As the plan for the King's flight had been well arrang ed, and consequently its success had been anticipated, many of his friends, who had hitherto remained in France, now emigrated. The Marquis de Boulder:, who was one of these, afterwards sent a very foolish aid mischievous letter to the National Assembly, in which he denounced vengeance to them, and the utter destruction of Paris, if the lives of the royal family were in danger. lle added, that he would conduct the foreign armies into France, and that his letter was but the forerunner of the manifesto or the sovereigns of Europe. As danger from abroad was 'undoubtedly approaching, the National Assembly consider ed it their duty to guard against it by every possible pre paration ; but it was also desirable to rouse the passions of the multitude to such a pitch, as would induce them to conic forward as with one heart, in defence of their coun try. The letter of the Marquis de Bouillee had in some degree this effect ; but their purpose was still more com pletely answered, by the circulation in France of what was called the treaty of Pilnitz. The authenticity of this treaty has been denied ; but whether authentic or not, as it produced a wonderful effect on the French nation, it re quires to be noticed. It purported to be a partition treaty between certain of the powers of Europe, by which they agreed to make war on France, and to recompense them selves for the expenses of the war, and the restoration of Louis to his full authority, by annexing certain parts of the territories of France to their own dominions. In the mean time, the National Assembly, on the 3d of September, pre sented the new constitution to the King. For reasons already stated, it is unnecessary to give the details of it, especially as the leading principles on which it is ground ed have been noticed before. The King having accepted the constitution, the National Assembly dissolved itself on the 30th of September. From its principal and professed object having been the formation of a constitution, it is generally denominated the Constituent Assembly.
The next Assembly, which was elected according to the forms prescribed in the new constitution, met on the 7th of October. The members of it were entirely new, as the members of the Constituent Assembly, by their own de crees, were excluded from holding seats in it. One of their first decrees respected the emigrants, who were as sembling in considerable numbers on the frontiers of France : the punishment of death was denounced against them, if they should continue thus after the 1st of January 1792. Severe decrees also were passed against the re fractory clergy, or those who refused to take the civic oath; but the King refused to sanction these decrees. In order to qualify this refusal, he intimated to the Assembly, that the Elector of Treves, on whose territories the emigrants were assembling, ought to be considered as the enemy of France, unless he put a stop to their hostile preparations by the commencement of the following year. This inti mation gave considerable satisfaction, and in some mea sure, for a short time, restored the popularity of the King. This satisfaction was also increased by the declarations received from foreign powers, which expressed, in cau tious, and perhaps ambiguous language however, their wish to preserve peace with France. But it was impos sible that Louis could long retain his popularity ; he was too much under the influence of those who were regarded with suspicion by the republican party, and the republican party themselves were too eager for an opportunity to censure the King. That this party was gaining strength, at least in the capital, was evinced by a circumstance which happened there in the month of November. At this time the mayoralty of Bailly expired ; the candidates were La Fayette and Petion ; a very few months before, the po nularity of the former was so great, that no person would have wished or dared to have opposed him ; but now Pe Con, a violent republican, was elected mayor by a great majority.
It is evident from this, that the republicans were not only strong, but well organised ; in fact, they had held, for some time, their regular meetings ; and from the place of their assembling, they had received or assumed the name of Jacobins. To oppose them, some of the most
celebrated members of the Constituent Assembly formed themselves into a society, which derived its name from the convent of the Feuillons, where they assembled. Among them were Rabaud, Sieyes, Talleyrand, Montes quieu, Sze.
The hostile preparations of the emigrants, and of the foreign powers, still went on; nor were they delayed in the least by the death of the Emperor of Germany, or the mur der of the King of Sweden. As the French minister for foreign affairs did not use corresponding diligence and ex ertions, he was accused, even during his absence, by Bris sot, apprehended, tried at Orleans, and executed. The management of affairs was next placed in the hands of those, who would not fail to make all due preparation for the hostilities which threatened France. Dumourier was appointed minister of war, Roland minister of the interior, and Claviere minister of finance. This completed the tri umph, and established the power of the republicans. One of the first acts of this party was to confiscate the property of the emigrants ; their next was to declare war, on the 20th of April, against the king of Hungary and Bohemia, in consequence of the Imperial minister demanding the restoration to the German princes of their feudal rights ; the restoration of Avignon to the Pope ; and that the neighbouring powers should have no reason for apprehen sion, from the weakness of the internal government of France.
The French armies immediately invaded the Austrian Netherlands ; but the plan of the campaign was contrived with so little foresight or wisdom, and, from the want of discipline and experience in the troops, so miserably exe cuted, that it was productive of no advantage to the French. Indeed it was evident, that unless their troops were more obedient to their officers, they would do more mischief to the cause of France than to that of the enemy ; and yet such was the state of the public feeling, both in the army and at Paris, that the evil seemed more likely to increase than diminish. In the capital, party spirit was very vio lent; but the Jacobins were evidently gaining ground ; and the measures they adopted for increasing their own influ ence with the people, and diminishing that of their oppo nents, could not fail of effect. They circulated reports of intrigue and conspiracy in favour of the enemies of the count] y ; the mob, credulous, easily alarmed, and now accus tomed to regard the aristocratical party as decidedly hos tile to their interests, as well as the lawful objects of their vengeance, rallied round the Jacobins, and supported, in a violent and tumultuous manner, their most extravagant propositions. For some time the King yielded to them ; but, like all his former conduct during the Revolution, af ter having given them his countenance, and thus increased their power, he altered his conduct, and, when it was too late, resolved to oppose them. The ministry were dismiss ed, except Dumoui ier, who, by being thus excepted by the King, became an object of suspicion with the Jacobin club ; he therefore resigned his office, and joined the army. About this time, Marat, afterwards so infamously notorious, appeared on the stage, and, by his inflammatory writings and harangues, contributed much to increase the unpopu larity of the king. On the 20th of June, an armed mob marched through the Assembly, under the pretence of presenting petitions; they afterwards, to the number of 40,000, surrounded the Thuilleries, and insulted the king. As soon as these disgraceful events were known in the army, La Fayette left it, and presented himself at the bar of the National Assembly, where he expressed the indig nation of the troops, and called upon the Assembly to pre vent the repetition of such scenes, by punishing the pro moters of them, and especially by dissolving the factious clubs. But the power of the Assembly was vain against clubs supported by the most numerous, the most desperate and the most worthless part of the population of Pat is; in them, in fact, was centered the government of the capital, or rather in the Jacobin club, which ruled and moulded them at its pleasure.