1S6 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1794. 



awe of his unrelentinjc and sangui- 

 nary temper. The dreadfiil decrees 

 continually following each other, 

 with hardly a day's intermission, 

 reached, in the boundless extent of 

 their application, not only to the 

 pubhc and open conduct of indivi- 

 duals, but even to their mostprivate 

 anddornesticrecesses. Nomanwas 

 safe from the malice or capricious- 

 nessofan inmate, or of an acquaint- 

 ance. Society was in a manner at a 

 stand ; none dared to trust another, 

 unless indeed long experience of his 

 fidelity, or an evident similitude of 

 sentiments, removed all suspicions 

 of intended treachery. The prac- 

 tice of this was become the less in- 

 famous, that informers were secured 

 from detection, by the manner of 

 recelvinn^ and of piroceeding upon 

 their information. No person de- 

 nouncing another was called upon 

 to allege his motives, or to discover 

 his name, profession, or dwelling. 

 Thus, the pvrson accused had no 

 o;)porluuity of confronting, or of 

 Icnowinghisaccuser ; whosedenun- 

 ciation, however, was allowed to 

 carry the greatest weight, and was 

 attended to as absolute and unde- 

 niable proof. 



The revolutionary tribunal, of 

 which thejadgmentswtre final and 

 without appeal, decided at once on 

 the reputation and life of every one 

 that had the misfortune to be 

 brought before it. An accusation, 

 an aiiest, and a sentence of death, 

 were now reputed the same thing; 

 and by those who could not refrain 

 from "ndulging their fancy or levity 

 in the midst of tliese horrors, \\ ere 

 called the Revolutionary Trinity, 

 The tribunal that went by this 

 name, was the ready instrument 

 of the committee of public safety ; 

 and this was devotedly subservient 

 to the suggestions of Robespierre 



and his agents. The forms of jus- 

 tice were, in the unpenetrating eye 

 of themultitude, properly obsen-ed ; 

 but the jury, that f untain of all 

 real justice, was constructed on a 

 basis far removed from tiie foun- 

 dations of equity. Their situation 

 was official and permanent ; and 

 they were not to be challenged by 

 the accused > nor could they be 

 said, with any propriety, to be au- 

 thorized to deliberate on the chnrges 

 laid before them. The victims to 

 be sacrificed were pointed out to 

 them : one of the assassins of the 

 revolutionary tribunal waited every 

 morning upon Robespierre with a 

 list of the prisoners in a state of ac- 

 cusation and trial ; and it was bis 

 custom to mark with a cross the 

 names of tliose that were to be con- 

 demned. 



The jurisdiction with which he 

 had taken care to invest thistiibunal, 

 completely answered every purpose 

 he had in view. The vast multi- 

 plicity of cases in which they were 

 competent to decide, involved al- 

 most every occurrence in society ; 

 and their powers of interp' elation, 

 as well as of decision, were so ex- 

 tensive, that they were able to find 

 almost any person criminal. To 

 oppose the piinciples on which the 

 rcNolution v. as founded ; to calum- 

 niate i^s friends and supporters ; 

 to couinenar.cc and abet aristocrats 

 liable If) punishment ; to labour at 

 per\ertiug the ideas of the people; 

 to a.sperse the character of the revo- 

 lutionary tribunal, — these were of- 

 fences, a general imputation of 

 which subjected the accused to the 

 most rigorous prosecution , while 

 the proofs required were of so lax 

 and unprecise a nature, that it was 

 hardly possible to escape condemna- 

 tion. 

 The committee of public safety, 



which 



