HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



189 



annexed to their ft?tion, Robes- 

 pierre, whose aim extended to the 

 entire e:islavetn2nt of the Con- 



ivention, had long borne with im- 

 patience that law by which the 

 members wjre entitled to bs heard 

 in th^ir own defence, before tlie 

 passing an accusacion against them: 

 projecting to remove by degrees 

 every mf^mber obnoxious to him, 

 hec'ear'y saw the diOiciilty of ac- 



, corrjjiishing such a design while 

 that law existed. Thccapacity and 

 elocd'-nce of those whom he was 

 chiti^V bent to destroy, formed an 

 imjvcdiment which might easily 

 frustrate his attempts against them, 



' and experience h?d shewn, that this 

 privilege liad been of essential 

 utility to members in tlie most cri- 

 tical positions. He employed there- 

 fore his interest with the Jacobins 

 to suppress this privilege, know- 

 ing their inveteracy to those mem- 

 bers whom he proposed to attack 

 after its suppression. The Con- 

 vention could not certainly be un- 

 aware of his motives for making so 

 bold an attempt ; but either the 

 number of his partizans in the me- 

 tropolis was so great, and the influ- 

 ence of the Jacobins so extensive, 

 that they appreiiended an insurrec- 

 tion in favour of a measure that 

 appeared equitable to the people, 

 as it placed them upon an equal 

 footing withother citizens j or they 

 dreaded to render themselves sus- 

 pected by a man whose talents for 

 intrigue and artifice were such, that 

 even under the protection of this 

 law, those who feared his machina- 

 tions might not thinlc themselves 

 secure, and durst not therefore 

 ' nly oppose its repeal, lest, if he 

 . luld carry his point, which they 

 much apprthended he would, not- 



withstanding their opposition, he 

 might immediately convert against 

 them the success he had obtained, 

 in despite of their endeavours to 

 prevent it. 



Whatever motives may have 

 svvi«'ed the Convention at this 

 time, the motion to repeal this pri- 

 vilege was warmly approved and 

 recorded ; and a decree was made 

 to this purpose, to the great sur-r 

 prize of the public, which might 

 well express its amazement at tlie 

 readiness with which their repre.i 

 sentat'.ves gave up one of the strong- 

 est safeguards of their freedom, and 

 delivered themselves, as it were, 

 into the hands of a man who was 

 justly suspected of plotting the de- 

 struction of many of them, and, in 

 order to accomplisli it, had framed 

 the very measure wherein they so 

 passively acquiesced. 



This compliance did them great 

 prejudice in the public mind. Not 

 only their personal freedom, but 

 their official dignity was lost in the 

 eyes of the multitude, as well as of 

 him who had thus succeeded in de- 

 gradingthem, andwho, emboldened 

 by their want even of sagacity or 

 of firmness, determined to stop at 

 no measures in carrying into imme- 

 diate execution the many others he 

 now projected in consequence of 

 his success in this one. He novr 

 unfolded the sentiments he had in 

 some degree wrapped up before in 

 the dark recesses of his mind : he 

 explained himself with less ambi- . 

 gaity on those subjects that lay 

 nearest to his uufecliiig heart : he 

 unequivocally asserted, that the re- 

 public could not be preserved with- 

 out thedestruction ofallitsopposers; 

 and tiiat to pity those v.ho were 

 condemned to suffer for incir inimi- 

 cal 



