Part 41 (2/2)
Histories of the United States by BANCROFT, HILDRETH, McMaster, Bryant and Howard, DOYLE, Wilson, Laboulaye, NEUMANN, Fiske, Schouler; Winsor, _Narrative and Critical History of America_ (8 vols.); Hart, _American History told by Contemporaries_ (4 vols.); Macdonald, _Select Charters_ and _Select Doc.u.ments_; Preston, _Doc.u.ments_; Channing, _The United States of America_ (1765-1865); Higginson, _Larger History of the United States_; Goldwin Smith, _The United States_; LODGE'S _Short History of the English Colonies in America_; PARKMAN'S Series of Histories of the French in America; Frothingham, _Rise of the Republic_ [to 1790]; Weeden, _Economic and Social History of New England_; Palfrey's _History of New England_; Sabine's _American Loyalists_; Bruce, _Economic History of Virginia_; Trevelyan, _The American Revolution_ (1766-76); LOSSING, _Field Book of the American Revolution_; Fiske's _Old Virginia_ and _Dutch and Quaker Colonies_; brief treatment of epochs by Fisher, Thwaites, Hart, Sloane, Walker.
_Lives_ of Was.h.i.+ngton, by MARSHALL, SPARKS, IRVING, Weems; _Lives_ of John Adams, by C. F. ADAMS, by MORSE; _Life of Franklin_, by himself (Bigelow's ed.), by SPARKS, by Parton; _Lives_ of Jefferson, by RANDALL, Parton, Morse; Tudor's _Life of James Otis_; _Life_ of Samuel Adams, by Wells, by Hosmer; _Life_ of Hamilton, by MORSE; _Life_ of Madison, by RIVES; W. Jay's _Life of John Jay_ (2 vols.); H. Von Hoist, _Const.i.tutional and Political History of the United States_ [from 1759]; Sparks's _American Biography_ (2 series, 25 vols.). WINSOR's _Reader's Handbook of the American Revolution_ (1761-83), a very useful work, gives the literature on the subject (1880); Bancroft, _History of the Formation of the Const.i.tution of the United States_.
PERIOD IV. THE ERA OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. (1789-1815.)
INTRODUCTION.
CHARACTER OF THE REVOLUTION.--The French Revolution was a tremendous upheaval of society, which brought with it the abolition of feudalism and monarchy, and the securing of an equality of political rights. Its immediate result in France was the establishment of a democratic republic, followed by an empire resting on military power. Its conquests, and the predominance of France, provoked an uprising of the other European peoples in behalf of national independence. This overthrew the French empire, and produced a temporary restoration of the old dynasty. But the effect of the Revolution, in which the other civilized nations largely shared, was the subst.i.tution, in the room of the _medieval state_, of the _modern state_ resting on a broader basis of equality as regards the rights and obligations of different cla.s.ses. In the Western nations of the Continent, serfdom, and manifold abuses, civil and ecclesiastical, were abolished.
CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION.--First among the causes of the Revolution in France, was the hostility felt towards the privileged cla.s.ses,--the king, the n.o.bles, and the clergy,--on account of the disabilities and burdens which law and custom imposed on the cla.s.ses beneath them. When _Charles Vll_. organized a standing army, and laid direct taxes to support it, the burghers and peasants rejoiced (p. 328). The monarchy was thus enabled to s.h.i.+eld them, and subdue the great n.o.bles. _Louis XIV_., as long as he was successful, was sustained by the pride and national spirit of the country. Yet his domination over the n.o.bility and the Church left the higher orders in possession not only of the offices and honors which helped to fasten them submissively to the monarch, but also left them in the exercise of the numberless complicated privileges of local rule and taxation,--privileges which were the growth of ages, and which laid on the necks of the people a yoke too heavy to be borne.
1. THE LAND: THE PEASANTS.--Nearly two-thirds of the land in France was in the hands of the n.o.bles and of the clergy. A great part of it was ill cultivated by its indolent owners. The n.o.bles preferred the gayeties of Paris to a residence on their estates. There were many small land-owners, but many had individually too little land to furnish them with subsistence. The treatment of the peasant was often such that when he ”looked upon the towers of his lord's castle, the dearest wish of his heart was to burn it down, with all its registers of debt.” There was not a large middle cla.s.s of land-owners, possessed of farms which, although small, were yet adequate to yield them a living. The clergy, besides having the whole management of education, held an immense amount of land, seigniorial control over thousands of peasants, and a vast income from t.i.thes and other sources. In some provinces, there was a better state of things than in others; but, in general, the rich had the enjoyments, and the poor carried the burdens.
2. MONOPOLIES.--Manufactures and trade, although encouraged under _Colbert_, were fettered by oppressive monopolies and a strict organization of guilds.
3. CORRUPT GOVERNMENT.--The administration of government was both arbitrary and corrupt. Places in parliament and in the army, and most higher offices, were sold, but sold, as a rule, only to n.o.bles. When parliament refused to register decrees of taxation, the king held ”beds of justice,”--a method of pa.s.sing laws against parliamentary protest (p. 299). Warrants of arrest and imprisonment--_lettres de cachet_--were issued by his sole authority.
4. LOSS OF RESPECT FOR ROYALTY.--Respect for the throne was lost. Under _Louis XIV_., the number of salable offices was incredibly multiplied. In his last days, ”in many towns the trade in timber, wine, and spirits was taken out of private hands; nay, even the poor earnings of those who towed boats on the rivers, of porters and funeral mutes, were made a monopoly, and secured to certain families exclusively, in consideration of a large premium.” ”Famine prevailed in every province. The bark of trees was the daily food of hundreds of thousands.” The debauchery of _Louis XV_., and his feeble foreign policy, tended to dissipate what reverence for royalty was left.
5. ABORTIVE ESSAYS AT REFORM.--The efforts at political and social reform in France and in other countries, emanating from sovereigns after the great wars, produced a restless feeling without effecting their purpose of social reorganization.
6. POLITICAL SPECULATION.--The current of thought was in a revolutionary direction. Traditional beliefs in religion were boldly questioned. Political speculation was rife. _Montesquieu_ had drawn attention to the liberty secured by the English const.i.tution.
_Voltaire_ had dwelt on human rights,--the rights of the individual. _Rousseau_ had expatiated on the sovereign right of the majority.
7. EXAMPLE OF AMERICA.--Add to these agencies, the influence of the American Revolution, and of the American Declaration of Independence, with its proclamation of human rights, and of the foundation of government in contract and the consent of the people.
8. THE IMMEDIATE CAUSE.--The immediate cause of the Revolution was the immense public debt, and the virtual bankruptcy of the government.
CHAPTER I. FROM THE a.s.sEMBLING OF THE STATES GENERAL TO THE EXECUTION OF LOUIS XVI. (1789-1793).
LOUIS XVI. (1774-92): THE QUEEN.--_Louis XVI_. differed from his two predecessors in being morally pure, and benevolent in his feelings; but he was of a dull mind, void of energy, and with an obstinacy of character that did not supply the place of an enlightened firmness. He had married (1770) _Marie Antoinette_, the daughter of the Empress _Maria Theresa_. The vivacious young queen, as well as the youthful king, at first charmed the people. But her disregard of court etiquette, and her gay, impulsive ways, provoked the dislike of many high in station, and exposed her to the natural but unmerited suspicion, on the part of the people, that she had faults worse than mere indiscretion. A great scandal connected with a _diamond necklace_, which an unprincipled woman, the _Countess Lamotte_, falsely a.s.serted that the queen desired the _Cardinal de Rohan_ to purchase for her, did much to make her the victim of gross defamation (1785). Her forbearance towards unworthy favorites, and her intermeddling in the affairs of government, in opposition to political reforms, gradually kindled against her wide-spread disrespect and aversion.
TO THE STATES GENERAL.--Helpless under the pressure of the heavy debt and the deficit in revenue, the king called to his side _Turgot_ (1774) as controller-general of finance, a political economist and statesman of remarkable integrity and insight. He set to work to reduce the enormous and extravagant public expenditures, and to introduce reforms for the purpose of increasing the public income. He proposed to do away with internal duties on articles of commerce; to break up many guilds; to abolish the _corvee_, or the hard and hateful requirement upon the peasant to labor so many days on the land of the lord; and to introduce a greater amount of local self-government. These, and other wholesome reforms in the civil service and in the army, excited the violent opposition of the n.o.bles and the clergy, and of the whole body of interested courtiers. The king weakly yielded; the great minister was dismissed; and France lost its golden opportunity to prevent infinitely greater calamities than any which the selfish opponents of change dreaded for themselves. _Necker_, a Genevan banker of far less financial ability, was now placed at the helm (1776-1781). His remedies were not radical; yet his movements in the direction of economy, and for giving publicity to the financial situation of the government, provoked such hatred in the cla.s.ses affected that he had to withdraw. _Calonne_, a prodigal and incapable successor, in connection with the increased expenses of the government consequent on the American War, brought things to such a pa.s.s that the king called together (1787) an _a.s.sembly of Notables_, not so much to get their advice as to obtain their support for a plan of reform not unlike that of _Turgot_. This necessary reform they selfishly refused to sanction. _Calonne_ fled to London. _Necker_, to the joy of the people, who built on him vain hopes, was recalled (1788); and it was resolved to summon the States General, who had not met since 1614. To this measure the incompetence and selfishness of the ruling cla.s.ses had inevitably led.
THE TRIUMPH OF THE THIRD ESTATE.--The States General met at Versailles, May 5, 1789. The clergy numbered three hundred, the n.o.bles three hundred, and the third estate (_tiers etat_)--whose plain black dress was in contrast with the more showy costume of the higher orders--numbered six hundred. A pamphlet of Abbe _Sieyes_, in answer to the question, ”What is the Third Estate?” declared that is the nation in its true sovereignty and supreme authority. A contest arose at once on the question, whether there should be three houses, or whether all the members should sit together. The Third Estate insisted on the latter plan. The Parisian astronomer, _Bailly_, was their president. Among the members were _Sieyes_, and _Mirabeau_, a man of great intellect and of commanding eloquence. They declared themselves to be the _National a.s.sembly_; and they persisted, against the king's will, in sitting apart until, at his request, the other orders gave away and joined them. It was resolved not to adjourn until the nation should be put in possession of a const.i.tution; meantime, however, that, so long as the body should not be dissolved, money should be raised by increase of taxation, and the interest be paid on the public debt. The attempts of _Louis_ to dissolve the a.s.sembly were firmly resisted by the third estate, which was joined by _Talleyrand_, Bishop of Autun, _Gregoire_, afterwards Bishop of Blois, and, of the n.o.bility, by the rich, ambitious, and unprincipled _Duke of Orleans_. The king again yielded, and advised the n.o.bles and clergy to remain.
DESTRUCTION OF THE BASTILLE: EMIGRATION OF n.o.bLES.--The aristocratic party, on account of this victory of the third estate, and because they could not trust the guard of the king, procured the subst.i.tution for it of German and Swiss troops. The excitement caused by this proceeding, and the news of _Necker's_ dismissal, led to a mob of the rough Parisian populace, who seized weapons from the workshops, and forced the surrender of the _Bastille_, the grim old prison where political offenders had been immured,--the visible monument of ages of royal tyranny,--which they razed to the ground. The heads of _Delaunay_ the governor, and several of the garrison, were carried on pikes through the streets by the frenzied crowd. The mob wore _c.o.c.kades_ on their hats; these became the badges of the Revolution. This first outbreaking of mob violence had at once important effects. _Necker_ was recalled. _Lafayette_ was made commander of the militia of Paris, organized as a _National Guard_. The _tricolor_--red, white, and blue--was adopted for the flag. _Bailly_ became mayor of Paris. The king came to Paris, and showed himself, with the national colors on his breast, to the people, at the _Hotel de Ville_, thereby giving a tacit sanction to what had been done. Then began the _emigration_ of the n.o.bles to foreign countries: the king's brother, the _Prince of Conde_, and others high in rank, left the country. The vices which the n.o.bles had learned to practice at home were now to be exhibited abroad. The pa.s.sions of the revolutionary party were to be inflamed by the suspicion of a complicity of the king and court with the plots of their absent supporters, who strove to enlist other nations in the work of trampling down liberty in France. The emigrants had some reason to fear. Munic.i.p.al guards were formed in various towns by the party of progress. Soon there were risings of peasantry in several districts. Individuals in _Paris_--among them one of the ministers who succeeded _Necker_-were ma.s.sacred. Nevertheless, the emigration was a grand error. The danger at the moment was not great; and, whatever the peril, the evils of desertion were far more to be deprecated.
THE NEW CONSt.i.tUTION: a.s.sIGNATS.--The National a.s.sembly, at the instigation of _Lafayette_, pa.s.sed a Declaration of Rights, after the pattern of the American Declaration of Independence. On motion of his brother-in-law, the _Vicomte de Noailles_, the representatives of the n.o.bles, in an outburst of enthusiastic self-renunciation, gave up their feudal rights and privileges. They liberated the peasants from their burdensome obligations: the clergy relinquished their t.i.thes; the sale of offices and t.i.tles was abolished; equality of taxes was ordained; all citizens were made eligible to all stations, civil and military. The new const.i.tution provided for one legislative chamber, to which should belong the right to initiate all enactments. The king's veto only suspended the adoption of a measure for two legislative terms. The a.s.sent of the chamber was necessary for the validity of all foreign treaties, and for declaring war or concluding peace. The State a.s.sumed the support of the clergy. It was a _const.i.tutional monarchy_ that was framed,--such a system as _La Fayette_ and moderate republicans desired. The essence of republicanism was secured under old forms. _a.s.signats_, or notes, were issued as a currency, for which the public lands were to be the security,--a safeguard that was ineffective.
THE MOB AT VERSAILLES.--The delay of the king to proclaim the const.i.tution, the call of a regiment of troops to _Versailles_, imprudent speeches and songs at a court banquet, stirred up the Parisian mob, who ascribed the scarcity of food to the absence of the king from Paris. A countless throng, made up largely of coa.r.s.e women, went out to _Versailles_, intruded into the legislative chamber, and at night (Oct. 5) made their way into the palace, over the bodies of the guards. The royal family were rescued by La Fayette and the National Guard. The next day they were forced to go to Paris, attended by this wild and hungry retinue, and took up their abode in the _Tuileries_. To Paris, also, the National a.s.sembly transferred itself. More and more, _Paris_ gained control.
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