tion, amidst furious cries, shouts of rage, and gestures of admira-
tion. When these ceased, Robespierre, whose" voice was exhausted,
assuming a resigned attitude, said ' Brothers, the discourse you have
heard is my last will and testament!' ' No, no ; you shall live, or
we will all die,' shouted the tribunes. ' Yes, it is my last testament/
he repeated with prophetic solemnity ā ' my last testament. I have
seen to-day that the league of villains is so strong that I cannot hope
to escape. I yield without regret ! I leave to you my memory ; it
will be dear to you, and you will defend it!'
" These last words, this adieu, which included at once reproach and
resignation, affected the Jacobins even to tears. Coftinhal, Duplay,
Payan Buonarotti, Lebas, and David rose and called on Robespierre,
conjuring him to defend his country and liimself. Henriot exclaimed
that he had still sufficient artillery to overpower the Convention
vote. Robespierre, roused by his enthusiasm, and carried away be-
374 THE LIFE OF ROBESPIERRE. "
yond his resolution, made signs that he was about to speak, and
exclaimed ā ' Well, then ! ā yes ! ā separate the wicked from the weak !
Free the Covention from the villains who oppress it ! Restore it to
liberty as you did on the 3 1st of May and the 2nd of June ! March,
if necessary, and save the country. If in these generous efforts we
fail, then, my friends, you shall see me drink hemlock calmly'.'
David, interrupting him at these words, said, with an antique, ges-
ture, ' Robespierre, if you drink hemlock, I will drink it with you!'
'all ā all ā we will perish with you!' cried thousands of devoted
voices. ' To perish with you is to perish with the people!' "
But tills enthusiasm subsided, and Robespierre's scruples
again resumed tbeir empire. His friends irritated at his
refusal, declared they would act without him ; and the
insurrection was planned.
Coffinhal secured the Faubourgs ; Henriot the Com-
mune ; Payan the members of the municipality. Hen-
riot, followed by his aides-de-camp, and already on horse-
back, in spite of the drunkenness of the previous night,
galloped up and down the streets opposite the Hotel de
Ville, and placed batteries of cannon on the bridges, and
on the Place du Carrousel. The deputies betook them-
selves early to their post ; . the people were stirring in the
streets expecting some crisis. Robespierre appeared in the
Convention, dressed with more than usual care. His step
was slow, his countenance bold ; success was in his glance.
Saint Just ma^Je a vigorous attack. ā " Robespierre,"
said he, "did not sufficiently explain himself yesterday.
A plan was formed of usurping power, by the death of
several members of the Committee. Billaud Varennes
and Collot D'Herbois are guilty men. I do not content
myself with naming them ā I accuse them."
Tallien demanded to be heard. ā " Saint Just has told
you that he belongs to no faction. I tell you the same.
But yesterday a member of the government separated
himself from it, and made a speech in his own name.
THE LIFE^OF ROBESPIERRE. 375
To-day another does the same. By this means the mis-
fortunes of tPie country are aggravated. I demand that
the veil be rent entirely asunder."
This was greeted with loud applause. Billaud Varennes
rose, and in a voice tremulous with indignation, said : ā
*' Yesterday the meeting of the Jacobins was filled with
satelHtes, who openly avowed their intention of massa-
cring the Convention." A cry of horror interrupted
him. Pointinix towards the Mountain, he exclaimed ā
^' I behold on the Mountain one of those who threatened
the representatives of the people."
"Arrest him ! arrest him !" was the cry; and the
victim was dragged out of the chamber.
" The time is arrived to unveil the whole truth," con-
tinued Billaud. " The Assembly will not conceal from
itself that it is threatened by two perils : if it be irresolute,
all is lost." " No ! no !" exclaimed all the deputies rising,
and waving their hats in the air, Vive le Comite !" " You
will shudder," continued Billaud, " when you hear the
situation in which you are placed ; when I tell you that
the command of the armed force is intrusted to Henriot,
who has been denounced as the accomplice of the conspi-
rators. You will shudder when I tell you that there is a
man here," and as he spoke he looi^d at Robespierre,
*' who, when it was proposed to send the representatives
of the people into the departments, could not find twenty
members of the Convention Avho were worthy of being
intrusted with the mission {rriurmurs of indignation.)
When Robespierre told you that he separated himself
from the Committe because he was oppressed, he carefully
disguised the truth from you. He did not tell you it was
because, after having for six months domineered over the
Committee, he met with resistance at the moment when
376 THE LIFE OF ROBESPIERRE.
he wished to pass the decree of the twenty-second Prairial ;
a decree, which, in the impure hands of the men he
selected, might have been fatal to patriots." An outbreak
of terror and indignation interrupted Billaud. " Death
to the tyrants!" they exclaimed. " Men/' said Billaud,
" who, unceasingly talking of justice, and virtue, are the
first to trample them under foot. When I demanded the
arrest of a secretary of the Committee of Public Safety,
who had robbed the nation, Kobespierre alone pro-
tected him. It is he who accuses us. What ! men w^ho
belong to no party, who pass their days and nights at the
Committee, who organise victory, (here all eyes were
turned towards the laborious Carnot) are conspirators?
Those who abandoned Hebert, when it was no longer
possible to support him, are virtuous citizens! When I
denounced Danton for the first time, Robespierre rose in
a fury, saying, I wished to destroy the best of patriots.
But the gulf yawns at your feet ! We must fill it with
our bodies, or else precipitate the traitors into it."
Billaud left the tribune amidst tumultuous shouts.
Robespierre entered it pale, and agitated, amidst loud cries
of " Down with the Tyrant! " but Tallien, pushing him
aside, said, " Just now I demanded that the veil should
be rent. It is S(^ at length. The conspirators arc un-
masked, they will perish, and liberty will triumph."
" Yes! yes it triumphs," cried the Mountain. " I was
present," continued Tallien, " at the Jacobins. I there
heard plotted the formation of the army of this second
Cromwell, and I armed myself with this dagger, with
which to pierce his heart, if the National Convention had
not the courage to order his arrest." Here Tallien drew a
dagger from beneath his coat, and held it towards Robes-
pierre, who receded.
THE LIFE OF ROBESPIEKRE. 377
Robespierre remaineJ motionless at the tribune; his
arms folded, his lips contracted, his features working with
excitement, expressing alternate impatience and resigna-
tion, alternate indignation and contempt.
Vadier, president of the Committee of Safety, said,
" Until the twenty-second Prairial,my eyes were not open
to the real character of this astute villain, who has worn
every mask, and who, when he could no longer shield his
creatures, sent them to the guillotine. Every one knows
he openly defended Bazire, Chabot, Camille Desmoulins,
and Danton. The tyrant wanted to divide the two Com-
mittees. To hear him, one would fancy he was the
single defender of liberty. He despairs of it ; he will quit
everything ; his modesty is incomparable. . . . His eternal
phrase is / am oppressed . . . they loill not let me speak ā
and nobody speaks but he ! "
" I recall the discussion," interrupted Tallien, '^ to the
real question at issue ..."
Robespierre in vain strove to obtain a hearing; Tallien
was pitiless, the Mountain was incensed. He quitted the
steps of the tribune and ascended among the benches of
the Mountain, entreating his ancient supporters to hear
him. They turned contemptuously aside. " Away from
the benches,"" they exclaimed; " the shade of Danton, the
shade of Camille repels you." *' Is it Danton you avenge?'^
exclaimed Robespierre, with mingled astonishment and
remorse. He descended amongst the benches of the
Gironde. " Well, then," he said, " it is among you, up-
right men, I will seek for refuge;" and he seated himself.
*' Wretch," said the Girondins, ^''that was Vergniaud'sseatP*
At this name he sprang up in terror and walked away.
Thus baited on all sides, ancient allies joining ancient foes,
the yells of a maddened assembly dinning in his ears, the
378 THE LIFE OF ROBESPIEKRE.
fierce glances of ferocious assailants making his heart beat,
lie ruslied in desperation to the tribune, and threatening
the president with his upraised hand, he shrieked^ in a
voice cracked with rage, '^ President of Assassins ! will you
let me speak?"
*' No ! No ! No r' His doom was sealed. They would
not hear him. He who had been so pitiless to others, now
found no mercy in his turn. He yelled, he supplicated,
he threatened in vain. His cracked voice was indis-
tinguishable amidst the bowlings and hootings, the impre-
cations and menaces of the Convention. His eloquence
was dumb-show. His voice grew hoarser and hoarser, till
at last it failed him altogether. Seeing this, some one
uttered this terrible phrase : '^ The blood of D ant on chokes
youV All was over. Danton's prophecy, that his fall
would drag down Robespierre, was fulfilled. The arrest
of the tyrant was decreed.
The younger Robespierre now advanced and said, "I
am as guilty as my brother; I have shared his opinions,
I demand to share his fate." This extorted expressions of
compassion from some present ; but the mass accepted the
sacrifice without a remark.
Robespierre tried to intercede for his brother, but no
one would hear him. The decree of arrest was voted; and
shouts of Vive la Repuhlique ! saluted it. Robespierre ex-
claimed, " The Republic is no more, for brigands triumph ;"
so saying, he folded his arms in contempt, and descended
from the tribune.
The examination before the Committee of General
Safety was brief; it ended in Robespierre being sent to the
Prison of the Luxembourg, his brother to St. Lazare,
St. Just to La Force, and Couthon to La Bourbe.
As soon as the Commune heard of Robespierre's arrest.
THE LIFE OF ROBESPIEIIRE. 379
it appointed a Committee of Twelve to organise an insur-
rection. They snatched the prisoners from their guard,
and bore them in triumph to the Commune. The streets
were gHttering with bayonets, and Henriot had ordered
out his artillery.
Robespierre reiterated his intention of not encouraging
the insurrection. He was resolved to stand upon the law;
by it to triumph or to perish. " The death of one man,"
he said, " is less hurtful to the Republic than the example
of revolt against the National Convention."
Was this integrity ? was it hypocrisy ? The question is
a dehcate one. In favour of his integrity, one may adduce
his firm resistance to the entreaties of his friends ā a resist-
ance he prolonged for three hours ā and which was only
finally overcome by Coffinhal dispersing the gens d'armes
by force, and carrying off the scrupulous patriot. On
the other side, we must recollect that Robespierre
had frequently instigated insurrection, and that he felt
assured the Convention would never dare to find him
guilty. ^
The insurrection was organised, but the Convention was
also on the alert, and assembled its forces. The situation
was full of peril. Robespierre knew it, and refused to
act. In vain Coffinhal, Henriot, and Payan urged him
to present himself to the people ā to allow his name to be
a banner for the revolt. They wanted him to proclaim
himself Dictator. He was resolute, and refused.
" Then," said Couthon, " Nothing remains for us but
death." " You have said it," calmly replied Robespierre.
'^ It is you who sacrifice us," exclaimed St. Just.
A paper had been drawn up calling upon the people to
rise and defend the patriots against the Thermidorians
380 THE LIFE OF ROBESPIERRE.
This proclamation Robespierre was entreated to sign. He
took the pen, began the signature, then overcome by his
scruples he flung aside the pen, and would not finish it.
He would not countenance revolt.
About this time the troops of the Convention headed
by Leonard Bourdon were silently marching along the
Quays, and halted as they turned into the Place de
Greve, where the shouts of " Vive la ConvoitioiiP' saluted
them. Henriot, sword in hand, galloped like a madman
into the middle of the crowd, and shouted " Vive la Com-
muner but the contempt felt for him, his drunken, disor-
dered appearance, the blocked up streets, the expected
arrival of fresh troops, all combined to discourage the
Sectionists. The cannoniers overwhelmed their general
with hisses and yells, and then turning the mouths of
their cannon against the Hotel de Ville, they cried " Vive
la Convention P' and quickly dispersed.
A profound silence reigned at the Hotel de Ville, and
all at once the report of fire arms was heard within, and
cries of horror followed. Dulac, a resolute agent of the
Committee of General Safety, at the head of five and
twenty sappers, and a party of grenadiers, crossed the
square, and beating down the doors with hatchets, as-
cended the grand staircase.
Mute and motionless, around a table in the Salle
d'Egalite, Robespierre and his companions listen to the
sounds without; their eyes fixed on the door awaiting
their fate. Robespierre is dressed in the sky blue coat,
and nankeen trousers, which he had had made for the
Festival of the Supreme Being. Lcbas, armed with a
brace of pistols, presents one to Robespierre, conjuring
him to put an end to his existence; but Robespierre,
THE LIFE OF ROBESPIERRE. 381
although he always carried poison about him, refuses to
commit suicide. Saint Just, and Couthon, side with him.
And now the jinghng noise of arms becomes frightfully
distinct. Lebas places a pistol to his heart, and in another
instant falls dead into the arms of Robespierre the
younger, who leaps out of window into the court, breaking
a leg in the fall. Coffinhal makes the chambers and
lobbies resound with his imprecations and hurried foot-
steps. He meets with Henriot, in a stupor of terror and
wine, reproaches him for his cowardly conduct, then
seizing him in his arms, hurls him out of the window on
a dungheap, exclaiming, " Away, wretched drunkard,
you are not w^orthy of a scaiFold !"
Meanwhile Leonard Bourdon draws up his men in
order of battle before the steps leading to the Hotel de
Ville; ascends them himself, accompanied by five gens
d'armes, and a detachment of soldiers. Dulac joins them ;
the whole party rushes eagerly towards the Salle de I'Ega-
lite, where, with the butt-ends of their muskets, they
drive in the door, amidst cries of " Down with the ty-
rant ! " The poor tyrant, pale, and anxious, is sitting silent
at the table. Leonard Bourdon dares not meet his look.
With his right hand he seizes Meda's arm, and points
with his left at Robespierre, exclaiming, " That 's the
man ! " Meda levels his pistol, fires, and the head of the
unhappy Robespierre drops on the table, staining with
blood the proclamation, before mentioned.* The ball has
entered the left side of his face, and carried away several
of his teeth. Couthon endeavours to rise upon his withered
* This curious paper is extant, and in the possession of M. Saint
Albin. The letters Hob ā , of Robespierre's unfinished signature, are
stili legible on the blood-stained paper.
382 THE LIFE OF ROBESPIEERE.
limbs, but staggers under the table. Saint Just, the
inexorable_, imperturbable, and not unheroic fanatic, sits
motionless at the table, now gazing mournfully at Robes-
pierre, now with proud looks of defiance eyeing his ene-
mies. In a few minutes all the prisoners are marched off in
triumph to the Convention. The gray dawn gently steal-
ing over the sky discovers Robespierre carried on a litter
by four gens d'armes, his face covered with a handkerchief
steeped in blood. At five o'clock, a column of soldiers
enters the Tuileries, where the Convention is awaiting the
termination of the affair. A loud murmur proclaims the
approach of Barras and Freron. Charlier is acting as
President. *' The coward Robespierre is there," he cries,
pointing to the door. '^ Shall he come in?" " No!
no I " exclaimed the members, some from horror, others for
pity. " To bring before the Convention the body of so
great a criminal would be to rob this day of its glory.
The corpse of a tyrant can only bring contagion with it.
The only spot for Robespierre and his accomplices is the
Place de la Revolution."
Meanwhile, Robespierre is laid upon a table in the
adjoining ante-room. His head supported by the back of
a chair ; his sky-blue coat, and nankeen trousers, are
stained with blood ; his stockings are fallen down over his
ankles. Crowds flock in, clamber on stools and benches,
and look with strange curiosity and malicious triumph at
this idol and ruler of the Republic now fallen so low !
They shower on him expressions of contempt, invective,
and abuse. The officers of the Convention point him out
to the spectators, as a tiger is pointed out in a menagerie.
He closes his eyes and feigns death, to escape the insults
and curses heaped upon him. " Search him," exclaims
THE LIFE OF ROBESPIERRE. 383
tlie crowd. He is searched. A brace of pistols, in a
case, witli the arms of France engraved upon them, is
found in his pocket. "What a villain!'^ cry the by-
standers. *' Here is proof of his aspiring to the throne.
He uses the symbols of royalty."* There was also found
upon him a pocket-book, containing bank-notes and bills
to the amount of Ā£400. There is no reason to suppose
this money belonged to him. It was in all probability
pubhc money, and about to be applied to public use.
All attempts to throw even a suspicion of pecuniary cor-
ruptibiHty upon him have signally failed. There were
only a few francs found in his lodgings after his death.
His colleagues enter and insult him ; some even spit in
his face ; while the clerks of the Bureau prick him with
their penknives.f Legendre, entering the Salle, approaches
the body, and in theatrical gesture apostrophises it: ā *' So
then, tyrant 1 you, for whom only yesterday the Republic
was not vast enough, occupy to-day about two feet wide
of a little table ! " What must have been Robespierre's
* These pistols, shut up in their case, still loaded, proved that Robe-
spierre did not shoot himself. Some accounts, and even the surgeon's
testimony, are cited to prove that he must have shot himself ; but,
although the evidence, with the exception of that cited above, is pretty
equally balanced, yet that must be held as decisive. Besides, did he
not refuse to commit suicide ?
t This is very ignoble, very horrible, and yet very natural. Does not
Homer make his beloved Greeks thus insult the corpse of Hector,
each wounding it with his spear :ā
" aXKoi 8e irepibpajiov vies K^aiiav^
ot kolL BrjrjfravTO (f)VT)v Kol ei8os ayqTov
"EKTopos. ou8' apa ot ris avovrqTL ye TrapeoTTj"
11. xxii. V. 370.
If the warlike Greeks could allow their enmity so far to overcome their
sense of respect for the fallen foe, what wonder that the miserable mob
of intriguers should glut their savage ire in insulting the fallen dema-
gogue.
384 THE LIFE OF ROBESPIEKRE.
scorn at the man wlio had so frequently followed him with
fulsome adulation, now triumphing over him in his last
hour.
There he lies motionless and apparently unconscious.
The blood which flowed from his wounds, has coagulated
in his mouth. Regaining a little strength, he staunches
this blood with the fur that covered the case of his pistols.
His dim eye wanders vacantly among the crowd, there
seeking some friendly countenance ; there endeavouring to
read justice or compassion. But in vain, in vain ! Horror
alone is imprinted on every face; the unhappy man shudders
and closes his eyes. The heat of the chamber is intense.
A burning fever glows on his cheeks, streams of perspira-
tion pour from his brow. Not one hand is extended to assist
him. Beside him, on the table, they have placed a cup
of vinegar and a sponge. From time to time he moistens
the sponge and applies it to his lips.
From the Salle he is taken to the Committee of General
Safety, where Billaud, Collot, and Vadier go through
the forms of examination. He replies only by his looks.
He is then conveyed to the Hotel Dieu, where his wounds
are examined and dressed. The left jaw is broken, but
the surgeon bandages it, and he is now, with his asso-
ciates, taken away to the Conciergerie. They are all
placed in the same dungeon. Beside them is the corpse of
Lebas.
At three o'clock the prisoners are carried before the
Eevolutionary Tribunal. Fouquier Tinville ā abashed for
once in his life by the presence of a victim ā dares not
raise his eyes to Robespierre !
At five the carts came for the prisoners. Strange and
ghastly burden did they bear that day ! Not only were
the prisoners men whose names had been venerated and
\
THE LIFE OF ROBESPIERRE. 385
execrated as names have seldom been, but Robespierre,
his brother, Couthon, Lebas, and Henriot, were merely
the mangled remains of men. These mangled remains
were tied down to a cart, the jolting of which over the
stones of the street extorted from them groans of pain.
Through the most populous streets wended this hideous
procession, and the windows, doors, and balconies, were
crowded with spectators, especially with women dressed as
for a fete. Strange sights had been seen from those bal-
conies, strange processions had passed down those streets
ā a king, a queen, royal princes and princesses, orators,
sycophants, traitors, men of high integrity and noble
genius, and men of foulest hearts and desperate lives ā
the youth, genius, beauty, and virtue of the Gironde,
and the hideous obscurity and brutality of the Hebertists
ā but who could have expected to see the incorruptible
Robespierre and the imperturbable St. Just following in
that train which they had swelled with their victims?
The fall of Danton stupified the spectators, but what was
Danton to Robespierre !
And women gaily attired clapped their hands for joy,
exclaiming, " Death ! Death ! To the Guillotine !" The
children and the friends of those who had fallen during
the Terror now shrieked in triumph over the fall of the
dictator.
And the people? What was the attitude of that people
Robespierre had flattered, had served, and had roused to
combat ā that people for whom he had slaved and who
almost worshipped hie name? It was silent. It knew not
what to think or what to do. It abandoned its idol as it
had abandoned Danton, Camille, and Hcbert.
The procession moved on amidst curses; not one friendly
voice relieved the weiglit of all the imprecations. The
2c
386 THE LIFE OF ROBESPIERRE.
head of the unfortunate Robespierre was tied up in a
bloodstained handkerchief, which passing under his chin,
left only the cheek, the forehead, and the eyes visible.
He shrugged his shoulders as if in pity for the mob which
insulted him. His aspect was calm and resigned. He
made no attempt to speak. His thoughts were no longer
of this world.
Once indeed he exhibited a touch of feeling. As the
procession passed the house of Duplay, a lad carrying a
pail of blood dipped a broom into it, and bespattered the
walls. Robespierre closed his eyes : he could not bear that
sight !
At length they reached la Place de la Revolution. Not
a word did they address to the people. Their doom was
inevitable, and they believed they died as martyrs. Robes-
pierre mounted the ladder with a firm step. The execu-
tioners tore off the bandage which bound up his chin, in
order to prevent it deadening the blow of the axe. Re-
leased from its support his lower jaw fell upon his breast;
the piercing cry it extorted was heard on the opposite
side of the Place de la Revolution. It was succeeded by
a dead silence ā the silence of the grave ā broken by a
dull, sullen noise. Down clanked the axe, and the head of
Robespierre rolled into the basket. The crowd held their
breath for some seconds, and then, as if an enormous load
Avere rolled from their breasts, burst into a loud and
unanimous cheer. The spectators shed tears of joy, and
embraced each other in transport, crowding around the
scaffold to behold the bloody remains of the tyrants.
One man approaching said, " Yes, Robespierre, there is a
God !"