ed, under the _nom de plume_ of "Lalande,
soldat de la patrie," a new paper, the _Eclaireur du peuple, ou le
defenseur de vingt-cinq millions d'opprimes_, which was hawked
clandestinely from group to group in the streets of Paris. At the same time
No. 40 of the _Tribun_ excited an immense sensation. In this he praised the
authors of the September massacres as "deserving well of their country,"
and declared that a more complete "September 2nd" was needed to annihilate
the actual government, which consisted of "starvers, bloodsuckers, tyrants,
hangmen, rogues and mountebanks." The distress among all classes continued
to be appalling; and in March the attempt of the Directory to replace the
_assignats_ (_q.v._) by a new issue of _mandats_ created fresh
dissatisfaction after the breakdown of the hopes first raised. A cry went
up that national bankruptcy had been declared, and thousands of the lower
class of _ouvrier_ began to rally to Babeuf's flag. On the 4th of April it
was reported to the government that 500,000 people in Paris were in need of
relief. From the 11th Paris was placarded with posters headed _Analyse de
la doctrine de Baboeuf_ (sic), _tribun du peuple_, of which the opening
sentence ran: "Nature has given to every man the right to the enjoyment of
an equal share in all property," and which ended with a call to restore the
constitution of 1793. Babeuf's song _Mourant de faim, mourant de froid_
(Dying of hunger, dying of cold), set to a popular air, began to be sung in
the cafes, with immense applause; and reports were current that the
disaffected troops in the camp of Grenelle were ready to join an _emeute_
against the government. The Directory thought it time to act; the _bureau
central_ had accumulated through its agents, notably the ex-captain Georges
[v.03 p.0094] Grisel, who had been initiated into Babeuf's society,
complete evidence of a conspiracy for an armed rising fixed for Floreal 22,
year IV. (11th of May 1796), in which Jacobins and socialists were
combined. On the 10th of May Babeuf was arrested with many of his
associates, among whom were A. Darthe and P. M. Buonarroti, the ex-members
of the Convention, Robert Lindet, J. A. B. Amar, M. G. A. Vadier and Jean
Baptiste Drouet, famous as the postmaster of Saint-Menehould who had
arrested Louis XVI., and now a member of the Council of Five Hundred.

The _coup_ was perfectly successful. The last number of the _Tribun_
appeared on the 24th of April, but