The American people had had such bitter experiences with monarchs that
they dreaded anything which savored of monarchy, and it was argued that
a centralized government was but a step in that direction. On the other
hand, Federalists pointed out the danger of State sovereignty, which
would surely in the end disrupt the general government. Subsequent
history has proven that the Federalists were right. We have said that
Washington was a Federalist at heart. His enemies, meanly jealous of his
popularity, often declared that he was a monarchist.

Meanwhile, a revolution, violent in its nature and far-reaching in its
consequences, had broken out in France.

It was the immediate consequences of the teachings of the American
revolution. The people of France had long endured almost irresponsible
despotism, and were yearning for freedom when the French officers and
soldiers, who had served in America during the latter years of our
struggles for independence, returned to their country full of republican
ideas and aspirations. They questioned the right of the few to oppress
the many, and the public heart was soon stirred by new ideas, and in a
movement that followed, Lafayette was conspicuous for a while. The king,
like many tyrants, was weak and vacillating, and soon a body called the
states-general assumed the reins of government, while the king was in
fact a prisoner. The terrible Bastile, whose history represented royal
despotism, was assailed by the citizens of Paris and pulled down. The
privileges of the nobility and clergy were abolished, and the church
property was seized. The king's brothers and many of the nobles fled in
affright across the frontier, and tried to induce other sovereigns to
take up the cause of royalty in France and restore the former order of
things. The emperor of Austria (brother of the French queen) and the