Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-08-24

results BY speech, not by wrttsnG, ana ~
tradition b that hs could mold the mnno -
b chosA Hence b. y charged WITH crimes
oe which be was not guilty. The SeY
tsmber maancres are sxamplsA His u
oeraphers deny hh ccmpticity, aGDsrtsng
that tbs mob committed them, beank IN tneir
fury beyond control Who can M, espe
ciaiiv at this late day, he rsapondbility Of
many Of the iniquitiss Of that srat When
The Prunians had invaded Francs, and taken
Veriuu, Dantou mounted the tribune and
delivered 10 the legislative assembly notably
the most elective speech Of the Revolution,
closinx with the famous words, ITO over
come the enemy, to destroy him, what do wo
needi Audacity, still audacity, audacity
alwayA"
He was bent on the execution Of the king,
considering IL essential as . Evolutionary
measure One Of his friends having entered
into an argument TO show that the conven-
ton could not legally try Louis, be respond
ed. "You may be right; but We can kill him,
and We will'--an illustration Of his deeper.
ate decision. He instituted, March 10, lNH.
the extraordinary criminal tribunal, privi.
legged to make whatever arrests it pleased,
and from whose decisions there waono ap-
peal. This was done In excess OF patriotism,
under conviction that the success OF the Rev
olution demanded IL Most Of the proceed
ings he urged % Eealously were to this end,
for which he was violent, thereby gaining
reputation for cruelty he did not merit. Marat,
his colleague, constitutionally suspicious, Of.
ten suspected him, and drove him 70 lengths
no would not otherwise have gone. He con.
tributed to the overthrow Of tho Girondists,
but would gladly havo saved them, had IL
been In his power. Afterward he believed
In moderation tthe guillotine was repugnant
TO him), which deprived him Of the support
OF the Mountain, the ultra party OF the
Jacobins, who concentrated on Rohespierre.
Instances of policy more and more Humane
lesseued his influence among tho radicals and
raised Robespierre to supremacy.
In January, 15eS, he was conscious OF an
approaching crisis, and that his enemies were
trying to destroy him. It was evident that
the dictator, as he was styled, had become
inimical, and was conspiring against him.
No two men could have been more different;
Robespierre, cold, crafty, furtive, resolute,
vigilant, deadly; Danton, hot, open, impetu-
Gus, confident, daring, defiant. An attempt
was made to reconcile the two; but they were
irreconcilable. Robcspierre fears Danton,
who despises him. To the giant the Revolu-
tion has grown an imposture, most tragic,
bloody imposture, and he affects reality alone.
To the pigmy it promises autocracy, power
unquestioned; hence it shall still riot In
butchery.
Danton was fiery lover as well as hater
He had married, at "a, Gabrielle Charpentier,
daughter of q prosperous superintendent Of
farms. They loved one another devotedly,
not at all as the French, when welded, are
commonly supposed to feel toward one an
other She was, In contrast to him, Q sound
Catholic-their attraction may have lain In
opposites; but he was q hero to her before he
had won recognition. He often said that she
was his discoverer. While hc was on mis-.
sion to Belgium she died, leaving two chill.
dren- It was crushing blow to him; and
returning to Paris, he ordered her grave to
be opened that he might see and embrace
again the woman he had adored. Gabrielle
had selected for him Louise Gely, a fair girl, In
hope Of weaving him from the Revolution,
to be a mother TO her children, pious like her.
self, and OF royalist family. Some months
later he welded her, still mourning his great
loss, and went through, for her sake, with the
religious ceremony which he regarded as alb.
surd.
Danton's friends were greatly alarmed tow.
ard the last. They urged him to fly, his wife
joining them IN entreaty. "Where shall
gof' he said. "If free France expcl me, other
lands Will have only dungeons ior me. Ana
one does not carry his country on the soles
Of his shoes" Even the arrest Of his inti
mate, Herault d'Eschelles, also on the com
mittee Of public safety, moved him not. The
busy AK distressed him; he seemed to be Ia
an apathy Of horror. II would rather bs
guillotined than guillotine. But they dare
not touch me. l am the arch that sustains
the entire structure. They know that its fall
will crush them" He was over confident
his was the courage Of rashness The night
of March 80, 1874, he was arrested, with Ca
mile Desmoulins and others; arrest, ol
course, meaning death No ono knew thi'
better than Danton; no one could look more
| calmly at the end, though he had much tC
live for. He was young-but %-gifted, q
husband and father, with host Of friends
the assurance of fame and beloved repub
lie which he more than any other man had
| created