the royalists confined in the jails of the capital should be murdered. A hundred or more assassins were hired to butcher the prisoners. The murderers first entered the churches of the city, and the unfortunate priests who had refused to take oath to support the new constitution, were butchered in heaps about the altars. The jails were next visited, one after another, the persons confined within slaughtered, and their bodies thrown out to the brutal hordes that followed the butchers to enjoy the carnival of blood. The victims of this terrible "September Massacre," as it is called, are estimated at from six to fourteen thousand. Europe had never before known such a "jail delivery." It was the greatest crime of the French Revolution.
Defeat of the Allies.—Meanwhile, in the open field, the fortunes of war inclined to the side of the revolutionists. The French generals were successful in checking the advance of the allies, and finally at Valmy (Sept. 20, 1792) succeeded in inflicting upon them a decisive defeat, which caused their hasty retreat beyond the frontiers of France. The day after this victory the Legislative Assembly came to an end, and the following day the National Convention assembled.
4. The National Convention (Sept. 21, 1792-Oct. 26, 1795).
Parties in the Convention.—The Convention, consisting of seven hundred and forty-nine deputies, among whom was the celebrated freethinker, Tom Paine, was divided into two parties, the Girondists and the Mountainists. There were no monarchists; all were republicans. No one dared to speak of a monarchy.
The Establishment of the Republic (Sept. 21, 1792).—The very first act of the Convention on its opening day was to abolish the Monarchy and proclaim France a Republic. The motion for the abolition of Royalty was not even discussed. "What need is there for discussion," exclaimed a delegate, "where all are agreed? Courts are the hot-bed of crime, the focus of corruption; the history of kings is the martyrology of nations."
All titles of nobility were also aljolished. Every one was to be
