The Black Mozart Page 8

  Under this feudal system, the peasants were not allowed to shoot game on the land owned by the seigneurs (nobles or bourgeois, or a prosperous peasant). Even when the pigeons or rabbits were feeding on the land of the peasant's crops, they were forbidden by law to shoot them. The peasants had to pay to use the mills, bake-houses, etc., of the seigneurs. They had to pay tolls on roads and bridges; and there were many other dues. The peasant could not win in court, because most of the judges were landowners.

  The administration of civil justice was weak. Many of the law officers were staggeringly incompetent and corrupt. Legal principles concerning persons and property varied from area to area. In all the myriad courts which covered the country, procedure was slow and costly. Often it was cumbersome, frequently dishonest. As for the barbarous procedure of criminal justice, it was shocking to the humanitarian consciousness of the age. The taxation system, too, was the product of historical growth and reflected social and economic evolution. The most crushing direct taxes were levied on the peasantry, while the upper classes enjoyed partial or total exemption. There were also burdensome indirect taxes which were given out under contract for collection. Of these, the gabelle, or the tax on the sale of salt, which was a government monopoly, was the most onerous, unjust and hated. There were outrageous variations in price, which ranged from thirteen sous a pound in many regions to only one sou elsewhere, and there were the sharpest differences in the amount that householders were compelled by law to buy per annum. In consequence, smuggling was rampant, and between the smugglers and the government, there was an undeclared war. No other aspect of the Old Regime was so cleverly criticized as the fiscal system, but it remained unchanged to the end.

  Like any revolution, the French Revolution did not happen in a day or a week, it was long in coming; it was inevitable. Many great changes were needed. But the French Revolution, unlike other revolutions, was not born of a conspiracy. Forces were in action to bring about change but no one envisioned that the results would be a revolution.

  Since Louis XIV, France had spent a great deal of money in many wars. Louis XV and Louis XVI were both weak and inept as rulers. For many years, about 75 percent of the French budget went for the military. Moreover, the decision to back the American Revolution cost France dearly. From 1766 on, French ministers of Finance tried to raise money, but were not successful. Between great opposition from the Parliaments of Paris, the Third Estate and a weak, unresponsive king, who spent much of his time hunting, France was headed for drastic changes.

  The French system broke down mainly because of three crises in the areas of politics, finances, and the economy.

  The most immediate problems of the people were land shortage and the high price of bread. This reminds me of the now famous story of the people addressing the Court in regards to this problem with Marie Antoinette responding with her now famous statement, "Let them eat cake." There were bread riots in the spring and early summer of 1789. Abbeys and manor-houses were attacked and no longer were the laws against killing game respected. Game was killed and trapped illegally. The peasants ceased to pay dues.

  On June 17, 1789, the Third Estate broke away from the First and Second Estates and formed a new group, called the National Assembly. Eventually, the First and Second Estates joined them in order to find a fair way to raise taxes.

  In the same month, Louis gathered troops outside of Paris. The people feared that he was going to try to take power from the assembly. So, on July 14, 1789 they stormed the Bastille, set the few prisoners loose and tore down the prison. This was the beginning of the French Revolution.

  Saint-Georges was in sympathy with the Revolution although he was an aristocrat. He was a black man, and the cause of the underprivileged was his as well. He thought that the Revolution against the Old Regime could possibly effect changes in slavery in his island homes of Guadeloupe and San Domingo.

  During all this turmoil, Saint-Georges continued performing his music. In 1791, he put together a group to perform some concerts. Among these musicians were his good friend Lamotte, the horn player, and the actress Louise Fusil. He gave concerts at Lille in 1791, where he stayed for a while. The documentary evidence of the archives informs us that Saint-Georges was living in Lille in 1791, and that for two years, he was a captain in the National Guard there.

  After these concerts, Saint-Georges continued on to Tournai, which was Austrian at that time, to perform some concerts there. It has been stated that these concerts at Tournai were just excuses for his real purpose, which was political. The account goes on to say that Saint-Georges was pretending to organize a concert, when he was actually sent by the Duke of Orléans to speak with several émigrés to illicit their support for the Duke. Of course, this was false since the Duke had no ambitions of being king of France even though he had many supporters. St.-Georges was not given a friendly welcome. The people there thought him a man of inferior race who really represented the Duke. They refused to accept him at their table. Saint-Georges had to leave Tournai after an insult from the commander. According to Louise Fusil who was with his group, there was no hint of any political role played by Saint-Georges at the request of the Duke of Orléans. But the account of his short stay in Tournai goes on to say that:

  The commander of the place had forbidden Saint-Georges to be seen in public. At the hotel where he had gone, someone had the impertinence to turn down the plate which Saint-Georges had turned up to eat and Saint-Georges so superior in the art of peculiar vengeance, had the good spirit not to show any humor for these actions, which he could scarcely censure with injustice and he hastened to return to France. It was a good action on the part of a man who excelled in the art of this particular vengeance.

  It is a matter of record that the incident occurred, but as to his political purposes in Tournai, the rest is only conjecture. Although the former Duke of Orléans was his friend and protector, and Mme de Montesson had been his friend and comrade in the theater at her house, Saint-Georges did not feel obligated to be used by the Duke of Orléans. There is no evidence that his mission was other than what he stated, especially since, later, they chose separate paths politically.

  Going back a short time to October 6, 1789, after the July storming of the Bastille, there was a second attempt of a coup d'état which led to the capture of the king and the royal family at Versailles by a mob from Paris. The Royals were transferred to Tuileries Palace in Paris. The king attempted to flee on June 20, 1791, but was arrested. He became a constitutional king, taking his oath of office on September 13, 1791. The King, then, plotted with Austria and Prussia to overthrow this new government.

  France declared war on Prussia and Austria in 1792 which began the French Revolutionary Wars. Saint-Georges decided to come to the aid of his country.

  In September, 1792, Saint- Georges asked the National Assembly to allow him to form a corps of "colored" troops to aid France in the war. There were, at that time, a number of "freed Negroes," from the West Indies who had come to France to offer their services in the war.

  The National assembly agreed to allow Saint-Georges this honor. So, St.-Georges recruited these brave souls and formed a group that was called the National Legion of Midi. He was given the rank of Colonel. He chose as his lieutenant colonel, Alexander Dumas, who was to become a distinguished General in the army of Napoleon and the father of one of France's greatest and most prodigious writers, Alexander Dumas, père.

  The name of this group was later called the American Hussards. Sometimes Saint-Georges himself was referred to as an American, meaning from the area of America. The name of the regiment was changed to Legion of Men of Color. Sometimes it was called Saint-Georges' Legion. It finally became the 13th Regiment of Hunters, then the Horse Hunters.

  Mounted trouper of Saint-Georges Legion

  After their training period, the soldiers were sent to take part in the army in Belgium. The commander of that Army was General Charles Françoi
s Dumouriez. General Dumouriez had already distinguished himself with his victory over the Prussians at Valmy on September 20, 1792. He handily defeated the Austrians at Jemappes on November 6.

  Saint-Georges led his men into battle with enthusiasm and valor in several engagements. He distinguished himself by his sound decisions and by his bravery. But soon after, the tide turned and the Army of Dumouriez with Saint-Georges' troops were repulsed and twice defeated on March 18 and 21, 1793.

  While Saint-Georges was pursuing his military career, the National Convention in Paris was going full speed with the Revolution. The National Convention formed in September and soon after, on September 21, 1792, the Convention declared royalty abolished. In January, it tried the king for his treason against the nation and condemned him to death. He was executed on January 21, 1793. The last member of the Convention was the Duke of Orléans, Saint-Georges' friend and cousin to the king. He voted to condemn the king, partly out of the fear that as a Bourbon, a member of the royal family, and already under suspicion, he might endanger himself more by voting against the condemnation. Also the Duke and the King had never liked each other anyway.

  After the death of Louis XVI and of his queen, Marie Antoinette, all of France went through a period of disorder and violence. Anyone suspected of treason or hostility to the revolution was imprisoned or summarily beheaded. More than 18,000 men, women and children were sentenced to the guillotine. This lasted until 1799, when Napoleon Bonaparte took control of the government.

  After the defeats of Saint-Georges' Legion, the Regiment returned to Lille to protect the city in case of attack. Towards March 30, 1793, the Convention decided that Dumouriez should be summoned to appear before their body. Four commissaries were sent to bring him in. Dumouriez arrested the commissaries and handed them over to the Austrians, and then attempted to persuade his troops to march on to Paris and overthrow the revolutionary government. He was now conspiring with the enemy. He had made certain promises to the Austrian Colonel Mack, Chef d'Etat-Major of the Prince of Coboury. Deserting with Dumouriez was the son of the Duke of Orléans, the Duke of Chartres, who was about 19 years old. Because of the desertion of the son of the Duke of Orléans, all the Bourbons remaining in France including the Duke of Orléans, were arrested April 5, 1793. The Duke remained in prison until October, during the Reign of Terror. He was tried on November 6, found guilty, and guillotined on that Sunday. Thus, Saint-Georges had lost a friend and a rich protector who, as it will be shown, he would have need later. With the defection of the Duke's son, all but Mme de Montesson were gone from this noble family of friends.

  Dumouriez arresting the Commissioners

  Dumouriez needed a base of operations and decided to take the city of Lille. He tried to recruit the troops in that city to aid in his plan, but they refused. At eight a.m., he ordered General Miaczynski to seize Lille. Saint-Georges was already in Lille at that time for the very purpose of protecting the city. When he learned of the plan, Saint-Georges rode full speed with Dumas,to Lille. He arrived in Lille at 10 o'clock in the morning and immediately revealed Dumouriez's plan to General Duval, who was in command of the district. Miaczynski was arrested at noon,. Lille was saved from Dumouriez and his criminal plans, thanks to the swiftness and heroism of Saint-Georges and his lieutenant colonel, Dumas. Although Saint-Georges was friendly with the house of Orléans, he did not compromise what he felt was his duty to his ideals regarding the revolution. None of his men had taken part in this treason of which he could be proud.

  Saint-Georges' heroism and bravery were soon forgotten. Because of his connection with the house of Orléans, he was still under suspicion. During this time, everyone at one time or another was under suspicion. Also, because of the contrasts of his style of living from that of his troops and of his refined language, there was jealousy. Saint-Georges continued to dress well and kept a fine carriage of horses. He was suspected of lying, of embezzling funds from his squadron, and of sacrificing the needs of his men to his own personal needs. He was accused of having lived in luxury, that he had spent only a small portion of the money for his Legion on his troops and had spent the rest to pay his debts and to continue to live in luxury.

  On May 2, 1793, the Commissioner Dufrenne wrote: "Saint-Georges is a man who will bear watching." Despite these accusations, in early July, he was confirmed in his rank of colonel by the executive committee and allowed to remain at the head of the 13th Regiment of Chasseurs (Hunters). He retained command of his corps until September 25, 1793, when the Executive Committee dismissed him. He felt betrayed and that this dismissal was totally unfounded and unjust. He wrote a letter to Minister Bouchotte to demand justice. The letter said:

  Until this time, I have waited submissively for you to inform me of the reasons which may have caused my suspension of duty; I can no longer wait in this cruel uncertainty; I feel entirely above reproach; I have at all times and places given proof of my citizenship and Republican sentiments, which are innate in one.

  Do me the grace, Citizen Minister, of allowing me to justify the false accusations which have been made against me, or to prove that your good faith has been betrayed; I beseech you in the name of humanity to grant me this justice, which is due every French Republican.

  I am, with sentiments of the most perfect good citizenship, your fellow-citizen.

  Saint-Georges

  Brigade Captain

  The suspension was not lifted. I have no record that he was even answered. Saint-Georges wrote another letter that it seems, he sent to all the Presidents of the sections of Paris. The letter begins:

  "Monsieur le President,

  Saint-Georges, whose patriotism is recognized since the time of the Revolution, because of his conduct at Lille in Flanders (French Flanders) where he resided two years and where he commanded a company of National Guardsmen which he left only to serve as a volunteer aide-de-camp of M. M. Duhon and Miaczynski, which company co-jointly with all citizens will vouch for his patriotism, accepted the command of the hussards of the midi (South) desiring to continue and to prove his great worth through his valor and his enthusiasm for freedom, being unable to prove his zeal and assure success only with a pure body approved by the different sections whose civism he cherishes, hopes to be seconded by them, wishing to approve or disapprove the enrollments which he will have the honor to address to them successively.

  He has the humor to be, Monsieur le President,

  Your very humble

  And very obedient servant,

  Saint-Georges"

  In September of 1793 two accounts from the police in the National Archives qualifies him as "counter-revolutionary" and an "accomplice of Dumouriez and Miaczynski," although he had been a friend a short time earlier for renouncing Dumouriez as a traitor. On October, 1793, he was arrested and imprisoned first at Houdainville, then at Clermont-sur-Oise where he remained for almost a year.

  Saint-Georges was fortunate that he was still alive, for people accused of similar crimes were most often guillotined. The Reign of Terror was still a part of daily life. Everyone was suspicious of everyone else and the suspicions usually ended with the loss of someone's head.

  Several people came to Saint-Georges' defense trying to help redeem his good name. Some admitted that their suspicions had proven false. Even the 13th Regiment of Chasseurs or the Legion-Saint-Georges came to his defense by declaring that:

  Saint-Georges had completed his duties perfectly as a patriot and that they regretted that they missed this 'good chief' who had 'brought to the highest degree the love of his comrades.

  He was released on October 23, 1794 by the Committee of Public Safety but he was not restored to the command of his troops. While he was away, the regiment had been under the command of a new officer, Target, who wanted very much to help restore the regiment to Saint-Georges' command. He wrote to Saint-Georges this touching letter:

  "Target, temporary brigade captain of th
e 13th Regiment of Cavalry-Huntsman, to the Republican Saint-Georges, first brigade captain and founder of the Regiment.

  As I have had the misfortune of being the passive and involuntary tool of the injustice done to you, it is my honor and my duty to properly repair it.

  If I command the regiment you formed, I did not know the regiment well. But owing the honor only to your fall from grace, I think that I can only make myself worthy of the post that I have accepted in your absence by giving it back to him to whom it should still belong.

  I therefore declare, on my gentleman's sword that my most fervent desire is to return to you a command which should never have been taken away and if I have been able to serve in some minor way the Regiment and my Country, I now ask only as reward to serve under your orders in whatever rank that might be.

  Target, Soissons 28th Ventôse1, third

  Republican year, March 17, 1795"

  Saint-Georges was encouraged by this letter and wrote another letter addressing a new petition to the Committee of Public Safety.

  He called attention to the fact that he had been one of the first to make known the treason of Dumouriez; and he sent many documents which testified that he was a loyal gentleman and citizen. The mayor and municipal officials of Lille stated positively:

  that the corps commanded by Saint-Georges numbered only good patriots in its ranks; they regret that the Republic should have thought it needed to deprive herself of the services of so fine a citizen; and the ex-colonel's comrades pay the liveliest tributes to his bravery and his qualities as a commander.