T is not a hundred years yet since that terrific convulsion, the French Revolution, tore in pieces the old framework of society. But it is now possible to view it calmly and impartially, and to pronounce that this great outburst was not the work of a few individual men, but the necessary outcome of the preceding

conditions of society. We may date it-Mr. Cockayne, in his valuable brief history of France, justly remarks-from the day of the assembly of the StatesGeneral at Versailles, 5th May, 1789. A long course of circumstances, for which the reader must be referred to the preceding events in the history of France, had prepared the ground, and that is why from the given date the events moved on with such speed. Following Cockayne's narrative, we give here a brief summary of these events. On the 17th of June,

the tiers état, or third estate, viz., the most democratic part of the StatesGeneral, declared themselves the National Assembly (17th June), and passed resolutions making all taxation emanate from themselves. The ministry having thus abandoned the initiative, attempted to stem the tide, now grown strong and rapid, by a royal sitting, and the hall was closed for preparations. But the deputies, finding themselves excluded, met elsewhere, and swore not to separate till they had given a constitution to France, and they were joined by the greater part of the deputies of the clergy, and by such of the noblesse as had become familiar with democratic doctrines by serving in America. The king, at the promised sitting, annulled the resolutions already passed, and ordered the dissolution of the assembly (23rd June); the clergy and noblesse left the hall, but the tiers état kept their seats, continued their deliberations, and defied the royal authority: "Go, tell your master," said Mirabeau to the grand master of the ceremonies, "that we are here by the order of the people, and that we quit not this place but at the point of the bayonet." The clergy and fortyseven of the noblesse, with the Duke of Orleans at their head, seeing the attitude assumed by the Commons, soon afterwards joined them. The king, whose authority was thus set at nought, gave way; he annulled the acts of his own royal sitting, and the three orders for the future met without distinction together. Thus the effectual preponderance of the tiers état was secured, and the royal prerogative defeated and overruled.

The court thus foiled, and acknowledging its own humiliation. adopted again an unpopular course: Necker was banished, and troops were assembled round Versailles. On the other hand, the populace of Paris, excited by these proceedings, began to riot; a national guard was formed, the tricolor cockade

was distributed, fifty thousand pikes were forged, and the Arsenal des Invalides was plundered. On the 14th of July, 1789, the first great demonstration of the power of the multitude was given by the siege and capture of the Bastille, an ancient and fortified prison, then defended by a feeble garrison. The governor fell into the power of the mob, and was murdered. This outbreak produced fresh submissions from the king; his bolder resolutions disappeared, he entered the assembly of the States, declared himself one with the nation, promised that the troops should be removed, and cried. that on the deputies he placed his reliance. He then came to Paris, and signified his approval of the newlychosen magistrates. The riots, begun in the metropolis, extended into the rural districts, the chúteaux of the nobles. were pillaged and burnt; and to put a stop to these scenes (4th August, 1789), all privileges, tithes, seignorial jurisdictions, annates to the pope, plurality of benefices, forest laws, sales of offices in the magistracy and chartered companies, were abolished and suppressed, while equality of political rights was ratified throughout the kingdom. The National Assembly, or States-General, next drew up a constitution for France: after debates for and against a senate, it was decided that there should be but one chamber, and the menacing demonstrations of the populace turned the scale against a negative, and allowed the sovereign only a suspensive veto upon the laws that should pass the legislature.

A new disturbance was excited by an attempt to work upon the loyalty of the army: a banquet was given to the officers of some newly-arrived regiments. at Versailles (1st October, 1789), and during the festivity, the king, queen, and dauphin appeared; cries of enthusiasm were raised, the ancient cockade was distributed, and the tricolor trampled under foot. This news and the pressure

of hunger raised the populace anew: a strange rabble commenced its march from Paris to Versailles; they had already come to blows with the guard, when La Fayette arrived with the militia of Paris, and restored quiet. In the course of the night some of the mob found an entrance into the palace, they summoned their companions, and engaged the royal guard within the apartments; the queen was scarcely saved from the fury of these ruffians, but La Fayette, at the risk of his life, drove the rabble out of the palace. The crowd demanded that the king and queen should come to Paris, and this they were forced to do. The endowments of the Church were now confiscated, and assignats, or paper money, issued on this security. The king (on 20th June, 1791) made an unsuccessful attempt at flight, and this divided the assembly. The extreme party, that rested on the club of the Jacobins, demanded his deposition, but the more moderate party for the time were able to defeat them. The National Assembly, also called the Constituent Assembly, now drew up a new constitution, and dissolved itself, 29th September, 1791.

The king accepted the constitution that had been constructed by the National Assembly, but his two brothers protested against it; emigration increased every day; the neighbouring governments encouraged the French princes, nobles, and officers, to rally on the borders in an attitude of hostility, and thought to work a counter revolution by the aid of the sword. The clergy was divided, some content to abide by the new laws, but the greater portion obstinate to resist them. The Legislative Assembly soon. took measures to outlaw all French subjects who refused submission to the new constitution, and war was declared against the powers that rendered them support.

The Assembly consisted principally of Feuillants, who adhered to the law and

the constitution, and the Girondists, who proposed to carry forward the principles of the revolution, and were sustained out of doors by the club of the Jacobins and the Paris mob. Reverses in the war on the side of the Netherlands excited violent discontent, and the ministry, composed of Girondists, offered for the royal approval some measures directed against the refractory clergy, to which Louis refused assent; he dismissed his advisers and chose a new ministry from the Feuillants. The clubs were the greatest danger of the constitutionalists; La Fayette, who had the command of an army on the frontiers, wrote to the Assembly denouncing the Jacobins; the clubs, on the other hand, prepared an insurrection (20th June, 1792); the mob, with pikes, cries, and revolutionary songs, marched down to the Assembly, and thence to the Tuileries; the gates were thrown open, and the king, presenting himself courageously before them, put on the red cap, as they desired; after offering him several insults, which he bore with fortitude and presence of mind, they retired satisfied with the outrage they had committed. The constitutional party now desired a hearty union with the king, and made advances to him, that by acting together they might suppress the spirit of anarchy; but he committed a new mistake: buoyed up with hopes from abroad, he refused their proposals, and involved himself in one common calamity with them. La Fayette left his troops and presented himself before the Assembly, demanding the punishment of the authors of the outrage of 20th June; but his influence and popularity were gone; the court thwarted his desire to restore order by means of the national guard; he returned to the army, and a month later, as brute force gained more and more the ascendant, he passed over to the Austrians. As the news from the seat of war grew more unfavourable, the agitation of the Parisian multitude increased in fierceness. Pétion,

a talk of retiring behind the Loire, but Danton declared that Paris was France, and must be defended at all risks: "My advice," said he, "is to confound the agitators and to stop the enemy by striking terror into the royalists." This advice produced the imprisonment of hundreds of persons considered not sufficiently zealous in the revolutionary cause; and the hand of every citizen was put in requisition for the defence of the capital. The capture of Verdun by the Prussians was the death doom of the unfortunate prisoners. The news was brought in the night, and next day (September 2nd, 1792) the prisons were cleared by the death of the captives.

The Convention met in September, 1792. The parties were the Girondists and the Mountain. The name of the first was borrowed from a district in France; the name of the second was from the high benches the party occupied.

A republic was soon proclaimed, and on November 13, 1792, the king was brought to trial. Louis stood before his accusers with a firm countenance, and his answers were concise and touching; but what could that avail him before a prejudiced assembly? Besides, the mob outside clamoured for blood. Vergniaud, who presided, was intimidated; he gave his opinion for death, and when with a voice of emotion he declared the result of the scrutiny, in seven hundred and twenty-one votes, death was the sentence awarded by a majority of twenty-six; a respite was refused by a similar majority, and the unhappy Louis was led to the scaffold, 21st January, 1793.

Louis requested the attendance of the abbé Edgeworth to administer the offices of religion to him in his last moments; the request was granted. A last interview with his family, from whom he had been separated, was permitted to the unfortunate prince; the keepers required that the meeting should take place in a hall which had a glass door giving a

view of the interior, that they might not for an instant lose sight of their prisoner. Louis entered the apartment at eight, and walked about for some time in expectation. At half-past eight a door opened, and the queen, the king's sister Elizabeth, and his two children, entered, casting themselves with sobs into his arms. After a long and sad conference the king rose and promised to see them again on the morrow; in spite of this promise, which was not to be fulfilled, the farewell was heartrending. Towards midnight Louis slept soundly till five in the morning; he then received from M. Edgeworth the holy sacrament upon his knees. At eight the officers entered, with Santerre at their head, the procession moved between two lines of armed men, and arrived at half-past ten at the Place de la Révolution. There was a large open space, with a scaffold, guards, and beyond, a vile rabble, who at the sight of their sovereign uttered ferocious cries and yells. Louis attempted to speak-"I die innocent; I pardon my enemies; and as for you, unfortunate people"-but the drums drowned his voice, the axe descended, and while Edgeworth uttered the words, “Son of Saint Louis, ascend to heaven!" the king ceased to live.

After the death of the king, the Revolution proceeded with still more fearful pace.

The Gironde soon came into collision with the populace; they nominated twelve members to watch over the security of the representatives, and the Twelve arrested Hébert, a favourite of the mob. The clubs then poured tumultuary swarms upon the Convention, a petition was presented for the liberation of Hébert and the suppression of the Twelve, and at midnight, the rioters sitting on the same benches with the Mountain, its prayer was granted. Next day this resolution was cancelled. A new insurrection was forthwith organised (31st May, 1793); forty sous