388 ROBESPIERRE ; 
effort to solve the point, by dealing with it in its more comprehen- 
sive character. Thus, the inquiry presents itself, Who was this 
mysterious man, and how did he rise paramount over his contempo- 
raries? He was deficient in those personal attractions which im- 
pose upon the senses, as well as in those brilliant talents which 
seduce the understanding. He possessed neither those virtues by 
which the esteem of others is ensured, nor were his vices, before his 
ascent to power, of so odious a description as to constitute him a 
mere votary to crime. Yet the weight of his popularity infinitely 
exceeded that possessed by all those who could boast of an indefinite 
proportion of these powerful allurements. 
The noble and frank features of Lafayette, the blooming youth of 
Lamotte, and the graceful figure of Barrere, failed not to ensure a 
hearty welcome whenever they presented themselves, during their 
harangues, before the people. But far otherwise was it with Ro- 
bespiérre, whose repulsive exterior formed but too conclusive an in- 
dex of his inward man. His stature was stunted, and his figure 
slender, moving with a graceless and irregular gait, sometimes with 
rapidity, at others with particularly measured steps. His was the 
very countenance to which Julius Cesar was known to have enter- 
tained a strong and unconquerable aversion : with an eye ever rest- 
less, betraying an austere and crabbed disposition, yet not exhibiting 
sufficient firmness to encounter that of a foe, his complexion was 
sallow and bilious, his features being entirely devoid of expression, 
and never animated or flushed by mental impulses. He was incapa- 
ble of assuming either the grand and imposing attitude of the lion, 
or the awful and terrific crouch of the tiger ; but, like the irritated 
viper, he was merely repulsive. Add to all this a certain foppish- 
ness of dress, worthy of a courtier, and calculated to disfigure even a 
handsome man, and Robespiérre’s picture is complete. Yet are we 
tempted to overlook these his follies, whilst contemplating the cou- 
rage and energy he displayed, even whilst indulging these vanities, 
at a period when innocence found safety only by encircling herself in 
the lewd and disorderly garb of debauchery, and wealth protection, 
when clad in the disgusting rags of indigence. He alone appeared 
in public well-dressed, clean, and adorned with all the fashionable 
fineries of the banished nobility. Whilst Condorcet found it neces- 
sary to remind the tribunes that “he too belonged to the Sanscu- 
lottes,” and Marat thought it expedient, in order to maintain his 
popularity, to appear in the Chamber of Deputies, clothed in a tat- 
tered frock coat, in wooden shoes, with his head enveloped in a dirty 
handkerchief, and, stretching himself on the benches, used vulgar 
EE eee 
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