XV. 1794. CHAP. members of the Convention and ordinary individuals. The right of insisting for an individual investigation, and of being defended by counsel, had been withdrawn by a previous decree on the 2d June. In addition to those struck at by former laws, there were included in this new decree, "all those who have seconded the projects of the enemies of France, either by favouring the retreat of, or shielding from punishment, the aristocracy or conspirators; or by persecuting and calumniating the patriots; or by corrupting the mandatories of the people; or by abusing the principles of the Revolution, of the laws, or of the government, by false or perfidious applications; or by deceiving the representatives of the people; or by spreading discouragement or false intelligence; or by misleading the public by false instructions or depraved example." The proof requisite to convict of these multifarious offences was declared to be-" Every piece of evidence, material, moral, verbal, or written, which is suffi22 Prairial cient to convince a reasonable understanding." The (10th June.) Revolutionary Tribunal was divided into four separate xxxiii. 193, courts, each possessing the same powers as the original, a public accuser, and a sufficient number of judges and ii. 160, 161. jurymen awarded to each, to enable them to proceed with rapidity in the work of extermination. 1 1 Décret, Hist. Parl. 194. Moniteur, 10 Juin. Lac. 32. in the Con remarkable by Robes pierre. Accustomed as the Convention was to blind obedience, Debate on it they were startled by this project. "I demand an vention, and adjournment. If this law passes, nothing remains," said speech on it Ruamps, "but to blow out our brains." Alarmed at the agitation which prevailed, Robespierre mounted the Tribune. "For long," said he, "the Assembly has argued and decided on the same day, because for long it has been liberated from the empire of faction. Two opinions, strongly pronounced, divide the Republic. The one is to punish severely and inexorably all attempts against liberty; the other is the cowardly and criminal opinion of the aristocracy, who have never ceased since the commencement of the Revolution to demand, directly or * XV. 1794. indirectly, an amnesty for the conspirators and enemies of CHAP. the country. For two months the Convention has sat under the sword of assassins; and the very moment when liberty appears to have gained its greatest triumph, is precisely the one when the conspirators against the country act with most audacity. Citizens, be assured the conspirators wish to divide they wish to intimidate us! Have we not defended a part of the Assembly against the poniards which wickedness and a false zeal would have drawn against them? We expose ourselves to individual assassins to destroy those who would ruin the Republic. We know how to die, provided the Convention and the country are saved. I demand that the project be discussed, article by article, and without an adjournment. I have observed that for long the Convention has discussed and decreed at once, because a great majority were really intent on the public good. I demand that, instead of 1 Hist. Parl. pausing on the proposal for adjournment, we sit till eight at xxxiii, 198, night, if necessary, to discuss the project of the law which teur, 12 has now been submitted to it." The Convention knew ii. 160, 161. their master, and in thirty minutes the law was passed.1 On the following day some members, chiefly adherents of the old party of Danton, endeavoured to overthrow Ineffectual this sanguinary decree of the Assembly. Bourdon de modify the l'Oise proposed that the safety of the members of the Convention should be provided for by a special enactment, to the effect that they should not be indicted but in pursuance of a decree of that body. He was ably supported by Merlin; and the Legislature seemed inclined to adopt the proposal. Couthon attacked the Mountain, from which the opposition seemed chiefly to emanate. Bourdon replied "Let the members of the Committee know," said he, "that if they are patriots, so are we. I esteem Couthon, I esteem the Committee; but, more than all, I esteem the unconquerable Mountain, which has saved the The seventy-three arrested Girondists, who had not been tried with their leaders in the October preceding. 202. Moni Juin. Lac. 33. efforts to law. XV. CHAP. public freedom."-"The Convention, the Committee, the Mountain," said Robespierre, "are are the same thing. 1794. Every representative who loves liberty, every representative who is resolved to die for his country, is part of the Mountain. Woe to those who would assassinate the people, by permitting some miserable intriguers to divide the patriots, in order to elevate themselves on the public ruin!" The imperious tone of Robespierre, the menaces xxxiii, 203, of his colleagues, again overawed the Assembly, and the 217. Mig.. law passed without the protecting clause proposed by 170. Th. vi. Bourdon. Every individual in the Convention was now at the mercy of the Dictators; and the daily spectacle of fifty persons executed, was enough to subdue more undaunted spirits.1 1 Hist. Parl. 325. Lac.ii. 350-353. Hist. de la Conv. iii. 367. 34. Robespierre's secret mo tives in pass It is not surprising that the Convention, in this manner, made an unwonted effort to avert the passing of this terrible law; for the consciences of many told them, what ing this law. is now known to have been the case, that its almost unlimited powers were mainly directed against themselves. From the invaluable papers found in Robespierre's possession after his death, by Courtois, and first published in 1828, it is now known that the secret views of Robespierre, in proposing this sanguinary law, were to destroy a large portion of the Convention. He had great confidence in himself and the influence of his eloquence with the people; and he still clung with fanatical obstinacy to the belief in their virtue. But he had seen enough to distrust the integrity of nearly all who had risen to power, or were intrusted with office. The idol of public opinion, he desired to rule by it alone, and had no doubt of his ability to do so. He was in despair at the universal profligacy, selfishness, and corruption with which he was surrounded in all the branches of administration, civil and military. Universal suffrage and * "Papiers inédits trouvés chez Robespierre, St Just, Payan, &c. Paris, 1828. 3 vols." They had been in great part, in the first instance, suppressed by Courtois; and a complete set was first published by the French government on his death, in 1828. self-government, instead of having produced a better set of public functionaries than those who had owed their appointment to the nobility, had brought up one so infinitely worse, that Robespierre, the incarnation of the democratic principle, felt that the first step in social regeneration must be to destroy them all. He was overwhelmed with horror at the situation of the commonwealth, and the total failure of the vast streams of blood he had caused to flow to produce any, even the slightest, practical amelioration in the administration of affairs. He constantly said—" All is lost; we have no longer any resource: I see no one to save the country.' He often said, "Woe to those who deem the country centred in themselves, and who make use of liberty as of their own property. Their country dies with them; and the revolutions which they have appropriated are but a change of servitude. No Cromwell for France; not even myself." * "Son âme était profondement ulcérée: quoique dans les procès d'Hébert, de Danton, et de Chaumette, une foule de personnages bien dignes de l'échafaud eussent été justement frappés, il déplorait néanmoins que de viles passions, que la haine et la vengeance, et non pas l'amour de la patrie et de l'équité, eussent discerné et marqué les têtes qu'il fallait abattre. Il voyait que les exécutions n'avaient en rien diminué les dangers. Autour de lui, aux premiers postes de la République, il voyait des hommes sans probité, sans mœurs, souillés pour la plupart d'actes infâmes, et cependant environnés d'une popularité à travers laquelle il était presque impossible de les atteindre. Il voyait se grouper autour d'eux d'autres hommes qui n'avaient aidé la bonne cause que par toutes sortes de mauvais moyens, et qui déployaient maintenant pour se défendre eux-mêmes toutes les ressources de l'intrigue, du mensonge, et de la calomnie, avec l'habileté qu'ils avaient acquise par une pratique de six années. Ainsi il était en proie au dégoût et au désespoir. Qu'importait que nos armées fussent victorieuses de l'étranger? A l'intérieur et dans le centre même de sa force et de sa puissance, la nation était possédée par des scélérats. N'était-il pas évident que l'anarchie, la contre-révolution, et la restauration de l'ancien régime, étaient les conséquences prochaines et inévitables d'un tel état de choses? Pendant les derniers jours qu'il fréquenta les comités, Robespierre disait habituellement — ‘Tout est perdu; il n'y a plus de ressources: Je ne vois plus personne pour sauver la patrie.' Il proposa la loi du 22 Prairial dans l'unique but de créer un pouvoir à brider, dont il préméditait de se servir en temps opportun pour épurer la Convention. St Just était absent, il communiqua son projet à Couthon seulement, et celui-ci se chargea du rapport. Billaud, Collot, Barère, et Vadier, n'en ont eu connaissance que par le rapport de Couthon, et ils ont repoussé cette loi dans le sein du comité, avec plus d'énergie que l'Assemblée elle-même n'en avait mis à la critiquer."— Histoire Parlementaire, xxxiii. 182, 183. CHAP. 1794. XV. 1794. CHAP. But meanwhile a very formidable opposition was secretly organising itself in the Convention. The project of this law, as it struck at nearly all the members both of the government and the Convention, was accordingly warmly combated in both the Committees and the latter. It was brought forward in the latter with the knowledge only of Couthon, and, as soon as the discussion was over, it was vehemently assailed in the Committee of Public Salvation.* The truth was, that Robespierre, St Just, and Couthon, now stood nearly alone there: they beheld the legislature and whole offices of government, from the highest to the lowest, filled by such an infamous set of scoundrels, whom universal suffrage had xxxiii. 182, brought up to the head of affairs, that they could see no chance for the Republic but in extending extermination to nearly the whole persons in authority in the state. 1* 1 Hist. Parl. 185. Lam. Hist. des Gir. viii. 266. Armed by this accession of power, the proscriptions proceeded during the next six weeks with redoubled * "Le lendemain du 22 Prairial, Billaud Varennes accuse hautement Robespierre aussitôt qu'il entre au comité, et lui reproche d'avoir porté à la Convention seul avec Couthon le décret abominable que faisait l'effroi des patriotes. 'Le jour,' ajoute Billaud, 'où un membre du comité se permettra de présenter seul un décret à la Convention, il n'y a plus de liberté mais la volonté d'un seul.' 'Je vois bien,' dit Robespierre, 'que je suis seul, et que personne ne me soutient;' et aussitôt il déclama avec fureur. Ses cris étaient si forts, que sur les terrasses des Tuileries plusieurs citoyens s'étaient rassemblés. On ferma les fenêtres, et l'on continua la discussion avec la même chaleur. Je sais,' dit Robespierre, 'qu'il y a dans la Convention une faction qui veut me perdre, et tu défends ici Ruamps.' 'Il faut donc dire,' reprend Billaud, 'd'après ton décret, que tu veux guillotiner la Convention.' Robespierre répond avec agitation, 'Vous en êtes tous témoins que je ne dis pas que je veuille faire guillotiner la Convention Nationale: je te connais maintenant,' ajouta-t-il en s'adressant à Billaud. Et moi aussi, je te connais comme un Anti-révolutionnaire,' répond le dernier. Robespierre s'agita, se promenant dans le comité; il porta son hypocrisie jusqu'à répandre des larmes.'"- - LECOINTRE de Versailles, Réponse des deux Membres des Comités, Nov. 8; Hist. Parl. xxxiii. 184, 185. + Among the very interesting papers found in Robespierre's house after his death, was the following note in his own handwriting, as to the character of some of the leading members of the Convention, whose coalition soon after produced his overthrow :- -"Tous les chefs de la Révolution sont des scélérats déjà notés par des traits d'immoralité et d'infamie. Thuriot ne fut jamais qu'un partisan d'Orléans; son silence depuis la chûte de Danton, et depuis son expulsion des Jacobins, contraste avec son bavardage éternel avant cette époque. Il |