The beginnings of a legislator (Autumn 1791): the testimony of Gilbert Romme

Résumé 0

Diligent in keeping his private journal, Gilbert Romme’s testimony offers a singular account of the first months of the legislative assembly. He observed the new balance of power that arose between the deputies and Louis XVI, whose confidence had been undermined by his abortive flight to Varennes in the spring of 1791, and who would remain under suspicion of seeking to renew his efforts to flee the country. Accordingly, Romme noted how Louis XVI maintained a protective protocol aiming to keep the deputies at a distance. At the same time, Romme assessed the influence of former constituents in the salons, clubs and newspapers, and lamented the narrow space in which the new legislature carried out its struggles. He who dreamed of unity, rapidly perceived the emergence of factions. His intellectual and political affinities led him to construct his own circle of sociability, to classify his colleagues according to their opinions (between revolutionaries and “sleepers”), and to measure the respective influence of the Jacobins and the Cordeliers.