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Assembly by a combination of the most extreme democrats and the most
extreme Royalists, the latter of whom accused them of having betrayed the
royal authority by unworthy accessions. But, though, in the division which
had taken place they had been supported by a considerable majority, they
feared a repetition of the attack, and resigned their offices; in some
degree undoubtedly weakening their royal master by their retirement, since
those by whom he found himself compelled to replace them had still less of
his confidence. Two--Duport de Tertre, Keeper of the Seals, and Duportail,
Minister of War--were creatures of La Fayette, and the first mentioned was
notoriously unfriendly to the queen. Two others--Lambert, the successor of
Necker, and Fleurieu, the Minister of Marine--were under the influence of
Barnave and the Jacobins. The only member of the new ministry who was in
the least degree acceptable to Louis was M. de Lessart, the Minister of
the Interior; but he, though loyal in purpose, was of too moderate talents
for his appointment to add any real strength to the royal cause.
Marie Antoinette, however, paid but little attention to these ministerial
changes; she disregarded them--and her view was not unsound--as but the
displacement of one set of weak men by another set equally weak; and she
saw, too, that the Assembly had established so complete a mastery over the
Government, that even men of far greater ability and force of character
would have been impotent for good. Her whole dependence was on Mirabeau;
and his course at this time was so capricious and erratic that it often
caused her more perplexity and alarm than pleasure or confidence. He
regarded himself as having a very difficult part to play. He could not
conceal from himself that he was no longer able to lead the Assembly as he
had done at first, except when he was urging it along a road which it
desired to take. In spite of one of his most brilliant efforts of
eloquence, he had recently been defeated in an endeavor to preserve to the
king the right of peace and war; and, to regain his ascendency, he more
than once in the course of the autumn supported measures to which the king
and queen had the greatest repugnance, and made speeches so inflammatory
that even his own friend, La Marck, was indignant at his language, and
expostulated with him with great earnestness. He justified himself by
explaining his view[10] that no man in the country could at present
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