Part 24

After he and his companions had undergone a mock trial, devoid of every semblance of justice, they were sentenced to death. Danton’s answer to the sentence was: “We are being immolated by a few cowardly brigands; but they will not long enjoy the fruits of their victory. Robespierre, that infamous coward, will soon follow me.”

Danton was executed on April 5 with Camille Desmoulins, Lacroix, Fabre d’Eglantine, Hermit, Le Sechelle, Philippeaux, Declannoy de Angers, Chalet and Bazire (all of these men were Deputies of the Convention) the famous Abbé d’Espagne, General Westerman, a Spaniard, a Dane, and two Austrians. His last words were: _Montrez ma tête au Peuple, elle en vaut la peine_.

He was thirty-five years of age when he perished. Robespierre enjoyed the sight of the execution of his rival from a neighbouring window, and after the fall of the knife retired into the Tuileries gardens to take his daily walk, rubbing his hands with satisfaction.

DAVID, JACQUES LOUIS.

Born in Paris, 1748; died in Brussels, 1824.

Left an orphan at an early age, his grandfather, an architect, adopted him. When a boy at school he met with an accident which deformed his face for life. A stone struck him in the mouth, broke several teeth, and a growth eventually formed upon his upper lip which gave him a savage and ferocious expression. In early childhood he showed promise of artistic talent. His uncle intended the boy to follow his profession of an architect, but when the youth begged to be allowed to study painting he yielded to his entreaties.

The famous painter, Boucher, then a very old man, saw some sketches made by young David, and offered to take him into his studio as a pupil. After Boucher, the painter Vien became David’s master, and the student competed for the “Grand Prix de Rome”; he was unsuccessful four times, but finally carrying off the prize started for Italy in 1776. He devoted himself to the study of the antique, and adopted that severe classical style by which his work is distinguished. While at Rome he painted “The Pests of Saint Roch” for the Lazaretto at Marseilles. In 1780 he returned to Paris and produced “Belisarius” and “The Death of Hector,” after which he was elected to the Academy, given an appointment in the Louvre, and opened a school for young painters.

He married Mademoiselle Pecconi, a beautiful Italian girl, on the occasion of his second visit to Rome in 1784. He exhibited the “Horaces” in Paris, and was proclaimed “The Regenerator of Art.” Louis XVI. patronised the painter, and commissioned him to paint “Brutus,” which picture was finished early in 1789.

The Revolution changed David’s life and ideas; in 1790 the National Assembly commissioned him to paint “The Oath in the Tennis Court.” In 1792 the artist was elected Deputy for Paris in the Convention. This position seemed to affect his intellect and excite his brain.

The painter of “Brutus” considered himself another Brutus, and imagined Louis XVI. deserved death because, being a king he must necessarily be a tyrant.

During the early months of the Republic David organised those fêtes which were intended to imitate the ancient popular feasts of Greece and Rome.

He painted, amongst other numerous pictures, “The Assassination of Michel le Pelletier” and that of “Marat by Charlotte Corday.” These pictures were exhibited to the public in the courtyard of the Louvre.

He became the most violent among the violent Terrorists. His speeches in the Convention invariably contained cries for more bloodshed. He was the intimate friend and ally of Robespierre. After the fall of the latter, David was twice arrested, and remained first four, and then three, months in prison.

Bonaparte, after his first campaign in Italy, and when the peace of Campo-Formio was concluded, sent for the painter, with whom he had an interview. The General desiring he should paint his portrait David said, “I will paint you sword in hand in the midst of a battle.” Bonaparte replied, “Battles are not now gained with swords. Paint me seated on a fiery charger.” This idea was realised in that well-known picture, “The Return from Marengo.” Napoleon, after assuming the imperial title, appointed David his painter-in-ordinary, and commissioned him to paint four immense pictures to cover the walls of the throne room in the Tuileries. “The Coronation” and “The Distribution of Eagles in the Champ de Maers” were the only two executed. “The Coronation” occupied the artist during three years of incessant work. Until 1814 David remained in Paris, an imperial favourite and a fashionable portrait-painter, enjoying the reputation of being the greatest artist of his day. On the return of the Bourbons, of whom he had been in a certain sense a personal enemy, he was not allowed to exhibit his great picture, “The Thermophyles,” in public.

After the Second Restoration he was banished from France, to which country he never returned. Before his departure he cut his two great works, “The Coronation” and “The Distribution of the Eagles,” to pieces with his own hands. By the order of Louis XVIII. the fragments were re-united, and the pictures may now be seen in the museum at Versailles.

During his twenty years exile David continued to paint with industry and vigour, dying at Brussels in 1824.

D’ESTAING, GENERAL.

The General mentioned by Yorke was a member of a very ancient family, whose archives date back to the tenth century. A Count D’Estaing saved the life of Philippe Augustus in battle. As a reward the D’Estaing family were granted the privilege by that King of quartering the Royal arms of France upon their escutcheon. An Admiral D’Estaing, uncle of General D’Estaing, was one of the most distinguished French naval officers of the eighteenth century; his opinions were liberal, and he at first favoured the Revolutionary changes. He was, nevertheless, a devoted friend of Marie Antoinette, and when she was tried in October 1793, made an effort to assist in her defence. He fell in consequence under the suspicion of the Committee of Public Safety, and was condemned and executed. When sentence of death was pronounced upon him, he exclaimed: “You had better send my head to the English; they will pay you highly for it.”

FITZ JAMES, EDOUARD, DUKE DE.

Born at Versailles, 1776; died in Paris, 1838.

His family emigrated in the early days of the Revolution, and settled in Italy.

After the formation of Condé’s army, young Fitz James joined its ranks, became aide-de-camp to Marshal Castries, showing on many occasions great personal bravery. After the forcible dispersion of the French _Emigré_ Regiment, Fitz James visited England and Scotland, and married in London a Mdlle. Latouche.

During the Consulate he applied for, and received, permission to reside in France.

He refused to accept any place or dignity at the hands of Napoleon, and took no part in public affairs until December 1813 (when the fall of the Empire appeared imminent). He then entered the National Guard as a non-commissioned officer, with the object of obtaining a secret influence over the men. In this he was successful, for his arguments and actions practically caused the refusal on the part of the National Guard to attack the Allied Army then marching upon Paris.

After the capitulation of that city, Fitz James organised and headed a vast demonstration in favour of the restoration of the Bourbons. Thousands of young men rushed through the streets of Paris, waving white flags and shouting _Vive le Roi!_ This popular manifestation greatly affected the Emperor Alexander, and caused his final decision in favour of the Restoration of the ancient monarchy.

When Louis XVIII. assumed the sovereignty of France, Fitz James was created a Peer, Colonel of the National Cavalry, and Chamberlain to Count d’Artois. During the second Restoration Fitz James was one of the principal instigators of the severe reprisals on the Royalist side, known as the “White Terror.” Marshal Ney’s execution was caused by the efforts of Fitz James.

He unsuccessfully endeavoured to bring about the condemnation to death of General Bertrand, although the latter was his own brother-in-law.

A wild fanaticism seemed at this period to have affected his mind. He opposed every constitutional concession on the part of the Government, and showed himself so hostile to Ministerial and even Royalist projects, that he was finally forbidden to appear at Court.

After the Revolution of 1830, Fitz James, as a Peer of France, took the oath of allegiance to Louis Philippe. But in secret he was still loyal to the exiled King.

At the time of the rising in La Vendée excited by the Duchess de Berry, Fitz James was arrested, but released owing to lack of evidence against him.

He became Deputy for Toulouse in 1834, and until his death four years later was a prominent member of the Right in the French Parliament, and took a considerable part in the debates.

FOUCHÉ, DUKE OF OTRANTO, JOSEPH.

Born at Nantes, 1763; died at Trieste, 1820.

He was intended by his father, a sea captain, for the merchant service, but owing to his delicate health this project was abandoned. He was sent to the Oratorian College in Nantes, and later to an establishment of the same Order in Paris. He received the tonsure and became an abbé; at the time of the Revolution he was a professor in the Nantes University. He quitted the cassock, married, and proceeded to Paris.

In 1792 he was elected member of the Convention, and became intimate with Robespierre. The King’s trial gave him his first opportunity of publicly expressing his extreme views. He said in a speech from the Tribune: “I demand the execution of the tyrant, for it would almost appear as if we regretted our courage in abolishing Royalty, were we to tremble before its wretched shadow.”

In March 1793, Fouché was despatched to his native town (Nantes), armed with full powers to crush a rebellion against the Republic in the West of France. He opened the campaign by a violent attack on every form of Christianity, confiscated all ecclesiastical buildings, arrested and imprisoned the priests, commanded the destruction of all religious emblems, and ordered this inscription to be placed on the gates of the cemeteries: “Death is an Eternal Sleep.”

He affected a disdain for wealth, writing to the Assembly, “Let us abolish gold and silver and fling away all such idols of Monarchy!”

These deeds and sentiments caused his rapid promotion, and he was sent to Lyons in company with Herbois, with orders to chastise with fire and sword that recalcitrant city. The two commissioners inaugurated their mission by celebrating a “Feast of Reason,” which, like that of Paris, was a licentious and impious orgie. One of its principal features was a procession headed by an ass, upon whose head was fixed a mitre, while to his tail were fastened the Books of the Old and New Testaments. An altar was erected, at which a mock Mass was celebrated, and the ass given food and drink from consecrated vessels. A bonfire fed with religious emblems and sacred books was extinguished by a violent storm of rain and wind, which finally broke up the “_Feast_.” Upon the next day the massacres of Lyons began. The tribunal decided that the guillotine was too slow a form of execution. They therefore decreed the condemned should be mowed down in batches by cannon shot. As many as fifty-nine persons were on one occasion blown to pieces at the same instant. During their four months’ reign in Lyons, over 1700 persons are known to have been destroyed by order of the commissioners.

On the retaking of Toulouse by the Republican forces Fouché wrote to Callot, who was charged with the administration of “justice” to the rebels: “Annihilate _all_ traitors. Take Nature’s example, strike and scorch as one does with lightning and thunderbolts, so that the very ashes of the enemies of the Republic may disappear from the soil of Liberty. Tears of joy flow from my eyes and inundate my soul. We celebrate your victory to-day by sending 213 rebels to be destroyed by the thunder of our guns!”

During his residence at Lyons, Fouché was denounced by Hébert at the Jacobin Club; it was with satisfaction, therefore, that he saw the former fall with Danton. When, in April 1794, Fouché returned to Paris, after an absence of eight months, he found Robespierre at the zenith of his power. When rendering an account of his services, Fouché ended his speech with these words: “Criminal blood fertilises the soil of Liberty and establishes justice upon secure and immovable foundations.” He was almost immediately afterwards selected as President by the Jacobin Club.

On the occasion of the celebrated _Fête de l’Etre Suprême_, Fouché had the imprudence publicly to mock Robespierre’s devotion to the new Deity, saying _Tu nous embêtes avec ton être suprême_. Robespierre impeached him before the Jacobin Society, and caused Fouché’s expulsion from the Club of which he was President, but the 10th Thermidor was not far off; and the execution of Robespierre saved the life of Fouché.

For a time the latter retired into private life. Two years later he ostensibly joined the party of Baboeuf, the Socialist, but when he had thoroughly mastered the details of Baboeuf’s plot he revealed the whole of the affair to the Directorate.

After the execution of Baboeuf, Fouché obtained, as the price of his services, an army contractorship, and later was created ambassador to the Cisalpine Republic. After remaining some time in this capacity at Milan he returned to Paris in January 1799. In July of the same year he was nominated Minister of Police. Notwithstanding the opposition of Siezès, Fouché retained this appointment until the establishment of the Consular Government. Napoleon, who thoroughly appreciated the abilities and understood the astuteness of Fouché’s character, made use of him as his most confidential Minister until 1810.

The remarkable system of secret police which distinguished the Consular and Imperial Governments was originated and carried out by Fouché. It was he who discovered the plot of Georges; who prevented the assassination of the First Consul by an infernal machine in 1810; and upon his head, more than upon his master’s, that the guilt of the murderous execution of the Duke d’Enghien rests.

Fouché was too wise and far-seeing to approve of the divorce and re-marriage of Napoleon, and he particularly opposed the Austrian Alliance; for this the Emperor never forgave him, and when he discovered that his union with Marie Louise did not induce the British Government to recognise his sovereignty, he dismissed Fouché, and in 1810 gave the portfolio of Police to Savary. Fouché was not, at first, openly disgraced, but appointed Governor of Rome. Before his intended departure, however, Napoleon ordered him to give up all political documents in his possession. Fouché sent some insignificant papers, declaring he had destroyed the remainder. Napoleon was furious, and the ex-Minister was obliged to fly from France.

A compromise was arranged, and two years later Fouché returned. In 1813 he was appointed Governor of Illyria. In the following April, after the first abdication of the Emperor, he returned to Paris, headed the deputation which received the Comte d’Artois, and shortly afterwards Louis XVIII. took him into his confidence and consulted him on many points. He did not, as he desired, become Police Minister.

Upon the return of Napoleon and the flight of the Royal Family, Fouché accepted his old post, but during the whole of the hundred days he secretly intrigued with the exiled Princes.

After the Second Restoration, he was immediately summoned to the Tuileries and re-appointed Police Minister, but he only retained office three months; he had too many enemies in the Royal _entourage_, and found foes among Liberals and reactionaries alike. He was made Ambassador to the Court of Saxony, but the law of 1815--which banished all regicides--deprived him of this position and drove him again into exile. He became a naturalised Austrian, and died four years later at Trieste, on Christmas Day, 1820. He was but fifty-seven years old, but a life of excitement and mental overwork had given him the appearance of extreme old age. He left a fortune of £560,000, amassed, it is supposed, by subtle and dishonest means during his occupation of the Ministry of Police.

FOUQUIER-TINVILLE, QUENTIN ANTOINE.

Born at Hérouet in 1747; guillotined in Paris May 8, 1795.

He was a son of a wealthy farmer, and after studying law in Paris bought a _charge_ of _procureur_ at the Châtelet. Although active and intelligent, his well-known immorality prevented his achieving success in his profession, and he was forced to sell his _charge_ to avoid bankruptcy.

Reduced to any and every expedient to earn a livelihood, he addressed some flattering verses to Louis XVI., which, by the efforts of the Abbé Delille, obtained for their author an appointment in the bureau of police.

On the outbreak of the Revolution, Fouquier-Tinville, became an extremist, and was made commissionary over the district in Paris where he resided.

He passed the evening of August 9 in the Commune, pronouncing the most sanguinary discourses, and took a prominent part in the attack upon the Tuileries the following day.

Robespierre and Danton appointed him a member of the jury of the Revolutionary Tribunal.

His legal knowledge, his calm determined manner, and his gift of eloquence led very shortly afterwards to his nomination to the post of “Public Accuser.” From this moment he considered that he was “Minister of Political Justice,” the Committee of Public Safety being his sovereign, and the jury and executioners his servants. He interrogated the accused as a judicial formality, but he made no inquiry as to the innocence or guilt of the prisoner. Every evening at ten o’clock he repaired to the Committee of Public Safety, to give an account of his doings during the day. His lodgings were in the Palace of Justice, and he never left them, except to go in the daytime to the Tribunal, and in the evening to the Committee.

It was before him that Marat appeared on April 24, 1793, accused by the National Assembly. Fouquier facilitated his acquittal; this was the only instance in which he ever showed mercy. Before him passed in vast procession during the next fifteen months the victims of the Revolution.

He accused and delivered to death Danton, Hébert and the whole Commune of Paris, as mercilessly as he prosecuted the last Queen of France. When Robespierre and his companions were dragged before the Tribunal, Fouquier said to the jury, who were in doubt as to the course they should pursue: “We are dispensers of justice, and justice must be executed upon all who come before us.”

After the 12th Thermidor, Barrère was desirous of retaining Fouquier-Tinville in his sanguinary functions. But a universal outcry prevented this. Fréron, who had himself an odious reputation for cruelty, denounced Fouquier, saying: “It is time Fouquier-Tinville were sent to hell to expiate his bloody deeds.”

The Assembly decreed his trial, and five days later he appeared at the bar of the Convention. He attempted to throw all the blame for his acts upon Robespierre, but he was arrested and imprisoned. His trial lasted forty-one days, over two hundred witnesses, who gave lengthy evidence, being interrogated

He was found guilty of

having caused the death of innumerable innocent persons of both sexes under pretence of being conspirators; of having on one occasion sent during the space of three hours eighty persons to the scaffold without respecting legal formalities; of having crowded upon carts (prepared in readiness before their trial), victims who had not had any semblance of justice and whose condemnations were never signed; of having ordered the execution of a number of pregnant women.

Fouquier’s defence was as follows:

The Convention having declared Terror to be the Order of the day, in the same breath ordered the extermination of all rebels. The prisoners were merely sent before me in order that I might carry out certain legal formalities. It was therefore your orders, citizen representatives, that I obeyed. Which of you ever gave me a word of blame? Blood was the perpetual cry upon the lips of your orators. If I am guilty, then you are all guilty. I was but the weapon of the Convention; do you punish the executioner’s axe?

He was condemned to death with fifteen other persons, and conducted the following day to the scaffold. The populace followed the cart which bore him to punishment with yells of execration and insult. He spoke to them cynically, and to a man who cried out, _Tu n’as plus la parole aujourd’hui_--the taunt he used to those of his victims who wished to defend themselves before the Tribunal--Fouquier said:

“And thou, wretched creature, go and claim thy three ounces of bread at the Section; I at least die with a full stomach and have never known want.”

GANGENELLI, POPE CLEMENT XIV., JEAN VINCENT ANTOINE.

Born, October 1705; died, September 22, 1774.

He was the son of a doctor, and became a Franciscan monk at the age of nineteen. An ardent student of philosophy and theology, he was sent to the College of St. Bonaventura at Rome to teach theology, and made a doctor of divinity. Later he became Professor of Philosophy at Ascoli. He was also a noted orator, and his reputation as a preacher was high at Bologna, Milan, Ferrara, Venice, and Florence.

In 1741 he was recalled to Rome.

He led as retired a life as practicable in Rome, though he was fond of exercise and riding on horseback. He declared it to be his most earnest wish to return to the monastery of S. Francis at Assisi, and twice refused to accept the position of General of his Order. Nevertheless his great reputation as a theologian caused his elevation to the Cardinalate in 1759 and ten years later to the Papacy. His election surprised every one, himself most of all, for Cardinal Ganganelli was not even a Bishop when nominated to the headship of the Church.

His five years’ reign was one of the most important during the history of the Papacy. At that time the Order of Jesus was assailed on all sides, and every reigning Prince of Europe desired its dissolution. Still the Society was so powerful, so numerous, and had been so staunch a supporter of the Holy See that its position was considered impregnable. Clement XIV., after due consideration and much diplomatic action, decreed in 1773 the suppression of the congregation founded by S. Ignatius Loyola.

He died the following year, and the Jesuits have frequently been accused of having poisoned him. Historical researches have proved the injustice of this statement. He was in his seventieth year, and completely worn out by mental anxiety and overwork.

He was one of the very ablest as well as one of the worthiest successors of St. Peter.

GIRARDON, FRANÇOIS.

François Girardon, a celebrated French sculptor, born in 1628, died in 1715 (the same year as his patron and employer, Louis XIV.).

From 1652 until his retirement in extreme old age he was employed, first in conjunction with Le Brun, and afterwards singly in directing the art work undertaken in Paris and at Versailles by Louis XIV.

His greatest achievements were considered to be the _Bain d’Apollon_, the “Rape of Proserpine” at Versailles and the equestrian statue of Louis XIV., which, before its destruction during the Revolution, occupied the centre of the Place Vendôme.

GRÉGOIRE, HENRI.

Henri Grégoire, born near Lunéville, 1750, died in Paris, 1831, was _Curé_ of Embermesnil. Elected to the States-General as representative of the clergy of Lorraine he proceeded to Versailles, 1789.