The Weekly comet. [volume] (Baton Rouge, La.) 1853-1855, 1854-10-29
Written for the Comet.
The NOndcscript's St0ry--NO. 2.

era in the history Of France; probably
no country in the world ever expe.
rienced so many sudden changes in
the same length of time. At the Con
vocation of the States General, May
9Th 1880, found me at Versailles
-Four weeks previous to this time, /
had been at Arcis-Sur-Aube with me
came George James Danton, he was
clever lawyer, possessed of but little
means, but a rich fund ofgood humor,
which removes a thousand ills We
travelled afoot, and amused ourselves
by relating anecdotes, and criticisms,
on the condition of the peasants, and at
night mingling in with the village
groups, noting down the disposition Of
the people, and occasionally making
significant illusions to the future
Danton had a noble heart-none but
the entire French people could en-
brace it; he felt for all that were
grooming under the weight of their
chains and when the time came, did
not hesitate to strike the first blow.
No tongue has hesitoHl in calling
his name from the past, in order to
send it blackened with crime, back to
TIE Shades again Let him be fairly
examined-it is not the act that makes
the crime, but the intent--look at the
motive; see if you can discover where
the crime lies-make no constructive
offense of it; but a bold, manly accu-
sation face to face. It is generally the
case where u noted man has passed
through scenes of blood, to hold up
his bloody government and call the
world to witness the corey spots, while
at the same time they are using every
means, fair or foul, to conceal the robe
of innocence and push it away in some
remote corner. Thank God, this shall
never be my crime. Taking every
thing into consideration, | find abun-
dant proof for justifying the people in
many Of their deeds i'm justifying
the people, [ speak not in my own de-
fence; what | have done is past all
hopes of being recalled, ard | might
we'll say of being forgotten-and yet
from the bottom of my heart | cannot
say, but what if the same scenes were
to be enacted again, might not tread
in the same path as before. We ar
rived at Versailles on the morning Of
the 4th, where we took up lodging on
Auenme tie st. Cioud, which leads
directly to the Palace Yard. Our
hostess was venerable old lady who
laid claims to the old noblcsse, how
ever, we were not disposed to question
her titles, as long as she gave us plen-
ty Of food. Danton was twelve years
my senior-but nevertheless we lived
like brothers-we attended every sit
ting of the States General, and when
returned to our room discussed the
proceedings Of the day. Danton from
first to last was well disposed towards
the Feirs-Etats-and in particular
urged those with whom he associated
to stand out and not act in concert
with the two other estates as long as
they, met in separate bodies--for he
well knew that if once united the no.
bles and clergy would be swallowed
up in an overwhelming majority--for
the third estate numbered nearly 600.
The powers of this body was plainly
seen when they met to discuss what
title they should be known by, in
France-a vote of 491 to 90, decided
that the National Assembly should
be the name. 1t was this Assembly
that fixed the Revolution and that in
evetably. At this tirae Mrabeau
had excited no little distrust. The
King doubted and the Queen would
not believe him-but still he was the
idol of the people, there lay his gigan-
tic powers-and we'll did he use it
At the outset--Mirabeau had two
powerful foes to contend with; royal
ty and aristocracy; the former were
afraid of being stript of a few luxuries,
the latter of being slom Of those pri-
vileges which had kept the people
in a state Of bondage not equalled by
any co6ntry in Europe. Mirabeau
had great designs and in fact was
equal to their fulfillment. aMost of his
doye bod boon Grant IN tho royo1 DIM