Produced by Stacy Brown, Steven Giacomelli and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) LECTURES ON THE FRENCH REVOLUTION MACMILLAN AND CO., Limited LONDON . BOMBAY . CALCUTTA MELBOURNE THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK . BOSTON . CHICAGO ATLANTA . SAN FRANCISCO THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. TORONTO LECTURES ON THE FRENCH REVOLUTION BY JOHN EMERICH EDWARD DALBERG-ACTON First Baron ACTON D.C.L., LL.D., ETC. ETC. REGIUS PROFESSOR OF MODERN HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE EDITED BY JOHN NEVILLE FIGGIS, C.R., Litt.D. HONORARY FELLOW OF ST. CATHARINE'S COLLEGE AND REGINALD VERE LAURENCE, M.A. FELLOW AND TUTOR OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON 1910 PREFATORY NOTE The following Lectures were delivered by Lord Acton as Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge in the academical years 1895-96, 1896-97, 1897-98, 1898-99. The French Revolution, 1789-95, was in those years one of the special subjects set for the Historical Tripos, and this determined the scope of the course. In addition some discussion of the literature of the Revolution generally took place either in a conversation class or as an additional lecture. Such connected fragments of these as remain have been printed as an appendix. For the titles of the Lectures the editors are responsible. J. N. F. R. V. L. _August 10, 1910_ CONTENTS LECT. PAGE I. The Heralds of the Revolution 1 II. The Influence of America 20 III. The Summons of the States-General 39 IV. The Meeting of the States-General 57 V. The Tennis-Court Oath 68 VI. The Fall of the Bastille 77 VII. The Fourth of August 94 VIII. The Constitutional Debates 109 IX. The March to Versailles 126 X. Mirabeau 141 XI. Sieyes and the Constitution Civile 159 XII. The Flight to Varennes 174 XIII. The Feuillants and the War 193 XIV. Dumouriez 210 XV. The Catastrophe of Monarchy 224 XVI. The Execution of the King 240 XVII. The Fall of the Gironde 256 XVIII. The Reign of Terror 269 XIX. Robespierre 284 XX. La Vendee 301 XXI. The European War 317 XXII. After the Terror 331 Appendix: The Literature of the Revolution 345