erent school of eighteenth-century thought. But
Danton had been throughout assailed by the Hebertist party, and was
disgusted with their violence. The death of the Girondins appalled
him, for he could see no good reason which would exempt him from their
rate. He had no hope for the future of the Republic, no enthusiasm,
and no belief. From that time in October, his thoughts were turned
towards moderation. He identified Hebert, not Robespierre, with the
unceasing bloodshed, and he was willing to act with the latter, his
real rival, against the raging exterminators. From the end of
September he was absent in his own house at Arcis. At his return he
and Robespierre denounced the irreligious masquerades, and spoke for
the clergy, who had as good a right to toleration as their opponents.

When Robespierre declared that the Convention never intended to
proscribe the Catholic worship, he was sincere, and was taking the
first step that led to the feast of the Supreme Being. Danton acted
from policy only, in opposition to men who were his own enemies.
Chaumette and Hebert succumbed. The Commune proclaimed that the
churches were not to be closed; and early in December the worship of
Reason, having lasted twenty-six days, came to an end. The wound was
keenly felt. Fire and poison, said Chaumette, were the weapons with
which the priests attack the nation. For such traitors, there must be
no mercy. It is a question of life and death. Let us throw up between
us the barrier of eternity. The Mass was no longer said in public. It
continued in private chapels throughout the winter until the end of
February. In April, one head of accusation against Chaumette was his
interference with midnight service at Christmas.

Robespierre had repressed Hebertism with the aid of Danton. The
visible sign of their understanding was the appearance in December of
the _Vieux Cordelier_. In this famous journal Camille Desmoulins
pleaded the cause of mercy with a fervour which, at first, resembled
sincerity, and pilloried Hebert as a creature that got drunk on the
drippings of the guillotine, Robespierre saw the earlier numbers in
proof; but by Christmas he had enough of the bargain. The Convention,
having shown some inclination towards clemency on December 20,
withdrew from it on the 26th, and Desmoulins, in the last of his six
numbers, loudly retracted his former argument. The alliance was
dissolved. It had served the purpose of Robespierre, by defeating