New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-11-22
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.
THE ABOLITION OF ROYALTY.


MARIE ANTOINETTE AND THE DOWNFALL OF
ROYALTY. BY Imbert de Saint-Amand. Trans
lated by Elizabeth Gilbert Martin. With Portrait.
12mo, PIP. 40l. Charles Scribners Sons.
As VI. de Saint-Amand proceeds with his pictures
of the Revolution the scene becomes darker and
grimmer. The present volume deals with the
events OF 192 the last days of royalty, or rather
the dissipation of that shadOwy mocxery to which
royalty had already been reduced. The death
of the Emperor Leopold and the assassination OF
Gustavus of Sweden removed the last hopes Of
Marie Antoinette AS to the King, il is doubtful
if he ever had any hopes. but IL he had, his own
fatuous inertness must have destroyed them. 1t
has often enough been said that nothing in his
conduct would have made any difference; that
the OF the Revolution could not have been
stayed by the wisest and most resolute ruler.
Possibly not, yet when wise and strong man din
seize the direction OF affairs the 18th Brumaire
showed that it not impossible, nay that it
was not even very difficult TO check and 10
turn back the furious torrent which threatened
to sweep everything away. Moreover. il was the
deliberate opinion Of the Of the 18th Brumaire
that on the 9th of August, Louis XVI still had
good cards in his hand and that had he played
them boldly the revolt which issued in the aboli
ton OF royalty might have been quelled with the
forces under his control. The more the history
of the Revolution is looked into, the clearer does
il appear that the events which led to regicide
and the Tlifror were wrought by a small group of
malignants, representative Of nothing but their own
lawless ambitions and lust Of power and pelf
No ioia of patriotism entered into the views Of
the men who engineered the movements of the
9th Of August, and deliberately arranged the Sep
TENDER massacres Nor were these Internal en-
eneers at all sure of success on the first named
D.I Ia all Iot- -, oorln
Danton remained in the background until the
fight was over; Marat kept out of the way. II
was only when the Kings stupid concessions hal
made resistance impossible for his supporters
when his blind folly had delivered over the gal
liant Swiss regiment 10 the hands Of assassins-
that the chiefs of the insurrection ventured 10
show themselves
1t is difficult TO sympathize with the King, and
it is not easy to denounce him. A more utterly
unfit man for the position in which he placed
could not be conceived With fatally facilc
temperament and the Judgment OF child lie had
yielded step by step until nothing was eft to sur
render: and unfortunately he involved in his own
ruin that of many who might have saved both him
and themselves, had they been free to act. Marie
AntOnette far more virile character than
her husband. but her alien birth fettered her She
could have dominated Louis, but as the Aus
trian,' She must suppress herself and so all went
to ruin together But il the apathy and imbecility
of the King at the critical moment only more
conspicuous than the poltroonery of the Assembly
what must lie thought of the 100000 cit
liens of Paris who submitted themselves
without an effort at resistance to the little band
of INSCRIPTIONS scoundrels who directed all the
monstrOus outrage Of the hour? NJ. de Saint
Amand refers to the wclLascertaincd fact that the
perpetrators of the September massacres were
less than $50 in number, and he asks what
the rest of Paris was doing that it allowed
this numerically feeble gang of assassins TO dOm.
nate and TO disgrace it, The facts are indeed
amazing, but they are not isolated or without
parallels. All history shows that small organ
lied party will invariably control and compel
large unorganzed population. Moreover, Paris
was betrayed by her lawful representatives
Potion, the Mayor, was the hot ally of the Sep
tembrizers. The Assembly-reduced to Onc.third
Of its strength by the detection Of its honest and
conscientious but now hopeless members-wss
completely terrorizcd. TIE municipal authorities
employed the force at their command, not to sus-
tain law and order, but 10 subvert both 1t is not
easy TO point out what the citizens had in
such circumstances.
The gendarmes were with the mob The M
tional Guard had been carefully weeded of its
nOUeot 1Ncl, duu tit DdttdiioHs Hdu Decn Tenlleu
from the scum of the Faubourg ST. Antoine and
from imported rufiians of oil nationalities The
people, without leaders, without organization; were
impotent: not less impotent than were the people
of New.York when the Tweed gang trampled and
robbed them. The 10th August followed the
course of all riots; Of the Gordon riots in London ;
of the Draft riots in New-York; of the Commune
riots in 1871 The feeblest discipline is better
than none at all The mob that Is led by men
having definite purposes can always do what it
undertakes 10 do, az all events for time; and at
Paris in 1902 there absolutely no available
force wbeewith 10 resist IL after the Kings insane
order TO the Swiss 20 cease firing. II ever dy-
nasty committed suicide, it was in this instance.
II ever excuses were encouraged and invited by the
folly and faithlesness of those whose duty and
function il was to have prevented them, the ex-
ample is here. Five hundred faithful men could
have stopped or prevented the September massacres
Had the mounted Gendarmes on August 10
been loyal and had the king not given the fatal
der TO the Swiss, there is hardly any doubt that
the defence of the Tuileries would have been
made good. In that case royalty might have
been abolished the Revolution might have
triumphed but q reaction against anarchy and
murder would have appeared. sufficiently strong
TO prevent the September massacres. and probably
also the Terror.
H. de SaintAmand brings Mime Roland forward