Maximilien Robespierre

On the dissolution of the Msembly he returned for a short visit to Arras, where he met with a triumphant reception. In November he returned to Paris and on Dec. 18 made a speech which marks a new epoch in his life. Brissot de Warville, the dme politique of the Girondin party which had been formed in the Legislative Assembly, urged vehemently that war should be de clared against Austria, and the queen was equally urgent, in the hope that a victorious army might restore the old absolutism of the Bourbons. Two men opposed the projects of the queen and the Girondins—Marat and Robespierre. Robespierre feared a development of militarism, which might be turned to the advan tage of the reaction. From that moment began the struggle which ended in the coups d'etat of May 31 and June 2, 1793. Robes pierre persisted in his opposition to the war ; the Girondins, espe cially Brissot, attacked him violently; and in April 1792, he re signed the post of public prosecutor at the tribunal of Paris, which he had held since February, and started a journal, Le Defenseur de la Constitution, in his own defence. It is noteworthy that during the summer months of 1792 in which the fate of the Bourbon dy nasty was being sealed, neither the Girondins in the Legislative As sembly nor Robespierre took any active part in overthrowing it. But Robespierre, though shocked at the shedding of blood, was willing to take his seat on the Commune of Paris, which had over thrown Louis XVI., and might check the Girondins. The strong men of the Commune were glad to have Robespierre's assistance not because they cared for him or believed in him, but because of the help got from his popularity, his reputation for virtue, which had won for him the surname of "The Incorruptible," and his influence over the Jacobin Club and its branches, which spread all over France. He therefore presented the petition of the Commune of Paris on Aug. 16, to the Legislative Assembly, de manding the establishment of a revolutionary tribunal and the summoning of a Convention. The massacres of September in the prisons, which Robespierre in vain attempted to stop, showed that the Commune had more confidence in Billaud than in him. Yet, as a proof of his personal popularity, he was a few days later elected first deputy for Paris to the National Convention.

The Convention.

On the meeting of the Convention the Girondins immediately attacked Robespierre ; they were jealous of his influence in Paris, and knew that his single-hearted fanati cism would never forgive their intrigues with the king at the end of July. All personal disputes, however, gave way in December 1792 before the question of the king's trial, and here Robespierre took up a position which is at least easily understood. These are his words spoken on Dec. 3.

This is no trial ; Louis is not a prisoner at the bar ; you are not judges; you are—you cannot but be—statesmen, and the representa tives of the nation. You have not to pass sentence for or against a single man, but you have to take a resolution on a question of the public safety, and to decide a question of national foresight. It is with regret that I pronounce the fatal truth: Louis ought to perish rather than a hundred thousand virtuous citizens ; Louis must die, that the country may live.

This great question settled by the king's execution, the im practicable plans of the Girondins drove Danton, Lazare Carnot, Robert Lindet, and even Billaud-Varenne to the side of Robes pierre, whom, it is apparent, they thoroughly understood. In

the month of May 1793 Camille Desmoulins, acting under the inspiration of Robespierre and Danton, published his Histoire des Brissotins and Brissot denzasque; Maximin Isnard declared that Paris must be destroyed if it pronounced itself against the pro vincial deputies ; Robespierre preached insurrection at the Jacobin Club ; and on May 31 and June 2 the Commune of Paris destroyed the Girondin Party.

Committee of Public Safety.

On July 27, 1793; when the struggle was practically decided, the Convention elected Robes pierre to the new Committee of Public Safety. Robespierre was always in a minority in the committee of twelve ; at least seven of whom, Carnot, Billaud-Varenne, Collot d'Herbois, Prieur Duvernois, Prieur, Saint Andre and Lindet were men of action and not under his personal influence. Robespierre was not the inventor of the Terror or its machinery, the revolutionary tribunal and the representatives of the Committee on mission in the provinces. He served it by his gift of eloquence. He had a fanatical following among the Jacobins and was one of the most popular orators in the Convention, on which his carefully prepared addresses made a deep impression. His panegyrics on the system of revolutionary government and his praise of virtue led his hearers to believe that the system of the Terror, instead of being monstrous, was abso lutely laudable; his pure life and admitted incorruptibility threw a lustre on the Committee of which he was a member; and his colleagues were glad to avail themselves of these advantages so long as he did not interfere with their work. Moreover, he alone never left Paris, whilst all the others, except Barere, were con stantly engaged on missions to the armies, the navy and the provinces. It has been asserted that Robespierre, Couthon and Saint-Just took upon themselves the direction of "la haute politique," while the other members acted only in subordinate capacities ; undoubtedly it would have suited Robespierre to have had this believed, but as a matter of fact he was in no way especially trusted in matters of supreme importance.

It is clear therefore that Robespierre was not the sole author of the overthrow of the Dantonists and the Hebertists, though he thoroughly agreed with the majority and had no desire to save them, the Hebertist principle of decentralization and the Dan tonist moderatism being equally obnoxious to him.

Fall of Danton.

Both parties must be crushed. Before the blows at the leaders of those two parties were struck, Robespierre retired for a month (Feb. 13–March 13, 1794) from active busi ness in the Convention and the Committee, apparently to con sider his position ; but he came to the conclusion that the cessation of the Reign of Terror would mean the loss of that supremacy by which he hoped to establish the ideal of Rousseau ; for Danton, he knew, was essentially a practical statesman and laughed at his ideas and especially his politico-religious projects. He must have considered too that the result of his siding with Danton would probably have been fatal to himself. The result of his deliberations was that he abandoned Danton and co-operated in the attacks of the Committee on the two parties. On March 15 he reappeared in the Convention; on the 19th Hebert and his friends were arrested; and on the 24th they were guillotined. On March 3o Danton, Camille Desmoulins and their friends were arrested, and on April 5 they too were guillotined.