrested
as vagabonds, and once more, under penalty of im-
prisonment, prohibited all unions or strikes, and con-
fided to the prefect of police the power of arbitration
between workers and employers on the subject of wages.
By a return to the ancien regime the Code Napoleon
enacted (Article 1,781) that in such disputes the em-
ployer's simple word should be taken. Although the
plebiscite was the basis of the new regime, Bonaparte
tended, here as elsewhere, to destroy equality, to divide
French society into a middle class privileged politically
and socially, and a subordinated plebeian class.

Far from complaining of this state of things, the
workers did not even appear to see that it was in contra-
diction with the principles of 1789. Their love for
Bonaparte was inspired and maintained by moral and
material advantages.

The material advantages consisted especially in this :
that by the vigilance of the First Consul Paris was well
provisioned and the necessities of life were almost
always cheap (and to this end Bonaparte formed the
bakers and butchers into corporations dependent upon
the police). Industry also revived visibly under the
Consulate : work was rarely wanting ; wages were
higher, and later on the very abuse of military conscrip-
tion had the indirect result of raising them still further.

The moral (or, if you will, chimerical) advantages
were that Bonaparte won for France a dazzling military
glory, and the patriotism of the Parisian working man
had become extremely Chauvinistic. At the same time
the working man was still passionately anti-royalist.
He saluted in Bonaparte the leader of the Revolution ;
the beneficent dictator formerly predicted and demanded
by Marat ; the protector of the new France against
the Bourbons.

These sentimental reasons were the stronger : at

256 THE LIFE-CONSULATE

the time of the rupture of the Peace of Amiens, the
Parisian workers knew that they might come to lack
work, that their welfare was being compromised, but
they still cried Vive Bonaparte ! With bread and glory,
or with glory alone, Bonaparte felt that he would
retain the love of the working classes ; but he also
felt that if he lost that love his personal power, in the
event of a military disaster, would be at the mercy
of an insurrection of the faubourgs. His police sur-
veyed with a vigilant eye the attitude and opinions of
the working classes, and kept informed of their con-
versation. During the whole Consulate they testified to
the excellent political feeling prevalent in the work-
shops. It must not be thought that the police were
servilely and untruthfully optimistic in order to please
the Government ; for they reported, with a certain
pessimism, the progress of the opposition among the
^bourgeoisie and among the superior officers of the
Army.

The reports emanating from the prefecture of police
contain a host of facts which prove the unalterable
confidence which the Parisian workers reposed in
Bonaparte.

The severest, even the most illegal measures against
the leaders of various strikes or attempts at co-opera-
tion failed to excite any discontent. When the Govern-
ment forbade the joiners, carpenters, hatters, &c., to re-
establish the " Companionship of Work," i they quietly
submitted. In vain did the " exclusives," the liberals
of the Tribunate, or the royalists, attempt to indoc-
trinate them ; they remained as deaf to the appeals of
the opposition of the Left as to those of the opposition
of the Right . They no longer sang the Marseillaise ; on
the 1 8th of Germinal of the year XI the police reported,
as an exceptional fact, that the " strong men " of the
markets sang it ; but then they were drunk.
' Dez'o/r=duty, exercis-e, task. — [Trans.]

BONAPARTE'S POPULARITY 257

Not only in the workshops, but in the wineshops,
bars, roadside inns, and outdoor cafes are the working
men observed ; it is impossible to catch them in hostile
attitudes or conversations ; notably so on the morrow of
such political events as that of the " infernal machine,"
the Concordat, and the life-Consulate. They speak
of Bonaparte only, to praise him.

^Vhen bread is dear, in the year X, they, complain
without anger ; as soon as the price goes down they
thank the Government.

Whatever happens they bear no grudge against Bona-
parte. One result of peace in Paris is the closing of
button factories employing at least 12,000 hands ; but
there are no disturbances. Upon the breaking out
of war there is a general decline in the manufacture
of articles de luxe; those concerned do not even
complain. iWhat the workers do say is that it was
well done not to give way to England : they are
Anglophobes.

jWhen Moreau and his so-called accomplices are
arrested, they are wroth with the " conspirators " (the
27th of Pliiviose of the year XII). iWhen Georges is
arrested " they express loudly, in profane and energetid
terms, the keenest satisfaction" (the 20th of Ventose).
Do they wish to insult or abuse a man? — they call him
Georges (on Germinal the 7th). When the Due
d'Enghien is killed, they applaud ; they offer their
services to the Government (the 4th of Germinal) .

Moreover, they welcome the establishment of the
Empire. iWe read in the report of the 4th of Prairial
of the year XII : " The workers are very busy exercising
their right to vote on the subject of imperial inheri-
tance. They meet in crowds to go and sign their names
at the prefecture of police, and to the offices of the
commissaries who give out the papers. They speak
enthusiastically of the Emperor." And in a report of
the 7th of Prairial we see that they reproached those of

VOL. IV. 17

258 THE LIFE-CONSULATE

their fellows who had not yet voted for the hereditary-
Empire for their negligence.'

This abdication of the Parisian workers — so docile
and so absolute — in favour of a master, reduces the
bourgeois republicans to impotence ; henceforth their
opposition is merely a futile affair of the salons. From
this time dates the rupture between the liberals and the
people ; for many long years democracy and universal
suffrage will seem incompatible with liberty.

The royalist opposition had now no more chance
of success than the republican. We have seen how the
royal armies, reorganised at the end of the Directory
in Vendee, Brittany, and Normandy, had been forced
to dissolve, either by capitulation or the capture of
their leaders .2 This attempt at a great civil war was
followed by brigandage, as under the Directory. iWhen
the Papist priests had rallied to Bonaparte on account
of the Concordat this brigandage diminished ; but a
state of insecurity was manifested, in the Chouan and
Vendeean regions, by a continual series of distrubances
throughout the entire Consulate and Empire ; and the
fact that the rebellion broke out so fiercely in 18 14
and 1 8 I 5 was due to the fact that the fire had neVer
been completely quenched. 3 The royalists also, under
English influence, resumed their conspiracies and

' Two days later — on the 9th of Prairial of the year XII (May 27,
1804) the police report the seizure, and make an analysis, of a manu-
script entitled : Esquisse dun nouveau plan d'organisaiion social, par un
philanthrope J and this philanthrope is Saint-Simon. This coincidence
shows how far this thinker is in advance of his time ; for while he is
criticising the state of things and discusses the social question, the
workers of Paris are delighted with their lot, satisfied with the social
organisation, and enthusiasts on the subject of Napoleon.

- See pp. 165-166.

3 Chassin, Pacification de Voucst, vol. iii.

THE PRETENDER'S PROPOSALS 259

attempts at assassination. There was the affair of the
" infernal machine," of which I have spoken ; there
was the conspiracy of Georges Cadoudal, of which I
am about to speak. There was also seditious talk in
the salons, but it became less and less frequent as the
power of the First Consul became more monarchical,
and as the emigres returned and found their place in
the new regime.

On the 1 9th of Brumaire the royalists were flattering
themselves that Bonaparte was going to play the part
of Monk. Hyde de Neuville and d'Andigne saw him
and made proposals ; he bowed the two agents out.

Louis XVni was not discouraged. Sceptical, and a
lover of intrigue, it is stated with certainty that he had
formerly approached Robespierre. We have seen that
he conferred with Barras.' From Mitau, on Decem-
ber 19, 1799, he sent M. de Clermont-Gallerande with
full powers to treat with Bonaparte. On February 20,
1800, he himself wrote the First Consul a most flattering
letter : ^

" Save France from her own furies, and you will have accompHshed
the desire of my heart ; give her back her King, and the generations
of the future will bless your memory. You will always be too necessary
to the State to make it possible for me to pay, by means of important
positions, the debt of my agent and my own."

This letter eliciting no reply, Louis XVHI wrote
another (undated, but anterior to the battle of Marengo).
" Take your place," he said, " determine the fate of
your friends. . . . We can assure the glory of France.
I say we, because for tliat purpose I shall have need of
Bonaparte, and he cannot effect it without me." To
this Bonaparte finally replied, but after Marengo (on
the 20th of Fructidor of the year VHI — September 7,
1800) :

' See p. 1x5, note.

260 THE LIFE-CONSULATE

" I have received your letter, sir ; I thank you for the courteous things
you say in it. You must not expect to return to France ; to do so you
must step over a hundred thousand slain. Sacrifice your interest to
the welfare and repose of France. . , . History will remember you.
I am not insensible to the misfortunes of your family. . . I shall with
pleasure contribute to the pleasantness and calm of your retreat."

Louis XVIII also wrote to Consul Le Brun, who
replied that the restoration of the Bourbons was not
possible " to-day." He instructed Clermont-Gallerande
to interview Josephine, to whom he conveyed the most
flattering compliments. Bonaparte stood aside ; these
proceedings had the advantage of preventing a public
statement of Louis' claim.

The conclusion of the Concordat, the reconciliation
of the Pope with the Republic, and the peace with
Austria and England seemed to deprive the Pretender
of all further hope ; the more so as the Franco-Russian
entente demanded his expulsion from Russia. But he
established himself at Warsaw, and continued to behave
as a king. Then the First Consul, through the media-
tion of Prussia, tried to persuade him finally to
abdicate. On the 17th of Nivose of the year XI
(January 7, 1803), the Minister of Exterior Relations,
Talleyrand, confided in Lucchesini, the Prussian minister
in Paris. To him he said :

" To calm the timid minds of many anxious Catholics ; to harmonise
that which some of the emigres believe they still owe to their oaths and
their honour with the desire which almost all of them experience of
returning to their country and serving it ; and finally, to deprive the
malevolent of the pretext and the rival power of France of the instru-
ments of future disturbances : these are the salutary and praiseworthy
purposes which the First Consul wishes to attain. A feeling mingled
of compassion and respect for the misfortunes of the princes of the
house of Bourbon, together with a sentiment of the dignity of a great
people long governed by it, has inspired the First Consul with the
noble intention of providing for his (Louis') maintenance."

In exchange for this " benefit " Bonaparte de-
manded " a free, entire, and absolute renunciation of

BONAPARTE AND LOUIS XVIII 261

all rights and pretensions to the throne of France,
and to the charges, dignities, domains and appanages
of the princes of that house."

Prussia transmitted these proposals to Louis XVIIL
He refused them in a letter of March 3, 1803, which
he despatched to all the European courts :

" I do not confuse M. Bonaparte," he said, " with his predecessors ;
I esteem his valour and his military talents ; I am grateful to him for
several administrative acts, for the good he or any does my people
will always be sweet to me ; but he deludes himself if he believes
he can persuade me to compromise my own rights. Far from that,
he would establish them himself, could they ever be in question, by
the very step he is now taking. I do not know what are God's inten-
tions toward my house and myself, but I know the obligations imposed
upon me by the rank to which it has pleased Him to call me at birth.
A Christian, I shall fulfil these obligations until my last breath ; son to
Saint Louis, I shall know how, after his example, to respect myself
even in iron fetters ; a successor of Francis the First, I wish at least to
be able to say, with him : All is lost, except honour ! "

When the Empire was established Louis XVIII con-
spicuously protested.

At the end of the Consulate there was, as we see,
not only a Pretender, a " legitimate " King, for Bona-
parte to reckon with ; there were also royalists playing
Chouan in the west, and others, in Paris, slandering him
in the salons. But the greater number of the returning
emigres rallied to the support of the First Consul ;
and these converts increased in number every day.
But there was still, among those royalists who had not
yet returned to France, a group who, in agreement with
the English Cabinet, were preparing, since the rupture
of the Peace of Amiens, for the assassination of Bona-
parte.

VI.

This group consisted of those emigres who in England
formed the court of the Comte d'Artois, the Due de

262 THE LIFE-CONSULATE

Berry, and the Prince de Conde. Pichegru was at hand.
Attempts were made to put him in communication with
Moreau. The Consular police were not unaware of these
attempts ; their object was to tarnish the glory of the
man who won at Hohenlinden, Bonaparte's sole rival in
point of military glory, Moreau consented to become
reconciled with Pichegru, but not to join the conspiracy,
which nevertheless ran its course, at the suggestion of
an agent of the French Government, Mehee de La
Touche. A General Lajolais, a friend of Pichegru's,
persuaded the emigres that Moreau had joined the
royalist cause. Georges Cadoudal and some Chouans
went secretly to Paris. They hoped, through Moreau, to
provoke a military insurrection in the capital itself.
Disappointed in their hope, they formed the project of
attacking the First Consul in the street, with a number
of men equal to that of his guard. Pichegru, the Mar-
quis de Riviere, and the two Polignacs joined Cadoudal.
The Comte d'Artois and the Due de Berry were to land
in France if the blow succeeded.

The Consular police knew everything and allowed
matters to progress. It was hoped that Moreau would
finally compromise himself ; it was also hoped that the
Comte d'Artois would land in France, and so deliver
himself into their hands. It was finally decided to
question some of the Chouan accomplices who had
previously been arrested. One of these, Bouvet de
Lozier, deposed that they had counted on Moreau, but
that the latter had refused to help them. Immediately,
and although this deposition exculpated Moreau, Bona-
parte had him arrested (on the 25th of Plaviose of the
year XII) as an accomplice of the Chouan assassins, and
further slandered him in his journals. Pichegru was
also arrested (on the 8th of Ventose). On the same day
a senatas consiiltas suspended the functions of the jury
" during the course of the years XII and XIII, in all
the departments of the Republic, for the trial of crimes

SECOND ATTEMPT AGAINST BONAPARTE 263

of treason, attempts upon the person of the First Consul,
and others against the internal and external security of
the Republic." In Paris, in conformity with a law of
the 23rd of Floreal of the year X, a " Court of Special
and Criminal Justice " was formed : a veritable Revolu-
tionary Tribunal. As for Georges Cadoudal, he was
arrested without having managed to attempt anything
(on the 1 8th of Ventose of the year XII), together with
his accomplices ; among others the two Polignacs and
the Marquis de Riviere.

The Comte d'Artois and the Due de Berry did not
land in France, and Bonaparte, having failed to seize
their persons, turned his vengeance upon another Bour-
bon, a stranger to the plot : the Due d'Enghien, who
for two years since had been living at Ettenheim, in
the territory of Baden. Violating this territory, a de-
tachment of dragoons set out to seize the young prince
(on the 24th of Ventose of the year XII), His papers
proved his innocence of the conspiracy directed against
Bonaparte. He was none the less condemned to death
by a military commission, and immediately shot in
the fosse of the Chateau of Vincennes (on the 30th of
Ventose — March 21, 1804).

This murder excited in Paris, among the upper
classes, and then over the whole of Europe,' a revulsion
of horror and fear. Soon it became known that General
Pichegru had hanged himself in prison ; but no one
was convinced that he had committed suicide. Many
contemporaries believed, and stated their belief, that
Bonaparte had had Pichegru put out of the way in;
order to avoid the brilliance of his public defence in
the trial which was then approaching. 2

' Concerning the sensation produced by the murder of the Due
d'Enghien, see Lucchesini's despatch of March 24, 1804, in
P. Bailleu's Preussen unci Frankreich.

= Besides the Mcmoires of the Due de Rovigo, sec the despatch, dated
April II, 1804, of Baron Dalberg, Minister Plenipotentiary of the
Elector of Baden in Paris.

264 THE LIFE-CONSULATE

VII.

The discovery of Cadoudal's conspiracy led to a
frenzy of adulation with regard to Bonaparte, by which
he profited in order at last to crown his dream of
ambition. A few addresses, more or less spontaneous,
had demanded that the Consulate should be hereditary
in Bonaparte's family. On the 6th of Germinal of the
year XII (March 27, 1804) the Senate prayed the
" great man " not to refuse to " complete his work
by making it as immortal as his glory " ; that is to
say by making his authority hereditary. i The word
Empire was not employed, and the Senate's wishes re-
mained obscure. The Council of State, consulted on the
matter, deliberated for four sessions, and came to no
agreement. Seven councillors even voted an adjourn-
ment. In vain did Lucien Bonaparte threaten the hesi-
tating '(who included nearly all) with an acclamation on
the part of the Army, which would have saluted the
First Consul with the title of Emperor. Cambaceres
himself was afraid of the Empire.

It was only after several weeks of intrigue and
hesitation 2 that a member of the Tribunate, one

' According to Pelet {Opinions de Napoleon, p. 51), the commission of
the Senate had proposed merely a congratulatory address, and it was
Fouche who demanded " institutions which would destroy the hopes
of conspirators by ensuring the existence of the Government beyond the
lifetime of its head."

^ The desire of the French nation, so constantly invoked, was not
so clear as the courtiers of Bonaparte declared. Thus, among the
numerous extracts from addresses published by the Moniteur in
Germinal and Floreal of the year XII, emanating from prefects,
mayors, and general councils — that is, from officials appointed by the
Government — there are very few in which the establishment of the
Empire is definitely demanded. The council general of Jura demands
" a more stable order of things," " but at the same time institutions
both powerful and liberal must assure to our descendants an effectual
protection against the oscillations and abuses of power." There is
even one address, from the authorities of Isere and the prefect of the

THE IMPERIAL TITLE PROPOSED 265

Cur6e,i proposed an order (on the 3rd of Floreal of the
year XII) "to the effect that Napoleon Bonaparte, now
First Consul, should be declared Emperor of the French,
and that the Imperial dignity should be declared
hereditary in his family." The same day a Privy
Council was assembled and consulted,^ and on the fol-
lowing day Bonaparte invited the Senate " to inform
him of their entire thoughts " on the subject. The
Senate appointed a Commission, which, while waiting
to hear what the Tribunate intended doing, sent out a
circular to the senators asking, in the name of the First
Consul, their individual advice.

" The greater number," says Thibaudeau, " replied by assent pure
and simple ; a few made no reply ; these were members of the society
known as the Society of Auteuil— Cabanis, Praslin, &c. It was believed

same department (the learned Joseph Fourier), which advises Bona-
parte not to seek an augmentation of power : " May he find, in the
memory of his great deeds and in the just affection of a sensible and
generous nation, the only rewards which are worthy of his labours ! "
One cannot possibly say that all France, even through the mouths
of the agents of the Government, demanded at this period the re-
establishment of the throne in favour of Bonaparte ; nor that they
existed in a state of slavery.

' An old Conventional, who had been a member of the Marsh.

' This Privy Council was composed of Bonaparte's most devoted
servants : Le Couteulx de Canteleu, Roederer, Frangois (Neufchateau),
Treilhard, Portalis, Regnaud (Saint-Jean-d'Angely), Fontanes, Talley-
rand, Decres, Regnier, Boulay (Meurthe), and Fouche. The First
Consul made use of his favourite method of intimidation ; the armies,
he said, were deliberating, and haste was essential if they did not
wish bayonets to settle the question. With the exception of Regnier
and Fouche the members of the Council demanded that if the
monarchy were to be established the monarch at least should be
liberal, Fontanes said : " Monarchy in the head of the Government ;
aristocracy in the Senate ; democracy in the Legislative Corps."
Talleyrand insisted that one of the two chambers should be truly
representative, in order that the opinion of the people should be
known, without which nothing was possible. Bonaparte rejected these
counsels in sharp, decisive terms. (From a rough draft of a prods-verbal
by Maret.)

266 THE LIFE-CONSULATE

that Volney and Sieyes voted unfavourably ; Lambrechts and Gregoire
replied in the negative, and gave their views as to the best means of
controlling the excesses of imperial power and to guarantee the public
liberties and the rights of the nation." '

The Tribunate, on the loth of Floreal, began to
discuss the motion of Curee, whom all the speakers
supported, excepting Carnot, who (on the iith of
FloreaV) declared the movement of opinion in favour
of the " hereditary monarchy " to be " factitious," since
the press was no longer free, and who, while conceding
that the i 8th of Brumaire and the institution of abso-
lute power " had withdrawn the State from the brink
of the abyss," expressed the opinion that the dictator-
ship should be terminated :

" Was liberty shown to man," he says, " in order that he might never
enjoy it ? Was it continually offered to his desires as a fruit to which
he could not raise his hand without being stricken with death ?

" If so, Nature, who has made this liberty one of our most pressing
needs, would indeed have proved herself a cruel stepmother ! No, I
cannot consent to regard this benefit, so universally preferred before
all others, without which all others are nothing, as a mere illusion ; my
heart tells me that liberty is possible, that its rule is a simple matter,
and more stable than any arbitrary government or any oligarchy."

Yet he declared himself ready to submit to the measures
against which he protested.

This protestation — so moderate, and for that matter
eulogistic where it concerned Bonaparte — found no echo
in the Tribunate ; which, being now reduced to 60
members, trembled at the idea of suppression, should it
exhibit the slightest independence .2

' Gregoire' s reply, together with a suggested Constitution, is to
be found in his Memoires.

' Out of 49 members present, 48 put down their names to speak in
favour of the establishment of the Empire. Twenty-five actually spoke.
Three who were unable to speak had their speeches printed. There were
many courtier-like platitudes. Chabaud-Latour congratulated himself
that they could all " throw themselves into the arms of a saviour."
Several speakers declared that the reason of their desire for a new

THE QUESTION OF IMPERIAL POWER 267

A Commission was appointed, in the name of which
the ex -Conventional Jard-Panvilher made a favourable
report, on the 13th of Floreal of the year XII (May 3,
1804), which might thus be summed up : " The general
desire has pronounced in favour of the individual unity of
the [supreme] power, and for [the principle of] heredity
in that power. France should expect from the Bona-
parte family, more than from any other, the maintenance
of the rights and the liberty of the people that chose
that family, and all the institutions necessary to
guarantee them. This dynasty is as deeply interested
in maintaining all the advantages of the Revolution
as the former dynasty would be in destroying them."
The Tribunate, by 48 votes out of 49, expressed a
desire in uniformity with Curee's motion, and conveyed
it to the Senate, which, in a message to the First
Consul, declared " that it was in accordance with the
highest interests of the French people to confide the
government of the Republic to Napoleon Bonaparte,
hereditary Emperor." To this message was added a
memoir (which was not published, but exists in the
National Archives, among the proces-verbaux of the
Senate) in which were " developed " the dispositions
most likely to guarantee to the nation " its dearest
rights." Here are the most important of these dis-
positions' : there would be two senatorial Commissions ;
one dealing with individual liberty, the other with the
liberty of the press ; any unconstitutional law might

dynasty was the better to oppose " democracy." Others, on the other
hand, spoke in eulogy of the plebiscitary democracy. The tribune
Carion-Nisas recalled " the famous oath of the Cortes of old Spain.
' We others, 'who are equally worthy wtlh thee,' said the oath : there was
native equality ; ' Who can perform more than thou ' : there was
national sovereignty ; ' We make thee our chief ' : there was the
contract ; ' To be the guardian of our interests' : there was the condi-
tion. ' Otherwise, no ' ; there was the penalty to follow the dereliction
of duty. Family that France calls to reign, you have heard your title.
Family that France for ever rejects, you have heard your sentence.

268 THE LIFE-CONSULATE

be denounced in the Senate by one of its members ;
the Senate would on such occasion fulfil the functions
of a Supreme Court-; the Legislative Corps could dis-
cuss projected laws in secret committee ; the tribunes
would be elected for ten years ; and there would be a
plebiscite upon the establishment of the Empire. These
were very feeble defences against despotism. The
Senate, it appears, had suggested other and stronger
guarantees.! Doubtless the Senate was convinced that
Bonaparte would never lend himself to the establishment
of a truly constitutional system ; it therefore resigned
itself to a despotism in the execution of which it would
itself play the part of moderator.

The Legislative Corps was not in session. Its pre-
sident, Fontanes, got those of its members who were
in Paris to vote (on the 20th of Floreal) an address
in conformity with the desires expressed by the Tri-
bunate and the Senate, in which were mingled counsels
of liberalism and fulsome eulogies.

So far we have to deal merely with the expression
of desires. On the 26th of Floreal the Senate, presided
over by Cambaceres, was required to look into a pro-
jected senatus consaltus presented in the name of the
Council of State by Portalis.2 The Commission already
appointed by the Senate examined it in two days ; and
upon the report submitted by Lacepede in the name of
this Commission the organic senatus consaltus was issued
which is vulgarly called the Imperial Constitution. 3

' In the Tribunate, on the 13th of Floreal, Gallois spoke of the
Senate, " which has demanded new institutions." Was there then
such a demand made before the 14th of Floreal f

^ Did Bonaparte draw up this project himself ? We do not know.
He obtained its approval on the 23rd of Floreal by the Council of State
and the privy Council.

3 It seems there was no debate : " The discussion," says the proces-
verbal,"\vas open relating to the report of the commission. Many
members requested that the Senate should at once vote by ballot,
by Aye or by No, as to the adoption of the proposed organic

THE PLEBISCITE ON THE EMPIRE 269

The people were not allowed to vote upon the entire
senatus consiiltus ; but only to accept or reject, by Aye
or by No, the following proposition : " The people
desires the hereditary nature of the Imperial dignity
in direct, natural, legitimate, and adoptive descent from
Napoleon Bonaparte, and in direct, natural, and legiti-
mate descent from Joseph Bonaparte and Louis Bona-
parte, as ordained by the organic senatus consultus of
the 28th of Floreal of the year XII." This plebiscite
was taken under the system of universal suffrage, and
in the same manner as the preceding plebiscites, in
Prairial of the year XII. There were 3,572,329 Ayes
and 2,569 Noes. I'

Tables appended to the senatus consultus relating to
this result were published in the Bulletin des Lois, and
afford us some data that were lacking in the case of
the other plebiscites.

We find that there was no negative vote in 1 1 de-
partments : Hautes-Alpes, Correze, Garde, Indre,
Liamone, Haute-Loire, Loiret, Deux-Sevres, Var, Vau-
cluse, and Haute-Vienne. If we credit the same source,

senatus consultus." But Thibaudeau says Gregoire voted against it. He
also says that at the scrutiny there were found two blank papers and
three negative votes ; those of Gregoire, Lambrechts, and Garat.
Lanjuinais, whose hostility was well known, had on the 26th obtained
leave of absence until the 15th of Therniidor, " for reasons of health."

' The senatus consultus of the 15th of Brumaire of the year XIII
indicates a lesser number, stating that among 3,524,254 voters there
were 3,521,675 Ayes. But a report of the Senatorial Commission of
Recensement, appended to this senatus consultus, informs the public that
fresh papers having come to hand, the result must be modified in
consequence, and that there were 50,654 Ayes more than was at first
believed. The registers are in the Archives. An incomplete examina-
tion shows me that the number of illiterate voters was very large. In
some communes only two or three signatures were inscribed : but
there were whole columns of the names of illiterates, all written in the
same hand. Did these illiterates know of the use made of their
names ? There are registers containing no names, but merely the
statement that all the citizens voted Aye.

270 THE LIFE-CONSULATE

there was no negative voter among the 400,000 voters
of the Army, nor among the 50,000 voters of the naval
forces. This is hardly credible, if we remember that
most of the republicans of the opposition were among
the superior officers. We read in a bulletin of the
Ministry of Police, dated the i6th of Prairial of the
year XII, that at Angouleme General Malet openly
criticised the establishment of the Empire. " He is
the only person in Angouleme," we read, "who ^id
not rejoice on the day when the news of the senatas
consultus arrived." We can hardly admit that Malet
can have voted Aye. It seems likely that the members
of the opposition in the Army confined themselves to
abstaining from the vote. For example, the bulletin
of the 9th of Prairial states that at Boulogne, in the
regiment of sappers, there were " signatures refused."

In thirteen departments only were there more than
50 negative votes : in Doubs, 78 Noes; Jura, 74 ;
Mont-Tonnerre, 131 ; P6, 204; Haut-Rhin, 127;
Rhin-et-Moselle, 88; Roer, 121; Haute-Saone, 74;
Saar, 68 ; Seine, 70 ; Sezia, 90 ; Stura, 61 ; Vosges,
107.

In the south-east of France, that south-east which had
been the focus of the republican spirit, the voting
was as follows : Aude, 13,829 Ayes against 3 Noes;
Bouches-du-Rhone, 14,043 against 4 ; Gard, 20,984
against o ; Herault, 23, 185 against 7 ; Pyrenees -Orien-
tales, 9,451 against 17.

What is the meaning of these negative votes? In
the case of the recently annexed departments it is clear
enough ; it is only to be expected that the opposing
minority should be a minority hostile to France. In
the case of the old departments the meaning of these
votes is less clear. If we read the bulletins of the
Ministry of Police dealing with the state of the public
mind, which are compiled by the aid of the reports of
prefects, procurator -generals, commandants of gen-

NAPOLEON PROCLAIMED EMPEROR 271

darmerie, &c., we shall see that in certain cities — Brest,
Bordeaux, Mayence — the opponents of the senatus
consultus show a lively interest in General Moreau.
Royalist and republican agree in praising Moreau.
The prefect of Aisne sends word that in his department
the formerly " refractory " priests accept the empire
of Bonaparte " personally " only ; they do not approve
of the hereditary principle, the foundation of a new
dynasty usurping the rights of the Bourbons. Generally
speaking, those priests who are hostile to the Concordat
excite the peasants against the new Emperor. If the
opposition comprises republicans, it contains royalists
and clericals in much greater numbers. As far as we
can draw a conclusion from the existing data, we may
say that the plebiscite on the subject of the Imperial
inheritance is on the whole a plebiscite in favour of the
Revolution as against the Bourbons ; as against the
ancien regime.

VIII.

The organic senatus consultus of the 28th of F tor eat
of the year XII enacts, by its first two articles, that the
" Government of the Republic is confided to an Em-
peror, who takes the title of Emperor of ttie Frencti,"
and that " Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the
Republic, is Emperor of the French." Then follow
articles establishing, organising, or affecting the prin-
ciple of heredity, the royal family, and the regency.
Here indeed is a new throne, a new dynasty. But this
monarchy, which was to become despotic, is presented
in the following articles as liberal, and the hereditary
Empire is offered as the best guarantee of liberty.

It would have been easy for Napoleon to make him-
self Emperor by means of a plebiscite of peasants and
working-men, without these apparent concessions, this
pretence of liberalism ; but he pretended to govern

272 THE LIFE-CONSULATE

by the bourgeoisie, and his cue was to persuade them,
to rally them round his person. He made them believe
that he gave them, in the Senate, the means of defence
against despotism.

The Senate used to be presided over by one of the
Consuls' : but henceforth a Senator appointed by the
Emperor would preside.

The Senate had no legislative power : it would now
possess the right of declaring that a given law should
not be promulgated, were that law denounced in the
Senate by one of its members as anti-revolutionary
or unconstitutional.

Here, then, was the Senate, established with due
pomp as an Upper Chamber. By means of two per-
manent Commissions the Senate would watch over the
liberty of the press and the liberty of the individual,
and, should the ministers violate this liberty, the Senate
would pronounce judgment as a Supreme Court.

The Tribunate and the Legislative Corps had the
power to send before this Supreme Court the agents of
the executive power, ministers, prefects, &c. The
Supreme Court would also take cognizance of such
crimes as attempts at assassination, conspiracies against
the security of the State, offences committed by mem-
bers of the Imperial Family, and so forth.

So far the Legislative Corps had been silent. Now
it was given a voice ; it had henceforward the right to
discuss the laws put before it.

Finally, the oath taken by the Emperor was con-
ceived in the following terms :

" I swear to maintain the integrity of the territory of the Republic ;
to respect, and cause to be respected, the laws of the Concordat and
the liberty of religious worship, to respect, and cause to be respected,
the equality of rights, civil and political liberty, and the irrevocability
of the sales of national property ; to levy no impost, nor establish any
tax, save in virtue of the law ; to maintain the institution of the Legion
of Honour ; and to govern solely with a view to the interest, the
welfare, and the happiness of the French people."

THE CONSTITUTION INOPERATIVE 273

The extremest liberals of the time asked no more
than this.; at this price the establishment of the throne
seemed to them a benefit.

Doubtless, if regarded minutely, the senatus consuttus
contained disturbing passages. Thus, the right of veto
accorded to the Senate might be rendered illusory by
a certain article [(72) which ordained that in the exercise
of the veto by the Senate the Emperor, after listening
to the Council of State, might promulgate the law
despite the veto. Although the Legislative Corps re-
ceived the right of discussing the laws, it could only
do so in general committee : that is to say, in camera^
unless the Government requested that the session should
be public. There would be no more general or public
sessions of the Tribunate.; it was divided into three
sections, which deliberated with closed doors. As for
the suffrage, the independence of the electors was
diminished by the addition, as members ex-officlo: (i)
to the Colleges of arrondissements, of all the legionaries.;
(2) to the departmental colleges, of the grand officers,
commanders, and officers of the Legion of Honour.
Although the privileges of the Senate were augmented,
the Emperor had the right to manipulate the majority
by the unlimited addition of members. This right he
did not abuse, for at the fall of the Empire there were
only 147 senators. Still, the feeling that he could abuse
it sufficed to check all inclination to form an opposition.

Despite these limitations, if this constitution had ever
been put into operation no despotism would have been
possible.

It was not put into operation ; not, at any rate, as
regards its liberal characteristics.

Scarcely any further legislation was undertaken, in
the sense of making laws. Laws were replaced by
the senatus consuttus and Imperial decree. The Legis-
lative Corps had little to do, and seldom assembled.
The Tribunate was suppressed in 1807. No assembly

VOL. IV. 18

274 THE LIFE-CONSULATE

made use of its right to send the agents of the executive
power before the Supreme Court. The senatorial Com-
mission relating to the liberty of the press had no con-
trol of the periodical press, which was reduced to
slavery and insignificance. It was entrusted merely
with the supervision of the non-periodical press, in
order to preserve its liberty. If there had been any
liberty in the matter of brochures and pamphlets, des-
potism could never have been either absolute or lasting.
But this Commission undertook only two or three insig-
nificant affairs ; its activity was negligible. The Com-
mission dealing with individual liberty met often, and
there are numerous traces of its activity in the National
Archives. It obtained the release of a few poor in-
significant devils, to whom the Government had given
the right of petition. But the Government allowed the
Commission to control it only when it so pleased ;
Napoleon imprisoned whom he pleased, re-established
the Bastilles, and derided individual liberty, until the
Commission served merely to give tyranny a kind of
constitutional appearance. As for the " equality of
rights," which the Imperial oath was to " respect and
cause to be respected," this principle was, in great
part, sacrificed, as were the others, to Napoleon's am-
bition, which established a new hereditary nobility.

It is thus no exaggeration to say that this Constitution
was not applied, so far as it maintained some of the
principles and results of the Revolution.

IX.

We have seen that it was the government of the
Republic which was confided to an Emperor ; and in
the formula of promulgation of the laws. Napoleon
had to style himself " Emperor, by the grace of God
and the Constitutions of the Republic." What was to
be understood by this word Republic? On the loth

NAPOLEON AND THE REPUBLIC 275

of Frimaire of the year XIII the president of the Senate,
Frangois (of Neuf chateau), while felicitating the Em-
peror upon the results of the plebiscite on the subject
of heredity, stated that this result " brought the vessel
of the Republic ^ into port." And he cried : " Yes,
Sire, of the Republic 1 This word might hurt the ears
of an ordinary monarch. Here the word is in its right
place, before him whose genius has made us rejoice
in the thing itself as the thing itself can exist for a great
nation." To desire the establishment of the " pure
Republic," the " Republic properly so called," that is to
say, democracy, would be to prepare " fetters for the
future ".; for with the mass of the people as ignorant
as they are, liberty and democracy are so mutually in-
consistent that the genius even of Napoleon would be
unable to reconcile them. Frangois would endow the
Republic with the advantages of the monarchy (as for-
merly d'Argenson wished to infuse into the monarchy
all the good qualities of the republic), and, commenting
upon the Emperor's oath, he finds therein the guarantees
of a " representative State." Napoleon replied with
a despot's brevity :

" I am mounting the throne to which I have been called by the
unanimous desires of the Senate, the people, and the Army ; with a
heart full of consciousness of the great destinies of this people, which,
from the midst of camps, I was the first to salute with the name of
great " —

and so forth. He spoke neither of liberal guarantees
nor of the Republic.

This word distressed and obsessed him. He deter-
mined to be rid of it ; but little by little, timidly, by
successive omissions, as his victories gave him the
strength and courage to do so.

' Mme. de Remusat writes in her Memoir cs (vol. i. p. 375) : "One
dared no longer utter the word republic, so soiled it was by the
Terror ! " Another example of the constructive memory !

276 THE LIFE-CONSULATE

In 1 804, after the Empire was established, there was
celebrated, at least once more, not only the festival of
the 14th of July, but that of the establishment of the
Republic.! In 1805 there was no longer any question
of celebrating either.

The newspaper stamp, up to December 31, 1805,
bore the legend Repablique frangaise. The seal of
State was altered sooner ; the law of the 6th of
Pluviose of the year XIII erased all republican symbols.
In the phrasing of decrees. Napoleon often spoke of
himself as Emperor by the Constitutions of the Re-
public, as late as May 28, 1807. In the formula of the
promulgation of laws, these words appear for the last
time in the law of April 29, 1809, concerning the code
of civil procedure. After this we have Napoleon by
the grace of God and the Constitutions . . .

But the Emperor dared not take any direct and final
measure against the use of the word " republic." Only
after the meeting at Erfurth [(in September-October,
1808), when Alexander and he mutually guaranteed
the submission of Europe, did he feel himself sufficiently
powerful to abolish the last vestige of the Republic, by
the decree of October 22, 1808, which was worded thus :
" The moneys which will be struck from January i,
1809, onwards will bear as legend, on the reverse side,
the words : Empire frangais, instead of the words
Repablique frangaise. '' No one noticed this decree.;
the word " republic," formerly regarded by the people
as a talisman of victory, was forgotten ; replaced in
the imagination of the French by the name of Napoleon,
another talisman of victory.

' The Moniteur gives no account of this celebration ; but the Gazette
de France speaks of the illuminations and the concert which took place
on this occasion. The Emperor and Empress were at Mayence.
In a letter of the nth of Fructidor Portalis proposed that the Emperor
should suppress this festival. We see that it was still celebrated on
the ist of Vendemiaire of the year XIII.

THE LAST OF THE REPUBLIC 277

In this manner, after an existence, actual or nominal,
of nearly sixteen years !(from September 22, 1792, to
December 31, 1808), the first French Republic, which
during its democratic period had gloriously performed
such mighty deeds, had the singular fortune of disap-
pearing from history almost furtively, as it had come
into being.

If I have traced the exact point of history at which
the word " republic " i disappeared, it was not through
idle curiosity. As long as this word endured there were
certain limits to despotism ; and the despot felt himself
obliged to keep within a certain measure ; in short, to
appear reasonable. Once the word was erased there
was practically no restraining memory of the Revolution
left^; practically no rein to the caprices of his genius ;
and it is, perhaps, no exaggeration to say that from
that time his tyranny became as insane as it was
grandiose.

We are now at the end of this narrative, which is
long if measured by the number of its pages, but appears
curtailed when we consider the number of facts that
have perforce been omitted altogether, or else abridged
in order that they might be introduced. These four
volumes are only a summary.

To sum up this summary, to abridge still further
this abridgment, according to that classic custom, under
the title of conclusion — what is to be gained by it?
Would it not be useless and pedantic thus to repeat
oneself? Besides, I have already explained my inten-
tions, method, and plan in my Preface, and will ac-
cordingly spare the reader such repetitions.

Had I had a historical thesis to sustain, or a train of

' See in the Revue bleue of January 15, 1898, my article entitled :
Quand disparut la premiere Rcpnblique ?

278 THE LIFE-CONSULATE

reasoning to develop, in order to demonstrate the truth
of a proposition, a logical conclusion would have been
necessary. But I have merely attempted to narrate,
objectively, and without any preconceived idea, the
political history of the Revolution from the point of
view of the origin and the development of democracy
and the Republic.

Another kind of conclusion would consist in drawing
from the past, as I have presented it, lessons to be
applied in the future. I will attempt no such teme-
rarious pedantry. It is for my readers, if they think
it possible and profitable, to extract these lessons for
themselves ; each according to his political tendencies
and his turn of mind. I am content to have uncovered
certain facts ; let them speak for themselves .

I wish merely, in a very few words, not to write a
conclusion nor a summary, but to suggest a few ideas
which are too general in their nature to have found a
fitting place at any particular point of the narrative,
but which disengage themselves only from the whole
mass of facts.

I . It is a mistake to say that the French Revolution
was effected by a few distinguished individuals, by a
few super-men. I admit, if you will, that it was a
soldier of genius who finally succeeded in disorganis-
ing the political structure. But I believe that no
individual emerges from the history of the ten years
between 1789 and 1799 as the master of events::
neither Louis XVI, nor Mirabeau, nor Danton, jnor
Robespierre. Can we say that the French nation was
the hero, the true super-man of the French Revolution?
Yes ; if we see the French people not as a multitude,
but in a condition of organised groups. Take, for
example, the really decisive facts ; those which in-
dubitably influenced events ; and first of all the capital
fact, the taking of the Bastille and the municipal revolu-
tion which followed. It will be found no easy task

GROUPS THE STRENGTH OF THE REPUBLIC 279

to cite the name of a single individual who appears to
have played, in the formation of the new France in
July and August, 1789, a preponderant part. What
do we see? That Frenchmen organising themselves
into groups of a municipal type grouped them-
selves into communes ; these communes became con-
federated into a nation ; but a new nation, born of a
spontaneous movement of fraternity and reason. Then
take the insurrection of August 10, 1792, which,
changing the destinies of France, overthrew a throne
that had stood for centuries, and founded democracy.
It was anonymous and national. It was the work
neither of Danton nor of Barbaroux, but of the Federals
of Marseilles and Brest, and the Parisian National
Guards. Who saved the nation when it was attacked
by the King and torn by civil war? Was it Danton?
Robespierre? Carnot? Certainly these individuals were
of ;service ; but as a matter of fact unity was main-
tained and independence assured by the grouping of
the French into communes and popular societies. It
was the municipal and the Jacobin organisations that
drove back Europe in coalition. Yet in each group, if
we look closely, there are two or three men of superior
capacity, who, whether leaders or led, execute decisions,
and have the appearance of leaders, and may be called
leaders, but who (if, for example, we read the proces-
verbaux of the people's clubs) seem to draw their
power far more from their groups than from themselves.
In order to arrest the Revolution Bonaparte dissolved
these groups. Then there were citizens no longer ;
there were only individuals.

2. The Revolution was realised only partly and for
a time. It was even suspended, and appeared to be
abolished, during the rule of Napoleon I ; at least,
from 1808 to 1 8 14. Why? — because the French people
was not sufficiently educated to wield its own sove-
reignty. To educate the people was the true political

280 THE LIFE-CONSULATE

and social programme of the republicans : of the group
leaders of whom I have spoken. To prevent the people
from learning or reasoning : such was one of the
principal articles of the political and social programme
of Napoleon Bonaparte when he became a despot.

3. It has been said that the generation which per-
formed such great and such terrible deeds was a genera-
tion of giants ; or, to be more literal, that it was a more
competent and remarkable generation than that which
preceded it or that which followed. This is a retro-
spective illusion. The citizens who formed the various
groups, whether municipal, or Jacobin, or national, by
which the Revolution was effected, do not seem to
have been superior either in talent or in enlightenment
to the Frenchmen of the time of Louis XV or that of
Louis -Philippe. As for those whose names have been
preserved by history because they appeared upon the
stage of Paris, or because they were the most brilliant
orators of the various revolutionary assemblies — were
they exceptionally gifted? Mirabeau, to a certain ex-
tent, deserves to be called a tribune of real genius.
But the others — Robespierre, Danton, Vergniaud, for
instance : had they really greater talent than our
speakers of to-day for example? In 1793, in the time
of the so-called " giants," Mme. Roland wrote in her
Memoires: "France was as though drained of men;
their rarity in this revolution is truly an astonishng
thing ; there were practically none but pigmies." This
is the contrary illusion ; that of which contemporaries
are commonly the dupe ; that of which we ourselves
are doubtless the dupes in the present year of grace ;
the pessimist's illusion. The generation of 1789 and
1793 was neither superior nor inferior ; it was an
average generation. Perhaps we may safely say that
:when first the guillotine and then proscription had
deprived it of its most distinguished individuals it fell
somewhat below the average ; and that this was one

WHAT WAS THE REVOLUTION? 281

of the circumstances which allowed Bonaparte to
dominate it and cast it into slavery, and to destroy the
groups that the death or exile of their leaders had
already disorganised.

4. It seems to me that the facts assembled in this
book deprive the words : the French Revolution of
their equivocal meaning. People used to denote, by the
same phrase, both the principles which constitute the
French Revolution and the actions consistent with those
principles, and the period during which the Revolution
was effected, with all the actions, consistent with or
in contradiction to those principles, performed during
that period. This confusion was as harmful to the
truth as it was useful to the supporters of the
retrograde policy, as it allowed one to attribute to
the Revolution, considered as a sort of historical per-
sonage, the most grievous or, even the most anti-
r'evolutionary laws or actions. For example, could
there have been a more anti -revolutionary action than
the execution of the Hdbertists and the Dantonists? —
or the suppression of universal suffrage in the year III?
This does not prevent people from saying glibly : " The
Revolution killed Hebert and Danton ; the Revolution
abolished democracy." This abusive manner of speak-
ing— " The Revolution did or didn't do so-and-so " —
has had the result that many people see in the Revolu-
tion a kind of incoherent power ; capricious, violent
and sanguinary. It has been attempted thus to dis-
credit the very principles of the Revolution ; especially
by the pains and to the profit of those who regard these
principles as satanic, and who would govern society by
the reverse of these principles. For the rest, all the
political parties of the nineteenth century have pleaded
their cause by means of arguments drawn from anything
or everything that happened between 1789 and 1799 ;
and these facts, taken at random or ingeniously selected,
they have called the French Revolution, Now, I fancy,

282 THE LIFE-CONSULATE

matters are clearer ; the Revolution consists in the
Declaration of Rights drafted in 1789 and completed in
1793, and the attempts made to realise that declaration ;
the counter-Revolution consists in the attempts made
to prevent the French from acting in conformity with
the principles of the Declaration of Rights ; that is
to say, according to reason, elucidated by history.

The French Revolution is, so to speak, a political,
social, and rational ideal, which Frenchmen have at-
tempted partially to realise, and which historians have
attempted to confound either with its application, often
incoherent, as far as it was effected, or with the events
provoked by the very enemies of that ideal, with a view
to abolishing or obscuring it. This book will, I hope,
have contributed to dissipate this dangerous ambiguity.

5. The Imperial despotism arrested the Revolution,
and marked a retrogression towards the principles of
the ancien regime ; provisionally abolishing liberty and
partially abolishing equality. But they were rather the
political results of the Revolution than the social which
were thus suppressed. The possession of national pro-
perty ; civil laws drawn up according to a code less
equalitarian than that which the Convention had con-
ceived, but infinitely more humane and more reasonable
than that of the ancien regime, and which had the
further advantage of being the same for all France ; the
employment of revolutionary laws concerning inherit-
ance : and all this code impressed upon nearly the
whole of Europe — in this manner was the Revolution
maintained in its social results, and this it is that
explains why, after its fall, when these results were
contested by the returned royalists, that very Napoleon
Bonaparte who disorganised the political work of the
Revolution as completely as he possibly could, appeared
to be, and was able to call himself, " the man of the
Revolution."

INDEX OF

PERSONS MENTIONED IN
THE TEXT

The names of authors quoted in the course of this work are in italics

Abrial, appointed Minister of Justice,
iv. 169

Advielle, iv. 32 n

Aelders (Mme.), feminist, i. 232, 233

Agier, iii. 266

Aigon, i. 302

Aiguillon (Mme. d'), iv. 182

Albert, elected Elder, iii. 342

Albitte, tried with Romme and escapes,
iii. 139 ; 140; 246

Alegre (d'), writes to Comte d'Artois,
iv. no

Alexander the Great, iv. 1 81

Alexander I., iv. 276

Alibert, accused of Babeuvism, iv.
120 tt

Allier, D. , seizes Pont Saint-Esprit,
iv. 109

Alquier, member of Committee of
General Security, ii. 232

Amar, ii. 62 n, 69 ft, 217, 223 ; member
of Committee of General Security,
232, 233, 245 ; accuses the 65 Giron-
dists ; iii. 46, 121 ; arrested, 200 ;
213 n, 214 n, 244; iv. 39; ac-
quitted, 45

Amyon, iii. 40

Andigne (d'), attempt on Nantes, iv.

113. 259
Andre (Lozere), condemned to deporta-
tion, iv. 87

Andri, Ferd., iii. 369 n

Andre (d'), moves that decrees be
executed without the royal sanc-
tion, i. 267; 272, 276, 316, 324,
330. 343

Andrei, ii. 222 n ; iii. 40

Andrieux, iii. 342, iv. 172

Anthoine, i. 311, 318 n, ii. 63 n, 103,
127 ; on Committee of Constitution,
163

Antiboul, iii. 40 ; one of the " Twenty-
Two," 121

Antonelle, iv. 37 ; implicated with Ba-
beuf, 39; acquitted, 45; 120, 156,
187

Antraigues (d'), i. 98

Aoust (d'), ii. 222 n

Arena, said to have threatened Bona-
parte, iv. 148 ; 150, 156 ; guillotined,
188

Argenson (d'), i. 83, 89 «, 97, 97 n,
100, loi, 117, 170 «, iv. 275

Arnould, elected Elder, iii. 342

Arsandaux, i. 202

Artois (Comte d'), his influence on
Louis, i. 134, 137, 262, ii. 310, 311 ;
lands on He de Yeu, iii. 250 ; re-
embarks, iv. 47; no; organises
insurrections, 112; 261, 262, 263

Asselin, iv. 40

Aubert, iii. 342

Aubert-Dubayet, iii. 325, 362

Aubin, i. 235 n

283

284

INDEX

Aubry, iii. 40, 215 n, 216 n; con-
demned to deportation after the i8th
Fructidor, iv. 86 ; dies a fugitive,

Audibert, ii. 43 n

Audouin, Xavier, Member of Revolu-
tionary Commune, ii. 75 ; of Com-
mittee of General Security, 231, iii.
83, 270 ; accused of Babeuvism, iv.
I20«; 131

Audrein (Abbe, later Bishop), ii.
222 «, iii. 258 ; iv. 91 ; murdered by
Chouans, 188

Auger, Athanase, i. 350

Augereau (General), iii. 359 ; Bona-
parte's agent in Paris, iv. 84 ; 85,
131, 136, 149, 248, 250

Augereau (Citizeness), iv. 69

Auguis, iii. 153, 214 «

Aiilard, i. 96;?, 134 «, iv. 277

Aumont, ii. 320 n

Autichamp (d'), attempts to surprise
Cholet, iv. 113; signs armistice, 166

Auvrest, iii. 77 n

Aviau (Mgr. d'), iv. 74

Ayme, J.-J., iii. 353 ; iv. 54, 86, 87 n

Azema, iii. 212 «

Babey, iii. 40

Babeuf, i. 159, 160, iii. 139, 243, 243 «,

311, iv. 30, 34; conspiracy and

arrest, 38, 39, 42, 42 n ; trial and

execution, 44, 45 ; 47, 52, 118, 119,

120, 131
Babeuf (Vve.), imprisoned, iv. 188
Bach, iv. 121 n, 131 n
Baden (Margrave of), iv. 49
Bailie, Pierre, ii. II3«
Bailleii, P., iv. 263 n
Bailleul, iii. 40, 59, 64, loi «, 214 «,

289, 354, iv. 84, 118, 121, 172, 190,

247, 247 «
Bailly, i. 308, 313 «, 317, 351 n, ii. 222

n, 21471
Bancal des Issarts, i. 238, 280 «, 283,

300 ; iii. 40, 46, 49 n, 56
Bar, Jean-Etienne, ii. 315; iii. 212 «

Bar, Philippe, iv. 93

Bara, iii. 187

Barailon, iv. 143

Barante (de), i. 172 w, 195 «

Barbaroux, ii. 113, 130^, 136 «, 138,
161, 161 w, 236 ; iii. 32, 35, 38, 40,
42 ; adumbrates law of suspects, 49 ;
53 ; character, 67 ; forms Marseillais
battalion, 96 ; votes for Louis' death,
99; arrested, 111-12; escapes, and
foments civil war, 115; guillotined,
123; 135; iv. 279

Barbe-Marbois, iii. 354, 389 ; iv. 54,
87, 87 «, 170 n

Barere, i. 147, 152 «, 153^, 166, 170,
175 n, igon, 191, 192; his republi-
canism, 21 1 «, 259 n ; 303 ; ii. 143 n ;
161, 171, 183, 188, 194, 210, 222 w,
223, 236-42, 247 ; proceeded against,
249 ; 250, 252, 262, 279 ; declares
all nobles suspect, 288 ; 294 ; iii.
47 ; responsible for death penalty
against supporters of agrarian law,
73, 75> 106, 107 «, no, in, 113M,
130, 134, 138, 159, 167, 187, 188 «,
193-7, 205, 208, 209, 214, 215;
upholds the Revolutionary Tribunal,
231-2; 237; denounced, 242; in
danger of deportation, 244 ; 270 ;
election declared void, 339 ; 353 ; iv.
135; supports the Consulate, 156;
proscription removed, 167 ; 246

Barnave, i. 88 n, 89 « ; 165, 166 ; leads
Louis captive back to Paris, 265 ;
praises monarchy, 274; 278, 316,
326, 327, 353 n, 356

Barras, ii. 222 n ; 224 ; appointed
commander-in-chief of Paris in
Therniidor, iii. 200; 214 «, 222; at
head of "Dandies," 237, 240; ap-
pointed military dictator with Napo-
leon in Vcndi!miaire, 251 ; appointed
dictator, 325, 358, 361 ; 364 « ; has
a critic thrashed, 381 ; regarded as
royalist, iv. 35

Barret, Charles, iv. 93

Barruel-Bauvert, article on Bonaparte,
iii. 379

INDEX

285

Barthe, i. 320

Barthelemy, appointed Director, iii.
359 5 364 ; iv. 54 ; forced to retire,
82-8

Basire, i. 340, 345 ; ii. 145, 148 ; de-
mands national jury, 190 ; 194 ; vice-
president of Committee of General
Security, 231 ; 232, 297 ; iii. 32, 74,

75> 99, 151

Bassal, ii. 222«; member of Committee
of General Security, 232

Bassano (Due de), see Maret, Secretary
of State under Consulate, iv. 170

Bassville, iii. 259 n

Batz (Baron de), ii. 245

Baudin (des Ardennes), ii. 224, iii. 258,
276, 285 «, 301, 315, 316, 355; is
said to die of joy at Napoleon's re-
turn, iv. 138

Baudot, iii. 83

Baudouin de Maisonblanche, i. 283 n ;
ii. 276

Bausset, iv. 201

Bayard, iv. 86

Bayle, Moyse, ii. 43 ; member of
Committee of General Security, 223,
232, 233 ; iii. 200, 213 n ; iv. 187

Bayle, Pierre, ii. Ii3?z

Beauchamp, iii. 212

Beaugeard, iii. 366

Beauhamais jun., i. 247

Beaujolais (Due de), iv. 57

Beaumez, i. 194 n, 326, 332

Beaupre, iv. 143

Beauvau (Marechal de), i. 145 «

Becquey, i. 343

Beffroy, ii. 301

B^gh, iii. 77

Belin, iii. 40

Bellarmin, i. 124

Bellouguet, iii. 367

Belloy (de). Bishop of Marseilles, iv.
90

Benezech, ii. 220; iii. 325, 362, iv.
171

Bentabole, ii. 163, 224, 270 n

Bentham, Jeremy, ii. 141

Berenger, iv. 230 n

Bergoeing, iii. 32, 35, 40 ; accusation

demanded by St. Just, 116; 214 w;

refuses oath in favour of Constitution

in Bnitnaire, iv. 148
Berlier, ii. 224, 239, 240 ; iii. 210,

216 M, 275, 276, 291, 342, 355; iv.

171, 230^
Bernadotte, iii. 363 ; iv. 128, 139, 143,

248, 249, 250
Bernard, i. 235 «, 279 ??, 281 w, 316,

317
Bernard (of Saint- Affrique), ii. 222 n ;

iii- 354
Bernard (of Saintes), ii. 224 ; member

of Committee of General Security,

231 ; iii. 34, 139, 208, 213 «, 214 M
Bernier (Abbe), iv. 207, 213
Bernis (Cardinal de), i. 224
Berry (Due de), iv. 262, 263
Berthier, iv. 155, 169; commands

army under Napoleon's Consulate,

183

Berthollet, ii. 220 « ; iv. 139

Bertin, i. 235 «; iii. 252;?

Bertrand, ii. 43 n

Bertrand de la Hosdiniere, iii. 40

Besson, iii. 177, 178

Beugnot, i. 80-1 n

Beurnonville, ii. 215 ; iii. 359 ; iv.
136 «; takes part in coup d'etat of
Bruniaire, 143

Bigonnet, iv. 150

Bigot de Preameneu, iv. 230

Billaud-Varenne, i. 285, 290, 312 «;
demands a republic, ii. 52 ; appointed
to Insurrectionary Commune, 75 ;
lOl, 124, 136, 138;?; demands
abolition of monarchy, 148; 151;
on Committee of Jacobin Club, 163 ;
185 «, 223 ; on Committee of Public
Safety, 242 ; 248 ; proceeded against,
249; 250, 251, 262, 270 «, 295;
iii. 54, 76, 145, 146 ; denounces
Danton, 150; 169; joins the con-
spiracy against Robespierre, 195,
197, 215, 224, 237 ; denounced, 242;
deportation decreed, 244

Birotteau iii. 40

286

INDEX

Blad, iii. 40, 216 n

Blain (Bouches-du-Rh6ne), iv. 86

Blanc, dies of excitement at sight of
Louis XVI, 82

Blanchard, i. 235 n

Blanchard (Abbe), iv. 212

Blanqui, iii. 40 ; iv. 46

Blaux, iii. 40

Blaviel, iii. 40

Blin, iv. 149

Blondeau, iv. 45

Blutel, iii. 172

Bo, ii. 272

Bochet, ii. 221

Bohan, iii. 40

Boilleau, iii. 40 ; trial as one of the
" Twenty-Two," 121

Boirot, iv. 56

Boisguyon, i. 356 n

Boissy, iv. 56

Boissy d'Anglas, ii. 224 ; iii. 193 ;
persuaded to abandon Robespierre,
196 ; 215 n, 24s, 259, 27s, 276, 279,
280, 294, 305, 310, 324, 354, 374

Bonaparte, Joseph, iv. 134 «, 140, 269

Bonaparte, Louis, iv. 269

Bonaparte, Lucien, iii. 355 ; elected
president of Council of 500, iv
143 ; action in coup (Titat of Bru-
maire, 149, 150, 151 ; Minister of
Interior, 169; 184 «; 264

Bonaparte, Napoleon, i. 96 tt ; ii. 260 ;
at siege of Toulon, iii. 120 ; disperses
royalists on 13th of Vendimiaire,
251 ; 266, 314, 350, 370, 379 ; iv.
34 ; Italian victories, 49 ; Directory
recommends him to ruin Papal
power, 61, 65 ; invasion of Papal
States, 77 ; watches cozip d'etat of
Fructidor, 84; 133, 134, 134 « ;
returns to Paris, 137; goes to and
returns from Egypt, 138, 139, 140 ;
approached by Sieyes, 141 ; decides
on coup d'itat of Brtimaire, 142 ;
prepares for same, 143, 146 ; the
coup cTdtat, 147-50 ; Constitution
reformed, 158-68 ; as Consul, 169-
77 ; installed in Tuileries, 181, 182 ;

183; war with Austria, 183, 184;
attempt on his life, 185 ; deports
enemies, 187-9; 19°' I9i> I94) I95>
198, 203 ; church policy, 204 ; Con-
cordat, 205, 210, 212-15, 220-7 ; 228,
229 ; life-Consulate, 230-40 ; 242,
243 ; luxurious state, 244 ; installs
Legion of Honour, 245 ; 247-62 ;
has the Due d'Enghien executed,
263 ; Empire suggested, 264-8 ; the
plebiscite, 269, 270 ; declared Em-
peror, 271-4 ; 275, 276 ; 280, 282

Bonaparte (Mme.), iv. 244

Bonchamps, ii. 307

Bonet, iii. 40

Bonnaire, iv. 100

Bonnay (de), i. 152 «

Bonne-Aventure-Libre (see l^galit^,
Orleans), ii. 121

Bonnet, i. 308 n

Bonnet de Mautry, ii. 222 n

Bonneville, Nicolas, i. 162 «, 245,
246 «, 247 «, 340 ; ii. 118

Bontoux, iii. 367

Borda, iii. 359

Bordas, member of Committee ot
General Security, ii. 231 ; iii. 214,

29s, 354

Borne, iv. 86

Bouche, ii. 314

Boucher de Saint-Sauveur, i. 247 «,
306, 307 n, 323, 340 ; ii. loi ; mem-
ber of Committee of General
Security, 233

Bouchereau, iii. 40

Bouchotte, ii. 215 ; iv. 131, 168, 233,
247

Boudin, iii. 214 n ; iv. 120

Bougainville, iii. 359

Bougeart, Alfred, iii. 91

Bouille, i. 218, 219; to march with
Louis on Paris, 264 ; arranges for
Louis' escape, 265 ; 270 ; threatens
the National Assembly, 354

Bouin, found guilty of conspiracy with
Babeuf, iv. 45

Bouillerot, iii. 255

Boulanger (General), iii. 105

INDEX

287

Boulay (of Meurthe), ii. 221 n ; ii.
334; iv. 71, 81 ; concerned in forc-
ing Merlin and La Revelliere to
resign, 126; 150, 158, 159, 171,
199 «, 208, 211 «, 213 «; appointed
to Privy Council on eve of Empire,
265

Boulogne (Abbe de), iv. 65, 74,77, 212

Boulogne, armistice of, iv. 73

Bouquey, host at Girondist meetings,
iii. 34

Bourbeaux, ii. 57

Bourbon (M. de), ii. 90, 124 ; iv. 249

Bourbotte, ii. 118

Bourdon, Leonard, ii. 75; iii. 201,
244

Bourdon (of Oise), ii. 224 ; iv. 56 ;
deportation decreed in Fructidor, 86 ;
deported to Guiana, 87 «

Bourdon de Vatry, iii. 362 ; iv. 155 n

Bourgoin, i. 235 n

Bourguignon, iii. 363

Bourmont (de), iv. no; insurgent
leader under d'Artois, 112; takes
and evacuates Mans, 113; signs
armistice, 166

Bcurrienne, secretary to Bonaparte, iv.

237

Bouvet de Lozier, iv. 262

Boyer-Fonfrede, Girondist, ii. 195, 223,
235, 238 n ; iii. 32, 36 n, 40 ; 43 ;
demands abolition of death penalty
exceptlfor political offences, 50 ; 63 ;
votes for Louis' death, 99; 103;?;
trial and execution, 1 2 1-2

Boze, iii. 63

Brandenburg, ii. 124

Breard, ii. 223 ; on Committee of
Public Safety, 236-40 ; iii. 209,
215 w; elected Elder, 324; Presi-
dent, 254 ; iv. 168, 172

Bresson, iii. 40

Breton, i. 235 n

Brienne, i. 106

Briffaut, iv. 120

Briot, iv. 75, 119, 138, 150, 156

Brissot, one of the founders of the
Republic, i. 86 ; editor of the Palriole,

164 ; 170 ; recommends a Republic,
224 ; relations with Mme. Roland
and the Roberts, 254-5 ; 271 w, 273,
280; his policy, 288, 289 ; 311, 323,
340. 345. 353. 356-60 ; still advises
liberal monarchy, ii. 65 ; prefers
suspension of royalty, 70, 71; 74;
professes hatred of monarchy, 96 ;
opposed to Robespierre, 99, 100 ;
loi, 118, 126; secretary to the
Convention, 145 ; 148, 153 ; on
Committee of Constitution, 161 ;
177; Committee of General Defence,
235 ; of Public Safety, 236 ; press
destroyed, 281 ; a leader of the
Gironde, iii. 32-40; does not con-
fess on scaffold, 43 ; 45-8 ; federal
policy, 53 M ; as party leader, 58 ;
character, 59-63 ; expelled from
Jacobins, 72 ; 93, 97, 98 ; votes for
Louis' death, 99 ; 106; arrested with
the "Twenty-Two," 112; escapes
to raise the provinces, 115; trial,
121 ; execution, 122

Brival, ii. 83 n ; member of Committee
of General Security, 231, 232 ; iii.
168

Brocheton, i. 235 n

Brothier (deputy), iv. I02 n

Brottier (Abbe), iii. 379 ; royalist
agent, iv. 50 ; 52 ; deported Xo and
dies in Guiana, 87

Bruirette, i. 320

Bruix, iii. 362

Brulart de Sillery, ii. 222

Brune, i. 311, 318 «, 319, 320, 340;
iii. 327 ; victory in Holland, iv. 114;
136 «, 140, 166, 171, 248, 249

Brunet, ii. 219

Brunswick, Duke of, effect of his
Manifesto, ii. 59 ; suggested as
candidate for French throne, 62 n ;
87, 96 ; Carra's indiscreet praise of,
123-4 ; 125 ; iii. 57, 77, 106

Brutus, ii. 104 ; iv. 181

Bry, Jean de, ii. 77, 103 «, i6i «, 171,
223, 231, 236, 238, 304; iii. 40,
216 «, 354, 370, 375 ; iv. 34, 58, 172

288

INDEX

Bucket, i. 105 n, 308 n, 313 w ; ii.
53 «, 100 « ; iv. 41 «, 187 «

Buchot, ii. 214, 220, 221 n

Buffon, i. 19; ii. 185

Buonaparte, see Bonaparte

Buonarroti, iv. 39, 45

Buzot, leader of democratic party, i.
213; 271 «, 274, 316; vice-presi-
dent of Criminal Court, 324 ; on
Committee of Constitution, 326 ;
349, ii. 133 ; speaks attacking Paris,
183 ; on Committee of Public Safety,
236; 281, 298; a Girondist, iii. 32;
34, 35 ; influence of, and relations
with, Mme. Roland, 38; 40, 42, 46,
47 n ; hatred of mob, 48 ; 48 « ; 49,
54 ; character, 66, 6^ ; 74, 92 ; votes
for Louis XVI. 's death, 99; inter-
view with Robespierre, 102; arrested,
112; escapes, and opens civil war
in Eure, 115; 116; death, 123

C (M. de), i. 4;^

Cabanis, iii. 342 ; iv. 139, 158, 223

Cabuchet, iv. 193

Cacault, iii. 259 «; iv. 211

Cadoudal, Georges, royalist rebel ;
surrenders, iv. 47 ; leader under
d'Artois, 112; 239; engaged in fresh
conspiracy, 262 ; arrested, 263 ; 264

Cadroy, iii. 223, 247, 248, 375; con-
demned by Directory, iv. 86

Cafarelli, iv. 171

Cagliostro, iv. 205

Cahier de Gerville, i. 351

Cales, i. 214 «

Callot, i. 364

Calon (de), ii. 222 n

Cambaceres, ii. 115, 196, 224; on
Committee of Public Safety, 236 ;
238 n ; president of Committee of
Legislation, iii. 2I2«; 215, 273,
275. 324. 340, 342; president of
Elders, 354 ; 362 ; Minister of
Justice under Consulate, iv. 155 «;

proposed as Second Consul, 163 ;
171, 181 w, 184, 190, 205, 228, 230,
264

Cambon, i. 302 ; ii. 44, 85, 86 n, 193;
president of Convention, 223 ; on
Committee of General Defence, 235 ;
on Committee of Public Safety, 238,
240, 252; iii. 73, 102, Ii3«; pro-
poses compulsory loan, 135 ; 137 ;
proposes suppression of expenses of
public worship, 152, 153, 153 «, 167,
187, 196, 244, 253, 253 «; proposes
separation of Church and State, 234,
254"; 255, 260; iv. 247

Campe, ii. 141

Camus, i. igon', secretary to Con-
vention, 145 ; member of Committee
of General Security, ii. 232 ; member
of Committee of Public Safety, 236 ;
president of Council of 500, iii. 354 ;
363 ; iv. 120 «

Candeille, i. 335

Canecie, i. 235

Capon, ii. 221 n

Carbon, accomplice in affair of the
"infernal machine" of 1800, exe-
cuted, iv. 188

Carelli, iii. 366

Carnot, ii. 218 ; president of Conven-
tion, 225 ; on Committee of Public
Safety, 243 ; military functions, 248,
249, 250 ; degree of guilt in Terror,
251, 251 « ; as deputy-commissioner,
257; 261, 263 « ; edits journal op-
posing Robespierre, 285 ; 293 « ; iii.
150, 169 w, 189; arrest ordered in
Thermidor, 200 ; 215, 237, 245,
247 ; nominated Director, 325 ; 358,
359j 364 « ; iv. 83 ; scission in
Directory, 84 ; tempted by royalists,
85 ; escapes in Fructidor, 86 ; con-
demned to deportation, 87 ; 88, 155 ;
recalled from exile, 166; Minister of
War, 170M; 183, 190; votes against
life-Consulate, 234 ; 247 ; opposes
Empire, 266 ; 279

Carra, i. 287, 323, 347, 356 ; ii. 38 n \
demands suspension of Louis XVI,

INDEX

289

51 ; proposes candidates for throne,
62 n ; converted to republicanism,
96, 117; as royalist, 1 23 ; frightened
into change of politics, 124 ; 157 ;
as Girondist, iii. 40 ; execution, 43 ;
trial as one of the *' Twenty-Two,"
121; 153

Carre, i. 104 «

Carrier, ii. 221, 227 ; as deputy on
mission, 259; iii. 147 ; 179-80, 232,
238 ; accused in Convention and
tried for barbarity, 241

Carteaux (General), occupies Marseilles,
ii. 309; iii. 118, 119

Casabianca, ii. 222 ;r

Caselli (Father), iv. 206

Casset, iv, 120 n

Castel, iii. 342

Castellane (Comte de), i. 148, 193

Castellane (Mme. de), iv. 182

Castera, iii. 125

Cathelineau, Vendeean guerilla, ii. 307

Catiline, i. 223, iii. 58, 197

Cavaignac, Montagnard, member of
Committee of General Security, ii.
231, 232 ; 317, iii. 162

Cazales, i. 191

Cazeneuve (de), ii. 222 k, iii. 40

Cazin, iv. 45

Ceracchi, iv. 188

Cerisier, i. 356

Cerutti, i. 85, 97 «, 98

Caesar, iv. 146, 181

Chabaud, iv. 158

Chabaud-Latour, iv. 266 n

Chabert, i. 235 w

Chabot, Cordelier, member of Consti-
tuent Assembly, i. 340 ; 345 ; ii. 63 «,
87, 88 «, 125, 137, 146, 161, 163,
189, 222 w; member of Committee
of General Security, 231 ; 245, iii.

32, 34> 75. 76, 99. 151
Chaboud, i. 235 «, 271
Chailleux, i. 235 w
Chales, ii. 222 w, 244, 273
Chalier, iii. 108, 125, 163
Chambon, iii. 35, 40, 98, 123, 223, 247
Champagne, iii. 342

VOL. IV. 19

Champagneux, iii. 368 ; iv. 70

Champagny, iv. 171

Champeaux (de), iv, 216

Champion, Ednii, i. II9«, 122 w

Champion de Cice, Archbishop of Bor-
deaux, i. 144 w, 146, 147

Chapelain, iv. lOO

Chapelle, iv. 188

Chaptal, iv. 139

Charavay, Etienne, i, 115 ;z, 325 m,
341 M, iv. 194 w, 236 «

Charette, iii. 249, 250, iv. 47

Charlemagne, i. 96

Charles, Archduke, the, iv. 58, no

Charles I, of England, i. 359 ; ii.

303
Charles IX, iv. 82
Charlier, ii. 223
Charrier, ii. 309
Chartier, i. 235 ; ii. 57 n
Chartres (Due de), ii. I2I n ; iv. 57
Chasset, ii. 145 ; iii, 40; 354
Chassey, iii. 368 n
Chassin, ii. 106 n ; 306 w, 307 n ; iv.

50 M, II5«, 258 72

Chastellain, iii. 40

Chastellet (Marquis de), i. 359

Chastenay (Mme. de), iv. 246 «

Chateaubriand, i. 113 «, 115 ^^, 1^1 n,
1^2 n ; iv. 81 n

Chateauneuf-Randon, i. 316 «; ii.
222 n ; iii. 119, 124^

Chatillon, iv. no, 112, n3, n4

Chauchot, D., i. 207

Chaudron-Rousseau, iii. 191

Chaumette, i. 313; ii. 60 «, 75; as
commissary, 107 ; procurator of
Commune, iii. 98 ; 103, 145 ; exe-
cuted, 149; 157; at installation of
Worship of Reason, 160, 161, 180,
183, 184

Chaumette (Mme.), iv. 188

Chaumont, iii. 325

Chauvelin, iv. 246

Chazal, iii. 215, 342, 355, iv. 149, 158

Chemin, founder of Theophilanthropy,
iv, 67, 68, 70 ; 198

Chenier, Andre, i. 122 «

290

INDEX

Chenier, Marie-Joseph, i. 138 «; ii.
117; president of Convention, 224;
278 n ; proposes cult of the Fatrie,
iii. 158; 216 w, 222, 256, 259, 342,
347 ; president of 500, 334 ; 375 ;
iv. 63 ; a Theophilanthropist, 69 ;
I39j 158; member of Tribunate,
172, 247

Chepy, jun., i. 312 «

Chevalier, iv. 188

Choderlos de Laclos, i. 255, 283, 310

Choquin, i. 82

Choudieu, i. 105 «, ii. 45, iii. 244, iv.
187

Chrestien, jun., i. 235 n

Chretien, iv. 45

Chuquet, A.,'\, 239

Cicero, i. 87 «, iv. 181

Clair val, i. 334

Claretie, Jules, i. 86«, l63«

Clarkson, Thomas, ii. 141

Clauzel, ii. 224, iii. 214 «

Claviere, i. 271 n ; ii. 73, 94, 157, 215;
iii. 33, 34, 58, 1 10 ; arrested with
the "Twenty-Two," 112; 113 ; com-
mits suicide, 123

Clemence, iv. 120

Clement, Abbe, iv. 72

Clement de Ris, ii. 220, iv. 188

Clermont-Gallerande, iv. 259, 260

Clermont-Tonnerre, i. 248, 326

Clootz, Anacharsis, i. 255, 347, 355, ii.
118, 141, 142, 163, 177, 178; iii.

53 «» 59. 64. 73. 145. 148

Cobourg, iii. 135

Cochon, i. 3167?, iii. 304; iii. 215,
215 w, 324, 359, 363, iv. 54, 57

Cocud, iv. 120

Coffin, iv. 120

Coffinhal, i. 136 «, iii. 200

Coigny (de), iv. 1S2

Coland-Lasalcette, ii. 222 «

Collard (Mme.), i. 235

Collombel, iii. 213 «, 214 «, 360

Collot d'Herbois, a monarchist at out-
set, i. 86 ; author of Almanack du
Fire G&ard, 342 ; royalist tone of
same, 347; ii. 102 n, 12b n; as

republican, 147, 148 n ; on Jacobin
Committee, 163; president of Con-
vention, 223, 224 ; becomes member
of Committee of Public Safety, 242 ;
248 ; 249, 262 ; iii. 75 ; his massacres
at Lyons, i2o; 139, 140, 145, 169,
188 m; in danger of assassination,
190 «; his part in Robespierre's
downfall, 193, 196, 197, 198 ; arrest
ordered by Commune, 200 ; 215,
237, 242 ; deportation decreed, 244

Combaz, i. 235 n ; iv. 69

Comte, Auguste, i. 253

Conde, iii. loi ; iv. 181, 262

Condorcet, not a republican, i. 84, 98 ;
favours Provincial Assemblies, 108;
fears uneducated populace, 120, 131 ;
converted to popular suffrage, 201,
208, 209; 213 ; a feminist, 231, 232;
273, 292, 29s, 296, 297, 298 ; elected
to second Assembly, 340, 341 ; still
favourable to monarchy, 342 ; 347,
353 ; republican leader, 359 ; ii. 73,
74 ; declares himself repubUcan,
96 ; hostile to the Commune, lOi ;
118, iiSn, 123, 145; member of
Committee of Constitution, 161, 164,
169 «, 170 ; fails to support feminism,
173 > 179; proposal for Constitution
defeated, 183; 186; 222 «; vice-
president of Convention, 223, 234,
239 ; a Girondist, iii. 33, 34, 38, 40,
46, 47, 50; Mme. Roland's opinion
of, 66 n \ 68, 69, 70, 71. 73. 85, 87,
88, 91 ; not in favour of Louis' death,
99 ; arrest decreed for criticising
Montagnard Constitution, 1 16; trial
(one of the "Twenty-Two") and
execution, 121, 122; 284, 314

Consalvi (Cardinal), iv. 207, an

Constant, Benjamin, iv. 84, 115, 1 16,
117; member of Tribunate, 172;
deprived of seat, 190 ; 247 ; ejciled,
251, 251 «, 252 «

Conte, Ch., iv. 167 n

Conti, i. 284;/

Corbel, iii. 40

Corbieni, i. 235

INDEX

291

Corchand, iv. 69

Corday, Charlotte, iii. 68 ; kills Marat,
81

Cormatin, iii. 299

Corneille, i. 99

Cornet, president of Council of Elders,
iii* 355 ; appointed inspector of Hall
of Council, iv. 143 ; part in coup ditat
of Brumaire, 144

Cornudet, president of Council of
Elders, iii. 355

Corre, ii. 48 n, 107 n

Coucheri, condemned to deportation in
Fructidor, iv. 86

Coupard, iii. 355

Coupe (of Oise), ii. 222 w ; iii. 224

Couppe (of C6tes-du-Nord), member of
Committee of General Security, ii.
231 ; iii. 40

Cournaud (Abbe), socialist writer on
" agrarian law," i. 229 ; 236 n

Courtois, member of Committee of
General Security, iii. 214 «; of
Council of Elders, iii. 324 ; president
of same, 354 ; inspector of Hall in
Brumaire, iv. 142

Coustard, iii. 40

Couthon, i. 343, 344 ; pronounces
against royalty, ii. 146 ; on Com-
mittee of Constitution, 163 ; 185,
193 ; president of Convention, 223 ;
on Committee of Public Safety, 239,
240, 242, 247, 248, 262, 286 ; iii.
91, 107; moves the arrest of the
"Twenty-Two," 112; takes part in
blockade of Lyons, 119; begins
demolition of Lyons, 120; 168;
announces decadal festival, 182 ;
187, 188 «, 189 ; still loyal to Robes-
pierre, 192 ; arrested on 9th of
Thermidor, 199; escapes to Hotel
de Ville, 200 ; guillotined, 202, re-
placed on Committee of Public Safety,
208 ; 209 n

Crachet, iv. 120, 120 «

Crassons, president of Council of 500,

iii- 354
Creniere, i. 149

Crepin, \. i<fin

Crestin, ii. 64

Cretin, i. 235 n

Creton, i. 120 «

Creuz^-Latouche, iii. 2i^n; member
of the " Commission of Seven," 273 ;
of the " Commission of Eleven,"
276 ; president of Council of Elders,
354 ; of Council of 500, 355 ; a
Theophilanthropist, iv. 69

Crevelier, iv. 119

Crillon (de), iv. 182

Cromwell, i. 296, 356, 357, 358, 359

Curee, proposes, in Tribunate, that
Bonaparte shall be declared Em-
peror, iv. 265

Cusset, executed after Grenelle con-
spiracy, iv. 46

Cussy, iii. 40

Dabray, iii. 40

Dafin, i, 235 n

Daillet, ii. 220

Daire, i. 123

Dalbarade, ii. 214, 220

D'Alembert, i. 341

Dalphonse, iv. 148

Dambray, iii. 323

Danjon (Abbe), i. 229, iii. 366 ; a
Theophilanthropist, iv. 69

Dansard, Claude, i. 234

Danton, i. 86, no ; a royalist agitator,
164 ; 245 ; denounces King's ad-
visers, 278 ; 280 ; proposes elective
executive Council, 282 ; 283, 284 «,
288 ; inclines towards republicans,
309, 310 ; draws up petition to
Assembly demanding abdication,
312 ; 313 ; rumour that he is to be
appointed *' tribune of the people,"
319; 320, 323, 324, 340; implores
Federals not to leave Paris, ii. 51,
52, 60 n ; Minister of Justice, 72 ;
73 ; real head of Provisional Execu-
tive, 74 ; 76, 82 ; opposed to the
Girondins, 99 ; does not declare
himself a republican before the Con-

292

INDEX

vention assembles, loo «, loi « ;
120; suspected of Orleanism, 122,
123 ; rumours of a triumvirate, 136 ;
ridicules the idea, 146 ; his motion
on the " unity and indivisibility of
the Republic," 153 ; member of
Committee of Constitution, 161 ; of
Jacobin Committee, 163; 164 «;
171 n; against interference with other
Powers, 178 ; 180, 181 ; seeks to
impose Montagnard Constitution in
time to prevent Paris from attacking
the Girondists, 184; 18S; in favour
of religious tolerance, 198 ; his dic-
tatorship feared, 202; 214; 217 «,
218; president of Convention, 223 ;
235 ; member of Committee of
General Defence, 236; of Committee
of Public Safety, 238 ; 239 ; in charge
of foreign affairs, 240 ; his pre-
ponderance on the Committee, 241 ;
excluded from it, 242 ; re-appointed,
refuses to sit, 242 ; recommends a
Committee of Execution, 243 ; arrest
signed by the two " Government
Committees," 245 ; 246 ; order for
his arrest, 231 ; 279 ; the Danton
press ceases after his death, 282 ;
liberty of speech disappears, 283 ;
estabhshes the Revolutionary Tri-
bunal, 285 ; attempts to relax the
grasp of the Terror, 294 ; iii. 31 ;
his opinion of the Rolands, 38 ; 43,
47 ; accused of September massacres,
52 ; saves Roland from arrest, 57 ;
64 ; Mme. Roland's judgment of,
66; 66 n, 68, 73 ; does his best to
check September massacres, 74 ; 75 ;
laments September, 78 ; rumoured a
possible triumvir, 79 ; disowns Marat,
80 ; 83, 87 ; Danton's policy one of
conciliation, and formation of a strong
and enlightened coalition party, 88 ;
does not believe in immortality ; has
no fixed system, 89 ; against interfer-
ence with other nations ; an opportun-
ist in best sense, 90 ; his position, 91 ;
91 «; 92; attempt at conciliation,

92 ; Condorcet's admiration for, 94 ;
Marat's opposition, 95 ; 99 ; further
attempts at conciliation, lOO, lOi , 102,
106, 107 ; 107 n ; at time of insurrec-
tionary Commune, 109 ; indignation
at demand for arrest of the ' ' Twenty-
Two," III; 112, 113; accused of
Orleanism, II3»; 114, 115; ex-
cluded from Committee of Public
Safety, 116 ; his fall, 117 ; in moder-
ate opposition, 144; 145 ; Robes-
pierre fears his rehabilitation, 146 ;
149 ; arrested by Robespierre's con-
trivance, 150; trial, 150; his eloquent
defence, sentence and execution,
151; 153. 153 «» 165, 196, 198,
232 ; iniquity of his trial, 241 ; 252,
253 ;iv. 115, 251, 278, 279,287

Darracq, iii. 379, iv. 78 n

Darrignan, iii. 175 «

Darsy, i. 346 «

Darthe, Babeuvist, iv. 38, 44, 131

Dartigoeyte, member of Committee of
General Security, ii. 232, iii. 162, 170

Daubenton, member of Conservative
Senate, iv. 172

Daubermesnil, Theophilanthropist, iv.
66

Daubigny, iv. 120 w

Dauchy, i. 244, 328

Daudet, Ernest, iv. 115 w

Daunou, ii. 221 « ; president of Conven-
tion, 224; a Girondist, iii. 40; 216;
member of Commission of Constitu-
tion, year III, 275 ; chief draughts-
man of proposal, 279 ; in favour of
two biennial Consuls, 301 ; 309; presi-
dent of Council of 500, 325, 354,

355; 377. 378> 379; iv. 158; pro-
posal for Constitution of year VIII,
159, 159 «; Constitution caricature
of plans of Daunou and Sieyes, 160,
180, 184 « ; candidate for the Senate,
190 ; excluded from re-election to
the Legislature, 191
David, ii. 220, 221 n ; member of Com-
mittee of General Security, 233 ; iii.
83 ; prepares plan for Festival of the

INDEX

293

Supreme Being, i86, 187; 196;
survives Thermidor, 202

David, Alex., iii. 212 n

Dechezeaux, iii. 40

Decomberousse, president of Council of
Elders, iii. 355

Decres, iv. 170 w, 265 «

Decret, i. 235 11

Dedelay-Dagier, iii. 355

Defermon, favours universal suffrage,
i. 184, 185; 187, 191; president of
Convention, ii. 223 ; on Committee
of General Defence, 235 ; a Girondist,
iii. 40 ; leaves Committee of Public
Safety, 216 m; 267, 2,10 n, 324;
president of Council of 500, 354 ;
member of Council of State during
Decennial Consulate, iv. 171

Defergues, ii. 214

Deffoux, i. 235 n

Deguaigne, iii. 77 n

Dejean, iv. 171

Delacoste, president of Council of
Elders, iii. 255

Delacroix, i. 345 ; president of Con-
vention, ii. 223 ; 240 ; arrested,
251 ; as commissary, 319 ; iii. 83 ;
on Committee of Public Safety, iii.
102 ; III; arrested with Danton,

ISO
Delacroix (of Eure-et-Loir), ii. 208;

appointed to Committee of Public

Safety, 238 ; iii. 172
Delacroix, Charles, iii. 308 ; Minister

of Foreign Affairs under Directory,

325 ; candidate for Directory, 359,

360, 361 ; 362 ; dismissal from

Ministry, iv. 83
Delahaye, a Girondist, iii. 40 ; suggests

Directorial veto, 303; 304, 317 «;

denies royalist peril, 378 ; iv. 81 ;

condemned to deportation as a

royalist by the Directory in Fructtdor,

86
Delamare, Girondist, iii. 40
Delaunay, executed with Danton, iii.

151
Delbrel, iv. 148, 156

Delcasso, ii. 222

Delecloy, iii. 40, 214

Delessart, i. 351

Deleyre, iii. 42, 296

Delmas, stippUant to " Commission
of Six," ii. 171 ; president of Con-
vention, 223 ; member of Committee
of General Defence, 236 ; of Com-
mittee of Public Safety, 238 ; assist-
ant to Danton in war policy, 241 ; iii.
215, 215 It', president of Council of
Elders, 354 ; 358 ; remark to Napo-
leon at commemoration of Concordat,
iv. 220

Demerville, guillotined for remarks
hostile to Bonaparte, iv. 188

Demeunier, qualified monarchist, i.
i6g ; in favour of qualified suffrage,
185, 190, 278 ; declares right of
nation to choose form of government,
330 ; candidate for Directory, iii.
339 ; member of opposition in Tri-
bunate, iv. 172 ; 231 ; given Sena-
tory of Toulouse, 252 n

Demosthenes, iii. 61 ; iv. 181

Demoy, i. 313

Dentzee, ii. 222 n

Depere, president of Council of Elders,

iii- 355

Deperret, one of the " Valaz6 Com-
mittee," iii. 35

Derazey, a Girondist, iii. 40

Derniau, ii. 221 «

Desaix, hero of Marengo, iv. 184

Desaugiers, ii. 215

Desaunays, ii. 185

Desbouillons, leader of Brestois Fede-
rals, ii. 48

Descamps, iii. 40

Descartes, iii. 158

Deschesne, i. 235 n

Desenfants (General), iv. 48

Desfieux, i. 307 it

Desforgues, iii. 113

Desmoulins, i. 87 ; leads the insurrec-
tion of the Green Cockade, 142 n ;
his fear of the agrarian law, 162 ;
perhaps the first republican, 163 ;

294

INDEX

165 n, 166, 179; in favour of univer-
sal suffrage, 199, 200 ; 219, 219 « ;
his republicanism echoed, 220 ;
243 n ; drafts a suffrage petition, 245 ;
252, 285 «, 311 ; accused, he escapes;
writ cancelled in favour of summons ;
saved by amnesty, 320 ; 340, 356,
356 n ; his face-about against republi-
canism, 357, 358, 359, 360, 361 ; ii.
51 ; his attempt to ruin the Gironde
by accusing it of royalism, 147 « ;
member of Committee of General
Defence, 236 ; order for his arrest
signed by both "Government Com-
mittees," 245; 251 ; iii. 83, 91, 92,
116; expelled from Jacobins, 146;
writ of arrest issued ; arrest and
trial ; trial cut short ; guillotined
with rest of Dantonists, 151

Desmoulins (Mme.), trial of, iii. 183

Desmousseaux, i. r88 n

Despinassy, ii. 222 n

Desponelles, royalist agent, iv. 30

Dessolle, iv. 230 n

Destournelles, demands end of mon-
archy, ii. 40 ; 215

Destrem, i. 361 n, iv. 119 ; president of
the Riunioti of the Manage, 131 ;
148 ; ejected from the Legislative
Corps in Brumaire, 150; condemned
to be banished, but order revoked,
156 ; deported to Guiana after the
affair of the Rue Saint-Nicaise, 187

Destutt de Tracy, iv. 223

Desvieux, i. 203 «

Devaisnes, iv. 171

Deverite, iii. 40

Deveze, iii. 368 «

Dherbez-Latour, iii. 366

Diderichsen, tried and executed with
the Dantonist "amalgam," iii. 151

Diderot, anti-monarchical but does not
advocate a republic, i. 83 ; editor
of the Encyclopidie, 92 w ; 97 ; iii.
185, 189 ; iv. 67

Diel, i. 235 n

Dijon Brothers, ii. 57

Dillon, i. 199

Domitian, 1. 223

Dondeau, iii. 363

Doppet, iv. 119

Dormay, iii. 366

Dossouville, iv. 87, 87 n

Doublet, iii. 40

Doulcet de Pontecoulant, ii. 222 n ;
president of Convention, 224 ; mem-
ber of Committee of Public Safety,
iii. 216 k; president of Council of

500. 354 ; 376

Doumere, iv. 86

Douzon, i. 235 n

Driaut, i. 239 n

Driye, i. 235 n

Drouet, member of Committee of
General Security, ii. 231, 232; 315;
arrested as Babeuvist conspirator, iv.
3S, 39 ; escapes from prison, 45 ;
acquitted, 45 ; a leader of the Ri-
union of the Manage, 131

Drulhe, ii. 222 «, iv. 78 n

Dubarran, president of Convention, ii.
223 ; arrest ordered by Commune
in Tkermidor, iii. 200, 213 «

Dubayet, ii. 88 n

Dubois, Alexis (General), iii. 245

Dubois-Crance, elected to Jacobin
Committee, ii. 163 ; president of
Convention, 223 ; member of Com-
mittee of General Defence, 235,
236 ; 238 n ; iii. 83 ; bombards
Lyons in the Civil War, 119; arrest
ordered by Commune in Thtrmidor,
200 ; member of Committee of Public
Safety, 215; recalled to Jacobin
Club, 224 ; 282 ; Minister of War
under Directory, 363 ; attacks free-
dom of Press, 379, 380; iv. 113, 128

Du Bois du Bais, president of Council
of Elders, iii. 355

Dubois (of Vosges), president of Council
of 500, iii. 355

Dubroeucq, State messenger, iii. 325

Dubruel, iv. 655

Dubusc, a Girondist, iii. 40

Ducancel, i. 311

Ducasse, iii. 175 »

INDEX

295

Duchastel, a Girondist, 40; executed
as one of the "Twenty-Two," 121

Du Chastellet, i. 271, 292

Duchatel (Gironde), member of Council
of State, iv. 171

Ducis, iii. 341

Ducos, Fran9ois, i. 316 ; demands sup-
pression of all effigies of Louis XVI,
ii. 86 ; demands abolition of mon-
archy, 148 ; objects to public voting,
188 ; objects to taxation of those who
merely earn living wage, 193 ; a
Girondist, 332 ; iii. 36, 40 ; does not
confess on scaffold, 43 ; recommends
separation of Church and State, 45-
46 ; a demi-Montagnard, 63 ; votes
for Louis' death, 99 ; tried and exe-
cuted with the " Twenty-Two," 121

Ducos, Roger, elected an Elder, iii.
324, 342 ; candidate for Directory,
360; elected, 361, iv. 126; 127
accomplice of the fall of the Directory,
141, 146; to be appointed Consul,
150, 155 ; member of Senate, 162

Ducroisi, prods verbal written to
Council of Elders, iii. 356

Dudon (Mme.), iii. 33

Duevis(?), iii. 77

Dufestel, a Girondist, iii. 40

Dufour, i. 235 n ; arrested for preaching
Socialism while "on mission," ii.
132, 133 ; candidate for Directory,
iii. 361, iv. 136

Dufresne, State Councillor under Consu-
late, iv. 170

Dufriche-Valaz^, iii. 35 ; a Girondist,
40, 68 ; tried and executed with the
"Twenty-Two," 121, 122

Dugue d'Asse, a Girondist, iii. 40

Duhem, member of Committee of
General Security, iii. 231 ; arrested
in Germinal, 244

Duhot, iv. 99, 100

Dulaure, a Girondist, ii. 40 ; excuses
September massacres, iii. 50-51

Dumas, i. 223 ; iv. 52 ; sentenced to be
deported in Fructidor, 87 ; 182

Dumetz, i. 194

Duraolard, 111. 345 ; president of Council
of 500, 354 ; accused of monarchical
schemes, iv. 56 ; denounces the
Orleanists, 58 ; condemned to de-
portation in Fructidor, 86

Dumont, ii. 276

Dumont, Andre, member of Committee
of General Security, ii. 232 ; anti-
religious violence, iii. 164; a Terror-
ist, 198, 213 n; 214 n; 215 n;
299

Dumont, Etienne, i. 31 « ; 138//, 139,
271 m; iii. 33, 33 w, 34

Dumouchet, ii. 97 n

Dumouriez, selected by Louis as one
of the Roland ministry, i. 353 ; ii.
166 n; subscribes to republicanism,
^57) 158; consequences of his treason,
170 ; 235, 237 ; his reverses lead to
the policy of sending commissaries to
the armies, 255 ; royalists revive their
efforts after his treason, 305, 322 ; iii.
34 ; persuades the people that the
Girondists are with him, 82 ; sup-
posed to be their tool, ICXD, 102, 148;
iv. 57

Dupin, i. 235 n ; ii. 220 ; a Girondist,
iii. 40; iv. 91; account of Decadal
festival, 104, 105 ; 115, 124

Duplantier, iii. 42, 372; sentenced to
deportation in Fructidor, iv. 86

Duplay, the brothers, Robespierre's
hosts, acquitted in the trial of the
Babeuvists, iv. 45

Dupont, i. 225

Dupont, Jacob, ii. 222

Du Pont (Nemours), i. 170 «; advises
property-owners' suffrage, 185, but
no such restriction in the case of
those elected, 189 ; said to have
proposed Republic in La Rochefou-
cauld's house, 270 n ; a republican
anti-Terrorist, iii. 252 n, 280, 346;
president of Council of Elders, 354 ;
a Theophilanthropist, iv. 69

Duport, iii. 362 n

Du Port, Adrien, i. 52, 169; in favour
of universal suffrage, 184, 185;

296

INDEX

suggests second federation of National
Guards, 271 ; in favour of monarchy,
273 ; member of Committee of Con-
stitution, 326

Duport-Dutertre, Keeper of the Seal,
obtains decree authorising him to
affix it, i. 119, 316

Duprat, Girondist member of Committee
of General Security, ii. 231 ; meets
with "Valaze Committee," iii. 35;
40 ; tried and executed as one of the
"Twenty-Two," 121

Duprat, condemned to deportation in
Fructidor, iv. S6

Dupuis, twice candidate for Directory,
iii. 360

Dupuy, member of Committee of Gene-
ral Security, ii. 232

Duquesnoy, member of Committee of
General Security, ii. 231 ; iii. 140;
member of emergency commission on
night of Prairial, 245 ; commits
suicide at trial, 246 ; iv. 131 n

Durand-Maillane, i. 86 ; condemns
royalty, ii. 113W; persuaded to
forsake Robespierre in order to arrest
the Terror, iii. 196 ; member of
Committee of Legislation, 212 tt ;
222, 238, 258 ; a member of the
" Commission of Eleven," 275 ; in
favour of an annual President, 301 ;

324
Duroy, ii. 239 n ; executed in Prairial,

iii. 246
Dusaulx, a Girondist, iii. 40 ; 324 ;

president of Council of Elders,

354
Duval, a Girondist, iii. 40 ; candidate

for Directorship, 360 ; Minister of

Police, 363
Duval, Charles, iii. 107 n ; 208 ; edits a

Republican journal, 381
Duvergier, iii. 342 n
Duverne de Presle, a royalist agent, iv.

50 ; prisoner, declares Orleans is in

Paris, 58 ; condemned to deportation

in Fructidor, 87
Dyzez, iii. 366, 367

Egalit^, ii. 121, see Due d'Orl^ans

Ehrmann, ii. 289 n ; proposes to give
Directory right of veto, iii. 303

Elbee (d'), royalist rebel, ii. 307

Elisabeth (Mme.), ii. 311

Elliot, Sir Gilbert, English commis-
sioner to Corsica, appointed viceroy

Emery, Abbe, iv. 96 ; advises clergy to
take oath of fidelity to the Republic,
89-90 ; 201

Emmery, a constitutionalist, iv. 56 ;
State Councillor, 171, 230

Enghien (Due d), murder of, iv. 176 ;
applauded by the ouvriers, 257

Epicurus, Robespierre compares Rous-
seau to, iii. 184

Epremesnil (d'), i. 105; reactionary,

255

Ernouf (General), candidatefor Director-
ship, iii. 359, iv. 136

Erostrates, i. 273

Eschasseriaux, nominated to Committee
of Public Safety, iii. 208-9 > leaves,
215 ; against single-chamber Govern-
ment, 295-6 ; scheme for electing
Directors, 302-3, 343 n

Esgrigny (Abbe d'), royalist agent, iv.
51 «

Espagnac (Abbe d'), condemned with
the Dantonist " amalgam," 151

Estadens, iii. 40

Eymar (Abbe d'), moves that the Catho-
lic be declared the State religion, i.
44. 169

Fabre, states that no republican mani-
festations were visible in the Legisla-
tive Assembly, i. 347 n ; appointed
" inspector of the Hall " by Elders in
Brumaire, iv. 143

Fabre d'Eglantine, i. 215 n, 323 ; ii. 74,
75; attacks "friends of property,"
134 ; favours universal taxation, 193;
member of Committee of General

INDEX

297

Defence, 237 ; of General Security,
245 ; iii. 75 ; signs Jacobin address
vindicating Marat, 83; eulogises
massacres of September, 92 ; arrested
for embezzlement, 146 ; innocent,
cannot produce evidence, and is
executed with Dantonist " amalgam,"

151 ; 158

Fabre (Herault), commissary to army,

killed in action, ii. 257
Fabre- Fond (General), assists in burn=

ing heart of Henri IV, ii. 321
Faipoult, Minister of Finance under

Directory, iii. 325, 363
Farcot, refused election to Elders, iii.

341-2
Fauche-Boul, iv. 115 m
Fauchet, J. H., ii. 215
Fauchet, i. 162 w, 249;?, ii. 88 «, loi,

118; supplia7it to Committee of

Constitution, 161 n ; I'zz n ; member

of Committee of General Security,

231 ; iii. 33 ; a Girondist, 40 ; 43,

67 ; one of the " Twenty-Two,"

offers to resign on June 2, 1743, m 5

tried and executed, 121
Faulcon, Felix, on contradictory nature

of cahiers, i, 175 it ; iv. 100
Faure, a Girondist, iii. 40 ; averse to

educating people, 290 ; his opinion

that the two Chambers should sit in

different localities, 298
Fauriel, iv. 231
Favart, i. 99
Fayau, ii. 121
Faye, a Girondist, iii. 40
Fayolle, a Girondist, iii. 40
Fenelon, i. 348
Feraud, killed and beheaded in the

Convention on the 1st of Prairial, iii.

245, 278
Ferdinand I., iv. 49, 208
Ferrand, Anthoine de, ii. 305 n, 312 n
Ferrand-Vaillant, iv. 54 ; condemned to

deportation in Fructidor, 87
Ferrant, i. 235 n
Ferrieres, i. 166, 168 «; ridicules idea

of republic, 272-3

Ferroux, a Girondist, iii. 40

Fievee, iii. 252 n

Fiquet, a Girondist, iii. 40

Flahaut (de), i. 253

F!a»itnermonl, i. 103 «, ii. 64

Fleurieu,iv. 53 ; State Councillor under
Decennial Consulate, iv. 171

Fleuriot, ii. 220

Fleuriot-Lescot, guillotined on 9th of
Thermidor, iii. 202

Fleury, Girondist, iii. 40

Fockedey, ii. 154

Fontaine, ii. 40 «

Fontanes, iv. 202 ; appointed president
of Legislative Corps by Bonaparte,
253 ; to Privy Council, 265 w

Forestier, tried with Romme, &c.,
during reaction of Prairial, iii.
246

Forfait, iv. 170 w

Foucault-Lardimalie, i. i^^n

Fouche, ii. 222 n ; massacres the Lyons
rebels, iii. 120 ; a socialistic resolu-
tion, 139 ; efforts at dechristianisa-
tion, 157 ; arrested by Commune in
Thermidor, 20I ; 224 ; Minister of
Police under the Directory, 363 ;
391 ; iv. 128 ; his part in the con-
spiracy of Brumaire, 143, 146 ;
Minister of Police under Consulate,
155; 157, i7o» 187; 192, 193; de-
nounces Catholics, 214 ; Bonaparte
censures, 214 ; granted a senatory,
232 n ; 264 ; member of Privy
Council, 265

Fouquier-Tinville, Public Accuser, iii.
121 ; his indictment of the Dantonists,
150 ; his trial, 232, 241

Fourcroy, appointed to Committee of
Public Safety, iii. 215, 215 w; State
Councillor under Consulate, 171 ;
202

Fourier, Joseph, iv. 265 n

Fournet, i. 235

Fournier-l'Americain, i. 340

Fournier (Abbe), iv. 194

Fournier, ii. 57 ; State messenger, iii.
355

298

INDEX

Foussedolre, H, 222

Fran^ais (Nantes), presldeni of the
Second Assembly, 363

Francastel, member of Committee of
Public Safety, ii. 239

Francis II, war declared against, i.
353 ; ii. 124 ; Napoleon declares
war against, iv. 133

Fran9ois (Neufchateau), ii. 106 ; presi-
dent of Legislative Assembly, 138,
145 ; a Girondist, iii. 41 ; candidate
for Directorship, 359 ; elected, year
V-VI, 360 ; Minister of Interior,
362 ; departmental commissary, 366 ;
iv. 88 ; report on intolerance of
Catholics, 107-8; member of Con-
servative Senate during Consulate,
172; of Privy Council, 265 «; his
view of Napoleon's Empire, 275

Franklin, Benjamin, i. 1 12-13

Franqueville, iii. 132

Frederick the Great, iv. 182

Frederick-William, i. 310 w «, 347

Fregeville (General), iv. 112

Fremanger, ii. 271 ; a State messenger,

iii- 355
Freron, i. 312 «, 319; hides after the
affair of; the Champ de Mars, 321 ;
340 ; his censure of Robespierre, iii.
192, 194 ; his arrest ordered by the
Commune in Thermidor, 200 ; 222 ;
a leader of the "Dandies," 224;
attempts to destroy influence of
ex-Terrorists, 237, 240; 271;

324

Freteau, i. 171, 174

Frey, brothers, iii. 151

Frix-David, iii. 367

Frochot, iv. 194

Frontin, i. 196

Frott^, Louis de, leads a Norman
(royalist) insurrection, iv. 47 ; 53, 55 ;
warns d'Artois that France is not
royalist, 1 10 ; leads another in-
surrection in year VII, 112, 113;
signs armistice, i56

Fyon, a Babeuvist, iv. 39 ; acquitted at
trial, 45; iv. 119

Gaillard, ii. 43 « ; iii. 77 n

Gaillemet, i. 308 «

Gallois, iv. 268 n

Gambetta, iii. 90

Gamon, a Girondist, iii. 41

Gannuel-Dufresne, i. 235 «

Ganteaume, State Councillor under
Consulate, iv. 171

Gantois, a Girondist, iii. 41

Garat, Saint-Etienne's anti-royalist
letter to, ii. 98 ; succeeds Danton
as Minister of Justice, 214; 220 n;
iii. ioi-2«; 193; president of
Council of Elders, 355 ; candidate
for Directorship, 359-60; iv. 138;
member of Conservative Senate,
172; 187,' 223; opposes life-Consu-
late, 230 n ; 246 «, 269 n

Gardien, Girondist, iii. 41 ; executed
with the "Twenty-Two," 43 ; 116;
trial and execution, I2I-2

Garilhe, Girondist, iii. 41

Garnier, Germain, candidate for
Directorship, iii. 359, 366

Garnier (Aube), iii. 198 ; member of
Committee of General Security,
214 w

Garnier (Saintes), member of Com-
mittee of General Security, iii. 232 ;
releases prisoners at Rochefort, 260

Garran de Coulon, i. 245 ; 340

Garrau, iii. 42

Gasparin (de), ii. 222 n ; member of
Committee of Public Safety, 239-40,
242

Gaston, a barber, Vend^ean insurgent
leader, ii. 307

Gateau, ii. 219

Gau, iv. 54 ; deported in Frucitdor,

Gaudin, iv. 155 «

Gaultier de Biauzat, "L 120 «, I47 ; in
favour of qualified suffrage, 184 ; 237,
278, 311 ; director of republican
journal, ii. 57 ; elected to Council of
Elders, iii. 342; departmental com-

INDEX

299

missary, 366 ; accused of Babeuvism,

iv. I20W

Gauthier (Ain), iii. 214 «

Gay- Vernon, iii. 222 n ; iv. 92

Gazier, iii. 257 w, 266 « ; iv. 213 «

Genevois, member of Committee of
General Security, iii. 214 «

Genissieu, ii. 224; iii. 135, 265, 340,
342 ; president of Council of 500,
355 ; candidate for Directorship,
360 ; Minister of Justice, 362 ; iv.
119

Genlis (Mme. de), begs the younger
Orleans not to put himself forward
as a candidate for the French throne,
iv. 57

Gensonne, favours an aristocratic re-
public, i. 340 ; advises Louis XVI
to form a Jacobin Ministry, ii. 64 ;
85 ; member of Committee of Con-
stitution, 161 ; puts forward his plan
for a Constitution, 164; president
of Convention, 223 ; attends Giron-
dist meetings, iii. 33, 34, 35, 41 ;
favours separation of Church and
State, 45 ; 49 ; demands punish-
ment of the " Septemberers," 52 ;
in favour of the supremacy of Paris,
56 ; 63, 65 ; votes for King's im-
mediate death, 99 ; put under arrest
with the " Twenty-Two," 112 ; 116;
trial and execution, 121, 122 ; 184

Geoffroy, jun., State messenger, iii. 355

George III, i. in, 156, 347

Gerbac, i. 312 w

Gerbert, jun., ii. 153

Gerle, Dom, i. 154 «, 199 «

Germain, a Babeuvist conspirator, iv.
39 ; trial, 45

Gervais, ii. 250

Gibergues, ii. 222

Gibert-Desmolieres, iii. 323, 345 ; con-
demned to deportation in Fructidor,
iv. 86 ; dies in Guiana, 87

Gideon, the prophet, i. 112 m

Gillet, member of Committee of Public
Safety, iii. 216

Gillet, jun., i. 308 «

Ginguen^, 1. 316 «, ii. 220«, fii. 262;

candidate for Directorship, 360 ;

as Director-General of Public In-
struction supports Theophilanthropy,

iv. 70; member of Tribunate, 172;

hostile to Napoleon, 223, 247
Giot, Th., ii. 103
Girard, i. 235 n
Girardin, Rene de, i. 242
Girardin, Stanislas de, member of

Tribunate, iv. 172; i84«, 234, 238 «
Girault, Girondist, iii. 41
Girey-Dupre, expelled from Jacobins,

iii. 97
Girouard, i. 308 n
Giroux, i. 235 n
Gleizal, iii. 297 ; prods-verbaliste to the

Council of 500, 356
Gobel, Bishop of Paris, i. 324 ; iii.

145 ; resigns his ecclesiastical duties

at the bar of the Convention, 159 ;

trial and execution, 183 ; 266 n
Godard, J., i. 167 «
Godefroy, iii. 171
Gognet, J. , i. 302
Gohier, Minister of Justice, ii. 214 ;

member of Council of Elders, 342 ;

candidate for Directorship, 359, 360 ;

elected, 361; iv. 115W, 126, 128,

144, 146
Goislard, Parliamentarian, arrested, i.

105
Goislard, Mayor of Longny, ii. 206
Gomaire, ii. 222 ; a Girondist, iii. 41 ;

319

Gomigeon, iii. 342

Gonchon, ii. 57 ; spokesman of the
"men of July 14" and "August
10, " 91

Gorani, N., ii. 141

Gorneau, elected to Elders, iii. 341

Gorsas, i. 170, 171, 184, 189 w, 193,
193 n, 248, 268 «, 277 n ; objects to
a republic and supports the Dauphin,
292, 293 ; ii. 96, 106, 125 ; his press
destroyed, an early Terrorist measure,
281 ; a Girondist, iii, 41 ; excuses
the Septemberers, 50 ; his report of

300

INDEX

Marat's bloody speech, Sin; his

account of Marat's acquittal, 83 ; 94 ;

St. Just's report demands that he

shall, with other Girondists, be

declared a traitor, 116
Gossain, ii. 209
Goubert, i. 235 n
Goujon (Oise), i. 343 n
Goujon (Seine-et-Oise), Minister of

Foreign Affairs, ii. 214 ; 215; 215;?;

sentenced and commits suicide after

Pi-airial, 246; iv. 131 n
Goupil, i. 235 n
Goupil de Prefelne, attacks republicans,

i. 273 ; elected to Council of Elders,

iii. 324 ; president of same, 354 ; a

Theophilanthropist, iv. 69
Goupilleau (Fontenay), member of

Committee of General Security, iii.

213 «, 214 «; of Council of Elders,

324

Goupilleau (Montaigu), i. 344 ; mem-
ber of Committee of General Security,
iii. 213 w, 214 «; iv. 150

Gourdan, member of Committee of
Public Safety, iii. 216 w ; member
of Council of Elders, iv. 355

Gouttes, i. 199

Gouvion-Saint-Cyr, iv. 248

Goyre-Laplanche, ii. 222 n

Grandin, i. 149

Granet, i. 316 «; member of Com-
mittee of Public Safety, ii. 242 ; iii.
83 ; arrested by Commune in Ther-
midor, iii. 200

Grangeneuve, ii. 66 ; republican and
Girondist, 117 ; member of Com-
mittee of General Security, 231 ; iii.

32,41

Grawers (de), author of a feminist pro-
ject, ii. 173

Gregoire, i. 144 ; favours unqualified
suffrage, 184, 184 «, 185; 199; a
democratic leader, 213 ; demands a
National Convention, 274; 316;
Bishop of Loir-et-Cher, 325 ; 328 ;
denounces monarchies in Blois
Cathedral, ii. 98 ; elected to Con-

vention, 119; attacks royalty in
general, 147-8 ; 194, 222 n ; presi-
dent of Convention, 223 ; iii. 160,
181 ; demands religious liberty (in
reality wishing to revive Catholicism),
257 ; 257 « ; 258 ; organises the former
"official" clergy, 263; 264, 264 «;
obtains keys of Notre Dame, 266 ;
282 ; iv. 70, 70;?, 72, 96 «, 98, 100;
member of Legislative Corps, 172 ;
198, 198 w; elected to Senate, 213,
247 ; against Bonaparte's assumption
of empire, 266 ; 269

Grimmer, ii. 222 «

Grisel, betrays the Babeuvists, iv. 38,

Groslaire, iv. 120

Grouvelle, ii. 73, 215

Guadet, future Girondist, i. 340 ; 344 ;
advises King to form a Jacobin
Ministry, ii. 64, 65 ; Marat's abuse
of, ii. 100 ; 140 ; president of Con-
vention, 223 ; member of Committee
of General Defence, 235, 236 ; iii.
32-5 ; influence of Mme. Roland
upon, iii. 38 ; 41 ; quarrel with
Robespierre, 44 ; wishes to separate
State and Church, 45 ; 53 « ; his
character, 63 ; 64 ; 65 ; 96 n ; votes
for Louis' death, 99 ; his conference
with Danton, loi ; arrest as one of
the " Twenty-Two," 112 ; escapes to
foment civil war, 115; 116; guillo-
tined in Bordeaux, 123 ; 184

Gudin de la Brenellerie, i. 95 n

Gtierner, IV., i. 97 n, 120 n, 122 n

Guffroy, member of Committee of
General Security, ii. 232 ; 233 ; iii.
214 ; a Theophilanthropist, iv. 69

Guidan, iii. 77 n

Guillaitmc, J., i. 267-S

Guillaume, M. J., iii. 214 «, 216 «,

535 »
Guillemard, i. 235 n
Guilleraut, i. 235 n
Guillotin, i. 174

Guimberteau, ii. 258; iii. 170; iv. 119
Guinement, Louis-Felix, i. 221 »

INDEX

301

Guiot, Florent, commissary, imposes
loans on citizens of Lille to feed
patriots, iii. 141; 181; member of
Committee of Legislation, 212 « ;
candidate for Directorship, 361 ; iv.
119; member of Legislative Corps,
172

Guiraut, inventor of a shorthand, ii.
229

Guiter, ii. 222 n

Guizot, i. 185

Gutenberg, ii. 141-2

Guynement de Keralio, father of Mme.
Robert, i. 221 ; edits a republican
journal, 323

Guyomar, ii. 172 ; favours direct
suffrage, 189; member of Committee
of General Security, iii. 214^2

Guyot-Desherbiers, president of seced-
ing Electoral Assembly of Paris,
year VI, iii. 341

Guyot des Maulans, unsuccessful
royalist intriguer, ii. 313

Guyton-Morveau, member of Com-
mittee of General Defence, ii. 235,
236 ; of Public Safety, 238 ; presi-
dent of same, 239 ; 240 ; iii. 215

Guzman, iii. 151

Halem, i. 239 n, 250 n

Hamilton, John, ii. 141

Hannibal, iv. 176, 181

Hanover, Elector of, ii. 124

Hanriot, i. 313 ; nominated commander
of Paris by the Commune in insur-
rection, iii. 108; invests the Tuileries
on June 2nd, compelling surrender
of the Girondists, 1 1 1 ; his arrest
decreed in Ther77iidor^ and his
attempts on the Tuileries, 199 ;
guillotined with Robespierre and his
followers, 202 ; a tool of Robes-
pierre's, 230

Hardy, i. 93 n ; member of " Valaze
Committee," iii. 35 ; a Girondist,
41 ; a member of the Committee of

General Security, 214 «; president
of Council of 500, 354

Hardy, "principal of college, deported
for " fanaticising," iv. 64

Harmand (Meuse), member of Com-
mittee of General Security, iii. 214 «

Haussonville (d'), iv. 225 n

Hauterive (d'), iv. 199 n

Haiiy, Valentin, a founder of Theo-
philanthropy, iv. 67

Havet, ii. 221 n

Havre (Due de), i. 108 n

Hebert, i. 313 ; member of Revolution-
ary Commune, ii. 75 ; editor of Pcre
Duchesne, 93 ; policy, 94 ; his
gradual progress towards republican-
ism, 95 ; 96 ; ii. 282 ; assistant pro-
curator to Commune, iii. 98 ; arrested
by a Girondist commission and
released, 106 ; on the agrarian law,
128-9 5 leader of the Left, 144 ;
arrested with his friends, 148 ; guil-
lotined, 149; 184, 196; iv. 281

Hebert (Mme.), trial of, iii. 183

Hebert de Lavicomterie, see Lavi-
comterie

Hecquet, Girondist, iii. 41

Hedouville' (General), treats with
royalists, iv. 114; pacifies La Vendee,
165, 166

Helvetius, i. 83, 97 ; iii. 44

Henau, i. 235 n

Henri IV, i. 133, 314 w; ii. 90; his
heart burned by Thirion, 320; iii.
250

Henri de Navarre, i. 253

Henry- Lariviere, ii. ill ; Girondist,
iii. 41 ; member of Committee of
Public Safety, iii. 216 w; unsuccess-
fully demands arrest of Carnot, 247 ;
324; president of Council of 500,
354 ; condemned to deportation in
Fructidor, iv. 86

Hentz, member of Committee of Legis-
lation, iii. 212 M

Herault de Sechelles, i. iign, 345;
ii. 161 ; his work on the Constitution,
184-6; 188, 190, 193-4; drafts the

302

INDEX

new Declaration of Rights, 197 ;
199, 203, 22211; twice president of
Convocation, 223-4 ; arrested, 227 ;
member of Committee of General
Security, 231 ; associated with Com-
mittee in drafting Constitution, 239,
240 ; 292 ; in diplomacy, 247-8 ; iii.
69 m; 107, 112; arrested on false
charge of treason, 149 ; executed
with Dan ton, 151 ; his religious
policy, 158; iii. 209

Herman, Minister of the Interior, ii.
215, 215 M, 219

Hesmart, replaces Hanriot, iii. 199

Hesse, Prince of, iv. 187

Hesse-Cassel, Landgrav of, iii. 248

Heurtant-Lamerville, president of
Council of 500, iii. 355, 366

Hoche, pacifies La Vendee, ii. 306 ;
signs treaty of peace with Breton
leaders, iii. 249; foils the Anglo-
Royalist attempt at Quiberon, 250 ;
264, 362 ; again commands against
the Vendeeans, iv. 47 ; approaches
Paris within statutory limit, 84 ;
death, iii « ; 114, 136, 139, 168, 248

Holbach (d'), i. 83, 97

Hollis, Thomas, i. iii

Houliere (de), ii. 222 k

Hovel, i. 235 n

Hugot, iii. 366

Hugou, i. 221 «

Huguenin, ii. 75

Huguet, iii. 222 «; 341; executed
after the affair of Crenelle, iv. 46

Humbert, leads an Irish expedition, iii.
304 ; executed, iv. 188

Hyde de Neuville, royalist agent, iv.
259

Ichon, ii. 222 »

Imbert, tragedian, i. 165, 223

Imbert-Colomes, Bourbon agent, iv.

54 ; 56 ; deported in Fructidor, 86
Ingrand, member of Committee of

General Security, ii, 231-2 ; iii. 168
Isainberi, i. 235 11

Isnard, i. 357 «, 364; ii. 178, 222 m ;
president of the Convention, 223 ;
236 ; 238 n ; a Girondist, iii. 41 ;
denies his atheism and declares he
is of no party, 43-4 ; excuses mas-
sacre, 49 ; threatens Paris with de-
struction if she lay hands on the
nation's deputies, 57 ; 99 ; his threat
to Paris, 106 ; offers to resign on
June 2nd, 1 1 1 ; escapes, hides, and
survives the Terror, 122; active in
the "White Terror," 223; recalled,
239 ; incites royalists to massacre,
247-8 ; excluded from Legislature
under Consulate, iv. 190

Jallet (Abbe), i. 138, 199

James II, i. 303

/annet, i. 97 «, 98 «, lOO »

Janteau, J.J. D., 235 «

Jard-Panvillier, iv. 157, 172

Jary, Girondist, iii. 41

Jault, iii. 188

Javogues, iii. 200 ; sentenced to death
by military commission, iv. 46

Jay (Sainte-Foy), ii. 222 n; member of
Committee of General Security, 232 ;
iii. 42

Jeanbon Saint-Andre, member of Jaco-
bin " Auxiliary Committee of Consti-
tution," ii. 163 ; suppliant to actual
Commission, 171; 222 n; president
of Convention, 223 ; member of
Committee of Public Safety, 239,
240; 242; much "on mission,"
247 ; to Brest, during English attack
upon, 257; iii. lOO, 136, 143, 169,
1 70, 209 n ; arrested after insurrec-
tion of Prairial, 246-7 ; prefect of
Mayence, iv. 246

Jeanne, one of the founders of Theo-
philanthropy, iv. 67

Johannot, ii. 219, 220 «; elected to
Council of Elders, iii. 324

Jollivet, State Councillor, iv. 171

Jordan, Camille, his famous "bell"

INDEX

303

oration, iv. 79, 79 «, 80, 80 «; 81 ;
ordered to be deported in F7-uctidor,
86

Jorry, acquitted in the Babeuf trial, iv.
45; 120

Joubert, i. 199, 235 n

Jouennault, iii. 367

Jourdan, president of Council of 500,
iii. 354 ; condemned to deportation
in F.ructidor, iv. 86

Jourdan (General), iv. 49 ; deported,
recrosses Rhine, 125 ; calls for pro-
clamation that France is in danger,
129 ; 139 ; protests at clearing of the
Orangery, in Brumaire, 150; 156,
248

Juigne (Mgr. de. Archbishop of Paris),
iv. 77

Julien, Damas, i. 312 »

Julien, Dracon, secretary to Committee
of Public Safety, ii, 240

Julien (Toulouse), ii. 222 n ; member of
Committee of General Security, 232 ;
a Theophilanthropist, iv. 69 ; de-
nounced by the Conservative re-
publicans as a Babeuvist, I20»

Jullien, iii. 189

JuUien, jun., ii. 219, 262 n

Kant, iv. 205

Kellermann, ii. 158; iii. 119
Keralio : see Guynement de K^ralio
Keralio-Robert, i. 237, 255 n, 287
Kersaint, author of an early republican
pamphlet, i. 85, 323, 324; ii. 98,
222 n ; suggests a Committee of
General Defence, 234 ; president of
same, 235 ; a Girondist, iii. 41 ;
anxious to proceed against Septem-
berers, 52 ; 68, 92, 94
Kervelegan, i. 316 w ; a member of the
Committee of General Security, ii.
231; a Girondist, iii. 41; 215 «;
member of Committee of General
Security, 213 «; elected to Council
of Elders, 324

Kilmaine (General), beaten back from

the faubourgs in Prairial, iii. 246
Kissienne, i. 235 n
Kleber, iv. 49, 136
Klopstock, ii. 141
Kosciusko, Thaddeus, ii. 141

Laborde de Mereville, i. 153
Laborde (Mme. de), i. 253
Laboureau, agent-provocateur, iii. 148
Lacarriere, deported in Fructidor, iv.

87
Lacaze, a Girondist, iii. 34, 35, 41 ;

one of the "Tvirenty-Two," arrested

and tried, 121
Lacepede, iv. 229 n
Laclos, i. 311, ii. I20«
Lacombe (Bishop of Angouleme), iv.

2I3«

Lacombe Saint - Michel, member 01
Committee of Defence, ii. 235 ; tries
to hold Corsica, iii. 121 n; member
of Committee of Public Safety, 2i6« ;
elected an Elder, 325 ; president of
Council^ of Elders, 354

Lacoste, Elie, president of Convention,
ii. 224 ; enters Committee of General
Security, 233 ; iii. 213 «

Lacretelle, iii. 251

Lacroix, Sigismond, i. 196 «, 200 «,
201 n, 209 n

Lacroix ( Haute- Vienne), Girondist, iii.

Lacrosse (Rear- Admiral), candidate for
Directorate, iii. 360, 361

Lacu^e, president of Council of Elders,
iii. 354; State Councillor, iv. 171

La Faye, iii. 77 «

La Fayette, a royalist in 1789 as regards
France, i. 86 ; impelled by Declara-
tion of Independence to sail for
America, 114; republican abroad, a
monarchist at home, 1 1 5-6 ; his con-
tempt for the people, 120 ; drafts
Declaration of Rights, 140, 150;
217, 219; accused of republicanism,

304

INDEX

270 ; 274 ; accused of complicity in
Louis XVI's escape, 276, 278 ; 298,
313 «. 317, 336. 351. 354 ; suspected
of desire to be President of a French
Republic, 356, 356 «; 357, 35S, 359,
360, 366 ; ii. 50 ; his accusation de-
manded, 53-4 ; acquitted, 66-7 ;
attempting in vain to induce his
army to declare for Louis, escapes
from France, 81 ; 304 ; recalled
under Consulate, iv. 167 ; praises
Bonaparte, but will not vote for the
life-Consulate, 235

Laffon-Ladebat, president of Legis-
lative Assembly, ii. 65 n ; iii. 323 ;
president of Council of Elders, 354 ;
deported to Guiana after Fructidor,
iv. 87

Lafosse, i. 235 n

Lagarde, secretary to Directoy , iii.

325

Lagrange, member of Conservative
Senate, iv. 172

La Harpe, i. 91

Laignelot, member of Committee of
General Security, ii. 232 ; iii. 157,
1 70- 1, 214 w ; involved in Babeuvist
conspiracy, iv. 39 ; acquitted upon
trial, 45 ; condemned to supervision
by "police, 187

Lajolais (General), royalist conspirator,
iv. 262

Lakanal, ii. 222 k, iii. 256, 295, 317 n ;
iv, 223

Lalande, ii. 222 n

Laligant, i. 235 n

Lalire, i. 235 n

Lally-ToUendal, i. 152; demands quali-
fied suffrage, 182

Laloy, president of Convention, ii.
223 ; receives personification of
Liberty at bar, iii. 160 ; member of
Committee of Public Safety, 209,
215 ; president of Council of 500,
334; 366, 367; iv. 172

La Luzerne, Cesar de, Bishop of Lan-
gres, i. 149

La Luzerne (Marquis de), i. 89 «

Lamare, iii. 295 n

Lamarque, member of Committee of
General Security, ii. 231 ; refuses
election to Elders, iii. 342 ; presi-
dent of Council of 500, iii. 354 ; anti-
Catholic, iv. 82

Lamariine, his History of the Giron-
dists, iii. 32

Lamberty, a Theophilanthropist, iv. 69

Lambrechts, Directorial candidate, iii,
360 ; Minister of Justice, 362 ; iv.
187 ; unfavourable to the hereditary
imperial ambition of Bonaparte, 266,
269 «

Lameth, Alexandre de, i, 152; favours
suspension of Louis, 269 ; points out
dangers of regency, 272 ; disbelieves
in republicanism, 287 ; appointed
member of Committee of Constitu-
tion, 326

Lameth, Charles de, i. 194, 278

Lamourette, scene knov?n as the Baiser
de La?)iourette, i, 366-7

Langlois, iii. 252 n

Lanjuinais, a Feuillant, i. 316 ; accuses
the Mountain of Orleanist tendencies,
ii, 122 ; member of " Commission of
Six," 171; opens feminist question,
172-3 ; president of Convention, ii.
224 ; a Girondist, iii. 41 ; not under
Mme. Roland's control, 67 ; his
behaviour on June 2nd, when he
refuses to resign, 1 1 1 ; arrested with
the "Twenty-Two," 112; declared
traitor, 116 ; 222 ; recalled from out-
lawry, 239 ; recommends restoration
of their churches to Catholics, 264 ;
267 ; member of Committee of Public
Safety, 275 ; demands a constitution,
277 n ; upholds property suffrage, 281,
285 « ; 289, 291 ; recommends an
annual President, 301 ; elected an
Elder, 324-5 ; 346 ; disapproves of
life-Consulate, iv. 230 n ; member
of republican opposition, 247 ; un-
favourable to assumption of imperial
dignity, 269 »

Lanne, ii. 219

INDEX

305

Lannes, iv. 248

Lanot, member of Committee of Public
Security, ii. 232 ; account of massacre
by Catholics, 316; of royalist in-
trigues, 317; his intolerance, iii. 168;
170

Lanthenas, i. 229 ; petitions for re-
moval of Louis, 311 ; suppUant to
Committee of Constitution, ii. 161 n ;
207 ; a Girondist, iii. 41 ; 59 ; ex-
pelled from Jacobins, 97 ; offers
to resign on June 2nd, 11 1; 282;
speaks against freedom of the press,

375

Laplace, iv. 139 ; Minister of Interior
under Provisional Consulate, 1 55 « ;
192

Laplaigne, Girondist, iii. 41

Laplanche, detects royalism in Army
(1793). ii- 315; iii- 123; taxes rich
to feed poor, 139

Laponneraye, i. 188 «

Laporte, intendant to Louis XVI,
whose papers proved treacherous
conduct of the King in his use of the
Civil List, ii. 83

Laporte, Seb. de, member of Com-
mittee of General Security, iii. 214 « ;
of Public Safety, 216 n; 260

La Poype, petitions Assembly to re-
move Louis XVI, i. 311 ; Bernard
demands his arrest, 319

La Revelliere-Lepeaux, i. 316 «; presi-
dent of Convention, ii. 224 ; 238 n ;
a Girondist, iii. 41 ; member of
Committee of Public Safety, iii.
216 n; of Commission of Eleven,
275, 276, 277, 279 «; 291 « ; 304;
elected president of the Council of
Elders ; then Director, 325 ; 354,
358 ; resigns Directorate, 361 ; 364 ;
wishes to destroy the Roman Church,
iv. 60; favourable to Theophilan-
thropy, 69-70 ; 84 ; forced to resign,
126; attempt to execute him, together
with Reubell and Merlin, 128

La Riviere, i. 318 «

Laroche, iv. 187 «

VOL. IV. 20

La Rochefoucauld (Due de), i. 152 «,

270 «, 324
La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, recalled

from exile, iv. 167 ; present at

Consular court, 182
Larochejaquelein, royalist intriguer, ii.

307

Laromiguiere, member of Tribunate, iv.
172

Larroque (Mme.), iii. 175 «

La Rue (Chevalier de), iv. 85 n ; con-
demned to deportation in Fructidor,
and sent to Guiana, 86, 87 n

La SicotUre, iv. 51 »

Lasource, attests that no republicans
exist (in 1792), i. 357 «; ii. 144, 151,
222 n ; president of Convention, 223 ;
Girondist member of Committee of
General Security, 231, 236; 238;
iii. 41 ; said to favour federated
republics, 54 ; his programme to
reduce the political influence of Paris
to that of one of eighty-three depart-
ments, 67-8 ; Saint-Just recommends
his recall to the Convention after
June 2nd, 116 ; tried as one of the
"Twenty-Two" and executed, 121,
122 ; 219

La Tour-du-Pin Paulin, i. 144 11

Latour-Maubourg, one of the three
deputies to lead Louis XVI back
from Varennes, i. 265 ; recalled from
exile under the Consulate, iv. 167 ;
urges liberty of Press on Bonaparte,

234

La Tremoille (Prince de), Louis
XVIII's agent in Paris, iv. 51 ; no

Laumont, ii. 220

Laumur (General), executed after trial
with the Hebertist "amalgam," iii.
148

Laurence, a Girondist, iii. 41, 236

Laurenceot, a Girondist, iii. 41

Laurent, his account of a popular
festival commemorating the execu-
tion of Louis XVI, at Arras, ii. 321

Lauriston (Mme. de), attached to Mme.
Bonaparte, iv. 244

306

INDEX

Laussat, iv. 158

Lauze-Deperret, ii. 222 n ', a Girondist,

iii. 41 ; confesses on scaffold, 43 ;

trial as one of the " Twenty-Two,"

121
Lavaux, i. 235 n ; State messenger, iii.

355

Lavergue, Lt'once de, i. 108 «

Lavicomterie, a declared republican in
1790, i. 220-1; 222; ii. 97, loi ;
favours a federative communal re-
public, 138, 138^, 139 ; stippli!a7it to
Committee of Constitution, 161 w;
222 n ; member of Committee of
General Security, 231, 232, 233;
iii. 54

La Villeurnoy, royalist agent, iv. 50,
51 ; deported to and dies in Guiana
in Friictidor, 87, 87, n

Lavisse, i. 142 w

Le Bas, member of Committee of
General Security, ii. 233 ; the friend
of Robespierre, iii. 91, 192 ; demands
to share latter's arrest, 199 ; escapes
to Hotel de Ville, 200; commits
suicide, 201

Lebau, iv. 120 n

Leblanc, elected an Elder, iii. 342

Le Bois Desguays, regards a republican
placard as too absurd for punishment,
i. 271

Lebois, iii. 377

Le Bon, ii. 222 n ; member of Com-
mittee of General Security, ii. 233 ;
249 ; his brutal conduct as a com-
missary, 259 ; 276

Le Breton, a Girondist, iii. 41 ; favours
a President, 301-2

Lebreton, iii. 358 ; his report re post-
age, 389

Le Brun, i. 221 n ; Minister of Foreign
Affairs under Provisional Govern-
ment (1792), ii. 73, 214, 216 ;
arrested as one of the " Twenty-
Two," iii. 112; continues to attend
to his duties, 113; condemned
(December, 1793), 123

LebruD, president of Council of

Elders, iii. 354 ; Third Consul, iv.
163; 171 ; 181 «, 260

Lecamus, ii. 220

Le Carlier, a Girondist, iii. 41 ; Direc-
torial candidate, 360 ; Minister of
Police, 363

Le Carpentier, commissary, iii. 170

Le Chapelier, bourgeois leader, i. 271,
278, 316, 328

Leclerc, a Girondist, iii. 41 ; president
of Council of 500, 355 ; supports
Theophilanthropy as a possible
State religion, iv. 70

Leclerc (General), iv. 143

Lecointe-Puyraveau, member of Com-
mittee of General Security, ii. 232;
president of Council of 500, iii. 354 ;
379 ;iv. 157

Lecointre, Laurent, iii. 231 ; denounces
the Committees, 238 ; his denuncia-
tion rejected but taken up again,
242 ; banished from Seine province,
188

L'Ecolaus, i. 235 n

Lecourbe, iv. 248

Le Couteulx-Canteleu, iii. 323 ; presi-
dent of Elders, 554 ; member of
Bonaparte's Privy Council, iv. 265

Le Coz (Bishop), iii. 264

Le Febvre, a Girondist, iii. 41 ; Direc-
torial candidate, 360, 361 ; iv. 136,

145

Lefevre, F.-N. , ii. 97 «; iii. 399 n

Lefiot, his account of a royalist religious
riot, ii. 317 ; iii. 172

Le Franc de Pompignan, J. G., Arch-
bishop of Vienne, i. 144 «

Legallieres, iv. 94

Le Gendre, i. 235 it ; 320, iii. 150, 172 ;
closes the hall of the Jacobins, 224 ;
demands that the script of the Con-
stitution be replaced in the Conven-
tion, 271

Legendre (Paris), president of the Con-
vention, ii. 224 ; member of Com-
mittee of General Security, 231,
232 ; iii. 213 «, 214 n

Leger, i. 235 n

INDEX

307

Le Grand, i. 83

Leguillier, ii. 221 n

Lehardi, a Girondist, iii. 41 ; 43 ;

tried as one of the " Twenty-Two,"

121
Le Hodey, i. 153 «, 174 n, 175 n, 185 n,

190 n, 192 n, 193 «, 194, 194 n,

270 «, 271 n, 2,2,0 71, 331 w
Lejeune (Indre), member of Committee

of General Security, ii. 232; 315
Lemaignan, a Girondist, iii. 41
Le Maillaud, member of Committee of

Legislation, iii. 212 « ; 366
Le Maire, ii. 96
Lemane, ii. 222 n
Lemarchand-Gomicourt, condemned

to be deported in Fructidor, iv.

Lemercier, ii. 221 « ; president of Coun-
cil of Elders, iii. 355 ; iv. 158

Lemerer, demands liberty of Press, iii.
375 ; defends Catholicism, iv. 81 ;
condemned to deportation in Fructi-
dor, 87 ; 99

Lemoine d'Aubermesnil, ii. 222 n

Lenoir-Laroche, iii. 341 ; Minister of
Police, 363; iv. 158, 187 ?z

Leonidas, iii. 184

Lepaige, i. loi

Le Peletier de Saint- Fargeau, ardent
republican, ii. 118; 120; 222 w ;
murder of, 231 ; results of, 302 ;
iii. 125, 163

Le Peletier, Felix, democrat leader, iv.
37 ; implicated in Babeufs con-
spiracy, 39 ; acquitted, 45 ; leader
of the Reunion of the Manege, 131 ;
banished, 156; but evades deporta-
tion, 187

Lequinio, commissary, ii. 315 ; iii. I70j
171 ; iv. 119, 168

Lerebours, ii. 220

Lesage,a Girondist, iii. 35, 41 ; mem-
ber of Commission of Eleven, iii.
275 ; 285 n

Lesage (Eure-et-Loir), member of
Committee of Public Safety, iii.
216 « ; 276, 324

Lesage-Senault, member of Committee

of General Security, iii. 214 w
Lescalier, State Councillor, iv. 171
Lescot-Fleuriot, provisional Mayor of

Paris, replacing Pache, iii. 149 ; 188 ;

his part in the events of the 9th of

Tha'tnidor, 199
Lescure, royalist noble, ii. 307
Lespinasse, proposer of life-Consulate

in Senate, iv. 230
Lesterpt-Beauvais, a Girondist, iii. 41 ;

43 ; tried as one of the " Twenty-
Two," 121
Letournel, i. 235 n
Le Tourneur (Manche), president of

Convention, ii. 224 ; member of

Committee of Public Safety, 216 «;

a Director, 325, 358 ; retires, 359
Letourneux, issues circular directing

administrations to persuade clergy

to the consecration of the tenth day,

iv. 97
Levasseur, ii. 195 ; iii. 130
Levasseur (Meurthe), member of Com-
mittee of Public Security, iii. 214 n ;

procis-verbaliste to the Council of

500, 356
Levasseur (Sarthe), favours indirect

suffrage, ii. 189 ; no taxation of the

poor, and a sliding scale, 193 ; iii.

83 ; arrested in Germinal {•^^•ax III),

244
Leveque, commissary, iii. 367
Levis (Due de), objects to dangers of

enlightening the people as to their

rights, i. 149
Levy-Schneider, points out that Brest

and Toulon were for a time true col-

lectivist cities, iii. 143
Leyris, member of Committee of

General Security, ii. 231, 232 ; iv.

168
Lezay-Marnesia, ii. 294 n ; iii. 252 «,

274 «
Lheritier, jun., ii. 220 «
Lhomme, i. 206-7
Lhulier, ii. 219
Liard, iii. 256 n

308

INDEX

Lidon, one of the " Valaze Committee,"

iii. 35 ; a Girondist, 41
Lieuvain, ii. 220
Ligeret, president of Council of Elders,

iii- 354

Lindet, Robert, president of Conven-
tion, ii. 223 ; member of Committee
of Public Safety, 238; retired from
same, 239 ; 242, 247, 248, 251 ; iii.
102, 150, 169, 214 ; seeks, with Car-
not, to avoid party quarrels and
establish a liberal Republic, 237-8 ;
243 ; arrested by Convention after
Prairial, 246 ; exclusion from the
Legislature in the year VI, 343 ;
Minister of Finance under Directory,
363 ; a commissary, 366 ; involved
in the Babeuvist conspiracy, iv. 39 ;
acquitted, 45 ; 46 ; iv. 128 ; 247

Lindet, Thomas, i. 270 «, 283, 286 ; ii.
222 n ; iii. 132 ; iv. 119

Locke, had great influence over eigh-
teenth-century French philosophers, i.
Ill ; admiration for English institu-
tions arising from study of, 117

Locre, proch-verbaliste to Council of
Elders, iii. 356

Loiseau, a Girondist, iii. 41

Lombard -Lachaux, ii. 222 «

Lomont, member of Committee of
General Security, iii. 214 ; con-
demned to deportation in Fructidor,
iv. 87

Lorinet, i. 243

Lothringer, Abbe, confesses Fauchet on
scaffold, iii. 43

Louchet, commissary, iii. 172 ; demands
the decree of accusation against
Robespierre in Thermidor, 198 ; but
favours the continuation of the Ter-
ror, 207

Louis XIV, i. 90, 91, lOl ; jealous of
absolute power, 134; 310; ii. 90,
321

Louis XV, i. 90, 100 ; attempts to re-
place the Parliaments, 102 ; 119, 263 ;
iv. 280

Louis XVI, writers of cahicrs do not

attribute their troubles to him, i. 81 ;
loyalty towards, 81-2 ; 84, 86, 87,
88, 89 ; his paternal despotism, 90 ;
attempts, like Louis XV, to replace
Parliaments by more docile institu-
tions, 103, 104, 105 ; alarmed at idea
of representative government, 106 ;
founds Provincial Assemblies, 108 ;
109 ; his offers of liberties refused,
no; 115; confident that the Third
Estate will make no demands of im-
portance, 132-3 ; denies promises,
134; a weak hypocrite, 135; loses
his first chance of heading the Revo-
lution, 136-7 ; 138 ; outwitted, 139 ;
forms a ministry, 140; dares not use
force, 141 ; Paris rises and Louis
submits, 142 ; 143 ; still the idol Oi
France, 144-5; 156, 163, 165, 169;
given a "suspension veto," 171;
still sides against people, 172 ; 173,
174; his right to refuse the Consti-
tution denied, 175 ; led to Paris by
the mob, 176 ; 177, 178 « ; is begged
to refuse to sanction the decree of
the "silver mark," 200; 203; ac-
cepts Constitution, 213-4 ; suspected
of betraying France, 220; 221, 224,
225, 248, 249, 250, 251 ; flight to
count as abdication, 252 ; 255-8 ;
260-6 ; his character, 261-3 > his
treacherous designs, 264 ; his flight,
265 ; his return, 266 ; the nation
willing to replace him on the throne,
267 ; 268-9 ; 272, 273, 274, 275 ;
277 ; many groups now consider
Louis impossible, 280; 281-4;
286-9 ; the nation decides to try
him, 290; 291 ; 298-300; his pres-
tige shattered, 305 ; 306-8, 3io«,
311, 312, 314, 323; accepts the
Constitution, 332 ; his popularity
undiminished, 333-7; 339. 342-51.
353. 354. 361. 363; the people
force the Tuileries, 364, 365 ; La
Fayette proposes that Louis shall
use force, 366 ; the " Kiss of La-
mourette," 366-7 ; his guard dis-

INDEX

309

banded, ii, 31 ; refuses sanction to
the armed camp before Paris, 32 ; 33,
34 ; feeling that Louis must be re-
moved or suspended grows, 36-67 ;
the insurrection of August : Louis
suspended and imprisoned, 68-73 >
75> 76j 78-82 ; proof of his treason,
83, 84-90, 92-6, 98, 104-9, 1 16-19,
123, 147 ; royalty abolished by de-
cree, 148; 148;/, 153, 212-14, 217,
221, 227, 230; voting at his trial,
238-9; 253, 254, 297-305 ; 314 ; iii.
34 ;_^the Girondist vote at his trial,
39 ; 73 ; his approaching execution ac-
claimed, 98 ; the vote at his trial, 99 ;
the anniversary of his execution to be
kept by law, 234 ; iv. 35 ; 53, 63,
no, 164, 194, 278

Louis XVII, i. 142 «, 224; ii. 304,
307 ; proclaimed at Lyons and
Toulon, 310; 311, 315; iii. 113 «,
120 ; dies in the Temple, 249

Louis XVIII, i. 224 ; appoints Charette
general of the insurrection, 250 ; 251,
323. 379 ; iv. 47 ; appears content
to await events, 51-2; contrasted
with Orleans, 57; 74, 77, 83; the
Pichegru conspiracy, 86 ; affects a
temporising policy, in ; decides on
a fresh insurrection, H2, 113; his
generals compelled to treat, 114 ; 119,
142, 153 ; recognised by ^the Pope,
200; 203, 206, 208; the Pope
abandons his cause and signs the
Concordat, 210; 212; refuses to
abdicate, 233 ; 248 ; confers with
Barras and writes to Bonaparte,
259 ; 260 ; protests against the
Empire, 261 gy

Louis (Bas-Rhin), president of Con-
vention, ii. 224 ; member of Com-
mittee of General Security, iii. 2I3«,
214 n

Louis-Philippe, i. 172 n ; ii. 176 ; 201 ;
iv. 35, 2S0

Loustallot, protests against the "mark
of silver," i. 198 ; 199, 200; his aim
to arouse the democratic conscious-

ness, 213-4 ; 217 ; his scheme of a
referendum, 306 ; ii. 1 30

Louvet, ii. 122 ; president of Conven-
tion, 224; iii. 35; a Girondist, 41,
45, 67 ; blamed by Condorcet for the
bitterness of his attacks on Robes-
pierre, 68; treats the Montagnards
as royalists, 73 ; backed up by the
Federals, 96 ; votes for Louis' death,
99; arrested with the "Twenty-
Two," 112 ; escapes to raise the civil
war, 115 ; 116 ; survives the Terror,
122 ; member [of Committee of
Public Safety, 216 n ; recalled from
outlawry, 239 ; member of Commis-
sion of Eleven, 275 ; 308, 374 ; edits
the republican journal, the Sentinelle,
381

Louvet (Somme), member ofCommittee
of Legislation, iii. 2l2j

Loysel, a Girondist, iii. 41

Lucas-Montigny, i. 149 w

Lu9ay (Mme. de), attached to Mme.
Bonaparte, iv. 244

Luckner (General), i. 366

Lucchesini, Prussian Minister in Paris,
iv. 260, 263 n

Lucretius, iv. 184

Lulier, ii. 75 ; procurator-syndic of the
Department of Paris, iii. 109 ; ac-
cused and tried with the Dantonists,

151

Lusurier, i. 235 n

Lutier, Nicolas, a royalist propagand-
ist, ii. 313-4
Lycurgus, iv. 249

Mably, a royalist writer, i. 83 ; dreams
of a " republican monarchy," 92 ; his
reasons for upholding monarchies,
97; 113, 115,118; disgust at demo-
cracy, 120, 121 ; 131, 199

Mac-Curtain, condemned to deporta-
tion in Fructidor, iv. 87

Macdonald, supports Bonaparte in
Brumaire, iv, 143 ; 248, 249

310

INDEX

Mackintosh, James, made a French
citizen by the Convention, ii. 141

Madier, condemned to deportation in
Frtuiidor, iv. 87

Madison, N., created a French citizen
by the Convention, ii. 14I

Magenthies, ridicules cult of Supreme
Being, iii. 195

Magin, ii. 221 n

Maignet, iii. 119; arrested in Ger-
minal, year IV, 244

Maiihe, iii. 225, 303, 372 ; condemned
to deportation in Fructidor, iv. 87

Maillard, condemned to deportation in
Fructidor, iv. 87

Maillard (Mme.), i. 235 n

Mailly (Marquis de Chateaurenaud),
ii. 222 «

Maisse, a Girondist, iii. 41

Males, president of the Council of 500,

iii- 355

Malet (General), criticises the Empire,
iv. 270

Mallarme, president of Convention, ii.
223 ; 239 «, 300 n, 318 ; iii. 196, 255

Mallet du Pan, i. 89 «, now, 115 n,
I35»i65, 336; iv. 55-6, 160 «

Malo, iv. 51

Malouet, i. 139, 149, 169, 269, 270,
271, 273 K

Malvaux, i. 235 «

Mandar, Theophile, i. 289 ; converted
to republicanism by Cordorcet's
eloquence, 298 ; a founder of Theo-
philanthropy, iv. 67

Mangin, i. 235 n

Manuel, advises Louis XVI upon his
son's education, i. 348-9 ; sus-
pended from functions as procurator-
general of Commune, 367, ii. 33 ;
reinstated, 80 ; 92 ; now a fervid
republican, 104 ; 107, 145, 147-8,
161 ; member of Committee of
General Security, 231 ; a Girondist,
iii. 41 ; 68, 75 ; executed, 122

Maras, iii. 366

Marat, still monarchical in 1 789, i.
164, 170; favours universal suffrage.

197 ; his statement of the political
situation, 209-11; 213, 226, 241 «,
250-2 ; demands a dictator, 280-1 ;
in hiding, 321 ; ii. 97, 99, lOO ; be-
lieves the people unripe for a
republic, 120 ; his relations with Or-
leans, 120-1 ; 122, 123, 126; people
fear his becoming a " triumvir," 136 ;
227, 234, 236, 303, 312-3 n ; iii. 32,
34> 35> 36 ; the votes upon his im-
peachment, 39; 50, 53 «, 57, 59,
64* 73 ; guilty of the September
massacres, 74 ; 79 ; his thirst for
blood, 80 ; 81 ; is impeached, 82 ;
acquitted in triumph and becomes
a party leader, 83 ; hatred of the
Girondists ; killed by Charlotte
Corday, 84 ; popularity after his
death, 85 ; his disease, 85 n ; de-
spises the people, 86 ; 88, 90, 91, 92 ;
Danton disowns him, 93 ; 94, loi,
106, no, 125, 129, 132, 163; his
remains deposited in the Pantheon,
23S ; 242 ; iv. 44, 188

Marbos, ii. 222 «; a Girondist, iii. 41

Marbot, president of the Council of
Elders, iii. 355

Marceau, killed in Germany, iv. 49 ;
136, 182, 248

Marcel, ii. 47

Marchand, i. 312 « ; iv. 131 n

Mareau, iv. 67

Marec, member of the Committee of
Public Safety, iii. 214 «

Marechal, Sylvain, Babeuvist con-
spirator, iv. 39 ; socialist verses by,
43 ; atheist, but admitted to the
Theophilanthropist sect, 67

Marescot (General),^)irectorial candi-
date, iii. 361 ; iv. 136 «

Maret, H. B., iv. 170; 265 n

Marie-Antoinette, her retrograde in-
fluence, i. 134, 137 ; 251, 262 ; flight
from Paris, 265 ; 275 ; recovered
popularity, 335-6 ; Vergniaud
threatens her in a speech, 352 ; 364,
366 ; taken to the Temple, S4-5 «,
3"

INDEX

311

Mariette, member of Committee of
General Security, iii. 214 « ; 223

Marion, i. 235 n

Marius, i. 223

Marmont, State Councillor under Con-
sulate, iv. 171

Marmontel, i. 89 n

Marragon, president of Council of
Elders, iii. 354

Martin (Rear- Admiral), Directorial
candidate, iii. 360, 361

Martin-Saint-Romain, a Girondist, iii.

Martiniana, iv. 206

Martique, ii. 221 w

Massa, a Girondist, iii. 41

Massart, Babeuvist conspirator, iv. 39

Massena, saves France from invasion,
iii. 327 ; Directorial candidate, 359-
61 ; iv. 114, 136, 140, 166, 248, 250

Massieu, i. 199; ii. 221 «; iii, 172

Massulard, i. 307

Masuyer, a Girondist, iii. 41

Mathieu, i. 235 «, 307 n ; ii. 146 ;
president of Convention, 224 ; mem-
ber of Committee of Public Safety,
later commissary, 239 ; 240 ; iii.
107 ; member of Committee of
General Security, 214 « ; of the
Commission of Seven, 273

Mathiez, H., iv. 276 n

Mathon, ii. 221 n

Maubac, i. 312 w

Maubant, i. 235 «

Maucher, i. 235 n

Maudard, i. 102 n

Maupeou, i. 104

Maure, ii. 118; member of Committee
of General Security, ii. 232 ; liber-
ates religious prisoners, 239; 271;
iii. 102, 178, 179

Maury, i. 81 n, 162 n ; royalist agent
in Rome, iv. 200

Mauiottchet, i. 300 «

Mazade-Percin (de), ii. 222 n

Mazue [Mazuel], president of the
"Central Committee of Federals,"
i. 54 «

Meaulle, member of Committee of

General Security, ii. 232, iii. 214 «
Meda, gendarme, claimed to have shot

Robespierre, iii. 201
Medicis, Catherine de, iv. 82
Mt'ge, Francisque, i. 120 «, 147 «,

300 n ; ii. 90
Mehee de la Touche, assistant secretary

to the Commune, offers to assassinate

any future monarch, ii. 93 ; iii. 381 ;

an agent provocateur, iv. 262
Meillan, iii. 35 ; a Girondist, 4I ; his

opinion of Brissot, 58-9
Menant, ii. 57
Menessier, Babeuvist conspirator, iv.

Menou (General), employed by the
Convention in Prairial, iii. 246

Mercier, i. 235 n ; member of the
"Commission of Six," ii. 171 ; 194,
220 ; a Girondist, iv. 41, 223

Mercy (de), Bishop of Lucon, advises
priests to take oath, iv. 90

Merlin (Douai), president of Conven-
tion, ii. 224 ; member of Committee
of Pubhc Safety, iii. 215 «, 216 »;
protests against suppression of de-
fence before the Revolutionary Tri-
bunal, 231 ; 239 ; member of the
Commission of Seven, 273 ; of
Eleven, 275 ; elected Director, 359 ;
resigns, 361 ; Minister of Justice,
362 ; Carnot proposes his dismissal,
iv. 83 ; 88, 126 ; compelled to
resign ; the republicans attempt his
execution, 128

Merlin (Thionville), a Cordelier, i. 340;
speaks of republican attitude of
Soissons, ii. 107; 122; president of
Convention, 224 ; iii. 75, 99, 208 ;
president of Committee of Legis-
lation, 212 «; member of Com-
mittee of General Security, 213 «,
214 n, 224

Merlino, iv. 168

Mersan, recalled to Legislature in
Prairial, year V, iv. 54 ; accused of
monarcliioal tendencies by Mallet

312

INDEX

du Pan, 56 ; condemned to deporta-
tion, 87

" Mesdames " (the King's aunts), i.
251

Metge, shot after illegal trial in the
year IX, iv. 188

Meunier, 1. 313

Michaud, i. 89 n, ii. 84 n, 239, 252 n

Michaud (Doubs), member of Com-
mittee of General Security, ii. 232

Michel, a Girondist, iii. 41

Michelet, i. 312^, 313 «

Michelet (Creuse), a commissary, iii.
367

Mignet, iv. 159 «

Mijon, ii. 57

Milet de Mureau, Minister of War
under the Directory, iii. 362

Milhaud, iii. 138

Milton, ii. 303

Minvielle, a Girondist, iii. 41 ; tried
as one of the " Twenty-Two," 121

Miot, ii. 221 n

Miot de Melito, iv. 170, 184W, 234

Mique, i. 235 n

Mirabeau, a resolute royalist, i. 85, 98 ;
praises American Declaration of
Independence, 114; 138, 149 w ;
hostile to a French Declaration, 151 ;
153 '^ ; speaks upholding absolute
religious liberty, 155 ; favours abso-
lute royal veto, 172 ; 177 ; hostile to
idea of privileged middle class, 189 ;
193 ; in favour of the "three days'
labour " tax, 197; his idea that the
King shall champion the people
against the reaction, 200 ; 261, 262,
283, 324, 351 ; ii. 120; iii. 90, 286;
iv. 139, 182, 278, 280

Miranda (General), condemned to de-
portation in Fructidor, iv. 87

Mirande, iii. 355

Mireur, i. 118 »

Mittie, i. 234

Moene, fills Hebert's place as assistant
national agent, iii. 149

Moisson, Frangois, commander of the
Marseillais Federals, ii. 46

Moitte (Mme.), i. 235 «

Mollein, i. 235 «

MoUevaut, one of the " Valaze Com-
mittee," iii. 35 ; a Girondist, 41 ;
accused of complicity with the rebels,
116; president of Elders, 355

Moltedo, ii. 222 «

Momoro, i. 247 «, 320, 340, 361 n ; ii.
60 ; arrested for preaching agrarian
law, 1^2 n ; author of a socialist
Declaration of Rights, 133 ; 133 « ;
134; tried with the Hebertists, iii,
148

Moncey (General), defeats Spain, iii.
248

Monestier (Lozere), iii. 83, 173 ;
taxes imposed by, 175 «

Monestier (Puy-de-D6me), ii. 222 n

Monge, i. 235 n

Monge, Minister of Marine, ii. 73 ;
ardent republican, 150, 153, 214 ;
elected an Elder, iii. 342 ; Directorial
candidate, 359; iv. 119, 139; given
the senatory of Liege, 253 n

Monk (General), iv. 259

Monmayou, member of the Committee
of General Security, iii. 219 «; ad-
vises the establishment of Decadal
fetes, iv. 100

Monnel, ii. 222 «

Monneron, Louis, ii. 221 »

Monsieur (the Comte de Provence, later
Louis XVIII, whom see), escapes
from France at time of King's flight,
i. 265 ; 275 ; assumes regency, ii.
311 ; Frotte assures the Normans he
is about to land (1799), iv. 113

Montaigne, i. 97

Montaudouin, i. 235 «

Montaut (de), ii. 222 «; member of
Committee of Public Security, ii.
231

Montesquieu, prefers a monarchy of the
English type, i. 83 ; his classic
definition of a republic, 92 ; his
writings republican in their effect, 93 ;
94, 164; ii. 217; iii. 314; iv. 183

Montesquiou, ii. 158

INDEX

313

Montier, A., i. 283 «

Montlosier, ideas as to suffrage, i. 183 ;
189

Montmorency (Comte de), i. 148

Montmorin (Comte de), writes that
religion and the throne are threatened,
i. 224 ; iii. 77

Montpensier (Due de, son of Due
d'Orleans), i. 275 n ; is liberated and
sails for America, iv. 57

Monvel, iii. 166

Moreau, ii. 220 ; operations on the
Rhine, iv. 49 ; called to Paris in
Fructidor, 88 ; accused of Babeuvism,
120 n; honoured by Bonaparte, 139 ;
Sieyes wishes to make use of him,
140 ; consents to co-operate in the
coup-ititat of Brumaire, 143 ; made
commandant of the Luxembourg
guard, 145; arrests Gohier and
Moulin, 146 ; victorious at Hohen-
linden, 208 ; 248 ; the hope of the
opposition, 250-1 ; arrested for con-
spiracy, 257 ; 262, 271

Moreau (Yonne), president of the
Council of Elders, iii. 355 ; iv. 131

Moreau de Saint-Mery, iv. 171

Moreaux, i. 235 n

Morgan (General), condemned to de-
portation in Fructidor, iv. 87

Morisson, threatened by Catholic
peasants, iii. 171

Moroy, trial of, as Babeuvist conspira-
tor, iv. 45

Morris, Gouverneur, United States
minister, i. 88 « ; 165-6, 253

Mortimer- Ternaux, ii. 59 n ; iii. 70

Mossy, Auguste, ii. 43 n

Moteville, Bertrande de, i. 351

Moulin (General), i. 235 «, iii. 242;
Directorial candidate, 360 ; Director,
361, iv. 126; 128, 136 «, 144; his
part in the events of Brumaire, 146,

147
Mounier, i. 87 ; indirectly, although a
monarchist, undermines the mon-
archy, 98; 116, 139 «, 146; consti-
tutional proposals, 150, 151, 166;

his draft constitution, 168, 169 ;

proposes two Chambers, 172-3, 174,

174 «, I76w,'i77«, 1 80 ; recommends

qualified suffrage, 182
Mounier, iv. 250

Mouraille, mayor of Marseilles, ii. 43
Mouret, points out absurdities of the

ballot, i. 204
Mourre, ii. 220 w
Moysset, a Girondist, iii. 41
Mugnet de Nanthou, author of a report

on Louis' flight, i. 272, 307
Muraire, iii. 323 ; president of Council

of Elders, 354 ; iv. 52 ; condemned

to deportation in Fructidor, 87 ;

State Councillor under the Consulate,

approves Bonaparte's Constitution,

237

Muret, Th.,iv. 11$ n

Murinais, deported to Guiana in Fructi-
dor, 87, 87 w

Musquinet de Saint - Felix, i. 235 «,

319
Musset, ii. 222 n ; his letter describing
the enthusiasm for the Republic
shown in September, 1793, on the
occasion of reviewing levies, 319

Naigeon, iv. 223

Napoleon I . , grants pensions to all priests
accepting the Concordat, iv. 222 ;
puts an end to secularisation as
republican, 224 ; other favours
granted to Catholicism, 225 ; the
enthusiasm with which the masses
rally to him reduces the educated
republicans to impotence, 257-8,
258/2 ; royalist-clerical opposition to
the senatus consultus establishing the
throne, 271 ; his arbitrary method
of imprisoning opponents, 274, 275 ;
"Emperor by the Constitutions of
the Republic," and "by the grace
of God and the Constitutions," 276;
his tyranny becomes capricious, 277 ;
279, 290

314

INDEX

Narbonne, i. 351, 360,11 . 77

Naudon, iv, 120 n

Naugaro de St.-Paul, iii. 175 n

Nauroy, Ck., concerning the question
of Barras' alleged treason, iv. 115

Necker, attempts to persuade Louis to
representative Government, i. 106 ;
his scheme of pacific reform refused,
134; reads an expurgated report,
136; dismissed by Louis, 140; his
bust carried in procession, 142 «,
143 n ; 262

Nero, i. 223

Nicolas, Ch., i. 308 «

Nioche, i. 316 «

Noailles (Mme. de), iv. 182

Noailles (Vicomte de), i. 167 n, con-
demned to deportation in Fructidor,
iv. 87

Nodier, Charles, partly responsible for
the term " Girondists," iii. 32

Noel, Louis, i. 235 n, 307 n; a Girondist,
iii. 41

Noussiton, demands universal suffrage,
i. 184, 1S5

Obelin, a Girondist, iii. 41

CElsner, i. 282 n

Olivier, i. 223

Olivier-Gerente, a Girondist, iii. 41

Orange (Princesse d'), i. 347

Orleans (Due d'), i. 81 n, 142 n, 143 n ;
the Ami dii peuple states that he
showed himself to the people as a
candidate for the throne on the day
of the King's flight, 275 « ; possibly
aims at a regency, 283, 283 n ;
withdraws owing to distrust felt by
the people, 2S4 ; 284 n ; excluded,
with all Bourbons, from the throne
or a regency, ii. 61 ; was there an
Orleanist party after August loth?
1 19-120; Marat flatters him and
begs from him, 120-12 1 ; takes
name of Egalite, 121 ; elected to
Convention, 121-122 ; did Danton
or Marat desire to help him to the

throne? 123, 222 k; Cambon states
Danton plotted to place Orleans on
the throne, iii. 113^; apparently
the existence of an Orleanist party
after the Due's death was largely
imaginary, iv. 57, 58

Orleans (Due d'), the younger, see
Chartres (Due de)

Orleans (Duchesse d'), iv. 58

Orry de Mauperthuy, i. 197

Osselin, member of the Committee of
General Security, ii. 232

Oudot, member of the Committee of
Legislation, iii. 212 w

Pache, i. 316 w; member of Revolu-
tionary Commune, 75 ; Minister of
War, ii. 215; iii. 34; Mayor of
Paris, 98 ; leads the sections to the
bar of the Convention to demand the
exclusion of the "Twenty-Two,"
102, 108; Ii3«; Cordelier con-
spiracy to set him at the head of a
new Government, 147 ; arrested,
149 ; 247

Pacuvius, iv. 176

Paganel, ii. 202, 222 n, 272 ; iii. 33 «,
50 n ; his account of Brissot, 61 ;
loi ; proscribed, 324

Paine, Thomas, i. 84 ; the effect of
his "Common Sense," 112; 254 «;
his letter to Sieyes, favouring a
republic, 293 ; 295, 347 ; elected
four times over to the Convention, ii.
118; created French citizen by the
same, 141 ; member of the Commit-
tee of Constitution, 161 ; a Girondist,
iii. 41 ; 46 ; anxious to save Louis'
life, 98 ; in favour of universal
suffrage, 282 ; proscribed, 324 ; iv. 66

Palasne-Champeaux, persuaded to
abandon Robespierre, iii. 196

Panis, i. 323; ii. 136; member of the
Committee of General Security, 232 ;
233; iii. 75, 83; arrest ordered by
the Commune in Thermidor, 200

INDEX

315

Paoli, iii. 120 «, 121 »

Paradis, president of Council of Elders,

iii- 354

Pare, ii. 215

Parent, iv. 69

Paris, i. 235 «

Parny, iii. 262

Parrein, ii. 57; acquitted in the Babeuf
trial, iv. 45

Pastoret, i, 341 ; president of Legisla-
tive Assembly, 345 ; of Council of
500, iii. 354 ; claims absolute liberty
of the Press, 374 ; 377 n ; iv. 52,
56, 87

Pauw, Corneille, created French citizen
by the Convention, ii. 141

Pavie, condemned to deportation in
Fructidor, iv. 87

Payan, ii. 219 ; appointed national agent,
iii. 149; 188; requests the Com-
mune to declare itself in insurrec-
tion upon news of decree against
Robespierre, 199; guillotined, 202

Pelet (Lozere), president of Convention,
ii. 223 ; member of Committee of
Public Safety, iii. 215 ; objects that
a Constitution would be premature,
270 ; 274, 324 ; president of the
Council of 500, 354; iv. 170, 205,
224 n, 264 n

Pelissier, priest, deported for walking
abroad in procession and wearing
vestments, iv. 94

Pellenc, ii. 64

Pellissier, departmental commissary,
iii. 366

Peltier, ii. 300

Pemartin, member of Committee o
General Security, iii. 214

Penieres, puts forward scheme for
electing Directors, iii. 303 ; sent "on
mission," iv. 157 ; member of Tri-
bunate, 172

Pepin - Degrouhette, i. 234, 235 «,
307 n ; member of Committee of
Legislation, iii. 212 «

Peres, member of Committee of Legis-
lation, iii. 212 «

Pericles, the type of ruler conceived by
early republicans, i. 340, iii. 47

Peries, a Girondist, iii. 41

Perlet, ii. 69 n ; speaks of cries of joy
when the Terrorists were executed,
iii. 202

Perrin (Vosges), member of Committee
of General Security, iii. 214; presi-
dent of Council of Elders, 355

Perroud, iii. 254

Pestalozzi, N. , created a French citizen
by the Convention, ii. 141

Petiet, Minister of War under the
Directory, iii. 362 ; State Councillor
in section of War under the Con-
sulate, iv. 171

Petion, i. 183 ; a democratic leader,
213 ; wishes to improve the mon-
archy, 256 ; escorts Louis XVI back
to Paris from Varennes, 265 ; 271
Mme. Roland's statement that
Petion was already privately a re-
publican, 271 « ; 273 ; demands an
elective executive, 273 w; 308, 316,
318 ; elected president of the
Criminal Court, 324; member of
the Committee of Constitution, 326 ;
enthusiasm of the people for, 337 ;
warns Buzot that the bourgeoisie
will turn against the people, 349 ;
Mayor o Paris, 351 n ; 353, 362 ;
suspended from functions as mayor,
367 ; reinstated, ii. 33 ; 47 n, 48,
57 « ; 60 ; demands the downfall of
the Bourbons, 65 ; retained as mayor
by the Revolutionary Commune, 75;
80, 93, 144 ; president of the Con-
vention at the time of the decree
abolishing royalty, 145-6 ; member
of the Committee of Constitution
(1792), 161 ; 223 ; president of the
Committee of General Defence, 235 ;
member of the Committee of Public
Safety, 236 ; a Girondist, iii. 32, 34,
38, 41 ; refuses help of royalists at
Caen, 47 ; 48 ; the first of the
Girondists to claim that death should
be the fate of defeated parties, 50 ;

316

INDEX

51 ; did not shun the Federal hatred
of Paris, 56 ; 66 ; neutral at the
opening of the Convention, he
finally turns against Robespierre,
68 ; 92 ; re-elected mayor, re-
signs, 98 ; votes for Louis' death,
99 ; 102 ; excluded with the
"Twenty-Two"; escapes, to raise
civil war; outlawed, 116; found
dead, 123

Petit, i. 235 «; a Girondist, iii. 41

Petra, i. 235 n

Peyre, i. 307 «, 313 ; a Girondist, iii.
41

Peyssard, ii. 222 n ; arrested and tried
in Prairial, iii. 246

Philippe II, iv. 82

Philippe-Delleville, a Girondist, iii.

Philippe-Egalite (see Due d'Orleans), ii.
121, 121 «, 122, 298;! iii. 73, 74;
iv. 57

Philippeaux, ii. 147 ; arrested with
Danton, &c., 245, 251 ; an inde-
pendent, iii. 92 ; decries the Com-
mittee of Public Safety, 144 ; arrest,
trial, and execution, 150, 151

Pichegru, commandant of Paris in
Germinal, iii. 244; president of
Council of 500, 354, iv. 54; 56;
in communication with the Pre-
tender, 83, 85 ; condemned to
deportation in Fructidor, 87 ; de-
ported to Guiana, but escapes,
87 « ; 167.; joins a royalist con-
spiracy and is arrested, 262 ; hangs
himself in prison, 263

Picquet, ii. 219, 220, 221 n

Pierachi, Conte di. Papal agent, iv.

77
Pierre, secretary to the Committee of

Public Safety, ii. 240
Pierret, member of Committee of

General Security, iii. 214 «
Pierron, iv. 120 n
Pilastre, a Girondist, iii. 41
Pille (General), ii. 220 ; Directorial

candidate, iii. 361 ; iv. 136 «

Pinet, denounces Hispano-royalist con-
spiracy, ii. 318

Pison du Galand, president of Council
of 500, iii. 355

Pitt, iii. loi, 135, iv. 185

Pius VI, dies a prisoner at Valence, iv.
96

Pius VII, recognises Louis XVIII as
King of France, iv. 200 ; enters into
negotiations with Bonaparte, 206,
207, 209, 211, 212, 213, 216, 218,
221

Plasse, ii. 57

Pleville - le - Pelley, Foreign Minister
under the Directory, iii. 362

Pocholle, ii. 222 n

Poisson, i. 235 n ; president of Council
of Elders, iii. 355

Poix, Prince de, iii. 77

Polignac, Princes, the, join Cadoudal,
iv. 262

Polissart, recalled to Legislature, iv.

54
Pollart, iii. 342
Pollet, B., i. 235 «, iii. 77 n
Pollio, ii. 47 n
Pomiro, sen., iii. 175 »
Pomiro (the American) iii. I75»
Pomme, Andre, demands that the new

Declaration of Rights (1793) shall

recognise a Supreme Being, ii. 174,

iii. 45
Poncelin, iii. 252 « ; decoyed to

Luxembourg and thrashed, 381
Pongeard-Dulimbert, iii. 358
Pons (Verdun), i. 323; member of

Committee of Legislation, iii.

212 « ; president of Council of

500. 355

Porches, member of Committee of
Legislation, iii. 212 « ; 346

Port, dies tin, ii. 306 n

Portalis, iii. 323 ; elected an Elder,
325 ; 346 ; president of Council of
Elders, 354 ; condemned to deporta-
tion in Fructidor, iv. 87 ; favours the
secret and official control of the Press,
176/?; present at the new Consular

INDEX

347

court, 182; 205, 216; State and
Privy Councillor, 237, 265 n, 268

Portiez (Oise), iii. 342

Potonnier, ii. 219

Pettier, Ch., Directorial candidate, iii.
361

Pothean, i. 235 «

Pouchet, G., iii. 256 «

Poulain, i. 235 n

Poullain-Grandprey, president of the
Council of 500, iii. 355

Poultier, ii. 222 n ; proposes a Presi-
dent and three Councillors, iii. 302

Poumier, i. 235 n

Praire-Montaud, condemned to de-
portation in Fructidor, iv. 87

Praslin, iv. 265

Precy (de), royalist, holds Lyons, iii.
119 ; upon capitulation cuts his way
out and escapes, 120; chief military
royalist agent, iv. 50

Pressac des Planches, iii. 366

Pressensi (de), iii. 266 n

Prevelle, i. 235 n

Priestley, Joseph, created a French
citizen by the Convention, ii. 141

Prieur (Cote-d'Or), president of the
Convention, ii. 224 ; elected to Com-
mittee of Public Safety, 242 ; 247,
248 ; imprisoned by department of
Calvados, 115 ; 215 ; iv. 247

Prieur (Marne), i. 191, 273 ; rallies the
army of the Ardennes to the Re-
public, ii. 157; president of the
Convention, 224 ; member of the
Committee of Public Safety, 236 ;
242 ; 247 ; sent as commissary to
La Vendee, 257; iii. 77 «, 169 w,
209, 215 ; one of the Commission of
Four of the ist of Prairial, 245 ;
escapes before trial, 246 ; a leader
of the Reunion of the Manage, iv.

131 ; 247

Projean, iii. 355

Prost, i. 299

Provence (Comte de, see Monsieur and

Louis XVIII), letter to, ii. 300 ;

lives at Hamm, nursing a reactionary

policy, 311 ; on death of Louis XVII
in the Temple assumes title of King,
249

Puisaye (Comte de), royalist supporter
of Louis XVIII, fears and abuses
young Orleans, iv. 57 ; meets other
agents in London to decide on future
policies, no

Puzin, i. 235 n

Quatremere-Quincy, iv. 56 ; con-
demned to deportation, 87

Queinnec, a Girondist, iii. 41

Qudrard, i. 84 «

Quinette, ii. 147 ; member of the Com-
mittee of General Defence, 236 ;
president of the Council of 500,
iii. 354; Minister of the Interior
under the Directory, 363

Quirot, president of the Council of
500, iii. 355 ; a commissary, 367 ;
iv. 119

Rabaut-Pomier, advises the division
of large municipalities, ii. 182 ;
222 n ; a Girondist, iii. 41 ; member
of Committee of Public Safety,

2l6«

Rabaut-Saint-Etienne, proves that in
1789 there was no republican party,
i. 166; absolutely converted to
republicanism by Louis XVI 's
treachery, ii. 98 ; swears eternal
hatred of royalty, 1 14 ; secretary to
the Convention, 145; 171, 222 m;
president of Convention, 223 ; 234 ;
a Girondist, iii. 41 ; half a socialist,
68 ; portrait of Robespierre attri-
buted to his pen, 87 ; seeks to re-
concile Paris and the departments, 93 ;
votes for Louis XVI's imprisonment,
08-9 ; arrested with the " Twenty-
1 wo," 112; Saint-Just proposes to
call him to the Convention, 116;
. .ecuted, 122; demanded a supple-

318

INDEX

mentary social revolution, 126, 127,

128, 130, 133, 13s
Rabaut, jun., iv. 102
Rabusson-Lamothe, ii. 89, Sgn
Rambaud, A., i. 142 n
Ramel de Nogaret, i. 190; Minister of

Finance under the Directory, iii.

363 ; his dismissal demanded by the

Legislative Corps, iv. 83
Ramel, D. V., ii. 184 ; associated with

the Committee of Public Safety for

purpose of drafting the Constitution

(1793), 239 ; 240 ; appointed to

Committee of Public Safety, iii. 107 ;

suggests progressive impost as a

war- tax, 134 ; 196
Ramel, commandant of the Grenadiers

of the Legislative Corps, iv. 51 ;

condemned to deportation, 87 ; sent

to Guiana, but escapes, 87 n
Rapinat, iv. 123
Rathery, i. 98 n
Raynal (Abbe), author of a history of

the American Revolution, i. 84, 84 n ;

although a monarchist, indirectly

undermines the throne, 98
Real, proposes Orleans as regent during

the suspension, i. 284 n ; 286 n ;

proposes a scheme of taxation, iii.

135; 3S1 ; iv. 120 «, 171, 246 ?z
Rebecquy, a Girondist, iii. 41
Recamier, Mme. , hostess of a bourgeois

salon, iii. 239
Redon, i. 235 «, iv. 171
Redon-Beaupreau, Directorial candi-
date, iii. 359
Regnaud (Saint-Jean-d'Angely), State

Councillor under Consulate, iv. 171 ;

Privy Councillor, 265 n
Regnault, i. 235 n
Regnier, president of Council of

Elders, iii. 355 ; proposes, in Bru-

maire, that the Councils meet at

Saint-Cloud and instruct Bonaparte,

iv. 144-5 ; 158 ; Chief Justice, iv.

265
Reinhard, Minister of Justice, I'jon;

171 ; member of the Council which

approves Bonaparte's Constitution,
237 ; Privy Councillor, 265 n

Remaseilles, i. 235 n

Remusat (Mme. de), attached to Mme.
Bonaparte, iv. 244 ; 275 n

Renault, ii. 222 «

Renault, Cecile, suspected of the in-
tention to kill Robespierre, iii. 190,
194

Renault (Orne), iii. 362 »

Roiouvier, J., his account of the en-
gravings of Days issued by the
Revolutions de Paris, i. 363 n

Retz (Cardinal de), speaks of hearing
the cry The Republic ! in 1649, 82

Reubell, i. 184, 191 ; a Feuillant, though
later a democrat, ^16 n; opposes the
electors' tax, 328 ; president of Con-
vention, ii. 224 ; member of Com-
mittee of General Security, iii. 214 « ;
of Public Safety, 2l6n; Director,
325, 358, 364; iv. 60; in Fructidot
the leaders of the Council of 500
decide to impeach him and two other
Directors, 85 ; 123 ; replaced by
Sieyes, 125 ; the advanced republicans
seek his death, 128

Reverchon, member of the Committee
of General Security, iii. 214 «

Reynaud, a departmental commissary,
iv. 366

Ribereau, a Girondist, iii. 41

Richard, member of the Committee of
Public Safety, iii. 215, 215 «

Richard, sen., i. 320

Richer de Serisy, iii. 240, 251 «, 377

Richou, a Girondist, iii. 41

Richou (Eure), advises the Assembly
to capitulate (on June 2nd), iii.
Ill

Ricord, involved in the Babeuf con-
spiracy, iv. 39 ; acquitted, 45

Riou, president of the Council of 500,

iii- 354
Riouffe, member of the Constitutional

Club, iv. 36
Rivarol, warns politicians against the

people, i. I50W

INDEX

319

Rivaud, a Girondist, iii. 41 ; elected to
the Council of Elders, 341

Rivery, a Girondist, iii. 41

Riviere (Marquis de), arrested as an
accomplice of Cadoudal, iv. 263

Roberjot, ii. 222 n ; member of Com-
mittee of General Security, iii. 214 «

Robert, Francois, his character, i. 221 ;
his journal, 221 n ; a republican in
1790, 223 ; 223 n ; publishes a volume
on Republicanism adapted to France,
223 ; federates the People's Clubs,
237; president of the "Fraternal
Society of the Two Sexes," 234 ;
235 ; taking a republican petition
from the Cordeliers to the Assembly,
is arrested, 281, 281 «; released,
282 ; the Jacobins refuse to join the
Cordeliers in demanding the Repub-
lic, 282 ; 304, 312 « ; draws up another
republican petition, 313 ; in hiding,
321, 321 n ; objects to the term
" Federals," ii. 50; his journal pro-
poses the suspension of Louis until
the end of the war, 56 ; 56 « ; a
member of the Revolutionary Com-
mune, 75 ; the RJvohitions de Paris,
said to be edited by him, demands
the Republic as the only means of
saving France, 95 ; elected to the
Convention, loi ; a member of the
Jacobin Committee of Constitution,
163 ; draws up a petition justifying
the Jacobins, 76; iv. 119

Robert, Louise (Mme. Robert), marries
Robert, i. 221 ; co-edits the Mercure,
2zin; Mme. Roland's account of
her, 222 ; foundress of the republican
party, 222 ; 222 n ; the party has its
rise in her salon, 225 ; admitted to
the "Fraternal Society," 235 ; takes
the name of Sister Louise Robert,
236 ; 250; opposed by Mme. Roland,
254, 254 « ; 255 ; her salon, 259 ;
323 ; ii. 100 n

Robespierre, a monarchist in 1789, i.
86 ; seeks to improve the monarchy,
164 ; 169 ; a worshipper of Rousseau,

180; upholds universal suffrage, 184,
184 w, 185; 187, 187 «, 192;?, 194;
a democrat leader, 213 ; 215 « ; states
that the King is the delegate of the
nation, 218; 220; recognises in-
equality of wealth as a "necessary
evil," 230 ; 237 ; leads the campaign
against the property qualification,
239; eulogises the people, 210;
influence of this speech, 210 «, 211,
211 n; 246, 256, 261 ; demands an
election to decide Louis' fate, 273 ;
278, 308 ; denies that he is either a
republican or a monarchist, 309 ;
309«, 3io«, 311, 311;^, 316 ; elected
Public Prosecutor, 324 ; 327 ; wel-
comed with delirious enthusiasm by
the people (with Petion), 337 ; fore-
sees that war will mean loss of
liberty, 332 ; 336 ; induces Desmou-
lins to help him to fight the republi-
cans, 358 ; 359 ; favours constitutional
monarchy, 360, 361 ; ii. 34 «, 39;
indoctrinates the Federals at the
Jacobins, 49 ; still a constitutional
royalist, 50 ; 51 ; demands Louis'
suspension, 53, 53 n ; 54 n, 59 ; a
member of the Revolutionary Com-
mune, 75 ; 91 ; his conversion to
republicanism begins, 97 ; 99, 100,
100 «, loi, III n ; protests against
the candidature of Orleans for the
Convention, 122 ; denounces a plot
in favour of Brunswick, 124 ; demands
universal suffrage once more, 127 ;
people fear a triumvirate of Danton,
Marat, and Robespierre, 136 ; Bar-
baroux declares that Panis stated he
should be Dictator, 136 « ; 140,
143, 160, 163 ; a member of the
Jacobin Auxiliary Committee of Con-
stitution, 163 ; 175 ; his famous
declaration of the right to work, 176 ;
professes to be a socialist, 177 ; 178 ;
preaches decentralisation, 179; 189,
190, 193, 194, 195 ; abandons his
socialistic ideas, 198 ; his dictator-
ship feared, 202 ; 209 ; president of

320

INDEX

Convention, 223, 229 ; 235 ; on
the second Committee of General
Defence, 236 ; 239 ; on the Com-
mittee of Public Safety, 242, 246 ;
248, 249, 251; directs the section
of General Police, 253 ; 266 ;
wishes to weaken the Commune
by means of the Committees
of Surveillance, 268 ; becomes the
terror of the Convention, 283 ;
makes use of the Revolutionary Tri-
bunal to rid himself of his personal
enemies, 286 ; deprives accused of
counsel, 286 ; founds a Popular Com-
mission at Orange, 288 ; 288 n ; his
triumph in the Convention, iii. 31 ;
Buzot and Petion forsake him, 38 ;
reproaches the Girondists as atheists,
43 ; his pietism, 44 ; accepts the
" civil religion " of Rousseau, 45 ; 46 ;
his dreams of a Spartan republic, 47 ;
turns Paris against Roland, 57 ; 64 ;
irritated by Gensonne, 65 ; 67, 68 ;
he defines the Mountain, 71 ; 73, 74,
78, 79 ; disowns Marat, 80 ; his
popularity as the apostle of democ-
racy, 85 ; believes the people to be
reasonable and virtuous, 86 ; 86 « ;
his egoism, 87 ; slanders the Giron-
dists, who deride his pontifical airs,
88; 88 «, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94;
Louvet accuses him, 96 ; 97, 99, 102,
107 ; his excuse for the insurrection
of June 2nd, 112 ; II3«, 114; saves
the 75 Girondists who sign the
protest against the arrest of the
"Twenty-Two," 121; appears a
socialist from policy, 131 ; in oppo-
sition to Danton and Hebert, 144 ;
146 ; 147 ; having destroyed the
Ilebertists, decides to attack Danton,
149; 150; protests against anti-
religious violence, 164 ; pretends
that atheists are foreign agents, 165 ;
" Reply to the manifestoes of the
Kings, &c.," 166; farthers a decree
ratifying the liberty of worship, 167 ;
at the height of the dechrist-

ianising movement prepares to intro-
duce the cult of the Supreme Being,
173 ; I79> 181, 182 ; presents his
religious project, 183, 184, 185, 186,
187, 188, i88«, 189; Cecile Renault's
supposed attempt on his life, 190 ;
regarded generally as a tyrant, 192 ;
except by the people, 193 ; the vic-
tory of Fleurus proves the futility of
his bloodthirsty methods, 194 ; the
Terror depends on him, 194-5 » the
conspiracy hatched, 195 ; Barras reads
a report censuring further severities,
195 ; Robespierre's reply, 195-6 ; he
demands the purgation of the Com-
mittees and denounces many members
of Convention, re-reading the speech
before the Jacobins, 196; the Con-
vention declares itself permanent,
decreeing the arrest of Hanriot : cries
of " Tyrant ! " 197 ; refused speech
and accused ; his arrest demanded,
198 ; arrested, 199 ; refused entrance
to the prisons, he escapes to the
Hotel de Ville, 200 ; found wounded,
201 ; guillotined, 202 ; 207, 208,
209 «, 222, 223, 224, 228, 230, 231,
232, 235, 236, 237, 238, 252, 254,
269, 295, 302, 312, 313, 346; iv.
38, 118, 139, 251, 254, 259, 278,
279

Robespierre, jun., frees peasants im-
prisoned on account of their religion,
ii. 259; iii. 83, 112; his humanity
"on mission," 179; asks to share
his brother's fate, 199 ; attempts
suicide, 201 ; guillotined, 202

Robespierre (the sister of), granted a
pension by Bonaparte, iv. 188 »

Robin, Z., i. 167 n

Robinet, Dr., author of a life of Danton,
iii. 91

Robois (de), i. 235 »

Rochecot (de), iv. 51 «

Rochegrede (de), ii. 222 «

Rocquain, F., iv. 17 1 «

Roederer, i. 187 ; favours qualified
suffrage, 193 ; moves that the King's

INDEX

321

name be omitted from the form of
oath, 268 ; 269, 270 n, 271 « ; elected
judge, 324 ; elected procurator-gene-
ral-syndic by the democrats, 340 ;
writes in support of the Republic, ii.
98 ; ignores the fact in later life,
98 M ; present at meetings of the
Girondist party, iii. 33 ; 127, 276 ;
iv. I34«; present at the famous
meeting between Bonaparte and
Sieyes, 159; 160 n; Councillor of
State, 171; I75«; favours secular
instruction, 194 ; 203, 205 ; recom-
mends a plebiscite on the question
of the life-Consulate, 230 ; 232, 237 ;
Privy Councillor, in favour of the
Empire, 263
Rohan (Cardinal de), i. 199
Roland, i. 222 n, 280 ; selected by
Louis to form a ministry with Du-
mouriez, 353 ; 355 ; ii. 45, 57 ; dis-
missed by Louis, is recalled by the
Assembly, 73; 94, 120, 150, 153
Minister of the Interior, 215 ; in-
herits Dan ton's influence, 216; 217 ;
makes the Executive Council un-
popular, 218 ; 235 ; iii. 33, 34 ; often
assisted or represented by his wife,
37, 38 ; his responsibility in the
September massacres, 51 ; 52, 53^;
writes against the preponderant in-
fluence of Paris, 55, 55 n ; falls from
power in attempting to prevent this
state of affairs, 57 ; 58, 59, 67 ; de-
mands a Guard for the Assembly,
92 ; 94 ; expelled by the Jacobins,
97 ; his pamphlets burned by the
Commune, 98 ; forced to resign, 100;
a refugee on June 2nd, 112; kills
himself at the news of his wife's
death, 122
Roland (Mme.), still a monarchist : her
account of Mme. Robert, i. 222 ;
222 n ; finally joins certain of the
clubs, 235 ; attacks the bourgeoisie,
238 ; republican by instinct, 254 ;
254 w; 263, 271 w; converted to
republicanism by the King's flight,
VOL. IV.

280 n ; states that Danton recom-
mended a regency, 283 ; 300, 3io«,
212 n; the Roberts ask her to shelter
them, 321 « ; opinion of the Con-
stitution, ii. 64 «; i63«; her con-
tempt of the Constitution of 1793,
201 ; her place in the Girondist
party, iii. 32 ; 32 « ; her preponder-
ant influence, 37 ; her influence over
and love of Buzot, 38 ; the idol of
her party, 39 ; 46, 47, 48, 49, 49 n,
52, 54, 56, 57 ; Guadet the tool of
her hatred, 63 ; her character, 65 ;
her fastidious and partial judgment,
66 ; Buzot her mouthpiece, 67 ; 87 ;
initiatrix of the campaign against
Paris, 92 ; imprisoned by the Com-
mune, 112; guillotined, 122; iv.
248, 280

Romme, member of the " Commission
of Six," ii. 171, 172 ; president of
Convention, 223 ; iii. 83 ; imprisoned
when commissary, 115; taxes the
wealthy, 143 ; a dechristianiser,
158; tried after the famine riots of
Prairial, commits suicide, 246 ; iv.
131 «

Roncy (de), i. 235 n

Rondelet, ii. 221 «

Ronsin, head of the " Revolutionary
Army," executed with the Hebert
faction, iii. 148

Rossee, president of the Council of
Elders, iii. 354

Rossignol, ii. 57 ; member of the
Revolutionary Commune, 75 ; in-
volved in the Babeuvist conspiracy,
iv. 39 ; absent from the trial, is
acquitted, 45 ; deported, 187

Rouault, a Girondist, iii. 41

Rouge, leads royalist troops against
Toulouse, iv. 113

Rouget de Lisle, author of the Mar-
seillaise, ii. 47 ; the success of his
" Hymn of Revenge," iv. 135 «

Rousseau, J. J., believed in republican-
ism only for small countries, i. 83,
95; by democracy he means "the

322

INDEX

middle order," 122 ; fears the popu-
lace, 131 ; Marat's admiration of,
164 ; against universal suffrage, 179 ;
could not have been an elector or
eligible under qualified suffrage, 189,
198 ; 228, 286, 298, 306, 326, 348 ;
ii. 137 «; his influence on Mme.
Roland, iii. 38 ; 43 ; Robespierre
borrows his " civil religion," 45 ; 78,
88, 184, 189; his remains removed
to the Pantheon, 238 ; iv. 164 ;
honoured by Theophilanthropists, 69

Rousseau, elected to the Council of
Elders, iii. 341 ; president of the
same, 354

Roussel, iii. 367

Rousselin de Saint-Albin, iv. 127

Roux (ex-Abbe), iii. 129

Roux, Jacques, declaims furiously
against financial jobbery, iii. 132

Roux (Haute-Marne), ii. 222 n ; mem-
ber of the Committee of Public
Safety, iii. 215 w

Roux-Fazillac, letters from concerning
the continual practice of Catholicism,
iii. 172 ; 366 ; chef de bureau in
charge of correspondence with the
commissaries, 368 n

Rouyer, a Girondist, iii. 41 ; iv. 78 n

Rouzet, a Girondist, iii. 41 ; demands
female but not universal suffrage,
290-1 ; suggests four legislatures,
298

Rovere, ii. 222 n ; president of Con-
vention, 224 ; member of the Com-
mittee of General Security, 231 ;
speaks of pillage on the part of
"patriots," 272; iii. 214 «; 325;
deported to Guiana in Fructidor, iv.
87 ; there dies, 87 n

Rovigo {Due de), iv. 263 n

Roye, i. 235 n

Royer, i. 318 «; ii. 222 k; active in
the Catholic revival, iii. 266 ; de-
fends the coup d'etat of Brumaire
from the pulpit, iv. 198

Royer-CoUard, i. 172 «, I95»; defends
the Catholics, iv. 82

Royon, i. 289 «, 314 «

Rozimbois (Dr.), i. 204-5

Ruamps, member of the Committee of
General Security, ii. 231 ; advises
confiscation of property of the very
wealthy who will not contribute to
the defence of France, iii. 138-9;
arrested in Germinal, 244

Ruault, a Girondist, iii. 41

Rtihl, ii. 190 ; president of Convention,
223 ; member of the Committee of
General Security, 233 ; of Public
Safety, 236 ; publicly breaks the
holy phial on the statue of "Louis
the Sluggard," 320; iii. 213 «,
214 «; tried after the famine riots,
commits suicide, 246

Rumare, iv. 54

Rutledge, a Cordelier orator, i. 228 ;
253

Sadous, i. 235 n

Sadouze, i. 235 n

Sagnaci, Ph., i. 238 n

Saint-Felix, arrested after the affair of
the Champ de Mars, i. 320

Saint- Huruge, an agitator of the Palais
Royal (royalist), i. 164

Saint-Just, a monarchist at the outset,
i. 86 ; in 1793 accuses Girondists of
royalism, ii. 70 ; a member of the
Jacobin "Auxiliary Committee,"
163 ; in 1793 has federal ideas, 179 ;
yet wishes Paris to be strong, 182;
a member of the Committee of Public
Safety in May, 1793, ^84; president
of Convention, 223 ; 239, 242 ; con-
tributes by his presence to the
victories of the armies, 247 ; 248,
253, 257, 293, 294 ; as anxious to em-
bellish the Republic by culture as the
Girondists, iii. 47 ; not yet a Robes-
pierrist in 1792-3, 91 ; member of
the Committee of Public Safety, 107 ;
his report on the Girondists, 116;
his report on mendicity, 137 ; return-
ing from the seat of war, sup-

INDEX

323

ports Robespierre, 146 ; Robespierre
strikes at Danton through Saint-Just,
150; persuades the Convention to
put the "amalgam" "out of de-
bate," 151; 192; opens the session
of the fatal 9th of Thermidor, 197 ;
arrested, 199 ; takes refuge in the
Hotel de Ville, 100; re-arrested>
201 ; guillotined, 202 ; 207, 209 n

Saint-Martin, iii. 303

Saint-Martin- Valogne, a Girondist, iii.

Saint-Pierre, Bernardin de, i. 348 ;
a Theophilanthropist, iv. 69

Saint- Rend Taillandier, i. I57«

Saint-Rejant, author of the plot of the
" infernal machine " of the rue
Saint-Nicaise, iv. 185 ; executed, 188

Saint-Simon, a manuscript of his seized
by the police, iv. 258 n

Saint-Beuve, reference to the Giron-
dists, iii. 49

Saladin, a Girondist, iii. 42 ; denounces
four leading Terrorists on behalf of
a Commission, iii. 242 ; 324 ; sen-
tenced to deportation in Fructidor,
iv. 87

Saliceti, a democrat, secedes from the
Jacobins to the Feuillants, i. 316

Salle, also secedes, i. 316 ; demands
that the calendar shall date from the
taking of the Bastille, ii. 151 ; 180;
attends the "Valaze Committee,"
iii. 35 ; a Girondist, 42 ; 68 ; his
outlawry demanded by Saint-Just,
116; guillotined in Bordeaux, 123

Sallengros, demands a rectification of
departmental frontiers, iii. 304 ; a
State messenger under the Directory,

325 '^
Salm (Prince Emmanuel de), i. 279
Salmon, a Girondist, iii. 42
Sambat, iii. TT n
Samuel (the prophet), cited by Tom

Paine, i. 112 n
Sanadon, ii. 222 n
Santerre, enrols 2,000 National Guards,

i- 275; 313; accused after the afiair

of the Champ de Mars, 320, 323 ;

meets the Marseillais at the head of

the National Guards, ii. 47
Santies, i. 320

Sapinaud, a royalist insurgent, iii. 249
Sardanapalus, Mme. Roland compares

Danton to, iii. 66
Saunier, i. 235 n
Saurine, ii. 222 n ; a Girondist, iii. 42 ;

member of the Catholic Society^ 266
Sauzay, iv. 1 39 «
Savary, ii. 306 n ; a Girondist, iii. 42 ;

president of the Council of 500,

355
Savoye-Rollin, iv. 246 n
Scherer, Minister of War under the

Directory, iii. 362 ; Reubell suffers

through his unpopularity, iv. 123
Schiller, created a French citizen by

the Convention, ii. 141
Sciout, Lud. , iv. 95 n
Scipio, iv. 181
Seailles, Gabriel, ii. 301 n
Seguier, defends the parliaments, i.

105 «
Seguin, ii. 222 n
Segur, sen., iv. 182
Seignobos, i. 1 1 1 «
Sentiet, J., i. 307 n
Sergent, i. 247 ; aids in drafting the

petition that Louis' flight shall be

counted as abdication, 311 ; 323,

340; placed under supervision, iv.

187
Serre, a Girondist, iii. 42
Servan, ii. 57 n ; Minister of War, 73 •

94, 124, 158 ; ii. 215
Serviere, iii. 366
Sevestre, member of the Committee of

General Security, iii. 214 n ; State

messenger, 355
Seytres, ii. 43 n
Siblot, iii. 175
Sicard, Abbe, iv. 76, 201
Sidney, his name a household name in

France, i. iii, 356
Sieyes, monarchist, i. 85 ; 98 ; proposes

a Declaration of Rights, 150; dis-

324

INDEX

tinguishes between active and passive
citizens, i8i ; favours two Chambers,
278 ; the oracle of the middle classes,
293; 294, 295, 321, 324; wishes to
change the dynasty, ii. 64 « ; 83 ;
member of the Committee of Consti-
tution of 1792, 172, 222 « ; president
of Convention, 224 ; member of the
Committee of General Defence, 235,
236 ; iii. 216 « ; member of the Com-
mission of Seven, 273, 274 ; of
Eleven, 275 ; 275 n ; hopes to avoid
the deadlock of two hostile Chambers
by making both elective, 296 ; pro-
poses a Constitutional Jury, 297,
298 ; nominated Director, declines
the post, 325 ; president of the
Council of 500, 354 ; elected Di-
rector in the year VII, 360, 361 ;
hostile to the Directorial policy, iv.
125 ; prepares for the realisation of
his constitutional schemes, 127 :
dreams of being Elector of a new
republic, 128; I34« ; Bonaparte
and Sieyes plot together, 140 ; pre-
pares for the coup d'itat, 146, 147 ;
the coup d'etat, ending in the Co n
sular Commission with Sieyes as a
provisional Consul, 149-150; 154,
155 ; discusses the new Constitution,
158; Bonaparte overrides him, 159 ;
159 n ; 160 ; Bonaparte's Constitution
a parody of Sieyes', 162; assists in
appointing the Senate, 171, 172,
187 n, 236, 247 ; believed to have
voted against the Empire, 266

Sijas, iii. 342

Silius Italicus, iv. 176

Sillery, ii. 220 « ; 157 ; a Girondist, 42,
43 ; one of the " Twenty-Two," 121

Simeon, president of the Council of 500,
iii- 354. 380 ; iv. 87

Simon (General), iv. 249

Simond, ii. 222 n

Simonne, states that a deputy is the
mandatory of the people in general,
ii. 129

Smits, J. J., i. 221 n

Sobry, a precursor of Theophilan-
thropy, iv. 66

Socrates, a deist, iii. 184, iv. 69

Solon, iv. 249

Sonthonax, iii. 44

Sotin, Minister of Police under the
Directory, iii. 363 ; ordered to pro-
tect the Theophilanthropists, iv. 70 ;
92

Soubcyran de St. -Prir, a Girondist, iiL
42

Soubrany, ii. 222 n ; executed during
the reaction after Prairial, iii. 246 ;
iv. 131 n

Souhait, Julien, strongly in favour of
universal suffrage in the year III,
iii. 282-3

Soulignac, a Girondist, iii. 42

Souvaroff, iv. 112, 127, 142

Spina (Mgr.), iii. 259 «; represents
the Pope in Paris during the pre-
liminaries of the Concordat, iv. 206

Spol, iii. 77 «

Stael (Mme. de), hostess of a bourgeois
republican salon, iii. 239; iv. 84,
181 «, 182 n ; a hostess of the
Opposition, 248; 249; deported
from Paris with Benjamin Constant,

251

Stofflet, rebel (Catholic) leader, ii.
307 ; captured and shot, iv. 47

Suard, iii. 383 ; sentenced to be de-
ported in Fructidor, iv. 87, 1 76

Suares, i. 124 «

Surian, i. 235 n

Suzannet, royalist conspirator, iv. IIO

Sylla, i. 223

Taine, i. 261, iu 273

Talhouet (Mme. de), attached to Mme.
Bonaparte, iv. 244

Talleyrand, i. 152, 324; Minister of
Foreign Affairs, iii. 363 ; iv. 128 ;
takes part in the conspiracy of Bru-
tnaire, 141 ; 144 ; Foreign Minister
under the Consulate, 169 ; 182 ; dis-

INDEX

325

approves of the Concordat, 207 ; a
spy with a footing in both camps,
247 ; 260 ; Privy Councillor, 265 «

Tallien, i. 271 n; a member of the
Revolutionary Commune, 75 ; 121 ;
member of the Committee of General
Security, 231; iii. 75; 1 18; pre-
cipitates matters on the 9th of
Thermidor, 1 97 ; his arrest ordered
by the Commune, 200; member of
the Committee of Public Safety,
209 ; 215 « ; 216 w ; 222 ; recalled to
the reopened Jacobin Club, 224 ;
becomes a leader of the "gilded
youth " to destroy the power of the
ex-Terrorists, 237, 240, 270

Tallien (Mme.), hostess of a bourgeois
salon, iii. 239

Talot, iii. 379; iv. 119; ejected rom
the Legislature in Brumaire, 150 ;
sentenced to imprisonment, but
merely placed under surveillance,
156 ; 187

Tarbe, Directorial candidate, iii. 359 ;
iv. 54

Target, suggests amendments to the
Declaration of Rights, i. 1 50, 152 «

Tarquins, the, i. 252, ii. 52

Tassart, i. 235 n

Taton Lacreusade, iii. 175 «

Taveau, State messenger, iii. 355

Teniers, i. 365

Terral, iii. 278 «, 366

Terrasson, i. 312 «; proposes Feder-
alism at the Jacobins, ii. 137

Terrier, ii. 38

Terrier de Montciel, i. 300 n

Tesse(Mme. de), mentioned by Gouver-
neur Morris as a republican hostess,
i. 89 w

Theiner (Father), prefect of the Archives
of the Vatican, iv. 225 n

Themines (Bishop of Blois), a *' refrac-
tory," claimed in 1828 to be Bishop
of all France, iv. 212

Theot, Catherine (nicknamed " the
Mother of God"), ii. 245; Robes-
pierre's enemies seek to compromise

him by her trial, iii. 195 ; Robespierre
accuses Vadier of engineering the
affair, 196; 198

Th^ry, refused election as an anarchist,
iv. 120

Thibaudeau, describes delirious enthu-
siasm with which the National As-
sembly received Louis XVI, i. 82 ;
president of Convention, ii. 224;
member of the two "Government
Committees," 214 «, 216 «; 222;
complains of corruption of revolu-
tionaries by hostesses of bourgeois
salons, 240 ; 251, 272, 273 ; a mem-
ber of the " Commission of Eleven,"
275 ; states that the Commission
decided to put aside the Constitu-
tion of 1793, 276; 285 m; opposes
" graduality," 292 ; favours the bi-
cameral system, 295 ; his account of
the debates upon the supreme execu-
tive, 301 ; method of electing the
Directory, 302 ; 309 ; gives instance
of Directorial corruption re elec-
tions, 337 ; president of the Council
of 500, 354 ; a constitutional re-
publican, iv. 56 ; 96, 170, 181 ; as
prefect of the Gironde, complains of
the decay of the civil religion, 196-7,
an anecdote of the Concordat, 220 ;
221 « ; 230 «; his account of the
response of the Senate to the pro-
posal of the Empire, 265-6 ; 269 n

Thibault (Abbe), i. 190; ii. 222 « ;
eliminated from the Tribune, iv.
190

Thiers, first to use the term " Giron-
dists," iii. 32

Thirion, publicly burns the hearts of
Henri IV and Marie de Medicis, ii.
320 ; 366, 367

Thiry, Etienne, fraudulently represents
himself as a departmental commis-
sary, ii. 362

Tholin,'\. iiSn

Thomas, Saint, i. 124 «

Thomas, iv. 94

Thom^, rumoured to have received a

326

INDEX

dagger-thrust intended for Bona-
parte during the coup (f^tai of
Brumaire, iv. 148

Thouret, his suffrage scheme, i. 183,
I97> 326, 328

Thuriot, a member of the Jacobin
" Auxiliary Committee," ii. 163,
170 ; critic of the Declaration of
Rights, 182, 188, 190, 193 ; presi-
dent of Convention, 223 ; 238 n ;
resigns from the Committee of PubHc
Safety, 242 ; assists in the downfall
of Robespierre, 198; member of the
Committee of Public Safety, 209,
215 « ; recalled to the Jacobin Club,
224 ; arrested during the food riots
of Germmal, 244

Tiberius, i. 223

Tissier, arrested after the affair of the
Champ de Mars, i. 320

Tissot, ii. 220 M, iii. 342; accused of
Babeuvism by the Conservatives,
iv. 120 M ; 144

Topino-Lebrun, condemned to death
for hostility to Bonaparte, iv.
188

Tome (de), ii. 222 «

Toulongeon, ii. 105 «, 158

Tourneux, Maurice, i. 89 «, iv, 42

Tournie, i. 235 «, 360 n

Tournier, a Girondist, iii. 42

Toumon, a colleague of the Robert-
Keralio group, i. 221 n

Toussenel, i. 346;/

Toutin, iv. 120 «

Trajan, Louis XVI compared to, by
Desmoulins, i. 87

Trehouart, ii. 258 ; iii. 324

Treilhard, president of Convention, ii.
223 ; member of the Committee of
Public Safety, 238 ; retired, 239 ; iii.
209, 215, 216 « ; president of the
Council of 500, 354 ; elected a
Director, the election finally de-
clared invalid, 360 ; iv. 126 ; Privy
Councillor, 265 n

Tronchet, iii. 346 ; president of the
Council of Elders, 354

Tronson-Ducoudray, deported to, and
dies in, Guiana, iv. 87

Truguet, Minister of Marine and
Colonies under the Directory, iii.
325 ; his dismissal proposed by the
Legislative Corps, iv. 83

Turenne, iv. 181

Turgot, i. 83 ; his conception of gradu-
ally developed self-government, 106 ;
123, 262, 391 ; Hebert regrets that
Louis did not follow his advice and
save the monarchy, ii. 94

Turpin-Crisse (Mme. de), a royalist
agent of Louis XVIIL iv. 114

Turquet de Mayerne, ii. 72 n

Turreau, iii. 205

Ulrich (ex-Abbe), i. 235 n ; a Theo-
philanthropist, iv. 69

Vachard, one of the drafters of the
Jacobin petition of July 17, i. 313 ;
Mme. Roland's horror of, iii. 65-6

Vadier, president of Convention, ii.
223 ; member of the Committee of
General Security, 233 ; 245 ; pro-
ceedings against after Thermidor^
249 ; signs the Jacobin address de-
fending Marat, 83 ; prominent in the
affair of Catherine Theot, 196 ; his
arrest ordered by the Commune,
200; 213 «; denounced after the
Terror, 242 ; his deportation decreed
in Germinal, 244 ; involved in the
Babeuf affair, iv. 39 ; acquitted, 45 ;
recalled to France, 167 ; 247

Valaze, a member of the " Commission
of Six," ii. 171 ; the "Valaze Com-
mittee," iii. 35, 36 ; the principal
host of the Girondists, 37

Valence, ii. 106

Vallee, a Girondist and ex-priest, iii.
42 ; deported for " killing patriots "
in the civil war, iv. 94

INDEX

327

Vanieville, ii. 221 n

Vardon, member of the Committee of
General Security, iii. 214 w; State
messenger, 355

Varlet, drafter of a petition demanding
the dethronement of Louis XVI, ii.
60 «, 66; a Girondist, iii. 42; pub-
lishes a socialistic "declaration,"
128-9

Vaublanc, in favour of property suffrage,
iii. 281, 295 «; obtains a law pro-
hibiting clubs, 372; a constitutional-
ist, iv. 56; advice to Bonaparte, 231

Vaugeois, Gabriel, ii. 54 «

Vauvilliers, sentenced to deportation
after Fructidor, iv. 87

Venaille, departmental commissary, iii.
366-7

Vergennes (Mme. de), iv. 182

Vergniaud, a monarchist at the outset,
i. 86; 340, 345, 352; the "day "of
July 20th, 364 ; denounces the
treachery of Lrouis (July 3rd), 366 ;
confers with Louis and attempts to
persuade him to lead the Revolution,
ii. 64 ; 66 ; receives Louis in the
Assembly on August 1 0th, 69, 69 n ;
in view of his report the Assembly
suspends the King, 69-70 ; Marat's
attack upon, 100 n ; fails to secure
election to the Convention as deputy
for Paris, loi ; secretary, 145 ;
member of the Committee of Consti-
tution, 161 ; favours a secular De-
claration, 174; 180; president of
Convention, 223 ; of Committee of
Public Safety, 236 ; the first Com-
mittee in favour of an understanding
with the Girondist leaders, 239 ; iii.
32. 33) 34 j outside Mme. Roland's
influence, 38 ; 42, 43 ; not an avowed
atheist, 45 ; attitude toward the
Septemberers, 51-2 ; his federalism,
54 ; his love of Paris, 56 ; an orator
rather than a leader, 61, 62; political
influence, 63 ; 64 ; 66 « ; votes for
Louis' death, 99 ; 103 ; the struggle
between him and Robespierre on

May 31st, 109 ;Tarrested as one of
the "Twenty-Two," 112; 116; trial
and execution, 121-2; I184, 232;
280

Vermoul, i. 209 n

Vernerey, speaks of his welcome on
arriving in Allier to free peasants
imprisoned on religious grounds, ii.
260 ; of the manner iin which the
clergy have abused the law by im-
prisoning parishioners for non-
attendance at Mass, ^271 ; iii. 172;
his success as a " dechristianiser,"

175

Vernier, i. 328 ; president of Conven-
tion, ii. 224 ; a Girondist, iii. 42 ;
member of the Committee of Public
Safety, 216 « ; 346; president of
Council of Elders, 354

Verrieres, accused after the affair of the
Champ de Mars, i. 319, 320

Veycer, accused of a pretended con-
spiracy and shot, iv. 188

Veyrieu, iii. 366

Viaud, i. 229

Vidal, T., ii. iQin

Vidal, jun., admitted improperly to the
rights of an active citizen, i. 204

Vidalin, complains of royalist inscrip-
tions in 1793, ii. 318

Viellart, Directorial candidate, iii. 359

Vienot- Vaublanc, sentenced to depor-
tation in Fructidor, iv. 87

Viger, a Girondist, iii. 42 ; 43 ; one of
the "Twenty-Two," 121

Villar, ii. 222 n

Villaret-Joyeuse, sentenced to deport-
ation in Fructidor, iv. 87

Villers, president of the Council of
500, iii. 354

Villetard, demands, with Le Gendre,
that the copy of the 1793 Constitu-
tion be replaced in the Convention,
iii. 271 ; claims that the people
should choose the executive, 303 ;
claims- that pending the elections of
the year IV the Directory should
appoint officials, 345

328

INDEX

Villette, ii. 222 n

Vincent, i. 361 « ; a Girondist, iii. 42 ;
147 ; tried and executed with the
Hebert faction, 148

Vincent, Saint, iv. 69

Vinchaux, a Swiss, delegate of the
petitioners of July 14th, i. 308 n

Virieu, favours property suffrage, i.
189, 193

Vitellius, i. 87 n

Voidel, Charles, an Orleanist, iL I20»,
iv. 58

Volney, iv. 223, 226

Voltaire, his ideal a benevolent reform-
ing despot, i. 83 ; no republican, 93,
94, 95 «, 99 ; dechristianises polite
society, 119; lines from Brutus
adapted, 277 ; a friend of Cordorcet,
341 ; ii. 62 n ; iii. 43, 78 ; his religion
imported from England, iv. 66 ; free
thought unfashionable, iv. 203

Vosgien, i. 345

Voulland, in favour of State Catholicism,
i. 154 ; a Feuillant, though a demo-
crat, 316 « ; president of Convention,
ii. 223 ; member of the Committee
of General Security, iii. 213 w

Wandelaincourt, ii. 222 «

Washington, the Brissotins accused of
seeing in La Fayette a Washington,
i- 3561 356 w; ii. 136, 136^; created
a French citizen by Convention, 141 ;
iv. 69; Bonaparte perhaps for a
moment dreams of emulating, 157 ;
orders Washington's statue to be
placed in the Tuileries, 181

Watier, i. 235 n

Westermann (General), supporter of
Danton, iii. 116 ; executed with him,
150

Wilberforce, William, created a French
citizen by Convention, ii. 141

Williams, David, i. 254 n ; created a
French citizen by Convention, ii.
141 ; influences the Committee of
Constitution, 163 «; 173; a pre-
cursor of Theophilanthropy, iv. 66

Williams, Helena Maria, gives an
account of the Girondists, iii. 54

Willot (General), a royalist, iv. 54, 56 ;
an agent of the Pretender, 83 ; de-
ported in Fructidor, but escapes,
87, 87 n

Wimpffen, i. 169; France a "royal
democracy," 172, 172 w; tries to
win over the Girondist rebellion to
royalism, ii. 47

Wurtemburg (Due de), makes peace
with the Republic and cedes his
territory on the left of the Rhine,
iv. 49

York (Duke of), suggested as a
French king, ii. 62, 86; the idea
angers the people, 90; 96, 123 ; the
news spread that he has been called
to the throne, 124 ; 125, 315, 317 ;
iv. 58

Ysabeau, ii. 222 n ; a commissary, iii.
118; member of the Committee of
General Security, 214 n ; elected
an Elder, 325

Yzarn de Valady, ii. 222 n ; a Girond-
ist, iii. 42

SUPPLEMENTARY INDEX

OF THE CHIEF REFERENCES TO THE PRINCIPAL
POLITICAL EVENTS AND INSTITUTIONS OF
THE REVOLUTION

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