America and France: The Influence of the United States on France in the XVIIIth Century (2024)

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America and France: The Influence of the United States on France in the XVIIIth Century (1882) is a book by Lewis Rosenthal

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AMERICA AND FRANCETHE INFLUENCE OF THE UNITED STATESON FRANCE IN THE XVIIITHCENTURYBYLEWIS ROSENTHALNEW YORKHENRY HOLT AND COMPANY1882Copyright, 1882,BYHENRY HOLT & CO.St. JohnlandStereotype Foundry,Suffolk Co., N. Y.TOANDREW D. WHITE, LL.D.,President of Cornell University,THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATEDBY THE AUTHOR."Homines amplius oculis, quam auribus, credunt; longum iter estper præcepta, breve et efficax per exempla. " -SENECA, as quoted byBOLINGBROKE, on History, Letter II."Kings shook with fear, old empires crave The secret force to findWhich fired the little state to saveThe rights of all mankind. "-RALPH WALDO EMERSON.INTRODUCTIONCONTENTS.CHAPTER I.FRANCE AND AMERICA . ·THE ALLIANCEAFTER THE WAR .CHAPTER II.PAGEI553CHAPTER III.94CHAPTER IV.AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY . 166CHAPTER V.AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINIONCHAPTER VI.AMERICA, THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNECONCLUSION •213• 255· . 296

AMERICA AND FRANCE.INTRODUCTION.In the latter half of the eighteenth centuryFrance and the United States of America,two groups of people not only separated bythe ocean and different in language and institutions, but estranged by a recent war,became allies and friends. International relations beget international influences.It is the purpose of this work to consider.the relations of France and the United Statesbetween the years 1776 and 1794, and todetermine what influence the young Republicexerted during those years, first on the subjects of the old Monarchy, then on the citizens of a new Commonwealth. A consideration of this theme at the present momentis both interesting and opportune. One hundred years ago the allied forces of Franceand the United States compelled the armyof Lord Cornwallis to surrender at Yorktown.To-day, amid the rejoicings of the centenary,the citizens of the two great Republics of2 AMERICA AND FRANCE.our time may well pause and study the eventspreceding and succeeding the brilliant feat ofarms accomplished by their ancestors.The subject we have chosen has been moreor less fully treated by Bancroft, by Buckle,and by Balch. The German historians of theFrench Revolution, Schlosser, Dahlmann, and ,Von Sybel, have given the question a passing notice, and the French historians, Thiers,Mignet, Michelet, Lavallée, and Louis Blanc,have passed it by with a line or a page inthe course of their special works. M. Laboulaye has written the history of the UnitedStates, but he has failed to see the influencethey had upon France. M. Rocquain haspublished a work on the revolutionary spirit in his country prior to the Revolution,and yet he devotes barely a page to the political system of America. Lanfrey, in hisbeautiful essay on the great uprising of 1789,speaks but cursorily of that in America, andM. Taine, in his recent productions, seemsto disregard it altogether. Henri Martin isthe historian who, in France, has most exhaustively treated the relations between theRepublic and the Monarchy in the eighteenthcentury, but he leaves the subject at the treatyof Versailles, in 1783, and does not attempt•INTRODUCTION. 3to determine the influence which the one nation exerted on the other. That will be ourtask. All the able and eminent men whohave touched upon the matter in hand, havedone so incidentally, and simply as it presented itself to them while engaged in alarger work. It is our purpose to write1 Bancroft, " History of the United States, " vols. viii . ix.passim.Buckle, " Hist. of Civilization in Eng. ," vol. ii . chap. vii.(cab. ed. ).Balch, Les Français en Amérique. pendant la Guerrede l'Indépendance (Paris, 1870) , pp. 2, 3. Compare also M.Chotteau on the same subject, (Paris, 1876) .Schlosser, " Hist. of Eighteenth Century, " ii . chap. i . p.112, v. p. 179.Von Sybel, Gesch. der Revolutionszeit (Dusseldorf, 1865) ,Band i . Cap. iii . pp. 69, 71. Dahlmann, Gesch. der franz.Rev. pp. 71 , 79, 80.Thiers, Hist. Rév. française, vol. i . pp. 9, 34.Mignet, Hist. de la Rév. française (Paris, 1865) , tome i.113.Michelet, Hist. de France (Paris, 1879) , vol . xix. p. 201 .Lavallée, Histoire des Français, tome iii . chap. v. 557,et seq.L. Blanc, Rév. française, tome ii . pp. 44-47.Laboulaye, Histoire des Etats Unis, tome ii . p. 391 ,leçon xviii .Rocquain, L'Esprit Révolutionnaire avant la Révolution, 1715-1789 (Paris, 1878) , livre x. pp. 370, 371 .Lanfrey, Essai sur la Rév. franç, chap. v. pp. 120, 121;chap. vii. pp. 167, 168; chap. viii . p . 214.Taine, La Révolution, livre ii . p. 157.Martin, Hist. de France, tome xvi. chap. civ.4 AMERICA AND FRANCE.a monograph on the part played by theUnited States of America in France underthe old Monarchy, under the ConstituentAssembly, and under the Legislative Assembly and the Convention, that is to say,before, during, and at the climax of thegreat Revolution which shook not aloneFrance, but Europe and the world.CHAPTER I.FRANCE AND AMERICA.WHEN discussing a question of internationalinfluence it is the first duty of the historianto inquire into the political, social, and intellectual condition of the nations under consideration. Let us therefore cast a glanceat France and America as they were onthe eve of the American Revolution.In the old world an ancient monarchy ruledwith well-nigh absolute sway over a compactnation of twenty-six millions, and imposedtaxes upon them without the sanction oftheir representatives. In the new world thirteen Colonies, three millions of people ofdifferent origin, but slightly dependent uponthe mother country, administered their ownaffairs , and voted their taxes by representative bodies. In the monarchical state therewere three orders possessing unequal rights,the Nobility, the Clergy, and the Third Estate; in the Colonies there were no orders6 AMERICA AND FRANCE.Land all white men were equal before the law.In France, although the forty provinces sharedunequally in privileges, there were unity andstrong centralization of power. The Parliaments, the highest courts of the realm, hadfor a time been suppressed by the crown,and the States- General, bearing some slightresemblance to a legislative assembly, hadnot been convoked for nearly two centuries.There was little local self-government, forthe provincial States existed only in certainparts of the country and were irregular, andlimited in their action. The executive authority overshadowed all. In the Constitutions of the Colonies, the executive, legislative, and judiciary departments were, almost without exception, independent anddistinct, and the town meeting was the nucleus of the public liberties. The Frenchhad charters and rights that were virtuallydead letters. The Americans looked upontheir charters and rights as living and binding, and any violation of them called forthprompt and energetic protest. In France.there was inequality as to social condition,as to taxation, and in the court of justice;individual liberty was discarded by the lettre de cachet, and religious liberty had beenFRANCE AND AMERICA. 7abolished by the revocation of the edict ofNantes. In the Colonies every man had aneven chance to arrive at the object he proposed unto himself; he was taxed accordingto his property, and not his birth; he wasthe equal of any of his neighbors in thecourt of justice; his religious freedom wasguaranteed him by the law, and his personal freedom by the habeas corpus and thejury trial.The French peasant rarely owned morethan a scanty patch of soil, and when thecrops failed he resorted to pillage and arson, and often murder, to obtain a livelihood; the American farmer tilled a virginland, and rich harvests filled the granarieshe could call his own. Jealous neighborsand the support of a court and aristocracy necessitated in France the maintenance of an extensive standing army; inAmerica the army was small and servedonly as a defense against the Indians.France was a Catholic country, and themasses were devoted to the altar and thethrone; the majority of the American States.were Protestant and imbued with that spirit of democracy and political freedom whichthey had learned both at London and at Ge-8AMERICA AND FRANCE.neva.France was proud of its ancient civilization and its high position among the nations, and it could indeed well point with prideto a long list of brilliant achievements inliterature, in the sciences, on the pleasantfield of the arts, and on the field of war.The American Colonies, united only by thedesire for justice and their rights , were inthe eyes of Europe a new political body,inured indeed to a rude military life by thenecessities of their position and their Indianwars, but insignificant and uncultured; theirmilitary reputation barely passed their narrow boundaries, and for their literature andart they were dependent upon the mothercountry. In France there were universities,learned academies, and schools that openedtheir doors to the well-to-do middle classes,and were frequented by such of the nobilityas did not early follow the career of arms;in America high and low generally attendedthe school or the college, and the house ofpublic instruction was, next to the church,the first building erected in a rising settlement. The Americans, in the latter part ofthe eighteenth century, were perfectly content to remain under the sovereignty of theBritish Crown so long as it respected theirFRANCE AND AMERICA.vested rights; they spoke with respect ofPym and Hampden, of the Revolution of1688, of William III. and Lord Somers, ofMilton, Algernon Sidney and Locke. TheFrench lived in a country whose ancient institutions began to lose their seeming luster.Paris, feudal in its constitution , was revolutionary in its spirit and aspirations. Thoughevery good Frenchman was attached to theking and remembered the great names ofhis country's history, there was a growingnumber of men who were dissatisfied withthe past and with the present, which wasits copy. They felt that new times demanded new institutions. The Americans,cold and phlegmatic in temperament, likemost nations of the North, simple and practical , like all pioneers, were bent on thematerial pursuits of daily life, and were little given to philosophic speculation. A veryfew among them, Franklin and Jefferson andSamuel Adams, had turned the pages of theFrench philosophers; but the great majoritysimply adopted the traditions of Anglican liberty which their ancestors had brought withthem to the New World. Time and circ*mstances had soon taught them to interpretthese traditions in a more liberal spirit than1010 AMERICA AND FRANCE.they were interpreted by their brethren ofthe mother country. The Americans hadstruggled with kings and royal governors,but these struggles had never carried themtoo far. They were essentially conservative.They modified their laws and constitutionsonly when change became absolutely necessary. Certain circles of the ruling classesof the French nation, imbued with the teachings of classic antiquity, contrasted the traditionary liberties of Greece and Rome with .the absolute government that pressed uponthem. Versatile and brilliant, like most members of the Latin race, they hailed with joyous enthusiasm the idea of radical reform.A literature, in turn nourished by and nourishing this spirit, was soon poured upon theland, which eagerly drank in its disorganizing doctrines. Men applauded the Economists when they said, "Laissez faire, laissezaller." Men, high and low in station, feltthe truth of D'Argenson's advice: " Pastrop gouverner." Three writers, however,Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Rousseau, werethe embodiment of the ideas, tendencies, andaspirations of their time. Montesquieu, ason of that ancient hereditary magistracywhich, though often in conflict with theFRANCE AND AMERICA. 11crown, rarely sympathized with the people,had visited England in 1729, and had enthusiastically dated his letters, " London, liberty, and equality. " On his return, after longand patient study, he issued his " Spirit ofthe Laws," and while reviewing the politicaland legal institutions of all nations, he heldup to the admiration of his countrymen theadvantages of a constitutional monarchy likethat of Great Britain. The philosopher wasdissatisfied with the political fabric of his native land, but he wished to reform it withprudence and after a careful consideration ofthe time, the place, and the circ*mstances.Voltaire was the incarnation of his epoch'sardor for humanity. In poetry and prose,by scurrility and argument, by wit and pathos, by sarcasm and ridicule, this extraordinary man pleaded for greater tolerance andgreater individual liberty. Rousseau, the sonofa Genevan watchmaker, unlike Montesquieuand Voltaire, was radical and revolutionary.His fertile imagination pictured the politicaland social perfection of the state of nature,when man was free, when personal propertywas unknown, when all men were equal andbrothers. His " Discours sur l'Inégalité " andhis "Contrat Social " quickly spread these12 .AMERICA AND FRANCE.ideas throughout all France. Montesquieuhad been conservative; Voltaire was a freelance for humanity, who appeared only nowand then on the field of politics; but Rousseau was a theorist, a politician, and aniconoclast, all in one: a man who would batter down ruthlessly all that which men callcivilization. His influence was the most widereaching, both during and after his time andgeneration. These three men, representingthe ideas and sympathies of large circles oftheir countrymen, had disciples and followers who spread abroad the theories of theirmasters and filled the land with heresy anddoubt. Violated rights, unworthy ministersand priests, the iniquitous penal code, theruinous financial administration became subjects for discussion, and the nation graduallyroused itself at the sound of these bold accents, and called for what it imagined to bereform, liberty, and equality. The old political structure and the new ideas were outof equilibrium; the sympathies of the massesturned into new channels and yearned fornew laws and institutions. Fénelon and BoisGuilbert, Chesterfield and Kant, Rousseauand Voltaire, had been among the manywho prophesied that there would be a greatFRANCE AND AMERICA. 13political change in France; the momentous revolution of 1789 fully bore out their prophecies.Such were these two bodies of people,France and the American Colonies, when,in 1774, Louis XVI. ascended the throneof his ancestors. Like most of the rulersof his time he had a vague instinct that thehour demanded important reforms. Frederick of Prussia, Joseph of Austria, Pombal inPortugal, Tanucci at Naples, Ferdinand IV. ,Charles III. and Aranda in Spain had effectedstriking changes in their countries' institutions.He would do the same. He summoned tohis council board the Count de Maurepasas President, the Count de Vergennes asMinister for Foreign Affairs, the Count deSaint Germain as Minister for War, Turgot, first as Minister for the Navy, then asController General of the Finances, andLamoignon de Malesherbes as head of theInterior.Malesherbes and Turgot were remarkablemen. The former advocated equality of rights,the liberty of conscience, the liberty of thepress, the abolition of the rack, the suppression of the lettre de cachet and the abolitionof laws of censure. The latter, a discipleof Rousseau and the Economists, "a man14 AMERICA AND FRANCE.with the heart of L'Hôpital and the headof Bacon," had when called to the King'scouncils already distinguished himself as anauthor and as an intendant at Limoges. Hisaccession to power was to him but a stepto the realization of his cherished views. Hewished to make all orders and classes of thepopulation contribute equitably to the chargesof the state; to abolish the corvée or forcedrepair of the highways by the peasants ofthe district; to unify weights and measures;to draw up a fixed code of laws, to increasefreedom of trade, to improve internal navigation, to favor public instruction, to furtherself-government by the establishment of provincial assemblies, and to gradually do awaywith the distinction of orders in the state byencouraging its abolition in these provincialrepresentative bodies.While Turgot and Malesherbes were urging such important measures, and while Maurepas, the court party, the nobles and allthose interested in thwarting the projects ofthe reform ministers were bitterly protesting,and even before, the English colonies inAmerica had raised the standard of revoltagainst the mother country.Great Britain, burdened with debt at theFRANCE AND AMERICA. 15""end of the Seven Years' War, had resolvedto make its Colonies bear a part of theburden and the Parliament accordingly hadpassed the Stamp Act which provided thatall deeds, receipts and legal documents shouldbe written or printed on stamped paper, thatthis paper was to be sold by the officers ofthe government, and that the money thusobtained was to be placed in the Treasury.The Colonists objected to this measure onprinciple. They would not submit to betaxed by a body in which they had no representatives. "No taxation without represen-` tation was the cry throughout these infantStates, which, however they may have differed in their origins, their views on minorquestions and their sympathies, were nowunited and spoke as a nation in their protestagainst the arbitrary action of the British Parliament.¹ The Stamp Act, in view of this opposition, was repealed, but the passage soonafter of a law imposing a tax on tea andother articles plainly proved that the legislators of Westminster had not learned wisdom. The Colonists found the tea tax asobnoxious as they had the Stamp Act. Theyrefused to submit to it. Meetings were held;1 Pomeroy, Constitutional Law, chap. ii . p. 35.16 AMERICA AND FRANCE.petitions to the King forwarded; militia companies and clubs organized; tea thrown intothe harbor, and in the North and the Souththe opposition assumed a menacing aspectfor the stability of the British colonial empirein America.When the first shot of the Revolution hadbeen fired on Lexington Common in 1775,the news was received in France with various emotions. Crafty statesmen, hatingGreat Britain, hoped and prophesied thatthe skirmish might and would prove the prelude of a war with the parent state, and thatit* issue would be the independence of theColonies. Philosophers, citizens of Paris, theyoung nobility who had received their ideason liberty and resistance to tyrants largelyfrom the ancient classics and from Rousseau and Voltaire sympathized with the rebels across the sea. At the capital, in theprovince, at the watering-places, in the châteaux of the rich and in the entresol of politicians and men of letters , the American resistance to English demands was the themeof general conversation . 2 "It was at Spa,"2 4Le courage de ces nouveaux républicains leur attiraitpartout en Europe l'estime, les vœux des amis de la justiceet de l'humanité. La jeunesse surtout, par un singuliercontraste, elevée au sein des monarchies dans l'admirationFRANCE AND AMERICA. 17says the Count de Ségur, " that I learned forthe first time the events which indicated anapproaching and mighty revolution in America." The news was hailed with great enthusiasm and the insurgens, as the rebelswere then called, had the sympathies of allthe young people at the fashionable resort."On my return to Paris I found the sameagitation prevailing also there in the publicmind."3The papers, though published only withroyal approbation, meager in their news andlimited in their circulation, began to have anotice here and there of the revolt in America. The " Mercure de France " and the"Courrier d'Avignon, " published long, and,on the whole, trustworthy accounts of American events, though their news were derivedalmost exclusively from London sources. *des grands écrivains comme des héros de la Grèce et deRome portait jusqu'a l'enthousiasme l'intérêt que lui inspiraitl'insurrection américaine. "-Ségur, Mémoires, i . p. 107.3 "Ce fût là que j'appris pour la première fois les évènemensqui annonçaient en Amérique une prochaine et grande révo- lution . . . Lorsque je fûs de retour à Paris mes regards yfurent frappés par la même agitation des esprits . Personnene s'y montrait favorable à la cause des Anglais et chacuny faisait des vœux pour les Bostoniens. "-Ségur, Mémoires,i. pp. 80, 83.4"The Courrier d'Avignon for July 4, 1775, gives a verygood account of the tax and the fight at Lexington. The18 AMERICA AND FRANCE.The public was eager to have the cabinet aid the rebels. As early as February1775, M. de Sartine, Minister for the Navy,met M. Malouet, then a high functionary inthat department, and informed him that it wasthe public and generally expressed wish thatthe government should interfere in favor ofthe Colonies. " I told him," says Malouet,"that I considered this wish contrary toour political interests." It is dangerous, foran absolute monarchy, thought the functionary, to ally itself with a republic. 5 Thenews of the American uprising did not excite the Parisians alone; they spread intothe remotest corners of the kingdom, andbeyond, into countries that were French bytheir language and their sympathies. Fromnumber for 25 Août, 1775, gives an account of the enthusiasm ofthe women for the cause, an account of the declarations of Congress, etc. (p . 83, et seq. ) In a " Discours sur les Evénemens politiques de l'année 1775 " anearly number of the Courrier for 1776, gives an excellentrésumé of American affairs (p. 5) .5 "M. de Sartine m'ayant parlé, au mois de février 1775,du vœu public qui se prononçait en faveur des insurgensje lui repondis que je le croyais contraire a nos intérêtspolitiques. . . . La meilleure raison à alléguer contre cetteguerre.. est qu'il était aussi inconséquant que dangereuxpour une monarchie absolue de se mettre à la tête d'unerévolution démocratique. "-Malouet, Mémoires sur l'Ad- ministration des Colonies (Paris an X) , vol. iii . p. 355.FRANCE AND AMERICA. 194beautiful Savoy there came a voice whichbears testimony to the rising enthusiasm.Joseph de Maistre, then young, ardent andfresh from reading Rousseau, delivered aeulogy on one of the monarchs of his country's line, and exclaimed in the course of hisflorid remarks: " Liberty, insulted in Europe,has taken its flight to America, to anotherhemisphere. It floats over the icy shores.of Canada, it gives arms to the peace-lovingPennsylvanian, and from the midst of Philadelphia it cries out to the English, 'Whyhave you outraged me, you who boast thatyou are great only by my means? '"6The contest in America meanwhile becamemore serious; the battle of Bunker Hill wasfought; a Continental army was mobilized;the Declaration of Independence was promulgated. The longer the contest lasted, themore bitter it grew, the more hardly theAmericans were pressed, the more theFrench sympathized and longed to help"La liberté, insultée en Europe, a pris son vol vers unautre hémisphère; elle plane sur les glaces du Canada,elle arme le paisible Pensylvanien, et du milieu de Philadelphie elle crie aux anglais, Pourquoi m'avez vous outragée, vous qui vous vantez de n'être grands que parmoi?" Joseph de Maistre, cited by Sainte- Beuve, Portraits Littéraires, tome ii . p. 388.20 AMERICA AND FRANCE.The them against their hereditary foes.two powerful currents of hate and enthusiasm rushed through the public mind—hateagainst England, enthusiasm for Americaand kindled the ardor for war.The brilliant and speculating Beaumarchaisseized the moment by the forelock andthrew its wishes and aspirations into twoelaborate memoirs. Acknowledge the independence of the American Colonies, heurged, and aid them by secret means. Thequestion thus cogently and ably stated wasmore and more agitated in high circles andfinally came up for thorough discussion at theroyal council-board. Vergennes and Turgot,asked for their opinion by the king, gaveit in elaborate papers. It is for our interest, Turgot argued, to have the AmericanColonies at war with the mother countryand a burden to her. An offensive war onour part is not advisable. It would derangeour finances.8 Vergennes, who was a strongroyalist and a hater of new ideas and of" rebelles, " counseled the king to concen7 L. de Loménie, Beaumarchais, Sa Vie, ses Ecrits etson Temps, tome ii. xxi. pp. 93-99. Compare Mag. of Am.History, vol. ii. 665, et seq.8 Turgot, Euvres (Paris, 1809) , tome ix. pp. 435-447-449.FRANCE AND AMERICA. 21trate his attention on domestic affairs.9 Boththese ministers, however unfavorable to openinterference in the Anglo-American struggle,felt and prophesied that, sooner or later, noEuropean power would own an inch ofground in the Western World, and bothfavored Beaumarchais' plan of secret aidfrom the funds of the public treasury.10"I hope to live long enough," said Vergennes in private company, "to see Englandhumiliated and American independence acknowledged. " 11The Cabinet was backward, but the peo-• La France et L'Allemagne sous Louis XVI. by A. Tratchevsky (Paris, 1881 ) , p. 18, fully treats of Vergennes at thisperiod; of the count's character compare the judgment ofthe contemporary Paine (Rights of Man, London, 1791 .Part I. p. 92) , "With respect to principles, Count Vergennes was a despot, " with that of Mr. Tratchevsky: " Personne dans le conseil du Roi s'élevait avec autant de forcecontre les parlements, contre la liberté de la presse, contrela liberté de la parole, contre l'influence pernicieuse deChoiseul, Turgot et Necker. Ce sont ces idées révolutionnaires qui lui faisaient détester les Américains comme " rebelles, " ces Américains que sa haine contre l'Angleterre lui' faisait secourir, " p. 19.10 Turgot, Euvres (Paris, 1809) , vol . ix. pp. 435-447-449.and also Politique de tous les Cabinets, ii . Raumer, Beiträge zur neuern Geschichte, v. 216.11 Moniteur Universel, 1789, vol. i . p. 45, note: "J'espère vivre assez pour voir l'indépendance des Américainsreconnue et l'Angleterre humilié. ”22 AMERICA AND FRANCE.ple openly gave vent to their sympathies, andloudly expressed their admiration for the colonists.12(( What Frenchman endowed with a vividimagination," said the judicious Fontanes,years after, "does not remember with rapture the first moment when rumor told usthat Liberty was raising its banners amongthe people of America? The Old World,bent under the load that burdened its age,found again some of its enthusiasm andturned its eyes toward those distant climes." 13The news that the king of England wasbuying Hessians to fight his subjects excited12 Dorat, the poet, seems to have shared the opinions ofthe ministers at this time."Sages fameux, qu'allez vous faire?Laissez les dogues d'AngleterreS'entremordre, se déchirer. "Epitre aux Sages du Siècle.13 Quel Français, doué d'une imagination sensible, ne serapelle avec transport le premier moment ou la renomméenous annonçait que la liberté relevait ses étendards chezles peuples de l'Amérique? L'ancien monde, courbé sousle poids des vices et des calamités qui accablaient sa vieillesse, rétrouva quelque enthousiasme et tourna ses yeuxvers ces régions lointains. " L. de Fontanes, Euvres, (Paris,1839, ) tome ii. p. 149. See also L'Observateur Anglais ouCorresp. Sec. entre Milord All'eye et Milord All'ear, London, 1777, under date of Feb. 28, 1776; Norvins, Essai surla Rév. française (Paris, 1832), vol. i. p. 59.FRANCE AND AMERICA. 23profound indignation and called forth fromthe brain and pen of Mirabeau one of hismost spirited pamphlets.14 He addressed theGerman peoples. "You are sold! " he exclaimed, "and for what usage, just Heaven!To attack a people that defends the mostrighteous of causes, that gives you the noblest of examples! Oh, why do you not imitate these courageous men, instead of striving to destroy them! Do you know whatkind of a nation you are going to attack?Do you call to mind what a fanatical love ofProfit bytheir example, reflect upon your honor andyour rights! "liberty can accomplish?• • • .While the Prince de Montbarey15 arguedthat to sustain a revolt was to offer a danger14 " Vous êtes vendus! Eh, pour quel usage, justesdieux! . . pour attaquer des peuples qui defendent laplus juste des causes, qui vous donnent le plus noble desexemples . . . . Eh! que ne les ímitez vous, ces peuplescourageux, au lieu de vous efforcer de les détruire! . . . .Savez-vous quelle nation vous allez attaquer? Souvenezvous ce que peut le fanatisme de la liberté? C'est le seulqui ne soit pas odieux . . . Profitez de leur exemple,pensez à votre honneur, pensez à vos droits! "-Mirabeau,Avis aux Hessois, 1776, in Euvres ( ed . Vermorel) , tome i .P. 154.15 Montbarey, Mém. autographes, " Le moyen employéde soutenir la révolte était d'un exemple dangereux, " tomeii. p. 293.24 AMERICA AND FRANCE.ous example to a country like France, andwhile the Jesuit Georgel 16 thought such ameasure very impolitic, the people of the cityand the country became more and more impatient at the lethargy of the Cabinet. Theprincipal journals and periodicals of the time.afford the clearest indication of the public interest; the following rhymes give some echoof the then prevalent opinions. Soulavieheard them sing even in Versailles:"Vergennes is a fool,Vergennes is a dolt.Of England he's the tool,'Gainst those who dare revolt.Vergennes the slave,George's minion he,Promises that FranceShall aid tyranny." 17Readers of the public prints compared thescant notices of American affairs in the offi16 Georgel, Mémoires, tome i . p. 430.17 Soulavie, Mem. hist. et. pol. du Règne de Louis XVI. ,tome iii. 347."Vergennes gobe mouche,Ministre sans talensLaisse l'Angleterre faroucheBattre les Insurgens,Valet bas et soumisDe toute l'AngleterreA George il a promisQu'on serait ses amis Pendant son ministère."FRANCE AND AMERICA. 25cial: " Gazette de France " with the sympathetic and fuller remarks in the " Courrierd'Avignon " and the " Mercure de France.""Everything relative to the famous quarrelthat has arisen between England and theColonies merits the greatest attention. Europe cannot at all remain indifferent in thismatter. " Such is the opinion of the " Mercure. "The people of Europe look withtranquil eye upon the supreme efforts of apeople still free against a power whose despotism it secretly curses. Let not the worldbelieve, however, that we are about to yield. "Such are the spirited words of a Boston letterpublished in the " Courrier d'Avignon." 19"' 18"""C18 Mercure de France, Juillet 1776, review of the workentitled ' Affaires de l'Angleterre et de l'Amérique."(Compare Works ofJohn Adams, vol. vii. p. 59, note, andp. f .) 'Tout ce qui a rapport à la fameuse querelle quis'est élevée entre l'Angleterre et les Colonies mérite la plusgrande attention . L'Europe ne peut point étre indifférantesur cet objet." Even the Journal des Sçavans, rarely discussing general politics, at this time said that the mostinteresting question then engaging European attention wasthe American war ( Mai, 1776, p, 315) .19 L'Europe voit d'un œil tranquil les derniers effortsd'un peuple libre encore contre un pouvoir dont il mauditen secret le despotisme. . . . Qu'on ne nous croye pascependant prêts à succomber. " Courrier d'Avignon,Mardi, 18 Juin, 1776, p. 198. Compare also Courrierd'Avignon, 4 Juillet, 1775, 7 Juillet, 1775, 14 Juillet, 1775,II and 15 and 25 Août, 1775, Sept. 29 and Dec. 5, 1775-26 AMERICA AND FRANCE.The citizens of Paris and the nation atlarge did not think that the insurgents wouldyield; they hoped and felt on the contrarythat the efforts of the combatants would becrowned with success.When Benjamin Franklin, commissionerfor the struggling States arrived in Francetoward the end of 1776 to further the interestsof his country, the demonstrations of sympathy and goodwill were equal to those thatwould have marked a royal progress."The arrival of Doctor Franklin at Nantes,"writes a lieutenant of police to Vergenneson December 12th, 1776, "is creating a greatsensation."20"I am made extremely welcome herethe words are Franklin's-"where Americahas many friends."21 If his entry into thesea- port was a popular success, his entryat the capital was a triumph. Citizens andmerchants, nobles and churchmen, statesmenand writers and great ladies welcomed himSee Juill. 9, 1776, for an extract from " Common Sense, " byThomas Paine (p. 222.) For indications of growing interest in American affairs compare the Mercure de Franceof 1774-5 with that of 1776.20 ' L'arrivée du Docteur Franklin à Nantes fait beaucoupde sensation. "-Loménie, Beaumarchais, tome ii. p. 135.21 Franklin's Works (ed. Sparks), vol. viii. p. 193.FRANCE AND AMERICA. 27with a welcome such as kings might haveenvied, such as fell not to the lot of a crownedvisitor then in France, Joseph II . of Austria.In the eyes of the few Franklin was a philosopher, a writer, a diplomatist; to themasses he appeared as " Poor Richard, " -arepublican, the embodiment of the Americancause, the founder of American liberty andthe champion of human rights.22Franklin and his two colleagues SilasDeane and Arthur Lee now addressed a diplomatic note to the Count de Vergennes.2322 On sait aussi combien Franklin avait été fêté quandil vint à Paris, parcequ'il était le représentant d'une république. Les philosophes surtout l'accueillèrent avec enthousiasme. " Mém. de Condorcet sur la Rév. française,(Paris, 1824, ) tome i . p. 165. Compare also , Burke ( Works,vol. ii . p. 394) , who in January 1777, wrote: " I hear thatDr. Franklin has had a most extraordinary reception atParis from all ranks of people. ' See also, Sparks' Life ofFranklin, i. pp . 418, 419. Lacretelle Histoire de Francependant le XVIII Siècle, tome v. p. 92.23 This letter was found by Mr. Minister Washburne andwas first published in the Foreign Relations of the UnitedStates, 1877, p . 155,Paris, 23 December, 1776."SIR, -We beg leave to acquaint your Excellency that weare appointed and fully impowered by the Congress of theUnited States of America to propose and negotiate a Treatyof Amity and Commerce between France and the saidStates. The just and generous Treatment their TradingShips have received, by a free admission into the Ports of28 AMERICA AND FRANCE.Then the philosopher retired to the pleasant town of Passy, not far from the metropolis, and, with a statesman's wisdom, quietly awaited future developments. The ForeignOffice was very cautious and very reticent.It loaned the Americans funds; by the mediation of Beaumarchais, it shipped the Americans arms and ammunition; it sent a confidential agent to America: but it went nofurther. The Commissioners from the Statessoon felt that to conquer the Cabinet they mustfirst of all conquer public opinion, a power inFrance which, after having been muzzled forcenturies, now began to show signs of extraordinary vitality. Arthur Lee and Silas Deanevisited the prominent men of the city andargued for their cause by their presence andtheir words. Franklin, by his fame and histhis Kingdom, with other Considerations of Respect, hasinduced the Congress to make this Offer first to France.We request an Audience of your Excellency wherein wemay have an Opportunity of presenting our Credentials;and we flatter ourselves, that the Propositions we areinstructed to make are such as will not be found unacceptable.""With great Regard, we have the Honor to be"Your Excellency's most obedient and most humbleservants," B. FRANKLIN,"SILAS DEANE,"ARTHUR LEE. "FRANCE AND AMERICA. 29character, attracted all classes to him andwith admirable tact made them partisans ofAmerica.224 "The conduct of Franklin wasa masterpiece. ' Such was the opinion ofthe illustrious Cabanis, who years after considered the American war and its results as"the revolution that has been the most productive of good to humanity." 25So great was the Americans' success withpublic opinion that the diplomatic Vergennesis said to have prohibited, in the coffeehouses, any too loudly expressed favorablecomments on the rebellious colonists, a prohibition which only strengthened the generalsentiment.26The Declaration of Independence with itsbold, sonorous words, " all men are createdequal," " are endowed by their Creator with24 See Life of Arthur Lee, by R. H. Lee, passim.Sparks' Diplomatic Correspondence of the Revolution, I.p. 35-71 . For the excellent reception the American envoys met from the people, see Ségur, Mémoires, tome i .p. 108.25 " La conduite de Franklin fût un chef d'œuvre."" "Larévolution la plus utile au bonheur des hommes."-Cabanis,Œuvres, (Paris, 1823-25, ) vol. v. p. 220, p. 255.26 After Franklin's arrival " M. de Vergennes a fait défendre dans les cafés de Paris qu'on parlât des insurgens. "This prohibition can but strengthen the sympathy felt foithem. Corresp. Littéraire Secrète, Dec. 24, 1776, tome iv.p. 56. Compare Euvres de Rulhière, vol. vi . p. 172.་ ་3390AMERICAANDFRANCE.certain inalienable rights; " "among these arelife, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," " tosecure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powersfrom the consent of the governed, " " wheneverany form of government becomes destructive' of these ends, it is the right of the peopleto alter or abolish it, and to institute a newgovernment, laying its foundations on suchprinciples and organizing its powers in suchform as to them shall seem most likely toeffect their safety and happiness "-these doctrines falling upon French ears, created aprofound impression. Isolated phrases of thisDeclaration were not unfamiliar to Frenchmen of the eighteenth century. They hadread of the liberties of peoples and the equality of man in the classics of antiquity andin the books of philosophers of their time.Never before, however, had they seen thesedoctrines announced in so compact, so energetic, so public a form as in the state paperfrom Philadelphia. Never before had theyseen, with their eyes, the representatives ofthree millions of people in general Congressassembled, for the support of so revolutionarya declaration pledge to each other their lives,their fortunes and their honor. Never beforeFRANCE AND AMERICA. 31had they seen, either in boasted Great Britain, or in the republics of the Netherlandsand of Switzerland, a simple hardy people riseto defend such a declaration. The Frenchknew the theory, but they had never witnessedthe living practice. "Men believe their eyesrather than their ears. Examples are morereadily understood and more speedily efficient than precepts." These words of Seneca, chosen as the epigraph to this work,were as true in the days of Louis XVI.as in the days of Nero.From the depths of the dungeon of Vincennes, whither a lettre de cachet had thrownhim, Mirabeau wrote early in 1777 the following powerful words: " All Europe has applauded the sublime manifesto of the UnitedStates of America. God forbid that on thishead I should object to public opinion, Iwho , were I not in chains , would go amongthem for instruction and to fight for theirI ask, however, Is there a government in Europe to- day, the Swiss andDutch confederations and the British Islesalone excepted, that, judged according to theprinciples and the declaration of Congress,issued on the 4th of July 1776, has not forfeited its rights? I ask, among the thirtycause. • •32 AMERICA AND FRANCE.two princes of the third race of our Kings,have not the two thirds been far more guiltytowards their subjects than the Kings ofGreat Britain have been towards the EnglishColonies? "27The Declaration did its work; the representative of America in Paris was doing his.Edmund Burke was right when, in a letterto a friend, he remarked that Franklin's presence in France was in itself a triumph for27 "Au moment de secouer un joug devenu intolérable,les Américains avoient publiquement exposé leurs griefscontre la métropole; ce manifeste avait occupé Mirabeau,alors detenu au donjon de Vincennes. Voici ce qu'en avaitdit le courageux prisonnier: ' On a applaudi généralementau sublime manifeste des Etats Unis de l'Amérique. ADieu ne plaise que je proteste à cet égard contre l'opinionpublique, mois qui, si je n'étais dans les fers, j'irais m'instruire chez eux et combattre pour eux. Mais je demandesi les puissances qui ont contracté des alliances avec euxont osé lire ce manifeste, ou interroger leur conscienceaprès avoir lu? J'e demande, s'il est aujourd'hui un gouvernement en Europe, les confédérations helvétique et bataveet les iles britanniques seules exceptées, qui, jugé d'apresles principes et la déclaration du Congrès donnée le 4Juillet 1776, ne fût dechû de ses droits? Je demande si ,sur les trente deux princes de la troisième race de nos roisil n'y en a pas au delà des deux tiers qui se sont rendusbeaucoup plus coupables envers leurs sujets que les roisde la Grande Bretagne envers les colonies anglaises. "-DesLettres de Cachet et des Prisons d'Etat, (Vermorel, ) Mirabeau, tome ii. pp. 22, 23, note.FRANCE AND AMERICA. 33the Colonies.28 The man who it was saidhad "snatched the thunderbolt from heavenand the sceptre from tyrants " received suchmen as Turgot, who had resigned his portfolio,and Vergennes who was still in power; naturalists, such as Buffon; nobles, such as La Rochefoucauld; philosophers, such as D'Alembert andHelvétius; physicians, such as Cabanis andVicq d'Azyr; men of letters , such as Raynal,Morellet, and Mably; jurists , such as Malesherbes, the admirer of a country that sent atallow-chandler's son as its envoy to a court.All these Franklin charmed and captivatedby a power so subtle and magnetic as tobe well-nigh indefinable. The people readwith admiration the " Science du BonhommeRichard." At Paris they called it with praise"a very little book treating great subjects."Many purchased and read a thin volumewhich then appeared and which containedthe American Colonies' Constitutions. Num29 Burke, (E) , Correspondence between 1744 and 1797,vol. ii . p. 132 (London, 1844); compare Sparks' Life ofFranklin, i. p. 445. "Count Vergennes was the personaland social friend of Doctor Franklin; and the Doctor hadobtained by his sensible gracefulness, a sort of influenceover him. "-Paine, Rights of Man, part i . p. 92 .29 "Un très - petit livre pour des grandes choses " inAffiches, Annonces et Avis divers de Paris, Dec. 10, 1777.34 AMERICA AND FRANCE.bers called on Franklin at his house and discussed public affairs with him. Those whocame, those who discussed, those who readwere equally ardent for the American struggle."30saidThey read the translations of our separate colony constitutions with rapture,'Franklin in his correspondence at this time,and "it is a common observation here that ourcause is the cause of all mankind and thatwe are fighting for their liberty in defendingour own. "The poets of the day molded the hopes,30 Franklin, Works, vol . viii . p. 214. Among the minorpublications, the Americana, of this period we mention:(1) Justification de la Résistance des Colonies Américaines (Leyden, 1776) . (2) Affaires d'Angleterre, 1778.(See Adams' Works, p. vii. 60, and note; later, (3) Lettred'un Membre du Congrès Américain à divers membres duParlement d'Angleterre, (a translation), Phila. et Paris,1779. There was also produced at Paris in 1778, " La FêteBostonniene au l'Anniversaire de l'Indépendance, " and atthis period, too, must have appeared the French translation of an oration falsely ascribed to Samuel Adams andpublished at London in 1776. It was entitled " An Orationdelivered at the State- House in Philadelphia to a very numerous Audience on Thursday, the 1st of August, 1776, bySamuel Adams.... Philadelphia, printed; London, reprintedfor E. Johnson, No. 4 Ludgate Hill, MDCCLXXVI. " SeeWells' Life of Samuel Adams, ii. pp. 439-440, and vol. iii .pp. 407-408 . It is violent in tone. In it occurs the phrase " anation of shopkeepers, " which, as the oration was translated into French and published at Paris, may be the original of Bonaparte's expression, iii. 410.FRANCE AND AMERICA. 35the fears, the feelings of their contemporariesinto verse, and Parny, in his first publishedproduction, exclaimed:"Ye gentlemen of Boston, pray,Explain this mad commotionThe noise of which has reached us hereAcross the leagues of ocean.You upset all the universe,What's been believed for ages,With these ideas that you are men,Are men instead of pages."He continued in the same tone of gentleirony, but also with the same underlying current of gravity."Let's reason now, and see what rightsYou have which we have not;And tell us why should libertyBe yours, and not our lot? "31The people, like the poet, began to askthemselves whether the liberty for which theAmericans were struggling was not the birth31 Parny, Epitre aux Insurgens, 1777.""'Parlez donc, messieurs de Boston,Se peut il au siècle où nous sommesDu monde troublant l'unisonVous vous donniez l'air d'être hommes?Raisonons un peu, je vous prie,Quel droit avez- vous plus que nousA cette liberté chérieDont vous paraissez si jaloux? "36 AMERICA AND FRANCE.right of all mankind. Joseph II. of Austria,at Nantes, is said to have turned away whenthe American flag was pointed out to himfloating perhaps from an American masthead in the harbor. " It is my business,"said he, "to be a royalist. " 32 There was anever-increasing number of Frenchmen, however, who turned their faces not away, buttoward the distant hemisphere, and salutedthat new constellation of thirteen stars. Theybegan to wake up to the fact that it was theirbusiness to be active citizens knowing theirrights and daring to maintain them.As the clouds lowered blacker for Englandin the western sky, an important ministerialchange came to pass in France. Malesherbesand Turgot, too radical for their time, fellfrom power and Necker, a wealthy Genevanbanker of excellent credit and great experience, became head of the Treasury in June1777. He was liberal and intelligent; but32 " On été alors à l'époque où commençait l'insurrectiondes Etats Unis d'Amérique. Comme tous les bâtimentsétaient pavoisés à l'honneur de l'illustre hôte que le port deNantes recevait ce jour là on fit remarquer à Joseph II. lepavillon nouveau des insurgés, où se trouvaient treizeétoiles, symbole de la nouvelle constellation qui se levait dans l'occident. Il détourna les yeux. 'Je ne puis regarder cela,' dit il, mon métier à moi est d'être royaliste. ""Weber, Mémoires, Paris, 1822, tome. i. chap. i . p. 52.FRANCE AND AMERICA. 37he was not so earnest a reformer as Turgot had been. His financial policy comprised the making of loans, on the onehand, and the retrenchment of superfluous sinecure offices, on the other; his administrative policy tended to establish representative provincial assemblies, deliberatingand voting the taxes; his foreign policy wasin unison with that of Vergennes, peace withall nations.33 He was, like Turgot, and forthe same reasons, a resolute opponent of warwith Great Britain on behalf of the rebelliousColonies.And yet, though cabinet ministers roseand fell, though the King was unsympathetic to the American cause; the people,if we are to believe the frivolous contemporary chansonnier, Collé, were crazy aboutthe insurgens; ladies alluded to them in albums and questioned kings and princes aboutthem; Parisians and Provincials dubbed theEnglish game of whist Boston; medallions ofFranklin were exhibited in the very home ofroyalty, at Versailles, and numerous prints ofhis shrewd, plebeian face were to be found33 Necker, like Turgot and Vergennes, had prophesieda great future for America. See Législation et le Commerce des grains, 1775, part i . chap. viii; part iii . chap. vii.38 AMERICA AND FRANCE.in the shops of the metropolis. 34 QueenMarie Antoinette began to bring the American cause into fashion at court, 35 and youngnobles, with ancient feudal crests upon theirsignet-rings and the ideas of Rousseau intheir heads, longed to draw their swordsfor the military honor of France, deeplywounded by the loss of Canada in 1763,and for the liberty of America, very dearto them as lovers of sentiment and ofchivalry.36""People here are greatly excited about34 Collé, Euvres choisies (ed. Didot; Paris, 1819, ) p . 172.Von Hartig, Briefe über Frankreich ( 1786) , p. 79. Droz,who knew many of the men who lived in those times, saysin his Histoire du Règne de Louis XVI. (i . p. 236, note),' On vit jusque dans les petites villes, des personnes dontles habitudes n'étaient moins que turbulentes, abandonnerle whist, jeu anglais, pour lui substituer un autre jeu auquel on donna le nom de Boston. " The American war alsocaused the misanthropic and melancholy Bernardin deSaint - Pierre to form Utopian projects. America seemsto have been in the thoughts of all classes. See Corres.de Saint- Pierre (ed. Aimé- Martin; Paris, 1826) , vol. i . pp.210, 211, 212.35 ( It is both justice and gratitude to say that it was theQueen ofFrance who gave the cause of America a fashionat the French Court. "-Paine, Rights of Man, part i . p. 92.36 For an excellent portrait of the young French noble atthis time, see Sainte- Beuve, Portraits Littéraires, ii. p.360, and the character of M. de La Marche in George Sand'sMauprat, (ed. 1869, ) p. 110.FRANCE AND AMERICA. 39the adventure of a young man of the Court,son-in-law of Noailles, possessor of a prettywife, two children, fifty thousand crowns ayear, of everything in fact that can makelife here agreeable and desirable. He hasleft , all that since eight days in order to goand join the insurgents. His name is M. deLafayette. What do you say to that? "37Such were the words addressed at aboutthis time by the Chevalier de Marais fromParis to his aged mother in the country.The intelligence was true. One of the fore-""37 M. Emmanuel de Broglie, in the Correspondant (Nos.383 and 385 , Sept. 10, and Oct. 10, 1878, ) in an article entitled Ce qu'on trouve dans de vieilles lettres first publishedextracts from the de Marais correspondence which comprises four folio volumes and which is still in manuscript.Il n'est question ici que de l'affaire d'un jeune homme dela Cour, gendre de Noailles, ayant une jolie femme, deuxenfants, 50,000 écus de rente, tout ce que peut rendre icil'existence agréable et chère, qui a quitté tout cela depuishuit jours pour aller chez les insurgents; il se nomme M.de Lafayette. Tout Paris conte son aventure.Apropos d'insurgents je vous envoie la carte du théatre de la guerre afin que vous lisiez les gazettes avec plus d'intérêt. "Mme de Marais replied, "Quel nouvel genre de folie, moncher enfant, m'apprenez vous? Quoi! il existe encore des fureurs de chevalerie! Elle trouve des amateurs! Allerà l'aide des insurgents! Je suis ravie que vous me rassuriez,car je tremblerais pour vous, mais, puisque vous reconnaissez pour fou M. de Lafayette, je suis tranquille. Queje plains sa mère! "40 AMERICA AND FRANCE.most of the young noblemen of the kingdom, borne along by the enthusiasm of hiscontemporaries for liberty, had, with a fewfriends, exiled himself from his native landand offered his services and his sword tothe American Congress. The young Chevalier de Marais adds further on, " Speakingof the insurgents, I send you a map of theseat of war, so that you may read the gazettes with more interest." The old Marquise, conservative and timorous, replied tothese lines from her château in Normandyin the following characteristic strain: " Whatnew kind of folly, my dear child, is this ofwhich you tell me? What! does the fiercespirit of knight- errantry still exist, and hasit still its partisans! Go and aid the insurgents! Well! I am delighted to see that youreassure me, for I should tremble for your safety, were it not for your confession that youconsider M. de Lafayette a madman. I amtranquil therefore, but how I pity his mother!"In Paris the bold step of Lafayette in espousing the American cause was generallyadmired, his wife was congratulated on having such a husband, and in the theaters anylines capable of being interpreted as referringto him were vehemently applauded.FRANCE AND AMERICA. 41"'Tis doubtless a piece of folly," Madamedu Deffand wrote to Horace Walpole ofLafayette's resolution, " but it does not dohim discredit. People praise him more thanthey blame. " 38The winter of 1776 and 1777 was a drearyand severe one for the American patriots.They had to fight not only against the welltrained and well-equipped troops of England,but against the elements. The news of theretreat from New York through the Jerseys,of the brilliant stroke at Trenton followed bythe misery of Valley Forge found their wayto the French and caused many once enthusiastic hearts to falter and to fail.39 Franklin,however, did not lose confidence nor faith inhis countrymen during these gloomy hours;he diffused his own great spirit among thosewho doubted and wavered. Ça ira," heused to say, " Ça ira," and Paris passed thecheery words around.40•38 "C'est une folie sans doute, mais qui ne le déshonorepoint. On le loue plus qu'ou ne le blâme. ” —Lettresde la Marquise du Deffand à Horace Walpole, vol. iii . p.375, under date 31 March, 1777.Campan, Mém. sur Marie Antoinette, vol . ii . p. 235 .39 Mercure de France, Jan., 1777, p. 24. Mars, 1777,p. 223 .4 These words Ça ira, which may be rendered intoEnglish by the expression "that will be all right in the42 AMERICA AND FRANCE.All classes of the reading public in Francefollowed with eager looks the military eventsin America."We are very much occupied here withthe insurgents," D'Alembert writes to hisroyal correspondent, Frederick of Prussia, inApril, 1777, “ and very impatient to see whatwill be the success of the decisive campaignnow about to open.'"' 41In the eyes of the French, Washingtonwas a second Fabius, and his military strategy was attentively studied not only by suchmen as Maillebois, Broglie and D'Arcy but bya Mademoiselle Phlipon, then twenty- threeyears old, destined in after years to becomefamous as Madame Roland.42 "Washingtonend," coming from Franklin, were long remembered inFrance. They were a common saying in the days ofthe French Revolution. In the Chronique de Paris, No126, for Mai 4, 1792, there is a letter by Anacharsis Clootz,which affirms that the origin of the term is American andthat Franklin " législateur de la Delaware " introduced it(p. 499).41 ('Nous sommes ici fort occupés des insurgens et fortimpatients quel sera le succès de la campagne décisive qui va s'ouvrir. "-D'Alembert, Correspondance avec le Roi dePrusse, in Euvres, tome v. partie ii . p 386.Franklin, Deane and Lee to Congress, in Lee's Life ofLee, vol. i. p. 310.42 Washington ne doit pas combattre, et il évite de lefaire; il temporise comme Fabius.. Je suis bien aiseFRANCE AND AMERICA. 43should not fight, and he avoids fighting. Hedelays as Fabius did." These are her wordsto a young lady friend on October 4 , 1777."I am glad to think that we agree as to theimportance of this revolution. I watch itsprogress with interest and I hope for the liberty of America."Towardthe end ofDecember, 1777, the newsof Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga reachedthe French capital and great was the joy it excited. One contemporary bit of rhyme ran, 43"Bravo, gentlemen, Insurgents,Conquerors in so just a war,You have given by your valorA free people to the continents." 44Ephemeral productions, like the " Epitreaux Etats Unis et à Mr. Franklin," 45 and likede penser comme toi sur l'importance de cette révolution;je la vois avec intérêt, et je souhaite la liberté de l'Amérique comme une juste vengeance pour la violation du droitnaturel dans ce continent malheureux et si peu fait pourl'être. " Lettres inédites de Mlle Phlipon aux DemoisellesCannet, (Paris, 1841 , ) vol . ii . p. 205.43 Ségur, Memoires, i. P 162. " La nouvelle de ce succèsredoubla notre ardeur et notre impatience."44 Correspondance litt. secrète, vol . vi . p 7."Bravo, Messieurs les Insurgents,Vainqueurs dans une juste guerre,Vous donnez par vos sentimentsUn peuple de plus a la terre,Libres surtout! "45 Boston et Paris, 1778.44 AMERICA AND FRANCE.the little sheet " Babillard,"46 are indicationsof the direction which the current of publicopinion ofthat period took and followed. It isnot the heavy and serious works of literatureand the official state papers that afford thebest guides to a true knowledge of the stateof popular feeling at a given time and on agiven subject. Caricatures and pamphlets,the rhymes and songs of the day, the wordthat passes from lip to lip, the remarks ofinfluential sheets, the private correspondence of contemporaries, the anecdotes andphrases, the nicknames, the cut of coats andthe form of hats are by far surer means ofknowing what the masses of a city or acountry feel and think and speak than thediplomatic notes of cabinets and the debatesof parliaments. "Take a straw and throw itup into the air," says the learned Selden,"you shall see by that which way the windis, which you shall not do by casting up astone." 4746 April 5, 1778. This little periodical was not favorableto French interference in American affairs, but it speaks ofthe "enthousiasme de quelques philosophes inconsidérés, "(p. 274) , and it contains a letter signed " Le Politique,"which strongly advocates the American cause (p. 319) with other allusions to the contest (pp. 317, 335).47 John Selden, Table Talk, On Libels.FRANCE AND AMERICA. 45It is because we are profoundly convincedof the importance of such seeming insignificant aids to history that we often refer tothem and will often refer to them in the courseof this work; in the consideration of a nationso impressible and mercurial as France, recourse to such aids is productive of reliableresults.Gates had won a great victory at home;Franklin went steadily on conquering public opinion abroad. Circ*mstances now favored him, and the septuagenarian diplomatedid not let them pass without drawing fromthem all possible good for the interests ofhis country. Feeling in Paris was by thistime so high-strung that everybody expected.some prompt move on the part of the government. We have been for some timeuncertain between peace and war," Turgotwrote to a friend. "Circ*mstances tend to"' 48 war. "When will we arm in favor ofthe insurgents?" was the national cry. Belligerent ardor, hate towards England, enthusiasm for the American States, was general48 "Nous sommes depuis quelque temps incertains entrela paix et la guerre; toutes les circonstances tendent à laguerre. "-Turgot, Euvres (ed. Dussard et Daire, Paris,1844) , tome ii . p. 836. Lettre à Mr. Caillard , 13 Fév. , 1778.46 AMERICA AND FRANCE.and contagious . To be a Bostonian seemedto the Parisians to be the proudest title onearth.49The misanthropic Linguet, however, did.not share this enthusiasm. He did not laughwhen the vaudevillists of the gay capital parodied the proclamation of General Burgoyne; 50 he did not clap his hands whenthe Americans gained a victory. Steady inhis misanthropic humor of attacking thatwhich other people admired, he was strongin his condemnation of the American revolt."America has been led to civil war by philosophy, " said he, " and demands with armedhand liberties as dangerous even for her, perhaps, as for Europe." Not content with being a prophet of evil, he was also the caustic49 Lacretelle, Histoire de France pendant le XVIII.Siècle (vol. v. p. 90): 'Quand armera-t- on en faveur desinsurgens? ' on n'entendait que ce cri en France. La nation trompait son gouvernement et se trompait elle mêmeen exagérant les avantages commerciaux qui devoient résulter de l'indépendance des colonies anglaises . La philosophie trouvait la politique trop lente à seconder sesvœux; les poetes qui depuis longtemps s'étaient faits les echos des philosophes célébraient à l'envi les insurgens,l'esprit de la mode propagait la déclaration des droits, nultitre ne paraissait plus beau que celui d'un habitant de Boston. "50 Correspondance Litt. secrète, Jan. 16, 1777, vol. v.pp. 388, 389.FRANCE AND AMERICA. 47critic of his times. "The Americans havebecome heroes," he sneers, "but four yearsago they were not. " 51This scorn was not common. Linguet, indeed, proves the contrary. The excitementwas at fever heat. Men talked of Americain the coffee-houses; women talked of America in the drawing- rooms; young French officers talked of America to Franklin. Everybody seemed eager for war. "America hasbeen the only subject of conversation here, "wrote Madamedu Deffand to HoraceWalpole.52The Cabinet began to reconsider their firstdecision of non-interference; but the King,like Vergennes, had but little sympathy forrebellious subjects and always hesitated tosign papers relative to the American question when they were presented to him.Louis XVI. still paused.53 His subjects'51 Linguet, Annales politiques, civiles et litt. , du XVIII.Siècle, 1777, tome i. p. 11: "Conduite à la guerre civile parla Philosophie et réclamant à main armée une Libertédangereuse peut être pour elle même autant que pourl'Europe. " Compare, also, vol. ii . p. 349, année 1777 , for adverse criticisms. " Les Américains sont devenus de héros; mais il y a quatre ans ils ne l'étaient pas. "-vol. iii .p. 514, année 1777.52 Lettres de la Marquise du Deffand à Horace Walpole,iii. 436: " On ne parlait ici qu'Amérique, " 6 Jan. 1778.53 Moniteur Universel, tome i . p. 45, note: " Le roi dans48 AMERICA AND FRANCE.wishes and his personal inclination were atvariance. If he contracted an alliance withthe Colonies, Great Britain would interpretthe act as hostile. If war were declared, hewould be almost certain to succeed and blotout the disgrace of the peace concluded byLouis XV., but then he would also be theally of rebels against their lawful sovereign.He had perhaps already gone too far in secretly aiding the insurgents; he might perhaps injure his own royal power. Thus hereasoned with himself, and these reasoningsmay have been strengthened by a pamphletwhich then appeared under British inspiration .You are arming, oh imprudent sovereign-such was the substance of this pamphlet you are arming to support the independence of America and the maxims ofCongress. There is a power which to- dayraises its head above the laws, the power ofambitious speculation. It is carrying on ason cœur n'approuvait pas tout ce qu'il (Vergennes) faisaitdans la guerre d'Amérique et lorsqu'on lui presenté quelque chose à signer on assure qu'il a dit: ' Faut il que desraisons d'état m'obligent à signer ce que je ne pense pas?"Soulavie, Louis XVI. (tome iii. chap. ix. p. 409): " Leplus grand inconvénient pour le roi était l'exemple des insurrections qu'il donnait à ses sujets, puisque en accordantdes secours aux Américains il protegeait une doctrine subversive de son propre gouvernement. "FRANCE AND AMERICA. 49revolution in America; perhaps it is preparingthe way for one in France. The legislators of America proclaim themselves the disciples of French philosophers; they are puttinginto execution the very thing which these havedreamt. Do not the French philosophers aspire to be legislators in their own country?Is there not a great danger in putting thepick of your officers in communication withmen enthusiastic for liberty? You will growalarmed, but too late, when you will hearrepeated at your court the vague and specious maxims they shall have meditated uponin the forests of America. How will theyhave your absolute orders respected, afterhaving poured forth their blood for a causewhich is styled the cause of liberty? Whencethis security of yours, while in America thestatue of the King of Great Britain is beingshattered to pieces and his name is beingheaped with obloquy? England will feel sufficiently avenged of your hostile designs whenyour government will be examined, judged,condemned, according to the principles whichare professed in Philadelphia, and which areapplauded in your capital.5454 Lacretelle, Hist. de France pendant le XVIII. Siècle,tome ii. p. 83.50 AMERICA AND FRANCE.Though the King was in sad perplexity,his cabinet officers, influenced by public opinion, were decided not to let the victory atSaratoga pass by without making a move infavor of the victorious rebels.55 Enthusiasm,self-interest, bitter enmity against Englandcarried the day, and on the 6th of February,1778, a treaty of Amity and Commerce wasconcluded between the Kingdom of France,on the one hand, and the United States ofAmerica on the other. France still professedto desire peace with Great Britain and warwas not declared. The treaty, however, besides its commercial clauses, immediately regarding the contracting powers, provided fora possible war. Should hostilities betweenFrance and England break out during theexistence of those between England andthe United States, it was stipulated thatin such a case the war should be madea common cause by France and Americaagainst Great Britain; that neither of thecontracting powers should conclude either55 " La nouvelle de la défaite de l'armée anglaise commandée par le général Burgoyne, decida la France àprendre parti pour l'Amérique. "-Mém. de Lauzun, (ed.Lacour, ) p. 283. Flassan, Hist. de la Diplomatie franc.tome vii. liv. vi. pp. 159-166; Ségur, Mém. vol. i . p. 111.FRANCE AND AMERICA. 51truce or peace with Great Britain without theformal consent of the other party, and thatarms should not be laid down until the independence of the United States had beenformally acknowledged by the treaty thatshould terminate the contest.56When the news of this piece of diplomacyreached Whitehall, the British governmentrecalled its embassador from Paris and thoughthere was no formal declaration of war theBritish captured several French merchantmen. They thus proved by their acts, ifnot by their formal words, that hostilitieshad fairly begun.The American envoys, plain in dress, dignified in bearing, were received by Louis XVI.in March, at Versailles, and the palace of the"Grand Monarque " rung with the plauditsof the court that greeted the representativesof the new Republic. The venerable, whitehaired Franklin, in his dark Quaker dress,with his gray hat under his arm, his whitewoolen stockings, his shoes unadorned bysilver buckles, appeared to the courtiers inthat splendid hall the embodiment of repub56 Secret Journals of Congress, Foreign Affairs (1775-1781, ) p. 59 et seq. Marten's, Recueil de Traités, tome ii .p. 587.52 AMERICA AND FRANCE.lican simplicity, a Lycurgus or a Solon of theeighteenth century.57This remarkable spectacle proved to thenation, more than the treaty and more thanthe published notes in the " Gazette deFrance," that the white lily-dotted banner ofthe Bourbons and the barred and star-spangled banner of the American States wereintertwined in alliance against a common,haughty and powerful foe.57 The Marquise du Deffand wrote to Horace Walpoleon 22 March, 1778, as follows (tome iv. p. 33): " M. Franklin a été présenté au roi. Il était accompagné d'unevingtaine d'insurgents dont trois ou quatre avait l'uniforme.Le Franklin avait un habit de velours mordoré, des basblancs, ses cheveux étalés, ses lunettes sur le nez, et unchapeau blanc sous le bras. Ce chapeau blanc est il lesymbole de la liberté? "CHAPTER II.THE ALLIANCE.FRANCE and America, thanks to the heroismofthe American soldier and to the diplomacyof Franklin, were now allies. A new and important chapter opens in the history of therelations between the old Monarchy and theyoung Republic. Alliances for war, by whichall classes of the contracting powers arebrought more or less into contact, generallyproduce, with some jealousies and heart-burnings, much mutual goodwill and generousemulation. The Franco - American alliancewas no exception to this rule; it producedeven greater results. A careful study of themen and the times will lead us to concludethat one of the oldest and most civilized nations ofthe globe was influenced by the mostrecent and the most feeble in its warlike resources. This phenomenon, almost unparalleled in history, can only be explained afteran examination of the contemporary state of54 AMERICA AND FRANCE.public opinion in France. The country, inspite of the reformatory measures of Turgot,was in a profoundly feverish state and moreand more revolutionary in its tendency.Powerfully influenced by the political literature of England during well -nigh twentyyears, France neither loved nor sympathizedwith the land which had inspired Montesquieuand Voltaire. Hereditary hates, bitter memories of the disastrous Seven Years' Warand the spirit of rivalry tended to lessenEnglish influence in France. There was admiration for Great Britain, but there was nosympathy. In view of this condition of publicfeeling in Paris at the time of the accession ofLouis XVI. , it was certain that a nation, combining the civic qualities of Englishmen andyet not associated in the French mind withthe mistrust and jealousy linked to that name,would arouse not alone the admiration butalso the sympathies of France. The men ofthe American Revolution, who not only continued but improved upon the traditions ofAnglican liberties, answered these conditionsand, from the first shot of the war, Francewas at their side. This sympathy for a feeblepeople in revolt against a strong rival power;this admiration for the acknowledged superi-THE ALLIANCE. 55ority of that people in the institutions of political liberty; this enthusiasm for the boldwords backed by the bold deeds; this ardorfor a state three thousand miles away andwhose very distance increased its power overthe imaginations of the French-all these elements formed the basis of an influence whichis traceable in the history of France during aperiod of eventful years.The public wishes were at last gratified,and there was war. The common peasantsoldier had to serve whether he would or no,but the young and old officers enlisted in theAmerican expedition with extraordinary enthusiasm. There was first the officer, who,tired of peace and the routine of the court,longed for an opportunity to unsheathe hissword and who examined not too closelywhy he did so. Rouerie and Fersen belonged to this class. The former had beenone of the earliest to embark for America;the latter, on the eve of his departure, couldhardly contain his joy. There was, next, JCour de France (Didot,mon cher père, au comblehis father (i . 36) . Martin,1 Le Comte de Fersen et laParis, 1878, ) "Vous me voyez,de mes vœux, " says Fersen toHist. de France, tome xvi . livre civ. p. 416. For furtherevidence ofthe enthusiasm with which the officers enlisted ,see Mém. de Montbarey, tome ii . 340.56 AMERICA AND FRANCE.the old French noble, the professional soldier,who obeyed his King only the more readilyin this case because he hated England. DeGrasse, D'Estaing, and, later, Rochambeau aregood examples of this class. The third bodyof officers enlisting in the American warcomprised men who, while eager to strike ablow at the English, were at the same timeeager to do battle for freedom. Lafayette,Ségur and Dumas were the representativesof this modern chivalry. The first categoryregarded the war as a pastime; the second,as a duty to their King and country; the thirdlooked upon it as a duty not only to theirKing and country, but also to the cause ofhuman liberty. "I wanted to propose mycompany of dragoons," says a young nobleof the time, "as an escort to the hero of theNew World, so that they, as well as he, mighttake part in the struggle for American liberty. My superior officer, however, tookcertain umbrage at my proposal and all harmony between us was at an end. " PrepQ"J'imaginai de proposer, comme le compagnon duhéros du Nouveau Monde, ma compagnie de dragons pourfigurer ainsi que lui, dans la liberté de l'Amérique. Monchef en prit certain ombrage qui rompit toute harmonieentre nous. "-Mémoire politique depuis, 1771 , jusq. 1800par M. de Savoisy, Dijon, chap. iii. pp. 8 et 9.THE ALLIANCE. 57arations for the contest were pushed withthe utmost activity and all the ports ofFrance presented a picture of the greatestanimation.American influence on France may now begrouped about two main points-Franklin atParis, and the French in America-and uponthese two points we will proceed to direct ourexamination.The representative of the American Republic was from the date of the alliance morethan ever before the center of attraction inParis. He was no longer a solicitor of favor;he had accomplished one part of his mission,and his business now was to keep the goodwill of the French people. He acquitted himself admirably of this task; he conquered allhearts. " I saw Franklin become an objectof worship," is the woful exclamation of thecontemporary Soulavie.3When he showed himself in the street thecrowd applauded; when, attracted by theeloquence of the illustrious Target, he entereda court room, the decorum of the place didnot restrain the audience from bursting forthinto plaudits; when he dined at the Count de3 Soulavie, Mémoires, Règne de Louis XVI. "J'ai vuFrancklin devenir un objet de culte, " (vol . ii . p. 50) .58 AMERICA AND FRANCE.Vergennes' , the city soon knew what goodthings he had said; when, during the triumphal stay of Voltaire at Paris, the philosopher of Ferney and the philosopher of Philadelphia met and embraced each other at ameeting of the Academy, the report flewthrough Europe that Solon and Sophocleshad exchanged the kiss of friendship andrespectful admiration.5 The French saw in4 Courrier d'Avignon, 24 Mars, 1778, says, " Mercredidernier M. Target, avocat, a plaidé au Parlement dansl'affaire celèbre, etc. etc, Le docteur Franklin et son petitfils étaient à l'audience. Ils furent traités avec distinctionpar ordre de M. le Premier Président, dès qu'on appercutce respectable vieillard on lui prodigua des battements demain. Dans toutes les assemblées publiques où il semontre ce savant reçoit le même accueil" (p. 99) .M. de Marais writes to his mother, " On cite un proposdu vieux docteur (Franklin) chez M. de Vergennes où ilfût diner. On lui parlait de son ouvrage, c'est- a- dire del'alliance qu'il venait de contracter avec la France- Nousen sommes très flattés, repondit il, mais l'Amérique estune jeune vierge bonne à épouser "" (Le Correspondant, 10 Oct. 1878).5 "Voltaire and Franklin were both present, and therearose a general cry that M. Voltaire and M. Franklinshould be introduced to each other. This was done, andthey bowed and spoke to each other.. But this was notenough. The clamor continued until the exclamation cameout, " Il faut s'embrasser à la Française. " The two agedactors upon this great theater of philosophy and frivolitythen embraced each other, by hugging one another in theirarms and kissing each other's cheeks, and then the tumultTHE ALLIANCE. 59one of these two men the literary king of theeighteenth century and in the other the lawgiver of America. They hailed both withequal enthusiasm. "Voltaire," says Madamed'Epinay," " always shares with Franklin theapplause and acclamations of the public. Theinstant they appear at the play, on the promenade, or at the academies the shouts andclappings of hands are without end. ""'Tis the fashion nowadays," sneered themisanthropic Linguet, " to have an engraving of M. Franklin over one's mantel- piece,as it was formerly the fashion to have ajumping-jack." Neither sneers nor ridicule availed, however, against the prevailing opinion of the people. Franklin andsubsided. And the cry immediately spread through thewhole kingdom, and, I suppose, over all Europe, " Qu'ilétait charmant de voir embrasser Solon et Sophocle! "Adam's, Works, iii. 147.6 Mém. et Corres. de Madame d'Epinay (vol. iii . p. 419) ,"Il (Voltaire) partage toujours avec Franklin les applaudissem*ns du public. Dès qu'ils paroissent, soit aux spectacles, soit aux promenades, aux académies, les cris, lesbattemens des mains ne finissent plus . " Compare thiswith what the abbé Galiani wrote, (tome ii . p. 203) of thepopularity ofthe Americans .7 Capefigue, Louis XVI. (vol. ii . p. 11 , note), " La modeest aujourd'hui, disent les Annales littéraires, d'avoir unegravure de M. Franklin sur sa cheminée comme on avaitautrefois un pantin. "60 AMERICA AND FRANCE.the cause he represented were thoroughlyhonored and cherished. The Viscountess deFars Fausselandry and Madame du Haussetwho moved in the best society prove this.Their testimony on the state of the public sentiments at this period is both interesting and valuable. "The war of Americanindependence had just broke out. LouisXVI. had taken up arms for the insurgents, as we called them, and had desiredto deal England a mortal blow in favoringtheir emancipation. Unfortunately he mortally wounded his own monarchical power.There were, I do not deny, great germsof revolution in France, but the way tocrush them was not to feed the public mindon that love of independence which burstforth beyond the sea, and to send officersand soldiers to drink in, on the American Continent, principles of republicanism ." 8 Mad8 Mém. de la Vicomtesse de Fars Fausselandry, (Paris,1830) , vol . i . chap. vii . p. 154. "La guerre de l'indépendancede l'Amérique venait d'éclater. Louis XVI. prenant partipour les insurgés, comme nous les appelions, avait vouluporter un coup mortel à l'Angleterre en favorisant l'émancipation; malheureusem*nt il blessa à mort sa propre monarchie. Il y avait je n' en disconviens pas, de grands germes révolutionnaires en France, mais ce n'etait pas le moyende les étouffer que de nourrir l'esprit public de cet amourTHE ALLIANCE. 61ame du Hausset is not less emphatic. "Thespeeches of some distinguished members ofthe opposition, who eloquently defended theprinciples according to which the Americanshad taken up arms, were read with avidity,even with ecstasy, and essentially contributedto inflame the public mind. The youth ofthe court hastened to serve in this war. Republican doctrines easily took root in im- .mature minds enamored of novel systems.'"' 9Paris was in the eighteenth century, asit is to-day, the brain of France. Its decisions on all subjects were accepted as law.It was the leader of political , social, and literary fashion.10 The great city had prod'indépendance qui éclatait au delà des mers, et d'envoyerdes chefs et des soldats puiser sur le continent américaindes principes de républicanisme."9 Mém. de Mme. du Hausset, (Paris, 1824) . "Les discours de quelques membres distingués de l'opposition, quidéfendaient avec éloquence les principes d'après lesquelsles Américains avaient pris les armes, et qui définissaien*les droits du peuple et le pouvoir légitime du prince , furentlûs avec avidité, même avec transport et contribuèrent essentiellement à enflammer le public. La jeunesse de laCour s'empressa de servir dans cette guerre. Les principesrépublicains germèrent facilement dans des esprits sans maturité et amoureux de nouveaux systèmes . "10 Mercier, Tableau de Paris, ( 1782 , 1783) , " De l'Influence de la Capitale sur les Provinces, " chap. cccliv. vol. iv.p. 296.62 AMERICA AND FRANCE.nounced itself in favor of the insurgents;on this question, assuredly, the provinceswere not dissentient. The commercial ports,Bordeaux, Marseilles, Lyons, Nantes, wereamong the earliest partisans of American independence. They longed for free trade withAmerica. 11 Therefore, when John Adams,who had been sent by Congress to replace Silas Deane, arrived at Bordeaux,in 1778, he was received with a salute ofthirteen guns, and with all marks of respect. The friendliest hospitality was shown.him , the words America and Liberty frequently fell upon his ear, the native city.of Montesquieu was illuminated in honorof the American statesman, and at night henoticed this inscription in one of the principal gardens: " God save the Congress, Liberty, and Adams! "The envoy's reception at the capital was11 Droz, Histoire du Règne de Louis XVI. (vol. i. p. 236) ,"Nos villes maritimes recueillaient des bénéfices à la rupture des colonies avec leur métropole."Lacretelle, Histoire de France pendant le XVIII. Siècle,(vol. v. pp. 90, 91 ) , " C'était dans les villes maritimesqu'éclatait avec le plus de vivacité l'enthousiasme pour la cause américaine." This desire of the commercial centersofFrance to conciliate America, continued for years afterthe war. See Courrier d'Avignon, 11 Jan. , 1785. JournalGénéral de France, 3 Fév. , 1784.THE ALLIANCE. 63still more gracious. The " Courrier d' Avignon " thus erroneously introduced him to itsreaders: " Mr. Adams is the brother of thefamous Adams whose eloquence has been asdeadly to the English as that of Demostheneswas to Philip." Ministers, citizens and menof letters thronged his rooms, and while aguest one evening at the table of MadameBrillon there was a demonstration in his andhis country's honor as flattering as it wastasteful.12The alliance with America was generallyvery much approved, though royalists likeSoulavie feared that pernicious doctrineswould thereby be the more readily scatteredbroadcast through the land.13 In this theadmirers of the ancien régime were perfectlycorrect; the results fully justified their fears.The American war produced an amount of examination, discussion, criticism , solid and ephemeral literature, and ferment in certain influen12 Life of John Adams, by C. F. Adams, in Works, vol.i. p. 277, and Diary, vol. iii . pp. 117-120, 122-123.Courrier d'Avignon, (4 Avril, 1778, p. 129, et seq.) . “ M. Adams est frère du célèbre Adams ce fameux orateur dontl'éloquence a été aussi funeste aux Anglais que celle de Démosthène le fût à Philippe."13 Adams, Diary, ed. Adams, iii . p. 126. Soulavie,Louis XVI. , iii . chap. x. p. 412.64 AMERICA AND FRANCE.tial groups ofthe capital as fully strikes onlythecareful student of those eventful days. Suardseized the occasion to publish his translationof Robertson's " America "; 14 Cerisier, a friendof Adams, touched upon the Anglo- American war; Dubuisson 15 wished to enlighten hiscountrymen by his "Abrégé de la Révolutionde l'Amérique Anglaise "; a school edition of"Poor Richard's Almanack " appeared; 16 anedition of the State Constitutions then published in French called forth some adverse criticism and more praise. Some, for instance,did not admire the laws of NewJersey for theirintolerance to Catholics; others blamed Harvard for conferring honorary degrees.17 It is14 Histoire de l'Amérique, Paris, 1778; Cerisier, Histoirede la Fondation des anciennes Républiques, etc. , Utrecht,1778. Cerisier's work called forth one entitled , "Observations impartiales d'un Vrai Hollandois pour servir de Réponse au Discours d'un soi disant Bon Hollandois à sesCompatriotes, Amst. , 1778."15 Rich, Bibl. Amer. Nova, i . p. 271 .16 Science du Bonhomme Richard, par M. F. à l'usagedes petites écoles par M. Feutry, 1778. Recueil des LoixConstitutives des colonies anglaises ' confédérées sous la dénomination d'Etats Unis de l'Amérique, auquel on a jointles actes d'Indépendance, de confedération et autres actesdu Congrès général, traduits de l'anglais. Dedié à M. ledocteur Francklin. En Suisse chez les libraires associés1778, I vol. gr. in 12m0.17 Affiches, Annonces, Avis divers de Paris, 1778. Juin24, 1778, p. 97.THE ALLIANCE. 65certain, in any case, that there was discussion ,and discussion is indicative of interest.Turgot, the friend of Franklin, the presumed author of the line , ¹18"Eripuit coelo fulmen sceptrumque tyrannis, "did not admire most of the Constitutions; the"Mercure de France," on the other hand, wasstrong in its approbation."I am not satisfied, I confess," Turgotwrote to Price, "with the constitutions thathave hitherto been framed by the differentstates of America. By most of them the customs of England are imitated without anyparticular motive. Instead of collecting allthe authority into one center, that of the nation, they established different bodies-a bodyof representatives, a council and a governorbecause there are in England a House of Commons, a House of Lords and a King. Theyendeavor to balance three different powers, asif this equilibrium, which in England may be anecessary check to the enormous influence ofroyalty, could be of any use in republics18 Mémoires sur Turgot in tome i. of Euvres de Turgot(ed. 1809-1811 , by Dupont de Nemours) , p. 416. La Harpe.Cours de Littérature, tome i. livre i . p. 35, ed. Didier, andMoniteur Universel, Introd . vol. i. p. 40.66 AMERICA AND FRANCE.founded upon the equality of all the citizens,and as if establishing different orders of menwere not a source of divisions and disputes .'" 19The letter furthermore blamed the diversity of laws, the absence of uniform taxation,the federative system, and closed with an earnest appeal to all enlightened men to unitetheirefforts in order to aid the citizens of Americain establishing a good government. Turgotalways maintained these views in private conversation, and after his death, in 1781 , two,at least, of his disciples, Condorcet and Dupont de Nemours, were always on this subject entirely of their master's mind. This exhaustive letter was the first of a long list of19 Je ne suis pas content, je l'avoue, des constitutions quiont été rédigées jusqu'a présent par les différants étatsAméricains. Je vois dans le plus grande nombre l'imitation sans objet des usages de l'Angleterre. Au lieu deramener toutes, les autorités à une seule, celle de la nation,l'on établit des corps différents, un corps des représentants,un conseil, un gouverneur, parceque l'Angleterre a uneChambre des Communes, une Chambre haute et un roi.On s'occupe à balancer ces différents pouvoirs comme sicet équilibre des forces, qu'on a pu croire necessaire pourbalancer l'enorme prépondérance de la royauté, pouvaitêtre de quelque usage dans les républiques fondées surl'égalité de tous les citoyens. "-Turgot au Docteur Price,Paris, 22 Mars. , 1778. Euvres de Turgot (ed. Dussard etDaire, Paris, 1844) , vol. ii . pp. 805 806 807. Compare withthis Adams, Works, ix. 622-623.THE ALLIANCE. 67French opinions expressed on American government; it was the opinion of one of thekeenest thinkers of the Rousseau school.Most Frenchmen at this time, however, didnot examine the American Constitutions soclosely. They preferred them, with all theirfaults , to their own arbitrary government.Theorists might propose amendments whilesitting in their closets; speculative philosophers might discuss questions of confederation, of balance of powers, of centralizationand of decentralization, and urge this orthat form of government upon the UnitedStates. The mass of the nation made verylittle distinction between the colonial, theconfederative , and, later, the constitutionalepochs of American history. Frenchmen areswayed by feelings rather than by principles.DeTocqueville has couched this thought inone of his pithy sentences, and his countrymen in the eighteenth century certainly exemplified its truth by their general attitudetowards America. They looked upon thenew Republic as a land blessed in its situation, its inhabitants, and its institutions.They admired. They grew rapturous. Turgot, with his letter, represented the viewsof a small knot of speculative thinkers.68 AMERICA AND FRANCE.The " Mercure de France," a very reliableperiodical, was the interpreter of the average middle- class opinion when it spokeof the American Constitutions as "a codethat marks an epoch in the history ofphilosophy "; when it proclaimed that "theAmerican governments well deserve to beknown "; when it placed the legislators ofPennsylvania above Lycurgus and Solon.20The year 1778 was the first of the war incommon. "I was then in Paris," says thelearned Dutens, whose tastes led him to preferthe peace of his study to the bustle of politics, " I was then in Paris, and I remarkedthe effect the word liberty produced on allminds.21 People were profuse in their goodwishes for the Americans, and they rejoiced20 Mercure de France, " Ce code est en effet une épocheremarquable dans l'histoire de la philosophie. " " Les Législateurs de la Pennsylvanie doivent être au dessus de Lycurge et de Solon comme notre siècle est au dessus decelui de Solon et de Lycurge " (Juin, 1778, p. 57) . " Lesgouvernements américains méritent d'être connus " (Juillet,1778, p. 99).21 Dutens, Mémoires d'un Voyageur qui se repose, vol.ii . pp. 317, 318: " J'étais à Paris alors; je remarquais l'effetque produisait dans tous les esprits le mot liberté. Onfaisait des vœux pour les Américains, on se réjouissait deleur succès. Les Français en leur souhaitant la liberté,par un retour sur eux mêmes, pensaient déjà à se ta procurer aussi. "THE ALLIANCE. 69at their success. The French in wishingthem liberty, reflecting upon their own case,already desired to procure it for themselves."Meanwhile the Marquis de Lafayette hadreturned to his country for a short stay. Hereceived a welcome such as clearly denotesthe temper of the public mind. Ancient Orleans and gay Paris welcomed in him not theyoung and wealthy noble, but the incarnationof the American cause in France; youngmagistrates showed him all honor; ladieskissed him; the King deigned to receive himat court; the Queen gave him a regiment ofRoyal Dragoons; and cabinet ministers consulted this young man, thirty and forty yearstheir junior, on American affairs.22 In themidst of all these ovations and honors Lafayette did not forget the patriots whom he hadtemporarily left suffering, fighting, and hoping in America. His expressed enthusiasmfor them was so strong that old Maurepassaid that the young man would willinglystrip Versailles of its treasures in order toput the Americans upon a good war footing,22 Droz, Louis XVI. , i. 376.Correspondance de Marais in Correspondant, Oct,1878: " Il n'est question que de ce jeune homme. On exalte sa conduite noble et modeste depuis son retour."70 AMERICA AND FRANCE.and his activity and agitation were so untiring that he obtained not only increased popular sympathy for America from the people,but another army, -four thousand men underRochambeau-from the ministers.23 The twocountries thus became linked more closelytogether, and the mutual interest was thusgreatly heightened. " In the midst of theprestige of our luxury," says Garat, who laterplayed a prominent part in the French Revolution, " and of the wonderful productions ofour arts, all eyes and all hearts were turnedwith emotion across the ocean, towards thoseimmense solitudes of the New World whereliberty, philosophy, and nature promised allmen equal happiness even amidst the inevitable inequalities of talents, conditions, andfortunes." 24Franklin continued to keep the American cause steadily before the public eye.23 Biog. Gén. (Didot), tome xxviii . p. 706.24 D. J. Garat, Mém. Hist. sur le XVIII. Siècle et surM. Suard, tome ii. livre vii. pp. 318, 319: Au milieu desprestiges de notre luxe et des prodiges de nos arts , tous lesregards et tous les cœurs se portaient avec émotion àtravers l'ocean, sur ces immenses solitudes du NouveauMonde, où la liberté, la philosophie et la nature promettaient à tous les hommes un bonheur qui pouvait être égalpour tous au milieu même des inégalités inévitables des talens, des conditions et des fortunes."THE ALLIANCE. 71His venerable aspect, his homely sayings,his republican simplicity of dress and mannercombined with the French tact and politenessof his deportment, his anecdotes and his bonmots, gained him among all classes admirers, disciples and friends. Poetasters wroterhymes in his honor; noble ladies celebratedhis greatness in indifferent verses; his portrait was seen in every print- shop; his bustwas placed in the Royal Library. One dayhe was the observed of all observers at thefamous Madame de Tessé's; on another Madame d'Houdetot had him plant a tree of freedom in her garden; on a third, ladies crownedhis snow- white head with flowers.25 " No25 For indications of his popularity at this time andlater, see Mercure de France, 9 Jan, 1785; Mém. sur LeBrun par Du Mesnil, i . p . 103; Sparks' Franklin's Works,viii. 303; Journal de Paris, 31 Mars, 1781; 7. Adams,Works, (Diary, ) iii . pp. 134, 135, 220, 221 , Correspon. Litt.de Grimm, tome x. p. 96, tome x. pp . 197, 257; J. Trumbull, Memoir, Autobiog, and Rem. chap . viii . p. 102; Franklin's, Works, (ed Sparks, ) ix . p. 22; Campan, Mém. sur MarieAntoinette, ii . p. 233; Anecdotes historiques du Règne deLouis XVI. passim. For Mme. de Tessé, see de Goncourt, Hist. de la Societé française pendant la Révolutionp. 16. That the American Quaker dress came into vogueabout this time, see Lacroix, XVIII. Siècle, chap. xix. p. 512.For general conversation at the capital on Franklin andAmerica, see Mercier, Tableau de Paris (vol . i . chap. viii) ,De la conversation, " On ne sait par quelle transition72 AMERICA AND FRANCE.man in Paris," says Madame Vigée Lebrun,"was more à la mode, more sought after thanwas Doctor Franklin. The crowd used torun after him in the walks and in the publicresorts; hats, canes, snuff-boxes, everythingwas à la Franklin. Men and women considered it a piece of good fortune to be invited to a dinner at which this celebrated manwas to be present. " 26 The Abbé Morelletwrote a chanson to celebrate his virtues.rapide on passe de l'examen d'une comédie à la discussion desaffaires des Insurgens, comment on parle à la fois d'unemode et de Boston, de Desrues et de Franklin. " Anecdotes about Franklin were current many years after; seeBulletin des Amis de la Verité, 1793, No. iii . p. 4. Moniteur Universel, 15 Juillet, 1790.26 Nul homme à Paris était plus à la mode, plus recherché que le Docteur Franklin; la foule courait aprèslui dans les promenades et les lieux publics, les chapeaux,les cannes, les tabatières, tout était à la Franklin et l'onregardait comme une bonne fortune d'etre invité à un dineroù se trouverait ce célèbre personnage. "-Mém. de MmeVigée Lebrun, 1835, tome i . p. 251. Compare also onFranklin's popularity Moore's Diary ofthe American Revolution, vol. i . p. 387, 503, 504. One periodical of the time tried to make him to be of French extraction, Gazetted'Amiens, Avril, 1780. For an envious attack on him seethe curious work entitled, "Histoire d'un Pou Françaisou l'Espion d'un nouvel Espèce, tant en France qu'en Angleterre, contenant les Portraits des Personnages intéressans de ces Deux Royanmes, " chaps. viii. and xiv. (Paris,1781).THE ALLIANCE. 73"Notre BenjaminEn politique il est grandA table est joyeux et franc. " 27The Duke de Levis never forgot the face.of the then hero of all Paris. I was veryyoung," he writes, "when I saw the illustriousFranklin, but his countenance, so full of candorand nobility, and his fine white hair, will neverbe forgotten by me. " 28Franklin could indeed well write to hisfriends in America, " Perhaps few strangers inFrance have had the good fortune to be so uniformlypopular."29 This popularity did not turnhis head. No man ever more perfectly actedupon the saying of Lord Bacon that greatplace is the pedestal whereon to do good.He did good to his country and to theworld, for his words and his letters were somany soldiers for liberty and justice amongmen."You see liberty establish herself and flourish almost under your very eyes," he said.one day in the hearing of Condorcet.27 Morellet, Mémoires, i . 295, 296." I28 Duc de Levis, Souvenirs et Portraits, (Paris, 1815):"J'etais bien jeune lorsque je vis l'illustre Franklin; mais safigure pleine de candeur et de noblesse, aussi que ses beauxcheveux blancs, ne sortiront jamais de ma mémoire " (p. 51) .29 Franklin, Works, vol. viii . p. 401.74 AMERICA AND FRANCE.dare to predict that by and by you will beanxious to taste its blessings. " 30Not by word of mouth only did the greatAmerican spread abroad the doctrine of human freedom; he also employed the pen."Establishing the liberties of America, " hewrote to the Chevalier de Chastellux, " willnot only make that people happy, but willhave some effect in diminishing the miseryof those, who in other parts of the worldgroan under despotism. " 31He was indeed the"Gray-haired sire, whose eye intentWas on the visioned future bent."During the progress of the war, we are toldbythe Count de Beugnot, all Frenchmen wereeager for victory, all hearts were actuated bytrue patriotism.32There were some, however, who nevercould nor would forget the origins of thecontest and who fretted at the thought of" Aussi30 Bancroft, Hist. of United States, vol. ix. p. 493.31 Franklin, Works (ed. Sparks), vol. ix. p. 199.32 Mém. du Comte de Beugnot, i . p. 54-55.longtemps qu'avait duré la guerre d'Amérique le sort decette guerre avait tenu les esprits en suspens et tous les sentiments étaient venus se confondre dans un véritablepatriotisme. "THE ALLIANCE. 75those whom the contest would in the endmost benefit.The Count d'Allonville belonged to thisclass. He admired neither Franklin nor Lafayette and he disapproved of the Americanwar for independence. "I saw a state entirely monarchical by its habits, its customs andits needs give itself up with a kind of fury.to the infatuation of democratic ideas. " 33The Marquise de Créqui in a measureshared the views of the Count d'Allonville.She disliked Franklin, his table manners didnot strike her as good, and she was tired ofhearing him extolled by everybody as a"marvel of cosmopolitan civilization." 3433 Mém. Secrets du Comte d'Allonville, "Je voyais unesociété, toute monarchique par ses habitudes, ses mœurset ses besoins, se livrer avec une espèce de fureur à l'engouement des idées démocratiques, " i . p: 90.34 Souvenirs de la Marquise de Créqui, " Quant à ceM. Franklin qui avait arraché le foudre aux Dieux et lesceptre aux Tyrans, disait le Mercure; je vous dirai queje n'ai jamais eu l'honneur de le rencontrer qu'une seulefois, c'etait à souper chez Mme. de Tessé." She then describes his simple dress and dwells upon the fact that heate eggs with pepper, salt and butter in a goblet, and thathe cut his melon with a knife. " Ce que me fit prendregarde aux faits et gestes de ce philosophe américain c'etaitl'ennui d'entendre parler comme d'un paragon sociale etd'une merveille de civilisation cosmopolite, " etc. etc. tomev. chap. ix. pp. 179, 180. If we quote these lines it is not76 AMERICA AND FRANCE.Though some counts and marquises thusobjected to the American rebels and theirrepresentative, the general sympathies of thepeople for their distant allies were no moreaffected by these objections than the greatocean minds the boy that throws small pebbles into its tumultuous waters.Conservative sheets no longer attemptedto dissimulate the fact that the French armaments were aid given to subjects in revoltagainst their legitimate sovereign; "to thebrave and generous children of liberty; " 35 the" Gazette de France," the court organ, republished one of Jonathan Trumbull's patrioticletters; 36 the " Journal des Sçavans " allowedCerisier, a champion of America, to answerthe allegations of a Tory writer in its columns; 37 the Count de Montlosier says thatprose writers on every side treated of theAmerican republicans, and when he openedthat we are sure of the authenticity of the Créqui Mémoires,but simply as a specimen of opinions then current. A goodauthority on the period has recently pronounced in favorof the authenticity of the production cited . See Aubertin,L'Esprit public au XVIII. Siècle, p. 15.35 Le Babillard, Jan. 1779, p. 71 , " Aux braves et gén- éreux enfants de la liberté. "36 Gazette de France, Juillet 17, 1778.27 Journal des Sçavans, 1779, p. 275.THE ALLIANCE. 77his copy of the poet Delille he found thatthe subject was not ungrateful to the poets"Ye gods of rural life, of tranquil peace,Your needless apprehensions now may cease.King Louis, guardian of your sacred shade,Desires to lend the gallant rebels aid;He longs to make their liberty their own,The freedom theirs to reap as they have sown.' 38The"Mercure de France," for February, 1780,calls the American Revolution the most interesting of its day and generation; the " Affiches,Annonces et Avis de Paris, " republished witheulogistic comments and in translated formone ofthe stirring circular letters of the Continental Congress; the " Courrier d'Avignon , "like the more important of its contemporaries,now received its American advices direct fromPhiladelphia or Newport or Boston.39 Oft-re38 Mém. de Montlosier (Paris, 1830) , " Au temps dont jeparle Louis XVI. ne fût pas si scrupuleux; il s'offrit, aussique la France entière aux Etats Unis de le l'Amérique pour les seconder dans leurs efforts contre l'Angleterre. La próseproduisit de toutes parts en beau langage ce secours donnéà la révolte, la poésie la seconde à merveille. "" Dieux des champs, dieux amis de l'innocente paixNe craignez rien, Louis au lieu de vous détruireVeut sur des bords lointains étendre votre empire,Il veut qu'un peuple ami, trop longtemps opprimé,Recueille en paix le grain que ses mains ont seme. "-Tome I. livre v. pp. 164-165.39 Mercure de France, Fév. , 1780, p. 173. See, also, M. de78 AMERICA AND FRANCE.peated was its eulogy of Washington and frequent its allusion to the magic words liberty,and "the standard of liberty." 40 Americaninfluence on France was indeed largely aidedby the great power such words as " liberty,""constitutions," " rights, " had upon the Frenchimagination, for precisely these words were castthrough the length and breadth of the land bythe American Revolution, as commented anddiscussed in the press of Paris and of France.If the finely engraved portraits of Washington, Franklin, Gates, Hanco*ck, Putnam,Marshall, Trumbull, were purchased only bythe wealthy amateur,41 the general readingpublic purchased the American Almanacksnow for sale, 42 and consulted the Americanmaps that came from the presses of the capital in rapid succession, and listened withFrancefor Mars, Avril, Mai, 1780. Affiches, Annonces, Avisde Paris, 9 Fév. , 1780, pp. 23, 24; 12 Avril, 1780; 19 Sept.,1781.40 Courrier d'Avignon, 3 et 17 Oct., 1780; 15 Déc. 1780;25 Mai, 1781; 9 Oct., 1781 , " l'étendard de la liberté."41 Fornotices of these portraits see, among others, Gazettede France, 24 Août, 1781; 5 Mars, 1782 .42 For notices of American maps, see Gaz. de France, 6Fév. , 13 Mars, 10 Avril, 1781 , 7 Déc. , 1781 , 15 Juin, 1784.For notice of the Almanach Américain consult Journal de France, 27 Déc. , 1785. Compare, also, Tyler's Hist.of American Literature, ii . 122.THE ALLIANCE. 79interest to the anecdotes 43 on America thatnow became current."You cannot but approve the conduct ofthe Americans, and hope for the success oftheir arms." Such was the tenor of one(Cof the ephemeral productions of the day.They give all Europe an example sostriking that it will surely not remain unimitated. Peoples will know at last thatthey can shake off the yoke of a tyrant.I am still of the opinion that this insurrection will be productive of a great revolutionin the political system of the day, and thatthe result will be terrible for monarchicalpower.'" 4443 For anecdotes, see Anecdotes Américaines, Paris, 1777,Euvres de Chamfort ( ed. Bibl. Nat. , Paris) , i . p. 157. Mazzei, Recher, sur les Etats Unis ( 1788) , iii . partie pp. 23, 24.The anecdote told or reported by Chamfort is characteristic:" Un Américain ayant vu six Anglais séparés de leur troupeeût l'audace inconcevable de leur courir sus, d'en blesserdeux, de désarmer les autres et de les amener au GénéralWashington. Le général lui demanda comment il avaitpú faire pour le rendre maitre de six hommes. Aussitôtque je les ai vus, dit- il, j'ai courru sur eux, et je les ai environnés." For American anecdotes see also Journal deParis, 22 Août, 1787, and Randall's Jefferson, i . 366, note.44 Lettres hist. pol. critiq. de Metternich, under date of6 Juin, 1779. " On ne peut qu'approuver la conduite desAméricains & faire des voeux pour le succès de leurs armies.Ils donnent à l'Europe entière un exemple éclatant qui ne80 AMERICA AND FRANCE.While the poet Gilbert, in his poem onthe war, addressed, the Americans with wordsof cheer and sympathy:"Ovous, qu'ils opprimaient, fils des mêmes ancêtres,Racontez leurs erreurs, enhardissez nos coups,Colons républicains, par la victoire absousD'avoir banni d'injustes maîtres,Francais, par amitié depuis ce jourOù Vergennes, du monde assurant la balanceConsacra votre indépendanceEt défit l'Angleterre par un traité vainqueur! " 45Franklin in his correspondence exulted inthe popularity of his country's cause."The good will of all Europe, to our causeas being the cause of liberty, which is thecause of mankind, still continues, as does theuniversal wish to see the English pride humiliated, and their power curtailed. " 46The armaments of D'Estaing and of Rorestera surement pas sans imitateurs & les peuples saurontenfin qu'on peut secouer le joug d'un tyran. Je suis toujoursde l'opinion que cette insurrection operéra une grande révolution dans le système politique & qu'il en résultera dessuites funestes au pouvoir monarchique, " vol. iii . p. 33.45 Gilbert, Ode sur la Guerre Présente.46 Franklin's, Works (ed Sparks) , vol . viii . p. 403. Compare Beaumarchais, Vau de toutes les Nations et de toutesles puissances dans l'abaissem*nt et l'humiliation de laGrande Bretagne, Paris, 1778, in 8. Compare also hisEuvres (tome vi. p. 275, ) where he writes in 1779, " laissant à l'Amérique la liberté qu'elle a si bien gagnée. "THE ALLIANCE. 81chambeau had in the mean time borne forthe Western World. What were officersand men doing on those distant shores?What were their impressions of the country and its inhabitants? These questions naturally suggest themselves. It is not theprovince of the present writer to answer thefirst of these questions. It is a question thathas been often and well answered and the answer is known to any one who has read themost elementary history of the United States.The noble demeanor of Rochambeau, thechivalrous conduct of Lafayette, the gallantryof the officers and the good behavior of themen during this contest which culminated atYorktown have long since received their tribute of admiration and gratitude from theAmerican people. The second question, however--What did the French in America thinkof the Americans?-has never been fully answered. It is so immediately pertinent tothe subject in hand that it will now receivefull attention.Private and public letters, diaries and memoirs, the comments of the press and the gossip of the day afford us valuable aids to aknowledge of the opinions of the Frenchwhile they were on the American continent.82 AMERICA AND FRANCE.A soldier from Picardy writes to his uncle,a parish priest in France, in the most sympathetic terms about America and the Americans. "These Bostonians," said he, " arecapital people."47An officer in the Rochambeau army corpsin 1780 communicated his views on the alliesto the public prints, and said, " I found rectitude, honesty and hospitality existing amongthem. "49Lafayette sent home letters to his wife andhis friends that breathe at the same time hisdevotion to them and his ardor for liberty.There is a mingling of French gallantry andof cosmopolitan love of free institutions inthem that must strike even the most casualreader. His très cher coeur, as he calls hiswife, therein occupies the first place; but thecountry of his adoption assuredly occupiesthe second. He was, it is true, dissatisfiedat times with what he saw and heard. Thepresence of many a worthless Dugald Dalgetty in the American ranks greatly vexedhim. The hasty action of Sullivan, proclaim47 Courrier d'Avignon, 11 Déc. 1778, p. 397. " En verité,ces Bostoniens sont de bonnes gens. "48 Mercure de France, Oct. 1780, pp. 125, 126, 127."J'ai trouvé parmi eux de la droiture, de l'honnêteté et del'hospitalité. "THE ALLIANCE. 83ing that the French had abandoned theAmericans simply because they had notshown sufficient alacrity, hurt his sense ofpride and he demanded a public retractionof the calumny. These, however, were passing clouds. The general tenor of his letters,his diary, and his conversation amply proveshow high was his opinion of the Americans.His eulogy on Washington is well known."Had he been only a simple soldier he wouldhave been the bravest in his company; hadhe been nothing but a private citizen andunknown to fame, all his neighbors wouldhave respected him. In creating him expressly for this Revolution nature did herself honor."46Read him as he writes to Madame de Lafayette, " I will now, my darling, speak to youof the country and of its inhabitants. Theyare as amiable as my enthusiasm was ableto picture them. Simplicity of manners, thedesire to oblige, the love of country and ofliberty, and a delightful equality reign supreme here among all classes of the people."49 " Simple soldat, il eût été le plus brave; citoyenobscure, tous ses voisins l'eûssent respecté. En le créantexprès pour cette révolution la nature se fit honneur à ellemême. " Cited by Sainte- Beuve, Port. Litt. ii . p. 149.50 "Je vais à présent vous parler du pays, mon cher84 AMERICA AND FRANCE.•Mark his words as he writes to the Duked'Ayen of the cause under whose banner hehad enlisted as " this cause which I hold dearbecause it is just, because it honors humanity,because it interests my country." 51Lafayette entered upon the war with allthe ardor and faith of a crusader of thetwelfth century combined with the sentimentand culture of a gentleman of the eighteenth.This sympathy for the allies was not sharedby all the young officers who served underD'Estaing and Rochambeau. A notable exception was the Count de Fersen. He wasunenthusiastic; he was astonished that so foulan institution as slavery existed in America;he found the allies had not always behavedwell to the French and he praised Rochambeau for his skill in maintaining "that perfect harmony which has existed between twonations so different in their customs and language, nations which at bottom do not like eachcœur, et de ses habitans. Ils sont aussi aimables quemon enthousiasme avait pû se le figurer. La simplicitédes manières, le désir d'obliger, l'amour de la patrie et dela liberté, une douce égalité règnent ici parmi tout lemonde. "-Lafayette, Mém. et Corr. i. p. 93.51 "' La cause que je chéris parcequ'elle est juste, parcequ'elle honore l'humanité, parcequ'elle intéresse ma patrie. "Ibid, i. p. 132.THE ALLIANCE. 85other.52" If, as the Count de Fersen remarks,many of the French officers sighed for theirmistresses and the pleasures of Paris, therewere others who, like the Duke de BironLauzun, one of the greatest gallants of histime, left Newport not without regret andmuch emotion.53If Théodore de Lameth, who fought withdistinction in America, did not, as a contemporary remarked, share the " infatuation ofmany of his companions in arms for American institutions; 54 there was old Rochambeauwho admired the bold- thinking, simple, hospitable, decorous Americans whose government called to his soldier mind memories ofGreece and Rome.55The Count de Ségur and the Count Ma52 Comte de Fersen et la Cour de France, (Paris , 1878,Didot,) tome i. pp. 40, 41 , 63, 64. "Nos alliés ne se sont pastoujours bien conduits envers nous , " (p. 71); " cette parfaiteharmonie qui à regné entre deux nations si différentes parleurs manières et leur langage et qui, au fond, ne s'aimentpas " (p. 71) .((53 Mém. de Lauzun (ed. Lacour). 'Je quittai Newport;ce ne fût pas sans regrets et sans attendrissem*nt " (p. 375) .54 Biog. Gen. xxix. p. 203. " Il n'avait pas commebeaucoup de ses compagnes d'armes, dit M. Beugnot,rapporté de l'Amérique l'engouement pour les institutionsaméricaines."55 Mém. de Rochambeau, (Paris, 1809, ) vol . i . pp. 322,323, 324, 327, 328.86 AMERICA AND FRANCE.thieu Dumas shared the views of their commander. "The order and wise liberty whichcharacterized the young Republic whose happiness was so firmly established from its cradle," says Ségur, " were the constant topics ofmy frequent conversations with the Chevalierde Chastellux."56When the detailed story of the declarationof independence was on one occasion relatedto them, the young Frenchmen listened, saysDumas, with eager attention, and their zealfor American institutions was so warmly expressed that old Doctor Cooper of Bostonchecked them with these significant words:'Take care, take care, young men, lestthe triumph of the cause on this virgin soilshould too much kindle your hopes! Youwill carry away with you the germs of thesegenerous sentiments, but if ever you attemptto propagate them on your own soil after so((56 Mém. de Ségur, " Cet ordre, cette liberté, cette félicitéde la nouvelle république, si mure dès son berceau, étaitle sujet continuel de mes entretiens fréquents avec le Chevalier de Chastellux " (i. p. 402). Compare with this the wordsofthe Baron Cromot du Bourg in his Diary in 1781. "Theinhabitants (of Boston) live absolutely in the English manner; they seem to be excellent people and very affable. Iwas extremely well received . "-Mag. of Am. Hist. NewYork, (ed. Stevens, ) vol. iv. p. 209.THE ALLIANCE. 87many ages of corruption you will have to surmount far other obstacles. "57The Abbé Robin, a refined gentleman whocame over with the Rochambeau corps, waspleased to find that his countrymen, in spiteof some disputes, were generally beloved inAmerica; he was delighted with the purityand sobriety of the American farmer's household, and though, as a Catholic and a manof the world, he did not approve of the Puritanic observance of the Sabbath, he could notas a philosophic observer deny that the lawsof America and their administration affordedgreater freedom to the governed than wasenjoyed by the subjects of the Old World.5857 " Le docteur Cooper nous parlait un jour de la première déclaration d'indépendance; nous l'écoutions avidement;tout en applaudissant notre enthousiasme pour la liberté,Prenez garde, prenez garde, jeunes gens, nous dit il, quele triomphe de la cause sur cette terre vierge n'enflammepas trop vos espérances; vous porterez le germe de cesgénéreux sentiments, mais si vous tentez jamais de lesféconder sur votre terre natale, après tant de siècles decorruption, vous aurez à surmonter bien plus d'obstacles."Dumas, Souvenirs (Paris, 1839, ) vol. i . 108. For a glowingeulogy of Washington, see i . 53. For a flattering pictureof American institutions " les plus justes et les plus raisonnables que la sagesse humaine ait jamais dictées, " see i .p. 112 to p. 131 .58 Abbé Robin, Nouveau Voyage dans l'Amérique Septentrionale, Phila. , 1782, pp. 30-31 , 37, 43, 89. See, on theAbbé, Life and Corres. of President Reed, vol. ii . p . 306.888AMERICA AND FRANCE.The Marquis de Chastellux, in 1783, addressed a somewhat studied letter to Madison on American affairs.59 The unæstheticfeatures of the country, the rigid observanceof Sunday, the coldness and formality of themanners, the excessive independence shownby the children, the lack of external honorstowards men in official station,-all thesethings jarred upon this polished nobleman.He was not backward, on the other hand,in praising the religious freedom prevalentin America and the hardy energy of its people. He prophesied for the country a brilliant future, not only in the ways of commerce, but also in the paths of science and59 This letter is to be found in vol. ii . , between pages260 and 301 of the Voyages de M. le Marquis de Chastellux,1786. It is dated on board the frigate l'Emeraude, in Chesapeake Bay, 12 Jan., 1783."Que toutes les grandes villes de l'Amérique m'offrentles statues de Washington avec cette inscription: Pater,Liberator, Defensor Patria; que je voie aussi celles desHanco*ck & des Adams, avec ces deux mots seulement,Primi Proscripti; celles de Franklin avec le vers latinqu'on a placé en France au bas de son portrait . . . queléclat en rejaillirait sur l'Amérique! . . . Et vos maisonspubliques, vos curies, pourquoi n'offriraient elles pas enrelief et en peinture les combats de Bunker's Hill , de Saratoga, de Trenton, de Princeton, de Monmouth, de Cowpen, d'Eutaw Springs; ainsi vous perpétueriez la mémoirede ces actions glorieuses " (pp. 292-293) .THE ALLIANCE. 89•art. American sculptors and painters can nowhere, in his opinion, find fitter subjects fortheir burins and their brushes than in theirown country. "Let all the large cities present to my eyes statues of Washingtonwith this inscription: Pater, Liberator, Defensor Patria; let me behold also those ofHanco*ck and of the Adamses with only thesetwo words of inscription: Primi Proscripti;let there be statues of Franklin with theLatin verse that has in France been put atthe bottom of his portrait; let all these thingsbe done and what éclat will fall upon America?Why should not your public buildings, yourcuries offer to the eye in relief and on canvas the combat of Bunker Hill, of Saratoga, ofTrenton, of Princeton, of Monmouth, of Cowpens, of Eutaw Springs? Thus you will perpetuate the memories of these glorious deeds."Our conclusion is that the French officersin America, were more inclined to praisethan to blame their allies. What we admireand praise in others we generally desire forourselves. The French saw before their eyesa government that combined order with liberty. Young and enthusiastic heads, Lafayette, Ségur, Dumas, desired such a blessingfor themselves and their country.90 AMERICA AND FRANCE.Documentary evidence on the opinionsof the French officers in America is abundant; it is totally wanting in regard to theopinions of the French soldiers. What theythought can only be inferred. In spite ofdifferences of language, education, and hereditary customs between the French peasantsoldier and the American farmer soldier, theeffect of the contact, however slight, musthave been very telling upon the former. Forthe Frenchmen had eyes and saw that theAmerican was his superior in all things except in bravery, and there he was his allyand his equal. He knew, for instance, thata peasant at home tilled a small field withscanty gain; that he was obliged to pay a. part of his crop to his lord; that he had tohave his corn ground at his lord's mill. Hiseyes told him that the American farmer tilleda large field; that the harvest was abundantand that there was nothing to give to a lordsimply because no lord existed. Game laws,he heard it said, were very light in thisblessed land; at home he knew they weresevere and cruel. Military service, he noticed,was voluntary in America, men enlisted because they had at heart the cause for whichthey were fighting; he knew but too well that!THE ALLIANCE. 91at home his brother peasants were wont to fleeat the sound of the recruiting- officer's comingand had to be pursued into the forests at thepoint of the bayonet. The feeble intellect ofthe peasant soldiers did not catch the full spirit.of the institutions about them, but they musthave noticed, as they marched through Connecticut or Rhode Island or Massachusetts,that all classes entered the same meetinghouse, that the little children in the villageswent to the same school and that no manwoman or child did corvée duty. They mayhave been shocked at negro slavery in theSouth, but the black man probably seemedto them another sort of creature and theincongruity of the institution did not therefore strike them at all forcibly. We may besure that the soldiers of the French regimentsperceived that the table of the Americanfarmer was laden with food such as theirpeasant relatives in France never tasted, evenon the fifty holidays which their Church allowed them, and that in America field- handswere more liberally paid than they, men ofthe sword, had been for all their campaignsin Germany or the Netherlands. As theysaw this contrast, thoughts of bettering theircondition entered their dull brains. They did92 AMERICA AND FRANCE.not long to expatriate themselves, for theFrenchman is indissolubly bound to his native land, but they longed to have morebread, more meat, more comfort, lightertaxes at home for themselves and their kin.The American war was a school that openedthe minds of many of these peasants. Inconsequence they would, years after, the morereadily shake off allegiance to their king anddon the revolutionary co*ckade with greateralacrity and enthusiasm.Congress and the country appreciated theefforts of the gallant officers of France and ofthe humble, brave men who labored betterthan they knew.60 "I most heartily congratulate you on the success of our arms andthose of the French," thus John Hanco*ckwrote to Franklin, after Yorktown. " Ourobligations to the French nation are greatand I shall ever retain the highest regard andgratitude to them." Besides testimonials toLafayette and Rochambeau, Congress senta letter of acknowledgment and thanks toLouis XVI. , in the course of which it ren60 Mém. de Rochambeau, i. 314-315, Biog. Univ. art.Rochambeau. Mém de Ségur, i. 419.John Hanco*ck to B. Franklin, Boston, 28 Oct, 1781.Letter in the Delaware Historical Soc. Collection.THE ALLIANCE. 93dered homage to the worth of the Frenchofficers." It is with great pleasure that the UnitedStates continue to number some of yourMajesty's subjects amongst their most noble, spirited and faithful officers. It affordsthe world a striking example of the intimateconnection which subsists between the alliednations and at the same time serves to cementthe union which it manifests."6161 Secret Journals of Congress, Foreign Affairs, 1781-1786, pp. 51 , 52. Compare, on the feelings between the twoarmies, Mag. ofAm. Hist. vol. iii . p, 385; on the campaign ofYorktown, Mr. Stevens' able paper, Ibid. vol. v. p. 1, et seq.AFTER THE WAR. 95The King and the majority of his ministersad never liked the republicans; diplomatistselt hurt that the United States had seen fito conclude a separate treaty with Great Britin without their cognizance or consent; finantiers muttered about the expenses of the war;ultra-royalists pointed with exultation to thepapers that told them of the disorder, thebankruptcies, the loose government, the lowstate of commerce, the decrepit public faiththat marked the days of the Confederation,and even friends of America-Lafayette, Dr.Price and Mirabeau were unfavorably impressed by the state of American affairs immediately after the war.2Juillet, 1788.-Linguet Annales pol. civ. et litt. du XVIII.Siècle, 1783 pp. 342, et seq; 1784 vol. ii . p. 80, 1788, tomexiii . p. 41 and pp. 492-493. See, too , Randall's Jefferson,i . p. 442.2 The fears of Lafayette appear at times in his letters toWashington after the war, between 1783 and 1788, andDr. Price's views are expressed in a letter by him writtento a friend in Philadelphia . Of this letter the Mercure deFrance (Journal de Bruxelles) published a long extract,24 Dec. , 1785. The Doctor therein expresses the hope thatthe American Revolution may be the first step to a longand prosperous national career, marked by peace and virtue, and affording an excellent example to enlightened Europeans. Mirabeau, aided by Chamfort, in 1784 publisheda pamphlet entitled Considérations sur l'ordre de Cincinnatus, taking strong ground against the statutes of the96 AMERICA AND FRANCE.All these symptoms unfavorable to thecontinuance of the good feelings that hadexisted in France towards the United States,the coldness of the King and the Cabinet,((Cincinnati Society as they then stood. He objected to itas the germ of a system of hereditary nobility. " L'institu- tion de l'ordre des Cincinnati est la création d'un véritablepatriciat et d'une noblesse militaire qui ne tardera pas àdevenir une noblesse civile . " He proceeds to run a tiltagainst all nobility and exclaims as a peroration and in hisbest style: Vous avez aspiré au nom d'hommes libres,vous l'avez conquis; c'est le premier des titres; respectezle, faites le respecter. La base du gouvernement que vousavez fondé, c'est l'egalité; vous ne la détruirez pas, vousqui l'avez acheté de votre sang; vous n'oublierez pas quece peuple généreux n'a pas cessé de combattre avec vous.Héros de la liberté, vous n'en serez pas les ennemis! Libérateurs du Nouveau Monde, vous n'en serez pas les fléaux! "Vermorel, Mirabeau , tome ii . pp. 21 , 30. In the second partof the work, Mirabeau treats of Dr. Price's essay on theImportance of the American Revolution, and advises theAmericans to pay their debts which they contracted for the noblest of causes," sans emprunt, " without resortingto loans, and he strongly argued for freedom of trade.The Courrier d'Avignon, 6 and 20 Juillet, 1784, containsa letter from Philadelphia against the Cincinnati.Mémoires (dites) de Bachaumont under date of 29 Juillet,1784 , say: “ On sait que l'ordre militaire de Cincinnatusetabli chez les Etats Unis de l'Amérique n'est que l'ouvrage de la vanité de quelques particuliers et celle des officiersrançais qui ont été employés au service de la République.Les vrais citoyens regardent l'institution comme contraireetc. etc." Compare also Soulès, Hist. des Troubles de l'Amérique Anglaise, (tome iv. p. 269 et seq. ) , for a fierce attack.on the Cincinnati."C""TheCHAPTER III.AFTER THE WAR.THE war in America was virtually ended bythe surrender at Yorktown, though the treaties of peace were not signed until 1782 and1783. The new Republic had by this contest, at the price of blood and money, obtained its independence, and France, at thecost of four thousand four hundred millionsof francs, had aided the States and wipedout the disgraceful treaty of 1763. Nowthat the immediate interests between Franceand the United States were at rest and thateach party had obtained its object, it is natural to suppose that the relations between thetwo countries would be cold and formal. Several facts lend plausibility to this supposition.¹1 For indications of this unpopularity in official circles,see Franklin's Works, ix. pp. 452-458. Madison's Debatesand Corresp. vol. i . p. 518. For specimen bad reports fromthe United States, see Courrier d'Avignon, 30 Sept. , 1783;I Fév. , 1785; Mercure de France, 24 Déc. , 1785. Ode surla Paix by Courtial, note on p. 15; Gazette de France, 24AFTER THE WAR. 97the griefs of diplomatists, the hates of orthodox royalists and the apprehensions of friends,were overcome by the influence of that invisible power which, without an army, withouta treasury, without guards, began to dictateto the palace and to lay down the law to thecity. I mean Public Opinion. This powerhad pronounced itself in favor of the Americans at the opening of their contest withthe English, and now, at the close, it did notwithdraw from them either its attention orits enthusiastic support.The interest in American affairs, it is true,was not so general; but it became more intense. The enthusiasm felt for the Americanswas not so wild; it now began to form thebasis for admiration, and admiration was buta step to imitation.The return of officers and men from thewar and the conclusion of so advantageousa peace threw the nation into transports ofjoy. Enthusiasm for the monarch was mingled with enthusiasm for the Americans."The day when the American Confederation came forth triumphant from its struggleagainst British despotism is one of the mostbeautiful that ever shone upon men." Suchwere the thoughts of the historian Paganel,98 AMERICA AND FRANCE.then thirty-eight years old, and such werethe thoughts of many of his countrymen.³Volney, among the ruins of the East, reflected with pride upon the glorious positionnow occupied by his country and Lebrun commemorated the defeat of the English leopardand the establishment of American liberty inan epistle to his infant son:" Thy cradle sees our liliesSo glorious and calm ,Like peace which Mars has conqueredBy loud war's fierce alarm;For France has called her sons to arms,The leopard turns to flee,Europe beholds an era new,America is free."3 "Le jour où la confédération américaine sortit triom-"phante de sa lutte contre le despotisme britannique estun des plus beaux qui aient brillé sur la terre. " PaganelEssai Hist. et Crit. sur la Rév. française (Paris, 1815) ,tome ii . chap. xxvi . p. 101.4 Volney, Les Ruines, chap. ii . For a specimen of thismingled enthusiasm for the King and for America seeAnnée Littéraire, 1786, vol . iii . lettre viii . p. 187: " L'auteurtermine ce dialogue par un Eloge des nouveaux Etats del'Amérique and du sage Monarque qui les a rendus libres.Tout bon Français applaudira sans doute au sentimentqui a dicté ce morceau.'5 E. Lebrun, Epitre à monfils, né en 1783, Epitre v. ." Ton berceau voit nos lis et glorieux et calmes,Mars a conquis la paix, la France arme ses portsL'insolent leopard est chassé de nos bordsL'Europe vient de prendre un nouvel équilibreL'Océan rompt ses fers, et l'Amérique est libre."AFTER THE WAR. 99The strain of eulogy and rejoicing wascaught up by innumerable poetasters of thetime. Their rhymes, though without worth,considered simply as poetical compositions,have great value as historical documents.Most of them allude to America. Some content themselves with a word, " le fils d'Amérique, " while others indulge in a longer strain." Shall England, insolent, presumeWith force of arms these men t'enslaveThe hardy colonists who dwellOn shores beyond my farthest wave?""Such were the words with which one rhymster made the God of the Seas inveigh againstthe King of England."Few, however, devoted so much space tothe subject as the good ecclesiastic who sung:6 Bachaumont, Mémoires, vol. xxv. p. 138, année 1784.7 M. Courtial Ode sur la Paix et Tableau de la Guerrequ'elle termine. A Paris, 1783."Prétend il sur mes bords réduire à l'esclavageUn peuple de colons , pleins de ce fier courageQue la liberté donne à ses genéreux fils? "Here mention should be made of the beautiful medalstruck by the French government to commemorate the alliance and the victory. This is known as the LibertasAmericana medal. On one side is the head of Americawith her hair floating in the wind. On the other isPallas (France) defending the infant Hercules (America) ,from the fierce attacks of the English leopard. See Mease,Des. of Am. Medals, 3 Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll. iv. 307.100 AMERICA AND FRANCE.I."Let us sing as best we mayOf the joy and happiness,Which our youthful Bourbon HenryBrings to us this day to bless.II."Franklin is adored by all,He is Freedom's deputy:On his brow the glorious words,See them, ' Vive la liberté!'III."In the days of ancient Rome,When true greatness was revered ,Her citizens to Franklin wouldAn altar high have reared."He expressed but the general opinion whenhe said:"Before thee, Washington,The hero of the sword,The conqueror of England's pride,Behold all standards lowered! "88 Couplets sur la Paix de 1783, (Redeunt SaturniaRegna), par M. J. D. Bezassier, Chanoine Régulier de l'abbaye N. D. de Ham. en Picardie. à Noyon,MDCCLXXXIV.I."Chantons tous à l'enviLe bonheur infiniQue procure aujourd'huiNotre jeune Henri.AFTER THE WAR. 101The orators and prosaists were not behind.the poets and rhymsters. Theytoo mingled thepraise which they accorded their sovereign withadmiration for America. Hear the Abbé Racine. as in a discourse pronounced at . Toulouse, he brands tyrants with red- hot words,praises the glorious army which Washingtondirected with his " incredible wisdom," callsout, "Inhabitants of the New World, you arefree! " and in his peroration teaches thesenew citizens that liberties and rights bringwith them obligations and duties. Read theII."D'une voix unanimeFranklin est deputé.Sur son front on imprime'Vive la Liberté! 'Quel citoyen, quel cœur.Tout parle en sa faveur,Boston doit son bonheurA cet embassadeur.III."De l'ancienne RomeLes augustes mortelsAuraient à ce grand hommeErigé des autels.Devant toi, Washington ,Tout baisse pavillon ."9 Discours sur la Paix prononcé le 11 Jan. , 1784, par l'AbbéRacine à Toulouse, 1784, avec Permission, (pp. 15 , 17, 74) .102 AMERICA AND FRANCE.brilliant Rivarol 10 as in his famous "Discourseon the Universality of the French Language "he alludes to the great events that had transpired and that still engaged public attention:"This war has afforded Europe a great spectacle. The nations saw how a people, led byEngland into slavery, has by a young monarch been conducted back to freedom. Theannals of America may henceforth be dividedinto three epochs, butchered by Spain, oppressed by England and saved by France."Such were the sentiments of poet and prosaistat the close of the war.France, though glorious abroad, was, before and immediately after the peace of1783 , harassed by troubles at home thatwere big with the gravest portents. Neckerhad aroused the hostility ofthe privilegedclasses by publishing a report on the financesof the kingdom, and by favoring provincialassemblies. The "compte rendu" was thefirst of its kind, and made the courtiers and10 "Cette guerre a donné à l'Europe un grand spectacle.Ony a vu un peuple libre conduit par l'Angleterre à l'esclavage et ramené par un jeune monarque à la liberté. L'histoire de l'Amérique se réduit désormais a trois époques,égorgée par l'Espagne, opprimée par l'Angleterre et sauvéepar la France. "-Euvres de Rivarol, (1808), vol. ii . pp.67, 68.AFTER THE WAR. 103་farmers of the taxes very fierce against theminister, while his plans on local representative bodies did not meet with favor from theconservative parliaments. With so formidable an opposition to thwart him, Neckerwas impotent, and he accordingly resignedin 1781. Joly de Fleury and d'Ormesson,who succeeded him, showed themselves sosignally incapable of wrestling with the financial questions of the day, rendered stillmore complicated by the American war, thatthe King, on the strong recommendation ofMarie Antoinette, soon called to the portfolio of the Treasury the elegant and wittyM. de Calonne, formerly an intendant atLille and now high in the good graces ofher Majesty. This gentleman, who was oneof the most luxurious viveurs of the capital,and who by his nature preferred to writegallant love epistles to court beauties ratherthan draw up exact financial statements forthe people, strove to introduce into the administration of the public treasure the sameprinciples which he practiced in private life.Basing his conduct upon the maxim of LaRochefoucauld, that in order to succeed inthe world we must appear to have succeeded,he made all France believe that the Treas-104 AMERICA AND FRANCE.ury was full, in order to obtain great credit,contract enormous loans, and make peopleignore that the Treasury was empty. TheKing, the financiers, and the people weredupes to Calonne's ingenious system for fouryears. At the end of that period, the shining bubble of illusion burst. There wereeight hundred millions of francs to pay.The aristocratic parliaments muttered; thecitizens of Paris, ever tempest-tost, like thevessels on their municipal escutcheon, became still more turbulent, and the peasantwas hungry and inclined to revolt. A strongconviction swept through all classes that tomeet the growing demands of the time theentire governmental machinery must needsundergo a radical change. This general feeling was strengthened by words launched inpamphlets and in conversation, by epigramsand speeches, by all the organs of intellectualactivity. In spite of the restraints put by lawupon the free expression of opinions, theseopinions would crop out, and their numberand kind justified the answer of the Dukede Richelieu to the King's question, " Whatdifference, Monsieur le Maréchal, do you remark between the three different reigns underwhich you have lived?" Sire, under LouisAFTER THE WAR. 105XIV. people did not dare utter a word; underLouis XV. they spake low; under the reignof your Majesty they shout aloud! " Theliving example of the Republic of the UnitedStates, the words of her statesmen and herfriends, and the discussion of her institutionscontributed in no slight degree to renderthe already great ferment in France moreintense, more radical and more fraught withdanger to constituted authority.The American State Constitutions had indeed been published in France prior to 1783,but surreptitiously and without governmentsanction.12 In that year, however, there appeared an authentic edition of these documents under the supervision of Franklin andwith the permission of the King's censor.They created a great sensation. People nowwere no longer obliged to consult the American envoys on minor points of the state government, as Mably and La Rochefoucauld,Marbois and Count Moustier, among others, had previously done.13 They could now11 Dampmartin, La France sous ses Rois (Paris et Lyon,1810), tome v. p. 200.12 Constitutions des treize Etats- Unis de l'Amérique, àPhiladelphie et se trouve à Paris, 1783 in 8 (540 pp. )13 Arthur Lee's Life and Letters, ii . 373. See Diary inAdams' Works, iii . 222, 354. Ibid, vol . iii . p. 352. Diary,106 AMERICA AND FRANCE.((read, and read they did, and their opinionon closing the volume was, that the UnitedStates came nearer to what can be wishedto form good government than any otherstate before." These had been the wordsof Count Moustier anterior to the publication of this edition of the Constitutions.They are very much admired by the politicians here. " 14 These were the words ofFranklin, after their publication. SamuelRomilly, the eminent English barrister, thenon a visit in France, called on the envoy ofthe United States, and notes the fact in hisinteresting memoirs. "The American Constitutions were then very recently published.I remember his reading us some passagesout of them and expressing surprise thatthe French government had permitted thepublication of them in France. They certainly produced a very great sensation atParis, the effects of which were probablyfelt many years afterwards." 151782. "The Duc de la Rochefoucauld made me a visit today, and desired me to explain to him some passages in theConnecticut Constitution which were obscure to him, whichI did. "14 Franklin's Works (ed. Sparks), vol . ix. p. 543, also vol.x. p. 39.15 Memoirs of Sir Samuel Romilly (London, 1842) , vol. i.p. 50.AFTER THE WAR. 107The comments on these American statepapers were not confined to private conversations; they received due attention from thepress. The " Courrier d'Avignon " devotedseveral numbers to a consideration of theConstitutions and was loud in its eulogy ofthe religious toleration and wise liberty whichthey sanctioned and encouraged. The " Gazette de France," the mirror of court opinion,was faint in its praise, but the "Afficheswas decidedly outspoken, for it declared theframers of the Constitutions had "profoundviews, much wisdom and foresight, and a loveof justice equaled only by their desire forindependence." 16""" This will prove interesting reading, " saidthe influential and widely-read "Journal deParis," ""to the politician, the philosopherand humanity. It is a code dictated to new16 Courrier d'Avignon, 27 and 30 Janvier, 3 and 6 Février, 1784; Gazette de France, 12 Août, 1783. Affiches,Annonces, Avis de Paris, 27 Août 1783, p. 139: " Des vuesprofondes, beaucoup de sagesse & de prévoyance, autantd'amour pour la justice que de l'enthousiasme pour la liberté. " Journal de Paris, 24 Août, 1783: " C'est une lecturefaite pour intéresser la Politique, la Philosophie et l'Humanité, que celle du code, dicté à des Etats nouveaux par un raison éclairé qui assure la liberté et la vertu des citoyens enles liant à un gouvernement qu'ils aiment autant qu'ils lerespectent. "108 AMERICA AND FRANCE.states by enlightened reason which insuresthe liberty and virtue of the citizens in binding them to a government which they loveand respect. "But the most flattering and the most surprising review of the American Constitutionswas that contained in the " Année Littéraire," 17 directed by the critic Geoffroy. After stating that the French take interest inthe production in question because they hadaided in establishing American independence,and after boldly printing "that it is in thepeople that all power originally resides , " "itis from the people that all power emanates, "the conservative periodical proceeds to utterthe following forcible words: " Those are assertions, sir, to which you are not at all accustomed and which will seem very bold to you.You are far from pretending to the right ofmaking your governor give you an account17 Ce sont là, Monsieur, des assertions auxquelles vousn'êtes point accoutumé et qui vous paraitront bien hardies;vous êtes loin de prétendre avoir le droit de faire rendrecompte à celui qui vous gouverne, mais il y a des pays oùles opinions forment la doctrine nationale. La première(partie) contient la déclaration des droits des habitans de laRépublique de Massachusetts. Ces droits sont la liberté,l'egalité, la pleine jouissance de ses propriétés, de rendreà Dieu le culte qu'on juge à propos suivant la conscience, "etc., etc.-L'Année Littéraire, 1783, vol. vii. p. 119, et seq.AFTER THE WAR. 109of his government, but there are countrieswhere opinions form the national doctrine ...The first part (of the publication) containsthe declaration of the rights of the citizensof Massachusetts. These rights are liberty,equality, the full enjoyment of one's property,the rendering to God the worship dictated byconscience."The effect of such words on the intelligent reader of a country where there wasno civil liberty, no legal equality, a partial property legislation, no religious toleration must have been most telling . It musthave aroused in him bitter and revolutionary thoughts against the powers and institutions that then existed in France.18The average Frenchman did not reflectvery deeply upon the principles that underlay the structure of these Constitutions. Hereflected some, but he felt more; his feelings""18 These bold words apropos of the American Constitutions appeared a year before the first public representationof Beaumarchais' Mariage de Figaro, in which the wittyplay- writer gave so amusing a picture of the liberty of thepress as then tolerated . Pourvu que je ne parle, en mesécrits, ni de l'autorité, ni du culte, ni de la politique, ni de lamorale, ni des gens en place, ni des corps en crédit, ni del'Opéra, ni des autres spectacles, ni de personne qui tient àquelque chose, je puis tout imprimer librement, sous l'inspection de deux au trois censeurs, " (act v. sc. 3) .110 AMERICA AND FRANCE.led him to applaud that distant confederateRepublic, his imagination clothed it in thecolors of perfection and his discontent with hisown country's government drew him insensibly to hold up the American Republic as apolitical ideal, or as the nearest approach toa political ideal already existing in his mind.The lives of some young men at the periodsucceeding the war and the general spiritof the periodical press bear us out in this assumption. What were the acts and thoughtsand aspirations, for instance, of Barbaroux,Benjamin Constant and Albert Gallatin, allthree young men, at the time when the soldiers of D'Estaing and Rochambeau returnedhome victorious from the American campaign?Albert Gallatin, a Swiss by birth, but aFrenchman by education, had, in companywith a friend, suddenly left home and countryand come to America.19 The reasons of thisemigration, are given by one of the relatives19 Henry Adams, Life of Albert Gallatin (Phila. , 1879) ," Deux jeunes gens de ce pays, nommés Gallatin et Serres,n'étant pas contents de leur fortune qui est effectivementmédiocre et s'étant échauffé l'imagination du désir de s'enfaire une eux mêmes, aidés d'un peu d'enthousiasme pourles Américains, prennent le parti de passer en Amérique "(pp. 24, 25).AFTER THE WAR. 111of the young man in a letter to a memberof Congress: " Not content with their fortune,which is indeed mediocre, and excited bytheir imagination to create one for themselves, and pushed on by some enthusiasmfor the Americans, they have taken the resolution of crossing over to America."Benjamin Constant de Rebecque, a Frenchman of noble family and varied education, haddemocratic longings even before the rising ofthe floods of democracy in 1789. " At nineteen," says Sainte- Beuve,20 "he dreamt of theAmerican Republic and I know not what golden age of purity and equality across the sea,while in the mean time he ruined himself inevery respect at Paris."Barbaroux came to the capital from hisnative Marseilles in his twentieth year. Hedevoted himself to serious studies. Thesciences, law, philosophy, literature charmedand formed his Southern nature, when suddenly his noble aspirations were inflamed bya new object. "The American war had just20 Sainte- Beuve, Derniers Portraits, article entitled " Benjamin Constant et Mme. de Charrière, " p. 253. " Mêmeavant 89 il est démocrate, il rêve à dix neuf ans la république américaine et je ne sais quel age d'or de pureté etd'egalité au delà des mers, tandis qu'en attendant il se ruinede toute façon à Paris. "112 AMERICA AND FRANCE.come to an end and the first of modernRepublics had been acknowledged by kings.She had owed her alliance with France tothe love of liberty which the writings of thephilosophers of the century had caused togerminate in every heart. The triumph ofher cause gave still greater exaltation to thissentiment. " 21 Here, then, were three youngmen, typical of their kind, and all three wereinfluenced by America. The young adventurer, Gallatin, was led to cross the seas byhope of gain and by enthusiasm; the youngnoble, Constant, at times turned to America amid his wild pleasures, as to an idealrealm. And the young student, Barbaroux,destined to be one of the leaders of theFrench Revolution, was cheered on andelated by the example of the new- born trans21 Mém. de Barbaroux, (Paris , 1822) , " Jusqu'alors Barbaroux s'était occupé des sciences, de la législation commerciale et de la littérature. Un nouvel aliment vint, àcette époque s'offrir à son enthousiasme. La guerred'Amérique venait de finir et la première des républiquesmodernes était reconnue par les rois. Elle avait dûe l'alliance de la France à l'amour de la liberté que les écrits desphilosophes avaient fait germer dans tous les cœurs. Sontriomphe donna plus d'exaltation à ce sentiment " (p . v. ) , compare Barbaroux's juvenile poem on p. 265 of the Mém. inédde Pétion et Mém. de Buzot et de Barbaroux ed. C. A.Dauban, Paris, 1866.AFTER THE WAR. 113atlantic Republic. Neither the splendid political history of Great Britain, nor the hardypatriotism of the Netherlands, nor the stoicalindependence of Switzerland -three stateswhich then enjoyed more political freedomthan France called forth from the publicprints such eulogistic comments as did theAmerican Confederation, and for none ofthem did the French show so much truesympathy. The reasons of this are two.First, the American States in their government approached more nearly to the French.ideal of political perfection than did eitherGreat Britain, the Netherlands or the SwissConfederation. Secondly, France felt a lovefor the young Republic because it had beenby her aid that independence had beenachieved. Never was there greater spectacle in the world," said the " Journal de Paris,""nor grander subject for the historian's penthan the revolution of North America. TheAmericans fought in their homes and forliberty."22CC"The new academy established at Boston, "22 Journal de Paris, 21 Mars, 1786, " Jamais il s'estoffert de plus grand spectacle au monde ni de plus grandsujet à la plume de l'Historien, que la Révolution del'Amérique Septentrional. Les Américains combattaient surleurs foyers and pour la liberté," pp. 321 and 322.114 AMERICA AND FRANCE.said the " Journal des Sçavans whose constitutions we have announced, already publishes a volume of memoirs which testifies toan activity in the sciences well worthy of reflecting honor upon the new Republic of theUnited States."23"All the French papers, with the exceptionperhaps of the official Gazette de France,"reproduced Lafayette's spirited address toCongress and the words, " May this Revolution serve as a lesson to oppressors and as anexample to the oppressed! " Few, however,contained such enthusiastic lines as these inthe Mercure de France ": "((Among whatpeople, ancient or modern, has History produced more virtues, more reason, more capacity than were shown by the Americans during the war by them waged against theirmother country? Theirs was courage withoutfanaticism and constancy in the face of dangers and reverses. The acts of the American Congress, those of the General Assem23 Journal de Sçavans, Jan. , 1787, p. 38: " La nouvelleAcadémie établie à Boston & dont nous avons annoncé lesconstitutions publie déjà un volume de Mémoires qui annonce une activité dans les Sciences bien digne de fairehonneur à la nouvelle République des Etats Unis."24 Biog. Gén., tome xxviii. p. 709.AFTER THE WAR. 115blies of the different States seem to be thehandiwork of wisdom itself. " 25.While sympathy and admiration for America thus caused the periodicals to assume abolder tone and to launch forth with greaterassurance and greater frequency the words."constitutions," " rights," " liberties " -explosive, dangerous words these, in the denseatmosphere of despotism-the American warhad changed the purely social character oftheclubs introduced into France from England,and had given them a decided political tone.It did more. It gave rise to a special literature on America, books of travel, of history,of speculative philosophy, a literature so extensive, varied, and influential that it meritsand shall have our careful consideration.2625 Mercure de France, 5 Août, 1786: "Chez quels peuples anciens ou modernes, l'Histoire offre- t - elle plus devertus , de raison, de capacité que les Américains n'en ontfait voir durant la guerre qu'ils ont soutenue contre leurmère contrée? Courage sans fanatisme , constance au milieu de dangers et de revers, " etc., etc. (p. 37) . 'Les Actes duCongrès Américain, ceux des Assemblées générales des différents Etats Unis semblent l'œuvre de la sagesse même"(p. 38)."""26 Décembre- Allonier, Dict. de la Rév. française, tomei . p. 503, art. Clubs: Le duc d' Orléans institua au PalaisRoyal, en 1785, le club de Boston, ou des Américains qui116 AMERICA AND FRANCE.This mass of writings, pamphlets, folios , octavos, duodecimos, was called for by the public interest, curiosity, sympathy, and enthusiThere was a strong demand and therecame a correspondingly strong supply.27asm.empruntait tout son intérêt à la guerre de l'indépendanceaméricaine. ""C'était surtout depuis la guerre d'Amérique que desclubs s'étaient formés à Paris; leur caractère d'abordpurement philosophique et littéraire, devint insensiblement politique par suite de la tendance imprimée à l'espritpublic.'-Mem. de Bailly (Paris, 1821 ) , p. 10, note oftheeditors , MM. Berville and Barrière.27 That this literature was really the legitimate supply ofan existing demand, see the Preface of the publisher of the"Voyages " of M. de Chastellux (ed. 1786, vol. i . p. 6) , wheremention is made of " la curiosité qu'inspirait alors tout cequi avait rapport à l'Amérique. " See the remark of thetranslator of the Histoire de l'Administration de LordNorth et de la Guerre de l'Amérique," who says, in 1784," Un livre imprimé à Londres & intitulé, A view oftheHistory of Great Britain during the Administration ofLord North, etc. , m'étant parvenu je l'ai traduit, afin desatisfaire l'empressem*nt de mes Compatriotes pour tout ceque peut les éclairer sur les évènemens de la guerre d'Amérique, guerre qui formera une époque dans les annales dumonde." See, also, Affiches, Annonces, Avis divers deParis, 17 Déc. , 1778, p. 198; Journal de Paris, 17 Jan.,1788; Mazzei et Condorcet, Recherches Hist. et Pol. surles Etats Unis, 1788, introduction , p. vii: La révolutionde l'Amérique ayant fixé l'attention de l'Europe, plusiersEcrivains se sont empressés de traiter un sujet si intéressant." Compare the remarks of Mercure de France (23Fév. , 1788, p. 149): " Depuis l'instant où les premiers regards de l'Europe se sont tournés sur l'Amérique Septen-AFTER THE WAR. 117We have seen that as early as 1778 Turgot had carefully examined the American Constitutions, and communicated his views uponthem.to Dr. Price. The great French statesman was, as we have read, no admirer of themajority of these public acts; on the contrary,he pronounced himself strongly against them,and desired to propose better and wiser lawsto the rising nation. We may question hispractical wisdom, but we cannot refuse himpure intentions. Turgot had many followers.France then abounded with men who, in thegloom of their libraries, framed constitutionsand built up states with almost the same zestand ease that little children build card houses.They now set resolutely to work at trying todraft fundamental laws for America, and theynot only drafted them; they also communicated them to Franklin.his"It is amazing, " said the old diplomate inPrivate Journal," for 1784; "it is amazing the number of legislators that kindlytrionale une foule d'Ecrivains s'est efforcée de développerles causes et les circonstances de la Révolution, " with theremarks of the Journal Général de France (6 Mai , 1788):"Ces ouvrages ont été accueillis avec une espèce de fureur.On a ajouté une foi aveugle à tout ce qu'ils contenaientparceque l'enthousiasme qui ne raisonne pas s'était emparéde tous les esprits. "118 AMERICA AND FRANCE.bring me plans for governing the UnitedStates." 28Prominent amongthese modern Solons wereRaynal and Mably, two authors whose variousworks enjoyed, in their time, an almost universal reputation.Raynal, a man of great and varied erudition, but of little common sense and scantjudgment, in 1780, published a new edition ofhis " Histoire Philosophique des Deux Indes,"and seized the occasion to dwell upon theAmerican States, now with praise, now withblame, always superficially and with but littleknowledge of the geography, the history, thelaws, or the customs of the North Americans. Raynal was not an historian, but arhetorician; he labored to produce effect ratherthan to instruct. In his " Histoire Philosophique des Deux Indes," he alluded to theAmericans incidentally; in his " Tableau etRévolutions des Colonies Anglaises ," published in 1781 , he devoted himself speciallyto the States in arms against their mothercountry, but he evinced neither greater accuracy nor a more philosophic spirit than inhis first effort. He even called forth a spirited28 Sparks' Life of Franklin, i. p. 585, Appendix.AFTER THE WAR. 119rejoinder from the pen of Thomas Paine.29The work of Raynal on America, in spite ofall its errors, was, on the whole, favorable tothe new country. Strong royalist as he was,the Frenchman could not withhold his admiration from that hand-full of men fighting thegreatest colonial Empire of the world. Headmired the American doctrines too, in ameasure, artistically, theoretically, but he toldMalouet one day that he feared them if theycrossed the boundaries of France.30The " Année Littéraire, " among others, reviewed Raynal's work and Paine's reply inits columns, saying, " It is a spectacle at thesame time so touching and so majestic to seea great People rise with order and withoutconfusion against the enterprises of arbitraryauthority, discuss its rights, and defend itsnatural prerogatives with boldness, break- itsyoke finally and give itself wise and moderatelaws, such as the Lycurguses and Solons formerly gave to less enlightened peoples; it is sonovel a sight to witness reason and wisdom }29 See Remarque sur les Erreurs de l'hist. phil. et pol. deM. G. T. Raynal par rapport aux affaires de l'Am. Sept.trad. de l'Anglais et augmenté d'une préface et de quelquesnotes par A. M. Cerisier, Amsterdam, 1783 in 8°.30 Mém. de Malouet, i . p. 233.120 AMERICA AND FRANCE.presiding at these bloody scenes, that the leastdetails regarding this admirable Revolutioncannot fail to interest our readers." 31If Raynal in his work had royalistic tendencies, Mably in his " Observations sur les Loixdes Etats Unis," published in 1784, cherishedUtopian dreams. He was a severe, moroseman, this Mably, a disciple of Rousseau, whohated equally the monarchies and the republics of his time. His ideals were Greece andRome, not the Rome of the Emperors, butthe Rome of Numa, not Greece of the day'sof Pericles, but Greece in the time of Solon.He did not favor the fine arts, commerce,literature, and he strongly counseled theAmericans to shun these pursuits, and todevote themselves to agriculture . This fantastic product of a dreamer's brain, thanks31 Année Litt. , 1783, vol. ii . , lettre iv. pp. 56 and 57:" C'est un spectacle à la fois si touchant et si majestueuxque celui d'un Peuple immense, qui se leve avec ordre etsans confusion contre les enterprises de l'autorité arbitraire;qui discute ses droits et defend sa prérogative naturelle avecintrépidité; & qui brise enfin le joug que pour se donnerensuite des lois sages et moderées, telles qu'en dictaientautre fois à des Peuples, moins eclairés les Lycurges et lesSolon; c'est une chose si nouvelle que de voir la raison etla sagesse présider à ces scènes sanglantes que les moindresdetails relatifs a cette admirable révolution ne peuventmanquer d'être intéressants pour les Lecteurs. "AFTER THE WAR. 121to the prevalence of the doctrines of Rousseau, found many admirers in France, andsince the United States were not so wiseas to follow the philosopher's plan, some ofMably's disciples lost all hope in so prosaicand plodding a government. The mass ofreaders, however, were little influenced bythe works of Raynal and Mably on American institutions.32 They read the notices ofthem in the periodicals, culled anecdotes fromthem, and talked about them, but they preferred books of travels and history which described in sympathetic terms, men, laws andcustoms in the new Republic. The treatisesof Raynal and Mably never had the voguethat the works of Crèvecœur, Chastellux, Jefferson, Brissot de Warville enjoyed. The former were critical and analytic; the latter weremore sympathetic and descriptive. Therein.lay their greater popularity.· Hector Saint John de Crèvecoeur published,in 1784, his " Lettres d'un Cultivateur Américain," and such was the success of the workthat it went through a second edition in 1787increased in volume and enriched by notes fromthe pen ofthe scholarly Lacretelle. The popu32 Année Littéraire, 1784, lettre xiv. p. 290, reviewedMably's work and differed with him on many points.122 AMERICA AND FRANCE.lar demand for the "Lettres" was owing to theprevailing curiosity about America, for from aliterary point of view they were poor in styleand inflated by an exaggerated enthusiasm.33"Come among us, European traveler," exclaims the Norman farmer transplanted onAmerican soil. "Here you will repose yourself in the shade of our orchards, you will goand meditate in the solitude of our forests ,here you will rejoice in our fields in conversation with our diligent husbandmen. You willsee the earth, the mountains and the marshesas they have come from the hand of nature."This is vague and irrelevant, but here arelines that must have roused the reader andcaused him to ponder. "This is our grain,"exclaims an emigrant as he surveys his fieldwith its waving corn, " this is the product ofthe American soil which we have bought andtilled. The surplus we will convert into gold,into silver, without being obliged to paydixmes and onerous and arbitrary taxes." 3433 "Viens parmi nous, voyageur Européen! ici tu tereposeras à l'ombre de nos vergers, tu iras méditer dansla solitude de nos forêts; ici tu te réjouiras dans nos champsen conversant avec nos Laboureurs intelligens; tu observeras la terre, les montagnes, et les marais tels qu'ils sontsortis des mains de la nature, " tome i. seconde lettre, p. 45.3: " Ceci est notre grain, c'est le produit du sol américainAFTER THE WAR. 123The work was extensively noticed in thepublic prints and went far in attaining itsobject which was, according to the Baron deGrimm, to make men love America.35The Marquis de Chastellux, a friend ofVoltaire, ofthe Encyclopædists and of Lafayette, and a Major- General in the Americanwar, published his impressions of the alliesand their country in his " Voyages dans l'Amérique Septentrionale, " in 1786. The styleis elegant and flowing; the information givengenerally accurate, and the author's opinionsof the Americans highly favorable . The Parisian, accustomed to the drawing- rooms ofthebest- mannered of nations, could not but findthe society of Philadelphia somewhat stiffand provincial; the man of the world andthe skeptic could little sympathize with theFriends and the Presbyterian ministers; theque nous avons acheté and que nous avons labouré; nousen convertirons l'excédent en or, en argent, sans avoir àpayer des dixmes, des taxes onereuses et arbitraires, " tomei. p. 84.35 Grimm, Correspondance, tome xiv. Jan. 1785 , p . 119:" De faire aimer l'Amérique. " For reviews of the " Lettresd'un Cultivateur Américain," which, by the way, were dedicated to Lafayette, see Mercure de France, Jan, 29, 1785;Année Litt. vol . ii . lettre v. 1785; Journal de Paris, Août17, 1787; Journal de France, 12 Mai, 1787; also Journade Paris, 9 Jan. , 10 Fév. , 1785.124 AMERICA AND FRANCE.subject of an old monarchy could not but attimes be nonplused by certain features ofthe American Constitutions. Notwithstanding these details, Chastellux, the traveler, wasinclined to eulogize rather than to detract. Headmired the hardy character of the Americansof the North, the energy and rapid growth ofso young a nation, the domestic qualities oftheAmerican woman, the excellent discipline inthe American army.36 He passed throughand described most of the cities of the States.In the course of his travels he met some ofthe prominent men to whom in his book hedevotes a line or a page.He called on Thomas Paine at Philadelphia; talked politics with Samuel Adams;acknowledged the talents of Alexander Hamilton; conversed with Madison on the future development of American institutions ,and enjoyed the hospitality of Jefferson atMonticello.37Like most of the French officers in America, he had a profound respect for the noblecharacter of Washington, and in his work hedevoted to him four pages of academic eu36 Voyages de Chastellux, vol . i . pp. 6, 44, 48, 57, 103,104, 105, 122, 225, 258.37 Voyages de Chastellux, i. 225, 258, ii. 34.AFTER THE WAR. 125logy. The American commander- in- chief appeared to him a classic hero worthy of thestylus of Plutarch.38 While thus discussingmen and things in the new world, the philosophic Frenchman occasionally suffers a hintto fall that must have opened the eyes ofsome of his readers. Any man, " said he,for instance, " any man who has been ableto get together a fund of six or seven hundred livres of our money and who feels thathe has the strength and the will to work, cango into the woods and buy a patch of, say, onehundred and fifty to two hundred acres of landthat will not cost him more than one dollar orfive francs the acre, and he will be obliged topay only a small part of this sum in cash. "393s "L'Amérique Septentrionale , depuis Boston jusqu'aCharlestown, est un grand livre où chaque page offreson éloge. Brave sans témérité, laborieux sans ambition,généreux sans prodigalité, noble sans orgueil, vertueux sanssévérité, il semble toujours s'être arrêté en deça de cettelimite où les vertus, en se revêtant de couleurs plus vivesmais plus changeantes, & plus douteuses, peuvent êtreprises pour des défauts, " i . pp. 120, 121 , et seq.For some proofs of Washington's popularity in France,after the war, see Mémoires (dites) de Bachaumont, 1787,tome xxxvi. p. 396, Journal de Paris, 1786, Dec. 16.Marmontel asked by Lafayette for an inscription to beplaced under Washington's bust, suggested the words in thenoble Horatian ode-" Te belluosus qui remotis, " etc. (Lib.iv. Od. xiv. ) Grimm, Corresp. Littér, tome xv. p. 213.39 Voyage de Chastellux, i . p. 39: " Tout homme qui a126 AMERICA AND FRANCE.Chastellux was not the first and not the lastman to notice the advantages enjoyed by theAmerican farmer, and his superiority to theFrench peasant.Guibert, traveling through France in 1784.and coming upon the town of Bouillon in adecayed and abandoned condition, reflectedhow in North America everything tends togive a new settler, who is received within thestate, an interest in the government and inthe soil.40 And Chamfort 41 contemplating thepu se procurer un fond de 6 ou 700 livres de notre monnaie& qui sent la force & la volonté de travailler, peut allerdans les bois & y acheter une portion de terre, communément de 150 à 200 acres, qui ne lui revient guère qu'a undollard ou 100 sous l'acre & dont il ne paye qu'une petitepartie en argent comptant. "40 Voyages de Guibert dans diverses parties de la Franceet en Suisse, 1775, 1784, 1785 ( Paris, 1806) . Under date of1784 we find, " Dans l'Amérique Septentrionale tout tend àdonner au nouvel habitant qu'elle reçoit dans son sein unintérêt et une propriété, " p. 134.41 Chamfort, Maximes et Pensées in Euvres, tome ii . p.102. "Un citoyen de Virginie, possesseur de cinquante.acres de terres fertiles, paye quarante deux sous de notremonnaie pour jouir en paix, sous des lois justes et douces,de la protection du gouvernement, de la sûreté de sa personne et sa propriété, de la liberté civile et religieuse, dudroit de voter aux élections , d'être membre du congrès etpar conséquent législateur, etc. Tel paysan français, del'Auvergne ou du Limousin, est écrasé de tailles, de vingtièmes, de corvées de toute espèce, pour être insulté parcaprice d'un subdélégué, emprisonné arbitrairement, etc.,leAFTER THE WAR. 127misery and degradation of the peasants of histime, wrote: " A citizen of Virginia, proprietor of fifty acres of fertile land, pays fortytwo sous of our money to enjoy in peace,under just and gentle laws, the protection of the government, security of person,and of property, civil and religious liberty,the right to vote at elections, and to bemember of Congress, consequently legislator.Take any French peasant from Auvergne orLimousin, however, and you will find that heis crushed by the taille taxes, by the vingtièmes, by the corvées of every descriptionand kind, and for what? To be maltreatedby some sub-functionary, to be arbitrarily imprisoned, and to bequeath to a plunderedfamily this heritage of misfortune and abasem*nt. North America is the spot on earthwhere the rights of man are best known."The work of the Marquis de Chastelluxreceived general attention from the leadingperiodicals of the day,42 and also evoked aspecial controversial reply from the afterwardset transmettre à une famille dépouillée cet héritage d'infortune et d'avilissem*nt. "42 For notices of Chastellux's work, see among others,Mercure de France, Juillet, 1786; Journal de France, 2Déc. , 1786. For this controversy see Morellet, Mémoires,chap. xvi. p. 322.128 AMERICA AND FRANCE.famous Brissot de Warville. This was in1786. A year after, Brissot, in collaborationwith the later noted Clavière, published atreatise entitled, " De la France et des EtatsUnis, " in which they both showed themselvesstaunch, intelligent admirers of American institutions, and intent on furthering the commercial relations between France and America.Meanwhile Franklin, after an absence fromhis country of almost a decade, had desiredto be recalled and in his stead Thomas Jefferson was appointed Minister of the UnitedStates at the court of Versailles.The Virginian, like the Pennsylvanian, wasan excellent representative American, and likehim exerted great personal influence in France.The tall, well- built, pleasant-looking urbaneand cultured Southern gentleman soon foundhimself at home in the queen city of the world.The secret of his power lay in his reputation,his works, and his personal presence. Hisfirst diplomatic move was a bon mot, and therefore, in France, a success. "You replace M.Franklin, I hear," remarked the Count deVergennes at an interview. " I succeed him,your Excellency, " he replied promptly. "Noone can replace him! " The author of theDeclaration of Independence was soon courtedAFTER THE WAR. 129by officials, statesmen, philosophers, and ladiesof society. He received at his hotel withcharming hospitality; he was a regular visitorat the noted salons of the city. For the private use of M. de Marbois, his ready pen hadsketched some "Notes on the State of Virginia. " This work of which two hundred.privately printed copies had appeared at Paris,in 1784 with the date of 1782, was soontranslated and brought into general circulationby the Abbé Morellet who had a high opinion of the author and the book. This literary production, " he remarked in his " Mémoires," " is useful for a knowledge of thatcountry, is varied and interesting and enriched,with philosophical observations full of appositeness and reason." 43The " Notes," like most works on Americaappearing at that time, were the object of attention, criticism and discussion. A tone ofbroad, generous liberalism pervades the Vir-""43 Mém. de Morellet, i. chap. xv. p . 295. "C'est un livreutile pour la connaissance de ce pays, livre intéressant,varié, enrichi d'observations philosophiques pleines de justesse et de raison." Saturated as the book was with therepublican sentiments of which he was the completest livingexponent, it was eagerly sought after in Paris and had itseffect upon the time. "-Parton's Life of Thos. Jefferson,XXXV. p. 310.130 AMERICA AND FRANCE.ginian's treatise from the title page to theend. This made it popular.(( The mostuncultured European," remarked the critic ofthe Mercure de France," " on landing atPhiladelphia or at Boston, ignorant of theblessings of liberty and equality, will soonfamiliarize himself with the customs and lawsof the country he has chosen for an asylum. " 44Jefferson was not only known as the authorof the Declaration of Independence and of theNotes on Virginia. He was looked upon asa counselor. His advice and opinion werethen already asked by men engaged in political , economical and historical studies.liard d'Aubertueil, the historical compiler, cameto him for advice. Early in 1786 he repliedin writing to a series of questions propoundedto him by M. Démeunier, the author ofthose parts ofthe " Encyclopædie Méthodique"treating of political economy and diplomaticHil44 Mercure de France, Juin 2, 1787. " L'Européen leplus grossier en débarquant à Philadelphie ou à Boston nepouvant reconnaitre les avantages de l'égalité et de la liberté, se familiarisera bientôt avec les mœurs et les loisdu pays qu'il aura choisi pour asyle" (p. 39) . For Jefferson'sanswer to Démeunier, see Jefferson's Iritings, (ed. of Congress, ) vol. ix. p. 244. For his answers to Soulès, seeWritings, vol. ix. p. 393. For Hilliard d'Auberteuil andhis relations with Jefferson, see Jefferson's Writings, ii.p. 103.AFTER THE WAR. 131relations, and corrected his article on theUnited States inserted in the same work.This was not all. In September of the sameyear, Jefferson was consulted by M. Soulèsthen busy with his history of the late war,and the American gave the Frenchman manya valuable hint on a country of which hewas one of the most illustrious and patrioticsons. The Legislature of Virginia had passedthat noble act for religious freedom whichJefferson had so much at heart. He receivedthe news with joy, was not slow to communicate the provisions of the statute to his friends.and wrote to Wythe with pardonable enthusiasm, " Our act for freedom of religion is extremely applauded. The ambassadors andministers of the several nations of Europe,resident at this court, have asked of me copiesof it to send to their sovereigns, and it is inscribed at full length in several books now inpress, among others in the new Encyclopædie.' I think it will produce considerable good."Jefferson was correct in this supposition; theact had a beneficent effect on France. Yearsafter, in 1802, the poet of the French Revolution , Marie Joseph Chénier alluded to theVirginian's successful measure for liberty ofconsciencef"132 AMERICA AND FRANCE."Virginia, happy in her sons, by Jefferson's strong handIs made religious freedom's home, an unsectarian land. " 45The works of Raynal and Mably, ofCrèvecoeur and Chastellux, of Brissot deWarville and of Jefferson were by no meansthe only ones called forth in France by theAmerican Revolution. There were more,works that were then read, criticised andcommented upon, but which are to-day thickcovered with the dust ofyears, and forgotten.4645 Randall's Life ofJefferson, vol. i . p. 452. " Les Nouveaux Saints " in Euvres of M. J. Chénier, tome iii . p. 166."Ainsi par Jefferson l'heureuse Virginie,Des cultes différents vit regner l'harmonie. "Compare also the note on these lines, Euvres, (tome iii .p. 175). The act for freedom of religion is printed in Frenchand in full in Soulès' Hist. des Troubles de l'AmériqueAnglaise, tome iv. 258, et seq. , published in 1787.46 Among the works that alluded casually to Americawere, (1 ) Fragmentde Xenophon, Paris, 1783, (2) Les Baisersde Zizi, Paris, 1786, (3) Voyage d'Amérique. Dialogueentre l'Auteur et l'Abbé, Paris et Londres, 1786. The firstofthese contains the following portrait of Franklin: " EnfinThales (Franklin) parût à ce jeu et y jouit de toute sagloire. Tous les yeux étaient tournés sur lui. On lenommé le Liberateur et le Législateur de l'Asie. Le codequ'il avait tracé pour la nouvelle République s'y voyait àcoté de ses immortels écrits. La statue fût apportée entriomphe aux acclamations de tout le Peuple. Elle fût couronnée d'une rameau d'olivier, symbole de la Paix, et d'unebranche de laurier, symbole du Génie. Il est représentétenant d'une main le flambeau de Prométhée et de l'autrel'etendart sacre de la Liberté: & au pied de sa Statue seAFTER THE WAR. 135Not to speak of the productions in whichthere were incidental allusions to America,there was the heavy " Destin de l'Amérique,"by Cerisier, and the light " Paul Jones ouProphéties sur l'Amérique " by an unknownwit. There was Lieutenant Colonel Joly deSaint Vallier, who at the close of the war published an " Histoire raisonnée des opérationsmilitaires et politiques de la dernière Guerre."Some of the officers under Rochambeau ord'Estaing kept journals of their expeditionsand campaigns.47 There was the interestinglisait un vers celebre de Sophocle dont le sens était. ' Ilarracha d'une main hardie au Ciel sa foudre et le sceptreaux Tyrans, "" etc.-Fragment de Xénophon, (Paris, 1783, )p. 52. Journal de Paris, (Mars, 1786, p. 262, ) reviewed thesecond ofthe works above cited and says, " L'auteur n'admire en Amérique que les Etats Unis. " "Ce peuple respectable fonde la liberté sur les bases des loix. " The thirdwork, Les Baisers de Zizi, is an erotic production, buteven this speaks ofthe "'Fils de Penn et de la LibertéPeuple dévot, bizarre et pacifiqueFou de la Bible et de l'égalité. "See Journal de Paris, 3 Juillet, 1786.47 As a specimen of these Journals, see Diary of a FrenchOfficer, 1781 , ascribed to the Baron Cromot du Bourg, inMag. of American Hist. , vol. iv. p. 205 et seq. , and theJournal ofthe Siege of Yorktown, by M. de Ménonville, inMag. ofAm. Hist. , vol. vii. pp, 283, 284 et seq. Comparewith these My Campaigns in America, by the Comte deDeux Ponts, transl. , Boston, 1868, and Journal d'un Officierde l'Escadre de M. le Comte d'Estaing, 1782, 8°.134 AMERICA AND FRANCE."Voyage dans l'Amérique Septentrionale, "by the Abbé Robin, and there appearedin a French translation the solid " Memorial " on European and American politics, byThomas Pownall, 48 There was Hilliardd'Auberteuil, who, in 1782, published a twovolume work on America,49 and Mandrillonwho, in 1785 issued a second edition of anoctavo on the same subject.50 The "Historyof Kentucky, " 51 by Filson, and the " History48 For notice of Robin, see Journal de Paris, Déc. , 1786,besides the leading Paris papers of 1781 and 1782.For Pownall, see Allibone, Dict. ofAuthors, and Quérard,France Litt., tome vii. p. 319. Pownall's Memoir wasalso abridged by an unknown hand and published at Amsterdam under the title , Pensées sur la Révolution deAmérique Unie (in 80, 50 pp. ) .49 For the Essais hist. et pol. sur les Anglo- Américainset sur la Rév de l'Am. Sept. , by Hilliard d'Auberteuil, seeAffiches, Annonces, Avis de Paris, 15 Mai, 1782; Mém.(dites) de Bachaumont, tome xxviii. pp. 294, 295. AnnéeLittéraire, lettre ii . , 1782, p. 30, says: " Cet Ecrivain nousprésente le tableau d'une Révolution qui change le systèmepolitique de l'Europe et qui apprend aux conducteurs despeuples que c'est de l'excès de l'oppression que nait le sentiment de la liberté."50 For notice of Mandrillon's Les Spectateur Américain,see Journal des Sçavans, 1785 , p . 661: " La révolution del'Amérique intéresse toute l'Europe surtout relativement aucommerce. "51 The Histoire de Kentucke (Paris, 1785, ) is remarkablefor the bold tone of the translator's preface. He speaks of"L'industrie et la sagesse de ses habitans et plus encoreAFTER THE WAR. 135·of the American Revolution," by Ramsay, appeared respectively in a French dress in 1785.and 1787.52The author of the "Triomphe du NouveauMonde " proposed a new system of confederation, such as would meet the needs of agricultural nations.53 The author of the " Liguesle système de tolérance qui y règne et la liberté dontl'homme y jouit. " Compare Année Litt. , 1786, vol. i . let- tre v.52 Hist. de la Révolution d'Amérique, by Ramsay, wasnoticed Journal de Paris, Mai 18, 1788; Gazette deFrance, 11 Mai, 1787, and coldly, by Mallet du Pan, inMer. de France, Oct. 6, 1787.53 For notice of the Triomphe du Nouveau Monde, seeJournal Gén. de France, 14 Jan. , 1786, Gazette de France15 Avril , 1785; for notice of the work on the Achæan,Dutch and Swiss Confederations compared with the American government, by Mayer, see Journal de Paris, 29Août, 1787, p. 1052, where the American Revolution isspoken of as " ce grand évènement," and for Soulès' and LeBouchet's works, among other periodicals , see Journal Gén.de France, 29 Mai, 1787, and 31 Juillet, 1787.In the course of this list of works on America we haveindicated only such as caused special comment. We havementioned neither the Discours en Vers aux Officiers etaux Soldats Américains, by Humphreys, (Paris, 1785 , ) northe Réponse de l'Amérique Septentrionale à la lettreécrite du Palais Royale aux quatre parties du Monde,Paris, 1785; nor Le Nouveau Monde, poëme par M.Lesuire de l'Académie de Rouen (Gazette de France,II Mai, 1781 , ) nor the Ode sur la guerre présente parM. D. B. (Gazette de France, Ibid) nor the numerousworks that treated of the influence of the discovery136 AMERICA AND FRANCE.Achéenne, Suisse, et Hollandoise et la Révotion des Etats Unis " made the recent eventsin America the subject of an essay in comof America on Europe. See Journal Gén, de France,1786, Jan. 14, and Chateaubriand, Euvres, (Paris, 1836, )tome xii. p. 288. Among the MSS. left by the AbbeMorellet was found a tract, Des Effets de la Liberté del'Amérique pour l'Europe et pour l'Amérique elle même.Mém de Morellet, ii . p. 516. We have not mentioned thesixteen beautifully engraved plates, engraved by Ponce andGodefroy, that appeared at Paris, in 1784, under the title,Recueildes Etampes représentant les différents évènementsde la guerre qui a procuré l'indépendance aux Etats Unis(4to). We have not mentioned, at length, the plays thatwere produced on American themes, the 1bdir, by Sauvigny, a dramatization ofthe Asgill affair; Washington, ouOrpheline de la Pennsylvanie; Arnill ou le PrisonnierAméricain; L'Héros Américain. They are plays of verylittle merit. There was one piece, however, published in1785, that is interesting. It was a drama in five acts.Asgill is its title. J. L. Le Barbier is its author. Suchdialogues as the following are curious. Washington andRochambeau are brought on to the stage and speak in thefollowing strain:-Washington: Come, honored companions of our labors,enjoy the transports of gaiety that shine in all eyes; tastethe sweet, sweet charms of seeing a whole people give upits heart to pleasure: on this fine day our misfortunes areat an end, our ills are forgotten, and for the first time yousee us happy. I call to witness these tears of sweet joythat your presence causes to be shed here: ah! generousmen of France, you whose blood has flowed so often forour liberty, what charms this moment has for us! It willunite by the pleasantest ties two nations made to love eachother always.The French General: Those sentiments, monsieur, willAFTER THE WAR. 137parative legislation. Démeunier publishedhis " Essais sur les Etats Unis " in 1786,and Le Bouchet his " Histoire de la DernièreGuerre entre la Grande Bretagne et les EtatsUnis " in 1787 and 1788. Soulès issued hisfour-volume work, " Histoire des Troubles del'Amérique Anglaise," at about the sametime. He gives the following as his opinionof the American Revolution and of the actors in its scenes:<< It will be noticed that this great Revolution, which is without a parallel in the annalsof the world, was conducted with the ripestdeliberation. The members of Congress werehonor them in the eyes of the universe; they are those ofsublime and sensible souls . How I delight to see in thisinteresting people this noble candor, and the flattering testimonies of its love for us; yes, beloved Americans, we willbrave death a thousand times rather than lose the happinessof assuring your liberty.Washington: Of such nobility of soul you alone arecapable. Having become free by the aid of your valor, weshall henceforth enjoy unclouded felicity, and all the inhabitants of America will never pronounce the name ofLouis without shedding tears of sensibility. (Addressingthe people)-Dear friends, to - morrow, on the arrival of Mr.de Rochambeau, we will go to the foot of the altars tooffer vows for the glory of his empire; to- morrow theheavens shall resound with the shouts of allégresse causedby the birth of his son. May God whom we implore transmit to him for ever the virtues of the august and beneficentcouple who are his parents .138 AMERICA AND FRANCE.good and wise men who adopted no hurriedmeasures, but who were firm and bold whenthey had once taken their stand and resolvedto do a thing." This opinion of Soulès was theopinion ofthe majority of his contemporaries.54Jefferson had not been long in France before he observed how well-disposed the country was to America. "Its inhabitants love usmore, I think, than they do any other nationon earth. " Such was his opinion as communicated to Madison. "This is very much the effect of the good dispositions with which theFrench officers returned." Jefferson was notalone in this belief. The contemporaries,Droz 55 and Dumont, 56 Madame de Staël 5754 Soulès, Hist. des Troubles de l'Amérique Anglaise,(Paris, 1787, 4 vols. 8°), " On voit que cette grande révolution qui est sans exemple dans les annales du monde, fûtconduite avec la plus mûre délibération. Les membres duCongrès étaient des gens sages et éclairés qui ne prenaientaucun parti précipité mais qui étaient fermes quand ilsavaient une fois pris une résolution. "-tome i . 317, chap.vii. Jefferson's Works, ii. 109, and Volney, Tableau duClimat et du Sol des Etats Unis, ( 1803) , Introd. p. ii.55 Droz, Louis XVI. i. 376.56 Dumont, Souvenirs sur Mirabeau, p. 176.57 Mme. de Staël, Sur la Révolution. " Tous les Français qui fûrent envoyés pour servir avec le général Washington, revinrent pénétrés d'un enthousiasme de libertéqui devoit leur rendre difficile de retourner tranquillementà la cour de Versailles sans rien souhaiter de plus quel'honneur d'y être admis. "-tome ii. chap. vii. p. 88.AFTER THE WAR. 139and Madame de Genlis,58 among others, in ameasure corroborate the American's observations. The French officers who had madethe American campaign were elated not onlyat having beaten the English, they wereproud to have aided the cause of Americanliberty. They did not forget the countrynor its prominent citizens.59 Nor did theythink of their American brothers-in-arms,only now and then, at a Cincinnati dinner,amid cups of Pomard and Sauterne. Themen who had fought together shoulder toshoulder in war, who had been brought intoclose relations, corresponded in peace. Theletters between Chastellux and Washington,between Rouerie and Washington, betweenSégur and Washington, between Lafayetteand Washington, between Noailles and Hamilton, between Ségur and Dr. Cooper, be58 Mém. de Genlis, vol . vi. p. 57.59 Garat, Mém. hist. sur le XVIII. Siècle et sur M. Suard,tome ii. livre vii. pp. 318, 319. "Presque tous les jeunesmilitaires français revenus de l'Amérique parlaient commeavait écrit l'auteur un peu enthousiaste des ' Lettres d'unCultivateur Américain." Mém. de Mme. du Hausset,i . p. 404. Villemain, Souvenirs Contemporains, part ii .chap. i. For an opinion similar to that of Garat, of Madamede Staël and of Dumont, see Mémoires sur Carnot, pp. 16,17. The troops were proud to be called " les soldats de laliberté."140 AMERICA AND FRANCE.tween Franklin and Morellet, and the letters to be found in the printed collectionsof the correspondence of Jefferson and Madison, prove this, and prove furthermore thatthese communications between France andAmerica were not meaningless, formal, diplomatic notes.60 They were bonds of friendship. On their return, the officers were flattered by the Court and applauded by thepopulace. Forcibly their thoughts revertedto the scenes of their glory. They spokeabout America and the Americans and scattered golden words of eulogy. They increased the already great feeling of disaffection prevalent in their country by continuallypointing to the Republic as a land where,thanks to nature and institutions, the evilscomplained of in France did not exist. "The60 On this correspondence, see Washington's Writings(ed. Sparks) passim; Franklin's Works (ed. Sparks) , passim,Jefferson's, Hamilton's, Madison's Correspondence, passim;Mem. de Morellet, i. 307; Mém. de Ségur, i . p. 420; Voyages de Chastellux i. 259; Drake, Memoirs of the Massachusetts' Cincinnati, passim; Coll. Mass. Hist. Society,1860-1862, p. 356; Mém. et Corres. de Lafayette, passim;G. Morris, Life and Corresp. (ed. Sparks) , ii . 60, 113. Vaublanc in his Mém. sur la Rév. de France (Paris, 1833, )(vol . i . p, 185) says, " Le celèbre Burke eût bien raison dedire dans son voyage en France, après la paix de l'Amérique, qu'il avait trouvé la moitié de la cour républicaine. "AFTER THE WAR. 141American war," said Dumouriez, on this subject an excellent authority, "the American.war had not formed great generals, but theyoung men who had made its campaigns hadseen closely a new people governed by awise Constitution. Their heads were turned.They brought back badly digested ideas."61These ideas, we may safely add, however illdefined, were so many fuses which the fire ofpublic passion would one day ignite andcause to blaze in revolutionary conflagration.In the meanwhile sentiments of good- willtowards America were afloat in the country,and the desire of obtaining blessings similarto those enjoyed by the Americans was growing stronger and stronger.Lacretelle, the eminent barrister, the friendof Malesherbes and of Lafayette, gave ventto these sentiments and this desire in majesticprose. Here, said he, in substance, is a country famous not only for the rich productions61 Mém. de Dumouriez, 1822, " La guerre d'Amériquen'avait pas formé de grands généraux mais les jeunes gensqui l'avaient faite avaient vu de près un peuple nouveausoumis à une constitution sage. Ils avaient rapporte desidées mal digerées, " tome ii . liv. iii . chap. i . p. 1o. Two contemporaries were of the opinion that the influence of theseFrench officers was null or very slight; these are the Dukede Levis (Souvenirs et Portraits, Paris, 1815, p. 14) andthe Count d'Allonville (Mémoires Secrètes, vol . i . p . 95) .142 AMERICA AND FRANCE.of its soil, but a country peopled by virtuousand frugal men, who fled from religious persecution, to a land where there now is libertyand law. The American Revolution, in hisopinion, had greatly impressed the French, butthey had not contemplated it enough. Theymust yet catch all the ideas that it teaches."Ye young Republics of America, " he exclaims in a moment of enthusiasm, "I salute you as the hope of the human race, towhom you throw open an asylum, to whomyou promise great and good examples! Mayyou increase and grow strong amid theseblessings! " 62What Lacretelle said in prose, De Bonnardrecited before the Academy of Dijon in rugged verse:""A people I behold, heroes all;Their heroism bodes the tyrant's fall62 Lacretelle, Vue sur les Etats Unis ( 1785) in Euvresde Lacretelle (Paris, 1824) , vol. vi. pp. 243 et seq. "Quoiquecet évènement nous ait vivement frappé, il me semble quenous n'en recevons pas encore toutes les idées qu'il est faitpour inspirer. Depuis la découverte de Colomb il ne serien passé de plus important pour le genre humain, " ( 246-247) . " Républiques naissantes de l'Amérique, je vous saluecomme l'espérance du genre humain, à qui vous ouvrez unasile, à qui vous promettez de grands et heureux exemples,croissez et affermissez vous au milieu de ces bénédictions,"(pp. 247, 248).AFTER THE WAR. 143Proud oftheir freedom ,Valiant in the fight,Their Roman wisdomGuides the State aright. " 63Perhaps it might suit a man of talentsso great and noble as yours.• to treatthat noble subject of the influence ofthe happiness of America on the rest of theworld." 64What Mirabeau thus suggested to Romillywas carried out by Deslandes and Condorcet.The former pronounced a " Discours sur lagrandeur et l'importance de la Révolution quivient de s'opérer dans l'Amérique Septentrionale" before the Académie des Jeux Florauxat Toulouse and published it at Paris in 1785.The latter wrote a short treatise on thefluence de la Révolution de l'Amérique surl'Europe," and dedicated it to Lafayette, "thebenefactor of two worlds." Deslandes is floridand oratorical in style, full of eulogy and generous sentiment; Condorcet is colder in tone,and when he praises he does so after calm63 De Bonnard La Raison, Poëme, Dijon, 1785."Je vois un peuple d'hérosMontrer à des mâitres ingratsCette fierté républicaineCette vertu dans les combatsQui fait prospérer les états! "64 Romilly, Memoirs, i . p. 221 .CC In-144 AMERICA AND FRANCE.ter are:reflection. The opening lines of his first chapThe human race had lost its titledeeds,' said Voltaire. Montesquieu foundthem and restored them.' But it is not.sufficient that these deeds be written inthe books of philosophers and in the hearts.of virtuous men. It must be possible for theignorant or feeble man to read them in theexample of a great people. America hasgiven us that example. The state paperwhich declared their independence is a simple and sublime exposition of rights so sacredand so long forgotten. In no nation havethey been so well known nor preserved withsuch perfect integrity." There is negro slavery in the United States, pursues the philosopher, but it will disappear. There areprohibitory laws and traces of ancient fanaticism, but they will be reformed with time oreradicated. He again insists upon the forceof example. The spectacle of a great nation where the rights of man are respected isuseful to all others in spite of differences ofclimates, customs and constitutions."65((65 Condorcet, Euvres, tome xi. p. 249 et seq: " Le genrehumain avait perdu, ses titres, Montesquieu les a retrouvés& les lui a rendus (Voltaire). Mais il ne suffit pas qu'ilssoient écrits dans les livres des philosophes & dans leAFTER THE WAR. 145He tells his countrymen how free the pressis in America, how large the freedom in religion, how few and wise the maxims upon whichis built the structure of the government. Hedwells upon the voluntary nature of Americanmilitary service, and its excellent results, andhe closes the chapter with praise of Americanheroism and devotion to country during thewar.The writer devotes his second chapter toproving the influence America would have inholding the balance of power during a European war, and in his third chapter he endeavors to demonstrate how America, afterhaving by her example and her press destroyed European prejudices, would becomea vast field for the perfection of the humanrace. The fourth and last chapter considersthe benefits that will accrue to the commerceof Europe in general and to the commerce ofcœur des hommes vertueux, il faut que l'homme ignorantou faible puisse les lire dans l'exemple d'un grand peuple.L'Amérique nous a donné cet exemple. L'acte qui a déclaréson indépendance est une exposition simple & sublimede ces droits si sacrés et si longtemps oubliés . Dans aucune nation ils n'ont été si bien connus, ni conservés dans uneintégrité si parfaite." . ... "Le spectacle d'un grandpeuple où les droits de l'homme sont respectés est utile àtous les autres , malgré la différance des climats, des mœurset des constitutions."146 AMERICA AND FRANCE."CFrance in particular by reason of the American Revolution. Such were my reflections ,"says the author in conclusion, " on the Revolution of America. I do not think that I haveexaggerated its importance, nor that I haveallowed myself to be led away by the enthusiasm which the noble and touching spectacleafforded by this new people to the universeinspires." 66Such treatises, words, doctrines, and examples came to the eyes and ears of Paris andof France at a time when a feeble, well-meaning King was amusing himself by makinglocks and going a-hunting; when the Queenwas spending her time in frivolity and costlypleasure; when the Count d'Artois was contracting extravagant debts; when Calonne wasbrilliantly plundering the nation; when discontent reigned among the people of the leadingcities, and when the sharp tooth of faminegnawed the inwards of the peasant. Strongerand stronger grew the murmurs as Calonnewaded deeper and deeper into his financial difficulties. He could no longer pay the inter66 "Telles avoient été mes réflexions sur l'influence dela révolution d'Amérique. Je ne crois pas en avoir exagérél'importance, ni, m'être laissé entrainer à l'enthousiasmequ'inspire le noble et touchant spectacle que ce nouveapeuple donne à l'univers. "AFTER THE WAR. 147est of the loans which had been contracted inthe name of the state; and, what was worse,he could no longer disguise the fact. Thejuggler now proposed equal taxation , the abolition of sinecure offices, the suppression ofthe corvée. He went further. He counseledhis royal master to convoke an Assembly ofNotables to lend the weight of their sanctionto these important schemes. The King atfirst hesitated to adopt the last of these counsels. The Notables had not been convokedfor many years, and it was considered impolitic by the Crown to take a measure by whichit would tacitly acknowledge that even a partof the people had a voice in public affairs.So grave, however, was the situation of thefinances, and so clamorous public opinion, thatLouis XVI. at last reluctantly consented tocall the Notables together for the 22d of February, 1787. The gracious conduct of his Majesty was celebrated by some courtiers in prose,and by other courtiers in rhyme, but even theseadulators had learned to stammer the accents ofliberty. Ayear before one of them had sung-'Louis fût fonder, au nord de l'Amérique ""L'immense et sage République,Monument immortel de ses hautes vertus." 6767 Ode au Roi sur le Voyage à Cherbourg (Mercure deFrance, 22 Juillet, 1786).148 AMERICA AND FRANCE.Nowthe words ran-"Neptune et l'Amérique ont vu briser leurs fersEt le monde lui doit la liberté des mers.' 68The one hundred and forty-four Notables,chosen almost exclusively from the privilegedclasses, were treated to a specious address byCalonne. He acknowledged an actual deficitof 112,000,000 of francs, but he threw theburden of the blame upon the shoulders ofNecker. This statement met with coldnessand incredulity from the Assembly, but theminister's reform schemes met with positivehostility. The Notables declared that theywould not surrender their privileges, and theiropposition to Calonne grew so violent, theircharges so damaging, that he fell from royalfavor and was banished to his estates in Lorraine.69 Loménie de Brienne, who succeeded.the exiled minister obtained only hard-won68 Discours en Vers à l'occasion de l'Assemblée des Notables en 1787. Année Littéraire, 1787, vol. i . lettre xix. p.343. Journal de Paris, 31 Jan. , 1787.69 Speaking of Calonne's administration two years later,the radical periodical, Révolutions de Paris (tome i. Intro.p. 47), said, " Mr. de Calonne parvenu à cette extremité fitconvoquer les Notables, il espéra en imposer par l'audaceet séduire par les ressources de l'esprit. Mais il ne tardapas à s'appercevoir que les hommes rassemblés s'électrisentpuissamment et que la philosophie et la Révolution d'Amérique avaient donnés des prétentions nouvelles. "AFTER THE WAR.. 149and meager results. Scarcely had the Assembly of Notables adjourned, when the government's troubles with the Parliament of Parisbegan. This influential body contested thefinancial measures adopted by the Assembly,on the ground that such measures could onlybe legally adopted by the nation convoked.in the States- General. Lafayette, the “ élèvede Washington," as he was then called, hadalready influenced the local States of Auvergne to make a remarkably bold declaration.of their rights to the King; 70 he now formulated the public wishes in his reply to thequestion of the Count d'Artois: " What, sir,do you ask for the States- General? " " Yes,Monseigneur, and even something better thanthat! "The call for radical reform became moreand more imperious. The step taken by DeBrienne, urging the King to enregister, byforce, the edicts voted by the Notables, andthe banishment of the Parliament from Paristo Troyes caused the greatest commotion. The70 L. de Lavergne, Les Assemblées Provinciales sousLouis XVI. , chap. xiii . p. 200, et seq.How America was still in the public thoughts at thisstormy period is also indicated by the allusion of the poetM. J. Chénier to the distant Republic. See his " Assembléedes Notables, 1787, " Euvres de Chénier, tome iii . p. 3 .150 AMERICA AND FRANCE.press, though gagged, became violent in tone;the coffee-houses, though formally closed byministerial order, still swarmed with loud- voicedpoliticians, and riots broke out both in the capital and in the provinces. De Brienne wasobliged to compromise. He abandoned anobnoxious land and stamp tax, and he promised to convoke the States- General within aperiod of five years. The Parliament, on itspart, agreed to consent to some of the proposed loans, and granted some of the subsidies asked for the administration of publicaffairs. This compromise which was to bepeace was but a truce. When De Brienneone day demanded a loan of four hundred andtwenty million livres of the Parliament, andhad Louis hold a royal sitting, in order toenforce the demand, the Parliament protestedand broke out into open rebellion. The Kingthereupon banished some of the members andimprisoned others, and summoned a grandCouncil of Notables to enregister, for form'ssake, the decrees against which the Parliamenthad manifested such pronounced hostility. Hehoped in this way to avoid a meeting of thedreaded States- General. This second Assembly, however, was looked upon with derision notonly by the people, but by many ofthe nobles.AFTER THE WAR. 151The arbitrary measures of the Court causedthe popular storm to rage with such ever-increasing fury in Paris and throughout thecountry that the King was at last forced toyield. He consented to the popular demandfor the States-General, accepted De Brienne'sresignation, and called Necker a second time.to the royal council- chamber. Two important questions now faced the Genevan banker,that of the finances and that of the StatesGeneral. The first was, in a great measure,solved by the very fact of the popular minister's accession to power. Confidence sprungup as by enchantment, government fundsrose, and loans were readily subscribed. Thesecond question, however, that of the StatesGeneral, was full of difficulties, and Neckerthought it best to convoke the Notables asecond time in order to decide, together withthem, upon the manner in which the States,the representative assembly of the nation,were to be called and organized. The question was between the old time and the new,between 1614 and 1789. In the olden daysthe three orders in the States- General hadvoted, each with an equal number of deputies, by orders and in separate chambers.Now the Third Estate demanded that their152 AMERICA AND FRANCE.representatives should be equal to those ofthe other two orders combined, that theStates- General be holden in one chamber,and that the voting take place not by orders, but by persons. The Third Estate, inother words, claimed the preponderance ofpower in the States-General.It paid the bulk of the taxes; it did thehard work of the nation, and it now desireda corresponding influence in the direction ofaffairs. The Commons had approved the organization of the States- General of 1614 intheir day. New times, they now thought,demand new measures. The example of suchcountries as Great Britain and the UnitedStates must not be passed by unutilized. "Ihappened to be together with the Bishop ofBlois one day," says the Count de Rochambeau, " and he maintained, as pretty nearlyan article of faith, that the representation inthe States-General should be divided intothree orders, as had been the case in theStates of 1614. The States- General of1614,' I replied, ' are to those of 1789 whatthe first assembly of the peaceful founders ofthe United States of America was to that atthe time of the Revolution. England hascommitted an irremediable blunder. Let us<AFTER THE WAR. 153not imitate her! ' 'We have nothing to dowith Philadelphia here,'" bluntly rejoined theBishop.71That Lafayette, young, ardent, and hopeful, should have thought of the United Stateseven amid the stir of his country's affairs iscomprehensible; but that a conservative oldsoldier like Rochambeau, should at such a timehave alluded to American example and desired innovation, is remarkable and ominous.Necker finally solved a part of this problem before him by deciding that there be atleast a thousand deputies to the States- General; that the basis of the elections be thenumber of inhabitants in, and the amount oftaxes contributed by each bailliage; that theThird Estate have a number of representatives equal to those of the other two orderscombined. The Commons had thus, and thusfar, gained the day, but neither the King norhis minister had decided upon the vital ques71 Mém. de Rochambeau, i . p. 342, " Je me trouvais unjour avec l'évêque de Blois , qui soutenait à peu près commearticle de foi la représentation par tiers des Etats de 1614.Les Etats de 1614, lui repondis je sont a ceux de 1789 commeles Etats- Unis d'Amérique lors de leur révolution etaientà la première assemblée de leurs paisibles fondateurs. LesAnglais ont fait une faute irrémédiable. Gardons, nous deles imiter! " " Il n'est pas question ici de Philadelphie. "154 AMERICA AND FRANCE.tion , the mode of voting. They thoughtit prudent to leave this to time and to theoccasion.During the two years that elapsed between the Assembly of the Notables andthe meeting of the States- General, riots andviolence raged in province and city, and asthough man were not sufficiently tried bythese woes, nature, too, added to the confusion, and refused him warmth and food byreason of the severity of her winters and thepoverty of her crops.The press teemed with works on generalpolitics and government, on constitutions andrights, and pamphlets fell upon the land numerous as autumn leaves in the forest shadesof Vallombrosa.The influence of America is traceable inthis mighty fermentation, amid this greatclamor ofvoices, among the numberless books,pamphlets and periodical publications of thosestormy years."Paris is full of salons," wroteSaint Lambert. "Some want a governmentlike that of England, others a federative republic. A few are eager for a democracy, astill smaller number desire an aristocracy."72 Euvres phil. de Saint Lambert, (Paris, an IX.) vol. v.p. 357. " Paris est plein de Salons. Les uns veulent quel-AFTER THE WAR. 155"Nantes is as enflammé in the cause ofliberty as any town in France can be." Theseare the words of Arthur Young, the philosophic traveller then, 1788, passing throughFrance and jotting down his views in hisDiary. The conversations I witnessed hereprove how great a change is effected in theminds of the French, nor do I believe it possible for the present government to last half acentury longer unless the clearest and mostdecided talents are at the helm. The American revolution has laid the foundation for anque chose qui resemble au gouvernement d'Angleterre;d'autres, une république fédérative; quelques uns une sortede démocratie; ceux là, mais en petit nombre, une aristocratie ." Arthur Young, Travels in France, Dublin, 1793,vol. i . p. 190. Compare Duc de Levis, De l'opinion pub.en France, à l'époque de la Révolution, ( in Souvenirs andPortraits). "L'esprit d'innovation, traversant l'Atlantiques'arretait avec complaisance sur l'Amérique septentrionaledans cette vaste contrée plus de rois, plus de noblesse, point de religion dominante, on pouvait donc sepasser de ces institutions " (p. 317) . Barère, in his Mémoires, tells us that in 1788 , he was wont to go to the salonof the duch*ess d'Anville, the mother of the Duke de LaRochefoucauld. Here he met Condorcet, Jefferson , Lafay-´ette , Mazzei, the Duke de La Rochefoucauld Liancourt, theDuke de Rohan Chabot and others. "On parla beaucoupdes Américains et de leur Constitution perfectionnée. "America was frequently a subject of conversation , (tome i.chap. xlii . pp. 376, 377) . See also tome i. xlvi . p. 402, whereBarère informs us that even in the classic Lycée of LaHarpe, the conversation would run upon American subjects.156 AMERICA AND FRANCE.other in France if the government does nottake care of itself.""Ideas of liberty," Lafayette wrote toWashington in 1787, " have spread rapidlysince the American Revolution. "73(CGood works for the past thirty years,"La Rochefoucauld wrote to Franklin, "andyour good example for the last fourteen haveenlightened us much. " 74 Mirabeau in his"Adresse aux Bataves sur le Stadthoudérat "alluded to the rights of man as they are compactly contained and succinctly stated in theConstitution of the United States.75 "Whyhave they succeeded? " asked an author ofthisperiod, referring to the Americans. "Becausethey fought for their liberty. Ought not thesovereigns of Europe tremble lest their subjects imitate the example of these braveAmericans "? 76"C73 Mém. et Corres. de Lafayette, tome ii . 207.74 Franklin's Works, (ed. Sparks, ) x. p. 355.75 Mirabeau, Œuvres, (ed. Vermorel, ) tome ii . p. 151 .Ces droits, base commune, base éternelle de toute association politique; épars dans votre constitution, plus rassemblés dans celle de l'Amérique. ""76 Lettres hist. pol. et crit. par le chevalier de Metternich (1788-1794) . ' Pourquoi ont ils réussi? C'est qu'ilscombattaient pour leur liberté. Les souverains de l'Europene doivent ils pas trembler que leurs sujets n'imitent pasl'exemple de ces braves Américains? "-Under date 1779,AFTER THE WAR. 157Three works appearing at this time onAmerica and American affairs attracted considerable attention. The first was entitled"Recherches historiques et politiques sur lesEtats Unis de l'Amérique Septentrionale,""Par un Citoyen de Virginie," " Avec QuatreLettres d'un Bourgeois de New Heaven surl'unite de la législation." This four- volumework from the pen of Mazzei and Condorcetis historical, speculative and controversial.It is controversial when it confutes the errorsof the works of Raynal, Mably and Chastelluxon America; it is speculative when Condorcetthe " Bourgeois de New Heaven " advocatesthe unicameral system of legislation; and,lastly, it is historical when in its pages weread ofthe rise, development and present stateof the different members of the Union. Theperiodicals of the time, almost without exception, reviewed a production coming fromtwo men then well known in Parisian circles.The " Mercure de France " was very liberalin tone in noticing the work, quoted extensively from Jefferson on religious freedom ,and praised American institutions.77 Theדיpp. 106, 107. Compare also Année Littéraire, 1785 , lettre vi. vol. iii.Mercure de France, 23 Fév. , and Mars, 1788.158 AMERICA AND FRANCE."Journal de Paris, " after speaking of theadvantages enjoyed by the United States,continued as follows: "Their wisdom hasestablished two principles unknown beforethem in practice and perhaps also in theory.78 In the first place they prefaced theestablishment of their Constitution by a Declaration of Rights, that is to say by a statement of those natural rights of man uponwhich the legislative power cannot rightfullyinfringe. In the second place they have notlooked upon their Constitution as immutable.They have felt the necessity there was ofestablishing a form according to which theConstitution could at all times be legally andpeaceably amended." 7978 Journal de Paris, " Il doivent à leur sagesse d'avoir établi deux principes inconnus avant eux dans la pratique & peut être dans la théorie, l'un de faire précéderl'etablissem*nt de leur Constitution par une Déclarationdes Droits; c'est a dire par une exposition des droits naturels de l'homme auxquels l'autorité législative elle mêmene peut légitimement porter atteinte; l'autre de ne pas regarder la Constitution établie , comme devant toujours subsister, & d'avoir senti la necessité de fixer une forme aprèslaquelle la Constitution puisse être dans tous les tems légalement et paisiblement changée (29 Jan. , 1788, p. 181 ) .Compare for other notices of the work, Journal Gén. deFrance, 6 Mai, 1788; Journal des Sçavans, Juin , 1788.78 For further proofs of the interest America inspired,see Mercure de France, 23 Août, 1788. "Dans les circon-AFTER THE WAR. 159The second work of marked importancethat appeared at about this time on Americaninstitutions was one by John Adams, entitled"Defense of the Constitutions of Governmentof the United States of America, " and soonafter translated into French under the title ,Apologie des Constitutions des Etats Unis."It was the purpose of the author to prove,against Turgot and Mably, that the AmericanState Constitutions were wise in establishingdistinct executive, legislative, and judiciarydepartments, and that theythereby maintained that balance of power without whichthere is no permanent civil liberty.After a thorough examination of the constitutions and a theoretical consideration of whatconstitutes a republic, Mr. Adams turned tothe field of experience and endeavored toprove that the pure democratic state likethat dreamt of by French philosophers wasneither feasible nor desirable. The " Apologie " of Mr. Adams, which in its Englishform was in America by many looked uponas too Anglican in tone, seems never tohave enjoyed great currency in France. Itstances actuelles, quand tous les yeux sont tourné versl'Amérique Septentrionale, où s'est levée une nouvelle Puissance " ( p. 187) .160 AMERICA AND FRANCE.was shortly followed by a work said to befrom the pen of William Livingston, Governor of New Jersey, that bore on its titlepage, " Examen du Gouvernement d'Angleterre comparé aux Constitutions des EtatsUnis, où l'on réfute quelques assertions contenues dans l'ouvrage de M. Adams ' Apologiedes Constitutions des Etas Unis ' et dans celuide M. Delolme, etc., par Un Cultivateur deNew Jersey." Translated by Fabre, and copiously annotated by Condorcet, Dupont deNemours, and Gallois, the work produced agreat impression. It well might. It advocatedrepublicanism, the abolition of caste, the freedom of the press, and the government of thepeople by the people. The " Mercure deFrance " stated that the governor's pamphletwould prove more useful to Europeans thanto the Americans who had already arrived athigher degree of political perfection.80"It is to this people that we owe almost all80 Mercure de France, 23 Mai, 1789: " Aux nations quele concours de lumières et de circonstances n'a pas portéesau même degré de perfection politique " (p. 155) . " C'estencore à ce peuple que nous devons presque toutes noslumières sur le constitution des Empires, et l'influencemorale que cette partie de l'Amérique a exércée sur l'Europe justifie bien ces mots d'un grand homme, ' Ce peupleest l'espoir du Genre Humain, il peut en devenir le modèle. ""AFTER THE WAR. 161our knowledge of the constitutions of nations.The moral influence which this part of America has exerted upon Europe well justifies thesewords of a great man, ' This is a people whichis the hope ofthe human race. It can becomeits model.'The " Journal de Paris," too, passed favorably upon the new work, and made it the occasion for the remark, that even when theAmericans discussed nothing but their interests they " could not fail to give many a useful lesson to Europe." 81The learned Mounier, in his book on " Governments," then published, proves how greatthe influence of Livingston's pamphlet was bythe very bitterness of his criticism upon it.8281 Journal de Paris, Fév. 13, 1789: " Les Américainsen ne parlant que de leurs intérêts peuvent donner desleçons utiles à l'Europe " (p. 196) .82 Mounier, Considérations sur les Gouvernements (Paris,1789): " Les opinions en France sont très souvent des opinions de mode qui changent et se répandent aussi subitement que les variétés dans les costumes. Il y a peu detemps que sur la foi de quelques Ecrivains on professaitde l'admiration la plus outrée pour la constitution d'Angleterre. Aujourd'hui on affecte de la mépriser d'aprèsun auteur Américain rempli de contradictions " (p. 46) .On influence of Livingston's work, see furthermore, Untersuchungen über die franz. Revolution, von Aug. W.Rehberg, 1793 , band ii . 65. See also on decline of Englishinfluence, Lally Tollendal, Seconde Lettre à ses Commettants, Jan., 1790 (p. 8).162 AMERICA AND FRANCE."Opinions in France," said the staunch admirer of British monarchy, " are very oftenopinions of fashion that change and spreadjust as suddenly as would different styles ofdress. It is but a short time ago that, adopting the views of some writers, people in general were exceedingly loud in their admirationfor the English Constitution. To- day, afterhaving read an American author who is fullof contradictions, they affect to slight it.'The elections to the States- General wenton meanwhile amidst the wildest excitement;the cahiers, or lists of grievances, were drawnup in all the cities and districts of the country;politicians and pamphleteers spoke and wrote,and every Frenchman, from the liberal princein his palace to the valet in his ante- room ,seemed to think of nothing but of constitutions and rights. Among the numerous pamphlets 83 ofthe time, two were especially pop83 Two ofthe ephemeral publications of this time contain allusions to America. One is entitled Considérationssur les Affaires présentes par M. (Mignonneaux) , Paris &Londres, 1788, 2nd edition, (Bibl. de l'Arsenal, Paris, No.71895 ) . " L'indépendance de l'Amérique semblait nousouvrir une vaste et nouvelle carrière mais nous n'en avonsencore que peu profité. Je sais que nombre de personnespensent que cet inconvénient est sans remède mais je sais aussi que le célèbre Franklin et d'autres Américains éclai-AFTER THE WAR. 163ular. The first of these, entitled " Mémoiresur les Etats Généraux," was by the Countd'Entraigues, advocated a system of government similar to that of Great Britain andsufficiently indicated the boldnes of its tone.bythe boldness of its epigraph: " We promise to obey you if you maintain our rights.and privileges. If you do not maintain themwe refuse obedience." In the course of thiswork, the Count lauded the opposition members who in the British Parliament had sustained the right of insurrection as proclaimedand acted upon by America.84rés pensent le contraire " (p. 117). The other, entitled LeMaréchal de Richelieu aux Champs Elysées, 1788, " is apamphlet praising Louis XVI. for his interference in theAmerican war. The Maréchal is represented telling theCardinal in heaven what is going on in France . " Unenation faible qui conservait le sentiment généreux de laliberté dans les chaines du despotisme relève sa tête appesantie, pousse un cri gémissant vers le Trône des Bourbons. Bientôt le Prince Citoyen déploye l'étendard de laguerre et couvre l'océan de vaisseaux non pour étendre leslimites de son Empire mais pour rendre à un faible oppriméla liberté, le premier droit de l'homme et le plus précieuxde tous ses biens " (p. 9) .84 "En Angleterre l'insurrection est permise; elle seraitsans doute légitime si le Parlement détruisait lui mêmeune constitution que ses lois doivent conserver." Thenfollows the note "Le Lord Abington.. exposait a cesujet les vrais principes quand, s'opposant aux motions d'unparti vendu à la cour & qui entrainait l'Angleterre dans164 AMERICA AND FRANCE.The second of these pamphlets bore thetitle: " Qu'est ce que le Tiers Etat? " camefrom the cold, logical brain of the Abbé Sieyès,and maintained the thesis that the Third Estate was everything, that hitherto it had, ina political sense, been considered as nothing,and that it now desired to be something.85des mésures qui lui ont fait perdre l'Amérique il proposaaux citoyens qui pensaient comme lui de sortir à l'instantdu Parlement mais après avoir protesté," (p. 19) . Comparealso a pamphlet entitled " Un plebeian à Mr. le Comted'Entraigues " (p. 27), in Opuscules Politiques d'Entraigues(Collection at the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, Paris, No. 431Compare also Morellet's L'Avis de Francklin auxfaiseursde Constitutions 1789, for further proofs that America stillhad influence in high circles. This production is to befound in Euvres de Morellet, tome iii . p. 75.7189/85 Qu'est ce que le Tiers Etat? 3ieme ed. , Paris, 1789, 180pp. chap. iv. Men in France, said the Abbé, were inclined either to stick stubbornly to the old institutions orrashly bent upon imitating those of other nations. "Qu'onne s'etonne donc pas de voir une Nation, ouvrant à peineles yeux à la lumiere, se tourner vers l'Angleterre et vouloirla prendre peur modèle en tout. Il serait bien à désirer, àce moment, que quelque bon écrivain s'occupat de nouséclairer sur les deux questions suivantes: la ConstitutionBritannique est elle bonne en elle même? Lors mêmequ'elle serait bonne peut elle convenir à la France? " (p.97). Then follows this note-" Depuis la première editionde cet écrit, il a paru un excellent ouvrage qui remplit, àpeu de chose près, le vœu que je formais ici. " C'est " l'Examen du Gouvernement d'Angleterre comparé aux Constitutions des Etats Unis " (brochure de 291 pages).AFTER THE WAR. 165The Abbé demanded for his country neithera Constitution like that of Great Britain norone like that of the United States, yet, in thethird edition of his noted pamphlet, he referredto Livingston's work as capable of giving avaluable political lesson to his countrymenand freeing them from the somewhat prevalent illusion of the intrinsic excellence of theBritish Constitution.86We think that after this enumeration offacts we can safely.onclude, and therebyclose this chapter, that on the eve of theStates - General, amid the fray of opinionsand the struggle of influences, the exampleof America was not lost on a country whichwas then about to enter upon a new andmomentous epoch of its history.86 On the slight influence of Great Britain see also, MalletDu Pan, Memoirs, (Eng. Ed. London, 1852). " The lessonsafforded by the constitution and history of England hadfailed, equally with the precepts of Montesquieu, to counteract, in the minds of the French people, the intoxicatingeffect ofthose democratic notions promulgated by Rousseauwith so much enthusiasm, and to which the revolution inNorth America had given such formidable support. " (i.p. 163.)CHAPTER IV.AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY.It was a grand sight, on the 5th of May,1789, to see the eleven hundred and forty-fivemembers elected to the States- General, pass,with Louis XVI. and his ministers at theirhead, from the Church of Nôtre Dame atVersailles to the hall of meeting in the royalpalace. It was a grand sight to see, after solong an interval, a great nation regain a partof its rights, and thus meet in representativeassembly to discuss and decide upon the gravequestions ofthe time.The King opened the proceedings with aconciliatory speech, and Necker followed withan address and a financial report, in the courseofwhich he did not fail to allude to the "guerredispendieuse," that had burdened the nationwith increased debts. The verification of thewrits of return was the first business that presented itselfto the assembled legislators. Theplebeian deputies in the States more than out-AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 167numbered the combined forces of the clergyand nobility, and this evident numerical superiority gave them increased courage and assurance. They occupied the great hall, andthey invited the other two orders to join themand verify the writs in common. They hoped.thus to decide the open question as to themanner of voting. The Nobility and Clergy,however, declined the invitation of the ThirdEstate, and retired to their separate chambers.The Clergy then sent notice that it desired aconference. The conference was held, butended in making only the more apparentthe depth of the chasm that lay between theCommons on the one side, the Clergy andNobility on the other. The Third Estate persisted in its tacit obstruction, and declared thatit would not legislate until joined by the othertwo parties of the States-General. In 1614the Commons had presented their grievancesand petitions on bended knee; in 1789 theywere erect and defiant. Times had changed.and men had changed with them. For fiveweeks they kept up their stubborn policy; forfive weeks the burning questions of the hourwere left undiscussed, and the friendly overtures ofthe Court to establish harmony provedentirely futile.168 AMERICA AND FRANCE.The people, goaded on by impatience, byviolent pamphleteers, by orators, by hate ofthe nobles and the upper clergy, began toraise their voices.Mirabeau strove to calm his warm-bloodedconstituents and wrote that no comparisonwas to be drawn between the United Statesand France.¹ " If you take the Americans asmodels, begin by annihilating the Nobility inFrance and the Government. Next, establisha single assembly of national representatives,and a senate that shall take the place of themonarch and his council."((We expect of your sense of justice, " exclaimed "Le Vieux Tribun du Peuple, " tothe Nobles, " that you will in the future nolonger class all the members of the Commonsunder the denomination of hommes de rien.The blood of an homme de rien like Franklin,formerly a type-setter, or ofJean Jacques Rousseau, the son of a watchmaker, the blood ofmen who deserved to be. the legislators of a1 Courrier de Provence, Lettre de Mirabeau à ses Commettants (vol. i . , lettre iii. pp. 5, 11 ): " Si c'est les Américains que vous prenez pour modèles, commencez par anéantir en France la noblesse & le gouvernement; établissezensuite une assemblée unique de représentants de la nation& un sénat qui tiendra lieu du monarque et de son conseil. "(Mai 12, 1789).AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 169free people, is it not well worth the blood ofkings polluted by all kinds of outrage onliberty?"2On the 10th of June, the Third Estate began to grow weary of its negative course;Sieyes and Mirabeau spoke boldly in favorof action, and the meeting decided that itwould proceed to verify the writs of returnnot only for its own members, but for the absent nobles and ecclesiastics.This revolutionary step brought over anumber of the Clergy and was the prelude toanother and still more revolutionary move.On the 17th of June, the Commons declared themselves to be the " National As2 Le Vieux Tribun du Peuple, 1789, i . p. 8: " On doitattendre de votre justice que vous ne confondrez plus àl'avenir tous ses (Commons) membres sans la dénominationd'hommes de rien; le sang d'un homme de rien, qui auraitmérité comme Franklin, jadis compagnon imprimeur, oucomme J. J. Rousseau, fils d'un Horloger, le nom d'unLégislateur d'un peuple libre, ne vaudroit il donc pas le sangdes Rois, souillé de tous les attentats de la tyrannie?For other allusions to America at this critical time, compare Journal de Lyon, 6, 13, 27 Mai, 1789; 10, 25 Juin; 8,22 Juillet; 5 Août, 1789: " Vous n'ignorez pas qu'il se tient àprésent une convention où tous les gouvernements ont envoyé pour délégués leurs meilleurs têtes à fin de corriger et d'affermir la confedération générale. . . . On doit toutattendre de cet esprit de philosophie et d'humanité qui règneaujourd'hui et qui dirige la politique, " (Ibid. 13 Mai, 1789) .170 AMERICA AND FRANCE.sembly." The term had long been popular;the Commons now made it more than a term,they made it a living institution. Jefferson,the embodiment of American ideas in France,was not a stranger to the measures that werenow taken by the National Assembly, norwithout influence upon some of its prominentmembers. Indeed, the Duke of Dorset, theBritish ambassador at Versailles, thought thatthe American's hand could be plainly seen inthe great game that was playing between thepopular classes on the one side and the privileged classes on the other. Here are thewords he wrote to Mr. Pitt on July 9th,1789: 3((Mr. Jefferson, the American Minister atthis court, has been a great deal consulted bythe principal leaders of the tiers état; and Ihave great reason to think that it was owingto his advice that order called itself L'Assemblée Nationale."The Virginian's hospitable house was themeeting-place for such men as Duport, Lafayette, Rabaut de Saint Etienne, BarnaveAlexandre de Lameth, and others. The deference which they paid their host more thanjustified his modest words: " I was much3 Tomline, Life ofPitt, vol. ii. p. 266.AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 171acquainted with the leading patriots of theAssembly. Being from a country which hadsuccessfully passed through a similar reformation, they were disposed to my acquaintance and had some confidence in me."4The revolutionary body had thus proclaimeditself the sole legitimate representative assembly of France, and announced that it wouldproceed to solve the questions that involvedthe liberty and welfare of the people. Another fragment of the Clergy joined the popular part of the States, and thereby increasedtheir authority. The King, the Court, and theministers were thoroughly alarmed. The conduct of the Commons was unprecedented.Their sessions were forthwith suspended fora period ofthree days by royal command.In spite of this proclamation, the Assembly, with its President at its head, proceeded4 Jefferson, Mem. and Corres . (ed. Randolph) i . 75. Asindications of Jefferson's personal magnetism may be notedthe life-long friendship such men as Barbé- Marbois and Destutt de Tracy kept up with him. The former chose as theepigraph for his Journal d'un Déporté, Jefferson's line,"The violation of laws never remains unpunished." Thelatter wrote in the " Avertissem*nt " of his Commentairesur l'Esprit des Lois de Montesquieu (Paris, 1822) , " Cetouvrage existe depuis plus de douze ans. Je l'avais écritpour M. Jefferson, l'homme de deux mondes que je respectele plus. "172 AMERICA AND FRANCE.to the usual hall of meeting. When, onarriving there, the revolutionary representatives found that a guard with crossedbayonets refused them entrance, they retired, nothing daunted, to a neighboring tennis-court and there took solemn oath thatthey would not separate until they had established the constitution of their countryupon a firm foundation. Again the Kingstrove to prevent a meeting, and again ittook place, this time swelled in numbers bynew recruits from the ranks of the Clergy.Here, thought the Court, is danger. LouisXVI. , on the next day, held a royal sittingin. the Assembly. He severely reprimandedthe members; ordered them to immediatelyadjourn; commanded them to meet on themorrow in their separate chambers. Heclosed his remarks with something like amenace, and then he withdrew. The Nobility and the Clergy followed him. TheThird Estate remained, and when, shortlyafter, the King's Master of Ceremonies reappeared, he found them where he hadleft them. "You have heard the orders ofthe King, messieurs! " said he. " Yes," replied the President, " and I am now to takethose of the Assembly." Then the fiery Mi-AMÈRICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 173rabeau arose and exclaimed, " Yes, monsieur,we have heard the King's intentions, and you,who have no seat or voice in this Assembly,are no fit organ of communication to remindus of his speech. Return and tell your master that we are here by the power ofthe people, and that nothing short of the bayonetshall drive us hence! " The Master of theCeremonies left the hall; the Assembly deliberated. It solemnly decreed the inviolability of its members. On the 24th of June,another deputation from the Clergy joinedthe Commons; on the 25th, forty- seven ofthe Nobility imitated their example. Amongthem we note Alexandre de Beauharnais,5Claude Victor de Broglie, Alexandre deLameth, Noailles, and Custine, all of whomhad fought in America. We note, furthermore, in this band of liberal nobles, La Rochefoucauld, 10 the friend of Franklin, Duport, 11the friend of Jefferson, and D'Aiguillon , 12 the5 Biog. Gen. art. Beauharnais, iv. 920.Biog. Gén. art. V. de Broglie, vii . 478." Biog. Gén. art. A. de Lameth, xxix. 207.8 Biog. Gén. art. Noailles, xxxviii . 142 .9 Biog. Gen. art. Custine, xii . 660.10 Biog. Gen. art. La Rochefoucauld, xxix. 649.11 Biog. Gén. art. Duport (A.), xv. 352.12 Biog. Gen. art. d'Aiguillon, i . 458 .174 AMERICA AND FRANCE.friend of Lafayette. Charles de Lameth,¹³and A. B. de Mirabeau,14 styled " Tonneau,"though they were Cincinnati, did not jointhe Commons, while Lafayette remained withthe Nobles, in order the more readily to persuade them to yield to the popular wishes.15The court party now thought best to follow the direction of popular opinion. Accordingly, on the 27th of June, 1789, atthe King's request, the Nobility and Clergyfinally decided to unite with the NationalAssembly. They were cordially received, thelegislative body added the word "Constituante" to its title, and prepared to enterupon the serious work of making a fundamental law for the land.The Commons had carried their point, andthere was a great shout of exultation in thepopular press."I told you, O people of France! that itwould be so! You must needs triumph overtyranny and tyrants! It was your bounden.13 Biog. Univ. art. Charles de Lameth, xxiii . 83, 84. Compare, however, Biog. Gén. xxix. 208.14 Biog. Gén. art. A. B. de Mirabeau, xxxv. 645.15 Buchez et Roux: Hist. parl. de la Rév. franç. , tome ii .p. 27, note. See a somewhat different explanation of Lafayette's course in a letter from Jefferson to Jay (Randall'sJefferson, vol. i . p. 526).AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 175duty to erect the grand edifice of your gloryand your prosperity on the ruins of courtlyand ministerial despotism and aristocracy.After having served as the ally to the liberty of America, it was your business to giveastonished Europe the example of liberty inFrance!" 16"How glorious would it be for France,for us," said Mirabeau in the Assembly, afterthe union, " were this great Revolution tocost humanity neither crimes nor tears. Thesmallest States have often not been able tobuy a shadow of liberty save at the price ofmost precious blood. Even America, whosefreedom, our handiwork, the tutelary geniusof the Universe seems to-day desirous of rewarding, even America did not enjoy thisblessing until she had sustained bloody reverses and long combats." 1716 L'Orateur des Etats Généraux, (Paris, 1789) , SecondePartie: "Je l'avais dit, Peuple Français! Vous deviez triompher de la tyrannie et des tyrans. Vous deviez éleverle grand édifice de votre gloire et de votre prospérité surles ruines du despotisme et de l'aristocratie aulique etministérielle. Après avoir servi d'auxilliaire à la libertéde l'Amérique vous deviez donner à l'Europe étonné l'exemple de la liberté en France! " (p. 4).17 Moniteur Universal, Séance du 27 Juin, 1789. " Qu'ilsera glorieux pour la France, pour nous, que cette grande révolution ne côute à l'humanité ni des forfaits ni des176 AMERICA AND FRANCE.These fears were proved to be not withoutfoundation, for but a short time after, theCourt, impotent against the Assembly, dismissed the popular Necker and concentratedan army of foreign mercenaries around Paris.The struggle was to begin. French libertywas to be purchased, as liberty has alwaysbeen, at the cost of terrible suffering andblood. No sooner was the news abroad thatthe troops were on the move and that Neckerwas out of power than people of the capitalbecame everywhere wild with anger; but itwas in the Saint Antoine quarter and in thegarden of the Palais Royal that the popularlarmes! Les plus petit* Etats n'ont souvent acheté unombre de liberté qu'aux prix du sang le plus précieux . ...L'Amérique même dont le génie tutelaire des mondes.semble récompenser aujourd'hui l'affranchissem*nt qui estnotre ouvrage n'a joui de ce bien inestimable, qu'après desrevers sanglans et des combats longs et douteux." In theLettres à M. le Comte de B... sur la Révolution arrivéeen 1789, a work ascribed to the royalist Duplain de SainteAlbine, I find words somewhat similar to those of Mirabeau; at any rate, men, in the crisis, thought of America.In the very first of the above letters, dated 12 July, 1789,(vol. i . p. 3) we read: " L'Amérique Septentrionale, Monsieur le Comte, n'a secoué le joug de la Métropole qu'aprèshuit à dix années d'une guerre désastreuse; elle n'a recouvré sa liberté qu'après avoir perdu l'élite de son peuple.Cette heureuse révolution vient de s'opérer en un momenten France et nos fers sont brisé sans que nous ayons àregretter la perte de cent hommes. "AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 177agitation was at its greatest height. Denseand loud-shouting crowds gathered aboutfavorite demagogues, and oaths and menacesmingled in fearful confusion in response totheir inflammatory harangues. One One man,had he the initiative, the daring and thewords, could now weld this fierce but confused mass of human wrath into one andhurl it against the hated institutions of thepast. That man was Camille Desmoulins. Onthe 12th of July, 1789, excited, out of breath,pistol-in-hand, he mounted upon a table, under the shades of the Palais Royal garden,and shouted to the surging and tumultuouscrowd about him 18 " Citizens, not a moment's to be lost. I come from Versailles .Necker is dismissed. That dismissal is the18 Camille Desmoulins, Le Vieux Cordelier, No. v.( Euvres, Paris, 1879, vol . ii . pp. 49, 50) —“ Citoyens! iln'y a pas un moment à perdre. J'arrive de Versailles . M.Necker est renvoyé; ce renvoi est le tocsin d'une SaintBarthélemi de patriotes: ce soir tous les bataillons suisseset allemands sortiront du Champ de Mars pour nous égorger. Il ne nous reste qu'une ressource, c'est de couriraux armes et de prendre de cocardes pour nous reconnaitreQu'elles couleurs voulez vous? Voulez vous le vert, couleurde l'espérance, ou le bleu de Cincinnatus, couleur de laliberté d'Amérique et de la démocratie? " Cited also byChamfort ( Euvres, ii . p. 189) . There is a slightly differentversion in Desmoulins' letter to his father, ( Euvres, ii .p. 92).178 AMERICA AND FRANCE.tocsin of a Saint Bartholomew of patriots.To-night all the Swiss and German batallionswill come out from the Champ de Mars andcut our throats! There is but one resourceleft us. Let us rush to arms! Let us adopta co*ckade as a badge! What colors will youchoose? Do you want the green, the colorof hope, or the blue, the color of Cincinnatus,the color of American liberty and democracy."The crowd adopted the green, but thefact remains that even in that terrible momentthe thought of American freedom rushed tothe memory of young Desmoulins. Twodays later, on July 14, 1789, the maddenedmob attacked the Bastille. Ethis de Corny,a Cincinnatus, a friend of Washington anda correspondent of Hamilton, was sent bythe populace to the Governor demanding hissurrender. He did not accede to this demand. The crowd stormed the old stronghold of despotism and it fell.19 Lafayettesent Washington the key.While the contest between the old timeinstitutions and the aspirations of the newwere thus raging in the streets , the AbbéGrégoire spoke of rights and liberties in the19 Biog. Univ. tome ix. pp. 251 , 252. Hamilton's Works,vol. i. p. 197.AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 179hall of the Assembly.20 "Reason is extending its empire," he said. " It is going toconsecrate the respective rights of a nationthat idolizes its king and who will in turn findhis firmest support in the love of his people.Ah, were it necessary again to bend ournecks to the yoke, it were preferable, doubtless, to flee, with a beloved minister, to thefastnesses of Helvetia or toward the shores ofBoston upon which illustrious French knightshave aided in planting the banner of liberty! "The fall of the Bastille was the strongestindication of the people's strength. The Courtinclined its head to the decrees of the inevitable. The troops were dismissed from Versailles; Necker was recalled; the King cameto Paris. The Bourbon even donned the20 Moniteur Universel, Séance du 14 Juillet, 1789. " Laraison étend son empire, elle résplendit de toute part;elle va consacrer les droits respectifs d'une Nation idolâtrede son monarque qui dans l'amour de son peuple trouverason plus ferme appui. Ahs'il fallait de nouveau nous courbersous le joug, il vaudrait mieux sans doute fuir avec un ministre chéri au sein de l'Helvétie ou vers les rivages de Boston, sur lesquels d'illustres chevaliers français ont aidé àplanter l'étendard de la liberté. ” Marlin in his PetiteHistoire de France, and writing about 1791 , echoes thesentiment of the Abbé Grégoire: " Si nous retombions dansla servitude, mon parti est pris, pour moi et les miens: mesmains, décharges de chaines, iront cultiver quelques arpents des déserts américains, " (tome ii . 259).180 AMERICA AND FRANCE.}revolutionary co*ckade in the Hôtel de Ville,and the mob greeted this act with franticapplause. But the high nobility, who sawthat the era of their unquestioned power wasdeparted forever, began to emigrate. Theyleft their sovereign and his family in the supreme hour of danger and from abroad fomented war against their country. The hateof the masses blazed hot not only againstthem but against all nobles, and between the14th of July and the 4th of August 1789,the Revolution, no longer Parisian in extent,spread like a prairie-fire into the provinces,attacked, pillaged and burnt châteaux andpursued and murdered unpopular officials.While these scenes of confusion were beingenacted throughout the country, the Constituent Assembly was pursuing its work. Onthe night of the 4th of August, in a moment ofenthusiasm mingled with alarm, the Viscountde Noailles proposed the abolition of all exclusive seignorial rights and immunities andthe redemption, at a valuation, of all feudaldues and privileges. The Duke d'Aiguillonsupported this motion, and said in the courseof his lengthy remarks: " Let us follow theexample of English America, composed exclusively of proprietors who know not what aAMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 181feudal tenure is." 21 The motion of the Viscount de Noailles and the adoption of themeasure he proposed called forth an open letter from the publicist Cerutti. Here are itsopening sentences: 22"Allow me, Monsieur le Vicomte, to communicate to you a rapid genealogy of theevents which are now transpiring for our happiness. I date the French Revolution fromthe moment when M. de Lafayette in heroicflight rushed forth from our ports and, in away, opened to the young soldiers of Francethe school of American liberty. It was there,as Mr. Jefferson has very well said, that ourgreat battles were fought. In favoring the21 Mon. Univ. , Séance du 4 Août, 1789. " Suivons l'exemple de l'Amérique Anglaise, uniquement composée depropriétaires qui ne connaissent aucune trace de la feudal- ite. "22 Cerutti, Lettre à M. le Vicomte de Noailles sur saMotion du 4 Août (Paris, 1789). " Permettez moi , Monsieurle Vicomte, de vous communiquer la généalogie rapide desévènemens aux quels nous devons notre salut. Je date larévolution française, du moment où Mr. de la Fayette, parune fuite héroique, s'élancant de nos ports , ouvrit, enquelque sorte, aux jeunes guerriers de France, l'école de laliberté américaine. C'est là, comme l'a très bien dit M.Jefferson, que se sont livrées nos grandes batailles. Enfavorisant la délivrance des Treize Etats Unis nous avonspréparé la notre. Les mains valeureuses qui ont servi àbriser une chaine tyrannique, n'étaient pas faites pour laporter longtemps " (pp. 3, 4) .182 AMERICA AND FRANCE.freedom ofthe thirteen United States, we haveprepared our own. The valiant hands thatserved to break a tyrannic chain were notmade to bear one a long time themselves."Even before the eventful night of the4th of August, the Assembly had takenunder consideration a Declaration of theRights of Man which was to preface theirConstitution. Lafayette was its leading advocate; those who had served in America were,almost without exception, in favor of it; andthe idea itself was generally looked upon asof American origin.23 Some of the membersurged its adoption before the draft of theConstitution; others thought the Declaration.should not be issued until after the Constitution had been completed. Let us listen tothe speeches of the debaters. They provethat American influence held them as by amagic chain.Lally Tollendal, while supporting Lafay-"23 Mém. de Lafayette, tome iv. p. 240, et Appendix.Jefferson, Mem. and Corr. (ed. Randolph, ) vol. i . p. 90.Dumont in Souvenirs sur Mirabeau, (p. 97) , calls theDeclaration une idée américaine." Biog. Univ. tome xx.p. 451. Mém de Weber, i. 129. Mém de Bouillé i . p. 102,vol. ii . pp. 131 , 183. Barruel, Hist du Jacobinisme, vol. v.p. 311. Georgel, Mémoires, ii . 336. Recueil d'Opinions,par Stanislas de Clermont-Tonnerre, tome iv. pp. 124, 125.Mercure de France, 29 Jan., 1791.AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 183ette's motion, warned his hearers to beware offollowing too closely the example of a republic.(('I beg you to reflect, " said he, " how enormous is the difference between an infantpeople which has just been announced tothe world, a colonial people, that has brokenthe bonds of a distant government, and anancient, mighty and leading people that fourteen hundred years ago gave itself a form ofgovernment and which since eight centuriesobeys the same dynastic line! " 24 The Archbishop of Bordeaux supported Lafayette onthis question of the Declaration. . This nobleidea," said he, " conceived in another hemisphere, necessarily and by preference cameover to us. We have taken part in theevents that have given North America its.liberty, and North America shows us uponwhat principles we must insist in order topreserve our own."' 2524 "Je vous prie de songer combien la différence esténorme d'un peuple naissant qui s'annonce à l'univers, d'unpeuple colonial qui rompt les liens d'un gouvernementéloigné, à un peuple antique, immense, l'un des premiers dumonde, qui depuis quatorze cent ans se donnait une formede gouvernement, qui depuis huit siècles obéit à la mêmedynastie. "-Buchez et Roux, Hist. parl. de la Rév. française, ii. p. 80.25 Moniteur Univ. , Séance du 27 Juillet, 1789. Cettenoble idée conçue dans une autre hémisphère devoit de184 AMERICA AND FRANCE.Count Mathieu de Montmorency, who hadfought for the liberty of the United States,now spoke energetically for the liberty of hisown country. He desired, first of all, a Declaration like the one of Philadelphia. " It isimportant to declare the rights of man beforethe constitution, because the constitution isnothing but the sequence, the end of thisDeclaration. This is a truth which the example of America, and of many other peoples, aswell as the speech of the Archbishop of Bordeaux have rendered very plain. . . . . Letus follow the example of the United States.They have given a great example to the newhemisphere. Let us give it to the universe! "26préférence se transporter parmi nous. Nous avons concouru aux évènements qui ont rendu à l'Amérique Septentrionale sa liberté; elle nous montre sur quels principesnous devons appuyer la conservation de la notre." Compare on the Archbishop and his admiration of America,Luchet, Les Contemporains de 1789 et 1790, tome i.PP. 175, 176.26 Moniteur Univ. , Séance du 1 Août, 1789, " Il est important de déclarer les droits de l'homme avant la constitution par ce que la constitution n'est que la suite n'estque la fin de cette déclaration . C'est une vérité que lesexemples de l'Amérique et de bien d'autres peuples, quele discours de M. l'Archevêque de Bordeaux ont renduesensible. . . . . Suivons l'exemple des Etats Unis; ils ontdonné un grand exemple au nouvel hémisphère; donnonsle à l'Univers! "AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 185The Bishop of Auxerre was opposed to theDeclaration. "The example of America isnot conclusive," he said. "That country hasproprietors , religious creeds and citizens equalbefore the law." The Bishop of Langres alsoopposed it , but Barnave called it the " national catechism."27Malouet thought that the oft- cited exampleof America was not pertinent and could not befollowed in France. America, he argued, is anew country. Proprietors there are not onlyequal before the law, but little given to luxury,ignorant of the extremes of poverty, lightlytaxed, free from prejudice, and possessors ofland without a trace of feudality. Such menwere made for a democracy, for declarationsof rights such as you propose them. We arenot,28Mirabeau was against making the Declaration too abstract and metaphysical. Speak inevery-day language, he counseled, make yourDeclaration plain.""27 Buchez et Roux, Hist. parl. de la Rév. fran. ii . 200.Crinière, deputy from Vendôme, opposed the AmericanDeclaration as not radical enough. 'La déclaration desdroits des Américains est ou une inéptie ou un attentat àla liberté de l'homme. "-Luchet, Les Contemporains de1789 et 1790, tome i. p 223.28 Buchez et Roux, Hist. parl. de la Rév. franç. , ii . 201 .186 AMERICA AND FRANCE."Thus the Americans have made their Declarations of Rights. They purposely set asideall scientific verbiage. They presented thetruths which it was their purpose to fix, in aform that could be easily grasped by the people, whom alone liberty regards and who alonecan maintain it."29Rabaut de Saint Etienne, a correspondentof Jefferson and one of the frequenters of hishouse, pronounced himself in favor of theDeclaration, though with certain reservations." You have resolved upon a Declaration ofRights," he said, on August 18, 1789, "because your cahiers impose it as your duty, andyour cahiers mentioned it because France hashad America as its model. But for all that, itmust not be said that our Declaration shouldbe similar to the American. The circ*mstancesare different. America broke with a distantmetropolis. America was a new country thatdestroyed all in order to renew all. And yetthere is a point of resemblance between us.Like the Americans we wish to regenerate." 3029 Mirabeau, Œuvres (ed. Vermorel), iii . pp. 160, 161:"C'est ainsi que les Américains ont fait leurs déclarations dedroits, ils en ont à dessein écarté la science; ils ont présentéles vérités politiques qu'il s'agissait de fixer, sans une formequi peut devenir facilement celle du peuple, à qui seul laliberté importe, et qui seul peut la maintenir. "30 Moniteur Univ. , Séance du 18 Août, 1789: "VousAMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 187The Declaration of Rights, after long andstormy debates, was adopted by the Assemblywhich on this point showed that it was mindful of American example. If the printed debates were not there to prove our assertion,we should nevertheless have the testimony tothis effect of two contemporaries.Lacretelle says, in his " Histoire de l'Assemblée Constituante," "that while most of thegenerals and officers who had taken part inthe American war followed the example of Mr.de Lafayette, the Marquis de Bouillé was eager only to deliver the king from the yoke ofthe Revolution. " 31 It was an exception therefore for a French Cincinnatus at that time tooppose the liberal tendencies of the epoch.avez adopté le parti de la déclaration des droits parcequevos cahiers vous imposent le devoir de la faire; et voscahiers vous en ont parlé, parceque la France a eu pourexemple l'Amérique. Mais que l'on ne dise pas pour celaque notre déclaration doit être semblable. Les circonstancesne sont pas les mêmes. Elle rompait avec une métropoleéloignée, c'était un peuple nouveau qui détruisait tout pourtout rénouveller. Cependant il y a une circonstance qui nousrapproche de leur révolution . C'est que comme les Américains nous voulons nous régénérer. "31 Lacretelle, Hist. de l'Assem. Const. , ii. 95: " Tandisque la plupart des généraux et officiers qui avaient prispart à la guerre d'Amérique suivaient l'exemple de Mr. deLafayette, le Marquis de Bouillé ne réspirait que pour délivrer le roi du joug de la Révolution . "188 AMERICA AND FRANCE."The greatest part of the gentlemen democrats who abandoned their order in 1789, whojoined the Commons, who proposed the Declaration of Rights, who directed the revolutionagainst the ancien régime, . . . . had madetheir revolutionary studies in the UnitedStates." 32 These are the words of Soulavie.The National Constituent Assembly, inframing a Constitution for the country, hadthree systems of government before its eyes,the system of Great Britain, the system ofthe United States, the system of Rousseau.There was Great Britain, with its King invested with the absolute veto and the right32 Soulavie, Mém. , iii . 411: " Le plus grand nombre desdémocrates gentilhommes qui abandonnèrent leur ordreen 1789, qui se réunirent aux Communes, qui proposèrent ladéclaration des droits de l'homme, qui dirigèrent la révolution contre l'ancien gouvernement, avaient fait leursétudes révolutionnaires aux Etats Unis. "In a work published at Paris in 1792, by Barbier ascribedto Dubois Crancé, and entitled, Le Véritable Portrait de nosLégislateurs, I find the following statement that coincideswith the view taken by Soulavie: " L'orage de la révolutionavait été prévu et préparé par la minorité de la noblesse; lesystème du gouvernement anglais avait exalté les têtes denos jeunes patriciens, et la guerre de l'Amérique à laquelleils avaient pris part, avait achevé de fixer leurs idées. Aussia-t-on vu la Lafayette, les Lameth, Dumas, la Colombe, etautres chevaliers de Cincinnatus les principaux agents desmanœuvres qui ont si longtemps ballotté l'opinion publique," pp. 42, 43, sub loco, Lafayette.AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 189of declaring peace and war; its House ofCommons and House of Lords, forming a wellnighomnipotent Parliament; its cumulative Constitution; its Established Church; its restrictedsuffrage; its trial by jury; its liberty of thepress and of speech. There was the federalRepublic of the United States which, unlikeGreat Britain, had a written Constitution andone that was avowedly amendable. The government of this Republic was divided intothe executive, legislative and judiciary departments which were distinct and separate. Theexecutive in the United States had not, likethe King of Britain, the absolute veto, northe power of declaring peace and war, northe power of convoking the legislative bodies.The American Congress was, unlike the British Parliament, entirely elective , and electiveby a more unrestricted suffrage, while it was,at the same time, more limited in its powersthan the British Parliament. The AmericanConstitution, while including within its provisions the British bicameral representativesystem, and the Brish trial by jury and libertyof the press, unlike Britain maintained absolute freedom in matters of religion.The Democratic Republic of Rousseau andhis disciples was an aggregation of citizens190 AMERICA AND FRANCE.of every description with universal suffragefrequent popular elections of every grade andkind of functionary, and all power lodged in asingle legislative body. How far these threesystems influenced the French legislators canbe learned by following their debates and examining the provisions which they voted.This we will now proceed to do, listeningto the opinions of the advocates and opponents of American institutions.The Committee appointed to draft a Constitution reported by sections as agreed upon.The Assembly without great delay adoptedthe following principles. The governmentshall be divided into executive, legislative,and judiciary departments. The governmentshall be a hereditary monarchy. But theydebated long and earnestly over the question of giving the King an absolute or asuspensive veto; over the question of a unicameral or bicameral legislature; over thequestion of having an hereditary or an elective upper house. The Liberals in the legislature, those in sympathy with the "ideas of'89 " were divided on these questions. Someof them voted one way, others another. TheConservatives, men of the ancien régime, wereunited in their opposition to all political inno-AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 191vation. The Liberals, thus in danger of defeat, were in sad distress and in their troublethey thought of Jefferson. What followed istold by the American statesman in his own.graphic way.' I received one day a note from the Marquis de Lafayette, informing me, that heshould bring a party of six or eight friendsto ask a dinner of me the next day. I assured him of their welcome. When they arrived, they were Lafayette himself, Duport,Barnave, Alexander la Meth, Blacon, Mounier,Maubourg and Dagout. These were leadingPatriots, of honest but differing opinions, sensible of the necessity of effecting a coalitionby mutual sacrifices, knowing each other, andnot afraid, therefore, to unbosom themselvesmutually. This last was a material principlein the selecton. With this view, the Marquishad invited the conference, and had fixed thetime and place inadvertently, as to the embarrassment under which it might place me.The cloth being removed, and wine set onthe table, after the American manner, theMarquis introduced the objects of the conference, by summarily reminding them ofthe stateof things in the Assembly, the course whichthe principles of the Constitution were taking,192 AMERICA AND FRANCE.and the inevitable result, unless checked bymore concord among the Patriots themselves.He observed that although he also had hisopinion, he was ready to sacrifice it to thatof his brethren of the same cause; but that acommon opinion must now be formed, or thearistocracy would carry everything, and that,whatever they should now agree on, he, atthe head of the national force, would maintain. The discussions began at the hour offour and were continued till ten o'clock inthe evening; during which time, I was a silent witness to a coolness and candor of argument, unusual in the conflicts of politicalpassion. "The French guests of the Minister cameto an understanding and, for a time at least,carried their measures in the Assembly. Thisincident proves that in one of the gravestcrises of the Revolution, the Liberals ofFrance turned to an American to presidewith calm impartiality at one of their secretmeetings; it proves above all how great wasthe moral influence which America exerted atthis period upon a considerable fraction of theFrench nation. The government did not takeumbrage at the Virginian's hospitality to theLiberals; on the contrary the Count de Mont-AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 193morin, one of the ministers, assured Jeffersonthat he wished he " would habitually assist atsuch conferences, " sure that he would "be useful in moderating the warmer spirits and promoting a wholesome and practical reformationonly.'"' 33The hour of debate and conflict had struckand men rushed with ardor to the front. Thequestion-Shall France have a legislature composed of one or of two houses? -excited greatdiscussion. Some of those who favored theBritish system on this point shook hands withthose who on other heads were advocates ofthe American system. Such was Lafayette.Others voted for the unicameral legislatureas a temporary institution, good for the moment, but to be modified in the future. Suchwas Barnave. The extreme Democrats of33 Randall's Jefferson, vol. i . pp . 535, 536. For Lafayette'sadvocacy of a bicameral system, see Morris, Life and Correspondence (ed. Sparks) , i . p. 350. Biog. Gén. XXVIII, 709."Bien que Barnave partageât à cet égard l'avis de la majorité ce ne fût cependant pas d'une manière absolue. Ilfaisait de l'établissem*nt d'une deuxième Chambre une sortede question de temps. . . . . . Il pensait avec les partisansdu système amèricain qu'avant d'un venir là il etait indispensable de fondre et réduire à un seul élément pour quelques années du moins, le pouvoir représentatif. " Béranger(de la Drôme) , in Euvres de Barnave, tome i . p. xlix .;compare also Œuvres, tome i . chap. iii . pp. 112 , 113 andtome ii. chap. v. p. 38.194 AMERICA AND FRANCE.the Rousseau school voted for one chamberand disdained the Anglican and Americantheory of the balance of powers. The Archbishop of Bordeaux, on July 27th, 1789, seemedinclined to the opinion of those who sustained"that the example of England and eventhat of America demonstrates the utility oftwo chambers and sufficiently replies to theobjections founded upon fear of their inconveniences.""I dread and detest with all the patriots,"said Buzot, "the establishment of two Chambers. But I will also have the courage to sayto all enlightened men, that if you wish for alltime to insure our liberties and preserve themfrom the power of corruption, you must, onimportant questions, divide the legislative bodyinto two sections." Here the orator was interrupted by marks of disapprobation. Buzotthen proceeded to unfold his plan, but was sooften disturbed that Salles exclaimed to theopposition, " Abuse is not argument! " Quietwas restored. Buzot thereupon resumed. "Icould cite Montesquieu and the American legislators who have all preferred two hom*ogeneous Chambers. Pennsylvania is the only statethat had but one chamber; but even Pennsylvania has since the Revolution changed itsAMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 195government. It was to Franklin that it owedits unicameral system, good for a philosopher,but which presupposes the absence of all passions. Soon Franklin himself acknowledgedhis error, and the Congress was divided." 34Barnave, Buzot and Pétion, who supportedBuzot, all three friends of America, voted infavor of the anti-American and anti-Anglicanunicameral system with hesitation and withcertain reservations.Lanjuinais, full of the Rousseau idea, opposed British and American example. "Thosewho wish for the creation of two chambers,"said he, "go astray with the authors whose34 Moniteur Univ. Séance du 21 Mai, 1791: "Je redouteet déteste, avec tous les patriots, l'etablissem*nt de deuxChambres; mais j'aurai aussi le courage de dire à tous leshommes eclairés que si l'on veut assurer à jamais la liberté,la préserver de la corruption il faut, dans les questions importantes diviser le corps législatif en deux sections (Ilse lève des murmures) . . . Salles: ' Les injures ne sont pas des raisons .' Buzot continued: " Je pourrais citer Montesquieu et les législateurs américains qui tous ont préferédeux chambres hom*ogènes. La Pennsylvanie est le seulétat qui n'ait eu qu'une Assemblée; aussi depuis la révolution a-t- elle changé son gouvernement. C'est à Franklinqu'elle devait la constitution de son corps législatif en uneseule chambre, système bon pour un philosophe, mais quisupposerait l'absence de toutes les passions. Bientôt Franklin lui-même reconnut son erreur et le Congrès fût divisé. "Compare, Biog. Gén. art. La Rochefoucauld d'Enville, tomexxix. p. 650.196 AMERICA AND FRANCE.suffrage they invoke. Far be from us thesentiment of the inconsistent Delolme, of thatMontesquieu, who was not able to shake offthe prejudices of his caste. Far be from usthe suffrage of the Anglo - American, Mr.Adams, of that Don Quixote of nobility, thecorrupt tutor of a lord. All these have losttheir influence over us, impose upon us nolonger. " 35The very fierceness of the opposition toAmerican precedent is a proof of the weightAmerican example had with many of themembers of the Constituent Assembly. OnAugust 19, 1789, Lally Tollendal, one of thestoutest advocates of the British system, aroseand spoke at length upon the bicameral system. Among his arguments was the following.36 "We do not at all pretend to draw a35 Moniteur Univ. Séance 7 Sept. , 1789. The name Dangevillers is given in the Moniteur, but it should be Lanjuinais (See Saint Girons, Essai sur la Séparation des Pouvoirs, Paris, 1881 , p. ix. ) "Ceux qui veuleut que deuxchambres existent s'égarent avec les auteurs dont ils invoquent le suffrage. Loin d'ici le sentiment de l'inconséquentDelolme, de ce Montesquieu qui n'a pu se soustraire auxpréjugés de sa robe. Loin d'ici le suffrage de l'Anglo- Américain M. Adams, de ce Don Quichotte de noblesse, le précepteur corrompu d'un grand seigneur, ils ne nous en imposent plus. "36 Moniteur Univ. , 19 Août, 1789, " Nous ne prétendonspoint établir une comparaison entre la France et les EtatsAMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 197comparison between France and the UnitedStates of America. We know that the wishto compare two peoples and two situationsso dissimilar would, on our part, be a strangeUnis d'Amérique. Nous savons que ce serait faire unétrange abus de raisonnement et de la parole, que devouloir assimiler deux peuples et deux positions aussidissemblables . D'un coté une République fédérative forméede treize républiques naissantes dans un monde nouveau;trois millions d'habitants c'est à dire cinq cent mille chefsde famille, presque tous propriétaires agriculteurs; deshabitations éparses, point d'ennemis à combattre: point devoisins à craindre; des mœurs simples, des besoins bornés.De l'autre, une monarchie antique dans le vieux monde;vingt six millions d'hommes, dont deux millions au plusproprietaires de terres; une population amoncelée; toujoursde voisins et de rivaux; souvent des ennemis exterieurs etpour ennemis intérieurs des préjugés, des besoins, despassions, tout ce qui en est la suite, et tout ce qui doit enêtre le frein. Mais si ces Américains eux mêmes, en sipetit nombre et dans leur naissante conformation , n'ontpas pu conserver ce gouvernement simple et cette unité depouvoir qu'ils auraient voulu établir, si leurs publicistes ,ont parlé comme nous; si M. Adams a écrit qu'il n'etaitpoint de gouvernement, point de constitution stable , pointde protection assurée pour les lois, les libertés et les propriétés des peuples sans la balance des trois pouvoirs, sile censeur injuste et inconséquent de M. Adams, Livingston,a dit la même chose que lui; si M. Livingston a écrit quelà ou le corps législatif serait concentré dans une seuleAssemblée il finirait toujours par absorber tout le pouvoir;si M. Livingston a fait l'aveu littéral que plusiers corps législatifs américains quoiqu'en activité depuis fort peu de temsavaient dejà été saisis de cette soif de pouvoir si dangereux;si M. Livingston a dit qui le partage en deux chambres n'etait198 AMERICA AND FRANCE.abuse of reasoning and of speech. On theone hand, we see a federal Republic formedof thirteen infant states in a new world. ThisRepublic has three millions of inhabitants,that is to say, five hundred thousand headsof families who are almost all agriculturalproprietors. Its houses are thinly scattered;it has no enemies to fight; it has no neighborsto fear. Its manners, customs, and morals,are.simple; its wants are few and easily satisfied. On the other hand, we behold anancient kingdom in the old world. Thisstate has twenty-six millions of inhabitantsof whom two millions, at most, possess land.Here population is dense. Here there arealways neighbors and rivals, and while enemies often threaten from abroad, prejudices,wants, passions, -everythingwhich is their consequence and their rightful check is a sourcepas encore un expédient assez efficace , que ces deux chambres distinctes ne manqueraient pas d'empiéter sur lepouvoir éxécutif; qu'il fallait confier au pouvoir éxécutif etjudiciaire un frein sur la puissance législative, ce que etaitmême introduire quatre pouvoirs au lieu de trois, si lesAméricains, éclairé par leurs publicistes, convaincus parune prompte expérience ont presque tous adopte les troispouvoirs dans leur chambre de réprésentants, leur sénatet leur gouverneur, la nécessité qu'ils ont reconnu n'est ellepas une démonstration invincible de la nécessité à laquellenous devons céder? "AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 199of danger at home. But if these very Americans, so few in numbers, and so new as apolitical body, have not been able to keepthat simple government and that unity ofpower which they would have liked to establish; if their publicists have spoken as wehave spoken; if Mr. Adams, has written thatthere could be no government, no fixed constitution, no sure protection for the laws,.liberties and property of peoples without thebalance of the three powers; if Livingston,the unjust and inconsistent censor of Mr.Adams, has said the same thing; if Mr. Livingston has written that there where thelegislative body would be concentered in asingle assembly it would always end by absorbing all the power; if Mr. Livingston hasmade the literal confession that severalAmerican legislative bodies, although inpower since a very short time, had alreadybeen seized by this so dangerous thirst fordomination; if Mr. Livingston has said thatthe division into two separate chambers wasnot yet sufficiently efficacious, that these twochambers would not fail to encroach upon theexecutive power, that the executive and judiciary departments ought to be invested withsome check upon the legislative power, thus200 AMERICA AND FRANCE.instituting four departments instead of three;if the Americans, enlightened by their publicists, convinced by a prompt experience,have, almost without exception, adopted theirHouse of Representatives, their Senate andtheir Governor, is not the necessity to whichthey have yielded an irrefutable demonstration that we too should yield?" The viewsof the bicamerists did not prevail. A singlechamber was by an overwhelming majorityadopted by the National Assembly and theAnglican and American system was rejected.Another question that deeply stirred theFrench legislators was, shall the King havean absolute or a suspensive veto? The British King's veto was absolute, in theory; theAmerican President's was limited. In thedebate on this subject in the National Assembly, the allusions to American examplewere few and of little relevancy, but the veryfact that there were allusions is remarkablysignificant.On September 2, 1789, a member whosename is not given exclaimed: " Gentlemencite the example of England and its governIn order to counterbalance the example of England which is opposed to the theorywhich we advocate, I will cite another examment.AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 201ple, that, namely, of Virginia. In the 1776Constitution of that State the absolute sanction was refused the King. Let us followVirginia's example. " 37Mounier advocated the Anglican veto; andalluded to America in the masterlyspeech whichhe pronounced.38 "Gentlemen are not backward in proposing the Americans to us aspatterns and in advocating systems that surpass even theirs in anarchical tendency. Forthe Americans never allow all the citizens,without distinction, to deliberate on publicaffairs; they give this power only to the citizens' delegates. The consent of their Senateis necessary for all the laws enacted by the.....37 Moniteur Univ. , Séance 2 Sept. , 1789, " L'on cite l'exemple de l'Angleterre et l'exemple de son gouvernement.Mais pour balancer l'exemple de l'Angleterre quel'on nous oppose, j'en citerai un autre; c'est celui de laVirginie; dans sa constitution de 1776 elle a refusé la sanction royale. Faisons autant qu'elle ."38 " On ne craint pas de nous proposer les Américainspour modèles et même de les surpasser en institutionspropres à favoriser l'anarchie; car ils ne font jamais délibérer tous les citoyens indistinctement sur les affaires publiques, mais seulement leurs délégués, le consentement deleur sénat est nécessaire pour toutes les lois faites par lesreprésentants et ils viennent de donner au président duCongrès un véto suspensif qui devient absolu lorsqu'il estappuyé par un tiers des suffrages dans l'une de deuxchambres. "202 AMERICA AND FRANCE.Representatives and they have recently giventhe President of Congress a suspensive vetothat, becomes absolute when it is backed byone third of the votes of one of the twohouses." On the next day, September 5,1789, Mounier again alluded to America, admitted that the American Constitutions grantedonly a suspensive veto, but argued that a monarch required a stronger check upon the legislative power.On the question of the veto the Frenchlegislators rejected the British theory andadopted a measure that bore some resemblance to the American suspensive veto.Passing over other minor points relativeto the attributes of the executive, we willnow listen to the debates on the judiciaryquestion in so far as they brought intoprominence regard for or disregard of British and American example. The question ofthe jury trial and of the jury in both civil andcriminal cases was the subject of long andbrilliant discussion , in which some of the bestmen ofthe Assembly took an active part. Onthe 5th ofApril, 1790, Baron de Jesse advocated the trial by jury in both civil and criminalproceedings and to strengthen his argument,he cited the example of Great Britain.AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 203In the same session M. Prugnon disagreedwith Baron de Jesse. "The soil of France, "said he, " is not ready to receive this plantnative in England and thence transplantedto America. Let us not be the servile copyists of these two countries.". On the 6th of April, 1790, M. de SaintMartin advocated the jury in civil and incriminal procedure. The jury trial, he argued,is adapted to all countries, old and new, greatand small. And he cited American and Britishexample.39 "These two countries," said he,"look upon the jury as the palladium of liberty." Saint Martin and Jesse and Barnaveand Pétion and Lafayette were in favor oftheAnglo- American system on this question, butthe man who spoke most ably and eloquentlyupon it was Duport. On the 4th and 19thof January, 1791 , he delivered splendid pleas39 Moniteur Univ. , Séance du 5 Avril, 1790. M. Prugnon:"Le sol de la France n'est pas prépare pour recevoir cetteplante native d'Angleterre et transporté d'Angleterre enAmérique. . . ... Ne soyons pas les copistes serviles del'Angleterre et de l'Amérique." Ibid. 6 Avril, 1790, M. de Saint Martin: "On dit que les jurés ne conviennent qu'àdes Peuples peu nombreux dont les mœurs et les institutions sont simples. L'Angleterre et les Etats Unis sontils de petit* pays? Non, sans doute. .... Cependant cesdeux contrées ont regardé les jurés comme le palladium de la liberté."204 AMERICA AND FRANCE.for the great guarantee of individual liberty."I begin by entreating the Assembly not torush hastily to a decision." These were hisopening words on the first-named of the aboveoccasions. Finally I would say that whatwe propose is not a system of metaphysics, butan institution which during more than a thousand years has been in full active operationin England. To-day it is in force in America."Those were the words of his peroration. Onthe 20th of January, 1791 , he opened by arecognition of the Anglican and American.theory of " implied powers," and closed witha eulogy upon Anglican and American jurisprudence. We are the deputies neither ofthe departments nor of the districts . We arethe representatives of the nation. We owethe nation a system of criminal jurisprudencethat shall be imposing, impartial and enlightened. We owe her above all the conservative institution of the jury of which sheis already proud, as America and England.are proud of it .” 40 Here there was applause.""40 Moniteur Univ. , Séance du 4 Jan. , 1791. "Enfin jedirai, ce qui n'est pas de la métaphysique, que ce que nousvous proposons est depuis plus de mille ans en pleine vigueur d'éxécution en Angleterre, il l'est en Amérique."Ibid. Séance du 20 Jan. , 1791. "Nous ne sommesdeputés ni des départements ni des districts. NousAMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 205The National Assembly adopted the jurysystem for criminal , but not for civil cases. Inspite of Duport's able oratory, British andAmerican example had gone for but little ininfluencing the French law-makers.On the question of limited suffrage or universal suffrage, the Anglicantheory represented by Britain and the United States, andthe theory ofthe Rousseau school, came intoopen conflict. Thouret advocated the former,Robespierre, the latter system.There is nota known constitution in the world but thatimposes a condition of eligibility. Gentlemenwell know how rigorous England and America are on this head." These were Thouret'swords.41 A member has cited the exampleof the English and the Americans. They arein the wrong, without a doubt, to admit lawsthat are contrary to the principle of justice.But in those countries there are other goodlaws which counterbalance the drawbacks wesommes les réprésentants de la nation; nous lui devons unejustice criminelle imposante, impartiale, éclairée , nous luidevons surtout les moyens conservateurs du juré, dont elles'enorgueillit déjà, comme l'Amérique et l'Angleterre." (Onapplaudit.)"41 Moniteur Univ. , Séance du 11 Août, 1791 , M. Thouret'Aussi n'y a-t-il pas de constitution connue qui n'aitétablie une condition d'éligibilité. On sait assez qu'elle est surce point la sévérité de l'Angleterre et de l'Amérique. ”206 AMERICA AND FRANCE.may find in these. " 42 Such was Robespierre'sreply. The Assembly adopted a law on thequestion of suffrage that bore a greater resemblance to that prevalent in America, thanto that in Great Britain.An important problem faced the Assemblywhen it had to decide whether it would support an established Church, tolerate all creeds,or grant religious freedom. Great Britain represented the first policy; many States had,in a greater or less measure, adopted the second; the United States of America were theliving exponent of the third. The questionwas debated in and out of the legislature.In a Petition addressed by the Jews to theAssembly, in 1790, we read the followingstriking language.4342 Mon. Univ. , Séance du 11 Août, 1791 , M. Robespierre." On nous a cité l'exemple des Anglais et des Américains. Ils ont eu tort sans doute d'admettre des lois contraireaux principes de la justice, mais chez eux ces inconvénienssont compensés par d'autres bonnes lois. " The Moniteur, for11 Août, 1791 , contains among its new books the following:"Déclaration des droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen, décrétéepar l'Assemblée Nationale, comparée avec les lois des peuples anciens et modernes, et principalement avec les déclarations des Etats Unis de l'Amérique " -à Paris.43 Pétition des Juifs établis en France. Adresseé à l'Ass.Nation. le 29 Janv. 1790 (See Recueil de Pièces. BibliothèqueSainte Geneviève, Paris, No. L. 95 'Le mot Tolérance,757/"qui après tant de siècles paroissait être un mot d'humanité &AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 207"The word toleration which, after so manycenturies and so many acts of intolerance, appeared to be a word full of humanity and reason is no longer suitable to a nation thatwishes to firmly place its rights upon theeternal foundations of justice. America, towhich politics will owe so many useful lessons,has rejected the word from its code, as a termtending to compromise individual liberty andto sacrifice certain classes of men to otherclasses. To tolerate is, in fact, to suffer thatwhich you could, if you wished, prevent andprohibit." This voice from without the Assembly found a response within. On the 23dof August, 1789, Rabaut de Saint Etienne, aProtestant, a pamphleteer, who had stated inone of the most remarkable pamphlets of theday that the only three nations capable ofserving as patterns to France were GreatBritain, Switzerland and the United States,declared in open Assembly44 "It is not tolde raison ne convient il plus a une Nation qui veut affermir.ses droits sur la base éternelle de la justice. Et l'Amérique, àqui la politique devra tant d'utiles leçons, l'a ' rejetté de soncode, comme un terme qui tendoit à compromettre la liberté individuelle et à sacrifier certaines classes d'hommes àd'autres classes. Tolérer, en effet, c'est, souffrir ce qu'onaurait le droit d'empêcher. "44 See A la Nation française sur les Vices de son gouvernement attributed to Rabaut de St. Etienne by the Moni-208 AMERICA AND FRANCE.eration that I claim. That word implies anidea of compassion that degrades man. I demand equal freedom for all. Gentlemen willperhaps tell you and show you how the nations that surround us make an exception ofthose who do not profess the religion of themajority. O, nation ofFrance, you are not madeto receive an example, but to give it! If, however, you wish to imitate, imitate the Pennsylvanians. They make exception of nobody. Man, whatever his religious belief,has the right of enjoying all the sacred privileges that belong to mankind. "Such bold words had their effect. TheFrench National Assembly, on the questionof religious freedom, proved to be the peerof the legislators of Virginia and the menwho had drafted the Constitution of theUnited States.45teur Universel, Introduction i . p. 225. For his speech seeMoniteur Univ. , Séance 23 Août, 1789. "Ce n'est pas latolérance que je réclame; ce mot emporte une idée decompassion qui avilit l'homme; je réclame la liberté qui doit être une pour tout le monde. " "Peut-être vous représentera-t-on que les nations qui nous environnent font exception de ceux qui ne professent pas la religion du plusgrand nombre. Nation française , vous n'êtes pas faite pourrecevoir l'exemple mais pour le donner. Mais si vous voulez imiter, imitez les Pensylvaniens (sic) . Ils n'ont fait acception de personne."45 Years after, in 1797, the latitude in religious matters al-AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 209The debate on the freedom of the pressbrought forth two notable speeches: one byRobespierre, another by Pétion. Both alluded to American example; both seemed tohave seized the fact that the American presswas then more outspoken and unchecked thanthat of any country in the world.(('What should be the limit of its freedom? "asked Robespierre, in the studied discoursehe pronounced on the subject. "A great people, illustrious by the recent conquest of itsliberties, answers this question by its example. The right of communicating one'sthoughts by speech, in writing, or in printshall not be hindered or prevented in anyway whatsoever.' Such are the terms of thelaw that the United States of America havemade on the liberty of the press, and I confess that I am glad to be able to present myopinion under such circ*mstances." 46lowed by the various constitutions of revolutionary Francecalled forth a protest from Royer- Collard who, in his firstpublic speech, declared, " We have on this head borrowedmost of our maxims from American legislation without calculating perhaps the prodigious difference that arises whenthey are applied to a country like ours. "-La Vie Politiquede Royer-Collard: ses Discours et ses Ecrits, par M. deBarante (Paris, 1878) , tome i . p. 30.46 Euvres de Robespierre, p. 163 (ed. Vermorel), " Qu'elledoit en être le mesure? Un grand peuple, illustre par la210 AMERICA AND FRANCE.Pétion argued for entire freedom , and didnot fear the consequences. "Did you notsee," said he, " when the new federal systemin the United States was under hot discussion, a strong party pronounce itself fiercelyagainst the Confederation, speak loudly forthe disunion of the states, publish the mostvehement pamphlets and scatter their viewsbroadcast in all the gazettes? Calumny, exaggeration, everything was brought into play.The people read everything, heard everything, examined everything. No troublesfollowed this illimited freedom, no fineswere decreed, and the masses remainedfirm to the Confederation. Such will everbe the ascendancy of reason over a freepeople. " 47conquête récente de la liberté, répond à cette question parson exemple. Le droit de communiquer ses pensées par laparole, par l'écriture ou par l'impression ne peut être gênéou limité en aucune maniére.' Voila les termes de la loi , queles Etats Unis d'Amérique ont fait sur la liberté de la presseet j'avoue que je suis bien aise de pouvoir présenter monopinion dans pareilles circonstances. " (Discours sur la lib.de la Presse, 1791 ) . Compare also Robespierre on America in Moniteur Universel, Séance du 10 Juillet, 1790.47 Pétion, Euvres (Paris, 1793) , vol. ii. 365. " N'a-tonpas vu lors des discussions sur le nouveau système fédéral qui se sont élévées dans les Etats Unis, un parti nombreux déclarer avec fureur contre la confédération , pré.AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 211The "Constituante " adopted the Americanview of freedom of press and of speech. Itthereby rendered moral homage to the newRepublic.The legislators of Versailles, however willing to imitate in other respects, showed noinclination to adopt the American method ofamending their Constitution. Like the Americans, they believed in a written, amendablelaw of the land; but unlike them, they madeit amendable by the legislative body. Thiswas a grievous blunder. It was one of thecauses of the weakness of the legislation ofthe French Revolution. It was a source ofconstant change. It gave the Constitution astamp of instability that detracted from its usefulness and endangered the respect with whicha Constitution should inspire a people: Thisrejection of the American method of amending the Constitution together with the rejec--tion of the American bicameral system, werechant la division des états, publiants les écrits les plusvéhéments, les répandant dans toutes les gazettes? Calomnie, exagération, tout a été mis à l'œuvre; le peuple a tout lu ,tout entendu, tout examiné. Aucun trouble a suivi, aucunepeine a été affligée et le peuple est resté fidèle à la Confédération ... Tel sera toujours l'ascendant de la raison surun peuple libre."1212 AMERICA AND FRANCE.fatal errors. On two important points, then,France turned her face away from America.The example of the young Republic wasslighted. Experience proved that Americawas right, and that France was wrong.CHAPTER V.AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION.It is now time that we leave the legislativehall and enter the busy and thronged streetsof Paris. Let us read the papers in the coffee-houses and turn the pages of the latestpamphlets that lie on the bookstalls in thePalais Royal. We have learned in the Assembly that American influence would everynow and then make itself felt; it will be ourpresent business to see how it affected publicopinion, a power by which the Assembly itselfwas so largely and potently swayed.The Royalists of the old school and the extreme Democrats of the new were equally opposed to the essential features of the American system. The former considered it tooradical; the latter, not radical enough. TheRoyalists vented their dislike of Americansupon their King and blamed him for his interference in their behalf. The Democratspassed the Americans over in silence, or214 AMERICA AND FRANCE.praised them with faint and forced praise.The Constitutionalists, the men who desireda limited monarchy for their country and whosupported most of the measures voted by theConstituent Assembly, leaned now to British,now to American example, and often adoptedsome chimerical scheme which they found inthe popular pages of Rousseau. Of the threeparties that with some distinctness began toassume shapes and stand by certain principles , the Constitutionalists were most inclinedto America and most ready to adopt such ofthe transatlantic ideas as could be assimilatedto the needs and character of the country.All three of these parties, however, alluded toAmerica with equal ardor, when it served theirpolitical views. The Constitutionalists referredto the Americans, for instance, when they hadoccasion to reproach the Ultra- Royalists, theiradversaries, on the one side, with clinging tooclosely to the British model; or their adversaries, on the other, the Democratic Republicans, with rushing on too fast in the path ofliberty. The Ultra- Royalists pointed triumphantly to the American Republic, when theywished to convince their Constitutionalist andDemocratic opponents that they should showgreatermoderation. Andthe Democrats seizedAMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 215upon the American Republic as a fit themearound which to weave a plea for the greatest amount of popular power. Thus each ofthe three parties in turn availed itself ofAmerica as an argument for its favorite doctrines, and each, as the case might be, reproached the other with a departure from or tooservile an imitation of American example. Anexamination ofthe Royalistic, the Constitutional and the Democratic press will prove howfar these assertions are correct.The admirers of the old régime as it existedin the days of Louis XIV. and Louis XV. , theRoyalists of the old school, would never forgive the King and his Ministers for the aidthey had lent the rebellious Americans. Thatalliance seemed to them to be the source ofall their woes and one of the proximate causesofthe revolutionary torrent by which they wereborne along. We read in a pamphlet of thisperiod, giving an imaginary conversation between Louis XIV. and Louis XVI. , the following significant words:"Louis XVI.: Wherever oppression andtyranny showed themselves, I hurried to aidthe oppressed. I released America from thechains of England."Louis XIV.: You did a pretty job there,216 AMERICA AND FRANCE.indeed! You spent fifteen hundred millionsand made for yourself an eternal enemy, who,sooner or later, will make you pay, perhaps atthe price ofyour head, the unheard- of audacityon your part of having snatched from underhis rule a country that was his by as perfect atitle as that by which you hold your good cityof Paris! "1After abusing the King, they abused theMinisters. One pamphlet charged Choiseulwith being the original cause of the American.rising. He prepared the dire event, arguedthe pamphleteer, by histhe length of his purse.2words strong enough todiplomatic skill andAnother cannot findexpress its indigna1 Louis XIV. à Saint Cloud au Chevet de Louis XVI.Dialogue (1790): " Louis XVI.: Partout où se montraitl'oppression et la tyrannie je volais au secours des opprimés. J'affranchis l'Amérique des fers d'Angleterre....Louis XIV.: Tu fis là une belle besogne. Tu dépensasquinze cents millions et te fis un ennemi éternel qui, tôtou tard, te fera payer de ta tête peut- être l'audace inouied'avoir arraché a sa domination un pays qu'il possédaitaussi équitablement que tu possèdes ta bonne Ville deParis." This pamphlet is to be found in the (p. 6) Recueilde Pièces, No. L. 54, in the Bibliothèque Sainte Geneviève,at Paris.75748 757 2 Lettre à Un Ami de Province, 1789 (Recueil, L.Bibl. Ste. Gen.) . Flassan, in his Hist. de la Dipl. franç.,rejects the idea that Choiseul had a hand in preparing thewar in America (tome vii. livre vi . p. 152) .AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 217tion against Maurepas, Vergennes, and Beaumarchais for their instrumentality in fomenting discord among foreign powers and theirindifference to the contagious influence of theflames of discord.3 A third production ofthe time is severe upon Vergennes. " TheCount, who was as much of a politician as anoffice-clerk can be expected to be, saw in theinsurrection of the Americans the means ofhumiliating the rival of France and war wasdecided upon. If his mind had been able totake in a wider view, if he had better knownmen in general and his own country in particular, he would have felt that the energy ofa people benumbed and chilled by the influence of arbitrary power warms up and is vivified by the approach of heat coming from afree people."Necker and his policy were, in another pam3 Offrande à la Patrie ou Discours au Tiers Etat deFrance, 1789, Quatrième Discours, pp. 27, 28.4 Hist. pol. de la Révolution en France, ou Corres, entreLord D. et Lord T. (Londres, 1789) , tome i . lettre ii. PP. 6and 7. Compare, also, the pamphlet attributed to Rulhière,entitled, Le Comte de Vergennes première cause des EtatsGénéraux. See Quérard , La France Litt. (vol. viii . p. 281 ) .See, also, Le Journal-de Deux Liards (Second Mois, No.iv. p. 4): "Nos politiques d'aujourd'hui trouvent très impolitique la guerre qui a fait perdre une si grande partie del'Amérique Septentrionale à l'Angleterre."218 AMERICA AND FRANCE.•phlet, made the object of such striking remarksas these. "France supported American independence with her treasures and her troops.The youth of the Court hastened to enlist inthe American war and to defend the causeof liberty. The applause which the Frenchin America received gave them a taste forpopular success. The blind submission tokingly power which had up to that time characterized the French soldier became imperceptibly weakened and the bonds of dependence became loosened. The American warmay be said to have at the same time turnedthe heads and overturned the public financesof the French." 5The Royalists, thus severe upon the Kingand his Ministers for their American war policy,were not less so upon those who now favored5 Des Principes et des Causes de la Révolution enFrance (à Londres et se trouve à Paris, 1790) , " La Francesoutenait de ses trésors et de ses troupes l'indépendancedes Américains. La jeunesse de la Cour s'empressait de servir dans cette guerre et de défendre la cause de la liberté;les applaudissem*nts que reçûrent les Français en Amérique leur inspirèrent le gout des succès populaires. Cetteaveugle soumission à l'autorité du Monarque qui avaitjusque là distingué le militaire français s'affaiblit insensiblement et les liens de la dépendance se relachèrent. . . ..La guerre d'Amérique renversa ainsi à la fois en Franceles têtes et la fortune publique, " pp. 59 and 60.. This pamphlet is attributed to Senac de Meilhan by Barbier......AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 219the American doctrines of limited executiveauthority, popular sovereignty, equal rights,freedom of religion, supremacy of law, uponsuch men as Lafayette and Barnave, Lamethand Chapellier."O myfellow citizens," exclaims one Royalist in alarm, "you are reducing the Monarch'spowers to those of an American President orof a Dutch Stadtholder."6"Mauvais singes de l'Amérique, "says the royalist, "Actes des Apôtres," meaning "Chapellier, Barnave and company"Mauvais singes de l'Amérique""Qu'en me parlant toujours dans leur prose emphatiqueD'égalité, de droits, de citoyen,Au nom de la loi ils me volent mon bien. "76 Isnard, Observations sur le Principe qui a produit lesRévolutions de France, de Genève et d'Amérique dans leXVIII. Siècle, Evreux, Oct. 1789. "O mes compatriotes,vous reduisez ses (Monarch's) pouvoirs à ceux du Présidentdu Congrès des Etats Unis ou à ceux du Stadthouder desProvinces Unies " (p . 5) . Compare also the pamphlet LaFrance est elle une Monarchie? 1790, pp. 11 and 12 (Recueil.Bibl. Ste . Gen. Paris, No. L. ) in which the pamphleteerstrongly intimates that a democratic government has beenestablished imitating that of America. A very remarkablepamphlet. Compare Lafayette, Mém. , iii. 193."Actes des Apôtres, No. xxix. p. 10. That Barnave wasconsidered an Américain " in his sentiments is indicatedby a pamphlet of the time, L'Ombre de Loustalot, 1789, (see220 AMERICA AND FRANCE.The writer stigmatizes them as vile imitators of America and as political frauds.8Lafayette, whomthe Constitutionalists at thistime called the " disciple of Washington," "thedefender of America, " "the avenger of America," "the hero of America," "the friend andemulator of Washington," was above allothers the target for the orthodox royalistshafts. Rivarol dubbed him "General Morpheus; " Ferrand sneered at his trying to playin France the part played by Washington inAmerica; a scurrilous pamphlet of the daystyled him ironically " Monsieur le héros AmDoc. biog. No. 323 bis 7189, Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, atParis). It represents Barnave as saying, " C'est à la justicede ces décrets que tous les peuples de l'Univers devrontleur liberté, leur gloire et leur bonheur. Déjà leur influence profonde a déterminé les succès des colons américains " (p. 3) . Le Chapellier was especially in favor of anamendable constitution, and, in a measure, of an electivejudiciary. See Faustin- Helié, Constitutions de la France,i . 301 , (Paris, 1875 ) , also Biog. Gen. xxx. 188.8 For Constitutionalist eulogies of Lafayette at this timesee Mer. de France, 29 Jan., 1791 , Barbié de Bercenay,Projet d'Education Militaire, 1789, Preface; pamphlet entitled, Notice Hist. sur Mr. le Marquis de Lafayette (Bibl.de l'Arsenal L. ) , pamphlet entitled Argumentum adHominem, 1789, p. 4; Année Littér., 1789, vol. v. p. 22; pamphlet entitled, L'Assemblée Nationale Vengée, 1790, p. 40;Discours pron. à la Bénédiction du Drapeau, in RecueilBibl. Ste. Gen. L. 39 bis .

comp. Mém. de Malouet, i . 307. 757

AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 2219éricain," while many good defenders of theabsolute throne subscribed to opinions such asthese. "M. de Lafayette, like the Argonautswho went a- hunting the golden fleece inColchis, equipped a vessel for the purpose ofsailing to America to lend aid to some rebels.He thought he would thereby serve his master, and such was the political opinion of theday. Oh, how deadly to kings is such apolicy! " 10We will now see how the Royalists alludedto America when they could thereby furthertheir views and confound their opponents.They immediately dipped their pens deep ineulogy. Imitate the example of the Amer44 7579 For attacks on him see, Rivarol, Vie pol. et privée duGén. Lafayette. He styled him " Général Morphée " à propos of the night of 6 Oct; Nouvelliste de France, 17 Dec. ,1790, p. 163 (Recueil Bibl . Ste. Gen. L. 1 ). Ferrand, LesConspirateurs démasqués, Turin, 1790, p. 35; " Depuislongtemps il aspirait à jouer en France le rôle que Washington a rempli en Amérique, " and Polichinel Orateur àl'Assemb. Nationale 1789 (Bibl. Ste. Geneviève, L. 5 );Les 3 Rois ou le Partage du Gâteau, 1790 (p. 7) .5610 Bon Dieu Qu'ils sont Bêtes, ces Français! Paris,1790, " M. de Lafayette semblable aux Argonauts qui fûrentchercher la toison d'or dans la Colchide, arma un Vaisseaupour aller en Amérique protéger des révoltés . Il crut encela servir son mâitre; telle etait alors la politique , maiscombien elle est fatale pour les Rois cette politique! "(p. 81).222 AMERICA AND FRANCE.ican Republic in this or that, they wrote; itis well worthy of being imitated."The colonial people that has recently established itself in America," said the " Actesdes Apôtres," " has taken all the time itjudged necessary for examining the sketchof a constitution offered to its consideration bythe American convention. Ever since fouryears ago, the state of Rhode Island has declined to accept the constitution, and yet nomember of the federal body has on that account allowed itself to declare the citizens ofRhode Island deprived of their rights. Themarch of wisdom is slow, that of tyranny isbrusque and hasty." 11This was a hit at the often precipitate courseof the Constitutionalists and Democrats inpassing certain legislative measures. The"Actes des Apôtres " was not alone amongthe Royalists in adopting this kind of warfare. Calonne, who now reappeared in the11 Actes des Apôtres, No. xxxvi. " La peuplade quis'est constitué récemment en Amérique a pris tout le tempsqu'elle a jugé nécessaire pour examiner le plan de constitution qui lui était offert par la convention américaine. Depuis quatre ans l'état de Rhode Island n'a pas encore accepté & aucun corps politique du corps fédéral ne s'estpermis de déclarer pour cela les citoyens de Rhode Island déchûs de leur droit de citoyen. La marche de la sagesseest lente. Celle de la tyrannie est brusque, emportée. "AMERICA MER AND PUBLIC OPINION. 223field of politics, attacked the ConstituentAssembly for its rejection of the bicameralsystem and for its division of France into departments. During this attack he turnedagainst his enemy some of its Americanbatteries."You will in vain scan the pages of theworld's history," said the fallen Minister, "foran organization as monstrous as yours! Yourorganization would be untenable and badlyconceived even supposing you wanted toparcel out France into eighty-three republican sovereignties, a plan that would be thenatural result of the infatuation that has seizedsome men for the too little known and thetoo prematurely judged Constitution of theUnited States of America. " 12" You will oppose to my argument," he saiddiscussing the bicameral system, " you willin vain oppose to my argument the exampleof England. That country proves with greatmonstrueuse...........12 Calonne, De l'Etat de la France présent et à venir,Londres, 1790. "On chercherait vainement dansl'histoire du Monde l'exemple d'une organisation aussiElle serait même insoutenable & malconcue dans la supposition qu'on voulût morceler la Franceen 83 souveraintés républicaines par suite de l'engouementqu'on a pris pour la constitution trop peu comme, trop prématurement jugée des Etats Unis de l'Amérique " (p. 362).224 AMERICA AND FRANCE.est force the necessity there is of three powersin the state counterbalancing each other inorder to form a good mixed government. TheUnited States of America have recently rendered homage to this necessity by adopting,as far as it was possible for them, a Constitution modeled after that of England and thisin spite of the more philosophic than politiccounsels of M. Turgot, who desired them toadopt an entirely democratic government. " 13The Abbé Maury 14 and the Abbé Pradtboth maintained that no comparisons could bedrawn between the subjects of a monarchyand the citizens of a republic, but the latter,-in a widely-read pamphlet on the Revolution,13 Lettre adressée au Roi, par M. de Calonne, 9 Fév. ,1789, à Londres. "Vainement on opposerait l'exemple del'Angleterre. Il servirait qu'à prouver, de plus en plus, lanécessité des trois pouvoirs balancés l'un par l'autre pourformer un bon gouvernement mixte, nécessité à laquelleles Etats Unis d'Amérique viennent de rendre hommageen s'adaptant autant qu'il leur était possible une Constitution imitative de celle de l'Angleterre malgré les conseilsplus philosophiques que politiques que leur avait donnéM. Turgot " (p. 67).14 Moniteur Universel, Séance du 19 Avril, 1790, AbbeMaury said, " Je ne parle point des conventions nationalesqui ont eu lieu dans l'Amérique septentrionale depuis ladernière Révolution. L'on ne saurait assimiler les représentants d'une république aux représentants d'une mon- archie."AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 225triumphantly flung this exclamation into theface of his adversaries. "Those Americansof yours, whom you cite as models, have notbeen even imitated exactly! " America hastwo legislative houses, France has but one! 15Among the Royalists who thus employedAmerican arms to fight the enemy were alsoLuzerne, Bishop of Langres, who opposed theDeclaration of Rights, and Lally Tollendal,who had retired from active labors in the Assembly after the adoption of the unicameralsystem and the suspensive veto. Luzerneargued for the inevitable necessity there wasfor a nobility in a country, by maintaining theprobability of even America's having one atsome future day, 16 and Lally Tollendal turnedthe exhortations to moderation, professed bythe French annotators of Livingston, against15 Abbé Pradt, Eclaircissem*nts sur les causes de laRév. française, 1790, pp. 57 , 58, and note. "Ces Américains qu'on cite commes des modèles n'ont même pas étéimités exactement. " Compare also Abbé Maury in Moniteur Univ. , Séance du 25 Oct. , 1790.16 Luzerne, Evêque de Langres, Sur la Forme d'opineraux Etats Généraux, 1789. "Dans la Nation la pluspopulaire les rejetons des Grands- Hommes jouissent d'uneconsidération considérable. Les descendants de Washington seront en tous temps honorés dans les Etats Unisd'Améque (sic) comme ceux de Miltiade , de Themistocled'Aristide le fûrent dans la République d'Athènes " (p . 32) .226 AMERICA AND FRANCE.such of his countrymen as were inclined torush on to extremes in politics.17The Constitutionalist party, the majorityin the Assembly, with the noblest aspirationsin the world, was lacking in political cohesion ,in leaders, in a fixed policy and in experience.Its adoption of the greatest measures wasalways preceded and accompanied by longvacillations, and its legislative results , whilestamped with generous sentiment, were characterized by many inconsistencies.Such conduct had as its natural outcomethe throwing of discouragement and indecision into the Constitutionalist ranks outside ofthe Assembly.This is plainly visible in their words andwritings.((Jefferson, who, in the early days of theConstituante," had been asked to aid it indrafting a constitution and who had declinedbecause of his official character, was displeasedwith the precipitate haste and the excessivedemocratic zeal of the legislators . He re17 Mémoire de M. le Comte Lally Tollendal, ou SecondeLettre à ses Commettants, Paris, Jan. 1790, where hespeaks of the " annotateurs Français de Livingston ... cesauteurs ivres de démocratie . . . . prêchaient cependantaux Français, leurs compatriotes, la plus extrême modera- tion " (p. 8).AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 227marked their divisions with regret. He counseled moderation.18Gouverneur Morris, who later succeededthe Virginian as head of the United StatesLegation at the Court of Versailles, wasstill more conservative. He found Lafayette too republican for his country; he considered the French Declaration of Rights asa collection of " sounding words ," and hedid not hesitate to write, " Our American example has done them good; butlike all novelties, liberty rushes away withtheir discretion, if they have any. They wantan American Constitution, with the exceptionof a King instead of a President, without reflecting that they have no American citizensto support that constitution.1918 Jefferson's Works, ii. 131 , 556. " Keeping the goodmodel of your neighboring country before your eyes youmayget on step by step towards a good constitution . " Compare with this the view ofJefferson's friend , Quesnay de Beaurepaire, in his Avis Impartial aux Citoyens, 16 Août, 1789,' S'il m'était permis de former un vœu ce serait qu'on pûtsaisir dans cette heureuse Révolution le moyen de prendrele juste milieu entre le gouvernement d'Angleterre et celuide la France " (p. 4) . Compare also Randall's Jefferson,i. pp. 524, 535 , 611. For the disunion in the Constitutionalist ranks, see Lacretelle, Dix Ans d'Epreuves, (Paris,1842, I vol. 80) chap. ii . pp. 37, 38, and Moniteur Univ. , 21 Sept. , 1792, statement of Théod . de Lameth.19 Morris, Life and Correspondence, (ed. Sparks, ) i . 294,228 AMERICA AND FRANCE.While these two American Republicansof different shades equally disapproved oftheruling party of the Assembly, every man inthat party seems to have had his own ideaon every question that presented itself andwas not slow to advocate this idea by wordof mouth or by the pen. The writers of theUltra- Royalists and Ultra- Democrats had acertain fixed policy; the pamphleteers of theConstitutionalists alternately flitted from aMonarchy like Great Britain to a Republiclike the United States, and from a Republic like the United States to a Republic ·of the Rousseau school. They often madeallusions to America and proved thereby that,even amid the anarchical confusion in whichthey waded, American example was not forgotten by or indifferent to them. The pamphlet entitled, " Instructions et Cahier duHameau," attributed to the pen of the Bishopof Blois, is not very enthusiastic for an established nobility, and says: 20295, 314, and Letter to William Carmichael, Paris, 10 July,1789; and vol. iii . p. 481 et seq. Compare also, Life anaCorresp. of John Jay, ii . 197. " Liberté ' is now thegeneral cry and ' autorité ' is a name, not a real existence."Morris to Jay, I July, 1789.20 " On a très sagement proscrit en Amérique les décorations qui pourraient consacrer des familles patriciennes "AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 229"The legislators of America have verywisely forbidden external decorations whereby certain patrician families might be perpetuated." The pamphlet entitled " Importancede l'Idée d'une Constitution," by the Marquis de Casaux, rejected the English system,while advocating a constitutional monarchy,and alluded to the " l'heureuse Révolution del'Amérique." The pamphlet entitled, " Qu'estce que la Nation, qu'est ce que la France? "by Guiraudet, is loud in its praise of theBritish Monarchy, but sympathizes with theconduct of the American Revolutionists, anda pamphlet with, " De l'Organisation d'unEtat Monarchique " on its title - page, admires the absence of nobility in America.21The Chevalier de Pange, a decided advocate of most of the features of Britishas (p. 19) , and further on the pamphlet speaks of Washington"un héros que cette parti du monde doit envier àl'autre, " (p. 85) . For the words cited from the pamphletofCasaux, see p. 144. For the words cited from the pamphlet Qu'est ce que la Nation, qu'est ce que la France? seep. 89..75721 See pp. 71 , 72, of this pamphlet which is to be found inthe Recueil L. 56 (Bibl. Ste. Gen.) The words above referred to are: "" Certainement les Etats-Unis de l'Amériqueont bien plus d'étendue que le Royaume de France; cependant ils ont eu le bon esprit de proscrire toute espèce deNobilité parmi eux."230 AMERICA AND FRANCE.government, seemed inclined, on the vetoquestion, to adopt a view that approachedthe American.22 Lepelletier, outspoken fora constitutional monarchy, advised moderate measures, and yet turned to the radical American Declaration with the words:"Let us open the Independence act of freeAmerica, an act drawn up by philosophers,who in publishing the same have preparedthe universal gospel of the nations. " 23 Cerutti, in his " Lettre de M. Cerutti au Caféde Foix," argued for the division of governmental powers as exemplified by British andAmerican precedent, and in his " Vues générales sur la Constitution française," he deprecated popular violence, and wrote of theAmericans as of models. "They alone," saidhe, "have guarded against excesses. Al22 De la Sanction Royale, par M. le Chevalier de Pange,avant propos and pp. 21 , 22.23 Réflexions offertes à la Conv. Nationale, par F. Lepelletier. " Ouvrons l'acte d'indépendance de l'Amériquelibre, rédigé par des philosophes qui en le faisant, ont preparé l'évangile universel des peuples, et nous y lirons . . . ."(p. 14). This pamphlet is probably posterior to the majorityof those cited above, but we give it here as expressing themoderate Constitutionalist view of a man who later became radical.Lettre de M. Cerutti au Café de Foix, Paris, 1789, pp.5, 21 .AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 231

though animated by vengeance, they did notallow themselves to commit a single atrocity,and, in their valiant hand, the blade of war didnot so much as notch the edge of the bladeof the law. " 24Servan, in his plea for peace among all parties, referred to the present prosperous condition ofthe American Republic; 25 Grouvelle ,though not an admirer of all parts of theAmerican Constitution, could not withhold hiseulogies from the doctrine of equality as consecrated by the American Declaration.26Cradled in the revolution of America,"said the writer ofthe " Coup d'Equinoxe, " published in 1789, "liberty has since my infancybeen the sole object of my thoughts."Onepamphleteer of the time in his " Mémoire pour24 Cerutti, Vues Générales sur la Const. franç. , Paris,1789. "Les Américains Anglais ont seuls reussi à s'enpreserver. Quoique animés par la vengeance ils ne se sontpas permis une seule atrocité & dans leur main valeureusela glaive de la guerre n'a pas seulement ébrêché celui de la loi " (p. 13).25 Adresse aux Amis de la Paix, par M. Servan ancienAvocat Gén. au Parl. de Grenoble, 1790, p. 21 .26 Grouvelle, De l'Autorité de Montesquieu dans la révolution présente, Fév. , 1789. "C'est pour consacrer ceprincipe que les Etas- Unis ont commencé leur charte constitutive par cette déclaration ' Tous les hommes naissentegaux Cela est bien de l'autre monde,! " note p . 122.232 AMERICA AND FRANCE.le peuple, " 27 sustains his argument for the balance of three powers by the example affordedby North America, and another, author of aprint entitled " L'Ami de la Révolution," addressed the representatives of the nation inthe following stirring tones: " Frenchmen!All nations have their eyes fixed upon you!The friends of the Revolution sustain you inEngland by their applause and their goodwishes and the inhabitants of new Americainvite you to follow their example." 2895 75756 757'27 For the Coup d'Equinoxe (p. 58) , see Recueil, L. 5 ,Bibl. Ste. Gen. Paris. Mem. pour le Peuple 1788, (Recueil,Bibl . Ste. Gen. L. 25.) " Montesquieu a placé la liberté politique dans la distinction des trois pouvoirs: c'est un principe inconnu aux peuples anciens & que le génie a donnéaux peuples modernes. C'est le régle sur lequel l'AmériqueSeptentrionale mésure tous ses plans législatifs . C'estl'échelle véritable de la liberté publique " (p. 37) .43 757'28 L'Ami de la Révolution: Philippique aux Représentants de la Nation, 1789, (Rec. L. Bibl. Ste. Gen.) ." Français, toutes les Nations ont les yeux fixé sur vous!Les amis de la Révolution vous secondent en Angleterrepar leurs applaudissem*nts et par leurs vœux; les peuplesde la nouvelle Amérique vous invitent à suivre leur exemple " (p . i . ) Compare with this P. Manuel, A mes Concitoyens en 1789. " Depuis que le bonnet de la liberté estélevé en Amérique, sur la pointe d'une pique, il semble quece soit un signal pour tous les peuples. Tous se disposentà demander justice des outrages faites à la nature et à laraison." (Lettres sur la Révolution, Paris, an III . p. 4) . Inthe Annales Patriotiques et Littéraires de la France, " di "AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 233But the Constitutionalist writers, howeverthey may have differed on other points, wereunited in praising their King for his interference in the American war and in their approval ofthe American Revolution."What have I done thee, O my people?"one moderately royalist pamphlet makes theKing exclaim, "what have I done thee thatthou heapest bitter abuse upon my head?Art thou angry that I have protected the liberty of America and that I, from that timeforth, desired to see it established in thymidst? "29"A king," said another pamphlet of a moreroyalistic political stripe, " a king whomAmerica reveres as its liberator cannot become the tyrant of his subjects." 30rected by Mercier, (No. clxxx. 31 March, 1790, p. 3) I findEngland and America held up as an example. The articleis entitled " Un petit mot à MM. les Lyonnais. " " Lyonnais,voyez l'Angleterre, voyez les Etats Unis d'Amérique etsouvenez vous que la liberté est non seulement le premierbien de l'homme, mais le grand véhicule de l'industrie et du commerce. "29 Popule meus, quid tibi feci? 1790, (pamphlet) , " Seraitce parceque j'ai protégé la liberté américaine et que jevous ai montré dès lors que je la verrais avec plaisir parmivous? " (p . i) .30 L'Archevêque de Paris à ses Diocésains, Savoye, 1789,(Recueil Bibl . Ste. Gen. L. 45.) "Un roi que l'Amériquerévère comme son libérateur ne peut devenir le tyran de ses234 AMERICA AND FRANCE.The favorite poet of the Constitutionalistsat this time, Marie Joseph Chénier, alwaysreferred to the country of Washington withpraise, and bestowed the laurel wreath uponLafayette."Du sage Washington le vertueux rival,Son élève autrefois, maintenant son égal-"The majority of the Constitutionalists wereof the opinion expressed by Clavière that between two free peoples, like regeneratedFrance and republican America, there shouldexist a strong and durable spirit of fraternity.31The majority of the Constitutionalists alsosubscribed to the ideas in the letter of AndréChénier to the Abbé Raynal. The libertyloving poet upbraids the reactionary ecclesiastic for his recent political apostasy; for hisopposition to the Rights of Man; for the inconsistency of his present attitude with hisattitude at the time of the American war."What did you invoke in favor of the Americans, if it was not the Rights of Man? Whatsujets, " (p. ii . ) Chénier, " Epitre au Roi, 1789, " Euvres,tome iii . p. 64. Compare also his " Ode à l'AssembléeNationale," ( Euvres, tome iii . p. 304) for flattering wordsto America.31 Clavière, Réflexions addressées à l'Assem. Nat. sur leCommerce, etc. , Paris, 1790, p. 6, note et passim .AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 235Cdid you find worthy of citing and praising inPaine's Common Sense, ' if it was not theRights of Man?" Those questions were indeed the most telling of arguments, for, during a period of over ten years, all classes inFrance had made themselves familiar with theAmerican Declaration, and its bold doctrineswere engraven in the memory of Frenchmenlong before they were incorporated into theircountry's Constitution. To disavow those doctrines now seemed like disavowing axiomatictruths,32Republicanism, meanwhile, was makingsome headway and many Constitutionalistsbegan to feel alarm at the rising tide of opinions favorable to the establishment of a kingless form of government. Recognizing thatthis tide of opinion was greatly strengthenedby living American example, they strove intheir writings to prove that for the French to32 Moniteur Univ. , Juin 5, 1791. "Et qu'avez vousinvoqué pour les Américains si ce n'est les droits de l'homEt qu'avez vous trouvé dans le livre de Payne (le SensCommun) que vous avez extrait et loué, si ce n'est les droitsde l'homme? " Compare Observateur Provincial, Angers,1789, No. v. p. 32, for words of good-will toward America. "Ce n'est donc pas assez que les Etats Unis de l'Amérique nous ayent donné l'exemple de la liberté; leur sol , benipar la Providence, se charge encore de nous aider à maintenir nos droits."mer.236 AMERICA AND FRANCE.imitate in all respects the pattern set by theUnited States was as impracticable as it wasundesirable. On this head the Constitutionalists opposed America. The opposition waslukewarm, it is true, but still it was opposition.Stand fast by a moderate monarchy, arguedthe pamphlet entitled, " De la République etde la Monarchie. " 33 The Americans' example must not be followed. Their Republic hasnot yet stood the test. Time alone will tellwhether they were wise in establishing sopopular a form of government.A great nation cannot become and long remain a republic, argued another pamphlet of371 a33 De la République et de la Monarchie (Bibl. de l'Arsenal, Paris, No. 718937 in 8°), pp. 39, 40 and 45. Foran interesting discussion between a Constitutional Monarchist and a Republican evidently influenced by America,see the discussion between P. Choderlos, in Journal desAmis de la Constitution, No. 33, 12 Juillet, 1791 , and Brissot de Warville, in the Patriote Français, Nos. 696 and 697:"J'entends par une république, " says Brissot, " un gouvernement où tous les pouvoirs sont 1 ° délégués ou représentatifs 20 électifs dans et par le peuple ou ses représentants3º temporaires ou amovibles. Les Etats Unis d'Amériquesont les seules qui offrent l'image d'une pareille république."Compare, also, Gazette Universelle (de Cerisier) , 16 Déc. ,1790, No. 383, where a Constitutionalist Mr. de la . Rive'scomparison between France and America is given. It isflattering to America, but more so to his own country.'Le Congrés qui a sauvé l'Amérique. " " L'Assemblée qui a délivré la France, " etc., etc."AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 237the period, in 1790, and entitled, " Etat Actuelde la France." The example of Switzerland,of Holland, of America, is not conclusive.Their geographical position is more favorableto a republican form of government than thatof France would be."Ifyou happen to speak on different kinds.of government, if you compare the FrenchConstitution with that of Geneva or that ofthe United States," said Pétion de Villeneuve,in 1789, " immediately you hear voices in favor of one or the other of these governments.People in general fail to go to the bottom ofthe principles underlying these governments,and launch forth into vague and ideal speculations. "3434 Pétion de Villeneuve, Avis aux Français , 1789: " Parlez vous de ces divers gouvernemens, s'agit- il de savoir sila constitution française vaut mieux que celle de Genève oudes Etats Unis, aussitôt des voix s'élèvent en faveur dechacune de ces gouvernemens & négligeant d'approfondirles principes particuliers de leur organisation, on se jettedans des speculations vagues et idéales " (chap . iii . 53) .Compare with this the statement of Barère, made in 1789:"L'Amérique dont la liberté est en même temps notre modèle et notre fantôme " (Mém. i . p. 418) . It may here bestated that French public opinion was never so well disposed to Holland and Switzerland as to the American Republic. They were also federal states, but not pure republican governments. There was in them an oligarchical andaristocratic element which was repugnant to the existing238 AMERICA AND FRANCE.Indeed, even before the end of the Constituent Assembly, Royalists of the old schooland Constitutionalists of the new began tofind stout adversaries in the Republicans of allshades who almost imperceptibly sprung upamid the febrile excitement of the times.Serièys, who was more of a radical politician and a scribbler than an inspired bard anda statesman, more than once alluded to America in his poem dedicated to Bailly and entitled, " Les Révolutions de France ou LaLiberté. ""Loin de nous cependant la Liberté bannieDe tes paisibles bords, fertile Virginie. " 35Brissot de Warville, who had returned fromhis American trip in 1788 full of enthusiasmfor American institutions, founded the periodical, "Patriote Français. " 36 In its columns heideas in France. See Paganel, Essai Hist. et Crit. sur laRev. franç., tome ii . pp. 91 , 92. Nor were allusions tothem in the public prints either as favorable or as frequentas to America.35 Les Révolutions de France ou la Liberté, par M.Serièys (Paris, 1790) , chant i . p. 5. Comp. notes on chantvi . , p. 197; also vi . p . 78.36 Le Patriote Français (See prospectus, the No. for June17, 1789, and also numbers for 3 Sept. and 21 Nov., 1789).The words we cite are taken from the introductory note."Sans les Gazettes, la révolution de l'Amérique, à laquellela France a prise une part si glorieuse, ne se serait jamaisAMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 239violently attacked Louis XVI. , wrote of theBritish Constitution with qualified praise andalways spoke in the highest terms of theAmerican union."The Revolution of America," said he, inhis opening number, " in which France tookso glorious a part, would never have beenconsummated without the aid of gazettes allof which republished Common Sense,' thatwork whose every page bears the imprint ofreason."6The "Patriote Français, " from the date ofits first number, 28 June, 1789, to the dateof its last, June 2 , 1793 , never faltered in itsadmiration for America. It was in its pagesthat the famous lines of Chénier first becamewidely known:"O Franklin and Washington, compeers in glory,Whom Greece would have decked with her immortalbays;Oye to whom Clio, severe muse of story,Will render the tribute of honor and praise;faite. Toutes, par exemple, réimprimaient le Sens Commun,cet écrit où triomphe la raison " (p. 2). On the influencehis American trip had on Brissot, see Dumont, Mem. ofMirabeau (Am. ed. ) , xx. 327: " Brissot went and surveyedthe country, and this voyage, of which he published a relation, by no means damped his ardor for liberty under republican forms. " Compare, John Woolman's Diary, (ed.Whittier) , p. 31 .240 AMERICA AND FRANCE.Let me not be misled by my hopes' fond illusion ,Believing the light of your freedom shall beamTo lighten the gloom of our own dark confusion.I cannot believe it is only a dreamOf my fancy, that we, men of France, shall soon seeThe day when, like you, brave American freemen,Our heroic models, we too shall be free."37The editor of the " Patriote Français," advocated American ideas in France and pointedto American example not only in his paper37 See, on Patriote Français, Hatin, Hist. de la Presse enFrance, vol. v. p. II . For the verses, see Patriote Français,3 Sept. , 1789, p. 3."O Franklin, Washington, grands compagnes de gloire,O vous à qui la Grèce eût dressé des autels ,Vous à qui la sévère histoirePaira des tributs immortels;Je ne m'enivre point d'un espoir chimérique;La Liberté qui luit aux champs de l'AmériqueEclaira, près des nous, les regards des Français;Et bientôt des récits fidèlesVont annoncer à nos modèlesLes fruits de leur exemple & nos heureux succès. "Des"Nous avons conquis notre liberté. Il ne s'agit donc pasd'apprendre des Américains la manière de la conquérir;mais il faut apprendre d'eux le secret de la conserver.mœurs des mœurs! Sans elles point de liberté, " i . andii . of preface to the Nouveau Voyage dans les Etats Unis."Français qui voulez connaitre ces moyens, étudiez lesAméricains d'aujourd'hui, ouvrez ce livre, " pp. xxi. , xxii."Les exemples frappent toujours plus que les préceptes,'P. xxviii.AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 241and in conversation. In April, 1791 , he published an account of his travels in the UnitedStates under the title of " Nouveau Voyagedans les Etats Unis de l'Amérique Septentrionale," and in the three- volume work proved,more strongly than ever before, how greatwas his love for America and the Americans.Two volumes are devoted to a descriptionof the country and its inhabitants; the thirdis an enlarged reproduction of his and Clavière's work, " De la France et des EtatsUnis " originally published in 1787, and thenvery successful with the public. The prefaceto Brissot's work is indicative of its generaltenor. It glows with enthusiasm for America. "We have conquered our liberty. Weneed not therefore learn from the Americansthe way of obtaining it; we must learn fromthem the secret of maintaining it. Goodmorals! good morals! without them, no liberty! " The two pillars, according to Brissot,on which rests the body politic, are soundmorals and public education. "Frenchmen, "he exclaims, " ye who wish to know the meansof preserving liberty, study the Americans ofto-day, open this book...... Examples a!-ways produce a more striking impressionthan precepts." Brissot de Warville was de-242 AMERICA AND FRANCE.cidedly, next to Lafayette, the most ardentchampion America then had in France.The pamphlet "La France Libre," published in 1789, by Camille Desmoulins, wasas republican in tone as its author was thenalready republican in his opinions. He didnot disguise the fact; he proclaimed it aloud.He desired a republic after the Atheniankind; he hated modern monarchs and monarchies. The United States probably foundlittle favor in his eyes and yet the boldpamphleteer twice alluded to their examplein the pages of " La France Libre. " First,he approvingly quoted Mirabeau's memorable words on the Declaration of Independence, and then, further on, he startled bothRoyalists and Constitutionalists by this doctrine. France has no further need of monarchical government. The nation will governitself. America does so. Greece did so.That is the only government fit for men,for Frenchmen, and for Frenchmen of thiscentury.3"C38 C. Desmoulins, La France Libre, 1789, chap. vi. , forquotation from Mirabeau and for the following, above cited,Ce sera la nation qui se régira elle-même, à l'exemple del'Amérique, à l'exemple de la Grèce. Voila le seul gouvernement qui convienne à des hommes, aux Français et auxFrançais de ce siècle. "AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 243The death of Franklin, in 1790, called forthexpressions of eulogy and regret from allparties in France. These expressions havefor us to-day an historical value, for theyclearly indicate the then opinion of theseparties in regard to the country of whichFranklin had been the representative man.Mirabeau, a Constitutionalist, pronouncedupon the dead statesman that beautiful eulogy which every American schoolboy knowsby heart; the Assembly, which was his attentive listener, voted to wear mourning during three days in honor of the American'smemory, 39 and, by its President, sent its con-""39 Mirabeau, Euvres, (ed. Vermorel) , ii . pp. 131 , 132 .Franklin est mort. Il est retourné au sein de la divinité, legénie qui affranchit l'Amérique et versa sur l'Europe destorrents de lumière. Le sage que deux mondes réclament,l'homme que se disputent l'histoire des sciences et l'histoiredes empires, tenait sans doute un rang élevé dans l'espècehumaine. Assez longtemps les cabinets politiques ont notifié la mort de ceux qui ne fûrent grands que dans leur élogefunèbre Assez longtemps l'etiquette des cours a proclamé des deuils hypocrites! Les nations ne doiventporter que le deuil de leurs bienfaiteurs; les représentantsdes nations ne doivent recommander à leur hommage queles héros de l'humanité. . . . . . L'antiquité eût élevé desautels à ce vaste et puissant génie, qui au profit des mortels,embrassant dans sa pensée le ciel et la terre sut dompterla foudre et les tyrans: l'Europe eclairée et libre doit dumoins un témoignage de souvenir à l'un des plus grandshommes qui aient jamais servi la philosophie et la liberté. ".....244 AMERICA AND FRANCE.dolence to the President of the United States.The Abbé Fauchet, also a Constitutionalist,celebrated the virtues of the deceased in aglowing eulogy before the Municipality ofParis.40Chénier commemorated the death of Franklin at the same time that he sang his noblesong in eulogy of Mirabeau."Un seul grand homme vaut cent roisCe Franklin, qui dans l'AmériqueFit regner la raison publique,Au monde était plus précieuxQue tous ces princes dont la gloireExpire et s'eteint dans l'histoireDès qu'on leur ferme les yeux. "One great man, he exclaimed, is worthan hundred kings. Franklin, who estab40 Eloge civique de Benjamin Franklin, prononcé le 21Juillet, 1790, dans la Rotonde au nom de la Commune deParis, par M. l'Abbé Fauchet, Paris, 1790, 50 p. " Unegrande nation, étonée de se voir libre embrasse d'une extremité de la terre à l'autre la première nation qui l'estdevenue." "La ville de Paris qui a possédé cegrand homme, qui s'est enivrée alors du plaisir de l'admirerdispute maintenant à Boston et à Philadelphie ses deuxvilles natales, le sentiment profond de son mérite etde sa gloire. Elle a commandé cette solennité funèbrepour éterniser la reconnaissance et la douleur de cettetroisième patrie qui s'est montrée si digne de l'avoir eu pourinstituteur et pour modèle . . .. . . Conf. Mercure deFrance, 8 Oct., 1791. For Chénier's lines, see his Euvres,tome. iii. 321.AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 245lished national liberty in America, was moreprecious to the world than all those princeswhose glory expires with their last breathand with the closing of their eyes."The Duke de La Rochefoucauld eulogizedthe illustrious republican to the members ofthe '89 Society; " 41 Vicq d'Azyr sketchedthe life of the departed-who had been, as hesaid, " an inventor among savans, a legislatorfor nations, a liberator of his country "-beforethe Academy of Medicine,42 and Condorcet, in presence of the Academy of Sciences,spoke in grave and stately tones not only ofFranklin the scientist and the man, but ofFranklin the diplomatist and statesman of afree people.4341 See. Benjamin Franklin, His Life and Writings-aBibliographical Essay on the Stevens' Collection of Booksand MSS. relative to Dr. Franklin, by Henry Stevens,(London, 1881 , ) p. 4, Sparks' Life of Franklin, p. 593 etseq.42 For the Eloge on Franklin by Vicq d'Azyr see RevueRetrospective, tome ii . Série ii . 1835 , pp. 375 et seq. Forthe effect it produced see Euvres de Lemontey, (Paris,1829; ) tome iii . p. 46 et seq. "J'étais absent de Parislorsqu'il le prononça mais je retrouvais à mon retour lavive sensation qu'il y avait laisser. On répétait ces parolesmemorables de son début sur le vieillard américain ' Unhomme est mort et deux mondes sont en deuil.""43 Euvres de Condorcet, (Paris , 1804, ) pp. 121 , 122, 138 ,141 , 143, 146, 160. ' Elle ( l'Académie des Sciences) accueil-246 AMERICA AND FRANCE.Such were Constitutionalist opinions concerning the great American. They at thesame time expressed admiration and sympathy for his country and for him.The Royalists, however, either passed bythe event of Franklin's death in silence or simply dwelt upon his talent as a scientist. Oneorthodox royalist sheet, " L'Apocalypse," ridiculed Mirabeau's motion in Franklin's honor,while at the same time it ridiculed the " royaldemocracy " of Barnave, Noailles, d'Aiguillon,Lafayette and La Rochefoucauld, all earnestfriends and admirers of America.44Another representative ofthe court, " L'Amidu Roi, " thus reported the eulogy deliveredby Mirabeau."The members listened with interest tolit avec transport le sage qui venait d'apprendre aux tyransconnaitre la justice, aux hommes à ne plus dépendre quede leurs droits. Elle vit avec satisfaction un de ses membres réunir la gloire d'affranchir deux mondes, d'éclairerl'Amérique et de donner à l'Europe l'exemple de la liberté "(p. 163). Compare with these Constitutionalist eulogies,the Moniteur Univ. , for 5 Août, 1791 , reviewing Mémoiresde la Vie Priveé de Benjamin Franklin, Paris, 1791. Thatinfluential organ ended by saying of the book that it was," un recueil extrêmement intéressant pour toutes les classesde lecteurs, mais surtout pour les philosophes et pour leshommes libres."44 L'Apocalypse, chap. xiv. , against the " démocratie roy- ale," etc. , etc. , p. 16.AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 247the encomium bestowed by M. de Mirabeauupon this savant to whom his country shouldbe grateful. This eulogy was doubtless deserved, but in tracing it the orator raised hishero to such a height that he rendered itimpossible for any one to recognize in him.the Franklin whom we knew. " 45The extreme Democratic journalists, Marat 46 and Prudhomme,47 cursorily alluded to45 L'Ami du Roi, (Pro Deo, Rege et Patriâ, ) No. liii.Vendredi, 23 Juillet, 1760, p. 215, ridiculed the AbbéFauchet's Eulogy on Franklin, and the number, Samedi12 Juin, 1790, reported as follows, " On a écouté avec intérêt l'éloge que M. de Mirabeau a fait de ce savant, à quison pays doit de la reconnaissance. Cet éloge était méritésans doute mais en le traçant l'orateur a élévé son héros àune telle hauteur, qu'il l'a , pour ainsi dire, rendu méconnaissable, " (p. 47) . It was characteristic of the royalistpress always to qualify their praise of America. Comparethe royalist Journal de M. Suleau, No. iii . pp. 18, 19. Hespeaks ofthe great future of the United States, but he consoles himself with the thought, " aujourd'hui ce géant n'estqu'au berceau. "46 Marat, in the Ami du Peuple, 16 Juin, 1790, spokesome words of eulogy on Franklin, but fiercely attackedMirabeau as a hypocrite. Conf. Ami du Peuple, cxliv. 25Juin, 1790.47 Prudhomme, Révolutions de Paris, No. liv. pp. 60, 61 ,also No. lv. pp. 133 and 136. On p. 133 the radical journalist seems to say that Sparta was free long before America and therefore deserves greater admiration! Comparethese lukewarm radical demonstrations of 1790 in Franklin'shonor with his fame under the Convention in 1794, Mém deMorellet, ii . p. 339.248 AMERICA AND FRANCE.Franklin in their inflammatory sheets, andgave but scant praise to the American Republic. The masses cherished his memory,however, and groups of men who lived by thework of their hands held meetings in honorof the tallow- chandler's son in Paris and inthe provinces. The bust of the great manwas placed in the hall to remind the lowlyaudience of the features of the deceased andfit words were spoken to recall his worksand his example.4848 For account of the popular celebrations in Franklin'shonor, see Révolutions de Paris, No. lvii. pp. 232 et seq. ,where the speeches are given. L'Observateur Provincial,Angers, 1790, No. 14, p. 55 where the following resolutionis printed " Les Amis de la Constitution, résidant à Angersprendront, le lundi 21 de ce mois, le deuil pour 3 jours, àl'occasion de la mort du Docteur Francklin. " For furtheraccount of popular testimonials in honor of the American'smemory, see Mém. de Campan, vol. ii . chap. ix. p. 223 andvol. iii. p. 373, note T. Luchet, in his work, Les Contemporains de 1789 et 1790, ou les Opinions Débattues pendant la Première Legislature (Paris, 1790, 3 vols. 80) , said,sub loco, Franklin;-"Il est impossible de donner le tableaud'une révolution, sans y placer ce nom immortel. Ce républicain philosophe a éclairé les héros de la liberté; jusqu'alui la plupart des publicistes avaient raisonné comme desesclaves entendus de leurs mâitres; ou avait employé toutleur esprit comme Montesquieu pour justifier ce qui est;et farder nos institutions d'un venin trompeur; lui seul,étudiant les droits de l'humanité, écartant la poussière etle sable, c'est a dire les rélations extérieures de faiblesseet de puissance, de richesse et de pauvreté, d'inégalité etAMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 249The death of Franklin made it evident thatwhile the extreme Royalists and extremeDemocrats were almost equally lukewarm inhis praise or neglectful of his memory, theConstitutionalists were forward in recalling toall minds the life -history of the American andthe political significance of the Revolution.in which he had been one of the most prominent actors. Memories of 1776 had not diedout in France in 1790.The Constituent Assembly was meanwhiledrawing to a close. The three years of itssessions had been marked by great eventsoutside and inside the legislative hall. Therehad been anarchy of opinion, abundance ofconflicting pamphlets, and fierce discussion.The Royalists had, on one occasion, organizedd'aristocratie de toute espèce a découvert les fondementsde la société. . . ... Non jamais on doit parler de la libertésans payer un tribut d'hommages a cet éminent vengeurde la nature humaine, " ii . pp. 34, 35.In a short-lived periodical called Le Républicain, (seeHatin, Bibliog. de la Presse Périodique, p. 187) , I find thefollowing glowing eulogy on Franklin, " La France, où ila laissé une foule d'amis, où l'on a vu toujours libre, sincère et vertueux au milieu d'une cour corrompue, la France,dis-je, s'associe à la douleur que sa perte a cause a sesconcitoyens , " 1790, No. ii . pp. 37 , 38, 39. The same periodical , gives an elaborate report at a meeting held by thepatriots at the Café- Procope in honor of the memory of thegreat American. (comp. No. iii . pp. 1 , 2) .250 AMERICA AND FRANCE.a banquet and trampled under foot the revolutionary co*ckade. The famished mob had,on another, rushed to Versailles, invaded thepalace, and forced the royal family to removeto Paris, there to reside under its watchfuleyes. Confidence in the King, for a momentrestored by the Fête of the Federation, hadbeen destroyed for ever by his unsuccessfulflight and his ignominious capture. The nobility of the court had emigrated in greatnumbers and now hovered along the banksof the Rhine in hostile array. There hadbeen riots, secret seditions and open insurrection in the city and in the departments.But in spite of these grave events, and inthe midst of such discouraging circ*mstances,the National Constituent Assembly had pursued its labors of reform and legislation. Ithad stood amid the storm-"Like the steadfast tower, that never wagsIts summit for the blowing of the winds—" 49and the greater part of its work has undergone the test of time, and is to-day incorporated in the constitutions of almost all thenations. The National Constituent Assemblystripped royalty of its absolutism; founded representative government in France; established40 Dante, Purgatorio, canto v. 14 (Longfellow's transl. ).AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 251liberty of worship, of the press, and of speech;abrogated feudal rights and privileges; dividedFrance into departments; opened all professions and careers to all classes of men; gavethe ballot, with certain restrictions, to everycitizen; reformed the criminal code; institutedthe trial by jury in criminal cases; and simplified and equalized taxation.,If we examine the debates that precededthe adoption of this constitution , and if weexamine the constitution itself as adopted, wewill be struck by the fact that the French legislators, who debated and voted upon it, wereinfluenced first, by Rousseau; next, by America; and, lastly, by England. These influencescan be easily explained, if we take into consideration the metaphysical proclivities of theFrench mind in the eighteenth century. Rousseau satisfied these proclivities best, and he was,therefore, the leading influential powerover thelegislators of the Constituent Assembly, as hewas later to be the predominating mind in theLegislative Assembly and the Convention.The strong influence of America on France,at the time of the Constituent Assembly, hasbeen proved, we think, by the debates in andthe publications and pamphlets outside of thatAssembly, as well as by the adoption of, first,252 AMERICA AND FRANCE.the Declaration of Rights; second, the Suspensive Veto; third, the Act for Freedom ofWorship; fourth, perfect Freedom ofthe Press;fifth , though only in part, by the adoption ofa written and amendable Constitution. Theexplanation of this influence is to be found intwo patent facts. In the first place, Americahad the sympathies of the mass of the Frenchpeople. " Ideas do not govern the world,"somewhere remarks Herbert Spencer, "theworld is governed by feelings, to which ideasserve only as guides."In the second place, the American Republic, like the works of Rosseau, satisfied thecraving in France for the ideal and the abstract, and yet, at the same time, afforded aconcrete example of a state where the principles of the Philosopher of the Hermitageeither partially formed the basis of the government or the basis for the interpretation ofthe constitution.Hence, French admiration for equality, popular sovereignty, broad suffrage and popularelections as exemplified in the American system, and hence, too, French opposition tosuch Anglican principles as the division andbalance of governmental powers, such as hadbeen retained and incorporated by the UnitedAMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 253States, even after their separation from themother country.That the great and illustrious monarchy ofGreat Britain at this time exerted relativelyso little influence upon France was owing tolack of sympathy between the two nations,and to the marked difference in prevalentideas. Great Britain was the rival of Francethen, as it had been for centuries, and the .mass of the French people looked upon themighty insular naval power ofthe North with.the same suspicious eyes as in ancient timesRome had regarded Carthage.The ideas on government current in the twocountries were, furthermore, fundamentally opposed. The British system, with its positive andpractical spirit, its love ofhistoric precedent, andits horror ofabstract reasoning, found but scantfavor in France, and never obtained more thanthe suffrages of a restricted circle.5050 For an interesting but somewhat misty and metaphysical discussion between an advocate of the American system and an advocate of the British polity, see M. de Casaux,Aperçu de la Constitution française, par un homme del'Amérique et Réponse sommaire à tout ce qu'on a écrit etécrira en France et en Amérique pour, sur, et contre cetteConstitution, Paris, 1791; and Ramond, Opinion énoncée àla Société de 1789, sur les loix constitutionelles, Paris , 1791 .Both these pamphlets are rare, and are among the treasures ofthe Bibliothèque Nationale, at Paris. Forthe views254 AMERICA AND FRANCE.When the National Constituent Assemblyhad completed its immortal labors, it was dissolved on the 30th of September, 1791 .of a Constitutionalist of 1789, read Démeunier, L'AmériqueIndépendante (Gand. , 1790) . He states plainly the featuresof the American Constitution that struck him, and doubtlessthe majority of his party as excellent and preferable to thoseof the British Constitution. We cite the following (vol. i .sect. iv. ) "Quand on se rappele les formes de gouvernement dont parle l'Histoire, quand on jette les yeux sur lesdifférens pays de la terre, comment ne serait on pas frappéde la simplicité, de la raison & de la philosophie des constitutions d'Amérique? Les droits du peuple et les grandesquestions des conventions sociales y sont établies de lamanière la plus énergique et la plus formelle. On y retrouve tous les points de sagesse et d'utilite qu'offre cellede l'Angleterre. " He then praises liberty of press, freedom in religious matters, trial by one's equals, superiorityof civil to military power, eligibility of magistrates, absenceofthe ministers of the executive in the parliamentary body,as laid down in American Constitutions. He continues," Elles ont reformé plusiers abus de la Constitution anglaise& contiennent plusiers dispositions importantes que lesvrais patriotes anglais s'efforcent d'introduire dans la leur. "He next points out that the American Constitutions areamendable according to a prescribed legal form. " LesEtats Unis ne se sont pas avisé de décréter leurs constitutions éternelles et immuables. Ils ont stipulé expressem*ntqu'on les changeraient lorsqu'ils ne conviendraient plus aupeuple " (i. 41 , 42) . This American idea of a regularly amendable Constitution met with considerable favor inFrance. Chapellier, as we have seen, was one of itsgreat advocates. Démeunier speaks favorably of it in thepassage just cited, and Destutt de Tracy in his Commentaire sur l'Esprit des Lois de Montesquieu (livre xi. p.151), is evidently a partisan of it.CHAPTER VI.AMERICA, THE GIRONDE AND THEMONTAGNE.THE Legislative Assembly began its sessionson the 1st of October, 1791. Three distinctparties, in and out of this Assembly, struggledfor the supremacy. These were the Feuillants, the Girondins and the Montagnards.The Feuillants, among whom were such menas Mathieu Dumas, Girardin, Lemontey, Vaublanc, Ramond, Lameth, Duport, Barnave andLafayette, supported the King and the Constitution and counseled moderation. TheMontagnards, represented by such men asRobespierre, Danton, and Saint - Just, calledloudly for a democratic republic and pushedthe doctrines of Rousseau to their furthestlimits. The Girondins, led by men like Brissot, Condorcet, Barbaroux, Clavière, Isnard,Guadet and Vergniaud, were, at this epoch,more democratic than the Feuillants and lessradical than the Montagnards. They stood256 AMERICA AND FRANCE.by Louis XVI. whom at heart they disliked,and maintained a monarchical government,though in reality they desired a republic.The new Assembly soon showed by whatspirit it was animated. It did away with thetitles Sire and Majesty; it dealt the priestand the emigré many a hard blow; it distrusted and watched the King; it gave hima Girondist ministry chosen from among itsmembers; it declared war against monarchical Austria and Prussia. What was the influence exerted by America on France amidthese momentous events? It was almostnull. The enthusiasm which had been feltfor the American States, during the war, theperiod of the Confederation and in the daysof the Constituent Assembly had graduallydiminished as the circ*mstances that gave itrise appeared less immediate to the mercurialFrench mind, and as the French became moreengrossed with their wars abroad, and theirfierce contentions at home. The Constitutionalists, the men who had perhaps bestrepresented America in France, were nowin favor of as moderate and stable a systemof government as possible and, by that veryfact and in view of the state of affairs, werelosing their popularity. To be moderate atTHE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 257a time when the King was a secret traitorat home; when nobles harassed their countryfrom abroad; when the rabble of the citiesroused itself in its strength; when the landwas full of toil and trouble, to be moderateat such a time and under such circ*mstanceswas almost fatally to abdicate all power andfling away all popularity. Such was the fateof Barnave, of Lafayette, of Dumas.The Montagnards, in turn, were too muchengaged in their violent polemics, their bitteraccusations, their threats and their clubs togive much thought to a Republic three thousand miles away across the ocean and forwhich their coolest members, in their calmest moments, had never manifested muchenthusiasm.The Feuillants and the Montagnards atthe capital would at times allow their thoughtsto wander to the shores of free America.This is probable. They applauded with therest of Paris the catch-words liberty, equality, rights, humanity, and they wept overthe sentiment and the pathetic situationswhich they found in a series of FrancoAmerican plays that were occasionally produced on the French stage. M. de Sauvignyin 1791 brought Washington before a theatri-258 AMERICA AND FRANCE.cal public. The play was entitled " Vashington, ou la Liberté du Nouveau Monde, "and during its four acts the author displayedgreater ardor for liberty and his country, thanfor the orthography of his hero's name or theplausibility of his plot.Pompigny, in 1794, caused Franklin totread the boards. The play in which heappeared was the " Epoux Républicain "; thespeeches uttered by the American were intended to be very impressive. Franklin withhis keen sense of the humorous would undoubtedly have considered them very funny.¹1 "Vashington ou la Liberté du Nouveau Monde, " atragedy in four acts , was produced on the 13th July, 1791 , atthe Théatre de la Nation. It had no success. The audience applauded the patriotism of Sauvigny, not his talent.The characters in the play are Vashington; Lincol andMacdol, lieutenant generals; Laurens, Jr; Lismor, anti- revolutionary; Madame Laurens; the ambassador of France;Jorton, envoy of the King of England; Madame Nelson,widow of a relative of Washington; the President of Congress; a deputation of ministers of public worship. ForPompigny's drama, see Welchinger, Le Théatre de la Révolution, pp. 249, 250. Speaking of plays, mention must be made ofthe one entitled La Prise de Toulon and producedin the second year of the French Republic, one and indivisible. An American soldier therein plays a striking partand often alludes to liberty and the friendly relations between France and the United States. For a knowledge of'Vashington " and of some other Franco - American plays, Iam indebted to Mr. Theodore Child, the elegant chroniqueur of The Parisian.THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 259These are incidents, however. The factremains that allusions to America becameless and less frequent in Constitutionalistand Democratic circles. It was the scholarly Girondins, the members from those departments of France which had early sympathized with and sought to gain the good- willof the United States, so as to further thecommercial relations between the two countries, it was these warm, impulsive, eloquentSouthern natures, who now showed that theywere still admirers of American example, andpointed to it in order to encourage their countrymen in the war which they were to wagewith the despots and nobles of Europe. Onthe10th of July, 1791 , even before the period ofthe Legislative Assembly, but when war- cloudsalready flitted to and fro in the threateningsky, Brissot de Warville pronounced the following energetic words, " The powers of Europe, they tell us, are about to burst downupon you. Granted! If, however, yielding toany such consideration, you forget your principles, your dignity, the Constitution, andthink only of the danger that menaces youfrom abroad, why, then, be quick and tear topieces that Constitution of which you are nolonger worthy, of which you are not willing260 AMERICA AND FRANCE.لto defend the provisions!· ·O, you who are in doubt as to the prodigious and supernatural efforts that the loveof liberty can summon men to make, lookand see what the Americans did to achievetheir independence; see Doctor Warren, whohad never before handled a rifle, defend thecommanding position of Bunker Hill with ahandful of his countrymen, poorly armed, imperfectly disciplined. See them, before theywould yield, see them make over twelve hundred English soldiers bite the dust. FollowGeneral Washington holding his own withthree to four thousand farmers against thirtythousand British, and making light of suchsuperior numbers. Follow him to Trenton.He told me this himself. His soldiers hadno shoes; the ice that cut their feet wasstained with their blood. O, we'll havesome shoes to-morrow! ' they said. We'llwhip the Redcoats! ' And they whippedthem!"2(2 Moniteur Universel, 14 Juillet, 1791 , " Les puissancesétrangères vont fondre sur vous, nous dit on. Je le veux maissi cédant à ce motif vous oubliez vos principes, votre dignité, la Constitution pour ne plus voir qu'un danger exterieur, en ce cas hâtez vous de déchirer cette constitution;vous n'en êtes plus dignes; vous ne pouvez plus en défendreaucune partie . ... O vous qui doutez des efforts prodigieuxTHE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 261The same accomplished orator, who beforethe"Société des Amis de la Constitution " thuseloquently held up the Americans as models,repeated his sentiments in the Assembly, andon the 10th of July, 1792, pleading for determined action and for war, exclaimed, " TheAmericans had no shoes when they werevictorious at Trenton! "3The impetuous Isnard, alluding to the sacrifices that liberty requires, told the assembled.legislators to open the book of history and seehow Englishmen, Hollanders, Americans hadpurchased their free institutions at the priceof blood."When in our day and generation theet surnaturels que l'amour de la liberté peut commanderaux hommes, voyez ce que l'on fait les Américains pourconquérer leur indépendance. Voyez le médecin Warrenqui n'avait j'amais manié le fusil défendre la petite collinede Bunkerhill avec une poignée d'Américains mal armés,mal disciplinés et, avant de se rendre, faire mordre la poussière à plus de 1200 militaires anglais. Suivez le GénéralWashington faisant la tête avec 3 à 4000 paysans à plusde 30,000 Anglais, et se jouant de leurs forces . Suivez leà Trenton. Il me le disait; ses soldats n'avaient pas desouliers, la glace qui déchirait leurs pieds était teinte deleur sang, Nous aurons demain des souliers, disaient ils .Nous battrons les Anglais, et ils les battirent! "Moniteur Universel, Séance du 10 Juillet, 1792. " LesAméricains n'avaient pas de souliers quand ils vainquirentà Trentole. " (sic. )262 AMERICA AND FRANCE.Philadelphian desired to be free, did you notwitness a war that embraced two worlds?""What Brissot and Isnard advocated in thetribune of the Assembly, the philosophic Condorcet, a man who it is said was as a volcano covered with ice, advocated in the press.He thus encouraged his countrymen in themidst of some reverses: When Franklin wasat Paris to negotiate a treaty for his country's interest, the raw American recruits happened to encounter on the banks of theDelaware the best-disciplined troops of Europe. When the news of some defeats wereannounced to him, he used to reply withperfect calm , This is sad news, but, ça ira,[4 Moniteur Univ. , 15 Nov., 1791. "Quand de nos jours lePhiladelphien a voulu devenir libre n'avez vous pas vu aussitôt la guerre dans les deux mondes? " Compare with thisIsnard's allusion to American example in the Convention.Monit. Univ. , Séance du 23 Fév. , 1793. Fauchet in the Leg.Assembly, Monit. Univ. , Séance du 22 Jan., 1792 , alluded tothe United States as one of the few free states with whomthe French Republic should contract an alliance.The poets and poetasters of the time occasionally alludedto America. In a poem of ten " chants " entitled " LaFrance Républicaine, ou le Miroir de la Révolution française, " by Francois Pagès, published in 1793, the prefacecontains the following allusion to the United States, " LesAméricains ont implanté l'arbre de la liberté sur un solvierge; leurs mœurs primitives et patriarchales semblaientapeller la liberté. " Compare, also, chant i . p. 7, and chant v. p. 56.THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 263that will be all right in the end! ' And yet,what were then the resources of the Americans in comparison with those which France.to-day possesses? It is to be desired that ourpeople fully seize this great truth." 5During the agitated sessions of the Legislative Assembly, amid the varying fortunesof the French armies abroad, the King, feeblydefended by the Feuillants and the Girondinsat home, became, according to the fluctuatingreports from the seat of war more hateful tothe Montagnards and to the Parisian mob thatwas their master. This hate culminated in the10th of August attack on the Tuileries; in themurder of the guards; in the removal of theKing and the royal family to the prison ofthe Temple. France, which in 1789 and1790, in the halcyon days of the "Constitu5 Moniteur Univ. , 21 Sept. , 1792. "Nous croyons utile depublier les réflexions suivantes de M. Condorcet prises ,dans la Chronique, " No. 266. "Franklin était a négocierà Paris pour les intérêts de son pays, lorsque les milicesaméricaines nouvellement formées soutenaient sur les bordsde la Delaware les efforts des troupes les mieux disciplinéesde l'Europe. Lorsqu'on lui annonçait la nouvelle de quelques revers essuyés par ses concitoyens, il repondait sanss'émouvoir: Cela est fâcheux, mais ça ira.... Cependantqu'étaient alors les ressources des Américains en comparaison de celles que la France possède aujourd'hui? Il serait à souhaiter que le peuple se pénétrát une fois de cesvérités. "264 AMERICA AND FRANCE.ante, " had but few avowed republicans, nowswarmed with them. The dubious conduct ofthe King, the aggressive attitude ofthe Montagnards, the emigration, the timidity of theGirondins and the unpopularity of the oldConstitutional party were the prime causes ofthe growth and spread of republican doctrines.Two Americans -Joel Barlow and ThomasPaine-we will now show, contributed, in noslight degree, to reinforce this current of opinion by their words and their writings.Barlow, who had acted as a chaplain in theAmerican ranks during the Revolutionarywar, and who had dedicated his " Vision ofColumbus " to Louis XVI. , came to London and Paris on business in 1788 , andthere extensively associated with theliberal politicians of the day. The more therevolution in France increased in democratictendency, the more it had his sympathy.In 1791 he launched forth his "Advice tothe Privileged Classes, " which appeared inFrench, under the title " Avis aux OrdresPrivilégiés dans les Divers Etats d'Europe."In this he boldly maintained that "the republican principle is not only proper and safe forthe government of any people, but that itspropriety and safety are in proportion to theTHE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 265magnitude ofthe society and the extent of territory." In 1792 he sent a Letter to the National Convention and therein again advocatedrepublicanism. In the same year he issued aLetter to the People of Piedmont urging themto espouse the cause of democratic France.His "Conspiracy of Kings," a poem thatcame from a London press also in 1792 , attracted considerable attention. It was intensely virulent against royalty; such lines asthese are specimens:"Learn hence, ye tyrants, ere ye learn too lateOf all your craft th ' inevitable fate.The hour is come, the world's unclosing eyesDiscern with rapture where its wisdom lies;From Western heavens th' inverted Orient springs The morn of man, the dreadful night of kings-"These efforts of Barlow to deal a blow fora country then fighting monarchical Europewere appreciated by the Convention. Themembers of that body voted on the 17th ofFebruary, 1793 , that the citizen of the UnitedStates of America be admitted to the rightsand honors of French citizenship. "6 For Barlow see his Political Writings (New York, 1796) ,p. vi. pp. 159, 198, 247, and Moniteur Universel, 19 Fév. ,1793. "He has published several works during the courseof our Revolution, " said Guyton Morveau, "of which twoespecially have held public attention. "266 AMERICA AND FRANCE.As early as July 8, 1791 , at a time when professed republicans were few in France, ThomasPaine had written an open letter to AbbéSieyès in which he took a firm stand againsta monarchical form of government and declared himself the advocate of a Republicwith the Declaration of Rights as its base."The man who by his pamphlet, " CommonSense," had done so much for the Revolutionin America was evidently intent on doingsomething for that in France. Abbé Sieyesreplied to this communication also by an open.letter, in the course of which, though differingwith Paine, he paid the following high tributeto the American pamphleteer."Mr. Thomas Paine is one of the men whohave most contributed to make America free.His ardent love of humanity and his hatredof every kind of tyranny have led him to takein England the defense of the French Revolution against the nonsensical declamation ofMr. Burke. His work has been translatedinto our language, under the title " Droits del'Homme." He is known all over the world,and who is the French patriot that has notalready from the bottom of his heart thankedthis stranger for having strengthened our cause

• Moniteur Universel, 16 Juillet, 1791 .

THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 267by his powerful reasoning and by the weightof his name? "8Paine was, indeed, well known, and his works.were extensively read in France. The first8 For this letter by Abbé Sieyes, see supplement of theMoniteur Universel, 16 Juillet, 1791. " M. Thomas Paineest un des hommes qui ont le plus contribué à établir laliberté en Amérique. Son ardent amour pour l'humanité,sa haine pour toute espèce de tyrannie l'ont porté à prendreen Angleterre la défense de la révolution française, contrel'amphigourique déclamation de M. Burke. Son ouvrage aété traduit dans notre langue sous le titre des Droits del'Homme. Il est universellement connu et quel est le patriote français qui n'a pas déjà, du fond de son âme, remercié cet étranger d'avoir fortifié notre cause de toute la puissance de sa raison et de sa réputation! "9 For allusions to Paine and his works, see MoniteurUniversel, 30 Mai, 1792; 29. Avril, 1792; 13 Sept., 1792;Mercure de France, 29 Jan. , 1791; Chronique de Paris, No.125 , 5 Mai, 1791 , p. 497. " Le redoutable adversaire deM. Burke. " Bulletin des Amis de la Vérité, 1793 , No. viii .p. i .; No. Ixxix. p. 3. Compare also Chénier's opinion in1792. "L'immortel auteur du Sens Commun et du beaulivre des Droits de l'Homme" (Euvres, v. p. 50) . MadameRoland says of Paine in her Mémoires, " Dans le nombrede gens que je recevais et dont j'ai déjà signalé les plusmarquantes, Payne doit être cité. Déclaré citoyen français, comme l'un de ces étrangers célèbres que la nationdevait s'empresser d'adopter, il était connu par les écritsqui avaient été utiles dans la révolution de l'Amérique, etauraient pu concourrir à en faire une en Angleterre. Je neme permettrai pas de le juger a absolument, parcequ'il entendait le français sans le parler, que j'en étais à peu près de même à l'égard de l'Anglais . . . . . La hardiesse deses pensées, l'originalité de son style, ces vérités fortes ,268 AMERICA AND FRANCE.part of his " Rights of Man," confuting Burke,was translated by Soulès, and published in1791 , as " Droits de l'Homme." The secondpart, " Rights of Man combining Principle andPractice," was translated by Lanthenas, andappeared in 1792, as " Théorie et Pratiquedes Droits de l'Homme." Published at thecritical moment when the Constitutionalistswere fast losing ground, owing to the unpopular conduct of the King, and when the Girondins had a theoretical, and the Jacobinshad a practical inclination for republicanism,the pamphlet of Thomas Paine, openly antimonarchical in tone, was readily welcomed byboth the parties of the left.The Girondins found fault with the dedication to Lafayette of the second part of the" Rights of Man, " 10 and probably objected tojetées audacieusem*nt au milieu de ceux qu'ils offensent,ont dû produire une grande sensation, mais je le croyaisplus propre à sémer pour ainsi dire, ces étincelles d'embrasem*nt, qu'a discuter les bases ou préparer la formationd'un gouvernement " (ii . pp. 11 , 12) . Brissot said of Paine," Lisez énergique brochure que vient de publier le célèbrePaine intitulé Rights of Man." (Voyage dans les EtatsUnis, 1791 , tome i. xxviii. note. )10 The Girondist translator left out Paine's prefatory noteto Lafayette. "Les Français ne supportent plus les épitres dédicatoires. ... Paine, cet ami pur de la liberté, acru aussi à la sincérite de Lafayette, mais il est si facile.....THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 269Paine's theory that CC government is nothingmore than a national association."The Montagnards certainly little admiredthe moderate tone of the American's workand the scant praise he bestowed upon theancient representative democracies. But boththe Montagnards and the Girondins agreedwith the American publicist, and were strengthened in their belief, when, in his best style,he argued against hereditary monarchy. "Wehave heard the Rights of Man ' called a levelling system; but the only system to whichthe word levelling is truly applicable is thehereditary monarchical system. It is a system of mentallevelling. It indiscriminately admits every species of character to the sameauthority. Vice and virtue, ignorance andwisdom, in short, every quality, good or bad,is put on the same level. Kings succeed eachother, not as rationals, but as animals. Itsignifies not what their mental or moral characters are. Can we then be surprised at theabject state of the human mind in monarchicalde tromper les hommes qui n'ont jamais médité que lebien. Elévé loin des cours, cet Américain austère, &c. "Translator's note to Théorie et Pratique des Droits del'Homme. Forthe following quotations, see Paine, RightsofMan, part ii . chap. iii . pp. 21 , 22; part ii . chap . iv. pp. 68, 69.270 AMERICA AND FRANCE.countries when the government itself is formedon such an abject levelling system?Both the parties of the left, also, felt thetruth of such words as these. "It is inhumanto talk of a million sterling a year, paid out ofthe public taxes of any country, for the support of any individual, whilst thousands whoare forced to contribute thereto, are piningwith want, and struggling with misery. Government does not exist in a contrast betweenprisons and palaces, between poverty andpomp; it is not instituted to rob the needyof his mite, and increase the wretchedness ofthe wretched. . . When extraordinarypower and extraordinary pay are allotted toany individual in a government, he becomesthe center, round which every kind of corruption generates and forms. Give to anyman a million a year, and add thereto thepower of creating and disposing of places, atthe expense of a country, and the liberties ofthat country are no longer secure. What iscalled the splendor of a throne is no otherthan the corruption of the state. It is madeup of a band of parasites, living in luxuriousindolence, out of the public taxes."The Legislative Assembly closed its sessions after the fixed period of one year, andTHE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 271was on the 21st of September, 1792 , succeededby the Convention. The first act of this newbody was to declare a Republic; the secondwas to bring the King to trial. The Girondins and the Montagnards were now aloneleft to fight the battle for the leadership.The Feuillants had, as a party, disappearedfrom the stage of public action. Its memberswere in different camps, in disfavor, in dangerof the scaffold, or in the grave.It will now be our business to examinethe opinions and fortunes at this time of someof the prominent Frenchmen who had servedin the American war and who had, in thedays of the Constituent Assembly, provedby word or deed that they were or werenot influenced by American example. Thisexamination will aid us in determining whatinfluence America exerted upon France atthe climax of the French Revolution.Aubert du Bayet 11 was serving in the Republican ranks on the frontier. He was a soldier, and it is therefore difficult to know hisopinion on questions of civil polity. TheDuke de Lauzun, who had fought in theRevolutionary army was sent to the scaf11 Biog. Gén. art. Aubert du Bayet, iii . p. 567.272 AMERICA AND FRANCE.fold, 12 and Victor de Broglie, a strict Constitutionalist, shared the same fate.13 TheMarquis de Bouillé who had unsuccessfullyattempted to aid the King to effect his escape was an officer in the army of emigrant nobles.14 Barbé- Marbois, a friend ofJefferson, and one of the first diplomates employed by France in America, at this period.lived a quiet and retired life.15 Alexandrede Beauharnais was a Constitutionalist andan officer. His head fell in 1794.16 Beaumarchais, when in danger of being exiled, adduced in his defense the aid which he had rendered the American revolutionists.17 Berthierwas fighting in the Republican ranks, butin his principles he was a stern royalist. 18Armand de Castries had been one of thefirst nobles to emigrate. 19 Ethis de Corny,the friend of Washington and of Hamilton ,one of the earliest and most enthusiastic12 Biog. Gén. art. Biron, vi . p. 130.13 Biog. Gen. art. V. de Broglie, vii . p. 478.14 Biog. Gén. art. Bouillé, vi. pp. 920, 921 .15 Biog. Gén. art. Barbé- Marbois, iv. p. 428.18 Biog. Gén. art. Beauharnais, iv. p. 920.17 Beaumarchais, Requête à MM. les Représentants dela Commune, (Paris, 1790, in 8 ).19 Biog. Univ. art. Berthier, iv. p. 131.19 Biog. Univ. art. Castries, vii. 191.THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 273actors in the early parts of the French Revolution, became melancholy and pined awaywhen he saw its excesses. He died in November, 1790.20 Custine, who had distinguished himself at Yorktown, who had beena moderate Constitutionalist in the Assemblyand a severe but just disciplinarian in thearmies of the Republic, was sent to the scaffold, 21 Damas Crux, was devoted to theold régime and had emigrated. 22 ArthurDillon had never been enthusiastic for theRevolution. He was condemned to deathand his last words were, Vive le Roi! 23D'Estaing, who had been a consistent Constitutionalist in 1789, was now guillotined. 24Duportail had been Minister of War, in 1790,but his fortune fell with that of Lafayette. 25Duval, who in a fit of enthusiasm had enlisted20 Biog. Univ. ix. 251 , 252, art. Corny. Hamilton'sWorks, i . 197.21 Biog. Gén. xii . pp. 660 et seq. art. Custine. Comparefor his son, Revue Historique, Prem. Année, tome i . p.156. Compare also for Custine's opinions the Jacobin Mém.de Levasseur (de la Sarthe), Paris, 1829, tome ii . chap.ii. pp. 18 and 19.22 Biog. Univ. x. p. 56, art. Damas Crux.23 Biog. Gén. art . Arthur Dillon , xiv. p. 184.24 Biog. Gen. art. D'Estaing, xvi . p. 459 .25 Biog. Gén. art. Duportail, xv. p. 357, and Mém. deBouillé, i. p. 29.274 AMERICA AND FRANCE.in the American ranks, was now an actorand destined to be a noted play- writer. 26Dupetit Thouars, devoted himself to thesciences rather than to politics. 27 MathieuDumas, a Constitutionalist and one of themost prominent in the American school ofFrench politicians, had to hide in order toescape arrest. 28 Gouvion, a friend of Lafayette, was killed by a cannon ball while fighting in the revolutionary ranks . 29Lafayette, who in the beginning of theFrench Revolution was admired and followedas the "friend " and " pupil of Washington,"as "the first born of French Liberty," discouraged and shocked by excesses of hiscountrymen, had left France, not to fightagainst his native land, but to be cast as aprisoner of state into the dungeon of Olmütz.30Jourdan, who had been a private soldier during the American war, had enlisted in theFrench army when his country was in danger26 Biog. Univ. art. Duval, (A. V. P.) xii . p. 161.27 Biog. Gen. art. Dupetit Thouars, xv. pp. 295, 296.29 Biog. Univ. art. M. Dumas, xi . pp. 509, 510.29 Biog. Gén. art. Gouvion, xxi . pp. 480, 481 .30 Biog. Gen. xxviii . p. 712, and Chronique de Paris, No. II , II Jan. , 1791. "Il a fait son école de liberté sous lesyeux d'un mâitre, dont j'aime a espérer qu'il n'oubliera jamaisni les exemples, ni les leçons, " (p. 43).THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 27532of foreign invasion. He later became a Marshal of France. 31 Charles de Lameth, whohad been wounded at Yorktown and whohad been a Constitutionalist in the " Constituante," went abroad when liberty became license. Alexandre de Lameth, who hadbeen one of the first to side with the Commons in 1789, to resign his titles of nobility,and to advocate the liberty of the press evenfor men like Marat, left the country at thesame time as Lafayette. 33 Théodore deLameth, never very ardent in his admiration.for American institutions, fled to Switzerlandduring the Terror. 34 Langlois du Bouchetwas a Cincinnatus, and yet an emigré. 35Latour Foissac, who had been one of themost zealous partisans of the Revolution in1789, was now one of the most bitter adversaries of Robespierre and the Mountain.36Mirabeau, nicknamed "Tonneau," brother ofthe great orator, was an Ultra-Royalist in spite31 Biog. Univ. xxi. p. 244.132 Biog. Univ. art. Chas. de Lameth, xxiii. pp. 83-84.33 Biog. Univ. xxiii , pp. 86, 87, 88, art. Alexandre deLameth.34 Biog. Univ. art. Théo. de Lameth, xxiii. p. 85. Biog.Gén. xxix. p. 203.35 Biog. Gén. art. Langlois du Bouchet, xxix. p . 427.36 Biog. Gén. art. Latour Foissac, xxix. p. 846.276 AMERICA AND FRANCE.of his Cincinnatus badge, opposed the unionof the three Orders in 1789, and later emigrated, so as to organize abroad the famous"Légion de Mirabeau," the " Hussards de laMort, " for the King's service. 37Montesquieu, grandson of the great Montesquieu, and a Cincinnatus, formed part ofthe emigration and enlisted under the banner of the princes. 38Matthieu de Montmorency - Laval, whowith Noailles and D'Aiguillon, had advocated the abolition of feudal rights, and whomRivarol had ridiculed in his " Petit Almanach des Grandes Hommes," for his liberaltendencies, retired to Switzerland, when theMontagnards came into power.39 MauduitPlessy, the friend of Washington, decoratedwith the order of Cincinnatus, had earlyshown himself to be a decided opponent ofthe Revolution.40 He was killed, in a revoltagainst him, by his own grenadiers. Noailles,whose liberal conduct we have noted, left thecountry when the massacres of the Terror37 Biog. Gén. art. Mirabeau Tonneau, xxxv. p. 646.38 Biog. Gén. art. Montesquieu, xxxvi. p . 191 .39 Biog Gén. art. Montmorency-Laval, xxxvi . pp. 361 ,362, 363.4)Biog. Gén. art. Mauduit Plessy, xxxiv. 350.THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 277began.41 Count de Rochambeau, who hadbeen a strict Constitutionalist, now almost fellunder the guillotine 42 of a government whichforgot his record, and the fact that his son,the Viscount de Rochambeau, was doingbrave work in the army of his country.43Armand de Rouerie, one of the first tovolunteer to serve in America, the friendand correspondent of Washington, was oneof the first to join the army of the Vendéein its war against the Convention.44Saint- Simon, the afterwards noted politicalphilosopher, was now engaged in financialspeculations.45 L. P. de Ségur, whom onhis return from America, his father had sentto Saint Petersburg in order to cure him ofhis enthusiasm for liberty, had been one ofthe staunchest partisans of reform in 1789;but now he lived with his last illusions inthe retirement of his study. 4641 Biog. Gen. xxxviii. p. 144. Biog. Univ. xxx. p. 360,art. Noailles.42 Biog. Univ. xxxvi. 202, art. Rochambeau.43 Biog. Univ. xxxvi. p. 204, art. Vicomte de Rochambeau.44 F. de Bourgoing, Hist. Dipl. de l'Europe pendant laRév. française, tome ii . p. 64, and Martin, Hist. de France,tome xvi. livre civ.45 Biog. Univ. xxxvii. p. 434, art. Saint- Simon.46 Biog Univ. art. L. P. de Ségur, xxxviii. 676.278 AMERICA AND FRANCE.Of the brothers Viomesnil, one had endeavored to aid the King to flee fromFrance, the other had joined the emigrantnobles. Both were declared enemies of theRepublic.47From this detailed examination it appearsthat while some of the Frenchmen who hadserved the cause of liberty in America, hadproved renegades to it in France, while others, soldiers above all , were ready to obeyany defacto government, the majority of theprominent men who had been the allies ofthe United States and in close contact withtheir people, believing in the American principle of liberty with order, refused, in theircountry, to cringe before a tyrannical rabbleas well as before a tyrannical king. Thismoderation was the chief cause of the lackof popularity, and consequently of influence,of Lafayette, Ségur, Dumas, and the Lameths, as well as the cause of the decline andfall of moral influence of the American Republic upon ultra- revolutionary France. TheConventionals of both parties, Girondins andMontagnards, sympathized but little with agovernment which by the words of its statesmen, the arguments of its friends in France,47 Biog Univ. art. Viomesnil, xliii . p. 584.THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 279and its living example, counseled the Frenchto rest satisfied with the amount of libertythey had achieved, and leave to time thework of enlarging and strengthening its bases. How the Convention, rent by faction.at home, threatened by invasion from without, hurried on by the flood of radical doctrines that always rushes forth in times of greatpopular agitation , discarded both the theoretical example and the practical counsels ofcitizens of the United States, became clearlyevident in two of the great acts of theFrench legislative body-the declaration ofthe republican form of government, and thetrial of the King.The men of the Convention established ademocratic Republic, and made the executive,the legislative and judiciary powers reside inthe legislature, which they divided for thetransaction of business into committees onwar, on legislation and on finances. TheGirondins, in a majority at first, filled thesecommittees with their friends, and impressedthe government with a stamp of some moderation; but the Montagnards, though in aminority, by the energy of their language,by their untiring activity, and with aid ofpopular demonstration, gradually but surely280 AMERICA AND FRANCE.worked their way to virtual power. Neitherof the two great parties desired for thecountry a Republic after the American model.The Montagnards objected to it on theground of its federal form, its bicameral system, its principle of representation, and itslack of uniformity.Saint-Just was for the Republic, one andindivisible, and when, on the 15th of May,1793 , he spoke of that of the United States,he did so in the most disparaging terms. Hedid not admit that the American Republichad a republican form of government at all ,or that it would last.48Anacharsis Clootz was like Saint-Just no admirer of the American system. Keep yourunicameral legislature, said he in substance, onthe 24th of April, 1793, keep it , for Americaenvies us this institution and will adopt itin turn. Frenchmen would retrograde werethey to imitate the Americans, who are fastbecoming disgusted with their Senate andtheir monarchical President. A hom*ogeneous people like France will never admit the48 "Cet état conféderé n'est point en effet une république;aussi les législateurs du Nouveau Monde ont ils laissé dansleur ouvrage un principe de dissolution . " Biog Univ. art.Saint-Just, tome xxxvii . p. 343.THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 281Anglican balance of powers, nor recognizethe veto.49The Girondins, while better disposed tothe American Republic in general, andevidently grateful for its great influenceupon France in the days of absolute monarchy, objected to many of the leading features of American government. Condorcet,who was perhaps the philosophic head of theparty, expressed prevailing Girondist opinionin one of the chapters of the great work whichhe wrote when under the shadow of death.The American Republic, said he, freed fromits chains, has peaceably given itself a constitution and laws such as it considered would49 Moniteur Univ. , 30 Avril , 1793, Séance de la Convention, 24 Avril, 1793. "Je plâne sur les sections de la France,j'interroge les éléments dont elles sont composées; la réponse est unanime dans toutes les Communes. Conservonsl'avantage inappréciable de l'unité souveraine que l'Amérique nous envie, et dont elle se rapproche chaque jour. Lesindividus français se tromperaient beaucoup si rétrogradantdans la carrière politique ils croyaient imiter les individusaméricains. L'Amérique s'avance à grands pas vers laperfection sociale; elle se dégoute de la superfétation d'unSénat et de la prépondérance d'un président monarque.Quant à la formation du gouvernement il n'y a pasun seul Français qui ne rejetât avec indignation le règlement américain. La souverainté du peuple hom*ogène nesaurait admettre la bascule anglaise ni aliéner le véto leplus mitigé. Le rapport d'un décret précipité est préférable au véto anglican. "282 AMERICA AND FRANCE.be most likely to procure it happiness andprosperity. It instituted a federal republican government composed of thirteen states,the basis of whose constitutions is the solemn acknowledgment of the rights of man,and their first object the preservation of theserights. So far so good. We must object,on the other hand, pursued the author, toerrors resulting from prejudices of educationthat are still to be found in the Americanconstitutions. We object, furthermore, to thebalance of power system which mars the simplicity of their government. We object totheir underlying principle of identity of interests instead of equality of rights. We admirethe novel idea the Americans have had inprescribing, by law, a regular and peaceablemode of amending their constitutions and oftaking this power of amendment out of thehands of the legislative body. We recognizethe interest with which the writings and principles of America were received in Europeand in France, the amount of discussion causedbythem and the influence which they exertedupon even the smallest communities. But wethink that the Americans have too much contented themselves with the civil and criminallaws which they had received from England,THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 283Eand we can demonstrate that the principlesupon which are based the constitution andlaws of France are purer, more precise, andmore profound than those of the Americans.5050 Condorcet, Esquisse d'un Tableau Historique desProgrès de l'Esprit Humain, -Neuvième époque: " Onvit alors, pour la première fois, un grand peuple délivré detoutes ses chaines, se donner paisiblement à lui même laconstitution et les lois qu'il croyait les plus propres à faireson bonheur; et comme sa position géographique, sonancien état politique l'obligeaient à former une républiquefédérative on vit se préparer à la fois dans son sein treizeconstitutions républicaines, ayant pour base une reconnaissance solennelle des droits naturels de l'homme et pourpremier objet la conservation de ces droits. " . . . " Nousmontrerons ce qu'elles doivent aux progrès des sciencespolitiques et ce que les prejugés de l'éducation ont pû ymêler des anciennes erreurs; pourquoi, par exemple, lesystême de l'équilibre des pouvoirs en altère encore lasimplicité; pourquoi elles ont eu pour principe l'identité desintérêts, plus encore que l'égalité des droits. . . . . Nousmontrerons comment les républiques américaines ont réalisé cette idée, alors presque nouvelle en théorie, de lanécessité d'établir et de régler par la loi, un mode régulieret paisible pour reformer les constitutions elles- mêmes et deséparer ce pouvoir de celui de faire les lois? . . . . . Cesdiscussions pénétrèrent dans les contrées les plus asservies ,dans les bourgades les plus reculées , et les hommes qui leshabitaient fûrent étonnés d'entendre qu'ils avait des droits; ilsapprirent à les connaitre; ils sûrent que d'autres hommesosaient les reconquérir ou les défendre. Les principes sur lesquels la constitution et les lois de la France ontété combinées sont plus purs, plus précis, plus profonds queceux qui ont dirigé les Américains. ." etc. , etc. , etc.Compare the work entitled, Du pouvoir législatif et du•284 AMERICA AND FRANCE.Such, in all probability, was the averageGirondist opinion upon America. Men likeBrissot,51 Buzot,52 Guadet,53 Pétion,54 andFauchet 55 had, however, so frequently advocated the rights of the provinces against thepouvoir exécutif convenable à la République française(an III. de la Rép. ) . It is attributed to Dupont de Nemoursby Quérard (France Littéraire, ii . p. 707), and coincideswith Condorcet's views. The bicameral system is adverselycriticised, the Constitution of the United States pronounceda relatively excellent piece of work, but one not yet sufficiently tested. See pp. 86, 87, and note."51 For Brissot's general good dispositions towards America, see Mém. de Brissot (Paris, 1830), i . p. 229, ii . 143, ii .268, iii. 26, and Mém. de Mme. Roland, i . 346, 347. Biog.Univ. (v. 570) says: Robespierre continuait à montrercontre Brissot le même acharnement, sûr qu'en le perdantil ruinerait la faction dont on l'avait fait chef. On rappelason enthousiasme pour les constitutions américaines, onaccusa ses partisans de vouloir établir un gouvernementfédératif. " It is remarkable, however, that Camille Desmoulins, in his Histoire des Brissotins ( 1793 in 8°) , does notallude to Brissot in connection with America. Compare forBrissot, in Mon. Univ. , 6 Avril, 1793, where he asserts thathe was a republican at heart already in 1788.52 For Buzot's good opinion of America, see Mém. inéd.de Buzot, par Guadet (Paris , 1822) , pp. 49, 50.53 For Guadet, see Biog. Gén. , xxii. pp. 290-294.54 For Pétion's admiration for America, see the greatdebate on the Avignon question in the National Assembly,Moniteur Universel, Séance du 16 Nov., 1790. See, also,Patriote Français, Nov. 18, 1789, and Euvres de Pétion(1791 ), tome ii. pp. 293 and 391.55 For Fauchet, see his eulogy on Franklin, and MoniteurUniv. , Séance 17 Juillet, 1790.THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 285monopolizing spirit of the capital, and someof them had besides so often made favorableallusions to the federal Republic of the UnitedStates, that the Montagnards branded themwith the words Federalists and Brissotins.The Girondins, as a party, were the advocatesnot of a federal Republic for their country,but of the Republic one and indivisible. Thisis proved above all by the tenor and words ofCondorcet's report on the constitution. Theycertainly did not seek to imitate the Americanfederal system. They admired it theoretically,but they thought that it was not applicable toFrance.56The members of the Convention had astheir text-book not the " Federalist," 57 whichhad been translated by Trudaine de la Sablière, and was greatly admired by Brissot, 5856 For Condorcet's report, which Lanfrey (Rév. franç. ,pp. 300-301) calls, " le testament politique des Girondins, "see Moniteur Univ. , 16 Fév. , 1793: Tout semble destinerla France à l'unité la plus absolue. . . . Compare, also,Mém. de Buzot, p. 55 (new ed. by Dauban, Paris, 1866) .1957 Le Fédéraliste ou Collection de quelques Ecrits enfaveur de la constitution américaine par MM. Hamilton,Madisson et Gay (sic)-Traduit de l'Anglais par Trudainede la Sablière, Paris, 1792, 2 vols. 8°. Quérard, FranceLitt. , tome iv. p. 20.58 Brissot (Mém., tome. iv. chap. iii . p. 69. n. ) says: " LeSens Commun et le Fédéraliste ont eu beaucoup de lecteurs et peu de rivaux."286 AMERICA AND FRANCE.Necker,59 Talleyrand,60 Chénier; their textbook was the "Contrat Social " of Rousseau. They applauded not the counsels ofJohn Adams urging moderation, but the fiery59 "C'est vers un gouvernement de ce genre," speakingof America, says Necker (De la Rév. Franç. , 2d. ed. , 1797) ,"que les Conventionels auraient dûs porter leurs regardsdès qu'ils voulaient mettre en République une Communautéde 25,000,000 d'hommes. Mais sans examiner jamais unesi importante, une si profonde question, sans jamais enformer un sujet de délibération ils ont fait une insulte dumot Fédéraliste, " vol. iv. pp. 4 and 5. " On trouvera dansla Constitution Fédérative de l'Amérique le modèle parfaitd'un pareil gouvernement; et dans un ouvrage excellent,publié sous le nom du Fédéraliste les motifs explicites detous les articles de cette constitution. Les auteurs sontM. Hamilton, M. Madisson, et M. Gay (sic), trois Américains du mérite le plus distingué, et l'on est frappé de laraison douce et flexible qui caractérise leurs pensées etleurs expressions si différentes des Politiques Français, "iv. p. 24.60 For Talleyrand's opinion of Hamilton and the Federalist, see Etude sur la République des Etats Unis d'Amérique, par M. le Marquis de Talleyrand- Perigord (p. 192):"Je considère Napoléon, Fox et Hamilton comme les troisplus grands hommes de notre époque, et si je devais meprononcer entre les trois je donnerais sans hésiter la première place à Hamilton. Il avait deviné l'Europe. " Compare, also, Alexander Hamilton, a Historical Study byChiefJustice Shea (New York, 1877) , part i. pp. 33 and 37.For Talleyrand's opinion of America at this period, seeSainte- Beuve, Mr. de Talleyrand, pp. 46-47, 48 et seq.For Chénier's opinion, see Euvres, v. p. 50. He attributed it to "Madisson. "THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 287eloquence of Isnard and the bold haranguesof Danton.61The Parisian rabble that read with aviditythe blood- stained pages of Marat's "Ami duPeuple" and listened with applause to the flowery rhetoric of Robespierre, had neither earsnor patience for Thomas Paine, who, in consequence of his writings and his fame hadbeen adopted a French citizen and thenelected to the National Convention fromthree departments. Though the author ofCommon Sense " and the " Rights of Man "was well acquainted with the extreme radicalleaders of the day, he was ever the steadyand consistent advocate in France of moderation, justice, and humanity.At the climax of the French revolutionary61 For John Adams' History of the principal Republicsofthe World (London, 1794, 3 vols. in 8°) , see Biog. Univ. ,i . p. 154: " L'ouvrage de John Adams a été traduit en français sur la première edition, par Lériget, la traduction estenrichie de notes et d'observations par Lacroix, professeur de droit publique, " (Paris, 1792, 2 vols. in 8 ) . " Le principal bût de l'auteur est de prouver que la démocratiepure est le pire de tous les gouvernements, et il en fournitdes preuves nombreuses par des faits historiques ." Adamswas never very popular in France even with the liberal politicians of the Constituent Assembly. Volney considered the Defense of the American Constitutions a livre decompilation sans methode, sans exactitude de faits etd'idées " (Biog. Univ. xliv. p. 68) .((288 AMERICA AND FRANCE.

movement, when Robespierre and the Montagnards carried all before them, ThomasPaine, then a worthy representative of theAmerican principle of liberty with order, ofjustice to the accused, of fair play to minorities, opposed the execution of Louis XVI.and protested against the massacre underjudicial forms of the unfortunate Girondins.The Moniteur Universel " for January 23,1793, reported the proceedings in the Convention when the author of "Common Sense,"by the voice of an interpreter, spoke againstthe capital punishment of the King. Thomas Paine, a slight man, with a pale facethat made his dark eyes appear even darker than they were, mounted the tribune inthat passion - rocked assembly. The Secretary read the American's opinion. Marat,angry and terrible, arose in his seat. " Imaintain," he exclaimed, "I maintain thatThomas Paine cannot vote on this question.He is a Quaker and his religious principles areagainst the death- penalty." The demagogue'sweak protest was greeted with murmurs andcries. The Secretary resumed reading Paine'sopinion. I regret very sincerely," said he,"that the death- penalty was voted yesterday.I have for me the advantage of some experi-THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 289

ence. It is about twenty years that I havebeen engaged in the cause of liberty. I havecontributed to the Revolution of the UnitedStates. My language has always been thelanguage of liberty and of humanity, and Iknow that nothing so raises the soul of a nation as a union of these two principles underall circ*mstances." I know that public feeling in France, andespecially in Paris, has been heated and irritated by the danger that has threatened thepeople; but if we carry our ideas further into the future and toward the time whenthese dangers and the irritation producedby them shall be forgotten, then we willbe fully able to see that what seems to usto- day an act of justice , will seem to usthen an act of vengeance." Here hissesand cries burst forth at one end of thehall. The Secretary paused, then continued, " My anxiety for the cause of Francehas now given way to my anxiety for herhonor, and if, after my return to America,I were to write the history of the FrenchRevolution, I should prefer to recall a thousand errors dictated by humanity than onesingle error inspired by too severe a justice.If I could speak the French language290 AMERICA AND FRANCE.I would come down from the tribune, standat your bar and present, in the name of allmy American brethren, a petition to delay theexecution of Louis." The peroration of thisnoble plea was greeted with noisy disapprobation. Thuriot shouted, "That is not thelanguage of Thomas Paine. " There was agreat uproar. The American speaker's wordshad no effect. They did not change the fatethat awaited the monarch who had been thefirst ally of the United States. The Kingwas doomed.The American pamphleteer did not professopinions of moderation and justice in the legislative body only. He did so also in his private correspondence. In the critical day'swhen the Montagne was triumphant, when themen of the Gironde were in prison and indanger of the scaffold, when the capital, beautiful but unruly and tyrannical city, held theprovinces as with a band of iron cementedwith blood, Paine had the courage to writea letter to Danton, from which we extractsome pertinent sentences.Citoyen Danton," he wrote under dateof May 6, 1793, "I am exceedingly distressed by the distractions, jealousies, discontents and uneasiness that reign among us,THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 291and which, if they are continued, will bringruin and disgrace on the republic." He thenadvocates placing the legislature elsewherethan at Paris, and proceeds, " I am distressedto see matters so badly conducted and so little attention paid to moral principles. It isthese things that injure the character of theRevolution, and discourage the progress ofliberty all over the world. " Speaking of theGirondins he says, "The departments thatelected them are better judges of their moraland political characters than those who havedenounced them. This denunciation will injure Paris in the opinion of the departments,because it has the appearance of dictating tothem what sort of deputies they shall elect.Most of the acquaintance I have in the Convention are among those who are in that list ,and I know that there are not better men norbetter patriots than what they are. I havewritten a letter to Marat of the same date asthis , but not on the same subject. He mayshow it to you, if he chooses." And hesigned, "Votre Ami, THOMAS PAINE."This letter was as little effectual as the pleafor mercy had been.62 Mob-ruled Paris be62 This letter was discovered by Mr. Minister Washburnein the Archives at Paris and is to be found in extenso in theForeign Relations of the United States, 1876, pp. 127, 128.292 AMERICA AND FRANCE.came more tyrannical than ever; the Girondinswere mercilessly immolated; the Committeeof Public Safety acted with secrecy and dispatch; the Queen was sent to the scaffold;suspected persons were thrown into prison;hundreds and hundreds were thence takenin cart-loads to the reeking guillotine. Inthe spring of 1794 Robespierre stood aloneon the bloody pinnacle of his power.In contrast, however, with these butcheriesat home and with the haughty tone the Committee of Public Safety assumed toward thePowers abroad, was the relatively mild anddiplomatic language of the French rulers tothe American Republic. Though they did notlike its principles nor its neutral conduct, themen who tolerated or committed the gravestof crimes against humanity in France, would,when the occasion presented itself, pronounceeulogies on the noble qualities of the countryofWashington and of Franklin.63Barère, on one occasion, in laudatory phrasesalluded to the sacrifices made by America toobtain its liberties.6463 F. de Bourgoing, Hist. dipl. de l'Europe pendant laRev. franç. (Paris, 1871 ) , tome iii. p. 281 , " Les Etats Unisétait une République et le Comité de Salut Publique tenaità garder vis à vis d'eux les formes qu'il violait impudémment à l'égard des Monarchies. "64 Moniteur Universel, 17 Août, 1793.THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 293Grégoire, on another occasion, closed a report on the virtuous deeds of the Revolutionby a glowing eulogy of Warren at BunkerHill.65 Robespierre, in a report on the political situation, energetically denounced Genêtwho had been sent as Minister to the UnitedStates and who, by words and deeds tending to force America into an alliance withthe French Republic, had rendered himselfobnoxious to the government and unpopularwith the people. The dictator denouncedhim as an undiplomatic agent who endangeredthe good relations of France with America,and though he blamed the American peoplefor their neutrality, the revolutionary tyrantdid so in the mildest and most guarded language. In default of real sympathy or greatadmiration for America, the Committee ofPublic Safety kept at least the shows andforms of diplomatic usage and language whendealing with the transatlantic Republic.6665 Moniteur Universel, 23 Sept. , 1793.66 For Robespierre's address see Moniteur Univ. , Nov.20, 1793. " Peuples alliés de la Francé, qu'étiez vous devenus? N'étiez vous que les alliés du roi et non ceux de la nation? Américains est ce l'automate couronné, nomméLouis XVI. qui vous aida a secouer le joug de vos op- presseurs ou bien nos bras et nos armées? Est ce lepatrimonie d'une cour méprisable qui vous alimentait oubien les tributs du peuple français et les produits de notre sol294 AMERICA AND FRANCE.The Revolution may be said to have reachedits climax between June 10 and July 27, 1794,during which period Robespierre sent wellnigh fourteen hundred persons to the guillotine. Then began a reaction against thissystem of absolute democracy, which had soplainly proved to be a system of absolutetyranny. Robespierre, Saint-Just and Couthon were hurled from power and soon theywere dragged to the scaffold. Their heads fell.The applause was as loud as that which hadsounded in the ears of their thousands ofvictims.favorisé des cieux. Non, citoyens, vos allies n'ont pas abjuré les sentiments qu'ils nous doivent. Mais s'ils ne se sontpas détachés de votre cause, s'ils ne se sont pas rangésmême au nombre de vos ennemis, ce n'est point la fautede la faction qui nous gouvernait. " He then proceedsto attack the brother-in-law of Brissot, consul-general ofFrance at Philadelphia, and resumes: "Un autre hommenommé Genest envoyé par Lebrun et par Brissot en qualitéde Minister Plénipotentiare résida aussi à Philadelphie. Ilremplit fidèlement leurs vues et leurs instructions. Il aemployé les moyens les plus extraordinaires pour irriter legouvernement américain contre nous; il affecte de luiparler, sans aucun prétexte avec le ton de la ménace. . . . .""L'Univers est intéressé à notre conservation. Et vous,braves Américains dont la liberté cimentée par notre sangfût encore garantie par notre alliance, qu'elle serait votredestinée si nous n'existions plus? Vous retomberiez sousle joug honteux de votre ennemi." Robespierre, like Marat, attacked Paine for his plea in favor of the King and theAmerican was thrown into prison. He calls him "l'AnglaisThomas Payne. " See Moniteur Univ. , 25 Oct., 1793.THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 295Two days after this event, James Monroe,who had been sent to succeed the unpopularGouverneur Morris as Minister, arrived atParis. He sagaciously resolved to begin thesolution of the various questions pending between the two Republics by arousing for hiscountry the dormant sympathies and enthusiasm of the French. He accordingly took thebold step ofgoing to the bar ofthe Conventionand addressing directly the assembled members. This undiplomatic act was crowned withcomplete success; for a moment, the old-timefeelings reappeared; Merlin de Douai receivedMr. Monroe with greatest ceremony; thehouse acclaimed the representative of theAmerican Republic, and the flags ofthe sistercommonwealths were hung intertwined inthe hall of the Convention as a symbol ofunity and good- will.6767 Monroe's View of the Conduct of the Executive, etc.(Phila. , 1798, ) p. xvii. pp. 95, 106, and Mr. Washburne toMr. Fish under date of 23 Oct., 1876, in Foreign Relationsof the United States, 1876, pp. 129, 130. On the unpopu- larity of Morris, see Mém. et Corr. de Lafayette, iii . p. 407.That America still had a profound and durable hold onmany minds see Joseph de Maistre, Considérations sur laFrance, (1797, ) chap. iv. "On nous cite l'Amérique; je neconnais rien de si impatient que les louanges décernées àcet enfant au maillot: laissez le grandir, " also Tableau dela Situation actuelle des Etats Unis d'Amérique, parC. Pictet, de Genève, (Paris, 1795, 2 vols. ) a work verywell disposed to the American Republic.CONCLUSION.THE task which we set ourselves in writing this historical monograph is now accomplished. We have traced the relations ofAmerica and France between 1776 and 1794,before, during, and at the climax of the FrenchRevolution, and we have, by authentic andmostly contemporary documents, establishedwhat influence the one country exerted uponthe other at these three different periods.We have seen that before the great outbreak that is to say, between the year1776 and the year 1789-America influencedFrance so powerfully by its example, itsdoctrines, its men, and by the enthusiasm,the comments, the discussion it aroused, thatthe American Revolution may safely be calleda proximate cause of the French Revolution.Contemporaries, men like Barnave,¹ and RivBarnave, Introd. à la Rév. française, ( Euvres, i . pp.85, 86.) " De là cette guerre dont il résulta trois effets enfaveur de notre révolution; le premier que la nation seCONCLUSION. 297arol , 2 like Chateaubriand, Fontanes, andSenac de Meilhan, 5 saw and felt this soplainly and forcibly that they have left statements to that effect on record in their printedworks.We have learned, in the second place, thatduring the progress of the French Revolution-in 1789, 1790, 1791 -American influence,though not so great as in the ante- revolu-..tionary period, is distinctly traceable in theremplit d'idées d'insurrection et de liberté; le deuxième quel'armée déjà civilisée par une longue paix se pénétra demêmes idées que la nation et allia l'enthousiasme desvertus civiques à celui des vertus guerriers; le troisièmeque les finances achevèrent de se détériorer. "2 Rivarol, Essai sur les Causes de la Rév. franç. , Paris,1827, pp. 12 , 13.3 Chateaubriand, Essai sur les Révolutions, ( Œuvresed. 1836, tome i . chap xxxiii . p. 154. ) " La révolutionaméricaine est la cause immédiate de la Révolutionfrançaise. "4 Fontanes, Euvres, tome ii . pp. 144, 145. " La révolution d'Amérique a produit la notre, " etc., written in 1797.Compare also Moore, View of the French Revolution,London, 1795. " The part which France took in supportof American independence unquestionably hastened theFrench Revolution , " etc. , vol. i . chap. ii . pp. 37 , 38.5 Des Principes et des Causes de la Rév. franç, parSenac de Meilhan, ( d'après Barbier, ) Londres et Paris, 1790,pp. 59. 60. Compare for an opinion contrary to those cited,J. J. Mounier, Influence attribuée aux Philosophes, auxFrancs- Maçons et aux Illuminés sur la Révolution française (Paris, 1828, ) p. 62.298 AMERICA AND FRANCE.speeches of orators, the publications of pamphleteers and the acts of legislators.Wehave seen, in the third place, that duringthe sessions of the Legislative Assembly andthe Convention, at the climax of the revolutionary movement, American influence waswell-nigh imperceptible. This we have attributed to the very nature of American institutions, to the political principles of Americanstatesmen and their disciples, combined withthe pressing foreign and domestic questionswhich then engaged the attention ofthe Frenchgovernment and people.Before the struggle between the Frenchcourt and the French nation, America, urgedon the people of France to the conquest ofconstitutional liberty. During the contest,America counseled moderation. In the heatof the battle, the American Republic pleadedfor justice and for peace.In view of such facts the people of theUnited States may well feel justified in thebelief that they have fulfilled the great historic law of compensation and have amplyrepaid the debt of gratitude which they owedthe French nation for services rendered inthe War of Independence.INDEX." ACTES DES APÔTRES, " 219, | Broglie, V. de, 173, 272 222Adams, J. , 62, 63, 159, 196,199, 287 Adams, S. , 63Burke, Edmund, 32, 33Buzot, 194, 195, 284" Affiches, Annonces, Avis, " 77 CABANIS, 29 Aiguillon, d', 173.Almanachs, American, 33, 78 America and France, in 1774, I13 Anecdotes, American, 72, note,76 "Année Littéraire, " 108, 109,I 19 Archbishop of Bordeaux, 183,184, 194 Aubert du Bayet, 271Barbé- Marbois, 171, note, 272" BABILLARD, Le, " 44Bacon, 73 Barbaroux, III , 112Barere, 155 , note, 292Barlow, Joel, 264, 265Bastille, Fall of the, 178 Beauharnais, 173, 272CC' Ça ira, " 41, note, 263 Calonne, 104, 105, 146, 147, 148,223, 224 Castries, 272Cerisier, 76, 133 Cerutti, 181 , 182, 230, 231Chamfort, 126, 127 Chastellux, 86, 88, 89, 123, 124,125 Châteaubriand, 297Chénier, A. , 234 Chénier, M. J. , 131 , 234, 244,286Cincinnati, Society of the, 95,96, note Clavière, 128, 234 Clootz, 280 Clubs, 115Barnave, 193, 195, 203, 219, 296 Condorcet, 143, 144, 145, 146,157, 245, 263, 281-3 Congress, Continental, 92Beaumarchais, 20, 21 , 80, note, Constant, Benjamin, 111, 112 272 Berthier, 272Beugnot, 74Bishop of Auxerre, 185Bibliography, 3Bishop of Blois, 152, 153 Bouillé, 272Brienne, De, 150 Brissot de Warville, 128, 238,239, 241, 242, 259, 260, 261,284Constitutions, American, 34, 105,106-9, 155 , note, 158 Convention, National, 271 , 279 Conversation on America, 47,note, 71-2, note, 155, note Cooper, Dr. , 86, 87Corny, E. de, 178, 272 Correspondence, Franco- Amer- ican, 139Crèvecoeur, 121, 122Créqui, Mme. de, 75300 INDEX.Cromot du Bourg, 86, note, 133, | Franklin, Benjamin, 26-29, 32- note" Courrier d'Avignon, " 17, 25,63, 77, 107D'ALEMBERT, 42 D'Allonville, 75 Damas Crux, 273D'Argenson, Io De Bonnard, 143.Declaration of Independence, 19,29, 30, 31 , 230 Declaration of Rights, 182, 183,184, 187 Deffand, Mme. du, 7Delille, 77 Démeunier, 130, 137D'Epinay, Mme. , 59 D'Estaing, 273 Deslandes, 143 Desmoulins, C. , 179, 180, 242 Destutt de Tracy, 171 Dillon, 273Dorat, 22, note Droz, 138 Dubois-Crancé, 188Dumas, M. , 56, 86, 274 Dumont, 138 Duport, A., 173, 203, 204 Duportail, 273 Dutens, 68Dupetit-Thouars, 273 Duval, 273ECONOMISTES, 10Entraigues, Count d' , 163, 164,note33, 37, 41 , 45, 51 , 57-59, 70- 74, 80, 117, 128, 243-248, 258GALLATIN, 110-112 Garat, 70Gazette de France, " 76Genlis, Mme. de, 139 Genêt, 293Georgel, 24Gilbert, 80 Girondins, 255, 256, 281, 291Gouvion, 274 Great Britain, II, 15, 54, 55,188, 189 Grégoire, 179, 293 Grimm, 123Grouvelle, 231 Guadet, 284 Guibert, 126HANco*ck, JOHN, 92Hausset, Mme. du, 60 Hessians, 22, 23 Hilliard d'Auberteuil, 130, 134INFLUENCE of the United States,Indications of, 14, 54, 55, 63,64, 68, 78, 95, 110-116, 130,143, 144, 145, 146, 154-156,181-189, 207 , 211 , 212, 231,232, 251 , 252, 260-263, 297 Isnard , 261JEFFERSON, THOMAS, 128, 129,138, 170, 171 , note, 191 , 192,226, 227Jesse, Baron de, 203 FARS FAUSSELANDRY, MME. DE, Jews, Petition of the, 206, 207 60Fauchet, 244, 284" Federalist," The, 285, 286 Fersen, 55 , 84, 85 Feuillants, 255Feudalism, abolition of, 180-182 Filson, History of Kentucky, 134 Fontanes, 22, 297 France and America, in 1774, I13Joly de Saint- Vallier, 133 Joseph II. of Austria, 36 Jourdan, 274, 275"Journal de Paris, " 107-108,158, 161" Journal des Scavans, " 76, 114 Jury, Debates on the, 202, 203- 205LACRETELLE, 141, 142INDEX. 301Lafayette, 38-40, 56, 69-70, 81- 84, 114, 156, 182 , 193, 203,219, 220, 221, 274 Lally Tollendal, 182, 183, 196,197 , 198 , 199 , 200, 225 Lameth, A. de, 173, 275 Lameth, C. de, 174, 275Lameth, Théo. de, 85, 275Langlois du Bouchet, 275 Lanjuinais, 195 La Rochefoucauld,245" Mercure de France," 17, 25,68, 77, 114 , 157 , 160 Metternich, Chev. de, 79, 156Mirabeau, 23, 31 , 32, 143, 156,172, 175, 185, 186, 242 , 247 Mirabeau, " Tonneau, " 174, 275 Monroe, James, 295 Montagnards, 255 Montbarey, 23 Montesquieu, 10, II , 276156, 173, Montlosier, 76, 77Latour Foissac, 275Lauzun, Duke de, 85, 271 Lebrun, 98on Legislative Assembly, 256 Legislative Body, Debates the, 193, 194, 195, 196-200,280Lepelletier, 230 Lévis, Duke de, 73 " Libertas Americana," 99, noteLinguet, 46, 59 Literature, Franco-American,33-34, 64, 76, 78, 116, note,132, note, 133, 134, 135, 136,137, 138 Livingston, W. , 160, 164, note,199, 200, 225 Louis XVI. , 47 , 48, 146, 150,174, 179, 215, 216, 233, 263,288, 289 Luzerne, Bishop of Langres, 225MABLY, 120Montmorency- Laval, 184, 276 Morris, Gouverneur, 227, 295Mounier, 161 , 162, 201 , 202NATIONAL Constituent Assembly, 169, 250, 251 Necker, 36, 37, 102, 103, 151 ,154, 218, 286Noailles, 173, 181 , 276 Notables, Assembly of the, 147OFFICERS, French, 55, 56, 93,133PAGANEL, 97, 98 Paine, Thomas, 119, 234, 235,239, 266-270, 287-290, 291 ,292 Pamphlets, 48, 49, 162–163, note,168, 174, 175, 181 , 216, 217,218, 220, 221, 228, 229, 230-233, 236, 237, 242 Pange, Chev. de, 229, 230 Paris, 61Parny, 35 " Patriote français, " 238, 239,Maistre, Joseph de, 19, 295, note Pétion, 195, 203, 210, 237, 284Malesherbes, 6, 13Malouet, 18, 185 Mandrillon, 134Maps, American, 78 Marat, 247, 287 Marais, de, 39, 40 Marie Antoinette, 38, 146 Mauduit- Plessy, 276Maury, 224 Mayer, 136, 137 Mázzei, 157Plays, Franco-American, 136,137, note, 257, 258 Poetry, 22, 77 , 80, 98, 99, 132,143, 147, 148, 234, 238, 239,240, 244, 265Pompigny, 258 Portraits, American, 59, 71 , 78 Pownall. 134Pradt, 224, 225 Press, Freedom of, 209, 210, 211 Mercier, 71 , 72, note, 232, note Price, Dr., 95, note302 INDEX.Provinces, 62 Prudhomme, 248Prugnon, 203RABAUT DE SAINT ETIENNE,186, 207, 208 Racine, Abbé, 101 Ramsay, David, 135 Raynal, 118, 119Religion, Freedom of, 131, 206,207, 208Richelieu, Maréchal de, 104, 105Rights, Declaration of, 182, 183,184-187 Rivarol, 102, 276, 296Servan, 231Sieyes, Abbé, 164, 165, 266 Soldiers, French, 82, 91 , 92 Songs, 24, 35, 37, 43, 73, 100,ΙΟΙSoulavie, 24, 57, 188 Soulès, 131 , 137, 138Spencer, Herbert, 252 Staël, Mme. de, 138States- General, 149-151, 152,153, 163, 166, 167, 168Suard, 64Suffrage, Debates on the, 204,205Robespierre, 205, 206, 209, 292, TALLEYRAND, 286 293, 294 Robin, 87, 134Rochambeau, Count de, 81 , 85,136, note, 152, 277 Rochambeau, Viscount de, 277 Roland , Mme. , 42Romilly, 106, 143 Rouerie, 55, 277Royer- Collard, 209, noteSAINT-JUST, 280 Saint-Lambert, 154 Saint- Martin, 203 Saint- Simon, 277Sainte- Beuve, 38, note, IIISand, George, 38, note Sauvigny, M. de, 258 Savoisy, M. de, 56 Ségur, 16, 17, 56, 85, 86, 277 Selden, John, 44 Senac de Meilhan, 297Serièys, 238Thouret, 205Tocqueville, A. de, 67Trudaine de la Sablière, 285 Trumbull, Jonathan , 76Turgot, 14, 20, 45, 65, 66, 117" VASHINGTON, " play, 258 Vergennes, 20, 21 , 217 Veto, Debates on the, 200-202,229, 230, 280Vicq d'Azyr, 245 Vigée-Lebrun, Mme. , 72 Viomesnil, 277 Volney, 98, 287, note Voltaire, 11, 58, 59WARVILLE, see Brissot Washington, George, 42, 83, 87,note, 125, note, 136-137, note,258YOUNG, ARTHUR, 155