wonder that such a nation of soldiers and
enthusiasts should have been able to resist the armies of united
Christendom.

[Sidenote: New Constitution.]

On the death of Robespierre, (July, 1794,) a great reaction succeeded
the Reign of Terror. His old associates and tools were executed or
transported, the club of the Jacobins was closed, the Revolutionary
Tribunals were suppressed, the rebellious faubourgs were subdued, the
National Guard was reorganized, and a new constitution was formed.

[Sidenote: The Directory.]

The constitution of 1798, framed under different influences,
established the legislative power among two councils,--that of the
_Five Hundred_, and that of the _Ancients_. The former was intrusted
with the power of originating laws; the latter had the power to reject
or pass them. The executive power was intrusted to five persons,
called _Directors_, who were nominated by the Council of Five Hundred,
and approved by that of the Ancients. Each individual was to be
president by rotation during three months, and a new director was to
be chosen every year. The Directory had the entire disposal of the
army, the finances, the appointment of public functionaries, and the
management of public negotiations.

But there were found powerful enemies to the new constitution. Paris
was again agitated. The National Guard took part with the disaffected,
and the Convention, threatened and perplexed, summoned to its aid a
body of five thousand regular troops. The National Guard mustered in
great strength, to the number of thirty thousand men, and resolved to
overawe the Convention, which was likened to the Long Parliament in
the times of Cromwell. The Convention intrusted Barras with its
defence, and he demanded, as his second in command, a young officer of
artillery who had distinguished himself at the siege of Toulon. By his
advice, a powerful train of artillery was brought to Paris by a
lieutenant called _Murat_. On the 4th of October, 1795, the whole
neighborhood of the Tuileries resembled an intrenched camp. The
commander of the Convention then waited the attack of the insurgents,
and the action soon commenced. Thirty thousand men surrounded the
little army of six thousand, who defended the Convention and the cause
of order and law. Victory inclined to the regular troops, who had the
assistance of artillery, and, above all, who were animated by the
spirit of their intrepid leader--_Napoleon Bonaparte_. The insurge