by Eugène Sue
CHAPTER XXXIII.
ARREST OF ROBESPIERRE.
Early the next morning the chiefs of the anti-Robespierre factions werein the Riding Hall of the Tuileries, where the sessions of theConvention were held. At about eight o'clock Tallien came in. As hewalked to his seat on the crest of the Mountain, he passed along infront of the benches of the Right, greeting Durand-Maillane and hisfriends with an "Oh! what brave men are these of the Right!" CollotD'Herbois, that ex-comedian, thief and criminal, occupied thepresident's chair. St. Just, coming into the hall, went up toRobespierre, who appeared to give him some instructions. Couthon wascarried to his seat between Robespierre the younger and Lebas by twoushers; he was paralyzed in both legs. These three citizens were countedamong the purest, the most generous and energetic of the time. Longbefore the opening of the session the galleries were filled with peoplepicked and stationed there by the enemies of Robespierre. The lattertook his seat, an air of firm assurance dominating the preoccupationlegible on his austere features. He knew not of the plot laid againsthim, and depended upon St. Just's speech to settle in his favor thequestion of accusation unhappily left undecided the night before. Thechiefs of the allied factions exchanged signals of intelligence.Billaud-Varenne was speaking with one of the vice-presidents of theConvention, Thuriot, an irreproachable Terrorist. The whole aspect ofthe Assembly was foreboding. Suddenly the tinkling of Collot D'Herbois'sbell sounded above the tumult of conversation, and the session was on.
Why follow the debate into all its bitterness and spite; why tell howagain and again the plotters against the Republic raised their cries of"Down with the tyrant! Death to St. Just and Robespierre!"? Suffice itto say that the day ended in decrees of accusation against theRobespierres, elder and younger, St. Just, Lebas, and Couthon. Anofficer of the gendarmery was commissioned by the president to lead theaccused to prison.
At five o'clock that afternoon, the 9th Thermidor, Madam Desmarais andher daughter, seated side by side in their parlor, pricked their ears athearing the sound of the drum, mingled from time to time with thehurried and distant clanging of the tocsin.
"My God!" exclaimed Madam Desmarais, grief-stricken, "Again a'day'--again a bloody struggle!"
"Reassure yourself, good mother; the wicked shall not triumph,"Charlotte replied. "Robespierre is put under ban of arrest, but theJacobins and the Sections will go to his rescue. The Commune hasdeclared the country in danger, the tocsin calls the people to arms."
"Alas, I fear for your husband. He is at the City Hall as a member ofthe General Council. The Commune is in insurrection against theConvention; if the Commune loses, John will have become an outlaw."
"My husband will do his duty; the future belongs to God."
Suddenly Castillon entered the parlor, crying: "Good news! The Sectionsare taking arms and assembling to march to the Commune, with theircannon; the Jacobins have declared themselves in permanent session.Robespierre has been taken to the Luxembourg Prison; his brother to St.Lazare; St. Just to the Scotch Prison; Couthon to La Bourbe; and Lebasto the Chatelet. As I left the City Hall they were discussing the meansof rescuing them."
"You see, mother, the Sections are in the majority, with the Commune."
"Ah, madam, madam!" cried Gertrude, running in in a fright. "Don't betoo alarmed--Oh, heavens, there he is!"
Hardly had Gertrude uttered these words when advocate Desmarais, pale,half frightened to death, tumbled into the room, crying: "Save me! Inheaven's name!"
And running to his wife and daughter, whom he pressed in his arms, hecontinued wailing, "Hide me! They are after me!"
"Fright has unbalanced you, father," said Charlotte. "No one is pursuingyou."
Madam Desmarais had hurriedly found a bottle of smelling salts, whichshe held to the nose of her half-fainting spouse. He recovered hissenses, and began again, in a quaking voice: "Thank you. You aregenerous. Now, I beseech you both, conceal me somewhere. Charlotte'shusband may come back and be accompanied by some member of the GeneralCouncil. I shall be recognized--arrested--guillotined. Pity me!"
"But, father, your fears are all exaggerated. My husband will not allowyou to be arrested in his house."
At that moment Gertrude, opening a crack of the door, calledmysteriously to her mistress:
"Madam, come at once!"
"What is it, Gertrude?" Charlotte asked. "Who is there?"
"A man of the mounted police demands to speak with you."
Hearing the nature of the visitor, Monsieur Desmarais flew into a newfit of fear. His mind gave way. He ran to a window and sought to hide bywrapping himself up in the curtains. Charlotte left the room, closingthe door behind her. In a second she was back, joyfully waving a papershe held in her hand. "It is good news, mother. Where's father?"
Madam Desmarais indicated with a gesture the window, the curtains ofwhich revealed the figure of the attorney, and left his feet exposed atthe bottom. Then she added, in a low voice: "If we do not hide yourfather somehow, he will die of agony and fright."
"His fright is baseless, but I think you are right about it," respondedCharlotte in the same tone. "We can take him up to the garret, to thelocked room; there he will no doubt feel that he is safe, and his fearswill calm down." And she went to the window where her father, white as asheet and bathed in a cold sweat, was clinging for support to the windowcasing.
"That gendarme!" stammered the lawyer. "What did he want?"
"He just brought me a letter from John. I shall read it to you andmother, after which you will be taken, as you wish, to a retreat, in thetop of the house, where you need not fear being seen by a soul. Here iswhat John wrote me:
"Dearly beloved wife:--All goes well here so far. The General Council of the Commune is almost complete. We are advising on energetic and prompt measures--prompt above all; the Convention, on its side, is not idle. We are in session. The majority of the Sections are with us. We shall receive word in an instant that the suburbs of St. Antoine and Marceau are ready to march; we await their delegates. The City Hall Place is covered with an armed force, furnished with several pieces of artillery, and all crying 'Long live the Republic! Down with the brigands of the Convention!' Robespierre and his friends are still in prison; we shall deliver them. Be of good cheer, and remember that you live not alone for
"Your
"J. L.
"Tell Castillon to join me as soon as possible. He is a sure man, and I shall need him."
"If the suburbs march with the Commune, the Convention is lost!"murmured the lawyer. "Conduct me to the hiding place you spoke of. Youshall lock me in, you will keep the key about you, you will not give thekey to anyone, not even to your husband--you promise me?"
"I swear it;" and forcing a smile, the young woman added: "I alone shallbe your jailer. Come, come."
As she went out, Charlotte said to her mother, "Please ask Gertrude tohave Castillon wait for me in the parlor." The advocate staggered out onthe arm of his daughter. Looking after him, Madam Desmarais sighed toherself, "Unhappy man! I pity him." Sinister reflections followed close:"The triumph of Robespierre will mean the death of Billaud-Varenne, ourfriend, our protector, he who has prevented, to this very day, mybrother Hubert from being called before the revolutionary tribunal. Butwhen he is there no longer, who will take his place in protecting mybrother's life? Alas, this day, whatever its issue, will hold a sadoutcome for our family. How can one prepare for such a crisis?"
Charlotte at that moment returned, bearing the walnut casket in whichreposed the legends and relics of the Lebrenn family. Madam Desmarais,running to her daughter quickly, said, in a tone of reproach, as shehelped her set the casket down on a table, "Could you not have calledGertrude, instead of yourself carrying such a burden?"
"Have you asked Castillon to come here, good mother? I wish to set himto a task."
"I forgot your request, my girl. I shall at once repair theforgetfulness, and go seek your foreman. But before all, tell me, whyyou
have brought this box in here?"
"I wish to place it in a safe and secret place, with Castillon's aid,dear mother. You know what store John and I set by the papers andobjects contained in it. In these times of revolution, one must think ofeverything. John will be grateful to me for the precaution." So saying,she rang the bell.
Castillon entered. The foreman seemed preoccupied. He had slung on hiscartridge box, his sword, and his volunteer's rifle.
"Put this chest on your shoulder and follow me, brave Castillon," saidCharlotte. "I shall soon be back, dear mother. Hope and courage, allwill go well! The Commune will triumph over the Convention."
"Oh, my presentiments, my presentiments did not deceive me," moanedMadam Desmarais after her daughter's and Castillon's departure. "Thisday will be fatal to us!"
Ten o'clock at night of that same day found the General Council of theInsurrectionary Commune of Paris still in session in that chamber of theCity Hall called the Equality Chamber. The open windows gave on thesquare choked with citizens. Their bayonets and pike-heads glittered inthe light of numerous torches; several cannon had been dragged up by theSections, and from time to time one might hear cries of "Long live theRepublic!" "Long live the Commune!" Within, torches lighted the vastexpanse of the Equality Chamber, and the table about which sat, underthe presidency of Fleuriot-Lescot the Mayor of Paris, the members of theCouncil of the Commune.
"Here is the proclamation," said the Mayor, preparing to read, "which isabout to be placarded on the streets of Paris:
"Citizens, the country is more than ever in danger. Scoundrels dictate laws to the Convention, which they overmaster. They pursue Robespierre, who declares for the consoling principles of the existence of the Supreme Being and the immortality of the soul; St. Just and Lebas, those two apostles of virtue; Couthon, who has but his heart and head alive, though they are glowing with the ardor of patriotism; Robespierre the younger, who presided over the victories of the army in Italy.
People, arise! Lose not the fruit of the 10th of August and the 31st of May. Let us hurl all the traitors into their tomb!
Signed, FLEURIOT-LESCOT,
Mayor,
BLIN,
Secretary."
As the Mayor's proclamation was declared adopted by the session, JohnLebrenn, who had approached one of the windows, remarked that not onlyhad the number of armed Section representatives in the squarediminished, but that the place was almost deserted. Soon the whole CityHall Place, with the exception of a group here and there, lay silent andempty. John had barely returned to his seat at the table when the doorswere flung open with a crash by the press of people who sought to enter.They carried in Robespierre the elder, Robespierre the younger, Lebas,St. Just and Couthon, borne aloft in chairs. At the sight of theliberated Representatives of the people, surrounded by their Jacobinfriends, the members of the Council rose spontaneously with cries of"Long live the Republic!" Gradually the tumult died down, and the Mayorof Paris began to speak:
"Citizens--from this moment the functions of the General Council of theCommune should undergo a change. I move that it be transformed into acommittee of action, and that the presidency of it be conferred uponMaximilien Robespierre. The _Revolution_ now commences!"
Robespierre responded in the following words:
"Citizens, I long resisted the entreaties of the patriots who sought todeliver me from prison. I wished to respect the law, for the very reasonthat our enemies make of it a football. I wished, in Marat's steps, toappear before the revolutionary tribunal. Had they pronounced meinnocent, the villains of the Convention would have been confounded, andhonest folks would triumph; on the contrary, had they pronounced mydeath sentence, I would have drunk the hemlock calmly. But I yield toevents. I accept the presidency. The era of the Revolution has begun."
On the instant there rushed into the hall General Henriot, pale,excited, his clothing in disorder. "All is lost!" he cried.
Leonard Bourdon and Barras, delegates of the Convention, and escorted byhalf a hundred gendarmes with pistols and muskets, burst in at Henriot'sheels. The soldiers covered with their guns the members of the Councilof the Commune and the five Representatives of the people, all of whomremained standing; calm; impassible.
