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Article MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF ROBERSPIERRE. ← Page 6 of 10 →
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Memoirs Of The Life Of Roberspierre.
Whilst Roberspierre plotted the downfall of the Girondists , the Hebertists , Dantonists , & c . he was seldom seen in public ; certain of triumphing , he remained behind the curtain , aud only his subaltern instruments appeared . After that time he was scarcely ever absent from the club of the Jacobins , whose tribune he often ascended . — Formerly he never appeared but to decide the arrest or death of his adversaries ; but he had not latterly authority to imprison those
whom he called villains and conspirators in the midst of the Convention . He daily declaimed against them , but no longer dared to name them ; he denounced them to the popular fury , but the silence with which he was heard announced his speedy downfall . Tn vain did ha employ the common matter of revolutionary eloquence . It seemed that the ears of his auditors were tired at his speeches ,, and they listened to them with inattention .
' There now existed two leading factions in Paris , who secretly watched each other-. The Anti-Roberspierrists were the more numerous in the Convention ; and Roberspierre ' s aim was to oppose the Jacobins to them . Hitherto , in every period of the revolution , the most infamous party had conquered ; and it was difficult to conceive that there could
exist one superior to the Roberspierrists in every species of crime . The contest was between Roberspierre and the Committees of Public and General Safety : Roberspierre , in concert with St . Just and Couthon , all three members ofthe Committee of Public Safety ,
had formed a plan to seize into their own hands the whole power delej gated by the Convention to the two committees . For six weeks he had absented himself from the Committee , of Public Safety ; that is , from the time he found " he could not make the other members adopt whatever , he thought'fit to propose . During that period , he and his agents were busy at the Commune , -at the Jacobin Clubsand all over Parisin vilifing the two
com-, , y mittee :, and holding forth the necessity of another revolution , and a new purification of the Convention ; , in other words , a new proscription ofthe Members . On the 26 th of July , Roberspierre , thinking himself secure of the Jacobin Club , the Mayor , and Commune of Paris , and above all , of the armed force , the commander of which , Henriot , was his creature ,
came down to the Convention , and delivered a prepared speech , in which he arraigned the conduct of the Committees of Public and General Safety , the Committee of Finance , and the whole system of the government . It was moved that this speech should be printed and distributed . BarrereBillaudVarcnnesCarnbonVadierand other Members
, . , , , of the committee , said , they wished the speech to be printed , for the people had a ri ght to know the whole truth ; and when they had read the charge , they should have an opportunity of reading the answer . They told Roberspierre , that if he had thought fit to attend Ins duty itiMhe . Committee of Public Safety , he would have known i \ ut many , of ' the ^ allegations iu his speech ' were false ; that many
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Memoirs Of The Life Of Roberspierre.
Whilst Roberspierre plotted the downfall of the Girondists , the Hebertists , Dantonists , & c . he was seldom seen in public ; certain of triumphing , he remained behind the curtain , aud only his subaltern instruments appeared . After that time he was scarcely ever absent from the club of the Jacobins , whose tribune he often ascended . — Formerly he never appeared but to decide the arrest or death of his adversaries ; but he had not latterly authority to imprison those
whom he called villains and conspirators in the midst of the Convention . He daily declaimed against them , but no longer dared to name them ; he denounced them to the popular fury , but the silence with which he was heard announced his speedy downfall . Tn vain did ha employ the common matter of revolutionary eloquence . It seemed that the ears of his auditors were tired at his speeches ,, and they listened to them with inattention .
' There now existed two leading factions in Paris , who secretly watched each other-. The Anti-Roberspierrists were the more numerous in the Convention ; and Roberspierre ' s aim was to oppose the Jacobins to them . Hitherto , in every period of the revolution , the most infamous party had conquered ; and it was difficult to conceive that there could
exist one superior to the Roberspierrists in every species of crime . The contest was between Roberspierre and the Committees of Public and General Safety : Roberspierre , in concert with St . Just and Couthon , all three members ofthe Committee of Public Safety ,
had formed a plan to seize into their own hands the whole power delej gated by the Convention to the two committees . For six weeks he had absented himself from the Committee , of Public Safety ; that is , from the time he found " he could not make the other members adopt whatever , he thought'fit to propose . During that period , he and his agents were busy at the Commune , -at the Jacobin Clubsand all over Parisin vilifing the two
com-, , y mittee :, and holding forth the necessity of another revolution , and a new purification of the Convention ; , in other words , a new proscription ofthe Members . On the 26 th of July , Roberspierre , thinking himself secure of the Jacobin Club , the Mayor , and Commune of Paris , and above all , of the armed force , the commander of which , Henriot , was his creature ,
came down to the Convention , and delivered a prepared speech , in which he arraigned the conduct of the Committees of Public and General Safety , the Committee of Finance , and the whole system of the government . It was moved that this speech should be printed and distributed . BarrereBillaudVarcnnesCarnbonVadierand other Members
, . , , , of the committee , said , they wished the speech to be printed , for the people had a ri ght to know the whole truth ; and when they had read the charge , they should have an opportunity of reading the answer . They told Roberspierre , that if he had thought fit to attend Ins duty itiMhe . Committee of Public Safety , he would have known i \ ut many , of ' the ^ allegations iu his speech ' were false ; that many