little thought how soon they were to receive from them CHAP. a master. XIX. 1795. 57. openly re It soon appeared that not only the armies, but a large majority of the departments, had accepted the constitu- The sections tion. The inhabitants of Paris, however, accustomed to solve to take the lead in all public measures, were not discour- revolt. aged; the section Lepelletier unanimously passed a resolution, "That the "That the powers of every constituted autho- Oct. 2. rity ceased in presence of the assembled people ;" and a provisional government, under the name of a Central Committee, was established under the auspices of its leaders. A majority of the sections adopted their resolution, which was immediately annulled by the Convention, and their decree was, in its turn, reversed by the Assemblies of the Electors. The contest now became open between the sections and the legislature; the former separated the constitution from the decrees ordaining the re-election of two-thirds of the old Assembly; they accepted the former, and rejected the latter. On the 3d October, (11 Vendémiaire,) it was resolved by the sections, that the electors chosen by the people should be assembled at the Théâtre Français, under protection of the Oct. 3. national guard; and on that day they were conducted xxxvii. 27, there by an armed force of chasseurs and grenadiers. 390, 391. The danger of an insurrection against a government hav- Lac.xii. 415. ing at its command the military force of France, was 29,30. Hist. apparent; but the enthusiasm of the moment over- iv. 368, 369. balanced all other considerations.1 1 Hist. Parl. 33. Mig. ii. Th. viii. 26, de la Conv. the electors Théâtre On the one side it was urged, "Are we about to con- 58. secrate, by our example, that odious principle of insurrec- Meeting of tion which so many bloody days have rendered hateful? at the Our enemies alone are skilled in revolts; the art of Français, exciting them is unknown to us. The multitude is indif- when resisferent to our cause; deprived of their aid, how can we solved on. face the government? If they join our ranks, how shall we restrain their sanguinary excesses? Should we prove victorious, what dynasty shall we establish? What tance is re XIX. 1795. CHAP. chiefs can we present to the armies? Is there not too much reason to fear that success would only revive divisions now happily forgotten, and give our enemies the means of profiting by our discord?" But to this it was replied," Honour forbids us to recede; duty calls upon us to restore freedom to our country, his throne to our monarch. We may now, by seizing the decisive moment, accomplish that which former patriots sought in vain to achieve. The 9th Thermidor only destroyed a tyrant; now tyranny itself is to be overthrown. If our names are now obscure, they will no longer remain so; we shall acquire a glory of which even the brave Vendeans shall be envious. Let us Dare: that is the watchword in Revolutions may it for once be employed on the side of order and freedom. The Convention will never forgive our outrages; the revolutionary tyranny, curbed for more than a year by our exertions, will rise up with renewed vigour for our destruction, if we do not anticipate its vengeance by delivering ourselves." Moved by these considerations, the sections unanimously resolved upon resistance. The national guard amounted to above thirty thousand men-but it was totally destitute of artillery, the sections having, in the belief that they were no longer required, delivered up the pieces with which they had been furnished in 1789, upon the final disarming of the insurgent faubourgs. Their want was now severely felt, as the Convention had fifty pieces at their command, stationed at Sablons near Paris, whose terrible efficacy had been abundantly proved on the 10th August; and the cannoneers who were to serve them were the same who had broken the lines of Prince Cobourg. The national guard hoped, by a rapid advance, to capture this formidable train of artillery, and then the victory was secure.1 1 Lac. xii. 391, 419. The leaders of the Convention, on their side, were not idle. In the evening of the 3d October, (11 Vendémiaire,) a decree was passed, ordering the immediate XIX. 1795. 59. vention. of Buona Oct. 3. dissolution of the electoral bodies in Paris, and embody- CHAP. ing into a regiment fifteen hundred of the Jacobins, many of whom were liberated from the prisons for that especial purpose. These measures brought matters to a Measures crisis between the sections and the government. This of the Condecree was openly resisted, and the national guard having Failure of assembled in force to protect the electors at the Théâtre appointment Français, the Convention ordered the military to dis- parte. perse them. General Menou was appointed commander of the armed force, and he advanced with the troops of the line to surround the Convent of the Filles-StThomas, the centre of the insurrection, where the section Lepelletier was assembled. Menou, however, had not the decision requisite for success in civil contests. Instead of attacking the insurgents, he entered into a negotiation with them, and retired in the evening without having effected any thing. His failure gave all the advantages of a victory to the sections; the national guard mustered in greater strength than ever, and resolved to attack the Convention at its place of assembly on the following day. Informed of this failure, and the dangerous excitement which it had produced in Paris, the Convention, at eleven at night, dismissed General Menou, Hist. Parl. and gave the command of the armed force, with unlimited 39. Mig.ii. powers, to General Barras. He immediately demanded the assistance, as second in command, of a young officer 421, 434. of artillery, who had distinguished himself at the siege of 39. Deux Toulon and in the war in the Maritime Alps-NAPO- 374, 385. LEON BUONAPARTE.1 1 xxxvii. 37, 391, 392. Lac. xii. Th. viii. 35, Amis, xiii. This young officer was immediately introduced to the 60. measure in Committee. His manner was timid and embarrassed; His decisive the career of public life was as yet new; but his clear seizing the and distinct opinions, the energy and force of his lan- artillery. guage, already indicated the powers of his mind. By his advice, the powerful train of artillery in the plain of Sablons, consisting of fifty pieces, was immediately brought by a lieutenant, afterwards well known in military annals, VOL. III. 2 R XIX. 1795. CHAP. named MURAT, to the capital, and disposed in such a position as to command all the avenues to the Convention. Early on the following morning, the neighbourhood of the Tuileries resembled a great intrenched camp. The line of defence extended from the Pont-Neuf, along the quays of the river to the Pont-Louis XVI.: the Place du Carrousel, and the Louvre, were filled with cannon, and the entrances of all the streets which open Amixiii. into the Rue St-Honoré strongly guarded. In this M393, position the commanders of the Convention awaited the Nap. ii. 267, attack of the insurgents. Buonaparte was indefatigable 74. Th. viii. in his exertions to inspire the troops with confidence: he visited every post, inspected every battery, and spoke to the men with that decision and confidence which is so often the prelude to victory.1 1 Deux 383, 391. and iii. 70, 40, 41, 42. Hist. de la Conv. iv. 383. 61. Combat round the Tuileries. sections. The action was soon commenced. Above thirty thousand men, under Generals Danican and Duhoux, surrounded the little army of six thousand, who, with this Defeat of the powerful artillery, defended the seat of the legislature. The combat began in the Rue St-Honoré at half-past four; the grenadiers, placed in the Church of St-Roch, opened a fire of musketry on the cannoneers of the Convention, who replied by a discharge of grape-shot, which swept destruction through the serried ranks of the national guard who occupied the Rue St-Honoré. Though the insurgents fought with the most determined bravery, and the fire from the Church of St-Roch was well sustained, nothing could resist the murderous grape-shot of the regular soldiers. Many of the cannoneers fell at their guns, but the fire of their pieces was not diminished. In a few minutes the Rue St-Honoré was deserted, and the flying columns carried confusion into the ranks of the reserve, who were formed near the Church of the FillesSt-Thomas. General Danican galloped off at the first discharge, and never appeared again during the day. Meanwhile, the Pont-Neuf was carried by the insurgents, and a new column, ten thousand strong, advanced along CHAP. 1795. xxxvii. 53, Amis, xiii. the opposite quay to the Tuileries, to attack the PontRoyal. Buonaparte allowed them to advance within twenty yards of his batteries, and then opened his fire; the insurgents stood three discharges without flinching; Hist. Parl. but, not having resolution enough to rush upon the can- 57. Deux non after they were fired, they were ultimately driven 394, 399. back in disorder, and by seven o'clock the victory of the 395. Lac. Convention was complete at all points. At nine, the xii. 436,441. troops of the line carried the posts of the national guard 50. Toul. in the Palais Royal, and on the following morning the Nap. i. 70, section Lepelletier was disarmed, and the insurgents i. 90, 96. every where submitted.1 Th. viii. 42, v. 66, 368. 78. Bour. 62. ment of Such was the result of the LAST INSURRECTION of the people in the French Revolution; all the subsequent changes Establishwere effected by the government or the armies, without their military despotism. interference. The insurgents, on this occasion, were not the rabble or the assassins who had so long stained its history with blood; they were the flower of the citizens of Paris, comprising all that the Revolution had left that was generous, or elevated, or noble in the capital. They were overthrown, not by the superior numbers or courage of their adversaries, but by the terrible effect of their artillery, by the power of military discipline, and the genius of that youthful conqueror before whom all the armies of Europe were destined to fall. The moral strength of the nation was all on their side; but, in revolutions, it is seldom that moral strength proves ultimately victorious; and the examples of Cæsar and Cromwell are not required to show that the natural termination of civil strife is military despotism. 63. vention after The Convention made a generous use of their victory. The Girondists, who exercised an almost unlimited sway Humanity over its members, put in practice those maxims of cle- of the Conmency which they had so often recommended to others; the officers who had gained the victory felt a strong repugnance to their laurels being stained with the blood of their fellow-citizens. Few executions followed this decisive tory. |