History of the French Revolution, etc

Front matter

HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, AND OF THE WARS RESULTING FROaM THAT MEMORABLE EVENT. COMPREHENDING THE POLITICAL ANO MILITARY ANNALS OF EUROPE, FROM THE Meeting os the States General at Versailles in 1789, TO THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO, AND THE SECOND SURRENDER OF PARIS. COLLECTED FROM THE BEST AUTHORITIES, BY JOHN JAMES M'GREGOR. AND EMBELLISHED WITH PORTRAITS, MAPS, AND PLANS Great revolutions of government, and new establishments of civil constitu tions, are commonly conducted with such violence, tumult, and disorder, that the public voice can scarcely ever be heard ; and the opinions of the citizens are at that time less attended to, than even in the common course •f administration. Hume. VOL. I. a&atetforD : PRINTED BY JOHN BULL. 1816.

Preface

. 1_\: O political event of equal importance with the French Revolution, has occurred since the subversion of the Roman Empire by the barbarous nations of the North. A consideration of the causes from which it originated, the horrors by which it was accompanied, and the extensive influence it has had on the destinies of other States will, we conceive, fully justify this assertion. Whether its results shall prove beneficial or injurious to the interests of mankind is a question that posterity alone can resolve, and upon which it would, consequently, be idle to speculate, at a period when the rapid and various current of events illudes the foresight of the most profound Statesmen. The great Historian of England has remarked — * That the convulsions of a civilized State usually compose the most instructive part of its a

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. history." To prove the correctness of this maxim requires little argument : we study the progress of the arts and of civilization as we contemplate the softer features of nature, which delight, indeed, for the moment, but do not strike the imagination with sufficient force to make lasting impressions. On the other hand, the great political revolutions winch from time to time subvert existing establish ments, and alter the course of human affairs, serve as boundaries to mark the different eras of the world; and as the passions of men at such periods are raised to the highest ferment, and the powers of the human mind called forth into full enersrv, many who in more tranquil times would have pursued " the noiseless tenor of their way" without observation, appear on the public theatre as the oppressors or deliverers of the human race, exhi biting to an astonislied world Virtue and Vice in their opposite extremes. v As the French Revolution has exceeded in magnitude and importance all those that had for many ages preceded it, so in its progress and immediate consequences it has differed from them in several particulars. In other states considerable changes have been effected, one dynasty has succeeded another, and various forms of govern-

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. III ment have been alternately acknowledged, whilst the surrouuding nations scarcely felt the shock, viewing with indifference events in which they took little interest : but no sooner were the en lightened few in France, who wished by mode rate and legitimate means to procure for their country the blessings of rational liberty, driven from the public stage by the factious and unprin cipled, than men of penetration began to apprehend results fatal to the repose of the civilized world. These fears were justly grounded on the geographical situation of France, placed in the centre of Europe, and possessing, at the same time, immense internal strength, and a population vain of its commanding influence over, not only the politics, but the manners of other nations. These apprehensions were farther increased, when the ardour in favour of the new system arose to such an astonishing degree of enthusiasm, that re form of ancient abuses was no longer the public wish, but the complete annihilation of all the ex isting establishments of Europe.

Hence the order of society was broken, all gradations of rank were confounded, and a succession of con vulsions took place, which threatened at one time the total subversion of the social system, and the

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. return of ancient barbarism. Christianity in all her varied forms, was also assailed by every argu ment that sophistry could suggest or power en force ; but the monster Infidelity, disrobed in the contest of that thin disguise with which the new philosophy had invested her, has shrunk from public view, while Truth still walks the earth in native dignity ; aud Religion, permanent as the Heaven from which she descended, and secure hi her own celestial panoply, continues to bless her followers with present consolations, and immortal Lopes. Wars of longer duration, more widely extended, and more dreadful in their effects than any before recorded in history, have arisen out of this state of things. Every quarter of the globe has felt their dire effects ; millions of human beings have been the victims, and widows and orphans innumerable the sad remembrancer's of a system, which, under the revered name of Liberty, trampled on the rights of conscience and of property, and reduced the unhappy dupes of its fascinating influence, to a state of bondage far more degrading than that despotism from which it professed to deliver them, The ruin of magnificent cities, the devastation of the most fertile and beautiful countries, the waste

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. V of human life in civil and foreign warfare, with the almost total dereliction of religious and moral feeling that too generally prevailed, would lead us to imagine that the evils of a thousand years had been compressed into the short space of one gene ration. The wonders of this eventful period affect us not less forcibly than its horrors. The fictions of the poet and of the fabulist, have in our day been realized. We have seen monarchies supplanted by democracies of various forms, which have been quickly replaced by kings raised from amongst the lowest of the people, and transformed by their exaltation from the most violent popular demagogues into sovereigns, possessing all the arbitrary principles of the former rulers : and these again have been hurled from their ephemeral thrones to give place to their ancient possessors.

France herself, while thus extending her influence over the neigh bouring states, became the sport of every faction that gained a momentary ascendancy, submitting in rapid succession to the government of a Robes pierre, a Directory, aud a Consulate, till at length, wearied with her struggles, she bowed her neck to the Imperial yoke, and, led on by her warlike and ambitious chief, pursued a short but brilliant VI

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. career, till she vainly put forth her last effort to exalt his glory and consolidate his power. Nautical and military science have, during tliis eventful period, been carried to a greater degree of perfection than in any former age ; bat tles have been fought on a scale of such magnitude, and armies have been composed of such immense numbers, as to render the dubious accounts of ancient combats more credible. Countries, for ages unvisited by the scourge of war, have shared in the general calamity ; the plains of Egypt, the rocks of Switzerland, and the wilds of Muscovy having, in their turn, furnished an arena for the combatants. Overleaping those boundaries which nature seemed to have fixed to the fury of man, immense oceans, rapid rivers, towering mountains, with all the inclemencies of the Torrid Zone, or of the Arctic Circle, have been found but feeble barriers to his gigantic efforts.

Some bright rays however pierce through the dreadful gloom, from which the eye would other wise turn disgusted. The hostilities of uncivilized nations, indeed, present us with little else than sanguinary conflicts, conducted without judgment, and generally ending in the extermination of either party. But in the subsequent pages much will be

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. VII found to cheer the patriot heart, and to excite our admiration of those orators, philosophers, states men, and heroes of every nation, who, in despite of the most appalling obstacles, have put forth all their energies to stein the torrent of anarchy, in justice aud slaughter. As Britons, we must par ticularly rejoice at the splendour which encircles the name of our country. The friend of social order, the avenger of the oppressed, the scourge of the ambitious, whether supported or abandoned by her allies, whether in the enjoyment of internal tranquillity, torn by contending factions, or strug gling with pecuniary embarrassments, she has ever presented an undaunted front to the threat ened danger, and maintained the arduous contest, though with alternate success, till at length, by the blessing of Providence on the skill and bravery of her free-born sons, she was enabled to assert her pre-eminence on both elements, and exhibit to an admiring world, a Nelson and a Wellington as its deliverers. In compiling a history of recent or contem porary events, there is seldom cause to complain

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. VIII of a deficiency of materials. Selection, discri mination, and arrangement, are the principal ob* jects to be attended, to. Whether the writer of these volumes has performed this task with fidelity, his countrymen must decide, and upon this alone he rests his pretensions to any share of public favour. With respect to the arrangement, he thinks it necessary to remark, that he has followed the mode of dividing the work into books and chapters, as best calculated to enable the reader to mark the different epochs of the Revolution. Each book will be continued under its proper title, as " The Constituent Assembly — The Le gislative Assembly — The Convention — The Reign of Terror — The Directory — The Consulate — and the Empire." In detailing the events of the war, the progress of the campaign of each year will be given in a separate chapter, for every country that may have been the theatre of hostilities ; thus avoiding that confusion which must be the necessary result of frequently passing from one scene^ of action to another ; and the reader may peruse the history in chronological order, or view the progress of the war in any particular state from its commencement to its termination.

Great pains PREFACE, IX have been taken to render the biographical part of the work satisfactory ; and it is hoped, that the interest which the public must naturally feel in the origin or fate of the mauy remarkable characters introduced into it, will be fully gratified from the most authentic sources. The memorable achievements of our brave army and navy, by which Britain has arrived at her present exalted pre-eminence, will be related with a peculiar minuteness of detail ; the bulletins of Bonaparte, and Lord Wellington's official accounts, will be inserted in the Appendix, together with listsv of all the British officers killed or wounded during the war, and the routine of service which has fallen to the share of every British regiment. Thus will be preserved some memorial of those who fought and bled hi defence of their country's dear est interests, but to whom their military rank de nied a more durable monument.

Were the names of ancient heroes inscribed on tablets of brass or pillars of marble — and shall those of the men of Salamanca, of Vittoria, and of Waterloo, be forgot ten ? — Their remembrance will be ever cherished by their grateful country, while the faithful page of c X

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. history shall transmit to future ages the record of their deathless fame. How sleep the brave who sink to rest, By all their country's wishes blest ! When Spring, with dewy fingers cold. Returns to deck their hallow'd mould — She there shall dress a sweeter sod. Than fancy's feet have ever trod. By fairy hands their knell is rung* By forms unseen their dirge is sung. Here honour comes, a pilgrim grey. To bless the turf that wraps their clay ; And freedom shall awhile repair, To dwell a weeping hermit there. Collins. Inscribed en the Monument of Sir Peter Halket* HISTORY OF Till FRENCH RErOLUTIOfs, &c. &c. &c. PRELIMINARY CHAPTER. TRANCE was converted in the fifth century from a Roman province, into one of those feudal aristocracies, which, about that period, were es tablished all over Europe by the northern nations.

This system contained some excellencies, but these were more than counterbalanced by it» glaring defects. The trial by jury, and the representation of all who were not in a state of vas salage, ga\e it a striking pre-eminence over the codes of the eastern nations ; but, on the other hand, the power of the crown was too limited to curb the licentiousness of the feudal lords, who exercised a civil and criminal jurisdiction within their respective territories, aud held the people in a state of the most abject bondage. For some ages, the leading object of the sove reigns of France seemed to be the diminution of the formidable authority of the barons, to effect wtych3 they exerted every means in their power THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. to sow discord between these turbulent chieftains; they conferred immunities and privileges on the towns to serve as a counterpoise to the overgrown power of the nobility, and united many of the fiefs to the crown .either by treaty, marriage, or con quest ; and, so anxious were the French Kings at length to accomplish this purpose, that Louis X . and Philip the Long proclaimed, " That all men " were born by nature free; and, as their kingdom " was called the kingdom of the Franks, they " were determined it should be so in reality as " well as in name ; they declared, therefore, that " enfranchisements should be granted throughout " the whole kingdom upon just aud reasonable " conditions."

Deputies from tiie Commons, yho had, about the fourteenth century, begun to acquire a considerable degree of respectability, were introduced into the States General by Philip the Fair, for the purpose, it is generally supposed, of strengthening his authority against the Pope.* This assembly was frequently convoked during the succeeding reigns, and possessed the power of granting sul> sidies, levying imposts, and exercising all the functions of legislation, till Charles VII. availed him self of the popularity he had acquired by the ex pulsion of the English, to lessen their authority, and levy taxes without their concurrence. His successor, Louis XI. not only followed his steps in this particular, but, by his tyranny and cruelty, * Bossuet. />uNi*hcdjbr tin- .inf/ior Si- Joseph Le Petit, Dt/l-lir/.

S*p* r8>6completely broke down the spirit of the aristocracy. From this period the States were still convoked at intervals, but, apparently, for no other purpose than to increase the subsidies ; the public spirit, however, which they sometimes displayed, induced Cardinal Richelieu, in 1(314, to bereave his country of this last semblance of liberty; the feudal aristocracy was at the same time entirely destroyed, and all the separate sovereignties consolidated into one mass. Henceforth the will of the monarch became the supreme law, and the lives and liberties of an immense population depended on the character of the prince. The reign of Louis XlV. was ex tremely arbitrary, but his splendid actions and magnificent profusion darzzled his subjects, and the national vanity of the French character so predo minated, that, unmindful cf their sufferings, they became delighted with the ideal superiority which his conquests gave them over the other states cf Europe.

Hence originated that reverence, approaching to adoration, which the French manifested towards this monarch and his family, aud which continued uninterrupted during the succeed ing reign. Under the government of these sovereigns, every privilege of the subject was rendered nugatory ; the men of wealth and distinction were purchased by the court, at the expense of the poor and the industrious, the nobility, the clergy, and the magistrates, being exempted from ail share in the taxes', these were rendered still more oppress sive by the farming of the revenue to the great capitalists, who again leased it out to others ; and thus much greater sums were wrung from the unfortunate commons, than found their way to the public treasury, The people for a long period had, through igno rance, infatuation, or fear, been compelled to sub mit to this arbitrary system, but towards the mid dle of the reign of Louis XV. the props of tyranny began to be impaired.

Men of letters, under the denomination of philosophers, had, during the preceding reign, commenced the dissemination of a system of free-thinking in religion, and the pro gress of infidelity found at that time a powerful auxiliary in the abandoned debauchery of the Court. It gathered additional strength under the profligate regency of the Duke of Orleans, and, from that period, continued to make such rapid strides, that towards the close of the reign of Louis XV. the majority of the laity in France were Deists. These philosophists began their operations by attacking the Romish ceremonies, and the cha* racter of the clergy : hence they proceeded to. ridicule the miracles and mysteries of Christianity; and, gaining confidence by the increase of their vo taries, some of them ended with affecting even to doubt the existence of a God.

From religion, they, by a natural transition, turned their attention to politics ; but their attacks on government, were, for obvious reasons, managed with mor$ caution* chiefly consisting in general declamations in favour of liberty, and in contrast ing the system under which they lived with those of other nations possessing greater freedom. Thus while Voltaire, with that species of wit so admirably fitted to mislead the judgment of a volatile people, was labouring to undermine the existing establishments, Helvetius, Rousseau and others, were equally assiduous in proposing delu sive and impracticable theories of government, that could only be conducted by men void of im perfection, characters no where to be found. By these means, a complete revolution of sentiment was effected with respect to religion and politics, and, in the language of an elegant writer,* " all the ancient institutions became weakened by de grees, till, like bodies struck with lightning, they only retained forms more or less brilliant, which the slightest shock must reduce to powder and annihilation."

It is not a little remarkable that these visionaries should have enjoyed the patronage of some of the most despotic sovereigns of Europe. Frederick of Prussia and Catharine II. were their professed admirers ; and some of the French Ministers were so pleased with the theories of the Voltaire school, that they became deists, and inspired Louis XV. with a desire of reforming the Church, which seems to have originated at once from a contempt * M. de Segur. of the establishment, and the love of plunder. The religious orders ware suppressed, and the clerical character greaily degraded ; but the various abuses in Church and State, that afforded a just pretext for censure or ridicule, were suffered to remain, the gradual correction of which might have prevented the catastrophe that took place in the reign of his unfortunate successor. 'It would be difficult, if not impracticable, to enumerate the various evils flowing from arbitrary power.

It is, however, necessary to notice some of the abuses that existed under the old government of France, to enable the reader to form a just estimate of that system. Impolitic wars pro duced financial derangements, and the dreadful contentions between the Crown and the provincial Parliaments which marked the last year of Louis XV. greatly increased them, whilst they paved the way for still more violent efforts against the authority of the Monarch, by giving a practical operation to the theoretical notions of liberty which possessed the minds of the people. These disputes were terminated by the banishment of the Parliaments, a measure that gave manifest discontent to the nation : violent outcries were at the same time raised against the unequal assessment of the taxes, the prodigality of the Court, the Venality of offices, and the partial administration of the laws.

With equal justice they complained of the arbitrary use of lettres de cachet, instruments Of tyranny, which were often employed for the purpoises of private revenge, and were calculated, through the nefarious abuse of the king's authority by ministers, to deprive individuals of their liberty without any colour of law or justice. The horrors of the Bastile, and the subordinate prisons, also excited just feelings of detestation. Other fruitful sources of complaint were found in the avarice or prodigality of some amongst the high er orders of the clergy, and in the haughty demea nour and tyranny of many of the nobles. Though the feudal system was abolished, yet humiliating traces of it st ill remained. Manorial claims were at once odious and degrading. The possessor of a fief in some of the provinces, could, under pretence of digging a pond, deprive those that held under one of the noblesse, of a garden or an orchard, and the unfortunate peasant beheld the fruits of his ground devoured by the rabbits, pheasants, or pigeons of his lord.

The nobles alone were entitled to fill the higher offices in the state, aud attain rank in the profession of arms ; so that, to command a regiment or a man of war, it was necessary to belong to that class. It is just, however, to remark, that whilst arrogance and tyranny were but too prevalent amongst the privileged orders, they were by no means universal. Many both of the clergy and nobility reflected lustre on the stations which they filled, cherished the finest principles of humanity, and some, by devoting themselves to literature and the sciences, VOL. I. d became ornaments of their country, and of the age in which they lived. , Such was the state of France when Louis XVI. ascended the throne in 1774. — On receiving the intelligence of the death of his grandfather, which called him to this dignity, he exclaimed with a prophetic foresight which was afterwards too fatally verified, "Oh God! what a misfortune for me 1" Kind and benevolent by nature, this prince began his reign by recalling the parliaments ba nished by his predecessor, and appointing, with the wishes of the nation, the Count de Maurepas to the post of Prime Minister.

His popularity was farther increased by his placing M. Turgot at the head of the finances, and the King soon evinc ed by the whole of h's conduct an anxious wish to ameliorate the condition of his subjects. The early part of his reign was marked by the establishment of the Mont de Piete and the Dis count Chest, and the abolition of the torture and the Corvee, or compulsory reparation of the highways, a service for which the labourers received no pay. These benefits were followed by the removal of the barriers between the different provinces, the abolition of all internal taxes on the transit of commodities from one province to another, and a decree for permitting the free commerce of grain throughout the kingdom. Many of the disabilities under which the Protestants had laboured for so long a time were removed, and the expenses of the royal household were considerably diminished by the dismissal of several hundred persons, mostly of the class of Nobles, who chiefly depended on the royal bounty for the support of their dignities ; a measure which proved afterwards extremely injurious to the interests of the Crown, thus deprived of some of its most ardent defenders.

The most striking proof, however, of the King's anxiety for the happiness of his people, was the institution of Provincial Assemblies, composed of Members freely elected from amongst the No bles, the Clergy, and the Commons, whose duty it was to communicate to the Crown the senti ments and grievances of the people, in their respective provinces, to point out such taxes as were vexatious, and to remedy all abuses in the collec tion of them. These assemblies proved extremely useful ; various evils were traced by them to their source, and judicious remedies recommended, which were immediately adopted. These wise regulations would most probably have been followed by others still more beneficial, had not the flexibility of (he King's temper caused him, in an evil hour, to yield a reluctant consent to the measure of supporting the American colonies in their contest with the parent country.

He had long opposed this ruinous project, but the war faction in the Cabinet, supported by the Queen and the principal Nobles, at length prevailed; and this event, though injurious to Great Britain, proved in the end still more prejudicial to Fiance, and became the chief accelerating cause of the subsequent calamities, by the increased derange ment of the finances, and the moral effects pro duced by it on the minds of the French military. The officers and soldiers who had served in America, deeply imbibed the spirit of republican ism which universally prevailed in that country. There they beheld men, without distinction of birth or rauk, raised to the highest stations in the army, which amongst themselves were reserved for the nobles alone ; while the laws were administered, and justice dispensed, by representatives chosen by the people.

By thus contrasting the American constitution with their own, in which all power emanated from the Crown, they materially assisted in diffusing amongst the people, that spirit of liberty, for which the writings of the philoso phists had already prepared them. The ardent at tachment which the French soldiery had always manifested towards the sovereign, became at the same time greatly abated, and their complete defection from him speedily followed. The ill effects of the war upon the credit of the nation, became soon apparent by a temporary stop page of payment at the Caisse d'Escompte, a bank established in 1776, and by the depressed state of commerce and the arts. Turgot had, previous to the American contest, been removed from the ma nagement of the financial department, by the in trigues of the faction which had urged that ruinous measure.

His successor, M. de Clugny, is repre sented to have been an unprincipled spoliator of the revenue ; M. Taboureau de Reaux, who quick ly replaced him, soon acknowledged his own in capacity, and upon his resignation, M. Neckar, who had acted for some time in a subordinate sta tion, became sole manager of the finances. Neckar had commenced life as clerk to M. Telusson, a banker at Paris ; he afterwards be came his partner, and, in the course of a few years, realized a fortune estimated at six millions of livres. Some writings of his on public credit and commerce, and certain statements which he presented to the Count de Maurepas, on the re sources of the state, acquired for him considera ble popularity, and the King, pleased with his ideas of financial reform, soon elevated him to the post of Director of the Finances.

He was averse to any interference in the American con test ; but, being a Protestant, he had no voice in the cabinet. Neckar laboured with sedulous in dustry to bring the expenditure within the com pass of the receipts, and systematically promoted the most rigid economy, so that in the account presented to the King, after three years war, he stated, that the revenue exceeded by 425,000/. the ordinary expences of the state. He became by this means extremely popular, and had his reductions been real, he would have been en titled to the eternal gratitude of his country ; but he was accused, with some justice, of too great an attachment to the practice of funding, and ntany political writers consider him as a mere financial empiric. Whatever may have been his real character, his economical system was ill suited to gratify the avidity of some of the King's relatives and the courtiers, who encouraged Bour boulou to attack his calculations and statements ; and Neckar, demanding in vain the punishment of this assailant, resigned his employment about the close of 1782.

Fleury and Ormesson, the successors of Nec kar, held the office only for a short time ; and M. de Calonne, a man supposed to be well ac quainted with the constitution, laws, and interests of France, wras, through the influence of the Queen, nominated Comptroller-General of the Finances. He had already filled some important offices with ability, but the levity of his character promised little substantial benefit from his administration. The taxes, at this period, numerous and oppressive as they were, proved totally in adequate to the expenses of the state, and to the discharge of the interest arising; on the various funds ; and there seemed no effectual means of supplying the exigencies of the government, but by withholding the annuities due to the public creditors — a measure which must have involved numbers in distress, and called forth the loudest clamours.

Calonne, unintimidated at the perils which presented themselves on every side, de clared his readiness to meet the danger ; and his first project for liquidating the public debt was the creation of a sinking fund : but by having recourse to a considerable loan, even in time of peace, he only augmeuted the national incumbrances. Much disapprobation was expressed at the various measures of this Minister, particularly the re-establish nient of the East India Compauy, and the Com mercial Treaty with Great Britain, which was con sidered by the people as highly injurious to the rising manufactures of Fiance ; and fresh fuel was thus added to the volcano, which had for some time threatened an explosion. The Queen, a princess of the house of Austria, was at this period extremely unpopular from her supposed attachment to the interests of her family, and her love for expensive pleasures.

A circumstance which occurred about this time, subjected her character to additional animadversion and obloquy. On the 15th of August, 1785, her Ma jesty's birth-day, a jeweller, named Bohmer, of fered a diamond necklace to the Queen for 1,600,000 livres, but she declined the purchase. Madame de la Mothe Valois, an indigent and art ful woman, pretending to be in the confidence of her Majesty, presented a letter to the jeweller in her name, desiring Bohmer to give up the necklace, which, she said, would be paid for by instal ments. The latter, demanding security for the payment, was referred by Madame de la Mothe to the Cardinal de Rohan, who, hoping to recover the favour of Marie Antoinette, which he had lost by speaking too freely of the Court of Vienna, engaged to indemnify the tradesman.