Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/101

 JACOBIN. A small, highly artificial pigeon, resembling the capuchin, in which the prolonged upright feathers of the neck and head form a sort of cowl about the face. See Pigeox and Colored Plate of Pigeons. JACOBINI, ya'kobe'ne, Ludovico (1832-87). An Italian cardinal and diplomat of the Roman Catholic Church, born at Genzano. He was nephew of the Papal Minister of Public Works, and was rapidly advanced in ecclesiastical honors. In 1874 he was made Archbishop of Thessalonica (Saloniki) in partibiis. and in the same year was nuncio to Vienna, where he first showed his dip- lomatic abilities. In 1879 he met Bismarck to obtain the revocation of the Talk laws passed by the Prussian Diet against the Catholics in 1873. a mission in which he was ultimately successful. In 1880 he was made Papal Secretary of State. JACOBINS, Fr. pron. zha'kd'bax'. A politi- cal club in France which exercised a profound in- fluence on the progress of the French Revolution before 1794. It had its origin in the Club Breton, which was organized at Versailles in ilay, 1789. by the representatives from Brittany to the States-General. It comprised in the beginning about seventy-five members, of whom some two- thirds belonged to the Third Estate and the rest to the clergy. Its tone was radical. It was soon joined by members from other provinces and came to include the most prominent leaders of the time, among them being Jlirabeau. Barnave, SieySs, Robespierre. Pet ion. and the brothers La- meth. It met very frequently and in secret session for the purpose of deciding upon common action to be taken in the National Assembly, and it is probable that the great event of August 4. 1780 — the abolition of feudal privileges — and the enuil- ciation of the Rights of Man were planned before- hand in the sessions of the chib. Upon the remov- al of the National Assembly to Paris the sessions of the club were suspended for a time. In the winter of 1789-90 they were resumed in the re- fectory of the .Jacobin convent in the Rue Saint Honore. whence the members of the club were derisively called by their opponents .Jacobins. The name of the club was changed to Societ*? des Amis de la Constitution. Membership in the club was limited at first to Deputies of the National Assembly, but soon the club was thrown open to prominent Parisians in the various walks of life whose sympathies were with the Revolu- tion, and such men as Marie-.Joseph Chenier, La Harpe, Cabanis, Lacep&de. David, and Fabre d'Eglantine now joined the .Jacobins. From radi- cal the club had become rather conseriative in its views, its objects being limited to the preserva- tion of the monarchy so far as consistent with the safety of the newly acquired rights. After May. 1791. the meetings of the club were held in the chapel of the convent. In November. 1791. its membership numbered more than 1200. The proceedings of the club were published after Octoh.^r. 1791. It had been the intention of the founders to make the club a nucleus for similar societies to be organized throughout France, and this object was speedily carried out. Affiliated societies sprang up in all the to^-ns and in many Tillages, and these at all times remained in close touch with the mother society. In May. 1791. the number of such societies was more than four hundred, and in the spring of 1794 they verged closelv on one thousand. The Jacobin leaders in Paris were able in this manner to carry on a most efl'ective propaganda throughout the coun- try, and, in fact, the perfection of their organiza- tion was such as to give the Jacobins the aspect of a political machine. The attempted fiight of Louis XVI. in 1791 produced the same effect upon the -Jacobin Club as it did upon the nation at large. The radical ele- iiient began to gain the upper hand, and though it was still professedly monarchic in tone, the question of the deposition of Louis XVI. was seri- ously raised. Upon this point the club split. In the hall of the Jacobins was drawn up the peti- tion demanding the deposition of Louis XVI. which brought about the massacre in the Champs de Mars on July I7th, and though the leaders of the -Jacobins disavowed all responsibility for the document, which it would seem had been drawn up by a crowd that had invaded the hall, the sanguinary outcome produced a schism in the club. The majority of members, with the most prominent leaders, .seceded to form the club of Feuillants (q.v.), Robespierre and Petion being the most prominent of those that remained. The -Jacoijins now entered upon a new pha.se. that of violent republican propaganda. Together with the Girondists (qv. ) they planned the uprising of August 10. 1792. the object of which was the overthrow of the monarchy. With the meeting of the Convention (.September. 1792) the strife of parties began. .Jacobins against Girondists. The former, as the representatives of uncompromising democracy, showed themselves the more fit to cope with the dangers of foreign invasion and internal insurrection which now confronted France. In the struggle against the Girondists they brought to bear upon the Convention the force of public opinion skillfully directed by the various societies throughout the countrj- acting ill implicit obedience to the mother society in Paris. With the fall of the Girondists the Jacobins became the practical rulers of France. No important action was taken in the Convention which had not been previouslv discussed in the sessions of the club. and. as a matter of fact, the meetings of the club came to be popularly re garded with greater interest than the sessions of the Convention. Of equal importance with the influence which it exercised upon the legis- lative activity of the Convention was the super- vision which it exercised over the representatives of the Government in the provinces. Its spies were constantly on the watch against treason to the republican cause, and in many places where the action of the Government officials seemed to lack the requisite revolutionary- fervor the local Jacobin societies assumed virtual control. By this lime the club, of course, had become thor- oughly democratic, though perhaps the character of its members raised it above the mob con- tingents of Hebert and Collot d'Herbpis. Robes- pierre became its master after the overthrow of Danton. and. with the Committee of Safety, it was one of the most efficient instruments in carry- ing out the Terror. ^ith the fall of Robespierre the importance of the -Jacobins ceased. Its ses- sions were suspended for a time, resumed, and again abandoned. On November 11. 1794. its hall was closed by order of the Convention. Once more reconstituted, and meeting at the Pantheon, its sessions were forbidden by the Directory in February. 1790. In the provinces there was a short revival of Jacobin activity in 1799.