The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1898-01-27
THE REIGN OF TERROR.

and bis family were thrown INTO pr
son price was put on Lafayette's
head, aud the terrible Commune OF
, Paris was brought into power.
On the 10th of August Danton leo
the Commune, and during the distur-
Dances on that day especially dlstln
tinguished himself. As result he
was appointed Minister of Justice.
In the National Assembly a fierce
body of men sat on the left of the hall
on the topmost benches. Because of
their lofty position they were called
the Mountain. Thry were continu-
ally crying for the execution of the
royalists But the GirOndins were
more moderate and held themin check
They would not consent to the Noun
tain's plan for bloodshed Marat, in
his paper, named The Friend of the
People" also called savagely for the
execution Of every one opposed to d
republic, and he was becoming pow
er
la August, 1892, the Prussian army
entered France and threatened to
march on Paris. 1t first bombarded
and captured Longwy. On the Both
of August it besieSed Nerdun. Yer
dun taken, the road to Paris was
open.
In the capital there was a large
number of royalists. The Commune
and the Mountain feared that they
would assist the enemy, for the Prus
SLAMS were fighting to replace Louis
on the throne. In the Assembly Dan
ton called for the exterminatiOn of the
royalists The Girondins. fuli Of hor
ror, succeeded il defeating his prop
osition. As a concession, however.
they threw into prison all the more
prOmiueut of the kings friends.
The leaders of the Commune ar
ranged plan to start Il not and then
To murder the prisoners. Iu this they
were aided by the success of the
Prussi us. On the night Of the lst of
! September news Reached PARIS that
Nerduu had Surrendered. The city
was overcome with terror. The Com
mUne aeIzed the mOneut to execute
Its dreadful purpose. The alarm
guns we1e fired tie tocsin sounded,
| the barriers closed, and the riot be
gan. The PRISONERS were at once cap
tured, and the massacre commenced.
For five days and nights II went on
III eight prisons. La several of the
JallS the commune formed rude courts
of justice, before which the prisoners
were brought. A few questions were
ask q them III mOckery OF justice, and
then they were saoyed into the street
where II cIOwd Of waiting asoassIus
immedlntlately fell upon them and
hacked them 10 death.
Marat sent messages Throughout
frauce Calling Oh the people 10 tOl
low the example set them Ill Pans.
ln many places this advice was foI
lowed and other scenes OF horror
took place.
And while this bloody work was
going on elections were occurring all
over the country La Paris the Com
mune controlled the voting and Ill the
country the Jacoblns. In many sec
tlOns where there were thousands of
voters uOt more than two hundred
votes were cast, Terror ruled.
Consequently, when the newly
elected body assembled. on the 2lst
Of September, 1892, under the name
of The National Convection, the
strength of the Mountain was very
much increased. Marat, Danton, and
RObespierre took seats and at once
| became Its leaders.
The first act of the convention was
to abolish the monarchy and declare
| France republic. The most bitter
| quarrels then broke out between the
Mountain and the Glrondins. The
| latter party sought to bring to justice
! the persons who We're responsible for
the September massacres, and to de
stroy the power of the Commune.
| They resented the stain cast on the
revolution, and wished to prove to the
world that the massacres We're the
work of few hired assassins
Though at that time numerically
the strongest party, the Girondists
We're not III the majority Those who
were unattached to either party called
the Plain, held the balance of power
| W hen the effort was made to con-
denim the rioters, the Mountain raved
and threatened the terror of the
| Commune. The Plain became fright
ened and did not support the Gil
rOude, SO the accusations failed.
The next thing called for 10y Marat
and the Mountain was the death of
the king. SO Ionis was brought to
trial ana condemned to be beheaded. {.
On the 10Th of january. 1893, be saw
his family for the last time. The
farewell was very touching. As be
started toward the door to leave them
his daug hter fell fainting at his feet
The following day he was executed
and the poor monarch's earthly trou
bles were ended.
| he Glrondlns then again turned
on the Mountain Marat was accused
aud at length brought to trial on the
charge of melting the people to riot {.
He was tried by d court controlled by
the Commune and acquitted. The
extreme revelutionlsts rapidly gained
the upper hand, The Mountain sue
ceeded IN depriying the Gironde of
most OF its power by placing nearly
all authority IN the hands of various
committees made up of the Jacobins
| The government kept narrowing
down into the hands of a few men,
until at last, though not recognized as
such, France was ruled by triumvi-
rate-Marat, Danton, and Robespi
ere.
These men We're all insanely de
sirous of shedding blood, and all
came to violent deaths. The most in.
human aud unrelenting of the trio
was Marat, and he was the first tc
meet the fate fate he deserved
II full name was Jean Paul Marat
He was born In Switzerland In IVA
and in his boyhood received a gooc
education. both general and scientific
He spent ten years Of his life in Lon
don, and was teacher of language,
e In Edinburp University. Afterwsrd.