5797-4 
nefs of his manners. His countenance 
was animated, denoted great fufcep- 
tibiliry,; and, at the fame time, gave 
Pens of unufual benignity. He enlifted 
under Robefpierre, as Lucius Cornelius 
did under Marius; and, by the initruc- 
tion of that able matter, was qualifying 
apace to put as many of his fellow-crea- 
tures to death, by the defpotifm of the 
faw, as thofe fanguinary generals had 
done by the edge of the fword. He pre- 
ferved, however, during the firft part of 
his political career, his reputation tor the 
gentlenefs of his difpofition, and for the 
equity of his fentiments, infomuch that 
he was perfuaded to affume the preno- 
men of Arifiides, which a rifing vani- 
ty only could have prevailed upon him 
‘to-do. He jacked, however, the gene- 
rofity of the Athenian whofe name he 
had affumed, for he could not forgive 
even a fuppofed enemy; like him, in- 
deed, he appeared to dilregard riches, as, 
after his execution, it was found, that he 
had not left money enough behind him 
to convey his wife and child to the place 
of her original refidence. 
GEORGE CoutTHON (fuch were his 
real names) was a native of Orfay, inthe 
department of Puy de Déme, for which 
Gepartment he was eleéted a reprefenta- 
tive to the convention. The firft time 
he diftinguifhed himfelf in the fenate, 
was in the proceedings againft the 
twenty-one deputies, on whom his in- 
vectives fell with confiderable weight. 
He was the more attended to by the 
whole aflembly from the circumftance of 
his being allowed to fpéak in his feat; 
being a cripple from his infancy. When, 
therefore, he wifhed to deliver an ovi- 
Original Anecdotes.—Couthon. 
nion, a2 member near him always ad-' 
drefied the prefident, faying, ‘ Couthon 
defired to {peak,” and he was perhaps 
‘the only member whe never expericnc- 
ed any interruption. ‘The flattering 
approbation beftowed upoa him by the 
minority, for his reproaches of the Giron- 
dims, marked him out to Robetpierre as 
a fit perfon to intereft in his defigns, 
which were to deftroy all thofe men 
whofe exiftence he conceived menaccd 
his own. From the dupe, COUTHON, in a 
fhort time, became the abfolute creature, 
of Robefpierre; fo that when the latter 
had any daring or odious meafure to pro- 
pofe to the legiflature, the former was 
thought the fittett perfon to communi- 
cate it. “he French revolution has ne« 
ver ceafed to produce ftriking events ; 
but it appears unaccountable, that the 
fame convention, which ftood the moft 
4 
219 
formidable fhocks and dangers, as it were, 
unmoved, fhould become for a moment 
fo tame and fubmitfive, as to allow the 
member of a committee, created entirely 
by themfelves, to propofe and obtain their 
fanétion to a decree for accufing any of 
its members, at the will of the faid com- 
mittee, and hurry him to the tribunal, 
without any of the ufual forms of im- 
peachment ; not to mention another de- 
cree, {till more abominable, denying to 
imputed confpirators the benefit of coun+ 
fel on their trials. 
When the committee proceeded to 
thefe meafures, every thinking man con- 
cluded the crifis of the revolutionary fe- 
ver was approaching rapidly. By the 
manner in which the tyrants proceeded, 
it was impoffible that any obnoxious per- 
fon marked down. for deftruétion, could 
efcape, fince the tribunal was forbidden 
to fet any one at liberty, though acquit- 
ted by the jury, until a report was made 
to the committee, and its approbation 
had for the prifoner’s enlargement. 
The eighth of Thermidor decided the 
fate of the ufurpers; and it may be 
added, of the liberties of France; fince, 
had any one of them poffefled the courage 
‘and prefence of mind of a Cromweli, he 
might have triamphed over the conven- 
tion, and have attained fupreme power. 
Coutuox was refcued from the Luxem- 
bourg prifon, to which he had been 
committed; but it was impoffible that 
every movement concerning him fhould 
not be made public, fince the diftorted 
condition of his frame made it neceflary 
that he fhould be carried from place to 
place ia men’s arms. Inthe laft defenfive 
ftruggie, the imbecility of CourHon’s 
mind appeared as confpicuous as that of 
his body He was feized in a clofet, in 
the Maifon de Ville, drowned in tears, 
with a knife in his hand, an infrument 
which he had not courage to ‘make ufe 
of. The horror of his execution was in- 
creafed by the difficulty of attaching 
him to the moving plank of the guijlo- 
tine. The executioner was compelled, ac 
lait, to lay him on his fide, to receive the 
ftroke of the axe; fuch was the frightful 
contraction of his lower limbs. This 
fhocking ceremony took up twice the 
time occupied in difpatching the other 
feven fuiierers. | 
[Thefe anecdotes will be REGULARLY 
CONTINUED, and the Conduéfors re- 
gueft the affifiance of all perfons, who by 
a recent refidence in France, are qual- 
fied to communicate original and intereft-— 
to fads. | ; 
aun) ORIGINAL 


