XIX. 1795. CHAP. vailed in the former; the pride of riches, the passion for newly acquired distinction, swayed the latter. At the theatres, at the public assemblies, every thing breathed the recent deliverance from death. No such thunders of applause shook the opera as when the orchestra struck up the favourite air of the Troupe Dorée, called Le Réveil du Peuple, which successfully combated the revolutionary energy of the Marseillaise hymn. One of the most fashionable and brilliant kind of assembly was called Le Bal des Victimes, the condition of entrance to which was the loss of a near relation by the guillotine. Between the countrydances they said, "We dance on the tombs ;" and a favourite dress for the hair was adopted from the way in which it had been arranged immediately before execution. The almanacs most in request were called "Les Almanachs des Prisons," in which the sublime resignation and courage of many of the captives were mingled with the ribaldry and indecency with which others had endeavoured to dispel the gloom of that sombre abode. But the Christian virtue of charity was never more eminently 30,31. Lac. conspicuous than among those who, themselves recently Mig. ii. 356. delivered from death, knew how to appreciate the sufferings of their fellow-creatures.1 1 Deux Amis, xiv. xii. 174,176. 19. Gradual abrogation lutionary measures. children of those exe cuted dur Meanwhile the Convention gradually undid the laws which had been passed during the government of the of the Revo- Terrorists. The law of the maximum of prices, which had been introduced to favour the tumultuous inhabitants Amnesty to of the towns, at the expense of the industrious labourers of the country; the prohibitions against Christian worship; ing the Re- the statutes confiscating the property of the Gironde party, condemned by the Committees, were successively repealed. This was followed by a general measure, restoring to the families of all persons condemned since the Revolution, their property, so far as it had not been disposed of to others. The Abbé Morellet published an eloquent appeal to the public, entitled Le Cri des Familles, and Legendre concluded a powerful speech in their favour with these volution. Dec. 8. Dec. 17. CHAP. XIX. 1795. touching words :-" If I possessed one acre belonging to these unfortunate sufferers, never could I taste of repose. In the evening, while walking in my solitary garden, I would fancy I beheld in each rosebud the tears of an orphan whom I had robbed of its inheritance." The bust of Marat was soon after broken at the Théâtre Feydeau by a band of the Troupe Dorée, as it had already been at the Théâtre Français, and next day his busts were destroyed in all the public places. About the same time, the survivors of the proscribed members of the Girondist party, who had been in concealment since the revolt of the 31st May, were restored to their seats in the Assembly; and the Thermidorian party saw itself strengthened by the accession of Louvet, Isnard, Lanjuinais, Henri Larivière, and others, alike estimable for their talents, and their xii.177,179. constancy under adverse fortune, and whose numerous 230. Hist. crimes had been expiated by the sufferings, their natural iv. 237,245. consequence, which they had undergone.1 Dec. 29. Hist. Parl. 299, Mig. ii. 361, 200, 220. 363. Lac. Th. vii. 229, de la Conv. 20. ment of Varennes leaders. Supported by the accession of so many new members, and the increasing force of public opinion, Tallien and his Impeachfriends at length proceeded to the decisive measure of Billaud impeaching Billaud Varennes, Collot d'Herbois, Barère, and the and Vadier, the remaining heads of the Jacobins. " You Jacobin demand the restoration of terror," said Tallien: "let us consider the means it employs before we estimate its effects. A government can never inspire terror but by menacing with capital punishments, by menacing without intermission, without distinction, without investigation, all who oppose it by menacing without proof, on mere suspicion, on no ground at all: by striking continually with relentless hand, in order to inspire terror into all the world. You must suspend over every action a punishment, over every word a threat, over silence even a suspicion you must place under every step a snare, in every family a traitor, in every tribunal an assassin: you must put every citizen to the torture, by the punishment of multitudes, and subsequent massacre of the executioners, XIX. 1795. CHAP. lest they should become too powerful. Such is the system of governing by terror; does it belong to a free, humane, and regular government, or to the worst species of tyranny?" These eloquent words produced a great im1 Hist. Parl. pression the opposition against the Jacobins became so 255. Deux powerful, both within and without the Assembly, that a 80. Hist. de return to severe measures was impossible, and the government was swept along by the universal passion for a humane administration.1 Amis, xiii. la Conv. iv. 231. 21. distress and March 1795. This bold step, however, excited the most violent tumults Extreme among the democratic party. Several causes at that period agitation in contributed to inflame the public discontent. The winter, France. which had set in with uncommon severity, exposed many of the lower classes to suffering; a scarcity of provisions was, as usual, ascribed by the multitude to the conduct of government, and the dreadful depreciation of the assignats threatened almost every individual in the kingdom with ruin. Instruments of this dangerous description, to the amount of above eight milliards of francs, or £320,000,000 sterling, had been put into circulation by the Revolutionary government; and although their influence had been prodigious at the moment in sustaining the credit of the state, and even causing its coffers to overflow, yet their nominal value soon gave way, from the distrust of government, the vast excess of the circulating medium, and the immense quantity of confiscated property which was at the same time brought to sale. They had now fallen to one-fifteenth of the sum for which they were issued. "The worst rebellions," says Lord Bacon, 2 Deux 37,39. Hist. 184, 192. are Amis, xiii. those which proceed from the stomach ;" and of this truth Parl. xxxvi. Paris soon furnished an example. The Jacobin leaders, Laxi.174, threatened with accusation, used their utmost exertions to Mig. ii. 364, rouse the populace, and the discontent arising from so 365. Th. vii. much suffering made them lend a willing ear to their Hist. de la seditious harangues.2 Carnot was not included in the Act 191, 194. 249, 250. Conv. iv. 232. of Accusation; but he had the magnanimity to declare that, having acted with his colleagues for the public good, he had no wish but to share their fate. This generous proceeding embarrassed the accusers; but, in order to avoid implicating so illustrious a character in the impeachment, it was resolved to limit it to some only of the members of the Committee, and Amar, Vouland, and the painter David, were excluded: the last of whom had disgraced a fine genius by the most savage revolutionary fanaticism. CHAP. 1795. 22. Jacobin On the 1st April, a revolt was organised in the faubourgs, to prevent the trial of Billaud-Varennes, Revolt of the populace Collot-d'Herbois, Barère, and Vadier, which was to to save the commence two days after. The cry of the insurgents leaders. was-" Bread, the constitution of 1793, and the freedom April 1. of the patriots in confinement." The universal suffering which had followed the democratic rule, afforded the Jacobins too powerful a lever to move the passions of the people; and, as usual in such cases, they found no difficulty in making them believe that their distresses were not owing to their own excesses, but to the abridgment of their power: "Since France had become republican," says the graphic annalist, himself a member of the Convention, and supporter of Robespierre, "every species of evil had accumulated upon its devoted head: famine, a total cessation of commerce, civil war, attended by its usual accompaniments-conflagration, robbery, pillage, and murder. Justice was interrupted, the sword of the law wielded by iniquity: property spoliated, confiscation had become the order of the day, the scaffold permanently erected, calumnious denunciations held in the highest estimation. Nothing was wanting to the general desolation. Virtue, merit of every sort, were persecuted with unrelenting severity: debauchery encouraged, arbitrary arrests universally established, the revolutionary armies ploughing through the state like devouring flame, cruelty every where fomented, hatred and disunion brought into the bosom of domestic circles. Never had a country descended so low never had a people been overwhelmed VOL. III. 2 P XIX. CHAP. by a similar chaos of crimes and abominations." Instigated by such sufferings, a formidable band soon surrounded 1795. the Convention. Speedily they forced their way in; 1 Hist. Parl. drunken women, abandoned prostitutes, formed the revolt262. Hist. ing advanced guard; but speedily a more formidable ii. 215, 216. band of petitioners, with pikes in their hands, filled every vacant space.1 xxxvi. 260, de la Conv. 23. Defeat of the insur gents. Having penetrated to the bar, they commenced the most seditious harangues. "You see before you," said they," the men of the 14th July, the 10th August, and the 31st May. They have sworn to conquer or die: they will maintain the constitution of 1793, and the Declaration of Rights. It is high time that the workingclasses should cease to be the victims of the selfishness of the rich, and the cupidity of merchants. Where is the abundant harvest of the last year? Have we destroyed the Bastille to raise up a thousand others for the imprisonment of the patriots? Public misery is at its height: the assignats are worth nothing; for you have passed decrees which have destroyed their value and you, sacred Mountain, the men of the 14th July invoke your aid in this crisis to save the country." With these words, ascending the benches of the members, they seated themselves with the deputies of the Mountain. Every thing announced the approach of a crisis; the Jacobins were recovering their former audacity, and the majority of the Convention, labouring under severe apprehension, were on the point of withdrawing, when, fortunately, a large body of the Troupe Dorée, who had assembled at the sound of the tocsin, entered the hall, under the command of Pichegru, chanting in loud strains the "Réveil du Peuple." 3 Hist. Parl. The insurgents knew their masters; and that formidable xxxvi. 269, body, before whom the strength of the monarchy had so often trembled, yielded to the courage of a few hundred The crowd, lately so from the bar, and in a 274. Lac. xii. 198. Mig. ii. 365. Conv. iv. Hist. de la half-disciplined young men. 2 clamorous, gradually withdrew 295, 305. short time the accused members were left alone to the |