Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, Volume I.Scott, Walter
History
Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, Volume I.
Scott, Walter
France -- History -- 1789-1815; Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821
The gaining these regiments gave the Revolutionists the command of
Paris, from which the army assembled under Broglio might have found it
hard to dislodge them; but these last were more willing to aid than to
quell any insurrection which might take place. The modes of seduction
which had succeeded with the French Guards were sedulously addressed to
other corps. The regiments which lay nearest to Paris were not
forgotten. They were plied with those temptations which are most
powerful with soldiers--wine, women, and money, were supplied in
abundance--and it was amidst debauchery and undiscipline that the French
army renounced their loyalty, which used to be even too much the god of
their idolatry, and which was now destroyed like the temple of
Persepolis, amidst the vapours of wine, and at the instigation of
courtezans. There remained the foreign troops, of which there were
several regiments, but their disposition was doubtful; and to use them
against the citizens of Paris, might have been to confirm the soldiers
of the soil in their indisposition to the royal cause, supported as it
must then have been by foreigners exclusively.
Meanwhile, the dark intrigues which had been long formed for
accomplishing a general insurrection in Paris, were now ready to be
brought into action. The populace had been encouraged by success in one
or two skirmishes with the gens-d'armes and foreign soldiery. They had
stood a skirmish with a regiment of German horse, and had been
successful. The number of desperate characters who were to lead the van
in these violences, was now greatly increased. Deep had called to deep,
and the revolutionary clubs of Paris had summoned their confederates
from among the most fiery and forward of every province. Besides troops
of galley-slaves and deserters, vagabonds of every order flocked to
Paris, like ravens to the spoil. To these were joined the lowest
inhabitants of a populous city, always ready for riot and rapine; and
they were led on and encouraged by men who were in many instances
sincere enthusiasts in the cause of liberty, and thought it could only
be victorious by the destruction of the present government. The
Republican and Jacobin party were open in sentiment and in action,
encouraging the insurrection by every means in their power. The
Constitutionalists, more passive, were still rejoiced to see the storm
arise, conceiving such a crisis was necessary to compel the King to
place the helm of the state in their hands. It might have been expected,
that the assembled force of the crown would be employed to preserve the
peace at least, and prevent the general system of robbery and plunder
which seemed about to ensue. They appeared not, and the citizens
themselves took arms by thousands, and tens of thousands, forming the
burgher militia, which was afterwards called the National Guard. The
royal arsenals were plundered to obtain arms, and La Fayette was adopted
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