BOOK IV. Dreadful State of Paris.-Rupture between the Jacobins and Cor- deliers.-Arrest and Execution of Anacharsis Clootz, Hebert and their Accomplices.- Arrest of Danton, Camille Desmoulins, Fa- bre d'Eglantine, and others.—Intrepidity of Danton.-His Death and Character.-Fresh Victims.-General Dillon-Chaumette -Gobet, the apostate Bishop of Paris-M. de Malesherbes- M. d'Espremenil-Count d'Estaing-Thouret-Duke de Biron- Roucher-Baron Trenk-Vicountess de Noailles-Lavoisier -Colonel Newton.-Trial, Execution and Character of the Princess Elizabeth.-Affecting and unparalleled Heroism of Madame Lavergne.-New System of Religion proposed by Ro- bespierre.—Decree of the Convention acknowledging the Exist- ence of the Supreme Being, the Immortality of the Soul, and for regulating the new mode of Worship.-Popularity of Robespierre. -Amiral's Attempt to assassinate Collot d'Herbois.-Affair of 4 JAN 1965 LIBRAR THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. [1794. blood flowed at his command, while he seemed to interfere in nothing. He had the art of collecting around him a number of able men, to whom he gave no time to acquire any influence that might rival his own, but the moment they attempted to elevate themselves too much, some one of his satellites compelled them to return to their former obscurity. His authority in the Convention and in the clubs was so predominant, that any measure known to be agreeable to his wishes was certainly carried. Danton, at this period, seconded all his black, desigus. About seven thousand prisoners were incarcerated in the different prisons in Paris, which were daily thinned, and as often replenished, and no person could say one day what place he was to inhabit the next. Long before day-light every morning, the streets of the capital were filled with groups of wretched women and children, who crowded round the doors of those who dealt in provisions, uttering their complaints in the loudest accents of distress. Since the law of the maximum, Paris bore the appearance of a city desolated by a long siege, and the shop-keepers were forced to sell their goods under the terror of death, while the country people brought in their stores with fear and trembling. No more was an elegant carriage or sumptuous equipage to be seen; every part of the town formerly inhabited by the wealthy and the fashionable was deserted; and the inscription of national property,' pointed out the places of their former residence. Liberty, Equality, Fraternity and Death,' were inscribed on some of the houses,'Death to tyrants and their accomplices,' on others. The word DEATH met the eye in almost every corner, as if to remind the passenger of the ravages which the King of Terrors was then making in that devoted city. When the house was inhabited, a long paper expressed the names, the ages, and the professions of all its inmates. The nearest friends feared to recognize each other in the streets, and the citizens shunned every face, lest it should be a suppliant, coming to seek an asylum under their roof. As both property and life were exposed to destruction, if their exterior differed in the least from that of the members of the revolutionary committee, every person wore an air of ferocity, with a long beard, a black wig, and mustachios. No conversation was to be heard but such as outraged modesty, and tainted even the simplicity of childhood. If sometimes an appearance of gaiety was observable, it was soon discovered to be occasioned by the ferocious sally of some of the satellites of terror amongst a trembling audience. The public amusements partook of the same hideous gloom, and the wretches who had spent the day in beholding or assisting at the execution of sixty or eighty victims, repaired in the evening to the theatre to behold the Triumph of the Mountain, or the Death of Marat. When the unhappy citizens retired at night to their houses, which were no longer an asylum, the sound of a hammer, or the stopping of a carriage in the street, was sufficient to strike terror into |