The French Revolution

Thomas Carlyle, A.H.R. Ball

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Year: 2012
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9780486146829
• Subtopic: Early Modern History
• Index: History

The product of a powerful and original mind, this is the history that introduced English-speaking people to the full meaning and tragedy of the French Revolution. First published in 1837, this pioneering work established Thomas Carlyle's reputation as a historian of enduring scholarly and popular appeal. His scrupulous attention to facts and details, combined with his eloquence, poetic style, and moral energy, convey a spirited sense of reality. The dramatic narrative is populated by vivid characterizations of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, Mirabeau, Danton, Robespierre, Lafayette, Marat, and other heroes and villains of the era.
"No novelist has made his creations live for us more thoroughly than Carlyle has made the men of the French Revolution," observed George Eliot. In his company, the scenes of the Revolution are plainly visible, and the pages of this book offer a walk through the streets of eighteenth-century Paris with a well-informed guide. This abridged edition represents the best introduction to Carlyle's masterpiece for students and history buffs.

INDEX OF PROPER NAMES

(The dark figures refer to pages of this book)

AARON’S ROD: Aaron’s title as high priest of Israel was vindicated by the miraculous budding of his rod (Num. xvii).

ABBAYE: part of the Abbaye of St Germain des Prés (see map) was used as a prison.

ABDIEL: the seraph who, in Paradise Lost, v, 805, withstood Satan.

ACAPULCO: the best seaport on the Pacific coast of Mexico; formerly the centre of the Eastern trade.

ACHILLES’ FUNERAL: after Achilles was killed by the arrow of Paris, he was mourned seventeen days by the Greeks, and then, amid numerous sacrifices, the body was burnt, the ashes placed in a golden pitcher, and deposited in the tumulus that crowns the promontory of Sigeum.

ADMETUS: son of Pheres, king of Pheræ in Thessaly, whom Apollo served for a time as a shepherd, and afterwards befriended.

ÆOLUS: god of the winds, and reputed ancestor of the Æolians of N. Greece and Æolia, in whose dialect the poets Sappho and Anacreon wrote.

ÆTIUS: Roman general; see Attila.

AGIO: see Glossary.

AGRARIAN LAWS: Roman laws, the object of which was to ensure a fair distribution of the state domains and territory taken from conquered enemies.

ALEMBERT, Jean le Rond d’: (1717-83), philosopher and mathematician; founder, with Diderot, of the great French Encyclopédie.

ALI: (c. 600–661), fourth caliph, and cousin of Mahomet, whose daughter Fatima he married.

ALTAI: mountain range in W. Siberia and Mongolia.

AMPHICTYONIC: old Greek assembly of deputies (amphictyons) from twelve of the leading states.

ANACHARSIS, among the Scythians: a wise man among fools. Anacharsis was renowned for wisdom, but a Scythian, a tribe proverbial for lack of culture and knowledge. Applied by Carlyle to Clootz.

ANAXAGORAS: Greek philosopher (died 428 B.C.), teacher of Pericles and Socrates; Name taken by Chaumette, Dec. 1794.

ANGOULÊME, duchesse d’: (1778–1851), eldest child of Marie-Antoinette.

ANKARSTRÖM: see Gustav.

ANTRAIGUES, d’: deputy for the noblesse to the States-General; later leader of the military party among the émigrés; assassinated in London, 1812.

APOLLO: the sun-god; see Admetus.

ARABIAN PROPHET: Mahomet. See Ali.

ARCHER’S DAUGHTER: while stationed at Saintes, near Rochelle, in 1767, Mirabeau won the love of an archer’s daughter from his commander, the Marquis de Lambert, as a result of which he had to fly from the regiment.

ARCIS-SUR-AUBE: town and department; 16 miles N.N.E. of Troyes.

ARGUS: creature with 100 eyes, whom Juno set to watch over Io; he was slain by Hercules, and changed into a peacock, in the tail of which his eyes were set.

ARK OF COVENANT: sacred chest in which the Tables of the Law were kept; made by the Israelites according to the command of the Lord as given by Moses. See Ex. xxv, xxxvii; I Sam. v, etc.

ARNIAGNAC MASSACRES: massacre of the Armagnacs (Orléans party) by the Burgundians, March 28–Aug. 21, 1418. The quarrels between these two national factions split France under Charles VI and Charles VII.

ARTOIS, comte d’: brother of Louis XVI, leader of the émigrés at Coblentz, 1791; afterwards in England till 1815; became Charles X of France in 1824; deposed 1830; died at Holyrood 1836.

ASTOLPHO: English duke who joined Charlemagne against the Saracens; see Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, IV, 18.

ASTRÆA: the goddess of justice.

ATREUS: son of Pelops and king of Mycenae; killed his own son in ignorance of his identity, and, inviting his brother Thyestes, the cause of this misfortune, to a banquet, served to him the flesh of his own children.

ATTILA: King of the Huns (c. 400–453); conquered the Balkans and central Europe; his invasions were arrested at the Battle of Châlons, June 451, where he was defeated by the Roman general Ætius.

AUXONNE: town in the department of Cote d’Or, 20 miles S.E. of Dijon.

AVIGNON, Union of: in 1789 civil war broke out in Avignon, which had belonged to the popes since 1348, between the supporters and opponents of revolutionary principles. Peace was made in 1791 by union with France, but only after many atrocious deeds, chiefly under the direction of Jourdan.

BABŒUF: (1760–97), author and publisher of the Tribun du Peuple, in which he wrote under the name of Caius Gracchus; later had much to do with the insurrections of Germinal and Prairial, and plotted against the Directory; committed suicide to save himself from the guillotine.

BACCHANTE: female follower of Bacchus; cf. Menad.

BAILLY, Jean Sylvain: (1736–93), astronomer and scientific author; President of the National Assembly 1789; Mayor of Paris till 1791; guillotined by the Jacobins; the guillotine was taken from the Champ de Mars to a dung-heap by the river-side, where he was executed cruelly.

BALE, Treaty of: Prussia made peace with France at the expense of some Rhine-land, April 5, 1795. This was the first time a European monarchy consented to treat with the Republic.

BALMUNG SWORD: one of the swords of Siegfried, forged by Wieland, the smith of the gods.

BABBAROUX: (1767–94), secretary to the Commune of Marseilles; planned the attack on the Tuileries, Aug. 10, 1792; supported the Girondins, and committed suicide at their fall from power.

BARENTIN: Keeper of the Seals at the opening of the States-General; emigrated 1790.

BARNAVE, of Grenoble: (1761–93), celebrated orator; radical deputy to the States-General; with Duport and Lameth led the Assembly April–June, 1791; later tried to save the monarchy; guillotined 1793.

BARRAS: (1755–1829), deputy for the Var; enemy of Robespierre; commander of various Sections; later a director; retired to Brussels under the Empire.

BARRÈRE (Barere) de Vieuzac: (1755–1841); member of the Convention and the Committee of Public Safety; known as Anacreon of the Guillotine.

BARTHOLOMEW BUTCHERY: Massacre of the Huguenots at Paris, Aug. 24, 1572.

BASOCHE: ancient corporation of lawyers, the members of which, in the Middle Ages, elected a king, who administered justice twice weekly at the Pré-aux-Clercs. The Basoche presided over public spectacles and gave theatrical performances. The title Roi de Basoche was suppressed by Henri III.

BASTILLE: fortress dating from 1375, used as a state prison, and afterwards as a general prison.

BAZIRE: (1764–94), barrister; follower of Danton; member of the Legislative and the Convention.

BEAUMARCHAIS: (1732–99), Parisian author of the Barber of Seville, and the Marriage of Figaro; indulged in patriotic speculation when employed to buy arms for the Republic.

BEAUREPAIRE, N. J.: (1745–1828), French officer who defended Verdun against the Prussians under Brunswick; he committed suicide rather than surrender.

BELIAL: spirit of worthlessness and wickedness.

BELLONA: Roman goddess of war.

BERTRAND-MOLEVILLE: (1744–1818), Intendant of Brittany; secret adviser to the king; author of Mémoires Particuliers.

BESENVAL: (1722–94), Swiss baron; commander of troops in Paris during 1789; author of Mémoires, in which he bitterly attacks the queen.

BICÊTRE: fortress in village S. of Paris; part used as prison.

BILLAUD-VARENNES, J. N.: (1756–1819), radical pamphleteer; member of the Committee of Public Safety; one of the most rabid and inhuman of the terrorists; contributed to the fall of Robespierre; transported to Cayenne; refused pardon and died at Haiti.

BLANC GILLI: deputy for Bouches-du-Rhône.

BONDY: forest in the department de la Seine.

BONIFACE LE BLANC: innkeeper at Varennes.

BOUGRET: for Le Bourget, village 6 miles N.E. of Paris.

BOUILLÉ: (1739–1800), French general, distinguished in the American War, during which he saved the French West Indies; Governor of Metz 1784; later prepared the flight of Louis XVI, after which he emigrated and died in England.

BOURBON: French family, members of which were kings of France from 1589 to 1789, and again from 1814 to 1848, and rulers of Spain from 1700, with a brief interval, to the present day. The Spanish Bourbon referred to was Charles IV (see table, p. 211), who was driven from the throne by Napoleon.

BOURDON DE L’OISE, François Louis: (1750–97), Jacobin member of the Convention; helped to overthrow the Girondins; supported Danton, and joined Barras to secure the fall of Robespierre; member of the Council of Five Hundred; arrested by the Directory, 1797, and deported to Cayenne.

BRETEUIL, baron de: (1733–1807), minister in various countries for Louis XV; minister of state 1797; left France at the beginning of the Revolution and acted as agent for Louis XVI in his diplomatic relations with foreign powers.

BRETON COMMITTEE: the Breton Club, formed at Versailles in 1798 from liberal members of the States-General, was the origin of the Jacobin Club in Paris.

BRÉZÉ, Usher de: marquis de Dreux-Brézé (1762–1829), Grand Master of Ceremonies to Louis XVI.

BRIAREUS: giant with 50 heads and 100 hands.

BRISSOT, Jacques-Pierre: (1754–93), one of the Girondin leaders in the Convention.

BROGLIE, Marshal de: (1718–1804), military commander of troops round Paris, under Louis XVI; later commanded the émigrés.

BRUNHILDA: see Fredegonda.

BRUNSWICK, Charles William, duke of: (1735—1806), nephew of Frederick the Great, and husband of Augusta, daughter of George III of England; served in the Seven Years’ War, and in 1792 commanded the united forces of Austria and Prussia against the French.

BRUTUS: one of the conspirators against Julius Cæsar.

BUONAPARTE: see Napoleon.

BURKE: (1729–97), English statesman and writer; the first great Englishman to perceive the real trend of the French Revolution; author of Reflections on the French Revolution (1790).

BUZOT: (1760—94), prominent Girondin and friend of Mme Roland; voted for the king’s death; fled to Bordeaux on the fall of the Girondins, and committed suicide with Pétion.

CABANIS: (1757–1908), writer and physician; friend of Mirabeau.

CABARUS (Cabarrus), Thérèse de: daughter of a Spanish financier; married Tallien; well known for her soirees in Paris after the fall of Robespierre.

CADOUDAL, Georges: (1771–1804), leader of the Chouans in the Vendean War.

CALONNE, Charles: (1734–1802), succeeded Necker as Controller-General of Finances; called the Assembly of Notables to propose reform of taxation; afterwards helped royalist exiles in London.

CAMBYSES: King of Persia 529–522 B.C.; the expression ‘Cambyses vein’ is used by Shakespeare in I Henry IV, II, iv, to denote a melodramatic, sensational style.

CAMILLE: see Desmoulins.

CAMPAN, Mme: (1752–1822), wife of the private secretary to the queen; author of Memoirs of the Private Life of Marie-Antoinette (1822).

CANDEILLE, Demoiselle: an actress who took the role of the Goddess of Reason.

CAPET: royal family of France from 987 to 1789, and 1814 to 1848—fired signal for St Bartholomew Massacre: the Capet referred to was Charles IX (1560–74), though his responsibility was probably indirect.

CAPET VETO: proposed power of the king to veto laws.

CARMAGNOLE: see Glossary.

CARNOT, Lazare: (1753–1823), French mathematician; member of the Committee of Public Safety; the creator of the 14 armies of the Republic; exiled at the Restoration.

CARROUSEL: an open space behind the Tuileries Palace.

CASANO (Casanno): Battle in the War of the Spanish Succession, Aug. 16, 1705, to regain the Duchy of Milan, which had been seized by the Austrians in 1700. Prince Eugène, commander of the Austrian forces, after defeating the French in Lombardy, was advancing, but was checked by the Duc de Vendôme at Casanno, and the Austrians retired towards the Tyrol for the winter. In 1706 the issue was settled by Eugène’s victorious Campaign of Turin.

CATHERINE, of Russia: (1729—96), one of the chief diplomats of Europe; responsible for the Partitions of Poland.

CATO: Roman Censor (234—149 B.C.), renowned for simple life, severity of morals, strict justice, and undoubted patriotism. His great-grandson, also well known for his stoic life, committed suicide at Utica, in Africa.

CAZALES, J. de: (1758—1805), celebrated orator; royalist, and leader of the nobility against the revolutionists in the Constituent Assembly; later emigrated.

CHABO...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• PREFACE
• Table of Contents
• INTRODUCTION
• DEATH OF LOUIS XV - FRANCE IN 1774
• THE NEW AGE
• THE NOTABLES
• THE STATES-GENERAL
• THE THIRD ESTATE
• TO ARMS!
• FALL OF THE BASTILLE
• REVOLUTION
• THE MENADS
• THE KING AT PARIS
• THE ARMY
• THE CLUBS
• MIRABEAU
• FLIGHT OF THE KING
• THE CONSTITUTION
• EUROPE
• THE JACOBINS
• THE MARSEILLESE
• THE SWISS
• THE COMMUNE
• THE SEPTEMBER MASSACRES
• THE CANNONADE OF VALMY
• EXECUTION OF LOUIS XVI
• GIRONDINS AND MOUNTAIN
• THE COMMITTEES
• THE NEW CALENDAR
• DEATH OF MARAT
• MARIE-ANTOINETTE
• THE REIGN OF TERROR
• THE FEAST OF REASON
• THE NEW PARIS
• DANTON, NO WEAKNESS
• FEAST OF THE ÊTRE SUPRÊME
• ROBESPIERRE
• DECLINE OF REVOLUTION
• THE ARMY
• THE WHIFF OF GRAPESHOT
• FINIS
• APPENDIXES
• INDEX OF PROPER NAMES
• GLOSSARY - OF UNUSUAL WORDS AND FOREIGN EXPRESSIONS