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P.-L. Roederer: Political Thought and Practice During the French Revolution

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P.-L. Roederer: Political Thought and Practice During the French Revolution TRANSACTIONS of the American Philosophical Society Held at Philadelphia for Promoting Useful Knowledge VOLUME 73, Part 1, 1983 P.-L. Roederer: Political Thought and Practice During the French Revolution KENNETH MARGERISON Associate Professor of History, Southwest Texas State University THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY Independence Square, Philadelphia 1983 This content downloaded from 201.153.95.41 on Sat, 22 Sep 2018 05:25:54 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY HELD AT PHILADELPHIA FOR PROMOTING USEFUL KNOWLEDGE VOLUME 73, PART 1, 1983 P.-L. Roederer: Political Thought and Practice During the French Revolution KENNETH MARGERISON Associate Professor of History, Southwest Texas State University THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY INDEPENDENCE SQUARE: PHILADELPHIA 1983 This content downloaded from 201.153.95.41 on Sat, 22 Sep 2018 05:26:00 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms Copyright (? 1983 by The American Philosophical Society Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 81-71030 International Standard Book Number 0-87169-731-9 US ISSN 0065-9746 This content downloaded from 201.153.95.41 on Sat, 22 Sep 2018 05:26:00 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms To Patty This content downloaded from 201.153.95.41 on Sat, 22 Sep 2018 05:26:00 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms CONTENTS Page Acknowledgments ....................................... vii Introduction ......................... 1 I. Family and Parlement in Metz ...... .................. 3 II. Industrial Capitalism and Revolution ..... .............. 16 III. Revolutionary Finance: The Tax Committee in the Constituent Assembly ............... .......................... 33 IV. Radical Politics in the Constituent Assembly ..... ........ 60 V. The Administration of the Department of Paris .... ...... 75 VI. Social Science and Political Order ...... ............... 94 VII. Thermidorian Journalist ........ ...................... 114 VIII. The Search for Stability ........ ...................... 133 Conclusion ............................................. 154 Selected Bibliography .............. ..................... 157 Index ............................... .................. 162 This content downloaded from 201.153.95.41 on Sat, 22 Sep 2018 05:26:00 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms I YkOX01 1X L f Gravure of P.-L. Roederer by Bonneville. Reprinted with permission from Collection Viollet, Paris. This content downloaded from 201.153.95.41 on Sat, 22 Sep 2018 05:26:00 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am indebted to Frances Acomb of Duke University not only for sug- gesting that I undertake a study of Roederer's political career during the French Revolution but also for guiding that study through the preliminary stages which led to its completion as a doctoral dissertation. Her firm grasp of the biographer's task and her continual attention to both the form and substance of the project taught me much about historical research and writing. I was fortunate to have had Harold Parker and Charles Young, also of Duke, as critics of my early work. I am deeply grateful to George Taylor of the University of North Carolina who, while I was an under- graduate, first sparked my interest in the field of the French Revolution and introduced me to the serious study of history. The process of expanding and revising my work on Roederer was aided considerably by the staffs of the Archives Nationales, the Bibliotheque Nationale, and the Southwest Texas State University Library. The late Julian Boyd of the Thomas Jefferson Papers graciously allowed me to make use of a microfilm copy of the documents on the tobacco issue found in Roederer's papers in the Archives Nationales. Sandra Caillens and Jill Bourdais de Charbonniere have from time to time procured for me copies of documents from various French repositories. The Organized Research Committee at Southwest Texas provided generous financial support which aided considerably the completion of my work. My colleagues in the De- partment of History at Southwest Texas and especially Everette Swinney, who as chairman maintained faith in the abilities of a young faculty mem- ber at a crucial point in his career, have been supportive of my project throughout the period of its development. Terry Jeffries, a departmental assistant, typed the bulk of the manuscript. The final version of my biography has benefited from the criticism and suggestions of a number of individuals. Jeremy Popkin, whose knowledge of the press during the Directory is unsurpassed, read the entire manuscript and provided me with a number of useful suggestions. I am grateful to Martin Staum both for his continued encouragement and his critique, based on his own deep understanding of the ide'ologues, of the chapter on Roederer's social science. R. R. Palmer, whose contribution to the study of the Revolution is universally recognized, read the final version of the manuscript and provided valuable comment on and support for my work. Of course I assume all responsibility for any errors of fact or interpretation. This content downloaded from 201.153.95.41 on Sat, 22 Sep 2018 05:26:00 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms MARGERISON: P.-L. ROEDERER Finally I owe my greatest debt of gratitude to my wife Patty, who in addition to performing the duties of typist, proofreader, and critic has endured that exacting experience associated with research and publication that only academic spouses can fully appreciate. Without her continued support and encouragement this biography could not have been com- pleted, and for this reason I have dedicated it to her. San Marcos, July 1982 This content downloaded from 201.153.95.41 on Sat, 22 Sep 2018 05:26:00 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms ABBREVIATIONS AN Archives Nationales AP Archives parlementaires de 1787 d 1860. ie serie (1787-1799). Ed. M. J. Mavidal and M. E. Laurent. 86 vols. Paris, 1879. JEP Journal d'conomie publique, de morale et de politique JP Journal de Paris MU Moniteur Universel. Re'impression de l'ancien Moniteur. 32 vols. Paris, 1847-1850. OR Oeuvres du comte P.-L. Roederer. Ed. A.-M. Roederer. 8 vols. Paris, 1853-1859. This content downloaded from 201.153.95.41 on Sat, 22 Sep 2018 05:26:00 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms INTRODUCTION T he recent interest in the career of P.-L. Roederer by such historians as J. F. Bosher, Jacob Price, Sergio Moravia, Jeremy Popkin, Michael James, Thomas Kaiser, and Jean Roels would not have surprised Georges Bourgin,1 who argued forty years ago that there was much to be learned from studying Roederer's life. Traditionally Roederer has been known principally for his role in escorting the king to the Legislative Assembly on 10 August 1792 and for assisting in the coup d'etat of bru- maire. Recent historians, however, have come to discover that Roederer's career was long, varied, and significant. This study of Roederer's political thought and practice during the decade of the French Revolution places some of these recent findings of particular aspects of his career in the broader context of his life and provides new insights into his motivation and ultimate political significance. Roederer's political career is not easily characterized. From his youth he was highly ambitious and willing to use all the tools available to him in the last years of the ancien regime to achieve personal advancement. At the same time he was intrigued with the possibilities that enlightened reform offered to France. This fascination with reform was perhaps natural to a highly intelligent youth maturing in the last decade of the ancien regime, an era dominated by interest in theoretical and practical ideas of reform. As an advocate of reform Roederer was as capable of writing persuasive memoires as he was of pulling all the political strings at his command in order to achieve his goals. This combination of innovative, analytical, and reflective political thought with practical political activity remained an essential feature of Roederer's political career up to 1800. Because he chose to make a career from both the exposition of political theory and the practice of politics, Roederer often laid himself open to charges of opportunism and inconsistency. Since his ambition was not well disguised, his political ideas could always be thought of as simply a means to achieve his own advancement. Similarly, when he revised his ideas during the course of the Revolution, his actions could be interpreted as mere bending with the prevailing political winds for personal advan- tage. There were certainly many among his contemporaries who saw Roe- derer precisely in this light. In Metz his opponents accused him of adopting the mantle of democracy in order to gain political power, and the Jacobins in 1792 thought he had abandoned democracy in order to retain and perhaps even increase his power under the Constitution of 1791. After 1 Georges Bourgin, "Un T6moin de la R6volufion: Roederer," Revue historique, 188 (1940): 259-270. 1 This content downloaded from 201.153.95.41 on Sat, 22 Sep 2018 05:26:00 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 2 MARGERISON: P.-L. ROEDERER Roederer conducted Louis XVI to the Legislative Assembly on 10 August 1792, neither republicans nor royalists trusted him. Thus during the Ther- midorian Reaction and the era of the Directory, Roederer was a frequent target for attack by the right and the left, and he did not hold elective office after 1792. While the historical record verifies Roederer's ambition and his will- ingness to engage in the give and take of practical politics, he could not be classified as an unprincipled political thinker or actor. Roederer's great interest in political theory and analysis demonstrated his firm conviction in an ultimate political truth that must lie behind all political activity.
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