re-pullers like the Girondin leaders, or lucky journalists like
Lebrun. To play to the gallery was his first instinct; and the tottering
fortunes of the Gironde made it almost a necessity. Hence his refusal
and that of his colleagues to draw back a hair's breadth from the
unjustifiable position which they had taken up. Behind them loomed the
September massacres, fatal to two Foreign Ministers of France; before
them shone the splendours of a liberating crusade. We can scarcely blame
men so ardent, so hard pressed.

But there are some rules of the game which even the most irresponsible
of Ministers must observe. Here both Chauvelin and Lebrun went fatally
astray. Chauvelin's _pique_ at the interview which Pitt had with Maret
on 2nd December led him flagrantly to misrepresent that incident, and
Lebrun, as we have seen, reported it to the Convention in such a way as
to impute to Pitt a discreditable and cowardly intrigue. This is the
climax of malice. An envoy and a Minister who scatter such insinuations
are the most reckless of firebrands. By this conduct both Lebrun and
Chauvelin inflamed the passions of their countrymen. In truth, it was
passion, not policy, that made the war. The charges which they brought
against England were of secondary importance--her demand for the
revocation of the decrees concerning the Scheldt and the encouragement
offered to malcontents, together with her stoppage of corn ships lading
for France, and her Aliens Bill. Such were the pretexts for the recall
of Chauvelin, which, as we have seen, was decided at Paris before the
Court of St. James's determined to dismiss him.

Another fact comes out clearly from a survey of the evidence given
above, namely, that the execution of Louis XVI was in no sense the cause
of the war. The question turned essentially on the conduct of France
towards our Dutch Allies. Before Louis was put on his trial Pitt and
Grenville had decided that the French must retract their aggressive
decree against Holland, backed up as it was by a claim to support
malcontents in any land. Failing this, war would have ensued, even if
Louis had not been condemned to death. The tragedy of 21st January made
no difference to the issue; for, as we have seen, the French Government
by 10th January decided to push on its plans against the Dutch Republic.
It is also impossible to attach any importance to the vague offers of
Dumouriez and Maret, at which Lebrun connived probably so as to be abl