both wishing the establishment of as great a degree of liberty as can
be preserved. They are considered together as constituting the patriotic
part of the Assembly, and they are supported by the soldiery of the
army, the soldiery of the clergy, that is to say, the Cures and monks,
the dissenters, and part of the nobility which is small, and the
substantial Bourgeoisie of the whole nation. The part of these collected
in the cities, have formed themselves into municipal bodies, have
chosen municipal representatives, and have organized an armed corps,
considerably more numerous in the whole than the regular army. They have
also the ministry, such as it is, and as yet, the King. Were the second
and third parties, or rather these sections of the same party, to
separate entirely, this great mass of power and wealth would be split,
no body knows how. But I do not think they will separate; because
they have the same honest views; because, each being confident of the
rectitude of the other, there is no rancor between them; because they
retain the desire of coalescing. In order to effect this, they not long
ago proposed a conference, and desired it might be at my house, which
gave me an opportunity of judging of their views. They discussed
together their points of difference for six hours, and in the course of
discussion agreed on mutual sacrifices. The effect of this agreement
has been considerably defeated by the subsequent proceedings of the
Assembly, but I do not know that it has been through any infidelity of
the leaders to the compromise they had agreed on. Another powerful bond
of union between these two parties, is our friend the Marquis de la
Fayette. He left the Assembly while they as yet formed but one party.
His attachment to both is equal, and he labors incessantly to keep them
together. Should he be obliged to take part against either, it will be
against that which shall first pass the Rubicon of reconciliation
with the other. I should hope, in this event, that his weight would
be sufficient to turn the scale decidedly in favor of the other. His