he is employed to execute the purposes of more able heads. This triumvirate, resembling the celebrated triumvirate of Rome in every thing that bears the marks of baseness and of crimes, had associated in their guilt a number of lesser chiefs, who in their turn had enlisted others as instruments of the [P 9] same horrid purpose. The organization of this executive assembly was formed with so much address, that the less confidential members of it were ignorant how they came together, whilst those who were the primary movers were careful to leave no positive traces of their guilt. Hence arises the extreme difficulty of punishing these murderers; for though the complicated chain of evidence may be pursued to a certain length, yet it always breaks off in the link that leads to conviction. These chiefs had contributed to the annihilation of the power of the legislative assembly by their audacity, as much as itself had done by its want ot energy and courage; and taking advantage of its weakness and little consideration with the people, they had carried their views, as it is generally believed, to the immediate overthrow of what remained of the then existing system, and meant to establish a government of [P 10] municipalities, Mr. Burke's forty-four thousand republics, of which Paris should be the center, and they the worthy protectors. The idea was great, byt the atchievement was difficult. Who believes, that knows any thing of the character of these men, or who has observed with any attention their conduct since, that any thing but such inordinate ambition was their aim? But was it likely, you will ask, that the extirpation of priests, of the imprisoned agents of the aristocracy, and proscribed conspirators, could lead to the furtherance of their views? How, by making themselves the executors of such summary justice, could they arrive at the accomplishment of their wishes? Those victims alone would certainly have proved insufficient to the accomplishment of their designs, and there is no doubt that the proscription extended to the most distinguished members of the Assembly, and to the most virtuous and [P 11] respectable men of the executive council. But these statesmen of the Commune felt that to strike at once those men, whom the people had been accustomed to consider their firmest friends, would be too daring and desperate an act. A general insurrection of the mob, therefore, seemed to them the best mode of eventually accomplishing their purpose. And as no mob sufficiently great was to be procured by their own means, they contrived to make the Assembly itself ignorantly acquiesce in their diabolical projects. On the day, therefore, when these massacres began, the Commune appeared at the bar, and informed the Assembly, that at two o'clock they should order the alarm guns to fire, and the tocsin to sound, that the people summoned into the Champ de Mars might from thence march directly to meet the approaching enemy, who were coming with hasty steps to [P 12] Paris, after having cut off the four thousand men sent to the relief of Verdun. -- This was a falsehood, contrived and calculated, as they hoped, to accomplish their purpose: but though the people were much agitated, they were not sufficiently wound up for such an enterprize. Instead therefore of meeting in immense crowds in the Champ de Mars, where these assassins would have more readily found the means of urging them to any crime, they met peacably in their different sections to consult on the best measures for the public safety, totally ignorant at the moment what horrid deeds were about to be transacted. Finding, therefore, that the people were not to be made the instruments, they were forced to make use of the means which they had previously concerted. The priests confined in the Carmes, under pretence of waiting some opportunity for banishment, [P 13] according to a decree of the Assembly, fell the first victims. -- The prisoners in the Abbaye were the next, who had been sent thither since the 10th of August by warrants from their murderers: the other prisons were visited successively, where this work of death, for the executioners were very few, lasted two days, and at the prison of La Force extended to four. One is tempted to enquire with Lear, "Is there any cause in nature that makes these hard hearts?" Various conjectures have been formed respecting the number put to death in those four days -- they have been lessened or exaggerated according to the political opinions of the relater. Lists of all the prisoners, at that time confined, are now printed by authority; and the amount is stated at one thousand and eighty-eight, including the felons, who formed nearly half the [P 14] number. "But, it has been said," said Louvet, in his accusation of Roberspierre, "if the people did not participate in these murders, why did they not prevent them? Why? Because the tutelar authority of Petion was fettered; because Roland spoke in vain; because the minister of justice remained silent; because the presidents of the forty-eight sections, who were ready to suppress these horrible outrages, waited for orders, which the commander in chief never issued; because municipal officers, [P 15] wearing the national scarf, the ensign of their judicial authority, presided at these atrocious executions." [Williams's translation] Twice Petion wrote to Santerre, the commander in chief of the national guard of Paris, conjuring him to send a sufficient guard to the prisons, to protect the prisoners from violence; but Santerre was called upon in vain. Twice Petion went himself to the prison de la Force, and after describing, in his speech upon Roberspierre's accusation, the spectacle which there presented itself, with all the sensibility of indignant virtue, he adds, "And the men who passed judgment, and the men who executed that judgment, performed [P 16] their office with as much security as if the law had called upon them to fulfil those functions. They boasted to me of their justice, their attention to distinguish the innocent from the guilty, and their important services. They demanded, can it be believed! they demanded payment for their time. I was filled with horror at the request. "I spoke to them the austere language of the law -- I spoke to them with that feeling of deep indignation with which I was penetrated. I obliged them to depart. Scarcely was I gone myself, when they returned. I went a second time, and again forced them to leave the place; but that [P 17] night they finished their horrible butchery." [Williams's translation] Such were the immediate evils of the second of September: their consequences will probably extend far beyond the limits of that country which was the theatre of this inhuman violence. The inhabitants of Paris must bear, through every succeeding age, the recorded disgrace of having remained in a state of stupified astonishment and terror, while no more than fifty hired assassins imprinted an indelible stain upon the country. But the bitter punishment of having incurred that disgrace, is, perhaps, all which this country has to fear. Anarchy cannot be lasting. The evils it may produce will be but the evils of this day and of tomorrow ---- Those disorders which may for a while convulse the infant republic, will cease with the lives of their perpetrators, who can assassinate individuals, but cannot assassinate opinions, [P 18] which appear to be widely diffused. Yet these are considerations which may lead us to fear, that, if the evils of anarchy will be temporary, they will also be terrible. It is well known that all the legislative assembly did, was to undo what the constituent assembly had done. Convinced, from the conduct of the court, that the liberty of France could only be preserved by the terrible means of another revolution, the second legislature, not deeming the national guard sufficient for this purpose, armed every man in Paris, and consequently placed a formidable power in the hands of that swarm of idle and profligate persons which infests great capitals, and who, having nothing to lose, feel that "havock, and spoil and ruin are their gain." Such persons are, under an established government, checked in their outrages on society, by the terror of punishment; but in the [P 19] crisis of a revolution they become the dangerous instruments of party rage and faction. They may still commit enormities, of which the bourgeois of Paris, who appear since the second of September to be sunk in a state of complete stupefaction, may remain pusillanimous witnesses; but which may provoke the indignation of the other departments of the kingdom, where, in general, the love of liberty is connected with the utmost horror of anarchy. Hence civil commotions may arise. Upon the whole, the French revolution is still in its progress, and who can decide how the last page will finish? The surrounding nations of Europe, after contemplating the savage spectacle which the second of September presented, will perhaps feel that despotism, armed with its arbitrary impositions, its gloomy towers, and its solitary dungeons, is not more hideous than anarchy. Despotism [P 20] may be compared to a stream, which, supplied from a casual spring, or unequal source, leaves, for the most part, the region through which it passes parched and desolate; yet sometimes shedding partial moisture, cheers the eye with a spot of scanty verdure -- but anarchy is the impetuous torrent that sweeps over the land with irresistible violence, and involves every object in one wide mass of ruin. On the 20th of September the national convention assembled at Paris. On the assembly every eye was fixed with eager expectation. Invested with unlimited powers, its august mission was to give a new impulse to human affairs, to introduce a better order of things. -- The fate not only of France, but of Europe, of mankind, seemed entrusted to its wisdom and its virtue; and the happiness or misery of ages appeared to be suspended on its decisions. It was fondly [P 21] hoped that its edicts would dispel the moral chaos of popular passions, and give birth to intellectual harmony and order. Here be it thine to calm and guide
The swelling democratic tide,
To watch the state's uncertain frame,
And baffle faction's partial aim.
[M. Akenside, "Ode to the Right Honourable Francis Earl of Huntingdon," 171-4.]
Rise Of Nations Throne And Patriots Serial Key
Download File 🔥 https://urluso.com/2xYitS 🔥
be457b7860
Saat Kadam Hai Full Movie Download Kickass dokument gitarrennot
Nec Versapro Va10j Drivers For Mac
Libro Posicionamiento Al Ries Y Jack Trout.pdf
Special 26 2 Movie Full Hd 1080p Free Download