A Modern History, From the Time of Luther to the Fall of Napoleon Part 42

Marat was a journalist, president of the Jacobin Club, a member of the convention, and a violent advocate of revolutionary excesses. His b.l.o.o.d.y career was prematurely cut off by the hand of a heroine, Charlotte Corday, who offered up her own life to rid the country of the greatest monster which the annals of crime have consigned to an infamous immortality.

Robespierre was a sentimentalist, and concealed, under the mask of patriotism and philanthropy, an insatiable ambition, inordinate vanity, and implacable revenge. He was above the pa.s.sion of money, and, when he had at his disposal the lives and fortunes of his countrymen, lived upon a few francs a day. It is the fas.h.i.+on to deny to him any extraordinary talent; but that he was a man of domineering will, of invincible courage, and austere enthusiasm appears from nearly all the actions of his hateful career.

It was in the midst of the awful ma.s.sacre in the prisons, where more than five thousand perished to appease the infatuated vengeance of the Parisian mob, that the National Convention commenced its sittings.

Its first measure was, to abolish the monarchy, and proclaim a republic; the next, to issue new a.s.signats. The two preceding a.s.semblies had authorized the fabrication of twenty-seven hundred millions of francs, and the Convention added millions more on the security of the national domains. On the 7th of November, the trial of the king was decreed; and, on the 11th of December, his examination commenced. On his appearance at the bar of the Convention, the president, Barrere, said, "Louis, the French nation accuses you; you are about to hear the charges that are to be preferred. Louis, be seated."

The charges consisted of the whole crimes of the revolution, to which he replied with dignity, simplicity, and directness. He was defended, in the mock trial, by Deseze, Tronchet, and Malesherbes; but his blood was demanded, and the a.s.sembly unanimously p.r.o.nounced the condemnation of their king. That seven hundred men, with all the natural differences of opinion, could be found to do this, shows the excess of revolutionary madness. On the 20th of January, Santerre appeared in the royal prison, and read the sentence of death; and only three days were allowed the king to prepare for the last hour of anguish. On the 24th of January, he mounted the scaffold erected between the garden of the Tuileries and the Champs elysees, and the fatal axe separated his head from his body. His remains were buried in the ancient cemetery of the Madeleine, over which Napoleon commenced, after the battle of Jena, a splendid temple of glory, but which was not finished until the restoration of the Bourbons, who converted it into the beautiful church which bears the name of the ancient cemetery. The spot where Louis XVI. offered up his life, in expiation of the crimes of his ancestors, is now marked by the colossal obelisk of red granite, which the French government, in 1831, brought from Egypt, a monument which has witnessed the march of Cambyses, and may survive the glory of the French nation itself.

[Sidenote: General War.]

The martyrdom of Louis XVI. was the signal for a general war. All the powers of Europe united to suppress the power and the principles of the French revolutionists. The Convention, after declaring war against England, Holland, Spain, Austria, Prussia, Portugal, the Two Sicilies, the Roman States, Sardinia, and Piedmont,--all of which had combined together,--ordered a levy of three hundred thousand men, inst.i.tuted a military tribunal, and imposed a forced loan on the rich of one thousand millions, and prepared to defend the principles of liberty and the soil of France. The enthusiasm of the French was unparalleled, and the energies put forth were most remarkable. Patriotism and military ardor were combined, and measures such as only extraordinary necessities require were unhesitatingly adopted.

A Committee of Public Safety was appointed, and the dictators.h.i.+p of Danton, Marat, and Robespierre commenced, marked by great horrors and barbarities, but signalized by wonderful successes in war, and by exertions which, under common circ.u.mstances, would be scarcely credited.

This committee was composed of twenty-five persons at first, and twelve afterwards; but Robespierre and Marat were the leading members.

The committee a.s.signed to ruling Jacobins the different departments of the government. St. Just was intrusted with the duty of denouncing its enemies; Couthon for bringing forward its general measures; Billaud Varennes and Collot d'Herbois with the management of departments; Carnot was made minister of war; and Robespierre general dictator.

This committee, though required to report to the Convention, as the supreme authority, had really all the power of government. "It named and dismissed generals, judges, and juries; brought forward all public measures in the Convention; ruled provinces and armies; controlled the Revolutionary Tribunal; and made requisitions of men and money; and appointed revolutionary committees, which sprung up in every part of the kingdom to the frightful number of fifty thousand.

It was the object of the Committee of Public Safety to destroy all who opposed the spirit of the most violent revolutionary measures. Marat declared that two hundred and sixty thousand heads must fall before freedom was secure; the revolutionary committees discovered that seven hundred thousand persons must be sacrificed."

[Sidenote: Reign of Terror.]

Then commenced the Reign of Terror, when all the prisons of France were filled with victims, who were generally the most worthy people in the community, and whose only crime was in being obnoxious to the reigning powers. Those who were suspected fled, if possible, but were generally unable to carry away their property. Millions of property was confiscated; the prisons were crowded with the rich, the elegant, and the cultivated cla.s.ses; thousands were guillotined; and universal anarchy and fear reigned without a parallel. Deputies, even those who had been most instrumental in bringing on the Revolution, were sacrificed by the triumphant Jacobins. Women and retired citizens were not permitted to escape their fear and vengeance. Marie Antoinette, and the Princess Elizabeth, and Madame Roland, were among the first victims. Then followed the executions of Bailly, Mayor of Paris; Barnave, one of the most eloquent and upright members of the Const.i.tuent a.s.sembly; Dupont Dutertre, one of the ministers of Louis XVI.; Lavoisier, the chemist; Condorcet, the philosopher; General Custine; and General Houchard; all of whom had been the allies of the present dominant party. The Duke of Orleans, called _egalite_, who had supported the revolt of the 10th of August, and had voted for the execution of the king, shared the fate of Louis XVI. He was the father of Louis Philippe, and, of all the victims of the revolution, died the least lamented.

The "Decemvirs" had now destroyed the most ill.u.s.trious advocates of const.i.tutional monarchy and of republican liberty. The slaughter of their old friends now followed. The first victim was Danton himself, who had used his influence to put a stop to the b.l.o.o.d.y executions which then disgraced the country, and had recognized the existence of a G.o.d and the rights of humanity. For such sentiments he was denounced and executed, together with Camille Desmoulins, and Lacroix, who perished because they were less wicked than their a.s.sociates. Finally, the anarchists themselves fell before the storm which they had raised, and Hebert, Gobet, Clootz, and Vincent died amid the shouts of general execration. The Committee of Public Safety had now all things in their own way, and, in their iron hands, order resumed its sway from the influence of terror. "The history of the world has no parallel to the horrors of that long night of suffering, because it has no parallel to the guilt which preceded it; tyranny never a.s.sumed so hideous a form, because licentiousness never required so severe a punishment."

The Committee of Public Safety, now confident of its strength, decreed the disbanding of the revolutionary army, raised to overawe the capital, and the dissolution of all the popular societies which did not depend on the Jacobin Club, and devoted all their energies to establish their power. But death was the means which they took to secure it, and two hundred thousand victims filled the prisons of France.

[Sidenote: Death of Robespierre.]

At last, fear united the members of the Convention, and they resolved to free the country of the great tyrant who aimed at the suppression of all power but his own. "Do not flatter yourselves," said Tallien to the Girondists, "that he will spare you, for you have committed an unpardonable offence in being freemen." "Do you still live?" said he to the Jacobins; "in a few days, he will have your heads if you do not take his." All parties in the a.s.sembly resolved to overthrow their common enemy. Robespierre, the chief actor of the b.l.o.o.d.y tragedy, Dumas, the president of the Revolutionary Tribunal, Henriot, the commander of the National Guard, Couthon and St. Just, the tools of the tyrant, were denounced, condemned, and executed. The last hours of Robespierre were horrible beyond description. When he was led to execution, the blood flowed from his broken jaw, his face was deadly pale, and he uttered yells of agony, which filled all hearts with terror. But one woman, nevertheless, penetrated the crowd which surrounded him, exclaiming, "Murderer of my kindred! your agony fills me with joy; descend to h.e.l.l, covered with the curses of every mother in France."

Thus terminated the Reign of Terror, during which, nearly nineteen thousand persons were guillotined; and among these were over two thousand n.o.bles and one thousand priests, besides immense numbers of other persons, by war or the axe, in other parts of France.

But vigorous measures had been adopted to carry on the war against united Christendom. No less than two hundred and eighty thousand men were in the field, on the part of the allies, from Basle to Dunkirk.

Toulon and Lyons had raised the standard of revolt, Mayence gave the invaders a pa.s.sage into the heart of the kingdom, while sixty thousand insurgents in La Vendee threatened to encamp under the walls of Paris.

But under the exertions of the Committee, and especially of Carnot, the minister of war, still greater numbers were placed under arms, France was turned into an immense workshop of military preparations, and the whole property of the state, by means of confiscations and a.s.signats, put at the disposal of the government. The immense debts of the government were paid in paper money, while conscription filled the ranks with all the youth of the state. Added to all this force which the government had at its disposal, it must be remembered that the army was burning with enthusiastic dreams of liberty, and of patriotism, and of glory. No wonder that such a nation of soldiers and enthusiasts should have been able to resist the armies of united Christendom.

[Sidenote: New Const.i.tution.]

On the death of Robespierre, (July, 1794,) a great reaction succeeded the Reign of Terror. His old a.s.sociates and tools were executed or transported, the club of the Jacobins was closed, the Revolutionary Tribunals were suppressed, the rebellious faubourgs were subdued, the National Guard was reorganized, and a new const.i.tution was formed.

[Sidenote: The Directory.]

The const.i.tution of 1798, framed under different influences, established the legislative power among two councils,--that of the _Five Hundred_, and that of the _Ancients_. The former was intrusted with the power of originating laws; the latter had the power to reject or pa.s.s them. The executive power was intrusted to five persons, called _Directors_, who were nominated by the Council of Five Hundred, and approved by that of the Ancients. Each individual was to be president by rotation during three months, and a new director was to be chosen every year. The Directory had the entire disposal of the army, the finances, the appointment of public functionaries, and the management of public negotiations.

But there were found powerful enemies to the new const.i.tution. Paris was again agitated. The National Guard took part with the disaffected, and the Convention, threatened and perplexed, summoned to its aid a body of five thousand regular troops. The National Guard mustered in great strength, to the number of thirty thousand men, and resolved to overawe the Convention, which was likened to the Long Parliament in the times of Cromwell. The Convention intrusted Barras with its defence, and he demanded, as his second in command, a young officer of artillery who had distinguished himself at the siege of Toulon. By his advice, a powerful train of artillery was brought to Paris by a lieutenant called _Murat_. On the 4th of October, 1795, the whole neighborhood of the Tuileries resembled an intrenched camp. The commander of the Convention then waited the attack of the insurgents, and the action soon commenced. Thirty thousand men surrounded the little army of six thousand, who defended the Convention and the cause of order and law. Victory inclined to the regular troops, who had the a.s.sistance of artillery, and, above all, who were animated by the spirit of their intrepid leader--_Napoleon Bonaparte_. The insurgents were not a rabble, but the flower of French citizens; but they were forced to yield to superior military skill, and the reign of the military commenced.

Thus closed what is technically called the French Revolution; the most awful political hurricane in the annals of modern civilized nations.

It closed, nominally, with the accession of the Directory to power, but really with the accession of Napoleon; for, shortly after, his victories filled the eyes of the French nation, and astonished the whole world.

[Sidenote: Reflections.]

It is impossible to p.r.o.nounce on the effects of this great Revolution, since a sufficient time has not yet elapsed for us to form healthy judgments. We are accustomed to a.s.sociate with some of the actors every thing that is vile and monstrous in human nature. But unmitigated monsters rarely appear on earth. The same men who excite our detestation, had they lived in quiet times might have been respected. Even Robespierre might have retained an honorable name to his death, as an upright judge. But the French mind was deranged. New ideas had turned the brains of enthusiasts. The triumph of the abstract principles of justice seemed more desirable than the preservation of human life. The sense of injury and wrong was too vivid to allow heated partisans to make allowances for the common infirmities of man. The enthusiasts in liberty could not see in Louis XVI. any thing but the emblem of tyranny in the worst form. They fancied that they could regenerate society by their gospel of social rights, and they overvalued the virtues of the people. But, above all, they over-estimated themselves, and placed too light a value on the imperishable principles of revealed religion; a religion which enjoins patience and humility, as well as encourages the spirit of liberty and progress. But whatever may have been their blunders and crimes, and however marked the providence of G.o.d in overruling them for the ultimate good of Europe, still, all contemplative men behold in the Revolution the retributive justice of the Almighty, in humiliating a proud family of princes, and punis.h.i.+ng a vain and oppressive n.o.bility for the evils they had inflicted on society.

REFERENCES.--Alison's History of the French Revolution, marked by his English prejudices, heavy in style, and inaccurate in many of his facts, yet lofty, temperate, and profound. Thiers's History is more lively, and takes different views. Carlyle's work is extremely able, but the most difficult to read of all his works, in consequence of his affected and abominable style. Lamartine's History of the Girondists is sentimental, but pleasing and instructive.

Mignet's History is also a standard. Lacretelle's Histoire de France, and the Memoirs of Mirabeau, Necker, and Robespierre should be read. Carlyle's Essays on Mirabeau and Danton are extremely able. Burke's Reflections should be read by all who wish to have the most vivid conception of the horrors of the awful event which he deprecated. The Annual Register should be consulted. For a general list of authors who have written on this period, see Alison's index of writers, prefixed to his great work, but which are too numerous to be mentioned here.

CHAPTER x.x.xI.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.

[Sidenote: Napoleon Bonaparte.]

Mr. Alison has found it necessary to devote ten large octavo volumes to the life and times of Napoleon Bonaparte; nor can the varied events connected with his brilliant career be satisfactorily described in fewer volumes. The limits of this work will not, however, permit a notice extending beyond a few pages. Who, then, even among those for whom this History is especially designed, will be satisfied with our brief review? But only a brief allusion to very great events can be made; for it is preposterous to attempt to condense the life of the greatest actor on the stage of real tragedy in a single chapter. And yet there is a uniformity in nearly all of the scenes in which he appears. The history of war is ever the same--the exhibition of excited pa.s.sions, of restless ambition, of dazzling spectacles of strife, pomp, and glory. Pillage, oppression, misery, crime, despair, ruin, and death--such are the evils necessarily attendant on all war, even glorious war, when men fight for their homes, for their altars, or for great ideas. The details of war are exciting, but painful. We are most powerfully reminded of our degeneracy, of our misfortunes, of the Great Destroyer. The "Angel Death" appears before us, in grim terrors, punis.h.i.+ng men for crimes. But while war is so awful, and attended with all the evils of which we can conceive, or which it is the doom of man to suffer, yet warriors are not necessarily the enemies of mankind. They are the instruments of the Almighty to scourge a wicked world, or to bring, out of disaster and suffering, great and permanent blessings to the human race.

[Sidenote: Character of Napoleon.]

Napoleon is contemplated by historians in both those lights. The English look upon him, generally, as an ambitious usurper, who aimed to erect a universal empire upon universal ruin; as an Alexander, a Caesar, an Attila, a Charles XII. The French nation regard him almost as a deity, as a messenger of good, as a great conqueror, who fought for light and freedom. But he was not the worst or the best of warriors. His extraordinary and astonis.h.i.+ng energies were called into exercise by the circ.u.mstances of the times; and he, taking advantage of both ideas and circ.u.mstances, attempted to rear a majestic throne, and advance the glory of the country, of which he made himself the absolute ruler. His nature was not sanguinary, or cruel, or revengeful; but few conquerors have ever committed crimes on a greater scale, or were more unscrupulous in using any means, lawful or unlawful, to accomplish a great end. Napoleon had enlightened views, and wished to advance the real interests of the French nation, but not until he had climbed to the summit of power, and realized all those dreams which a most inordinate ambition had excited. He doubtless rescued his country from the dangers which menaced it from foreign invasion; but his conquests and his designs led to still greater combinations, and these, demanding for their support the united energies of Christendom, deluged the world with blood. Napoleon, to an extraordinary degree, realized the objects to which he had aspired; but these were not long enjoyed, and he was hurled from his throne of grandeur and of victory, to impress the world, which he mocked and despised, of the vanity of military glory and the dear-earned trophies of the battle field. No man was ever permitted by Providence to accomplish so much mischief, and yet never mortal had more admirers than he, and never were the opinions of the wise more divided in regard to the effects of his wars. A painful and sad recital may be made of the desolations he caused, so that Alaric, in comparison, would seem but a common robber, while, at the same time, a glorious eulogium might be justly made of the many benefits he conferred upon mankind. The good and the evil are ever combined in all great characters; but the evil and the good are combined in him in such vast proportions, that he seems either a monster of iniquity, or an object of endless admiration. There are some characters which the eye of the mind can survey at once, as the natural eye can take in the proportions of a small but singular edifice; but Napoleon was a genius and an actor of such wonderful greatness and majesty, both from his natural talents and the great events which he controlled, that he rises before us, when we contemplate him, like some vast pyramid or some majestic cathedral, which the eye can survey only in details. Our age is not sufficiently removed from the times in which he lived, we are too near the object of vision, to p.r.o.nounce upon the general effect of his character, and only prejudiced or vain persons would attempt to do so. He must remain for generations simply an object of awe, of wonder, of dread, of admiration, of hatred, or of love.

Nor can we condense the events of his life any more than we can a.n.a.lyze his character and motives. We do not yet know their relative importance. In the progress of ages, some of them will stand out more beautiful and more remarkable, and some will be entirely lost sight of. Thousands of books will waste away as completely as if they were burned, like the Alexandrian library; and a future age may know no more of the details of Napoleon's battles than we now know of Alexander's marches. But the main facts can never be lost; something will remain, enough to "point a moral or adorn a tale." The object of all historical knowledge is moral wisdom, and this we may learn from narratives as brief as the stories of Joseph and Daniel, or the accounts which Tacitus has left us of the lives of the Roman tyrants.

[Sidenote: Early Days of Napoleon.]

Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Corsica, the 15th of August, 1769, of respectable parents, and was early sent to a royal military school at Brienne. He was not distinguished for any attainments, except in mathematics; he was studious, reserved, and cold; he also exhibited an inflexible will, the great distinguis.h.i.+ng quality of his mind. At the age of fourteen, in view of superior attainments, he was removed to the military school at Paris, and, at the age of seventeen, received his commission as second lieutenant in a regiment of artillery.

[Sidenote: Early Services to the Republic.]

When the Revolution broke out, Toulon, one of the a.r.s.enals of France, took a more decided part in favor of the king and the const.i.tution than either Ma.r.s.eilles or Lyons, and invited the support of the English and Spanish squadrons. The Committee of Public Safety resolved to subdue the city; and Bonaparte, even at that time a brigadier-general, with the command of the artillery at the siege, recommended a course which led to the capture of that important place.

For his distinguished services and talents, he was appointed second in command, by the National Convention, when that body was threatened and overawed by the rebellious National Guard. He saved the state and defended the const.i.tutional authorities, for which service he was appointed second in command of the great army of the interior, and then general-in-chief in the place of Barras, who found his new office as director incompatible with the duties of a general.

The other directors who now enjoyed the supreme command were Reubel, Lareveillere-Lepeaux, Le Tourneur, and Carnot. Sieyes, a man of great genius, had been elected, but had declined. Among these five men, Carnot was the only man of genius, and it was through his exertions that France, under the Committee of Public Safety, had been saved from the torrent of invasion. But Barras, though inferior to Carnot in genius, had even greater influence, and it was through his favor that Bonaparte received his appointments. That a young man of twenty-five should have the command of the army of the interior, is as remarkable as the victories which subsequently showed that his elevation was not the work of chance, but of a providential hand.

The acknowledged favorite of Barras was a young widow, by birth a Creole of the West Indies, whose husband, a general in the army of the Rhine, had been guillotined during the Reign of Terror. Her name was Josephine Beauharnois; and, as a woman of sense, of warm affections, and of rare accomplishments, she won the heart of Bonaparte, and was married to him, March 9, 1796. Her dowry was the command of the army of Italy, which, through her influence, the young general received.

Then commenced his brilliant military career. United with Josephine, whom he loved, he rose in rank and power.

The army which Bonaparte commanded was composed of forty-two thousand men, while the forces of the Italian states numbered one hundred and sixty thousand, and could with ease be increased to three hundred thousand. But Italian soldiers had never been able to contend with either Austrian or French, and Bonaparte felt sure of victory. His soldiers were young men, inured to danger and toil; and among his officers were Berthier, Ma.s.sena, Marmont, Augereau, Serrurier, Joubert, Lannes, and Murat. They were not then all generals, but they became afterwards marshals of France.

[Sidenote: The Italian Campaign.]

The campaign of 1796, in Italy, was successful beyond precedent in the history of war; and the battles of Montenotte, Millesimo, and Dego, the pa.s.sage of the bridge of Lodi, the siege of Mantua, and the victories at Castiglione, Caldiero, Arcola, Rivoli, and Mantua, extended the fame of Bonaparte throughout the world. The Austrian armies were every where defeated, and Italy was subjected to the rule of the French. "With the French invasion commenced tyranny under the name of liberty, rapine under the name of generosity, the stripping of churches, the robbing of hospitals, the levelling of the palaces of the great, and the destruction of the cottages of the poor; all that military license has of most terrible, all that despotic authority has of most oppressive."