Estates General

Maxime was quite well respected and he mixed a little in society despite his shy nature and was involved in a number of groups. Initially he went mainly to the Belles lettres d'Arras and was elected as the academy director in February 1786. Later though he tended to spend his time more with a young literary society called the "Rosati". This was an anagram of d'Artois and in this group Maxime wrote a number of poems about love. He had begun to enter literary competitions and had some aspirations in that area.

He was at the height of his achievement, having won several notable cases, when the Estates General were called. This was a final attempt on the part of Louis XVI who, at the time, was desperate for money. The Estates General was made up of three groups - the nobles, the clergy and the 'third state'. They would convene and decide things. Maxime imediately put himself up for election as the Arras deputy for the 'third state'. During the campaign he wrote some remarkable leaflets such as "Adresse à la Nation artésienne sur la nécessité de réformer les Etats d'Artois". In this he called for the King, father of the people, to make revolutionary changes and reconcile the political and the moral nature of rule.

On 26 April 1789 he was elected deputy. This was largely thanks to his popularity with the people of Arras who saw him as someone who would help and defend them. Maxime now had a purpose in life. He felt he could help make changes to aid his country and he lost some of his natural timidity. His thoughts were filled with ideas and hopes for the future.

Despite his successes in court, Maxime was not an overly rich man. The Estates General were to convene at the King's palace at Versailles and Maxime had to sahre lodgings with some other men. Louis saw all the nobles and clergy and all the 'third state' should have been introduced to him to but he got bored so they were route marched through having been kept waiting for hours already. This set the precedent for the treatment they would receive throughout the meetings. Having had enough of being cast aside by the other groups the 'third' began to have their own meetings, calling themselves the National Assembly. Once these were banned and the building they had used was shut so they congregated in a tennis court and took an oath not to leave until they had created a Constitution.

Meanwhile the people of Paris were becoming incensed and a public speech by Camille Desmoulins outside a cafe finally pushed them over the edge. On 14 July 1789 they forceably gained arms from Les Invalides and marched to find powder - at the Bastille.

The National Assembly gained power and some members of the nobility and clergy had moved to join them. The Estates General had failed and was at an end. Revolution had begun.

During these times Maxime established himself as a great orator. He had a shaky start though. To begin with no one paid any attention to his words and sometimes they were even greeted with laughter. Only a few people noticed him such as Mirabeau who declared, "He will go far; he believes every word that he says." Maxime persevered and eventually he broke though and gained the attention of his colleagues. He was precise and inflexible in his ideas and principals and made himself heard. He was in favour of universal suffrage, freedom for slaves and free state education among other things. He also proposed and carried through the idea that no one elected to an office in any of the Revolutionary committees should be eligible for re-election. This would include himself and rules out any of the Tallienist propaganda that declared him a despot after his death!

Maxime was left-wing and aligned himself with the Jacobins. The Jacobins were one of many groups/factions that formed amongst the revolutionaries. Many of the groups were small but some, such as the Jacobins or the Cordeliers, later wielded a certain amount of power. He was also in favour of a constitutional monarchy - to begin with...

In 1790 Maxime became president of the Jacobin Club and in July that year the first year of the Revolution was celebrated with the Festival of the Federation. It was in 1790 that Louis XVI began to explore the possibility of getting outside help to regain control of the country though, in public, he continued to pretend to be happy with the situation.

The revolution and Maxime's views on the monarchy took a major turn the following year though when, in June 1791, the King and the royal family attempted to flee the country. They were stopped at Varennes and the affair caused a scandal. The king, who was supposed to support and love his people, had attempted to escape them. Maxime was now disillusioned with the monarchy and his thoughts turned from a constitutional monarchy to a republic.

With the king deprived of his powers and kept under a watchful eye, the Constitution of 1791 was drawn up. Louis swore to uphold it and his position was restored. And so from October 1791 to September 1792 the main French governing body became the Legislative Assembly. Maxime now no longer had an official role as a deputy.