roduced this change; for men of a
different spirit were returned by the communes. The royalist party had,
indeed, obtained the control of elections; and the newly elected
third entered the chambers of the representatives with plans of
counter-revolution. The directory had the mortification of seeing the
emigrants allowed to return, the re-establishment of priests, and a vote
of censure passed upon the conduct of their emissaries in the colonies.
The directory were, in fact, shorn of power, and there was a faint
prospect of the whole work of the revolution being set aside. But
the nation was not yet prepared for such a step. As the plans of the
royalists, which were concocted in the club of Clichy, became disclosed,
the government regained strength. From fear of the return of the old
order of things, the patriots of 1791 united with the party of the
convention; and the club of Salm was got up in opposition to that of
Clichy. A contest soon followed. The directory relied upon the armies,
and they assembled some troops in the neighbourhood of Paris; while the
councils decreed the restoration of the national guards. The directory,
however, by one fell blow, annihilated the hopes of their enemies.
On the 10th Fructidor, answering to the 4th of September, troops were
brought to the capital under pretence of a review, and placed under the
disposal of Augereau. These troops surrounded the Tuileries, which
was protected by the guards of the legislative body, which, upon the
question of Augereau, "Are you republicans?" immediately laid down their
arms. The contest was then decided. Augereau took possession of the
palace, and arrested the opposition deputies. Barthelemy and Carnot,
with forty members of the "Council of Five Hundred," eleven of the
"Council of the Ancients," and ten other persons of note were condemned
to be deported to Cayenne. Most of these underwent their punishment;
but some escaped, and others were pardoned. Thirty-five journalists
were likewise sentenced to deportation; and the elections of forty-eight
departments were declared null. In the whole one hundred and forty-nine
members were excluded, and the vacancies were filled up by the
directory, with men willing to give them their support. The laws enacted
in favour of priests and emigrants were revoked, and the oath of hatred
to royalty renewed. Thus a revolutionary government returned; and
the constitution was trodden underfoot by men who ostensibly were its