Chamberss Edinburgh Journal, No. 426 | Page 4

thereon. A volume of
Jean Jacques Rousseau or of Racine was generally open upon his table,
and attested his philosophical and literary predilections.'
With a mind continually on the stretch, and concerned less or more in
all the great movements of the day, the features of this remarkable
personage 'relaxed into absolute gaiety when in-doors, at table, or in the
evening, around the wood-fire in the humble chamber of the
cabinet-maker. His evenings were all passed with the family, in talking
over the feelings of the day, the plans of the morrow, the conspiracies
of the aristocrats, the dangers of the patriots, and the prospects of
public felicity after the triumph of the Revolution. Sometimes
Robespierre, who was anxious to cultivate the mind of his betrothed,
read to the family aloud, and generally from the tragedies of Racine. He
seldom went out in the evening; but two or three times a year he
escorted Madame Duplay and her daughter to the theatre. On other
days, Robespierre retired early to his chamber, lay down, and rose
again at night to work. The innumerable discourses he had delivered in
the two national assemblies, and to the Jacobins; the articles written for
his journal while he had one; the still more numerous manuscripts of
speeches which he had prepared, but never delivered; the studied style
so remarkable; the indefatigable corrections marked with his pen upon
the manuscripts--attest his watchings and his determination.
'His only relaxations were solitary walks in imitation of his model, Jean
Jacques Rousseau. His sole companion in these perambulations was his
great dog, which slept at his chamber-door, and always followed him
when he went out. This colossal animal, well known in the district, was
called Brount. Robespierre was much attached to him, and constantly
played with him. Occasionally, on a Sunday, all the family left Paris
with Robespierre; and the politician, once more the man, amused
himself with the mother, the sisters, and the brother of Eléonore in the
wood of Versailles or of Issy.' Strange contradiction! The man who is
thus described as so amiable, so gentle, so satisfied with the humble
pleasures of an obscure family circle, went forth daily on a
self-imposed mission of turbulence and terror. Let us follow him to the
scene of his avocations. Living in the Rue St Honoré, he might be seen

every morning on his way, by one of the narrow streets which led to the
rooms of the National Assembly, or Convention, as the legislative body
was called after the deposition of Louis XVI. The house so occupied,
was situated on a spot now covered by the Rue Rivoli, opposite the
gardens of the Tuileries. In connection with it, were several apartments
used by committees; and there, by the leading members of the House,
the actual business of the nation was for a long time conducted. It was
by the part he played in one of these formidable committees, that of
'Public Safety'--more properly, public insecurity--that he becomes
chargeable with his manifold crimes. For the commission of these
atrocities, however, he held himself to be entirely excused; and how he
could possibly entertain any such notion, remains for us to notice.
The action of the Revolution was in the hands of three parties, into
which the Convention was divided--namely, the Montagnards, the
Girondists, and the Plaine. The last mentioned were a comparatively
harmless set of persons, who acted as a neutral body, and leaned one
way or the other according to their convictions, but whose votes it was
important to obtain. Between the Montagnards and the Girondists there
was no distinct difference of principle--both were keen republicans and
levellers; but in carrying out their views, the Montagnards were the
most violent and unscrupulous. The Girondists expected that, after a
little preliminary harshness, the Republic would be established in a
pacific manner; by the force, it may be called, of philosophic
conviction spreading through society. They were thus the moderates;
yet their moderation was unfortunately ill manifested. At the outset,
they countenanced the disgraceful mobbings of the royal family; they
gloried in the horrors of the 10th of August, and the humiliation of the
king; and only began to express fears that things were going too far,
when massacre became the order of the day, and the guillotine assumed
the character of a national institution. They were finally borne down, as
is well known, by the superior energy and audacity of their opponents;
and all perished one way or other in the bloody struggle. Few pity
them.
We need hardly recall the fact, that the discussions in the Convention
were greatly influenced by tumultuary movements out of doors. At a

short distance, were two political clubs, the Jacobins and the Cordeliers,
and there everything was debated and determined on. Of these
notorious