Los Angeles herald., 1891-07-25

%7 NtH states general 1t
| 2EN self, if it had
~ bankruptcy for its
father, had the
club for its moth
q. Nearly all of the projects for the re.
form of French society were Matched in
the clubs before they were announced in
the assembly. Those sudden and auda-
cious movements of the French people
which seem so incomprehensible to the
modern reader were organized in secret in
the political clubs before they were launch
ed on the general wave There the storm
ing Of the Bastile was planned; there the
attack on the Tuileries was conceived;
there the abolition of the monarchy was
debated, and there the Terror had its
birth.
One of the characteristics of human nat
ure is to swarml Man is not wholly gre
garious, like the docks; not wholly soli-
tary, like the bear. Rather, like the bees,
he works with his fellows in a general
association, and ometimes-swarms. Car
lyle has noted and defined this disposition
of our species under the name of Swarm
ery"-a sort of congregating, instructive
impulse that brings men into affiliation for
certain ends, which perhaps they them
selves do not understand
OF this disposition the French furnish
rs the highest example. They outswarm
any other race of the human kind, and
their swarms are the most intense. the
most numerous, the hottest. 1t was so
pre-eminently in the great agitations pre-
ceding and attendant upon the French
Revolution. The gregarious instinct be-
came more active than ever before, and
secret societies abounded in all parts of the
kingdom. They nearly all had political
motive at the bottom. They were doubt
less the result of three general causes: /.
The political conditions present at that
time in France 2. The effervescent and
swarming dispositions of the French peo-
pie. g. The intellectual reaction which
had been produced by the French philoso-
pliers of the preceding epoch, notably by
the writings of Jean Jacques Rousseau.
So far as we are able to discover, the first
important club movement had its origin
in Brittany. In that province a secret
political society was formed before the
calling of the states general. OF this club
several Of the Breton deputies were mem
bers, and by them the club organization
was carried to Versailles at the opening of
the states general. The society appears to
have been a sort of political committee, the
intent being at the first to see to it that
only friends of liberty and reform should
be chosen as deputies.
Such was the origin of the Breton club,
or Breton committee, of which we hear
much in connection with the history of the
states general and national assembly.
When the latter body was transferred to
Paris the club went also as its shadow.
By this time the organization had become
powerful. Its usefulness as a means of
originating and promoting legislation had
been discovered. The reform members of
the legislative, constituent and national
assemblies must be always running across
of evenings to meet their club. where,
among their friends, they could throw off
all disguises, all polite side movements, all
little expediences and reveal their bottom
purposes and plans. What field for ora
tory and debate was here prepared What
. soil for revolutionl
On reaching Paris the Breton club i'm
mediately provided itself with place OF
assembly. This was found in the Rue St.
Honore. There stood the old convent OF
the Dominican friars, known as the Con.
vent of St. Jacobus-a medieval structure,
spacious and gloomy enough, no longer OF
much use to man, but still of great use ia
history. Here the club established itself
with the new name of La Societe des Amis
dc Ia Constitution-that is, Society of the
Friends of the Constitution. But that
name was too tedious for the lips Of pa
triotism, and so, as the club grew and flour
tshed and became powerful, and was spoken
of by all men, they called it the Club of the
Jacobins, or the Jacobins. for short. Such
was the rise of that society which was des
tined to control the French Revolution, to
give to it its form and features, and to i'm
press itself upon the history not only Of the
current decade but of the Nineteenth cent
ury, even to the present day.
Great was the popularity of the Jacobins
Democracy was the prevailing spirit, but
at first the spirit was restrained. The
Friends of the Constitution, not yet know
ing what they wanted, gave their support
to the new hberalixed and reformed mon
archy which had been devised by the assem-.
bly, under the inspiration of Mirabeau, and
which was still believed to be good for the
French nation. Tl1o conditions of mem
bership in the club were easy. Any patriot
who was vouched for and introduced by
four members in good standing might be
admitted on terms of equality with the
rest On his initiation hereceived q ticket
which gave him all the rights, privileges
and benefits of attendance, and participa
ton in the debates and business of the
club. The membership rapidly expanded,
and soon reached the number of 800, in
cluding many delegates to the national
assembly The organization was perfected
and made regular. The society had its
presiding officers, its committees, its Jour
nal des Debats, in which one to the pres
emit day may read the proceedings and
speeches of the society.
: The influence of the Jacobins rose rap
1dly, and soon became dominant over the
Revolution. In this arena the strongest ol
the ground giants, those earth-born Titani
who were to reign for a season and ther
perish, displayed their powers and won the
applause Of all that mad patriotism which
IAN riot in the streets or dripped into the
cellars Of Paris. Here Mirabeau came, al
intervals, to join in the discussion. Hert
that Robespisrre, who was to be King Of
the Terror, rose first to power and then ta
omufpotence. Here the two Lameths, Bar
nave, Touquier Tinville, and that Anachar'
- Cloots, Who shall presently introduce to
ths national assembly . body Of representa-
t4vsv called the Human Race all fourished
and gained ascendency over the pubic
MINI. The assembly. and afterward the
national convention, became only KIND
Of sounding board to catch the echoes
from the platform At the Jacobins. Here
lid aDirit Of rad