HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



154 



to rene\y the disorder? of the 31st 

 pf May in he preceding year. 

 lie compared the triumphant state 

 of Fiance, under the present ad- 

 ministration, to the situation it 

 was in when convulsed with fac- 

 tions. 



Whether these speeches an- 

 swered the end for which they 

 were calculated, which was, it may 

 he presumed, to deceive Robes- 

 picrf-: and his party into security j 

 or whether, being apprized of ihe 

 maclii nations against tlicm, it only 

 served to inciease iheir igi'ance. 

 It appeared hy their proceedings, 

 that they placed no lai ther confi- 

 dence in Jie Convention : the 

 Jacobins were now their main sup- 

 port. Here it was thai an address 

 to the Convention -^^% procured, of 

 a more inflammatory nature than 

 had ever been penned by this au- 

 dacious -.ociety. Herein ihe Jaco- 

 bin club formally denuunce.i a do- 

 me-'' ic faction, framed and conduc- 

 ted by the intrigues of fcrcigners, 

 and aiioing at the ruinol tlie Con- 

 vention and the coir.mittees. This 

 denunciation, however vague and 

 inaccur.'ie, was clearly le-clled at 

 the parties opposed to Robespierre > 

 and shewed in what manner he 

 proposedioact against them. It was 

 time they should come to a decision 

 how to proceed foriheir ownsafety ; 

 and yet it does not seem that, lo the 

 very moment when he began his 

 attack upon tliem, they had con- 

 certed any fixe.i mode of attacking 

 him. Probably they imagiiied that 

 his assurance and vanity would 

 afford thcni more advantages than 

 they could derive from any pre- 

 concerled scheme. It may be pre- 

 sumed therefore that tliey waited 

 vigilantly for such an opportunity, 

 which sooa offered itself. 



Emboldened by their apparent 

 backwardness, and thinking per- 

 haps they were beginning to shrink 

 from the contest, Robespierre first 

 entered the lists, and dared them, 

 as it were, to the encounter. On 

 the 21st of Jvdy 17(j4, the day 

 that followed the denunciation by 

 the Jacobin cl(^b, he resolutely 

 mounted the tribune of the Con- 

 vention, after an absence of six 

 weeks from that assembly, and de- 

 livered a long and atfccted speech 

 on the state of affairs, not forget- 

 ting to take notice of tiie accusauou 

 that he aspired to the piace of dic- 

 tator. Ke violently disclaimed 

 such an idea, and studiously reviled 

 the imputation ; -which he attri- 

 buted to the malicious enmity of 

 the Eritish ministry. He bitterly 

 complained of the calumnies cast 

 upon him, both by his foreign and 

 doHiCsdc foes. The former he 

 said were the avowed enemies of 

 the republic, and well known j but 

 the latter he would not name. 

 They might however be recog- 

 nized by the virulence with whidi 

 they combated his endeavours to 

 establish religion and morality. 

 He severely blamed the neglect of 

 tliose on whom it was incumbent 

 to carry into execution the decree 

 against giving quarter to the Eng- 

 lish ; wiiich had not in a single in- 

 stance been complied v.ith. He 

 concluded by an accusation, of the 

 members of the committees of pub- 

 lic safety and general security, the 

 majority of whom concealed their 

 traitorous views by a base pretence 

 to patriotism. 



The severity of these insinua- 

 tions, contained in this .speech, 

 called up several members ; who 

 retorted upon Robespierre in terms 

 equally se\|pre. When it was 



