Robespierre on Revolutionary Governm€Nt, 25 December 1793

ORK THE TEIìIì.OIì AT IøORK

stablished according ro rhe law Robespierre on revolutionary governm€nt, m eirher by order of rhe repre_ 25 December 1793 :he.departments, or by vìrrue of e charged with preparing, each 'rsons, with issuing arrest war_ On 10 October 1793, the government was declared 'revolutionary until ìerr papers. Commanders of rhe peace', even though the structures and institutions had been put in place I be delivered shall be required two months previously. A few months later, Maximilien Robespierre Lissal. (1758-94), the person probably most associated with the Terror, defined he arrest of any person unless :r:i. the principles of 'revolutionary government' in this speech to the tlute majority of votes. ìê Convention. Revolutionary government had to be founded on terror, but rll first be raken to jails 'j in the a terror which was tempered by virtue. hall be kept under surveiilance :;'i ril rll be rransferred into narional lVe shall first outline the principles and the needs of revolutionary govern- ions. shall be required, as soon ment; we shall then show the causes which tend to stifie them at birth. desrgnare and prepare for rhis The theory of revolut.ionary government is as nevr' as the Revolution which brought it into being. One should not look for it in the books of ;o_lutely essenrial belongings political writers, who failed to foresee the Revolution, or in the laws of there under guard until the ryrants who, happy to abuse their power, are little concerned with seeking its legitimacy. Moreover, for the aristocrac¡ the phrase [revolutionary gov- y the derainees and divided ernment] is an object ofterror or a pretext for slander; for tyrants, scandal; trusted, preferabl¡ to farhers for many people, an enigma. It needs to be explained to everyone so that at e or shall go ro rhe frontiers. Ieast those good citizens will rally in support of the principles of public the value of a day and a half interest. It is the function of government to guide the moral and physical force of the 'wa¡d without delay ro rhe nation towards the object for which it was established. onvenrion the list ofpersons It is the function of constitutional government to maintain the Republic; r rherr arrest, and the papers the object of revolutionary government is to establish it. Revolution is the war of liberry against its enemies; the Constitution is the a¡ if there is occasion, hold government of a victorious and peaceful liberty. jails above menrioned, rhose The revolutionary government needs an extraordinary activity precisely :n declared that there is no because it is at war. It is subjected to less uniform and less rigorous rules d ofcharges brought against because the circumstances in which it finds itself are tempestuous and shifting, and especially because it has been obliged to constantly deploy new and rapid resources to meet new and pressing dangers. lsper-Charles Roux, Histoire The principal concern of the constitutional government is civil liberry and Paris, 1834-8), vot. 29, pp. that of revolutionary government, public iiberty. Under a constitutional government, it is almost enough to protect individual liberties against abuses from the State; under a revolutionary government, the State is obliged to defend itself against the factions which attack it. Revolutionary government owes good citizens the protection of the State; to the e nemies of the people, it owes only death.

105 .TERIì.OR TI-IE ,{T !{/ORK source: 'Rapport sur res principes du Gouvernement révorutionnaire faít du comité de salut public par au nom Source Maximilien Rooespierre,, in Jacques (ed.), La Pensée Godechot 1 793-1 révotutionnaire fpar¡s, réä¿), jp. roo_r.

Letrer by a condemned prisoner, Z Marcn L794

rn December The 17g3, an insurrection broke out in the name of rerigious lib_ erly ín the communes i ntrr of La Ferlé'Gaucher, Mauperlius and Meiteray, to opp the cry of 'Long rive rerigion and the cathoric army! Down with the and the Jacobins!' crubs oblir A number of peopre, mosty ar-tisans, incruding were arrested, thos the erementary schoor teacher Louis prunete. in"f ported to paris *"ru trun"- four where they were condemned to death. shor-'y before his that execution, Louis prunete, one of the thousands of victims of the istrative machinery admin_ nev( behind the Terror, wrote the forowing retter to his wife. sprir to tl' To citizeness prunere, scrrool teacher, La l-er:té-G1uch-er in Brie, Paris, 12 Ventôse, year at Meilreray II of rn" n.p.,ni. Jn. u.ra indivisible The N¿ My dear friend, Safet¡ I have raken this mor Ärti< oruilthati",kil',i'"i"':ir',',''rïî3:.#:::";;*lî,1::;n:;::,ïä: of the ¡ children and ,A.rti< in rhe Supreme Being who *,rít b. yo". f;;; It has already been .*å ho,.., ri".ã ";;^roìr r,roporr. libert¡ l rt"". ,læred the ne*s of my condemna_ tion as a resulr or negligencg.on ,r'. pu;r-;¡';;;;.ì;iiriå;: ,trtic commune of rrom the establisl Mei,era¡ who did no,,..uc the documentation Learn I asked him ro. to console vourself, my dear frl.ra, and the À.."rse l_will never see you again. Look after the chiriren and raise ,h.- *.ä. accused I wit sunfer ¿.^r¡ ."-innocenr, of being one of rhe conspirators in irr. ", those were .ro*a from Me'reray when we ar La Ferté_Gaucher, whicú i, ,,ot of t.o., but then ,";.";;;, lo b. pun_ ished' Throw vourself inro ,t.,. wi -...iiui"rå, årc"a. sh";;il;;. to ulr my relatives and telr chose f.om ch"-p;;ì;; ser rîì, ,rr"y shourd i""k you the chitdren as irr were th"re, rhutü;;JàiJ."öJii5iIr.r.,";; and those that they should always take urd de care as my poor Goodbye, my friend, "iy;";^;;;.' children. those 1ny fear ;.;;;'il;;r" you, reduced ro rears, kisses' as weli as for my rt-,itar.,r, with m( dr¡* morrrer and -f "r¿ air my reiatives pe ;;; supre;.il;s ror äHï¿ï5.iï"::#;.,'å,'iJ;rb;;; 'ro 'lhe me; of m( Your dear friend, those Prunelle in<

106 Documents Documents households, rvhich we have not done so far, at least only feebly. We had capitulated; armies were ask that the Revolutionary Commissioners send us a true ,.S¿nt Quesnoy our being beaten in the Culotte, authorised to override the authority of the local Commune. Pyrenees and around Mont Blanc. You were being betrayed by By such means we shall foil the counter-revoiutionaries who go into everyone and it seemed as if men headed the government and the the countryside and buy up foodstuffs in order to sell them to the armies only to destroy them and plunder the debris. The navy was rich and selfish at inflated prices. bribed, the arsenals and ships were in ashes; the currency was un- We ask that we be allowed to requisition food and bring it to Paris. dermined, our banks and industries were controlled by foreigners. We made such a demand to the Commission for Provisioning the Yet the greatest of our misfortunes was a certain fear of the con- Republic, but have had no reply. Now calumny directs its steps centration ofauthority necessary to save the state. The conspirators towards us; that is why we ask you to give us the chance to prove ofthe party ofthe Right had blunted in advance, by an unsuspected that we are stiìl Republicans and supporters of the Mountain. We stratagem, the weapons which you might later use to resist and are obliged to tell you that it is the incompetence of the municipal punish them . . . today there are still some who would like once authorities that is the sole cause ofthe shortage ofbasic necessities. again to break these weapons.

Archives Nationales, W 159. C. Vellay, ed., Oeuures Complètes de Saint-Just, Paris, 1908, li, 236-7

document 17 document 18 A justiñcation of the Terror The crime of indifference

This speech b2 Saint-Just on 26 Februarlt 1794 was occasioned b1t demands Manlt people tried fu Reuolutionarlt tribunals under the Terror were accused from the Conuention that reþorts be made on the thousands 0fþolitical prisoners of indffi rence, under Artic le I 0 of tlte Law of Suspects of I 0 S e p nmb er I 793. awaiting trial. The so-called Indulgents tended to belieue in the innocence of Among those charged with doing nothing to adaance the Reaolutionar) cause man2 of these þrisoners and Saint-Just struck back at them. uas Jean Sellon, a law2er who apþeared before tlte Marseille tribunal. Indif- ference was regarded as a more serious o¡ffence for a man of mearu and educa- Citizens, how could anyone deiude himself that you are inhuman? tion. Your Revolutionary Tribunal has condemned three hundred rogues to death within a year. Has not the Spanish Inquisition done worse He possesses a very moderate patriotism. If he can give proof of civic than that, and, my God, for what a cause! Have the assizes in responsibility, it is onìy by acts which are common to many people. England slaughtered no one in that period? And what about Bender He has never wished to take a firmly committed attitude. If he has Ithe Prussian general], who roasts Belgian babies? What of the dun- never frequently attended the sectional assembly, it is rather out of geons of Germany, where people are entombed, do you ever hear fear of compromising himself than of wishing to serve the public about them? What about the kings of Europe, does anyone moan to good. He has allowed his knowledge and enlightenment to wallow them about pity? Oh, do not allow yourselves to become soft- in selfish freedom dangerous to the Republic. He cannot say that he hearted! . . . f-o see the indulgence that is advocated by a few, you has openly condemned the counter-revolution. would think that they were the masters of our own destiny and the chief priests of freedom. Since the month of May last, our history is Archives départmentales, Bouches-du-Rhône, L 3l 18, 27 Aprll a lesson about the terrible extremities to which indulgence leads. In t79+. that period, Dumouriez had abandoned our conquests; patriots were being assassinated in Frankfort; Custine had abandoned Mainz, the document 19 Palatinate and the banks of the Rhine; Calvados was in revoìt; the Infamous words Vendée was victorious; Lyon, Bordeaux, Marseille and Toulon were in arms against the French people; Condé, Valenciennes and Le Some of the charges under tlte Law o;f Suspects aerged on the ridiculous, though taken uerlt seriousþ. At Limoges, the Reuolutionary tribunal called in t3+ 135 Documents Documents expert oþinion in the .form o.f two writing masters to decide upon the guitt of 2l a uolunteer, Gabriel Dauid. The exþerts decided that the mots'infâ.mel on tie The principles of Revolutionary govern*locument pass leaue were in his hand and he was Jound guilt2 and imprisoned.. Tltis sþeech, deliuered bv Robespierre on 25 December IZg3, argued that France had no.t reached tie stage- There was tried before us, in accordance with the indictment, ltet wher, ,itutitutionar gouernment was possible. Until France had -pr*r¡ui Gabriel David, who rvas interrogated as follows: conquered /rr, ,rímirs, there Jtad. to i, n roil,no*r, gouernment and Did you write 'Shit on the nation' on your leave pass? a more seuer.e þoriqt of intimidation, incruding o,prìa* oía He replied 'No'; that he did not know how the ihocking ,*,ords more efi.cient Reuolution tribunal. got there and did not know whose was the sacrilegious haná which Tlg of Revolutionary government had written them; that he had been taken by surpriie when the com- lh9ory is as new as the Revolution ha¡ developed it... ìir. function missioner for war had read them to him, that he s*o.e once again ylich of government is ro direct rne moral and physical resources that he was not the author and as evidence of the natión towards its essential of his innocence poiited aim. The aim of constitutional to the fact that if his leave pass had contained anything government is to p..r.ru.--iir. cãunter- Republic: that of Revoluriona.y revolutionary he would have consigned goi.."*ì;t is to put ih;î.pr;it. it to the flames rãther than on a secure foundation. have shown it to the commissioner for war. The Revõlution is the _u. ãf [b..ty ,srirrst its enemies; the consriturion is the ,égirr.';i;;.år.rii"i¿Ëi:'; loving liberty. Revolutionary Archives départementales, go.r.rrrirent ,reeds to be extraordi_ Haute-Vienne, LB+3,28 Messidor an II narily active, precisely (16July l79a). becausã it is at war. It ir *u¡..i'ìã'ìJ* and i{!ll rigorous rules, because rhe circumsrances in which it are rempestuous l-"o,t,lrr.1t and changing, and above all because it to employ ceaselessly new and urgent resources for new docurnent 20 ancl1t-Îortg.o. pressrng Apathy in lower Normandy threats. constitu.tional government is primarily concerned with civ'riber- ty:.revolutionary- government This extract is a report b2 citizen with pubiic liberty. U"á;;;;;;_ from Le Grand, on a mission to NormandL tutional régime is as an.agent of the gouernment in 1793, esþecialþ it more or less'"rro,rgh to protect individuals Juþ concerned withfndlig against abuses of.governmenr. suþplies of food for Paris, at a time when the reuolt in caen- was Under u".errol,rîiorr".y ,Jti*. ,i* .federatßt it government itserf is obliged its pnith. Ìle is utriting to the Ministrl the to defend itserf against utÍ the"ractio.r, of Interior. which threaten it. Revolulionary go,r...r-..r, girr., p,,rUii. p;;;;;ri", to good citizens: to the ..r..r,i.i In the area of the Auge, as in all the part of Calvados on this side of the p.opt. ii aeats ou, o.rt, death.... : of Caen, the inhabitants seem thoroughly apatheric towards the If revolutionary sovernment Revolution, and regard it with more curiosity than interest. One has to be more active in its policies and more free in ítå.tiorrs tt un gathers from their talk that they are exhausted by the excessive in- o.a;rru.y gårr...r*..rt, is it then less less legitimate? No: ir creases in the price of basic necessities and, even more so, by the 1n^Tq resrs or, ín?-rr,or, sacred of all laws tne salety ot th€ people; and rarity.and-poor quality of bread; they have no clear opinions ábout on the most irrefutabre of that of necessity' Revolutionary "il anything else, they await events and pray for the restoåtion government has rules ";g;;;;;;:of it, o*.,. of order resting on the principles ofjusticåna and calm. The towns of Pont L'Evèque and Honfleur, the only ones p"Uìi" ;.*; tor anarchy and disorder; iti aim, ".d.;.J;l;; there are in these parts, share the same outlook and, up tilÍ now, o. the contrary, i, to ..pr.r, tt.**, have in order ro affirm and develop ,fr. done nothing to raise levies of men . . . .rl. oil"_; ;i t u. ,;; arbitrary. It is not directed by inaividuat f..tírrgr, b"rd,ñ;;il.""ï;;ï; interest . . . It is necessary to Pont L'Evèq-u_er27 July l7g3,2nd year of the Republic. Archives navigate ¡.t*..r,-' two rocks: weakness and boldness, reaction and extreråirrr, Nationales, F20 170, cited by.J. M. Lévy, Annalei Historiques de la . . . Rêuolution Française, vol. xxxv, 1g63, p..225. Archiues Parlementaires, paris vol. lxxxii, 1913, p. 300. 136 137 Documents Documents

document 22 the oppressed, the bright star of the universe; and whilst we seal our The Republic of Virtue achievements with oui blood, we can at least see the stars of univer- sal happiness shining . . . that is our ambition: that is our aim. Robespierre's speech of 5 Februarlt 1794 set down the moral aims of the Reuolu- tion. ReuolutionarJ terrlr ¿pould lead to a new reþublic of uirtue, uhere euer2one Aichiues Parlementaires, vol. lxxxiv, Paris 1962, p, 143. would resþect the nation and its laws and the souereignlt dthe þeoþle.

What is our ultimate ai*? The peaceful enjoyment of liberty and document 23 equality; the reign of eternal justice, whose laws are engraved, not Revolutionary enthusiasm on marble or stone, but in the hearts,of all men, even in that of the slave who forgets them and of the tyrant who rejects thern. (Applause) This address, sent b1 the socíété populaire of Bergerac, in the Dordogne, We desire to see an order of things where all base and cruel feelings to the National Conuention on 16 Aþril 1794 after the arrest and execution o;f are suppressed, and where the law encourages beneficent and the Dantonists, prouides an insìght into the attitudes and actiuities o.f local generous feelings; where ambition means the desire for glory and the militants, utith their somewhat infnted sense of imþortance. service of the Republic; where sociai distinctions emerge from con- ditions of equality; where the citizen is subject to the magistrate, the Legislators - We shook with indignation when we learned that you magistrate to the people, and the people to the principle ofjustice; have been surrounded by the darkest conspiracy. What! Were they where the nation assures the well being of every individual and trying to destroy the national government? It would have been the where every individual proudly enjoys the prosperity and glory of 'most pure and zealous defenders of the people who would have been the nation; where all men's spirits are uplifted by the continuai shar- the first victims! The Mountain has been polluted by conspirators! ing of republican sentiments, and by the need to be worthy of the The monstèrs! They have suffered the fate of enemies of the nation. esteem of a great people; where the arts adorn the liberty which Your courage and determined surveillance will continue to strike ennobles them; where commerce is a source of public wealth, not suchblows... only of the monstrous affluence of a few families. In our country we Destroy all factions with the same energ'y, annihilate all plots wish to substitute morality for egoism, honesty for mere love of aiming to undermine liberty. Our Parisian brothers are tliere al- honour, principles for customs, duties for convention, the reign of ready: They will preserve the integrity of the nati'onal government. reason for the tyranny offashion, the fear ofvice for the fear ofbad Foreigners, traitors"in disguise, still circulate among them . . . luck; we want to substitute pride for insolence, magnanimity for If they need ássistance, we demand to be the first to be called 'ând, vanity, Iove of glory for love of money, good men for mere good as at the time of the overthrow of the monarchy, we will be the ' company, merit for intrigue, genius for slickness, truth for brilliance, first.to arrivg. ¡ the appeal ofhappiness for the boredom ofsensuality, the grandeur of man for the pettiness of great men; a huppy, powerfui and mag- Printed in H. Labr oùe, La Sociêtô Poþutaire de Bergerac þendant la nanimous people for one that is amiable, frivolous and discontented. Rêuolution, Paris, Lìbrairie Rieder, 1915, p.356. That is to say, we wish to replace the vices and follies of monarchy by the virtues and miraculous achievements of the Republic. (áp- þlausa) In a word, we wish to fulfii the plan of nature and promote the destiny of humanity, to fulfil the promises of enlightened philosophy, to absolve providence for a long reign of crime and tyranny. All this in order that France, formerly illustrious among enslaved countries, rvill eclipse the glory of all the free peoples who have ever existed and will become a model for all nations to imitate; so that France will become the scourge of oppressors, the saviour of r38 139 E

$øORK THE TERROR ÂT \íOITK

ìement révolutionnaire fait au nom Source: Olivier Blanc, La Dernière Lettre. Prisons et condamnés de la Révolution, >bespierre,, in Jacques Godechot 1793-1 794 (Paris, 1 984), pp. 209-1 0. rp.190-1.

Law of 22 Prairial, IO June 1794 ner,2 NIarch 1794

The Law of 22 Prairial was the most extreme of the series of measures ut in the name of religious lib_ introduced to protect the security of the State and punish those , Maupertius and Meilleray, to opposed to the Revolution. The calling of witnesses was no longer ic army! Down with the Clubs obligatory and was left to the discretion of the court. At the same time, ostly artisans, were arrested, those accused were denied the right to counsel. lf the defendant was .lis Prunelle. They were trans_ found guilty there was only one punishment-death. This is not to say d to death. Shortly before his that all defendants were found guilty; many were let off. The law was, rnds of victims of the admin_ nevedheless, the beginning of the second phase of the Terror during the he following letter to his wife. spring and summer of 1794 when whole cartloads of suspects were sent to their death by guillotine on the Place de la Révolution. -Gaucher in Brie, at Meilleray and indivisible The National Convention, having heard the report of the Committee of Public Safety, decrees: A.rticle 4. The Revolutionary Tribunal is estal¡lished to punish the enemies r poor children some sad news. of the people. Pur your --ve. confidence in rhe Article 5. The enemies of the people are those who seek to abolish public )e your force and your supporr. libert¡ whether by force or by guile. :ed rhe news of my condemna_ ,A.rticle 6. Considered enemies of the people are those who have sought the re- a municipal officer from the establishment of royalty or sought to degrade or dissoive the National Convention )cumenration I asked him to. and the revolutionary republican government of which it is the centre; lu.se l_will never see you again. ill suffer dearh as an innocent, those who have betrayed the Republic in the command of posts and armies, rowd from Meilleray when we or in any other military funct.ion, maintained a secret correspondence : then someone has ro be pun_ with enemies of the Republic, or toiled to disrupt the provisioning or the ìod. Show this lerter ro alì my service of the army; rey should look upon you and those who have sought to prevent the provisioning of Paris or to cause rot cause youaûy distress, and dearth in the Republic; as my poor children. those who have assisted the plans of the enemies of France, whether by pro- you, reduced to tears, with moting the sheltering and impunity of conspirators and aristocrac¡ by I mother and all my relatives persecuting and slandering patriotism, by corrupting the representatives l the Supreme Being for me; of the people, by abusing the principles of the Revolution, or the laws or measures of the government by false and treacherous applications; Your dear fr.iend, those who have deceived the people or the representatives ofthe people, to Prunelle induce them into actions contrary to the interests ofliberty;

701 .THE TERROR ÁT \øORK

ììS:- those '¡'ho have soughr.ro ..t:r. spread despondency in order ro promore rhe :i..lì: l . enterprises oftyrants leagued against the Republic; those I who have spread false news io divide or disturb the people; rhose who ( have sought ro mislead opinion and ro prevenr ihe insir,rcrion of the people, ro deprave I morars and corrupt the pub,ric conscience, ro impair € the energy and purity of revolurionåry ãnd republican pri'cipres, or to c srop their progress, whether by counter_re*rolrrtionury or insidious writings, or l>y any other machinarion; S unrrustworrhy suppriers_ wrro t compromise the security of the Repubric, an<ì peculators of the I pubric wealth, orher than thosl includei under the provisions t of the Law of 7 Fúmaire dealing with embezzlement; those who, being u charged wirh public office, misuse ìr ro serve the enemies of the o Revolu,tion, to harass larriors, or ro oppress the people; finaIIy, all rhose who are designated c in precedin! r"*. ..Iåti,ig ,o .t p,_,rr- ishment of conspirators c and .o,rno.._r.uolutionaries u-rrd *ho," lry whatever m€ans or by whate'er: outward appearances th.y urr,r_., hurr" tJ attacked the liberry unity and security of it-r. R.p,rbri., ro pre- p venr the enhancement of its strength. "..ãii.a ft T Artic:le 7' The penarty for at offences wirhin the cognisance of the k Revolurionary- Tribunal is death. d h' source: Buchez and Roux, HÌstoire parrementaire de ra Révotution française, vor. 33, pp. 193-8. ir at b, tl ir The R-evolutionary aI Tribunal ar work, June 1794 dr af Nicolas Ruaurt, journarist paris and author, Iived in during the Revorution. d¿ His letters to his brother, the Abbé Brice Ruaurt, curé aiEvreux, written between '1 1783 and 7g6, constitute one of the most interesting accounts p( of the period. Here he describes a chance encounter with a friend being sc sent to the guiilotine. His description of the workings of the Revolutionary paris cf liibunar in at the height of the Têrror is somewhat exaggerated-of the OL S,343 people who appeared before if., about 2,747 were condemned ol, to death-but gives an insight into how moderate rev_ dr olutionaries perceived the workings of the institutions of rerror. wi or Paús, 2 Messìdor,Yea r II (2I June 1794) ar) ' onr of the things rhat :: has most distressed me during the rerribre days that in I have just told you about is ro have mer an inrimate acq:uaintance with whom th

108 .r

ZORK TI-IE TI]RROR ÂT \øORK

dency in order to promore rhe I was linked by friendship and whom you often saw ar president Bonneuil's e Republic; home, M. Annisson Duperron, director of the Royal Printing rü7orks. I was or disrurb the people; coming back from the Tuileries when I saw in the distance going past the and to prevent the insrruction of Louvre a tumbril full of condemned prisoners and I was surprised ro see rhe :rupt rhe public conscience, ro exrraordinary route they were being made to take. SØhom did I see in that onary änd republican principles, àeadIy carriage? The unfortunate Ânnisson! He recognised me, shrugged his unrer-revolurionary or insidious shoulders, lifted his eyes to the heavens. Dumbfounded, unaware that he had been arrested, I wiped my eyes with my handkerchief and leant against a wall. he security of the Republic, and I learnt that by a kind ofrefined barbarit¡ the order had been given to drive than those included under the the rumbril to the Place de la Révolution by going past rhe Louvre, so rhar rhe ing with embezzlemenr; unfortunate man would pass alive in front of his former home. . . . This type 3, misuse to it serve che enemies of sad and deadly encounter is very common and makes one feel all the more :o oppress the people; cruelly the horrible effects ofrevolutionary tyraîrty, the draconian laws ofthe reding laws relating ro rhe pun_ Committee of Public Safety adopted by the Convention. -revolutionaries and who, by Condemned prisoners on rheir way ro their place of execution are driven appearances rhey assume, have through the most populous and busy districts; hardly a day goes by that f rhe Republic, or toiled ro pre- passers-by do not see among these numerous vicrims someone they know, a friend, a telative. For, unless one attends the sessions of the [Revolutionaryl Tribunal every day, one is ignoranr of rhe moment when the person one within the cognisance of the knows to be arrested is judged by this body rhat assassinates rarher rhan con- demns. The judges secretly choose whom they want to judge, or whom they have been ordered to judge. In the evening, prisoners at the Conciergerie are 'e de la Révolution française, vol. informed by a kind of extract from the indictment which warns rhem rhey are to appear before the Tribunal the next day. Indeed, they appear ìn num- bers of fift¡ sixty or seventy, seated on a rosrrum of five or six rows. There they are asked their name, their age, their starus, occupation, etc. . . . The indictment is then read to them as a group or in common. For the sake of appearances a few questions are asked ofa fev¡ defendants who either reply or ,work, June L794 do not. The jury then deliberares in a small room where rhey remain about an hour talking among themselves, in order to do what they derisively call Paris during the Revolution. deliherate. They return to the hearing and declare on their honour and tl¡eir con- aul|, curé at Evreux, written sciencethe defendants guilty. In two or rhree hours more than sixty ro sevenry re most interesting accounts people are thus condemned to death and executed the same day on the same scaffold. ncounter with a friend being For the sake ofappearances again, a few people supposedly guilty ofindis- of the workings of the creet utterances are mixed in with the accused and acquitted to give an t of the Terror is somewhat outward show of clemency and generosity. During these rapid and murder- eared before iI, abouL2,747 ous procedures, scenes sometimes occur which fill one's soul with a kind of ight into how moderate rev- dread: the accused, in trying to defend themselves, caII an honest citizen, rstitutions of Terror. without reproach, to vouch for their innocence. Immediately the Tribunal orders that the witness invoked by the defendant be brought there. He arrives; if he talks too much in favour of the unforrunare person who has re during rhe terrible days that ìmplored his testimon¡ if he speaks a few words that smack of royalism or mate acquaintance with whom the aristocrac¡ he is immediately indicted and rhrown in the ranks of the

109