603 



SIEYES, EMMANUEL JOSEPH. 



SIEYES, EMMANUEL JOSEPH. 



504 



rapidly producing the Revolution of 1789. When the disordered 

 state of the public finances compelled the government to summon the 

 States General, the question arose, in what manner that body was to 

 be convoked ] Whether they were to bo called upon, as in the last 

 assembly of 1614, to vote by classes, or, as justice and the necessities 

 of the time appeared to require, by individuals ? To this important 

 question, Sieyes replied by publishing three pamphlets, which were so 

 skilfully adapted to the prevailing opinion on the subject that they at 

 once placed him on the highest pinnacle of political popularity. The 

 first was entitled ' Essai sur les Privileges.' The second and the most 

 remarkable bore the title ' Qu'est ce que le Tiers Etat ?' ; in it he 

 asserts that the ' Tiers Etat ' is the nation itself, and then proceeds to 

 show that it had hitherto exercised no appreciable influence on the 

 government of France, and he demands for it a political recognition. 

 The title of the third pamphlet was ' Moyens d'Exdcution doiit les 

 Repre"sentans de la France pourront disposer en 1789.' The bold 

 speculations of Sieyes soon became realities through his active influ- 

 ence. On the convocation of the States-General, Sieyes was elected 

 deputy for Paris. An opportunity for carrying his scheme into 

 execution was given him by the refusal of the majority of the nobles 

 and clergy to unite with the ' tiers <5tat," and to verify their powers in 

 common ; by his eloquent exertions he induced the representatives of 

 the people to constitute themselves into an independent body styled 

 the National Assembly (June 16, 1789). He it was likewise who pro- 

 posed the oath which was taken by all the members at the ' Jeu de 

 Paume ' [BAILLT] "never to separate themselves, but to assemble 

 wherever circumstances required until the perfect establishment of 

 the constitution." This sudden and vigorous measure, which must 

 have proved the immediate signal of civil war had not the power of 

 the other orders of the state been already paralysed, was vehemently 

 opposed by Mirabeau [MIHABBAU] at the head of the more moderate 

 of the republican party; it was however carried by a very large 

 majority. So great was the popularity of Sieyes that, on presenting 

 himself before the Assembly, he was greeted by the loud and reiterated 

 applause of the members present, who rose up to receive him. On 

 the meeting of the 23rd of June, when the king declared the resolu- 

 tions of the Assembly to be null and void, and ordered the members 

 to disperse, Sieyes energetically reminded them that they were " still 

 the same body to-day that they had been the day before," and bade 

 them " proceed in their deliberations." His counsel was followed, and 

 the revolution was the result. Sieyes was also the framer of the 

 decree which was passed on the 30th of October, by which the ancient 

 provinces were abolished, and France was divided into eighty depart- 

 ments all governed by the same law. 



He continued to take a prominent part in the deliberations of the 

 National Assembly until the publication of those decrees which he 

 considered of too levelling a nature, and which alarmed him aa to the 

 ultimate result of the innovations which he had himself been too 

 eager to introduce. Accustomed to command, he was unable to 

 endure contradiction, and, when he found that the measures which he 

 opposed were carried in spite of his influence, he betook himself to a 

 sullen silence from which even the persuasions of Mirabeau were 

 unable to rouse him. The most important of these measures was the 

 question of the abolition of tithes. To this he was favourable ; but 

 he considered that they should be purchased by the landed pro- 

 prietors, and an indemnity for their loss made to the tithe-holders. 

 To this indemnity however the Assembly was unwilling to acquiesce ; 

 and the determined and impassioned manner in which he advocated it 

 well nigh lost him the popularity which his previous conduct had 

 acquired. The discourse he delivered on that occasion is remarkable 

 for the earnest vehemence of the language, and the concise correctness 

 of the arguments ; he exposed the impolicy and the injustice of the 

 proposed measure, and showed that the only members of society likely 

 to be benefited by the change were the wealthy proprietors of land, 

 whom they were about to enrich by the gratuitous addition of one- 

 tenth of its value. The energetic exclamation with which he concluded 

 his address will probably be quoted and admired long after the author 

 has been forgotten : " ils veulent etre libres, ils ne savent pas etre 

 justes," " they would be free, and know not how to be just." The apt 

 reply of Mirabeau to Sieyes, when the latter was indulging in bitter 

 invectives on the violence and injustice of the decrees of the Assem- 

 bly which he had created, is characteristic of that remarkable man : 

 " You have unloosed the bull, and you complain that it gores you." 



Elected in 1791, member for the department of Paris, in the new 

 legislative assembly, he refused the additional honour, which was 

 offered him by the electoral assembly, of electing him constitutional 

 bishop of that capital. Shortly afterwards he published a letter, in 

 which he explained his opinions on monarchical government : he 

 remarks that " he makes it the object of his preference from no desire 

 to accommodate himself to ancient customs or from any superstitious 

 regard for royalty, but because he considers it proved that the citizen 

 enjoys more freedom under a monarchy than under a republic." He 

 was named deputy of the department of La Sarthe, in tho convention 

 of 1792, but foreseeing the danger of an active participation in the 

 debates, he persevered in the silence he had previously imposed upon 

 himself, and for the most part contented .himself with the simple 

 record of his vote. At the trial of the king it has been generally 

 asserted that he accompanied the sentence of death, which he pro- 



nounced, with an ill-timed sarcasm on the lengthened arguments with 

 which the deputy who had spoken before him attempted to justify his 

 vote. "Robespierre's vote," eays Carlyle, " cannot be doubtful ; his 

 speech is long. Men see the figure of shrill Sieyes ascend ; hardly 

 pausing, passing merely, the figure says ' La mort sans phrase ' (' Death, 

 without phrases')." (' History of the French Revolution,' vol. iii., p. 226, 

 8vo. ed.) It will be seen however, by reference to the 'Gazette 

 Nationale,' or ' Moniteur Universel,' for January 20, 1793, where the 

 different speeches are given at length, that the vote of Sieyes was 

 simply ' la mort,' and that he gave it a considerable time after Robes- 

 pierra and Philippe, to both of whom the allusion ha* been supposed 

 to be made. So Btrongly however was the stigma of this sarcasm 

 attached to his name, that when, at a subsequent period, he v/as 

 ambassador of the French republic at the court of Berlin, one of the 

 ministers of the King of Prussia having been solicited to show him the 

 attentions due to the office ho held, he replied : * Non, et sans 

 phrase." (Morellet, ' Me*rnoires,' vol. ii. c. 3.) 



While the power of Robespierre and his colleagues was in the 

 ascendant, Sieyes prudently retired into the country ; and when subse- 

 quently asked "What he had done during the reign of terror]" he 

 wittily retorted, " I have lived ;" no small achievement at that time 

 for a man of his political celebrity. 



After the fall of Robespierre he returned to the Convention, and by 

 his influence obtained the recall of the proscribed members of the 

 Gironde party. In 1795 he again took an active part in the manage- 

 ment of affairs, and was named a member of the new Comitd du 

 Salut Public; on the 19th of August of the same year he made a 

 proposition to the Convention to establish a constitutional jury, which 

 was however rejected. During this time he chiefly occupied himself 

 with the direction of the foreign affairs, and successfully carried on 

 several important negociations with the European states, and went to 

 Holland to conclude a treaty of alliance. 



In the same year Sieyes was named by the Council of Antients one 

 of the five directors, but he declined the proffered honour, and Carnot 

 was appointed in his stead. 



In 1797 he had a narrow escape from the hand of an assassin, 

 1'Abbe" Poule, who, entering his room, fired a pistol at him at arm's 

 length, and one of the balls shattered his hand. He behaved on this 

 critical occasion with his usual coolness, and a few days after quietly 

 told his servants, " If Mons. Poule should return, inform him that I 

 am not at home." 



In 1798 Sieyes was sent on a mission from the French Government 

 to the court of Berlin, in which, though he failed in his attempt to 

 form an alliance with that power, he succeeded in securing its 

 neutrality. On his return to Paris the following year he was named 

 member of the Directory, a nomination which showed the disposition 

 of the councils, as he had openly expressed his dissatisfaction with the 

 directorial government. Placing himself at the head of a conspiracy 

 which had been formed against three of his colleagues, who were 

 known for their republican sentiments, he procured their forced 

 resignation, and a new Directory was formed in which the majority 

 was favourable to his views. Another important measure which he 

 effected through the instrumentality of the Minister of Police, 

 Fouche', waa the closing of the Jacobin Club, a body whose name was 

 connected with all the excesses of the Revolution. These measure?, 

 as they destroyed the popularity of the author of the Tiers Etat, and 

 exposed him to the vengeance of republican fury, made him anxious 

 to secure the support of some military leader possessed of sufficient 

 talent and energy to take upon himself the sole direction of the affairs 

 of state. " We must have no more dealings with declaimers," said he, 

 " we want a head and a sword." Military chiefs there were many at that 

 period, some of them of the highest renown, but they appeared to 

 Sieyes to fail in the necessary requisites for a civil ruler. Joubert, in 

 whom he hoped to find them, had recently fallen at Novi. Massena 

 was merely a brave and skilful soldier, and Augereau and Beruadotte 

 were too well known for their democratical sentiments. The arrival 

 of Bonaparte from Egypt determined the difficulty ; the penetration 

 of Sieyes discovered in him a fit associate for his designs. They were 

 favoured by the enthusiastic reception which Bonaparte met with from 

 all ranks and parties on his arrival, by the views of this military chief 

 himself, and by the active co-operation of many of the French generals 

 and the most influential members of the legislature. The talents and 

 influence of Sieyes were appreciated by Bonaparte, while the specula- 

 tive nature of his views precluded the possibility of his becoming an 

 object of jealousy. Mutual esteem indeed there was none; they were 

 in the frequent habit of expressing their dislike of each other in no 

 measured terms ; but to effect their respective purpose each felt that 

 the other was the most useful ally he could select. 



The Revolution of the 18th Brumaire (9th of November 1799) was 

 the result of this co-operation, and Napoleon, Sieyes, and Roger Ducos 

 were the first consuls named, and two commissions of twenty-fivo 

 members each were appointed from each Council of State to assist tho 

 consuls in the formation of a new constitution. In the formation of 

 this constitution, however, Sieyes and Bonaparte soon disagreed ; 

 Sieyes was allowed to form a legislature according to his political 

 speculations, and he made it consist of a Senate without the power of 

 debate, and a Tribunate which was to discuss with the Council of 

 State the legislative measures proposed. But to his visionary scheme 



