41 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 1. Nature has bestowed upon each and every individual an equal right to the enjoyment of property [tous les biens]. 2. The purpose of society is to defend such equality, often assailed by the strong and the wicked in the state of nature, and to augment the general welfare through the cooperation of all. 3. Nature has imposed upon each and every individual the obligation to work; anyone who evades his share of labor is a criminal. 4. Both work and benefits must be common to all. 5. There is oppression when one person is exhausted by labor and is destitute of everything, while another lives in luxury without doing any work at all. 6. Anyone who appropriates exclusively to himself the products of the earth or of manufacture is a criminal. 7. In a real society, there ought to be neither rich nor poor. 8. The rich who are not willing to renounce their surplus in favor of the poor are enemies of the people. 9. No one, by accumulating to himself all power, may deprive another of the instruction necessary for his welfare. Education ought to be common to all. 10. The aim of the French Revolution is to destroy inequality and to reestablish the general welfare. 11. The Revolution is not complete, because the rich monopolize all the property and govern exclusively, while the poor toil like slaves, languish in misery, and count for nothing in the State. 12. The Constitution of 1793 is the real law of Frenchmen, because the people have solemnly accepted it; because the Convention had no right to change it; because, in order to supersede it, the Convention has caused people to be shot for demanding that it be put into effect; because it has pursued and slaughtered deputies who were performing their duty by defending it; because terror against the people, and the influence of émigrés, have presided over the fabrication and the alleged acceptance of the Constitution of 1795, despite the fact that it is not supported by a quarter of the votes obtained by that on 1793; because the Constitution of 1793 has sanctioned the inalienable right of every citizen to consent to the laws, to enjoy political rights, to meet in assembly, to demand what he deems useful, to receive education, and not to die of hunger; rights which the counterrevolutionary Act of 1795 openly and totally violated. 13. Every citizen is obligated to reestablish and defend the will and welfare of the people in the Constitution of 1793. 14. All powers emanating from the so-called Constitution of 1795 are illegal and counterrevolutionary. 15. Those who have raised their hands against the Constitution of 1793 are guilty of common high treason. 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), 656–57. Description An account of the resource Despite the radical nature of such measures taken by the National Assembly as the abolition of nobility and the civil constitution of the clergy, social conflicts continued to manifest themselves after the National Assembly completed its work in 1791. Peasants continued to believe they were not getting all that was due them from urban merchants who bought their grain, while city dwellers continued to attribute the high cost of bread to large landowners hoarding grain in the countryside. Here Babeuf articulates a desire to overturn inequality by establishing an economic equality far beyond the legal equalities established earlier. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 459 Title A name given to the resource Doctrine of Babeuf Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/459/ Popular Politics 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 Once again, they [the Mountain] tried to reestablish terror in the heart of the Convention. Virulent reports and speeches were delivered, the dangers were exaggerated, and the Convention was accused of having squandered the fruits of victory of [crushing a riot on] 13 Vendémiaire [5 October 1795]. Petitions were filed which stated that the patriots of '89 had trembled "under the ridiculous pretext of an imaginary terror," and they called for the annulment of elections and the deportation of all the royalists. The only topics of discussion were about saving the People, measures to take for the public safety and all those boring clichés, fateful harbingers of tyranny. The witness stand and the tribunal echoed only with the most revolutionary of proposals. The Mountain displayed an audacity such as had never been seen. The public courts were rich with accomplices who applauded thunderously, outraging the deputies, calling for the respect due the constitution, and who struggled with all their might to stop this torrent. . . . Even though their leaders had the upper hand in the committees, they were still bothered there by the presence of their colleagues, such as myself, who did not agree with their plans. . . . [Paul] Barras, a general and a deputy, dictator to the camp and to the tribunal, summed up the events of 13 Vendémiaire, and what preceded and followed that date. In his report, he suggested that since the 9th of Thermidor [the fall of Robespierre], nothing had been done except things that helped the counterrevolution, and said that "terrorist was an insignificant word." He accused [Jacques-François] Menou of complicity with the leaders of the rebellious sections, and asserted that the column [of soldiers] that appeared by the Quatre-Nations bridge during the day on the 13th, had marched forward yelling "Long Live the King." . . . In the evening, I had returned home, my heart overflowing with bitterness. Summing up in a word the immense progress that the Mountain had made in so few days, I despaired for the State. Since the 13th, the Convention no longer deliberated except in the midst of an armed camp. In the surrounding areas, the tribunals, even the rooms themselves, were taken over by soldiers and terrorists. According to the limits that we ourselves had set for ending the session, we only had four more days of existence, but I trembled that these limits would be overruled and that we would once again be set adrift in the revolutionary ocean. On the 1st of Brumaire [23 October], I returned to the Convention, full of these sad forebodings. I met a group of representatives of the Mountain on the terrace of the Tuileries who had been arrested in Prairial, and recently released by the governmental committees. These deputies surrounded me and said, "Today is the day that the Commission of Five is supposed to propose measures for public good, annul the elections, and adjourn the meeting of the legislative body. Patriots are counting on you." "They are right to count on me," I replied, "and I am heading there to stymie these appalling projects." I went into the hall, excited by the imminence of danger and going over in my head the ways to prevent it. I could neither put my thoughts in order, nor contain myself. . . . Put on the defensive, the Committee of Five no longer had the strength to prevent the next legislature from being seated. The Convention decreed only that the commission would deliver its report the next day and adjourned the session, convinced that it had escaped a great danger and determined not to let the fruits of this victory be stolen. Sortable Date 1795-10-05 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 Antoine-Claire Thibaudeau, Mémoires sur la Convention: et le Directorie, vol. 1 (Paris: Baudouin frères, 1824), 243–62. Translated by Exploring the French Revolution project staff from original documents in French found in John Hardman, French Revolution Documents 1792–95, vol. 2 (New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1973), 276–78. Description An account of the resource The Directory’s constitution had ensured the rights of assembly, free speech, and a limited suffrage; for former Jacobins now deprived of their clubs and of their power in the legislature, these constitutional liberties offered the potential to rebuild a democratic movement. To others, especially the Directory’s leaders, the possibility of a revived network of clubs and newspapers represented more than just a desire to participate in politics under the terms of the new constitution; such a revival was too evocative of the Terror. Thus, one such leader, Antoine–Claire Thibaudeau wrote here of Jacobin speeches in the legislature as trying "to reestablish the Terror." Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 458 Title A name given to the resource Revival of the Mountain Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/458/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource October 5, 1795 Clubs Popular Politics Provinces 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 Proclamation of the Directory to the French People 9 September 1797 (23 Fructidor Year V) The French people have entrusted the custody of their Constitution primarily to the fidelity of the Legislative Body and the executive power. A royalist plot, whose organization has been long in the making and which has been skillfully woven and patiently sustained, has threatened the integrity of this trust. The Executive Directory discovered the plan and arrested the guilty parties, while the Legislative Body immediately took the necessary measures. Blood has not been shed. Common sense prevailed over force; valor and discipline restricted its use. National justice has been sanctioned by the composure of the People. It was obvious to everyone that there was no desire for change, but rather that everything return to its place. The Legislative Body and the Executive Directory have performed their duty. But the French people have also re-entrusted their basic charter to the loyalty of the administrators and judges, to the enlightened vigilance of the fathers of families, to wives and mothers, to the virtuous love of young citizens, and lastly, to the courage characteristic of all Frenchmen. Administrators, judges, fathers, wives, mothers, young citizens, Frenchmen of every age and calling, have you fulfilled your oaths? Have you kept that which was entrusted to you? Open your eyes Frenchmen, for it is high time you noticed the trap into which the King's friends and France's enemies wished to lure you. In order to put you back under the yoke which you have broken and so that you would think that you were returning there of your own volition, they placed corrupt men in all public offices; men who are as skillful as they are perverse. Men capable of turning the power that they had been given to defend and strengthen the People's liberty, against that very liberty. In your courts, they had judges who lie, who abused the independence that the Constitution had given them, and used their power only to absolve or protect the enemies of the fatherland. Above all, they had left nothing undone that would help return France to its monarchical system or that would subject institutions, festivals, manners, and customs to despotism. They were well aware that man is a creature of habit, and that by changing man's habits, man himself is changed. Without a doubt, monarchical systems admirably suited the conspirators' aims. It was important for them to reshape the mass of the nation in the royal mold. But an indignant nation spurns them. The Republic has triumphed, and republican systems shall prove and consolidate their triumph. This shall be the sign and the fruit of victory. The republican spirit, republican ethic, and republican institutions and customs must prevail today. To embrace them however, we must first better understand them, and this starts by defining them more precisely. The republican spirit . . . is composed of all that is just, equitable, good, and kind in men. Sortable Date 1797-09-09 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), 695–96. (Slightly retranslated) Description An account of the resource The Directorial legislatures were formed in 1795 primarily of holdovers from the Convention, so the elections in the fall of 1797 were the first open legislative elections since 1792. The result, to the consternation of the executive council of the Directory, which had hoped to consolidate the gains of the Revolution, was a majority of right–wing and even openly royalist deputies. Rather than seat this new legislature and risk a right–wing coup, the Directory decided to annul the election results. To justify its action, the government issued the following proclamation announcing that it had uncovered a right–wing plot against the Republic and promised to uphold what it called "republican institutions." Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 457 Title A name given to the resource Rise of the Right Leading to the Coup of 18 Fructidor: Proclamation of 9 September 1797 Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/457/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September 9, 1797 Counterrevolution Monarchy Provinces 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 Fréron gave the watchword to the "gilded youth" (jeunesse dorée), as they called the group he had organized. As a rallying sign these young people wore their hair in what they called "victim style," that is to say, well powdered and braided at the back of the head, in contrast to the style of the patriots, who wore their hair short and without powder. In imitation of the leaders of the Chouans and Vendée they wore coats with black collars; only a white cockade was missing for an open declaration of counterrevolution. . . .Fréron's army consisted of hot-blooded young men who had never had anything to lose, and who claimed to be pathetic victims of the Terror with a duty to avenge their relatives who had died on the scaffold. . . .This groupÕs duties were to police the Palais-Royal and the Tuileries gardens daily, and to sing the "People's Awakening," [Réveil du peuple] every verse of which called for the death of the republicans, whom they called 'terrorists.' The chorus ended with the words: "They shall not escape us!"In their leisure moments they amused themselves with a sort of galop dance which they called a 'farandole'. . . Anyone who refused to join in was grabbed and thrown into the water troughs. Exploits worthy of such an army! . . .Fréron altered his allegiance, but that did not alter his character. Still violent and inclined towards extremes, at the convention he demanded that the city hall of Paris be torn down because it had served as a shelter for Robespierre. He also wanted the Jacobins' club demolished . . . .As a result of pressure from the jeunesse dorée, the Paris Jacobin Club was closed down by the decree of 12 November 1794 (22 Brumaire Year III).The united Committees of General Security, Public Safety, Legislation and the Army, decree:Sessions of the Society of Jacobins of Paris are suspended.The meeting hall of this Society shall immediately be locked and the keys deposited at the secretariat of the Committee of General Security. Sortable Date 1794-11-12 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 Victor Barrucand, ed., Mémoires et Notes de [Pierre-Réné] Choudieu (Paris: Plon, 1897), 292Ð300. Description An account of the resource Across France, the period of the Directory witnessed revenge against those who had carried out revolutionary justice during the Terror. Opponents of the Jacobins forced them from office and sought to prevent them from participating in politics. In Paris, this so–called white terror was carried out by the "Gilded Youth," a gang of youths from wealthy backgrounds who considered themselves the antithesis of the sans–culottes and whose actions eventually helped pressure the government to close down the Paris Jacobin Club, as we see in the excerpts of the memoirs of a left–wing politician from late 1794. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 456 Title A name given to the resource The Gilded Youth Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/456/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource November 12, 1794 Counterrevolution Nobility Popular Politics 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 Verona, 8 July 1795 Sir, it was with pleasure that I received the demonstration of your affection for me, but I did not need a demonstration of your faithfulness, for I would not deserve to be served by you and your brave companions-in-arms if I had had the least doubt on this question. Providence has placed me on the throne. The first and most important use that I can make of my authority is to confer a legal title to the command that until now has been yours due to your courage, to your exploits, and to the confidence of my brave and faithful subjects. I therefore name you general in my Catholic and Royal army. In obeying you, it is me that they shall be obeying. I have not as yet had the opportunity to tell you that I had named you Lieutenant-General in July 1794. But it is not only with weapons that you can serve me. One of my first duties is to speak to my subjects, to encourage the good and reassure the timid. Such is the purpose of the Declaration that I am sending you and that I am asking you to publish. I could not confide it to anyone who could give it more weight than you. It is possible, though, that your truce with the rebels will still be in effect when this Declaration will reach you, so it would probably be imprudent for you to publish it yourself. But even in this case, I think that you are still more able than any other to have it circulated throughout my kingdom. If, on the contrary, you have again taken up arms, nothing should delay a work as essential as this. I work with all my strength to speed the moment when, reunited with you, I will be able to show you how a sovereign can gloriously demonstrate his appreciation for you, and to my subjects, for whom I am less a king than a father. I flattered myself that England was finally to bring my brother to you, but at this moment, it seems to me more unsure than ever. It does not matter, . . . the greater the obstacles, the more energy I expend in overcoming them. And I shall overcome them. Sir, continue to serve me as you served my predecessor, and have faith that if something can alleviate this burden that Providence has ordered me to carry, it shall be by that same Providence that I shall be able to reward the most important service a king has ever received. Signed, Louis. Sortable Date 1795-07-08 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, Correspondance secrète de Charette, vol. 1 (Paris, 1798–99), 19–20. Translated by Exploring the French Revolution project staff from original documents in French found in John Hardman, French Revolution Documents 1792–95, vol. 2 (New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1973), 423–24. Description An account of the resource The "Central Committee" organizing royalist efforts in 1795 was led by François–Athanése de Charette de la Contrie, a former nobleman. He had participated in the Vendéan uprising in 1793, with the goal of restoring to the throne the nearest living relative to the executed Louis XVI—his brother the Count of Provence who had already taken the name Louis XVIII. (For royalists, the son of Louis XVI, who had died in 1795, had been Louis XVII.) In the letter below, Louis XVIII writes to Charette, expressing the need not only for military action, but also to win over public opinion through a declaration of principles to the people. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 455 Title A name given to the resource Louis XVIII to Charette Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/455/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 8, 1795 Counterrevolution Monarchy Nobility Provinces 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 Above all, increase the number of civil commissioners and the commissioners for correspondence and for distributing printed works, of which I will again be sending you many copies of all types, as well as commissioners for the distribution of assignats [bank notes], munitions, weapons, clothes, etc., that I will be sending you. Remember well that all of these effects, mostly second-rate, should be evenly distributed, and should be always given to those farthest away, because you are closer to receive them. I hope that Théobald has made every effort to succeed in the negotiations with the republican general. We are waiting for news of it here with the utmost impatience. If he has been successful, he will have accomplished everything in one blow. . . . I have not been able to find the officers for whom Théobald gave me the letters. They are stationed far away. I am forming a small body of artillery and engineers here that shall be a great help to you. My manufacturing will soon be in full swing. I already have seventy workers, and before long, you will have a million a day, then two, etc. You can see how this method can be effective in any situation. Make good use of them. Let them enrich the countryside, win over the cities, etc. In this package you will be receiving about 10 million francs, uniforms, coats, pants, white scarves, undergarments, leather belts, (similar to those of Perchais), two printed letters from the Count of Artois [the future Charles X], one of which is addressed to you. . . . (The riding coats are not ready yet), the red uniform, buttoned across the chest with the white scarf slung over the shoulder, the pale-green coat, the undergarment, the green pants with sheepskin patches, the green riding coat, the round hat with the white foxtail and white plume. To this I am adding sixty pairs of boots, and soon you will have everything you need. I have placed several uniform buttons in this package, and I will try to send a large number of them so that each of our soldiers will have at least one that they can place on their hat while we are waiting for the rest for their uniforms. You will receive these in bulk when the door is opened. Ask for anything you are missing, or that I have not thought of. I am having twenty pairs of large-caliber double-barrel pistols made, but there will only be twenty because they are terribly expensive. Divide them, as well as the rest of the items, between yourself and Morbihan. Especially make sure that our friends from Fougères, Vitré, etc., receive something often. These few items will keep them, and the hope of a larger service coming their way, should protect everyone against the proclamations and amnesties which are the sign of the fright and powerlessness of the [National] Convention, against which we preparing a campaign which shall be stronger than the others. They will not have the means to fight this one, and that we will be assisting it. . . . Delay the day of revenge, and let those who repent become our friends. You will certainly come across some unhappy republicans, and they are the most useful. As soon as I can, I shall send you a picture of the blessed Louis [XVI], martyr, and of his son [Louis XVII], our King—which will please our good friends. Sortable Date 1794-00-00 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, Correspondance secrète de Charette, vol. 1 (Paris, 1798–99), 113–21. Translated by Exploring the French Revolution project staff from original documents in French found in John Hardman, French Revolution Documents 1792–95, vol. 2 (New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1973), 421–23. Description An account of the resource The fall of Robespierre and the Mountain in the summer of 1794 also reinvigorated counterrevolutionary forces, especially those hoping to restore royal authority in the person of the son of the "martyr" Louis XVI. We see evidence of efforts to coordinate royalist military action against the Republic in the letter below, by the Chouan leader Puisaye to the "Catholic Central Committee." Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 454 Title A name given to the resource Puisaye to the Central Catholic Committee Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/454/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1794 Counterrevolution Monarchy Nobility Peasants Provinces 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 To Citizen Fréron, Government agent. Citizen, Citizen Bouisson, the Widow Janniquet, with full confidence in the justice you represent, shall describe for you how, on 22 Brumaire [12 November 1794] of last year [Year III], she had stopped at the district's administrative board on a matter concerning some farmland. She had spared no expense on this nation's asset in order to keep it in good condition and to produce an abundant harvest. At that point, Citizen Augustin Baux, émigré and former owner of the house prior to his fleeing the country, took advantage of the law of 22 Germinal [11 April 1795] and 22 Prairial [10 June 1795] which allows workers, seamen, sailors, bakers, and health officials to return to the territory of the republic. He had learned, through plotting and subterfuge, how to change his profession from being a merchant in wholesale cloth, to being a health official. Under this spurious pretext, he was able to give the illusion of being a member of this occupation. Through bribes, he was wrongly and without basis struck from the record. He then attacked our speaker, the Widow Janniquet, bringing her before the arbitration committee, which sent her to the district court. His claims went so far as to demand half of the harvest. [After his request was rejected], she was left in peace for a brief period. However, Citizen Baux again appealed to the same court, which, this time, judged in favor of this émigré, granting him not just half the harvest, but all of this year's crop. As a result, he had the olives seized that the aforementioned Citizen Janniquet had had taken to a mill to have pitted. Upon seeing herself deprived of an asset that she believed to have been legitimately due and accorded to her by this unforeseen and arbitrary bureaucratic stroke, she now turns to you for recourse to obtain the restoration of the above-mentioned olives which are rightfully hers. Imbued with the humanity and justice that are the tenets of your work, she hopes that you will look kindly upon her lawful claim. Sincerely in brotherhood, Signed Thérèse Bouisson, the widow Janniquet. Sortable Date 1795-00-00 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 Louis-Marie Stanislas, Mémoire historique sur la réaction royale, et sur les massacres du Midi; avec des notes et des pièces justificatives (Paris: Chez Louvet, 1796), 249–51. Translated by Exploring the French Revolution project staff from original documents in French found in John Hardman, French Revolution Documents 1792–95, vol. 2 (New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1973), 285–86. Description An account of the resource Once in power, the Directorial government appeared poised to preserve the gains of the Revolution while undoing what some considered the excesses of the period of Jacobin ascendancy. Yet precisely what the Revolution’s gains were—beyond the elimination of the monarchy and remnants of feudalism—remained unclear. One perspective, that of the émigré nobles, held that the fall of the Convention signaled a restoration of their confiscated lands, which they reappropriated from those who had purchased them earlier in the decade. In this letter, the widow of one such purchaser, a sailor killed in combat, appeals to the government to recognize her right to the newly acquired lands over the claims of the returning noble family from whom they had been seized. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 452 Title A name given to the resource "Letter to Fréron: Émigrés Return" by Thérèse Bouisson Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/452/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1795 Counterrevolution 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 Barras conferred with his aide-de-camp over the weight of numbers: "They are 40,000 against 4,000, granted [I said]. We shall make up the deficiency in numbers by our courage; a single discharge of grape fired in the air will suffice to strike terror in the ranks of our opponents, who will all of them fly if a few of them get their faces scratched. They are merely Pompey's dandies, afraid of having their faces spoiled." Such was my plan in all its simplicity. And when I said to Bonaparte: "We must centralize," he fully grasped my intentions. . . . What course were they going to adopt? Their commanders probably did not know themselves. Suddenly a few shots were fired from the most advanced battalion of the grenadiers of the [rebel] National Guard. Those of the line, whom Bonaparte had by my orders concealed in the building contiguous to the rue du Bac, spurred on by the sound of shooting, sprang up and opened fire. Although unable to judge whether this preliminary skirmish was planned or fortuitous, I saw in it the beginning of a general engagement in which we would certainly be overpowered by numbers. I had a twelve-pounder gun under the walls of the Hôtel de Nesle, near the rue de Beaune. The gunners stood ready with lighted fuses. I gave the order to fire, and the first volley of grape mowed down some of the nearest National Guardsmen. The whole column wavered, and its recoil proved to me that it could not stand its ground. I therefore gave orders to keep up the firing, but to fire entirely in the air as it seemed to me that the noise would be sufficient to disperse the hostile phalanxes. It was enough, as I had anticipated, to lay low a few of the vanguard; all the rest scattered. . . . Civil war is undoubtedly the worst of all political evils. But the picture presented by the chaotic defeat of these well-fleshed battalions—who left their arms, and even their coats, on the field of battle as they followed the example of their doughty chiefs—roused the brave defenders of the Convention to mirth. Barras also decried Napoleon for his actions on 13 Vendémiaire: As he has, since his subsequent appearances on the stage, arrogated to himself the leading role and the sole influence in everything, it is necessary that I should once more point out in precise terms what relates to him personally. Bonaparte was neither more nor less than my aide-de-camp on 13 Vendémiaire. I was mounted, he was on foot, and consequently could not follow me wherever I went. The only mission he received from me was to go to the Pont Royal, and return and report to me what was going on there. He did not give, and did not have the authority to give, any order on his own account. He was never at any point of attack except at the Carrousel, whence he did not stir; Brune was in command there. I have not left out, however, the fact that he gave indication of a quick military perception when, pulling me by the coat and drawing me a few paces away from a position which would have exposed me to the first discharge, he said to me in an outburst of animation which was the product of the circumstances: "All would be lost if you were killed. The drama hinges on you alone; there is no one who could take your place. What action are you going to take?" It was then that I ordered Brune to fire his cannon, and Bonaparte, pressing my hand, exclaimed: "The republic is saved." Sortable Date 1795-10-05 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 Paul-François-Jean-Nicolas Barras, Memoirs of Barras: Member of the Directorate, trans. and ed. George Duruy, 4 vols. (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1895): 1:299–305, 332. Description An account of the resource In the waning days of the Convention in the fall of 1795, royalist–influenced sections in Paris revolted to prevent a new constitution that protected the position of the radicals. Bonaparte was delegated to put down the uprising of 5 October 1795 (13 Vendémiaire Year IV). Bonaparte’s decisiveness and willingness to fire cannons on the demonstrators—in his words, to "give them a whiff of grapeshot"—both consolidated the government’s control and revealed how much the revolutionary state after Thermidor was dependent on the military. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 451 Title A name given to the resource Bonaparte Saves the Day Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/451/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource October 5, 1795 Napoleon Bonaparte 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 EXECUTIVE POWER The Executive Power shall be delegated to a Directory of five members appointed by the Legislative Body, which for such purpose performs the functions of an electoral body, in the name of the nation. The Council of Five-Hundred shall prepare, by secret ballot, a list of ten times the number of members of the Directory to be appointed, and shall present it to the Council of Elders, which shall choose, also by secret ballot, from said list. The members of the Directory must be at least forty years of age. They may be chosen only from among citizens who have been ministers or members of the Legislative Body. The present article shall be observed only dating from the ninth year of the Republic. Dating from the first day of Year V of the Republic [22 September 1796], members of the Legislative Body may not be elected members of the Directory or ministers, either during the continuance of their legislative functions or during the first year after the expiration of same. The Directory shall be renewed in part by the election of one new member annually. During the first four years, the order of retirement of those first elected shall be determined by lot. None of the retiring members may be reelected until after an interval of five years. Ancestors and descendants in direct line, brothers, uncles and nephews, first cousins, and those related by marriage in said several degrees may not be members of the Directory at one and the same time, or succeed one another therein until after an interval of five years. In case of the removal of one of the members of the Directory by death, resignation, or otherwise, his successor shall be elected by the Legislative Body within ten days at the latest. The Council of Five-Hundred shall be required to propose candidates within the first five days, and the Council of Elders shall complete the election within the last five days. The new member shall be elected only for the term of office remaining to the one to be replaced. Nevertheless, if such time does not exceed six months, the person elected shall remain in office until the end of the fifth year following. Each member of the Directory shall preside over it in turn for three months only. The president shall possess the right of signature, and shall have custody of the seal. Laws and acts of the Legislative Body shall be addressed to the Directory in the person of its president. The Executive Directory may not deliberate unless at least three of its members are present. It shall choose for itself, from outside its own membership, a secretary who shall countersign dispatches and record deliberations in a register, in which every member has the right to have his motivated opinion inscribed. When it deems expedient, the Directory may deliberate without the presence of its secretary; in such case, the deliberations shall be recorded in a special register by one of the members of the Directory. The Directory shall provide, according to law, for the external and internal security of the Republic. It may issue proclamations in conformity with the laws, and for the execution thereof. It shall dispose the armed force, but neither the Directory collectively nor any one of its members may, under any circumstances, command same while in office or during the two years immediately following the expiration of his term. If the Directory is informed that a conspiracy is being plotted against the external or internal security of the State, it may issue warrants of apprehension and arrest against those who are presumed to be the authors or accomplices thereof; it may question them; but it shall be required, under the penalties provided for the crime of arbitrary detention, to send them before the police officer within two days, in order to proceed according to law. The Directory shall appoint the generals in chief; it may not choose them from among the blood or marriage relations of its members in the degrees stated in article 139. It shall supervise and ensure the execution of laws in the administrations and courts, through commissioners of its own appointment. It shall appoint the ministers, from outside its own membership, and may dismiss them when it thinks it advisable. It may not select anyone under the age of thirty years, or from among the blood or marriage relations of its members in the degrees stated in article 139. The ministers shall correspond directly with the authorities that are subordinate to them. The Legislative Body shall determine the number of the ministers and their prerogatives. Such number may not be fewer than six or more than eight. The ministers do not constitute a council. The ministers shall be jointly and severally responsible for non-execution of laws, as well as for non-execution of orders of the Directory. The Directory shall appoint the collector of direct taxes in each and every department. It shall appoint the superintendents-in-chief for the administration of indirect taxes and the national domains. Until peace has been made, all public functionaries in the French colonies, except in the departments of the Île de France and the Île de la Réunion, shall be appointed by the Directory. The Legislative Body may authorize the Directory to send to all French colonies, as occasion may require, one or more special agents appointed by it for a limited time. Such special agents shall perform the same duties as the Directory, and shall be subordinate thereto. GENERAL PROVISIONS There shall be no superiority among citizens other than that of public functionaries, and that only in relation to the performance of their duties. The law shall recognize neither religious vows nor any obligation contrary to the natural rights of man. No one may be prevented from speaking, writing, printing, or publishing his ideas. Writings may not be subjected to any censorship before their publication. No one may be held responsible for what he has written or published, except in cases provided for by law. No one may be prevented from performing the worship of his choice, so long as he complies with the laws. No one may be forced to contribute to the expenses of a religion. The Republic does not pay for any. There shall be neither privilege, nor mastership, nor wardenship, nor limitation on the liberty of the press, of commerce, or of the practice of industry or arts of any kind. When circumstances render such prohibitive laws necessary, they shall be essentially provisional, and shall be effective for one year only, unless formally renewed. The law shall watch particularly over the professions which affect public morals and the security and health of citizens; but admission to the practice of such professions may not be made conditional upon any pecuniary payment. The law shall provide for the compensation of inventors, or for the maintenance of the exclusive ownership of their discoveries or productions. The Constitution guarantees the inviolability of all property, or just indemnification for that of which legally established public necessity requires the sacrifice. The house of every citizen is an inviolable asylum; during the night no one shall have the right to enter except in case of fire, flood, or a call proceeding from inside the house. During the day, orders of the constituted authorities may be executed therein. No domiciliary visit may take place except by virtue of a law, and for the person or object expressly designated in the warrant ordering such visit. Corporations and associations which are contrary to public order may not be formed. No assembly of citizens may call itself a popular society. No private society which concerns itself with political questions may correspond with another, or affiliate therewith, or hold public sessions composed of the members of the societies and of associates distinguished from one another, or impose conditions of admission and eligibility, or arrogate to itself rights of exclusion, or cause its members to wear any external insignia of their association. Citizens may exercise their political rights only in the primary or communal assemblies. All citizens shall be free to address petitions to the public authorities, but they must be individual ones; no association may present them collectively, except the constituted authorities, and only for matters within their competence. The petitioners must never forget the respect due the constituted authorities. Every armed gathering is an attack upon the Constitution; it shall be dispersed immediately by force. Every unarmed gathering, likewise, shall be dispersed, at first by verbal command, and, if necessary, by the deployment of armed force. Several constituted authorities may never unite for the purpose of deliberating together; no instrument emanating from such a union may be executed. No one may wear distinctive symbols indicative of duties formerly performed or services rendered. The members of the Legislative Body, and all public functionaries, shall wear, in the performance of their duties, the costume or insignia of the authority with which they are invested; the form thereof shall be determined by law. No citizen may renounce, in whole or in part, the indemnity or salary assigned to him by law because of public duties. There shall be uniformity of weights and measures throughout the Republic. The French era shall date from 22 September 1792, the day of the establishment of the Republic. The French nation declares that under no circumstances will it permit the return of Frenchmen who, having abandoned their homeland since 15 July 1789, are not included in the exceptions provided in the laws against émigrés; and it forbids the Legislative Body to make new exceptions in such connection. The property of émigrés is irrevocably acquired for the benefit of the Republic. The French nation likewise proclaims, as a guarantee of public faith, that after a legally consummated auction of national property, whatever its origin, the lawful acquirer may not be dispossessed thereof; reserving to third claimants, if need be, indemnification by the National Treasury. None of the powers instituted by the Constitution shall have the right to change it in its entirety, or in any of its parts, except for reforms which may be effected by way of revision in conformity with the provisions of Title XIII. The citizens shall always remember that the duration, preservation, and prosperity of the Republic depend principally upon the wisdom of elections in the primary and electoral assemblies. The French people entrust the present Constitution to the fidelity of the Legislative Body, the Executive Directory, the administrators, and the judges; to the vigilance of fathers of families, to wives and mothers, to the affection of young citizens, to the courage of all Frenchmen. Sortable Date 1795-00-00 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 John Hall Stewart, A Documentary Survey of the French Revolution (New York: Macmillan, 1951), 588–91, 610–12. Description An account of the resource By mid–1795, dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs, particularly the extra–constitutional nature of the government, had become widespread. The Left demanded "bread and the Constitution of 1793" while those who had suffered under the Terror sought to "end the Revolution" by finishing off popular political activity in the sections that had led to continual uprisings, civil unrest in the provinces (notably revenge being taken on those in power during the Terror), and the ongoing wars abroad that continued to make heavy demands on the domestic economy. To this end, the Convention assigned a committee including Sieyès to draft yet another constitution, which was presented on 22 August. The excerpt below demonstrates how this constitution sought to ensure a moderate continuation of the Revolution, which would reconcile a stable social order based on personal liberty (meaning individual property rights) with juridical equality rather than the direct democracy and guarantees of social and economic equality contained in the Constitution of 1793. To achieve this delicate balance, the framers reduced the authority of the legislature, which would now have two houses so it could not pass legislation as rapidly. By creating an explicit executive body, this constitution concentrated power, but also limited how much any one individual or political faction could exert by sharing executive power among five Directors. Finally, the constitution proscribed political gatherings of any sort to prevent the re–formation of the club movement or the organization of national political parties. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 450 Title A name given to the resource Constitution of the Year III (1795) Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/450/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1795 Laws 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 Having concluded our work with the Committee of Eleven, [Pierre] Daunou and I were named to the Committee of Public Safety. He was handed the trident [gavel], and I was charged with suppressing the civil unrest that was disrupting departments in the west. It was the end of Year III, and the Convention was no longer the formidable assembly that it was. . . . Now it was nothing more than a spineless mob, a mass without cohesion, formed from the incoherent remnants of all the parties that had been successively removed and destroyed. The state of the Convention was a mirror image of that of France. The Committee of Public Safety, the true heart of the State and the only pillar onto which to hold, which alone could rally everyone and move them to action, had itself fallen into complete dissolution. Although I had been warned about this deplorable state, as soon as I saw the committee firsthand I thought I was entering the grave, buried under the rubble of France. I felt the most acute anguish that only a true friend of the homeland could feel when he sees it swallowed by the abyss. The committee members only concerned themselves with their own business, or with the business of their friends or supporters. The only role they took in the Administration was to find a job for this person, or make that person pay something (which may or may not have been owed), etc. Each section of the Administration was given to one member in particular, and they managed it as they pleased. Only correspondence, to look official, had to be signed by two other members. But as I've already mentioned, it was not administration that took up our time. Moreover, as there was no unity in the committee, the administrative committees acted alone, in isolation, as they wanted and as best they could. I say as best they could, because procuring the two signatures needed to give orders, or answer them, which was very difficult to do for those members of the committee who still wanted to act amidst the chaos. Often it was necessary to wait several days before these two signatures could be obtained. These men, who only saw to their little schemes, were too busy with their own affairs to sign anything. When Daunou and I pressed them, telling them that it does not take long to sign, they objected that they didn't want to sign something until they had read it, which is the right thing to do. But they used this as a pretext, saying they didn't have time! . . . We shall soon see what they used this precious time for. That was the normal daily speed of the Committee of Public Safety when I arrived there. It remained that way until the end, which fortunately was not long in coming. Sortable Date 1794-00-00 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 Louis-Marie de La Révellière-Lepaux, Mémoires, 3 vols. (Paris: E. Plon, Nourrit, 1895), 1:245–55. Translated by Exploring the French Revolution project staff from original documents in French found in John Hardman, French Revolution Documents 1792–95, vol. 2 (New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1973), 307–12. Description An account of the resource The coup of Thermidor did not lead immediately to the dissolution of the Committee of Public Safety (CPS), although much of its power was quickly transferred to other committees, especially the Committee of General Security, and back to the Convention as a whole. This passage, from the memoirs of a member of the CPS after Thermidor, describes the committee’s efforts to continue to guide the Republic in the face of ongoing war, domestic unrest, and food shortages. Yet as the text below shows, both the committee and the Convention as a whole operated from a considerably weakened position, in part because without the Terror, the central government could not compel obedience by officials in the provinces. The steady deterioration of the government’s power over the next fifteen months increasingly made clear the need for a new constitution, with a strong central executive that would be constitutionally limited so as to avoid the excesses of revolutionary government. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 449 Title A name given to the resource The Convention Is Weak Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/449/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1794 Middle Classes – Bourgeoisie Public Opinion Text