instrumental in bringing on the Revolution, were
sacrificed by the triumphant Jacobins. Women and retired citizens were
not permitted to escape their fear and vengeance. Marie Antoinette,
and the Princess Elizabeth, and Madame Roland, were among the first
victims. Then followed the executions of Bailly, Mayor of Paris;
Barnave, one of the most eloquent and upright members of the
Constituent Assembly; Dupont Dutertre, one of the ministers of
Louis XVI.; Lavoisier, the chemist; Condorcet, the philosopher;
General Custine; and General Houchard; all of whom had been the allies
of the present dominant party. The Duke of Orleans, called _Egalite_,
who had supported the revolt of the 10th of August, and had voted for
the execution of the king, shared the fate of Louis XVI. He was the
father of Louis Philippe, and, of all the victims of the revolution,
died the least lamented.
The "Decemvirs" had now destroyed the most illustrious advocates of
constitutional monarchy and of republican liberty. The slaughter of
their old friends now followed. The first victim was Danton himself,
who had used his influence to put a stop to the bloody executions
which then disgraced the country, and had recognized the existence of
a God and the rights of humanity. For such sentiments he was denounced
and executed, together with Camille Desmoulins, and Lacroix, who
perished because they were less wicked than their associates. Finally,
the anarchists themselves fell before the storm which they had raised,
and Hebert, Gobet, Clootz, and Vincent died amid the shouts of general
execration. The Committee of Public Safety had now all things in their
own way, and, in their iron hands, order resumed its sway from the
influence of terror. "The history of the world has no parallel to the
horrors of that long night of suffering, because it has no parallel to
the guilt which preceded it; tyranny never assumed so hideous a form,
because licentiousness never required so severe a punishment."
The Committee of Public Safety, now confident of its strength, decreed
the disbanding of the revolutionary army, raised to overawe the
capital, and the dissolution of all the popular societies which did
not depend on the Jacobin Club, and devoted all their energies to
establish their power. But death was the means which they took to
secure it, and two hundred thousand victims filled the prisons of
France.
[Sidenote: Death of Robespierre.]
At last, fear united the m
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