A week after celebrations of the first anniversary of the French Revolution, attended by Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, Marat made this emphatic demand for their immediate arrest as the achievements of 1789 stalled and threatened to reverse.

‘Are We Undone?’ (1790) by Jean Paul Marat from Writings and Speeches. Voices of Revolt No. 2. International Publishers, New York. 1927.

On July 26, 1790, Marat published a passionate circular which called for a struggle against the King and the counter-revolutionaries with all possible resources. The final section of this document reads as follows:

AN Appeal to All Citizens!

Citizens, our enemies stand without the gates, the masters have had the frontiers opened to them under the pretext of granting them free passage through our country. Perhaps, at this very moment, they are advancing in our direction with great speed. The King will go to Compiègne, where the apartments for his reception have already been prepared; the road from Compiègne to Toul or Metz can easily be traveled incognito. Who will prevent him from joining with the Austrian army and with the troops of the line which have remained faithful to him? Soon he will be surrounded by hosts of army officers who are hastening to him from all sides, the malcontents, and particularly his faithful retainers, de Bezenval, d’Autichamps, Lambesc, de Broglio. Already one of the ministers, the vile Guignard [the Count of Saint-Priest], who has been unmasked as head of the conspirators, and whose arrest was demanded by me, has taken to flight; his colleagues will soon follow his example and repair to some town of Lorraine in order to constitute a “government” there. The King, this “good King,” who disdained to swear allegiance to you on the altar of our country, has observed the profoundest silence concerning all these facts. The National Committee of Investigation did not open its mouth until the mine had been sprung; the local Committee of Investigation, who had sold out to the Court, has refused to take any steps to ascertain the instigators of this infernal attempt.

In order to prevent you from deliberating on the dangers that threaten, they have not ceased to overwhelm you with festivities, and to keep you in a constant state of intoxication in order that you may not see the disaster that is about to engulf you. Can you believe it–your General, who has neglected not a single means of corruption, has just organized an entire battery of artillery, against the will of all the districts, in order to destroy you; the staff of your guard consists only of your enemies, who draw princely salaries; your heads of battalions have almost all been bribed; and, horror of horrors, the Militia of Paris consists now only of undependable or blind men, who have forgotten their country for all the flatteries of the General!

Citizens of every age and every station! The measures adopted by the National Assembly cannot save you from destruction; you are lost forever if you do not take arms speedily, if you do not again give evidence of your heroism, which has already saved France twice, namely, on July 14, and on October 5. Go to Saint-Cloud before it is too late; bring the King and the Dauphin back within your walls. Guard them well. They shall be your hostages in the events that are yet to come; shut in the Austrian woman1 and her brother-in-law, so that they may not instigate further intrigues; seize all the ministers and their agents and put them in irons; make sure you have the Mayor and the City Secretaries! Do not take your eyes away from the General; arrest the General Staff; remove the battery of artillery from the Rue Verte, take possession of all the magazines and powder mills; the pieces of artillery must be distributed to all the districts. All the districts must again meet and declare themselves in permanent session; they must rescind all counter-revolutionary decrees. Hurry, hurry, before it is too late, else soon the numerous legions of the enemy will be upon you; soon you will see the privileged classes again rising, and despotism, frightful despotism, will come to life more terribly than ever before.

The cutting off of five or six hundred heads would have guaranteed you peace, liberty and happiness.

A mistaken humanity has crippled your arms and held back your blows; it will cost the lives of millions of your brothers. The soldiers of the National Guard shall escape death no more than the others! The French guards whom I have just mentioned, and all the soldiers who are deserting the King’s flags and gathering under those of the nation, will be sacrificed first of all, in spite of all the pacifying sermons which the General is delivering to them. Your enemies need only to triumph for a moment, and blood will flow in torrents. They will murder you without compassion, they will rip open the bellies of your wives, and in order to choke within you the love of liberty, their bloody hands will explore the entrails of your children to find their hearts.

-From L’Ami du Peuple, July 26, 1790.

1. Marie-Antoinette (1755-1793), daughter of Emperor Francis I and Maria-Theresa, wife of Louis XVI, later guillotined.

Writings and Speeches of Jean Paul Marat. Voices of Revolt No. 2. International Publishers, New York. 1927.

Contents: Biographical Sketch by Paul Friedlander, A Fiendish Attempt by the Foes of the Revolution (July, 1790), Our We Undone? (July 26, 1790), A Fair Dream and a Rude Awakening (August 25, 1790), Nothing Has Changed! (July, 1792), The Friend of the People to the French Patriots (August, 1792),Marat the People’s Friend to the Brave Parisians (August 26, 1792), Marat the People’s Friend to the Faithful Parisians (August 28, 1792), Guard Against Profiteers! (February 25, I793), Letter from Marat to Camille Desmoulins (June 24, 1790), Letter from Marat to Camille Desmoulins (August, 1790), Explanatory Notes. 78 pages.

The second in the Voices of Revolt series begun by the Communist Party’s International Publishers under the direction of Alexander Trachtenberg in 1927.

PDF of original book: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/parties/cpusa/voices-of-revolt/02-Jean-Paul-Marat-VOR-ocr.pdf