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formidable enemy in the terrorists. Some of their chiefs, we have seen, had been brought to the scaffold; and the advocates of moderate councils had thereby acquired an ascendency. But they could not feel either their own or the public peace and safety established on a firm basis as long as men who had been associates with Roberspierre, and who had still a considerable party in the kingdom, retained their weight in the government. Conscious of their present strength, and persuaded that the general sense of the nation was in their favour, the moderatists in the convention resolved to make advantage of it completely to free themselves of their adversaries, who were endeavouring to justify their sanguinary measures by representing the moderate principles of their opponents as savouring of counterrevolutionary intentions. Such temperate and rational measures were first adopted as might conciliate the good opinion and esteem of the nation: and the deputies whom the terrorists had driven from the convention were recalled, to reinforce their party. Then Barrere, Billaud Varennes, Collot d'Herbois, and Vaudier were denounced: a decree for their examination before

"convention wished to produce. Inflexible in its opinions, blind in its policy, -contemptuously "confounding under the name of rebels, all those who did not wish the total overthrow of the new laws, the return of the ancient system, and the punishment of the friends of liberty; their "impatience occasioned their miscarriage, when every thing was united to favour them. Incapa"ble of waiting or of coming to terms, they listened only to the voice of prejudice which rendered 66 them inaccessible to reason. The progress of knowledge, the change of manners, the strength of "the army, the interest of the officers, that of the new proprietors of lands, the crowds of citizens "whose vanity or fortune supported the revolution, in a word, the danger of a violent commo"tion, and of a dismemberment which would deliver France to her enemies, and subject her "to the fate of Poland; none of these considerations could make an impression on those violent CC men.

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"Such is the spirit of party which views every thing in profile, and never can perceive but the "side favourable to its wishes. In their eyes the unlimited return of the royal authority; the "entire re-establishment of the nobility, of the dominant religion and of parliaments, were as easy as indispensable; the idea of a republic, or even of any kind of free or representative government, offered to their minds only the image of anarchy, of crime, and of disaster; whilst a royal counter-revolution, recalling to their recollection tranquil times and delightful enjoyments, "seemed to them no more than the return to order, to virtue, and to happiness.

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"This party incessantly thwarted the progress of those legislators who wished to repair existing "evils, and to restore tranquillity; for when they destroyed some revolutionary laws, and did any "act of justice, the triumphant royalists animated the people against the revolutionists, and indiscreetly proclaiming the return of the ancient system, they awakened the fears of the patriots, the inquietude of the army, and afforded at once pretexts and strength to the jacobin party."Segur's Frederic William. 3. 180.

before a commission appointed for that purpose was passed: and, after a long examination, it was declared, "that they had been accessory to the tyranny that had been exercised over the people and the convention." P The nation was still held in anxious suspense respecting the fate of these demagogues when the jacobin leaders, reflecting on the popularity which they had once enjoyed in the city, determined to make one effort in their support, which, if successful, might lead to the recovery of their own. influence. Availing themselves of the present extreme dearth of bread, they contrived to exasperate the populace against the administration by persuading them that the public misery originated in their measures; and, artfully blending the cause of the imprisoned terrorists with the national welfare, they endeavoured to persuade the people that their interests would be better attended to were these persons restored to power.

There is a degree of compassion in the human breast when not counteracted by passion, which renders it easy to make the populace partisans of those who even seem to be persecuted. They are knight errants in resisting persecution; and, like their worthy brother, the knight of la Mancha, impelled by their feelings, they fly to the relief of the distressed, without considering whether there be a justifiable reason for their sufferings."— Under the auspices of the jacobin leaders, a strong body of insurgents broke into the hall of the convention, and, demanding bread, they at the same time declared that they would not suffer the accused members to be sacrificed to their enemies.†

The convention, finding themselves thus beset by an enraged multitude, caused the alarm bells to be rung. The citizens, who dreaded the return of those tumults which the jacobins had formerly excited by their influence over the populace, instantly obeyed the summons. And with the assistance of Pichegru, who was fortunately at Paris and took on him the command of the city militia, tranquillity was soon restored.'

Unwilling to proceed to the punishment of the deputies upon the present charges, who boldly defended themselves by adducing the sanction which the legislature itself had given to the measures of the committee of safety, on which the charges were chiefly founded, the moderatists chose

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† April 1.

P Annual Register. 84.

१ See England. 1768.

Annual Register, 85.

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new ground; and arbitrarily decreed their transportation to Guiana, as conspirators against the state.-Their partisans attempted a rescue; and Barrere and some others made their escape. But the convention persisted in their purpose, and the decree of transportation against the deputies and others implicated in the insurrection was carried into execution.'

The tumult being suppressed, the convention proceeded to such measures as they deemed essential to the public welfare. Among these, the most important was the appointment of a committee of eleven of their members to frame a new constitution and system of government, which might remedy the evils of that established under the jacobin administration in 1793, and might prevent the abuses practised under it.

In the mean-time, it was thought expedient to inflict punishment on those who had been most active in the sanguinary decisions of the revolutionary tribunal; which had so notoriously prostituted justice for the advancement of their own and Roberspierre's interests. Feuquier Tanville and sixteen others, among whom was the ferocious Lebon, were, in consequence, tried, condemned, and executed.

Had the jacobins been less confident in their strength, these severe proceedings might have had the intended effect of deterring them from further attempts against the public peace. But in their present state and sentiments, conscious as they were of their influence among the lowest orders of the community, and sensible of the danger which threatened them from the moderatists, they produced a contrary effect. Actuated by motives of revenge and self-preservation, they determined to have recourse once more to that engine which they had so often employed with success. -Incendiary papers were dispersed, calling on the starving people to avenge their own wrongs-" to repair to the convention, there to "demand bread and the constitution of 1793; the dissolution of the convention, the arrest of all its members, and the immediate convocation of "the primary assemblies for the election of another."

In conformity with these exhortations, the multitude assembled tumultuously round the door of the convention. And when they heard that, instead of compliance with their wishes, a decree had been passed to "outlaw

"outlaw the leaders of the insurrection," they burst into the hall of the 1795 assembly. A scene of excessive uproar ensued. Ferrand, one of the members, fell a victim to their fury: and the jacobins in the convention were for a short time triumphant. But when their janissaries, the multitude, dispersed, on hearing that general Hoche was coming against them with an armed force, they were obliged at last to give way: and the moderatists, resuming their seats, the same day, proceeded to cancel the acts which the jacobins had passed."

Although the commotions in the capital had a momentary intermission, yet the public mind was still in a state of ferment; and the anarchists, whilst they wore an aspect of tranquillity, were preparing for a more vigorous attack on their adversaries. The ensuing day,† the populace, being provided with some pieces of artillery, took the convention by surprise, when the moderatists were not provided with a military force for their defence; and, directing their cannon against the hall of assembly in the thuilleries, they obliged them to consent to their demand of the constitution of 1793 and other stipulations in favour of the degraded terrorists. The triumph of the anarchists was, however, of very short continuance. As the convention had been too negligent, so these were too confident from success. As the officers of justice were conducting the assassins of Ferrand to the place of execution they were attacked by the populace, and forced to deliver up their charge.

It now became evident that the public peace could not be restored till more effectual means were taken for subduiug the jacobin anarchists and their tumultuous adherents. The peaceful citizens, then, rallied round the standard of the convention: and the assembly viewing the national evils that must arise from these disturbances in the most serious light, and finding themselves supported by all the friends to the public welfare, adopted strong measures to remedy them.-General Menou, appointed commandant of Paris, appearing at the entrance of the rebellious fauxbourg St. Antoine, at the head of a body of troops, with several pieces of artillery, issued a proclamation, denouncing vengeance against the insurgents, if they did not immediately lay down their arms, and deliver the assassins of Ferrand

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Ferrand into his hands. ‡-Audacity giving way to force, his commands were obeyed; and an unconditional capitulation put an end to the reign. of terrorism in the metropolis.-It being deemed necessary, to deter others from such outrages, by sacrificing those to the public peace who had been the most atrocious violators of it, six members of the convention and fifteen others suffered the sentence of death for their crimes.

The insurrection was thus suppressed in the capital. But the jacobins had extended their machinations into every part of the kingdom, and prepared men to join them in dispossessing the moderatists by the foulest aspersions on their characters and conduct; representing them as vile hypocrites, who, under pretence of moderation, were preparing the way for the restoration of monarchy by destroying those who were the only true friends of liberty. The severity which had been practised in the punishment of those jacobins who had been the instruments of oppression under the late administration, whilst it exasperated their partisans, gave some countenance to their censures of the ruling powers. And so successful were the present anarchists in their endeavours to disturb their government, that outrages were committed in several places, particularly at Toulon, which rivalled those of the metropolis in atrocity.!

Amidst these scenes of disorder the Bourbon dynasty in France, which had been for ages so illustrious, but was now celebrated only for its misfortunes, was terminated by the death of the dauphin, Lewis Charles, the only surviving son of Lewis the Sixteenth, in his twelfth year. This unfortunate prince, who had, from his infancy, been cruelly doomed to imprisonment, without the possibility of a crime, appears to have fallen a victim to confinement. But those who wished to vilify the present administration, discharged their arrows in the dark by hints of poison, which they were not liable to be called upon to make good.— Moved by a desire to recommend themselves to the national esteem, or by the more generous motive of commiseration, the convention soon after liberated his sister, the princess Sophia; whose release was negotiated with the court of Vienna in exchange for those persons whom Dumouriez had delivered into the hands of the Austrians. ||