#796.) 
murdered; under'the form of a revolu- 
tionary trial, Whatever might have been 
the amount of her crimes, had they been 
fairly enumerated or weighed, and 
whatever punifhment might: have been 
pronounced on them, it is not lefs a fact, 
that nothing like juitice was done her in 
that mock ceremony. No fooner was 
Robefpicrre informed that the procureur of 
the commune had exhibited a charge of fo 
unnatural a die againft the miferable pri- 
foner, than he exclaimed, ‘“ The fool ! 
. 
was it not enough that he had proved her 
a Meffalina, but he muft make an Agrip- 
pina of her too?”’ Robefpicrre inftantly 
faw this abominable conduct of Chau- 
mette would hurt the credit of the caufe, 
on which account he never forgave him, 
though he allowed the zeal to continue to 
operate dn ifferior objects, till it whelmed 
the zealot himfelf in ruin. Chaumette 
had credit now with none but the very 
jcum of the revolution, and fuch recre- 
mentitious matter will always be thrown 
off in national ebullitions of this kind. 
Robefpierre was at this time in the 
ery zenith of his power, yet Chaumette 
Me fuch a propojition in the full com- 
Mune, as gave reafon to many to believe 
that he would fet up as his rival in the 
city. This daring motion was for unit- 
ing all the heads of the forty-eight fec- 
tions of Paris in one council, a meafure 
that would have fuperfeded the force of 
the legiflature itfelf, if not its authority. 
This was a project, conceived in com- 
mon with the famous Hepert, Momo- 
RA, and MazuEt, and would have been 
aided in its execution by the daring 
RKovsin, who at that time commanded 
2 body of the arm revolutionaire. 
How far Robefpierre was apprifed of, 
or approved the fcheme, does not ap- 
pear; many fhrewd obfervers of what 
was pafling, feemed fatisfied that it was 
to have been only a prelude * to the 
fwelling aév’’ that was to follow, when 
the hero of the piece was to have been in 
full play. The majority of the conven- 
tion faw through the veil which covered 
the workings of the plot, and anticipated 
their own danger, fhould it be carried 
inta effect. They, therefore, without 
lofs of time, annulled the proceedings 
already had in it, declared all to be rebels 
who fhould perfift therein. Chau- 
Mette appeared to put a good face on 
the correction. He told the commune, 
on its next meeting, that his propofition 
muft be relinquithed, for that the con- 
vention, with a voice paternal, though 
feyere, had ftamped with nullity their 
Original Anecdites.—Duke de Bourboit 
425 
former refoiution, and that it became 
theim, like dutiful children, to fubmit. 
Hebert,, Momora, and Mazuel, were 
foon after accuied as traitors, imprifon- 
ed, tried, and executed; but Chaumette 
furvived a fhort time longer, as his ene- 
mies thought it {afer to wear away by 
degrees the remaining popular partiality 
for him, before he thould be ftruck at. 
He was taken up, however, on the 26th 
of March, 1794, under a charge of cons 
fpiring; with the foregoing men, againft 
the government, and guillotined on the 
13th of April following, without the 
fmalleft effort, on the part of Robefpierre, 
to fave him. 
He faid, at the place of execution, 
that the revolution had inflamed his ima- 
gination, and at times intoxicated his 
brain, from the too free gratification of 
his vengeance for the perfonal injuries 
he had received. He faid, alfo, chat 
three inftances had come to light of his 
ariftocratic and inveterate enemies at- 
tempting his life; and that a defire of 
reprifal, in which he conceived the fafe- 
ty of the commonwealth in a meafure in- 
volved, made him feek all oc¢cafions for 
arrogating power, but that he never che- 
rifhed an idea of poffeiing any perma- 
nent authority, not even of a fecondary 
or fubordinate nature. 
THE DUKE DE BOURBON 
Is defcended from the moft ancient fa- 
mily of Europe, and. one which was 
alfo reckoned the moft Wu/ffrious during 
an age when birth, and not virtue, 
conferred a claim to immortality. Being 
of the brahch Of Bourbon-Condé, and 
{on of Prince Louis Jofeph de Bourbon, 
and Charlotte Godefride Elizabeth de 
Rohan-Soubéfe, he is  confequently 
nearly related, not only to the late king 
of France, but alfo to the kings of Spain, 
and thé two Sicilies, and many of the: 
princes of the empire. i 
‘The hiftory of this nobleman carries a 
moral along with it, and ought to teach 
humility to the ariftocracy of Europe. 
To thofe who are zealots for the rights 
of humanity, his misfortunes, however, 
will {carce afford even a tranfitory pang, 
when: it is recolleéted, that on his im- 
mente eftates, the life of a partridge was 
in. equal eftimation with the life of a 
peafant, and the game laws enforced far 
more ftriétly than the criminal code! , 
The duke lately refided in Golden- 
fquare, where he atted as an agent for 
his “ coufins’’ the emigrant princes; he 
ig. not, indeed, acknowledged at the 
B Zoe eourt 
