New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-05-01
THE REIGN OF TERROR
ANALyZING THE JACoBlN SCHEME OF GOV
EMINENT


mr.. rprNcu REVOLUTION BY EuPoLiTE
hpoirnE TaSE, D. O. L., oxon Translates i1s Iaa oy
John Durand. u Three Volumes VOL H. i~"'
pp xiv. 500. Henry Holt q CoJ
The concluding volume of NJ. Taines priili'nV
and impassioned study of the French Revolution Is
oecupied entirely with the delirious rule Oh 'hc
Jacobns in which. according to his vlew' inc reso
lutionary dogma exhibited its true meaning 'io
compares 1.-THE principles OF 1853" the "oc',i"os
of the sovereignty of the people. the rights oi
man and the social contract" as expOunded by
Rousseau, to system of theology sustaining so'no
vaque and imposing cult. like that which was
practised in the temples of ancient Egypt
n we would comprehend the nature
of this worship we must pun
aside the veil and inspect the divinity-croco-
dIle serpent or loathsome beast-inshrined WITHIN
the sanctuary This is what we are invited 10 40
I'm the present volume. The work has one OF the
most important qualities of historical compost
ton for its aim is TO reconstruct from antnentlc
records vivid picture of the era under survey
and in the prosecution of this purpose the author
has made prodigious search of archives and other
contemporary documents and called up number
Of fresh and important witnesses. But he does not
follow the narrative method. He dlsregards the
chronological sequence of events so freely that IL
wonId be impossible to make consecutive story
out of his pages. He Classics and groups occur
rences according to their philosophical sig
nificance Thus he easily draws the
particulars into bold and splendid generalization
the effectiveness of which can hardly be stated 700
strongly
The volume opens with rapid survey OF the es-
tablishment of the Revolutionary Government OF
17o9-the Government by which the revolution OF
1889 was violently overthrown-and then proceeds
TO sketch the Jacobin scheme of government.
Here NJ. Taine, after Analysing the Jacobin con-
ception of society," with its principle OF the total
surrender of the Individual in the Community, ana
showing what crushing despotism 1T inevitably
establishes traces the development OF the prlncl-
pies of 1889 in the progressive invasions OF lnd
vidual rights the prohibition successfully OF rehg
ious worship, of political opinion, OF wealth.
of capital OF remuneratiVe INDUSTRY,
and of local, professional, and family
spirit. by which the Terrorists sought to recast
human nature to their own type OF "civism." In
his remarks upon the proper scope OF government
he seems inclined to limit the functions OF the state
with extreme strictness; but his criticisms upon
the Jacobn programme are acute and vigorous,
and they are the more striking because some OF the
fallacies at which they are aimed flourish IN full
force to this day in moro than one country ENJOY
ing representative institutions NJ. Iaine's next
chapters, comprising the principal substance OF
the volume are occupied with description OF the
French Nation of the period of the Terror divided
into two classes the Governors and the Governed.
Beginning with Marat, Danton aud Robespierre Ia
characteristic extract from this chapter has re-
Gently been printed in The TRIBUNE he examines
"thc rulers of the country" in order-the Conven-
tion the Committee of Public Safety the Represen-
tatives on mission, the various administrative
bodies the functionaries down to the smallest, and
the gendarmerie and soldiers. Rarely has more
appalling exhibition Of vice, brutality violence
and folly been set forth by the pen of historian
than in these lurid pages-an exhibition the more
horr,fying because it is concerned less with the
sufferings of the victims than with the depraylty
of their oppressors. The maniac frensy OF year
and half in which every crime Joined hands with
every qrotesque absurdity and the land was gwen
over to human beasts who coupled the malice OF
devils with the imbecilty of children, is described
with mnuteness almost sickening, and literary
force which even Mr.. DuraAd's translation cannot
materially impair.
The character of the population which the
Jacobins undertook to subdue by massacre i'm
prisonment and exile is subjected TO an examina-
tion by classes. NJ. Taine expresses very hlgh
appreciation of all the better elements OF French
socicty-the nobility, the clergy, the bourgeolsle
aud the large body of respectable artisans trades
men and producers known as the demi-netables-
The vicious forces being confined to the court ana
little circle Immediately around it; to small Sec
ton of the clergy, idle Partisan abbes and lax
ecclesiastcs in high places; and finally TO the
refuse of the population from which the Jacobins
were drawn. But the Jacobins were minority
numerically weak, morally and intellectually con-
temptible and yet with every class arrayed against
them, they held one of the bravest Of nations
in slavery more dreadful than the
civilized world has ever seen before or since.
How they did this how the Terror was allowed to
remain until Jacubinism had wrought it's own ruin
by the destruction of the resources of the state,
and the rupture of nearly all the ties OF society,
are questions which the puzzled reader wlll ASK IN
vain when he lays down NJ. Taine's fascinating
book To say that the nightmare of 1898 was the
natural conclusion of the dream of 1888 Is hardly