Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1874-06-30
MARAT.
The Man who Brought About the
French Revolution,


And now imagine France given over
TO the garrulous convention, in which
there was not a man who clearly knew
what ne wanted save this one, Marat.
Forty-eight years old at this date, Marat
was less than FIVE feet high, and had
head enorm ously disproportionate to the
size of his body. The upper part OF his
face was handsome, but the lower part,
beginning with the nose, was that of a
wild beast. The nose was fat and large,
with nostrils that quiveredi the mouth
huge, and filed with black, Jagged teeth;
the chin square and generally ill-shaved,
covered with a stubble Of several days
growth. Naturally unclean in his per-
son, Marat cultivated slovenliness for
the purpose of inspiring greater conf
dence to the dregs Of the populace. he
seldom wore a hat, but covered his
head with a twisted handkerchief,
red, yellow, and greasy. His linen
was worse than dingy, his shoes
stringless, his stockings torn and
down at heel, and his brown coat Gov
cred with stains, ink splashes and fakes
of dried mud. In constant terror OF his
life, he never ventured out alone, but
was always attended by a tattered mob
of rufians who called themselves his
body.guard, and piled cudgels about
them to clear q passage through the
street crowds. Women when they saw
him trembled and turned their heads
aside. children ran away from him; at
the convention house his entrance was
the signal for a general silence, and
often for dispersion Of half the num-
bers present. Marat, who was eaten up
with bilious vanity, gloried in the uni
versal repulsion which he excited, and
he had a grim, vicious way of smiling
when, fixing his eye on any member
whom he disliked, he saw the man turn
pale and crouch. Such was the man
who by means of all the scum Of Paris
kept the convention in terror.
His first care was to get the guillotine
set up as a permanency." Soldiers
wear swords in peace and war" he wrote
November, 1892, and our republic
should have the guillotine constantly at
her side to frighten traitors" At first
he had asked for l00,0 900 heads; and DOW
went Immediately into statistics and de-
clared that no tranquility could be hoped
for unless 100000 heads we're cut off.
The foremost head to be sacrificed was
of course the kings. and whilst Louis
XVTs trial was impending, here are
some of the things that Marat wrote in
order that the prisoner might have fair
play:
II call upon the people to note the
names OF the false patriots, If any, whe
may vote for the tyrants acquital, or for
any lesser penalty than that Of instant
death. 1t is an insult to the feelings Of
the nation that the descendant Of hun
| dred vampires should have any trial at
all. He should be brought manaeled
before the convention and there should
be but one question put, When and
where shall this man and his aecursed
brood be killed. And the answer
should be unanimsus shout for his i'm
mediate execution"
1t becomes known that Malesherbes is
to defend the king, and thereat Marat
breaks out in this style:
The man who can find excuses for a
criminal makes himself an aceomplice
Of all the crimes committed; but when
the criminal is king, and the man who
defends is citizen, the latter betrays
his cause and becomes a greater villain
than the rascal who hires his advocacy
Let the people remember that the citi-
zen Malesherbes makes himself the
champion OF Louis Capet; therefore he
approves his acts, therefore he would
have perpetrated them if he had had the
chance, therefore be is an enemy to the
republic, to his country, 10 his brother
citizens; therefore, if Capet dies. Male
sherbes deserves to die with him.
Malesherbes did die on the scaHold-
he and all his family-but the certainty
that he would have to meet his fate did
not weaken his eloquence in defending
his king. Louis XVI dead, Marat ut
tered a shrek Of exultation, and con-
graduated his countrymen on having
now outpassed the hypocritical, servile
English, who had but one point OF su.
periority over us-tha. Of having mus
tered courage enough one day to brain
Charles Stuart Our courage shall last
longer than theirs-Capets head IS but