.» HISTORY OF EUROPE. 12t 



janctioned, they sent notice of tl>e 

 ditSculty they were in, to the Con- 

 vention. St. Just immediately 



, ajpved that a decree should pass, em- 

 powering the tribunal to proceed 

 without hearing them, ajrainst those 

 .■\vho insulted the national justice. 

 This enabled the tribunal to execute 

 the commission with which they 

 were entrusted. Danton did not 

 fail, however, to continue making 



^ on fXble and spirited defence, not 

 •■:dccd from any expectation of sa- 

 ng his life, but in order to lay be- 

 fore th* public the tyranny of the 

 revolutionary tribunal, and the bar- 

 barity of those who supported and 

 directed its operations. He spoke 

 pa this matter with such boldness 

 »|nd vehemence, that the president, 

 irritated at a liberty to which he 

 yrz& not accustomed, enjoined him to 

 silence, by ringing the bell used for 

 this purpose. But Danton paid no 



1 regard to this injunction ; andwhen 

 reminded ofit," President," said he, 

 " the voice of a man defending his 

 life and character, ought to silence 

 your bell." Then, turning to the 



I ^udjence, iliat seemed to disapprove 

 of the freedoms he had asbumcd," Ci- 

 tizens," he cried with a loud voice, 

 " judge me not till you hare heard 

 what I have to say. Not only you, 

 bat all France, ought to know it. 

 JJefore six months are past, you 

 wijl tear to pieces those who now 

 |it in judgment on me, as well as 

 tlje^villains by whose orders 1 am 

 brought to trial." To these pro- 

 phetic words he added many others ; 

 ?nd it was with difiiculty he con- 



! sented to retire out of courc to take, 

 as'^jc was told, some refreshmeut. 

 Wiien, by virtue of the decree 

 against refractory prisoners, sen- 

 tence was passtd upon h.m, and on 

 the others who had been brought 



before the tribunal, the jury havin 

 found them guilty of the sevcra' 

 charges laid to them, out of six- 

 teen, one only was acquitted. This 

 was Lallier, a person of the least im- 

 portance among them. 



This sentence was pronouncedat 

 three in the afternoon ; an'-l they 

 were all executed at six in the 

 evening; — so expeditious were the 

 judgments of this bloody tribunal^ 

 in depriving of their lives all those 

 whom it condemned to lose them. 

 The prisoners submitted to their 

 fate wi^h great hrmness. The in- 

 trepidity of Danton was remarka- 

 ble, He retained the cheerfulness 

 and pleasantry of his disposition to 

 the last moment, and metlhc stroke 

 of death with an air of dignity 

 that was long remembered. 



The various discourses and argu- 

 ments used by Danton on liis trial, 

 were carefully circulated by the 

 many friends who adhered to him 

 in secret, and who lamented th-'ir 

 deprivation of a man, by whose 

 courage and talents they had hoped 

 to bs powerfully assisted in the pro- 

 ject they were already forming for 

 the destruction of P-obespierre ; in 

 whom they had long discovered a 

 character so sanguinary, and so 

 fraught with suspicion and rancour, 

 that the smallest difference of opi 

 nion was sufficient to convert him 

 i.ito an enemy to his most faithful 

 intimates, and to induce him tu sa- 

 criiice them without the least hesi- 

 tation. 



Tiie character of Danton, though 

 sullied with uiipardpnableblemishcs, 

 \\ as, when compared to that of his 

 rival, deserving of respect. His 

 temper was optm and sociable; and 

 he was not inclined to deceive those 

 in whom he found a readiness to 

 trust hiiii. Like those who pro- 

 moted 



