Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1868-03-13
3fiseellany.
Madame Tallien.
INCIDENT OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.

Robespierre desired, in recalling Tal
lien to Paris, first to discredit and thel
to ruin him. St Just sarcastically allu
ded to Samson's locks shorn by the fai
Delilah, and declared that Tallien ha,
not only ceased to be patriot, but wa
actually an enemy to the holy cause o
the Republic. Great, therefore, was tn,
chagrin of his enemies when Tallien wa,
ut once chosen President of the Conven
ton, and became the leader Of a power
fnl party opposed to the Reign of Terror
Between these two-Tallien and Robes
pierre, or death hung the balance
life TO France and the true principles of
the Revolution, if Tallien prevailed
death, utter, universal bloodshed and
death, not only to the nation, but to the
cause Of Robespierre effected his avowed
purpose of becoming Dictator.
But underlying all this apparent pa
triotism, the most potent personal feelings
prompted Taiiien, who in good truth was
what | have already called him--a mod
ern Anthony Terezia, his beloved, ar
rested by the express order Of Robespierre
lay ut that very time in the filthy prison
Of La Force, having failed in her at
tempt to fascinate the Convention, before
whom she pronounced ford Grafton,
craving to be allowed to devote herself
TO poverty and obscurity. Robespierre
still feared to strike openly at Tallien,
but wounded him secretly through his
love.
From this moment it was hand-to-
hand struggle between them, and on tie
life of Terezia hung the destinies of
France. These admirable actors ceased
to attudinize, and fang themselves body
and soul into the drama. Tallien, mad
dened by the treachery of Robespierre,
appealed to the Convention. Long"
said he, 81 have sileatly borne calumnies
and injustice, but the time is come when
] will no longer be silent. The name of
a woman has been mentioned in this as
sembly. l cannot understand why she
shouldoccupy the attention of the Conven-
ton. She has been called the daughter
of Cabarrus. declare, in the face of
the world and in the midst of my col
leagues, this woman is my wife. / have
long known her, and / saved her life at
Bordeaux. Her virtues, her misfortunes,
endeared her to me. She followed me to
Paris in the times of tyranny and oppres-
sion, and she has been sentenced to
prison. An emissary of the tyrant came
to her tempting her: Confess that you
know Tallien to be an enemy to liberty;
sign it and you shall have liberty and a
i am but twenty years DID,,
she replied, but / would rather die
hundred times" Twice Robespierre is
said to have refused Tallien the life
of Terezia. Talliel, who still hesitated,
how far he dared to beard the
tyrant, had no choice but to proceed.
Robespierre, with the inevitable bouquet
in his hand meeting him in the street,
laughed at him and told him to beware
of women. :" Is that your last word?"
cried Tallien. Robespiesre bowed, shifted
his flowers delicately and passed on.
In the meantime Terezia, attended by
jailers and guarded by certain monstrous
bloodhounds kept at La Force, who, af.
ter smelling each prisoner, prevented any
chance of escape, found herself in a
blackened cell, furnished with some damp
straw and a mattress. Her beauty had
failed her, Robespierre was memorable,
Tallien powerless, death inevitable. But
she was not alone. Josephine, then coun-
tess of Beauharaais, and the Duchess d
.Aguillon, shared the mattress and the
straw. The cell where they lay was noted
as The scene Of the massacre of the priests
by the Septembrionists, and their names,
as well as the marks in blood of two sa-
bres which had leant against the damp
walls, reminded them of their fate.
Poor butterfly Terezia, how did she bear
its She owned subsequently, that she
grew accustomed to horrors-she sang
and told stories while her companions
read or worked at their needle. With
their scissors and the teeth of their combs
they wrote on the wall" Oh, Liberty!'
/" We shall leave soon;" What is death
when we are already in torment ?" and
added their names Cheyenne Tallien,"
" Josephine de Beauharnais," D'Aguil-
lon."
Terexia was allowed, as special favor,
to walk after nightfall in the court of the
prison. She knew not to whom she owed
this privilege, but she guessed it was to
Tallien, and her heart leaped as she i'm
agined him watching over her. Where
was he! Would he save her? Did he
love her enough to venture his life for
her? As she walked up and down lost
IN thought, the Pickering moon lighting
up the walls and the backs of the adioin-
ney I'll L n