d'Artois, published a paper with the title of "L'Ami du Peuple," which he printed himself at a portable press, and in which he instigated the people, without circumlocution, to plunder, burn, aud murder.

Mirabeau's sentiments, on the other hand, were changed. Playing the part of demagogue, in revenge for affronts which he had received from the court and the nobles, but still adhering in his heart to the principles of his order, convinced of the utter incapacity of the duke of Orleans, and, moreover, far too sharpsighted to wish for a complete mob-government, he readily entered into a negociation with the king, through Montmorin, the minister, and promised to employ his influence for restoring to the crown the prerogatives which had been wrested from it: for, in spite of all his public declarations in favour of the new order of things, Louis considered it as his greatest misfortune. "I wish," he wrote on the 20th of January, 1790, to Mirabeau, who had solicited a private interview with him, "that you may be able to find as easily the means of remedying the mischief which has been done, as I shall be anxious to second them when found." Though Mirabeau received large sums, which he much needed on account of his debts and his expensive mode of living, as the price of his support, there is no reason to doubt that he was sincere: but, his strength consisting in his popularity, he was obliged to use great caution, and frequently to speak contrary to the wishes of the court, lest he should appear to be a turncoat and apostate. The change in his sentiments was, nevertheless, remarked, and the motion that the ministers should have seats as deliberative members in the Assembly was not only negatived, but a law was soon enacted that no member should hold the appointment of minister; a measure intended to bar his way to the ministry, upon which he had an eye. But he was

even prevented by the court itself from doing what he otherwise might have done for it; for he could no more overcome the king's distrust of his integrity than Necker's jealousy of his superior talents. As he was far from participating in the peculiar views of the courtparty, which aimed at nothing less than the unconditional restoration of the former system, but had in view a constitution modelled after the English, in which the throne and the national liberty should be alike secured, his proposals were regarded by the queen as snares into which he was striving to entice the king, in order to effect his utter ruin.

The further the National Assembly proceeded in the destruction of the existing institutions, the more the king's temper became soured. He had formed the resolution to signify his acceptance of all their decrees without delay or objection, that, on the one hand, he might appear to act, not of his own free will, but from compulsion, and, on the other, to avoid all occasion for discontent. This unnatural compliance caused many to doubt his sincerity, and lowered him in the estimation even of those who did believe it. The very people who would have armed tumultuously against the employment of the royal veto began by degrees to consider the assenter to the decrees submitted to him as a useless burden to the state. The whole situation was contradictory; and impartial posterity will not need the evidence contained in the correspondence of Louis XVI., that the laws which he publicly confirmed he already at that time considered and treated in private as the abortions of a perverse and rebellious spirit. Much as it may pity and excuse the unfortunate monarch, it cannot but perceive in this double-dealing a main cause of the disastrous turn which his fortune took when it was discovered. So early as 1790, perhaps, perfect sincerity

might have removed him from the semblance of a throne; but his lot would no doubt have been far less severe than that which the ill-judged dissimulation practised for a year and a half was destined to bring upon him.

CHAPTER X.

PROGRESS OF THE REVOLUTION.

The National Assembly, on its removal to Paris, resumed the task which it had undertaken of framing a new constitution for the kingdom. In the progress of this work, it appeared desirable that there should be a new division of the country, in order to break down those provincial distinctions which still subsisted, and to introduce the same laws and the same spirit into all parts of France. Adopting a plan presented by the abbé Sieyes, the Assembly decreed, on the 9th of January, 1790, the division of the kingdom into eighty-three departments, named after mountains, rivers, coasts, and other natural objects; these were subdivided into districts, and the districts into cantons, each of the latter comprehending four or five communes or parishes. The administration of the department, of the district, and of the communes, was assigned to a deliberative council and an executive council, the members of both being elective. Every man, having attained the age of twentyfive years, and paying taxes to the amount of one silver marc, had a right to vote either for members of the administrations, or of the National Assembly. A criminal tribunal was instituted for each department, a civil court for each district, and a court of reference for each canton. The appointment of the judges was for three years; after which its renewal depended on the votes of

the electors. The administration of towns and cities was assigned to a general council and a municipality, the number of whose members was proportioned to the population. The municipal officers, or magistrates, were nominated by the people, and were alone authorized to require the aid of the armed force.

The consequences of this measure were most important. It placed the whole force of the kingdom at the disposal of the people. By the nomination of the municipality, they had the government of the towns; by the command of the armed force, the control of the military; by the elections in the departments, the appointment of deputies to the Assembly, of the judges, of the bishops, and of the officers of the national guard; by the elections in the cantons, the nomination of magistrates and local representatives. "Thus," as Alison pertinently remarks,

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every thing flowed from the people, either directly or through a double election; and the qualification for voting was so low as practically to extend to every ablebodied man. Forty-eight thousand communes, or municipalities, were thus instituted in France, and exercised the rights of sovereignty, scarcely any appointment being left at the disposal of the crown. With a constitution so completely democratic," continues the writer just mentioned, "it is not surprising that, during the subsequent changes of the revolution, the popular party should have acquired so irresistible a power; and that, in almost every part of France, the persons in authority should be found supporting the multitude from whom that authority was derived."

Another measure, not less bold, and nearly as important in its results, was that adopted at the suggestion of Talleyrand, bishop of Autun, for declaring the estates of the church to be the property of the nation, and by their sale supplying the public exigencies. The revenue

VOL. I.

K

had fallen off to such a degree that, during the last three years, the public debt had been increased from 120 to 170 millions sterling. The revenues of the church, which possessed nearly one half of the lands in the kingdom, was too tempting a bait to be resisted. In spite of the opposition of the abbé Maury, Sieyes, and the clergy in general, it was decreed, on the 2d of December, by a great majority, that all ecclesiastical property should be placed at the disposal of the nation, and that the clergy should thenceforward be paid out of the public exchequer. The annual income of the archbishop of Paris was fixed at 50,000 francs, or £ 2000; that of the superior bishops at £1000, of the inferior at £750, and of the lowest at £500. The curés, or rectors, of the larger parishes were to be paid about £90, of the middle-sized £60, and of the smallest £50. All monastic establishments were at the same time dissolved, their property was withdrawn, and pensions were granted in its stead.

The necessities of the state required the almost immediate sale of a portion of this property, to the value of sixteen millions sterling. It was accordingly decreed by the Assembly. The municipalities of Paris, and of the principal cities, became the purchasers in the first instance; intending to dispose of the property, in lots, to individuals; and their promissory notes were given in payment to public creditors. As there were no means for discharging these when they became due, recourse was had to government bills, or assignats, possessing a legal circulation and passing for money throughout the whole kingdom; and a decree of the Assembly authorised the government to issue such assignats to the amount of 170 million francs, or about 7 million sterling, on the security of domains of the crown and ecclesiastical property of the value of 400 million francs. The clergy