the temple
this is what had happened.
when a great event takes place like the 13th vendémiaire, or the 18th fructidor, it stamps an indelible date upon the book of history. everybody knows this date; and so when the words "13th vendémiaire" or "18th fructidor" are pronounced, everybody knows the results which followed the great events commemorated by these dates, but very few know the secret springs which prepared the way for the accomplishment of these events.
as a result, we have particularly assumed the duty in our historical novels, or romanticized histories, of telling things which no one has told before, and of relating matters which we know, but of which very few persons share that knowledge with us.
since friendly indiscretion has revealed the source from which we have obtained the priceless volumes and original and rare manuscripts from which we have drawn, this is the proper place for us to acknowledge our indebtedness for the communication of these interesting volumes which it is so hard to coax down from their shelves. they have been for us the beacon which has guided us through the 13th vendémiaire; and we have only to light it again to penetrate the mazes of the 18th fructidor.
it is, then, with the certainty of telling the truth, the[pg 543] whole truth, and nothing but the truth, that we repeat the phrase with which this chapter begins: this is what had happened.
on the evening of the 17th, adjutant-general ramel, after he had visited his posts, went to take his orders from the committee, who were to remain in session during the night. he was present when pichegru, as we have said, having been prevented by his colleagues from taking the initiative, had predicted what would happen, and with his habitual indifference, although he might have fled, and thus have escaped the persecution which he had foreseen, had allowed himself to drift along with the current of his destiny.
when pichegru had gone, the other deputies became more firmly convinced that the directory would not dare to attempt anything against them, and if they did, it would not fall at once, and that therefore for several days they were safe. even before his departure, pichegru heard several of the deputies, among them eméry, mathieu dumas, vaublanc, tron?on de coudray and thibaudeau, indignantly denounce this supposition, and decry the terror with which it had inspired the public.
adjutant-general ramel was therefore dismissed without further orders; he was merely instructed to do that day what he had done the day before, and what he would do on the morrow. consequently he returned to his quarters and contented himself with ascertaining that, in case of alarm, his grenadiers were ready to take up arms. two hours later, at one in the morning, he received orders from the minister of war to report to him.
he hastened to the hall, which was empty save for one solitary inspector, named rovère, who was asleep. he told him of the order which he had received, and begged him to note its importance at that hour of the night. ramel added that he had been notified that several columns of troops were entering paris. but all these threatening probabilities had no effect upon rovère, who declared that he was very comfortable where he was, and had excellent reasons[pg 544] for remaining so. ramel, when he left the hall, met the commander of the cavalry post whose duty it was, like his own, to guard the councils. the latter announced that he had withdrawn his pickets, and ordered his troops, as well as the two cannon which were in the courtyard of the tuileries, to cross the bridges.
"how could you do such a thing, when i told you to do just the contrary?" asked ramel.
"general, it was not my fault," replied the commander; "the commander-in-chief, augereau, gave the order, and the cavalry officer refused positively to obey yours."
ramel went back and again begged rovère to warn his colleague, telling him what had occurred since he had seen him. but rovère was obstinate in his confidence, and replied that all these movements of troops signified absolutely nothing; that he had known of them before, and that several corps of troops were to go upon the bridges at an early hour to man?uvre. ramel might therefore be perfectly easy, for rovère's source of information was reliable, and he could count upon it; and ramel could obey the order of the minister of war without any hesitation.
but a dread of being separated from his corps prevented ramel from obeying. he went home, but instead of going to bed remained ready dressed and armed.
at three o'clock in the morning a former member of the bodyguard with whom he had been very intimate in the army of the pyrenees, named poin?ot, announced himself as a messenger from general lemoine, and handed ramel a note couched in the following terms:
general lemoine, in the name of the directory, summons the commander of the grenadiers of the corps legislatif to give passage across the swing-bridge to a body of fifteen hundred men charged with executing the government's orders.
"i am surprised," said ramel, "that an old comrade, who should know me better, could consent to bring me an order which i cannot obey without dishonoring myself."
[pg 545]
"do as you please," replied poin?ot; "but i warn you that all resistance will be useless. eight hundred of your grenadiers have already been covered by four cannon."
"i receive no orders save from the corps legislatif," exclaimed ramel.
and hastening from his house he started on a run to the tuileries. an alarm-gun sounded so near him that he thought it was a signal for attack. on his way he met two of his chiefs of battalion, ponsard and fléchard, both excellent officers in whom he had every confidence.
he hastened to the committee-room again, where he found generals pichegru and villot. he at once sent notices to general mathieu dumas and the presidents of the two councils, laffon-ladébat, president of the council of the ancients, and siméon, president of the five hundred. he also went to warn the deputies whose lodgings were known to him to be near the tuileries.
at that moment, they having forced the iron gates of the swing-bridge, the divisions of augereau and lemoine were enabled to unite. the soldiers of the two armies filled the garden; a battery was directed against the hall of the ancients, all the avenues were closed, and all the posts doubled and covered by superior forces.
we have told how the door opened, how a throng of soldiers entered the hall of the committee, with augereau at its head, and how, when no one else had dared lay a hand on pichegru, augereau himself had committed that sacrilege, and had thrown down and bound the man who had been his general; and finally how, after pichegru was mastered, the other deputies offered no farther resistance, and the order was given to take the prisoners to the temple.
the three directors were waiting, together with the minister of police, who, once his placards were posted, had returned to them. the minister of police advised that the prisoners should be instantly shot in the courtyard of the luxembourg under pretext that they had been taken with arms in their hands. rewbell agreed with him;[pg 546] the gentle la reveillière-lepaux, the man of peace, who had always advised merciful measures, was ready to give the fatal order, saying, like cicero of lentullus and cethegus: "they have lived!"
barras alone, it is but justice to say, opposed this measure with all his might, saying that, unless they put him in prison during the execution, he should throw himself between the bullets and the prisoners. finally a deputy named guillemardet, who had made himself a friend of the directors by joining their faction, proposed that the prisoners be banished to cayenne "to be done with it." this amendment was put to the vote and enthusiastically carried.
the minister of police considered it his duty to conduct barthélemy personally to the temple. we have said that his servant letellier asked to be permitted to accompany him. they refused at first, but finally granted his request.
"who is this man?" asked augereau, who did not recognize him as one of the exiles.
"he is my friend," said barthélemy; "he asked to be allowed to follow me, and—"
"pooh!" said augereau, interrupting him, "when he knows where you are going he will not be so eager."
"i beg your pardon, citizen-general," replied letellier, "but wherever my master goes i will follow him."
"even to the scaffold?" asked augereau.
"above all, to the scaffold," replied the man.
by dint of entreaties and prayers the doors of the prison were opened to the wives of the prisoners. every step they took in the courtyard, where a queen of france had suffered so bitterly, was fresh agony to them. drunken soldiers insulte them at every turn.
"are you coming to see those beggars?" they asked, pointing to the prisoners. "make haste and say farewell to them to-day, for they will be shot to-morrow."
as we have already said, pichegru was not married. when he came to paris he did not wish to supplant poor rose, for whom, as we have said, he had bought a cotton[pg 547] umbrella from his savings, which had delighted her much. when he saw his colleagues' wives, he approached them, and took delarue's little son, who was crying, in his arms.
"why are you crying so, my child?" he asked with tears in his own eyes as he kissed him.
"because," replied the child, "wicked soldiers have arrested my papa."
"you are right, poor little fellow," replied pichegru, darting a look of scorn at those who were watching him, "they are wicked soldiers. good soldiers would not allow themselves to be turned into executioners."
augereau wrote bonaparte that same day as follows:
at last, general, my mission is accomplished; the promises of the army of italy were fulfilled last night.
the directory determined upon a bold stroke; the moment for its accomplishment was still undecided, and the preparations were still incomplete, when the fear of being forestalled precipitated matters. at midnight i sent orders to the troops to march upon given points. before daybreak all those points and all the principal squares were filled with artillery; at daybreak the halls of the councils were surrounded, the guards of the directory fraternized with our troops, and the members whose name i send you were arrested and taken to the temple.
a large number are being pursued; carnot has disappeared. paris is calm, marvelling at a crisis which should have been terrible, but which passed off like a holiday. the robust patriot of the faubourgs proclaims the safety of the republic, and the black collars are downcast.
now, it is for the wise energy of the directory and the two councils to do the rest. the place of sessions is changed and the first proceedings promise well. this event has taken us a long stride toward peace; it is for you to cross the intervening space which still separates us from it.
do not forget the bill of exchange for twenty-five thousand francs; it is urgent.
augereau.
then followed the list, containing seventy-four names.
