History of the Girondists, Volume I: Personal Memoirs of the Patriots of the French RevolutionLamartine, Alphonse de
History
History of the Girondists, Volume I: Personal Memoirs of the Patriots of the French Revolution
Lamartine, Alphonse de
France -- History -- Revolution, 1789-1799; Girondists
the completion of the Revolution, although some persons around the king
thought otherwise. The troops were assembled, and surrounded the
National Assembly. Paris imagined it was threatened, and rose _en
masse_; the Gardes Francaises, who lived amongst the people, followed
the stream, and the report was circulated that I had bribed this
regiment with my gold. I will frankly declare my opinion: if the Gardes
Francaises had acted differently, I should in that case have deemed they
had been bought over; for their hostility against the people of Paris
would have been unnatural. My bust was earned with that of M. Necker on
the 14th of July. Why? because this minister, on whom every public hope
reposed, was the idol of the nation, and because my name was amongst the
list of those deputies of the Assembly, who, it was said, were to have
been arrested by the troops summoned to Versailles. Amidst all these
events, so favourable to a factious man, what was my behaviour? I
withdrew from the eyes of the people: I did not flatter their excesses,
but retired to my house at Mousseaux, where I passed the night; and the
next morning I went, unattended, to the National Assembly at Versailles.
At the fortunate moment when the king resolved to cast himself into the
arms of the Assembly, I refused to form one of the deputation of members
despatched to Paris to announce these tidings to the capital, for I
feared lest some of the homages which the city owed to the king alone
might be paid to me. And such was again my conduct on the days of
October; I again absented myself, not to add fresh fuel to the
excitement of the people; and I only reappeared when calm again
prevailed. I was met at Sevres by the bands of straggling assassins, who
bore back the bleeding heads of the king's guards: these men stopped my
carriage, and fired on the postilion. Thus I, who was the pretended
leader of these men, narrowly escaped being their victim, and owed my
safety to a body of the national guard, who escorted me to Versailles;
and as I went to wait on the king I repressed the last murmurs of the
people in the Cour des Ministres I signed the decree which declared the
Assembly inseparable from the person of the king. It was at this time
that M. de La Fayette called on me, and informed me of the king's desire
that I should quit Paris, in order to afford no pretext for popular
tumult. Convinced now, that the Revolution was accomplished, and only
fearing the troubles with which attempts might be made to fetter its
onward progress, I unhesitatingly obeyed, only demanding the consent of
the National Assembly to my departure; this they granted, and I left
Paris. The inhabitants of Boulogne, who had been worked upon by an
intrigue which may be laid to my charge, but to which I was a stranger,
since I would not yield to it, wished forcibly to detain me, and opposed
my embarkation. I confess I was much touched, but I did not yield to
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account