DANTON, diOc'tSa', CEORCES JACQUES ( 1759 94). One of the great popular leaders in the French Revolution. He was born (tetober 28, 1759, at Arcis-su•-Aulie. of a bourgeois family. Though his parents wished him to become a priest, Danton preferred the law. and. after being educated in his native town and at Troyes, he went to Paris. A born orator, Danton quickly rose ill his profession, and as early as 1785 he was known as a successful practitioner before the Parlement of Paris. In 1787 he married, and purchased, at a cost of 50,000 Byres, a posi tion as advoeate of the Royal Council, and was soon earning an income of 25,000 Byres a year. At this tiro he is described as a forcible and eloquent speaker. a man of liln•ral tastes, fond of books, and happy in his dome-tic life. Ile saw the Revolution approaching, and as early as 1757 said to his patron, M. Ile Barentin, "Moder ate reforms are no longer possible; do you not see the avalanehe soon to descend It is said that Mirabeau, perceiving Milton's genius, sought to attach him to himself. In the early revolutionary outbreaks Danton took no promi nent part, but early in 1790 he was threatened with arrest for protesting in violent terms against Marat's arrest, and in .June of the same year lie appears as one of the chief founders of the club of the Cordeliers, or ultra-Jacobins, while in the autumn he was chosen to be commander of the National Guard of his district. The next year he appeared as the advocate of the extremists of Paris, and publicly attacked the anti-revolu tionary leaders. His utterances having exposed him to arrest, lie fled to England and remained there some six weeks, during which time he had conferences with the chief leaders of the Whig opposition. On returning to Paris lie was elected to office in the commune, and probably was largely instrumental in inciting and bringing to a successful issue the insurrection of August 9 and 10, 1792. After the taking of the Tuileries and the suspension of the royal power, Danton became Minister of Justice, and in this capacity entered the Provisional Government and became a member of the Executive.
The strongest personality of them alk Danton at once assumed the leadership. He took active measures to free the country of its foreign in vaders. His eloquence thrilled the people. and when, on September 2d, lie made his wonderful speech before the Assembly, and cried: "Pour les raincre, pour les al terrer, que faut-ilt De Po adace, c»core de l'audaee, et toujours de Paudace" ("to vanquish them. to crush them down, what is necessary? To dare. to dare again. and always to dare"). France responded by placing fourteen armies in the field. In October, 1792, partly by force and partly by diplomacy, the foes had been expelled. In the fearful days of the September massacres, when political prisoners were taken out and butchered by hundreds, Danton would not let the Government leave Paris. Of the atrocities that took place he was not actively guilty, though iNlarat was. but as a revolutionist he acquiesced in and condoned the deeds of his associates. In September, 1792, he resigned as Minister of Justice, and was elected to the Con vention. There he successfully repelled a venom attack made on him by the Girondists, and, later, on his return from his mission to Dumou riez, answered Marat's insinuations that he had been privy to the treachery of that General. Dan ton was among those who voted for the death of the King (January, 1703). After being elected president of the Jacobin Club, Danton, in March, 1793. became a member of the Committee of
Public Safety, and later its president. This was the period of his greatest services to France, when he organized her defenses and directed her foreign policy. The irreconcilable attitude of the Girondists forced him to take active measures for their suppression (June 2, 1793), for he felt that they were not true revolutionists. In his revolutionary enthusiasm, however, Dan ton called up a force that was destined to crush him. After the fall of the Girondists, he advo cated the formation of a new and more powerful Committee of Public Safety, endowed with un limited authority and ample resources. He him self ceded his right to a seat on this trilmnal, an error of judgment which cost him his life. Dan ton's aim at this time was undoubtedly the con ciliation of the various republican and revolu tionary factions in France into a stable and peaceful government; the aim of the committee was to make its own power supreme over all others. Robespierre began to emerge as its leader, supported by Saint Just, Billaud-Varennes, and Couthon. While Danton, with his friend and ally, Camille Desmoulins (q.v.), the inspirer and chief author of the Vieux Cordelier papers, mere advocating moderation, the followers of Robespierre were preparing to strike. The first of their opponents to fall were the fanatical thffiertists, in March, 1794; after them came the turn of the Dantonists. Their leader seemed no longer to care for the turmoil of politics, hut pursued a policy of inaction and awaited the attack. For a short time Danton retired to his home at Arcis-sur-Aube, having recently married a second wife. His enemies were active, and, after some show of hesitation, Robespierre yielded to Billaud-Varennes (q.v.), and the fate of the Dantonists was sealed. On March 30, 1794, Dan ton, Camille Desmoulins, and others of the party were seized and imprisoned.
Before the revolutionary tribunal, the strength of Danton's character shone forth. Questioned by the president as to his name and dwelling, lie replied: "My name? It is Danton: a name tol erably well known in the Revolution. My dwell ing? It will soon be annihilation; but my name will live in the pantheon of history." His trial was a farce, the formal charge being that of conspiring to restore the monarchy. The elo quence of the man was so great that Paris thrilled as lie hurled defiance at his accusers, and there was danger of a popular revolt in his favor. The Convention eagerly seized on the in famous suggestion of Saint Just, that disrespect for justice merited summary conviction, and, with fourteen of his supporters. Danton was at once condemned to the guillotine. Almost his last words were inspired by the treachery of Robespierre. "I could have saved him," he said; "I leave it all in a frightful welter; not a man of them has any idea of government. Robes pierre will follow me; he is dragged down by me." On April 5, 1794, Danton mounted the scaffold with calm courage. A moment he stood erect, facing the mob, then, turning to the execu tioner, knelt, and, laying his head on the block, said. "Show the people my head; it is worth seeing." The accusations of venality, of dis solute conduct, of blood-thirsty ferociousness, so often made against Danton, have been long since disproved. "The Mirabeau of the sansculottes," says M. Claretie, "u-as a bourgeois Mirabeau, equally powerful, but neither dissolute nor venal."