3 10 1079 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document I am sure Your Majesty will have learned, with as much surprise and indignation as I, of the unprecedented outrage of the arrest of the King of France, of my sister the Queen, and of the Royal Family. I am also sure your sentiments cannot differ from mine with regard to this event which immediately compromises the honor of all sovereigns and the security of all governments by inspiring fear of still more dreadful acts to follow, and by placing the seal of illegality upon previous excesses in France. I am determined to fulfill my obligation as to these considerations, both as chosen head of the Germanic State, with its support, and as Sovereign of the Austrian states. I therefore propose to you, as I propose to the Kings of Spain, England, Prussia, Naples, and Sardinia, as well as to the Empress of Russia, to unite with them and me to consult on cooperation and measures to restore the liberty and honor of the Most Christian King and his family, and to limit the dangerous extremes of the French Revolution. The most pressing [need] appears to be our immediate cooperation . . . having our ministers in France deliver a common declaration, or numerous similar and simultaneous declarations, which may curb the leaders of the violent party and forestall desperate decisions. This will still leave them an opportunity for honest repentance and for the peaceful establishment of a regime in France that will preserve at least the dignity of the crown and the essential requirements for general tranquillity. For this purpose, I propose to Your Majesty the plan annexed hereto which appears to me satisfactory. However, since the success of such a declaration is problematical, and since complete success can be assured only in so far as we are prepared to support it by sufficiently respectable means, my Minister to Your Majesty will receive at once the necessary instructions to discuss with your Minister such agreement on vigorous measures as circumstances may require. I also intend to have him inform you concerning the replies of the other powers as soon as I have received them. I regard it as an infinitely precious advantage that the disposition they all show for the reestablishment of peace and harmony gives promise to the removal of the obstacles which might be detrimental to the unanimity of the views and sentiments concerning an event so closely associated with the welfare of all Europe. Signed, Leopold Plan of the Common Declaration Padua, 5 July 1791. The undersigned are charged with making known, on the part of their sovereigns, the following: That, notwithstanding the notorious deeds of constraint and violence which have preceded and succeeded the acts of consent granted by the King of France to the decrees of the National Assembly, they had nevertheless still wished to withhold their opinion concerning the degree to which such consent represented, or did not represent, the conviction and free will of His Most Christian Majesty. But the effort undertaken by that prince to set himself at liberty, being a most certain proof of the state of confinement in which he found himself, no longer left any doubt that he had been forced to do violence to his religion in several respects, at the same time that the last outrage, the formal arrest of Him and of the Queen, the Dauphin, and Madame Elizabeth, inspires legitimate fears concerning the ulterior undertakings of the dominant party. That the said sovereigns, unable to delay any longer the manifestation of sentiments and resolutions which, under the circumstances, the honor of their crowns, the ties of blood, and the maintenance of the public order and peace of Europe require of them, have ordered their undersigned ministers to declare: That they demand that this prince and his family be set at liberty immediately, and that they claim for all said royal persons the inviolability and respect which the law of nature and of men imposes upon subjects towards their princes; That they will unite in order to avenge in a forceful manner any future outrages which may be committed, or may be allowed to be committed, against the security, the person, and the honor of the King, the Queen, and the Royal Family. That, finally, they will recognize as law and as a constitution legally established in France only those [measures] which they find bearing the voluntary approval of the King, in the enjoyment of perfect liberty; but that, in the contrary case, they will employ in concert all the means within their power to bring to an end the scandal of an usurpation of power which bears the character of an open revolt, and the disastrous example of which it is important for all governments to check. Sortable Date 1791-07-05 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived John Hall Stewart, A Documentary Survey of the French Revolution (New York: Macmillan, 1951), 221–23. (Slightly retranslated). Description An account of the resource Even after the aborted flight of the royal family in June 1791, Emperor Leopold von Habsburg of Austria, brother of Marie Antoinette, continued his efforts to organize a coalition of French émigré nobles and other European powers that would invade France and put an end to the Revolution. In this letter, written shortly after the forced return of Louis and Marie Antoinette to Paris (which Leopold considered their "arrest"), he proposes an alliance of Austria, Prussia, Britain, Spain, Russia, and other forces against the French Revolution and sets forth the principles for which this alliance would fight—most notably, the restoration of Louis to his full pre–1789 powers. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 420 Title A name given to the resource "The Padua Circular" (5 July 1791) Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/420/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 5, 1791 Counterrevolution Europe in Revolution Monarchy Text Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Characters: Louis XVI The Queen The Count of Artois The Duchess of Polignac Bodyguards The action takes place in the apartments. FIRST SCENE Bodyguards Choir, drinking Let's vary our pleasures between Bacchus and the God of the Ton, the example we are shown here, increases our desires. A GUARD To arms, there comes Her Majesty. ANOTHER GUARD There will be an orgy tonight. The female Ganimede is with the Queen. ANOTHER GUARD Artois, the beloved one, there he is between vice and virtue. Guess who the vice is. A GUARD You do not need to guess. I can only see that this God is multiplying. SCENE II The Count of Artois, the Queen, Madame de Polignac THE QUEEN, to Madame de Polignac who steps aside to let the Queen go Come, come in my good friend. THE COUNT OF ARTOIS, slightly pushing the Queen, and pinching her buttocks Come in too (whispering to the Queen) What a nice bottom! So firm! THE QUEEN, whispering to the Count of Artois If my heart was as hard, wouldn't we be good together? THE COUNT OF ARTOIS Be quiet you crazy woman, or else my brother will have another son tonight. THE QUEEN Oh, no! Let's have some pleasure, but no more fruits. THE COUNT OF ARTOIS All right. I will be careful, if I can. THE QUEEN Let's sit down. MADAME DE POLIGNAC Where is the King? THE QUEEN What do you worry about? Soon he will be here to annoy us. Trio: the Queen, the Count of Artois, Madame de Polignac THE QUEEN When I see around me pleasure, love and Graces, fixing me on their tracks, what happiness it is to obey the law. THE COUNT OF ARTOIS, to the Queen O supreme good! I am next to what I love; My heart full of pleasures, Does not have any more desires. MADAME DE POLIGNAC Friendly Princess, what exhilaration it is for me, whenever I can to plunge your senses in the softest drunkenness! Together When I see around me pleasure, love and Graces, fixing me on their tracks, what happiness it is to obey the law. MADAME DE POLIGNAC Here comes the King. Sortable Date 1789-00-00 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Anonymous, L'Autrichienne en Goguettes ou l'Orgie Royale; Opera Proverbe (n.p., n.d. [1789]). Description An account of the resource In 1789, with the collapse of old regime censorship as well as a sense of liberation from traditional moral constraints, printed libels against the Queen became both more common and more intense. An example of this greater intensity is this light opera, with raunchy lyrics set to popular tunes. Not intended to be performed, the pamphlet spoofs the Queen’s great interest in opera and her supposedly even greater interest in the sexual prowess of some of her courtiers. As with the pornographic libels of the old regime, the printed accounts of her trysts with the Count of Artois and the Duchess of Polignac had no basis in fact, but they were consistent with the popularly held view of Marie Antoinette as out of touch with her people, self–interested, and a hindrance to the proper government of France, because of her uncontrollable lusts for power, luxury, and sex. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 328 Title A name given to the resource "The Royal Orgy" (1789) Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/328/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1789 Monarchy Text https://revolution.chnm.org/files/original/62a123ff1b126fd5025b9d9b3f3e186b.jpg d8e0e1e734547cbb24c61251dca27a8d Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Cornell Nap. 31 Description An account of the resource Where Napoleon was once the conqueror, the world now avenges itself. This sense of reversal, felt widely outside of France, characterized a number of the caricatures of Napoleon, and indeed of the entire Revolution. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 527 Title A name given to the resource "The Song of the End": the Whole World Now Chases Him Relation A related resource http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/527/ Europe in Revolution Image Napoleon Bonaparte https://revolution.chnm.org/files/original/ef09457a728e824c4d7fd69f3122da32.jpg 4f53f88a9824f3387ef60699c494fd60 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Cornell Nap.10 Description An account of the resource Linking Napoleon with Hell represents a far cry from his own propaganda. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 162 Title A name given to the resource "This Is My Dear Son": Napoleon as Child of the Devil Relation A related resource http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/162/ Europe in Revolution Image Napoleon Bonaparte Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document What is necessary that a nation should subsist and prosper? Individual effort and public functions. All individual efforts may be included in four classes: 1. Since the earth and the waters furnish crude products for the needs of man, the first class, in logical sequence, will be that of all families which devote themselves to agricultural labor. 2. Between the first sale of products and their consumption or use, a new manipulation, more of less repeated, adds to these products a second value more or less composite. In this manner human industry succeeds in perfecting the gifts of nature, and the crude product increases twofold, tenfold, a hundredfold in value. Such are the efforts of the second class. 3. Between production and consumption, as well as between the various stages of production, a group of intermediary agents establish themselves, useful both to producers and consumers; these are the merchants and brokers: the brokers who, comparing incessantly the demands of time and place, speculate upon the profit of retention and transportation; merchants who are charged with distribution, in the last analysis, either at wholesale or at retail. This species of utility characterizes the third class. 4. Outside of these three classes of productive and useful citizens, who are occupied with real objects of consumption and use, there is also need in a society of a series of efforts and pains, whose objects are directly useful or agreeable to the individual. This fourth class embraces all those who stand between the most distinguished and liberal professions and the less esteemed services of domestics. Such are the efforts which sustain society. Who puts them forth? The Third Estate. Public functions may be classified equally well, in the present state of affairs, under four recognized heads; the sword, the robe, the church, and the administration. It would be superfluous to take them up one by one, for the purpose of showing that everywhere the Third Estate attends to nineteen-twentieths of them, with this distinction; that it is laden with all that which is really painful, with all the burdens which the privileged classes refuse to carry. Do we give the Third Estate credit for this? That this might come about, it would be necessary that the Third Estate should refuse to fill these places, or that it should be less ready to exercise their functions. The facts are well known. Meanwhile they have dared to impose a prohibition upon the order of the Third Estate. They have said to it: "Whatever may be your services, whatever may be your abilities, you shall go thus far; you may not pass beyond!" Certain rare exceptions, properly regarded, are but a mockery, and the terms which are indulged in on such occasions, insult one the more. If this exclusion is a social crime against the Third Estate; if it is a veritable act of hostility, could it perhaps be said that it is useful to the public weal? Alas! who is ignorant of the effects of monopoly? If it discourages those whom it rejects, is it not well known that it tends to render less able those whom it favors? Is it not understood that every employment from which free competition is removed becomes dearer and less effective? In setting aside any function whatsoever to serve as an appanage for a distinct class among citizens, is it not to be observed that it is no longer the man alone who does the work that it is necessary to reward, but all the unemployed members of that same caste, and also the entire families of those who are employed as well as those who are not? Is it not to be remarked that since the government has become the patrimony of a particular class, it has been distended beyond all measure; places have been created, not on account of the necessities of the governed, but in the interests of the governing, etc., etc.? Has not attention been called to the fact that this order of things, which is basely and—I even presume to say—beastly respectable with us, when we find it in reading the History of Ancient Egypt or the accounts of Voyages to the Indies, is despicable, monstrous, destructive of all industry, the enemy of social progress; above all, degrading to the human race in general, and particularly intolerable to Europeans, etc., etc.? But I must leave these considerations, which, if they increase the importance of the subject and throw light upon it, perhaps, along with the new light, slacken our progress. It suffices here to have made it clear that the pretended utility of a privileged order for the public service is nothing more than a chimera; that with it, all that which is burdensome in this service is performed by the Third Estate; that without it, the superior places would be infinitely better filled; that they naturally ought to be the lot and the recompense of ability and recognized services, and that if privileged persons have come to usurp all the lucrative and honorable posts, it is a hateful injustice to the rank and file of citizens and at the same time a treason to the public weal. Who then shall dare to say that the Third Estate has not within itself all that is necessary for the formation of a complete nation? It is the strong and robust man who has one arm still shackled. If the privileged order should be abolished, the nation would be nothing less, but something more. Therefore, what is the Third Estate? Everything; but an everything shackled and oppressed. What would it be without the privileged order? Everything, but an everything free and flourishing. Nothing can succeed without it, everything would be infinitely better without the others. It is not sufficient to show that privileged persons, far from being useful to the nation, cannot but enfeeble and injure it; it is necessary to prove further that the noble order does not enter at all into the social organization; that it may indeed be a burden upon the nation, but that it cannot of itself constitute a nation. In the first place, it is not possible in the number of all the elementary parts of a nation to find a place for the caste of nobles. I know that there are individuals in great number whom infirmities, incapacity, incurable laziness, or the weight of bad habits render strangers to the labors of society. The exception and the abuse are everywhere found beside the rule. But it will be admitted that the less there are of these abuses, the better it will be for the State. The worst possible arrangement of all would be where not lone isolated individuals, but a whole class of citizens should take pride in remaining motionless in the midst of the general movement, and should consume the best part of the product without bearing any part in its production. Such a class is surely estranged to the nation by its indolence. The noble order is not less estranged from the generality of us by its civil and political prerogatives. What is a nation? A body of associates, living under a common law, and represented by the same legislature, etc. Is it not evident that the noble order has privileges and expenditures which it dares to call its rights, but which are apart from the rights of the great body of citizens? It departs there from the common order, from the common law. So its civil rights make of it an isolated people in the midst of the great nation. This is truly imperium in imeprio. In regard to its political rights, these also it exercises apart. It has its special representatives, which are not charged with securing the interests of the people. The body of its deputies sit apart; and when it is assembled in the same hall with the deputies of simple citizens, it is none the less true that its representation is essentially distinct and separate: it is a stranger to the nation, in the first place, by its origin, since its commission is not derived from the people; then by its object, which consists of defending not the general, but the particular interest. The Third Estate embraces then all that which belongs to the nation; and all that which is not the Third Estate cannot be regarded as being of the nation. What is the Third Estate? It is the whole. Sortable Date 1789-01-00 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Emmanuel Sieyès, What Is the Third Estate? in Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History, vol. 6, French Philosophers of the Eighteenth Century (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1899), 32–35. Description An account of the resource Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès was born at Fréjus on 3 May 1748. He was educated at a Jesuit school, became a licentiate of canon law, and was appointed vicar–general by the bishop of Chartres. He first came into prominence with the publication of his pamphlet, "Qu’est ce que le tiers état?" In 1789 he was elected delegate to the Estates–General from Paris, and in the preliminary struggle for organization was made spokesman of the Third Estate. The policy indicated in his pamphlet was the one actually carried out in the conservative period of the Revolution. As the Revolution progressed, Sieyès dropped out of sight and had the good fortune to escape death. When asked at a later period what he had done during the Terror, he summed up his whole experience in the words: "I existed." In 1795 he again came forward and was appointed a member of a commission to draft a new constitution. His views did not obtain prominence in the constitution of 1795, and he refused to accept a position in the Directory of the new government. Sieyès took part with Napoleon in the coup d’état of 18 Brumaire, and was made one of the provisional consuls, with Napoleon and Roger Ducos. Later, he was made a count of the empire and given extensive estates as a reward for his services to France. This marks Sieyès’s final retirement from public life. He fled to Brussels on the second return of the Bourbons, returned after the revolution of 1830, and died in Paris on 20 June 1836. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 365 Title A name given to the resource "What Is the Third Estate?" by Emmanuel Sieyès Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/365/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1789 Enlightenment Middle Classes – Bourgeoisie Nobility Text Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document From the Dedication to M. Talleyrand-Perigord Contending for the rights of woman, my main argument is built on this simple principle, that if she be not prepared by education to become the companion of man, she will stop the progress of knowledge and virtue; for truth must be common to all, or it will be inefficacious with respect to its influence on general practice. And how can woman be expected to co-operate unless she know why she ought to be virtuous? Unless freedom strengthen her reason till she comprehend her duty, and see in what manner it is connected with her real good? If children are to be educated to understand the true principle of patriotism, their mother must be a patriot; and the love of mankind, from which an orderly strain of virtues spring, can only be produced by considering the moral and civil interest of mankind; but the education and situation of woman, at present, shuts her out from such investigations. In this work I have produced many arguments, which to me were conclusive, to prove that the prevailing notion respecting a sexual character was subversive of morality, and I have contended, that to render the human body and mind more perfect, chastity must more universally prevail, and that chastity will never be respected in the male world till the person of a woman is not, as it were, idolized, when little virtue or sense embellish it with the grand traces of mental beauty, or the interesting simplicity of affection. Consider, Sir, dispassionately, these observations—for a glimpse of this truth seemed to open before you when you observed, "that to see one half of the human race excluded by the other from all participation of government, was a political phaenomenon that, according to abstract principles, it was impossible to explain." If so, on what does your constitution rest? If the abstract rights of man will bear discussion and explanation, those of woman, by a parity of reasoning, will not shrink from the same test: though a different opinion prevails in this country, built on the very arguments which you use to justify the oppression of woman—prescription. Consider, I address you as a legislator, whether, when men contend for their freedom, and to be allowed to judge for themselves respecting their own happiness, it be not inconsistent and unjust to subjugate women, even though you firmly believe that you are acting in the manner best calculated to promote their happiness? Who made man the exclusive judge, if woman partake with him the gift of reason? In this style, argue tyrants of every denomination, from the weak king to the weak father of a family; they are all eager to crush reason; yet always assert that they usurp its throne only to be useful. Do you not act a similar part, when you force all women, by denying them civil and political rights, to remain immured in their families groping in the dark? for surely, Sir, you will not assert, that a duty can be binding which is not founded on reason? If indeed this be their destination, arguments may be drawn from reason: and thus augustly supported, the more understanding women acquire, the more they will be attached to their duty—comprehending it—for unless they comprehend it, unless their morals be fixed on the same immutable principle as those of man, no authority can make them discharge it in a virtuous manner. They may be convenient slaves, but slavery will have its constant effect, degrading the master and the abject dependent. But, if women are to be excluded, without having a voice, from a participation of the natural rights of mankind, prove first, to ward off the charge of injustice and inconsistency, that they want reason—else this flaw in your NEW CONSTITUTION will ever shew that man must, in some shape, act like a tyrant, and tyranny, in whatever part of society it rears its brazen front, will ever undermine morality. I have repeatedly asserted, and produced what appeared to me irrefragable arguments drawn from matters of fact, to prove my assertion, that women cannot, by force, be confined to domestic concerns; for they will, however ignorant, intermeddle with more weighty affairs, neglecting private duties only to disturb, by cunning tricks, the orderly plans of reason which rise above their comprehension. Besides, whilst they are only made to acquire personal accomplishments, men will seek for pleasure in variety, and faithless husbands will make faithless wives; such ignorant beings, indeed, will be very excusable when, not taught to respect public good, nor allowed any civil rights, they attempt to do themselves justice by retaliation. . . . From Chapter V, Section V To prevent any misconstruction, I must add, that I do not believe that a private education can work the wonders which some sanguine writers have attributed to it. Men and women must be educated, in a great degree, by the opinions and manners of the society they live in. In every age there has been a stream of popular opinion that has carried all before it, and given a family character, as it were, to the century. It may then fairly be inferred, that, till society be differently constituted, much cannot be expected from education. It is, however, sufficient for my present purpose to assert, that, whatever effect circumstances have on the abilities, every being may become virtuous by the exercise of its own reason; for if but one being was created with vicious inclinations, that is positively bad, what can save us from atheism? or if we worship a God, is not that God a devil? Consequently, the most perfect education, in my opinion, is such an exercise of the understanding as is best calculated to strengthen the body and form the heart. Or, in other words, to enable the individual to attain such habits of virtue as will render it independent. In fact, it is a farce to call any being virtuous whose virtues do not result from the exercise of its own reason. This was Rousseau's opinion respecting men: I extend it to women, and confidently assert that they have been drawn out of their sphere by false refinement, and not by an endeavour to acquire masculine qualities. Still the regal homage which they receive is so intoxicating, that till the manners of the times are changed, and formed on more reasonable principles, it may be impossible to convince them that the illegitimate power, which they obtain, by degrading themselves, is a curse, and that they must return to nature and equality, if they wish to secure the placid satisfaction that unsophisticated affections impart. But for this epoch we must wait—wait, perhaps, till kings and nobles, enlightened by reason, and, preferring the real dignity of man to childish state, throw off their gaudy hereditary trappings: and if then women do not resign the arbitrary power of beauty—they will prove that they have less mind than man. . . . I know that a kind of fashion now prevails of respecting prejudices; and when any one dares to face them, though actuated by humanity and armed by reason, he is superciliously asked whether his ancestors were fools. No, I should reply; opinions, at first, of every description, were all, probably, considered, and therefore were founded on some reason; yet not unfrequently, of course, it was rather a local expedient than a fundamental principle, that would be reasonable at all times. But, moss-covered opinions assume the disproportioned form of prejudices, when they are indolently adopted only because age has given them a venerable aspect, though the reason on which they were built ceases to be a reason, or cannot be traced. Why are we to love prejudices, merely because they are prejudices?[1] A prejudice is a fond obstinate persuasion for which we can give no reason; for the moment a reason can be given for an opinion, it ceases to be a prejudice, though it may be an error in judgment: and are we then advised to cherish opinions only to set reason at defiance? This mode of arguing, if arguing it may be called, reminds me of what is vulgarly termed a woman's reason. For women sometimes declare that they love, or believe, certain things, because they love, or believe them. . . . Chapter VI: The Effect Which an Early Association of Ideas Has upon the Character. Educated in the enervating style recommended by the writers on whom I have been animadverting; and not having a chance, from their subordinate state in society, to recover their lost ground, is it surprising that women everywhere appear a defect in nature? Is it surprising, when we consider what a determinate effect an early association of ideas has on the character, that they neglect their understandings, and turn all their attention to their persons? Sortable Date 1792-00-00 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Mary Wollstonecraft, "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman," in Mary Wollstonecraft, The Rights of Woman (London: Scott, 1891), xxvi–xxix,17–18, 155–56, 159. Description An account of the resource The English writer Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–97) argued against both Burke and Rousseau, defending the notion of natural rights, particularly rights for women, such as equal education. She insisted that women could not become virtuous, even as mothers, unless they won the right to participate in economic and political life on an equal basis with men. Although she did not specifically demand the right to vote for women, her emphasis on women’s rights made her an object of ridicule for some, heroism for others. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 579 Title A name given to the resource A Vindication of the Rights of Woman Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/579/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1792 Enlightenment Public Opinion Text The US and Great Britain in Revolution Women Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Because of successive losses that he had experienced, the King had emptied the Parc-Aux-Cerfs [the location for the harem] and yielded himself entirely to grief [over the loss of his wife and children from 1765 to 1768]. Advancing age and the ability of a great prince to satisfy all his passions had dulled his attraction towards women. But this need, though diminished, continued; and the courtiers judged it necessary to distract His Majesty from the long and grievous spectacle which the illness of the Queen had created. The doctors assured the King that it was dangerous to give up so abruptly a pleasure necessary for his existence. The monarch believed his doctors since the decline of the state and the loss of his companion, (such as he called the Queen in his letter to the archbishop to tell him of her death) had left him despondent. He told the Sieur le Bel to take care of this responsibility. This very zealous servant often undertook research to better serve His Majesty. It was on one of these hunting trips that le Bel spoke to the Count du Barry of his fatigue from these efforts. The latter, who had a sure sense in such matters and who was also known by le Bel as a man who could be useful, had no trouble in coming to his assistance. Le Bel told him of his despair of having found nothing in all these trips which could be desirable for his master. . . . -- "No," the impudent Count said to him, "I’ve got your business for you. You know I don’t lack taste. Trust me: you come to dinner at my house and tell me that I’m a cad if I don’t give you the most beautiful woman, the most fresh, the most seductive; a true morsel for a king." The King’s purveyor, enchanted with a proposition so consoling, embraced him and promised to go to find a convenient time. Du Barry had nothing more pressing than to return to his house and getting Mademoiselle l’Ange [the Angel] all dressed up. (This nickname, "the angel" was used by Mademoiselle Vaubernier following the practice of courtesans who also took a nom de guerre when they entered and displayed themselves before the world.) Du Barry taught her the role she had to play, giving her the hope that he regarded as chimerical but which was, however, realized. He gave her the picture of a brilliant destiny: he declared to her that it wasn’t a question of simply appearing at Versailles and satisfying incognito the desires of the King; he wished to make her mistress in title and to have her replace Madame du Pompadour. For this, it was necessary that she pretend to le Bel that she was his sister-in-law, married to his fat brother. She had to sustain well this persona, while deploying all the coquetterie and gracefulness that she had at her disposal. In such a case, all would go well.Mademoiselle L’Ange, for a joke, had already posed several times with the title Countess du Barry. It’s a current usage among kept girls to esteem themselves with the titles of their lovers. It was scarcely difficult to take on this persona with Sieur le Bel, who delighted by the face of this young person, who by her playfulness, by her lascivious look and various remarks, soon understood how to rejuvenate the old man. Through his experience he conceived what a happy effect a woman with such resources would have on his master. The dinner was exceptionally delightful, and the valet would have been glad to try himself so that he could vouch for his discovery. The Sieur du Barry profited from the enthusiasm of this lecher to make him understand that his sister-in-law could not be presented to the King like a common prostitute. And that she could not be simply disposed of without difficulty. This was a woman of quality who would doubtless be very honored with the bed of a prince or of such a desirable great king. However, she had the ambition to conquer his heart, as she already felt a terrific attachment for his sacred person -- an attachment which could only grow with greater intimacy. The valet was not too love struck to not see immediately this truth and thus to lend himself to all the arrangements which would appear necessary. It was decided from this moment that the so-called Countess would be a sacred morsel for the King. And that the Sieur le Bel would report to the monarch what he had seen. He would represent to His Majesty the desire of the woman in question to please him and the entire devotion of her husband to the will of the sovereign. Further, he would tell of the happiness that this faithful couple aspired to add to his pleasures. However, this beauty flattered herself to be able to be able to prove her love over a long time. And she would have the right to expect the same from her august lover and the general exclusion of all competitors. Evil courtiers have claimed that, according to the conversation, the valet was permitted to take possession of this future mistress in the name of the King. Others avow that du Barry induced the ambassador by promising a reward were he successful in presenting the woman. Whatever it be, as he was very smitten himself and he placed in his story to the King so much heat and energy that he strongly excited the love of the prince. But to inflame him more and before His Majesty had actually had an encounter, he proposed to have him see the object without the woman knowing of it, so that the King would be in a position to judge himself.The valet had a small house arranged where he invited the Countess to dine. It appears that the latter was warned of the secret observer who was to be there. The company fitted the scene, and the meal so voluptuous that the monarch couldn’t hold back. On that very night, he had Mademoiselle L’Ange come to him and he found in her possession more secret charms than exterior ones. In effect, those who preceded the King in this sexual pleasure unanimously attest that she had all that was necessary to reanimate the dullest existence. And she was effective with this jaded lover, overcoming the general disgust that he found with women who, up to then even in the middle of his pleasures were restrained by respect and adoration. Thus he really didn’t know the diverse resources that he could find in a new world of voluptuousness which offered him inexhaustible delights. In such a situation, what discovery, what treasure!Without doubt there had been in the bed of the prince, women as instructed as Mademoiselle L’Ange, but they did not have a character so free, so true, so adventurous that they could flaunt their savoir-faire and dare to use it. On the contrary, this ingenue, candid and focused, was also led by a man experienced in the most refined libertinage. He anticipated that this prodigious sensation would produce a striking contrast between the lessons that he had given his student and the cold and inhibited caresses of the initial mistresses of the King. All he had to do was await the effect of this indoctrinated nymph; the success of the first triumph would marvelously encourage her to deploy the total extent of her art. If men accustomed to the techniques of prostitutes with their lively and energetic style still feel with them sensations of pleasure, what an impression must these powerful methods produce on a voluptuous person who had never experienced them! Such was the case of the monarch, according to the courtesans who knew the most of his private life and secret amusements.This daughter of Venus was so able that the King could no longer do without her, and he had to take her along through the entire trip to Compiègne. She was totally incognito, because His Majesty being still in official mourning over the Queen, did not find it convenient to publicize his pleasures. Besides the King was very committed to appearances, in that on the exterior his behavior would comport to the maintenance of good morals. But these little inconveniences only aroused his passion and gave it more force to the point that Sieur le Bel, seeing the decided taste that his master took for Mademoiselle l’Ange and that things were going much farther than he would have believed, somewhat repented having become involved in the Count’s maneuver, especially as he understood it. He believed it was his duty, before this new favorite could be set up, to throw himself at the knees of the King and to declare to him how he had discovered this beauty: that he had been surprised; that she was no woman of quality; and that she wasn’t even married. "So what!" exclaimed the King, following the usual tradition among the courtiers. "So what! Let someone marry her promptly, so that one could keep me from having an indiscretion." Someone added that his counsel [the valet] wanted to go into more details, but that a severe look from the King obliged him to be silent. Struck with grief to have produced such a creature and envisioning the results that such a violent passion could create in a prince who approached old age, this zealous servant developed a grief that led him to the grave. Others claimed that in order to prevent indiscreet revelations that he could make, his enemies had him poisoned.Whatever the case may be, the words of the King greatly heated up the hopes of the Count du Barry, called the Great du Barry to distinguish him from his brothers. He had one sibling, that we will name the Fat du Barry, a drunkard, a pig, wallowing night and day in the dirtiest debauchery. It was decided that he would be the one who would marry Mademoiselle l’Ange. He was warned in advance, and he had no trouble accepting, as he easily understood that this willingness on his part would allow him to lead more freely the kind of life which agreed with him and would procure him all the money that he would need. This hope would have been able to corrupt a less vile soul. He submitted to the ceremony, and the marriage was made in the parish Saint-Laurent September 1, 1768. The notary Pot of Auteil drew up the contract. He did not yet know the high destiny of the beauty whose civil alliance he constructed. But struck by her charms and her graces, he wished to enjoy the customary privilege among his colleagues in such a situation: he gallantly advanced to embrace the young person who, not expecting this, resisted as her role of maiden required. Her future brother-in-law encouraged her to permit this public officer to brush her cheeks, and then said to him, "Remember this favor well, sir, because it is the last that you will receive from Madame."The august lover was enchanted to learn that the ceremony was complete. He appeared to yield himself with more confidence to the new Countess; and each day his passion, far from diminishing through pleasure, so augmented that the du Barry brothers raised their expectations to the most vast ambition. But they had to carefully direct the favorite, the new Madame du Barry. And this plan demanded a lot of care and circumspection.Madame du Barry had no inclination for this, especially a sense of intrigue that her position demanded. One sees by the course of her adventures up to the moment of her elevation, that she was lacking the ploys that are found commonly among courtesans and which serve them well in their attack on men. As she was neither self-interested nor ambitious, she was not caught up in the powerful webs of these two passions, so energetic in most spirits. Rather the new Countess carried in the role that she undertook a quality that was perhaps better: it is a sort of good sense to adopt the opinions that one gave her to make the situation worthwhile and to profit from it. In a word, she had a marvelous docility to the counsels of her brother-in-law whose success in the project that he had developed assured more than ever the confidence of his sister-in-law. The only point of difficulty was then concealing from the eyes of the courtiers the secret wire managing the favorite. Too much assiduousness on his part might have made the monarch suspicious of her and would lay her open to the malignity of the courtiers, yet the unexpected expulsion of this counselor would leave the favorite unprotected and in the position of making a lot of foolish mistakes.The Count du Barry imagined then a plan of conduct that one can regard as a political chef d’oeuvre. This was to appear to absolutely abandon his sister-in-law to her brilliant destiny and to not show himself at court. At the same time he placed near her Mademoiselle du Barry, his sister, that he judged totally proper for the job he wanted her to do. The latter was too ugly to awaken any jealousy in the Countess, nor would she involve herself in the amorous intrigues which would turn her away from her principal object. She had besides some spirit; it was a certain virtuosity which evidenced itself in literary talent and she had even had a letter published in the Mercure. She was very ingratiating and did not hesitate to master the favorite, which was essential. There was thus established a continual circulation from brother to sister, from the latter to the Countess, from the Countess back to Mademoiselle du Barry, and then from sister to brother. Young emissaries, trained by the Count, were continually on the road from Versailles and carried his orders, verbal or written, according to circumstances. The messengers were multiplied as needed; and by that, the favorite was led from minute to minute. Sometimes she made little trips to Paris where not having a house, she lodged at that of her brother-in-law and received general instructions which she applied in particular circumstances.[The story continues and leads Madame du Barry to increasing heights. Here she is credited with felling the ministry of Choiseul and replacing it with the anti-Parlement Triumvirate that would exile the magistrates in 1770.]It was especially at Fontainebleau that the Countess du Barry triumphed in all her glory and humiliated the Duke of Choiseul. The regiment of the King had come to camp near this city to be reviewed by His Majesty. This review required the minister of war. Madame du Barry assisted, escorted by the Duchess of Valentinois and the Marquise of Montmorency. The Court du Châtelet, a lieutenant colonel, held a supper party in his tent with these women in attendance. Madame du Barry sat beside His Majesty and replaced the Dauphine who was supposed to be there but did not arrive. This was the first spectacular schism between her and the favorite. The Duke of Choiseul, who was beside himself with rage, claimed to be indisposed to avoid the review and the meal. [Yet] the King; even in the most minor things showed the interest that he took in all that concerned his charming mistress. . . .All these little individual favors were only a prelude to the important acheivement that Madame du Barry was going to develop in the revolution [a change in the ministry] which was going to occur, and to which the Duke of Aiguillon and the Chancellor worked together, to serve separately their respective ambitions. Both used the Countess as the person most able to get the King to agree to the plan. They made her understand that it was absolutely necessary that she second their views for her own interest; and that she would not be secure at all as long as Choiseul remained in place. Further, he could not be sacked until he became suspect to the King because of his connections to the Parlement. Finally, to blacken him better, it was necessary to blacken this company and to represent it to the monarch as an ambitious body, always ready to trash and invade his authority and to usurp the rights of the throne. His expulsion would produce first the attack on the Duke and then, not less essential, of facilitating taxes, and consequently the general appreciation of her by her august lover. So many advantages, presented under a point of view so sensitive and seductive, strongly alienated the favorite from the magistracy. She soon made pass into the heart of the monarch the hate that she had conceived for the Parlement and to which he was already strongly disposed. At this point, this feeble prince, who had no free will, finally took the decision to relax the new law that emerged as the famous edict of December 1770, registered by a lit de justice the third of that month. [This effectively quashed the political powers of all parlements.]But the Chancellor and the Duke of Aiguillon knew well the pusillanimous character of the monarch and did not at all rely on his apparent firmness. They profited from it only by making the important coups that they contemplated, in order to go so far that it was impossible to withdraw. Madame du Barry served them marvellously in that. As the King supped almost every evening with her, they warned her what she had to say to him. When her lover -- his mind muddled from the exquisite wines she poured him, and his heart burning from love as he rested in her arms -- begged for her ultimate favors and could do nothing to refuse her, she extorted the fatal signatures and nothing went to the council for discussion. At least the other ministers complained loudly to have no knowledge of these violent acts, exerted against the Parlement of Paris. Thus as well was finally expedited the lettre de cachet [direct arrest by monarchical order] of the Duke of Choiseul. This was a letter signed several times in moments of drunken love-making, and the king repented [too late] the next day.[And the memoir heads toward its end with the following passages.]It was time that so many depredations be stopped; France tended toward inevitable ruin if the death of Louis XV had not changed the face of the kingdom. What is most unusual about the event is that it issued from those who had the most reason to save him.His Majesty was the most despondent in some time. The sudden death of the Marquis of Chauvelin, one of his favorites, enjoying a flourishing health, a friend in all the King’s pleasure parties, had died right before his eyes. He ceaselessly thought about it. The death of the Marshal of Armentières, very similar to Chauvelin and the same age as the King, had augmented the melancholy. He was also racked by the remorse created in his heart by the Bishop of Senes, from a sermon that was extremely strong and pathetic. The committee of the favorite decided that it was necessary to redouble their efforts to draw the King from this condition, even by lively orgies that could give a shake to his system. Consequently, it was decided to propose a voyage to the Trianon [a small palace on the Versailles grounds], where they would be more at ease inspired by the liberty of the place. One noticed that the King had admiringly lusted over a little daughter of a carpenter. They sent for the child, cleaned her up, perfumed her, introduced her to the bed of the august lecher. This morsel would have been hard from him to digest if they hadn’t administered some strong stimulants. For the moment this gave him sweet assistance, and procured more pleasure than a libertine in his sixties might ordinarily experience. This child, unfortunately was already sick, and had a lot of trouble doing what one demanded, and only went through with it because of threats and in the hope of receiving a fortune. No one knew that she had the smallpox germ which soon developed in her in the cruelest manner, and she promptly died. The venom was communicated to the King and on the next day His Majesty felt sick without foreseeing its cause. Consequently, they advised Madame du Barry to keep him there and to remain in charge of him. But the sieur La Martinière, his first surgeon, insisted that he be immediately transported to Versailles. The next day everyone knew that the King had smallpox. It was easy to see he would not recover. Sortable Date 1775-00-00 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived [Pidansat de Mairobert], Anécdotes sur la comtesse du Barry, Nouvelle édition augmentée et corrigée (London [Paris], [1775] 1776). Description An account of the resource Since the royal family’s ability to procreate was crucial to the perpetuation of the reign and thus to the continuity of the monarchy, the obsession shown in pamphlets about the bodies and sexual activities of King and Queen must be seen as having not just prurient interest for readers but also political overtones.This particular pamphlet, by a journalist named Mathieu Pidansat de Mairobert who had been an active supporter of the pro–Parlement party in the magistrates’ recent conflicts with the crown, was published anonymously early in the reign of Louis XVI. It purportedly described the liaison between the recently deceased Louis XV and his long–term mistress, the "Countess" of Barry, a common courtesan who had supposedly been procured to satisfy the aging King’s lusts. The entire book could be (and was) read as a parody of the mounting problems facing Louis XV, all of which center on the disorder he had created at Versailles by giving such a prominent place to a wholly inappropriate person, a woman, a courtesan, and a commoner.Whether or not the "anecdotes" were true is of less historical interest than the wide readership they drew and the negative influence they had on the reputation of the current King, Louis XVI, and the Queen, Marie Antoinette. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 261 Title A name given to the resource Anecdotes on the Countess du Barry (1775) Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/261/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1775 Enlightenment Monarchy Public Opinion Text Women Event A non-persistent, time-based occurrence. Metadata for an event provides descriptive information that is the basis for discovery of the purpose, location, duration, and responsible agents associated with an event. Examples include an exhibition, webcast, conference, workshop, open day, performance, battle, trial, wedding, tea party, conflagration. Sortable Date 1802-04-03 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1002 Title A name given to the resource Articles organiques concerning the Catholic and Protestant religions. Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/1002/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource April 3, 1802 Timeline Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document The Society of Friends of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen [Cordeliers Club] to the Representatives of the Nation (21 June 1791) Petition of the Cordelier Club (14 July 1791) We were slaves in 1789, we believed ourselves free in 1790, we are free at the end of June 1791. Legislators! You had allocated the powers of the nation you represent. You had invested Louis XVI with excessive authority. You had consecrated tyranny in establishing him as an irremovable, inviolable and hereditary king. You had sanctioned the enslavement of the French in declaring that France was a monarchy. Good citizens lamented and opinions clashed vehemently. But the law existed and we obeyed it, waiting for the progress of enlightenment and philosophy to bring us our salvation. It seemed that this so-called contract between a nation that gives everything, and an individual who gives nothing, had to maintained. Until that time when Louis XVI had become an ungrateful traitor, we believed that we had only ourselves to blame for our ruined work. But times have changed. This so-called convention between a people and its king no longer exists. Louis has abdicated the throne. From now on Louis is nothing to us, unless he become our enemy. . . . The Society of Friends of the Rights of Man considers that a nation must do everything, either by itself or through removable officers chosen by it. It [the Society] considers that no single individual in the state should reasonably possess enough wealth and prerogatives to be able to corrupt the agents of the political administration. It believes that there should be no employment in the state that is not accessible to all the members of that state. And finally, it believes that the more important a job is, the shorter and more transitory its duration should be. Convinced of this truth and of the greatness of these principles, it can no longer close its eyes to the fact that monarchy, above all hereditary monarchy, is incompatible with liberty. Such is its opinion, for which it stands accountable to all Frenchmen. It anticipates that such a proposition shall give rise to a host of opponents. But did not the Declaration of Rights itself encounter opposition? Nevertheless, this question is important to deserve serious debate by the legislators. They have already botched the revolution once because of lingering deference for the phantom of monarchy . . . let us therefore act without fear and without terror, and try not to bring it back to life. . . . Legislators, you have a great lesson before your eyes. Consider well that, after what has happened, it is impossible for you to inspire in the people any degree of confidence in an official called "king." We therefore call upon you, in the name of the fatherland, to declare immediately that France is no longer a monarchy, but rather that it is a republic. Or at a minimum, wait until all the departments and all of the primary assemblies have expressed their opinion on this important question before you consider casting the fairest empire in the world into the chains and shackles of monarchism for a second time. The society has decided that the present petition shall be printed, posted, and then sent to all the departments and patriotic societies of the French empire. Petition of the Jacobin Club (16 July 1791) The Frenchmen undersigned, members of the sovereign; Considering that in matters affecting the safety of the people, it has the right to express its desire in order to enlighten and direct the representatives who have received its mandate; that there has never been a more important question than that concerning the king's desertion; that the decree passed on 15 July contains no provision regarding Louis XVI; that while obeying this decree, it is important to decide promptly the matter of this individual's fate; that this decision must be based on his conduct; that Louis XVI, after having accepted the duties of kingship and sworn to defend the constitution, has deserted the post entrusted to him, has protested against this constitution by a declaration written and signed by his own hand, has sought to paralyze the executive power by his flight and orders, and to overthrow the constitution by his complicity with the men today accused of attacking it; that his betrayal, his desertion, protestation (to say nothing of all the other criminal acts preceding, accompanying, and following these) entail a formal abdication of the constitutional crown entrusted to him; that the National Assembly has judged him to this effect in taking over the executive authority, suspending the king's powers, and holding him under arrest; that new promises to observe the constitution on Louis XVI's part could not offer a sufficient guarantee to the nation against a new betrayal and a new conspiracy; Considering, finally, that it would be as contrary to the majesty of the outraged nation as to its interests to entrust the reins of the empire to a perfidious, traitorous fugitive; Formally and expressly demands that the National Assembly accept, in the nation's name, Louis XVI's abdication on 21 June of the crown delegated to him, and provide for his replacement by all constitutional means. The undersigned declare that they will never recognize Louis XVI as their king, unless the majority of the nation expresses a desire contrary to that contained in the present nation. Sortable Date 1791-07-14 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Albert Mathiez, Le Club des Cordeliers pendant la crise de Varennes et le massacre du Champ de Mars (Geneva: Slatkine, 1975), 45–47, 135–36. Description An account of the resource In the aftermath of the King’s failed flight in June 1791, the more radical clubs circulated petitions calling on the National Assembly to depose the King rather than grant him executive power as a constitutional monarch, under the new constitution. Below are excerpts from two such petitions, from the Cordeliers and Jacobin clubs, respectively; note that these efforts technically violated a law passed the previous 10 May, which had proscribed the circulation of petitions by clubs. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 390 Title A name given to the resource Champ de Mars: Petitions of the Cordelier and Jacobin Clubs Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/390/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 14, 1791 Clubs Popular Politics Public Opinion Text Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Chabot: " . . . [in text] This is the moment to tell the whole truth about these allegedly revolutionary women. I'm going to lay bare for you the intrigues that stir them up, and I promise you'll be shocked. I know what risks you run when you embitter a woman, and all the more so when you embitter a large number of them, but I'm not afraid of their intrigue or their remarks of their threats. A few days ago I was summoned by the head of these women, Citoyenne Lacombe, who asked me what we had in mind for the former Mayor of Toulouse. I answered that I was shocked that she would petition on behalf of a former noble, a man who had had patriots thrown into prison. She retorted that he gave bread to the poor. Ah, I replied—but that's how counterrevolution is hatched. Finally, she threatened me with the full censorship of the Revolutionary Women if I, along with the Committee of General Security, didn't order his release. I admit that I let out a swear word, and I left. The next day she appeared at my house again to repeat what she said the day before, the same thing. Madame Lacombe—I just can't consider her a citoyenne—confessed to me that she wasn't so much concerned about Monsieur de Ray [the Mayor of Toulouse] as about his nephew. I—who am accused of allowing myself to be led about by women—told her: "I will never do for them [women] what men make you do, and all the women in the world will never get me to do anything but what I want to do for the Republic." Madame Lacombe then treated me to the most reactionary [Feuillant] remarks. She claimed that one didn't keep men in prison like that; that Revolution or no Revolution, they had to be questioned within twenty-four hours, released if they were innocent, and sent to the guillotine at once if they were guilty—in short, all the remarks that you hear aristocrats mouthing all the time when we arrest one of their friends. It's because I like women that I don't want them to be forming a body apart and calumniating even virtue. They've dared attack Robespierre, calling him Monsieur Robespierre [aristocratic form]. I ask that you take forceful measures against the Revolutionary Women to check this crazy mania that's seized them. I ask that they purge themselves of all the schemers they're protecting in their midst and that they be mandated by letter to do it." I answered the most patriotic Monsieur Chabot. First of all it is true that I had him called out of the Jacobins on Friday, the thirteenth of this month. Here is the speech I held forth with; it is a bit different from the one which he put into my mouth. "Chabot, I am here to ask you to do a favor to yourself, to yourself . . . [in text], not me. What's at issue is the Mayor of Toulouse, whom you removed from office three months ago along with two administrators. I have learned that these latter two have been ordered back in, and as the Mayor was removed on the same grounds, I was surprised to learn that this was a victim whom you reserved the right to sacrifice. Therefore, I am here to ask you, for yourself, to give him the same justice that his colleagues obtained. Either he is guilty along with them, or, along with them, he is innocent." "He is guilty," Chabot answered. "He had patriots imprisoned, seventeen of them in Toulouse." "I will not believe it," I said, "until you give me palpable proofs." "Besides," he said, "he is rich enough to live in Paris." "I know," I told him, "that his having a fortune is charged against him as a crime, but it is true nonetheless that he has used it only to succor the unfortunate since the Revolution. He is cherished by all the people of Toulouse. That is how the aristocrats behave to deceive the people. They do them good." "Besides," he retorted, raising his voice, "he is a nobleman." "There is the best proof you could give me of his innocence," I told him, "because as he was not removed on account of his nobility, you are making a big war horse out of him. I say to you, as a true Republican Woman, that if you do not give him the justice that is due him, I will go to the bar of the National Convention to obtain it for him". . . . "You are a women's society," he replied, "which wants to get involved in [public] affairs, and you're being misled." I repeated my first answer, that "neither cajoleries nor assignats would ever tempt the Revolutionary Women. We are interested only in the oppressed, and I look upon the Mayor as a victim you felt like sacrificing. That is so true that you have had offers made to his nephew, whom you know is a fine patriot and who, from the time of his uncle's disgrace, has not left him for a single instant. I tell you that in order to destroy the uncle all the more easily, you have had positions offered to him [the nephew] three times in order to get him away from Paris and in this way deprive the uncle of the only consolation left to him. Is this the way men should comport themselves towards their fellows? I dare to assure you that if you don't give the Mayor the justice he has a right to expect, I'll argue for it myself at the bar of the Convention, and we'll see whether you have the right—you powerless dictator—to sacrifice patriots while you give preferential treatment to counterrevolutionaries every day. I warn you that if I go before the bar [of the Convention] I will tell some truths that will not be to your advantage. At that point Monsieur Chabot composed himself, turning towards me with his hypocritical air, and fixing me with his cockroach eyes, he said: "Do you want that? Okay, I'll have the report drawn up tonight, and tomorrow the Mayor can leave, only he'll no longer be Mayor. We'll send him to his place of residence, because if we send him to Toulouse, the people would reelect him. I can't deny that he accomplished an infinite amount of good for the people, and besides, he has some excellent qualities, but he has too much influence at Toulouse. He mustn't go back there". . . . I continue with the meeting of the Jacobins. . . [in text] Bazire says: . . . [in text] "And I am also all sickly, as you see me here, I have tangled with the Revolutionary Women." (There is laughter.) Renaudin says, "Do not laugh, this can turn out to be more serious than you think." Bazire: "I will explain myself. The other day, seven to eight Revolutionary Women came to the Committee of General Security to demand the liberty of a man named Sémandy. It [the deputation] was informing itself concerning the reasons for his detention so that if he were not guilty, justice might be obtained by having him released by the Tribunal, which must take cognizance of [this situation]—all of which is quite different [from what Bazire alleged]. He lies when he dares to say that our commissaires asked him for permission to visit all the prisons in order to inform themselves about the reasons for the prisoners' arrests so as to be able to force their release should they deem this appropriate . . . [in text]. The Revolutionary Women know the LAW, and it is only in conformity with it [the law] that we would have come to the aid of oppressed patriots . . . [in text]. He lies with the shameless audacity natural to him when he says that our commissaires called him a sucker. The Revolutionary Women know the meaning of words too well to have addressed such an insignificant one to Monsieur Bazire. I would like to believe that he latched onto it out of modesty. You lie, Monsieur Bazire, when you dare to say that our commissaires called Robespierre "Monsieur." We keep watch over all public figures. And far be it from us to confuse Citizen Robespierre with the Bazires of the day. Be careful, Robespierre. I noticed that those accused of having lied believe they can sidestep the denunciation by accusing those who denounce them of having spoken ill of you. Be careful lest those who are forced to wrap themselves in your virtues also pull you with them over the precipice. As for you, Monsieur Bazire, the big war horse which you've built out of the word "Monsieur" Robespierre, which you've placed in the mouths of our commissaires, proves nothing except that you are a miserable liar. . . . And finally, we are accused of being counterrevolutionaries. The request is made that I be brought before the Committee of General Security. Following several motions, one more extravagant than the other, to destroy the Society of Revolutionary Women—because it must be destroyed, no matter what the price—the proposal was made that the papers at my house be sealed. But Monsieur Chabot, who until then had treated me as one of the chiefs of the counterrevolutionaries, was so convinced that he had been nothing more than a base calumniator that he didn't hesitate to say that this last proposition was a trap set for the Jacobin Society; that if, when the seals were lifted, they found only patriotic papers at my place, it would be easier for me to justify myself; but that he held me to be a counterrevolutionary and that it was necessary that I be imprisoned immediately. The orders of Monsieur Chabot were not followed point by point, but three guards were sent to me in the gallery—all the more indecent, as there were only women in this gallery. So there I was, seated in the middle of them, placed under arrest in the presence of four thousand people. I told one of the guards that if he had orders to take me somewhere, he could let me know; that I was ready to submit to the laws. He told me that it was not time yet; that we had to stay there. As I had nothing to reproach myself with, it was not surprising that my face showed the calm of innocence. Who will believe it? This very calm attracted the grossest insults. I heard someone say, "Look at this new Corday. What a front she puts up; nothing can unsettle such people." To console me, one of the guards said to me, "It's sad to sleep in prison." "Why sadder for me than for others? I will add but one more to their number." Sortable Date 1793-09-00 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived From Women in Revolutionary Paris, 1789–1795, edited and translated by Darline Gay Levy, Harriet Branson Applewhite, and Mary Durham Johnson. Copyright 1979 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Used with the permission of the University of Illinois Press, 187–194. Description An account of the resource Claire Lacombe, an actress and one of the leaders of the Society of Revolutionary Republican Women, published a pamphlet to counter charges made against her and the club. By September 1793 the revolutionary government had begun to harass the leaders of the club. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 485 Title A name given to the resource Citoyenne Lacombe’s "Report to the Society of Revolutionary Republican Women Concerning What Took Place 16 September at the Jacobin Club" Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/485/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September 1793 Clubs Public Opinion Sans-culottes Text Women