ent defender of the new
institutions. On the 9th of February 1792, he succeeded in having a law
passed sequestrating the possessions of the _emigres_, and demanded,
though in vain, the deportation of refractory priests to French Guiana.
He was the last president of the Legislative Assembly. Re-elected to the
Convention, he opposed the pretensions of the Commune and the proposed
grant of money to the municipality of Paris by the state. He denounced
Marat's placards as inciting to murder, summoned Danton to give an
account of his ministry, watched carefully over the furnishing of
military supplies, and was a strong opponent of Dumouriez, in spite of
the general's great popularity. Cambon then incurred the hatred of
Robespierre by proposing the suppression of the pay to the clergy, which
would have meant the separation of church and state. His authority grew
steadily. On the 15th of December 1792 he got the Convention to adopt a
proclamation to all nations in favour of a universal republic. In the
trial of Louis XVI. he voted for his death, without appeal or
postponement. He attempted to prevent the creation of the Revolutionary
Tribunal, but when called to the first Committee of Public Safety he
worked on it energetically to organize the armies. On the 3rd of
February 1793 he had decreed the emission of 800 millions of
_assignats_, for the expenses of the war. His courageous intervention in
favour of the Girondists on the and of June 1793 served Robespierre as a
pretext to prevent his re-election to the Committee of Public Safety.
But Cambon soon came to the conclusion that the security of France
depended upon the triumph of the Mountain, and he did not hesitate to
accord his active co-operation to the second committee. He took an active
share in the various expedients of the government for stopping the
depreciation of the _assignats_. He was responsible, especially, for the
great operation known as the opening of the _Grand Livre_ (August 24),
which was designed to consolidate the public debt by cancelling the
stock issued under various conditions prior to the Revolution, and
issuing new stock of a uniform character, so that all fund-holders
should hold stock of the revolutionary government and thus be interested
in its stability. Each fund-holder was to be entered in the Great Book,
or register of the public debt, for the amount due to him every year.
The result of this measure was a rise in the face value of the
_assign