reaty of 1761 Spain
demanded the support of France. If the French armed, as the Spaniards
were arming, there was reason to hope that England, in so very dubious
a question, would listen to terms; and if France refused to stand by a
manifest engagement, Spain would be free to seek new friends. The
Emperor sustained the appeal. It would be well for him if England was
diverted from the concerns of Eastern Europe, and if France was
occupied in the West. The French Ministers admitted their obligation
and began to arm.

On May 14, just after the first negotiation between Mirabeau and the
Court, the matter came before the Assembly. It was a common belief
that war would strengthen the executive. The democratic leaders
repudiated the Family Compact, and resented an alliance which was not
national but dynastic and of the essence of those things which they
were sweeping away. They sent pacific messages to the British embassy,
and claimed for the representative assembly the right of pronouncing
on peace and war.

Mirabeau, unlike many others, regarded a European war as a danger to
the throne. But he was preparing for civil war, and meant to secure
the army and navy on the royal side. He demanded for the king the
exclusive right of declaring war and making peace. That is the
principle under a constitution where the deputies make the Ministers.
In France, Ministers were excluded from parliament and the principle
did not apply. Barnave answered Mirabeau, and defeated him. On May 22,
in the most powerful constitutional argument he ever delivered,
Mirabeau insisted that, if the ultimate decision rested with the
Assembly, it could act only on the proposition of the Crown. In
legislation, the king had no initiative. Mirabeau established the
royal initiative in peace and war. It was the first-fruit of the
secret compact. The new ally had proved not only that he was capable
and strong, but that he was faithful. For by asking more than he could
obtain he had incurred, for the moment, a great loss of credit. The
excess of his unwonted royalism made him an object of suspicion from
that day. To recover the ground, he issued an amended version of his
first speech; but others printed the two texts in parallel columns,
and exposed the fraud. He had rendered an important service, and it
was done at serious cost to himself. The event cemented the alliance,
and secured his position with the king.

The Assembly voted a solemn declaration, that Fra