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ROSENTHAL, LEWIS. America and France:
The Influence of the United States on France in
the XVIIIth Century. New York: Henry Holt &
. Co., 1883. i2mo, pp. 302.
AMERICA AND FRANCE: The Influence of
the United States on France in the XVIIIth Cen
tury. By Lewis Rosenthal. New York: Henry.
Holt & Co., 1882. i2mo, pp. 302.
FRANCE. America and France : The Influence of
the United States on France in the XVIIIth Cen
tury. By Lewis Rosenthal. New York: Henry
Holt & Co., 1882. 121110, pp. 302.
HISTORY. America and France : The Influence
of the United States on France in the XVIIIth
Century. By Lewis Rosenthal. New York: Henry
Holt & Co., 1882. 121110, pp. 302.

AMERICA AND FRANCE

THE INFLUENCE OF THE UNITED STATES
ON FRANCE IN THE XVIIITH
CENTURY

BY
LEWIS ROSENTHAL

NEW YORK
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
1882

Copyright, 1882,
BY
HENRY HOLT & CO.

St. yohnland
Stereotype Foundry*
Suffolk Co., N. y.

ANDREW D. WHITE, LL.D.,
President of Cornell University,
THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
BY THE AUTHOR.

" Homines amplius oculis, quam auribus, credunt; longum iter es'
per prsecepta, breve et efficax per exempla." — Seneca, aj quoted by
Bolingbroke, on History, Letter II.
" Kings shook with fear, old empires crave
The secret force to find
Which fired the little state to save
The rights of all mankind."
—Ralph Waldo Emerson.

CONTENTS

PAGE
Introduction  i
CHAPTER I.
France and America  5
CHAPTER II.
The Alliance  53
CHAPTER III.
After the War  94
CHAPTER IV.
America in the National Assembly  "166
CHAPTER V.
America and Public Opinion  213
CHAPTER VI.
America, the Gironde and the Montagne . .255
Conclusion  296

AMERICA AND FRANCE.

oX*.o

INTRODUCTION.

In the latter half of the eighteenth century
France and the United States of America,
two groups of people not only separated by
the ocean and different in language and in
stitutions, but estranged by a recent war,
became allies and friends. International re
lations beget international influences.
It is the purpose of this work to consider.
the relations of France and the United-States
between the years 1776 and 1794, and t©
determine what influence the young Republic
exerted during those years, first on the sub
jects of the old Monarchy, then on the citi
zens of a new Commonwealth. A consid
eration of this theme at the present moment
is both interesting and opportune. One hun
dred years ago the allied forces of France
and the United States compelled the army
of Lord Cornwallis to surrender at Yorktown.
To-day, amid the' rejoicings of the centenary,
the citizens of the two great Republics of

2 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
our time may well pause and study the events
preceding and succeeding the brilliant feat of
arms accomplished by their ancestors.
The subject we have chosen has been more
or less fully treated by Bancroft, by Buckle,
and by Balch. The German historians of the
French Revolution, Schlosser, Dahlmann, and.
Von Sybel, have given the question a pass
ing notice, and the French historians, Thiers,
Mignet, Michelet, Lavall^e, and Louis Blanc,
have passed it by with a line or a page, in
the course of their special works. M. Labou-
laye has written the history of the United
States, but he has failed to see the influence
they had upon France. M. Rocquain has
published a work on the revolutionary spir
it in his country prior to the Revolution,
and yet he devotes barely a page to the po
litical system of America. Lanfrey, in his
beautiful essay on the great uprising of 1789,
speaks' but cursorily of that in America, and
M. Taine, in his recent productions, seems
to disregard it altogether. Henri Martin is
the historian who, in France, has most .ex
haustively treated the relations between the
Republic and the Monarchy in the eighteenth
century, but he leaves the subject at the treaty
of Versailles, in 1783, and does not attempt

INTRODUCTION. 3
to determine the influence which the one na
tion exerted on the other. That will be our
task. All the able and eminent men who
have touched upon the matter in hand, have
done so incidentally, and simply as it pre
sented itself to them while engaged in a
larger work.1 It is our purpose to write
Bancroft, "History of the United States," vols. viii. ix.
passim. Buckle, " Hist, of Civilization in Eng.," vol. ii. chap. vii. -
{cab. ed.).
Balch, Les Francais en Amerique. pendant la Guerre
de I'Independance (Paris, 1870), pp. 2, 3. Compare also M.
Chotteau on the same subject, (Paris, 1876).
Schlosser, "Hist, of Eighteenth Century," ii. chap. i. p.
112, v. p. 179.
Von Sybel, Gesch. der Revolutionszeit (Dusseldqrf, 1865),
Band i. Cap. iii. pp. 69, 71. Dahlmann, Gesch. der franz.
Rev. pp. 71, 79, 80. '
Thiers, Hist. Rev. francaise, vol. i. pp. 9, 34.
Mignet, Hist, de la Rev.frangaise (Paris, 1865), tome i.
H3-
Michelet, Hist, de France (Paris, 1879), vo^ y~rx- P- 2QI-
Lavalle'e, Histoire des Frangais, tome iii. chap. v.. 557,
et seq.
L. Blanc, Rev. francaise, tome ii. pp. 44-47.
Laboulaye, Histoire des Etats Unis, tome ii. p. 391,
legon xviii.
Rocquain, L 'Esprit Revolutionn.aire avant la Revolu
tion^ 1715-1789 (Paris, 1878), livre x. pp. 370, 371.
Lanfrey, Essai sur la R6v. franc, chap. v. pp. 120, 121;
chap. vii. pp. 167, 168; chap. viii. p. 214.
Taine, La Revolution, livre ii. p. 157.
Martin, Hist, de France, tome xvi. chap. civ.

4 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
a monograph on the part played by the
United States of America in France under
the old Monarchy, under the Constituent
Assembly, and under the Legislative As
sembly and the Convention, that is to say,
before, during, and at the climax of the
great Revolution which shook not alone
France, but Europe and the world. 7

CHAPTER I.
FRANCE AND AMERICA.
When discussing a question of international
influence it is the first duty of the historian
to inquire into the political, social, and intel
lectual condition of the nations under con
sideration. Let us therefore cast a glance
at _ France and America as they ' were on
the eve of the American Revolution.
In the old world an ancient monarchy ruled
with well-nigh absolute sway over a compact
nation of twenty-six millions, and imposed
taxes upon them without the sanction of
their representatives. In the new world thir
teen Colonies, three millions of people of
different origin, but slightly dependent upon
the mother -country, administered their own
affairs, and voted their taxes by represen
tative bodies. In the monarchical state there
were three orders possessing unequal rights,
the Nobility, the Clergy, and the Third Es
tate; in the Colonies there were no orders

6 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
and all white men were equal before the law.
In France, although the forty provinces shared
unequally in privileges, there were unity and
strong centralization of power. The Parlia
ments, the highest courts of the realm, had
for a time been suppressed by the crown,
and the States- General, bearing some slight
resemblance to a legislative assembly, had
not been convoked for nearly two centuries.
There was little local self-government, for
the provincial States existed- only' in certain
parts of the country and were irregular, and
limited in their action. The executive au
thority overshadowed all. In the Constitu
tions of the Colonies, the executive, legis
lative, and judiciary departments were, al
most without exception, independent and
distinct, and the town meeting was the nu
cleus of the public liberties. The French
had charters and rights that were virtually
dead letters. The Americans looked upon
their charters and rights as living and bind
ing, and any violation of them called forth
prompt and energetic protest. In France.
there was inequality as to social condition,
as to taxation, and in the court of justice;
individual liberty was discarded by the let
tre de cachet, and religious liberty had been

FRANCE AND AMERICA. 7
abolished by the revocation of the edict of
Nantes. In the Colonies every man had an
even chance to arrive at the object he pro
posed unto himself; he was taxed according
to his property, and not his birth; he was
the equal of any of his neighbors in the
court of justice; his religious freedom was
guaranteed him by the law, and his per
sonal freedom by the habeas corpus and the
jury trial.
The French peasant rarely owned more
than a scanty patch of soil, and when the
crops failed he resorted to pillage and ar
son, and often murder, to obtain a liveli
hood; the American farmer tilled a virgin
land, and rich harvests filled the granaries
he could call his own. Jealous neighbors
and the support of a court and aristoc
racy necessitated in France the mainten
ance of an extensive standing army; in
America the army was small and served
only as a defense against the Indians.
France was a Catholic country, and the
masses were devoted to the altar and the
throne; the majority of the American States
were Protestant and imbued with that spir
it of democracy and political freedom which
they had learned both at London and at Ge-

8 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
neva. France was proud of its ancient civil
ization and its high position among the na
tions, and it could indeed well point with pride
to a long list of brilliant achievements in
literature, in the sciences, on the pleasant
field of the arts, and on the field of war.
The American Colonies,' united only by the
desire for justice and their rights, were in
the eyes of Europe a new political body,
inured indeed to a rude military life by the
necessities of their position and their Indian
wars, but insignificant and uncultured; their
military reputation barely passed their nar
row boundaries, and for their literature and
art they were dependent upon the mother
country. In France there were universities,
learned academies, and schools that opened
their doors to the well-to-do middle classes,
and were frequented by such of the nobility
as did not early follow the career of arms;
in America high and low generally attended
the school or the college, and the house of
public instruction was, next to the church,
the. first building erected in a rising settle
ment. The Americans, in the latter part of
the eighteenth century, were perfectly con
tent to remain under the sovereignty of the
British Crown so long as it respected their

FRANCE AND AMERICA. 9
vested rights; they spoke with respect of
Pym and Hampden, of the Revolution of
1688, of William III. and Lord Somers, of
Milton, Algernon Sidney and Locke. The
French lived- in -a country whose ancient in
stitutions began to lose their seeming luster.
Paris, feudal in its constitution, was revolu
tionary in its spirit and aspirations. Though
every good Frenchman was attached to the
king and remembered the great names of
his country's history, there was a growing
number of men who were dissatisfied with
the past and with the present, which was
its copy. They felt that new times de
manded new institutions. The Americans,
cold and phlegmatic in temperament, like
most nations ofthe North, simple and, prac
tical, like all pioneers, were bent- on the '
material pursuits* of daily life, and were lit
tle given to philosophic speculation. A very
few among them, Franklin and Jefferson and
Samuel Adams, had turned the pages of the
French philosophers; but the great majority
simply adopted the traditions of Anglican lib
erty which their ancestors had brought with
them to the New World. Time and circum
stances had soon taught them to interpret
these traditions in a more liberal spirit than

10 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
they were interpreted by their brethren of
the mother country. The Americans had
struggled with kings and royal governors,
but these struggles had never carried them
too far. They were essentially conservative.
They modified their laws and constitutions
only when change became absolutely neces
sary. Certain circles of the ruling classes
of the French nation, imbued with the teach
ings of classic antiquity, contrasted the tra
ditionary liberties of Greece and Rome with,
the absolute government that pressed upon
them. Versatile and brilliant, like most mem
bers of the Latin race, they hailed with joy
ous enthusiasm the idea of radical reform.
A literature, in turn nourished by and nour
ishing this spirit, was soon poured upon the
land, which eagerly drank in its disorganiz
ing doctrines. Men applauded the Econo
mists when they said, "Laissez faire, laissez
aller." Men, high and low in station, felt
the truth of D'Argenson's advice : " Pas
trop gouvernerS' Three writers, however,
Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Rousseau, were
the embodiment of the ideas, tendencies, and
aspirations of their time. Montesquieu, a
son of that ancient hereditary magistracy
which, though often in conflict with the

FRANCE AND AMERICA. H
crown, rarely sympathized with the people,
had visited England in 1729, and had en
thusiastically dated his letters, " London, lib
erty, and equality."' On his return, after long
and patient study, he issued his " Spirit of
the Laws," and while reviewing the political
and legal institutions of all nations, he held
up to the admiration of his countrymen the
advantages of a constitutional monarchy like
that of Great Britain. The philosopher was
dissatisfied with the political fabric of his na
tive land, but he wished to reform it with
prudence and after a careful corisfderation of
the time, the place, and the circumstances.
Voltaire was the incarnation of his epoch's
ardor for humanity. In poetry and prose,
by scurrility and argument, by. wit and pa
thos, by sarcasm and ridicule, this extraor
dinary man pleaded for greater tolerance and
greater individual liberty. Rousseau, the son
of a Genevan watchmaker, unlike Montesquieu
and Voltaire, was radical and revolutionary.
His fertile imagination pictured the political
and social perfection of the state of nature,
when man was free, when personal property
was unknown, when all men were equal and
brothers. His " Discours sur I'lnegalite " and
his " Contrat Social " quickly spread these

12 • AMERICA AND FRANCE.
ideas throughout all France. Montesquieu
had been conservative; Voltaire was a free
lance for humanity, who appeared only how
and then on the field of politics; but Rous
seau was a theorist, a politician, and an
iconoclast, all in one: a man who would bat
ter down ruthlessly all that which men call
civilization. His influence was the most wide-
reaching, both during and after his time and
generation. These three men, representing
the ideas and sympathies of large circles of
their countrymen, had disciples and follow
ers who spread abroad the theories of their
masters and filled the land with heresy and
doubt. Violated rights, unworthy ministers
and priests, the iniquitous penal code, the
ruinous financial administration became sub
jects for discussion, and the nation gradually
roused itself at the sound of these bold ac
cents, and called for what it imagined to be
reform, liberty, and equality. The old po
litical structure and the new ideas were out
of equilibrium; the sympathies of the masses
turned into new channels and yearned for
new laws and institutions.' Fenelon and Bois-
Guilbert, Chesterfield and Kant, Rousseau
and Voltaire, had been among the many
who prophesied that there would be a great

FRANCE AND AMERICA. 13
political change in France; the momentous rev
olution of 1789 fully bore out their prophecies.
Such were these two bodies of people,*"
France and the American Colonies, when,
in 1774, Louis XVI. ascended the throne
of his ancestors. Like most of the rulers
of his time he had a vague instinct that the
hour demanded important reforms. Freder
ick of Prussia, Joseph of Austria, Pombal in
Portugal, Tanucci at Naples, Ferdinand IV.,
Charles III. and Aranda in Spain had effected
striking changes in their countries' institutions.
He would do the same. He summoned to
his council board the Count de Maurepas
as President, the Count de Vergennes as
Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Count de
Saint Germain as Minister for War, Tur
got, first as Minister for the Navy, then as
Controller General of the Finances, and
Lamoignon de Malesherbes as head of the
Interior. Malesherbes and Turgot were remarkable
men. The former advocated equality of rights,
the liberty of conscience, the liberty of the
press, the abolition of the rack, the suppres
sion of the lettre de cachet and the abolition
of laws of censure. The latter, a disciple
of Rousseau and the Economists, " a man

14 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
with the heart of L'Hopital and the head
of Bacon," had when called to the King's
councils already distinguished himself as an
author and as an intendant at Limoges. His
accession to power was to him but a s.tep
to the realization of his cherished views. He
wished to make all orders and classes, of the
population contribute equitably to the charges
of the state; to abolish the corvee or forced
repair of the highways by the peasants of
the district; to unify weights and measures;
to draw up a fixed code of laws, to increase
freedom of trade, to improve internal naviga
tion, to favor public instruction, to further
self-government by the establishment of pro
vincial assemblies, and to gradually do away
with the distinction of orders in the state by
encouraging its abolition in these provincial
representative bodies.
While Turgot and Malesherbes were urg
ing such important measures, and while Mau-
repas, the court party, the nobles and all
those interested in thwarting the projects of
the reform ministers were bitterly protesting,
and even before, the English colonies in
America had raised the standard of revolt
against the mother country.
Great Britain, burdened with debt at the

FRANCE AND 'AMERICA. 15
end of the Seven Years' War, had resolved
to make its Colonies bear a part of the
burden and the Parliament accordingly had
passed the Stamp Act which provided that
all deeds, receipts and legal documents should
be written or printed on stamped paper, that
this paper was to be sold by the officers of
the government, and that the money thus
obtained was to be placed in the Treasury.
The Colonists objected to this measure on
principle. They would not submit to be
taxed by a body in which they had no rep
resentatives. " No taxation without represen-
' tation " was the cry throughout these infant
States, which, however they may have dif
fered in their origins, their views on minor
questions and their sympathies, were now
united and spoke as a nation in their protest
against the arbitrary action of the British Par
liament.1 The Stamp Act, in view of this op
position, was repealed, but the passage soon
after of . a law imposing a tax on tea and
other articles plainly proved that the legis
lators of Westminster had not learned wis
dom. The Colonists found the tea tax as
obnoxious as they had the Stamp Act. They
refused to submit to it. Meetings were held;
' Pomeroy, Constitutional Law, chap. ii. p. 35.

16 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
petitions to the King forwarded; militia com
panies and clubs organized; tea thrown into
the harbor, and in the North and the South
the opposition assumed a menacing aspect
for the stability of the British colonial empire
in America.
When the first shot of the Revolution had
been fired on Lexington Common in 1775,
the news was received in France with va
rious emotions. Crafty statesmen, hating
Great Britain, hoped and prophesied that
the skirmish might and would' prove the pre
lude of a war with the parent state, and that
its issue would be the independence of the
Colonies. Philosophers, citizens of Paris, the
young nobility who had received their ideas
on liberty and resistance to tyrants largely
from the ancient classics and from Rous
seau and Voltaire sympathized with the re
bels across the sea. At the capital, in the
province, at the watering-places, in the cha
teaux of the rich and in the entresol of poli
ticians and men of letters, the American re
sistance to English demands was the theme
of general conversation.2 "It was at Spa,"
a "Le courage de ces nouveaux re"publicains leur attirait
partout en Europe l'estime, les vceux des amis de la justice
et de l'humanite". La jeunesse surtout, par'un singulier
contraste, elev<_e au sein des monarchies dans 1'admiration

FRANCE AND AMERICA. 17
says the Count de Segur, " that I learned for
the first, -time the events which indicated an
approaching and mighty revolution in Amer
ica." The news was hailed with great en
thusiasm and the insurgens, as the rebels
were then called, had the sympathies of all
the young people at the fashionable resort.
"On my return to Paris I found the same
agitation prevailing also there in the public
mind."3 The papers, though published only with
royal approbation, meager in their news and
limited in their circulation, began to have a
notice here and there of the revolt in Amer
ica. The " Mercure de France " and the
"Courrier d' Avignon," published long, and,
on the whole, trustworthy accounts of Amer
ican events, though tlieir news were derived
almost exclusively from London sources. i
des grands ecrivains comme des he"ros de la Grece et-de
Rome portait jusqu'a l'enthousiasme l'intgr€t que lui inspirait
l'insurrection americaine." — Segur, Memoires, i. p. 107.
3 " Ce fut 1_l que j'appris pour la premiere fois les-e'venemens
qui annoncaient en AmSrique une prochaine et grande revo
lution .... Lorsque je fus de retour k Paris mes regards y
furent frappgs par la mgrne agitation des esprits. Personne
ne s'y montrait favorable & la cause des Anglais et chacun
y faisait des vceux pour les Bostoniens." — Segur, Memoires,
i. pp. 80, 83.
* " The Courrier d Avignon for July 4, 1775, gives a very
good account of- the tax and the fight at Lexington. The

18 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
The public was eager to have the cab
inet aid the rebels. As early as- February
1775, M. de Sartine, Minister for the Navy,
met M. Malouet, then a high functionary in
that department, and informed him that it was
the public and generally expressed wish that
the government should interfere in favor of
the Colonies. " I told him," says Malouet,
"that I considered this wish contrary to
our political interests." It is dangerous, for
an absolute monarchy, thought the function
ary, to . ally itself with a republic. 5 The
news of the American uprising did not ex
cite the Parisians alone; they spread into
the remotest corners of the kingdom, and
beyond, into countries that were French by
their language and their sympathies. From
number for 25 Aout, 1775, gives an account of the enthu
siasm of the women for the cause, an account of the decla
rations of Congress, etc. (p. 83, et seq.) In a " Dis
cours sur les Eve"nemens politiques de l'annge 1775 " an
early number of the Courrier for 1776, gives an excellent
resume" of American affairs (p. 5).
5 "M. de Sartine m'ayant parleYau mois de fevrier 1775,
du vceu public qui se pronongait en faveur des insurgens
je lui repondis que je le croyais contraire a nos inteTfits
politiques. ... La meilleure raison a. alleguer contre cette
guerre. . . est qu'il etait aussi inconsequant que dangereux
pour une monarchic absolue de se mettre a Ia tete d'une
revolution democratique." — Malouet, Memoires sur I Ad
ministration des Colonies (Paris an X), vol. iii. p. 355.

FRANCE AND AMERICA. 19
beautiful Savoy there came a voice which
bears testimony to the rising enthusiasm.
Joseph de Maistre, then young, ardent and
fresh from reading Rousseau, delivered a
eulogy on one of the monarchs- of his coun
try's line, and exclaimed in the course of his
florid remarks: " Liberty, insulted in Europe,
has taken its flight to America, to another
hemisphere. It floats over the icy shores
of Canada, it gives arms to the peace-loving
Pennsylvanian, and from the midst of Phil
adelphia it cries out to the English, ' Why
have you outraged me, you who boast that
you are great only by my means ? ' " 6
The contest in America meanwhile became
more serious; the battle of Bunker Hill was
fought; a Continental army was mobilized;
the Declaration of Independence was promul
gated. The longer the contest lasted, the
more bitter it grew, the more hardly the
Americans were pressed, the more the
French sympathized and longed to , help
0 " La liberte, insultee en Europe, a pris son vol vers un
autre hemisphere; elle plane sur les glaces du Canada,
elle arme le paisible Pensylvanien, et du- milieu de Phil
adelphia elle crie aux anglais, Pourquoi m'avez vous out
rages, vous qui vous vantez de n'Stre grands que par
moi?" Joseph de Maistre, cited by Sainte-Beuve, Por
traits Litteraires, tome ii. p. 388.

20 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
them against their hereditary foes. The
two powerful currents of hate and enthu
siasm rushed through the public mind — hate
against England, enthusiasm for America —
and kindled the ardor for war.
The brilliant and speculating Beaumarchais
seized the moment by the forelock and
threw its wishes and aspirations into two
elaborate memoirs. Acknowledge the inde
pendence of the American Colonies, Tie
urged, and aid them by secret means.7 The
question thus cogently and ably stated was
more and more agitated in high circles and
finally came up for thorough discussion at the
royal council-board. Vergennes and Turgot,
asked for their opinion by the king, gave
it in elaborate papers. It is for our in
terest, Turgot argued, to have the American
Colonies at war with the mother country
and a burden to her. An offensive war on
our part is not advisable. It would derange
our finances.8 Vergennes, who was a strong
royalist and a hater of new ideas and of
" rebelles," counseled the king to concen-
7 L. de Lomenie, Beaumarchais, Sa Vie, ses Ecrits et
son Temps, tome ii. xxi. pp. 93-99. Compare Mag. of Am.
History, vol. ii. 665, et seq.
8 Turgot, CEuvres (Paris, 1809), tome ix. pp. 435-447-449.

FRANCE AND AMERICA. 21
trate his attention on domestic affairs.9 Both
these ministers, however unfavorable to open
interference in the Anglo-American struggle,
felt and prophesied that, sooner or later, no
European power would own an inch of
ground in the Western World, and both
favored Beaumarchais' plan of secret aid
from the funds of the public treasury.10
"I hope to live long enough," said Ver-
•gennes in private company, "to see England
humiliated and- American independence ac
knowledged." n
The Cabinet was backward, but the peo-
9 La France et L Allemagne sous Louis XVI. by A. Trat-
chevsky (Paris, 1881), p. 18, fully treats of Vergennes at this
period; of the count's character compare the judgment of
the contemporary Paine {Rights of Man, London, 1791.
Parti, p. 92), "With respect to principles, Count Vergen
nes was a despot," with that of Mr. Tratchevsky: " Per
sonne dans le conseil du Roi s'elevait avec autant de force
contre les parlements, contre la liberte de la presse, contre
la liberte de la parole, contre l'influence pernicieuse de
Choiseul, Turgot et Necker. Ce sont, ces idees revolution-
naires qui lui faisaient detester les Americains comme " re
belles,", ces Am^ncains que sa haine contre l'Angleterre lui
faisait secourir,'' p. 19.
10 Turgot, CEuvres (Paris, 1809), vol. ix. pp. 435-447-449.
and also Politique de tous les Cabinets, ii. Raumer, Beit-
rage zur neuer ti Geschichte, v. 216.
11 Moniteur Universel, 1789, vol. r. p. 45, note: "J'es-
pere vivre assez pour voir l'independance des Americains
reconnue et l'Angleterre humilie."

22 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
pie openly gave vent to their sympathies, and
loudly expressed .their admiration for the col
onists.12 " What Frenchman endowed with a vivid
imagination," said the judicious Fontanes,
years after, "does not remember with rap
ture the first moment when rumor told us
that Liberty was raising its banners among
the people of America? The Old World,
bent under the load that burdened its age,
found again some of its enthusiasm and
turned its eyes toward those distant climes."13
The news that the king of England was
buying Hessians to fight his subjects excited
12 Dorat, the poet, seems fo have shared the opinions ot
the ministers at this time.
"Sages fameux, qu'allez vous faire?
Laissez les dogues d'Angleterre
S'entremordre, se dechirer."
Epitre aux Sages du Siecle, ;
13 Quel Frangais, doue d'une imagination sensible, ne se
rapelle avec transport le premier moment ou Ia renommee
nous annoncait que la liberte relevait ses etendards chez
les peuples de I'Amerique ? L'ancien monde, courbe sous
le poids des vices et des calamites qui accablaient sa vieil-
~ lesse, retrouva quelque enthousiasme et tourna ses yeux
vers ces regions lointains." L. de Fontanes, CEuvres, (Paris,
1839,) tome ii. p. 149. See also L' Observateur Anglais ou
Corresp. Sec. entre Mlor d All 'eye et Milord All ear, Lon
don, 1777, under date of Feb. 28, 1776; Norvins, Ess'ai sur
la Rev.frangaise (Paris, 1832), vol. i. p. 59.

FRANCE AND AMERICA. 23
profound indignation and called forth from
the brain and pen of Mirabeau one of his
most spirited pamphlets.14 He addressed the
German peoples. "You are sold!" he ex
claimed, "and for what usage, just Heaven!
To attack a people that defends the most
righteous of causes, that gives you the no
blest of examples ! Oh, why do you not im
itate these courageous men, instead of striv
ing to destroy them! Do you know what
kind of a nation you are going to attack?
Do you callto mind what a fanatical love of
liberty can accomplish ?  Profit by
their example, reflect upon your honor and
your rights ! "
While the Prince de Montbarey15 argued
that to sustain a revolt was to offer a danger-.
14 ¦• Vous £tes vendus ! Eh, pour quel usage, justes
dieux ! . . . pour attaquer des peuples qui defendent la
plus juste des causes, qui vous donnent le plus noble des
exemples .... Eh ! que ne les imitez vous, ces peuples
courageux, au lieu de vous efforcer de les detruire ! . . . .
Savez-vous quelle nation vous allez attaquer ? Souvenez
vous ce que peut le fanatisme de la liberte ? C'est le seul
qui ne soit pas odieux .... Profitez de leur exemple,
pensez a. votre honneur, pensez & vos droits!" — Mirabeau,
Avis aux Hessois, 1776, in GSuvres (ed. Vermorel), tome i.
p. 154.
'5 Montbarey, Mem. autograp-hes, "Le moyen employe
de soutenir la revoke etait d'un exemple dangereux," tome
ii. p. 293.

24 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
ous example to a country like France, and
while the Jesuit Georgel16 thought such a
measure very impolitic, the people of the city
and the country became more and more im
patient at the lethargy of the Cabinet. The
principal journals and periodicals of the time
afford the clearest indication of the public in
terest; the following rhymes give some echo
of the then prevalent opinions. Soulavie
heard them sing even in Versailles:
"Vergennes is a fool,
Vergennes is a dolt.
Of England he's the tool,
'Gainst those who dare revolt.
Vergennes the slave,
George's minion he,
Promises that France
Shall aid tyranny." ¦'
Readers of the public prints compared the
scant notices of American affairs in the offi-
10 Georgel, Memoires, tome i. p. 430.
17 Soulavie, Mem. hist. et. poi. du Regne de Louis XVI.,
tome iii. 347. " Vergennes gobe mouche,
Ministre sans talens
Laisse l'Angleterre farouche
Battre les Insurgens,
Valet bas et soumis
De toute l'Angleterre
A George il a promis
Qu'on serait ses amis
Pendant son ministere."

FRANCE AND AMERICA. 25
cial : " Gazette de France" with the sympa
thetic and fuller remarks in the " Courrier
d' Avignon " and the " Mercure de France."
" Everything relative to the famous quarrel
that has arisen between England and the
Colonies merits the greatest attention. Eu
rope cannot at all remain indifferent in this
matter." Such is the opinion of the " Mer
cure." 18 " The people of Europe look with
tranquil eye upon the supreme efforts of a
people still free against a power whose des
potism it secretly curses. Let not the world
believe, however, that we are about to yield."
Such are the spirited words of a Boston letter
published in the " Courrier d' Avignon." 19
is Mercure de France, Juillet 1776, review of the work
entitled "Affaires de l'Angleterre et de I'Amerique."
(Compare Works of John Adams, vol. vii. p. 59, note, and
,. p. f,l>.) "Tout ce qui a rapport a la fameuse querelle qui
s'est glev.de entre l'Angleterre et les Colonies merite la plus
grande attention. L'Europe ne peut point etre indifferante
sur cet objet." Even the Journal des Sgavans, rarely dis
cussing general politics, at this time said that the most
interesting question then engaging European attention was
the American war (Mai, 1776, p, 315).
19 " L'Europe voit d'un ceil tranquil les derniers efforts
d'un peuple libre encore contre un pouvoir dont il maudit
en secret le despotisme. . . . Qu'on ne nous croye pas
cependant prSts a. succomber." — Courrier d' Avignon,
Mardi, 18 Juin, 1776, p. 198. Compare also Courrier
d' Avignon, 4 Juillet,' 1775, 7 Juillet, 1775, 14 Juillet, 1775,
11 and 15 and 25 Aout, 1775, Sept. 29 and Dec. 5, 1775.

26 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
The citizens of Paris and the nation at
large did not think that the insurgents would
yield; they hoped and felt on the contrary
that the efforts of the combatants would be
crowned with success.
When Benjamin Franklin, commissioner
for the struggling States arrived in France
toward the end of 1776 to further the interests
of his country, the demonstrations of sym
pathy and goodwill were equal to those that
would have marked a royal progress.
"The arrival of Doctor Franklin at Nantes,"
writes a lieutenant of police to Vergennes
on December 12th, 1776, " is creating a great
sensation." 20
"I am made extremely welcome here" —
the words are Franklin's — " where America
has many friends."21 If his entry into the
sea-port was a popular success, his entry
at the capital was a triumph. Citizens and
merchants, nobles and churchmen, statesmen
and writers and great ladies welcomed him
See Juill. 9, 1776, for an extract from "Common Sense," by
Thomas Paine (p. 222.) For indications of growing inter
est in American affairs compare the Mercure de France
of 1774-5 with that of 1776.
a> " L'arrivde du Docteur Franklin a Nantes fait beaucoup
de sensation." — Lomenie, Beaumarchais, tome ii. p. 135.
81 Franklin's Works (ed. Sparks), vol. viii. p. 193.

FRANCE AND AMERICA. 27
with a welcome such as kings might have
envied, such as fell not to the lot of a crowned
visitor then in France, Joseph II. of Austria.
In the eyes of the few Franklin was a phi
losopher, a writer, a diplomatist; to the
masses he appeared as " Poor Richard," — a
republican/the embodiment of the American
cause, the founder of American liberty and
the champion of human rights.22
Franklin and his two colleagues Silas
Deane and Arthur Lee now addressed a dip
lomatic note to the Count de Vergennes.23
<® " On sait aussi combien Franklin avait ete fete quand
il vint a Paris, parcequ'il" etait le representant d'une repub
lique. Les philosophes surto.ut l'accueillerent avec en-
thousiasme." — Mem. de Condorcet sur la Rev. frangaise,
(Paris, 1824,) tome i. p. 165. Compare also, Burke {Works,
vol. ii. p. 394), who, in January 1777, wrote: "I hear that
Dr. Franklin has had a most extraordinary reception at
Paris from all ranks of people." ' See also, Sparks' Life of
Franklin, i. pp. 418, 419. Lacretelle Histoire de France
pendant le XVIII Siecle, tome v. p. 92.
23 This letter was found by Mr. Minister Washburne and
was first published' in the Foreign Relations of the United
States, 1877, p. 155, Paris, 23 December, 1776.
" Sir, — We beg leave to acquaint your Excellency that we
are appointed and fully impowered by the Congress of the
United States of America to propose and negotiate a Treaty
of Amity and Commerce between France. and the said
States. The just and generous Treatment their Trading
Ships have received, by a free admission into the Ports of

28 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
Then the philosopher retired to the pleas
ant town of Passy, not far from the metro
polis, and, with a statesman's wisdom, quiet
ly awaited future developments. The Foreign
Office was very cautious and very reticent.
It loaned the Americans funds; by the medi
ation of Beaumarchais, it shipped the Amer
icans arms and ammunition; it sent a confi
dential agent to America: but it went no
further. The Commissioners from the States
soon felt that tp conquer the Cabinet they must
first of all conquer public opinion, a power in
France which, after, having been muzzled for
centuries, now began to show signs of extraor
dinary vitality. Arthur Lee and Silas Deane
visited the prominent men of the city and
argued for their cause by their presence and
their words. Franklin, by his fame and his
this Kingdom, with other Considerations of Respect, has
induced the Congress sto make this Offer first to France.
We request an Audience of your Excellency wherein we
may have, an Opportunity of presenting our Credentials;
and we flatter ourselves, that the Propositions we are
instructed 'to make are such as will not be found un
acceptable. " With great Regard, we have the Honor to be
"Your Excellency's most obedient and most humble
servants, "B. Franklin,
"Silas Deane,
"Arthur Lee."

FRANCE AND AMERICA. 29
.character, attracted all classes to him and
with admirable tact made them partisans of
America.24 " The conduct of Franklin was
a masterpiece." Such was the opinion of
the illustrious Cabanis, who years after con
sidered the American war and its results as
" the revolution that has been the most pro
ductive of good to humanity." 25<
So great .was the Americans' success with
public opinion that the diplomatic Vergennes
is said to have prohibited, in the coffee
houses, any too loudly expressed favorable
comments on the rebellious colonists, a pro
hibition which only strengthened the general
sentiment.26 The Declaration of Independence with its
bold, sonorous words, " all men are created
equal," " are endowed by their Creator with
2< See Life of Arthur Lee, by R. H. Lee, passim.
Sparks' Diplomatic Correspondence, of the Revolution, I.
P- 35—71. For the excellent reception . the American en
voys met from the people, see Segur, Memoires, tome i.
p. 108.
25 " La conduite de Franklin fut un chef d'oeuvre." " La
revolution la plus utile au bonheur des hommes." — Cabanis,
CEuvres, (Paris, 1823-25,) vol. v. p. 220, p. 255.
20 After Franklin's arrival " M. de Vergennes a fait de-
fendre dans les cafes de Paris qu'on parlat des insurgens."
This prohibition can but strengthen the sympathy felt fol
them. Corresp. Litteraire Secrete, Dec. 24, 1776, tome iv.
p. 56. Compare CEuvres de Rulki.ere, vol. vi. p. 172.

30 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
certain inalienable rights; " "among these are
life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," " to
secure these rights, governments are insti
tuted among men, deriving their just powers
from the consent of the governed," " whenever
any form of government becomes destructive
of these ends, it is the right of the people
to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new
government, laying its foundations on such
principles, and organizing its powers in such
form as to them shall seem most likely to
effect their safety and happiness " — these doc
trines falling upon French ears, created a
profound impression. Isolated phrases of this
Declaration were not unfamiliar to French
men of the eighteenth century. They had
read of the liberties of peoples and the equal
ity of man in the classics of antiquity and
in the books of philosophers of their time.
Never before, however, had they seen these
doctrines announced in so compact, so ener
getic, so public a form as in the state paper
from Philadelphia. Never before had they
seen, with their eyes, the representatives of
three millions of people in general Congress
assembled, for the support of so revolutionary
a declaration pledge to each other their lives,
their fortunes and their honor. Never before

FRANCE AND AMERICA. 31
had they seen, either in boasted Great Brit
ain, or in the republics of the Netherlands
and of Switzerland, a simple hardy people rise
to defend such a declaration. The French
knew the theory, but they had never witnessed
the living practice. " Men believe their eyes
rather than their ears. Examples are more
readily understood and more speedily effi
cient than precepts." These words of Sen
eca, chosen as the epigraph, to this work,
were as true in the days of Louis XVI.
as in the days of Nero.
From the depths of the dungeon of Vin
cennes, whither a lettre de cachet had thrown
him, Mirabeau wrote early in 1777 the' fol
lowing powerful words: " All Europe has ap
plauded the sublime manifesto of the United
States of America. God forbid that on this
head I should object to public opinion, I
who v were I not in chains , would go among
them for instruction and to fight for their
cause. ... I ask, however, Is there a gov
ernment in Europe to-day, the Swiss and
Dutch confederations and the British Isles
alone excepted, that, judged according to the
principles and the declaration of Congress,
issued on the 4th of July 1776, has not for
feited its rights ? I ask, among the thirty-

32 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
two princes of the third race of our Kings,
have not the two thirds been far more guilty
towards their subjects than the Kings of
Great Britain have been towards the English
Colonies ? " 27
The Declaration did its work; the repre
sentative of America in Paris was doing his.
Edmund Burke was right when, in a letter
to a friend, he remarked that Franklin's pres
ence in France was in itself a triumph for
2? " Au moment de secouer un joug devenu intolerable,
les Americains avoient publiquement expose leurs griefs
contre la metropole; ce manifeste avait occupe Mirabeau,
alors.detenu au donjon de Vincennes. Voici ce qu'en avait
dit le courageux prisonnier: ' On a applaudi generalement
au sublime manifeste des Etats Unis de I'Amerique. A
Dieu ne plaise que je proteste a cet egard contre Topinion
publique, mois qui, si je n'etais dans les fers, j'irais m'in-
struire chez eux et combattre pour eux. Mais je denaande i
si les puissances qui ont contracte des alliances avec eux
ont ose lire ce manifeste, ou interroger leur conseience
aprSs avoir lu ? J'e demande, s'il est aujourd'hui un gouv-
ernement en Europe, les confederations helvetique et batave
et les iles britanniques seules exceptSes, qui, juge d'apres
les principes et la declaration du Congres donnee le 4
Juillet 1776, ne fut dechu de ses droits ? Je demande si,
sur les trente deux princes de la troisieme race de nos rois
il n'y en a pas au dela des deux tiers qui se sont rendus
beaucoup plus coupables envers leurs sujets que les rois
de la Grande Bretagne envers les colonies anglaises." — Des
Lettres de Cachet et des Prisons d'Etat, (Vermorel,) Mira
beau, tome ii. pp. 22, 23, note.

FRANCE AND .AMERICA. 33
the Colonies.28 The man who it was said
had " snatched the thunderbolt from heaven
and the sceptre from tyrants " received such
men'as Turgot, who had resigned his portfolio,
and Vergennes who was still in power; natural
ists, such as Buffon; nobles, such as La Roche
foucauld; philosophers, such as D'Alembert and
Helvetius; physicians, such as Cabanis and
Vicq d'Azyr; men of letters, such as Raynal,
Morellet, and Mably; jurists, such as Male-
sherbes, the admirer of a country that sent a
tallow-chandler's son as its envoy to a court.
All these Franklin charmed and captivated
by a power so subtle and magnetic as to
be well-nigh indefinable. The people read
with admiration the " Science du Bonhomme
Richard." At Paris they called it with praise
" a very little book treating great subjects." 29
Many purchased and read a thin volume
which then appeared and which contained
the American Colonies' Constitutions. Num-
2s Burke, (E), Correspondence between 1744 and ijgy,
vol. ii. p. 132 (London,, 1844); compare Sparks' Life of
Franklin, i. p. 445. " Count Vergennes was the personal
and social friend of Doctor Franklin; and the Doctor had
obtained by his sensible gracefulness, a sort of influence
over him." — Paine, Rights of Man, part i. p. 92.
29 "Un tres -petit livre pour des grandes choses" in
Affiches, Annonces et Avis divers de Paris, Dec. 10, 1777.

34 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
bers called on Franklin at his house and dis
cussed public affairs with him. Those who
came, those who discussed, those who read
were equally ardent for the American struggle.
"They read the translations of our sepa
rate colony constitutions with rapture," 30 said
Franklin in his correspondence at this time,
and " it is a common observation here that our
cause is the cause of all mankind and that
we are fighting for their liberty in defending
our own."
The poets of the day molded the hopes,
30 Franklin, Works, vol. viii. p. 214. Among the minor
publications, the Americana, of this period we mention:
(1) Justification de la Resistance des Colonies Ameri-
caines (Leyden, 1776). (2) Affaires d'Angleterre, 1778.
(See Adams' Works, p. vii. 60, and note; later, (3) Lettre
d'un Membre du Congres Americain d divers membres du
Parlement d 'Angleterre, (a translation), Phila. et Paris,
1779. There was also produced at Paris in 1778, "La Fete
Bostonniene au TAnniversaire de l'lndependance," and at
this period, too, must have appeared the French transla
tion of an oration falsely ascribed to Samuel Adams and
published at London in 1776. It was entitled "An Oration
delivered at the State-House in Philadelphia to a very nu
merous Audience on Thursday, the 1st of August, 1776, by
Samuel Adams. . . . Philadelphia, printed; London, reprinted
for E. Johnson, No. 4 Ludgate Hill, MDCCLXXVI." See
Wells' Life of Samuel Adams, ii. pp. 439-440, and vpl. iii.
pp. 407-408. It is violent in tone. In it occurs the phrase " a
nation of shopkeepers," which, as the oration was trans
lated into French and published at Paris, may be the orig
inal of Bonaparte's expression, iii. 410.

FRANCE AND AMERICA. 35
the fears, the feelings of .their contemporaries
into verse, and Parny, in his first published
production, exclaimed:
"Ye gentlemen of Boston, pray,
Explain this mad commotion
- The noise of which has reached us here
Across the leagues of ocean.
You upset all the universe,
What's been believed for ages,
With these ideas that you are men,
Are men instead of pages."
He continued in the same tone of gentle
irony, but also with the same underlying cur
rent of gravity.
" Let's reason now, and see what rights
You have which we have not;
And tell us why should liberty
Be yours, and not our lot ? " 3'
The people, like the poet, began to ask
themselves whether the liberty for which the
Americans were struggling was not the birth-
31 Parny, Epitre aux Insurgens, 1777.
" Parlez done, messieurs de Boston,
Se peut il au siecle ou nous sommes
Du monde troublant 1'unison
Vous vous donniez Tair d'etre hommes ?
Raisonons un peu, je vous prie,
Quel droit avez-vous plus que nous
A cette liberte cherie
Dont vous paraissez si jaloux ? "

36 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
right of all mankind. Joseph II. of Austria,
at Nantes, is said to have turned away when
the American flag was pointed out to him
floating - perhaps from an American mast
head in the harbor. " It is my business,"
said he, " to be a royalist." 3^ There was an
ever-increasing number of Frenchmen, how
ever, who turned their faces not away, but
toward the distant hemisphere, and saluted
that new constellation of thirteen stars. They
began to wake up to the fact that it was their
business to be active citizens knowing their
rights and daring to maintain them.
As the clouds lowered blacker for England
in the western sky, an important ministerial
change came to pass in France. Malesherbes
and Turgot, too radical for their time, fell
from power and Necker, a wealthy Genevan
banker of excellent credit and great experi
ence, became head of the Treasury in June
i?77. He was liberal and intelligent; but
32 " On ete alors a l'epoque ou commencait l'insurrection
des Etats Unis d'Amerique. Comme tous les batiments '
etaient pavoises a l'honneur de l'illustre hote que le port de
Nantes recevait ce jour la on fit remarquer a Joseph II. le
pavilion nouveau des insurges, ou se trouvaient treize
etoiles, symbole de la nouvelle constellation qui se levait
dans 1'occident. II detourna les yeux. 'Je ne puis re-
garder cela,' dit il, ' mon metier a moi est d'etre royaliste.' "
Weber, Mimoires, Paris, 1822, tome. i. chap. i. p. 52.

FRANCE AND AMERICA. 37
he was not so earnest a reformer as Tur
got had been. His financial policy com
prised the making of- loans, on the one
hand, and the retrenchment of superflu
ous sinecure offices, on the other; his ad
ministrative policy tended to establish rep
resentative provincial assemblies, deliberating
and voting the taxes; his foreign policy was
in unison with that of Vergennes, peace with
all nations.33 He was, like Turgot, and for
the same reasons, a. resolute opponent Of war
with Great Britain on behalf of the rebellious
Colonies. And yet, though cabinet ministers rose
and fell, though the King was unsympa
thetic to the American cause; the people,
if we are to believe the frivolous contem
porary chansonnier, Colle, were crazy about
the insurgens; ladies alluded to them in al
bums and questioned kings and princes about
them; Parisians and Provincials dubbed the
English game of whist Boston; medallions of
Franklin were exhibited in the very home of
royalty, at Versailles, and numerous prints of
his shrewd, plebeian face were to be found
33 Necker, like Turgot and Vergennes, had prophesied
a great future for America. See Legislation et le Com
merce des grains, 1775, part i. chap, viii; part iii. chap. vii.

38 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
in the shops of the metropolis.34 Queen
Marie Antoinette began to bring the Amer
ican cause into fashion at court,35 and young
nobles, with ancient feudal crests upon their
signet-rings and the ideas of Rousseau in
their heads, longed to draw their swords
for the military honor of France, deeply
wounded by the loss of Canada in 1763,
and for the liberty of America, very dear
to them as lovers of sentiment and of
chivalry.36 " People here are greatly excited about
3< Colle, OZuvres choisies (ed. Didot; Paris, 1819,) p. 172.
Von Hartig, Brief e iiber Frankreich (1786), p. 79. Droz,
who knew many of the men who lived in those times, says
in his Histoire du Regne de Louis XVI. (i. p. 236, note),
"On vit jusque dans les petites villes, des personnes dont
les habitudes n'etaient moins que turbulentes, abandonner
le whist, jeu anglais, pour lui substituer un autre jeu auquel
on donna le nom de Boston." The American war also
caused the misanthropic and melancholy Bernardin de
Saint -Pierre to form Utopian projects. America seems
to have been in the thoughts of all classes. See Corres.
de Saint-Pierre (ed. Aime-Martin; Paris, 1826), vol. i. pp.
210, an, 212.
35 " It is both justice and gratitude to say that it was the
Queen of France who gave the cause of America a fashion
at the French Court." — Paine, Rights of Man, part i. p. 92.
36 For an excellent portrait of the young French noble at
this time, see Sainte-Beuve, Portraits Litteraires, ii. p.
360, and the character of M. de La Marche in George Sand's
Mauprat, (ed. 1869,) p. no.

FRANCE AND AMERICA. 39
the adventure of a young man of the Court,
son-in-law of Noailles, possessor of a pretty
wife, two children, fifty thousand crowns a
year, of everything in fact that can make
life |here agreeable and desirable. He has
Jeft.all that since eight days in order to go
and join the insurgents. His name is M. de
Lafayette. What do you say to that ? " 31
Such were the words addressed at about
this time by the Chevalier de Marais from
Paris to his aged mother in the. country.
The intelligence was true. One of the fore-
37 M. Emmanuel de Broglie, in the Correspondant (Nos.
383 and 385, Sept. 10, and Oct. 10, 1878,) in an article en
titled Ce qu'on trouve dans de vieiiles lettres first published
extracts from the de Marais correspondence which com
prises four folio volumes arid which is still in manuscript.
"II n'est question ici que de l'affaire d'un jeune homme de
la Cour, gendre de Noailles, ayant une jolie femme, deux
enfants, 50,000 ecus de rente, tout ce que peut rendre ici
l'existence agreable et chere, qui a quitte tout cela depuis-
huit jours pour aller chez les insurgents; il se nomme M.
de Lafayette. Tout Paris conte son aventure 
Apropos d'insurgents je vous envoie la carte du theatre de
la guerre afin que vous lisiez les gazettes avec plus d'interet."
Mme de Marais replied, " Quel nouvel genre de folie, mon
cher enfant, m'apprenez vous ? Quoi ! il existe encore des
fureurs de chevalerie ! Elle trouve des amateurs ! Aller
a l'aide des insurgents ! Je suis ravie que vous me r&ssuriez,
car je tremblerais pour vous, mais, puisque vous recon-
naissez pour fou M/ de Lafayette, je suis tranquille. Que
je plains sa mere ! "

40 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
most of the young noblemen of the king
dom, borne along by the enthusiasm of his
contemporaries for liberty, had, with a few
friends, exiled himself from his native land
and offered his services and his sword to
the American Congress. The young Chev
alier de Marais adds further on, "Speaking
of the insurgents, I send you a map of the
seat of war, so that you may read the ga
zettes with more interest." The old Mar
quise, conservative and timorous, replied to
these lines from her chateau in Normandy
in the following characteristic strain: "What
new kind of folly, my dear child, is this of
which you tell me ? What ! does the fierce
spirit of knight-errantry still exist, and has
it still its partisans ! Go and aid the insur
gents! Well! I am delighted to see that you
reassure me, for I should tremble for your safe
ty, were it not for your confession that you
consider M. de Lafayette a madman. I am
tranquil therefore, but how I pity his mother!"
In Paris the bold step of Lafayette in es
pousing the American cause was generally
admired, his wife was congratulated on hav
ing such a husband, and in the theaters any
lines capable of being interpreted as referring
to him were vehemently applauded.

FRANCE AND AMERICA. 41
' " 'Tis doubtless a piece of folly," Madame
du Deffand wrote to Horace Walpole of
Lafayette's resolution, " but it does not do
him discredit. People praise him more than
they blame." 38
The winter of 1776 and 1777 was a dreary
and severe one for the American patriots.
They had to fight not only against the well-
trained and well-equipped troops of England,
but against the elements. The news ofthe
retreat from New York through the Jerseys,
of the brilliant stroke at Trenton followed by
the misery of Valley Forge found their way
to the French and caused many once enthu
siastic hearts to falter and to fail.39 • Franklin,
however, did not lose confidence nor faith in
his countrymen during these gloomy hours;
he diffused his own great spirit among those
who doubted and wavered. " Qa ira," he
used to say, " Qa ira" and Paris passed the
cheery words around.40
38 "C'est une folie sans doute, mais qui ne le deshonore
point  On le loue plus qu'ou nele bl_ime." — Lettres
de la 'Marquise du Deffand a Horace Walpole, vol. iii. p.
375, under date 31 March, 1777.
Campan,Mem. sur Marie, Antoinette, vol. ii. p. 235.
39 Mercure de France, Jan., 1777, p. 24. Mars, 1777,
p. 223.
41 These words Ca ira, which may be rendered into
English by the expression " that will be all right in' the

42 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
All classes of the reading public in France
followed with eager looks the military events
in America.
" We are very much occupied here with
the insurgents," D'Alembert writes to his
royal correspondent, Frederick of Prussia, in
April, 1777, "and very impatient to see what
will be the success of the decisive campaign
now about to open." 41
In the eyes of the French, Washington
was a second Fabius, and his military strat
egy was attentively studied not only by such
men as Maillebois, Broglie and D'Arcy but by
a Mademoiselle Phlipon, then twenty-three
years old, destined in after years to become
famous as Madame Roland.42 " Washington
end," coming from Franklin, were long remembered in
France. They were a common saying in the days of
the French Revolution. In the Chronique de Paris, No
126, for Mai 4, 1792, there is a letter by Anacharsis Clootz,
which affirms that the origin of the term is American and
that Franklin "legislateur de la Delaware" introduced it
(P- 499)-
41 "Nous sommes ici fort occupes des insurgens et fort
impatients quel sera Ie succes de la campagne decisive qui
va s'ouvrir." — D'Alembert, Correspondance avec le Roi de
Prusse, in QSuvres, tome v. partie ii. p 386.
Franklin, Deane and Lee to Congress, in Lee's Life of
Lee, vol. i. p. 310.
*s "Washington ne doit pas combattre, et il evite de le
(aire; il temporise comme Fabius  Je suis bien aise

FRANCE AND AMERICA. 43
should not fight, and he avoids fighting. ' He
.delays as Fabius did." These are her words
to a young lady friend on October 4, 1777.
" I am glad to think that we agree as to the
importance of this revolution. I watch its
progress with interest and I hope for the lib
erty of America."
Toward the end of December, 1777, the news
of Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga reached
the French capital and great was the joy it ex
cited". One contemporary bit of rhyme ran,43
" Bravo, gentlemen, Insurgents,
Conquerors in so just a war,
You have given by your valor
A free people to the continents."-"
Ephemeral productions, like the " Epitre
aux Etats Unis et a. Mr. Franklin," 45 and like
de penser comme toi sur l'importance de cette revolution;
je la vois avec interet, et je souhaite la liberte de I'Amer
ique comme une juste vengeance pour la violation du droit
naturel dans ce continent malheureux et si peu fait pour
l'etre." — Lettres inedites de Mile Phlipon aux Demoiselles
Cannet, (Pans, 1841,) vol. ii. p. 205.
43 Segur, Memoires, i. p 162. " La nouvelle de ce succes
redoubla notre ardeur et notre impatience."
44 Correspondance litt. secrete, vol. vi. p 7.
" Bravo, 'Messieurs les Insurgents,
Vainqueurs dans une juste guerre,
Vous donnez par vos sentiments
Un peuple de plus a la terre,
Libres surtout ! "
« Boston et Paris, 1778.

44 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
the little sheet " Babillard," 46 are indications
of the direction which the current of public
opinion of that period took and followed. It is
not the heavy and serious works of literature
and the official state papers that afford the
best guides to a true knowledge of the state
of popular feeling at a given time and on a
given subject. Caricatures and pamphlets,
the rhymes and songs of the day, the word
that passes from lip to lip, the remarks of
influential sheets, the private correspond
ence of contemporaries, the anecdotes and
phrases, the nicknames, the cut of coats and
the form of hats are by far surer means of
knowing what the masses of a cit)- or a
country feel and think and speak than the
diplomatic notes of cabinets and the debates
of parliaments. "Take a straw and throw it
up into the air," says the learned Selden,
" you shall see by that which way the wind
is, which you shall not do by casting up a
stone." 4~
« April 5, 1778. This little periodical was not favorable
to French interference in American affairs, but it speaks of
the " enthousiasme de quelques philosophes inconsideres,"
(P- 274), and it contains a letter signed "Le Politique,"
which strongly advocates the American cause (p. 319) with
other allusions to the contest (pp. 317, 335).
« John Selden, Table Talk, On Libels.

FRANCE AND AMERICA. 45
It is because we are profoundly convinced
of the importance of such seeming insignifi
cant aids to history that we often refer to
them and will often refer to them in the course
of this work; in the consideration of a nation
so impressible and mercurial as France, re
course to such aids is productive of reliable
results. Gates had won a great victory at home;
Franklin went steadily on conquering pub
lic opinion abroad. Circumstances now fa
vored him, and the septuagenarian diplomate
did not let them pass without drawing from
them all possible good for the interests of
his country. Feeling in Paris was by this
time so high-strung that everybody expected
some prompt move on the part of the gov
ernment. " We have been for some time
uncertain between peace and war," Turgot
wrote to a friend. " Circumstances tend to
war." 48 " When will we arm in favor of
the insurgents?" was the national cry. Bel
ligerent ardor, hate towards England, enthu
siasm for the American States, was general
•"s " Nous sommes depuis quelque temps incertains entre
la paix et la guerre; toutes les circonstances tendent a la
guerre." — Turgot, OEuvres (ed. Dussard et Daire, Paris,
1844), tome ii. p. 836. Lettre a Mr. Caillard, 13 Fev„ 1778.

46 AMERICA AND FRANCE.

and contagious. To be a Bostonian seemed
to the Parisians to be the proudest title on
earth.49 The misanthropic Linguet, however, did
not share this enthusiasm. He did not laugh
when the vaudevillists of the gay capital par
odied the proclamation of General Bur
goyne; 50 he did not clap his hands when
the Americans gained a victory. Steady in
his misanthropic humor of attacking that
which other people admired, he was strong
in his condemnation of the American revolt.
" America has been led to civil war by phi
losophy," said he, " and demands with armed
hand liberties as dangerous even for her, per
haps, as for Europe." Not content with be
ing a prophet of evil, he was also the caustic
« Lacretelle, Histoire de France pendant le XVIII.
Siecle (vol. v. p. 90): "'Quand armera-t-on en faveur des
insurgens ? ' on n'entendait que ce eri en France. La na
tion trompait son gouvernement et se trompait elle meme
en exagerant les avantages commerciaux qui devoient re-
sulter de l'independance des colonies anglaises. La phi
losophic trouvait la politique trop lente a seconder ses
voeux; les poetes qui depuis longtemps s'etaient faits les
echos des philosophes celebraient a l'envi les insurgens,
I'esprit de la mode propagait la declaration des droits, nul
titre ne paraissait plus beau que celui d'un habitant de
Boston." *> Correspondance Litt. secrete, Jan. 16, 1777 vol v
pp. 388, 389.

FRANCE AND AMERICA. 47
critic of his times. "The Americans have
become heroes," he sneers, "but four years
ago they were not." 61
This scorn was not common. Linguet, in
deed, proves the contrary. The excitement
was at fever heat. Men talked of America
in the coffee-houses; women talked of Amer
ica in the drawing-rooms; young French of
ficers talked of America to Franklin. Every
body seemed eager for war. " America has
been the only subject of conversation here,"
wrote Madame du Deffand to Horace Walpole.52
The Cabinet began to reconsider their first
decision of non-interference; but the King,
like Vergennes, had but little sympathy for
rebellious subjects and always hesitated to
sign papers relative to the American ques
tion when they were presented to him.
Louis XVI. still paused.53 His subjects'
51 Linguet, Annales politiques, civiles et litt., du XVIII.
Siecle, 1777, tome i. p. 11: "Conduite a. la guerre civile par
la Philosophie et reclamant a. main armee une Liberte
dangereuse peut etre pour elle mSme autant que pour
l'Europe." Compare, also, vol. ii. p. 349, arinee 1777, for
adverse criticisms. " Les Americains sont devenus de he
ros; mais il y a quatre ans ils ne 1'etaient pas." — vol. iii.
p. 514, annee 1777.
62 Lettres de la Marquise du Deffand d Horace Walpole,
iii. 436: " On ne parlait ici qu'Amerique," 6 Jan. 1778.
63 Moniteur Universel, tome i. p. 45, note: " Le roi dans

48 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
wishes and his personal inclination were at
variance. If he contracted an alliance with
the Colonies, Great Britain would interpret
the act as hostile. If war were declared, he
would be almost certain to succeed and blot
out the disgrace of the peace concluded by
Louis XV., but then he would also be the
ally of rebels against their lawful sovereign.
He had perhaps already gone too far in se
cretly aiding the insurgents; he might per
haps injure his own royal power. Thus he
reasoned with himself, and these reasonings
may have been strengthened by a pamphlet
which then appeared under British inspiration.
You are arming, oh imprudent sover
eign — such was the substance of this pam
phlet — you are arming to support the in
dependence of America and the maxims of
Congress. There is a power which to-day
raises its head above the laws, — the power of
ambitious speculation. It is carrying on a
son cceur n'approuvait pas tout ce qu'il (Vergennes) faisait
dans la guerre d'Amerique et lorsqu'on lui presente quel
que chose a signer on assure qu'il a dit: ' Faut il que des
raisons d'etat m'obligent k signer-ce que je ne pense pas ?"
Soulavie, Louis XVI. (tome iii. chap. ix. p. 409): "Le
plus grand inconvenient pour le roi etait 1'exemple des in
surrections qu'il donnait a ses sujets, puisque en accordant
des secours aux Americains il protegeait une doctrine sub
versive de son propre gouvernement."

FRANCE AND AMERICA. 49
revolution in America; perhaps it is preparing
the way for one in France.. The legisla
tors of America proclaim themselves the dis
ciples of French philosophers; they are putting
into execution the very thing which these have
dreamt. Do not the French philosophers as
pire to be legislators in their own country?
Is there not a great danger in putting the
pick of your officers in communication with
men enthusiastic for liberty ? You will grow
alarmed, but too late, when you will hear
repeated at your court the vague and spe
cious maxims they shall have meditated upon
in the forests of America. How will they
have your absolute orders respected, after
having poured forth their blood for a cause
which is styled the cause of liberty ? ' Whence
this security of yours, while in America the
statue of the King of Great Britain is being
shattered to pieces and his name is being
heaped with .obloquy ? England will feel suf
ficiently avenged of your hostile designs when
your government will be examined, judged,
condemned, according to the principles which
are professed in Philadelphia, and which are
applauded in your capital.54
64 Lacretelle, Hist, de France pendant le XVIII. Siecle,
tome ii. p. 83.

50 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
Though the King was in sad perplexity,
his cabinet officers, influenced by public opin
ion, were decided not to let the victor)- at
Saratoga pass by without making a move in
favor of the victorious rebels.65 Enthusiasm,
self-interest, bitter enmity against England
carried the day, and on the 6th of February,
1778, a treaty of Amity and Commerce was
concluded between the Kingdom of France,
on the one hand, and the United States of
America on the other. France still professed
to desire peace with Great Britain and war
was not declared. The treaty, however, be
sides its commercial clauses, immediately re
garding the contracting powers, provided for
a possible war. Should hostilities between
France and England break out during the
existence of those between England and
the United States, it was stipulated that
in such a case the war should be made
a common cause by France and America
against Great Britain; that neither of the
contracting powers should conclude either
« " La nouvelle de la defaite de l'armee anglaise com-
mandee par le general~Bu?goyne,- dlyida la France a
prendre parti pour I'Amerique."— Muft. de Lausuti (ed.
Lacour,) p. 283. Flassan, Hist, de la Dipiomatie franc
tome vii. liv. vi. pp. 159-166; Segur, Mim. vol. i. p. u,

FRANCE AND- AMERICA. 51
truce or peace with Great Britain without the
formal consent of the other party, and that
arms should not be laid down until the inde
pendence of the United States had been
formally acknowledged by the treaty that
should terminate the contest.56
When the news of this piece of diplomacy
reached Whitehall, the British government
recalled its embassador from Paris and though
there was no formal declaration of war the
British captured several French merchant
men. They thus proved by their acts, if
not by their formal words, that hostilities
had fairly begun.
The American envoys, plain in dress, dig
nified in bearing, were received by Louis XVI.
in March, at Versailles, and the palace of the
" Grand Monarque " rung with the plaudits
of the court that greeted the representatives
of the new Republic. The venerable, white-
haired Franklin, in his dark Quaker dress,
with his gray hat under his arm, his white
woolen stockings, his shoes unadorned by
silver buckles, appeared to the courtiers in
that splendid hall the embodiment of repub-
se Secret Journals of Congress, Foreign Affairs (1775-
178 1,) p. 59 et seq. Marten's, Recueil de Traite s, tome ii.
p. 587.

52 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
lican simplicity, a Lycurgus or a Solon of the
eighteenth century.57
This remarkable spectacle proved to the
nation, more than the treaty and more than
the published notes in the "Gazette de
France," that the white lily-dotted banner of
the Bourbons and the barred and star-span
gled banner of the American States were
intertwined in alliance against a common,
haughty and powerful foe.
" The Marquise du Deffand wrote to Horace Walpole
on 22 March, 1^78, as follows (tome iv. p. 33): "M. Frank
lin a ete presente au roi. II etait accompagne d'une
vingtaine d'insurgents dont trois ou quatre avait l'uniforme.
Le Franklin avait un habit de velours mordore, des bas
blancs, ses cheveux etales, ses lunettes sur le nez, et un
chapeau blanc sous le bras. Ce chapeau blanc est il le
sy mbole de la liberte ? "

CHAPTER II.
THE ALLIANCE.
France and America, thanks to the heroism
of the American soldier and to the diplomacy
of Franklin, were now allies. A new and im
portant chapter opens in the history of the
relations between the old Monarchy and the
young Republic. Alliances for war, by which
all classes of the contracting powers are
brought more or less into contact, generally
produce, with some jealousies and heart-burn
ings, much mutual goodwill and generous
emulation. The Franco - American alliance
was no exception to this rule; it produced
even greater results. A careful study of the
men and the times will lead us to conclude
that one of the oldest and most civilized na
tions of the globe was influenced by the most
recent and the most feeble in its warlike re
sources. This phenomenon, almost unpar
alleled in history, can only be explained after
an examination of the contemporary state of

54 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
public opinion in France. The country, in
spite of the reformatory measures of Turgot,
was in a profoundly feverish state and more
and more revolutionary in its tendency.
Powerfully influenced by the political liter
ature of England during well-nigh twenty
years, France neither loved nor sympathized
with tlie land which had inspired Montesquieu
and Voltaire. Hereditary hates, bitter mem
ories of the disastrous Seven Years' War
and the spirit of rivalry tended to lessen
English influence in France. There was ad
miration for Great Britain, but there was no
sympathy. In view of this condition of public
feeling in Paris at the time of the accession of
Louis XVI., it was certain that a nation, com
bining the civic qualities of Englishmen and
yet not associated in the French mind with
the mistrust and jealousy linked to that name,
would arouse not alone the admiration but
also the sympathies of France. The men of
the American Revolution, who not only con
tinued but improved upon the traditions of
Anglican liberties, answered these conditions
and, from the first shot of the war, France
was at their side. This sympathy for a feeble
people in revolt against a strong rival power;
this admiration for the acknowledged superi-

THE ALLIANCE. 55
ority of that people in the institutions of po
litical liberty; this enthusiasm for the bold
words backed by the bold deeds; this ardor
for a state three thousand miles away and
whose very distance increased its power over
the imaginations of the French — all these ele
ments formed the basis of an influence which
is traceable in the history of France during a
period of eventful years.
The public wishes were at last gratified,
and there was war. The common peasant-
soldier had to serve whether he would or no,
but the young and old officers enlisted in the
American expedition with extraordinary en
thusiasm. There was first the officer, who,
tired of peace and the routine of the court,
longed for an opportunity to unsheathe his
sword and who examined not too closely
why he did so. Rouerie and Fersen be
longed to this class. The former had been
one of the earliest to embark for America;
the latter, on the eve of his departure, could
hardly contain his joy. 1 There was, next,
1 Le Comte de Fersen et la Cour de France (Didot,
Paris, 1878,) — "Vous me voyez, mon cher pere, au comble
de mes vosux," says Fersen to his father (i. 36). Martin,
Hist, de France, tome xvi. livre civ. p. 416. For' further
evidence ofthe enthusiasm with which the officers enlisted,
see Mem. de Montbarey, tome ii. 340.

56 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
the old French noble, the professional soldier,
who obeyed his King only the more readily
in this case because he hated England. De
Grasse, D'Estaing, and, later, Rochambeau are
good examples of this class. The third body
of officers enlisting in the American war
comprised men who, while eager to strike a
blow at the English, were at the same time
eager to do battle for freedom. Lafayette,
Segur and Dumas were the representatives-
of this modern chivalry. The first category
regarded the war as a pastime; the second,
as a duty to their King and country; the third
looked upon it as a duty not only to their
King and country, but also to the cause of
human liberty. " I wanted to propose my
company of dragoons," says a young noble
of the time, " as an escort to the hero of the .
New World, so that they, as well as he, might
take paft in the struggle for American lib
erty. My superior officer, however, took
certain umbrage at my proposal and all har
mony between us was at an end."2 Prep-
• "J'imaginai de proposer, comme le compagnon du
heros du Xouveau Monde, ma compagnie de dragons pour
figurer .ainsi que lui, dans la liberte de I'Amerique. Mon
chef en prit certain ombrage qui rompit toute harmonie
entre nous." — Memoire politique depuis, 1771, jusq. 1S00
par M. de Savoisy, Dijon, chap. iii. pp. 8 et 9.

THE ALLIANCE. 57
arations for the contest were pushed with
the utmost activity and all the ports of
France presented a picture of the greatest
animation. *
American influence on France may now be
grouped about two main points — Franklin at
Paris, and the French in America — and upon
these two points we will proceed to direct our
examination. .
The representative of the, American Re
public was from the date of the alliance more
than ever before the center of attraction in
Paris. He was no longer a solicitor of favor;
he had accomplished one part of his mission,
and his business now was to keep the good
will of the French people. He acquitted him
self admirably of this task; he conquered all
hearts. " I saw Franklin become an object
of worship," is the woful exclamation of the
contemporary Soulavie.3
When he showed himself in the street the
crowd applauded; when, attracted by the
eloquence of the illustrious Target, he entered
a court room, the decorum of the place did
not restrain the audience from bursting forth
into plaudits ; when he dined at the Count de
3 Soulavie, Memoires, Regne de Louis XVI. "J'ai vu
Francklin devenir un objet de culte," (vol. ii. p. 50).

58 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
Vergennes', the city soon knew what good
things he had said;4 when, during the tri
umphal stay of Voltaire at Paris, the philoso
pher of Ferney and the philosopher of Phila
delphia met and embraced each other at a
meeting of the Academy, the report flew
through Europe that Solon and Sophocles
had exchanged the kiss of friendship and
respectful admiration.5 The French saw in
4 Courrier d' Avignon, 24 Mars, 1778, says, "Mercredi
dernier M. Target, avocat, a plaide au Parlement dans
raffaire celebre, etc. etc. Le docteur Franklin et son petit
fils etaient a l'audience. Ils furent traites avec distinction
par ordre de M. le Premier President, d6s qu'on appercut
ce respectable vieillard on lui prodigua des battements de
main. Dans toutes les assembles publiques ou il se
montre ce savant recoit le mSme ac'cueil"(p. 99).
M. de Marais writes to his mother, "On cite un propos
du vieux docteur (Franklin) chez M. de Vergennes oil il
fut diner. On lui parlait de son ouvrage, e'est-a-dire de
l'alliance qu'il venait de contracter avec la France — ' Nous
en sommes tres flattes, repondit il, mais I'Amerique est
une jeune vierge bonne a epouser ' " {Le Correspondant, 10
Oct. 187S).
s " Voltaire and Franklin were both present, and there
arose a general cry that M. Voltaire and M. Franklin
should be introduced to each other. This was done, and
they bowed and spoke to each other. . But this was not
enough. The clamor continued until the exclamation came
out, "11 faut s'embrasser k la Fran?aise." The two aged
actors upon this great theater of philosophy and frivolity
then embraced each other, by hugging one another in their
arms and kissing each other's cheeks, and then the tumult

THE ALLIANCE. 59
one of these two men the literary king of the
eighteenth century and in the other the law
giver of America. They hailed both with
equal enthusiasm. " Voltaire," says Madame
d'Epinay,6 " always shares with Franklin the
applause and acclamations of the public. The
instant they appear at the play, on the prom
enade, or at the academies the shouts and
clappings of hands are without end."
" 'Tis the fashion nowadays," sneered the
misanthropic Linguet, " to have an engrav
ing of M. Franklin over one's mantel-piece,
as it was formerly the fashion to have a
jumping -jack." 7 Neither sneers nor ridi
cule availed, however, against the prevail
ing opinion of the people. Franklin and
subsided. And the cry immediately spread through the
whole kingdom, and, I suppose, over all Europe, " Qu'il
etait charmant de .voir embrasser Solon et Sophocle ! "
Adam's, Works, iii. 147.
6 Mem. et Corres. de Madame dEpinay (vol. iii.' p. 419),
" II (Voltaire) partage toujours avec Franklin les applau-
dissemens du public. Des qu'ils paroissent,, soit -aux spec
tacles, soit aux promenades, aux academies, les cris, les
battemens des mains ne finissent plus." Compare this
with what the abbe Galiani wrote, (tome ii. p. 203) of the
popularity of the Americans.
'Capefigue, Louis XVI. (vol. ii. p. 11, note), "La mode
est aujourd'hui, disent -les Annales litteraires, d'avoir, une
gravure de M. Franklin sur sa cheminee comme on avait
autrefois un pantin."

60 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
the cause he represented were thoroughly
honored and cherished. The Viscountess de
Fars Fausselandry and Madame du Hausset
who moved in the best society prove this.
Their testimony on the state of the pub
lic sentiments at this period is both interest
ing and valuable. " The war of American
independence had just broke out. Louis
XVI. had taken up arms for the insur
gents, as we called them, and had desired
to deal England a mortal blow in favoring
their emancipation. Unfortunately he mor
tally wounded his own monarchical power.
There were, I do not deny, great germs
of revolution in France, but the way to
crush them was not to feed the public mind
on that love of independence which burst
forth beyond the sea, and to send officers
and soldiers to drink in, on the American Con
tinent, principles of republicanism." 8 Mad-

8 Mem. de la Vicomtesse de Fars Fausselandry, (Paris,
1830), vol. i. chap. vii. p. 154. "La guerre del'independance
de I'Amerique venait d'ficlater. Louis XVI. prenant parti
pour les insurges, comme nous les appelions, avait voulu
porter un coup mortel a l'Angleterre en favorisant l'eman-
cipation; malheureusement il blessa a mort sa propre mon
archic. II y avait je n' en disconviens pas, de grands ger-
mes revolutionnaires en France, mais ce n' etait pas le moyen
de les etouffer que de nourrir I'esprit public de cet amour

THE ALLIANCE. Gl
ame du Hausset is not less emphatic. " The
speeches of some distinguished members of
the opposition, who eloquently defended the
principles according to which the Americans
had taken up arms, were read with avidity,
even with ecstasy, and essentially contributed
to inflame the public mind. The youth of
the court hastened to serve in this war. Re
publican doctrines easily took root ' in im- ,
mature minds enamored of novel systems." 9
Paris was in the eighteenth century, as
it is to-day, the brain of France. Its de
cisions on all subjects were accepted as law.
It was the leader of political, social, and lit
erary fashion.10 The great city had pro-
d'independance qui eclatait au dela des mers, et d'envoyer
des chefs et des soldats puiser sur le continent americain
des principes de republicanisme."
9 Mem. de Mme. du Hausset, (Paris, 1824). "Les dis
cours de quelques membres distingues de l'opposition, qui
defendaient avec eloquence les principes d'apres lesquels
les Americains avaient pris les' armes, et qui definissaien*
les droits du peuple et le pouvoir legitime du prince, furent
lus avec avidite, mdme avec transport et contribuerent es-
sentiellement k enflammer le public. La jeunesse de la
Cour s'empressa de servir dans cette guerre. Les principes
republicans germerent facilement dans des esprits sans
maturite et amoureux de nouveaux systemes."
10 Mercier, , Tableau de Paris, (1782, 1783), " De l'lnflu-
enee de la Capitale sur les Provinces," chap, cccliv. vol. iv.
p. 296.

62 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
nounced itself in favor of the insurgents;
on this question, assuredly, the provinces
were not dissentient. The commercial ports,
Bordeaux, Marseilles, Lyons, Nantes, were
among the earliest partisans of American in
dependence. They longed for free trade with
America.11 Therefore, when John Adams,
who had been sent by Congress to re
place Silas Deane, arrived at Bordeaux,
in 1778, he was received with a salute of
thirteen guns, and with all marks of re
spect. The friendliest hospitality was shown
him, the words America and Liberty fre
quently fell upon his ear, the native city
pf Montesquieu was illuminated in honor
of the American statesman, and at night he
noticed this inscription in one of the prin
cipal gardens: " God save the Congress, Lib
erty, and Adams ! "
The envoy's reception at the capital was
" Droz, Histoire du Regne de Louis XVI. (vol. i. p. 236),
" Nos villes_maritimes recueillaient des benefices a la rup
ture des colonies avec leur metropole."
Lacretelle, Histoire de France pendant le XVIII. Slide,
(vol. v. pp. 90, 91), "C'etait dans les villes maritimes
qu'eclatait avec le plus de vivacite I'enthousiasme pour la
cause americaine." This desire of the commercial centers
of France to conciliate America, continued for years after
the war. See Courrier £ Avignon, 11 Jan., 1785. Journal
General de France, 3 Fev., 1784.

THE ALLIANCE. 63
still more gracious. The " Courrier d' Avig
non " thus erroneously introduced him to its
"readers: " Mr. Adams is the brother of the
famous Adams whose eloquence has been as
deadly to the English as that of Demosthenes
was to Philip." Ministers, citizens and men
of letters thronged his rooms, and while a
guest one evening at the table of Madame
Brillon there was a demonstration in his and
his country's honor as flattering as it was
tasteful.12 The alliance with America was generally
very much approved-, though royalists like
Soulavie feared that pernicious doctrines
would thereby be the more readily scattered
broadcast through the land.13 In this the
admirers of the ancien regime were perfectly
correct; the results fully justified their fears.
The American war produced an amount of ex
amination, discussion, criticism, solid and ephe
meral literature, and ferment in certain influen-
12 Life of John Adams, by C. F. Adams, in Works, vol.
i. p. 277, and Diary, vol. iii. pp. 1 17-120, 122-123.
Courrier d' Avignon, (4 Avril, 1778, p. 129, et seq.). "M.
Adams est frere du celebre Adams ce fameux orateur dont
l'eloquence a ete aussi funeste aux Anglais que celle de De-
mosthene le fut a Philippe."
13 Adams, Diary, ed. Adams, iii. p. 126. Soulavie,
Louis XVI., iii. chap. x. p. 412.

64 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
tial groups ofthe capital as fully strikes oni)- the
careful student of those eventful days. Suard
seized the occasion to publish his translation
of Robertson's "America";14 Cerisier, a friend
of Adams, touched upon the Anglo-Ameri
can war; Dubuisson15 wished to enlighten his
countrymen by his "Abrege' de la Revolution
de 1' AmeYique Anglaise "j a school edition of
" Poor Richard's Almanack " appeared ; 1G an
edition of the State Constitutions then pub
lished in French called forth some adverse crit
icism and more praise. Some, for instance,
did not admire the laws of New Jersey for their
intolerance to Catholics; others blamed Har
vard for conferring honorary degrees.17 It is
>4 Histoire de FAmlrique, Paris, 1778; Cerisier, Histoire
de la Fondation des anciennes Republiques, etc., Utrecht,
1778. Cerisier's work called forth one entitled, "Observa
tions impartiales d'un Vrai Hollandois pour servir de Re-
ponse au Discours d'un soi disant Bon Hollandois a ses
Compatriotes, Amst., 1778."
15 Rich, Bibl. Amer. Nova, i. p. 271.
'« Science du Bonhomme Richard, par M. F. a l'usage
des petites ecoles par M. Feutry, 1778. Recueil des Loix
Conslitutives des colonies anglaises' confederees sous la de
nomination d'Etats Unis de I'Amerique, auquel on a joint
les actes d'Independance, de confederation et autres actes
du Congres general, traduits de l'anglais. Dedie a M. le
docteur Francklin. En Suisse chez les libraires associes
1778, 1 vol. gr. in i2mo.
17 Affiches, Annonces, Avis divers de Paris, 1778. Juin
24, 1778, p. 97.

THE ALLIANCE. 65
certain, in any case, that there was discussion,
and discussion is indicative of interest.
Turgot, the friend of Franklin, the pre
sumed author of the line,18
" Eripuit coelo fulmen sceptrumque tyrannis,"
did hot admire most of the Constitutions; the
"Mercure de France," on the other hand, was
strong in its approbation.
"I am not satisfied, I confess," Turgot
wrote to Price, "with the constitutions that
have hitherto been framed by the different
states of America. By most of them the cus
toms of' England are imitated without any
particular motive. Instead of collecting all
the authority into one center, that of the na
tion, they established different bodies — a body
of representatives, a council and a governor —
because there are in England a House of Com
mons, a House of Lords and a King. They
endeavor to balance three different powers, as
if this equilibrium, which in England may be a
necessary check to the enormous influence of
royalty, could be of any use in republics
is Memoires sur Turgot in tome i. of CEuvres de Turgot
(ed. 1 809-1 8 1 1, by Dupont de Nemours), p. 416. La Harpe.
Cours de Litterature, tome i. livre i. p. 35, ed. Didier, and
Moniteur Universel, Introd. vol. i. p. 40.

66 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
founded upon the equality of all the citizens,
and as if establishing different orders of men
were not a source of divisions and disputes."19
The letter furthermore blamed the diver
sity of laws, the absence of uniform taxation,
the federative system, and closed with an ear
nest appeal to all enlightened men to unite their
efforts in order to aid the citizens of America
in establishing a good government. Turgot
always maintained these views in private con
versation, and after his death, in 1781, two,
at least, of his disciples, Condorcet and Du
pont de Nemours, were always on this sub
ject entirely of their master's mind. This ex
haustive letter was the first of a long list of
19 •• je ne suis pas content, je l'avoue, des constitutions qui
ont ete redigees jusqu'a present par les differants etats
Americains. Je vois dans le plus grande nombre limita
tion sans objet des usages de l'Angleterre. Au lieu de
ramener toutes, les autorite*s k une seule, celle de la nation,
l'on 1'tablit des corps differents, un corps des representants,
un conseil, un gouverneur, parceque l'Angleterre a une
Chambre des Communes, une Chambre haute et un roi.
On s'occupe a balancer ces differents pouvoirs comme si
cet equilibre des forces, qu'on a pu croire necessaire pour
balancer l'enorme preponderance de la royautt', pouvait
etre de quelque usage dans les republii^ues fondi'es sur
l'egalite de tous les citoyens." — Turgot au Docteur Price,
Paris, 22 Mars., 1778. (Euvres de Turgot (ed. Dussard et
Daire, Paris, 1S44), vol. ii. pp. 805 806 807. Compare with
this Adams, Works, ix. 622-623.

THE ALLIANCE. 67
French opinions expressed on American gov
ernment; it was the opinion of one of the
keenest thinkers of the Rousseau school.
Most Frenchmen at this time, however, did
not examine the American Constitutions so
closely. They preferred them, with all their
faults, to their own arbitrary government.
Theorists might propose amendments while
sitting in their closets; speculative philoso
phers might discuss questions of confedera
tion, of balance of powers, of centralization
and of decentralization, and urge this or
that form of government upon the United
States. The mass of the nation made very
little distinction between the colonial, the
confederative, and, later, the constitutional
epochs of American history. Frenchmen are
swayed by feelings rather than by principles.
DeTocqueville has couched this thought in
one of his pithy sentences, and his country
men in the eighteenth century certainly ex
emplified its truth by their general attitude
towards America. They looked upon the
new Republic as a land blessed in its situ
ation, its inhabitants, and its institutions.
They admired. They grew rapturous. Tur
got, with his letter, represented the views
of a small knot of speculative thinkers.

68 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
The " Mercure de France," a very reliable
periodical, was the interpreter of the av
erage middle-class opinion when it spoke
of the American Constitutions as "a code
that marks an epoch in the history of
philosophy"; when it proclaimed that "the
American governments well deserve to be
known "; when it placed the legislators of
Pennsylvania above Lycurgus and Solon.'-0
The year 1778 was the first of the war in
common. " I was then in Paris," says the
learned Dutens, whose tastes led him to prefer
the peace of his study to the bustle of poli
tics, — " I was then in Paris, and I remarked
the effect the word liberty produced on all
minds.21 People were profuse in their good
wishes for the Americans, and they rejoiced
» Mercure de France, "Ce code est en effet une epoche
remarquable dans I'histoire de la philosophie." " Les Leg-
islateurs de la Pennsylvanie doivent etre au dessus.de Ly-
curge et de Solon comme notre siecle est au dessus de
celui 'de Solon et de Lycurge " (Juin, 1778, p. 57). "Les
gouvernements americains meritent d'etre connus " (Juillet,
1778, p. 99).
•" Dutens, Memoires d'un Voyageur qui se repose, vol.
ii. pp. 317, 318: "J'etais a Paris alors; je remarquais I'effet
que produisait dans tous les esprits le mot liberte. On
faisait des vceux pour les Americains, on se rejouissait de
leur succes. Les Francais en leur souhaitant la liberte,
par un retour sur eux memes, pensaient deja a se te pro
curer aussi."

THE ALLIANCE. 69
at their success. The French in wishing
them liberty, reflecting upon their own case,
already desired to procure it for themselves."
Meanwhile the Marquis de Lafayette -had
returned to his country for a short stay. He
received a welcome such as clearly denotes
the temper of the public mind. Ancient Or
leans and gay Paris welcomed in him not the
young and wealthy noble, but the incarnation
of the American cause in France ; young
magistrates showed him all honor; ladies
kissed him; the King deigned to receive him
at court; the Queen gave him a regiment of
Royal Dragoons; and cabinet ministers con
sulted this young man, thirty and forty years
their junior, on American affairs.22 In the
midst of all these ovations and honors Lafay
ette did not forget the patriots whom he had
temporarily left suffering, fighting, and hop
ing in America. His expressed enthusiasm
for them was so strong that old Maurepas
said that the young man would willingly
strip Versailles of its treasures in order to
put the Americans upon a good war footing,
22 Droz, Louis XVI, i. 376.
Correspondance de Marais in Correspondant, Oct..
1878: " II n'est question que de ce jeune homme. On ex
alte sa conduite noble et modeste depuis son retour."

70 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
and his activity and agitation were so untir
ing that he obtained not only increased popu
lar sympathy for America from the people,
but another army, — four thousand men under
Rochambeau — from the ministers.23 The two
countries thus became linked more closely
together, and the mutual interest was thus
greatly heightened. "In the midst of the
prestige of our luxury," says Garat, who later
played a prominent part in the French Revo
lution, " and of the wonderful productions of
our arts, all eyes and all hearts were turned
with emotion across the ocean, towards those
immense solitudes of the New World where
liberty, philosophy, and nature promised all
men equal happiness even amidst the inevi
table inequalities of talents, conditions, and
fortunes." 24
Franklin continued to keep the Amer
ican cause steadily before the public eye.
23 Biog. Gen. (Didot), tome xxviii. p. 706.
24 D. J. Garat, Mem. Hist, sur le XVIII. Slide et sur
M. Suard, tome ii. livre vii. pp. 318, 319: "Au milieu des
prestiges de notre luxe et des prodiges de nos arts, tous les
regards et tous les coeurs se portaient avec emotion a
travers l'ocean, sur ces immenses solitudes du Xouveau
Monde, ou la liberte, la philosophic et la nature promet-
taient a tous les hommes un bonheur qui pouvait etre egal
pour tous au milieu mgrne des inegalites inevitables des
talens, des conditions et des fortunes."

THE ALLIANCE. 71
His venerable aspect, his homely sayings,
his republican simplicity of dress and manner
combined with the French tact and politeness
of his deportment, his anecdotes and his bon
mots, gained him among all classes admir
ers, disciples and friends. Poetasters wrote
rhymes in his honor; noble ladies celebrated
:his greatness in indifferent verses; his por
trait was seen in every print-shop; his bust
-was placed in the Royal Library. One day
he was the observed of all observers at the
famous Madame de Tesse's; on another Mad
ame d'Houdetot had him plant a tree of free
dom in her garden; on a third, ladies crowned
his snow-white head with flowers.25 "No

25 For indications of his popularity at this time and
later, see Mercure de France, 9 Jan, 1785; Mem. sur Le
Brun par Du Mesnil, i. p. 103; Sparks' Franklin's Works,
viii. 303; Journal de Paris, 31 Mars, 1781; J. Adams,
Works, {Diary,) iii. pp. 134, 135, 220, 221, Correspon. Litt.
de^Grimm, tome x. p. 96, tome x. pp. 197, 257; J. Trum-
' bull,- Memoir, Autobiog. and Rem. chap. viii. p. 102; Frank
lin's, Works, (ed Sparks,) ix. p. 22; Campan, Mem. sur Marie
Antoinette, ii. p. 233; Anecdotes historiques du R'e.gne de
Louis XVI. passim. For Mme. de Tesse, see de Gon
court, Hist, de la Societe frangaise pendant la Revolution
p. 16. That the American Quaker dress came into vogue
about this time, see Lacroix, XVIII. Siecle, chap. xix. p. 512.
For general conversation at the capital on Franklin and
America, see Mercier, Tableau de Paris (vol. i. chap, viii),
De la conversation, " On ne sait par quelle transition

72 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
man in Paris," says Madame Vigee Lebrun,
" was more h la mode, more sought after than
was Doctor Franklin. The crowd used to
run after him in the walks and in the public
resorts; hats, canes, snuff-boxes, everything
was a la Franklin. Men and women con
sidered it a piece of good fortune to be in
vited to a dinner at which this celebrated man
was to be present." 2<> The Abb6 Morellet
wrote a chanson to celebrate his virtues.

rapide on passe de l'examen d'une comSdie k la discussion des
affaires des Insurgens, comment on parle a la fois d'une
mode et de Boston, de Desrues et de Franklin." Anec
dotes about Franklin were current many years after; see
Bulletin des Amis de la Verite, 1793, No. iii. p. 4. Moni
teur Universe!, 15 Juillet, 1790.
20 "Nul homme a Paris gtait plus k la mode, plus re
cherche que le Docteur Franklin; la foule courait aprSs
lui dans les promenades et les lieux publics, les chapeaux,
les cannes, les tabatieres, tout 6tait d la Franklin et Ton
regardait comme une bonne fortune d'etre invite a un diner
oil se trouverait ce celebre personnage." — Mem. de Mme
Vigee Lebrun, 1835, tome i. p. 251. Compare also on
Franklin's popularity Moore's Diary of the American Rev
olution, vol. i.' p. 387, 503, 504. One periodical of the time
tried to make him to be of French extraction, Gazette
d'Amiens, Avril, 1780. For an envious attack on him see
the curious work entitled, "Histoire d'un Pou Frangais
ou l'Espion d'un nouvel Espece, tant en France qu'en An
gleterre, contenant les Portraits des Personnages intgres-
sans de ces Deux Royanmes," chaps, viii. and xiv. (Paris,
1781).

THE ALLIANCE. 73
"Notre Benjamin
En politique il est grand
A table est joyeux et franc."2'
The Duke de Levis never forgot the face
of the then hero of all Paris. "I was very
young," he writes, "when I saw the illustrious
Franklin, but his countenance, so full of candor
and nobility, and his fine white hair, will never
be forgotten by me." 28
Franklin could indeed well write to his
friends in America, " Perhaps few strangers in
France have had the good fortune to be so uni
formly popular." 29 This popularity did not turn
his head. No man ever more perfectly acted
upon the saying of Lord Bacon that great
place is the pedestal whereon to do good.
He did good to his country and to the
world, for his words and his letters , were so
many soldiers for liberty and justice among
men. " You see liberty establish herself and flour
ish almost under your very eyes," he said
one day in the hearing of Condorcet. " I
*
!' Morellet, Memoires, i. 295, 296.
26 Due de Levis, Souvenirs et Portraits, (Paris, 181 5):
" J'etais bjen jeune lorsque je vis l'illustre Franklin ; mais sa
figure pleine de candeur et de noblesse, aussi que ses beaux
cheveux blancs, ne sortiront jamais de ma mgrnoire " (p. 51).
23 Franklin, Works, vol. viii. p. 401.

74 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
dare to predict that by and by you will be
anxious to taste its blessings." 30
Not by word of mouth only did the great
American spread abroad the doctrine of hu
man freedom; he also employed the pen.
" Establishing the liberties of America," he
wrote to the Chevalier de Chastellux, " will
not only make that people happy, but will
have some effect in diminishing the misery
of those, . who in other parts of the world
groan under despotism." 31
He was indeed the
" Gray-haired sire, whose eye intent
Was on the visioned future bent."
During the progress of the war, we are told
by the Count de Beugnot, all Frenchmen were
eager for victory, all hearts were actuated by
true patriotism.32
There were some, however, who never
could nor would forget the origins of the
contest and who fretted at the thought of
3° Bancroft, Hist, of United States, vol. ix. p. 493.
31 Franklin, Works (ed. Sparks), vol. ix. p. 199.
32 Mem. du Comte de Beugnot, i. p. 54-55. "Aussi
longtemps qu'avait dure la guerre d'Amerique le- sort de
cette guerre avait tenu les esprits en suspens et tous les
sentiments etaient venus se confondre dans un veritable
patriotisme."

THE ALLIANCE. 75
those whom the contest would in the end
most benefit.
The Count d'Allonville belonged to this
class. He admired neither Franklin nor La
fayette and he disapproved of the American
war for independence. " I saw a state entire
ly monarchical by its habits, its customs and
its needs give itself up with a kind of fury
to the infatuation of democratic ideas." 33
The Marquise de Crequi in a measure
shared the views of the Count d'Allonville.
She disliked Franklin, his table manners did
not strike her as good, and she was tired of
hearing him extolled by everybody as a
" marvel of cosmopolitan civilization." 34
33 Mem . Secrets du Comte d'Allonville, " Je voyais une
societe, toute monarchique par ses habitudes, ses mceurs
et ses besoins, se livrer avec une espSce de fureur k l'en-
gouement des idees democratiques," i. p: 90.
34 Souvenirs de la Marquise de Crequi, "Quant a ce
M. Franklin qui avait arrache le foudre aux Dieux et le
sceptre aux Tyrans, disait le Mercure; je vous dirai que
je n'ai jamais eu l'honneur de le rencontrer qu'une seule
fois, c'etait a souper chez Mme. de Tesse." She then de
scribes his simple dress and dwells upon the fact that he
ate eggs with pepper, salt and butter in a goblet, and that
he cut his melon with a knife. "Ce que me fit prendre
garde 'aux faits et gestes de ce philosophe americain c'etait
l'ennui d'entendre pa-rler comme d'un paragon sociale et
d'une merveille de civilisation cosmopolite," etc. etc. tome
v. chap. ix. pp. 179, 180. If we quote these lines it is not

76 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
Though some counts and marquises thus
objected to the American rebels and their
representative, the general sympathies of the
people for their distant allies were no more
affected by these objections than the great
ocean minds the boy that throws small peb
bles into its tumultuous waters.
Conservative sheets no longer attempted
to dissimulate the fact that the French arma
ments were aid given to subjects in revolt
against their legitimate sovereign; " to the
brave and generous children of liberty;" 36 the
" Gazette de France," the court organ, repub
lished one of Jonathan Trumbull's patriotic
letters; 36 the "Journal des Scavans" allowed
Cerisier, a champion of America, to answer
the allegations of a Tory writer in its col
umns; 37 the Count de Montlosier says that
prose writers on every side treated of the
American republicans, and when he opened
that we are sure of the authenticity of the CrSqui Memoires,
but simply as a specimen of opinions then current. A good
authority on the period has recently pronounced in favor
of the authenticity of the production cited. See Aubertin,
L Esprit public au XVIII. Siecle, p. 15.
m Le Babillard, Jan. 1779, p. 71, "Aux braves et ge"n-
ereux enfants de la liberte"."
38 Gazette de France, Juillet 17, 1778.
*» Journal des Sgavans, I77g, p. 275.

THE ALLIANCE. 77
his copy of the poet Delille he found that
the subject was not ungrateful to the poets
" Ye gods of rural life, of tranquil peace,
Your needless apprehensions now may cease.
King , Louis, guardian of your sacred shade,
Desires to lend the gallant rebels aid;
He longs to make their liberty their own,
The freedom theirs to reap as they have sown." 3s
The " Mercure de France," for February, 1 780,
calls the American Revolution the most inter
esting of its day and generation; the " Affiches,
Annonces et Avis de Paris," republished with
eulogistic comments and in translated form
one ofthe stirring circular letters of the Conti
nental Congress; the "Courrier d' Avignon,"
like the more important of its contemporaries,
now received its American advices direct from
Philadelphia or Newport or Boston!.39 Oft-re-
38 Mem. de Month <sier (Paris, 1830), "Au temps dontje
parle Louis XVI. ne fut pas si scrupuleux; il s'offrit, aussi
que la France entiere aux Etats Unis de le I'Amerique pour
.les seconder dans leurs efforts contre l'Angleterre. La prose
produisit de toutes parts en beau langage ce secours donne
a la revolte, la poesie la seconde a merveille."
" Dieux des champs, dieux amis, de l'innocente paix
Ne craignez rien, Louis au lieu de vous detruire
Veut sur des bords lointains etendre votre empire,
II veut qu'un peuple ami, trop longtemps opprime,
Recueille en paix le grain que ses mains ont seme."
— Tome I. livre v. pp. 164-165.
33 Mercure de France, Fev., 1780, p. 173. See, also, M. de

78 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
peated was its eulogy of Washington and fre
quent its allusion to the magic words liberty,
and " the standard of liberty." 40 American
influence on France was indeed largely aided
by the great power such words as " liberty,"
"constitutions," "rights," had upon the French
imagination, for precisely these words were cast
through the length and breadth of the land by
the American Revolution, as commented and
discussed in the press of Paris and of France.
If the finely engraved portraits of Wash
ington, Franklin, Gates, Hancock, Putnam,
Marshall, Trumbull, were purchased only by
the wealthy amateur,41 the general reading
public purchased the American Almanacks
now for sale,42 and consulted the American
maps that came from the presses of the cap
ital in rapid succession, and listened with
France for Mars, Avril, Mai, 1780. Affiches, Annonces, Avis
de Paris, 9 Fev., 1780, pp. 23, 24; 12 Avril, 1780; 19 Sept.,
1781. 40 Courrier a" Avignon, 3 et 17 Oct., 1780; 15 Dec. 1780;
25 Mai, 1781; 9 Oct., 1781, "l'gfendard de la liberte."
41 For notices of these portraits see, among others, Gazette
de France, 24 Aotit, 1781; 5 Mars, 1782.
42 For notices of American maps, see Gaz. de France, 6
Fev., 13 Mars, 10 Avril, 1781, 7 Dec, 1781, 15 Juin, 1784.
For notice of the Almanach Americain consult Jour
nal de France, 27 Dec, 1785. Compare, also, Tyler's Hist.
of American Literature, ii. 122.

THE ALLIANCE. 79
interest to the anecdotes43 on America that
now became current.
". You cannot but approve the conduct of
the Americans, and hope for the success of
their arms." Such was the tenor of one
of the ephemeral productions of the day.
" They give all Europe an example so
striking that it will surely not remain un-
imitated. Peoples will know at last that
they can shake off the yoke of a tyrant.
I am still of the opinion that this insurrec
tion will be productive of a great revolution
in the political system of the day, and that
the result will be terrible for monarchical
power." 44
43 For anecdotes, see Anecdotes Americaines, Paris, 1777,
(Euvres de Chamfort (ed. Bibl. Nat., Paris), i. p. 157. Maz-
zei, Recher, sur les Etats Unis (1788), iii. partie pp. 23, 24.
The anecdote told or reported by Chamfort is characteristic:
" Un Americain ayant vu six Anglais separes de leur troupe
eut l'audace inconcevable de leur courir sus, d'en blesser
deux, de desarmer les autres et de les amener au General
Washington. Le general lui demanda comment il avait
pu faire pour le rendre maitre de six hommes. Aussitfit
que je les ai vus, dit-il, j'ai courru sur eux, et je les ai en-
vironnes." For American anecdotes see also Journal de
Paris, 22 Aout, 1787, and Randall's Jefferson, i. 366, note.
44 Lettres hist. poi. critiq. de Metternich, under date of
6 Juin, 1779. "On ne Peut qu'approuver la conduite des
Americains & faire des voeux pourle succes de leurs armes.
Ils donnent a l'Europe entiere un exemple eclatant qui ne

80 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
While the poet Gilbert, in his poem on
the war, addressed; the Americans with words
of cheer and sympathy:
" O vous, qu'ils opprimaient, fils des mSmes ancfitres,
Racontez leurs erreurs, enhardissez nos coups,
Colons republicans, par la victoire absous
D'avoir banni d'injustes mattres,
Francais, par amitie depuis ce jour
Ou Vergennes, du monde assurant la balance
Consacra votre independance
Et defit l'Angleterre par un traite vainqueur ! "4»
Franklin in his correspondence exulted in
the popularity of his country's cause.
" The good will of all Europe, to our cause
as being the cause of liberty, which is the
cause of mankind, still continues, as does the
universal wish to see the English pride hu
miliated, and their power curtailed."46
The armaments of DEstaing and of Ro-
restera surement pas sans imitateurs & les peuples sauront
enfin qu'on peut secouer le joug d'un tyran. Je suis toujours
de Topinion que cette insurrection operera une grande re
volution dans le systeme politique & qu'il en resultera des
suites funestes au pouvoir monarchique," vol. iii. p. 33.
45 Gilbert, Ode sur la Guerre Presente.
46 Franklin's, Works (ed Sparks), vol. viii. p. 403. Com
pare Beaumarchais, Vceu de toutes les Nations et de toutes
les puissances dans Fabaissement et F humiliation de la
Grande Bretagne, Paris, 1778, in 8\ Compare also his
CEuvres (tome vi. p. 275,) where he writes in 1779, " lais-
sant k I'Amerique la liberie qu'elle a si bien gagnfie."

THE ALLIANCE. 81
chambeau had in the mean time borne for
the Western World. What were officers
and men doing on those distant shores?
What were their impressions of the coun
try and its inhabitants? These questions na
turally suggest themselves. It is not the
province of the present writer to answer the
first of these questions. It is a question that
has been often and well answered and the an
swer is known to any one who has read the
most elementary history of the United States.
The noble demeanor of Rochambeau, the
chivalrous conduct of Lafayette, the gallantry
of the officers and the good behavior of the
men during this contest which culminated at
Yorktown have long since received their trib
ute of admiration and gratitude from the
American people. The second question, how
ever — What did the French in America think
of the Americans ? — has never been fully an
swered. It is. so immediately pertinent to
the subject in hand that it will now receive
full attention.
Private and public letters, diaries and me
moirs, the comments of the press and the gos
sip of the day afford us valuable aids to a
knowledge of the opinions of the French
»while they were on the American continent.

82 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
A soldier from Picardy writes to his uncle,
a parish priest in France, in the most sym
pathetic terms about America and the Amer
icans. " These Bostonians," said he, " are
capital people."47
An officer in the Rochambeau army corps
in 1780 communicated his views on the allies
to the public prints, and said, " I found recti
tude, honesty and hospitality existing among
them."49 Lafayette sent home letters to his wife and
his friends that breathe at the same time his
devotion to them and his ardor for liberty.
There is a mingling of French gallantry and
of cosmopolitan love of free institutions 'in
them that must strike even the most casual
reader. His tres cher cceur, as he calls his
wife, therein occupies the first place; but the
country of his adoption assuredly occupies
the second. He was, it is true, dissatisfied
at times with what he saw and heard. The
presence of many a worthless Dugald Dal-
getty in the American ranks greatly vexed
him. The hasty action of Sullivan, proclaim-
« Courrier d 'Avignon, 1 1 Dec. 1778, p. 397. " En verite,
ces Bostoniens sont de bonnes gens."
48 Mercure de France, Oct. 1780, pp. 125, 126, 127.
"J'ai trouve parmi eux de la droiture, de Thonnetete et de
l'hospitalite." *

THE ALLIANCE. 83
ing that the French had abandoned the
Americans simply because they had not
shown sufficient alacrity, hurt his sense of
pride and he demanded a public retraction
of the calumny. These, however, were pass
ing clouds. The general tenor of his letters,
his diary, and his conversation amply proves
how high was his opinion of the Americans.
His eulogy on Washingtoo is well known.
" Had he been only a simple soldier he would
have been the bravest in his company; had
he been nothing but a private citizen and
unknown to fame, all his neighbors would
have respected him. In creating him ex
pressly for this Revolution nature did her
self honor."46
Read him as he writes to Madame de La
fayette, " I will now, my darling, speak to you
of the country and of its inhabitants. They
are . as amiable as my enthusiasm was able
to picture them. Simplicity of manners, the
desire to oblige, the love of country and of
liberty, and a delightful equality reign su
preme here among all classes of the people."50
49 "Simple soldat, il eut ete le plus 'brave; citoyen
obscure, tous ses voisins l'eussent respecte. En le creant
expres pour cette revolution la nature se fit honneur a elle
m6me." — Cited by Sainte-Beuve, Port. Litt. ii. p. 149.
60 "Je vais a present vous parler du pays, mon cher

84 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
Mark his words as he writes to the Duke
d'Ayen of the cause under whose banner he
had enlisted as " this cause which I hold dear
because it is just, because it honors humanity,
because it interests my country."51
Lafayette entered upon the war with all
the ardor and faith of a crusader of the
twelfth century combined with the sentiment
and culture of a gentleman of the eighteenth.
This sympathy for the allies wa$ not shared
by all the young officers who served under
D'Estaing and Rochambeau. A notable ex
ception was the Count de Fersen. He was
unenthusiastic; he was astonished that so foul
an institution as slavery existed in America;
he found the allies had not always behaved
well to the French and he praised Rocham
beau for his skill in maintaining "that per
fect harmony which has existed between two
nations so different in their customs and lan
guage, nations which at bottom do not like each
cceur, et de ses habitans. Ils sont aussi aimables que
mon enthousiasme avait pu se le figurer. La simplicite
des manieres, le desir d'obliger, l'amour de la patrie et de
la liberte, une . douce egalite regnent ici parmi tout le
monde." — Lafayette, Mem. et Corr. i. p. 93.
*' " La cause que je cheris parcequ'elle est juste, parce-
qu'elle honore l'humanite, parcequ'elle interesse ma patrie."
Ibid, i. p. 132.

THE ALLIANCE. 85
other.52" If, as the Count de Fersen remarks,
many of the French officers sighed for their
mistresses and the pleasures of Paris, there
were others who, like the Duke de Biron-
Lauzun, one of the greatest gallants of his
time, left Newport not without regret and
much emotion.53
If Theodore de Lameth, who fought with
distinction in America, did not, as a contem
porary remarked, share the " infatuation of
many of his' companions in arms for Amer
ican institutions;54 there was old Rochambeau
who admired the bold-thinking, simple, hos
pitable, decorous Americans whose govern
ment called to his soldier mind memories of
Greece and Rome.55
The Count de Segur and the Count Ma-
,62 Comte de Fersen et la Cour de France, (Paris, 1878,
Didot,) tome i. pp. 40, 41, 63, 64. " Nos allies ne. se sont pas
toujours bien conduits envers nous," (p. 71); "cette parfaite
harmonie qui k regne entre deux nations si differentes par
leurs manieres et leur langage et qui, au fond, ne s'aiment
pas" (p. 71).
53 Mem. de Lauzun (ed. Lacour). " Je quittai Newport;
ce ne fut pas sans regrets et sans attendrissement " (p. 375).
54 Biog. Gen. xxix. p. 203. " II n'avait pas comme
beaucoup de ses compagnes d'armes, dit M. Beugnot,
rapporte de I'Amerique l'engouement pour les institutions
americain.es." 55 Mem. de Rochambeau, (Paris, 1809,) vol. i. pp. 322,
323, 324, 327, 328.

86 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
thieu Dumas shared the views of their com
mander. " The order and wise liberty which
characterized the young Republic whose hap
piness was so firmly established from its cra
dle," says Segur, " were the constant topics of
my frequent conversations with the Chevalier
de Chastellux." 56
When the detailed story of the declaration
of independence was on one occasion related
to them, the young Frenchmen listened, says
Dumas, with eager attention, and their zeal
for American institutions was so warmly ex
pressed that old Doctor Cooper of Boston
checked them with these significant words:
" Take care, take care, young men, lest
the triumph of the cause on this virgin soil
should too much kindle your hopes ! You
will carry away with you the germs of these
generous sentiments, but if ever you attempt
to propagate them on your own soil after so
66 Mem . de Segur, " Cet ordre, cette liberte, cette felicite
de la nouvelle republique, si mure des son berceau, etait
le sujet continuel de mes entretiens frequents avec le Chev
alier de Chastellux " (i. p. 402). Compare with this the words
ofthe Baron Cromot du Bourg in his Diary in 1781. "The
inhabitants (of Boston) live absolutely in the English man
ner; they seem to be excellent people and very affable. I
was extremely well received." — Mag. of Am. Hist. New
York, (ed. Stevens,) vol. iv. p. 209.

THE ALLIANCE. 87
many ages of corruption you will have to sur
mount far other obstacles." 57
The Abbe Robin, a refined gentleman who
came over with the Rochambeau corps, was
pleased to find that his countrymen, in. spite
of some disputes, were generally beloved in
America; he was delighted with the purity
and sobriety of the American farmer's house
hold, and though, as a Catholic and a man
of the world, he did not approve of the Puri
tanic observance of the Sabbath, .he could not
as a philosophic observer deny that the laws
of America and their administration afforded
greater freedom to the governed than was
enjoyed by the subjects of the Old World.58
« " Le docteur Cooper nous parlait un jour de la premi
ere declaration d'independance; nous l'e'coutions avidement;
tout en applaudissant notre enthousiasme pour la liberte,
Prenez garde, prenez garde, jeunes gens, nous dit il, que ,
le triomphe de la cause sur cette terre vierge n'enflamme
pas trop vos esperances; vous porterez le germe de ces
genereux sentiments, mais si vous tentez jamais de les
feconder sur votre terre natale, apres tant de siecles de
corruption, vous aurez _rsurmonter bien plus d'obstacles."
Dumas, Souvenirs (Paris, 1839,) v°l- '• IO%- For a glowing
eulogy of Washington, see i. 53. For a flattering picture
of American institutions "les plus justes et les plus raison-
nables que la sagesse humaine ait jamais dictees," see i.
p. 112 to p. 131.
58 Abbe Robin, Nouveau Voyage dans I'Amerique Sep-
tentrionale, Phila., 1782, pp. 30-31, 37, 43, 89. See, on the
Abbe, Life and Corres. of President Reed, vol. ii. p. 306.

88 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
The Marquis de Chastellux, in 1783, ad
dressed a somewhat studied letter to Madi
son on American affairs.59 The unssthetic
features of the country, the rigid observance
of Sunday, the coldness and formality of the
manners, the excessive independence shown
by the children, the lack of external honors
towards men in official station, — all these
things jarred upon this polished nobleman.
He was not backward, on the other hand,
in praising the religious freedom prevalent
in America and the hardy energy of its peo
ple. He prophesied for the country a bril
liant future, not only in the ways of com
merce, but also in the paths of science and
63 This letter is to be found in vol. ii., between pages
260 and 301 of the Voyages de M. le Marquis de Chastellux,
1786. It is dated on board the frigate FEmeraude, in Ches
apeake Bay, 12 Jan., 1783.
" Que toutes les grandes villes de I'Amerique m'offrent
les statues de Washington avec cette inscription: Pater,
Liberator, Defensor Patria;; que je voie aussi celles des
Hancock & des Adams, avec ces deux mots seulement,
Primi Proscripti; celles de Franklin avec le vers latin
qu'on a place en France au bas de son portrait . . . quel
eclat en rejaillirait sur I'Amerique ! . . . Et vos maisons
publiques, vos curies, pourquoi n'offriraient elles pas en
relief et en peinture les combats de Bunker's Hill, de Sara
toga, de Trenton, de Princeton, de Monmouth, de Cow-
pen, d'Eutaw Springs; ainsi vous perpetueriez la memoire
de ces actions glorieuses " (pp. 292-293).

THE ALLIANCE. 89
art. American sculptors and painters can no
where, in his opinion, find fitter subjects for
their burins and their brushes than in their
own country. " Let all the large cities pre
sent to my eyes statues of Washington
with this inscription: Pater, Liberator, De
fensor Patria; let me behold also those of
Hancock and of the Adamses with only these
two words of inscription: Primi Proscripti;
let there be statues of Franklin with the
Latin verse that has in France been put at
the bottom of his portrait; let all these things
be done and what eclat will fall upon America ?
Why should not your public buildings, your
curies offer to the' eye in relief and on can
vas the combat of Bunker Hill, -of Saratoga, of
Trenton, of Princeton, of Monmouth, of Cow-
•pens, of Eutaw Springs? Thus you will per
petuate the memories of these glorious deeds."
Our conclusion is that the French officers
in America, were more inclined to praise
than to blame their allies. What we admire
and praise in others we generally desire for
ourselves. The French saw before their eyes
a government that combined order with lib
erty. Young and enthusiastic heads, Lafay
ette, Segur, Dumas, desired such a blessing
for themselves and their country.

90 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
Documentary evidence on the opinions
of the French officers in America is abun
dant; it is totally wanting in regard to the
opinions of the French soldiers. What they
thought can only be inferred. In spite of
differences of language, education, and he
reditary customs between the French peasant
soldier and the American farmer soldier, the
effect of the contact, however slight, must
have been very telling upon the former. For
the Frenchmen had eyes and saw that the
American was his superior in all things ex
cept- in bravery, and there he was his ally
and his equal. He knew, for instance, that
a peasant at home tilled a small field with
scanty gain; that he was obliged to pay a
part of his crop to his lord; that he had to
have his corn ground at his lord's mill. His '
eyes told him that the American farmer tilled
a large field; that the harvest was abundant
and that there was nothing to give to a lord
simply because no lord existed. Game laws,
•he heard it said, were very light in this
blessed land; at home he knew they were
severe and cruel. Military service, he noticed,
was voluntary in America, men enlisted be
cause they had at heart the cause for which
they were fighting; he knew but too well that

THE ALLIANCE. 91
at home his brother peasants were wont to flee
at the sound of the recruiting-officer's coming
and had to be pursued into the forests at the
point of the bayonet. The feeble intellect of
the peasant soldiers did not catch the full spirit
of the institutions about them, but they must
have noticed, as they marched through Con
necticut or Rhode Island or Massachusetts,
that all classes entered the same meeting
house, that the little children in the villages
went to the same school and that no man
woman or child did corvee duty. They may
have been shocked at negro slavery in the
South, but the black man probably seemed
to them another sort of creature and the
incongruity of the institution did not there
fore strike them at all forcibly. We may be
sure that the soldiers of the French regiments
perceived that the table of the American
farmer was laden with food such as their
peasant relatives in France never tasted, even
on the fifty holidays which their Church al
lowed them, and that in America field-hands
were more liberally paid than they, men of
the sword, had been for all their campaigns
in Germany or the Netherlands. As they
saw this contrast, thoughts of bettering their
condition^ entered|||gr dull brains. They did

92 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
not long to expatriate themselves, for the
Frenchman is indissolubly bound to his na
tive land, but they longed to have more
bread, more meat, more comfort, lighter
taxes at home for themselves and their kin.
The American war was a school that opened
the minds of many of these peasants. In
consequence they would, years after, the more
readily shake off allegiance to their king and
don the revolutionary cockade with greater
alacrity and enthusiasm.
Congress and the country appreciated the
efforts of the gallant officers of France and of
the humble, brave men who labored better
than they knew.60 " I most heartily congrat
ulate you on the success of our arms and
those of the French," thus John Hancock
wrote to Franklin, after Yorktown. " Our
obligations to the French nation are great
and I shall ever retain the highest regard and
gratitude to .them." Besides testimonials to
Lafayette and Rochambeau, Congress sent
a letter of acknowledgment and thanks to
Louis XVI., in the course of which it ren-
eo Mem. de Rochambeau, i. 314-315, Biog. Univ. art.
Rochambeau. Mem de Segur, i. 419.
John Hancock to B. Franklin, Boston, 28 Oct, 1781.
Letter in the Delaware Historical Soe. Collection.

THE ALLIANCE. 93
dered homage to the worth Of the French
officers. " It is with great pleasure that the United
States continue to number some of your
Majesty's subjects amongst their most no
ble, spirited and faithful officers. It affords
the world a striking example of the intimate
connection which subsists between the allied
nations and at the same time serves to cement
the union which it manifests."61
e' Secret Journals of Congress, Foreign Affairs, 1781-
1786, pp. 51, 52. Compare, on the feelings between the two
armies, Mag. of Am. Hist. vol. iii. p, 385; on the campaign of
Yorktown, Mr. Stevens' able paper, Ibid. vol. v. p. 1, et seq.

AFTER THE WAR. 95
Ihe King and the majority of his ministers
lad never liked the republicans; diplomatists
It hurt that the United States had seen fit
b conclude a separate treaty with Great Brit-
pin without their cognizance or consent; finan-
fciers muttered about the expenses of the war;
[ultra-royalists pointed with exultation to the
papers that told them of the disorder, the
bankruptcies, the loose government, the low
state of commerce, the decrepit public fafEIT
that marked the days of the Confederation,
and even friends of America — Lafayette, Dr.
Price and Mirabeau — were unfavorably im
pressed by the state of American affairs im
mediately after the war.2
Juillet, 1788. — Linguet Annales poi. civ. et litt. du XVIII.
Siecle, 1783 pp. 342, et seqj 1784 vol. ii. p. 80, 1788, tome
xiii. p. 41 and pp. 492-493. See, too, Randall's Jefferson,
i. p. 442.
2 The fears of Lafayette appear at times in his letters to
Washington after the war, between 1783 and 1788, and
Dr. Price's views are expressed in a letter by him written
to a friend in Philadelphia. Of this letter the Mercure de
France (Journal de Bruxelles) published a long extract,
24 Dec, 1785. The Doctor therein expresses the hope that
the American Revolution may be the first step to a long
and prosperous national career, marked by peace and vir
tue, and affording an excellent example to enlightened Eu
ropeans. Mirabeau, aided by Chamfort, in 1784 published
a pamphlet entitled Considerations sur l'ordre de Cin-
cinnatus, taking strong ground against the statutes of the

96 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
All these symptoms unfavorable to the
continuance of the good feelings that had
existed in France towards the United States,
die coldness of the King and the Cabinet,
Cincinnati Society as they then stood. He objected to it
as the germ of a system of hereditary nobility. " L'institu-
tion de l'ordre des Cincinnati est la creation d'un veritable
patriciat et d'une noblesse militaire qui ne tardera pas a
devenir une noblesse civile." He proceeds to run a tilt
ciu^i.iat all nobility and exclaims as a peroration and in his
best style: "Vous avez aspire au nom d'hommes libres,
vous I'avez conquis; c'est le premier des titres; respectez
le, faites le respecter. La base du gouvernement que vous
avez fonde, c'est l'egalite; vous ne la detruirez pas, vous
qui l'ayez achete" de votre sang; vous n'oublierez pas que
ce peuple ge"ne"reux n'a pas cesse de combattre avec vous.
Heros de la liberte, vous n'en serez pas les ennemis ! Liber-
ateurs du Nouveau Monde, vous n'en serez pas les fleaux ! "
Vermorel, Mirabeau, tome ii. pp. 21, 30. In the second part
of the work, Mirabeau treats of Dr. Price's essay on the
Jmportai.ee of the American Revolution, and advises the
Americans to pay their debts "which they contracted for
- thf noblest of causes," "sans emprunt," without resorting
|to loans, and he strongly argued for freedom of trade.
The Courrier d' Avignon, 6 and 20 Juillet, 1784, contains
a letter from Philadelphia against the Cincinnati. The
Memoires (elites) de Bachaumont under date of 29 Juillet,
^1784, say: "On sait que l'ordre militaire de Cincinnatus
gftabli chez les Etats Unis de I'Amerique n'est que l'ouv-
•: nage de la vanite de quelques particuliers et celle des officiers
Ij-arx^ais qui ont ete employes au service de la Republique.
Les vrais citoyens regardent l'institution comme contraire
- .etc. etc." Compare also Soules, Hist, des Troubles de FAm-
¦frique Anglaise, (tome iv. p. 269 et seq.), for a fierce attack
^tdn. the Cincinnati.

CHAPTER III.
AFTER THE WAR.
The war in America was virtually ended by
the surrender at Yorktown, though the trea
ties of peace were not signed until 1782 and
1783. The new Republic had by this con
test, at the price of blood and money, ob
tained its independence, and France, at the
cost of four thousand four hundred millions
of francs, had aided the States and wiped
out the disgraceful treaty of 1763. Now
that the immediate interests between France
and the United States were at rest and that
each party had obtained its object, it is nat
ural to suppose that the relations between the
two countries woukl.be cold and formal. Sev
eral facts lend plausibility to this supposition.1;
1 For indications of this unpopularity in official circles,
see Franklin's Works, ix. pp. 452-458. Madison's IK-bates
and Corresp. vol. i. p. 518. For specimen bad reports from
the United States, see Courrier & Avignon, 30 Sept., 1783;
1 Fev., 1785; Mercure de France, 24 Dec, 1785. Ode sur
la Paix by Courtial, note on p. 15; Gazette de France, 24

AFTER THE WAR. 97
the griefs of diplomatists, the hates of ortho
dox royalists and the apprehensions of friends,
were overcome by the influence of that invis
ible power which, without an army, without
a treasury, without guards, began to dictate
to the palace and to lay down the law to the
city. I mean Public Opinion. This power
had pronounced itself in favor of the Amer
icans at the opening of their contest with
the English, and now, at the close, it did not
withdraw from them either its attention or
its enthusiastic support.
The interest in American affairs, it is true,
was not so general; but it became more in
tense. The enthusiasm felt for the Americans
was not so wild; it now began to form the
basis for admiration, , and admiration was but
a step to imitation.
The return of officers and men from the
war and the conclusion of so advantageous
a peace threw the nation into transports of
joy. Enthusiasm for the monarch was min
gled with enthusiasm for the Americans.
" The day when the American Confedera
tion came forth triumphant from its struggle
against British despotism is one of the most
beautiful that ever shone upon men." Such
were the thoughts Of the historian Paganel,

98 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
then thirty-eight years old, and such were
the thoughts of many of his countrymen.3
Volney, among the ruins of the East,4 re
flected with pride upon the glorious position
now occupied by his country and Lebrun com
memorated the defeat of the English leopard
and the establishment of American liberty in
an epistle to his infant son:
" Thy cradle sees our lilies
So glorious and calm,
Like peace which Mars has conquered
By loud war's fierce alarm;
For France has called her sons to arms,
The leopard turns to flee,
Europe beholds an era new,
America is free."5
' " Le jour 0C1 la confederation americaine sortit triom-
"phante de sa lutte contre le despotisme britannique est
un des plus beaux qui aient brille sur la terre." Paganel
Essai Hist, et Crit. sur la Rev. frangaise (Paris, 1815),
tome ii. chap. xxvi. p. 101.
* Volney, Les Ruines, chap. ii. For a specimen of this
mingled enthusiasm for the King and for America see
Annee Littiraire, 1786, vol. iii. lettre viii. p. 187: " L'auteur
termine ce dialogue par un Eloge des nouveaux Etats de
I'Amerique and du sage Monarque qui les a rendus libres.
Tout bon Francais applaudira sans doute au sentiment
qui a dicte ce morceau."
6 E. Lebrun, Epitre a mon fils, ni en 1783, Epitre v. .
" Ton berceau voit nos lis et glorieux et calmes,
Mars a conquis la paix, la France arme ses ports
L'insolent leopard est chasse de nos bords
L'Europe vient de prendre un nouvel equilibre
L'Ocean rompt ses fers, et I'Amerique est libre.'

AFTER THE WAR. 99
The strain of eulogy and rejoicing was
caught up by innumerable poetasters of the
time. Their rhymes, though without worth,
considered simply as poetical compositions,
have great value as historical documents.
Most of them allude to America. Some con
tent themselves with a word, " le fils d'Amer-
ique,"6 while others indulge in a longer strain.
" Shall England, insolent, presume
With force of arms these men t'enslave —
The hardy colonists who dwell
On shores beyond my farthest wave ? "
Such were the words with which one rhym-
ster made the God of the Seas inveigh against
the King of England.7
Few, however, devoted so much space to,
the subject as the good ecclesiastic who sung:
6 Bachaumont, Memoires, vol. xxv. p. 138, annee 1784.
7 M. Courtial Ode sur la Paix et Tableau de la Guerre
qu'elle termine. A Paris, 1783.
" Pretend il sur mes bords reduire a l'esclavage
Un peuple de colons, pleins de ce fier courage
Que la liberte donne a ses genereux fils ? "
Here mention should be made of the beautiful medal
struck by the French government to commemorate the al
liance and the victory. This is known as the Libfrtas
Americana medal. On one side is the head of America
with her hair floating in the wind. On the other is
Pallas (France) defending the infant Hercules (America),
from the fierce attacks of the English leopard. See Mease,
Des. of Am. Medals, 3 Mass. Hist. Soe. Coll. iv. 307.

100 AMERICA AND FRANCE.

" Let us sing as best we may
Of the joy and happiness,
Which our youthful Bourbon Henry
Brings to us this day to bless.
II.
"Franklin is adored by all,
He is Freedom's deputy:
On his brow the glorious words,
See them, ' Vive la liberte ! '
III.
"In the days of ancient Rome,
When true greatness was revered,
Her citizens to Franklin would
An altar high have reared."
He expressed but the general opinion when
«he said: " Before thee, Washington,
The hero ofthe sword,
The conqueror of England's pride,
Behold all standards lowered ! " s

b Couplets sur la Paix de 1783, (Redeunt Saturnia
Regna), par M. J. D. Bezassier, Chanoine Regulier de
l'abbaye N. D. de Ham. en Picardie. a Noyon,
MDCCLXXXIV. I.
"Chantons tous k 1'envi
Le bonheur infini
Que procure aujourd'hui
Notre jeune Henri.

AFTER THE WAR. 101
The orators and prosaists were not behind
the poets and rhymsters. They too mingled the
praise which they accorded their sovereign with
admiration for America. Hear the Abbe Ra
cine, as in a discourse pronounced at. Tou
louse, he brands tyrants with red-hot words,
praises the glorious army which Washington
directed with his " incredible wisdom," calls
out, "Inhabitants of the New World, you are
free ! " and in his peroration teaches these
new citizens that liberties and rights bring
with them obligations and duties.9 Read the

II.
' D'une voix unanime
Franklin est depute.
Sur son front on imprime
' Vive la Liberte ! '
Quel citoyen, quel cceur.
Tout parle en sa faveur,
Boston doit son bonheur
A cet embassadeur. Ill, /
' De l'ancienne Rome
Les augustes mortels
Auraient a ce grand homme
Erige des autels.

Devant toi, Washington,
Tout baisse pavilion."
' Discours sur la Paix prononce le 1 1 Jan., 1 784, par l'Abbe
Racine a Toulouse, 1784, avec Permission, (pp. 15, 17, 74).

102 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
brilliant Rivarol10 as in his famous "Discourse
on the Universality of the French Language "
he alludes to the great events that had trans
pired and that still engaged public attention:
" This war has afforded Europe a great spec
tacle. The nations saw how a people, led by
England into slavery, has by a young mon
arch been conducted back to freedom. The
annals of America may henceforth be divided
into three epochs, butchered by Spain, op
pressed by England and saved by France."
Such were the sentiments of poet and prosaist
at the close of the war.
France, though glorious abroad, was, be
fore and immediately after the peace of
1783, harassed by troubles at home that
were big with the gravest portents. Necker
had aroused the hostility of the privileged
classes by publishing a report on the finances
of the kingdom, and by favoring provincial
assemblies. The " compte rendu" was the
first of its kind, and made the courtiers and
10 " Cette guerre a donne k l'Europe un grand spectacle.
Ony a vu un peuple libre conduit par l'Angleterre a I'escla-
vage et ramene par un jeune monarque a la liberie. L'his-
toire de I'Amerique se reduit desprmaisa trois epoques,
egorgee par I'Espagne, opprimee par l'Angleterre et sauvee
par la France." — CEuvres de Rivarol, (1808), vol. ii. pp
67, 68.

AFTER THE WAR. 103
farmers of the taxes very fierce against the
minister, while his plans on local representa
tive bodies did not meet with favor from the
conservative parliaments. With so formi
dable an opposition to thwart him, Necker
was impotent, and he accordingly resigned
in 1 78 1. Joly de Fleury and d'Ormesson,
who succeeded him, showed themselves so
signally incapable of wrestling with the , fi
nancial questions of the day, rendered still
more complicated by the American war, that
the King, on the strong recommendation of
Marie Antoinette, soon called to the port
folio of the Treasury the elegant and witty
M. de Calonne, formerly an intendant at
Lille and now high in the good graces of
her Majesty. This gentleman, who was one
of the most luxurious viveurs of the capital,
and who by his nature preferred to write
gallant love epistles to court beauties rather
than draw up exact financial statements for
the people, strove to introduce into the ad
ministration of the public treasure the same
principles which he practiced in private life.
Basing his conduct upon the maxim of La
Rochefoucauld, that in order to succeed in
the world we must appear to have succeeded,
he made all France believe that the Treas-

104 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
ury was full, in order to obtain great credit,
contract enormous loans, and make people
ignore that the Treasury was empty. The
King, the financiers, and the people were
dupes to Calonne's ingenious system for four
years. At the end of that period, the shin
ing bubble of illusion burst. There were
eight hundred millions of francs to pay.
The aristocratic parliaments muttered; the
citizens of Paris, ever tempest-tost, like the
vessels on their municipal escutcheon, be
came still more turbulent, and the peasant
was hungry and inclined to revolt. A strong
conviction swept through all classes that to
meet the growing demands of the time the
entire governmental machinery must needs
undergo a radical change. This general feel
ing was strengthened by words launched in
pamphlets and in conversation, by epigrams
and speeches, by all the organs of intellectual
activity. In spite of the restraints put by law
upon the free expression of opinions, these
opinions would crop out, and their number
and kind justified the answer of the Duke
de Richelieu to the King's question, "What
difference, Monsieur le Marechal, do you re
mark between the three different reigns under
which you have lived?" "Sire, under Louis

AFTER THE WAR. 105
XIV. people did not dare utter a word; under
Louis XV. they spake low; under the reign
of your Majesty they shout aloud!"11 The-
living example of the Republic of the United
States, the words of her statesmen and her
friends, and the discussion of her institutions
contributed in no slight degree to render
the already great ferment in France more
intense, more radical and more fraught with
danger to constituted authority.
The American State Constitutions had in
deed been published in France prior to 1783,
but surreptitiously and without government
sanction.12 In that year, however, there ap
peared an authentic edition of these docu
ments under the supervision of Franklin and
with the permission of the King's censor.
They created a great sensation. People now
were no longer obliged to consult the Amer
ican envoys on minor points of the state gov
ernment, as Mably and La Rochefoucauld,
Marbois and Count Moustier, among oth
ers, had previously done.13 They could now
11 Dampmartin, La France sous ses Rois (Paris et Lyon,
1810), tome v. p. 200.
12 Constitutions des treize Etats-Unis de VAmerique, a
Philadelphie et se trouve a Paris, 1783 in 8° (540 pp.) •
13 Arthur Lee's. Life and Letters, ii. 373. See Diary in
Adams' Works, iii.*222, 354. Ibid, vol. iii. p. 352. Diary,

106 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
read, and read they did, and their opinion
on closing the volume was, that the United
States " came nearer to what can be wished
to form good government than any other
state before." These had been the words
of Count Moustier anterior to the publica
tion of this edition of the Constitutions.
" They are very much admired by the pol
iticians here."14 These were the words of
Franklin, after their publication. Samuel
Romilly, the eminent English barrister, then
on a visit in France, called on the envoy of
the United States, and notes the fact in his
interesting memoirs. "The American Consti
tutions were then very recently published.
I remember his reading us some passages
out of them and expressing surprise that
the French government had permitted the
publication of them in France. They cer
tainly produced a very great sensation at
Paris, the effects of which were probably
felt many years afterwards." 15
1782. " The Due de la Rochefoucauld made me a visit to
day, and desired me to explain to him some passages in the
Connecticut Constitution which were obscure to him, which
I did." " Franklin's Works (ed. Sparks), vol. ix. p. 543, also vol.
x. p. 39.
>* Memoirs of Sir Samuel Romilly (London, 1842), vol. i.
p. 50.

AFTER THE WAR. 107
The comments on these American state
papers were not confined to private conversa
tions; they received due attention from the
press. The " Courrier d' Avignon " devoted
several numbers to a consideration of the
Constitutions and was loud in its eulogy of
the religious toleration and wise liberty which
they sanctioned and encouraged. The "Ga
zette de France," the mirror of court opinion,
was faint in its praise, but the "Affiches"
was decidedly outspoken, for it declared the
framers of the Constitutions had "profound
views, much wisdom and foresight, and a love
of justice equaled only by their desire for
independence." 16
" This will prove interesting reading," said
the influential and widely-read "Journal de
Paris," "to the politician, the philosopher
and humanity. It is a code dictated to new
16 Courrier d 'Avignon, 27 and 30 Janvier, 3-and 6 Fev-
rier, 1784; Gazette de France, 12 Aoiit, 1783. Affiches,
Annonces, Avis de Paris, 27 Aout.1783, p. 139: "Des yues
profondes, beaucoup de sagesse & deN prevoyance, autant
d'amour pour la justice que de I'enthousiasme pour la lib
erte." Journal de Paris, 24 Aoiit, 1783: "C'est une lecture
faite pour intSresser la Politique, la Philosophie et l'Human-
ite, que celle du code, dicte a des Etats nouveaux par un rai
son eclaire qui assure la liberte et la vertu des citoyens en
les liant a un gouvernement qu'ils aiment autant qu'ils le
respectent."

108 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
states by enlightened reason which insures
the liberty and virtue of the citizens in bind
ing them to a government which they love
and respect."
But the most flattering and the most sur
prising review of the American Constitutions
was that contained in the "Annee Litter
aire," 17 directed by the critic Geoffroy. Af
ter stating that the French take interest in
the production in question because they had
aided in establishing American independence,
and after boldly printing "that it is in the
people that all power originally resides," "it
is from the people that all power emanates,"
the conservative periodical proceeds to utter
the following forcible words: " Those are as
sertions, sir, to which you are not at all accus
tomed and which will seem very bold to you.
You are far from pretending to the right of
making your governor give you an account
" "Ce sont \k, Monsieur, des assertions auxquelles vous
n'etes point accoutume et qui vous paraitront bien hardies;
vous Stes loin de pretendre avoir le droit de faire rendre
compte a celui qui vous gouverne, mais il y a des pays ou
les opinions for ment la doctrine nationale. La premiere
(partie) contient la declaration des droits des habitans de la
Republique de Massachusetts. Ces droits sont la liberte,
I'egalite, la pleine jouissance de ses proprietes, de rendre
a Dieu le culte qu'on juge a propos suivant la conscience,"
etc., etc. — L' Annie Littir aire, 1783, vol. vii. p. 119, et seq.

AFTER THE WAR. 109
of his government, but there are countries
where opinions form the national doctrine . . .
The first part (of the publication) contains
the declaration of the rights ,of the citizens
of Massachusetts. These rights are liberty,
equality, the full enjoyment of one's property,
the rendering to God the worship dictated by
conscience." The effect of such words on the intelli
gent reader of a country where there was
no civil liberty, no legal equality, a par
tial property legislation, no religious tolera
tion must have been most telling. It must
have aroused in him bitter and revolution
ary thoughts against the powers and institu
tions that then existed in France.18
The average Frenchman did not reflect
very deeply upon the principles that under
lay the structure of these Constitutions. He
reflected some, but he felt more; his feelings
18 These bold words apropos of the American Constitu
tions appeared a year before the first public representation
of Beaumarchais' Mariage de Figaro, in which the witty
play-writer gave so amusing a picture of the liberty of the
press as then tolerated. " Pourvu que je ne parle, en mes
ecrits, ni de l'autorite, ni du culte, ni de la politique, ni de la
morale, ni des gens en place, ni des corps en credit, ni de
l'Opera, ni des autres spectacles, ni de personne qui tient a
quelque chose, je puis tout imprimer librement, sous l'in-
spection de deux au trois censeurs," (act v. sc. 3).

110 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
led him to applaud that distant confederate
Republic, his imagination clothed it in the
colors of perfection and his discontent with his
own country's government drew him insen
sibly to hold up the American Republic as a
political ideal, or as the nearest approach to
a political ideal already existing in his mind.
T_}e lives of some young men at the period
succeeding the war and the general spirit
of the periodical press bear us out in this as
sumption. What were the acts and thoughts
and aspirations, for instance, of Barbaroux,
Benjamin Constant and Albert Gallatin, all
three young men, at the time when the sol
diers of D'Estaing and Rochambeau returned
home victorious from the American cam
paign ?
Albert Gallatin, a Swiss by birth, but a
Frenchman by education, had, in company
with a friend, suddenly left home and country
and come to America.19 The reasons of this
emigration, are given by one of the relatives
•» Henry Adams, Life of Albert Gallatin (Phila., 1879),
" Deux jeunes gens de ce pays, nommes Gallatin et Serres,
n'etant pas contents de leur fortune qui est effectivement
mediocre et s'etant echauffe l'imagination du desir de s'en
faire une eux memes, aides d'un peu d'enthousiasme pour
les Americains, prennent le parti de passer en Amerique "
(pp. 24, 25).

AFTER THE WAR. HI
of the young man in a letter to a member
of Congress: " Not content with their fortune,
which is indeed mediocre, and excited by
their imagination to create one for them
selves, and pushed on by some enthusiasm
for the Americans, they have taken the reso
lution of crossing over to America."
Benjamin Constant de Rebecque, a French
man of noble family and varied education, had
democratic longings even before the rising of
the floods of democracy in 1789. "At nine
teen," says Sainte-Beuve,20 "he dreamt ofthe
American Republic and I know not what gold
en age of purity and equality across the sea,
while in- the mean time he ruined himself in
every respect at Paris."
Barbaroux came to the capital from his
native Marseilles in his twentieth year. He
devoted himself to serious studies. The
sciences, law, philosophy, literature charmed
and formed his Southern' nature, when sud
denly his noble aspirations were inflamed by
a new object. " The American war had just
so Sainte-Beuve, Dernier s Portraits, article entitled " Ben
jamin Constant et Mme. de Charriere,'' p. 253. " Meme
avant 89 il est democrate, il rSve a dix neuf ans la, repub
lique americaine .et je ne sais quel age d'or de purete et
d'egalite au dela des mers, tandis qu'en attendant il se ruine
de toute fagon a Paris."

112 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
come to an end and the first of modern
Republics had been acknowledged by kings.
She had owed her alliance with France to
the love of liberty which the writings of the
philosophers of the century had caused to
germinate in every heart. The triumph of
her cause gave still greater exaltation to this
sentiment."21 Here, then, were three young
men, typical of their kind, and all three were
influenced by America. The young advent
urer, Gallatin, was led to cross the seas by
hope of gain and by enthusiasm; the young
noble, Constant, "at times turned to Amer
ica amid his wild pleasures, as to an ideal
realm. And the young student, Barbaroux,
destined to be one of the leaders of the
French Revolution, was cheered on and
elated by the example of the new-born trans-
»' Mim. de Barbaroux, (Paris, 1822), "Jusqu'alors Bar
baroux s'etait occupe des sciences, de la legislation com-
merciale et de la litterature. Un nouvel aliment vint, a
cette epoque s'offrir a son enthousiasme. La guerre
d'Amerique venait de finir et la premiere des republiques
modernes etait reconnue par les rois. Elle avait due l'alli-
ance de la France a l'amour de la liberie que les Merits des
philosophes avaient fait germer dans tous les coeurs. Son
triomphe donna plus d'exaltation k ce sentiment " (p. v.), com
pare Barbaroux's juvenile poem on p. 265 of the Mem. incd
de Petion et Mini, de Buzot et de Barbaroux ed. C. A.
Dauban, Paris, 1866.

AFTER THE WAR. • 113
atlantic Republic. Neither the splendid po
litical history of Great Britain, nor the hardy
patriotism of the Netherlands, nor the stoical
independence of Switzerland — -three states
which then enjoyed more political freedom
than France — called forth from the public
prints such eulogistic comments as did the
American Confederation, and for none of
them did the French show so much true
sympathy. The reasons of this are two.
First, the American States in their govern
ment approached more nearly to the French
ideal of political perfection than did either
Great Britain, the Netherlands or the Swiss
Confederation. Secondly, France felt a love
for the young Republic because it had been
by her aid that independence had been
achieved. " Never was there greater specta
cle in the world," said the "Journal de Paris,"
" nor grander subject for the historian's pen
than the revolution of North America. The
Americans fought in their homes and for
liberty." 22
" The new academy established at Boston,"
22 Journal de Paris, 21 Mars, 1786, "Jamais il s'est
offert de plus grand spectacle au monde ni de plus grand
sujet a la plume de l'Historien, que la Revolution de
I'Amerique Septentrional. Les Americains combattaient sur
leurs foyers and pour la'liberte," pp. 321 and 322.

114 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
said the "Journal des Scavans " " whose con
stitutions we have announced, already pub
lishes a volume of memoirs which testifies to
an activity in the sciences well worthy of re
flecting honor upon the new Republic of the
United States."23
All the French papers, with the exception
perhaps of the official "Gazette de France,"
reproduced Lafayette's spirited address to
Congress and the words, " May this Revolu
tion serve as a lesson to oppressors and as an
example to the oppressed!"24 Few, however,
contained such enthusiastic lines as these in
the "Mercure de France": "Among what
people, ancient or modern, has History pro
duced more virtues, more reason, more capa
city than were shown by the Americans dur
ing the war by them waged against their
mother country ? Theirs was courage without
fanaticism and constancy in the face of dan
gers and reverses. The acts of the Amer
ican Congress, those of the General Assem-

53 Journal de Sgavans, Jan., 1787, p. 38: "La nouvelle
Academie etablie a Boston & dont nous avons annonce les
constitutions publie deja un volume de Memoires qui an
nonce une activity dans les Sciences bien digne de faire
honneur a la nouvelle Republique des Etats Unis."
-l Biog. Gin., tome xxviii. p. 709.

AFTER THE WAR. 115
blies of the different States seem to be the
handiwork of wisdom itself." 25
While sympathy and admiration for Amer
ica thus caused the periodicals to assume a
bolder tone and to launch forth with greater
assurance and greater ¦ frequency the words
"constitutions," "rights," " liberties "—explo
sive, dangerous words these, in the dense
atmosphere of despotism — the American war
had changed the purely social character of the
clubs introduced into France from England,
and had given them a decided political tone.
It did more. It gave rise to a special litera
ture on America, books of travel, of history,
of speculative philosophy, a literature so ex
tensive, varied, and influential that it merits
and shall have our careful consideration.26

25 Mercure de France, 5 Aout, 1786: "Chez quels peu
ples anciens ou modernes, l'Histoire offre-t-elle plus de
vertus, de raison, de capacite que les Americains n'en ont.
fait voir durant la guerre qu'ils ont soutenue contre leur
mere contree ? Courage sansfanatisme, Constance au milieu
de dangers et de revers," etc., etc. (p. 37). "Les Actes du
Congres Americain, .ceux des Assemblees generales des dif
ferents Etats Unis semblent l'oeuvre de la sagesse meme"
(P- 38).
26 Decembre-Allonier, Diet, de la Riv.frangaise, tome
i. p. 503, art. Clubs: " Le due d' Orleans institua au Palais
Royal, en 1785, te club de Boston, ou des Americains qui

116 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
This mass of writings, pamphlets, folios, oc
tavos, duodecimos, was called for by the pub
lic interest, curiosity, sympathy, and enthusi
asm. There was a strong demand and there
came a correspondingly strong supply.27
empruntait tout son interet a la guerre de I'independance
americaine." "C'etait surtout depuis la guerre d'Amerique que des
clubs s'etaient formes a Paris; leur caractere d'abord
purement philosophique et litteraire, devint insensible-
ment politique par suite de la tendance imprimee a I'esprit
public' — Mem. de Bailly (Paris, 1821), p. 10, note of the
editors, MM. Berville and Barrifere.
*' That this literature was really the legitimate supply ot
an existing demand, see the Preface of the publisher ofthe
"Voyages " of M. de Chastellux (ed. 1786, vol. i. p. 6), where
mention is made of " la curiosite qu'inspirait alors tout ce
qui avait rapport a I'Amerique." See the remark of the
translator of the Histoire de F. Idministration de Lord
North et de la Guerre de FAmiriqne,'' who says, in 1784,
" Un livre imprime a Londres & intitule, A view of the
History of Great Britain during the Administration of
Lord North, etc., m'etant parvenu je I'ai traduit, afin de
satisfaire l'empressement de mes Compatriotes pour tout ce
que peut les eclairer sur les evenemens de la guerre d'Amer
ique, guerre qui formera une epoque dans les annales du
monde." See, also, Affiches, Annonces, Avis divers de
Paris, 17 Dec, 1778, p. 198; Journal de Paris, 17 Jan.,
1788; Mazzei et Condorcet, Recherches Hist, et Pol. sut
les Etats Unis, 1788, introduction, p. vii: " La revolution
de I'Amerique ayant fixe l'attention de l'Europe, plusiers
Ecrivains se sont empresses de traiter un sujet si interes-
sant." Compare the remarks of Mercure de France (23
Fev., 1788, p. 149): " Depuis l'instant ou les premiers re
gards de l'Europe se sont tourne*s sur I'Amerique Septen-

AFTER THE WAR. 117
We have seen that as early as 1778 Tur
got had carefully examined the American Con
stitutions, and communicated his views upon
them. to Dr. Price. The great French states
man was, as we have read, no admirer of the
majority of these public acts; on the contrary,
he pronounced himself strongly against them,
and desired to propose better and wiser laws
to the rising nation. We may question his
practical wisdom, but we cannot refuse him
pure intentions. Turgot had many followers.
France then abounded with men who, in the
gloom of their libraries, framed constitutions
and built up states with almost the same zest
and ease that little children build card houses.
They now set resolutely to work at trying to
draft fundamental laws for America, and they
not only drafted them; they also communi
cated them to Franklin.
" It is amazing," said the old diplomate in
his "Private Journal," for 1784; "it is amaz
ing the number of legislators that kindly
trionale une foule d'Ecrivains s'est effbrcee de developper
les causes et les circonstances de la Revolution," with the
remarks of the Journal Ginirai de France (6 Mai, 1788):
" Ces ouvrages ont ete accueillis avec une espSce de fureur.
On a ajoute une foi aveugle a tout ce qu'ils contenaient
parceque I'enthousiasme qui ne raisonne pas s'etait empar-e
de tous les esprits."

118 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
bring me plans for governing the United
States." 2S
Prominent amongf these modern Solons were
Raynal and Mably, two authors whose various
works enjoyed, in their time, an almost uni
versal reputation.
Raynal, a man of great and varied erudi
tion, but of little common sense and scant
judgment, in 1780, published a new edition of
his " Histoire Philosophique des Deux Indes,"
and seized the occasion to dwell upon the
American States, now with praise, now with
blame, always superficially and with but little
knowledge of the geography, the history, the
laws, or the customs of the North Ameri
cans. Raynal was not an historian, but a
rhetorician; he labored to produce effect rather
than to instruct. In his " Histoire Philoso
phique des Deux Indes," he alluded to the
Americans incidentally; in his " Tableau et
Revolutions des Colonies Anglaises," pub
lished in 1 78 1, he devoted himself specially
to the States in arms against their mother
country, but he evinced neither greater ac
curacy nor a more philosophic spirit than in
his first effort. He even called forth a spirited
» Sparks' Life of Franklin, i. p. 585, Appendix.

AFTER THE WAR. 119
rejoinder from the pen of Thomas Paine.29
The work of Raynal on America, in spite of
all its errors", was, on the whole,, favorable to
the new country. Strong royalist as he was,
the Frenchman could not withhold his admira
tion from that hand-full of men fighting the
greatest colonial Empire of the world. He
admired the American doctrines too, in a
measure, artistically, theoretically, but he told
Malouet one day that he feared them if they
crossed the boundaries of France.30
The "Annee Litteraire," among others, re
viewed Raynal's work and Paine's reply in
its columns, saying, " It is a spectacle at the
same- time so touching and so majestic to see
a great People rise with order and without
confusion against the enterprises of arbitrary
authority, discuss its rights, and defend its
natural prerogatives with boldness, break- its
yoke finally and give itself wise and moderate
laws, such as the Lycurguses and Solons for
merly gave to less enlightened peoples; it is so
novel a sight to witness reason and wisdom
29 See Remarque sur les Erreurs de l'hist.- phil. et poi. de
M. G. T. Raynal par rapport aux affaires de l'Am. Sept.
t^ad. de 1' Anglais et augmente d'une preface et de quelques
notes par A. M. Cerisier, Amsterdam, 1783 in 8°.
3" Mim. de Malouet, i. p. 233.

120 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
presiding at these bloody scenes, that the least
details regarding this admirable Revolution
cannot fail to interest our readers." 31
If Raynal in his work had royalistic tenden
cies, Mabi)- in his " Observations sur les Loix
des Etats Unis," published in 1784, cherished
Utopian dreams. He was a severe, morose
man, this Mably, a disciple of Rousseau, who
hated equally the monarchies and the repub
lics of his time. His ideals were Greece and
Rome, not the Rome of the Emperors, but
the Rome of Numa, not Greece of the days
of Pericles, but Greece in the time of Solon.
He did not favor the fine arts, commerce,
literature, and he strongly counseled the
Americans to shun these pursuits, and to
devote themselves to agriculture. This fan
tastic product of a dreamer's brain, thanks
31 Annie Litt., 1783, vol. ii., lettre iv. pp. 56 and 57:
" C'est un spectacle a la fois si touchant et si majestueux
que celui d'un Peuple immense, qui se leve avec ordre et
sans confusion contre les enterprises de l'autorite arbitraire;
qui discute ses droits et defend sa prerogative naturelle avec
intrepidite; & qui brise enfin le joug que pour se donner
ensuite des lois sages et moderees, telles qu'en dictaient
autre fois a des Peuples, moins eclaires les Lycurges et les
Solon; c'est une chose si nouvelle que de voir la raison et
la sagesse presider a ces scenes sanglantes que les moindres
details relatifs a cette admirable revolution ne peuvent
manquer d'etre interessants pour les Lecteurs."

AFTER THE WAR. 121
to the prevalence of. the doctrines of Rous
seau, found many admirers in France, and
since, the United States were not so wise
as to follow the philosopher's plan, some of
Mably's disciples lost all hope in so prosaic
and plodding a government. The mass of
readers, however, were little influenced by
the works of Raynal and Mably on Ameri
can institutions.32 They read the notices of
them in the periodicals, culled anecdotes from
them, and talked about them, but they pre
ferred books of travels and history which de
scribed in sympathetic terms, men, laws and
customs in the new Republic. The treatises
of Raynal and Mably never had the vogue
that the works of Crevecceur, Chastellux, Jef
ferson, Brissot de Warville enjoyed. The for
mer were critical and analytic; the latter were
more sympathetic and descriptive. Therein
lay their greater popularity.
" Hector Saint John de Crevecceur published,
in 1784, his " Lettres d'un Cultivateur Amer-
icain," and such was the success of the work
that it went through a second edition in 1787
increased in volume and enriched by notes from
the pen of the scholarly Lacretelle. The popu-
32 Annie Littiraire, 1784, lettre xiv. p. 290, reviewed'
Mably's work and differed with him on many points.

122 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
lar demand for the " Lettres" was owing to the
prevailing curiosity about America, for from a
literary point of view they were poor in style
and inflated by an exaggerated enthusiasm.33
" Come among us, European traveler," ex
claims the Norman farmer transplanted on
American soil. " Here you will repose your
self in the shade of our orchards, you will go
and meditate in the solitude of our forests,
here you will rejoice in our fields in conversa
tion with our diligent husbandmen. You will
see the earth, the mountains and the marshes
as they have come from the hand of nature."
This is vague and irrelevant, but here are
lines that must have roused the reader and
caused him to ponder. " This is our grain,"
exclaims an emigrant as he surveys his field
with its waving corn, " this is the product of
the American soil which we have bought and
tilled. The surplus we will convert into gold,
into silver, without being obliged to pay
dixmes and onerous and arbitrary taxes." 34
33 " Viens parmi nous, voyageur Europeen ! ici tu te
reposeras a l'ombre de nos vergers, tu iras mediter dans
la solitude de nos forets; ici tu te rejouiras dans nos champs
en conversant avec nos Laboureurs intelligens; tu obser-
veras la terre, les montagnes, et les marais tels qu'ils sont
sortis des mains de la nature," tome i. seconde lettre, p. 45.
w " Ceci est notre grain, c'est le produit du sol americain

After the war. 123
The work was extensively noticed in the
public prints and went far in attaining its
object which was, according to the Baron de
Grimm, to make men love America.35
The Marquis de Chastellux, a friend of
Voltaire, of the Encyclopaedists and of Lafay
ette, and a Major-General in the American
war, published his impressions of the allies
and their country in his " Voyages dans I'Am
erique Septentrionale," in 1786.^ The style
is elegant and flowing; the information given
generally accurate, and the author's opinions
of the Americans highly favorable. The Pa
risian, accustomed to the drawing-rooms ofthe
best-mannered of nations, could not but find
the society of Philadelphia somewhat stiff
and provincial; the man of the world and
the skeptic could little sympathize with the
Friends and the Presbyterian ministers; the
que nous avons achete and que nous avons laboure; nous
en convertirons 1'excedent en or, en argent, sans avoir a
payer des dixmes, des taxes onereuses et arbitraires," tome
i. p. 84.
35 Grimm, Correspondance, tome xiv. Jan. 1785, p. 119:
" De faire aimer I'Amerique." For reviews of the " Lettres
d'un Cultivateur Americain,-" which, by the way, were dedi
cated to Lafayette, see Mercure. de France, Jan, 29, 1785;
Annee Litt. vol. ii. lettre v. 1785; Journal de Paris, Aout
17, 1787; Journal de France, 12 Mai, 1787; also Journal,
de Paris, 9 Jan., 10 Fev., 1785.

124 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
subject of an old monarchy could not but at
times be nonplused by certain features of
the American Constitutions. Notwithstand
ing these details, Chastellux, the traveler, was
inclined to eulogize rather than to detract. He
admired the hardy character of the Americans
of die North, the energy and rapid growth of
so young a nation, the domestic qualities ofthe
American woman, the excellent discipline in
the American army.36 He passed through
and described most of the cities of the States.
In the course of his travels he met some of
the prominent men to whom in his book he
devotes a line or a page.
He called on Thomas Paine at Philadel
phia; talked politics with Samuel Adams;
acknowledged the talents of Alexander Ham
ilton; conversed with Madison on the fu
ture development of American institutions,
and enjoyed the hospitality of Jefferson at
Monticello.37 Like most of the French officers in Amer
ica, he had a profound respect for the noble
character of Washington, and in his work he
devoted to him four pages of academic eu-
35 Voyages de Chastellux, vol. i. pp. 6, 44, 48, 57, 103,
104, 105, 122, 225, 258.
37 Voyages de Chastellux, i. 225, 258, ii. 34.

AFTER THE WAR. 125
logy. The American commander-in-chief ap
peared to him a classic hero worthy of the
stylus of Plutarch.38 While thus discussing
men and things in the new world, the ¦ phil
osophic Frenchman occasionally suffers a hint
to fall that must have opened the eyes of
some of his readers. " Any man," said he,
for instance, " any man who has been able
to get together a fund of six or seven hun
dred livres of our money and who feels that
he has the strength and the will to work, can
go into the woods and buy a patch of, say, one
hundred and fifty to two hundred' acres of land
that will not cost him more than one dollar or
five francs the acre, and he will be obliged to
pay only a small part of this sum in cash."39
36 "L'Amerique Septentrionale, depuis Boston jusqu'a
Charlestown, est un grand livre ou chaque page offre
son eloge. Brave sanS temerite, laborieux sans ambition,
genereux sans prodigalite, noble sans orgueil, vertueux sans
severite, il semble toujours s'etre arrete en deca de cette
limite ou les vertus, en se reVetant de couleurs plus vives
mais plus, changeantes, & plus douteuses, peuvent etre
prises pour des defauts," i. pp. 120, 121, et seq.
For some proofs of Washington's popularity in France,
after the war, see Mimoires (dites) de Bachaumont, 1787,
tome xxxvi. p. 396, Journal de Paris, 1786, Dec. 16.
Marmontel asked by Lafayette for an inscription to be
placed under Washington's bust, suggested the words in the
noble Horatian ode — "Te belluosus qui remotis," etc. (Lib.
iv. Od. xiv.) Grimm, Corresp. Litter, tome xv. p. 213.
39' Voyage de Chastellux , i. p. 39: " Tout homme qui a

126 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
Chastellux was not the first and not the last
man to notice tlie advantages enjoyed by the
American farmer, and his superiority to the
French peasant.
Guibert, traveling through France in 1784,
and coming upon the town of Bouillon in a
decayed and abandoned condition, reflected
how in North America everything tends to
give a new settler, who is received within the
state, an interest in the government and in
the soil.40 And Chamfort41 contemplating the
pu se procurer un fond de 6 ou 700 livres de notre monnaie
& qui sent la force & la volonte de travailler, peut aller
dans les bois & y acheter une portion de terre, commune
ment de 150 a 200 acres, qui ne lui revient guere qu'a un
dollard ou loo sous l'acre & dont il ne paye qu'une petite
partie en argent comptant."
<o Voyages de Guibert dans diverses parties de la France
et en Suisse, 1775, 1784, 1785 (Paris, 1806). Under date of
17S4 we find, "Dans I'Amerique Septentrionale tout tend k
donner au nouvel habitant qu'elle recoit dans son sein un
interet et une propriete," p. 134.
41 Chamfort, Maxinies et Pcnsces in CEuvres, tome ii. p.
102. " Un citoyen de Virginie, possesseur de cinquante
acres de terres fertiles, paye quarante deux sous de notre
monnaie pour jouir en paix, sous des lois justes et douces,
de la protection du gouvernement, de la sflrete de sa per
sonne et sa propriete, de la liberie civile et religieuse, du
droit de voter aux elections, d'etre membre du congres et
par consequent legislateur, etc. Tel paysan frangais, de
l'Auvergne ou du Limousin, est ecrase de tailles, de ving-
tiemes, de corvees de toute espece, pour etre insulte par le
caprice d'un subdelegue, emprisonne arbitral rement, etc.,

AFTER THE WAR. 127
misery and degradation of the peasants of his
time, wrote: " A citizen of Virginia, proprie
tor of fifty acres of fertile land, pays forty-
two sous of pur money to enjoy in peace,
under just and gentle laws, the protec
tion of the government, security of person,
and of property, civil and religious liberty,
the right to vote at elections, and to be
member of Congress, consequently legislator.
Take any French peasant from Auvergne or
Limousin, however, and you will find that he
is crushed by the taille taxes, by the ving-
tiemes, by the corvees of every description
and kind, and for what? To be maltreated
by some sub-functionary, to be arbitrarily im
prisoned, and to bequeath to a plundered
family this heritage of misfortune and abase
ment. North America is the spot on earth
where the rights of man are best known."
The work of the Marquis de Chastellux
received general attention from the leading
periodicals of the day,42 and also evoked a
special controversial reply from the afterwards
et transmettre a une famille depouillee cet heritage d'in-
fortune et d'avilissement."
42 For notices of Chastellux's work, see among others,
Mercure de France, Juillet, 1786; Journal de France, 2
Dec, 1786. For this controversy see Morellet, Mimoires,
chap. xvi. p. 322.

128 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
famous Brissot de Warville. This was in
1786. A year after, Brissot, in collaboration
with the later noted Claviere, published a
treatise entided, " De la France et des Etats-
Unis," in which they both showed themselves
staunch, intelligent admirers of American in
stitutions, and intent on furthering the com
mercial relations between France and America.
Meanwhile Franklin, after an absence from
his country of almost a decade, had desired
to be recalled and in his stead Thomas Jeffer
son was appointed Minister of the United
States at the court of Versailles.
The Virginian, like the Pennsylvanian, was
an excellent representative American, and like
him exerted great personal influence in France.
The tall, well-built, pleasant-looking urbane
and cultured Southern gentleman soon found
himself at home in the queen city of the world.
The secret of his power lay in his reputation,
his works, and his personal presence. His
first diplomatic move was a bon mot, and there
fore, in France, a success. " You replace M.
Franklin, I hear," remarked the Count de
Vergennes at an interview. " I succeed him,
your Excellency," he replied promptly. " No
one can replace him ! " The author of the
Declaration of Independence was soon courted

AFTER THE WAR. 129
by officials, statesmen, philosophers, and ladies
of society. He received at his hotel with
charming hospitality; he was a regular visitor
at the noted salons of the city. For the pri
vate use of M. de Marbois, his ready pen had
sketched some " Notes on the State of Vir
ginia." This work of which two hundred
privately printed copies had appeared at Paris
in 1784 with the date of 1782, was soon
translated and brought into general circulation
by the Abbe Morellet who had a high opin
ion of the author and the book. " This lit
erary production," he remarked in his " Me
moires," " is useful for a knowledge of that
country, is varied and interesting and enriched
with philosophical observations full of appo-
siteness and reason." 43
The " Notes," like most works on America
appearing at that time, were the object of at
tention, criticism and discussion. A tone of
broad, generous liberalism pervades the Vir-
43 Mim, de Morellet, i. chap. xv. p. 295. " C'est un livre
utile pour la connaissance de ce pays, livre interessant,
varie, enrichi d'observations philosophiques pleines de jus-
tesse et de raison." "Saturated as the book was with the
republican sentiments of which he was the completest living
exponent, it was eagerly sought after in Paris and had its
effect upon the time." — Partdn's Life of Thos. Jefferson,
xxxv. p. 310.

130 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
ginian's treatise from the title page to the
end. This made it popular. " The most
uncultured European," remarked the critic of
the " Mercure de France," " on landing at
Philadelphia or at Boston, ignorant of the
blessings of liberty and equality, will soon
familiarize himself with the customs and laws
ofthe country he has chosen for an asylum."44
Jefferson was not only known as the author
of the Declaration of Independence and of the
Notes on Virginia. He was looked upon as
a counselor. His advice and opinion were
then already asked by men engaged in po
litical, economical and historical studies. Hil-
liard d'Aubertueil, the historical compiler, came
to him for advice. Early in 1786 he replied
in writing to a series of questions propounded
to him by M. Dbmeunier, the author of
those parts ofthe " Encyclopaedic Methodique"
treating of political economy and diplomatic
44 Mercure de France, Juin 2, 1787. " L'Europeen le
plus grossier en debarquant a Philadelphie ou k Boston ne
pouvant reconnSitre les avantages de I'egalite et de la
liberte, se familiarisera bient6t avec les mceurs et les lois
du pays qu'il aura choisi pour asyle" (p. 39). For Jefferson's
answer to Demeunier, see Jefferson's Writings, (ed. of
Congress,) vol. ix. p. 244. For his answers to Soules, see
Writings, vol. ix. p. 393. For Hilliard d'Auberteuil and
his relations with Jefferson, see Jefferson's Writings, ii.
p. 103.

AFTER THE WAR. 131
relations, and corrected his article on the
United States inserted in the same work.
This was not all. In September of the same
year, Jefferson was consulted by M. Soules
then busy with his history of the late war,
and the American gave the Frenchman many
a valuable hint on a country of which, he
was one of the most illustrious and patriotic
sons. The Legislature of Virginia had passed
that noble act for religious freedom which
Jefferson had so much at heart. He received
the news with joy, was not slow to communi
cate the provisions of the statute to his friends
and wrote to Wythe with pardonable enthu
siasm, " Our act for freedom of religion is ex
tremely applauded. The ambassadors and
ministers of the several nations of Europe,
resident at this court, have asked of me copies
of it to send to their sovereigns, and it is in
scribed at full length in several books now in
press, among others in the new ' Encyclopae
dic' < I think it will produce considerable good."
Jefferson was correct in this supposition; the
act had a beneficent effect on France. Years
after, in 1802, the poet of the French Revo
lution, Marie Joseph Chenier alluded to the
Virginian's successful measure for liberty of
conscience —

132 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
"Virginia, happy in her sons, by Jefferson's strong hand
Is made religious freedom's home, an unsectarian land."43
The works of Raynal and Mably, of
Crevecoeur and Chastellux, of Brissot de
Warville and of Jefferson were by no means
the onh- ones called forth in France by the
American Revolution. There were more,
works that were then read, criticised and
commented upon, but which are to-day thick-
covered with the dust of years, and forgotten.415
45 Randall's Life of Jefferson, vol. i. p. 452. " Les Nou-
veaux Saints" in CEuvres of M. J. Chenier, tome iii. p. 166.
" Ainsi par Jefferson l'heureuse Virginie,
Des cultes differents vit regner l'harmonie."
Compare also the note on these lines, CEuvres, (tome iii.
p. 175). The act for freedom of religion is printed in French
and in full in Soules' Hist, des Troubles de FAmcrique
Anglaise, tome iv. 258, ct seq., published in 1787.
«* Among the works that alluded casually to America
were, (1) Fragment de Xenophon, Paris, 1783, (2) Les Raisers
de Zizi, Paris, 1786, (3) Voyage cFAmirique. Dialogue
entre FAuteur et FAbbi, Paris et Londres, 1786. The first
of these contains the following portrait of Franklin: "Ehfin
Thales (Franklin)' parut a ce jeu et y jouit de toute sa
gloire. Tous les yeux etaient tournes sur lui. On le
nomme le Liberateur et le Legislateur de l'Asie. Le code
qu'il avait trace pour la nouvelle Republique s'y voyait a
cote de ses immortels ecrits. La statue fdt apportee en
triomphe aux acclamations de tout le Peuple. Elle fut cour-
onnee d'une rameau d'olivier, symbole de la Paix, et d'une
branche de laurier, symbole du Genie. II est represents
tenant d'une main le flambeau de Promethee et de l'autre
l'etendart sacre de la Liberte: & au pied de sa Statue se

AFTER THE WAR. 13b
Not to speak of the productions in which
there were incidental allusions to • America,
there was the heavy " Destin de I'Amerique,"
by Cerisier, and the light " Paul Jones ou
Proprieties sur I'Amerique " by an unknown
wit. There was Lieutenant Colonel Joly de
Saint Vallier, who at the close of the war pub
lished an " Histoire raisonnee des operations
militaires et politiques de la derniere Guerre."
Some of the officers under Rochambeau or
d'Estaing kept journals of their expeditions
and campaigns.47 There was the interesting
lisait un vers celebre de Sophocle dont le • sens etait. ' II
arracha d'une main hardie au Ciel sa foudre et le sceptre
aux Tyrans,'"etc — Fragment de Xenophon, (Paris, .1783,)
p. 52. Journal de Paris, (Mars, 1786, p. 262,) reviewed the
second ofthe works above cited and says, " L'auteur n'ad-
mire en Amerique que les Etats Unis." "Ce peuple re
spectable fonde la liberte sur les bases des loix." The third
work, Les Raisers de Zizi, is an erotic production, but
even this speaks of the "
"Fils de Penn et de la Liberte
Peuple devot, bizarre et pacifique
Fou de la Bible et de I'egalite."
See Journal de Paris, 3 Juillet, 1786.
47 As a specimen of these Journals, see Diary of a French
Officer, 1781, ascribed to the Baron Cromot du Bourg, in
Mag. of American Hist., vol. iv. p. 205 et seq., and the
Journal of the Siege of Yorktown, by M. de Menonville, in
Mag. of Am. Hist., vol. vii. pp, 283, 284 et seq. Compare
with these My Campaigns in America, by the Comte de
Deux Ponts, transl., Boston, 1868, and Journal d'un Officier
de FEscadre de M. le Comte dEstaing, 1782, 8°.

134 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
"Voyage dans I'Amerique Septentrionale,"
by the Abbe Robin, and there appeared
in a French translation the solid " Memo
rial " on European and American politics, by
Thomas Pownall. ** There was Hilliard
d'Auberteuil, who, in 1782, published a two-
volume work on America,49 and Mandrillon
who, in 1785 issued a second .edition of an
octavo on the same subject.60 The " History
of Kentucky," 61 by Filson, and the " History
** For notice of Robin, see Journal de Paris, Dec, 1786,
besides the leading Paris papers of 178 1 and 1782.
For Pownall, see Allibone, Diet, of Authors, and Querard,
France Litt., tome vii. p. 319. Pownall's Memoir was
also abridged by an unknown hand and published at Am
sterdam under the title, Pensies sur la Rivolution de
FAmerique Unie (in 8°, 50 pp.).
«> For the Essais hist, et poi. sur les Anglo- Amiricains
et sur la Rev de FAm. Sept., by Hilliard d'Auberteuil, see
Affiches, Annonces, Avis de Paris, 15 Mai, 1782; Mem.
(dites) de Bachaumont, tome xxviii. pp. 294, 295. Annie
Littiraire, lettre ii., 1782, p. 30, says: "Cet Ecrivain nous
presente le tableau d'une Revolution qui change le systeme
politique de l'Europe et qui apprend aux conducteurs des
peuples que c'est de l'excfes de l'oppression que nait le sen
timent de la liberte."
60 For notice of Mandrillon's Les Spectateur Amiricain,
see Journal des Sgavans, 1785, p. 661: "La revolution de
I'Amerique interesse toute l'Europe surtout relativement au
commerce." 61 The Histoire de Kentucke (Paris, 1785,) is remarkable
lor the bold tone of the translator's preface. He speaks of
" L'industrie et la sagesse de ses habitans et plus encore

AFTER THE WAR. 135
of the American Revolution," by Ramsay, ap
peared respectively in a French dress in 1785
and 1787.52
The author of the " Triomphe du Nou veau
Monde " proposed a new system of confeder
ation, such as would meet the needs of agri
cultural nations.53 The author of the " Ligues
. . . . le systeme de tolerance qui y regne et la liberte dont
I'homme y jouit." Compare Annie Litt., 1786, vol. i. let
tre v.
52 Hist, de la Rivolution d'Amerique, by Ramsay, was
noticed Journal de Paris, Mai 18, 1788; Gazette de
France, 11 Mai, 1787, and coldly, by Mallet du Pan, in
Mer. de France, Oct. 6, 1787.
63 For notice of the Triomphe du Nouveau Monde, see
Journal Gen. de France, 14 Jan., 1786, Gazette de France
15 Avril, 1785; for. notice of the work on the Achasan,
Dutch and Swiss Confederations compared with the Amer
ican government, by Mayer, see. Journal de Paris, 29
Aoiit, 1787, p. 1052, where the American Revolution is
spoken of as " ce grand evenement," and for Soules' and Le
Bouchet's works, among other periodicals, see Journal Gen.
de France, 29 Mai, 1787, and 31 Juillet, 1787.
In 'the course of. this list of works on America we have
indicated only such as caused special comment. We have
mentioned neither the Discours en . Vers aux Officiers et
aux Soldats Amiricains,\>y Humphreys, (Paris, 1785,) nor
the Riponse de FAmirique Septentrionale d la lettre
icrite du Palais Royale aux quatre parties du Monde,
Paris, 1785; nor Le Nouveau Monde, poeme par M.
Lesuire de F Academie de Rouen {Gazette de France,
11 Mai, 1781,) nor the Ode sur la guerre presente par
M. D. B. {Gazette de France, Ibid) nor the numerous
works that treated of the influence of the discovery

136 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
Acheenne, Suisse, et Hollandoise et la Revo-
tion des Etats Unis " made the recent events
in America the subject of an essay in com-
of America on Europe. See Journal Gin. de France,
1786, Jan. 14, and Chateaubriand, CEuvres, (Paris, 1836,)
tome xii. p. 288. Among the MSS. left by the Abbe
Morellet was found a tract, Des Effets de la Libertl de
FAmirique pour F Europe et pour F Amirique elle mime.
Mim de Morellet, ii. p. 516. We have not mentioned the
sixteen beautifully engraved plates, engraved by Ponce and
Godefroy, that appeared at Paris, in 1784, under the title,
Recueil des Etampes reprisentant les diffirents evenements
de la guerre qui a procuri Findipendance aux Etats Unis
(4to). We have not mentioned, at length, the plays that
were produced on American themes, — the Abdir, by Sau-
vigny, a dramatization ofthe Asgill affair; Washington, ou
F Orpheline de la Peunsylvaniey Arnill ou le Prisonnier
Amiricain; L'Hiros Amiricain. They are plays of very
little merit. There was one piece, however, published in
1785, that is interesting. It was a drama in five acts.
Asgill is its title. J. L. Le Barbier is its author. Such
dialogues as the following are curious. Washington and
Rochambeau are brought on to the stage and speak in the
following strain: —
Washington: Come, honored companions of our labors,
enjoy the transports of gaiety that shine in all eyes; taste
the sweet, sweet charms of seeing a whole people give up
its heart to pleasure: on this fine day our misfortunes are
at an end, our ills are forgotten, and for the first time you
see us happy. I call to witness these tears of sweet joy
that your presence causes to be shed here: ah ! generous
men of France, you whose blood has flowed so often for
our liberty, what charms this moment has for us! It will
unite by the pleasantest ties two nations made to love each
other always.
The French General: Those sentiments, monsieur, will

AFTER THE WAR. 137
parative legislation. Demeunier published
his " Essais sur les Etats Unis" in 1786,
and Le Bouchet his " Histoire de la Derniere
Guerre entre la Grande Bretagne et les Etats
Unis " in 1787 and 1788. Soules issued his
four-volume work, " Histoire des Troubles de
I'Amerique Anglaise," at about the same
time. He gives the following as his opinion
of the American Revolution and of the ac
tors in its scenes:
" It will be noticed that this great Revolu
tion, which is without^a parallel in the annals
of the world, was conducted with the ripest
deliberation. The members of Congress were
honor them in the eyes of the universe; they are those of
sublime and sensible souls. How I delight to see in this
interesting people this noble candor, and the flattering tes
timonies of its love for us; yes, beloved Americans, we will
brave death a thousand times rather than lose the happiness
of assuring your liberty.
Washington: Of such nobility of soul you alone. are
capable. Having become free by the aid of your valor, we
shall henceforth enjoy unclouded felicity, and all the in
habitants of America will never pronounce the name of
Louis without shedding tears of sensibility. (Addressing
the people) — Dear friends, to-morrow, on the arrival of Mr.
de Rochambeau, we will go to the foot of the altars to
offer vows for the glory of his empire; to-morrow the
heavens shall resound with the shouts of alligresse caused
by the birth of his son. May God whom' we implore trans
mit to him for ever the virtues of the august and beneficent
couple who are his parents.

138 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
good and wise men who adopted no hurried
measures, but who were firm and bold when
they had once taken their stand and resolved
to do a thing." This opinion of Soules was the
opinion of the majority of his contemporaries.64
Jefferson had not been long in France be
fore he observed how well-disposed the coun
try was to America. " Its inhabitants love us
more, I think, than they do any other nation
on earth." Such was his opinion as communi
cated to Madison. "This is very much the ef
fect of the good dispositions with which the
French officers returned." Jefferson was not
alone in this belief. The contemporaries,
Droz66 and Dumont,56 Madame de Stael57
54 Soules, Hist, des Troubles de FAmerique Anglaise,
(Paris, 1787, 4 vols. 8°), "On voit que cette grande revolu
tion qui est sans exemple dans les annales du monde, fut
conduite avec la plus mure deliberation. Les membres du
Congres etaient des gens sages et eclaires qui ne prenaient
aucun parti precipite mais qui Etaient fermes quand ils
avaient une fois pris une resolution." — tome i. 317, chap.
vii. Jefferson's Works, ii. 109, and Volney, Tableau du
Climat et du Sol des Etats Unis, (1803), Introd. p. ii.
55 Droz, Louis XVI. i. 376.
«« Dumont, Souvenirs sur Mirabeau, p. 176.
5' Mme. de Stael, Sur la Rivolution. "Tous les Fran
cais qui furent envoyes pour servir avec le general Wash
ington, revinrent penetres d'un enthousiasme de liberte
qui devoit leur rendre difficile de retourner tranquillement
k la cour de Versailles sans rien souhaiter de plus que
l'honneur d'y etre admis." — tome ii. chap. vii. p. 88.

AFTER THE WAR. 139
and Madame de Genlis,58 among others, in a
measure corroborate the American's observa
tions. The French officers who had made
the American campaign were elated not only
at having beaten the English, they were
proud to have aided the cause of American
liberty. They did notN forget the country
nor its prominent citizens.59 Nor did they
think of their American brothers-in-arms,
only now and then, at a Cincinnati dinner,
amid cups of Pomard and Sauterne. The
men who had fought together shoulder to
shoulder in war, who had been brought into
close relations, corresponded in peace. The
letters between Chastellux and Washington,
between Rouerie and Washington, between
Segur and Washington, between Lafayette
and Washington, between Noailles and Ham
ilton, between Segur and Dr. Cooper, be-
w Mem. de Genlis, vol. vi. p. 57.
63 Garat, Mem. hist, sur le XVIII. Siecle et sur M. Suard,
tome ii. livre vii. pp. 318, 319. "Presque tous les jeunes
militaires franjais revenus de I'Amerique parlaient comme
avait ecrit l'auteur un peu enthousiaste des ' Lettres d'un
Cultivateur Americain.' " Mim. de Mme. du Hausset,
i. p. 404. Villemain, Souvenirs Contemporains , part ii.
chap. i. For an opinion similar to that of Garat, of Madame
de Stael and of Dumont, see Memoires sur Carnot, pp. 16,
17. The troops were proud to be called " les soldat s de la
liberte."

140 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
tween Franklin and Morellet, and the let
ters to be found in the printed collections
of the correspondence of Jefferson and Mad
ison, prove this, and prove furthermore that
these communications between France and
America were not meaningless, formal, dip
lomatic notes.60 They were bonds of friend
ship. On their return, the officers were flat
tered by the . Court and applauded by the
populace. Forcibly their thoughts reverted
to the scenes of their glory. They spoke
about America and the Americans and scat
tered golden words of eulogy. They in
creased the already great feeling of disaffec
tion prevalent in their country by continually
pointing to the Republic as a land where,
thanks to nature and institutions, the evils
complained of in France did not exist. "The
«° On this correspondence, see Washington's Writings
(ed. Sparks) passim; Franklin's Works (ed. Sparks), passim,
Jefferson's, Hamilton's, Madison's Correspondence, passim;
Mini, de Morellet, i. 307; Mem. de Segur, i. p. 420; Voy
ages de Chastellux i. 259; Drake, Memoirs of the Mas
sachusetts' Cincinnati, passim; Coll. Mass. Hist." Society,
1860-1862, p. 356; Mim. et Corres. de Lafayette, passim;
G. Morris, Life and Corresp. (ed. Sparks), ii. 60, 113. Vau
blanc in his Mim. sur la Riv. de France (Paris, 1833,)
(vol. i. p, 185) says, " Le celebre Burke eut bien raison de
dire dans son voyage en France, apres la paix de I'Amer
ique, qu'il avait trouve la moitie de la cour republicaine."

AFTER THE WAR. 141
American war," said Dumouriez, on this, sub
ject an excellent authority, " the American
war had not formed great generals, but the
young men who had made its campaigns had
seen closely a new people governed by a
wise Constitution. Their heads were turned.
They brought back badly digested ideas."61
These ideas, we may safely add, however ill-
defined, were so many fuses which the fire of
public passion would one day ignite and
cause to blaze in revolutionary conflagration.
In the meanwhile sentiments of good-will
towards America were afloat in the country,
and the desire of obtaining blessings similar
to those enjoyed by the Americans was grow
ing stronger and stronger.
Lacretelle, the eminent barrister, the friend
of Malesherbes and of Lafayette, gave vent
to these sentiments and this desire in majestic
prose. Here, said he, in substance, is a coun
try famous not only for the rich productions
61 Mim. de Dumouriez, 1822, "La guerre d'Amerique
n'avait pas forme de grands generaux nrais les jeunes gens
qui l'avaient faite avaient vu de pres un peuple nouveau
soumis a une constitution sage. Ils avaient rapporte des
idees mal digerees," tome ii. liv. iii. chap. i. p. 10. Two con
temporaries were of the opinion that the influence of these
French officers was null or very slight; these are the Duke
de Levis {Souvenirs et Portraits, Paris, 1815, p. 14) and
the Count d'Allonville {Mimoires Secretes, vol. i. p. 95).

142 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
of its soil, but a country peopled by virtuous
and frugal men, who fled from religious per
secution, to a land where there now is liberty
and law. The American Revolution, in his
opinion, had greatly impressed the French, but
they had not contemplated it enough. They
must yet catch all the ideas that it teaches.
" Ye young Republics of America," he ex
claims in a moment of enthusiasm, " I sa
lute you as the hope of the human race, to
whom you throw open an asylum, to whom
you promise great and good examples ! May
you increase and grow strong amid these
blessings ! " 62
What Lacretelle said in prose, De Bonnard
recited before the Academy of Dijon in rug
ged verse: "A people I behold, heroes all;
Their heroism bodes the tyrant's fall —
08 Lacretelle, Vue sur les Etats Unis (1785) in CEuvres
de Lacretelle (Paris, 1824), vol. vi. pp. 243 et seq. " Quoique
cet evenement nous ait vivement frappe, il me semble que
nous n'en recevons pas encore toutes les idees qu'il est fait
pour inspirer. Depuis la decouverte de Colomb il ne se
rien passe de plus important pour le genre humain," (246-
247). " Republiques naissantes de I'Amerique, je vous salue
comme l'esperance du genre humain, a qui vous ouvrez un
asile, k qui vous promettez de grands et heureux exemples,
croissez et affermissez vous au milieu de ces benedictions,"
(pp. 247, 248).

AFTER THE WAR. 143
Proud of their freedom,
Valiant in the fight,
Their Roman wisdom
Guides the State aright."63
" Perhaps it might suit a man of talents
so great and noble as yours  to treat
 that noble subject of the influence of
the happiness of America on the rest of the
world." 64
What Mirabeau thus suggested to Romilly
was carried out by Deslandes and Condorcet.
The former pronounced a "Discours sur la
grandeur et I'importance de la Revolution qui
vient de s'operer dans I'Amerique Septentrio-
nale" before the Academie des Jeux Floraux
at Toulouse and published it at Paris in 1785.
The latter wrote a short treatise on the " In
fluence de la Revolution de I'Amerique sur
l'Europe," and dedicated it to Lafayette, "the
benefactor of two worlds." Deslandes is florid
and oratorical in style, full of eulogy and gen
erous sentiment; Condorcet is colder in tone,
and when he praises he does so after calm
63 De Bonnard La Raison, PoSme, Dijon, 1785.
" Je vois un peuple d'heros
Montrer k des mSitres ingrats
Cette fierte republicaine
Cette vertu dans les combats
Qui fait prosperer les etats ! "
M Romilly, Memoirs, i. p. 221.

1*4 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
reflection. The opening lines of his first chap
ter are: " 'The human race had lost its title-
deeds,' said Voltaire. ' Montesquieu found
them and restored them.' But it is not
.sufficient that these deeds be written in
the books of philosophers and in the hearts
of virtuous men. It must be possible for the
ignorant or feeble man to read them in the
example of a great people. America has
given us that example. The state paper
which declared their independence is a sim
ple and sublime exposition of rights so sacred
and so long forgotten. In no nation have
they been so well known nor preserved with
such perfect integrity." There is negro slav
ery in the United States, pursues the phi
losopher, but it will disappear. There are
prohibitory laws and traces of ancient fanat
icism, but they will be reformed with time or
eradicated. He again insists upon the force
of example. " The spectacle of a great na
tion where the rights of man are respected is
useful to all others in spite of differences of
climates, customs and constitutions." 66
65 Condorcet, CEuvres, tome xi. p. 249 et seq: " Le genre
humain- avait perdu, ses titres, Montesquieu les a retrouves
& les lui a rendus (Voltaire). Mais il ne suffit pas qu'ils
soient ecrits ' dans les livres des philosophes & dans le

AFTER THE WAR. 145
He tells his countrymen how free the press
is in America, how large the freedom in relig
ion, how few and wise the maxkns upon which
is built the structure of the government. He
dwells upon the voluntary nature of American
military service, and its excellent results, and
he closes the chapter with praise of American
heroism and devotion to country during the
war. The writer devotes his second chapter to
proving the influence America would have in
holding the balance of power during a Eu
ropean war, and in his third chapter he en
deavors to demonstrate how America, after
having by her example and her press de
stroyed European prejudices, would become
a vast field for the perfection of the human
race. The fourth and last chapter considers
the benefits that will accrue to the commerce
of Europe in general and to the commerce of
cceur des hommes vertueux, il faut que I'homme ignorant
ou faible puisse les lire dans l'exemple d'un grand peuple.
L'Amerique nous a donne cet exemple. L'acte qui a declare
son independance est une exposition simple & sublime
de ces droits si sacres et si longtemps oublies. Dans au
cune nation ils n'ont ete si bien connus, ni conserves dans une
integrite si parfaite."  "Le spectacle d'un grand
peuple od les droits de I'homme sont respectes est utile k
tous les autres, malgre la differance des climats, des mceurs
et des constitutions."

146 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
France in particular by reason of the Ameri
can Revolution. " Such were my reflections,"
says the author in conclusion, " on the Revo
lution of America. I do not think that I have
exaggerated its importance, nor that I have
allowed myself to be led away by the enthu
siasm which the noble and touching spectacle
afforded by this new people to the universe
inspires." 66
Suoh treatises, words, doctrines, and exam
ples came to the eyes and ears of Paris and
of France at a time when a feeble, well-mean
ing King was amusing himself by making
locks and going a-hunting; when the Queen
was spending her time in frivolity and costly
pleasure; when the Count d'Artois was con
tracting extravagant debts; when Calonne was
brilliantly plundering the nation; when discon
tent reigned among the people of the leading
cities, and when the sharp tooth of famine
gnawed the inwards of the peasant. Stronger
and stronger grew the murmurs as Calonne
waded deeper and deeper into his financial di£
ficulties. He could no longer pay the inter-
66 "Telles avoient ete mes reflexions sur l'influence de
la revolution d'Amerique. Je ne crois pas en avoir exagere"
l'importance, ni, m'etre laisse entrainer a I'enthousiasme
qu'inspire le noble et touchant spectacle que ce nouvea?:
peuple donne k l'univers."

AFTER THE WAR. __ 147
est of the loans which had been contracted in
the name of the state; and, what was worse,
he could no longer disguise the fact. The
juggler now proposed equal taxation, the abo
lition of sinecure offices, the suppression of
the corvee. He went further. He counseled
his royal master to convoke an Assembly of
Notables to lend the weight of their sanction
to these important schemes. The King at
first hesitated to adopt the last of these coun
sels. The Notables had not been convoked
for many years, and it was considered impol
itic by the Crown to take a measure by which
it would tacitly acknowledge that even a part
pf the people had a voice in public affairs.
So grave, however, was the situation of the
finances, and so clamorous public opinion, that
Louis XVI. at last reluctantly consented to
call the Notables together for the 2 2d of Feb
ruary, 1787. The gracious conduct of his Maj
esty was celebrated by some courtiers in prose,
and by other courtiers in rhyme, but even these
adulators had learned to stammer the accents of
liberty. A year before one of them had sung —
" Louis fut fonder, au nord de I'Amerique
L 'immense et sage Republique,
Monument imrhortel de ses hautes vertus."6'
6' Ode au Roi sur le Voyage d Cherbourg {Mercure de
France, 22 Juillet, 1786).

148 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
Now the words ran —
" Neptune et I'Amerique ont vu briser leurs fers
Et le monde lui doit la liberte des mere.""3
The one hundred and forty-four Notables,
chosen almost exclusively from the privileged
classes, were treated to a specious address by
Calonne. He acknowledged an actual deficit
of 112,000,000 of francs, but he threw the
burden of the blame upon the shoulders of
Necker. This statement met with coldness
and incredulity from the Assembly, but the
minister's reform schemes met with positive
hostility. The Notables declared that they
would not surrender their privileges, and their
opposition to Calonne grew so violent, their
charges so damaging, that he fell from royal
favor and was banished to his estates in Lor
raine.69 Lomenie de Brienne, who succeeded
the exiled minister obtained only hard-won
08 Discours en Vers d Foccasion de l'Asse?nblie des No
tables en 178/. Annie Littiraire, 1787, vol. i. lettre xix. p.
343- Journal de Paris, 31 Jan., 1787.
09 Speaking of Calonne's administration two years later,
the radical periodical, Rivolutions de Paris (tome i. Intro.
p. 47), said, " Mr. de Calonne parvenu a cette extremite fit
convoquer les Notables, il espera en imposer par l'audace
et seduire par les ressources de I'esprit. Mais il ne tarda
pas a s'appercevoir que les hommes rassembles s'electrisent
puissamment et que la philosophie et la Revolution d'Amer-
ique avaient donnes des pretentions nouvelles."

AFTER THE WAR. 149
and meager results. Scarcely had the As
sembly of Notables adjourned, when the gov
ernment's troubles with the Parliament of Paris
began. This influential body contested the
financial measures adopted by the Assembly,
on the ground that such measures' could only
be legally adopted by the nation convoked
in the States-General. Lafayette, the " eleve
de Washington," as he was then called, had
already influenced the local States of Auver
gne to make a remarkably bold declaration
of their rights to the King; n he now formu
lated the public wishes in his reply to the
question of the Count d'Artois: " What, sir,
do you ask for the States-General ? " " Yes,
Monseigneur, and even something better than
that!" The call for radical reform became more
and more imperious. The step taken by De
Brienne, urging the King to enregister, by
force, the edicts voted by the Notables, and
the banishment of the Parliament from Paris
to Troyes caused the greatest commotion. The
70 L. de Lavergne, Les Assemblies Provinciales sous
Louis XVI, chap. xiii. p. 200, et seq.
How America was still in the public thoughts at this
stormy period is also indicated by the allusion of the poet
M. J. Chenier to the distant Republic. See his " Assembiee
des Notables, 1787," CEuvres de Chinier, tome iii. p. 3.

150 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
press, though gagged, became violent in tone;
the coffee-houses, though formally closed by
ministerial order, still swarmed with loud-voiced
politicians, and riots broke out both in the cap
ital and in the provinces. De Brienne was
obliged to compromise. He abandoned an
obnoxious land and stamp tax, and he prom
ised to convoke the States -General within a
period of five years. The Parliament, on its
part, agreed to consent to some of the pro
posed loans, and granted some of the sub
sidies asked for the administration of public
affairs. This compromise which was to be
peace was but a truce. When De Brienne
one day demanded a loan of four hundred and
twenty million livres of the Parliament, and
had Louis hold a royal sitting, in order to
enforce the demand, the Parliament protested
and broke out into open rebellion. The King
thereupon banished some of the members and
imprisoned others, and summoned a grand
Council of Notables to enregister, for form's
sake, the decrees against which the Parliament
had manifested such pronounced hostility. He
hoped in this way to avoid a meeting of the
dreaded States- General. This second Assem
bly, however, was looked upon with derision not
only by the people, but by many of the nobles.

AFTER THE WAR. lgj
The arbitrary measures of the Court caused
the popular storm to rage with such ever-in
creasing fury in Paris and throughout the
country that the King was at last forced to
yield. He consented to the popular demand
for the States -General, accepted De Brienne's
resignation, and called Necker a second time
to the royal council-chamber. Two impor
tant questions now faced the Genevan banker,
that of the finances and that of the States-
General. The first was, in a great measure,
solved by the very fact of the popular minis
ter's accession to power. Confidence sprung
up as by enchantment, government funds
rose, and. loans were readily subscribed. The
second question, however, that of the States-
General, was full of difficulties, and Necker
thought it best to convoke the Notables a
second time in order to decide, together with
them, upon the manner in which the States,
the representative assembly of the nation,
were to be called and organized. The ques
tion was between the old time and the new,
between 1614 and 1789. In the olden days
the three orders in the States-General had
voted, each with an equal number of depu
ties, by orders and in separate chambers.
Now the Third Estate demanded that their

152 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
representatives should be equal to those of
the other two orders combined, that the
States-General be holden in one chamber,
and that the voting take place not by or
ders, but by persons. The Third Estate, in
other words, claimed the preponderance of
power in the States-General.
It paid the bulk of the taxes; it did the
hard work of the nation, and it now desired
a corresponding influence in the direction of
affairs. The Commons had approved the or
ganization of the States-General of 1614 in
their day. New times, they now thought,
demand new measures. The example of such
countries as Great Britain and the United.
States must not be passed by unutilized. " I
happened to be together with the Bishop of
Blois one day," says the Count de Rocham
beau, " and he maintained, as pretty nearly
an article of faith, that the representation in
the States-General should be divided into
three orders, as had been the case in the
States of 1 6 14. 'The States-General of
1614,' I replied, 'are to those of 1789 what
the first assembly of the peaceful founders of
the United States of America was to that at
the time of the Revolution. England has
committed an irremediable blunder. Let us

AFTER THE WAR. 153
not imitate her!' 'We have nothing to do
with Philadelphia here,' " bluntly rejoined the
Bishop.71 That Lafayette, young, ardent, and hope
ful, should have thought of the United States
even amid the stir of his country's affairs is
comprehensible; but that a conservative old
soldier like Rochambeau, should at such a time
have alluded to American example and de
sired innovation, is remarkable and ominous.
Necker finally solved a part of this prob
lem before him by deciding that there be at
least a thousand deputies to the States-Gen
eral; that the basis of the elections be the
number of inhabitants in, and the amount of
taxes contributed by each bailliage; that the
Third Estate have a number of representa
tives equal to those of the other two orders
combined. The Commons had thus, and thus
far, gained the day, but neither the King nor
his minister had decided upon the vital ques-
" Mim. de Rochambeau, i. p. 342, "Je me trouvais un
jour avec FevSque de Blois, qui soutenait k peu pres comme
article de foi la representation par tiers des Etats de 1614.
Les Etats de 1614, lui repondis je sont a ceux de 1789 comme
les Etats-Unis d'Amerique lors de leur revolution etaient
a la premiere assembiee de leurs paisibles fondateurs. Les
Anglais ont fait une faute irremediable. Gardons, nous de
les imiter ! " " II n'est pas question ici de Philadelphie."

154 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
tion, — the mode of voting. They thought
it prudent to leave this to time and to the
occasion. During the two years that elapsed be
tween the Assembly of the Notables and
the meeting of the States-General, riots and
violence raged in province and city, and as
though man were not sufficiently tried by
these woes, nature, too, added to the con
fusion, and refused him warmth and food by
reason of the severity of her winters and the
poverty of her crops.
The press teemed with works on general
politics and government, on constitutions and
rights, and pamphlets fell upon the land nu
merous as autumn leaves in the forest shades
of Vallombrosa.
The influence of America is traceable in
this mighty fermentation, amid this great
clamor of voices, among the numberless books,
pamphlets and periodical publications of those
stormy years. " Paris is full of salons," wrote
Saint Lambert. " Some want a government
like that of England, others a federative re
public. A few are eager for a democracy, a
still smaller number desire an aristocracy." n
72 CEuvres phil. de Saint Lambert, (Paris, an IX.) vol. v.
p. 357. " Paris est plein de Salons. Les uns veulent quel-

AFTER THE WAR. 155
" Nantes is as enflamme in the cause of
liberty as any town in France can be." These
are the words of Arthur Young, the philo
sophic traveller then,. 1788, passing through
France and jotting down his views in his
Diary. " The conversations I witnessed here
prove how great a change is effected in the
minds of the French, nor do I believe it pos
sible for the present government to last half a
century longer unless the clearest and most
decided talents are at the helm. The Amer
ican revolution has laid the foundation for an-
que chose qui resemble au gouvernement. d'Angleterre;
d'autres, une republique federative; quelques uns une sorte
de democratic; ceux la., mais en petit nombre, une aristo-
cratie." Arthur Young, Travels in France, Dublin, 1793,
vol. i. p. 190. Compare Due de Levis, De F opinion pub.
en France, & Fipoque de la Revolution, {in Souvenirs and
Portraits). " L'esprit d'innovation, traversant 1'Atlantiq.ue
s'arretait avec complaisance sur I'Amerique septentrionale
 dans cette vaste contree plus de rois, plus de no
blesse, point de religion dominante, on pouvait done se
passer de ces institutions" (p. 317). Barere, in his Mi
moires, tells us that in 1788, he was wont to go to the salon
of the Duchess d'Anville, the mother of the Duke de La
Rochefoucauld. Here he met Condorcet, Jefferson, Lafay-
'ette, Mazzei, the Duke de La Rochefoucauld Liancourt, the
Duke de Rohan Chabot and others. " On paria beaucoup
des Americains et de leur Constitution perfectiohnee."
America was frequently a subject of conversation, (tome i.
chap. xiii. pp. 376, 377). See also tome i. xlvi. p. 402, where
Barere informs us that even in the classic Lycee of La
Harpe, the conversation would run upon American subjects.

156 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
other in France if the government does not
take care of itself."
"Ideas of liberty," Lafayette wrote to
Washington in 1787, « have spread rapidly
since the American Revolution."73
"Good works for the past thirty years,"
La Rochefoucauld wrote to Franklin, "and
your good example for the last fourteen have
enlightened us much."74 Mirabeau in his
" Adresse aux Bataves sur le Stadthouderat "
alluded to the rights of man as they are com
pactly contained and succinctly stated in the
Constitution of the United States.75 "Why
have they succeeded? " asked an author of this
period, referring to the Americans. " Because
they fought for their liberty. ' Ought not the
sovereigns of Europe tremble lest their sub
jects imitate the example of these brave
Americans " ? 76
73 Mim. et Corres. de Lafayette, tome ii. 207.
74 Franklin's Works, (ed. Sparks,) x. p. 355.
76 Mirabeau/, CEuvres, (ed. Vermorel,) tome ii. p. 1 51.
"Ces droits, base commune, base eternelle de toute asso
ciation politique; epars dans votre constitution, plus ras-
sembles dans celle de I'Amerique. '"
73 Lettres hist. poi. et crit. par le chevalier de Metter
nich (1788-1794). "Pourquoi ont ils reussi ?' C'est qu'ils
combattaient pour leur liberte. ' Les souverains de l'Europe
ne doivent ils pas trembler que leurs sujets n'imitent pas
l'exemple de ces braves Americains?" — Under date 1779,

AFTER THE WAR. 157
Three works appearing at this time on
America and American affairs attracted con
siderable attention. The first was entitled
" Recherches historiques et politiques sur les '
Etats Unis de I'Amerique Septentrionale,"
"Par un Citoyen de Virginie," "Avec Quatre
Lettres d'un Bourgeois de New Heaven sur
I'unite de la legislation." This four-volume
work from the pen of Mazzei and Condorcet
is historical, speculative and controversial.
It is controversial when it confutes the errors
of the works of Raynal, Mably and Chastellux
on America; it is speculative when Condorcet
the " Bourgeois de New Heaven " advocates
the unicameral system of' legislation; and,
lastly, it is historical when in its pages we
read ofthe rise, development and present state
of the different members of the Union. The
periodicals of the time, almost without ex
ception, reviewed a production coming from
two men then well known in Parisian circles.
The " Mercure de France " was very liberal
in tone in noticing the work, quoted exten
sively from Jefferson on religious freedom,
and praised American institutions.77 The
pp. 106, 107. Compare also Annie Littiraire, 1785, lettre
vi. vol. iii.
" Mercure de France, 23 Fev., and Mars, 1788.

158 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
"Journal de Paris," after speaking of the
advantages enjoyed by the United States,
continued as follows: "Their wisdom has
established two principles unknown before
them in practice and perhaps also in the
ory.78 In the first place they prefaced the
establishment of their Constitution by a Dec
laration of Rights, that is to say by a state
ment of those natural rights of man upon
which the legislative power cannot rightfully
infringe. In the second place they have not
looked upon their Constitution as immutable.
They have felt the necessity there was of
establishing a form according to which the
Constitution could at all times be legally and
peaceably amended." 79
73 Journal de Paris, " II doivent k leur sagesse d'av
oir etabli deux principes inconnus avant eux dans la pra
tique & peut etre dans la theorie, l'un de faire preceder
l'etablissement de leur Constitution par une Declaration
des Droits; c'est a dire par une exposition des droits natu
rels de I'homme auxquels l'autorite legislative elle meme
ne peut legitimement porter atteinte; l'autre de ne pas re-
garder la Constitution etablie, comme devant toujours sub-
sister, & d'avoir senti la necessite de fixer une forme apres
laquelle la Constitution puisse etre dans tous les tems lega-
lement et paisiblement changee (29 Jan., 1788, p. 181).
Compare for other notices of the work, Journal Gin. de
France, 6 Mai, 1788; Journal des Sgavans, Juin, 1788.
73 For further proofs of the interest America inspired,
see Mercure de France, 23 Aout, 1788. " Dans les circon-

AFTER THE WAR. 159
The second work of marked importance
that appeared at about this time on American
institutions was one by John Adams, entitled
" Defense of the Constitutions of Government
of the United States of America," and soon
after translated into French under the title,
" Apologie des Constitutions des Etats Unis."
It was the purpose of the author to prove,
against Turgot and Mably, that the American
State Constitutions were wise in establishing
distinct executive, legislative, and judiciary
departments, and that they thereby main
tained that balance of power without which
there is no permanent civil liberty.
After a thorough examination of the consti
tutions and a theoretical consideration of what
constitutes a republic, Mr. Adams turned to
the field of experience and endeavored to
prove that the pure democratic state like
that dreamt of by French philosophers was
neither feasible nor desirable. The " Apol
ogie " of Mr. Adams, which in its English
form was in America by many looked upon
as too Anglican in tone, seems never to
have enjoyed great currency in France. It
stances actuelles, quand tous les yeux sont tourne vers
I'Amerique Septentrionale, ou s'est levee une nouvelle
Puissance " (p. 187).

160 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
was shortly followed by a work said to be
from the pen of William- Livingston, Gov
ernor of New Jersey, that bore on its title
page, " Examen du Gouvernement d'Angle
terre compare aux Constitutions des Etats
Unis, oh l'on refute quelques assertions con-
tenues dans l'ouvrage de M. Adams 'Apologie
des Constitutions des Etas Unis ' et dans celui
de M. Delolme, etc., par Un Cultivateur de
New Jersey." Translated by Fabre, and co
piously annotated by Condorcet, Dupont de
Nemours, and Gallois, the work produced a
great impression. It well might. It advocated
republicanism, the abolition of caste, the free
dom of the press, and the government of the
people by the people. The " Mercure de
France " stated that the governor's pamphlet
would prove more useful to Europeans than
to the Americans who had already arrived at
a higher degree of political perfection.80
"It is to this people that we owe almost all
so Mercure de France, 23 Mai, 1789: "Aux nations que
le concours de lumieres et de circonstances n'a pas portees
au meme degre" de perfection politique" (p. 155). "C'est
encore k ce peuple que nous devons presque toutes nos
lumieres sur le constitution des Empires, et l'influence
morale que cette partie de I'Amerique a exercee sur l'Eu
rope justifie bien ces mots d'un grand homme, ' Ce peuple
est l'espoir du Genre Humain, il peut en devenir le modele.' "

AFTER THE WAR. 161
our knowledge of the constitutions of nations.
The moral influence which this part of Amer
ica has exerted upon Europe well justifies these
words of a great man, ' This is a people which
is the hope of the human race. It can become
its model.' "
The " Journal de Paris," too, passed favor
ably upon the new work, and made it the oc
casion for the remark, that even when the
Americans discussed nothing but their inter
ests they " could not fail to give many a use
ful lesson to Europe." 81
The learned Mounier, in his book on " Gov
ernments," then published, proves how great
the influence of Livingston's pamphlet was by
the very bitterness of his criticism upon it.82
81 Journal de Paris, Fev. 13, 1789: "Les Americains
en ne parlant que de leurs interSts peuvent donner des
lejons utiles k l'Europe" (p. 196).
82 Mounier, Considerations sur les Gouvernements (Paris,
1789): "Les opinions en France sont trSs souvent des opin
ions de mode qui changent et se repandent aussi subite-
ment que les varietes dans les costumes. II y a peu de
temps que sur la foi de quelques Ecrivains on professait
de l'admiration la plus outree pour la constitution d'An
gleterre. Aujourd'hui on affecte de la mepriser d'apres
un auteur Americain rempli de contradictions " (p. 46).
On influence of Livingston's work, see furthermore, Un-
tersuchungen iiber die franz. Revolution, von Aug. W.
Rehberg, 1793, band ii. 65. See also on decline of English
influence, Lally Tollendal, Seconde Lettre a, ses Commet-
tants, Jan., 1790 (p. 8).

162 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
" Opinions in France," said the staunch ad
mirer of British monarchy, "are very often
opinions of fashion that change and spread
just as suddenly as would different styles of
dress. It is but a short time ago that, adopt
ing the views of some writers, people in gen
eral were exceedingly loud in their admiration
for the English Constitution. To-day, after*
having read an American author who is full
of contradictions, they affect to slight it."
The elections to the States-General went
on meanwhile amidst the wildest excitement;
the cahiers, or lists of grievances, were drawn
up in all the cities and districts of the country;
politicians and pamphleteers spoke and wrote,
and every Frenchman, from the liberal prince
in his palace to the valet in his ante-room,
seemed to think of nothing but of constitu
tions and rights. Among the numerous pam
phlets 83 of the time, two were especially pop-
83 Two of the ephemeral publications of this time contain
allusions to America. One is entitled Considirations
sur les Affaires prisentes par M. (Mignonneaux), Paris &
Londres, 1788, 2nd edition, (Bibl. de 1' Arsenal, Paris, No.
7l89hi!)- " L'independance de I'Amerique semblait nous
ouvrir une-vaste et nouvelle carriere mais nous n'en avons
encore que peu profit... Je sais que nombre de personnes
pensent que cet inconvenient est sans remede mais je sais
aussi que le ceiebre Franklin et d'autres Americains edai-

AFTER THE WAR. 163
ular. The first of these, entitled " Memoire
sur les Etats Generaux," was by the Count
d'Entraigues, advocated a system of govern
ment similar to that of Great Britain and
sufficiently indicated the boldnes of its tone
by the boldness of its epigraph: " We prom
ise to obey you if you maintain our rights
and privileges. If you do not maintain them
we refuse obedience." In the course of this
work, the Count lauded the opposition mem
bers who in the British Parliament had sus
tained the right of insurrection as proclaimed
and acted upon by America.84
res pensent le contraire" (p. 117). The other, entitled Le
Marechal de Richelieu aux Champs Elysies, 1788," is a
pamphlet praising Louis. XVI. for his interference in the
American war. The Marechal is represented telling the
Cardinal in heaven what is going on in France. "Une
nation faible qui conservait le sentiment genereux de la
liberte dans les chaines du despotisme releve sa tete ap-
pesantie, pousse un eri gemissant vers le Trone des Bour
bons. Bient6t le Prince Citoyen deploye l'etendard de la
guerre et couvre l'ocean de vaisseaux non pour etendre les
limites' de son Empire mais pour rendre a un faible opprime
la liberte, le premier droit de I'homme et le plus precieux
de tous ses biens " (p. 9).
84 " En Angleterre l'insurrection est permise; elle serait
sans doute legitime si le Parlement detruisait lui mgme
une constitution que ses lois doivent conserver." Then
follows the note " Le Lord Abington  exposait a ce
sujet les vrais principes quand, s'opposant aux motions d'un
parti vendu a la cour & qui entrainait l'Angleterre dans

164 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
The second of these pamphlets bore the
title: " Quest ce que le Tiers Etat ? " came
from the cold, logical brain ofthe Abbe Sieyes,
and maintained the thesis that the Third Es
tate was everything, that hitherto it had, in
a political sense, been considered as nothing,
and that it now desired to be something.85
des mesur'es qui lui ont fait perdre I'Amerique il proposa
aux citoyens qui pensaient comme lui- de sortir a l'instant
du Parlement mais apres avoir pfoteste," (p. 19). Compare
also a pamphlet entitled " Un plebeian a Mr. le Comte
d'Entraigues " (p. 27), in Opuscules Politiques d' Entraigues
(Collection at the Bibliotheque de l'Arsenal, Paris, No. -^M.
Compare also Morellet's L'Avis de Francklin aux faiseurs
de Constitutions 1789, for further proofs that America still
had influence in high circles. This production is to be
found in CEuvres de Morellet, tome iii. p. 75.
86 Qu'est ce que le Tiers Etat? 3ieme ed., Paris, 1789, 180
pp. chap. iv. Men in France, said the Abbe,' were in
clined either to stick stubbornly to the old institutions or
rashly bent upon imitating those of other nations. " Qu'on
ne s'etonne done pas de voir une Nation, ouvrant k peine
les yeux a la lumiere, se tourner vers l'Angleterre et vouloir
la prendre peur modele en tout. II serait bien a desirer, a
ce moment, que quelque bon ecrivain s'occupat de nous
eclairer sur les deux questions suivantes: la Constitution
Britannique est elle bonne en elle m6me ? Lors mfime
qu'elle serait bonne peut elle convenir a la France ? " (p.
97). Then follows this note — " Depuis la premiere edition
de cet ecrit, il a paru un excellent ouvrage qui remplit, a
peu de chose pres, le vceu que je formais ici." C'est "l'Ex-
amen du Gouvernement d'Angleterre compare aux Con
stitutions des Etats Unis" (brochure de 291 pages).

AFTER THE WAR. 165
The Abbe demanded for his country neither
a Constitution like that of Great Britain nor
one like that of the United States, yet, in the
third edition of his noted pamphlet, he referred
to Livingston's work as capable of giving a
valuable political lesson to his countrymen
and freeing them from the somewhat preva
lent illusion of the intrinsic excellence of the
British Constitution.86
We think that after this enumeration of
facts we can safely k-onclude, and thereby
close this chapter, that on the eve of the
States - General, amid the fray of opinions
and the struggle of influences, the example
of America was not lost on a country which
was then about to enter upon a new and
momentous epoch of its history.
88 On the slight influence of Great Britain see also, Mallet
Du Pan, Memoirs, (Eng. Ed. London, 1852). "The lessons
afforded by the constitution and history of England had
failed, equally with the precepts of Montesquieu, to coun
teract, in the minds of the French people, the intoxicating
effect of those democratic notions promulgated by Rousseau _
with so much enthusiasm, and to which the revolution in
North America had given such formidable support." (i.
p. 163.)

CHAPTER IV.,
AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY.
It was a grand sight, on the 5th of May,
1789, to see the eleven hundred and forty-five
members elected to the States-General, pass,
with Louis XVI. and his ministers at their
head, from the Church of N6tre Dame at
Versailles to the hall of meeting in the royal
palace. It was a grand sight to see, after so
long an interval, a great nation regain a part
of its rights, and thus meet in representative
assembly to discuss and decide upon the grave
questions of the time.
The King opened the proceedings with a
conciliatory speech, and Necker followed with
an address and a financial report, in the course
of which he did not fail to allude to the "guerre
dispendieuse," that had burdened the nation
with increased debts. The verification of the
writs of return was the first business that pre
sented itself to the assembled legislators. The
plebeian deputies in the States more than out-

AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 167
numbered the combined forces of the clergy
and nobility, and this evident numerical supe
riority gave them increased courage and as
surance. They occupied the great hall, and
they invited the other two orders to join them
and verify the writs in common. They hoped
thus to decide the open question as to the
manner of voting. The Nobility and Clergy,
however, declined the invitation of the Third
Estate, and retired to their separate chambers.
The Clergy then sent notice that it desired a
conference. The conference was held, but
ended in making only the more apparent
the depth of the chasm that lay between the
Commons on the one side, the Clergy and
Nobility on the other. The Third Estate per
sisted in its tacit obstruction, and declared that
it would not legislate until joined by the other
two parties of the States- General. In 1614
the Commons had presented their grievances
and petitions on bended knee; in 1789 they
were erect and defiant. Times had changed
and men had changed with them. For five
weeks they kept up their stubborn policy; for
five weeks the burning questions of the hour
were left undiscussed, and the friendly over
tures ofthe Court to establish harmony proved
entirely futile.

168 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
The people, goaded on by impatience, by
violent pamphleteers, by orators, by hate of
the nobles and the upper clergy, began to
raise their voices.
Mirabeau strove to calm his warm-blooded
constituents and wrote that no comparison
was to be drawn between the United States
and France.1 " If you take the Americans as
models, begin by annihilating the Nobility in
France and the Government. Next, establish
a single assembly of national representatives,
and a senate that shall take the place of the
monarch and his council."
" We expect of your sense of justice," ex
claimed "Le Vieux Tribun du Peuple," to
the Nobles, " that you will in the future no
longer class all the members of the Commons
under the denomination of hommes de rien.
The blood of an homme de rien like Franklin,
formerly a type-setter, or of Jean Jacques Rous
seau, the son of a watchmaker, the blood of
men who deserved to be. the legislators of a
» Courrier de Provence, Lettre de Mirabeau a ses Com-
mettants (vol. i., lettre iii. pp. 5, 11): "Si c'est les Ameri
cains que vous prenez pour modeles, commencez par ane-
antir en France la noblesse & le gouvernement; 1'tablissez
ensuite une assembiee unique de representants de la nation
& un senat qui tiendra lieu du monarque et de son conseil."
(Mai 12, 1789).

AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 169
free people, is it not well worth the blood of
kings polluted by all kinds' of outrage on
liberty ? " 2
On the ioth of June, the Third Estate be
gan to grow weary of its negative course;
Sieyes and Mirabeau spoke boldly in favor
of action, and the meeting decided that it
would proceed to verify the writs of return
not only for its own members', but for the ab
sent nobles and ecclesiastics.
This revolutionary step brought- over a
number of the Clergy and was the* prelude to
another and still more revolutionary move.
On the 17th of June, the Commons de
clared themselves to be the " National As-

8 Le Vieux Tribun du Peuple, 1789, i. p. 8: " On doit
attendre de votre justice que vous ne confondrez plus k
l'avenir tous ses (Commons) membres sans la denomination
d' hommes. de rien; le sang d'un homme de rien, qui aurait
merite comme Franklin, jadis compagnon imprimeur, ou
comme J. J. Rousseau, fils d'un Horloger, le; nom d'un
Legislateur d'un peuple libre, ne vaudroit il done pas le sang
des Rois, souille de tous les attentats de, la tyrannie ? "
For other allusions, to America at this critical time, com
pare Journal de Lyon, 6, 13, 27 Mai, 1789; 10, 25 Juin; 8,
22 Juillet; 5 Aout, 1789: "Vous n'ignorez pas qu'il se tient a
present une convention ou tous les gouvernements ont en
voye pour delegues leurs meilleurs tetes a fin de corriger
et d'affermir la confederation generale  On doit tout
attendre de cet esprit de philosophie et d'humanite qui regne
aujourd'hui et qui dirige la politique," {Ibid. 13 Mai, 1789).

170 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
sembly." The term had long been popular;
the Commons now made it more than a term,
they made it a living institution. Jefferson,
the embodiment of American ideas in France,
was not a stranger to the measures that were
now taken by the National Assembly, nor
without influence upon some of its prominent
members. Indeed, the Duke of Dorset, the
British ambassador at Versailles, thought that
the American's hand could be plainly seen in
the great game that was playing between the
popular classes on the one side and the priv
ileged classes on the other. Here are the
words he wrote to Mr. Pitt on July 9th,
1789:3 " Mr. Jefferson, the American Minister at
this court, has been a great deal consulted by
the principal leaders of the tiers etat; and I
have great reason to think that it was owing
to his advice that order called itself IS Assem
biee NationaleS'
The Virginian's hospitable house was the
meeting-place for such men as Duport, La
fayette, Rabaut de Saint Etienne, Barnave
Alexandre de Lameth, and others. The de
ference which they paid their host more than
justified his modest words: " I was much
3 Tomline, Life of Pitt, vol. ii. p. 266.

AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 171
*
acquainted with the leading patriots of the
Assembly. Being from a. country which had
successfully passed through a similar refor
mation, they were disposed to my acquaint
ance and had some confidence in me."4
The revolutionary body had thus proclaimed
itself the sole legitimate representative assem
bly of France, and announced that it would
proceed to solve the questions that involved
the liberty and welfare of the people. An
other fragment of the Clergy joined the pop
ular part of the States, and thereby increased
their authority. The King, the Court, and the
ministers were thoroughly alarmed. The con
duct of the Commons was unprecedented.
Their sessions were forthwith suspended for
a period of three days by royal command.
In spite of this proclamation, the Assem
bly, with its President at its head, proceeded
4 Jefferson, Mem. and Corres. (ed; Randolph) i. 75. As
indications of Jefferson's personal magnetism may be noted
the life-long friendship such men as Barbe-Marbois and De
stutt de Tracy kept up with him. The former chose as the
epigraph for his Journal d'un Deporte, Jefferson's line,
" The violation of laws never remains unpunished." The
latter wrote in the " Avertissemeht " of his Commentaire
sur V Esprit des Lois de Montesquieu (Paris, 1822), "Cet
ouvrage existe depuis plus de douze ans. Je.l'avais ecrit
pour M. Jefferson, I'homme de deux mondes que je respecte
le plus."

172 AMERICA AND FRANCE, m
to the usual hall of meeting. When, on
arriving there, the revolutionary represen
tatives found that a guard with crossed
bayonets refused them entrance, they re
tired, nothing daunted, to a neighboring ten
nis-court and there took solemn oath that
they would not separate until they had es
tablished the constitution of their country
upon a firm foundation. Again the King
strove to prevent a meeting, and again it
took place, this time swelled in numbers by
new recruits from the ranks of the Clergy.
Here, thought the Court, is danger. Louis
XVI., on the next day, held a royal sitting
in. the Assembly. He severely reprimanded
the members; ordered them- to immediately
adjourn; commanded them to meet on the
morrow in their separate chambers. He
closed his remarks with something like a
menace, and then he withdrew. The No
bility and the Clergy followed him. The
Third Estate remained, and when, shortly
after, the King's Master of Ceremonies re
appeared, he found them where he had
left them. " You have heard the orders of
the King, messieurs!" said he." "Yes," re
plied the President, " and I am now to take
those of the Assembly." Then the fiery Mi-

AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 173
rabeau arose and exclaimed, " Yes, monsieur,
we have heard the King's intentions, and you,
who have no seat or voice in this Assembly,
are no fit organ of communication to remind
us of his speech. Return and tell your mas
ter that we are here by the power of the peo
ple, and that nothing short of the bayonet
shall drive us hence ! " The Master of the
Ceremonies left the hall; the Assembly de
liberated. It solemnly decreed the inviola
bility of its members. On the 24th of June,
another deputation from the Clergy joined
the Commons; on the 2 5th, forty-seven of
the Nobility imitated their example. Among
them we note Alexandre de Beauharnais,5
Claude Victor de Broglie,6 Alexandre de '
Lameth,7 Noailles,8 and Custine,9 all of whom
had fought in America. We note, further
more, in this band of liberal nobles, La Roche
foucauld,10 the friend of Franklin, Duport,11
the friend of Jefferson, and D'Aiguillon,12 the
6 Biog. Gin. art. Beauharnais, iv. 920.
8 Biog. Gin. art. V. de Broglie, vii. 478.
' Biog. -Gen. art. A. de Lameth, xxix. 207.
8 Biog. Gin., art. Noailles, xxxviii. 142.
9 Biog. Gen. art. Custine, xii. 660. v
n> Biog. Gin. art. La Rochefoucauld, xxix. 649.
" Biog. Gin. art. Duport (A.), xv. 352.
13 Biog. Gin. art, d'Aiguillon, i. 458.

174 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
friend of Lafayette. Charles de Lameth,13
and A. B. de Mirabeau,14 styled " Tonneau,"
though they were Cincinnati, did not join
the Commons, while Lafayette remained with
the Nobles, in order the more readily to per
suade them to yield to the popular wishes.16
The court party now thought best to fol
low the direction of popular opinion. Ac
cordingly, on the 27th of June, 1789, at
the King's request, the Nobility and Clergy
finally decided to unite with the National
Assembly. They were cordially received, the
legislative body added the word "Consti-
tuante" to its title, and prepared to enter
upon the serious work of making a funda
mental law for the land.
The Commons had carried their point, and
there was a great shout of exultation in the
popular press.
"I told you, O people of France! that it
would be so! You must needs triumph over
tyranny and tyrants! It was your bounden
13 Biog. Univ. art. Charles de Lameth, xxiii. 83, 84. Com
pare, however, Biog. Gin. xxix. 208.
" Biog. Gin. art. A. B. de Mirabeau, xxxv. 645.
15 Buchez et Roux: Hist. part, dela Riv.fr ang., tome ii.
p. 27, note. See a somewhat different explanation of La
fayette's course in a letter from Jefferson to Jay (Randall's
Jefferson, vol. i. p. 526).

AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 175
duty to erect the grand edifice of your glory
and your prosperity on the ruins of courtly
and ministerial despotism and aristocracy.
After having served as the ally to the liber
ty of America, it was your business to give
astonished Europe the example of liberty in
France ! " 16
" How glorious would it be for France,
for us," said Mirabeau in the Assembly, after
the union, " were this great Revolution to
cost humanity neither crimes nor tears. The
smallest States have often not been able to
buy a shadow of liberty save at the price of
most precious blood. Even America, whose
freedom, our handiwork, the tutelary genius
of the Universe seems to-day desirous of re
warding, even America did not enjOy this
blessing until she had sustained bloody re
verses and long combats." 17
10 L ' Orateur des Etats Gineraux, (Paris, 1789), Seconde
Partie: "Je l'avais dit, Peuple Francais! Vous deviez tri-
ompher de la tyrannie et des tyrans. Vous deviez elever
le grand edifice de votre gloire et de votre prosperite sur
les ruines du despotisme et . de l'aristocratie aulique et.
ministerielle. Apres avoir servi d'auxilliaire a la liberte
de I'Amerique vous deviez donner a l'Europe etonne l'ex-
emple de la liberte en France! " (p. 4).
17 Moniteur Universal, Seance du 27 Juin, 1789. " Qu'il
sera glorieux pour la France, pour nous,. que cette grande
revolution ne coute a l'humanite ni des forfaits ni des

176 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
These fears were proved to be not without
foundation, for but a short time after, the
Court, impotent against the Assembly, dis
missed the popular Necker and concentrated
an army of foreign mercenaries around Paris.
The struggle was to begin. French liberty
was to be purchased, as liberty has always
been, at the cost of terrible suffering and
blood. No sooner was the news abroad that
the troops were on the move and that Necker
was out of power than people of the capital
became everywhere wild with anger; but it
was in the Saint Antoine quarter and in the
garden of the Palais Royal that the popular
larmes! Les plus petits Etats n'ont souvent achete un
ombre de liberie qu'aux prix du sang le plus precieux ....
L'Amerique meme dont le . genie tutelaire des mondes
semble recompenser aujourd'hui l'affranchissement qui est
notre ouvrage n'a joui de ce bien inestimable, qu'apres des
revers sanglans et des combats longs et douteux." In the
Lettres d M. le Comte de B. . . sur la Rivolution arrivie
en i/Sp, a work ascribed to the royalist Duplain de Sainte
Albine, I find words somewhat similar to those of Mira
beau; at any rate, men, in the crisis, thought of America.
In the very first of the above letters, dated 12 July, 1789,
(vol. i. p. 3) we read: " L'Amerique Septentrionale, Mon
sieur le Comte, n'a secoue le joug de la Metropole qu'apres
huit a dix annees d'une guerre desastreuse; elle n'a re-
couvre sa liberte qu'apres avoir perdu l'elite de son peuple.
Cette heureuse revolution vient de s'operer en un moment
en France et nos fers sont brise sans que nous ayons a
regretter la perte de cent hommes."

AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 177
agitation was at its greatest height. Dense
and loud-shouting crowd's gathered about
favorite demagogues, and oaths and menaces
mingled in fearful confusion in response to
their inflammatory harangues. One man,
had he the initiative, the daring and the
words, could now weld this fierce but con
fused mass of human wrath into one and
hurl it against the hated institutions of the
past. That man was .Camille Desmoulins. On
the 1 2th of July, 1789, excited, out of breath,
pistol-in-hand, he mounted upon a table, un
der the shades of the Palais Royal garden,
and shouted to the surging and tumultuous
crowd about him 18 — •" Citizens, not a mo
ment's to be lost. I come from Versailles.
Necker is dismissed. That dismissal is the
18 Camille Desmoulins, Le Vieux Cordelier, No. v.
{CEuvres, Paris, 1879, v°l- "¦ PP- 49, 5°) — "Citoyens! il
n'y a pas un moment a perdre. J'arrive de Versailles. M.
Necker est renvoye; ce renvoi est le tocsin d'une Saint
Barthelemi de patriotes: ce soir tous les bataillons suisses
et allemands sortiront du Champ de Mars pour nous egor-
ger. II ne nous reste qu'une ressource, c'est de courir
aux armes et de prendre de cocardes pour nous reconnaitre
Qu'elles couleurs voulez vous? Voulez vous le vert, couleur
de l'esperance, ou le bleu de Cincinnatus, couleur de la
liberie d'Amerique et de la democratic ? " Cited also by
Chamfort {CEuvres, ii. p. 189). There is a slightly different
version in Desmoulins' letter to his father, {CEuvres, ii.
p. 92).

178 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
tocsin of a Saint Bartholomew of patriots.
To-night all the Swiss and German batallions
will come out from the Champ de Mars and
cut our throats! There is but one resource
left us. Let us rush to arms ! Let us adopt
a cockade as a badge ! What colors will you
choose? Do you want the green, the color
of hope, or the blue, the color of Cincinnatus,
the color of American liberty and democracy."
The crowd adopted .the green, but the
fact remains that even in that terrible moment
the thought of American freedom rushed to
the memory of young Desmoulins. Two
days later, on July 14, 1789, the maddened
mob attacked the Bastille. Ethis de Corny,
a Cincinnatus, a friend of Washington and
a correspondent of Hamilton, was sent by
the populace to the Governor demanding his
surrender. He did not accede to this de
mand. The crowd stormed the old strong
hold of despotism and it fell.19 Lafayette
sent Washington the key.
While the contest between the old time
institutions and the aspirations of the new
were thus raging in the streets, the Abb6
Gregoire spoke of rights and liberties in the
» Biog. Univ. tome ix. pp. 251, 252. Hamilton's Works,
vol. i. p. 197.

AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 179
hall of the Assembly.20 "Reason is extend
ing its empire," he said. "It is going to
consecrate the respective rights of a nation
that idolizes its king and who will in turn find
his firmest support in the love of his people.
Ah, were it necessary again to bend our
necks to the yoke, it were preferable, doubt
less, to flee, with a beloved minister, to the
fastnesses of Helvetia or toward the shores of
Boston upon which illustrious French knights
have aided in planting the banner of liberty!"
The fall of the Bastille was the strongest
indication of the people's strength. The Court
inclined its head to the decrees of the inevita
ble. The troops were dismissed from Ver
sailles; Necker was recalled; the King came
to Paris. The Bourbon even donned the
20 Moniteur Universel, Seance du 14 Juillet, 1789. "La
raison etend son empire, elle resplendit de toute part;
elle va consacrer les droits respectifs d'une Nation idolatre
de son monarque qui_dans l'amour de son peuple trouvera
son plus ferme appui. Ah s'il fallait de nouveau nous courber
sous le joug, il vaudrait mieux sans doute fuir avec un min-
istre cheri au sein de l'Helvetie ou vers les rivages de Bos
ton, sur lesquels d'illustres chevaliers frangais ont aide a
planter l'etendard de la liberte." Marlin in his Petite
Histoire de France, and writing about 1 791, echoes the
sentiment ofthe Abbe Gregoire: "Si nous retombions dans
la servitude, mon parti est pris, pour moi et les miens: mes
mains, decharges de chaines, iront cultiver quelques ar-
pents des deserts americains," (tome ii. 259).

180 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
revolutionary cockade in the Hotel de Ville,
and the mob greeted this act with frantic
applause. But the high nobility, who saw
that the era of their unquestioned power was
departed forever, began to emigrate. They
left their sovereign and his family in the su
preme hour of danger and from abroad fo
mented war against their country. The hate
of the masses blazed hot not only against
them but against all nobles, and between the
14th of July and the 4th of August 1789,
the Revolution, no longer Parisian in extent,
spread like a prairie-fire into the provinces,
attacked, pillaged and burnt chateaux and
pursued and murdered unpopular officials.
While these scenes of confusion were being
enacted throughout the country, the Constitu
ent Assembly was pursuing its work. On
the night of the 4th of August, in a moment of
enthusiasm mingled with alarm, the Viscount
de Noailles proposed the abolition of all ex
clusive seignorial rights and immunities and
the redemption, at a valuation, of all feudal
dues and privileges. The Duke d'Aiguillon
supported this motion, and said in the course
of his lengthy remarks: "Let us follow the
example of English America, composed exclu
sively of proprietors who know not what a

AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 181
feudal tenure is." 21 The motion of the Vis
count de Noailles and the adoption of the
measure he proposed called forth an open let
ter from the publicist Cerutti. Here are its
opening sentences:22
" Allow me, Monsieur le Vicomte, to com
municate to you a rapid genealogy of the
events which are now transpiring for our hap
piness. I date the French Revolution from
the moment when M. de Lafayette in heroic
flight rushed forth from our ports and, in a
way, opened to the young soldiers of France
the school of American liberty. It was there,
as Mr. Jefferson has very well said, that our
great battles were fought. In favoring the
21 Mon. Univ., Seance du 4 Aoiit, 1789. " Suivons l'ex-
emple de I'Amerique Anglaise, uniquement composee de
proprietaires qui ne connaissent aucune trace de la feudal-
ite." 22 Cerutti, Lettre A M. le Vicomte de Noailles sur sa
Motion du 4 Ao&t (Paris, 1789). " Permettez moi, Monsieur
le Vicomte, de vous communiquer la genealogie rapide des
evenemens aux quels nous devons notre salut. Je date la
revolution francaise, du moment oil Mr. de la Fayette, par
une fuite heroique, s'elancant de nos ports, ouvrit, en
quelque sorte, aux jeunes guerriers de France, l'ecole de la
liberte americaine. C'est la, comme l'a tres bien dit M.
Jefferson, que se sont Iivrees nos grandes batailles. En
favorisant la delivrance des Treize Etats Unis nous avons
prepare la notre. Les. mains valeureuses qui ont servi a
briser une chaine tyrannique, n'etaient pas faites pour la
porter longtemps " (pp. 3, 4).

182 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
freedom ofthe thirteen United States, we have
prepared our own. The valiant hands that
served to break a tyrannic chain were not
made to bear one a long time themselves."
Even before the eventful night of the
4th of August, the Assembly had taken
under consideration a Declaration of the
Rights of Man which Avas to preface their
Constitution. Lafayette was its leading advo
cate; those who had served in America were,
almost without exception, in favor of it; and
the idea itself was generally looked upon as
of American origin.23 Some of the members
urged its adoption before the draft of the
Constitution; others thought the Declaration
should not be issued until after the Constitu
tion had been completed. Let us listen to
the ' speeches of the debaters. They prove
that American influence held them as by a
magic chain.
Lally Tollendal, while supporting Lafay-
23 Mim. de Lafayette, tome iv. p. 240, et Appendix.
Jefferson, Mem. and Corr. (ed. Randolph,) vol. i. p. 90.
Dumont in Souvenirs sur Mirabeau, (p. 97), calls the
Declaration " une idee americaine." Biog. Univ. tome xx.
p. 451. Mim de Weber, i. 129. Mim de Bouille i. p. 102,
vol. ii. pp. 131, 183. Barruel, Hist du Jacobinisme, vol. v.
p. 311. Georgel, Mimoires, ii. 336. Recueil d' Opinions,
par Stanislas de Clermont-Tonnerre, tome iv. pp. 124, 125.
Mercure de France' 29 Jan., 1791.

AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 183
ette's motion, warned his hearers to beware of
following too closely the example of a republic.
" I beg you to reflect," said he, " how enor
mous is the difference between an infant
people which has just been announced to
the world, a colonial people, that has broken
the bonds of a distant government, and an
ancient, mighty and leading people that four
teen hundred years ago gave itself a form of
government and which since eight centuries
obeys the same dynastic line! " u The Arch-.
bishop of Bordeaux supported Lafayette on
this question of the Declaration. " This noble
idea," said he, " conceived in another hemis
phere, necessarily and by preference came
over to us. We have taken part in the
events that have given North America its
liberty, and North America shows us upon
what principles we must insist in order to
preserve our own." 25
24 "Je vous prie de songer combien la difference est
enorme d'un peuple naissant quis'annonce a l'univers, d'un.
peuple colonial qui rompt les liens d'un gouvernement
eioigne, a un peuple antique.immense, Fun des premiers du
monde, qui depuis quatorze cent ans se donnait une forme
de gouvernement, qui depuis huit siecles obeit a la meme
dynastie." — Buchez et Roux, Hist. pari, de la Riv. fran-
gaise, ii. p. 80.
2= Moniteur Univ., Seance du 27 Juillet, 1789. "Cette
noble idee concue dans une autre hemisphere devoit de

184 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
Count Mathieu de Montmorency, who had
fought for the liberty of the United States,
now spoke energetically for the liberty of his
own country. He desired, first of all, a Dec
laration like the one of Philadelphia. "It is
important to declare the rights of man before
the constitution, because the constitution is
nothing but the sequence, the end of this
Declaration. This is a truth which the exam
ple of America, and of many other peoples* as
well as the speech of the Archbishop of Bor
deaux have rendered very plain  Let
us follow the example of the United States.
They have given a great example to the new
hemisphere. Let us give it to the universe ! " 26
preference se transporter parmi nous. Nous avons con-
couru aux evenements qui ont rendu a I'Amerique Sep-
tentrionale sa liberte; elle nous montre sur quels principes
nous devons appuyer la conservation de la notre." Com
pare on the Archbishop and his admiration of America,
Luchet, Les Contemporains de 1780 et Z7QO, tome i.
pp. 175. 176.
M Moniteur Univ., Seance du 1 Aout, 1789, " II est im
portant de declarer les droits de I'homme avant la con
stitution par ce que la constitution n'est que la suite n'est
que la fin de cette declaration. C'est une verite que les
exemples de I'Amerique et de bien d'autres peuples, que
le discours de M. I'Archeveque de Bordeaux ont rendue
sensible  Suivons l'exemple des Etats Unis; ils ont
donne un grand exemple au nouvel hemisphere; donnons
le k l'Univers ! "

AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 185
The Bishop of Auxerre was opposed to the
Declaration. " The example of America is
not conclusive," he said. "That country has
proprietors, religious creeds and citizens equal
before the law." The Bishop of Langres also
opposed it, but Barnave called it the " na
tional catechism." 27
Malouet thought that the oft-cited example
of America was not pertinent and could not be
followed in France. America, he argued, is a
new country. Proprietors there are not only
equal before the law, but little given to luxury,
ignorant of the extremes of poverty, lightly
taxed, free from prejudice, and possessors of
land without a trace of feudality. Such men
were made for a democracy, for declarations
of rights such as you propose them. We are
not.28 Mirabeau was against making the Declara
tion too abstract and metaphysical. Speak in
every-day language, he counseled, make your
Declaration plain.
2? Buchez et Roux, Hist. pari, de la Riv. fran. ii. 200.
CriniSre, deputy from Vendome, opposed the American
Declaration as not radical enough. "La declaration des
droits des Americains est ou une ineptie ou un attentat a
Ia Aiberte de I'homme."— LucSet, Les Contemporains de
1780 et 17QO, tome i. p 223.
28 Buchez et Roux, Hist. pari, de la Riv. f rang., ii. 201.

186 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
"Thus the Americans have made their Dec
larations of Rights. They purposely set aside
all scientific verbiage. They presented the
truths which it was their purpose to fix, in a
form that could be easily grasped by the peo
ple, whom alone liberty regards and who alone
can maintain it." 29
Rabaut de Saint Etienne, a correspondent
of Jefferson and one of the frequenters of his
house, pronounced himself in favor of the
Declaration, though with certain reservations.
" You have resolved upon a Declaration of
Rights," he said, on August 18, 1789, "be
cause your cahiers impose it as your duty, and
your cahiers mentioned it because France has
had America as its model. But for all that, it
must not be said that our Declaration should
be similar to the American. The circumstances
are different. America broke with a distant
metropolis. America was a new country that
destroyed all in order to renew all. And. yet
there is a point of resemblance between us.
Like the Americans we wish to regenerate."30
» Mirabeau, CEuvres (ed. Vermorel), iii. pp. 160, 161:
" C'est ainsi que les Americains ont fait leurs declarations de
droits, ils en ont a dessein ecarte la science; ils ont presente"
les verites politiques qu'il s'^issait de fixer, sans une forme
qui peut devenir facilement celle du peuple, a qui seuT la
liberte importe, et qui seul peut la maintenir."
so Moniteur Univ., Seance du 18 Aout, 1789: "Vous

AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 187
The Declaration of Rights, after long and
stormy debates, was adopted by the Assembly
which oh this point showed that it was mind
ful of American example. If the printed de
bates were, not there to prove our assertion,
we should nevertheless have the testimony to
this effectof two contemporaries.
Lacretelle says, in his " Histoire de 1' As
sembiee Constituante," "that while most of the
generals and officers who had taken part in
the American war followed the example of Mr.
de Lafayette, the Marquis de Bouille was ea
ger only to deliver the king from the yoke of
the Revolution." 31 It was an exception there
fore for a French Cincinnatus at that time to
oppose the liberal tendencies of the epoch.
avez adopte le parti de la declaration des droits parceque
Vos cahiers vous imposent le devoir de la faire;, et vos
cahiers vous en ont parle, parceque la France a eu pour
exemple I'Amerique. Mais que Ton ne dise pas pour cela
que notre declaration doit etre semblable. Les circonstances
ne sont pas les memes. Elle rompait avec une metropole
eloigne'e, c'etait un peuple nouveau qui detruisait tout poui
tout renouveller. Cependant il y a une circonstance qui nous
rapproche de leur revolution. C'est que comme les Amer
icains nous voulons nous regenerer."
31 Lacretelle, Hist, de FAssem. Const., ii. 95: "Tandis
que la plupart des generaux et officiers qui avaient pris
part a la guerre d'Amerique suivaient 1'exemple de Mr. de
Lafayette, le Marquis de Bouille ne respirait que pour de-
livrer le roi du joug de la Revolution."

188 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
" The greatest part of the gentlemen demo
crats who abandoned their order in 1789, who
joined the Commons, who proposed the Dec
laration of Rights, who directed the revolution
against the ancien regime, .... had made
their revolutionary studies in the United
States." 32 These are the words of Soulavie.
The National Constituent Assembly, in
framing a Constitution for the country, had
three systems of government before its eyes,
the system of Great Britain, the system of
the United States, the system of Rousseau.
There was Great Britain, with its King in
vested with the absolute veto and the right
32 Soulavie, Mim., iii. 411: " Le plus grand nombre des
democrates gentilhommes qui abandonnerent leur ordre
en 1789, qui se reunirent aux Communes, qui proposerent la
declaration des droits de I'homme, qui dirigerent la revolu
tion contre l'ancien gouvernement, .... avaient fait leurs
etudes revolutionnaires aux Etats Unis."
In a work published at Paris in 1792, by Barbier ascribed
to Dubois Crance, and entitled, Le Viritable Portrait de nos
Legislateurs, I find the following statement that coincides
with the view taken by Soulavie: " L'orage de la revolution
avait ete prevu et prepare par la minorite de la. noblesse; le
systeme du gouvernement anglais avait exalte les tetes de
nos jeunes patriciens, et la guerre de I'Amerique a laquelle
ils avaient pris part, avait acheve de fixer leurs idees. Aussi
a-t-on vu la Lafayette, les Lameth, Dumas, la Colombe, et
autres chevaliers de Cincinnatus les principaux agents des
manoeuvres qui ont si longtemps ballotte Topinion .pub
lique," pp. 42, 43, sub loco, Lafayette.

AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 189
of declaring peace and war; its House of Com
mons and House of Lords, forming a wellnigh
omnipotent Parliament; its cumulative Con
stitution; its Established Church; its restricted
suffrage; its trial by jury; its liberty of the
press and of speech. There was the federal
Republic of the United States which, unlike
Great Britain, had a written Constitution and
one that was avowedly amendable. The gov
ernment of this Republic was divided into
the executive, legislative and judiciary depart
ments which were distinct and separate. The
executive in the United States- had not, like
the King of Britain, the absolute veto, nor
the power of declaring peace and war, nor
the power of convoking the legislative bodies.
The American Congress was, unlike the Brit
ish Parliament, entirely elective, and elective
by a more unrestricted . suffrage, while it was,
at the same time, more limited in its powers
than the British Parliament. The American
Constitution, while including within its pro
visions the British bicameral representative
^system, and the Brish trial by jury and liberty
of the press, unlike Britain maintained abso
lute freedom in matters of religion.
The Democratic Republic of Rousseau and
his disciples was an aggregation of citizens

190 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
of every description with universal suffrage
frequent popular elections of every grade and
kind of functionary, and all power lodged in a
single legislative body. How far these three
systems influenced the French legislators can
be learned by following their debates and ex
amining the provisions which they voted.
This we will now proceed to do, listening
to the opinions of the advocates and oppo
nents of American institutions.
The Committee appointed to draft a Con
stitution reported by sections as agreed, upon.
The Assembly without great delay adopted
the following principles. The government
shall be divided into executive, legislative,
and judiciary departments. The government
shall be a hereditary monarchy. But they
debated long and earnestly over the ques
tion of giving the King an absolute or a
suspensive veto; over the question of a uni
cameral or bicameral legislature; over the
question of having an hereditary or an elec
tive upper house. The Liberals in the legis
lature, those in sympathy with the " ideas of
'89 " were divided on these questions. Some
of them voted one way, others another. The
Conservatives, men of the ancien regime, were
united in their opposition to all political inno-

AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 191
vation. The Liberals, thus in danger of de
feat, were in sad distress and in their trouble
they thought of Jefferson. What followed is
told by the American statesman in his own
graphic way.
" I received one day a note from the Mar
quis de Lafayette, informing me, that he
should bring a party of six or eight friends
to ask a dinner of me the next day. I as
sured him of their welcome. When they ar
rived, they were Lafayette himself, Duport,
Barnave, Alexander la Meth,Blacon, Mounier,
Maubourg and Dagout. These were leading
Patriots, of honest but differing opinions, sen
sible of the necessity of effecting a coalition
by mutual sacrifices, knowing each other, and
not afraid, therefore, to unbosom themselves
mutually. This last was a material principle
in the selecton. With this view, the Marquis
had invited the conference, and had fixed the
time and place inadvertently, as to the em
barrassment under which it might place me.
The cloth being removed, and wine set on
the table, after the American manner, the
Marquis introduced the objects of the confer
ence, by summarily reminding them ofthe state
of things in the Assembly, the course which
the principles of the Constitution were taking,

192 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
and the inevitable result, unless checked by
more concord among the Patriots themselves.
He observed that although he also had his
opinion, he was ready to sacrifice it to that
of his brethren of the same cause; but that a
common opinion must now be formed, or the
aristocracy would carry everything, and that,
whatever they should now agree on, he, at
the head of the national force, would main
tain. The discussions began at the hour of
four and were continued till ten o'clock in
the evening; during which time, I was a si
lent witness to a coolness and candor of ar
gument, unusual in the conflicts of political
passion." 
The French guests of the Minister came
to an understanding and, for a time at least,
carried their measures in the Assembly. This
incident proves that in one of the gravest
crises of the Revolution, the Liberals of
France turned to an American to preside
with calm impartiality at one of their secret
meetings; it proves above all how great was
the moral influence which America exerted at
this period upon a considerable fraction of the
French nation. The government did not take
umbrage at the Virginian's hospitality to the
Liberals; on the contrary the Count de Mont-.,

AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 193
morin, one of the ministers, assured Jefferson
that he wished he " would habitually assist at
such conferences," sure that he would "be use
ful in moderating the warmer spirits and pro
moting a wholesome and practical reformation
only." 33
The hour of debate and conflict had struck
and men -rushed with ardor to the front. The
question — Shall France have a legislature com
posed of one or of two houses? ^-excited great
discussion. Some of those who favored the
British system on this point shook hands with
those who on other heads were advocates of
the American system. Such was Lafayette.
Others voted for the unicameral legislature
as a temporary institution, good for the mo
ment, but to be modified in the future. Such
was Barnave. The extreme Democrats of
33 Randall's Jefferson, vol. i. pp.'535, 536. For Lafayette's
advocacy of a bicameral system, see Morris, Life and Cor
respondence (ed. Sparks), i. p. 350. Biog. Gin. XXVIII, 709.
" Bien que Barnave partageat k cet egard 1'avis de la ma-
jorite ce ne fut cependant pas d'une maniere absolue. II
faisait de l'etablissement d'une deuxieme Chambre une sorte
de question de temps  II pensait avec les partisans
du systeme americain qu'avant d'un venir la il etait indis
pensable de fondre et reduire a un seul element pour quel-
' ques annees du moins, Ie pouvoir representatif." Beranger
(de la Dr6me), in CEuvres de Barnave,. tome i. p. xlix.;
compare also CEuvres, tome i. chap. iii. pp. 112, 113 and
tome ii. chap. v. p. 38.

194 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
the Rousseau school voted for one chamber
and disdained the Anglican and American
theory of the balance of powers. The Arch
bishop of Bordeaux, on July 27th, 1 789, seemed
inclined to the opinion of those who sustained
" that the example of England and even
that of America demonstrates the utility of
two chambers and sufficiently replies to the
objections founded upon fear of their in
conveniences." " I dread and detest with all the patriots,"
said Buzot, " the establishment of two Cham
bers. But I will also have the courage to say
to all enlightened men, that if you wish for all
time to insure our liberties and preserve them
from the power of corruption, you must, on
important questions, divide the legislative body
into two sections." Here the orator was in
terrupted by marks of disapprobation. Buzot
then proceeded to unfold his plan, but was so
often disturbed that Salles exclaimed to the
opposition, "Abuse is not argument!" Quiet
was restored. Buzot thereupon resumed. " I
could cite Montesquieu and the American leg
islators who have all preferred two homogene
ous Chambers. Pennsylvania is the only state
that had but one chamber; but even Pennsyl
vania has since the Revolution changed its

AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 195
government. It was to Franklin that it owed
its unicameral system, good for a philosopher,
but which presupposes the absence of all pas
sions. Soon Franklin himself acknowledged
his error, and the Congress was divided." u
Barnave, Buzot and Petion, who supported
Buzot, all three friends of America, voted in
favor of the anti- American and anti- Anglican
unicameral system with hesitation and with
certain reservations.
Lanjuinais, full of the Rousseau idea, op
posed British and American example. " Those
who wish for the creation of two chambers,"
said he, "go astray with the authors whose
34 Moniteur Univ. Seance du 21 Mai, 1791: " Je redoute
et deteste, avec tous les patriots, l'etablissement de deux
Chambres; mais j'aurai aussi le courage de dire a tous les
hommes eclaires que si Ton veut assurer a jamais la liberte,
la preserver de la corruption il faut, dans les questions im-
portantes diviser le corps legislatif en deux sections (II
se leve des murmures) . . . Salles: ' Les injures ne sont pas
des raisons.' " Buzot continued: "Je pourrais citer Mon
tesquieu et les legislateurs americains qui tous ont prefere
deux chambres homogSnes. La Pennsylvanie est le seul
etat qui n'ait eu qu'une Assembiee; aussi depuis la revolu
tion a-t-elle change son gouvernement. C'est a Franklin
qu'elle devait la constitution de son corps legislatif en une
seule chambre, systeme bon pour un philosophe, mais qui
supposerait l'absence de toutes les passions. Bientot Frank
lin lui-meme reconnut son erreur et le Congres fut divise."
Compare, Biog. Gin. art. La Rochefoucauld d'Enville, tome
xxix. p. 650.

196 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
suffrage they invoke. Far be from us the
sentiment of the inconsistent Delolme, of that
Montesquieu, who was not able to shake off
the prejudices of his caste. Far be from us
the suffrage of the Anglo-American, Mr.
Adams, of that Don Quixote of nobility, the
corrupt tutor of a lord. All these have lost
their influence over us, impose upon us no
longer." 35
The very fierceness of the opposition to
American precedent is a proof of the weight
American example had with many of the
members of the Constituent Assembly. On
August 19, 1789, Lally Tollendal, one of the
stoutest advocates of the British system, arose
and spoke at length upon the bicameral sys
tem. Among his arguments was the follow
ing.36 " We do not at all pretend to draw a
35 Moniteur Univ. Seance 7 Sept., 1789. The name Dan-
gevillers is given in the Moniteur, but it should be Lan
juinais (See Saint Girons, Essai sur la Siparation des Pou-
voirs, Paris, 1881, p. ix.) "Ceux qui veuleut que deux
chambres existent s'egarent avec les auteurs dont ils invo-
quent Ie suffrage. Loin d'ici le sentiment de l'inconsequent
Delolme, de ce Montesquieu qui n'a pu se soustraire aux
prejuges de sa robe. Loin d'ici le suffrage de l'Anglo-Amer-
icain M. Adams, de ce Don Quichotte de noblesse, le pre-
cepteur corrompu d'un grand seigneur, ils ne nous en im-
posent plus."
*¦ Moniteur Univ., 19 Aout, 1789, " Nous ne pretendons
point etablir une comparaison entre la France et les Etats

AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 197
comparison between France and the United
States of America. We know that the wish
to compare two peoples and two situations
so dissimilar would, on our part, be a strange
Unis d'Amerique. Nous savons que ce serait faire un
etrange abus ¦ de raisonnement et de la parole, que de
vouloir assimiler deux peuples et deux positions aussi
dissemblables. D'un cote une Republique federative formee
de treize republiques naissantes dans un monde nouveau;
trois millions d'habitants c'est a dire cinq cent mille chefs
de famille, presque tous proprietaires agriculteurs; des
habitations eparses, point d'ennemis k combattre: point de
voisins a craindre; des mceurs simples, des besoins bornes.
De l'autre, une monarchie antique dans le vieux monde;
vingt six millions d'hommes, dont deux millions au plus
proprietaires de terres; une population amoncelee; toujours
de voisins et de rivaux; souvent des ennemis exterieurs et
pour ennemis interieurs des prejuges, des besoins, des
passions, tout ce qui en est la suite, et tout ce qui doit en
etre le frein. Mais si ces Americains eux mgmes, en si
petit nombre et dans leur naissante conformation, n'ont
pas pu conserver ce gouvernement simple et"cette unite de
pouvoir qu'ils auraient voulu etablir, si leurs pubKcistes,
ont parle comme nous; si M. Adams a ecrit qu'il n'etait
point de gouvernement, point de constitution stable, point
de protection assuree pour les lois, les libertes et les pro
prietes des peuples sans la balance des trois pouvoirs, si
le censeur injuste et inconsequent de M. Adams, Livingston,
a dit la meme chose que lui; si M. Livingston a ecrit que
1-b ou le corps legislatif serait concentre dans une seule
Assembiee il finirait toujours par absorber tout le pouvoir;
si M. Livingston a fait l'aveu litteral que plusiers corps legis-
-latifs americains quoiqu'en activite depuis fort peu de tems
avaient deja ete saisis de cette soif de pouvoir si dangereux;
si M. Livingston a dit qui le partage en deux chambres n'etait

198 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
abuse of reasoning and of speech. On the
one hand, we see a federal Republic formed
of thirteen infant states in a new world. This
Republic has three millions of inhabitants,
that is to say, five hundred thousand heads
of families who are almost all agricultural
proprietors. Its houses are thinly scattered;
it has no enemies to fight; it has no neighbors
-to fear. Its manners, customs, and morals,
are. simple; its wants are few and easily satis
fied. On the other hand, we behold an
ancient kingdom in the old world. This
state has twenty-six millions of inhabitants
of whom two millions, at most, possess land.
Here population is dense. Here there are
always neighbors and rivals, and while ene
mies often threaten from abroad, prejudices,
wants, passions, — everything which is their con
sequence and their rightful check is a source
pas encore un expedient assez efficace, que ces deux cham
bres distinctes ne manqueraient pas d'empie'ter sur le
pouvoir executif; qu'il fallait confier au pouvoir executif et
iudiciaire un frein sur la puissance legislative, ce que etait
me"me introduire quatre pouvoirs au lieu de trois, si les
Americains, edaire par leurs publicistes, convaincus par
une prompte experience ont presque tous adopte les trois
pouvoirs dans leur chambre de ripresentants, leur senat
et leur gouverneur, la necessite qu'ils ont reconnu n'est elle
pas une demonstration invincible de la necessife a laquelle
nous devons ceder ? "

AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 199
of danger at home. But if these very Amer
icans, so few in numbers, and so new as a
political body, have not .been able to keep
that simple government and that unity of
power which they would have liked to es
tablish; if their publicists have spoken as we
have spoken; if Mr. Adams, has written that
there could be no government, no fixed con
stitution, no sure protection for the laws,.
liberties and property of peoples without the
balance of the three powers; if Livingston,
the unjust and inconsistent censor of Mr.
Adams, has said the same thing; if Mr. Liv
ingston has written that there where the
legislative body would be concentered in a
single assembly it would always end by ab
sorbing all the power; if Mr. Livingston has
made the literal confession that several
American legislative bodies, although in
power since a very short time, had already
been seized by this so dangerous thirst for
domination; if Mr- Livingston has said that
the division into two separate chambers was
not yet sufficiently efficacious, that these two
chambers would not fail to encroach upon the
executive power, that the executive and ju
diciary departments ought to be invested with
some check upon the legislative power, thus

200 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
instituting four departments instead of three;
if the Americans, enlightened by their pub
licists, convinced by a prompt experience,
have, almost without exception, adopted their
House of Representatives, their Senate and
their Governor, is not the necessity to which
they have yielded an irrefutable demonstra
tion that we too should yield?" The views
of the bicamerists did not prevail. A single
chamber was by an overwhelming majority
adopted by the National Assembly and the
Anglican and American system was rejected.
Another question that deeply stirred the
French legislators was, shall the King have
an absolute or a suspensive veto ? The Brit
ish King's veto was absolute, in theory; the
American President's was limited. In the
debate on this subject in the National As
sembly, .the allusions to American example
were few and of little relevancy, but the very
fact that there were allusions is remarkably
significant. On September 2, 1789, a member whose
name is not given exdaimed: " Gentlemen
cite the example of England and its govern
ment. In order to counterbalance the exam
ple of England which is opposed to the theory
which we advocate, I will cite another exam-

AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 201
pie, that, namely, of Virginia. In the 1776
Constitution of that State the absolute sanc
tion was refused the King. Let us follow
Virginia's example." 37
Mounier advocated the Anglican veto; and
alludedto America in the masterly speech which
he pronounced.38 " Gentlemen are not back
ward in proposing the Americans to us as
patterns and in advocating systems that sur
pass even theirs in anarchical tendency. For
the Americans never allow all the citizens,
without distinction, to deliberate on public
affairs; they give this power only to the citi
zens' delegates. The consent of their Senate
is necessary for all the laws enacted by the
3' Moniteur Univ., Seance 2 Sept., 1789* " L'on cite l'ex-
emple de l'Angleterre et l'exemple de son gouvernement.
 Mais pour balancer l'exemple de l'Angleterre que
l'on nous oppose, j'en citerai un autre; c'est celui de la
Virginie; dans sa constitution' de 1776 elle a refuse la sanc
tion royale. Faisons autant qu'elle."
38 " On ne craint pas de nous proposer les Ame"ricains
pour modeles et meme de les surpasser en institutions
propres a favoriser 1'anarchie; car ils ne font jamais delib-
erer tous les citoyens indistinctement sur les affaires pub-
liques, mais seulement leurs delegues, le consentement de
leur senat est necessaire pour toutes les lois faites par les
representants et ils viennent de donner au president du
Congres un veto Suspensif qui devient absolu lorsqu'il est
appuye par un tiers des syffrages dans l'une de deux
chambres."

202 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
Representatives and they have recently given
the President of Congress a suspensive veto
that, becomes absolute when it is backed by
one third of the votes of one of the two
houses." On the next day, September 5,
1789, Mounier again alluded to America, ad
mitted that the American Constitutions granted
only a suspensive veto, but argued that a mon
arch required a stronger check upon the legis
lative power.
On the question of the veto the French
legislators rejected the British theory and
adopted a measure that bore some resem
blance to the American suspensive veto.
Passing over other minor points relative
to the attributes of the executive, we will
now listen to the debates on the judiciary
question in so far as they brought into
prominence regard for or disregard of Brit
ish and American example. The question of
the jury- trial and of the jury in both civil and
criminal cases was the subject of long and
brilliant discussion, in which some of the best
men of the Assembly took an active part. On
the 5th of April, 1790, Baron de Jesse advocat
ed the trial by jury in both civil and criminal
proceedings and to strengthen his argument,
he cited the example of Great Britain.

AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 203
In the same. session M. Prugnon disagreed
with Baron de Jesse. " The soil of France/'
said he, " is not ready to receive this plant
native in England and thence transplanted
to America.  Let us not be the ser
vile copyists of these two countries."
¦ On the 6th of April, 1 790, M. de Saint
Martin advocated the jury in civil and in
criminal procedure. The jury trial, he argued,
is adapted to all countries, old and new, great
and small. And he cited American and British
example.39 "These two countries," said he,
"look upon the jury as the palladium of lib
erty." Saint Martin and Jesse and Barnave
and Petion and Lafayette were in' favor ofthe
Anglo-American system on this question, but
the man who spoke most ably and eloquently
upon it was Duport. On the 4th and 19th
of January, 1791, he delivered splendid pleas
39 Moniteur Univ., Seance du 5 Avril, 1790. M. Prugnon:
" Le sol de la France n'est pas prepare pour recevoir cette
plante native d'Angleterre et transports d'Angleterre en
Amerique  Ne soyons pas les copistes .serviles de
l'Angleterre et de I'Amerique." R>id. 6 Avril, 1790, M. de
Saint Martin: "On dit que les jures ne conviennent qu'_t
des Peuples peu nombreux dont les moeurs et les institu
tions sont simples. L'Angleterre et les Etats -Unis sont
lis de petits pays ? Non, sans doute. ..... Cependant ces
deux contrees ont regarde les jures comme Ie palladium de
la liberte." - .

204 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
for the great guarantee of individual liberty.
" I begin by entreating the Assembly not to
rush hastily to a decision." These were his
opening words on the first-named of the above
occasions. "Finally I would say that what
we propose is not a system of metaphysics, but
an institution which during more than a thou
sand years has been in full active operation
in England. To-day it is in force in America."
Those were the words of his peroration. On
the 20th of January, 1791, he opened by a
recognition of the Anglican and American
theory of " implied powers," and closed with
a eulogy upon Anglican and American juris
prudence. " We are the deputies- neither of
the departments nor of the districts. We are
the representatives of the nation. We owe
the nation a system of criminal jurisprudence
that shall be imposing, impartial and en
lightened. We owe her above all the con
servative institution of the jury of which she
is already proud, as America and England
are proud of it." 40 Here there was applause.
40 Moniteur Univ., Seance du 4 Jan., 1791. "Enfin je
dirai.ce qui n'est pas de la metaphysique, que ce que nous
vous proposons est depuis plus de mille ans en pleine
vigueur d'execution en Angleterre, il l'est en Amerique."
 Ibid. Seance du 20 Jan., 1791. " Nous ne sommes
deputes ni des departements ni des districts. Nous

AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 205
The National Assembly adopted the jury
system for criminal, but not for civil cases. In
spite oPDuport's able oratory, British and
American example had gone for but little in
influencing the French law-makers.
On the question of limited suffrage or uni
versal suffrage, the Anglican theory repre
sented by Britain and the United States, and
the theory of the Rousseau school, came into
open conflict. Thouret advocated the former,
Robespierre, the latter system. " There is not
a known constitution in the world but that
imposed a condition of eligibility. Gentlemen
well know how rigorous England and Amer
ica are on this head." These were Thouret's
words.41 " A member has cited the example
of the English and the Americans. They are
in the wrong, without a doubt, to admit laws
that are contrary to the principle of justice.
But in those countries there are other good
laws which counterbalance the drawbacks we
sommes les representants de la nation; nous lui devons une
justice criminelle imposante, impartiale, eclairee, nous lui
devons surtout les moyens conservateurs du jure, dont elle
s'enorgueillit deja, comme I'Amerique et l'Angleterre." (On
applaudit.) „
41 Moniteur Univ., Seance du n Aoiit, i79l,,M. Thouret
 " Aussi n'y a-t-il pas de constitution connue qui n'ait
etablie une condition d'eligibilite. On sait assez qu'elle est sur
ce point la severite de l'Angleterre et de I'Amerique."

206 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
may find in these."42 Such was Robespierre's
reply. The Assembly adopted a law on the
question of suffrage that bore a greater re
semblance to that prevalent in America, than
to that in Great Britain.
An important problem faced the Assembly
when it had to decide whether it would sup
port an established Church, tolerate all creeds,
or grant religious freedom. Great Britain re
presented the first policy; many States had,
in a greater or less measure, adopted the sec
ond; the United States of America were the
living exponent of the third. The question
was debated in and out of the legislature.
In a Petition addressed by the Jews to the
Assembly, in 1790, we read the following
striking language.43
42 Mon. Univ., Seance du 11 Aoiit, 1791, M. Robespierre.
. ..." On nous a cite l'exemple des Anglais et des Ameri
cains. Ils ont eu tort sans doute d'admettre des lois contraire
aux principes de la justice, mais chez eux ces inconveniens
sont compenses par d'autres bonnes lois." The Moniteur, for
11 Aoiit, 1791, contains among its new books the following:
" Declaration des droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen, decretee
par l'Assemblee Nationale, comparee avec les lois des peu
ples anciens et modernes, et principalement avec les de
clarations des Etats Unis de I'Amerique '' — a Paris.
43 Pititiondes Juifs itablis en France. Adressee k l'Ass.
Nation, le 29 Janv. 1790 (See Recueil dePiices. Bibliotheque
Sainte Genevieve, Paris, No. L. ~S). " Le mot Tolerance,
qui apres tant de siecles paroissait etre un mot d'humanite &

AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 207
"The word toleration which, after so many
centuries and so many acts of intolerance, ap
peared to be a word full of humanity and rea
son is no longer suitable to a nation that
wishes to firmly place its rights upon the
eternal foundations of justice. America, to
which politics will owe so many useful lessons,
has rejected the word from its code, as a term
tending to compromise individual liberty and
to sacrifice certain classes of men to other
classes. To tolerate is, in fact, to suffer that
which you could, if you wished, prevent and
prohibit." This voice from without the As
sembly found a response within. On the 23d
of August, 1789, Rabaut de Saint Etienne, a
Protestant, a pamphleteer, who had stated in
one of the most remarkable pamphlets of the
day that the only three nations capable of
serving as patterns to France were Great
Britain, Switzerland and the United States,
declared in open Assembly44 — " It is not tol
de raison ne convient il plus a une Nation qui veut affermir.
ses droits sur la base eternelle de la justice. Et I'Amerique, a
qui la politique devra tant d'utiles legons, l'a'rejette de son
code, comme un terme qui tendoit acompromettre la lib
erte individuelle et _l sacrifier certaines classes d'hommes k
d'autres classes. Tolerer, en effet, c'est, souffrir ce qu'on
aurait le droit d'empecher."
44 See A la Nation frangaise sur les Vices de son gouv
ernement attributed to Rabaut de St. Etienne by the Moni-

208 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
eration that I claim. That word implies an
idea of compassion that degrades man. I de
mand equal freedom for all. Gentlemen will
perhaps tell you and show you how the na
tions that surround us make an exception of
those who do not profess the religion of the
majority. O, nation of France, youare not made
to receive an example, but to give it! If, how
ever, you wish to imitate, imitate the Penn-
sylvanians. They make exception of no
body. Man, whatever his religious belief,
has the right of enjoying all the sacred privi
leges that belong to mankind."
Such bold words had their effect. The
French National Assembly, on the question
of religious freedom, proved to be the peer
of the legislators of Virginia and the men
who had drafted the Constitution of the
United States.45
teur Universel, Introduction i. p. 225. For his speech see
Moniteur Univ., Seance 23 Aoiit, 1789. "Ce n'est pas la
tolerance que je reclame; ce mot emporte une idee de
compassion qui avilit I'homme; je reclame la liberte qui
doit etre une pour tout le monde." "Peut-etre vous repre-
sentera-t-on que les nations qui nous environnent font ex
ception de ceux qui ne professent pas la religion du plus
grand nombre. Nation frangaise, vous n'etes pas faite pour
recevoir l'exemple mais pour le donner. Mais si vous vou
lez imiter, imitez les Pensylvaniens {sic). Ils_ n'ont fait ac-
ception de personne."
« Years after, in 1797, the latitude in religious matters al-

AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 209
The debate on the freedom of the press
brought forth two notable speeches: one by
Robespierre, another by Petion. Both al
luded to American example; both seemed to
have seized the fact that the American press
was then more outspoken and unchecked than
that of any country in the world.
" What should be the limit of its freedom ? "
asked Robespierre, in the studied discourse
he pronounced on the subject. "A great peo
ple, illustrious by the recent conquest of its
liberties, answers this question by its exam
ple. 'The right of communicating one's
thoughts by speech, in writing, or in print
shall not be hindered or prevented in any
way whatsoever.' Such are the terms of the
law that the United States of America have
made on the liberty of the press, and I con
fess that I am glad to be able to present my
opinion under such circumstances." 46
lowed by the various constitutions of revolutionary France
called forth a protest from- Royer-Collard who, in his first
public speech, declared, "We have on this head borrowed
most of our maxims from American legislation without cal
culating perhaps the prodigious difference that arises when
they are applied to a country like ours." — La Vie Politique
de Royer-Collard: ses Discours et ses Ecrits, par M. de
Barante (Paris, 1878), tome i. p. 30.
46 CEuvres de Robespierre, p. 163 (ed. Vermorel), "Qu'elle
doit en etre Ie mesure ? Un grand peuple, illustre par la

210 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
Petion argued for entire freedom, and did
not fear the consequences. " Did you not
see," said he, " when the new federal system
in the United States was under hot discus
sion, a strong party pronounce itself fiercely
against the Confederation, speak loudly for
the disunion of the states, publish the most
vehement pamphlets and scatter their views
broadcast in all the gazettes ? Calumny, ex
aggeration, everything was brought into play.
The people read everything, heard every
thing, examined everything. No troubles
followed this illimited freedom, no fines
were decreed, and the masses remained
firm to the Confederation. Such will ever
be the ascendancy of reason over a free
people." 47
conquete recente de la liberty, repond k cette question par
son exemple. ' Le droit de communiquer ses pensees par la
parole, par l'ecriture ou par l'impression ne peut etre gSne
ou limite en aucune maniere.' Voila les termes de la loi, que
les Etats Unis d'Ameriqueont fait sur la liberte de la'presse
et j'avoue que je suis bien aise de pouvoir presenter mon
opinion dans pareilles circonstances." (Discours sur la lib,
de la Presse, 1791). Compare also Robespierre on Amer
ica in Moniteur Universel, Seance du 10 Juillet, 1790.
¦" Petion, CEuvres (Paris, 1793), vol. ii. 365. "N'a-ton
pas vu lors des discussions sur le nouveau systeme fed
eral qui se sont eievees dans les Etats Unis, un parti nom-
breux declarer avec fureur contre la confederation, pre-

AMERICA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 211
The " Constituante ' - adopted the American
view of freedom of press and of speech. It
thereby 'rendered moral homage to the new
Republic. The legislators of Versailles, however will
ing to imitate in other respects, showed no
inclination to adopt the American method of
amending their Constitution. Like the Amer
icans, they believed in a written, amendable
law of the land; but unlike them, they made
it amendable by the legislative body. This
was a grievous blunder. It was one of the
causes of the weakness of the legislation of
the French Revolution. It was a source of
constant change. It gave the Constitution a
stamp of instability that detracted from its use
fulness and endangered the respect with which
a Constitution should inspire a people: This '
rejection of the American method of amend
ing the Constitution together with the rejec- ¦
tion of the1 American bicameral system, were
chant la division des etats, publiants les ecrits les plus
vehements, les repandant dans toutes les gazettes ? Calom-
nie, exageration, tout a ete mis a l'ceuvre; le peuple a toutlu,
tout entendu, tout examine. Aucun trouble a suivi, aucune
peine a ete affligee et le peuple est reste fidele a la Confed
eration . . . Tel sera toujours l'ascendant de la raison sur
un peuple libre."

212 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
fatal errors. On two important points, then,
France turned her face away from America.
The example of the young Republic was
slighted. Experience proved that America
was right, and that France was wrong.

CHAPTER V.
AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION.
It is now time that we leave the legislative
hall and enter the busy and thronged streets
of Paris. Let us read the papers. in the cof
fee-houses and turn the pages of the latest
pamphlets that lie on the bookstalls in the
Palais Royal. We have learned in the As
sembly that American influence would every
now and then make itself felt; it will be our
present business to see how it affected public
opinion, a power by which the Assembly itself
was so largely and potently swayed.
The Royalists of the old school and the ex
treme Democrats of the new were equally op
posed to the essential features of the Ameri
can system. The former considered it too
radical; the latter, not radical enough. The
Royalists vented their dislike of Americans
upon their King and blamed him for his in
terference i-n their behalf. The Democrats
passed the Americans over in silence, or

214 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
praised them with faint and forced praise.
The Constitutionalists, the men who desired
a limited monarchy for their country and who
supported most of the measures voted by the
Constituent Assembly, leaned now to British,
now to American example, and often adopted
some chimerical scheme which they found in
the popular pages of Rousseau. Of the three
parties that with some distinctness began to
assume shapes and stand by certain princi
ples, the Constitutionalists were most inclined
to America and most ready to adopt such of
the transatlantic ideas as could be assimilated
to the needs and character of the country.
All three of these parties, however, alluded to
America with equal ardor, when it served their
political views. The Constitutionalists referred
to the Americans, for instance, when they had
occasion to reproach the Ultra-Royalists, their
adversaries, on the one side, with clinging too
closely to the British model; or vtheir adver
saries, on the other, the Democratic Repub
licans, with rushing on too fast in the path of
liberty. The Ultra-Royalists pointed triumph
antly to the American Republic, when they
wished to convince their Constitutionalist and
Democratic opponents that they should show
greater moderation. And the Democrats seized

AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 215
upon the American Republic as a fit theme
around which to weave a plea for the great- j
est amount of popular pow-er. Thus each of
the three parties in turn availed itself of
America as an argument for its favorite doc
trines, and each, as the case might be, re
proached the other with a departure from or too
servile an imitation of American example. An
examination of the Royalistic, the Constitution
al and the Democratic press will prove how
far these assertions are correct.
The admirers of the old regime as it existed
in the days of Louis XIV. and Louis XV., the
Royalists of the old school, would never for
give the King and his Ministers for the aid
they had lent the rebellious Americans. That
alliance seemed to them to be the source of
all their woes and one of the proximate causes
ofthe revolutionary torrent by which they were
borne along. We read in a pamphlet of this
period, giving an imaginary conversation be
tween Louis XIV. and Louis XVI., the fol
lowing significant words:
"Louis XVI.: Wherever oppression and
tyranny showed themselves, I hurried to aid
the oppressed. I released America from the
chains of England.
"Louis XIV.: You did a pretty job there,

216 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
indeed! You spent fifteen hundred millions
and made for yourself an eternal enemy, who,
sooner or later, will make you pay, perhaps at
the price of your head, the unheard-of audacity
on your part of having snatched from under
his rule a country that was his by as perfect a
title as that by which you hold your good city
of Paris! "1
After abusing the King, they abused the
Ministers. One pamphlet charged Choiseul
with being the original cause of the American
rising. He prepared the dire event, argued
the pamphleteer, by his diplomatic skill and
the length, of his purse.2 Another cannot find
words strong enough to express its indigna-
¦ Louis XIV. d Saint Cloud au Chevet de Louis XVI.
Dialogue (1790): "Louis XVI.: Partout ou se montrait
1'oppression et la tyrannie je volais au secours des op-
primes. J'affranchis I'Amerique des fers d'Angleterre. . . .
Louis XIV.: Tu fis la une belle besogne. Tu depensas
quinze cents millions et te fis un ennemi eternel qui, tflt
ou tard, te fera payer de ta tete peut-etre l'audace inouie
d'avoir arrache a sa domination un pays qu'il possi'dait
aussi equitablement que tu possedes ta bonne Ville de
Paris'' This pamphlet is to be found in the (p. 6) Recueil
de Pieces, No. L. ^~- in the Bibliotheque Sainte Genevieve,
at Paris.
2 Lettre d Un Ami de Province, 1789 {Recueil, L. *r
Bibl. Ste. Gen.). Flassan, in his Hist, de la Dipl.fr ang.,
rejects the idea that Choiseul had a hand in preparing the
war in America (tome vii. livre vi. p. 152).

AMERICA AND PUBLIC' OPINION: 217
tion against Maurepas, Vergennes, and Beau
marchais for their instrumentality in foment
ing discord among foreign powers and their
indifference to the contagious influence of the
flames of discord.3 A third production of
the time is severe upon Vergennes.4 " The
Count, who was as much of a politician as an
office-clerk can be expected to be, saw in the
insurrection of the Americans the means of
humiliating the rival of France and war was
decided upon. If his mind had been able to
take in a wider view, if he had better known
men in general and his own country in par
ticular, he would have felt that the energy of
a people benumbed and chilled by the* influ
ence of arbitrary power warms up and is vivi
fied by the approach of heat coming from a
•free people."
Necker and his policy were, in another pam-
3 Offrande d la Patrie ou Discours au Tiers Etat de
France, 1789, Quatrieme Discours, pp. 27, 28.
4 Hist. poi. de la Revolution en i France, ou Corres. entre
Lord D. et Lord T. (Londres, 1789), tome i. lettre ii. pp. 6
and 7. Compare, also, the pamphlet attributed to Rulhiere,
entitled, Le Comte de Vergennes premiere cause des Etats
Gineraux. See Querard, La France Litt. (vol. viii. p. 281).
See, also, Le Journal-de Deux Liards (Second Mois, No.
iv.'p. ,4): "Nos politiques d'aujourd'hui trou vent tres im-
politique la guerre qui a fait perdre une si grande partie de
I'Amerique Septentrionale a l'Angleterre."

218 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
phlet, made the object of such striking remarks
as these. " France supported American inde
pendence with her treasures and her troops.
The youth of the Court hastened to enlist in
the American war and to defend the cause
of liberty. The applause which the French
in America received gave them a taste for
popular success. The blind submission to
kingly power which had up to that time char
acterized the French soldier became imper
ceptibly weakened and the bonds of depend
ence became loosened. The American war
may be said to have at the same time turned
the heads and overturned the public finances
of the French." 5
The Royalists, thus severe upon the King
and his Ministers for their American war policy,
were not less so upon those who now favored .
s Des Principes et des Causes de la Rivolution en
France (_i Londres et se trouve a Paris, 1790), " La France
soutenait de ses tresors et de ses troupes I'independance
des Americains. La jeunesse de la Cour s'empressait de ser
vir dans cette guerre et de defendre la cause de la liberte;
les applaudissements que regtirent les Frangais en Ameri-
que leur inspirerent le gout des succes populaires. Cette
aveugle soumission k I'autorite du Monarque qui avait
jusque l_l distingue le. militaire frangais s'affaiblit insensi-
blement et les liens de la dependance se relacherent 
La guerre d'Amerique renversa ainsi a la fois en France
les tetes et la fortune publique," pp. 59 and 60. . This pam
phlet is attributed to Senac de Meilhan by Barbier.

AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 219"
the American doctrines of limited executive
authority, popular sovereignty, equal rights,
freedom of religion, supremacy of law, upon
such men as Lafayette and Barnave, Lameth
and Chapellier.
" 0 my fellow citizens," exclaims one Royal
ist in alarm, " you are reducing the Monarch's
powers to those of an American President or
of a Dutch Stadtholder." 6
"Mauvais singes de I'Amerique,"
says the royalist, "Actes des Apotres," mean
ing " Chapellier, Barnave and company " —
" Mauvais singes de I'Amerique
Qu'en me parlant toujours dans leur prose emphatique
D'egalite, de droits, de citoyen,
Au nom de la loi ils me voient mon bien."'
6 Isnard, Observations sur le Principe qui a produit les
Revolutions de France, de Geneve et d' Amirique dans le
XVIII. Siecle, Evreux, Oct. 1789. " O mes compatriotes,
vous reduisez ses (Monarch's) pouvoirs a ceux du President
du Congres des Etats Unis ou a ceux du Stadthouder des
Province*s Unies " (p. 5). Compare also the pamphlet La
France est, elle une Monar chief 1790, pp. 11 and 12 {Recueil.
Bibl. Ste. Gen. Paris, No. L. ^\ in which the pamphleteer
strongly intimates that a democratic government has been
established imitating that of America. A very remarkable
pamphlet. Compare Lafayette, Mim., iii. 193.
' Actes des Apdtres, No. xxix. p. 10. That Barnave was
considered an " Americain " in his sentiments is indicated
by a pamphlet ofthe time, L Ombre de Loustalot, 1789, (see

220 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
The writer stigmatizes them as vile imita
tors of America and as political frauds.
Lafayette, whom the Constitutionalists at this
time called the "disciple of Washington," "the
defender of America," "the avenger of Amer
ica," " the hero of America," " the -friend and
emulator of Washington," 8 was above all
others the target for the orthodox royalist
shafts. Rivarol dubbed him "General Mor
pheus;" Ferrand sneered at his trying to play
in France the part played by Washington in
America; a scurrilous pamphlet of the day
styled him ironically "Monsieur le heros Am-
Dqc. biog. No. 323 bis 7189, Bibliotheque de l'Arsenal, at
Paris). It represents Barnave as saying, "C'est si la justice
de ces decrets que tous les peuples de l'Univers devront
leur liberie, leur gloire et leur bonheur. Dej& leur influ
ence profonde a determine les succfes des colons amer
icains " (p. 3). Le Chapellier was especially in favor of an
amendable constitution, and, in a measure, of an elective
judiciary. See Faustin-Helie, Constitutions de la France,
i. 301, (Paris, 1875), also Biog. Gin. xxx. 188.
8 For Constitutionalist eulogies of Lafayette at this time
see Mer. de France, 29 Jan., 1791, Barbie de Bercenay,
Projet d 'Education Militaire, 1789, Preface; pamphlet en
titled, Notice Hist, sur Mr. le Marquis de Lafayette (Bibl.
de l'Arsenal L. 7^7), pamphlet entitled Argumentum ad
Hominem, 1789, p. 4; Annie Littir^, 1789, vol. v. p. 22; pam
phlet entitled, L' Assembiee Nationale Vengie, 1790, p. 40;
Discours pron. d la Benidiction du Drapeau, in Kecueil
Bibl. Ste. Gen. L. ^-r -; comp. Mim. de Malouet, i. 307.

AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 221
ericain," 9 while many good defenders of the
absolute throne subscribed to opinions such as
these. " M. de Lafayette, like the Argonauts
who went a-hunting the golden fleece in
Colchis, equipped a vessel for the purpose of
sailing to America to lend aid to some rebels.
He thought he would thereby serve his mas
ter, and such was the political opinion of the
olay. Oh, how deadly to kings is such a
policy!"10 We will now see how the Royalists alluded
to America when they could thereby further
their views and confound their opponents.-
They immediately dipped their pens deep in
eulogy. Imitate the example of the Amer-
9 For attacks on him see, Rivarol, Vie poi. et privie du
Gen. Lafayette. He styled him "General Morphee " _i pro
pos of the night of 6 Oct; NouVelliste de France, 17 Dec;,
1790, p. 163 {Recueil Bibl. Ste. Gen. L. r^). Ferrand, Les
Conspirateurs dimasquis, Turin, 1790, p. 35; "Depuis
longtemps 11 aspirait & jouer en France le r61e que Wash
ington a. rempli en Amerique," and Polichinel- Orateur d
FAssemb. Nationale 1780 (Bibl. Ste. Genevieve, L. -^-V
Les j Rois ou le Partage du Gdteau, 1790 (p. 7).
10 Bon Dieu Qu'ils sont Bites, ces Frangais! Paris,
1790, " M. de Lafayette semblable aux Argonauts qui furent
chercher la toison d'or dans la Colchide, arma un Vaisseau
pour aller en Amerique proteger des revoltes. II crut en
cela servir son maitre; telle etait alors la politique, mais
combien elle est fatale pour les Rois cette politique ! "
(p. 81).

222 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
ican Republic in this or that, they wrote; it
is well worthy of being imitated.
" The colonial people that has recently es
tablished itself in America," said the " Actes
des Apotres," " has taken all the time it
judged necessary for examining the sketch
of a constitution offered to its consideration by
the American convention. Ever since four
years ago, the state of Rhode Island has de
clined to accept the constitution, and yet no
member of the federal body has on that ac
count allowed itself to declare the citizens of
Rhode Island deprived of their rights. The
march of wisdom is slow, that of tyranny is
brusque and hasty." n
This was a hit at the often precipitate course
of the Constitutionalists and Democrats in
passing certain legislative measures. The
" Actes des Apotres " was not alone among
the Royalists in adopting this kind of war
fare. Calonne, who now reappeared in the
» Actes des Apdtres, No. xxxvi. "La peuplade qui
s'est constitue recemment en Amerique a pris tout le temps
qu'elle a juge necessaire pour examiner le plan de constitu
tion qui lui etait offert par la convention americaine. De
puis quatre ans l'etat de Rhode Island n'a pas encore ac-
cepte & aucun corps politique du corps federal ne s'est
permis de declarer pour cela les citoyens de Rhode Island
dechtis de leur droit de citoyen. La marche de la sagesse
est lente. Celle de la tyrannie est brusque, emportee."

AMERICA AND, PUBLIC OPINION. 223
field of politics, attacked the Constituent
Assembly for its rejection of the bicameral
system and for its division of France into de
partments. During this attack he turned
against his enemy some of its American
batteries. " You will in vain scan the pages of the
world's history," said the fallen Minister, "for
an organization as monstrous as yours ! Your
organization would be untenable and badly
conceived even supposing you wanted to
parcel out France into eighty-three repub
lican sovereignties, a plan that would be the
natural result of the infatuation that has seized
some men for the too little known and the
too prematurely judged Constitution of the
United States of America."12
" You will oppose to my argument," he said
discussing the bicameral system, " you will
in vain oppose to my argument the example
of England. That country proves with great-
12 Calonne, De FEtat de la France prisent et <2 venir,
Londres, 1790  "On chercherait vainement dans
I'histoire du Monde l'exemple d'une organisation aussi
monstrueuse. ...... Elle serait meme inSoutenable & mal
concue dans la supposition qu'on voulut morceler la France
en 83 souveraintes republicaines par suite de l'engouement
qu'on a pris pour la constitution trop peu comme, trop pre-
maturement jugee des Etats Unis de I'Amerique" (p. 362).

224 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
est force the necessity there is of three powers
in the state counterbalancing each other in
order to form a good mixed government. The
United States of America have recently ren
dered homage to this necessity by adopting,
as far as it was possible for them, a Constitu
tion modeled after that of England and this
in spite of the more philosophic than politic
counsels of M. Turgot, who desired them to
adopt an entirely democratic government." 1S
The Abbe Maury14 and the Abbe Pradt
both maintained that no comparisons could be
drawn between the subjects of a monarchy
and the citizens of a republic, but the latter,
¦in a widely-read pamphlet on the Revolution,
13 Lettre adressee au Roi, par M. de Calonne, 9 Fev.,
1789, a Londres. " Vainement on opposerait l'exemple de
l'Angleterre. 11 servirait qu'a prouver, de plus en plus, la
necessite des trois pouvoirs balances l'un par l'autre pour
former un bon gouvernement mixte, necessite Si laquelle
les Etats Unis d'Amerique viennent de rendre hommage
en s'adaptant autant qu'il leur etait possible une Constitu
tion imitative de celle de l'Angleterre malgre les conseils
plus phijosophiques que politiques que leur avait donne
M. Turgot " (p. 67).
" Moniteur Universel, Seance du 19 Avril, 1790, Abbe
Maury said, " Je ne parle point des conventions nationales
qui ont eu lieu dans I'Amerique septentrionale depuis la
derniere Revolution. L'on ne saurait assimiler les repre-
sentants d'une republique aux representants d'une mon
archic"

AMERICA AND^ PUBLIC OPINION. 225
triumphantly flung this exclamation into the
face of his adversaries. "Those Americans
of yours, whom you cite as models, have not
been even imitated exactly ! " America has
two legislative houses, France has but one!15
Among the Royalists who thus employed
American arms to fight the enemy were also
Luzerne, Bishop of Langres, who opposed the
Declaration of Rights, and Lally Tollendal,
who had retired from active labors in the As
sembly after the adoption of the unicameral
system and the suspensive veto. Luzerne
argued for the inevitable necessity there was
for a nobility in a country, by maintaining the
probability of even America's having one at
some future day,16 and Lally Tollendal turned
the. exhortations to moderation, professed by
the French annotators of Livingston, against
16 Abbe Pradt, Eclairgissements sur les causes de, la
Riv. frangaise, 1790, pp. 57, 58, and note. "Ces Amer
icains qu'on cite commes des modeles n'ont mSme pas ete
imites exactement." Compare also Abbe Maury in Mon
iteur Univ., Seance du 25 Oct., 1790.
16 Luzerne, Ev£que de Langres, Sur la Forme d'opiner
aux Etats Gineraux, 1789. " Dans la Nation la plus
populaire les rejetons des Grands-Hommes jouissent d'une
consideration considerable. Les descendants de Washing
ton seront en tous temps honores dans les Etats Unis
d'Ameque {sic) comme ceux de Miltiade, de Themistocle
d'Aristide le furent dans la Republique d'Athenes " (p. 32).

-226 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
such of his countrymen as were inclined to
rush on to extremes in politics.17
The Constitutionalist party, the majority
in the Assembly, with the noblest aspirations
in the world, was lacking in political cohesion,
in leaders, in a fixed policy and in experience.
Its adoption of the greatest measures was
always preceded and accompanied by long
vacillations, and its legislative results, while
stamped with generous sentiment, were char
acterized by many inconsistencies.
Such conduct had as its natural outcome
the throwing of discouragement and indecis
ion into the Constitutionalist ranks outside of
the Assembly.
This is plainly visible in their words and
writings. Jefferson, who, in the early days of the
" Constituante," had been asked to aid it in
drafting a constitution and who had declined
because of his official character, was displeased
with the precipitate haste and the excessive
democratic zeal of the legislators. He re-
17 Mimoire de M. le Comte Lally Tollendal, ou Seconde
Lettre & ses Commettants, Paris, Jan. 1790, where he
speaks of the" " annotateurs Frangais de Livingston . . . ces
auteurs ivres de democratie .... prechaient cependant
aux Frangais, leurs compatriotes, la plus extreme modera
tion " (p. 8).

AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 227
marked their divisions with regret. He coun
seled moderation.18
Gouverneur Morris, who later succeeded
the Virginian as head of the United States
Legation at the Court of Versailles, was
still more conservative. He found Lafay
ette -too republican for his country; he con
sidered the French Declaration of Rights as
a collection of " sounding words," and he
did not hesitate to writ-e, " Our Amer
ican example has done them good; but
like all novelties, liberty rushes away with
their discretion, if they have any. They want
an American Constitution, with the exception
of a King instead of a President, without re
flecting' that they have no American citizens
to support that constitution.19
18 Jefferson's WOrks, ii. 131, 556. "Keeping the good
model of your neighboring country before your eyes you
may get on step by step towards a good constitution." Com
pare with this the view of Jefferson's friend, Quesnay.de Beau-
repaire, in his Avis Impartial aux Citoyens, 16 Aoiit, 1789,
" S'il m'etait permis de former un vceu ce serait qu'on put
saisir dans cette heureuse Revolution le moyen de prendre
le juste milieu entre le gouvernement d'Angleterre et celui
de la France " (p. 4). Compare also Randall's Jefferson,
i. pp. 524, 535, 611. For the disunion in the Constitution
alist ranks, see Lacretelle, Dix Ans d'Epreuves, (Paris,
1842, 1 vol. 8°) chap. ii. pp. 37, 38, and Moniteur Univ., 21
Sept., 1792, statement of Theod. de Lameth.
19 Morris, Life and Correspondence, (ed. Sparks,) i. 294,

228 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
While these two American Republicans
of different shades equally disapproved of the
ruling party of the Assembly, every man in
that party seems to have had his own idea
on every question that presented itself and
was not slow to advocate this idea by word
of mouth or by the pen. The writers of the
Ultra-Royalists and Ultra- Democrats had a
certain fixed policy; the pamphleteers of the
Constitutionalists alternately flitted from a
Monarchy like Great Britain to a Republic
like the United States, and from a Re
public like the United States to a Republic
of the Rousseau school. They often made
allusions to America and proved thereby that,
even amid the anarchical confusion in which
they waded, American example was not for
gotten by or indifferent to them. The pam
phlet entitled, " Instructions et Cahier du
Hameau," attributed to the pen of the Bishop
of Blois, is not very enthusiastic for an estab
lished nobility, and says:20
295, 314, and Letter to William Carmichael, Paris, 10 July,
1789; and vol. iii. p. 481 et seq. Compare also, Life ana
Corresp. of John Jay, ii. 197. "'Liberie' is now the
general cry and 'autorite' is a name, not a real existence."
Morris to Jay, 1 July, 1789.
20 " On a tres sagement proscrit en Amerique les decor
ations qui pourraient consacrer des families patriciennes ''

AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 229
"The legislators of America have very
wisely forbidden external decorations where
by certain patrician families might be perpet
uated." The pamphlet entitled " Importance
de l'ldee d'une Constitution," by the Mar
quis de Casaux, rejected the English system,
while advocating a constitutional monarchy,
and alluded to the " l'heureuse Revolution de
I'Amerique." The pamphlet entitled, "Qu'est
ce que la Nation, qu'est ce que la France ? "
by Guiraudet, is loud in its praise of the
British Monarchy, but sympathizes with the
"conduct of the American Revolutionists, and
a pamphlet with, " Del' Organisation d'un
Etat Monarchique " on its title - page, ad
mires the absence of nobility in America.21
The Chevalier de Pange, a decided ad
vocate of most of the features of British
(p. 19), and further on the pamphlet speaks of Washington
as "un heros que cette parti du monde doit envier k
l'autre," (p. 85). For the words cited from the pamphlet
of Casaux, see p. 144. For the words cited from the pam
phlet Qu'est ce que la Nation, qu'est ce que la France ? see
p. 89.
81 See pp. 71, 72, of this pamphlet which is to be found in
the Recueil L. — (Bibl. Ste. Gen.) The words above re
ferred to are: "Certaine'ment les Etats-Unis de I'Amerique
ont bien plus d'etendue que le Royaume de France; cepen
dant ils ont eu le bon esprit de proscrire toute esp6ce de
Nobilite parmi eux." '

230 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
government, seemed inclined, on the veto
question, to adopt a view that approached
the American.22 Lepelletier, outspoken for
a constitutional monarchy, advised moder
ate measures, and yet turned to the rad
ical American Declaration with the words:
." Let us open the Independence act of free
America, an act drawn up by philosophers,
who in publishing the same have prepared
the universal gospel of the nations." 23 Ce
rutti, in his " Lettre de M. Cerutti au Cafe*
de Foix," argued for the division of govern
mental powers as exemplified by British and
American precedent, and in his " Vues gen
erates sur la Constitution francaise," he dep
recated popular violence, and wrote of the
Americans as of models. " They alone," said
he, " have guarded against excesses. Al-
s* De la Sanction Royale, par M. le Chevalier de Pange,
avant propos and pp. 21, 22.
23 Riflexions offertes d la Conv. Nationale, par F. Le
pelletier. " Ouvrons l'acte d'independance de I'Amerique
libre, redige par des philosophes qui en le faisant, ont pre
pare l'evangile universel des peuples, et nous y lirons . . . ."
(p. 14). This pamphlet is probably posterior to the majority
of those cited above, but we give it here as expressing the
moderate Constitutionalist view of a man who later be
came radical.
Lettre de M. Cerutti au Cafi de Foix, Paris, 1789, pp.
5.21-

AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 231
though animated by vengeance, they did not
allow themselves to commit a single atrocity,
and, in their valiant hand, the blade of war did
not so much as notch the edge of the blade
of the law."24
Servan, in his plea for peace among all par
ties, referred to the - present prosperous con
dition ofthe American Republic;25 Grou velle,
though not an admirer of all parts of the
American Constitution, could not withhold his
eulogies from the doctrine of equality as con
secrated by the American Declaration.26
"Cradled in the revolution of America,"
said the writer ofthe " Coup d'Equinoxe," pub
lished in 1789, "liberty has, since my infancy
been the sole object of my thoughts." One
pamphleteer of the time in his " Memoire pour
24 Cerutti, Vues Ginirales sur la Const, frang., Paris,
1789. "Les Americains Anglais ont seuls reussi k s'en-
preserver. Quoique animes par la vengeance ils ne se sont
. pas permis une seule atrocite & dans leur main valeureuse
la glaive de' la guerre n'a pas seulement ebrSche celui de la
loi" (p.. 13).
_ 25 Adresse aux Amis de la Paix, par M. Servan ancien
Avocat Gen. au Pari, de Grenoble, 1790, p. 21.
2^Grouvelle, De FAutoriti de Montesquieu dans la rev
olution prisente, Fev., 1789. "C'est pour consacrer ce
principe que les Etas-Unis ont commence leur charte con
stitutive par cette declaration ' Tous les hommes naissent
egaux' Cela est bien de l'autre monde,! " note p. 122.

232 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
le peuple," 27 sustains his argument for the bal
ance of three powers by the example afforded
by North America, and another, author of a
print entitled " L'Ami de la Revolution," ad
dressed the representatives "of the nation in
the following stirring tones: "Frenchmen!
All nations have their eyes fixed upon you !
The friends of the Revolution sustain you in
England by their applause and their good
wishes and the inhabitants of new America
invite you to follow their example." 28
27 For the Coup cFEquinoxe (p. 58), see Recueil, L. ^,
Bibl. Ste. Gen. Paris. Mem. pour le Peuple 1788, {Recueil,
Bibl. Ste. Gen. L. ^.) " Montesquieu a place la liberte pol
itique dans la distinction des trois pouvoirs: c'est un prin-
cipe inconnu aux peuples anciens & que le genie a donne
aux peuples modernes. C'est le regie sur lequel I'Amerique
Septentrionale mesure tous ses plans legislatifs. C'est
l'echelle veritable de la liberty publique " (p. 37).
28 L'Ami de la Revolution: Philippique aux Reprisen-
tants de la Nation, 1789, {Rec. L. ~^z, Bibl. Ste. Gen.).
" Frangais, toutes les Nations ont les yeux fixe sur vous!
Les amis de la Revolution vous secondent en Angleterre
par leurs applaudissements et par leurs vceux; les peuples
de la nouvelle Amerique vous invitent a suivre leur exem
ple" (p. i.) Compare with this P. Manuel, A mes Con-
citoyens en 1780. " Depuis que le bonnet de la liberie est
eleve en Amerique, sur la pointe d'une pique, il semble que
ce soit un signal pour tous les peuples. Tous se disposent
a demander justice des outrages faites a la nature et a la
raison." {Lettres sur la Rivolution, Paris, an III. p. 4). In
the ¦¦ Annales Patriotiques et Litteraires de la France," d.

AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 233
But the Constitutionalist writers, however
they may bave differed on other points, were
united in praising their King for his interfer
ence in the American war and in their approv
al of the American Revolution.
"What have I done thee, O my people?"
one moderately royalist pamphlet makes the
King exclaim, "what have I done thee that
thou heapest bitter abuse upon my head ?
Art thou angry that I have protected the lib
erty of America and that I, from that time
forth, desired to see it established in thy
midst?."29 " A king," said another pamphlet of a more
royalistic political stripe, " a king whom
America reveres as its liberator cannot be
come the tyrant of his subjects." 30
rected by Mercier, (No. clxxx. 31 March, 1790, p. 3) I find
England and America held up as an example. The article
is entitled " Un petit mot a MM. les Lyonnais." " Lyonnais,
voyez l'Angleterre, voyez les Etats Unis d'Amerique et
souvenez vous que la liberte est non seulement le premier
bien de I'homme, mais le grand vehicule de l'industrie et
du commerce."
20 Papule meus, quid tibi feci? 1790, (pamphlet), "Serait
ce parceque j'ai protege la liberte americaine et que je
vous ai montre des lors que je la verrais avec plaisir parmi
vous ? " (p. i).
30 L'Archevique de Paris d ses Diocisains, Savoye, 1789,
(Recueil Bibl. Ste. Gen. L. ^.) " Un roi que I'Amerique
revere comme son liberate'ur ne peut devenir le tyran de ses

234 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
The favorite poet of the Constitutionalists
at this time, Marie Joseph Chenier, always
referred to the country of Washington with
praise, and bestowed the laurel wreath upon
Lafayette. " Du sage Washington le vertueux rival,
Son eleve autrefois, maintenant son egal — "
The majority of the Constitutionalists were
ofthe opinion, expressed by Claviere that be
tween two free peoples, like regenerated
France and republican America, there should
exist a strong and durable spirit of fraternity.31
The majority of the Constitutionalists also
subscribed to the ideas in the letter of Andre"
Chenier to the Abbe" Raynal. The liberty-
loving poet upbraids the reactionary ecclesi
astic for his recent political apostasy; for his
opposition to the Rights of Man; for the in
consistency of his present attitude with his
attitude at the time of the American war.
" What did you invoke in favor of the Ameri
cans, if it was not the Rights of Man ? What
sujets," (p. ii.) Chenier, "Epitre au Roi, 1789," CEuvres,
tome iii. p. 64. Compare also his " Ode _l I'Assemblee
Nationale," {CEuvres, tome iii. p. 304) for flattering words
to America.
31 Claviere, Riflexions addressies d FAssem. Nat. sur le
Com?nerce, etc., Paris, 1790, p. 6, note et passim.

AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 235
did you find worthy of citing and praising in
Paine's ' Common Sense,' if it was not the
Rights of Man?" Those questions were in
deed the most telling of arguments, for, dur
ing a period of over ten years, all classes in
France had made themselves familiar with the
American Declaration, and its bold doctrines
were engraven in the memory of Frenchmen
long before they were incorporated into their
country's Constitution. To disavow those doc
trines now seemed like disavowing axiomatic
truths.32 Republicanism, meanwhile, was making
some headway and many Constitutionalists
began to feel alarm at the rising tide of opin
ions favorable to the establishment of a king-
less form of government. Recognizing that
this tide of opinion was greatly strengthened
by living American example, they strove in
their writings to prove that for the French to
^Moniteur Univ., Juin 5, 1791. ... "Et qu'avez vous
invoque pour les Americains si ce n'est les droits de l'hom-
" mer. Et qu'avez vous trouve dans le livre de Payne {le Sens
Commun) que vous avez extrait et loue, si ce n'est les droits
de I'homme ? " Compare Observateur Provincial, Angers,
1789, No. v. p. 32, for words, of good-will toward Amer
ica. " Ce n'est done pas assez que les Etats Unis de I'Amer
ique nous ayent donne l'exemple de la liberte; leur sol, beni
- par la Providence, se charge encore de nous aider _i main
tenir nos droits."
\

236 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
imitate in all respects the pattern set by the
United States was as impracticable as it was
undesirable. On this head the Constitution
alists opposed America. The opposition was
lukewarm, it is true, but still it was opposition.
Stand fast by a moderate monarchy, argued
the pamphlet entitled, " De la Republique et
de la Monarchic" 33 The Americans' exam
ple must not be followed. Their Republic has
not yet stood the test. Time alone will tell
whether they were wise in establishing so
popular a form of government.
A great nation cannot become and long re
main *a republic, argued another pamphlet of
» De la Ripublique et de la Monarchic (Bibl. de l'Ar
senal, Paris, No. 7189^^, in 8°), pp. 39, 40 and 45. For
an interesting discussion between a Constitutional Mon
archist and a Republican evidently influenced by America,
see the discussion between P. Choderlos, in Journal des
Amis de la Constitution, No. 33, 12 Juillet, 1791, and Bris
sot de Warville, in the Patriote Frangais, Nos. 696 and 697:
"J'entends par une republique," says Brissot, " un gouv
ernement ou tous les pouvoirs sont i° delegues ou repre-
sentatifs 2° electifs dans et par le peuple ou ses representants
3° temporaires ou amovibles. Les Etats Unis d'Amerique
sont les seules qui offrent l'image d'une pareille republique."
Compare, also, Gazette Universelle (de Cerisier), 16 Dec,
1790, No. 383, where a Constitutionalist Mr. de la. Rive's
comparison between France and America is given. It is'
flattering to America, but more so to his own country.
" Le Congres qui a sauve I'Amerique." " L'Assemblee qui
a delivre la France," etc., etc.

AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 237
the period, in 1790, and entitled, "Etat Actuel
de la France." The example of Switzerland,
of Holland, of America, is not conclusive.
Their geographical position is more favorable
to a republican form of government than that
of France would be.
" If you happen to speak on different kinds
of government, if you compare the French
Constitution with that of Geneva or that of
the United States," said Petion de Villeneuve,
in. 1789, "immediately you hear voices in fa
vor of one or the other of these governments.
People in general fail to go to the bottom of
the principles underlying these governments,
and launch forth into vague and ideal specu
lations."34 "' Petion de Villeneuve, Avis aux Frangais, 1789: "Par-
lez vous de ces divers gouvernemens, s'agit-il de savoir si
la constitution frangaise vaut-mieux que celle de Geneve ou
des Etats Unis, aussit6t des voix s'elevent en faveur de
chacune de ces gouvernemens & negligeant d'approfondir
les principes particuliers de leur organisation, on se jette
dans des speculations vagues et ideales " (chap. iii. 53).
Compare with this the statement of Barere, made in 1789:
" L'Amerique dont la liberte est en meme temps notre mo-
dele et notre fantome " {Mem. i. p. 418). It may here, be
stated that French public opinion was never so well dis
posed to Holland and Switzerland as to the American Re
public. They were also federal states, but not pure repub
lican governments. There was in them an oligarchical and
aristocratic element which was repugnant to the existing

238 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
Indeed, even before the end of the Constit
uent Assembly, Royalists of the old school
and Constitutionalists of the new began to
find stout adversaries in the Republicans of all
shades who almost imperceptibly sprung up
amid the febrile excitement of the times.
Serieys, who was more of a radical politi
cian and a scribbler than an inspired bard and
a statesman, more than once alluded to Amer
ica in his poem dedicated to Bailly and en
titled, " Les Revolutions de France ou La
LiberteV' "Loin de nous cependant la Liberte bannie
De tes paisibles bords, fertile Virginie."35
Brissot de Warville, who had returned from
his American trip in 1788 full of enthusiasm
for American institutions, founded the period
ical, "Patriote Francais."36 In its columns he
ideas in France. See Paganel, Essai Hist, et Crit. sur la
Riv. frang., tome ii. pp. 91, 92. Nor were allusions to
them in the public prints either as favorable or as frequent
as to America.
35 Les Rivolutions de France ou la Liberte, par M.
Serieys (Paris, 1790), chant i. p. 5. Comp. notes on chant
vi., p. 197; also vi. p. 78.
36 Le Patriote Frangais (See prospectus, the No. for June
17, 1789, and also numbers for 3 Sept. and 21 Nov., 1789).
The words we cite are taken from the introductory note.
"Sans les Gazettes, la revolution de I'Amerique, a laquelle
la France a prise une part si glorieuse, ne se serait jamais

AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 239
violently attacked Louis XVI., wrote of the
British Constitution with qualified praise and
always spoke in the highest terms of the
American union.
"The Revolution of America," said he, in
his opening number, " in which France took
so glorious a part, would never have been
consummated without the aid of gazettes all
of which republished ' Common Sense/ that
work whose every page bears the imprint of
reason." The " Patriote Francais," from the date of
its first number, 28 June, 1789, to the date
of its last, June 2, 1793, never faltered in its
admiration for America. It was in its pages
that the famous lines of Chenier first became
widely known:
" O Franklin and Washington, compeers in glory,
Whom Greece would have decked with her immortal
bays;
O ye to whom Clio, severe muse of story,
Will render the tribute of honor and praise;
faite. Toutes, par exemp-e, reimprimaient le Sens Commun,
cet ecrit ou triomphe la raison " (p. 2). On the influence
his American trip had on Brissot, see Dumont, Mem. of
Mirabeau (Am. ed.), xx. 327: " Brissot went and surveyed
the country, and this voyage, of which he published a rela
tion, by no means damped his ardor for liberty under re- ;
publican forms." Compare, John Woolman's Diary, (ed.
Whittier), p. 31.

240 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
Let me not be misled by my hopes' fond illusion,
Believing the light of your freedom shall beam
To lighten the gloom of our own dark confusion.
I cannot believe it is only a dream
Of my fancy, that we, men of France, shall soon see
The day when, like you, brave American freemen,
Our heroic models, we too shall be free."3'
The editor of the " Patriote Francais," ad
vocated American ideas in France and pointed
to American example not only in his paper
37 See, on Patriote Frangais, Hatin, Hist, de la Presse en
France, vol. v. p. 1 1 . For the verses, seeoPatriote Frangais,
3 Sept., 1789, p. 3.
" O Franklin, Washington, grands compagnes de gloire,
O vous a qui la Grece eiit dresse des autels,
Vous a qui la severe histoire
Paira des tributs immortels;
Je ne m'enivre point d'un espoir chimerique;
La Liberie qui luit aux champs de I'Amerique
Eclaira, pres des nous, les regards des Frangais;
Et bientot des recits fideles
Vont annoncer h, nos modeles
Les fruits de leur exemple & nos heureux succSs."
" Nous avons conquis notre liberte. II ne s'agit done pas
d'apprendre des Americains la maniere de la conquerir;
mais il faut apprendre d'eux le secret de la conserver. Des
mceurs ! des mceurs ! Sans elles point de liberte," i. and
ii. of preface to the Nouveau Voyage dans les Etats Unis.
" Frangais qui voulez connaitre ces moyens, etudiez les
Americains d'aujourd'hui, ouvrez ce livre," pp. xxi., xxii.
" Les exemples frappent toujours plus que les preceptes,'
p. xxviii.

AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 241
and in conversation. In April, 1791", he pub
lished an account of his travels in the United
States under the title of " Nouveau Voyage
dans les Etats Unis de 1' Amerique Septen-
trionale," and in the three-volume work proved,
more strongly than ever before, how great
was his love for America and the Americans.
Two volumes are devoted to a description
of the country and its inhabitants; the third
is an enlarged reproduction of his and Cla-
viere's work, " De la France et des Etats
Unis" originalry published in 1787, and then
very successful with the public. The preface
to Brissot's work is indicative of its general
tenor. It glows with enthusiasm for Amer
ica. " We have conquered, our liberty. We
need not therefore learn from the Americans
the way of obtaining it; we must learn from
them the secret of maintaining, it. Good
morals ! good morals ! without them, no lib
erty ! " The two pillars, according to Brissot,
on which rests the body politic, are sound
morals and public education. " Frenchmen,"
he exclaims", " ye who wish to know the means
of preserving liberty, study the Americans of
to-day, open this book  Examples al
ways produce a more striking impression
than precepts." Brissot de Warville was de-

242 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
cidedly, next to Lafayette, the most ardent
champion America then had in France.
The pamphlet " La . France Libre," pub
lished in 1789, by Camille Desmoulins, was
as republican in tone as its author was then
already republican in his opinions. He. did
not disguise the fact; he proclaimed it aloud.
He desired a republic after the Athenian
kind; he hated modern monarchs and mon
archies. The United States probably found
little favor in his eyes and yet the bold
pamphleteer twice alluded to their example
in the pages of " La France Libre." First,
he approvingly quoted Mirabeau's memor
able words on the Declaration of Indepen
dence, and then, further on, he startled both
Royalists, and Constitutionalists by this doc
trine. France has no further need of mon
archical government. The nation will govern
itself. America does so. Greece did so.
That is the only government fit for men,
for Frenchmen, and for Frenchmen of this
century.38 ss C. Desmoulins, La France Libre, 1789, chap, vi., for
quotation from Mirabeau and for the following, above cited,
"Ce sera la nation qui-se regira elle-meme, k l'exemple de
I'Amerique, k l'exemple de la Grece. Voila le seul gouv
ernement qui convienne k des hommes, aux Frangais et aux
Frangais de ce siecle."

AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 243
The death of Franklin, in 1 790, called forth
expressions of eulogy and regret from all
parties in France. These expressions have
for us to-day an historical value, for, they
clearly indicate the then opinion of these
parties in regard to the country of which
Franklin had been the representative man.
Mirabeau,. a Constitutionalist, pronounced
upon the dead statesman that beautiful eu
logy which every American schoolboy knows
by heart; the Assembly, which was his at
tentive listener, voted to wear mourning dur
ing three days in honor of the American's
memory,39 and, by its President, sent its con
's Mirabeau, CEuvres, (ed. Vermorel), ii. pp. 131, 132.
" Franklin est mort. 11 est retourne au sein de la divinite, le
genie qui affranchit I'Amerique et versa sur l'Europe des
torrents de lumiere. Le sage que deux mondes reclament,
I'homme que se disputent I'histoire des sciences et I'histoire
des empires, fenait sans doute un rang eleve dans l'espece
humaine. Assez longtemps les cabinets politiques ont noti-
fie la mort de ceux qui ne furent grands que dans leur eloge
funebre ! Assez longtemps l'etiquette des cours a pro-.
clame des deuils hypocrites ! Les nations ne doivent
porter que le deuil de leurs bienfaiteurs; les representants
des nations ne doivent recommander k leur hommage que
les heros de l'humanite  L'antiquite eut eleve des
autels a ce vaste et puissant genie, qui au profit des mortels,
embrassant dans sa pensee le ciel et la terre sut dompter
la foudre et les tyrans: l'Europe eclairee et libre doit du "
moins un temoignage de souvenir k l'un des plus grands
hommes qui aient jamais servi la philosophie et la liberte.".

244 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
dolence to the President of the United States.
The Abbe Fauchet, also a Constitutionalist,
celebrated the virtues of the deceased in a
glowing eulogy before the Municipality of
Paris.40 Chenier commemorated the death of Frank
lin at the same time that he sang his noble
song in eulogy of Mirabeau.
" Un seul grand homme vaut cent rois
Ce Franklin, qui dans I'Amerique
Fit.regner la raison publique,
Au monde etait plus precieux
Que tous ces princes dont la gloire
Expire et s'eteint dans I'histoire
Des qu'on leur ferme les yeux."
One great man, he exclaimed, is worth
an hundred kings. Franklin, who estab-
40 Eloge civique de Benjamin Franklin, prononce le 21
Juillet, 1790, dans la Rotonde au nom de la Commune de
Paris, par M. l'Abbe Fauchet, Paris, 1790, 50 p. "Une
grande nation, etonee de se voir libre embrasse d'une ex-
tremite de la terre a l'autre la premi&re nation qui Test
devenue."  "La ville de Paris qui a possede ce
grand homme, qui s'est enivree alors du plaisir de I'admirer
dispute maintenant a Boston et a Philadelphie ses deux
villes natales, le sentiment profond de son merite et
de sa gloire. . Elle a commande cette solennite funebre
pour eterniser la reconnaissance et la douleur de cette
troisieme patrie qui s'est montree si digne de l'avoir eu pour
, instituteur et pour modele  " Conf. Mercure de
France, 8 Oct., 1791. For Chenier's lines, see his CEuvres,
tome. iii. 321.

AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 245
lished national liberty in America, was more
precious to the world than all those princes
whose glory expires with their last breath
and with the closing of their eyes.
The Duke de La Rochefoucauld eulogized
the illustrious republican to the members of
the " '89 Society; " 41 Vicq d'Azyr sketched
the life of the departed — who had been, as he
said, " an inventor among savans, a legislator
for nations, a liberator of his country " — before
the Academy of Medicine,42 and Condor
cet, in presence of the Academy of Sciences,
spoke in grave and stately tones not only of
Franklin the scientist and the man, but of
Franklin the diplomatist and statesman of a
free people.43
41 See- Benjamin Franklin, His Life and Writings — a
Bibliographical Essay on the Stevens' Collection of Books
and MSS. relative to Dr. Franklin, by Henry Stevens,
(London, 1881,) p. 4, Sparks' Life of Franklin, p. 593 et
seq. 42 For the Eloge on Franklin by Vicq d'Azyr see Revue
Retrospective, tome ii. Serie ii. 1835, PP- 375 et seQ- F°r
the effect it produced see QSuvres de Lemontey , (Paris,
1829,) tome iii. p. 46 et seq. "J'etais absent de Paris
lorsqu'il le prononga mais je retrouvais a mon retour la
vive sensation qu'il y avait laisser. On repetait ces paroles
memorables de son debut sur le vieillard americain ' Un
homme est mort et deux mondes sont en deuil.' "
43 CEuvres de Condorcet, (Paris, 1804,) pp. 121, 122, 138,
141, 143, 146, 160. " Elle (!' Academie des Sciences) accueil-

246 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
Such were Constitutionalist opinions con
cerning the great American. They at the
same time expressed admiration and sym
pathy for his country and for him.
The Royalists, however, either passed by
the event of Franklin's death in silence or sim
ply dwelt upon his talent as a scientist. One
orthodox royalist sheet, " L' Apocalypse," ridi
culed Mirabeau's motion in Franklin's honor,
while at the same time it ridiculed the " royal
democracy " of Barnave, Noailles, d'Aiguillon,
Lafayette and La Rochefoucauld, all earnest
friends and admirers of America.44
Another representative ofthe court, " L'Ami
du Roi," thus reported the eulogy delivered
by Mirabeau.
"The members listened with interest to
lit avec transport le sage qui venait d'apprendre aux tyrans
connaitre la justice, aux hommes a ne plus dependre que
de leurs droits. Elle vit avec satisfaction un de ses mem-
bres reunir la gloire d'affranchir deux mondes, d'eclairer
I'Amerique et de donner a l'Europe l'exemple de la liberie "
(p. 163). Compare with these Constitutionalist eulogies,
the Moniteur Univ., for 5 Aoiit, 1791, reviewing Mimoires
de la Vie Prive i de Benjamin Franklin, Paris, 1791. That
influential organ ended by saying of the book that it was,
" un recueil extrgmement interessant pour toutes les classes
de lecteurs, mais surtout pour les philosophes et pour les
hommes libres."
" L' Apocalypse, chap, xiv., against the " democratic roy
ale," etc., etc., p. 16.

AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 247
the encomium bestowed by M. de Mirabeau
upon this savant to whom his country should
be grateful. This eulogy was doubtless de
served, but in tracing it the orator raised his
hero to such a height that he rendered it
impossible for any one to recognize in him
the Franklin whom we knew." 45
The extreme Democratic journalists, Ma
rat46 and Prudhomme,47 cursorily alluded to
46 L'Ami du Roi, (Pro Deo, Rege et Patrist,) No. Iiii.
Vendredi, 23 Juillet, 1760, p. 215, ridiculed the Abbe
Fauchet's Eulogy on Franklin, and the number, Samedi
12 Juin, 1790, reported as follows, "On a ecoute avec in-
teret l'eloge que M. de Mirabeau a fait de ce savant, a qui
son pays doit de la reconnaissance. Cet eloge etait merite
sans doute mais en le tragant l'orateur a eleve son heros a
une telle hauteur, qu'il Fa, pour ainsi dire,, rendu mecon-
naissable," (p. 47). It was characteristic of the royalist
press always to qualify their praise of America. Compare
the royalist Journal de M. Suleau, No. iii. pp. 18, 19. He
speaks of the great future of the United States, but he con
soles himself with the thought, "aujourd'hui ce geant n'est
qu'au berceau."
46 Marat, in the Ami du Peuple, 16 Juin, "1790, spoke
some words of eulogy on Franklin, but fiercely attacked
Mirabeau as a hypecrite. Conf. Ami du Peuple, cxliv. 25
Juin, 1790.
47 Prudhomme, Rivolutions de Paris, No. liv. pp. 60, 61,
also No. lv. pp. 133 and 136. On p. 133 the radical jour
nalist seems to say that 'Sparta was free long before Amer
ica and therefore deserves greater admiration ! Compare
these lukewarm radical demonstrations of 1790 in Franklin's
honor with his fame under the Convention in 1794, Mim de
Morellet, ii. p. 339.

248 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
Franklin in their inflammatory sheets, and
gave but scant praise to the American Re
public. The masses cherished his memory,
however, and groups of men who lived by the
work of their hands held meetings in honor
of the tallow-chandler's son in Paris and in
the provinces. The bust of the great man
was placed in the hall to remind the lowly
audience of the features of the deceased and
fit words were spoken to recall his works
and his example.48
« For account of the popular celebrations in Franklin's
honor, see Rivolutions de Paris, No. lvii. pp. 232 et seq.,
where the speeches are given. L' Observateur Provincial,
Angers, 1790, No. 14, p. 55 where the' following resolution
is printed " Les Amis de la Constitution,- residant a Angers
prendront, le lundi 21 de ce mois, ler deuil pour 3 jours, a
l'occasion de la mort du Docteur Francklin." For further
account of popular testimonials in honor of the American's
memory, see Mim. de Campan, vol. ii. chap. ix. p. 223 and
vol. iii. p. 373, note T. Luchet, in his work, Les Contem
porains de 1789 et 1790, ou les Opinions Dibattues pen
dant la Premiere Legislature (Paris, 1790, 3 vols. 8°), said,
sub loco, Franklin; — •" II est impossible de donner le tableau
d'une revolution, sans y placer ce nom immortel. Ce x€-
publicain philosophe a edaire les heros de la liberte; jusqu'a
lui la plupart des publicistes avaient raisonne comme des
esclaves entendus de leurs maitres; ou avait employe tout
leur esprit comme Montesquieu pour justifier ce qui est;
et farder nos institutions d'un venin trompeur; lui seul,
etudiant les droits de I'humanite, ecartant la poussiere et
le sable, c'est a dire les relations exterieures de faiblesse
et de puissance, de richesse et de pauvrete, d'inegalite et

AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 249
The death of Frankiin made it evident that
while the extreme Royalists and extreme
Democrats were almost equally lukewarm in
his praise or neglectful of his memory, the
Constitutionalists were forward in recalling to
all minds the life-history of the American and
the political, significance of the Revolution
in which he had been one of the most prom
inent actors. Memories of 1776 had not died
out in France in 1790.
The Constituent Assembly was meanwhile"
drawing to a close. The three years of its
sessions had been marked by great events
outside and inside the legislative, hall. There
had been anarchy of opinion, abundance of
conflicting pamphlets, and fierce discussion.
The Royalists had, on one occasion, organized
d'aristocratie de toute espece a decouvert les fondements
de Ia societe  Non jamais on doit parler de la liberte
Sans payer un tribut d'hommages a cet eminent vengeur
de la nature humaine," ii. pp. 34, 35.
In a short-lived periodical called Le Ripublicain; (see
Hatin, Bibliog. de la Presse Piriodique, p. 187), I find the
following glowing eulogy on Franklin, "La France, ou il
a laisse une foule d'amis, ou l'on a vu toujours libre, sin
cere et vertueux au milieu d'une cour corrompue, la France,
dis-je, s'associe a la douleur que sa perte a cause a ses
concltoyens," 1790, No. ii. pp. 37, 38, 39. The same period
ical, gives an elaborate report at a meeting held by the
patriots at the Cafe-Procope in honor of the memory of the
great American, (comp. No. iii. pp. 1,2).

250 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
a banquet and trampled! under foot the revo
lutionary cockade. The famished mob had,
on another, rushed to Versailles, invaded the
palace, and forced the royal family to remove
to Paris, there to reside under its watchful
eyes. Confidence iii the King, for a moment
restored by the Fete of the Federation, had
been destroyed for ever by his unsuccessful
flight and his ignominious capture. The no
bility of the court had emigrated in great
numbers and now hovered along the banks
of the Rhine in hostile array. There had
been riots, secret seditions and open insur
rection in the city and in the departments.
But in spite of these grave events, and in
the midst of such discouraging circumstances,
the National Constituent Assembly had pur
sued its labors of reform and legislation. It
had stood amid the storm —
" Like the steadfast tower, that never wags
Its summit for the blowing of the winds — " ¦»
and the greater part of its" work has' un
dergone the test of time, and is to-day incor
porated in the constitutions of almost all the
nations. The National Constituent Assembly
stripped royalty of its absolutism; founded rep
resentative government in France; established
*> Dante, Purgatorio, canto v. 14 (Longfellow's transl.).

AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 251
liberty of worship, of the press, and of speech;
abrogated feudal rights and privileges; divided
France into departments; opened all profes
sions and careers to all classes of men; gave
the ballot, with certain restrictions, to every
citizen; reformed the criminal code; instituted
the trial by jury in criminal cases; and simpli
fied and equalized taxation.
If we examine the debates that preceded
the adoption of this constitution, and if we
examine the constitution itself as adopted, we
will be struck by the fact that the French leg
islators, who debated and voted upon it, were
influenced first, by Rousseau; next, by Amer
ica; and, lastly, by England. These influences
can be easily explained, if we take into con
sideration the metaphysical proclivities of the
French mind in the eighteenth century. Rous
seau satisfied these proclivities best, and he was,
therefore, the leading influential power over the
legislators of the Constituent Assembly, as he
was later to be -the predominating mind in the
Legislative Assembly and the Convention.
The strong influence of America on France,
at the time of the Constituent Assembly, has
been proved, we think, by the debates in. and
the publications and pamphlets, outside of that
Assembly, as well as by the adoption of, first,

252 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
the Declaration of Rights; second, the Sus
pensive Veto; third, the Act for Freedom of
Worship; fourth, perfect Freedom ofthe Press;
fifth, though only in part, by the adoption of
a written and amendable Constitution. The
explanation of this influence is to be found in
two patent facts. In the first place, America
had the sympathies of the mass of the French
people. "Ideas dp not govern the 'world,"
somewhere remarks Herbert Spencer, " the
world is governed by feelings, to which ideas
serve only as guides."
In the second place, the American Repub
lic, like the works of Rosseau, satisfied the
craving in France for the ideal and the ab
stract, and yet, at the same time, afforded a
concrete example of a state where the prin
ciples of the Philosopher of the Hermitage
either partially formed the basis of the -gov
ernment or the basis for the interpretation of
the constitution.
Hence, French admiration for equality, pop
ular sovereignty, broad suffrage and popular
elections as exemplified in the American sys
tem, and hence, too, French opposition to
such Anglican principles as the division and
balance of governmental powers, such as had
been retained and incorporated by the United

AMERICA AND PUBLIC OPINION. 253
States, even after their separation from the
mother country.
That the great and illustrious monarchy of
Great Britain at this time exerted relatively
so little influence, upon France was owing to
lack of sympathy between the two nations,
and to the marked difference in prevalent
ideas. Great Britain was the rival of- France
then, as it had been for centuries, and the .
mass of the French people looked upon the
mighty insular naval power of the North with
the same suspicious eyes as in ancient times
Rome had regarded Carthage.
The ideas on government current in the two
countries were, furthermore, fundamentally op
posed. The British system, with its positive and
practical spirit, its love of historic precedent, and
its horror of abstract reasoning, found but scant
favor in France, and never obtained more than
the suffrages of a restricted circle.50
50 For an interesting but somewhat misty and metaphy
sical discussion between an advocate of the American sys
tem and an advocate ofthe British polity, see M.de Casaux,
Apergu de ia Constitution frangaise, par un homme de
I'Amerique et Riponse sommaire a tout ce qu'on a ecrit et
ecrira en France et en Amerique pour, sur, et contre cette
Constitution, Paris, 1791 ;. and Ramond, Opinion inoncie k
la Societe de 1789, sur les loix constitutionelles, Paris, 1791.
Both these pamphlets are rare, and are among the treas
ures of the Bibliotheque Nationale, at Paris. For the views

254 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
When the National Constituent Assembly
had completed its immortal labors, it was dis
solved on the 30th of September, 1791.
of a Constitutionalist of 1789, read Demeunier, L 'Amirique
Indipendante (Gand., 1790). He states plainly the features
of the American Constitution that struck him, and doubtless
the majority of his party as excellent and preferable to those
of the British Constitution. We cite the following (vol. i.
sect, iv.) — "Quand on se rappele les formes de gouverne-
, ment dont parle l'Histoire, quand on jette les yeux sur les
differens pays de la terre, comment ne serait on pas frappe
de la simplicite, de la raison & de la philosophie des con
stitutions d'Amerique ? Les droits du peuple et les grandes
questions des conventions sociales y sont etablies de la
maniere la plus energique et la plus formelle. On y re-
trouve tous les points de sagesse et d'utilite qu'offre celle
de l'Angleterre." He then praises liberty of press, free
dom in religious matters, trial by one's equals, superiority
of civil to military power, eligibility of magistrates, absence
of the ministers of the executive in the parliamentary body,
as laid down in American Constitutions. He continues,
" Elles ont reforme plusiers abus de la Constitution anglaise
& contiennent plusiers dispositions importantes que les
vrais patriotes anglais s'efforcent d'introduire dans la leur."
He next points out that the American Constitutions are
amendable according to a prescribed legal form. " Les
Etats Unis ne se sont pas avise de decreter leurs constitu
tions eternelles et immuables. Ils ont stipule expressement
qu'on les changeraient lorsqu'ils ne conviendraient plus au
peuple" (i. 41, 42). This American idea of a regularly
amendable Constitution met with considerable favor in
France. Chapellier, as we have seen, was one of its
great advocates. Demeunier speaks favorably of it in the
passage just cited, and Destutt de Tracy in his Commen
taire sur F Esprit des Lois de Montesquieu (livre xi. p.
151), is evidently a partisan of it.

CHAPTER VI.
AMERICA, THE GIRONDE AND THE.
MONTAGNE.
The Legislative Assembly began its sessions
on the ist of October, 1791. Three distinct
parties, in and out of this Assembly, struggled
for the supremacy. These were the Feuil-
lants, the Girondins and the Montagnards.
The Feuillants, among whom were such men
as Mathieu Dumas, Girardin, Lemontey, Vau
blanc, Ramond, Lameth, Duport, Barnave and
Lafayette, supported the King and the Con
stitution and counseled moderation. The
Montagnards, represented by such men as
Robespierre, Danton, and Saint -Just, called
loudly for a democratic republic and pushed
the doctrines of Rousseau to their furthest •
•limits. The Girondins, led by men like Bris
sot, Condorcet, Barbaroux, Claviere, Isnard,
Guadet and Vergniaud, were, at this epoch,
more democratic than the Feuillants and less
radical than the Montagnards. They stood

256 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
by Louis XVI. whom at heart they disliked,
and maintained a monarchical government,
though in reality they desired a republic.
The new Assembly soon showed by what
spirit it was animated. It did away with the
titles Sire and Majesty; it dealt the priest
and the emigre many a hard blow; it dis
trusted and watched the King; it gave him
a Girondist ministry chosen from among its
members; it declared war against monarch
ical Austria and Prussia. What was the in
fluence exerted by America on France amid
these momentous events ? It was almost
null. The enthusiasm which had been felt
for the American States, during the war, the
period of the Confederation and in the days
of the Constituent Assembly had gradually
diminished as the circumstances that gave it
rise appeared less immediate to the mercurial
French mind, and as the French became more
engrossed with their wars abroad, and their
fierce contentions at home. The Constitu
tionalists, the men who had perhaps best
represented America in France, were now
in favor of as moderate and stable a system
of government as possible and, by that very
fact and in view of the state of affairs, were
losing their popularity. To be moderate at

THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 257
a time when the King was a secret traitor
at home; when nobles harassed their country
from abroad; when the rabble of the cities
roused itself in its strength; when the land
was full of toil and trouble, to be moderate
at such a time and under such circumstances
was almost fatally, to abdicate all power and
fling away all popularity. Such was the fate
of Barnave, of Lafayette, of Dumas.
The Montagnards, in turn, were too much
engaged in their violent polemics, their, bitter
accusations, their threats and their clubs to
give much thought to a Republic three thou
sand miles away across the ocean and for
which their coolest members, in their calm
est moments, had never manifested much
enthusiasm. The Feuillants and the Montagnards at
the capital would at times allow their thoughts
to wander to the shores of free America.
This is probable. They applauded with the
rest of Paris the catch-words liberty, equal
ity, rights, humanity, and they wept over
the sentiment and the pathetic situations
which they found" in a series of Franco -
American plays that were occasionally pro
duced on the French stage. M. de Sauvigny
in 1 79 1 brought Washington before a theatri-

258 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
cal public. The play was entitled " Vash-
ington, ou la Liberte du Nouveau Monde,"
and during its four acts the author displayed
greater ardor for liberty and his country, than
for the orthography of his hero's name or the
plausibility of his plot.
Pompigny, in 1794, caused Franklin to
tread the boards. The play in which he
appeared was the " Epoux Republicain "; -the
speeches uttered by the American were in
tended to be very impressive. Franklin with
his keen sense of the humorous would un
doubtedly have considered them very funny.1
> "Vashington ou la Liberte du Nouveau Monde," a
tragedy in four acts, was produced on the 13th July, 1791, at
the Theatre de la Nation. It had no success. The audi
ence applauded the patriotism of Sauvigny, not his talent.
The characters ift the play are Vashington; Lincol and
Macdol, lieutenant generals; Laurens, Jr; Lismor, anti-rev
olutionary; Madame Laurens; the ambassador of France;
Jorton, envoy of the King of England; Madame Nelson,
widow of a relative of Washington; the President of Con
gress; a deputation of ministers of public -worship. — For
Pompigny's drama, see Welchinger, Le Thiatre de la Riv-
olution, pp. 249, 250. Speaking of plays, mention must be
made of the one entitled La Prise de Toulon and produced
in the second year of the French Republic, one and indi
visible. An American soldier therein plays a striking part
and often alludes to liberty and the friendly relations be
tween France and the United States. For a knowledge of
" Vashington " and of some other Franco-American plays, I
am indebted to Mr. Theodore Child, the elegant chroni-
queur of The Parisian.

THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 259
These are incidents, however. The fact
remains that allusions to America became
.less and less frequent, in Constitutionalist
and Democratic circles. It was the schol
arly Girondins, the members from those de
partments of France which had early sympa
thized with and sought to gain the good-will
of the United States, so as to further the
commercial relations between the two coun
tries, it was these warm, impulsive, eloquent
Southern natures, who now showed that they
were still admirers of American example, and
pointed to it in order to encourage their coun
trymen in the war which they were to wage
with the despots and nobles of Europe. On the
ioth of July, 1791, even before the period of
the Legislative Assembly, but when war-clouds
already flitted to and fro in the threatening
sky, Brissot de Warville pronounced the fol
lowing energetic words, " The powers of Eu
rope, they tell us, are about to burst down
upon you. Granted! If, however, yielding to
any such consideration, you forget your prin
ciples, your dignity, the Constitution, and
think only of the danger that menaces you
from abroad, why, then, be quick and tear to
pieces that Constitution of which you are no
longer worthy, of which you are not willing

260 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
to defend the provisions! 
O, you who are in doubt as to the prodi
gious and supernatural efforts that the love
of liberty can summon men to make, look
and see what the Americans did to achieve
their independence; see Doctor Warren, who
had never before handled a rifle, defend the
commanding position of. Bunker Hill with a
handful of his countrymen, poorly armed, im
perfectly disciplined. See them, before they
would yield, see them make over twelve hun
dred English soldiers bite the dust. Follow
General Washington holding his own with
three to four thousand farmers against thirty
thousand British, and making light of such
superior numbers. Follow him to Trenton.
He told me this himself. His soldiers had
no shoes; the ice that cut their feet was
stained with their blood. ' O, we'll have
some shoes to-morrow ! ' they said. ' We'll
whip the Redcoats ! ' And they whipped
them ! " 2
* Moniteur Universel, 14 Juillet, 1791, "Les puissances
etrangeres vont fondre sur vous, nous dit on. Je le veux mais
si cedant a ce motif vous oubliez vos principes, votre dig-
nite, la Constitution pour ne plus voir qu'un danger ex-
terieur, en ce cas hatez vous de dechirer cette constitution;
vous n'en etes plus dignes; vous ne pouvez plus en defendre
aucune partie . . . . O vous qui doutez des efforts prodigieux

THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 261
The same accomplished orator, who before
the " Societe des Amis de la Constitution ", thus
eloquently held up the Americans as models,
repeated his sentiments in the Assembly, and
on the ioth of July, 1792, pleading for deter
mined action and for war, exclaimed, "The
Americans had no shoes when they were
victorious at Trenton ! " 3
The impetuous Isnard, alluding to the sacri
fices that liberty requires, told the assembled
legislators to open the book of history and see
how Englishmen, Hollanders, Americans had
purchased their free institutions at the price
of blood.
"When in our day and generation the
et surnaturels que l'amour de la liberie peut commander
aux hommes, voyez ce que l'on fait les Americains pour
conquerer leur independance. Voyez le medecin Warren
qui n'avait j'amais manie le fusil defendre la petite colline
de Bunkerhill avec une poignee d'Americains mal armes,
mal disciplines et, avant de se rendre, faire mordre la pous-
;siere \ plus de 1200 militair.es anglais. Suivez le General
Washington faisant la tete avec 3 a 4000 paysans a plus
de 36,000 Anglais, et se jouant de leurs forces. Suivez le
a Trenton. II me le disait; ses soldats n'avaient pas de
souliers, la glace qui dechirait leurs pieds etait teinte ile.
leur sang, Nous aurons demain des souliers, disaient ils.
Nous battrons les Anglais, et ils les battirent !" ..
'Moniteur UniverselStiecieeAv, 10- Juillet, 1792. "Les
Americains n'avaient pas die souliers quand ils vainquirent
a Trentole." (sic.)

262 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
Philadelphian desired to be free, did you not
witness a war that embraced two worlds ? " 4
What Brissot and Ishard advocated in the
tribune of the Assembly, the philosophic Con
dorcet, a man who it is said was as a vol
cano covered with ice, advocated in the press.
He thus encouraged his countrymen in the
midst of some reverses: "When Franklin was
at Paris to negotiate a treaty for his coun
try's interest, the raw American recruits hap
pened to encounter on the banks of the
Delaware the best-disciplined troops of Eu
rope. When the news of some defeats were
announced to him, he used to reply with
perfect calm, 'This is sad news, but, (a ira,
4 Moniteur Univ., 15 Nov., 1791. " Quand de nos jours le
Philadelphien a voulu devenir libre n'avez vous pas vu aus-
sit6t la guerre dans les deux mondes ? " Compare with this
Isnard's allusion to American example in the Convention.
Monit. Univ., Seance du 23 Fev., 1793. Fauchet in the Leg.
Assembly, Monit. Univ., Seance du 22 Jan., 1792, alluded to
the United States as one of the few free states with whom
the French Republic should contract an alliance.
The poets and poetasters of the time occasionally alluded
to America. In a poem of ten " chants " entitled " La
France Republicaine, ou le Miroir de la Revolution fran
gaise," by Francois Pages, published in 1793, the preface
contains the following allusion .to the United States, "Les
Americains ont implante I'arbre de la liberte' sur un sol
vierge; leurs moeurs primitives et patriarchales semblaient
apeller la liberte." Compare, also, chant i. p. 7, and
chant v. p. 56.

THE GIRONDE AND' THE MONTAGNE. 263
that will be all right in the end ! ' And yet,
what were then the resources of the Ameri
cans in comparison with those which France
to-day possesses ? It is to be desired that our
people fully seize this great truth." 5
During the agitated sessions of the Legis
lative Assembly, amid the varying fortunes
of the French armies abroad, the King, feebly
defended by the Feuillants and the Girondins
at home, became, according to the fluctuating
reports from the seat of war more hateful to
the Montagnards and to the Parisian mob that
was their master. This hate culminated in the
ioth of August attack on the Tuileries; in the
murder of the guards; in the removal of the
King and the royal family to the prison of
the Temple. France, which in 1789 and
1790, in the halcyon days of the "Constitu-
s Moniteur Univ., 21 Sept., 1792. "Nous croyons utile de
publier les reflexions suivantes de M. Condorcet prises,
dans la Chronique," No. 266. "Franklin etait a negocier
a Paris pour les interets de son' pays, lorsque les milices
americaines nouvellement formees soutenaient sur les bords
de la Delaware les efforts des troupes les mieux disciplinees
de l'Europe. Lorsqu'on lui annoncait la nouvelle de quel
ques revers essuyes par ses concitoyens, il repondait sans
s'emouvoir: Cela est Hcheux, ,mais ¦ g a ira. . . . Cependant
qii'etaient alors les ressources des Americains en compar
aison de celles que la France possede aujourd'hui ? II se
rait a souhaiter que le peuple se penetrat une fois de ces
verites."

264 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
ante," had but few avowed republicans, now
swarmed with them. The dubious conduct of
the King, the aggressive attitude of the Mon
tagnards, the emigration, the timidity of the
Girondins and the unpopularity of the old
Constitutional party were the prime causes of
the growth and spread of republican doctrines.
Two Americans — Joel Barlow and Thomas
Paine — we will now show, contributed, in no
slight degree, to reinforce this current of opin
ion by their words and their writings.
Barlow, who had acted as a chaplain in the
American ranks during the Revolutionary
war, and who had dedicated his " Vision of
Columbus " to Louis XVI., came to Lon
don and Paris on business in 1788, and
there extensively associated with the lib
eral politicians of the day. The more the
revolution in France increased in democratic
tendency, the more it had his sympathy.
¦ In 1 79 1 he launched forth his "Advice to
the Privileged Classes," which appeared in
French, under the title "Avis aux Ordres
Privilegies dans les Divers Etats d'Europe."
In this he boldly maintained that "the repub
lican principle is not only proper and safe for
the government of any people, but that its
propriety and safety are in proportion to the

THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 265
magnitude ofthe society and the' extent of ter
ritory." In 1792 he sent a Letter to the Na
tional Convention and therein again advocated
republicanism. In the same. year he issued a
Letter to the People of Piedmont urging them
to espouse the cause of democratic France.
His "Conspiracy of Kings," a poem that
came from a London press also in 1792, at
tracted considerable attention. It was in
tensely virulent against royalty; such lines as
these are specimens:
" Learn hence, ye tyrants, ere ye learn too late
Of all your craft th' inevitable fate.
The hour is come, the world's unclosing eyes
Discern with rapture where its wisdom lies;
From Western heavens th' inverted Orient springs
The morn of man, the dreadful night of kings — "
These efforts of Barlow to deal a blow for
a country then fighting monarchical Europe
were appreciated by the Convention. The
members of that body vbted on the 17th of
February, 1793, that the citizen ofthe United
States of America be admitted to the rights
and honors of French citizenship.6
6 For Barlow see his Political Writings (New York, 1796),
p. vi. pp. 159, 198, 247, and Moniteur Universel, 19 Fev.,
1793. "He has published several works during the course
of our Revolution," said Guyton Morveau, " of which two
especially have held public attention."

266 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
As early as July 8, 1 79 1 , at a time when pro
fessed republicans were few in France, Thomas
Paine had written an open letter to Abbe1
Sieyes in which he took a firm stand against
a monarchical form of government and de
clared himself the advocate of a Republic
with the Declaration of Rights as its base.7
The man who by his pamphlet, " Common
Sense," had done so much for the Revolution
in America was evidently intent on doing
something for that in France. Abbd Sieyes
replied to this communication also by an open
letter, in the course of which, though differing
with Paine, he paid the following high tribute
to the American pamphleteer.
" Mr. Thomas Paine is one of the men who
have most contributed to make America free.
His ardent love of humanity and his hatred
of every kind of tyranny have led him to take
in England the defense of the French Revo
lution against the nonsensical declamation of
Mr. Burke. His work has been translated
into our language, tinder the title " Droits de
l'Homme." He is known all over the world,
and who is the French patriot that has not
already from the bottom of his heart thanked
this stranger for having strengthened our cause
' Moniteur Universel, 16 Juillet, 1 791.

THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 267
by his powerful reasoning and by the weight
of his name ? " 8
Paine was, indeed, well known, and his works
were extensively read in France.9 The first
s For this letter by Abbe Sieyes, see supplement of the
Moniteur Universel, 16 Juillet, 1791. "M". Thomas Paine
est un des hommes qui ont le plus contribue a etablir la
liberte en Amerique. Son ardent amour pour I'humanite,
sa haine pour toute espece de tyrannie l'ont porte a prendre
en Angleterre la defense de la revolution frangaise, contre
l'amphigourique declamation de M. Burke. Son ouvrage a
ete traduit dans notre langue sous le titre des Droits de
l'Homme. II est universellement connu et quel est le pa
triote frangais qui n'a p_fs deja., du fond de son Sme, remer
cie cet etranger d'avoir fortifie notre cause de toute la puis
sance de sa raison et de sa reputation ! "
9 For allusions to Paine and his works, see Moniteur
Universel; 30 Mai, 1792; 29 Avril, 1792; 13 Sept., 1792;
Mercure de France, 29 Jan., 1791 ; Chronique de Paris, No.
125, 5 Mai, 1791, p. 497. "Le redoutable adversaire de
M. Burke." Bulletin des Amis de la Viriti, 1793, No. viii.
p. i. ; No. Ixxix. p. 3. Compare also Chenier's opinion in
1792. "L'immortel auteur du Sens Commun et du beau
livre des Droits de l'Homme" {CEuvres, v. p. 50). Madame
Roland says of Paine in her Mimoires, " Dans le nombre
.de gens que je recevais et dont j'ai deja signale les plus
marquantes, Payne doit etre cite. Declare citoyen fran
cais, comme Fun de ces etrangers celebres que la nation
devait s'empresser d'adopter, il etait connu par les ecrits
qui avaient ete utiles dans la revolution de I'Amerique, et
auraient pu concourrir k en faire une en Angleterre. Je ne
me permettrai pas de le juger a absolument, parcequ'il en-
tendait le frangais sans le parler, que j'en etais a peu pres
de mgme a l'egard de l'Anglais  La hardiesse de
ses pensees, l'originalite de son style, ces verites fortes,

268 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
part of his " Rights of Man," confuting Burke,
was translated by Soules, and published in
1 79 1, as " Droits de l'Homme." The second
part, " Rights of Man combining Principle and
Practice," was translated by Lanthenas, and
appeared in 1792, as " Theorie et Pratique
•des Droits de l'Homme." Published at the
critical moment when the Constitutionalists
were fast losing ground, owing to the unpop
ular conduct of the King, and when the Gi
rondins had a theoretical, and the Jacobins
had a practical inclination for republicanism,
the pamphlet of Thomas Paine, openly anti-
monarchical in tone, was readily welcomed by
both the parties of the left.
The Girondins found fault with the dedica
tion to Lafayette of the second part of the
" Rights of Man,"10 and probably objected to
jetees audacieusement au milieu de ceux qu'ils offensent,
ont du produire une grande sensation, mais je le croyais
plus propre a semer pour ainsi dire, ces etincelles d'em-
brasement, qu'a discuter les bases ou preparer la formation
d'un gouvernement" (ii. pp. n, 12). Brissot said of Paine,
" Lisez energique brochure que vient de publier le celebre
Paine intitule Rights of Man." {Voyage dans les Etats
Unis, 1 791, tome i. xxviii. note.)
10 The Gi.roj_.dist translator left out Paine's prefatory note
to Lafayette. " Les Frangais ne supportent plus les epitres
dedicatoires  Paine, cet ami pur de la liberte, a
cru aussi k la sincerite de Lafayette, mais il est si facile

THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 269
Paine's theory that "government is nothing
more than a national association."
The Montagnards certainly little admired
the moderate tone of the American's work
and the scant praise he bestowed upon the
ancient representative democracies. But both
the Montagnards and the Girondins agreed
with the American publicist, and were strength
ened in their belief, when, in his best style,
he argued against hereditary monarchy. " We
have heard the ' Rights of Man ' called a lev
elling system; but the only system to which
the word levelling is truly applicable is the
hereditary monarchical system. It is a sys
tem of mental levelling. It indiscriminately ad
mits every species of character to the same
authority. Vice and virtue, ignorance and
wisdom, in short, every quality, good or bad,
is put on the same level. Kings succeed each
other, not as rationals, but as animals. It
signifies hot what their mental or moral char
acters are. Can we then be surprised at the
abject state of the human mind in monarchical

de tromper les hommes qui n'ont jamais medite que le
bien. Eleve loin des cours, cet Americain austere, &c."
Translator's note to Thiorie et Pratique des Droits de
l'Homme. For the following quotations, see Paine, Rights
of Man, part ii. chap. iii. pp. 21, 22; part ii. chap. iv. pp. 68, 69.

270 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
countries when the government itself is formed
on such an abject levelling system S"
Both the parties of the left, also, felt the
truth of such words as these. " It is inhuman
to talk of a million sterling a year, paid out of
the public taxes of any country, for the sup
port of any individual, whilst thousands who
are forced to contribute thereto, are pining
with want, and struggling with misery. Gov
ernment does not exist in a contrast between
prisons and palaces, between poverty and
pomp; it is not instituted to rob the needy
of his mite, and increase the wretchedness of
the wretched  When extraordinary
power and extraordinary pay are allotted to
any individual in a government, he becomes
the center, round which every kind of cor
ruption generates and forms. Give to any
man a million a year, and add thereto the
power of creating and disposing of places, at
the expense of a country, and the liberties of
that country are no longer secure. What is
called the splendor of a throne is no other
thai! the corruption of the state. It is made
up of a band of parasites, living in luxurious
indolence, out of the public taxes."
The Legislative Assembly closed its ses
sions after the fixed period of one year, and

THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 271
was on the 21st of September, 1792, succeeded
by the Convention. The first act of this new
body. was to declare a Republic; the second
was to bring the King to trial. The Giron
dins and the Montagnards were now alone
left to fight the battle for the leadership;
The Feuillants had, as a party, disappeared
from the stage of public action. Its members
were in different camps, in disfavor, in danger
of the scaffold, or in the grave.
It will now be. our business to- examine
the opinions and fortunes at this time of some
of the prominent Frenchmen who had served
in the American war and who had, in the
days of the Constituent Assembly, proved
by word or deed that they were or were
not influenced by American example. This
examination will aid us in determining what
influence America, exerted upon France at
the climax of the French Revolution.
Aubert du Bayet11 was serving in the Re
publican ranks on the frontier. He was a sol
dier, and it is therefore difficult to know his
opinion on questions of civil polity. The
Duke de Lauzun, who had fought in the
Revolutionary army was sent to the scaf-
11 Biog. Gin. art. Aubert du Bayet, iii. p. 567.

272 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
fold,12 and Victor de Broglie, a strict Con
stitutionalist, shared the same fate.13 The
Marquis de Bouille who had unsuccessfully
attempted to aid the King to effect his es
cape was an officer in the army of emi
grant nobles.14 Barb6-Marbois, a friend of
Jefferson, and one of the first diplomates em
ployed by France in America, at this period
lived a quiet and retired life.15 Alexandre
de Beauharnais was a Constitutionalist and
an officer. His head fell in 1794.16 Beau
marchais, when in danger of being exiled, ad
duced in his defense the aid which he had ren
dered the American revolutionists.17 Berthier
was fighting in the Republican ranks, but
in his principles he was a stern royalist.18
Armand de Castries had been one of the
first nobles to emigrate.19 Ethis de Corny,
the friend of Washington and of Hamilton,
one of the earliest and most enthusiastic

» Biog. Gin. art. Biron, vi. p. 130.
« Biog. Gin. art. V. de Broglie, vii. p. 478.
14 Biog. Gen. art. Bouille, vi. pp. 920, 921.
15 Biog. Gin. art. Barbe-Marbois, iv. p. 428.
is Biog. Gin. art. Beauharnais, iv. p. 920.
17 Beaumarchais, Requite d MM. les Reprisentants de
la Commune, (Paris, 1790, in 8°).
15 Biog. Univ. art. Berthier, iv. p. 131.
>» Biog. Univ. art. Castries, vii. 191.

THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 273
actors in the early parts of the French Revo
lution, became melancholy and pined away
when he saw its excesses. He died in No
vember, 1790.20 Custine, who had distin
guished himself at Yorktown, who had been
a moderate Constitutionalist in the Assembly
and a severe but just disciplinarian in the
armies of the Republic, was sent to the scaf
fold.21 Damas Crux, was devoted to the
old regime and had emigrated. 22 Arthur
Dillon had never been enthusiastic for the
Revolution. He was condemned to death
and his last words were, Vive le Roi ! 23
D'Estaing, who had been a consistent Con
stitutionalist in 1789, was now guillotined.24
Duportail had been Minister of War, in 1790,
but his fortune fell with that of Lafayette.25
Duv^al, who in a fit of enthusiasm had enlisted
20 Biog. Univ. ix. 251, 252, art. Corny. Hamilton's
Works, i. 197.
21 Biog. Gin. xii. pp. 660 et seq. art. Custine. Compare
for his son, Revue Historique, Prem. Annie, tome i. p.
156. Compare also for Custine's opinions the Jacobin Mim.
de Levasseur (de la Sarthe), Paris, 1829, tome ii. chap.
ii. pp. 18 and 19.
22 Biog. Univ. x. p. 56, art. Damas Crux.
"3 Biog. Gin. art. Arthur Dillon, xiv. p. 184.
24 Biog. Gin. art. D'Estaing, xvi. p. 459.
25 Biog. Gin. art. Duportail, xv. p. 357, and Mim. de
Bouille, i. p. 29.

274 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
in the American ranks, was now an actor
and destined to be a noted play-writer.26
Dupetit Thouars, devoted himself to the
sciences rather than to politics.27 Mathieu
Dumas, a Constitutionalist and one of the
most prominent in the American school of
French politicians, had to hide in order to
escape arrest. 28 Gouvion, a friend of Lafay
ette, was killed by a cannon ball while fight
ing in the revolutionary ranks.29
Lafayette, who in the beginning of the
French Revolution was admired and followed
as the " friend " and " pupil of Washington,"
as " the first born of French Liberty," dis
couraged and shocked by excesses of his
countrymen, had left France, not to fight
against his native land, but to be cast as a
prisoner of state into the dungeon of Olmiitz.30
Jourdan, who had been a private soldier dur
ing the American war, had enlisted in the
French army when his country was in danger
20 Biog. Univ. art. Duval, (A. V. P.) xii. p. 161.
" Biog. Gin. art. Dupetit Thouars, xv. pp. 295, 296.
23 Biog. Univ. art. M. Dumas, xi. pp. 509, 510.
28 Biog. Gin. art. Gouvion, xxi. pp. 480, 481.
3» Biog. Gin. xxviii. p. 712, and Chronique de Paris, No.
11, 11 Jan., 1791. "II a fait son ecole de liberte sous les
yeux d'un maitre, dont j'aime a esperer qu'il n'oubliera jamais
ni les exemples, ni les legons," (p. 43).

THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 275
of foreign invasion. He later became a Mar
shal of France.31 Charles de Lameth, who
had been wounded at Yorktown and who
had been a Constitutionalist in the " Constitu-
ante," went abroad when liberty became li
cense.32 Alexandre de Lameth, who had
been one of the first to side with the Com
mons in 1789, to resign his titles of nobility,
and to advocate the liberty of the press even
for men like Marat, left the country at the
same time as Lafayette. 33 Theodore de
Lameth, never very ardent in his admiration
for American institutions, fled to Switzerland
during the Terror. 3f Langlois du Bouchet
was a Cincinnatus, - and yet an emigre. 35
Latour Foissac, who had been one of the
most zealous partisans of the Revolution in
1789, was now one of -tbe mOst bitter adver
saries" of Ffcbespierre and the Mountain.36
Mirabeau, nicknamed "Tonneau," brother of
the great orator, was an Ultrar Royalist in spite
31 Biog. Univ. xxi. p. 244.
s2 Biog. Univ. art. Chas. de Lameth, xxiii. pp. 83-84.
33 Biog. Univ. xxiii, pp. 86, 87, 88, art. Alexandre de
Lameth. 34 Biog. Univ. art. Theo. de Lameth, xxiii. p. 85. Biog.
Gin. xxix. p. 203.
35 Biog. Gin. art. Langlois du Bouchet, xxix. p. 427. .
36 Biog. Gin. art. Latour Foissac, xxix. p. 846.

276 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
of his Cincinnatus badge, opposed the union
of the three Orders in 1 789, and later emi
grated, so as to organize abroad the famous
" Legion de Mirabeau," the " Hussards de la
Mort," for the King's service.37
Montesquieu, grandson of the great Mon
tesquieu, and a Cincinnatus, formed part of
the emigration and enlisted under the ban-
ner of the princes.38
Matthieu de Montmorency - Laval, who
with Noailles and D'Aiguillon, had advo
cated the abolition of feudal rights, and whom
Rivarol had ridiculed in his " Petit Alman
ach des Grandes Hommes," for his liberal
tendencies, retired to Switzerland, when the
Montagnards came into power.39 Mauduit-
Plessy, the friend of Washington, decorated
with the order of Cincinnatus, had early
shown himself to be a decided opponent of
the Revolution.40 He was killed, in a revolt
against him, by his own grenadiers. Noailles,
whose liberal conduct we have noted, left the
country when the massacres of the Terror

37 Biog. Gin. art. Mirabeau Tonneau, xxxv. p. 646.
38 Biog. Gin. art. Montesquieu, xxxvi. p. 191.
39 Biog Gin. art. Montmorency-Laval, xxxvi. pp. 361,
362, 363.
*' Biog. Gin. art. Mauduit Plessy, xxxiv. 350.

THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 277
began.41 Count de Rochambeau, who had
been a strict Constitutionalist, now almost fell
under the guillotine 42 of a government which
forgot his record, and the fact that his son,
the Viscount de Rochambeau, was doing
brave work in the army of his country.43
Armand de Rouerie, one of the first to
volunteer to serve in America, the friend
and correspondent of Washington, was one
of the first to join the army of the Vendee
in its war against the Convention.44
Saint-Simon, the afterwards noted political
philosopher, was now engaged in financial
speculations.45 L. P. de Segur, whom on
his return from America, his father had sent
to Saint Petersburg in order to cure him of
his enthusiasm for liberty, had been one of
the staunchest partisans of reform in 1789;
but now he lived with his last illusions in
the retirement of his study.46

41 Biog. Gin. xxxviii. p. 144. Biog. Univ. xxx. p. 360,
art. Noailles.
42 Biog. Univ. xxxvi. 202, art. Rochambeau.
43 Biog. Univ. xxxvi. p. 204, art. Vicomte de Rochambeau.
44 F. de Bourgoing, Hist. Dipt, de l'Europe pendant la
Riv. frangaise, tome ii. p. 64, and Martin, Hist, de France,
tome xvi. livre civ.
4S Biog. Univ. xxxvii. p. 434, art. Saint-Simon.
46 Biog Univ. art. L. P. de Segur, xxxviii; 676.

27S AMERICA AND FRANCE.
Of the brothers Yiomesnil, one had en
deavored to aid the King to flee from
France, the other had joined the emigrant
nobles. Both were declared enemies Of the
Republic.47 From this detailed examination it appears
that while some of the Frenchmen who had
served the cause of liberty in America, had
proved renegades to it in France, while oth
ers, soldiers above all, were ready to obey
any de facto government, the majority of the
prominent men who had been the allies of
the United States and in close contact with
their people, believing in the American prin
ciple of liberty with order, refused, in their
country, to cringe before a tyrannical rabble
as well as before a tyrannical king. This
moderation was the chief cause of the lack
of popularity, and consequently of influence,
of Lafayette, Segur, Dumas, and the Lam-
eths, as well as the cause of the decline and
fall of moral influence of the American Re
public upon ultra-revolutionary France. The
Conventionals of both parties, Girondins and
Montagnards, sympathized but little with a
government which by the words of its states
men, the arguments of its friends in France,
47 Biog Univ. art. Viomesnil, xliii. p. 584.

THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 279
and its living example, counseled the French
to rest satisfied with the amount of liberty
they had achieved, and leave to time the
work of enlarging and strengthening its ba
ses. How the Convention, rent by faction
at home, threatened by invasion from with
out, hurried on by the flood of radical doc
trines that always rushes forth in times of great
popular agitation, discarded both the theo
retical example and the practical counsels of
citizens of the United States, became clearly
evident in two of the great acts of the
French legislative body — the declaration of
the republican form of government, and the
trial of the King.
The men of the Convention established a
democratic Republic, and made the executive,
the legislative and judiciary powers reside in
the legislature, which they divided for the
transaction of business into committees on
war, on- legislation and on finances. The
Girondins, in a majority at first, filled these
committees with their friends, and impressed
the government with a stamp of some mod
eration; but the Montagnards, though in a
minority, by the energy of their language,
by their untiring activity, and with aid of
popular demonstration, gradually but surely

280 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
worked their way to virtual power. Neither
of the two great parties desired for the
country a Republic after the American model.
The Montagnards objected to it on the
ground of its federal form, its bicameral sys
tem, its principle of representation, and its
lack of uniformity.
Saint-Just was for the Republic, one and
indivisible, and when, on the i5th of May,
1793, he spoke of that of the United States,
he did so in the most disparaging terms. He
did not admit that the American Republic
had a republican form of government at all,
or that it would last.48
Anacharsis Clootz was like Saint-Just no ad
mirer of the American system. Keep your
unicameral legislature, said he in substance, on
the 24th of April, 1793, keep it, for America
envies us this institution and will adopt it
in turn. Frenchmen would retrograde were
they to imitate the Americans, who are fast
becoming disgusted with their Senate and
their monarchical President. A homogene
ous people like France will never admit the
48 "Cet etat confedere n'est point en effet une republique;
aussi les legislateurs du Nouveau Monde ont ils laisse dans
leur ouvrage un principe de dissolution." Biog Univ. art.
Saint-Just, tome xxxvii. p. 343.

THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 281
Anglican balance of powers, nor recognize
the veto.49
The Girondins, while better disposed to
the American Republic in general, and
evidently , grateful for its great influence
upon France in the days of absolute mon
archy, objected to many of the leading fea
tures of American government. Condorcet,
who was perhaps the philosophic head of the
party, expressed prevailing Girondist opinion
in one of the chapters of the great work which
he wrote when under the shadow of death.
The American Republic, said he, freed from
its chains, has peaceably given itself a consti
tution and laws such as it considered would
« Moniteur Univ., 30 Avril, 1793, Seance de la Conven
tion, 24 Avril, 1793. "Je plane sur les sections de la France,
j'interroge les elements dont elles sont composees; la re-
ponse est unanime dans toutes les Communes. Conservons
F avantage inappriciable de I'unite souveraine que I'Amer
ique nous envie, et dont elle se rapproche chaque jour. Les
individus frangais se tromperaient beaucoup si retrogradant
dans la carriere politique ils croyaient imiter les individus
americains. L'Amerique s'avance a grands pas vers la
perfection sociale; elle se degoute de la superfetation d'un
Senat et de la preponderance d'un president monarque.
.... Quant a la formation du gouvernement il n'y a pas
un seul Frangais qui ne rejetat avec indignation le regle-
ment americain. La souveraitite du peuple homogene'ne
saurait admettre la bascule anglaise ni aliener le veto le
plus mitige. Le rapport d'un, decret pretipite est prefera
ble au veto anglican."

282 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
be most likely to procure it happiness and
prosperity. It instituted a federal republi
can government composed of thirteen states,
the basis of whose constitutions is the sol
emn acknowledgment of the rights of man,
and their first object the preservation of these
rights. So far so good. We must object,
on the other hand, pursued the author, to
errors resulting from prejudices of education
that are still to be found in the American
constitutions. We object, furthermore, to the
balance of power system which mars the sim
plicity of their government. We object to
their underlying principle of identity of inter
ests instead of equality of rights. We admire
the novel idea the Americans have had in
prescribing, by law, a regular and peaceable
mode of amending their constitutions and of
taking this power of amendment out of the
hands of the legislative body. We recognize
the interest with which the writings and prin
ciples of America were received in Europe
and in France, the amount of discussion caused
by them and the influence which they exerted
upon even the smallest communities. But we
think that the Americans have too much con
tented themselves with the civil and criminal
laws which they had received from England,

THE -GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 283
and we can demonstrate that the principles
upon which are based the constitution and
laws of France are purer, more precise, and
more profound than those of the Americans.50
50 Condorcet, Esquisse d'un Tableau Historique des
Progres de V Esprit Humain,— Neuvieme epoque: " On
vit alors, pour la premiere fois, un grand peuple delivre de
toutes ses chaines, se donner paisi-blement &, lui meme la
constitution et les lois qu'il croyait les plus propres a faire
son bonheur; et comme sa position geographique, son
ancien etat politique l'obligeaient -a former une republique
federative on vit se preparer a la fois dans son sein treize
constitutions republicaines, ayant pour base une reconnais
sance solennelle des droits naturels de I'homme et pour
premier objet la conservation de ces droits." ... " Nous
montrferons ce qu'elles doivent aux progres des sciences
politiques et ce que les prejuges de l'education ont pu y
meler des anciennes erreurs; pourquoi, par exemple, le
systeme de l'equilibre des pouvoirs en altere encore la
simplicite; pourquoi elles ont eu pour principe 1'identite des
interfits, plus encore que I'egalite des droits. .... Nous
montrerons comment les republiques americaines ont re
alise cette idee, alors presque nouvelle en theorie, de la
necessite d'etablir et de regler par la loi, un mode regulier
et paisible pour reformer les constitutions elles-memes et de
separer ce pouvoir de celui de faire les lois ?  Ces
discussions penetrerent dans les contrees les plus asservies,
dans les bourgades les plus reculees, et les hommes qui les
habitaient furent etonnes d'entendre qu'ils avait des droits ; ils
apprirent _l les connaitre; ils surent que d'autres hommes
osaient les reconquerir ou les defendre. . . . Les prin
cipes sur lesquels la constitution et les lois de la France ont
ete combinees sont plus purs, plus precis, plus profonds que
ceux qui ont dirige les Americains  " etc., etc., etc.
Compare the work entitled, Du pouvoir ligislatif et du

284 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
Such, in all probability, was the average
Girondist opinion upon America. Men like
Brissot,51 Buzot,52 Guadet,53 Petion,54 and
Fauchet 55 had, however, so frequently advo
cated the rights of the provinces against the
pouvoir executif convenable d la Republique frangaise
(an III. de la Rep.). It is attributed to Dupont de Nemours
by Querard {France Littiraire, ii. p. 707), and coincides
with Condorcet's views. The bicameral system is adversely
criticised, the Constitution of the United States pronounced
a relatively excellent piece of work, but one not yet suffi
ciently tested. — See pp. 86, 87, and note.
61 For Brissot's general good dispositions towards Amer
ica, see Mem. de Brissot (Paris, 1830), i. p. 229, ii. 143, ii.
268, iii. 26, and Mem. de Mme. Roland, i. 346, 347. Biog.
Univ. (v. 570) says: " Robespierre continuait a montrer
contre Brissot le mgme acharnement, sur qu'en le perdant
il ruinerait la faction dont on I'avait fait chef. On rappela
son enthousiasme pour les constitutions americaines, on
accusa ses partisans de vouloir etablir un gouvernement
federatif." It is remarkable, however, that Camille Des
moulins, in his Histoire des Brissotins (1793 in 8°), does not
allude to Brissot in connection with America. Compare for
Brissot, in Mon. Univ., 6 Avril, 1793, where he asserts that
he was a republican at heart already in 1788.
52 For Buzot's good opinion of America, see Mim. inid.
de Buzot, par Guadet (Paris, 1822), pp. 49, 50.
53 For Guadet, see Biog. Gin., xxii. pp. 290-294.
54 For Petion's admiration for America, see the great
debate on the Avignon question in the National Assembly,
Moniteur Universel, Seance du 16 Nov., 1790. See, also,
Patriote Frangais, Nov. 18, 1789, and CEuvres de Pition
(1791), tome ii. pp. 293 and 391.
55 For Fauchet, see his eulogy on Franklin, and Moniteur
Univ., Seance 17 Juillet, 1790.

THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 285
monopolizing spirit of the capital, and some
of them had besides so often made favorable
allusions to the federal Republic of the United
States, that the Montagnards branded them
with the words Federalists and Brissotins.
The Girondins, as a party, were the advocates
not of a federal Republic for their country,
but of the Republic one and indivisible. This
is proved above all by the tenor and words of
Condorcet's report on the constitution. They
certainly did not seek to imitate the American
federal system. They admired it theoretically,
but they thought that it was not applicable to
France.56 The members of the Convention had as
their text-book not the " Federalist," 57 which
had been translated by Trudaine de la Sab
liere, and was greatly admired by Brissot,58
66 For Condorcet's report, which Lanfrey {Riv. frang.,
pp. 300-301) calls, "le testament politique des Girondins,"
see Moniteur Univ., 16 Fev., 1793: "Tout semble destiner
la France El I'unite la plus absolue  " Compare, also,
Mim. de Buzot, p. 55 (new ed. by Dauban, Paris, 1866).
57 Le Fidiraliste ou Collection de quelques Ecrits en
faveur de la constitution americaine par MM. Hamilton,
Madisson et Gay {sic) — Traduit de l'Anglais par Trudaine
de Ja Sabliere, Paris, 1792, 2 vols. 8°. Querard, France
Litt., tome iv. p. 20.
ss Brissot {Mim., tome. iv. chap. iii. p. 69. n.) says: " Le
Sens Commun et le Fidiraliste ont eu beaucoup de lec-
teurs et peu de rivaux."

286* AMERICA AND PRANCE.
Necker,59 Talleyrand,60 Chenier; their text
book was the " Contrat Social " of Rous
seau. They applauded not the counsels of
John Adams urging moderation, but the fiery
59 "C'est vers un gouvernement de ce genre," speaking
of America, says Necker {De la Rev. Frang., 2d. ed., 1797),
"que les Conventionels auraient dus porter leurs regards
des qu'ils voulaient mettre en Republique une Communaute
de 25,000,000 d'hommes. Mais sans examiner jamais une
si importante, une si profonde question, sans jamais en
former un sujet de deliberation ils ont fait une insulte du
mot Federaliste," vol. iv. pp. 4 and 5. " On trouvera dans
la Constitution Federative de I'Amerique le modele parfait
d'un pareil gouvernement; et dans un ouvrage excellent,
publie sous le nom du Fidiraliste les motifs explicites de
tous les articles de cette constitution. Les auteurs sont
M. Hamilton, M. Madisson, et M. Gay {sic), trois Amer
icains du merite le plus distingue, et l'on est frappe de la
raison douce et flexible qui caracterise leurs pensees et
leurs expressions si differentes des Politiques F ranges,"
iv. p. 24.
<"> For Talleyrand's opinion of Hamilton and the Federal
ist, see Etude sur la Republique des Etats Unis d'Amer
ique, par M. le Marquis de Talleyrand-Perigord (p. 192):
" Je considere Napoleon, Fox et Hamilton comme les trois
plus grands hommes de notre epoque, et si je devais me
prononcer entre les trois je donneraie sans hesiter la pre
miere place a Hamilton. II avait devine l'Europe." Com
pare, also, Alexander Hamilton, a Historical Study by
Chief Justice Shea (New York, 1877), part i. pp. 33 and 37.
For Talleyrand's opinion of America at this period, see
Sainte-Beuve, Mr. de Talleyrand, pp. 46-47, 48 et seq.
For Chenier's opinion, see CEuvres, v. p. 50. He attrib
uted it to " Madisson."

THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 287
eloquence of Isnard and the bold harangues
of Danton.61
The Parisian rabble that read with avidity
the blood-stained pages of Marat's "Ami du
Peuple" and listened with applause to the flow
ery rhetoric of Robespierre, had neither ears
nor patience for Thomas Paine, who, in con
sequence of his writings and his fame had
been adopted a French citizen and then
elected to the National Convention from
three departments. Though the author of
"Common Sense" and the "Rights of Man"
was well acquainted with the extreme radical
leaders of the day, he was ever the steady
and consistent advocate in France of moder
ation, justice, and humanity.
At the climax of the French revolutionary
61 For John Adams' History of the principal Republics
of the World (London; 1794, 3 vols, in 8°), see Biog. Univ.,
i. p. 154: " L'ouvrage de John Adams a ete traduit en fran
gais sur la premiere edition, par Leriget, la traduction est
enrichie de notes et d'observations par Lacroix, profes-
seur de droit publique," (Paris, 1792, 2 vols, in 8°). "Le
principal but de l'auteur est de prouver que la democratie
pure est le'pire de tous les gouvernements, et il eri fournit
des preuves nombreuses pa.r des faits histpriques." Adams
was never very popular in France even with the liberal pol
iticians of the Constituent Assembly. Volney considered
the Defense of the American Constitutions a " livre de
compilation sans methode, sans exactitude de faits et
d'idees " {Biog. Univ. xliv. p. 68).

288 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
movement, when Robespierre and the Mon
tagnards carried all before them, Thomas
Paine, then a worth)- representative of the
American principle of liberty with order, of
justice to the accused, of fair play to minori
ties, opposed the execution of Louis XVI.
and protested against the massacre under
judicial forms of the unfortunate Girondins.
The " Moniteur Universel " for January 23,
1793, reported the proceedings in the Con
vention when the author of "Common Sense,"
by the voice of an interpreter, spoke against
the capital punishment of the King. Thom
as Paine, a slight man, with a pale face
that made his dark eyes appear even dark
er than they were, mounted the tribune in
that passion - rocked assembly. The Secre
tary read the American's opinion. Marat,
angry and terrible, arose in his seat. " I
maintain," he exclaimed, " I maintain that
Thomas Paine cannot vote on this question.
He is a Quaker and his religious principles are
against the death-penalty." The demagogue's
weak protest was greeted with murmurs and
cries. The Secretary resumed reading Paine's
opinion. " I regret very sincerely," said he,
"that the death-penalty was voted yesterday.
I have for me the advantage of some experi-

THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 289
ence. It is about twenty years that I. have
been engaged in the cause of liberty. I have
contributed to the Revolution of the United
States. My language has ' always been the
language of liberty and of humanity, and I
know that nothing so raises the soul of a na
tion as a union of these two principles under
all circumstances.
" I know that public feeling in France, and
especially in Paris, has been heated and irri
tated by the danger that has threatened the
people; but if we carry our ideas further in
to the future and toward the time when
these dangers and the irritation produced
by them shall be forgotten, then we will
be fully able to see that what seems to us
to-day an act of justice, will seem to us
then an act of vengeance." Here hisses
and cries burst forth at one end of the
hall. The Secretary paused, then contin
ued, " My anxiety for the cause of France
has now given way to my anxiety for her
honor, and if, after my return to America,
I were to write the history of the French
Revolution, I should prefer to recall a thou
sand errors dictated by humanity than one
single error inspired by too severe a justice.
.... If I. could speak the French language

290 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
I would come down from the tribune, stand
at your bar and present, in the name of all
my American brethren, a petition to delay the
execution of Louis." The peroration of this
noble plea was greeted with noisy disappro
bation. Thuriot shouted, "That is not the
langTiasre of Thomas Paine." There was a
great uproar. The American speaker's words
had no effect. They did not change the fate
that awaited the monarch who had been the
first ally of the United States. The King
was doomed.
The American pamphleteer did not profess
opinions of moderation and justice in the leg
islative body only. He did so also in his pri
vate correspondence. In the critical days
when the Montagne was triumphant, when the
men of the Gironde were in prison and in
danger of the scaffold, when the capital, beau
tiful but unruly and tyrannical city, held the
provinces as with a band of iron cemented
with blood, Paine had the courage to write
a letter to Danton, from which we extract
some pertinent sentences.
" Citoyen Danton," he wrote under date
of May 6, 1793, "I am exceedingly dis
tressed by the distractions, jealousies, discon
tents and uneasiness that reign among us,

THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 291
and which, if they are continued, will bring
ruin and disgrace on the republic." He then
advocates placing the legislature elsewhere
than at Paris, and proceeds, " I am distressed
to see matters so badly conducted and so lit
tle attention paid to moral principles. It is
these things that injure the character of the
Revolution, and discourage the progress of
liberty all over the world." Speaking of the
Girondins he says, "The departments that
elected them are better judges of their moral
and political characters than those who have
denounced them. This denunciation will in
jure Paris in the opinion of the departments,
because it has the appearance of dictating to
them what sort of deputies they shall elect.
Most of the acquaintance I have in the Con
vention are among those who are in that list,
and I know that there are not better men nor
better patriots than what they are. I have
written a letter to Marat of the same date as
this, but not on the same subject. He may
show it to you, if he chooses." And he
signed, " Votre Ami, Thomas Paine."
This letter was as little effectual as the plea
for mercy had been.62 Mob-ruled Paris be-
*2 This letter was discovered by Mr. Minister Washburne
in the Archives at Paris and is to be found in extenso in the
Foreign Relations ofthe United States, 1876, pp. 127, 128.

292 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
came more tyrannical than ever; the Girondins
were mercilessly immolated; the Committee
of Public Safety acted with secrecy and dis
patch; the Queen was sent to the scaffold;
suspected persons were dirown into prison;
hundreds and hundreds were thence taken
in cart-loads to the reeking guillotine. In
the spring of 1794 Robespierre stood alone
on the bloody pinnacle of his power.
In contrast, however, with these butcheries
at home and with the haughty tone the Com
mittee of Public Safety assumed toward the
Powers abroad, was the relatively mild and
diplomatic language of the French rulers to
the American Republic. Though they did not
like its principles nor its neutral conduct, the
men who tolerated or committed the gravest
of crimes against humanity in France, would,
when the occasion presented itself, pronounce
eulogies on the noble qualities of the country
of Washington and of Franklin.63
Barere, on one occasion, in laudatory phrases
alluded to tlie sacrifices made by America to
obtain its liberties.64
63 F. de Bourgoing, Hist. dipt, de F Europe pendant la
Rtu.frang. (Paris, 1871), tome iii. p. 281, "Les Etats Unis
•'tait une Republique et le Comite de Salut Publique tenait
a garder vis a vis d'eux les formes qu'il violait impudem-
ment a regard des Monarchies."
64 Moniteur Universel, 17 Aoiit, 1793.

THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 293
Gregoire, on another occasion, closed a re
port on the virtuous deeds of the Revolution
by a glowing eulogy of Warren at Bunker
Hill.65 Robespierre, in a report on the polit
ical situation, energetically denounced Genet
who had been sent as Minister to the United
States and who, by words and deeds tend
ing to force America into an alliance with
the French Republic, had rendered himself
obnoxious to the government and unpopular
with the people. The dictator denounced
him as an undiplomatic agent who endangered
the good relations of- France with America, -
and though he blamed the American people
for their neutrality, the revolutionary tyrant
did so in the mildest and most guarded lan
guage. In default of real sympathy or great
admiration for America, the Committee of
Public Safety kept at least the shows and
forms of diplomatic usage and language when
dealing with the transatlantic Republic.66
^ Moniteur Universel, 23 Sept., 1793.
ee For Robespierre's address see Moniteur Univ., Nov.
20, 1793. "Peuples allies de la France, qu'etiez vous de-
venus ? N'etiez vous que les allies du roi et non ceux de
la nation ? Americains est ce I'automate couronne, nomme
Louis XVI. qui vous aida a secouer le joug de vos op-
presseurs ou bien nos bras et nos armees ? Est ce le-
patrimonie d'une cour meprisable qui vous alimentait ou
bien les tribute du peuple frangais et les produits de notre sol

294 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
The Revolution may be said to have reached
its climax between June io and July 27, 1794,
during which period Robespierre sent well
nigh fourteen hundred persons to the guillo
tine. Then began a reaction against this
system of absolute democracy, which had so
plainly proved to be a system of absolute
tyranny. Robespierre, Saint-Just and Cou-
thon were hurled from power and soon they
were drasre.ed to the scaffold. Their heads fell.
The applause was as loud as that which had
sounded in the ears of their thousands of
victims.favorise des cieux. Non, citoyens, vos allies n'ont pas ab
jure les sentiments qu'ils nous doivent. Mais s'ils ne se sont
pas detaches de votre cause, s'ils ne se sont pas ranges
meme au nombre de vos ennemis, ce n'est point la faute
de la faction qui nous gouvernait." He then proceeds
to attack the brother-in-law of Brissot, consul-general of
France at Philadelphia, and resumes: "Un autre homme
nomme Genest envoye par Lebrun et par Brissot en qualite
de Minister Plenipotentiare resida aussi a Philadelphie. II
remplit fidelement leurs vues et leurs instructions. II a
employe les moyens les plus extraordin'aires pour irriter le
gouvernement americain contre nous; il affecte de lui
parler, sans aucun pretexte avec le ton de la menace  "
"L'Univers est interesse a notre conservation. Et vous,
braves Americains dont la liberte* cimentee par notre sang
fut encore garantie par notre alliance, qu'elle serait votre
destinee si nous n'existions plus ? Vous retomberiez sous
le joug honteux de votre ennemi." Robespierre, like Ma
rat, attacked Paine for his plea in favor ofthe King and the
American was thrown into prison. He calls him " 1 'Anglais
Thomas Payne." See Moniteur Univ., 25 Oct., 1793.

THE GIRONDE AND THE MONTAGNE. 295
Two days after this event, James Monroe,
who had been sent to succeed the unpopular
. Gouverneur Morris as Minister, arrived at
Paris. He sagaciously resolved to begin the
solution of the various questions pending be
tween the two Republics by arousing for his
country the dormant sympathies and enthusi
asm of the French. He accordingly took the
bold step of going to the bar ofthe Convention
and addressing directly the assembled mem
bers. This undiplomatic act was crowned with
complete success; for a moment, the old-time
feelings reappeared; Merlin de Douai received
Mr. Monroe with greatest ceremony; the
house acclaimed the representative of the
American Republic, and the flags of the sister
commonwealths were hung intertwined in
the hall of the Convention as a symbol of
unity and good-will.617
67 Monroe's View of the Conduct of the Executive, etc.
(Phila., 1798,) p. xvii. pp. 95, 106, and Mr. Washburne to
Mr. Fish under date of 23 Oct., 1876, in Foreign Relations
of the United States, 1876, pp. 129, 130. On the unpopu
larity of Morris, see Mem. et Corr. de Lafayette, iii. p. 407.
That America still had a profound and durable hold on
many minds see Joseph de Maistre, Considirations sur la
France, (1797,) chap. iv. " On nous cite I'Amerique; je ne
connais rien de si impatient que les louanges decernees k
cet enfant au maillot: laissez le grandir," also Tableau de
la Situation actuelle des Etats Unis d' Amirique, par
C. Pictet, de Geneve, (Paris, 179S, 2 vols.) a work very
well disposed to the American Republic.

CONCLUSION.
The task which we set ourselves in writ
ing this historical monograph is now accom
plished. We have traced the relations of
America and France between 1776 and 1794,
before, during, and at the climax of the French
Revolution, and we have, by authentic and
mostly contemporary documents, established
what influence the one country exerted upon"
the other at these three different periods.
We have seen that before the great out
break — that is to say, between the year
1776 and the year 1789 — America influenced
France so powerfully by its example, its
doctrines, its men, and by the enthusiasm,
the comments, the discussion it aroused, that
the American Revolution may safely be called
a proximate cause of the French Revolution.
Contemporaries, men like Barnave,1 and Riv-
1 Barnave, Introd. A la Riv. frangaise, {QSuvres, i. pp.
85, 86.) " De li cette guerre dont il resulta trois effets en
faveur de notre revolution; le premier que la nation se

CONCLUSION. 297
arol,2 like Chateaubriand,3 Fontanes,4 and
Senac de Meilhan, 5 saw and felt this so
plainly and forcibly that they have left state
ments to that effect on record in their printed
works. We have learned, in the second place, that
during the progress of the French Revolution
— in 1789, 1790, 1 79 1 — American influence,
though not so great as in the ante-revolu- -
tionary period, is distinctly traceable in the
remplit d'idees d'ihsurrection et de liberte; le deuxieme que
l'armee deja. civilisee par une longue paix se penetra de
memes idees que la nation et allia I'enthousiasme des
vertus civiques a- celui des vertus guerriers; le troisieme
que les finances acheverent de se deteriorer."
2 Rivarol, Essai sur les Causes de la Riv. fr ang., Paris,
1827, pp. 12, 13.
3 Chateaubriand, Essai sur les Rivolutions, {CEuvres
ed. 1836, tome i. chap xxxiii. p. 154.) "La revolution
americaine est la cause immediate de la Revolution
frangaise." 4 Fontanes, CEuvres, tome ii. pp. 144, 145. " La revo
lution d'Amerique a produit la. notre," etc., written in 1797.
Compare also Moore, View of the French Revolution,
London, 1795. "The part which France took in support
of American independence unquestionably hastened the
French Revolution," etc., vol. i. chap. ii. pp.- 37, 38.
s Des Principes et des Causes de la Riv. frang, par
Senac de Meilhan, (d'apres Barbier,) Londres et Paris, 1790,
pp. 59. 60. Compare for an opinion- contrary to those cited,
J. J. Mounier, Influence attribuie aux Philosophes, aux
Francs-Magons et aux Illuminis sur la Rivolutiqn fran
gaise (Paris, 1828,) p. 62.

298 AMERICA AND FRANCE.
speeches of orators, the publications of pam
phleteers and the acts of legislators.
We have seen, in the third place, that during
the sessions of the Legislative Assembly and
the Convention, at the climax of the revolu
tionary movement, American influence was
well-nigh imperceptible. This we have at
tributed to the very nature of American insti
tutions, to the political principles of American
statesmen and their disciples, combined with
the pressing foreign and domestic questions
which then engaged the attention ofthe French
government and people.
Before the struggle between the French
court and the French nation, America, urged
on the people of France to the conquest of
constitutional liberty. During the contest,
America counseled moderation. In the heat
of the battle, the American Republic pleaded
for justice and for peace.
In view of such facts the people of the
United States may well feel justified in the
belief that they have fulfilled the great his
toric law of compensation and have amply
repaid the debt of gratitude which they owed
the French nation for services rendered in
the War of Independence.

INDEX.

"Actes des Ap6tb.es," 219,
222
Adams, J., 62, 63, 159, 196,
199, 287
Adams, S., 63
"Affiches, Annonces, Avis," 77
Aiguillon, d', 173
Almanachs, American, 33, 78
America and France, ii* 1774, 1-
Anecdotes, American, 72, note,
76
"Annee Litteraire," 108, 109^
119
Archbishop of Bordeaux, 183,
184, 194
Aubert du Bayet, 271
"Babillard, Le,'' 44
Bacon, 73
Barbaroux, in, 112
Barbe-Marbois, 171, note, 272
Barere, 155, note, 292
Barlow, Joel, 264, 265
Barnave, 193, 195, 203, 219, 296
Bastille, Fall of the, 178
Beauharnais, 173, 272
Beaumarchais, 20, 21, 80, note,
272
Berthier, 272
Beugnot, 74 '"
Bibliography, 3
Bishop of Auxerre, 185
Bishop of Blois, 152, 153
Bouille, 272
Brienne, De, 150
Brissot de Warville, 128, 238,
239, 241, 242, 259, 260, 261,
284

Broglie, V. de, 173, 272
Burke, Edmund, 32, 33
Buzot, 194, 195, 284

Cabanis, 29
"9a ira," 41, note, 263
Calonne, 104, 105, 146, 147, 148,
223, 224
Castries, 272
Cerisier, 76, 133
Cerutti, 181, 182, 230, 231
Chamfort, 126, 127
Chastellux, 86, 88, 89, 123, 124,
125
Chateaubriand, 297
Chenier, A., 234
Chenier, M. J., 131, 234, 244,
286
Cincinnati, Society of the, 95,
96, note
Claviere, 128, 234
Clootz, 280
Clubs, 115
Condorcet, 143, 144, 145, 146,
"57, 245- 263, 281-3
Congress, Continental, 92
Constant, Benjamin, 111, 112
Constitutions, American, 34,105,
106-9, 155, note, 158
Convention, National, 271, 279
Conversation on America, 47,
note, 71-2, note, 155, note
Cooper, Dr., 86, 87
Corny, E. de, 178, 272
Correspondence, Franco-Amer
ican, 139
Crevecceur, 121, 122
Crequi, Mme. de, 75

300

INDEX.

Cromot du Bourg, 86, note, 133,
note
"Courrier d' Avignon," 17, 25,
63. 77, l°7
D'Alembert, 42
D'Allonville, 75
Damas Crux, 273
D'Argenson, 10
De Bonnard, 143
Declaration of Independence, 19,
29, 3°, 31, 23°
Declaration of Rights, 182, 183,
1S4, 187
Deffand, Mme. du, 7
Delille, 77
Demeunier, 130, 137
D'K|)inay, Mme., 59
D'Estaing, 273
Deslandes, 143
Disinoulins, C, 179, 180, 242
Dc.tutt de Tracy, 171
Dillon, 273
Dorat, 22, note
Droz, 138
DuboU-Crancfe, 188
Dumas, M., 56, 86, 274
Dumont, 138
Duport. A., 173, 203, 204
Duportail, 273
Dutens, 68
Dupetit — Thouars, 273
Duval, 273
ECONOMISTES, IO
Entraigues, Count d', 163, 164,
note
Fars Fausselandry, Mme. de,
60
Fauchet, 244, 284
" Federalist," The, 285, 286
Fersen, 55, 84, 85
Fcuill.inl>, 255
Feudalism, abolition of, 180-182
Fillon, History of Kentucky, 134
Fomane-, 22. 297
France and America, in 1774, 1-
13

Franklin, Benjamin, 26-29, 32-
33, 37,41, 45, 51, 57-59, 70-
74, 8o, 117, 12S, 243-248,258
Gallatin., 110-112
Garat, 70
" Gazette de France," 76
Genlis, Mme. de, 139
Genet, 293
Georgel, 24
Gilbert, 80
Girondins, 255, 256, 281, 291
Gouvion, 274
Great Britain, 11, 15, 54, 55,
1 88, "189
Grtgoire, 179, 293
Grimm, 123
Grou velle, 231
Guadet, 284
Guibert, 126 ,
Hancock, John, 92 .
Hausset, Mme. du, 60
Hessians, 22, 23
Hilliard d'Auberteuil, 130, 134
Influence of the United States,
Indications of, 14, 54, 55, 63,
64, 68, 78, 95, 110-116, 130,
143, 144, 145, 146, 154-156,
181-189, 207, 211, 212, 23I,
232, 251, 252, 26O-263, 297
Isnard, 261
IjEFFERSON, THOMAS, I28, I29,
\ 138, 170, 171, note, 191, 192,
\ 226, 227
Jesse, Baron de, 203 -
Jews, Petition of the, 206, 207
Joly de Saint-Vallier, 133
Joseph II. of Austria, 36
Jourdan, 274, 275
"Journal de Paris," 107-108,
15S, 161
" Journal des Scavans," 76, 114
Jury, Debates on the, 202, 203-
205
Lacretelle, 141, 142

INDEX.

301'

Lafayette, 38-40, 56, '69-70, 81-
84, 114, 156, 182, 193, 203,
219, 220, 221, 274
Lally Tollendal, 182, 183, 196,
197, 198, 199, 200, 225
Lameth, A. de, 173, 275
Lameth, C. de, 174, 275
Lameth, Theo. de, 85, 275
Langlois du Bouchet, 275
Lanjuinais, 195
La Rochefoucauld, 156, 173,
245
Latour Foissac, 275
Lauzun, Duke de, 85, 271
Lebrun, 98
Legislative Assembly, 256
Legislative Body, Debates on
the, 193, 194, 195, 196-200,
280
Lepelletier, 230 ¦
LeVis, Duke de, 73
" Libertas Americana," 99, note
^Linguet, 46, 59
Literature, Franco-American,
33-34,64, 76, 78, 116, note,
132, note, 133, 134, 135, 136,
137, 138
Livingston, W., 160, 164, note,
199, 200, 225
Louis XVI., 47, 48, 146, 150,
174, 179, 215, 216, 233, 263,
288, 2S9
Luzerne, Bishop of Langres, 225

Mably, 120
Malesherbes, 6, 13
Maistre, Joseph de, 19, 295, note
Malouet, 18, 185
Mandrillon, 134
Maps. American, 78
Marat, 247, 287
Marais, de, 39, 40
Marie Antoinette, 38, 146
Mauduit-Plessy, 276
Maury, 224
Mayer, 136, 137
Mazzei, 157
Mercier, 71, 72, note, 232, note

" Mercure de France," 17, 25,
68, 77, 114, 157, 160
Metternich, Chev. de, 79, 156
Mirabeau, 23, 31, 32, 143, 156,
172, 175, 185, 186, 242, 247
Mirabeau, " Tonneau," 174, 275
Monroe, James, 295
Montagnards, 255.
Montbarey, 23
Montesquieu, 10, 11, 276
Montlosier, 76, 77
Montmorency-Laval, 184, 276
Morris, Gouverneur, 227, 295
Mounier, 161. 162, 201, 202
National Constituent Assem
bly, 169, 250, 251
Necker, 36, 37, 102, 103, 151,
154, 218, 286
Noailles, 173, 181, 276
Notables, Assembly of the, 147
Officers, French, 55, 56, 93,
133
Paganel, 97, 98
Paine, Thomas, 119, 234, 235,
239, 266-270, 287-290, 291,
292
Pamphlets, 48, 49, 162-163, note,
168, 174, 175, 181, 216, 217,
218, 220, 221, 228, 229, 230-
233,' 236, 237, 242
Pange, Chev. de, 229, 230
Paris, 61
Parny, 35
"Patriote francaisT" 238, 239
Petion, 195, 203, 210, 237, 284.
Plays, Franco-American, 136J
137, note, 257, 258
Poetry, 22, 77, 80, 98, 99, 132,
I43i 147, 148, 234, 238, 239,
240, 244, 265
Pompigny, 258
Portraits, American, 59, 71, 78
Pownall. 134
Pradt, 224, 225
Press, Freedom of, 209, 210, -21 1
Price, Dr., 95, note

302

INDEX.

Provinces, 62
Prudhomme, 248
Prugnon, 203
Rabaut de Saint Etienne,
186, 207, 208
Racine, Abbe, 101
Ramsay, David, 135
Raynal, 118, 119
Religion, Freedom of, 131, 206,
207, 208
Richelieu, Marechal de, 104, 105
Rights, Declaration of, 182, 183,
184-1S7
Rivarol, 102, 276, 296
Robespierre, 205, 206, 209, 292,
293. 294
Robin, 87, 134
Rochambeau, Count de, 81, 85,
136, note, 152, 277
Rochambeau, Viscount de, 277
Roland, Mme., 42
Romilly, 106, 143
Rouerie, 55, 277
Royer-Collard, 209, note
Saint-Just, 280
Saint-Lambert, 154
Saint- Mart in, 203
Saint-Simon, 277
Sainte-Beuve, 38, note, m
Sand, George, 38, note
Sauvigny, M. de, 258
Savoisy, M. de, 56
Segur, 16, 17, 56, 85, 86, 277
Selden, John, 44
Senac de Meilhkn, 297
Serieys, 238

Servan, 231
Sieyes, Abbg, 164, 165, 266
Soldiers, French, 82, 91, 92
Songs, 24, 35, 37, 43, 73, 100,
101
Soulavie, 24, 57, 188
Soules, 131, 137, 138
Spencer, Herbert, 252
Stael, Mme. de, 138
States-General, 149-151, 152,
153, 163, 166, 167, 168
Suard, 64
Suffrage, Debates on the, 204,
205
Talleyrand, 286
Thouret, 205
Tocqueville, A. de, 67
Trudaine de la Sabliere, 285
Trumbull, Jonathan, 76
Turgot, 14, 20, 45, 65, 66, 117
" Vashington," play, 258
Vergennes, 20, 21, 217
Veto, Debates on the, 200-202,
229, 230, 280
Vicq d'Azyr, 245
Vigee-Lebiun, Mme., 72
Viomesnil, 277
Volney, 98, 287, note
Voltaire, 11, 58, 59
Warville, see Brissot
Washington, George, 42, 83, 87,
note, 125, note, 136-137, note,
258
Young, Arthur, 155

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