The massacres did not cease, nor was even the appear ance of order and tranquillity completely re-established in the capital, till intelligence arrived that the allies had com menced their retreat out of France. For some time after the reduction of Verdun, they had advanced with little or no opposition ; but as soon as Dumouricr had organised his army, he opposed considerable obstacles to their far. titer progress, and some battles were fought, in which the French behaved with great coolness, and evidently skewed that they were improved in discipline. Notwithstanding this, however, and the additional circumstance, that the troops under his command were much increased, Dumou rier would not have been able to save his country, had not sickness and famine attacked the Prussians. The former originated from the soldiers eating large quantities of fruit, and from the unusual wetness of the season ; the latter took its rise from the inhabitants absolutely refusing to carry provisions to the camp of the enemy. It has been suspect ed that, even in spite of the reduction in the strength and spirits of his soldiers, which sickness and famine produced, the Duke of Brunswick might have driven the French ar my before him, if the King of Prussia had continued firm to the cause of the allies. However this may be, after a truce of eight days, he commenced his retreat : He was not pursued, but Verdun and Longwy were retaken, and Thionville, which had been gallantly defended by General Wimpfen, was relieved. The Austrians were not more successful than the Prussians ; for after besieging Lisle for a fortnight without the least prospect of reducing it, they raised the siege. On the side of Savoy, the French were the invaders, and they were received by the people with great joy and enthusiasm. The success which had attend ed the defence of their own territories, made them forget that they had declared they would not invade the territories of other nations : not only was Savoy invaded, but Spires, Worms, Mentz, and Frankfort were attacked and taken be fore the close of 1792. The last place, however, did not remain long in their possession, as it was recaptured on the 2d of December in that year. In the Netherlands, the French were still more successful. On the 6th of Novem ber, Dumourier attacked the Austrians, who were strongly fortified on the heights of Jemappe. The battle was most obstinate and bloody, but French enthusiasm, joined to su perior numbers, succeeded ; and this victory decided the fate of the Austrian Netherlands.
In the mean time, the National Convention assembled ; and as the republican party were by far the most numerous in it, and were besides sure of support from the Parisians, they proposed, on the very first day of the meeting, the eternal abolition of royalty in France. This was carried by acclamation. The next day it was decreed that all acts should be dated by the year of the Republic ; and the ap pellation of citizen was universally adopted. Still, notwith standing these foolish and mad acts, there were some men in the convention who did not unite the utmost profligacy of principle and depravity of conduct with their folly and madness. These were the Girondists, or Brissotines ; the most celebrated and respectable of whom were Condorcet and Brissot. The other patty were denominated the Moun tain, because the members of it usually sate on the upper seats in the convention ; of these, the most powerful and infamous were Damon, Roberspierre, Marat, and Collot D'Herbois. The Girondists were anxious to punish the perpetrators of the massacres of the 2d and Sd of Septem ber ; but their motions to this effect were always eluded by the Mountain party, who had been chiefly instrumental in these massacres, and looked forward to their repetition as the means of intimidating their opponents, and establish ing their own power. In October a decree was passed, that all emigrants when taken should suffer death ; and in the following month, the Convention declared, in the name of the French nation, that they would grant fraternity and assistance to all people who were anxious to be free ; and the generals were ordered to give assistance to all such.
On the I tth of December, Louis was ordered to the bar of the Convention ; and the act of accusation being teal, he was required by the President to answer to each separate charge. These charges were very numerous ; some of them were of a frivolous nature ; others related to acts done either before the Revolution had defined and limited the royal authority, or in conformity to the constitution which had been established. Besides, that constitution had
declared the King's person inviolable. There were, how ever, it must be confessed, some charges, which were more relevant, and better founded. These related to the connection that the King kept up with the emigrants and with foreign powers ; but in defence of him, in this respect, it may be fairly urged, that his situation was such, that no wisdom, no purity of conduct, could have carried him through, free from suspicion and personal danger. 1Vhat the legislative bodies, or the French people through them, declared to be the constitution one day, was set aside the next ; so that the King, seeing a total want of system, and even of principle in the conduct of those who had wrested the royal power from him, and the adoption of measures which threatened not only his own safety, but the tranquillity and happiness of France, ought not to be severely con demned if he looked to foreign support.
After he had replied to the various charges, he was allowed to nominate his counsel. On the 26th of Decem ber, his defence was read at the bar of the Convention ; and on the 16th of January, 1793, after a discussion of 34 hours, the punishment of death was awarded by a small majority. On the 21st, the execution took place.
The weakness of Louis's mind, which had displayed it self so frequently and so fatally during the revolution, dis appeared when his misfortunes reached their height ; then his whole conduct was firm, composed, and dignified : and he met his fate in a manner which surprised and awed even his enemies.
In the course of this year, France was at war with all Europe, except Sweden, Denmark,.Switzerland, and Tur key. The grounds and operations of the war between her and Great Britain, are given in the article BRI1AIN, and therefore need not be repeated here.
After the conquest of the Austrian Netherlands, Du mourier advanced towards Holland: but he did not con duct his operations with judgment ; for, dividing his forces too much, he was obliged, after advancing as far as Ger truydenburg, to retreat before General Clairfait, with a considerable loss. After experiencing another defeat, to wards which it is suspected his own treachery contributed, 6000 of his troops left the army, and went home to France. Their representations, and other circumstances, induced the Convention to send Commissioners to the army ; and Dumourier, finding that his troops refused to act with him, joined the Austrians. On the 8th of April, at a con gress of the combined powers held at Antwerp, it was re solved to invade France, for the express purpose of con quest. This resolution was immediately begun to be car ried into execution. The Austrians advanced ; and, after five different engagements with the French, under Gene ral Dampier, in the last but one of which he was killed, they succeeded in reaching Valenciennes, and commenced the siege of it. About the same time, the Prussians hav• ing repulsed the Frei•ch army under Custine, laid siege to Mentz. The advantages and progress of the allies created great alarm in Paris, but were not unacceptable to the party of the Mountain. Their object was the destruction of the Girondists ; and to effect this, nothing else was ne cessary but to render them obnoxious to the people, as the enemies of liberty, and the friends of the allied powers. The Mountain party, on all occasions of violence and in justice, used as their instruments the mob of Paris, which was now regularly organised that purpose. The capi tal was divided into Forty-eight sections, and each sectiolt had its commune, or common hall, in which the most im pudent and unprincipled directed the proceedings. On the 15th of April, the communes of all the sections petitioned the Convention, that the leaders of the Girondist party should be impeached and expelled. The Girondists re taliated by impeaching Marat ; but he was acquitted. This was the prelude of their fall. The Convention was now no longer an independent body, but was overawed by the po pulace and the Mountain party. The latter, however, were not so powerful in the provinces as in Paris. Most of the southern departments declared the Mountain party out lawed, and broke out into open revolt. The northern de partments, in general, adhered to them. Soon after their triumph, they lost one of their leading members,—Marat, who was stabbed by Charlotte Corde, a woman who came to Paris for that purpose, and who gloried in the execution of a deed, which she thought the cause of freedom and of her country called upon her to perform.