22 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1794, 



the effect of the imagination, he was 

 fond of attracting the notice of the 

 iTomen, and had them imprisoned, 

 for the sple pleag^ire of restoring 

 ,. them their Irberty. He made them 

 ^ shed tears, to wipe them from their 

 rfieeks. In practising his delusions, 

 it was his particular aim to act on 

 tender and weak minds, He spared 

 the priests, because they could for- 

 ward his plans; andthe superstitious 

 and devotees, because he could conr 

 ■vert them into instruments to favour 

 his power. His style and expresr 

 sion were in a manner mystical ; 

 and, next to pride, subtlety was the 

 iKost marked feature of l!is charac- 

 ter. He was surrounded by those 

 only whose conduct had been highly 

 criminal, because he could, with onf 

 word, deliver tnem over to the pu- 

 pishnaent of the law. He at once 

 protected ^nd terrified a part of the 

 convention. He converted crimes 

 into errors, and errors into crimes. 

 He dreaded even the shades of thp 

 martyrs of liberty, whose influence 

 te weakened by Butstifuting his 

 own. He was so extremely suspi- 

 cious and (distri^stful, that ^e could 

 have found it in his ^eart to guillo- 

 tine the dead themselves. To enter 

 into a strict analysj? of hj? character, 

 Robespierre, born without genius, 

 could not create circumstances, but 

 profited by them v.ith address. To 

 tbe profound hypocrisy of Cromwell, 

 he joined the v rutliy of Sylla, with- 

 out possessing any of the great mili- 

 tary and poiiticiit qualities of either 

 •f these ambitious adventurers. His 

 pride and his ambition, far above bis 

 means, exposed him to ridicule. To 

 observe the emphasis with which he 

 boasted of having proclaimed the 

 existence of the supreme being, one 

 might haTe said, that, according to 

 )lis opinion, God would not have 



existed without him, When, on th* 

 night of the 27th of July, he found 

 himself abandoned by his friends, 

 he dibchargcd a pistol in his mouth, 

 and, at the same time, Agent-d'(irn>e 

 wounded him by thedischarge ot an? 

 other. Robespierre fell bathed in 

 blood ; and a ions-adott?, approach- 

 inghini, very coolly pronounced these 

 words in his ear, " There exists a 

 Supreme Being." Previous to his 

 execution, the bandage beijig taken 

 off his head, his jaw fell down, in 

 consequence of the wound which he 

 had given himself. 



AUGUST. 



1st. The commissioners appoint^ 

 ed by parliament for issuing Exr 

 chequer bills, for the relief of the 

 commercial credit of the nation, 

 hare made their final repprt on the 

 bustnes entrusted to them, from 

 which the following s^teme^it ap- 

 pears : 

 Amount of Ejchequef i£ 



bills granted under 



the act of parliament 5,000,0CQ 

 Lent upqn different ap- 

 plications , . . , , 5,202,200 

 Ther« were applications 

 ■ for above ...... l,00P,O09 



more ; but they were 



withtjp'wri, and some 



few were refused for 



want of the security 



required. 

 Profit arising from interest 



paid ;3,0S3 



Expcncc of executing the 



commission ...... 8,685 



Profitpaidintothe Exchequer 4,348 



7th. The most violent storm of 



rain and hail, accompanied with 



t.iunder and lightning, took place in 



- • the 



