Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1871-06-14
RObespjeFre.

y small, mean-!OOking man, weak
limbs, always palpitatlng with nerv-
Gus shiver, and timid, irresolute gait,
His dress is faultlessly neat and precise,
Head powdered not sIngly hair awry,
Bright blue coat, buttoned tightly at the
hips, but opeu at the chest to display
the spotless white waist-coat; yellow
breeches, white stockings, shoes and
buckles. This costume is never varied,
except that the shoes are sometimes
exchanged for tOp-bOots. The face is
sharp and peaky; the forehead projects
over the temples, and is compressed at
each side like that of 4 wild beast; eyes
blue, deeply sunken, with heavy lids,
and latent, saYags sparkle; nose small
straight, expanded at the nostrils;
mouth large; lips thin and palIid, and
compressed at the corners; chin small
and pointed; complexion yellow, Iivid,
cadaYerOus. HabituaI expression grave,
with half-sweet, half-sinister smile,
Every muscle of the face working with
a ceaseless twitch. Over the whole, a
terrible expression of concentrated pur-
pose. When he speaks his gestures are
awkward, his fingers work nervously;
his voice is shrill and discordant; when
agitated by rage or exultation it sounds
like the scream of a hyena.
After leaving college, Robespierre be-
came student of jurisprudence. His
studies completed, he returned to Arras.
His old friend, the Bishop, procured him
al appointment in the Criminal Court.
He now distinguished himself as siren.
uOus advocate for the abolition of capi-
tai punishment; and not long after he
had accepted the membership, being
compelled, in virtue of his office, to con-
denim criminal to death, he was so
painfully affected that rather than
again undergo the same infictiOn he
chose to resign his Office. Does not this
read like the widest fablcP It was no
hypocrisy; for what could he gain by it?
Only the displeasure of his patrons. No:
the nature Of the man was utterly de-
void Of physical courage; and all such
natures instinctlyely shrink from blood,
which is, in their minds, inextricably
associated with violence with that
physical contention for which their
nerves unfit them. l have said they
instinctively shrink from blood; yes,
until they taste it; then their appetite
grows Unsuitable forit.
Even as late IS 1871, we find him
hotly maintaining his old war against
capital punishment. On the occasion
of motion of Lepelletier Pargean for
its abolition, he uttered these remarlza-
bic words: "In the eyes of justice and
mercy these death-scenes, which are got
up with so much solemnity, are nothing
less than base assassinations, solemn
crimes committed, not by individuals,
but by nations, and of which every in
dividual must bear the responsibility.
To take away from man the
possibility of expiating his misdeeds by
repentance or by acts of virtue, is, in
my eyes, the most horrible refinement
of cruelty!"
Listen TO these passages from the very
speech in which he was urging upon the
Assembly the death of the King: "For
myself, I abhor the penalty of death;
but dethroned king in the
heart Of Il republic not yet cemented
neither prison nor exile can
give him a harmless existence. It is
with regret pronounce the fatal truth,
Louis must perish because our country
must live. I vote for death"
The mind of this man had passed
through many phases since he resigned
his office, at Arras OH a similar question.
His was a sluggish mind-its qualities
developed slowly, and each quality
required a separate stimulant to become
active. He felt but little of ambition
then, for he beheld no great object
within his reach; and remember, he
no daring, no talent for the
but little of envy, for his
were mediocre. Egotism
must have always been prominent, but
it was the egOtism of ideas, the worship
of an ideal standard of lofty principles
which he had created within, the wnr-
ship of self In the abstract. But now,
in the year 1871, the supreme greatness
was within his grasp; he might become