progress of the french revolution—death of mirabeau—attempted flight of the king from paris—attitude of the sovereigns of europe—the parties of the right and of the left—the girondists—decrees against the emigrants—negotiations between marie antoinette and pitt—condition of the french army—session of 1792; debates on foreign affairs—marriage of the duke of york—the prince of wales's allowance—the budget—the anti-slavery movement—magistracy bill—attempts at reform—the society of the friends of the people—proclamation against seditious writings—fox's nonconformist relief bill—prorogation of parliament—associations and counter-associations—lord cornwallis's war against tippoo sahib—capture of seringapatam—peace with tippoo—embassy to china—designs of the powers against poland—catherine resolves to strike—invasion of poland—neutrality of england—conquest of poland—imminence of war between france and austria—it is declared—failure of the french troops—the duke of brunswick's proclamation—insurrection of the 10th of august—massacre of the swiss—suspension of the king—ascendency of jacobinism—dumouriez in the passes of the argonne—battle of valmy—retreat of the prussians—occupation of the netherlands by the french troops—custine in germany—occupation of nice and savoy—edict of fraternity—abolition of royalty—trial and death of the king—effect of the deed on the continent—the militia called out in england—debates in parliament on war with france—the alien bill—rupture of diplomatic relations with france—war declared against britain—efforts to preserve the peace—they are ineffectual.

while these things had been passing in england, the revolution in france had been making great strides. the assembly, after its removal to paris, passed completely under the influence of the violent jacobin club, and the work of destruction and reconstitution proceeded with startling rapidity. by the division of france into departments all the old territorial arrangements and provincial assemblies were abolished; the judicial system was re-established on a popular basis, and its dependence on the crown swept away; the church was made a department of the state, and its vast property sold, chiefly by means of bills payable in church lands and called assignats. the position of the king became well-nigh intolerable. there was a chance, indeed, that mirabeau might extricate him from the toils of his enemies. that great man, now reconciled to the court, advised him to withdraw from the capital, and throw himself upon the conservatism of the country districts. but the death of mirabeau in april, 1791, deprived louis of his only wise adviser, and in june he adopted the ill-judged course of flying from paris, with the object of making his way across the frontier and joining the enemies of his country. the flight was ill-managed, the royal family were arrested at varennes and brought back as prisoners to paris, where they were placed under the strictest surveillance.

had the sovereigns of europe been in earnest in behalf of the king of france, and had they at once marched into the country, they could scarcely have failed to make themselves masters of paris; though they might have precipitated the deaths of the king and queen. but, in truth, the kings of europe were in no such chivalrous mood; they were thinking more of their own interests, and actually, some of them, planning the most disgraceful robberies of their neighbours. spain, seeing no sign of coalition[387] amongst the northern sovereigns, expressed its friendly disposition towards the french government, and prevented an attempt on its southern provinces, in which the knights of malta were to assist with two frigates. the french emigrants at brussels and coblenz were in a state of agitation, declaring that monsieur, who had now joined them, was the regent of the kingdom, seeing that the king was a prisoner and had no will of his own. the poor king was compelled by the assembly to write to them, disavowing these proceedings. as to the powers in general, leopold of austria, who had the most direct interest in the rescue of his sister and her family, was, notwithstanding his recent declarations, desirous rather of peace and by no means pleased with the emigrants. a declaration of allied sovereigns was, indeed, made at pillnitz, that prussia and austria and russia would advance to the rescue of louis xvi.; but the more immediate object of the agreement made there was the dismemberment of poland, which was determined in secret articles. any concerted action on the part of the powers was, in fact, rendered impossible by the action of pitt, who, true to his policy of neutrality and of holding aloof from any interference in the domestic concerns of france, declined to sanction any appeal to arms.

in september, 1791, the assembly, having completed the constitution, which was accepted by the king, dissolved. its place was taken by the national legislative assembly, which met on the 1st of october. as the jacobins had expected, the elections of the departments had occupied but little attention. the public gaze had been fixed on the acts of the assembly about to retire, so that a race of new men appeared, which seemed at first to divide itself into two parties—the coté droit, or constitutional party, and the coté gauche, or democratic party; but the latter party soon divided itself into two, the mountain and the gironde. it is difficult to discern the distinguishing traits of these two revolutionary parties. at first they all worked together, clearly for the downfall of the monarchy. robespierre, petion, marat, danton, were associated with those who afterwards divided themselves into the gironde, with condorcet, brissot, the rolands, and vergniaud. though robespierre, petion, and danton were no longer in the assembly, they ruled the jacobin party there from the clubs. it was not till the question of war arose that the split took place. the jacobins and girondists were for war, robespierre was obstinately against it. at first he stood nearly alone, but by degrees, though he did not draw the jacobins very soon to his views, he drew them speedily away from the girondists. this party of the girondists had been growing and forming for some time. it took its rise originally at bordeaux, the great commercial city of the department of the gironde. bordeaux was of roman origin. it had always displayed a warm love of independence, which its parliaments had continually kept alive. it had of late years become the chief commercial link between france and the revolutionised united states. it had early, too, become leavened with the new philosophy; it was the birthplace of montaigne and montesquieu. the gironde sent up to the new assembly twelve deputies, all as yet unknown, but all deeply imbued with the new principles. these, on arriving in paris, soon found themselves mixed up, at the house of condorcet and the rolands, with robespierre, danton, petion, buzot, brissot, carra-louvet, thomas paine, and, in fact, nearly all the thorough revolutionists. the active centre of the whole party, up to the period of the question of the war against the emigrants, was madame roland, and such she continued to be of the girondists after their separation into a distinct party, and after that they had become the antagonists of the mountain or jacobin party.

the emigrants had continued to flock to coblenz, and their number, with their families, now amounted to nearly one hundred thousand of the most wealthy and influential class in france. they continued to make preparations for war, and it is no wonder that the people of france beheld their menacing attitude with uneasiness. though the king publicly wrote letters to the emigrants, desiring them to return to their country, and employ themselves as good citizens under the constitution, there was a strong suspicion that he privately gave them different advice. that the king did maintain a secret correspondence with some of the insurgents is certain; but it is neither proved, nor does it appear probable, that he sanctioned their intention of making war on the country. but their obstinate absence drove the assembly now to such severe measures against them as compelled louis to exercise his veto in their favour, and he thus destroyed his popularity with the public, and caused himself to be considered as really in league with the emigrants. nevertheless, it was the advice of all the king's ministers, as well as it appears to have been his own feeling, that they should return, for they[388] might have added immensely to the influence in favour of the throne. louis, therefore, again exhorted the emigrants to return; but they continued inflexible. he next wrote to the officers of the army and navy, deploring the information that he had received that they were quitting the service, and that he could not consider those his friends who did not, like himself, remain at their posts; but this was equally ineffectual, and the minister of war reported to the assembly that one thousand nine hundred officers had deserted. the assembly was greatly incensed; the girondists deemed it a good opportunity to force the king to deal a blow at the nobility and at his own brothers. on the 20th of october brissot ascended the tribune, and demanded measures of severity against the emigrants. at the close of the debate a decree was passed requiring the king's brothers to return to france within three months, on pain of forfeiting all their rights as citizens, and their claims as princes on the succession to the crown. on the 9th of november a second decree was passed, declaring that all frenchmen assembled on the frontiers were suspected of conspiracy against the country; that all such as should continue there till the 1st of january should be treated as traitors; that princes and public functionaries should become amenable to the same punishments; that the incomes of all such emigrants, from lands, moneys, or offices, should from the present moment be sequestrated; that a court should be appointed in january to try them; and that any frenchman, after this, crossing the frontiers, or found guilty of endeavouring to seduce the people from their allegiance, should be put to death.

whilst the nation was growing every day more jacobinical, and the danger was becoming more imminent, the queen sent a secret agent to london to sound pitt. she hoped to win him to an announcement of supporting the throne of france in conjunction with the continental sovereigns; but pitt showed his usual reserve. he declared that england would not allow the revolutionary spirit to put down the monarchy, but he said nothing expressly of supporting the monarch himself; and the queen, who was always suspicious that the duke of orleans was aiming at the crown, and that he had made himself a party in england, was filled with alarm, lest pitt's words only concealed the idea of such a king. still the attitude of the continental powers became more menacing. the troops of the emperor, in belgium and luxembourg, pressed upon the very frontiers of france, and the numbers of the emigrants were constantly increasing in the territories of the electors of treves, mayence, and spires. two hundred thousand men, in fact, formed a line along the french frontiers from basle to the scheldt.

the french, exasperated beyond further endurance, on the 22nd of november entered on the question of war in the assembly in earnest. koch, of strasburg, the well-known historian, declared that no time was to be lost; that the german nations were every day violating the frontiers of france, and that the minister for foreign affairs was not to be trusted. three armies were formed. rochambeau, who was now ailing, and out of humour, was appointed to that stationed in flanders, and called the army of the north; lafayette was put in command of the central division stationed at metz, and luckner of the one stationed in alsace. narbonne, the new minister, made a rapid journey, and returning, announced to the assembly that the different fortresses were fast assuming a creditable condition, and that the army, from dunkirk to besan?on, presented a mass of two hundred and forty battalions, one hundred and sixty squadrons, with artillery requisite for two hundred thousand men, and supplies for six months. this report was received with acclamations. so closed the year 1791.

the year 1792 opened in england with a state of intense anxiety regarding the menacing attitude of affairs in france. there were all the signs of a great rupture with the other continental nations; yet the king, in opening parliament, on the 31st of january, did not even allude to these ominous circumstances, but held out the hope of continued peace. george iii. stated that he had been engaged with some of his allies in endeavouring to bring about a pacification between the russians and austrians with turkey, and that he hoped for the conclusion of the war in india against tippoo sahib, ere long, through the able management of lord cornwallis. he also announced the approaching marriage of the duke of york with the eldest daughter of the king of prussia. grey and fox, in the debate upon the address, condemned strongly our interference on behalf of turkey—a state which they contended ought, from its corruption, to be allowed to disappear. they also expressed a strong opinion that the war in india would not be so soon terminated. fox was very severe on the treatment of dr. priestley and the dissenters at birmingham, declaring the injuries[389] done to priestley and his friends equally disgraceful to the nation and to the national church. he passed the highest encomiums on the loyalty of the dissenters. pitt regretted the outrages at birmingham, but slid easily over them to defend the support of turkey as necessary to the maintenance of the balance of power in europe; and he concluded the debate by stating that the revenue of the last year had been sixteen million seven hundred and seventy thousand pounds, and that it left nine hundred thousand pounds towards the liquidation of the national debt.

the count de mirabeau.

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grey and fox then made an equally brisk attack on the support of turkey by ministers. they greatly applauded the czarina, and fox affirmed that so far from turkey soliciting our interference, it had objected to it. on the same day, in the lords, lord fitzwilliam opened the same question. he contended that we had fitted out an expensive armament to prevent the conquest by russia of oczakoff, and yet had not done it, but had ended in accepting the very terms that the czarina had offered in 1790. ministers replied that, though we had not saved oczakoff, we had prevented still more extensive attempts by russia. though the opposition, in both cases, was defeated, the attack was renewed on the 27th of february, when the earl stanhope—an enthusiastic worshipper of the french revolution—recommended, as the best means of preventing aggression by continental monarchs, a close alliance on our part with france. two days afterwards mr. whitbread introduced a string of resolutions in the commons, condemning the interference of ministers between russia and turkey, and the needless expenditure thus incurred, in fact, going over[390] much the same ground. a strenuous debate followed, in which grey, fox, windham, francis, sheridan, and the whole whig phalanx, took part. on this occasion, mr. jenkinson, afterwards earl of liverpool, first appeared, and made his maiden speech in defence of ministers. he showed that the system of aggression had commenced with russia, and menaced the profoundest dangers to europe; that britain had wisely made alliance with prussia to stem the evil, and he utterly repudiated all notion of the moderation of the czarina, whose ambition he asserted to be of the most unscrupulous kind.

prussia having been introduced into the debate, on the 1st of march it was renewed by mr. martin, followed by francis, fox, and others, who argued that the secret was thus out; we were fighting again on account of the old mischief—german alliances. pitt defended the policy of ministers. he asked whether russia was to be permitted to drive the turks from europe and plant herself in constantinople, with greece as part of her empire? in that case, russia would become the first maritime power in the world, for her situation in the heart of the mediterranean, and with greeks for her sailors—the best sailors in that sea—would give her unrivalled advantages, and make her the most destructive opponent of british interests that had ever arisen. pitt drew a dark character of the czarina—the messalina of the north; reminded the house of her endeavours to strike a mortal blow at us during the american war; of her arrogance and insolence on many occasions, and said that he did not envy fox the honour of having his bust ordered by this notorious woman from nollekens, the sculptor. fox well deserved this hard blow, for he had shown a strange blindness to the grasping designs of russia, and confessed that, whilst in office, he had refused to concur in remonstrances to russia against the seizure of the crimea. the motion of whitbread was rejected by a majority of two hundred and forty-four against one hundred and sixteen.

on the 7th of march the house of commons went into committee on the establishment of the duke of york, on account of his marriage. fox united with pitt in supporting the recommendation that twenty-five thousand pounds per annum should be added to the twelve thousand pounds which the duke already had; besides this the duke had a private yearly revenue of four thousand pounds, making altogether forty-one thousand a year, in addition to the bishopric of osnaburg, in germany, which had been conferred on the duke, though a layman and a soldier. notwithstanding the union of whigs and tories on this occasion, the vote did not pass without some sharp remarks on the miserable stinginess of the king of prussia, who only gave his daughter the paltry sum of twenty-five thousand pounds as a dowry, and stipulated that even that should be returned in case of the duke's death, though in that case his daughter was to have a permanent allowance of eight thousand pounds a year.

fox, on this occasion, also introduced the subject of the prince of wales's allowance, who, he contended, had far less than had been granted to a prince of wales since the accession of the house of hanover, that allowance being one hundred thousand pounds a-year; and the present parsimony towards the prince being grossly aggravated by the royal civil list having been raised, in this reign, from six hundred thousand pounds to nine hundred thousand pounds, and the privy purse from six thousand pounds to sixty thousand pounds. fox's remarks were rendered all the more telling because, when the house went into committee on the finances, pitt had made a most flourishing statement of the condition of the exchequer. he took off the taxes which pressed most on the poorer portion of the population—namely, on servants, the late augmentations on malt, on waggons, on inhabited houses, etc.,—to the amount of two hundred thousand pounds and appropriated four hundred thousand pounds towards the reduction of the national debt. still blind to the storm rising across the strait of dover, he declared that these were mere trifles compared with what he should be able to do shortly, for never was there a time when a more durable peace might be expected!

but besides nascent war, the anti-slavery movement of wilberforce, pitt's friend, was decidedly adverse to the expected increase of income. the abolitionists had now begun to abandon the use of slave-grown sugar, and they proposed to extend this to all the produce of the west india islands, till the slave trade should be extirpated. this alarmed pitt, as chancellor of the exchequer, and he prevailed on wilberforce to discourage this project for awhile. the abolition cause received serious injury from the frightful insurrection which had broken out in st. domingo, and from the outrages which the insurgent blacks had perpetrated on the whites. such were held up by the friends of slavery as the natural consequences of novel doctrines of philanthropy. what made[391] the matter more serious was, that brissot and the worst of the jacobins were the authors of these bloody tragedies, by their violent advocacy of the universal adoption of the rights of man. all these men were enthusiastic applauders of the english abolitionists. paine was a prominent abolitionist; and clarkson, the right hand of wilberforce, was an equal admirer of the french revolution, and gave serious offence by attending a dinner at the "crown and anchor," to celebrate the taking of the bastille. these circumstances had a great effect when wilberforce, on the 2nd of april, brought in his annual motion for the immediate abolition of the slave trade. fox and pitt eloquently supported him; but dundas, now become secretary of state, prevailed to introduce into the motion the words "gradual abolition." the wilberforce party managed to carry a motion in the commons, for the abolition of the trade to the west indies, on the 1st of january, 1796; but this was thrown out in the lords, where it was opposed by the duke of clarence, who had been in the west indies, and thought the descriptions of the condition of the slaves overdrawn. it was also opposed by thurlow, by horsley, bishop of st. davids, and a considerable majority.

during this session a very important bill was introduced, and passed both houses, for the improvement of the police, and the administration of justice in london. the old unpaid and very corrupt magistrates were set aside. the metropolis was divided into five districts, each having its police office, at which three justices were to sit, each having a salary of three hundred pounds per annum. they were not allowed to take fees in their own persons, and all fines paid in the courts were to be put in a box towards defraying the salaries and other official expenses. constables and magistrates were empowered to take up persons who could not give a good account of themselves, and commit them as vagabonds.

a great raid of reform was made in the opposition, and it fell first on the corruption of the boroughs, both in scotland and england. the subject was brought on, as it were, incidentally. an enclosure bill, affecting some parts of the new forest, hampshire, was attacked, as a job intended to benefit pitt's staunch supporter, george rose, who had rapidly risen from an obscure origin to the post of secretary to the treasury. rose had a house and small estate in the forest, and there was a universal outcry, both in parliament and in the public press, that, in addition to the many sinecures of the fortunate rose, there was also a sop intended for him at the cost of the crown lands. the reformers were successful in casting much blame on ministers, and they followed it up by charging rose with bribing one thomas smith, a publican in westminster, to procure votes for the ministerial candidate, lord hood. though the motion for a committee of the house to inquire into the particulars of this case was defeated, yet the debates turned the attention of the country on the scandalous bribery going on in boroughs. the scots, the countrymen of rose, petitioned for an inquiry into the condition of their boroughs. of the sixty-six boroughs, petitions for such inquiry came from fifty. they complained that the members and magistrates of those corporations were self-elected, and by these means the rights and property of the inhabitants were grievously invaded.

sheridan introduced the subject on the 18th of april, and fox ably supported him; but the motion was negatived. but this defeat only appeared to stimulate the reformers to higher exertions. on the 28th of april a new reform society, entitled the society of the friends of the people, was formally inaugurated by the issue of an address, which was signed by no less than twenty-eight members of the house of commons, and a considerable number of lords, amongst them the lords lauderdale, john russell, stanhope, and fitzgerald. their title was unfortunate, for, though they were united only for parliamentary reform, this cognomen was so much in the french style as to create suspicion and alarm. many of the members were known to be admirers of the french revolution, and about the same time another and decidedly french-admiring society was started, calling itself the corresponding society, and prosecuting a zealous intercourse with the girondists and jacobins. the admiration of french political principles rendered the conservative portion of the population quite determined to resist all innovations; and as this society of the friends of the people was regarded as a direct imitation of the jacobin club, it was violently opposed and stigmatised. on the 30th of april mr. grey, as representative of this society, rose to announce that in the next session he meant to introduce a regular measure for the reform of parliament; that it was necessary, he said, had long been asserted by the two leading men of the house—pitt and fox. pitt rose on this, and declared himself still the friend of reform; but he contended that this was not the time to attempt it. he had only, he said, to point to[392] the state of things in france, and to the effervescence which those principles of anarchy had produced in britain, to show the necessity of remaining quiet for the present; neither did he believe that the mass of the english people would support any change in our constitution. fox upbraided pitt with the abandonment of his former sentiments, and contended that we had only to look at the money spent lately in the armament against russia, money thus spent without any consent of the people, to perceive the necessity of reform in our representation. he referred to pitt's remarks on revolutionary books and pamphlets recently published, and declared that he had read very few of them. he had only read one of the two books of thomas paine, the "rights of man," and did not like it. burke replied to him, and drew a most dismal picture of the condition of france under her revolutionists. he said that the french assembly was composed of seven hundred persons, of whom four hundred were lawyers, and three hundred of no description; that he could not name a dozen out of the whole, he believed, with one hundred pounds a-year; and he asked whether we should like a parliament in great britain resembling it. in this debate, the further dissolution of the whig party became obvious when windham and others took the side of burke.

immediately after this debate the government took active steps to crush that spirit of free discussion in books, pamphlets and associations, which no doubt had been greatly stimulated by the excitement of the french revolution, and which they professed to believe was aiming at the same object—the destruction of the monarchy. but in attempting to check this spirit, they adopted the un-english plan of fettering the press and individual opinion. pitt's government issued a proclamation against seditious books, and societies corresponding with the republicans across the water; and magistrates were desired to make diligent inquiries as to the authors of seditious books and pamphlets, to put down all mischievous associations, and to take the promptest means of suppressing and preventing riots and disturbances. an address in approbation of this proclamation was moved by mr. pepper arden, the master of the rolls, in the commons, and a short debate was the consequence. in this grey and fox declared that the proclamation was unconstitutional, mischievous, and oppressive; that it was a stimulus given to hot-headed and bigoted magistrates all over the country to invade the freedom of the press and of private life, on pretence of preventing disturbance; that the true constitutional remedy for any wrong opinions promulgated by the press was their regulation by right and sound opinions; that the blow was aimed against the society of the friends of the people, and intended to crush reform, and divide the whig party; that, in truth, the riots and instigations to anarchy came not from the reformers, but from the church, the magistracy, and the tories; and they appealed for the truth of this to the disgraceful scenes which had occurred at birmingham. they reminded government that in 1782 pitt had joined the duke of richmond, major cartwright, and horne tooke, in a meeting, at the thatched house tavern, for reform; that they, the whigs, had never gone to the length of cartwright and horne tooke in their principles of reform, as pitt had done; and they reproached the minister with his shameful inconsistency. lord john russell, francis, lambton, and others, supported grey and fox; and windham, lord north, dundas, etc., supported pitt. the address was carried; and when sent up to the lords produced another striking exhibition of the change going on in the whig party; for the prince of wales, who had hitherto been in such close union with them, and had been so zealously supported by them, now rose and gave his decided approbation to the address, declaring that he had been educated in admiration of the established constitution, and was determined, so far as in him lay, to support it. these words were received with triumph by the government party, the address was carried almost unanimously, and was followed by an immediate prosecution of the "rights of man," by the attorney-general, which caused it to be far more generally read than it otherwise would have been.

it appeared to be the design of the whigs to agitate this session a series of questions connected with freedom of opinion, which, from the spirit of the times, they could not have the slightest chance of carrying, but merely to maintain the cause of liberty and liberality against the spirit of alarm and the spirit of tyranny that dogged its steps. on the 11th of may fox moved for leave to bring in a bill to repeal certain old statutes affecting the dissenters, but his principal remarks were directed against the outrages perpetrated on dr. priestley and the unitarians at birmingham, his tone being taken from a petition from that body presented a few days before. burke replied to[393] him, and asserted that this body of so-called religionists was rather a body of political agitators. he noticed, in proof, the close connection of drs. price and priestley, and their adherents, with the french revolutionists. he quoted priestley's own writings to show that they avowed a desire to destroy the national church. he expressed his conviction that, from the intolerance shown by this party in the prosecution of their views, they would, did they succeed in destroying the church and the constitution, prove worse masters than those whom the english nation then had. he had no desire to see the king and parliament dragged after a national assembly, as they had been by the admired reforms of priestley, price, and that party, and much preferred to live under george iii. or george iv. than under dr. priestley or dr. kippis. pitt expressed his unwillingness to give more power to a party that declared its desire to overturn both church and constitution; and fox, in reply, attacked burke's "reflections on the french revolution," saying that paine's "age of reason" was a libel on the constitution of great britain, but that burke's book was a libel on every free constitution in the world. the motion was rejected by one hundred and forty-two votes against sixty-three.

government house, calcutta. (from a photograph by frith & co.)

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lord rawdon again attempted to mitigate the condition of debtors imprisoned by their creditors, but did not succeed; and after dundas had drawn a very flattering picture of the condition of india in presenting his annual statement of indian finance, and had procured some regulations for insuring the payment of seamen's wages to themselves or their families, the king prorogued parliament on the 15th of june, still congratulating the country on the prospect of peace and of reducing substantially the national debt.

during the recess of parliament there was an active contest between the new french opinions and the old constitutional ones. one called forth and provoked the other. clubs and societies for reform were more after the model of the wholesale proceedings of france than the old and sober ones of england. the society of the friends of the people was compelled to disclaim all connection with the society for constitutional information in london, which was in open correspondence with[394] the jacobins of paris. it was forced to disown societies in the country of the same stamp, and especially to check a branch of the society for constitutional information in sheffield, which, in may of the present year, called on the society of the friends of the people to establish a convention in london. to allow of no mistake as to their principles, the society of the friends of the people held a great meeting on the 5th of may, in which they announced that they had no other object but to obtain parliamentary reform by strictly legal and constitutional means, and that after this end had been secured they should dissolve themselves. yet, notwithstanding this, there were those in the society who deemed that they were in connection with persons and associations whose views went farther than their own, and, on this ground, on the 9th of june, mr. baker, who had been the chairman at the late meeting at the freemasons' tavern, lord john russell, who had been deputy-chairman, dudley north, mr. curwen, and mr. courtney, withdrew from it.

on the other hand, the corresponding society and the society for constitutional information kept up an open correspondence with the national convention of france, even after the bloody massacres of september of this year, which we have yet to mention. unwarned by these facts, they professed to see, in the example of frenchmen, the only chance of the liberation of the english nation from the oppressions of the crown and of an overgrown aristocracy. they made no secret of their desire to establish a republic in great britain; and the society for constitutional information included amongst its members a number of red-hot americans. these societies and the revolutionary society in london continued to send over glowing addresses to the french convention, declaring their desire to fraternise with them for liberty and equality, and their determination never again to fight with frenchmen at the command of despots.

these proceedings called forth an opposite class of associations, in which the clergy of the establishment took the lead. the bishop and clergy of worcester, and dr. watson, the bishop, and the clergy of llandaff, met and presented addresses to the king, expressing their abhorrence of the doctrines of these associations, which made no secret of their demand for "the rights of man—liberty and equality, no king, no parliament;" and they expressed their conviction that this country already possessed more genuine liberty than any other nation whatever. they asserted that the constitution, the church, and state had received more improvements since the revolution in 1688 than in all previous ages; that the dissenters and catholics had been greatly relieved, the judges had been rendered independent, and the laws in various ways more liberalised since the accession of his present majesty than for several reigns previously. they asserted boldly that in no country could men rise from the lowest positions to affluence and honour, by trade, by the practice of the law, by other arts and professions, so well as in this; that the wealth everywhere visible, the general and increasing prosperity, testified to this fact, in happy contrast to the miserable condition of france. they concluded by recommending the formation of counter-associations in all parts of the country, to diffuse such constitutional sentiments and to expose the mischievous fallacies of the democratic societies. this advice was speedily followed, and every neighbourhood became the arena of conflicting politics. the democrats, inoculated by the wild views of french licence, injured the cause of real liberty and progress by their advocacy of the mob dominion of paris; and the constitutionalists, urged by the alarm and the zeal inspired by opposition, grew intolerant and persecuting. the eyes of thousands who had at first hailed the french revolution as the happy dawn of a new era of liberty and brotherhood, were now opened by the horrors of the massacres of the french clergy in september of this year, and by the sight of swarms of priests, who had fled for security to london and were everywhere to be seen in the streets, destitute and dejected. a public meeting was called at the london tavern towards the close of 1792, and a subscription entered into for their relief.

in march of this year lord cornwallis had brought a war in india with the implacable enemy of the british to a very successful close. early in the preceding year, 1791, he had reinstated our ally, the rajah of travancore, in his dominions, and had further seized nearly all tippoo's territories on the malabar coast. he then determined to strike a decisive blow, by marching upon tippoo's capital, seringapatam. in february he took the city of bangalore, and early in may he was on his route for seringapatam. tippoo was in the deepest consternation. lord cornwallis arrived in the neighbourhood of seringapatam on the 13th of may, and immediately attacked tippoo, who was drawn up with a large force. the mysoreans broke and fled[395] before the british bayonets. the british army was in full view of the capital, and expected a rich booty, when cornwallis was compelled to order a retreat. the forces of general abercromby, who had to make his way from another quarter through the mountains, had not come up; neither had the mahrattas, who were to join with twenty thousand men. the rains had set in, and the army was without provisions, for tippoo had laid all the country waste. in these circumstances, lord cornwallis somewhat precipitately destroyed his battering guns, and retired from before seringapatam. he sent word to abercromby, who was now approaching, to retire also. on the 26th of may, the very first day of his retreat, the mahrattas arrived; but as the rains continued and his soldiers were suffering from illness, he determined to retreat to bangalore, where he procured four battering trains; and having laid in plentiful stores and obtained strong reinforcements, as soon as the season was favourable he again set out for seringapatam. after taking different forts on his way, he appeared before that wealthy city on the 5th of february, 1792, in company with general abercromby and a native force belonging to our ally, the nizam. tippoo was drawn up before the city, having between it and himself the rapid river cauvery, and the place extremely well fortified and defended by batteries. he had forty thousand infantry and five thousand horse; but he was speedily defeated, and driven across the river into the city. there the british followed him, and, under the guidance of the brave generals, medows and abercromby, they soon penetrated so deeply into the place that tippoo was compelled to capitulate. in these actions the british were said to have lost about six hundred men, tippoo four thousand.

the conditions proposed by lord cornwallis were, that tippoo should cede one-half of his territories; that he should pay three crores and thirty lacs of rupees; that he should restore all the prisoners taken since the time of his father, hyder ali; and that two of his eldest sons should be given up as hostages for the faithful fulfilment of the articles. on the 26th the boys, who were only eight and ten years old, were surrendered, and part of the money was sent in. cornwallis received the little princes very kindly, and presented each of them with a gold watch, with which they were delighted. when, however, it came to the surrender of the territory, tippoo refused and began to make preparations for resistance; but lord cornwallis's active firmness soon compelled him to submit. he ordered the captive children to be sent away to bangalore, and prepared to storm the town, for which both our soldiers and those of the nizam were impatient. tippoo gave way; and the surrender of territory according to the treaty was completed.

these acquisitions were more valuable for the defence which they afforded the british than for the direct income, which did not amount to more than half a million sterling a year; but they included all tippoo's dominions on the coast of malabar, thus cutting off his mischievous communications with the french by sea. it would have been easy at this time to have stripped tippoo of the whole of mysore, but it was not deemed politic. we were far from having great faith in the continued fidelity of the mahrattas, and it was thought necessary not to remove the check which the existence of tippoo's power, and his desire for revenge on the mahrattas, presented. besides, the finances of india were in a very embarrassed state, and the question of indian war was unpopular in britain. with all the territory resigned to the indian allies, lord cornwallis could not avoid giving deep offence to the mahrattas, who desired to obtain a regiment of british troops in pay. the ill-concealed jealousy between them and the nizam made an outbreak between these states very possible; and the moody resentment of tippoo, who writhed under his humiliation, added greatly to the uncertainty of long-continued peace. on the other hand, the soldiers were highly discontented at not having had the opportunity of plundering the opulent city of seringapatam; and to soothe them cornwallis and general medows, the second in command, surrendered to them their shares of prize money, and the former ordered them, besides, six months' batta out of the money paid by tippoo.

it was during lord cornwallis's campaign in mysore that lord macartney made his celebrated embassy to china, to endeavour to induce the chinese to open their ports to trade with britain; but his lordship succeeded in very little beyond making the chinese and their country better known in the work written by his secretary, afterwards sir john barrow.

very important events had during this time been taking place in europe. in the north, russia, checked in its encroachments on turkey for the present, turned its eyes on the inviting region of poland. poland, after neglecting its own internal improvement, and the raising of the condition of its people, so as to give them a[396] real interest in the defence of the country, had suddenly set about establishing a new constitution, very much on the model of the french revolutionary one. the diet declared the throne hereditary, and not elective, as hitherto; and stanislaus augustus, the king—that is, poniatowski, the former lover and favourite of catherine of russia—was wholly agreeable to this. the diet proposed the elector of saxony as poniatowski's successor, the king having no children. it also admitted the burgher class into its body. as there was a strong party, however, in opposition to the popular party, the patriots met secretly, and not only pledged themselves to the new constitution, but to pass it en masse and at once, without canvassing the particular articles of it. the king, being privy to this, on the 3rd of may, 1791, entered the hall of the diet. the new constitution was read, passed by a majority, and signed by the king. stanislaus then led the way to the cathedral, where he was followed by all the nuncios except twelve, and there both he and they swore to maintain this new constitution. an unexpected difficulty was found in persuading the elector of saxony to accept the crown; for, though both russia and prussia still professed friendship for poland, he was too well aware of the designs of russia on poland to accept the dangerous post without much hesitation. at length, in the month of april, 1792, the elector gave his reluctant consent, but not without stipulating that they should give more power to the sovereign, and limit more that of the diet; that the right of determining peace and war should belong to the king, as well as the authority over the army. he objected to a number of things, evidently borrowed from the revolutionary french, such as the oath taken to the nation, and the education of the heir by the diet, just as the national assembly had claimed the right to educate the dauphin.

but now catherine of russia had concluded her entanglements with turkey. it was the august of 1791, and her eyes turned immediately on poland, and she pretended to take great offence and alarm at the new constitution, as full of french and revolutionary principles, and therefore intolerable to any neighbouring state. she began to negotiate with sweden, and prussia, and austria, to co-operate with her in her design against poland. prussia was easily led to adopt her ideas, for the king was like herself, greedy of his neighbour's dominions, and had been repulsed by the poles in grasping at thorn and dantzic. leopold of austria was, by his connection with the royal party of france, through his sister, naturally ready to put down any influence from the french revolution in a neighbouring country; but he was indisposed to war, and too just and moderate for aggression. his death, on the 1st of march, 1792, removed this obstacle, and francis, his successor, was found to be more accessible to the czarina's selfish arguments. russia, prussia, and austria were all agreed on the plunder of poland, whilst they still preserved the most hypocritical appearance of caring only for its unity and national interests. as for gustavus iii., of sweden, brave and honest as he was, he was of such chivalrous and, to a certain degree, insane character, that he was easily led on by the artful empress of russia to lend himself to her designs, without being aware of them. he had declared himself the knight of marie antoinette, and had sworn to rescue her. he was avaricious of military glory, and, like his predecessor, charles xii., he was desirous only of conducting some great and brilliant enterprise. he desired to lead an army against the french, now bursting out under the revolutionary general, custine, on germany, and, joining with the army of the emigrants, eighteen thousand in number, to beat back the democratic general, to march into france, and restore the throne of louis and marie antoinette. but he had no money; the empress of russia, who wished him employed at a distance, and especially in keeping back the french democrats, whilst she carved up poland, offered him both money and arms. but the empress was relieved of the high-minded gustavus in a manner which she had by no means contemplated. he fell, on the 16th of march, in his own capital, by the hand of an assassin called ankarstr?m.

catherine of russia, thus rid of the only two monarchs who were likely to trouble her with scruples, hastened her grand design of absorbing poland. she professed to be much scandalised and alarmed at the proceedings of the king, who had attended a dinner given by the municipality of warsaw on the anniversary of the passing of their new constitution, at which he had not only responded to the toast of his health by drinking to the nation and the municipality, thus sanctioning them as great powers, as the french had done, but had sat complacently amid the loud cries of "long live liberty! long live the nation, and our citizen king, the friend of the rights of man!" the poles had certainly become enthusiastic imitators of the french; they had[397] established clubs in imitation of the clubs of paris, had sent a deputation to congratulate the french on their revolution, and had passed various decrees of a jacobin character. neither did she lack a sanction from the poles themselves. there had always been violent parties in that kingdom; and at this time a number of nobles, who opposed the new constitution, sent a deputation with a memorial to the empress, at st. petersburg, inviting her to assist them in restoring the old constitution. catherine gave them a ready promise, and, on the 14th of may, felix potocki, branicki, rzewinski, and eleven other nobles, met at targowica, and entered into a confederacy for this purpose. this confederacy was followed, only four days after its signing, by a protest issued by bulgakoff, the russian minister, at warsaw, against the whole of the new institutions and decrees. on the 18th of may, the same day that this proclamation was issued at warsaw, a hundred thousand russian troops marched over the polish frontiers, attended by some of the pro-russian confederates, and assumed the appearance of an army of occupation.

view in old paris: rue de pirouette, north side of les halles. (after martial.)

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the diet issued a counter-proclamation rebutting[398] catherine's long catalogue of charges seriatim, and denying the right of any nation, under any pretence whatever, to interfere with the internal changes of another nation executed by the proper authorities and representatives of the people. stanislaus augustus issued an address to the polish army, calling upon it to defend the national rights from the domination of russia. but, unfortunately, poland was in no condition to cope with the might of russia. no pains had been taken to organise the army in years past on any scale capable of defending the nation; the new rights conferred on the people were too new to have given them yet any interest in them. poland, therefore, in all haste, made solicitations for help to prussia, austria, britain, sweden, and denmark; but in vain. sweden and denmark had, now that gustavus was dead, determined to have no concern in wars resulting in any way from the french revolution. frederick william of prussia pretended to have foreseen this offence to russia in the alarming measures of the diet, and protested that had it not been for these, russia would never have taken the decided step which she had now done. he, however, coldly professed himself ready to unite with russia and austria to restore the former state of things in poland. as for austria, she lay cold and neutral in appearance; but though poland was not aware of it, both prussia and austria were in the secret league for the dismemberment of that unfortunate country.

britain was anxiously appealed to for aid; but pitt, who had raised so powerful an armament to check the attacks of russia on turkey, was not disposed to denounce the attempts of russia on poland. he might be blamed for refraining from exerting the moral power of britain in condemnation of the unprincipled aggression of russia, but he could not be expected to take arms in defence of poland, so far removed from the influence of a maritime nation. colonel gardiner, our minister at warsaw, was instructed by our secretary for foreign affairs, lord grenville, to express a friendly interest towards poland, but to take care to avoid raising hopes of assistance. the poles, repelled by prussia and austria, and finding no warmth of sympathy in the agent of britain, dispatched count bukaty in june to london to plead for aid. but pitt was cold and immovable, though he saw with regret that the absorption of this large country, in the centre of europe, would formidably increase that preponderance of russia, which he had attempted to prevent when there was a question of the absorption of turkey. he adopted an attitude of strict neutrality. no motion condemnatory of russia's grasping schemes was made in parliament; it seemed to britain a matter of no moment that one of the chief nations of europe should be torn in pieces by rapacious powers, contrary to all moral and international law. the whigs, those warm advocates of revolution and of popular freedom, were dumb. in fact, what could they say? fox and his admirers had all along been lauding the russian empress as one of the greatest, ablest, and most innocent of monarchs, simply in opposition to pitt and his endeavours to repress her schemes of aggrandisement. fox had even sent mr. adair as his emissary to st. petersburg, to congratulate her on her successes, and to assure her of the admiration of englishmen. such are the perversities into which men are driven by party spirit! at this very moment fox and the whigs were flattering and patting catherine on the back, when her bandit armies had already their feet on the doomed soil of poland, and they were still applauding the revolutionists of france, when they were already beyond the rhine, on that crusade of conquest which plunged europe into more than twenty years of the most horrible bloodshed. they saw all this when too late. for the present, what was done for poland was to call a meeting at the mansion house and open a subscription for the suffering poles.

poland, abandoned to her own resources, made a brave but ineffectual defence. the russians received several severe checks in their advance. at zadorsk, at palorma, and finally at dulienska, the poles fought them gallantly. at the last-named battle, on the 17th of july, the heroic kosciusko made terrible havoc of the russian lines, and was only prevented from utterly routing them by his flank being turned by another arrival of russians, whom the emperor francis, of austria, had allowed to march through galicia. the russians advanced to warsaw, took regular possession of it, and of all the towns and military[399] forts throughout the country. they dismissed the patriot officers of the army, and dispersed the army itself in small divisions into widely-separated places. they abolished the new constitution, thrust the burgher class again out of their newly-acquired privileges, and put the press under more ignominious restrictions than before. they confiscated the estates of nobles who had advocated the new reforms. both catherine and her ministers treated the idea of any partition of poland as the most groundless and ridiculous of notions. they pointed to the invasion of germany already by custine, the french revolutionary general, and justified the temporary occupation of poland as necessary to the security of both poland and the neighbouring states. we must leave the three robber powers, russia, prussia, and austria, therefore, gloating over their prey, and ready to rend it asunder, in order to continue the narrative of the wild explosion of france.

the girondists were, at the opening of the year 1792, vehemently urging on war against the emigrants and the emperor of germany. just at this crisis, as we have seen, leopold of austria died, and was succeeded by his nephew, francis ii.; and war became more inevitable, for francis had not the same pacific disposition as leopold, and the gironde was bent on war. the internal condition of france also seemed to indicate that there must soon be war abroad or civil war at home. the ministers were at variance; the jacobins and girondists were coming to an open and desperate feud; the people, both in paris and throughout the country, were excited by the jacobin publications to the utmost pitch of fury against the royalists and the priests.

whilst the gironde was thus weakened by this implacable and incurable feud with the jacobins, austria was making unmistakable signs of preparations for that war which leopold had often threatened, but never commenced. francis received deputations from the emigrant princes, ordered the concentration of troops in flanders, and spoke in so firm a tone of restoring louis and the old system of things, that the french ambassador at vienna, m. de noailles, sent in his resignation, stating that he despaired of inducing the emperor to listen to the language which had been dictated to him. two days afterwards, however, noailles recalled his resignation, saying he had obtained the categorical answer demanded of the court of vienna. this was sent in a dispatch from baron von cobentzel, the foreign minister of austria. in this document, which was tantamount to a declaration of war, the court of vienna declared that it would listen to no terms on behalf of the king of france, except his entire restoration to all the ancient rights of his throne, according to the royal declaration of the 23rd of june, 1789; and the restoration of the domains in alsace, with all their feudal rights, to the princes of the empire. moreover, prince kaunitz, the chief minister of francis, announced his determination to hold no correspondence with the government which had usurped authority in france.

dumouriez, the new foreign minister, advised the king to communicate this note to the assembly without a moment's delay. there was immediate dissension in the royal council. this was the commencement of the division in the gironde ministry, which quickly destroyed it. dumouriez proceeded, in the presence of the king, the rest of the ministers, and a number of courtiers, on the 20th of april, to make that announcement which was to decide the fate of france and of europe. roland and the more determined girondists had recommended that the king should himself make the declaration of war; but as the war itself was most repugnant to the king, dumouriez had advised that he should only consult with the assembly on the necessity of this declaration, and thus throw the responsibility on that body. there had been division of opinion amongst ministers, and now dumouriez read a detailed account of the negotiations with austria, and then louis, who looked jaded and anxious, stated that he had followed the recommendations of the assembly, and of many of his subjects in various parts of france, in these negotiations, and, as they had heard the results, he put it to the assembly whether they could any longer submit to see the dignity of the french people insulted, and the national security threatened. the speech was received with loud acclamations and cries of "vive le roi!" the president said they would deliberate, and the result was that a decree was passed resolving upon war. this resolve the assembly justified by the declaration that the emperor of austria had concerted with the emigrants and foreign princes to threaten the peace and the constitution of france; that he had refused to abandon these views and proceedings, and reduce his army to a peace establishment, as demanded of him by a vote of the 11th of march of this year; that he had declared his intention to restore the german princes by force to the possessions they had held[400] in alsace, although the french nation had never ceased to offer them compensation; and that, finally, he had closed the door to all accommodation by refusing to reply to the dispatches of the king.

dumouriez had no sooner come into office than he laid down a great military plan. he proposed that wherever france extended to what he called her natural limits—that is, to the rhine, the alps, the pyrenees, and the sea—they should act only on the defensive; but in the netherlands, where the territory did not extend to the rhine, and in savoy, where it did not extend to the alps, there they should act on the offensive, and carry france to what he called its boundaries by the genuine laws of nature. this plan was adopted. the austrians had only thirty thousand men in belgium, and lafayette was to make a dash on that division of the netherlands. from namur he was to push on for liége, which would make him complete master of the country, and was to be strengthened by a reinforcement of thirty thousand infantry, so that he would be seventy-five thousand strong before the emperor could advance to his attack. further, while lafayette was marching from givet on namur, a division of his army of ten thousand men, under general biron, was to march upon mons, where beaulieu, the austrian general, was posted with only two thousand five hundred men. on the same day major-general theobald dillon was to advance with three thousand six hundred men from lille, in tournay, and to surprise that place. the french calculated on the support of the belgians who had been strongly inoculated with the spirit of the revolution. the two smaller divisions were punctual in their movements; but lafayette, instead of marching simultaneously, remained strengthening himself in his position at givet. general biron set out from valenciennes, and, on the 29th of april, crossed the belgian frontiers, and the next day marched towards mons. but no sooner did the french cavalry come in sight of some light troops, said only to amount to about five hundred men, than they fled, crying that they were betrayed. beaulieu's horse pursued and captured biron's baggage and military chest. on the very same day, dillon's division, on their march from lille to tournay, fled with the very same cry from nine hundred austrians who had issued from tournay. the french officers in vain endeavoured, in both cases, to rally their forces, and dillon was murdered by his own men on re-entering lille with a lieutenant-colonel and an unsworn priest. lafayette, hearing this strange news, did not venture to quit givet.

the news of this astonishing cowardice of the soldiery caused great consternation in paris. lafayette and rochambeau wrote complaining of dumouriez and the gironde ministry; the girondists accused the jacobins of inciting the troops to this conduct; and the jacobins blamed the incompetence of the gironde. the king proceeded to dismiss his girondist ministry, and to rule with something like independence. in the early part of july it was known at the tuileries that the prussians, having joined the austrians, had marched on coblenz, to the number of eighty thousand men, all old soldiers of the great frederick, and commanded by the duke of brunswick, the nephew of frederick, who had won so much distinction in the seven years' war. marshal luckner, not deeming himself strong enough to resist this force, had retired upon lille and valenciennes. the court was in high spirits; the queen told her ladies, in confidence, that the allies would be in paris in six weeks. the king wrote to the allied camp recommending moderation. in this moment of effervescence appeared the proclamation of the duke of brunswick as commander of the allied armies, and in the name of the allied monarchs. this proclamation arrived in paris on the 28th of july, though it was dated coblenz, july 25th. it was far from being of the reasonable nature which the king had recommended, and was calculated to do the most fatal injuries to his interests. it stated that the emperor and the king of prussia, having seen the manner in which the authority of the king of france had been overturned by a factious people, how his sacred person and those of his family had been subjected to violence and restraint, in which those who had usurped his government had, besides destroying the internal order and peace of france, invaded the germanic empire, and seized the possessions of the princes of alsace and lorraine, had determined to march to his assistance, and had authorised himself, a member of the germanic body, to march to the aid of their friend and ally; that he came to restore the king to all his rights, and to put an end to anarchy in france; that he was not about to make war on france, but on its internal enemies, and he called on all the well-disposed to co-operate in this object; that all cities, towns, villages, persons, and property would be respected and protected, provided that they immediately concurred in the restoration of order. he summoned all officers of the army and the state to return to their allegiance; all ministers of departments, districts, and municipalities were likewise summoned, and were to be held responsible, by their lives and properties, for all outrages and misdemeanours committed before the restoration of order; and all who resisted the royal authority, and fired on the royal troops or the allies, should be instantly punished with all rigour, and their houses demolished or burned. paris, in case of any injury done to the royal family, was to be delivered up to an exemplary and ever-memorable vengeance; that no laws were to be acknowledged as valid but such as proceeded from the king when in a state of perfect liberty.

the royal family of france on their way to the assembly. (see p. 403.)

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[402]

this was an announcement of the utter overthrow of the revolution, and the restoration of the ancient condition of france, with its aristocracy and its slaves. the sensation which it produced was intense. the king was immediately accused of secretly favouring this language, though it was far from being the case. it was in vain that he disavowed the sentiments of this haughty and impolitic proclamation to the assembly; he was not believed, and the exasperation against him was dreadfully aggravated.

the crisis was at hand. the efforts of the jacobins had culminated in the great blow which should crush this ancient monarchy to the earth. the federates called a meeting of the committee of insurrection to arrange the final plans, and it was resolved that the insurrection should take place on the 10th of august.

on this day all paris was astir. the drums were beating in all quarters; the national guard were assembling at their different posts; the insurrectional committee had divided itself into three sections. one took its station in the faubourg st. marceau, with fournier at its head; another in the faubourg st. antoine, headed by westermann and santerre; whilst danton, camille desmoulins, and carra, were at the cordeliers. about twelve o'clock the tocsin began to ring out from the h?tel de ville, and was quickly followed by the bells in every church tower in paris. by one o'clock the palace was surrounded by vast throngs of armed people. they could be seen by the inmates of the palace through the old doors of the courts, and from the windows. their artillery was visibly pointed at the palace, and the noise of their shouting, beating of drums, and singing of insurrectionary songs, was awful. the king had issued an order that the swiss and guards should not commence the attack, but should repel force by force. it was now recommended that the king also should go down, and by showing himself, and addressing a few words to them, should animate them in their duty. the queen, her eyes inflamed with weeping, and with an air of dignity, which was never forgotten by those who saw her, said also, "sire, it is time to show yourself." she is said to have snatched a pistol from the belt of old general d'affry, and to have presented it in an excitement that scarcely allowed her to remain behind. could she have changed places, had she been queen in her own right, there would soon have been a change of scene. as for louis, with that passive courage which he always possessed, and so uselessly, he went forward and presented himself to view upon the balcony. at the sight of him, the grenadiers raised their caps on the points of their swords and bayonets, and there were cries of "vive le roi!" the last that saluted him in his hereditary palace. even at this cry, numbers of the national guard took alarm, imagining that they were to be surrendered to the knights of the dagger, and that they had been betrayed. the gunners, joining in the panic, turned their guns towards the palace, but the more faithful guard drove them from the guns, disarmed them, and put them under watch.

the king, undeterred, descended into the court, and passing along the ranks, addressed them from time to time, telling them he relied on their attachment, and that in defending him they defended their wives and children. he then proceeded through the vestibule, intending to go to the garden, when he was assailed by fierce cries from some of the soldiers: "down with the veto!" "down with the traitor!" "vive la nation!" madame campan, who was at a window looking into the garden, saw some of the gunners go up to the king, and thrust their fists in his face, insulting him in the most brutal language. he was obliged to pass along the terrace of the feuillants, which was crowded with people, separated from the furious multitude merely by a tricolour line, but he went on in spite of all sorts of menaces and abuse. he saw the battalions file off before his face, and traverse the garden with the intention of joining the assailants in the place du carrousel, whilst the gensdarmes at the colonnade of the louvre and other places did the same. this completely extinguished all hope in the unhappy king. the viscomte du bouchage, seeing the situation of louis from the palace, descended in haste with[403] another nobleman, to bring him in before some fatality happened to him. he complied, and returned with them. when the gunners thrust their fists in his face, madame campan says louis turned as pale as death; yet he had shown no want of courage, had it been of the right sort. he had, indeed, refused to wear a kind of defensive corset which the queen had had made for him, saying, on the day of battle it was his duty to be uncovered, like the meanest of his servants. when the royal family came in again, madame campan says, "the queen told me all was lost; that the king had shown no energy, and that this sort of review had done more harm than good." the royal family, amidst insults and reproaches, walked on fast to the assembly, and placed themselves under its protection. vergniaud, the president, assured them of safety.

hardly had they arrived, when a discharge of cannon was heard. the assembly was horror-struck; and the king exclaimed, "i assure you i have forbidden the swiss to fire!" but he was interrupted by fresh reports of cannon, showing that a fierce conflict was taking place at the tuileries. no sooner was the royal family gone than the gensdarmes and the national guard fraternised with the people, and breaking open the chief gate with hatchets rushed into the court. they then formed in column, and turning the guns which had been left in the court on the palace, they called out to the swiss within to give up the place to them, and they would be friends. the swiss, to show their amicable disposition, threw cartridges out of the windows, but remained firm to their duty. some of the mob, with long poles and hooks at the end, then dragged some of the swiss out of the vestibule and murdered them. they next fired three of the cannon right into the palace, and the swiss thereupon returned a smart fire of musketry. those of the servants and courtiers that still remained in the palace now made haste to escape, if possible. cléry, one of the king's valets-de-chambre, who has left a vivid narrative of these events, escaped by dropping from a window upon the terrace. at the same moment the mob was breaking in at the grand entrance. they found a stout piece of timber placed as a barrier across the staircase, and the swiss and some of the national guard entrenched behind it; then commenced a fierce struggle; the barrier was forced, and the throng pushed back the swiss up the staircase. these now fired a sharp volley, and the crowd fled, crying that they were betrayed. they were struck by another volley in their retreat, and the swiss then descended into the court, made themselves masters of the cannon, and, firing, killed a great number. had the swiss followed their advantage and scoured the streets of the city, they would have completely trodden out this insurrection, releasing the royal family, and, had there been any one in command capable of it, he would have ended the revolution as promptly as buonaparte did afterwards. buonaparte, then a poor lieutenant of artillery, was himself a spectator of the scene; and it was his opinion that the swiss only wanted an adequate commander to crush the whole rebellion. but, by that fatality which attended all louis xvi.'s affairs, at this moment arrived m. d'hervilly from the assembly with the king's order not to fire on the people, but to follow d'hervilly to the assembly. this was, in fact, to leave the palace at the mercy of the mob. such as were in the court did follow d'hervilly to the assembly, where he promised them their lives and security under the protection of that body. at this sight the populace recovered their courage. the palace was attacked on both sides; the crowds every moment became greater, and the swiss poured successive volleys upon them from the windows. numbers fell dead before they forced an entrance; but this once effected, the crowd not only rushed in a dense mass up the great staircase, but dragged up cannon by main force to blow open the interior doors. for some time the swiss made a stout stand against this raging mob; but being few against tens of thousands, and having exhausted their cartridges, they grounded their arms and called for quarter. they called in vain; the bloodthirsty sansculottes commenced a relentless massacre of them; women and children, armed with knives, assisted in their slaughter. the unhappy men, fixing their bayonets, drove the furious mass before them, resolving to cut their way through the champs elysées to courbevoie, where was another detachment of their countrymen in barracks; but no sooner were they outside than they were surrounded and shot and cut down without mercy. vainly did they cry for quarter; none was given. they then broke and fled in small parties, one of them seeking to gain the assembly for protection; but they were butchered, nearly to a man, their heads stuck on pikes and paraded through the city.

the butcheries were not terminated till late at night; but the shouts of victory had, so early as eleven o'clock in the morning, informed the assembly that the people were masters of the[404] tuileries. numbers of the insurrectionists had appeared at the assembly from time to time, crying, "vive la nation!" and the members replied with the same cry. a deputation appeared from the h?tel de ville, demanding that a decree of dethronement should be immediately passed, and the assembly so far complied as to pass a decree, drawn up by that very vergniaud who had assured the king that the assembly was prepared to stand to the death for the defence of the constituted authorities. this decree suspended the royal authority, appointed a governor for the dauphin, stopped the payment of the civil list, but agreed to a certain allowance to the royal family during the suspension, and set apart the luxembourg for their residence. the luxembourg palace being reported full of cellars and subterranean vaults and difficult of defence, the temple, a miserable dilapidated old abbey, was substituted, and the royal family were conveyed thither.

the triumph of the mob had consummated the triumph of jacobinism. the republic was at length established, but not to the benefit of the girondists. the ruin of royalty, for which they had so zealously laboured, was in reality their own ruin. the jacobins, and at their head the sanguinary robespierre, were left without a rival, except in that mob by which they worked, and which was destined to destroy them too. danton appeared before the assembly on the morning of the 10th, at the head of a deputation of the commune, to state what had been done, and said plainly, "the people who send us to you have charged us to declare that they think you worthy of their confidence, but that they recognise no other judge of the extraordinary measures to which necessity has forced them to recur than the french nation—our sovereign and yours—convoked in primary assemblies." this was announcing without disguise that the clubs were the supreme authorities. the assembly felt its weakness and professed to approve of everything. next, the new ministers were chosen; roland, as minister of the interior; servan, as war minister; and clavière as minister of finance. but to these were added danton as minister of justice, mongé as minister of the marine, and le brun as minister of foreign affairs. they were to receive instructions, not from louis, but from the assembly. and now came into full light the mortal antagonism of the assembly and the clubs, and the real ascendency of the latter. the assembly voted for the education of the dauphin; the clubs called for the utter removal of royalty. the assembly recommended an active campaign against foreign powers, but mercy to the vanquished; the clubs called for instant and universal vengeance on all supporters of royalty, who, they said, had intended to massacre the people and bring in the prussians. they declared that there was no need of electoral bodies to form a new assembly, but that every man, and some said every woman, was entitled to vote; and they insisted that the people ought to come in arms to manifest their wishes to the legislative body. this was plainly-avowed mob rule. marat argued loudly for this and for purging france, as he called it, by cutting off every man, woman, and child that was not for mob rule; and robespierre demanded the removal of the assembly as effete and the summoning of a convention. his advice was adopted, and the national democratic convention was convoked for the 21st of september. in the interval the royalists were murdered in the prisons, and the revolutionary commune established at paris. news of the most alarming character arrived from the frontier, lafayette had gone over to the enemy, and the prussians had taken longwy.

at this point the advance of the prussians was unexpectedly checked. after the capture of verdun, on the 2nd of september, they had spread themselves over the plains of the meuse, and occupied, as their main centre, stenay. dumouriez and his army lay at sedan and in its neighbourhood. to reach him and advance on chalons in their way to paris, the allies must pass or march round the great forest of argonne, which extends from thirteen to fifteen leagues, and was so intersected with hills, woods, and waters, that it was at that time impenetrable to an army except through certain passes. these were chêne-populeux, croix-aux-bois, grand pré, la chalade, and islettes. the most important were those of grand pré and islettes, which however were the two most distant from sedan. the plan therefore was to fortify these passes; and in order to do this dumouriez immediately ordered dillon to march forward and occupy islettes and la chalade. this was effected; a division of dillon's forces driving the austrian general, clairfayt, from the islettes. dumouriez followed, and occupied grand pré, and general dubouquet occupied chêne-populeux, and sent a detachment to secure croix-aux-bois between grand pré and chêne-populeux.

louis xvi. and marie antoinette in the prison of the temple.

from the painting by e. m. ward. r.a.

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on the 10th of september the prussians began to examine the passes of the forest; and finding them defended, they attacked the french entrenchments but were everywhere repulsed. on the 11th, they concentrated their efforts on the pass of grand-pré, defended by dumouriez himself, and were again repulsed by general miranda at mortaume, and by general stengel at st. jouvion. the allies, thus unexpectedly brought to a check, for they had been led by the emigrants to expect a disorganised or as yet undisciplined army, determined to skirt the forest and endeavour to turn it near sedan. whilst engaged in this plan, the austrians discovered the weakness of the force in the defile of croix-aux-bois, where only two battalions and two squadrons of volunteers were posted, for dumouriez had not examined the pass himself and was assured that this force was amply sufficient. once aware of this mistake, the austrians, under the duke de ligne, briskly attacked the position and drove the french before them. dumouriez, informed of this disorder, ordered forward general chasot with a strong force, who defeated the austrians, killed de ligne, and recovered the pass. but the advantage was but momentary; the austrians returned to the charge with a far superior force, and again cleared the pass and remained in possession of it. thus dumouriez saw his grand plan of defence broken up; and finding that chasot, who had fallen back on vouziers, was cut off from him on his left along with dubouquet, he saw the necessity of falling back himself into the rear of dillon, on his right, who was yet master of the islettes and the road to st. menehould. he then sent messages to chasot, dubouquet, and to kellermann, to direct their march so as to meet him at st. menehould.

marie antoinette (1783.)

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at the same time, the duke of brunswick was[406] approaching from the rear, and kellermann from metz, but both with equal tardiness. dumouriez dispatched a courier to order kellermann, on arriving, to take his position on the heights of gisancourt, commanding the road to chalons and the stream of the auve; but kellermann, arriving in the night of the 19th, instead of reaching the heights of gisancourt, advanced to the centre of the basin at valmy, where, on the morning of the 20th, he found himself commanded by the prussians, who had come up and formed on the heights of la lune, when, had kellermann taken the position assigned him on gisancourt, he would have commanded la lune. the prussians had been in full march for chalons when they took post here, and discovered kellermann below them by the mill of valmy, and dumouriez above on the heights of valmy. kellermann, perceiving the error of his position, and that the prussians would soon seize on the heights of gisancourt, which he ought to occupy, sent to dumouriez for assistance to extricate himself. the king of prussia, perceiving that forces were thrown forward towards kellermann's position, imagined that the french meant to cut off his march towards chalons, and immediately commenced firing. from the heights of la lune and of gisancourt, which he now occupied, he poured a deadly fire of artillery on kellermann; and the austrians, about to attempt to drive the french from the heights of hyron, if they succeeded, would leave him exposed on all sides. the battle now was warmly contested, but only through the artillery. a shell falling into one of kellermann's powder waggons exploded it, and occasioned much confusion. the king of prussia thought this the moment to charge with the bayonet, and now, for the first time, the revolutionary soldiers saw the celebrated troops, bearing the prestige of the great frederick, marching down upon them in three columns, with the steady appearance of victory. kellermann, to inspirit his inexperienced soldiers, shouted, "vive la nation!" the troops caught the enthusiasm of the cry, replied with a loud "vive la nation!" and dashed forward. at this sight the duke of brunswick was astonished; he had been led to expect nothing but disorder and cowardice; he halted, and fell back into his camp. this movement raised the audacity of the french; they continued to cannonade the prussians, and after one or two more attempts to reach them with the bayonet, brunswick found himself, as night fell, in anything but a victorious position. about twenty thousand cannon shots had been exchanged, whence the battle was called the cannonade of valmy. yet there stood the french, who, according to the reports of the emigrants, were to have run off at the first smell of powder, or to have come over to them in a body. the next morning it was worse. kellermann, in the night, had recovered himself from his false position; had gained the heights of gisancourt which he should have occupied at first; had driven the prussians thence, and now commanded them in la lune.

the condition of the prussian camp was daily growing worse; the troops were compelled to kill their horses for food; they were drenched with heavy rains and decimated by dysentery. the king of prussia and the duke of brunswick were full of resentment at the false representations of the emigrants, who had assured them that they would have little to do but to march to paris, loaded with the welcomes and supplies of the people. europe was surprised at the easy repulse of the prussians; with their reputation, it was expected that they would march rapidly on paris, and disperse the republican troops with scarcely an effort. but they were no longer commanded by old frederick; and even he would have found it difficult to make his way through a country which refused the barest food for an army, and which almost to a man was in arms to resist the foe. on the 24th of september overtures were made by the prussians for an exchange of prisoners, to which dumouriez agreed, refusing, however, to give up a single emigrant captive. this led to discussions on the general question, and having bargained for a safe retreat, the allies hurried homeward with all speed. oppressed by famine and disease, and disgusted with the emigrants, who had led them to suffering and disgrace, they made the best of their way to the rhine, and, at the end of october, reached coblenz, a sorry spectacle, reduced from eighty thousand, who had entered france three months before confident of victory and fame, to fifty thousand humbled and emaciated men. if dumouriez had had unity and subordination amongst his generals he would have been able by a forced march to outstrip the allies, cut them off from the rhine, and scarcely a thousand of them would have escaped. the blame thrown upon him for not thus inflicting a terrible chastisement appears unmerited.

after a visit to paris, dumouriez arrived at[407] valenciennes on the 27th of october, and prepared to follow the austrian commander, saxe-teschen, who had been in vain bombarding lille. on the 5th of november he overtook saxe-teschen at jemappes. the austrians were strongly posted, but were only about fifteen thousand men opposed to the sixty thousand french; yet they made a vigorous resistance. the battle raged from early in the morning till two in the afternoon, when the austrians gave way. they retired, however, in good order; and dumouriez, who had led his forces into the field singing the marseillaise hymn, did not make much pursuit. upwards of two thousand men are said to have fallen on each side. the battle placed all flanders at the mercy of the french; tournay opened its gates to labourdonnais, and courtrai, menin, and bruges sent deputies to welcome dumouriez. other towns rapidly followed their example. the country had been already jacobinised, and now fancied it was going to enjoy liberty and equality in alliance with the french. the people were soon undeceived. the french had no intention of anything but, under those pretences, of subduing and preying on the surrounding nations. flanders had speedy proofs of what every country where the french came had to expect. jacobin commissioners arrived from the convention to levy contributions for the maintenance of the army, as if they were a conquered people. dumouriez issued an order on entering mons for the clergy to advance one year's income for the same purpose. saxe-teschen and old marshal bender evacuated brussels, and on the 14th dumouriez entered and took up his headquarters there. he there made heavy forced loans, and soon after arrived what was styled a committee of purchases from paris, headed by bidermann, the banker, and partner of clavière, minister of finance. this committee, on which were several jews, made all the bargains for the army, and paid for them—not in gold but in the worthless assignats of france. the belgians remonstrated and resisted, but in vain. dumouriez advanced to mechlin, having dispatched labourdonnais to lay siege to antwerp and valence, and to reduce namur. at mechlin he found a great store of arms and ammunition, which enabled him to equip whole flocks of volunteers who came after him from france. on the 22nd, at tirlemont, he again overtook saxe-teschen, who made another stout resistance, and then retired to liége, where the austrians made another stand on the 27th. they were repulsed, but with heavy loss on both sides; and soon afterwards, antwerp and valence having surrendered, all the austrian netherlands, except luxembourg, were in the hands of france within a single month. dumouriez sent forward miranda, a peruvian, who had superseded labourdonnais at antwerp, to reduce roermond, and to enter holland by the seizure of maestricht; but the convention were not yet prepared for this invasion of holland, and dumouriez pushed on to aix-la-chapelle, where he again defeated the austrians on the 7th of december, and levying heavy contributions there, took up his winter quarters in the ancient city of charlemagne, and within little more than a day's march of the rhine.

whilst dumouriez had thus overrun the netherlands, other french generals had been equally pushing on aggressions. custine, with about twenty thousand men, had marched upon the german towns on the rhine; had taken spires, worms, and mayence by the 21st of october. these towns abounded with democrats, who had imbibed the grand doctrine of the rights of man, and laboured, to their cost, under the same delusion as the belgians—that the french were coming solely for their liberation and advantage. custine advanced to frankfort-on-the-main, which he plundered without mercy. custine called loudly for co-operation from kellermann; but kellermann not complying, he was superseded by beurnonville, who was ordered to take trèves. he attempted it, but too late in the season, and failed. custine, who had advanced too far from the main army to support his position, still, however, garrisoned frankfort with two thousand men, and took up his own quarters at ober-ursel and homburg, a little below frankfort, in the commencement of december.

this was a broad indication of the french seizing, under the pretence of propagating liberty, on what had been called the natural boundaries of france in the time of louis xiv.,—namely, the rhine and the alps, thus including belgium, part of holland, nice, and savoy. they dispatched emissaries to victor amadeus, the king of sardinia, offering to drive the austrians out of italy, and give italy to the italians. as they had, however, previously sent numbers of their jacobin propagandists to inoculate his people with republicanism, the king refused their offers, and forbade general semonville to enter the country. on this, the convention proclaimed war against him, and ordered montesquieu to invade nice and savoy. with an army of fifteen thousand men[408] and twenty pieces of artillery, montesquieu entered savoy, and the few savoyard troops being unable to compete with him, the people, moreover, being already prepared by french republicans, he overran the country, entered chambéry in triumph, and occupied the province to the foot of mont cenis. elated by the successes of these campaigns, the french convention passed a decree, declaring that it would grant succour and fraternity to all peoples desirous of recovering their liberty; it ordered its generals to give such aid to all citizens who were, or might be, harshly treated on account of their desire for liberty; and the generals were instructed to post this decree in all public places to which they should carry the arms of the republic. two days afterwards savoy was formed into a new department as the department of mont blanc.

on the 21st of september the convention had met in the tuileries. the first act of the convention was to send to the legislative assembly the notification of its formation, and that the existence of that body was, as a matter of course, at an end. they then marched in a body to the salle de manege, and took possession of it. the girondists now appeared on the right, the jacobins on the left, under the name of the mountain, and the centre, or moderates, took the name of the plain. the first speech and motion was made by manuel, proposing that the president of the convention and of france should be lodged in the tuileries, attended by all the state which had accompanied the king, and that, whenever he appeared in the house, all the members should receive him standing. the motion was received with a storm of reprobation, and dismissed. the second motion, made by collot d'herbois, was for the immediate abolition of royalty. he was seconded by the abbé gregoire, and it was unanimously abolished accordingly. no time was lost in communicating this fact to the royal family in the temple.

the convention proceeded to debate the question of louis's trial. on the 6th of november valazé, a girondist, presented to it the report of the committee of twenty-four. this report charged louis capet with high treason against the nation, and declared that his punishment ought to be more than simple deposition. the next day mailhé, another girondist, presented the report of the committee of legislation, and accompanied it by a speech, in which he accused louis of all the crimes which had been committed during the revolution, and recommended the trial of charles i. as the model for his trial. the queen, he said, ought to be tried by an ordinary tribunal, observing that the heads of queens were no more inviolable than other women's heads. this was as plainly intimating the wishes of the girondists for the execution of the king and queen as any jacobins could do. in fact, so completely did his remarks coincide with the views of the jacobins, that he was applauded by jacobins, girondists, and plain. it was voted that the report should be printed and circulated through the departments; that a committee should be appointed to collect the necessary papers and other evidence; that these should be submitted to louis, or his counsel; that the convention should fix the day of trial, and should pronounce sentence by every member voting separately, and aloud. it was decreed that louis should be brought to the bar of the convention on the 26th of december. the king's demand to be allowed counsel having been conceded, he began to prepare his defence. in the afternoon of the 16th, four commissioners, who had been members of the committee of twenty-four, appeared, and presented him with a copy of his impeachment, and also submitted to him a number of papers that were to be produced against him. at half-past nine in the morning of the 26th all paris was again under arms, and chambon, the mayor, appeared at the temple, attended by santerre with a strong force. louis was conducted to the mayor's carriage, and was thus guarded to the feuillants, the house of the convention.

at the close of an admirable defence by his counsel desèze, louis rose and read the following few remarks, which he had prepared:—"my means of defence are now before you. i shall not repeat them. in addressing you—perhaps for the last time—i declare that my conscience reproaches me with nothing, and that my defenders have told you the truth. i was never afraid that my conduct should be publicly examined; but it wounds me to the heart to find, in the act of accusation, the imputation that i caused the blood of the people to be spilt; and, above all, that the calamitous events of the 10th of august are attributed to me.

"i confess that the multiplied proofs which i have given at all times of my love for the people, and the manner in which i have always conducted myself, ought, in my opinion, to demonstrate that i was not afraid to expose myself in order to prevent bloodshed, and ought to clear me for ever from such an imputation."

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on the 14th of january, 1793, the members of the convention met, amid a mob surrounding the house, and demanding, "death to the tyrant! death to him or to us!" other crowds crammed the galleries. the debate, which had begun immediately after the king's speech, was renewed, and furious menaces and recriminations between the girondists and the mountain were uttered. at length the convention reduced all the questions to these three: 1st. is louis capet guilty of conspiring against the liberty of the nation and the safety of the state? 2nd. shall the judgment, whatever it be, be referred to the sanction of the people? 3rd. what punishment shall be inflicted on him?

view in old paris: the porte au blé, from the end of the old cattle market to the pont notre dame. (from a print by de l'espinasse in 1782.)

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the debates and voting on these three questions occupied the convention till late in the evening of the 17th. on the first question thirty-seven pronounced louis guilty, but proposed only that he should be taken care of for the general safety; six hundred and eighty-three declared him guilty simply; and, as the assembly consisted of seven hundred and forty-nine members altogether, there was a majority affirming his guilt of the whole, except twenty-nine members. he was therefore declared, by the president, guilty of conspiracy against the liberty and safety of of state. on the second question thirty-one members were absent: four refused to vote; eleven voted conditionally; two hundred and eighty—and these almost exclusively were members of the girondist section—for the appeal to the people; and four hundred and twenty-three rejected it. the president, therefore, proclaimed that the appeal to the people was declined. the last fatal question of death to the monarch was put on the 16th. by this time the excitement was as intense all over paris as within the walls of the convention itself. it was found, that of the seven hundred and forty-nine members, three hundred and eighty-seven voted in favour of death unconditionally, while three hundred and thirty-four voted in favour of louis' detention, or imprisonment, or death under defined conditions and in certain circumstances. twenty-eight votes were not accounted for. either they were lost amidst the excitement of the hour, or members to that number took no part in the decision. the king's death, therefore, was carried by a majority of only fifty-three votes. then came the question of a reprieve.

on the 20th, at three o'clock in the morning, the voting on this point terminated, and the president declared that there was a majority of three hundred and eighty votes against three hundred and ten, and that there could be no reprieve; the execution must take place without delay. louis[410] met his death with dignity on the 21st of january, 1793.

for a short time quiet prevailed, as if the nation, and europe, too, were stunned by the news of the execution of the king. in spite of the loud talk of the jacobins and sansculottes throughout france, there was a startled sense of terror—a foreboding of calamity. in la vendée there was intense horror and indignation. abroad, every monarchy seemed thrown into a new attitude by the death of louis. spain and england, which had maintained a careful neutrality, assumed a threatening aspect. germany, which had not yet federally allied itself with the movements of austria and prussia, became agitated with resentment; and holland, by the fear of suffering the fate of belgium. the axe which severed the head of louis from his body seemed to sever every international sympathy with france. in england, the sensation on the news of the execution was profound. people in general had not believed that the french would proceed to such an extremity with a monarch of so inoffensive a character. the crime seemed to verify all the predictions and the denunciations of burke. there was, except amongst a certain class of almost frantic republicans, a universal feeling of abhorrence and execration. there was a gloomy sense of approaching war; a gloomy sense, as if the catastrophe was a national rather than a foreign one. pitt had hitherto maintained a position of neutrality. he had contrived to avoid giving any support to the royal family of france, which must have produced immediately hostile consequences, but he had not failed, from time to time, to point out in parliament the atrocious conduct of the french revolutionists, which justified all the prophecies of burke, and threw shame on the laudatory language of fox.

whilst the fate of louis xvi. was drawing to a crisis, the question of danger menaced by the french revolution had been warmly discussed in the british parliament. the government had already called out the militia when parliament met on the 13th of december, 1792. the speech from the throne attributed this to the attempts of french incendiaries to create disturbance in the country, coupled with the doctrines of aggression promulgated by the french convention, and their invasion of germany and the netherlands, which had already taken place. the latter country was overrun with french armies, and holland, our ally, was threatened. the address to the speech, in the commons, was moved by mr. wallace and seconded by lord fielding in the same tone. fox, on the other hand, strongly opposed the warlike spirit of the speech. he declared that he believed every statement in the royal speech was unfounded, though the invasion of germany and of the netherlands was no myth. fox had not yet, despite the horrors perpetrated by the french revolutionists, given up his professed persuasion of the good intentions of that people—a wonderful blindness—and he recommended that we should send a fresh ambassador to treat with the french executive. grey and sheridan argued on the same side; windham and dundas defended the measures of government, declaring that not only had the french forced open the navigation of the scheldt, the protection of which was guaranteed by britain, but that they were preparing for the regular subjugation of holland. burke declared that the counsels of fox would be the ruin of england, if they could possibly prevail. he remarked that nothing was so notorious as the fact that swarms of jacobin propagandists were actively engaged in disseminating their levelling principles in great britain, and were in close co-operation with republican factions. these factions had sent over deputations to paris, who had been received by the jacobin society and by the convention. he read the addresses of englishmen and irishmen resident in paris, and of joel barlow and john frost, deputies of the constitutional society of london. burke said the question was, if they permitted the fraternising of these parties with the french jacobins, not whether they should address the throne, but whether they should long have a throne to address, for the french government had declared war against all kings and all thrones. erskine replied, ridiculing the fears of burke, and denouncing the prosecution of paine's "rights of man" by government. the address was carried by a large majority. fox, however, on the 14th of december, moved an amendment on the report; and in his speech he rejoiced in the triumph of the french arms over what he called the coalition of despots, prussia and austria. he declared the people of flanders had received the french with open arms; that ireland was too disaffected for us to think of going to war; and that it was useless to attempt to defend the dutch, for the people there would go over to france too. he again pressed on the house the necessity of our acknowledging the present french government, and entering into alliance with it. he said france had readily acknowledged the revolution in england, and entered into treaty with[411] cromwell. burke again replied to fox, declaring that france had no real government at all to enter into terms with. it was in a condition of anarchy, one party being in the ascendency one day, another the next; that such was not the condition of england under cromwell. there was a decided and settled republican government, but a government which did not menace or overthrow all monarchies around it, any more than switzerland or the united states of america did now. dundas reminded the house that we were bound by treaties to defend holland if attacked, and that we must be prepared for it. whigs, who had hitherto voted with fox, now demanded to whom we were to send an ambassador—to the imprisoned king, to the convention, or to the clubs who ruled the convention? fox's amendment was rejected without a division.

undismayed, fox renewed the contest on the following day, december 15th, by moving that an humble address should be presented to his majesty, praying him to send an ambassador to france to treat with the persons constituting the existing executive government. he said that he did not mean to vindicate what had taken place in that country, although, if we condemned the crimes committed in france, we must also condemn those of morocco and algiers, and yet we had accredited agents at the courts of those countries.

grey followed, contending that we ought to avoid the calamities of war by all possible means. a long debate ensued, in the midst of which mr. jenkinson declared that on that very day, whilst they were discussing the propriety of sending an ambassador to france, the monarch himself was to be brought to trial, and probably by that hour was condemned to be murdered. all the topics regarding holland and belgium were again introduced. fox was supported by grey, francis, erskine, whitbread, and sheridan; but his motion was negatived without a division.

on monday, the 17th, fox renewed the discussion, supported by mr. grey, who complained that at a so-called loyal meeting held at manchester, the people had been incited to attack the property of those of more liberal views; and that an association had been formed in london, at the "crown and anchor" tavern, which had issued a paper called "a pennyworth of truth from thomas bull to his brother john," containing most unfounded censures on the dissenters, whom it charged as being the authors of the american war. he declared that this paper was far more inflammatory than paine's "rights of man," and he desired that it might be read at the table. fox severely criticised the conduct of the loyal associations, and the means taken by the subscription papers to mark out those who maintained liberal opinions; all such marked persons, he said, were in danger, on any excitement, of having their persons or houses attacked. he mentioned one paper concluding with the words, "destruction to fox and all his jacobin crew!" this was, he thought, pretty plainly marking him out for such treatment as dr. priestley and mr. walker had received. the motion was rejected.

immediately after this, fox encouraged the formation of a society of friends of the liberty of the press, of which erskine and horne tooke were members. as several french emissaries were traversing the country disseminating their opinions, lord grenville, on the 19th of december, 1792, introduced a bill into the house of lords, subjecting aliens to certain regulations not included in the ordinary alien bill. all foreigners were to announce themselves on their arrival, and surrender any arms brought with them; they were to take out passports, and to have them viséd on every fresh removal through the country, so that their movements might be known to the authorities; those who had arrived during the year 1792 to be particularly observed, and the motives for their coming ascertained; all such foreigners as received allowances from the british government to be distributed into particular districts, under the eye of the authorities. with some opposition, this bill was carried. the marquis of lansdowne forthwith moved that a negotiation should be immediately opened with the french government, requiring it to receive back the numerous frenchmen driven into exile, or to provide for their support, and at the same time to endeavour to save louis xvi. from the terrible fate which threatened him. this was negatived on the declaration of other lords, who said that both propositions would be useless; the latter one would in all probability hasten, rather than avert, the fate of the french king. in the commons, fox and sheridan strenuously resisted the new alien bill, and burke as vehemently supported it. he declared that no measures of precaution could be too strict; that thousands of daggers had been manufactured in birmingham for france, and intending to produce a startling effect he drew an actual dagger from his bosom, and flinging it on the floor of the house exclaimed, "that is what you are to obtain[412] from an alliance with france. you must equally proscribe their tenets and their persons; you must keep their principles from your minds, and their daggers from your hearts!" in the french convention such an action would have created a sensation, but in the matter-of-fact british parliament it produced only surprise followed by laughter. fox endeavoured as much as possible to weaken the sense of danger of french principles, though he expressed his abhorrence of the september massacres. the bill was passed, and was succeeded by one prohibiting the circulation of french assignats, bonds, promissory notes, etc., and another, prohibiting the exportation of naval stores, saltpetre, arms, and ammunition.

on the 30th of january, 1793, dundas announced to the house of commons a message from the throne, communicating the news of the execution of the french king. this was accompanied by copies of a correspondence with m. chauvelin, the late plenipotentiary of louis, and of an order for his quitting the kingdom, in consequence of this sanguinary act. the message made a deep impression on the house, though the circumstances were already well known. it was agreed to take these matters into consideration on the 2nd of february, when pitt detailed the correspondence which had for some time taken place between the british cabinet and the french government. he said that britain, notwithstanding many provocations, had carefully maintained an attitude of neutrality, even when, in the preceding summer, france was at war with austria and prussia, and was menacing our dutch allies. the french, on their part, had, he said, made similar professions. they had publicly renounced all aggression, and yet they had annexed saxony, overrun belgium, and now contemplated the invasion of holland. they had done more: they had plainly menaced this country with invasion. so recently as the last day of the year, their minister of marine had addressed a letter to the seaports of france, in which this was the language regarding england:—"the king and his parliament mean to make war against us. will the english republicans suffer it? already these free men show their discontent, and the repugnance they have to bear arms against their brothers, the french. well, we will fly to their succour; we will make a descent on the island; we will lodge there fifty thousand caps of liberty; we will plant there the sacred tree; we will stretch out our arms to our republican brethren, and the tyranny of their government shall soon be destroyed!" there was a strong war spirit manifest in the house. fox and his diminished party combated it in vain. the same prevailing expression was exhibited in a similar debate in the house of lords, in which lord loughborough—who, on the 20th of january, succeeded thurlow as lord chancellor—supported the views of ministers. but there was little time allowed for the two houses to discuss the question of peace or war, for on the 11th of february dundas brought down a royal message, informing the commons that the french had declared war on the 1st of february, against both britain and holland. on the following day pitt moved an address to his majesty, expressing a resolve to support him in the contest against france. in the debate, burke declared the necessity of war against a nation which had, in fact, proclaimed war against every throne and nation. at the same time, he declared that it would be a war in defence of every principle of order or religion. it would not be the less a most desperate war. france was turning almost every subject in the realm into a soldier. it meant to maintain its armies on the plunder of invaded nations. trade being ruined at home by the violence of mob rule, the male population was eager to turn soldiers, and to live on the spoils of the neighbouring countries. lyons alone, he said, had thirty thousand artisans destitute of employment; and they would find a substitute for their legitimate labour in ravaging the fields of holland and germany. he deemed war a stern necessity. a similar address was moved and carried in the peers.

on the 18th of february, however, fox moved a string of resolutions condemnatory of war with france. they declared that that country was only doing what every country had a right to do—reorganise its internal constitution; that, as we had allowed russia, prussia, and austria to dismember poland, we had no right to check the aggressions of france on these countries; as we had remained quiescent in the one case, we were bound to do so in the other, and not to make ourselves confederates of the invasion of poland; and his final resolution went to entreat his majesty not to enter into any engagements with other powers which should prevent us from making a separate peace with france. burke did not lose the opportunity of rebuking fox for his long advocacy of the empress catherine, whose unprincipled share in the partition of poland he was now compelled to reprobate. the resolutions of fox were negatived by two hundred and seventy votes against forty-four. not daunted by this overwhelming majority, fox again, on the 21st of february, brought forward his resolution in another form, declaring that there were no sufficient causes for war. the motion was negatived without a division.

[413]

trial of louis xvi. (see p. 409.)

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[414]

during these debates, ministers detailed the proceedings which had for some time past taken place between the governments of france and britain, to show that the maintenance of peace was impossible. the chief of these transactions were briefly these:—from the date of the conferences at pillnitz in 1791, when prussia and austria resolved to embrace the cause of the french king, and invited the other powers to support them, britain declared, both to those powers and to france, her intention of remaining neutral. it was no easy matter to maintain such neutrality. to the jacobin leaders, every country with an orderly government, and still more a monarchy, was an offence. against britain they displayed a particular animus, which the most friendly offices did not remove. when, towards the end of 1791, the declaration of the rights of man having reached st. domingo, the negroes rose in insurrection to claim these rights, lord effingham, the governor of jamaica, aided the french colonial government with arms and ammunition, and the fugitive white people with provisions and protection. when this was notified to the national assembly, with the king of britain's approval of it, by lord gower, the ambassador at paris, a vote of thanks was passed, but only to the british nation, and on condition that not even lord effingham's name should be mentioned in it. other transactions on the part of the french still more offensive took place from time to time, but britain still maintained her neutrality. when war was declared by france against austria, in april, 1792, chauvelin announced the fact to the british government, and requested that british subjects should be prohibited from serving in any foreign army against france. government at once issued an order to that effect. in june the french government, through chauvelin, requested the good offices of britain in making pacific proposals to prussia and austria; but find that france expected more than friendly mediation—actual armed coalition with france—the british government declined this, as contrary to existing alliances with those powers. the proclamations of the french government were already such as breathed war to europe; all thrones were menaced with annihilation. at this time mr. miles, who exerted himself to maintain a friendly feeling between the nations, records, in his correspondence with the french minister lebrun and others, that roland declared to one of his friends that peace was out of the question; that france had three hundred thousand men in arms, and that the ministers must make them march as far as ever their legs could carry them, or they would return and cut all their throats.

this was the state of things when, on the 17th of august, 1792, the french deposed louis, and prepared for his death. lord gower was thereupon recalled, on the plain ground that, being accredited alone to the king, and there being no longer a king, his office was at an end; he was, however, ordered to take a respectful leave, and to assure the government that britain still desired to maintain peaceful relations. yet at this very time london was swarming with paid emissaries of the french government, whose business was to draw over the people to french notions of republican liberty. nay, more, lebrun, the foreign minister, took no pains to conceal the assurance of the french that ireland would revolt and that france would secure it. on the 18th of november a great dinner was given at white's hotel in paris, at which lord edward fitzgerald and other irish republicans, thomas paine, santerre, and a host of like characters, english, irish, french, and others, toasted the approaching national convention of great britain and ireland, and amid wild acclamations drank the sentiment, "may revolutions never be made by halves!" the very next day, the 19th, the national convention issued its decree, declaring war against all thrones and proclaiming the enfranchisement of all peoples. this was immediately followed by jacobinised deputations of englishmen, thanking the convention for this proclamation; and the president, in reply, said, "citizens of the world! royalty in europe is utterly destroyed, or on the point of perishing on the ruins of feudality; and the rights of man, placed by the side of thrones, are a devouring fire which will consume them all. worthy republicans! congratulate yourselves on the festival which you have celebrated in honour of the french revolution—the prelude to the festival of nations!"

before the close of 1792 the french resolved to send an ambassador to the united states to demand a return of the aid given to the americans in their revolution, by declaration of war against great britain. m. genet was dispatched for this purpose at the beginning of 1793.[415] still neutrality was maintained, though our ambassador was withdrawn from paris, and m. chauvelin was no longer recognised in an official capacity by the british court. this gentleman, however, continued in london, ignoring the loss of his official character, and officiously pressing himself on the attention of ministers as still french plenipotentiary. lord grenville was repeatedly obliged to remind him that he had no power to correspond with him officially. he, however, informed him privately that, if the french government wished to be duly recognised in great britain, they must give up their assumed right of aggression on neighbouring countries and of interference with established governments. the french girondist ministers took advantage of this letter which chauvelin transmitted to them to send a reply, in which, however, having now invaded holland, they gave no intimation of any intention of retiring. they even declared that it was their intention to go to war with britain; and if the british government did not comply with their desires, and enter into regular communication with them, they would prepare for war. lord grenville returned this letter, informing chauvelin again that he could receive no official correspondence from him in a private capacity. this was on the 7th of january, 1793; chauvelin continued to press his communications on lord grenville, complaining of the alien bill, and on the 18th presented letters of credence. lord grenville informed him, in reply, that his majesty in the present circumstances could not receive them. these circumstances were the trial and conviction of louis xvi. on the 24th arrived the news of louis's execution, and chauvelin immediately received passports for himself and suite, and an order to quit the kingdom within eight days. this order created the utmost exultation in the french convention, for the jacobins were rabid for war with all the world, and on the 1st of february the convention declared war against britain, and the news reached london on the 4th. such was the ministerial explanation.

the declaration of war against britain by the convention was unanimous. the decree was drawn up by the girondists, but it was enthusiastically supported by the jacobins, including robespierre and danton. a vote creating assignats to the amount of eight hundred million livres was immediately passed, a levy of three hundred thousand men was ordered, and to aggravate the whole tone of the affair, an appeal to the people of great britain was issued, calling on them to act against and embarrass their own government.

it must be confessed that it was impossible to keep peace with a nation determined to make war on the whole world. perhaps on no occasion had the pride of the british people and their feelings of resentment been so daringly provoked. war was proclaimed against britain, and it was necessary that she should put herself in a position to protect her own interests. the country was, moreover, bound to defend holland if assaulted. but though bound by treaty to defend holland, great britain was not bound to enter into the defence of all and every one of the continental nations; and had she maintained this just line of action, her share in the universal war which ensued would have been comparatively insignificant. prussia, russia, and austria had destroyed every moral claim of co-operation by their lawless seizure of poland, and the peoples of the continent were populous enough to defend their own territories, if they were worthy of independence. there could be no just claim on britain, with her twenty millions of inhabitants, to defend countries which possessed a still greater number of inhabitants, especially as they had never been found ready to assist us, but on the contrary. but britain, unfortunately, at that time, was too easily inflamed with a war spirit. the people as well as the government were incensed at the disorganising and aggressive spirit of france, and were soon drawn in, with their quixotism of fighting for everybody or anybody, to league with the continental despots for the purpose not merely of repelling french invasions, but of forcing on the french a dynasty that they had rejected.

fox and his party still maintained a vigorous and persevering endeavour to remain at peace; but he weakened his efforts by professing to believe that we might yet enter into substantial engagements with the french, who had at this moment no permanent settled government at all, but a set of puppet ministers, ruled by a convention, and the convention ruled by a mob flaming with the ideas of universal conquest and universal plunder. if fox had advocated the wisdom of maintaining the defensive as much as possible, and confining ourselves to defending our dutch allies, as we were bound, his words would have had more weight; but his assurance that we might maintain a full and friendly connection with a people that were butchering each other at home, and belying all their most solemn professions of[416] equity and fraternity towards their dupes abroad, only enabled pitt to ask him with whom he would negotiate—was it with robespierre, or the monster marat, then in the ascendant? "but," added pitt, "it is not merely to the character of marat, with whom we would now have to treat, that i object; it is not to the horror of those crimes which have stained their legislators—crimes in every stage rising above one another in enormity,—but i object to the consequences of that character, and to the effect of those crimes. they are such as render a negotiation useless, and must entirely deprive of stability any peace which could be concluded in such circumstances. the moment that the mob of paris comes under a new leader, mature deliberations are reversed, the most solemn engagements are retracted, or free will is altogether controlled by force. all the crimes which disgrace history have occurred in one country, in a space so short, and with circumstances so aggravated, as to outrun thought and exceed imagination." in fact, to have made an alliance with france at that moment, and for long afterwards, would have been to sanction her crimes, and to share the infamy of her violence and lawlessness abroad.

in the presence of this great exciting cause the remaining business of the session of the british parliament appeared tame. mr. r. smith introduced a petition for parliamentary reform from nottingham, and this was followed by a number of similar petitions from other places: but whilst french emissaries and english demagogues were preaching up revolution, nobody would listen to reform, and a motion of mr. grey, to refer these petitions to a committee, was rejected by two hundred and eighty-two votes to forty-one. on the 25th of february dundas introduced an optimistic statement of the affairs of india, declaring that dependency as very flourishing, in spite of the continuance of the war with tippoo; and this was preparatory to a renewal of the charter of the east india company, which was carried on the 24th of may. francis, fox, and others, opposed the bill, and made very different statements in vain. the real condition of india was not destined to force itself on the nation till it came in the shape of a bloody insurrection, and seventy million pounds of debt, more than sixty years afterwards.

on the 6th of march the first blessings of war began to develop themselves in the announcement, by pitt, that his majesty had engaged a body of his hanoverian troops to assist the dutch; and, on the 11th, by his calling on the house to form itself into a committee of ways and means to consider the propriety of raising a loan of four millions and a half, and of issuing four millions of exchequer bills, in addition to the ordinary revenue, to meet the demands of the year. resolutions for both these purposes were passed; and, on the 15th, a bill was introduced, making it high treason for any one to sell to the french any muniments of war, bullion, or woollen cloth. fox and his party opposed this bill, but it was readily carried through both houses.

the repulse of the french in their attack on holland, and their repeated defeats in belgium, which will be mentioned in the next chapter, induced the french government to make overtures for peace with britain, but in a secret and most singular way. instead of an open proposal through some duly-accredited envoy, the proposals came through a mr. john salter, a public notary of poplar. this notary delivered to lord grenville two letters from lebrun the french foreign minister, dated the 2nd of april, stating that france was desirous to accommodate its differences with britain, and, provided the idea was accepted, m. marat should be sent over with full powers, on passports being duly forwarded. a mr. john matthews, of biggin house, surrey, attested that these notes were perfectly genuine, and had been signed in the presence of himself and mr. john salter. lord grenville, suspecting a correspondence coming through so extraordinary a medium, and believing that the design of the french was only to gain time, in order to recover their losses, took no notice of the letters. moreover, as the jacobins were then following up their attacks on the girondists from day to day, he saw no prospect of any permanence of this party in power. in fact, they were expelled by the 2nd of june, and on the 22nd of that month lebrun was in flight to avoid arrest. marat arrived, but held no communications with grenville, and very shortly returned to france. soon afterwards came indirect overtures through dumouriez to our ambassador, lord auckland, but they were too late. war had been declared.

before the close of april a great commercial crisis had taken place in england, and ministers were compelled to make a new issue, by consent of parliament, of five millions of exchequer bills, to assist merchants and manufacturers, under proper security. the sudden expansion of industry which was met by an undue increase of the paper currency rather than bullion, combined[417] with reckless banking, produced the crisis. it was calculated that out of the 350 provincial banks 100 failed. in the circumstances the issue of exchange bills was a most successful makeshift.

robespierre.

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fox did not suffer the session to close without another powerful effort to avoid war with france. a petition had been handed to him for presentation to the commons, drawn up by mr. gurney of norwich, and signed by the friends and other inhabitants of that city, praying that peace with france might be concluded. fox not only agreed to present it and support its prayer, but he earnestly exhorted mr. gurney and his friends to promote the sending of petitions from other places for this object, as the only means of influencing the house, bent determinedly on war. on the 17th of june, only four days before the close of the session, fox moved an address to the crown, praying that, as the french had been driven out of holland, peace should be made. in pursuance of his object—a great one, if attainable—he did not spare his former favourite, the empress of russia, and the other royal robbers of poland. burke replied that fox knew very well that the defence of holland was but a very partial motive for the war. the real obstacles to peace were the avowed principles of the french—those of universal conquest, of annexation of the kingdoms conquered, as already alsace, savoy, and belgium; their attempts on the constitution of great britain by insidious means; the murder of their own monarch held up as an example to all other nations. to make peace with france, he said truly, was to declare war against the rest of europe, which was threatened by france; and he asked with whom in france should we[418] negotiate for peace, if so disposed? should it be with lebrun, already in a dungeon, or with clavière, who was hiding from those who were anxious to take his head? or with egalité, who had been consigned to a dungeon at marseilles? burke declared that you might as well attempt to negotiate with a quicksand or a whirlwind as with the present ever-shifting and truculent factions which ruled in france.

the motion of fox was negatived by a large majority, and on the 21st of june the king prorogued parliament.