Those deputies who had fled now returned, and annulled the decrees so
recently passed by the minority, and ordered the arrest of some of their
colleagues. The storm lasted several days; but finally the convention
forced the fauxbourgs to submit; some leaders and six deputies of the
"Mountain" were put to death, and the dominion of the populace was
destroyed. Similar scenes were also witnessed in the provinces;
everywhere the Jacobins were hunted down, and those who had practised or
even favoured terrorism, were massacred. The mischief they had brought
upon others, by a righteous retribution, returned upon their own heads.
After their fury had subsided, and their enemies were destroyed or
subdued, the Thermidorians, or the convention, proceeded to form a
new constitution, widely differing from the institutions of 1793. A
commission of eleven had previously been appointed to consider this
subject, and the decision they arrived at was, that two chambers were
necessary: one called the lower chamber, which was to consist of five
hundred members; and the other denominated the upper chamber, which was
to consist of half their number. Both of these were to be elected by the
people, and there were to be five directors, chosen by the two councils,
one of whom was to go out of office every year. The convention saw that
their fate was sealed, for all France had become weary of their sway;
and therefore this directorial constitution was forthwith voted. A
display of public opinion, however, was fatal to its establishment. At
this time the middle class, fearing the return of ochlocracy, and the
noblest patriots of 1739 and 1791, had become re-inclined to monarchy;
and finding themselves the majority of the sections of Paris, they
looked forward to the elections with exultation. This alarmed the
members of the convention; and in order to avert the danger which might
arise to themselves, they decreed that two two-thirds of the members
should be reelected, and that the convention itself should make choice
of those members. But this dictatorial act met with stern opposition
from the sections; with one voice they declaimed against it, and
petitions and remonstrances were poured in from them to the convention.
The reply made to the sections by the convention was by bringing the
army to its aid; and thus supported, the new constitution and decrees
were declared law. Civil war was now inevitable. The sections rose in
arms to the number of 40