He began by announcing to the Assembly the death of General Gouvion.

"He is happy," he said, with sadness, "to have died fighting against the enemy, and not to have been the witness of the discords which rend us to pieces.

I envy his death." The deep serenity of a powerful mind was felt in his every tone--a mind resolute to contend against factions unto death.

He then read a memorial relating to the ministry of war.

His exordium was an attack upon the Jacobins, and a claim for the respect due to the ministers of the executive power.