46 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 [Le Chapelier spoke on behalf of the constitutional committee:] . . . One duty remains to your former constitutional committee. That duty is imposed upon it by you, by its love for the public good, and by its desire to secure and propagate all the principles preserving the constitution that France has just received after two and a half years of travails and alarms. We are going to speak to you about these organizations formed from an enthusiasm for liberty, and to which they owe their prompt establishment. We speak of those organizations which, during stormy periods, had the fortunate result of rallying public morale, providing centers for similar views, and showing the opposing minority the enormous size of the majority that wanted to exterminate the abuses, reverse the prejudices, and establish a free constitution. But like all spontaneous institutions created from the purest of motives, due to considerable changes in circumstances and various other causes, they soon deviate from their goal and end up taking on a kind of political role that they should not. As long as the Revolution lasted, this state of affairs was almost always more useful than harmful. When a nation changes its form of government, every citizen becomes a magistrate. Everyone deliberates, and should deliberate, on the State, and everything that expedites, everything that ensures, everything that speeds a Revolution, must be put to use. It is a momentary agitation that must be sustained and even increased so that the Revolution leaves no doubt in the minds of its opponents, encounters fewer obstacles, and reaches its end more quickly. But when the Revolution is over and the constitution of the State has been decided, when all public powers have been delegated and all the authorities called up, then everything must be restored to the most perfect order to ensure the security of that constitution. Then, nothing must hinder the actions of the constituted authorities, and deliberation and the power to act must be located where the constitution has placed them and nowhere else. Everyone must also recognize his own rights and responsibilities as a citizen, never exceeding the former nor violating the latter. The Societies of Friends of the Constitution have done too many favors for the State, and they are driven by excessive patriotism, so normally it is necessary to do no more than just warn their members of the dangers that these organizations pose to the State. They are dragged into illegal actions by men who cultivate them only to stir them up. . . . All citizens have the right to peaceful assembly. In a free country, where a constitution, founded on the rights of man, has created a homeland, an intense and profound feeling attaches all inhabitants to the State. They feel the need to take care of it and discuss it. Far from extinguishing or restricting this sacred fire, all social institutions must help to sustain it. But, in addition to this general interest, this deep affection created by the existence of a homeland, and the free use of citizen's rights, the maxims of public order and representative government must be in evidence. There is no power except that constituted by the will of the People and expressed through their representatives. There are no authorities except those delegated by the People, and there can be no actions except those of its representatives who have been entrusted with public duties. It is to preserve this principle, in all its purity, that the constitution has abolished all corporations, from one end of the state to another, and henceforth recognizes only society as a whole, and individuals. A necessary consequence of this principle is the prohibition of any petition or poster issued in the name of a group. Organizations, peaceful assemblies of citizens, and clubs; all go unnoticed in the State. Should they abandon the private status granted them by the constitution, they rise up against the constitution, thereby destroying it instead of defending it. From that point on the invaluable rallying cry—"Friends of the Constitution"—seems nothing more than a cry of agitation designed to upset the legitimate exercise of authority. These organizations are, for the most part, composed of worthy citizens, true friends of the homeland and avid defenders of the constitution. They will easily understand us when we tell them that, if the Revolution has sometimes driven them to outward acts, the established constitution condemns such acts or that they cannot be affiliated to any of the major cities without being compared to the corporations that have been destroyed . . . and that this political role, necessarily leads to two equally fatal results: the organizations take on a public life; and they foster divisions that every good citizen should seek to extinguish—divisions which, with the aid of strange and corporate affiliations, reappear instantaneously whenever any kind of exclusive right to patriotism is proclaimed, producing accusations against unaffiliated citizens and hatred against unaffiliated organizations. Also, delegations, collective addresses, participation in public ceremonies, recommendations, or certificates given to a few favored persons, or praise and blame distributed among the citizens, are similarly infractions of the constitutional law and means of persecution of which evil men seize hold. Records of their debates, the publication of their resolutions, and the galleries set up in their meeting halls for spectators, are acts contrary to the constitution. They commit a very grave crime when they seek to influence administrative or judicial acts. And lastly that even the Revolution itself cannot waive the orders summoning public officials to account for their conduct. Acts of violence were committed in order to destroy the judicial proceedings against so-called patriots—an audacity which forced a tribunal to designate seats in its courtroom for deputies of these clubs so they could watch over criminal proceedings and judgments. These commissioners' dispatches are being sent to various places to delegate tasks that can only be assigned by constituted authorities, a right that belongs only to men in public office. A veil must be cast over all these actions. We must even repeat that their logic and goals have often been to protect our efforts and work against malicious attacks, and in confounding the latter's maneuvers, they hastened the establishment of liberty. But now, such actions would only be a shameful malfeasance, a criminal attack on the authorities established by the constitution. The friends of the constitution, those who have sworn to maintain it by force of arms, have agreed to distinguish themselves only through the most profound respect for the constituted powers, and the most absolute repudiation of any thought of creating political entities proscribed by the constitution. The organizations that were formed to hear about and support its principles are only gatherings, friendship clubs which play no more role than any citizen, that is, to protect the constitution. They can learn, discuss, and teach one another, but their conferences and their internal proceedings must never go beyond the confines of their meeting halls. No public characteristic or collective action should bring attention to them. No one can contest these constitutional principles, yet we still see them violated. Collective petitions are forbidden, yet they are addressed to the constituent body itself, they are posted in the streets, and administrative officers and municipal authorities are worn out by them. . . . Everyone has sworn to support the constitution, everyone calls for order and public peace, everyone wants an end to Revolution. From now on, these are the unequivocal signs of patriotism. The time of destruction is past. No abuses remain to be overthrown, no prejudices remain to fight against. From now on, we must embellish this edifice of which liberty and equality are the keystones. We must endear the new order to those who have shown themselves to be its enemies. And we must consider our most fearsome adversaries as those who seek to slander or degrade the established authorities, or to take over certain organizations in order to give them an active role in the administration of the state, turning them into arbitrary censors, turbulent detractors, and perhaps even despotic subjugators of public officials. . . . Having spoken of the constitutional principles and the acts that tarnish them, does it need to be stated that the public existence of organizations, their affiliations, their newspapers, their collective petitions, their illegal influence, are able to alarm all peaceful citizens and alienate those who wish to live peacefully under the protection of the laws? It is in the nature of things that deliberative societies seek to acquire some external influence, or that that wicked or ambitious men seek to take control of them to serve as instruments of their ambition or revenge. If the actions of these organizations become public, if they are transmitted through a network of affiliations and published in their newspapers, a constituted authority can be rapidly debased or discredited, or a citizen defamed. No one can fight such slander. A person is accused, but by his enemy. It is too easy to accuse and too easy to give this accusation an air of respectability. Society applauds it, sometimes welcoming it. All the affiliated organizations are informed, and the most honest of men, the public servant with the most integrity, can be the victim of the skillful maneuvering of an evil man. From a moral and ethical point of view, as well as from a constitutional point of view, there must be neither organized affiliations, nor published means for reporting their debates. You must believe that public order, the confidence and security of a host of citizens, greatly depends on this. No one wants a master other than the law. If the organization could have an empire, if they held a man's reputation in their hands, if, as corporate entities, they had networks and agents from one end of France to the other, then their members would be the only free men. Or rather, a few affiliated members would have a free hand to destroy public freedom. There must therefore be neither affiliations among societies, nor newspapers reporting their debates. . . . [Le Chapelier presented a draft decree providing penalties against the political intervention of societies in the conduct of public affairs. The assembly proceeded to a discussion of his proposals.] Robespierre: Gentlemen, it is proposed that the assembly order the printing and distribution of the report it has just heard in the form of a directive. However, this report contains ambiguity and expressions that attack the principles of the constitution. The language of liberty and of the constitution were included and spoken of in a manner calculated to destroy them, and to conceal personal views and individual resentments under the guise of goodness, justice, and the public interest. [Applause from the galleries.] Numerous members: Order! Order! Robespierre: It is an art that is by no means foreign to revolutions, and we have seen it used often enough in the course of our own revolution to have learned how to detect and expose it. As for myself, I confess that if I ever strongly felt joy at arriving at the end of our task, it has been in witnessing this last example of that art, wherein we hear charges leveled at the organizations which secured the Revolution. I would have thought that, on the eve of our replacement by a new legislature, we could have relied on both the enlightenment and zeal of our successors . . . to take the most appropriate action. I remember with confidence—and I find this reassuring in view of the way in which we want to end our session—as I was saying, I remember with confidence and satisfaction that a very great number of those about to replace us come from the heart of these organizations. [Applause on the extreme left and in the galleries.] I know that the hope and confidence of the French nation rests particularly with them, and it is to them that the nation seems to entrust the task of defending liberty against the progress of a Machiavellian system that threatens its future ruin. . . . The constitution guarantees all Frenchmen the right to unarmed peaceful assembly. It guarantees them free expression of their ideas, as long as no harm is caused to others. The constitution guarantees all Frenchmen the right to act in any way that is not directly contrary to the laws of the state. In view of these principles, I ask how anyone dares to tell you that the sharing of ideas from one gathering of peaceful, unarmed men to other gatherings of a similar nature can be prohibited by the principles of the constitution? . . . Is it not evident that he who has attacked these principles, he who violates them in the most open manner, is only putting them forth today to make up for the odious attack he gets away with against liberty? How, and under what facade, will you send orders to the departments that are to persuade citizens that the Societies of Friends of the Constitution are forbidden to correspond and affiliate? What is unconstitutional in an affiliation? An affiliation is nothing more than the relationship between one legitimate organization and another, in which they agree to correspond one with another on matters of public interest. How can there be anything unconstitutional about that? Or rather, show me how the constitutional principles that I have outlined do not sanction these truths? . . . Le Chapelier: I ask to reply to Robespierre, who knows not a word of the constitution. [Enthusiastic applause] . . . Robespierre: Praise has been lavished on the Societies of Friends of the Constitution, but in truth this is done only to gain the right to denigrate them, and to make extremely vague allegations that are far from proven and absolutely slanderous. But it doesn't matter, because at least the good that cannot be denied has been said—which is nothing less than acknowledging their services since the beginning of the Revolution in the name of liberty and the nation. It seems to me that this consideration alone would have given the constitutional committee reason not to hasten to restrict societies which, by its own admission, have been so useful. But they say we no longer need these organizations because the Revolution is over and it is time to break the tool that has served us so well. [Applause from the galleries] . . . The Revolution is finished. I would certainly like to join you in assuming this to be true, although I am not entirely clear of the meaning you attach to this proposition that I have heard repeated with such affectation. But assuming this to be the case, is it less necessary now to propagate the knowledge, the constitutional principles, and the public spirit without which the constitution cannot exist? Is it less useful now to form assemblies in which citizens can concern themselves with these matters which are the most important interests of their country, in the most effective manner? Is there a more legitimate or more worthy concern for a free people? To be able to truly say that the Revolution is finished, it requires that the Constitution be firmly consolidated, for its destruction or weakening would necessarily prolong the Revolution, which is nothing more than the nation's efforts to preserve or attain liberty. How then can it be proposed that the most powerful means of consolidating the constitution, that which the committee's spokesman has himself acknowledged to have been generally recognized as necessary until now, be rendered invalid and without influence? For my part, I see on the one hand that the fledgling constitution still has enemies from within and without, that the nature of the discourse and outward appearances have changed while actions remain the same, and that hearts could only have been changed by a miracle. I see plots and duplicity sounding the alarm at the same time as they sow unrest and discord, and leaders of opposing factions fighting less for the cause of the Revolution than for access to power in order to rule in the monarch's name. On the other, I see the excessive zeal with which they call for blind obedience while, at the same time, dictate every word of liberty. I see the extraordinary means they use to kill the public's spirit by rekindling prejudices, irresponsibility, and idolatry. . . . When I see these things, I do not believe that the Revolution is finished. . . . If I must adopt other language, if I must stop protesting against the plans of the state's enemies, if I must applaud my country's ruin, order what fate you will for me, but let me die before liberty is lost. [Mutterings and applause] Even so, men will remain in France that will be sufficiently sincere and devoted to liberty, sufficiently farsighted to perceive the traps that are being laid all around us and to prevent the traitors from ever enjoying the fruits of their efforts. I know that in preparing the success of the plans that are being put forth in your discussions today, care has been taken to proliferate criticisms, sophisms, slander, and all the petty means used by the petty men who are both the disgrace, and the scourge, of revolutions. [Applause in the galleries, laughter in the center] I know that all the knaves and fools in France have been brought around to their opinions. [Renewed laughter] I know that these kinds of schemes give great pleasure to all who are fond of prevaricating with impunity, because anyone who is corruptible fears the surveillance of informed citizens, just as criminals fear the light that reveals their hideous crimes. Only virtue can unearth this sort of conspiracy against the patriotic organizations. Destroy them, and you will have eliminated the most powerful restraint against corruption, and you will have overthrown the last obstacle in the way of its sinister schemes. For the conspirators, the plotters, the ambitious, will know well how to gather and elude the law whose passage they have secured. Sortable Date 1790-09-20 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 M. J. Mavidal and M. E. Laurent, eds., Archives parlementaires de 1787 à 1860, première série (1787 à 1799), 2d ed., 82 vols. (Paris: Dupont, 1879–1913), 31:617–23. Description An account of the resource The "Champ de Mars Massacre" inaugurated a brief period of political repression directed at the popular movement and dramatized the growing tension between the claims of political activism and the desire of moderates to bring the Revolution to an orderly close. This issue was foremost in the minds of the representatives in the very last days of the Constituent Assembly, as they debated a proposal for a new decree limiting the political role of clubs. The decree was adopted but never implemented. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 399 Title A name given to the resource National Assembly Debate on Clubs (20 September 1791) Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/399/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September 20, 1790 Clubs Popular Politics Sans-culottes Text The Terror 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 Jacques’ little stall is situated almost across from the house of the Jacobins in the Rue St.-Honoré. He has noticed the crowds of people who arrive there around dusk. He asked what everyone was doing in that house, and at that particular time, three or four times a week. This is what he was told: Three or four times a week, twelve to fifteen hundred citizens make a point of meeting in the library of the former convent. There, for four or five hours, they discuss, think, absorb sound principles, and take precautions against pseudo-patriots. . .in a word they make themselves worthy of the liberty which we have won. Jacques, who has both spirit and good sense, then said to himself, "How fortunate they are in there, to be able to set aside three or four hours out of their day to better themselves! What have I done that I should be condemned to a job which takes up all my time? I feel that I could become, like anyone else, not a better patriot (for I am as good a patriot as any of them) but more enlightened, less easily fooled. Alas! I can’t think about that. My first duty is to my children. Looking after them is the chain which binds me to this wall. I must waste my talents on a monotonous and thankless task. My whole life will thus pass in the shadow of ignorance while every day I see the light of education pass before my eyes without ever shining upon me. When I hear about the events that trouble my country I become excited and impassioned. Taken in by rumors and exaggerated stories I take the side of this or that person because I have neither the time nor the guidance necessary to amend my ideas and channel my patriotism. I must blindly follow those who represent me, and for this reason they get their own way with their constituents, three-quarters of whom are no better educated than I am. How cruel it is not to be able to fruitfully enjoy the blessing of liberty without taking advantage of it. That liberty in which I played no small role on 14 July!". . . We need clubs for the people. Let every street in every town, let every hamlet have one. The primary assemblies are too formal and too infrequent to take their place. The people need clubs that are fixed and free, where there are not too many people, and where they can be at ease. These clubs should be without regulations or titled officials, because such things detract from liberty in a way, waste too much time, and engender the feeling that the group comes before the country. . . . The Jacobin club is already very useful. Clubs for the people’s use, simply organized and unpretentious, would be of the greatest benefit. Let an honest artisan call together some of his neighbors to his house. Let him read the decrees of the National Assembly by the light of a lamp paid for by all those present. Let him add his own reflections to the reading, or those of some of his attentive neighbors. At the end of the meeting listen as he cheers up his audience, startled by one of Marat's articles, by a reading spiced with the patriotic swear-words of the Père Duchesne. . . . It is most surprising that some wealthy citizens cannot be found who are good enough patriots to offer their houses as a place to which the people of the district could come on Sundays and holidays, instead of wasting their time in taverns. In this way they could catch up on events and make themselves familiar with the principles of the Constitution. If private houses are not available, couldn't the people take over some of these churches that the suppression of the religious orders and canons have made vacant? It is said that a working-class club has already been formed in the house of the Capucins in the Rue St.-Honoré. It is a club such as this that should be set up in every section of the big cities. In the country, the porches of the parish churches, or even the churches themselves, could be devoted to this. These buildings could only become more respectable. Sortable Date 1790-11-27 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 Les Révolutions de Paris, no. 73 (27 November–4 December 1790), 401–6. Description An account of the resource By creating a fictional man named Jacques who must go to his workshop every day so he can support his family, yet who also wants to do his patriotic duty by following political events, the Révolutions de Paris, in this article that appeared in late 1790, calls upon the government to create and to support popular political clubs. The purpose is to ensure that the most patriotic elements of the "people" (and not just wealthy and well–educated professionals) can have their say in the course of the Revolution. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 398 Title A name given to the resource Clubs for the People Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/398/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource November 27, 1790 Clubs Popular Politics Public Opinion Sans-culottes 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 (Paris, 11 Thermidor, Year II [29 July 1794]) To Laffitte, executive officer of the district administration at Saint-Sever Robespierre has gone to join Camille Desmoulins. He was guillotined yesterday with Saint-Just, Le Bas, and Couthon, who will not be going to our département, you can tell Besselère. The speeches Couthon made at the Jacobin club against certain members of the Convention had already antagonized people. For a month Robespierre had not attended the meetings of the Committee of Public Safety and this antagonized people more. Finally the speech he delivered against the two committees on the 8th [Thermidor] brought dissatisfaction to the most extreme degree. The evening session at the Jacobin club was the culmination. In it, Collot d'Herbois was mocked and Robespierre alone triumphed. On the 9th, an attack on him was led by Tallien, whose head was almost touching the guillotine. Robespierre asked for the floor in order to reply; he called us all assassins because the floor was given to another first, for he was to have it next. His brother joined with him. The assembly, already very irritated, enacted the decree for his arrest. Here is what went wrong: the Committees of Public Safety and General Security, charged with carrying it out, delivered the accused persons to men who, having been unable to get the Luxembourg opened, took the prisoners to the Commune. All the friends and favorites of Robespierre were there. They embraced each other, sounded the tocsin; the people gathered; thirty cannon bristled in the avenues off the Place de Grève. All this was going on, and in the evening, at seven o'clock, when we went to the Convention, nobody knew anything about it. We had been saying trivial things from the rostrum for almost an hour, when suddenly we were told that the Committee on General Security had been forcibly entered and that [Hanriot] the chief of the National Guard and seventeen of his adjutants, who had been held there under arrest, were freed. If Hanriot had then moved against us, only two steps away, we would have been lost. If Robespierre, instead of having fun drawing up orders at the Hôtel de Ville, had marched at the head of the eight or ten thousand men who filled the Place de Grève, and if with Couthon's help he had aroused the people by his speeches, we would have been lost; but destiny decided otherwise. We finally had the sense to take some measures instead of declaiming to one another that we had to die at our post. Robespierre was abandoned, and he is no more! It is too bad, for the Republic, that this event can be counted among the great events. The death of one man in a free state ought to make no commotion. We shall now have to wait several days to know what course events will take. I very much wish it were clear that we knew how to take advantage of liberty and that passions would cool. Salut et Fraternité. Sortable Date 1794-07-29 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 THE NINTH OF THERMIDOR by Richard Bienvenu. Copyright (c) 1970 by Oxford University Press, Inc., 234–35. Used by permission of Oxford University Press, Inc. Description An account of the resource During the night of the 9th and 10th, with the outcome in doubt, deputies opposing Robespierre went to speak in the sections, hoping to convince the activists of the rightness of their cause. Whether out of political exhaustion, loss of their ability to organize rapidly, disbelief that the liberty of the Republic was any longer in doubt, or simply dissatisfaction with Robespierre’s leadership, not enough sections mobilized to turn the day, and the coup succeeded. It culminated on 10 Thermidor with the guillotining of Robespierre, Saint–Just, and the others. The Convention declared that "justice" should replace "terror" as the order of the day. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 397 Title A name given to the resource The Eleventh of Thermidor Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/397/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 29, 1794 Popular Politics Public Opinion Sans-culottes Text The Terror 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 (9 Thermidor [27 July 1794]) After the reading of correspondence, about eight o'clock in the evening, the crowd being very large and the galleries filled with citizens and citizenesses from all quarters of the city, someone asked that a member of the Convention report on its meeting that day. Chasles, a deputy of the départment of Eure-et-Loire, wounded at the siege of Lille, climbed to the rostrum with the aid of his crutch. He began to give his report, but was interrupted after almost every word by a universal clamor condemning the decree that had been passed against the two Robespierres, Couthon, Saint-Just, and Le Bas. . . .At nine thirty, a member rushed into the meeting, hurried to the front and said: "Citizens, I am going to announce some good news." A great silence fell upon the assembly. "Citizens, the cannoneers with their cannons at this moment surround the Committee of Public Safety; they are preceded by some magistrates and followed by a large crowd of people. The magistrates again demand from the Committee, in the name of the people and the law, the liberty of Robespierre, Couthon, Le Bas, and Saint-Just." At these words, cries of "Long live Liberty! Long live Liberty!" broke out throughout the hall and throughout all the galleries; hats were waved in the air, people applauded with their feet and their hands, and expressions of the liveliest and most intense joy were prolonged for several minutes. It was then that commissioners were appointed to fraternize with the Commune and other commissioners sent to the sections on the same mission. Sortable Date 1794-07-27 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 THE NINTH OF THERMIDOR by Richard Bienvenu. Copyright (c) 1970 by Oxford University Press, Inc., 228–30. Used by permission of Oxford University Press, Inc. Description An account of the resource Having carried the day in the Jacobin Club, Robespierre rose to speak the next day in the Convention, where he attacked members of the Committee of Public Safety and Committee of General Security, until now his closest collaborators, for their extreme use of the Terror. He also hinted that such "terrorists" should be purged from the Convention. Fearing for their own safety, some members of those committees, a number of deputies noted for their harsh repressive measures, and others who feared for their safety introduced to the Convention measures they had prepared in advance that condemned Robespierre. In effect, the "Incorruptible’s" turn against immoderate use of the Terror created a conspiracy against him where one had not existed before. The resolution was passed and Robespierre, his brother Augustin, Louis–Antoine Saint–Just, Georges Couthon, and several others were arrested. Robespierre’s supporters, hoping to mobilize the sections to influence the Convention deputies on their own behalf, called for a general mobilization. As the text below shows, a crowd gathered outside the Convention Hall to demand "liberty" for the arrested leaders. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 396 Title A name given to the resource The Ninth of Thermidor Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/396/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 27, 1794 Popular Politics Public Opinion Sans-culottes Text The Terror 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 turmoil of this assembly it is easy to perceive that it is not unaware of what happened this morning at the Convention; it is easy to see that factious persons among us fear to be unveiled in the presence of the people." Javogues cried: "We are neither factious individuals nor conspirators, but we do not want the Jacobins to be dominated by one man." "For that," continued Robespierre, "I thank you—for revealing yourself in such a pronounced manner and for permitting me to better know my enemies and those of the fatherland." After this preamble, Robespierre read the speech he had delivered that morning at the Convention. It had a prodigious effect. The truth of the facts it presented were beyond doubt. It was interrupted often and crowned by universal applause, general enthusiasm, and repeated acclamations. The galleries especially expressed their indignation at that portion of the assembly which seemed not to welcome the speech. In the middle of this expression of favor and indignation on the part of the people, Dumas, president of the Revolutionary Tribunal, climbed to the rostrum. He said that there was no doubt a conspiracy existed, that the government was counterrevolutionary and then, addressing himself to those who at the beginning of the meeting had disputed Robespierre's right to speak, he said: "It is strange that men who for several months now have kept their silence demand today the right to speak, in order no doubt to oppose the exposure of some startling truths which Robespierre has held back. It is easy to recognize in these people the heirs of Hébert and Danton; they will also, I prophesy, inherit the fate of these conspirators." Collot d'Herbois followed next to the rostrum where he was greeted by jeers and shouts of disfavor and hostility. In vain, he reminded the audience of the services he had rendered the revolution; in vain he recalled the dangers he had run, but the more he talked the more the storm of popular indignation thundered around him. Billaud-Varenne shuddered: "I no longer recognize Jacobins," he cried, "who insult a representative of the people that reminds them how close he had come to perishing as a result of his patriotism." The threats, cries, and tumult of the audience prevented him from speaking further. Collot d'Herbois began to speak with great energy; he needed the full force of his lungs to make heard his suspicions about Robespierre's intentions, arguing that the latter should have communicated the denunciations in his speech to the government before delivering it to the people, that such an action would have been called for only if the two committees had resisted correcting their error, and that, finally, Robespierre would have deleted many things from his speech if he had not been absent from the Committee of Public Safety for the last six weeks. He finished by urging that Robespierre's speech be placed before the Society for discussion, close examination, and debate. This proposal was very badly received. Collot d'Herbois was obliged to descend from the rostrum. In vain Billaud-Varenne energetically demanded the right to speak; in vain he faced the cries of the galleries and the murmuring of the Society. He could only speak with the aid of brusque and menacing gestures. "To the guillotine, to the guillotine!" coming from the crowd. Couthon was heard asking for the right to speak. "Citizens," he said, "I am convinced of the truth of the facts enunciated by Robespierre." "But," continued Couthon, "I do not believe that it is possible to throw enough light on the subject, for this is the greatest conspiracy that has taken place up to the present." "Without a doubt," said Couthon, "there are some pure men on the Committees, but it is also certain that there are some rotten ones on the same committees. Well then! I too demand a discussion, not of Robespierre's speech, however, but of the conspiracy. We have seen them appear at the rostrum, these conspirators; we will examine them, we will watch their embarrassment, we will listen to their vacillating replies, they will turn pale in the presence of the people, they will be convicted and they will perish." Expressions of general agreement burst forth throughout the hall. Couthon's motion was put to a vote and adopted. The applause redoubled, hats were waved in the air, everyone in the hall and in the galleries was standing and a single cry resounded from all parts of the hall: "Conspirators to the guillotine!" Sortable Date 1794-07-26 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 THE NINTH OF THERMIDOR by Richard Bienvenu. Copyright (c) 1970 by Oxford University Press, Inc., 181–83. Used by permission of Oxford University Press, Inc. Description An account of the resource By the summer of 1794, Revolutionary Tribunals had tried over 200,000 suspects, of whom approximately 20,000 had been convicted of treasonous behavior and sent to the guillotine. Moreover, the work of the Terror was intensifying, although the worst threats to the Republic of invasion from without and anarchy within had subsided. Fear and mistrust were widespread, even within the Convention, the Committee of Public Safety (CPS) and the Jacobin Club. In the excerpt below from the Jacobin Club meeting of 8 Thermidor Year II (26 July 1794), Collot d’Herbois, a member of the CPS, questions Robespierre’s motives, accusing him of seeking to become a dictator. (Indeed, rumors that Robespierre wanted to become a king were circulating in Paris.) However, Collot’s speech is poorly received, and those in attendance call for the "conspirators" to be sent to the guillotine. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 395 Title A name given to the resource The Eighth of Thermidor Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/395/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 26, 1794 Popular Politics Public Opinion Sans-culottes Text The Terror 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 . . . For two or three weeks now, in working-class gatherings, in the sections, at the bishop's palace, in the Commune, and even at the Convention, there has been talk about firing a warning shot, of raising the alarm, of sounding general quarters. Every citizen was asked to rise up because the need to add another round to that of August 10th had been felt most strongly. The meeting, which has been proposed several times by the two parties that are tearing the Convention in half, was rejected as unworkable, useless, even deadly. As Billaud-Varennes said to the Jacobins, "It is not possible for virtue to ally itself with crime," and we totally agree with him. As gold must be extracted from its alloy, it was the natural result, and it seems as if that was where the petition that was proposed against the 22 [deputies] was heading. This measure's lack of success gave rise to threats and calls for revenge. From that point to hatching a plot was but one step, and it was all that was required to make it believable, real, and actually carried out. This gave the Right the idea of seizing the first opportunity, once it was in the majority, of establishing an authority capable of disconcerting the conspiracy, or at least of imposing that authority on its authors. . . . Because of its people and its wisdom, Paris is still, and always will be, the most worthy city in the entire empire of defending the national legislature and bringing it respect. All of these vows, and many others more secret, necessarily resulted in an explosion, or at least in the development of that public spirit that continues to enliven Paris and leads it to a moral revolution or another 20 June. And this was the true conspiracy, the "despicable conspiracy," that the deputies of the Right dreaded so much. The day before, Paris seemed to be totally calm. However, that evening the sections, more heated than they had been in the preceding two or three months, were getting ready for the next day's grand spectacle. The Convention broke up at four o'clock in the afternoon, but forewarned by one party about what was supposed to happen, the deputies reconvened at eight o'clock in the evening. Finally, all the revolutionary instruments were ready. At three o'clock on Friday morning, 31 May, the alarm sounded in several parts of the city and quickly spread to all the others. Upon this signal the recall, and even the general alarm, were sounded. If the mood wasn't uniform, the concert of wills proved to be perfect. Everyone ran to their post, meaning to their sections. However, in several streets, the means that we have already mentioned were being used. The citizens stood guard in front of their doors. At eight o'clock there were more than 100,000 men under arms, united, brothers, all determined to perish before letting the national legislature be threatened. Not that the public hadn't clearly expressed its opinion about certain members of the Convention, but as a body, Parisians will defend the legislature to the death. Everyone was already in this frame of mind, and the behavior exhibited during the course of this day proved it beyond a doubt and reassured the women, mothers above all, and pregnant wives, whose patriotism is not up to the test of these great upheavals. A good woman and citizen is far removed from those women who run through the streets under a banner that is not one of decency and civic responsibility. . . . Towards seven o'clock the commissioners from most of the sections of Paris appeared before the assembled general council. After the verification of their authority, they adjourned the old city council and the next minute reinstated it under the title of the Revolutionary and Provisional Commune. Then they devoted themselves to the important happenings of the day. Various decrees befitting the occasion were passed, and one proposal, among others, was to tear down the aristocratic posters that could be found on the walls of the world's first free city. However, out of respect for the vague freedom of the press, this proposition was not adopted. . . . We were right when we said in the last edition that a project to assassinate a certain number of deputies could not be carried out in Paris. The 31st of May was good proof of that. What an imposing effect Paris offered. Close to 300,000 citizens were under arms because all the urban areas in the department, and even beyond (5,000 men rushed over from Versailles), hurried to add their numbers to this peaceful insurrection. Let us say that there were 300,000 citizens assembled at the first sound of the alarm, anxious to demonstrate under the gaze of the entire Republic their devotedness to the homeland and their respect for the law! What a lesson for 700 still-divided lawmakers, i.e., that harmony and fraternity reigned amongst 300,000 citizens! And an entire day was spent like this, exceedingly proud, but also calm and quiet. A federation was requested. Is there any revolutionary day more perfect, which was not premeditated or begged for? All of Paris arose as one and seemed to say to the slanderers, "Vile sort, write to the departments, go tell them that Paris is a city of murder and pillage. Go tell them that the national legislature daily runs risks in the heart of this city, and that, sooner or later, our walls will be covered with the blood of the Republic's lawmakers." Oh! What a shame that the departments were not witness to the solemnity of the 31st of May, since it was a sort of national holiday. If only they could see the people of Paris en masse, they would know that the People are sensitive to insults, they are great, they are generous, and they sacrifice their feelings for their rights and for the salvation of the fatherland. If we were to give them up to themselves, they would respect themselves and bring respect to the precious object that they have in their custody. The day of 31 May is truly their work. And the sublime totality of this spectacle was due neither to the Convention nor to the constituted authorities. Neither decree nor regulations were needed to maintain order. Things would not have gone so smoothly if the Convention and the other powers that be had not been content to be spectators of the this far-reaching movement. When action does nothing but impose silence on slander, it has already accomplished a great deal. It is said that 31 May had been prepared with another aim entirely. Anarchists are mentioned, as are seditionists. But this day shall prove to them that their moment has passed. Today, the citizens of Paris are too enlightened to be in a mood to cut each other's throats to please this or that faction. As each day passes, a civil war becomes more and more impracticable. Sortable Date 1793-05-31 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 Les Révolutions de Paris (1793), 422–29. Description An account of the resource Throughout the spring of 1793, radicals in the Convention, in the Paris Commune, and in the sections struggled for power against Jean–Pierre Brissot and his allies, known as the "Girondins." They differed over how the revolution should be affected by popular pressure. In late May, Robespierre proposed a motion that accused the Girondins of being a threat to the Republic and ordered their arrest. When the moderate deputies of the "Plain" resisted passing this measure, radicals from the sections mobilized over the course of three days, from 31 May to 2 June, culminating in a show of force by surrounding the Convention Hall. Duly intimidated, the Convention deputies voted for the measure. But even though the die was cast, most Jacobins were uneasy about resorting to such a direct threat that might later undermine their authority. Twenty–nine deputies from the Girondin faction were expelled from the Convention and placed under house arrest. In the aftermath of the coup, the radical faction known as "the Mountain," which usually followed Robespierre’s lead, took control of the Convention and the Committee of Public Safety. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 394 Title A name given to the resource Prudhomme’s Description of the Coup against the Girondins (31 May–2 June 1793) Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/394/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource May 31, 1793 Clubs Popular Politics Public Opinion Sans-culottes Text The Terror 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 [3 September 1792] . . . a courier arrived here yesterday afternoon with an account that the Prussians were some leagues on this side [of] Verdun. Immediately on receiving this intelligence the Legislative Assembly decreed that as universal an alarm as possible should be spread through the whole country in order that no time might be lost in preparing for the general defence; in consequence however of the fermentation excited in Paris by the sounding the Tocsin, firing the alarm guns and beating to arms, the people assembled in different parts of the town in a very tumultuous manner, and at about seven o'clock in the evening surrounded the church called l'Eglise des Carmes, where about 160 Priests non sermentés, and taken into custody since the 10th, were confined. These unfortunate people fell victims to the fury of the enraged populace and were massacred with circumstances of barbarity too shocking to describe. The mob went afterwards to the prison of the Abbaye, and having demanded of the jailors a list of the prisoners they put aside such as were confined only for debt, and pulled to pieces most of the others. The same cruelties were committed during the night and continue this morning in all the other prisons of the town. When they have satiated their vengeance, which is principally directed against the refractory Priests, . . . it is to be hoped the tumult will subside, but as the multitude are perfectly masters, everything is to be dreaded. The Assembly deputed some of its most popular and most eloquent members to endeavour to bring the people to reason and a sense of their duty. These gentlemen escaped being insulted but were not listened to. The Royal Family were all safe and well late last night. It is impossible to describe to your Lordship the confusion and consternation which at present prevails here. The Prussians are advancing rapidly, they have already cut off the communication between the armies of Messrs Luckner and Dumouriez; and intelligence is just arrived that a detachment of 2000 men lately sent from hence to reinforce Verdun is fallen into the enemy's hands. [14 September 1792] About one o'clock on Sunday forenoon three signal guns were fired, the Tocsin was rung, and one of the Municipality on horseback proclaimed in different parts of the city, that the enemy was at the gates, Verdun was besieged, and could only hold out a few days. The inhabitants were therefore ordered to assemble in their respective sections, and from thence to march to the Champ de Mars, where they were to select an army of sixty thousand men The first part of this proclamation was put in execution, but the second was totally neglected. . . . A party at the instigation of some one or other declared they would not quit Paris, as long as the prisons were filled with Traitors (for they called those so, that were confined in the different Prisons and Churches), who might in the absence of such a number of Citizens rise and not only effect the release of His Majesty, but make an entire counterrevolution. To prevent this, a large body of sans-culottes . . . proceeded to the Church de Carmes, rue de Vaugirard, where amidst the acclamations of a savage mob they massacred a number of refractory Priests, all the Vicaires de Saint Sulpice, the directors of the Seminaries, and the Doctors of the Sorbonne, with the ci-devant Archbishop of Arles, and a number of others, exceeding in all one hundred and seventy. . . . Many of the Municipality attended at the different prisons, and endeavoured to quell the fury of the people, but all in vain; they therefore proposed to the mob a plan of establishing a kind of Court of justice in the prisons, for the immediate trial of the remaining offenders. They caught at this, and two of the Municipality with a detachment of the mob, about two on Monday morning, began this strange Court of justice. The gaoler's list was called for, those that were confined for forging assignats, or theft, with the unhappy people that were any way suspected to be concerned in the affair of the 10th, were in general massacred; this form took place in nearly all the prisons in Paris. But early on Monday morning a detachment with seven pieces of cannon went to attack the Bicetre. It is reported that these wretches charged their cannon with small stones and such other things, and fired promiscuously among the prisoners. I cannot however vouch for this, they have however not finished their cruelties there yet, and it is now past six o'clock Tuesday evening. To be convinced of what I could not believe, I made a visit to the prison of the Abbaye about seven o'clock on Monday evening, for the slaughter had not ceased. . . . Two of the Municipality were then in the prison with some of the mob distributing their justice. Those they found guilty were seemingly released, but only to be precipitated by the door on a number of piques, and then among the savage cries of vive la nation, to be hacked to pieces by those that had swords and were ready to receive them. After this their dead bodies were dragged by the arms or legs to the Abbaye, which is distant from the prison about two hundred yards; here they were laid up in heaps till carts could carry them away. The kennel was swimming with blood, and a bloody track was traced from the prison to the Abbaye door where they had dragged these unfortunate people. I was fortunate enough to be present when five men were acquitted. Such a circumstance, a by-stander told me, had not happened in the operations of this horrid tribunal; and these inconsistent murderers seemed nearly as much pleased at the acquittal of a prisoner as they were at his condemnation. The same congratulations attended the others that were acquitted and the same those that were condemned. Nothing can exceed the inconsistency of these people. After the general massacre of Sunday night many of the dead bodies were laid on the Pont-neuf to be claimed, a person in the action of stealing a handkerchief from one of the corpses was hacked to pieces on the spot, by the same people who had been guilty of so much cruelty and injustice. Sortable Date 1792-09-03 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/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Oscar Browning, ed., The Despatches of Earl Gower (Cambridge University Press, 1885), 213–16, 219–21, 223–28. Description An account of the resource A British diplomat in Paris here describes, in dispatches back to London, the goings–on in Paris in early September, in light of news of advances by the Duke of Brunswick’s Prussian forces toward the capital. This diplomat was naturally most concerned with reporting the readiness of the Parisians to resist the British, which is evident in his focus on the National Assembly’s call to arms and the outbreak of popular violence. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 393 Title A name given to the resource A British Observer of the September Massacres Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/393/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September 3, 1792 Clubs Popular Politics Sans-culottes Text The Terror The US and Great Britain in Revolution 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 arose, distressed by the horror. The night had not refreshed me at all, rather it had caused my blood to boil. . . . I go out and listen. I follow groups of people running to see the "disasters"—their word for it. Passing in front of the Conciergerie, I see a killer who I'm told is a sailor from Marseilles. His wrist is swollen from use. I pass by. Dead bodies are piled high in front of the Châtelet. I start to flee, but I follow the people instead. I come to the rue St.-Antoine, at the end of the rue des Ballets, just as a poor wretch came through the gate. He had seen how they killed his predecessor, but instead of stopping in amazement, he took to his heels to escape. A man who was not one of the killers, just one of those unthinking machines who are so common, stopped him with a pike in the stomach. The poor soul was caught by his pursuers and slaughtered. The man with the pike coldly said to us, "Well, I didn't know they wanted to kill him. . . ." There had been a pause in the murders. Something was going on inside. . . . I told myself that it was over at last. Finally, I saw a woman appear, as white as a sheet, being helped by a turnkey. They said to her harshly: "Shout 'Vive la nation!'" "No! No!" she said. They made her climb up on a pile of corpses. One of the killers grabbed the turnkey and pushed him away. "Oh!" exclaimed the ill-fated woman, "do not harm him!" They repeated that she must shout "Vive la nation!" With disdain, she refused. Then one of the killers grabbed her, tore away her dress, and ripped open her stomach. She fell, and was finished off by the others. Never could I have imagined such horror. I wanted to run, but my legs gave way. I fainted. When I came to, I saw the bloody head. Someone told me they were going to wash it, curl its hair, stick it on the end of a pike, and carry it past the windows of the Temple. What pointless cruelty! . . . The number of active killers who took part in the September massacres was only about one hundred and fifty. The rest of Paris looked on in fear or approval, or stayed behind closed shutters. Sortable Date 1792-09-03 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/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Nicolas-Edme Restif de la Bretonne, Les nuits de Paris (Paris: Hachette, [1793] 1960), 247–53. Description An account of the resource In late summer 1792, news reached Paris that the Prussian army had invaded France and was advancing quickly toward the capital. Moreover, rumors circulated that the Prussians would find ready support from Parisians who secretly opposed the Revolution, especially refractory priests. On September 3 and 4, inflamed by radical propaganda, ongoing food shortages, and fear of the invasion, crowds broke into the prisons where they attacked the prisoners, including refractory clergy, who were feared to be counterrevolutionaries who would aid the invading Prussians. The writer Nicolas–Edme Restif de la Bretonne here describes what he saw on the second day of the massacres. This outbreak of violence in the name of defending an imperiled Revolution from its enemies within France has been cited by some historians as evidence of an inherent tendency toward bloodshed on the part of the Jacobins. To others, the event suggests the unfortunate excesses to which well–meaning and sincerely frightened revolutionaries were willing to go to advance the cause of social and political change, in the face of difficult wartime circumstances. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 392 Title A name given to the resource The September Massacres Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/392/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September 3, 1792 Clubs Popular Politics Sans-culottes Text The Terror 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 At half-past two (in the morning) I received the somewhat reassuring news that it had been difficult to get the crowds to assemble, that the citizens of the faubourgs were growing tired, and that it looked as if they would not march. Soon afterwards (between three and four) it was reported to the ministers that Monsieur Manuel, the public prosecutor of the Commune had just given orders to withdraw the guns on the Pont-Neuf placed there by the Commandant-General in order to prevent the Faubourg Saint-Antoine from linking up with the Faubourg Saint-Marceau. The report added that Manuel had said to the Commune, "These cannon interfere with communications between the citizens of the two faubourgs. Together, they have to finish an important task today." The ministers discussed whether to replace the guns on the bridge despite Manuel's orders. At about four o'clock, I was summoned, I do not know by whom or how, to a room where the Queen was seated near the fireplace with her back to the window. I believe the room was that of Thierry, the King's valet. The King was not there. As far as I can remember, I went in by the door of the small room where the ministers, the commissioners of the department, and I had held our meeting. I assume she sent for me after one of the ministers had communicated the results of our conference. . . . She asked me what should be done in the present circumstances. I replied that in my opinion, it was necessary for the King and the Royal Family to go to the National [Legislative] Assembly. Monsieur Dobouchage (a minister) said, "What, you propose to deliver the King to his enemies?" "Not so much his enemies," I said. "You forget that they voted 400 to 200 in favor of Monsieur de La Fayette. In any case I propose this action as being the least dangerous." Then, in a very positive tone, the Queen said, "Monsieur, there are forces at work here, and it is finally time to know who shall prevail—the King and the constitution, or the rebels." "In that case, Madame, let us see what measures have been taken for the defense." Considering the circumstances, the Queen's remarks made me think that there was within the Palace a strong determination to fight and a faction that had promised the Queen a victory. I suspected that such a victory was needed to impress the National [Legislative] Assembly. All this filled me with confused fears of a resistance that would be both bloody and futile, and of a venture against the legislative body after the troops had withdrawn or been defeated. These anticipations added an unbearable burden to my responsibility. I insisted that the King should at least write to the National [Legislative] Assembly and ask for help. In these circumstances, seeing that the group seemed resolved to wait out events in the Palace itself, I proposed to the departmental council that we should go to the Assembly, communicate the most recent reports, and entrust the decision to their wisdom. This proposal met with their liking and we started to walk to the Assembly. When we had come to a point opposite the café on the terrace of the Feuillants, we met the two ministers coming back. "Where are you going, gentlemen?" they said. "To the Assembly." "To do what?" "Ask for help, beg them to send a deputation or to summon the King and his family to the Chamber." "That is just what we have been doing—quite unsuccessfully. The Assembly scarcely listened to us. They are not in sufficient numbers to issue a decree: there are only sixty or eighty members present." These considerations caused us to stop. Moreover, we saw a crowd of unarmed people running along the terrace who would reach the Gate of the Feuillants at the same time as us, and several members feared that we should be cut off. So we turned about and walked back to the Tuileries. The ministers went back up to the apartments. In the entrance my colleagues and I were stopped by some gunners who were posted with their cannons at the gate opening on the garden from the entrance-hall. In distressed tones a gunner said to us, "Gentlemen, will we have to fire on our brothers?" I replied, "You are here to guard this gate and prevent anyone from coming in. You will not have to fire at them unless they fire at you. And if they fire on you, they are not your brothers." Then my colleagues said to me, "You ought to go into the courtyard and tell that to the National Guards who are there. They all think they are going to be forced to attack and are tormented by the idea." Since I was tormented by the same thought after all that I had seen, I was very glad to do what they proposed. We walked through the hall and out into the courtyard. There were four or five pieces of artillery right in front of the Palace gate, as well as on the garden side. On the right there was a battalion of National Guards, grenadiers I believe, whose positions stretched from the Palace to the wall that closed the courtyard near the Carrousel. Parallel to them on the left was a battalion of Swiss Guards, and in the middle, at an equal distance from the Palace and the Royal Gate, were five or six artillery pieces facing the Carrousel. . . . "We must hesitate no longer," I said to my colleagues. . . . "If you agree, I shall go up now and explain to the King the necessity for him and the Royal Family to go and submit themselves to the Legislative Assembly." They said, "Let us all go." I ran to the palace followed by the others. . . . Sire," I said, "the department wishes to speak with your Majesty without any witnesses other than your family." The King gave a sign for people to leave, which they did. Monsieur de Joly said, "The King's ministers should remain at His Majesty's side." "If the King so wishes, I see no objection, Sire," I continued in an urgent tone. "Your Majesty has not five minutes to lose. There is no safety for you except in the National [Legislative] Assembly. The opinion of the department is that you should proceed there without delay. You do not have enough men in the courtyards of the palace to defend the building and their will [to fight] is in question. As soon as they were told to remain on the defensive, they unloaded their cannons." "But," said the King, "I did not see many people at the Carrousel." "Sire, there are twelve cannons, and a huge crowd is streaming in from the faubourgs." When we were under the trees opposite the café located on the terrace of the Feuillants, we walked through the leaves which had fallen during the night and which the gardeners had piled up in heaps. As they were in the King's path, we sank in them up to our knees. "What a lot of leaves!" said the King. "They have begun to fall very early this year." Several days before Manuel had written in a newspaper that the King would not last beyond the fall of the leaves. One of my colleagues told me that the Dauphin amused himself here by kicking the leaves into the legs of the persons walking in front of him. Since we progressed very slowly, a deputation from the Legislative Assembly met us in the garden, some twenty-five paces from the terrace. As far as I can remember, the President said, "The Assembly is anxious to contribute to your safety and offers to you and your family refuge within." At that point I stopped walking in front of the King. The King and his family reached the Assembly without hindrance. When they arrived at the gate of the passage leading into the building, there were several guards standing there and among them a National Guardsman from Provence, who placed himself on the King's left and said to him in his native accent: "Sire, don't be afraid. We are decent people, but we don't want to be betrayed any longer. Be a good citizen, Sire, and don't forget to sack those holy rollers out of the Palace. Don't forget. It's high time to do it." The King's reply was not lighthearted. He was the first to enter the Assembly. I followed him. There was a backup in the hallway which prevented the Queen and her son, whom she would not leave, from moving forward and following the King. I asked the Assembly if the National Guards who were obstructing the entrance, but could not go backwards because of the crowd behind them, could come into the chamber for a moment. Almost all of them were part of the Assembly's Guard. This caused a sharp hostile reaction in that part of the chamber called "the Mountain." Sortable Date 1792-08-10 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 Pierre-Louis Roederer, Chronique de 50 jours, du 20 juin au 10 août 1792 (Paris, 1832), 352–79. Description An account of the resource The popular demonstration of 10 August 1792, occurred because the Legislative Assembly could not decide what to do about the King, the constitution, the ongoing war, and above all the political uprisings in Paris. On 4 August, the most radical Parisian section, "the Section of the 300s," issued an "ultimatum" to the Legislative Assembly, threatening an uprising if no action was taken by midnight August 9th. On the appointed evening, the tocsin (alarm) sounded from the bell tower, and a crowd gathered before the City Hall and headed toward the Tuileries Palace. The crowd overran the Swiss Guards defending the Tuileries Palace, from which the royal family fled. Here a member of the Paris municipality, Pierre–Louis Roederer, describes the scene. In Roederer’s account, it is the mob’s action rather than the vote of the assembly that deposes the King. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 391 Title A name given to the resource The "Second Revolution" of 10 August 1792 Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/391/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource August 10, 1792 Clubs Middle Classes – Bourgeoisie Popular Politics Sans-culottes 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 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