The Uprising of June 20, i'/p2 23 



queen, he tells us, broke in with, " Do you think that the king 

 ought to endure longer the menaces and insolence of Roland and 

 the deceit of Servan and Claviere?" Dumouriez assured her that 

 he did not think so and that he wondered at the patience of the 

 king. He advised an entire change of ministers. The king 

 thereupon expressed a wish that Dumouriez, Lacoste, and Duran- 

 thon remain. Dumouriez agreed only on condition that the king 

 would sanction the decrees and this condition he asserts the king 

 accepted.^^ 



The fall of the Girondist ministry followed close upon the 

 publication of the letter. Servan was dismissed on June 12, and 

 Roland and Claviere on the following day. On June 13, these 

 three men appeared in the assembly. A letter was read from 

 Servan announcing his dismissal and stating the reasons. The 

 assembly voted, amidst great applause, that he carried with him 

 the esteem and regrets of the nation and that his letter should be 

 printed and copies sent to the eighty-three departments. There- 

 upon a letter from the king announcing the dismissal of the 

 ministers was read as well as letters from Roland and Claviere 

 announcing their dismissal. The climax was reached with the 

 reading of Roland's letter to the king. It made a profound 

 impression upon the assembly, being interrupted by frequent 

 applause and was received with marked approbation. The printing 

 of the letter was decreed and it was voted to send copies to the 

 eighty-three departments. The regrets of the nation were voted 

 to Roland and after some objection to Claviere. -° 



The situation now grew clearer. This letter with all its attend- 

 ing circumstances, followed by the dismissal of the ministry, 

 made it plain to all France that the king was holding firmly to 

 his policy of determined opposition to the constitution. The 

 action of the assembly proved just as clearly, that the sympathy 



^' Memoir es de Dumouriez, II, 275-79. Royalist writers doubt whether 

 the king ever agreed to sanction the decree against the priests. See Ter- 

 naux, I, 120; Morris, Diary and Letters, I, 544. 



^ Moniteur, XII, 656-59; Revolutions de Paris, XII, 516; Memoires de 

 Dumouriez, II, 290-91; Oelsner in Revue historique, LXXXIII, 310; Les- 

 cure, Correspondance secrete, 601-03, lettre 20. 



219 



