With an Almanac and a Watch, You Could Be Three Hundred Leagues from Here and Say What He Was Doing"

THE KING'S DAILY ROUTINE The Duke of Saint-Simon, who kept the memorials of Versailles, wrote of Louis XIV: "With an almanac and a watch, you could be three hundred leagues from here and say what he was doing". The King's day was timed down to the last minute so that the officers in the service of the monarch could plan their work as accurately as possible. From the rising ceremony to the retiring, he followed a strict schedule, as did all the members of the Court, all regulated like clockwork.

The daily routine of the Sun King was supposed to continue under the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI, but neither of them could bear this oppressive ceremonial. As often as possible, they took refuge in their private apartments or in the royal residences nearby. As the years passed, the Levees and Couchees were observed less and less frequently. And the courtiers complained that they never saw the King any more, unlike in the time of Louis XIV.

The King's mornings 7.30-8 am "Sire, it is time", the first Valet de Chambre awakens the King. The First Levee begins. Doctors, familiars and a few favourites who enjoyed the privilege of the Grand Entries followed in succession into the bedchamber of the King who was washed, combed and shaved (every other day). The officers of the Chamber and the Wardrobe then entered for the Grand Levee during which the King was dressed and breakfasted on a bowl of broth. Only the most important personalities in the kingdom were admitted to observe this ritual. The number of attendants is estimated at around a hundred, all male.

10 am:As they left the King's apartment, a procession formed in the Hall of Mirrors. Followed by his courtiers, the King crossed the whole breadth of the Grand Apartment. This was the moment when the crowd gathered along the passage of the royal cortège was at last able to catch a glimpse of the monarch. Some were even able to speak to him briefly or pass him a written request. The King sat in the tribune of the Royal Chapel to attend mass, for about thirty minutes. The choir of the "Chapel Music", renowned throughout Europe, sang a new work each day, composed by Lully, Delalande and many others.

11 am: Back in his Apartment, the King held council in his cabinet. On Sundays and Wednesdays was the Council of State, Tuesdays and Saturdays were devoted to the Royal Council of Finances, and finally, on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays there might be an extra Council of State to replace a Dispatch Council (domestic affairs) or a Religious Council (religious affairs). On these same days, the King might also decide to examine the progress of the building programmes. Five or six ministers worked with the monarch who spoke little, listened much and then made his decision.

1 pm: In his bedchamber, the King dined alone, sitting at a table facing the windows. This meal was in principle a private one but Louis XIV used to receive all the men of the Court, in general those present at the Levee.

His afternoons 2 pm: The King gave his orders announcing his intentions for the afternoon in the morning. If he wished for a promenade, it was in the gardens, either on foot or in a carriage with the ladies. If he chose to hunt, the favourite sport of all the Bourbons, it took place in the grounds when the King preferred to shoot, or in the surrounding woodland when he rode to hounds.

6 pm: Often Louis XIV let his son preside over the indoor entertainments, like the evenings in the apartments. Meanwhile, he would sign the many letters prepared by his secretary and then go to the apartments of Madame de Maintenon where he would study an important dossier aided by one of his four secretaries of State.

The evenings 10 pm: The crowd squeezed into the antechamber of the King's apartments to attend the Grand Public Supper. The King would sit at the table, surrounded by members of the royal family. At the end of the meal, the monarch walked through his bedroom and into the salon to salute the ladies of the court. Then he withdrew to his cabinet to converse more freely with his family and a few close acquaintances.

11:30 pm: The retiring, a public ceremonial where the King withdrew to his bedroom, was a shortened version of the Levee. http://en.chateauversailles.fr/history/versailles-during-the-centuries/living-at-the-court/a-day-in-the- life-of-louis-xiv

DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF MAN AND OF THE CITIZEN

Approved by the National Assembly of France, August 26, 1789

The representatives of the French people, organized as a National Assembly, believing that the ignorance, neglect, or contempt of the rights of man are the sole cause of public calamities and of the corruption of governments, have determined to set forth in a solemn declaration the natural, unalienable, and sacred rights of man, in order that this declaration, being constantly before all the members of the Social body, shall remind them continually of their rights and duties; in order that the acts of the legislative power, as well as those of the executive power, may be compared at any moment with the objects and purposes of all political institutions and may thus be more respected, and, lastly, in order that the grievances of the citizens, based hereafter upon simple and incontestable principles, shall tend to the maintenance of the constitution and redound to the happiness of all. Therefore the National Assembly recognizes and proclaims, in the presence and under the auspices of the Supreme Being, the following rights of man and of the citizen:

Articles:

1 Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good.

2 The aim of all political association is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.

3. The principle of all sovereignty resides essentially in the nation. No body nor individual may exercise any authority which does not proceed directly from the nation.

4. Liberty consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no one else; hence the exercise of the natural rights of each man has no limits except those which assure to the other members of the society the enjoyment of the same rights. These limits can only be determined by law.

5. Law can only prohibit such actions as are hurtful to society. Nothing may be prevented which is not forbidden by law, and no one may be forced to do anything not provided for by law.

6. Law is the expression of the general will. Every citizen has a right to participate personally, or through his representative, in its foundation. It must be the same for all, whether it protects or punishes. All citizens, being equal in the eyes of the law, are equally eligible to all dignities and to all public positions and occupations, according to their abilities, and without distinction except that of their virtues and talents.

7. No person shall be accused, arrested, or imprisoned except in the cases and according to the forms prescribed by law. Any one soliciting, transmitting, executing, or causing to be executed, any arbitrary order, shall be punished. But any citizen summoned or arrested in virtue of the law shall submit without delay, as resistance constitutes an offense.

8. The law shall provide for such punishments only as are strictly and obviously necessary, and no one shall suffer punishment except it be legally inflicted in virtue of a law passed and promulgated before the commission of the offense.

9. As all persons are held innocent until they shall have been declared guilty, if arrest shall be deemed indispensable, all harshness not essential to the securing of the prisoner's person shall be severely repressed by law.

10. No one shall be disquieted on account of his opinions, including his religious views, provided their manifestation does not disturb the public order established by law.

11. The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man. Every citizen may, accordingly, speak, write, and print with freedom, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law.

12. The security of the rights of man and of the citizen requires public military forces. These forces are, therefore, established for the good of all and not for the personal advantage of those to whom they shall be intrusted.

13. A common contribution is essential for the maintenance of the public forces and for the cost of administration. This should be equitably distributed among all the citizens in proportion to their means.

14. All the citizens have a right to decide, either personally or by their representatives, as to the necessity of the public contribution; to grant this freely; to know to what uses it is put; and to fix the proportion, the mode of assessment and of collection and the duration of the taxes.

15. Society has the right to require of every public agent an account of his administration.

16. A society in which the observance of the law is not assured, nor the separation of powers defined, has no constitution at all.

17. Since property is an inviolable and sacred right, no one shall be deprived thereof except where public necessity, legally determined, shall clearly demand it, and then only on condition that the owner shall have been previously and equitably indemnified.

"Petition of Women of the Third Estate to the King" (1 January 1789)

Sire,

At a time when the different orders of the state are occupied with their interests; when everyone seeks to make the most of his titles and rights; when some anxiously recall the centuries of servitude and anarchy, while others make every effort to shake off the last links that still bind them to the imperious remains of feudalism; women — continual objects of the admiration and scorn of men —could they not also make their voices heard midst this general agitation?

Excluded from the national assemblies by laws so well consolidated that they allow no hope of infringement, they do not ask, Sire, for your permission to send their deputies to the Estates General; they know too well how much favor will play a part in the election, and how easy it would be for those elected to impede the freedom of voting.

We prefer, Sire, to place our cause at your feet; not wishing to obtain anything except from your heart, it is to it that we address our complaints and confide our miseries.

The women of the Third Estate are almost all born without wealth; their education is very neglected or very defective: it consists in their being sent to school with a teacher who himself does not know the first word of the language [Latin] he teaches. They continue to go there until they can read the service of the Mass in French and Vespers in Latin. Having fulfilled the first duties of religion, they are taught to work; having reached the age of fifteen or sixteen, they can earn five or six sous a day. If nature has refused them beauty they get married, without a dowry, to unfortunate artisans; lead aimless, difficult lives stuck in the provinces; and give birth to children they are incapable of raising. If, on the contrary, they are born pretty, without breeding, without principles, with no idea of morals, they become the prey of the first seducer, commit a first sin, come to Paris to bury their shame, end by losing it altogether, and die victims of dissolute ways.

Today, when the difficulty of subsisting forces thousands of them to put themselves up for auction [prostitution], when men find it easier to buy them for a short time than to win them over forever, those whom a fortunate penchant inclines to virtue, who are consumed by the desire to learn, who feel themselves carried along by a natural taste, who have overcome the deficiencies of their education and know a little of everything without having learned anything, those, finally, whom a lofty soul, a noble heart, and a pride of sentiment cause to be called prudes, are obliged to throw themselves into cloisters where only a modest dowry is required, or forced to become servants if they do not have enough courage, enough heroism, to share the generous devotion of the girls of Vincent de Paul.*

Also, many, solely because they are born girls, are disdained by their parents, who refuse to set them up, preferring to concentrate their fortune in the hands of a son whom they designate to carry on their name in the capital; for Your Majesty should know that we too have names to keep up. Or, if old age finds them spinsters, they spend it in tears and see themselves the object of the scorn of their nearest relatives.

To prevent so many ills, Sire, we ask that men not be allowed, under any pretext, to exercise trad es that are the prerogative of women—whether as seamstress, embroiderer, millinery shopkeeper, etc., etc.; if we are left at least with the needle and the spindle, we promise never to handle the compass or the square.

We ask, Sire, that your benevolence provide us with the means of making the most of the talents with which nature will have endowed us, notwithstanding the impediments which are forever being placed on our education.

May you assign us positions, which we alone will be able to fill, which we wi ll occupy only after having passed a strict examination, following trustworthy inquiries concerning the purity of our morals.

We ask to be enlightened, to have work, not in order to usurp men's authority, but in order to be better esteemed by them, so that we might have the means of living safe from misfortune and so that poverty does not force the weakest among us, who are blinded by luxury and swept along by example, to join the crowd of unfortunate women who overpopulate the streets and whose debauched a udacity disgraces our sex and the men who keep them company.

We would wish this class of women might wear a mark of identification. Today, when they adopt even the modesty of our dress, when they mingle everywhere in all kinds of clothing, we often find ou rselves confused with them; some men make mistakes and make us blush because of their scorn. They should never be able to take off the identification under pain of working in public workshops for the benefit of the poor (it is known that work is the greatest punishment that can be inflicted on them). . . . [in text] However, it occurs to us that the empire of fashion would be destroyed and one would run the risk of seeing many too many women dressed in the same color.

We implore you, Sire, to set up free schools where we might learn our language on the basis of principles, religion and ethics. May one and the other be offered to us in all their grandeur, entirely stripped of the petty applications which attenuate their majesty; may our hearts be formed there ; may we be taught above all to practice the virtues of our sex: gentleness, modesty, patience, charity. As for the arts that please, women learn them without teachers. Sciences? . . . [in text] they serve only to inspire us with a stupid pride, lead us to pedantry, go against the wishes of nature, make of us mixed beings who are rarely faithful wives and still more rarely good mothers of families.

We ask to take leave of ignorance, to give our children a sound and reasonable education so as to make of them subjects worthy of serving you. We will teach them to cherish the beautiful name of Frenchmen; we will transmit to them the love we have for Your Majesty. For we are certainly willing to leave valor and genius to men, but we will always challenge them over the dangerous and precious gift of sensibility; we defy them to love you better than we do. They run to Versailles, most of them for their interests, while we, Sire, go to see you there, and when with difficulty and with pounding hearts, we can gaze for an instance upon your August Person, tears flow from our eyes. The idea of Majesty, of the Sovereign, vanishes, and we see in you only a tender Father, for whom we would give our lives a thousand times.

* St. Vincent de Paul organized communities for women who served as schoolteachers, nurses, and the like. They took simple vows, did not wear religious costumes, and worked outside in the community rather than staying in their convent. These communities often appealed to poor women but demanded hard work.

Source: The materials listed below appeared originally in The French Revolution and Human Rights: A Brief Documentary History, translated, edited, and with an introduction by Lynn Hunt (Bedford/St. Martin's: Boston/New York), 1996, 60 –63.

"The King of the Third Estate" (June 1789)

The King’s decision to accept the idea of a "National Assembly" and to order the deputies of all three orders to debate and vote as a single body met with sharp opposition within the royal entourage, especially am ong the aristocratic faction close to the Queen. In this passage, one of these hard –liners, the Countess d’Adhémar, expresses contempt for the idea of allowing any significant role for the Third Estate in the government. She seems here almost to pity the K ing for his unwillingness to preserve the traditional prerogatives of the crown and the higher –ranking nobility.

We [the Queen's circle of friends] never ceased telling the King that the Third Estate would ruin everything — and we were right. We begged him to keep them in line, to use sovereign authority to block party intrigue. The King told us: "But it is not clear that the Third Estate is wrong. Different procedures have been used each time the Estates have met, so why reject joint verification? I am for it."

The King, it has to be admitted, numbered among the revolutionaries at that time —a strange twist of fate that can only be explained by admitting that the hand of Providence was involved. Meanwhile rumors spread in Paris and Versailles was only slightly more peaceful. The Comte d'Estaing, who was soon to be commander of Versailles' National Guard, was already playing an important role there. The King readily listened to him. . . .

Deceived on the one hand by the Genevan [Necker] . . . the King paid no attention to the Queen's fears.

This well-informed princess knew all about the plots that were being hatched against the government. She brought them to the attention of Louis XVI, who told her: "But when all is said and done, is the Third Estate not also my children—and the greatest in number? And will I not still be their king even though the nobility may lose some of their privileges and the clergy a few snatches of their income?"

Source: Comtesse d'Adhémar [E. L. Lamothe -Langon], Souvenirs sur Marie-Antoinette, archduchess d'Autriche, reine de France et sur la cour de Versailles , 4 vols. (Paris: L. Mame, 1836), 4:156 –57.

4 August Decrees

In late July 1789, as reports of several thousand separate yet related peasant mobilizations poured into Paris from the countryside, a majority of them against seigneurial property, the deputies of the National Assembly debated reforming not just the fiscal system or the constitution but the very basis of French society. In a dramatic all –night session on 4–5 August, one deputy after another stepped forward to renounce for the good of the "nation" the particular privileges enjoyed by their town or region. B y the morning deputies of all orders had proposed, debated, and approved even more systematic reform, voting to "abolish the feudal system entirely." In effect, they had decided to eliminate noble and clerical privilege , the fundamental principle of French society since the Middle Ages. Nevertheless, the meaning was unclear, for the "feudal system" had ceased to exist in France several hundred years earlier. Thus working out the details of this decree became a primary objective of the National Assembly for the next two years.

[Article] 1. The National Assembly abolishes the feudal system entirely. They declare that among feudal and taxable rights and duties, the ones concerned with real or personal succession right and personal servitude and the ones that represent them are abolished with no compensation. All the others are declared redeemable, and the price and the method of buying them back will be set by the National Assembly. The rights that will not be suppressed by this decree will continue to be collected until they are entirely paid back.

2. The exclusive right of fuies [allowing birds to graze] and dovecotes is abolished. The pigeons will be locked up during times determined by the communities. During these periods, they will be considered prey, and anyone will be allowed to kill them on their properties.

3. The exclusive right of hunting is also abolished. Any landlord has the right to destroy or have someone destroy any kind of prey, but only on the land he owns. All administrative districts, even royal, that are hunting preserves, under any denomination, are also abolished. The preservation of the King's personal pleasures will be provided—as long as properties and freedom are respected.

4. All seigneurial justices are abolished with no compensation. Nevertheless the officers of these justices will go on with their duties until the National Assembly decides on a new judicial order.

5. Any kind of tithes and fees, under any denomination that they are known or collected . . . are abolished. . . .

Other tithes, whatever they are, can be bought back. . . .

6. All perpetual loans . . . can be bought back. Any kind of harvest share can also be bought back.

7. Venality of judicial fees and municipal offices is abolished. Justice will be dispensed at no cost. And nevertheless officers holding these offices shall fulfill their du ties and be paid until the assembly finds a way to reimburse them.

8. County priests' casual offerings are abolished and the priests will not be paid anymore.

9. Financial, personal, or real privileges are abolished forever. Every citizen will pay the same taxes on everything.

10. . . . Every specific privilege of provinces, principalities, regions, districts, cities and communities of inhabitants, either in the form of money or otherwise, are abolished.

11. Every citizen, whatever their origins are, can hold any ecclesiastic, civilian, or military job.

Source: J. Mavidal and E. Laurent, eds., Archives parlementaires , 1st ser., 82 vols. (Paris, 1862 –96), 8:378. Translated by Exploring the French Revolution project staff from original documents in French fo und in J.M. Roberts, French Revolution Documents, vol. 1 (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1966), 151 –53.

Champ de Mars: Petitions of the Cordelier and Jacobin Clubs

In the aftermath of the King’s failed flight in June 1791, the more radical clubs circulated peti tions 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 t hat these efforts technically violated a law passed the previous 10 May, which had proscribed the circulation of petitions by clubs.

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 wit h 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 fa ct 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 i n 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 ass emblies 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, po sted, 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 n o 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 swor n 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 coul d 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, t raitorous 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.

Source: Albert Mathiez, Le Club des Cordeliers pendant la crise de Varennes et le massacre du C hamp de Mars (Geneva: Slatkine, 1975), 45–47, 135–36.

"The Padua Circular" (5 July 1791)

Even after the aborted flight of the royal family in June 1791, Emperor Leopold von Habsburg of Austria, brother of Marie Antoinette, continued his efforts to organize a coalition of French émigré nobles and other European powers that would invade France and put an end to the Revolution. In this letter, written shortly after the forced return of Louis and Marie Antoinette to Paris (which Leopold considered their "arrest"), he proposes an alliance of Austria, Prussia, Britain, Spain, Russia, and other forces against the French Revolution and sets forth the principles for which this alliance would fight —most notably, the restoration of Louis to his full pre–1789 powers.

I am sure Your Majesty will have learned, with as much surprise and indignation as I, of the unprecedented outrage of the arrest of the King of France, of my sister the Queen, and of the Royal Family. I am also sure your sentiments cannot differ from mine with regard to this event which immediately compromises the honor of all sovereigns and the security of all governments by inspiring fear of still more dreadful acts to follow, and by placing the seal of illegality upon previous excesses in France.

I am determined to fulfill my obligation as to these considerations, both as chosen head of the Germanic State, with its support, and as Sovereign of the Austrian states. I therefore propose to you, as I propose to the Kings of Spain, England, Prussia, Naples, and Sardinia, as well as to the Empress of Russia, to unite with them and me to consult on cooperation and measures to restore the liberty and honor of the Most Christian King and his family, and to limit the dangerous extremes of the French Revolution.

The most pressing [need] appears to be our immediate cooperation . . . having our ministers in France deliver a common declaration, or numerous similar and simultaneous declarations, which may curb the leaders of the violent party and forestall desperate decisions. This will still leave them an opportunity for honest repentance and for the peaceful establishment of a regime in France that will preserve at least the dignity of the crown and the essential requirements for general tranquillity. For this purpose, I propose to Your Majesty the plan annexed hereto which appears to me satisfactory.

However, since the success of such a declaration is problematical, and since complete success can be assured only in so far as we are prepared to suppo rt it by sufficiently respectable means, my Minister to Your Majesty will receive at once the necessary instructions to discuss with your Minister such agreement on vigorous measures as circumstances may require. I also intend to have him inform you concer ning the replies of the other powers as soon as I have received them.

I regard it as an infinitely precious advantage that the disposition they all show for the reestablishment of peace and harmony gives promise to the removal of the obstacles which might be detrimental to the unanimity of the views and sentiments concerning an event so closely associated with the welfare of all Europe.

Signed, Leopold

Plan of the Common Declaration

Padua, 5 July 1791.

The undersigned are charged with making known, on the p art of their sovereigns, the following:

That, notwithstanding the notorious deeds of constraint and violence which have preceded and succeeded the acts of consent granted by the King of France to the decrees of the National Assembly, they had nevertheless still wished to withhold their opinion concerning the degree to which such consent represented, or did not represent, the conviction and free will of His Most Christian Majesty. But the effort undertaken by that prince to set himself at liberty, being a most certain proof of the state of confinement in which he found himself, no longer left any doubt that he had been forced to do violence to his religion in several respects, at the same time that the last outrage, the formal arrest of Him and of the Queen, the Dauphin, and Madame Elizabeth, inspires legitimate fears concerning the ulterior undertakings of the dominant party.

That the said sovereigns, unable to delay any longer the manifestation of sentiments and resolutions which, under the circumstances, the honor of their crowns, the ties of blood, and the maintenance of the public order and peace of Europe require of them, have ordered their undersigned ministers to declare: That they demand that this prince and his family be set at liberty immediately, an d that they claim for all said royal persons the inviolability and respect which the law of nature and of men imposes upon subjects towards their princes;

That they will unite in order to avenge in a forceful manner any future outrages which may be committ ed, or may be allowed to be committed, against the security, the person, and the honor of the King, the Queen, and the Royal Family.

That, finally, they will recognize as law and as a constitution legally established in France only those [measures] which they find bearing the voluntary approval of the King, in the enjoyment of perfect liberty; but that, in the contrary case, they will employ in concert all the means within their power to bring to an end the scandal of an usurpation of power which bears the character of an open revolt, and the disastrous example of which it is important for all governments to check.

Source: John Hall Stewart, A Documentary Survey of the French Revolution (New York: Macmillan, 1951), 221 –23. (Slightly retranslated).

"Terror Is the Order of the Day"

Responding to pressure from the sections, the Convention voted on 5 September 1793, to declare that "Terror is the Order of the Day," meaning that the government, through internal "revolutionary armies" that were formed two days later,should and would use force against its own citizens to ensure compliance with its laws, including the law of the Maximum.

The president [Robespierre] announces that a large number of Parisian citizens were requesting permission to enter the chamber and have their delegation present a petition.

The delegation is introduced, headed by the mayor and several municipal officers.

Chaumette: Citizen legislators, the citizens of Paris are tired of a situation that has been uncertain and wavering for too long and want to settle their fate once and for all. EuropeÕs tyrants, along with the stateÕs internal enemies, persist outrageously in their hideous plot to starve the French People into submission and to force them to shamefully trade their liberty and sovereignty for a piece of brea dÑsomething they will certainly never do.

New lords, just as cruel, just as greedy, and just as brazen as those they replaced, have risen up in the ruins of feudalism. They have leased or bought the properties of their former masters and continue to follow the well-worn paths of crime, to profit from public misery, to stem the tide of abundance, and to tyrannize those who destroyed tyranny.

Another class, as greedy and as criminal as the first, has seized control of [the supply of] basic necessities. You have dealt them a blow, but they were only dazed. They continue to plunder beneath the very nose of the law.

You have passed wise laws, laws that promise happiness. But they have not been implemented because the power to do so is lacking. If you do not creat e that power quickly, these laws risk becoming obsolete almost at birth.

At this very moment, the enemies of the state are raising their swords against it . . . swords already stained with the stateÕs own blood. You both possess and implement the needed sk ills which then, in republican hands, change metal into weapons capable of felling tyrants. But where are the hands that can drive these weapons into the traitors' breasts?

Hidden domestic enemies, freely speaking the word "liberty," stem the flow of life. In spite of your benevolent laws, they close granaries and coolly engage in the heinous calculation of how much they stand to make from a famine, a riot, or a massacre. Your spirit buckles at the very thought, so you turn over the granariesÕ keys and the execrable ledgers of these monsters back to the administrators. But where is the strong hand that will forcefully turn that key so fatal to such traitors? Where is that proud and impassible being, unyielding to conspiracy and corruption, who will tear out the pages of the book that has been written with the PeopleÕs blood, immediately commuting it into a death sentence against those who are starving the nation?

Every day we learn of new betrayals and new crimes. Every day we become upset at the discovery an d the reappearance of new conspiracies. Every day new disturbances stir up the Republic, ready to drag it into their stormy whirlwinds, hurling it into the bottomless abyss of the centuries to come. But where is that powerful being whose terrible cry will reawaken sleeping justiceÑor rather justice that has been paralyzed, dazed by the clamor of factionsÑand force it at last to strike off criminal heads? Where is that powerful being who will crush all these reptiles who corrupt everything they touch and whose venomous stings stir up our citizens, transforming political gatherings into gladiatorial arenas where each passion, each interest, finds apologists and armies?

Legislators, it is time to put an end to the impious struggle that has been going on since 1 789 between the sons and daughters of the nation and those who have abandoned it. Your fate, and ours, is tied to the unvarying establishment of the republic. We must either destroy its enemies, or they will destroy us. They have thrown down the gauntlet in the midst of the People, who have picked it up. They have stirred up agitation. They have attempted to separate, to divide the mass of the citizens, in order to crush the People and to avoid being crushed themselves. Today, the mass of the People, who are without resources, must destroy them using their own weight and willpower...... Legislators, the immense gathering of citizens who assembled yesterday and today in the Commune building, and in the square outside it, passed only one resolution, whi ch is brought to you by a delegation. It is: Food, and to get it, strength for the law. As a result, we are charged with demanding the creation of the revolutionary army which you have already decreed but which the guilty, through plotting and fear, have a borted. [Unanimous applause breaks out several times.] Let this army form its core in Paris immediately, and from every department through which it passes, let all men join who want a republic united and indivisible. Let an incorruptible and formidable tri bunal follow this army, as well as that deadly tool which, with a single stroke, ends both the conspiracies and the days of their authors. Let this tribunal be tasked with making avarice and cupidity cough up the wealth of the land, that inexhaustible wet nurse of all children. Let it bear the following words on its standards, which shall be its constant order: Peace to men of good will; war on those who would starve people; protection for the weak; war on tyrants; justice; and no oppression.

Finally, let this army be established such that there remains in each city sufficient forces to restrain malicious people. . . .

Billaud-Varenne: It is by taking advantage of the energy of the People that we will finally exterminate the enemies of the revolution. We will lack neither food supplies nor plots of land on which to grow this food. Even more importantly, and what we must hope for, is that all the malicious people disappear from the face of the earth. As we stated before the Convention, it is finally time, it i s more than time, that we settle the fate of the revolution. Indeed, we must congratulate ourselves, for it is in fact the very misfortunes of the People that increase their energy and make us equal to the task of exterminating our enemies. . . . The time has come to act . . . the time for deliberations is over. We must place all our enemies under arrest this very day. [Applause]

If revolutions drag on, it is because only half measures are taken. Let us leave it to weaker minds to worry about the results of the revolution. We work everything out . . . we see the grand vision of what must be achieved for the happiness of the People . . . let us boldly go along the path we have set for ourselves. Let us save the People, they will assist us. They want liberty r egardless of the price. Let us crush the enemies of the revolution, and starting today, let the government take action, let the laws be executed, let the lot of the People be strengthened, and let liberty be saved.

Danton: . . . You have just proclaimed to all of France that it is still in a real and active state of revolution. Well, this revolution must be consummated. You must never fear movements that could tempt counterrevolutionaries in Paris, who would no doubt like to extinguish the flame of liberty where it burns the brightest. But the immense number of true patriots, of sans-culottes who have crushed their enemies a hundred times, still exists [and] is ready to take action. We only need to know how to lead them, and once again they will confound and foil all conspiracies. It is not enough to have a revolutionary army; you must be revolutionary yourselves. Remember that industrious men who live by the sweat of their brow cannot attend the sections and that it is only when the true patriots are absent that scheming can take over the section meetings. Therefore decree that two large section -meetings be held each week, and that the man of the People who attends these political assemblies will receive just remuneration for the time spent away from his work.

It is also good that you proclaim to all our enemies that we are determined to be continually and completely prepared for them. You have ordered thirty million [ francs] placed at the disposal of the Minister of War in order to manufacture weapons. Decree that this emergency production cease only when the nation has given a gun to each citizen. Let us announce the firm resolution of having as many guns and almost as many cannon as there are sans- culottes. [Applause] Let it be the republic that puts a gun i nto the hands of the citizen, the true patriot, and let the republic say to him, "The country entrusts this weapon to you with for its defense. You will stand up for your country each month of the year, as well as any other time you are required to do so b y the national authority." Let a gun be our most sacred object. . .let each of us lose our life rather than our gun. [Applause] I therefore ask that you decree at least 100 million [francs] to produce all kinds of weapons because, had we all had arms, we would all have marched. It is the lack of weapons that enslaves us. A country in danger will never be short of citizens.

Source: Réimpression de l'ancien Moniteur , 32 vols. (Paris: Imprimerie nationale, 185863), 17:58083, 586, 591.

Père Duchesne Idealizes the Sans–culottes

The sans–culotte [without the breeches of the wealthy] became the symbol of the committed, patriotic revolutionary everyman. This newspaper article describes the ideal sans–culotte, emphasizing his industriousness as a handicra ft worker, his honesty, his simplicity, his willingness to act directly, and above all his commitment to sacrifice for the Revolutionary cause. This description is from a radical newspaper, "Father Duchesne" was, like the sans–culotte, a figure drawn from popular culture: a good–hearted, honest–speaking, hard–working stove repairman who would report to his companions in layman’s terms the strange doings of the wealthy he overheard while in their homes to fix stoves, a luxury item in the eighteenth century.

It really gets under my skin to see a bunch of rascals build castles in the air, sacrifice honor and country, and risk the guillotine in order to become rich. Who is served by this wealth? He who has a lot of gold and houses, does he dine twice? Hell! If we could only read the minds of all the poor devils who have piled sous upon sous to fill their coffers; if we understood the stupors of all these misers who skin fleas in order to get their hides, if you could see them always on their guard, always sleeping with one eye open, scared down to the marrow of their bones by the slightest noise, screaming for mercy when they hear judgments being shouted out against some crooks, tearing their hair out when the rich are forced to loosen the purse strings to help their country, burying their gold, dying of fright at the mere sound of the name of the revolutionary army!

Is there, in the whole world, a worse torture than this? What a damn difference there is between the fate of this pathetic character and that of the honest sans-culotte, who lives from day to day by the sweat of his brow. As long as he has a four-pound loaf in his bread box and a glass of red wine, he's content. As soon as he wakes up, he's as happy as a lark, and at the end of the day, he takes up his tools and sings his revolutionary song, "La Carmagnole." In the evening, after he has worked hard all day, he goes to his section. When he appears there among his brothers, they don't look at him as if he were a monster, and he doesn't see everyone whispering to each other and pointing their fingers at him like a nobleman or a moderat e would.

They shake his hand, pat him on the shoulder, and ask him how he's doing. He doesn't worry about being denounced; he is never threatened with raids on his house. He holds his head high everywhere he goes.

In the evening, when he enters his hovel, his wife rushes to greet him, his small children hug him, his dog bounds up and licks him. He recounts the news that he heard at the section. He's as happy as a clam when telling about a victory over the Prussians, the Austrians, or the English. He tells h ow a traitorous general, a follower of Brissot, was guillotined. While telling his children about these scoundrels, he makes them promise to always be good citizens and to love the Republic above all else. Then he eats dinner with a hearty appetite, and af ter his meal, he entertains his family by reading to them from Le Grande colère du Père Duchesne [The Great Wrath of Father Duchesne] or La Grande joie du Père Duchesne [The Great Joy of Father Duchesne].

His wife laughs till she's hoarse when listening to him tell about the arguments between his neighbor Jacqueline and the religious zealots whining to the patron saints of the rich. The little rug -rats erupt with joy on hearing the four-letter words I use.

Source: Père Duchesne, no. 313 (Paris: Imprimerie N ationale, 1794), 3–6. Translated by Exploring the French Revolution project staff from original documents in French found in John Hardman, French Revolution Documents 1792–95, vol. 2 (New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1973), 218 –19.

Diary of a Woman at Fifty

Born in 1770 and married to the only surviving son of one of the greatest noble families in France, the Marquise de la Tour du Pin endured humiliation, emigration, and Terror during the first part of the revolutionary decade. Upon her return to France with her husband in 1796, she was shocked at the aristocratic style and open royalism of many powerful government figures.

A large number of émigrés came back under assumed names. Madame d'Hénin returned as a merchant of fashionwear from Geneva. Miss Vauthier had been set up at Madame Poix's in Saint -Ouen. Madame de Staël, under the protection of the Director [Paul] Barras, found herself in Paris along with many others.

Monsieur de Talleyrand asked us to come there, and urged my husband in particular to come. We started to speak of counterrevolution, in which everyone believed. The government had been established and the two assemblies, that of the Five-Hundred and that of the "Elders," included many royalist s. Barras, the influential Director of whom the Duchess of Brancas had many nice things to say, had a salon where many royalists could be found. And, even though the other Directors did not seem disposed to follow their colleague's example. . . .

We finally arrived at the end of our journey. Madame de Valence happily received me, and Madame de Montesson, who had still not left for the country, welcomed me most graciously. In Paris, something that is a little different still attracts attention, so I was immediately a hit.

Getting down from my coach, since my husband and I had dined in Madame Valence's room, Monsieur de Talleyrand was announced. He was much relieved to see us, and after a moment said, "Alright Gouvernet, what do you plan on doing?" "Me," Monsieur de La Tour du Pin said, taken aback. "I'm only here to take care of some business." "Oh," said Monsieur de Talleyrand, "I thought . . . ." Then he changed the subject, and spoke of trivial matters. Addressing Madame de Valence a few moments later, he s tarted to say with that nonchalant air that must be seen to be believed, "On that subject, you know that the ministry has changed personnel, the new ministers have been appointed." "Oh," she exclaimed, "and who are they?" Then, after a moment's hesitation, as if he had forgotten the names and was trying to remember, said "Ah, yes. Let's see: so -and-so at War, so-and-so at the Navy, so-and-so at Finance. . . ." And at the Foreign Ministry, I said . . . . "And at the Foreign Ministry? Well . . . me, no doubt! " Then, taking his hat, he left.

My husband and I looked at each other without surprise since nothing about Monsieur de Talleyrand could be surprising, except possibly if he were to do something in bad taste. He remained the eminently great lord, all the w hile serving a government made from the dregs of the dregs. The next day, we found him ensconced at the Foreign Ministry, as if he had been in the job for ten years. The intervention of Madame de Staël, all -powerful at that time thanks to Benjamin Constant, had made him a minister. He had arrived at her house and, throwing his purse which contained only several louis onto the table, told her, "Here's the remainder of my fortune. Tomorrow I'm a minister, or I'll take my own life!" None of those words were true, but it was dramatic, and Madame de Staël liked drama. Besides, the appointment was not difficult to obtain. The Directory, and above all Barras, were honored to have such a minister.

I will not recount the history of [the coup of] 18 Fructidor here. It can be read in all the memoirs of the times. The royalists had great hopes, and plots were woven in all directions. Many émigrés had returned. They wore rallying signs, all well-known by the police: the cape made of black velvet, a knot, I no lon ger remember what kind, at the corner of the handkerchief, etc. . . . And it was by these kinds of idiocies that we thought we could save France. Madame de Montesson came back from the countryside specifically to host a dinner for the deputies who favored our cause. Monsieur Brouquens, our great friend, was also one of the hosts of these dinners where we spoke with incredible carelessness. Every day my husband and I found ourselves with people we knew, and the unique nature of the life that I had led in America, and the desire I felt to return there, made me very popular for one month.

Source: Marquise de la Tour du Pin, Journal d'une femme de cinquante ans (1778 –1815), 2 vols. (Paris: Berger-Levrault, 1925), 2:138–45

9 Thermidor: The Conspiracy against Robespierre

This account of the proceedings in the Convention Hall on the 9 Thermidor Year II (27 July 1794) describes how Robespierre and Saint–Just, facing an organized attack by other members of the Committee of Public Safety, tried one last gamble, appealing to the deputies of the "Right" to come to their aid. These deputies repudiated the appeal, and the Convention unanimously voted for the resolution condemning them.

Meanwhile, the Reign of Terror was reaching its end. Robespierre had become unbeara ble, even to his own accomplices. The members of the committees were in a power struggle with him, and were afraid that sooner or later, they would become his victims. When faced with his tyranny in the Convention, everyone whimpered, not daring to attack him. But soon Robespierre, through his speeches and actions, would give "hope to the damned" for Tallien, Bourdon-de l'Oise, Legendre, Le Cointre, and others, who feared sharing the fate of Danton and Lacroix. Every tyrant who threatens but does not strike, is himself struck. Tallien, Bourdon and two or three other Montagnards who had been threatened could no longer sleep, so, to defend themselves, they formed a conspiracy against Robespierre. But how to go about overthrowing him? Robespierre was in charge of all of the Parisian authorities, all of the club agitators, and counted Henriot, the commander of the Armed Forces, among his devoted followers. Only a decree from the Convention could fell this Colossus, because nothing is more powerful than morality i n a war of opinions. But there were other problems. The Right, with more votes, was, as they should have been, less a friend of the threatened Montagnards, who had often called for their arrest and indictment, than of Robespierre who had constantly protect ed them. (No doubt to keep them as a backup if the need ever arose.) However, since no other way existed, the Montagnards turned to us. Their emissaries came to us. They spoke with Palasne -Champeaux, Boissy-d'Anglas and myself, all of us former members of the Constituent Assembly, and whose example would convince others. They used everything they could to help us make up our minds. . . .

On 9 Thermidor, a few moments before the famous session, Bourdon -de-l'Oise met me in the gallery, touched me on the hand, and said, "Oh, how brave they are, those men of the Right." I went up to the Hall of Liberty, where I strolled for a moment with Robère. Tallien approached us, but then immediately saw Saint -Just at the rostrum and left us saying, "There is Saint-Just at the rostrum, we must be done with this." We followed him, and from his seat at the top of the Mountain, heard him sharply interrupt Saint -Just and start the attack. The stage thus set, Billaud -Varenne took over from Tallien and spoke even more vehemently.

Robespierre went up to the rostrum to defend Saint -Just. The only words that could be heard were: "Down with the tyrant! Arrest him!" Since the Mountain was still acting alone, Robespierre turned to us and said: "Deputies of the Right, men of honor, men of virtue, give me the floor, since the assassins will not." He hoped to receive this favor as a reward for the protection he had given us. But our party was decided. There was no answer, just dead silence until the debate over the decree to arrest Robespier re and his accomplices, for which we all voted in favor, which made the decision unanimous.

Source: Pierre-Toussaint Durand de Maillane, Histoire de la Convention Nationale (Paris: Baudouin, 1825), 198 –201. Translated by Exploring the French Revolution project staff from original documents in French found in John Hardman, French Revolution Documents 1792–95, vol. 2 (New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1973), 253 –54.

"Constitution of 1793"

The primary task of the Convention, when seated in the fall of 1792, had been to draft a new, republican constitution. Only a fter the purge of the Girondins, however, did the Convention complete this task, with what became known as the Constitution of 1793 or sometimes the "Montagnard Constitution." Particularly notable was the commitment to political democracy; universal manhood suffrage with no property requirements for voting or holding office at national or municipal levels was implemented, and the equal application of the law to all citizens was emphasized. This constitution also required the government to ensure a "right to subsistence," while simultaneously reiterating the inviolability of personal property. To many, especially the Jacobins, the Constitution of 1793 provided a model framework for an egalitarian, democratic republic; however, owing to the ongoing war the Convention suspended constitutional rule in October 1793 in favor of "revolutionary government . . . until the peace."

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CONSTITUTIONAL ACT OF THE REPUBLIC

The French Republic is one and indivisible.

ON CITIZENSHIP

The following are admitted to exercise the rights of French citizenship:

Every man born and domiciled in France, fully twenty -one years of age;

Every foreigner, fully twenty -one years of age, who, domiciled in France for one year:

And lives there by his labor,

Or acquires property,

Or marries a French woman,

Or adopts a child,

Or supports an elderly person;

Finally, every foreigner who is considered by the legislative body to be deserving of being treated humanely.

The exercise of the rights of citizenship is lost:

By naturalization in a foreign country;

By the acceptance of offices or favors emanating from a government that is not of the people;

By sentencing with punishments that are dishonorable or strip the party of his civil rights, until rehabilitation.

The exercise of the rights of citizenship is suspended:

By status of indictment;

By sentencing in absentia, until such sentence is revoked.

ON POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY

Popular sovereignty includes all French citizens.

It directly appoints its deputies.

It delegates to its electors the choice of administrators, public arbiters, and judges f or criminal and appellate courts.

It deliberates upon the law.

ON NATIONAL REPRESENTATION

Population is the sole basis of national representation.

There shall be one deputy for every 40,000 individuals.

Every grouping of the primary assemblies, with a population of between 39,000 and 41,000 inhabitants, shall directly elect one deputy.

The election is decided by absolute majority.

Every assembly shall count the votes, and shall send a commissioner to the most central location for the general count.

If the first return does not produce an absolute majority, a second roll call shall be held, and a vote taken between the two citizens who have obtained the most votes.

In case of a tie, the elder shall have the choice, either to hold another vote or to b e declared the winner. In the case where both citizens are of equal age, the decision shall be made by lot.

Every Frenchman who enjoys the rights of citizenship is eligible throughout the entire Republic.

Every deputy belongs to the whole nation.

In case of the nonacceptance, resignation, forfeiture, or death of a deputy, the primary assemblies that elected him shall provide for his replacement.

A deputy who has proffered his resignation may not leave his post until after the swearing in of his successo r.

The French people shall assemble annually, on the 1st of May, to hold elections.

They shall proceed thereto, regardless of how many citizens have the right to vote.

The primary assemblies shall meet in extraordinary session upon the request of one -fifth of the citizens who have the right to vote in that district.

In such cases, the town council of the usual place of assembly shall conduct the convocation.

Such extraordinary sessions shall deliberate only when one -half plus one of the citizens who ha ve the right to vote in that district are present.

ON SESSIONS OF THE LEGISLATIVE BODY

Sessions of the National Assembly shall be public.

The minutes of its sessions shall be printed.

It may only deliberate if at least 200 members are present.

Its members must be granted permission to speak, in the order in which they requested it.

Its decisions shall be determined by majority vote.

ON THE FUNCTIONS OF THE LEGISLATIVE BODY

The Legislative Body shall propose laws and render decrees.

Included under the general title of "law" are acts of the Legislative Body concerning:

Civil and criminal legislation;

General administration of the revenues and ordinary expenditures of the Republic;

State property;

The standard, weight, stamp, and denomination of mon ies;

The nature, amount, and collection of taxes;

The declaration of war;

Every new general distribution of French territory;

Public schooling;

Public honors in memory of great men.

ON THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

There shall be an Executive Council composed of twenty-four members.

The Electoral College of each and every department shall appoint a candidate. The Legislative Body shall select the members o f the council from the general list.

One-half of the members shall be replaced during the final months of every legislative session.

The council shall be responsible for the management and supervision of the civil administration, and may act only to execute the laws of decrees of the Legislative Body.

It shall appoint, from outside its own body, the executiv es of the civil administration of the Republic.

ON ADMINISTRATIVE AND MUNICIPAL BODIES

In each and every commune of the Republic there shall be a municipal administration;

In each and every district, there shall be an intermediate administration;

In each and every department, there shall be a central administration.

The municipal officials shall be elected by the communal assemblies.

The administrators shall be appointed by the electoral colleges of the departments and districts.

One-half of the municipalities and administrations shall be renewed annually.

The administration and municipal officials shall have no representational role.

They may not, under any circumstances, alter the acts of the Legislative Body nor stop their execution.

The Legislative Body shall determine the duties of the municipal officials and administrators, the rules governing their subordination, and the penalties they may incur.

Sessions of the municipalities and administrations shall be public.

ON CIVIL JUSTICE

The code of civil and criminal laws shall be uniform throughout the Republic.

No infringement may be made upon the right of citizens to have arbitrators of their own choice pass judgment on their disagre ements.

The decision of such arbitrators shall be final, unles s the citizens have reserved the right to protest.

There shall be justices of the peace, elected by the citizens in districts determined by law.

They shall reconcile and judge without charge.

Their numbers and abilities shall be regulated by the Legisla tive Body.

There shall be public arbitrators elected by the electoral colleges.

ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE

In criminal matters citizens may be judged only upon an indictment received by juries or decreed by the Legislative Body.

The accused shall have council , chosen by themselves or appointed by the court.

Inquiries shall be public.

Facts and intents shall be declared by a trial jury.

The penalty shall be imposed by a criminal court.

Criminal judges shall be elected annually by the electoral colleges.

ON PUBLIC TAXES

No citizen is exempt from the honorable obligation of contributing to public expenses.

ON NATIONAL CONVENTIONS

If, in one-half of the departments plus one, one -tenth of the regularly constituted primary assemblies requests the revision of a Constitutional Act or the amendment of some of its articles, the Legislative Body shall be required to convoke all the primar y assemblies of the Republic to ascertain if there are grounds for a National Convention.

ON THE RELATIONS OF THE FRENCH REPUBLI C WITH FOREIGN NATIONS

The French people are the friends and natural allies of free peoples.

They do not interfere in the government of other nations; nor do they permit other nations to interfere in theirs.

They give asylum to foreigners who, in the na me of liberty, are banished from their homelands, and refuse it to tyrants.

They do not make peace with an enemy who is occupying their territory.

ON THE GUARANTEE OF RIGHTS

The Constitution guarantees all Frenchmen equality, liberty, security, property , public debt, freedom of worship, public schooling, public relief, unrestricted freedom of the press, the right to assemble in groups, and the enjoyment of all the rights of man .

The French Republic respects loyalty, courage, the elderly, filial piety, a nd misfortune. It entrusts its Constitution to the care of all the virtues.

The Declaration of Rights and the Constitutional Act shall be engraved on tablets and placed in the midst of the Legislative Body and in public places.

Source: John Hall Stewart, A Documentary Survey of the French Revolution (New York: Macmillan, 1951), 458 –68. (Slightly retranslated).

The Indictment of Louis XVI (December 11, 1792)

Louis, the French people accuses you of having committed a multitude of crimes in order to establish your tyranny by destroying its liberty.

1. On 20 June, 1789, you attacked the sovereignty of the people by suspending the assemblies of its representatives and by driving them by violence from the place of their sessions. . . .

2. On 23 June you wished to dictate laws to the nation; you surrounded its representatives with troops; you presented them with two royal declarations, subversive of every liberty, and you ordered them to separate. Your declarations and the minutes of the Assembly establish these outrages undeniably.

3. You caused an army to march against the citizens of Paris; your satellites caused their blood to flow, and you withdrew this army only when the capture of the Bastille and the general insurrection apprised you that the people were victorious. . . .

6. For a long time you contemplated flight;. . . but on 21 June [1791] you made your escape with a false passport; you left a declaration against those same constitutional articles; you ordered the ministers not to sign any documents emanating from the National Assembly, and you forbade the Minister of Justice to deliver the Seals of State. The people’s money was wasted in achieving the success of this treason. . . .

7. On 14 September you apparently accepted the Constitution; your speeches announced a desire to maintain it, and you worked to overthrow it before it even was achieved.

15. Your brothers, enemies of the state, have rallied the émigrés under their colors; they have raised regiments, borrowed money, and contracted alliances in your name; you disavowed them only when you were quite certain that you could not harm their plans. . . .

30. You tried to bribe, with considerable sums, several members of the Constituent and Legislative Assemblies.

31. You allowed the French nation to be disgraced in Germany, in Italy, and in Spain, since you did nothing to exact reparation for the ill treatment which the French experienced in those countries.

32. On 10 August you reviewed the Swiss Guards at five o’clock in the morning; and the Swiss Guards fired first on the citizens.33. You caused the blood of Frenchmen to flow. [Source: John Hall Stewart ed., A Documentary Survey of the French Revolution (New York: Macmillan, 1951), pp. 386-389, 391.]`

The Execution of Louis XVI (January 21, 1793) Henry Edgeworth De Firmont

The carriage arrived . . . in the greatest silence, at the Place Louis XV, and came to a halt in the middle of a large empty space that had been left around the scaffold. This space was bordered with cannon; and beyond, as far as the eye could reach, was a multitude in arms. . . .

As soon as the king descended from the carriage, three executioners surrounded him and wished to take off his coat. He repulsed them with dignity and took it off himself. The executioners, whom the proud bearing of the king had momentarily disconcerted, seemed then to resume their audacity and, surrounding him again, attempted to tie his hands. “What are you trying to do?” asked the king, withdrawing his hands abruptly.

“Tie you,” replied one of the executioners.

“Tie me!” returned the king in an indignant tone. “No, I will never consent; do what you are ordered to do, but I will not be tied; renounce that idea.” The executioners insisted, they lifted their voices, and seemed about to call for help in order to use force. . . .

“Sire,” I said to him with tears, “in this new outrage I see only a final resemblance between Your Majesty and the Saviour who is to reward you.”

At these words he lifted his eyes to heaven with a sorrowing look that I cannot describe . . . and, turning to the executioners, said: “Do what you wish; I will drain the cup to the dregs.”

The steps that led to the scaffold were extremely steep in ascent. The king was obliged to hold to my arm, and by the pains he seemed to take, feared that his courage had begun to weaken; but what was my astonishment when, upon arriving at the last step, I saw him escape, so to speak, from my hands, cross the length of the scaffold with firm step to impose silence, by a single glance, upon ten or fifteen drummers who were in front of him, and with a voice so strong that it could be heard at the Pont-Tournant, distinctly pronounce these words forever memorable: “I die innocent of all the crimes imputed to me. I pardon the authors of my death, and pray God that the blood you are about to shed will never fall upon France.”

The executioners seized him, the knife struck him, his head fell at fifteen minutes after ten. The executioners seized it by the hair, and showed it to the multitude, whose cries of “Long live the Republic!” resounded to the very bosom of the Convention, whose place of meeting was only a few steps from the place of execution.

Thus died, at the age of thirty-eight years, four months, and twenty-eight days, Louis, sixteenth of his name, whose ancestors had reigned in France for more than eight hundred years. Immediately after the execution, the body of Louis was transported to the cemetery of the ancient Church of the Madeleine. It was placed in a pit six feet square, close to the wall of the Rue d’Anjou, and dissolved instantly by a great quantity of quicklime with which they took the precaution to cover it.

[Source: E. L. Higgins, ed., The French Revolution as Told by Contemporaries (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1966), pp. 272-273.]

Proclamation of the Convention to the French People (January 23, 1793)

Citizens, the tyrant is no more. For a long time the cries of the victims, whom war and domestic dissensions have spread over France and Europe, loudly protested his existence. He has paid his penalty, and only acclamations for the Republic and for liberty have been heard from the people.

We have had to combat inveterate prejudices, and the superstition of centuries concerning monarchy. Involuntary uncertainties and inevitable disturbances always accompany great changes and revolutions as profound as ours. This political crisis has suddenly surrounded us with contradictions and tumults.

But the cause has ceased, and the motives have disappeared; respect for liberty of opinion must cause these tumultuous scenes to be forgotten; only the good which they have produced through the death of the tyrant and of tyranny now remains, and this judgment belongs in its entirety to each of us, just as it belongs to the entire nation. The National Convention and the French people are now to have only one mind, only one sentiment, that of liberty and civic fraternity.

Now, above all, we need peace in the interior of the Republic, and the most active surveillance of the domestic enemies of liberty. Never did circumstances more urgently require of all citizens the sacrifice of their passions and their personal opinions concerning the act of national justice which has just been effected. Today the French people can have no other passion than that for liberty.

[Source: E. L. Higgins, ed., The French Revolution as Told by Contemporaries (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1966), pp. 392.]

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Religion: The Cult of the Supreme Being

Adapting the established strategy of staging public pageantry to win support for a political cause, Robespierre organized a "Festival of the Supreme Being" in the summer of 1794. Having recently eliminated his advers aries Hébert and Danton, Robespierre delivered the keynote speech. In it he explained his idea for a civic religion worshipping a deist "supreme being" while resisting the more extreme tendency of some to eliminate spirituality outright through an atheistic "cult of reason."

The Festival of the Supreme Being (8 June 1794)

At exactly five in the morning, a general recall shall be sounded in Paris.

This call shall invite every citizen, men and women alike, to immediately adorn their houses with the beloved colors of liberty, either by rehanging their flags, or by embellishing their houses with garlands of flowers and greenery.

They shall then go to the assembly areas of their respective sections to await the departure signal.

No men shall be armed, except for fourteen - to eighteen-year-old boys, who shall be armed with sabers and guns or pikes.

In each section, these boys shall form a square battalion marching twelve across, in the middle of which the banners and flags of the armed force of each section shall be placed, carried by those who are ordinarily entrusted with them.

Every male citizen and young boy shall hold an oak branch in his hand.

All female citizens, mothers and daughters, shall be dressed in the colors of liberty. Mothers shall hold bouquets of roses in their hands, and the young girls shall carry baskets filled with flowers.

Each section shall choose ten older men, ten mothers, ten g irls from fifteen to twenty years of age, ten adolescents from fifteen to eighteen years of age, and ten male children below the age of eight to stand on the raised mountain in the Champ de la Reunion.

The ten mothers chosen by each section shall be in whi te and wear a tricolored sash from right to left.

The ten girls shall also be in white and shall wear the sash like the mothers. The girls shall have flowers braided into their hair.

The ten adolescents shall be armed with swords. . . .

Every citizen shall make sure they have their oak branches, bouquets, garlands, and baskets of flowers, and to adorn themselves with the colors of liberty.

At exactly eight in the morning an artillery salvo, fired from the Pont Neuf, shall signal the time to proceed to the National Garden.

Male and female citizens shall leave from their respective sections in two columns, each six abreast. The men and boys shall be on the right, while the women, girls, and children below the age of eight will be to the left.

The square battalion of young boys shall be placed in the center between the two columns. The sections shall be called upon to arrange themselves in such a way that the column of women is not longer than the column of men, in order to avoid disturbing the order which is ne cessary in a national festival. . . .

Upon arrival at the National Garden, the columns of men shall line up in the part of the garden on the side of the terrace called "the Feuillants," while the columns of women and children shall line up on the side of the river terrace, and the square battalions of boys in the wide path in the center. . . .

When all the sections have arrived at the National Garden, a delegation shall go to the Convention to announce that everything is ready to celebrate the Festival of t he Supreme Being.

The National Convention shall arrive by way of the balcony of the Pavilion of Unity to the adjoining amphitheater.

They shall be preceded by a large body of musicians, who shall be located on each side of the steps to the entrance.

The president, speaking from the rostrum, shall explain to the people the reasons behind this solemn festival, and invite them to honor Nature's Creator. . . .

Robespierre spoke as follows:

The eternally happy day which the French people consecrates to the Supre me Being has finally arrived. Never has the world he created offered him a sight so worthy of his eyes. He has seen tyranny, crime, and deception reign on earth. At this moment, he sees an entire nation, at war with all the oppressors of the human race, suspend its heroic efforts in order to raise its thoughts and vows to the Great Being who gave it the mission to undertake these efforts and the strength to execute them.

Did not his immortal hand, by engraving in the hearts of men the code of justice and eq uality, write there the death sentence of tyrants? Did not his voice, at the very beginning of time, decree the republic, making liberty, good faith, and justice the order of the day for all centuries and for all peoples?

He did not create kings to devour the human species. Neither did he create priests to harness us like brute beasts to the carriages of kings, and to give the world the example of baseness, pride, perfidy, avarice, debauchery, and falsehood to the world. But he created the universe to celeb rate his power; he created men to help and to love one another, and to attain happiness through the path of virtue.

The Author of Nature linked all mortals together in an immense chain of love and happiness. Perish the tyrants who have dared to break it!

Frenchmen, Republicans, it is up to you to cleanse the earth they have sullied and to restore the justice they have banished from it. Liberty and virtue issued together from the breast of the Supreme Being. One cannot reside among men without the other.

Generous people, do you want to triumph over all your enemies? Practice justice and render to the Supreme Being the only form of worship worthy of him. People, let us surrender ourselves today, under his auspices, to the just ecstasy of pure joy. Tomorrow we shall again combat vices and tyrants; we shall give the world an example of republican virtues: and that shall honor the Supreme Being more.

After this speech, a symphony shall be played. At the same time, the president, armed with the Flame of Truth, shall descend from the amphitheater and approach a monument raised on a circular basin, representing the monster, Atheism.

From the middle of this monument, which the president shall set on fire, the figure of Wisdom shall appear. After this ceremony, the president shall return to the rostrum and speak again to the people, who shall answer him with songs and cries of joy.

Robespierre spoke again, as follows:

He has returned to nothingness, this monster which the spirit of kings has spewed forth over France. Le t all the crimes and ills of the world disappear with him. Armed in turn with the daggers of fanaticism and the poisons of atheism, kings still conspire to assassinate humanity. If they can no longer disfigure the Divinity with superstition in order to implicate him in their transgressions, they endeavor to banish him from the earth to reign alone with crime. People, fear no more their sacrilegious conspiracies. They can no more tear the world from the breast of its author than the remorse from their own he arts. You who are wretched, hold up your woeful heads: you can again raise your eyes to the sky with impunity. Heroes of the country, your generous devotion is not a brilliant folly; the minions of tyranny may be able to assassinate you, but it is not in t heir power to annihilate you completely. Man, whoever you are, you can again think well of yourself. You can attach your transitory life to God himself and to immortality. Let nature thus regain all its magnificence, and wisdom all its empire. The Supreme Being is not destroyed.

It is wisdom, above all, that our guilty enemies want to drive from the Republic. To wisdom alone does it belong to consolidate the prosperity of empires; it is for her to guarantee the fruits of our courage. Let us therefore associate her with all our enterprises. Let us be serious and discreet in all our deliberations, as men who determine the interests of the whole world. Let us be ardent and obstinate in our anger against sworn tyrants, imperturbable in the heat of danger, patient in our work, terrible during setbacks, modest and vigilant in success. Let us be generous toward those who are good, compassionate toward the unfortunate, inexorable toward the wicked, just toward everyone. Let us not count on unalloyed prosperity, on tr iumph without obstacles, or on anything that depends upon the fortune or perversity of another. Let us depend only on our constancy and our virtue. Alone, but infallible guarantors of our independence, let us crush the ungodly union of kings still more by our force of character than by the force of our arms.

Source: La Convention nationale, réimpression faite textuellement sur le moniteur original , vol. 21 (Paris, 1842), 683–84 (from the Gazette nationale, no. 262, 22 Prairial, an II [10 June 1794]).