150 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1194, 



mics. Nevertheless, he destroyed 

 them on suspicion of tlieir seeking 

 to relax the system of terror ; by 

 which only, it seems, he thought 

 himself secure. The destruction 

 of three such men, convinced their 

 friends that no safety remained 

 but in the removal of Rcbespierrej 

 and that if they were not expe- 

 xlit'ons, he would antic:j<ate them. 

 Full of this conviction, they deter- 

 jiiined, at all events, to carry their 

 point, and, if nec-ssary, to put him 

 to death in the Convention, and 

 trust to their country for an appro- 

 jaation of the deed. 



This however seems to have 

 been the last remedy ih ^y proposed 

 to l.ave recourse to, ior a cure of 

 the evils resulting from his tyranny. 

 They resolved in the mean time, be- 

 fore ccrning to this extremity, to 

 undermine his influence gradually, 

 and to place him in such a 'dtuation 

 as to render him amenable to the 

 ifcrmal justice of his cbuiary. They 

 had vigilantly waited .'or an occa- 

 sion of doing this with propriety, 

 and without seemiig to intend a 

 rupture with him. One at length 

 presented itself, precisely of such 

 a nature. Vv'hether Ilobespiene 

 had any particular measure in con- 

 templation, to the execution of 

 whicli he luirdit not think the 

 powers of the two committees of 

 public and general safety fully 

 adequr^te ; or whether he only in- 

 tended to supply them wirh addi- 

 tional powers for any occasion that 

 might occur, he thought it neces- 

 sary t'^ey should be enlarged. With 

 this vie\\' he procured a decree, by 

 which t'.ey were empowered to 

 con=;i n to the revolutionary tribu- 

 nal whomsoever they might think 

 fit objects of national severity. 

 This decree was made on the Utli 



of June, the day after the gr^mj 

 festival, wherein he had made so 

 pompous a figure 3 and it passed, 

 as many other decrees of his pro- 

 posing had done, without contra- 

 dic'.ion, and with very little deli- 

 beiation. 



But the following day opened 

 a new scene. This decree was so 

 clearly intended 10 rivet the chains 

 of the Convention, that the piirty 

 in opposition to Robespierre, felt 

 the necessity of repelling it imme- 

 diately : they saw no less an op- 

 ponupity of exposing the unwar- 

 rantable designs h^ was pursuing 

 against the authority of the Conven- 

 tion. A man of great intrepidity 

 undertook, on this occasion, to stand 

 forward in asserting the rights and 

 the dignity of the Convention. 

 This was Bourdon de L'Oise, whose 

 firmness had already been displayed 

 in some yery critical instances. He 

 demaiided of the president whether^ 

 by the power vested in the com- 

 mittees, they were authorized to 

 bring the national deputies before 

 the revolutionary tribunal ? 



This question rouzed at once the 

 whole Convention. Surprize and 

 indignation at th.c treatment pre- 

 paring for them was expressed by 

 numbers, who had not possibly at- 

 tended at first to the consequences 

 involved in that decree. Botu'don 

 de L'Oise did not neglect to en- 

 courac^e the spirit that he had re- 

 vived in the Convention. He con- 

 gratulated the members on the 

 proof they had given of the sense 

 which they entertained of theif 

 privileges and of their liberty. 

 Presuming, therefore, that they 

 could never have intended to in- 

 vest the committees ^\ ith the right 

 of bringing the national deputies 

 before the revolutionary tribunal, 



• he 



