1S23.] 



Memoirs of General Dumouriez. 



in the Temple! and Dumouricz might 

 liave prevented it ! 



Let us speedily pass over these sad 

 recollections. Tlie enemy entered 

 France ; the leaders of the revolution 

 revenged themselves on the unfortu- 

 nate -Louis. Invasion brought its 

 thousand disasters. Dumouriez, as a ci- 

 tizen and a general, had only to repulse 

 the enemy, in the expectation that 

 their retreat wonld lessen the danger 

 which surrounded the king. There was 

 still reason to think, that the excesses 

 of the revolutionists might be checked : 

 it was no time to despair, nor to aban- 

 don his country. Dumouriez refused 

 to follow Lafajelte's premature exam- 

 ple, and he succeeded him in the com- 

 mand of the army of the north. He 

 inarched with a few soldiers against 

 the Prussian army, of almost 100,000 

 men strong, and, by the most expert 

 manoeuvres, arrested their march, 

 took their strongest positions, and 

 wrote to the Assembl}', " Verdun is 

 taken : I wait for the Prussians. The 

 defiles of the Argonne are the Ther- 

 mopylae of France ; but I shall be hap- 

 pier than Leonidas." In truth, in a 

 very few days the invaders had fled. 



And let it be repeated by the side 

 of his recent grave, that the genius of 

 Dumouriez changed in this campaign 

 the destinies of France and of Europe. 

 Never was there a commander placed 

 in the like circumstances ; having but 

 a few men, and obliged to struggle 

 not oidy against the superior strength 

 of an enemy, but against the obstacles 

 of his own government. Never was 

 there a general who displayed such a 

 sum of skill and science: history 

 makes mention of only one such in- 

 stance, — it is the bchavionr of Fabius. 

 His prudence had obtained him the 

 victory almost without a condjat, and 

 Dumouriez flew to oppose other ene- 

 mies, and to display a very varied ta- 

 lent. He was no longer the procrasti- 

 nator ; he was tiie impetuous Achilles : 

 lie gave immediate battle, and on the 

 plains of Jemappes sanctified t!ie 

 brilliant standards of liberty, which in 

 BIX weeks floated over the towers of all 

 Ik'lgiuin, which they freed. Noble 

 and patriotic rccolleclions! slill con- 

 sole my country! return and bring 

 romfort to the brave comvanions in 

 arms of the hero for their later re- 

 verses ; return and tell tlu^ J'reneh 

 \\\\a\ they have rionc, and what (hey 

 ought to do. Inspire them with liberty, 

 Movmi-Y Mao, No. ?82. 



425 



and the love of their country ; awake 

 ye noble and patriotic recollections ! 

 and thou prince, even then a shelter 

 in this hour of peril! Thy country 

 will, one day, acquit itself of its debt. 



After these successful events, Gene- 

 ral Dumouriez returned to Paris, 

 M'here the trial of Louis XVI. had 

 already been commenced. He did 

 not conceal his intentions: beloved by 

 his soldiers, who called him their fa- 

 ther, and surrounded by glorious 

 remembrances ; encouraged by the con- 

 viction of his own power, for they had 

 twice saved his country, — he had little 

 doubt of saving Louis XVI. He had 

 sent a certain number of his oDicers to 

 Paris, to facilitate this design, and de- 

 pended in a great measure, also, on 

 tho co-operation of a part of the 

 Assembl)', and on the population. 



All his expectations deceived him : 

 he sought for the members of the 

 Assembly who possessed the greatest 

 influence, and sounded the intentions 

 of Garat, Lebrun, and Roland, mi- 

 nisters of justice, of foreign ail'airs.and 

 for the home department, who entered 

 into his views : it was then he formed 

 an altachment with the first of these 

 ministers, which continued till his 

 death. The fear of compromising bim, 

 at the moment when he was arrested, 

 as his accomplice, was the sole cause 

 of Dumouriez's not publishing in his 

 Memoirs the project they had adopted, 

 the non-execution of which was pre- 

 vented by the perfidy of some officers, 

 who divulged the secret. There was 

 only one means left; it was attempted 

 in the absence of the general, and it is 

 not for us to divulge it. Louis XVI. 

 was the only one to oppose it: he pe- 

 rished. 



The general retired to the country 

 during these horrible days; and, soon 

 afler, found no place of safety but at 

 the head of his army. He had now no 

 hope of saving his country, nor of 

 saving other illustrious victims, sacri- 

 ficed by the monsters who governed 

 I'"rance ; he had now no hopes, either 

 by civil means, or by the intervention 

 of the citizens. His army, where the 

 French honour had fixed itself, was 

 alone capable of bringing back the re- 

 volution to its proper limits. But the 

 Convention had ascertained the inten- 

 tions of (Jeiieral Dumouriez, and dared 

 neither to dismiss him, nor to accept 

 of his resignation, which he ollered 

 again and again ; for his soldiers would 

 3 I have 



