tired, who
was the king's nominee among the six ministers; and he only withdrew
his threat at the instance of Lafayette and the other generals who
were to be in command. Lewis, indignant at this intrigue, dismissed
not Bertrand, but Narbonne. The Girondins, in reply, impeached
Delessart, who was sent to prison, March 10, and perished there in
September. The Feuillant minister resigned. Robespierre, who divined
the calculations of the Court, and feared that war might strengthen
the arm that bore the banner, resisted the warlike temper, and carried
the Jacobins with him. On this issue Girondins and Jacobins separated
into distinct parties. The Girondins inclined to an inevitable
Republic, because they distrusted the king; but they accepted the
Constitution, and did not reject a king at low pressure, such as had
been invented by the Whigs. They were persuaded that, in case of war,
Lewis would intrigue with the enemy, would be detected, and would be
at their mercy. "It is well that we should be betrayed," said Brissot,
"because then we shall destroy the traitors." And Vergniaud, whose
dignity and elevation of language have made him a classic, pointed to
the Tuileries and said, "Terror has too often issued from that palace
in the name of a despot. Let it enter, to-day, in the name of the
law." They suspected, and suspected truly, that the menacing note from
Vienna was inspired at Paris. They formed a new ministry, with
Dumouriez at the Foreign Office. Dumouriez gave Austria a fixed term
to renounce its policy of coercing France by a concert of Powers; and
as Kaunitz stood his ground, and upheld his former statements of
policy, on April 20 Lewis declared war against his wife's nephew,
Francis, king of Hungary. Marie Antoinette triumphed, through her
influence on her own family. Formally it was not a war for her
deliverance, but a war declared by France, which might be turned to
her advantage. To be of use to her, it must be unsuccessful; and in
order to ensure defeat, she betrayed to the Court of Vienna the plan
of operations adopted in Council the day before.

XIV

DUMOURIEZ

As the war was more often a cause of political events than a
consequence, it will be convenient to follow up the progress of
military affairs to the fall of Dumouriez, postponing the catastrophe
of monarchy to next week.

On the 17th of February 1792 Pitt informed the House of Commons that
the situation of Europe had never afforded such as