The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-04-02
H..

II.
Here. then. when the States-Genera opened
in 1880. we find Danton at the summit OF a
laborious and successful youth. Let us look
at the picture which Mr.. Belloc draws OF him at
this date. He was tall and stout. with the
forward bearing OF the orator, full Of gesture
and OF animation. He carried a round French
head upon the thick neck OF energy. His face
was generous. ugly and determined. With
wide eyes and calm brows. he yet had the
quick glance which betrnvs the habit OF ap-
pealing to an audience. His upper lip was In
jared, AMI so was his nose. and he had further
been disf1Rurei by the smallpox. with which
disease that forerunner Of his. Mirabeau, had
also been d's1sured. His liz had been torn by
a bull when he was a child. and his nose
crushed in a second adventure. they say. with
the same animal. In this the Romans would.
perhaps. have seen a port"nt; but he. the idol
OF our Positivists, found only a chance to re-
peat Mirabeau's expression that his 'boar's
head frightened men," The author OF this
hook goes on to tell us that. in his dress.
Danton had something OF the negli !eace
which goes with extreme vivacity and with
a constant interest in things outside ones
self; invariably. however. It was that Of his
rank. To the minor conventions. indeed. Dan
ton always bowed. because he was elninently
sane. More than did the run OF men at that
time. he understood that you cannot cut down
a tree by looping at the leaves. nor break
up a society by throwing away a wig. The
decent selt-respect which goes with conscious
power was never absent from his costume.
though 1t often left his language in moments
OF crisis or even OF irritation. Mr.. Belloc
does not insist too much upon his subjects
energy, because this feature Of Danton's char
acter has been 80 accomplished as to give a
81, 49, - - "a 49,
tanned in his action. and his political arguments
were as direct as his physical efforts were con-
tinuous. But the banal picture of fury which
is given by 80 many writer's is pronounced
false. Fury is empty. whereas Danton was
full. and his energy was. in the first place. the
force at work upon a great mass OF mind. and.
later, constituted its momentum. Except
when it was his purpose to convince a crowd,
his speech exhibited no violence, ana scarcely
any metaphor: in the courts he was a close
reasoner. and one who put his points with
ability and eloquencc rather than with thunder.
In whatever he undertook. however. vigor
seemed to disclose itself like the taste OF salt in
a dish. He could not quite hide his innate
%virility; his convictions. his determination and
his vision all concentrated themselves upon
whatsoever thing he had in hand.
II "a the judgment OF his present biographer
that Danton possessed a singularly wide and
accurate view Of the Europe which France
stood. Therein he was like Mirabeau. and Pc
culiar.y unlike the men with whom the prog
reos Of the revolution threw him in contact. He
read and spoke English. and was acquainted
with Italian. He knew that the kings were dilet-
tamil. and that the theory of the arlstocracies
was liberal. He had no little sympathy with
tho philosophy which a leisurely oligarchy
had framed in England. Mr.. Belloc re-
DlFlg II "a Nnn ~ thn traral;., -
tho revolution that. UP 10 the last.
he desired an alliance. or at least peace. with
Great Britain. Where Robespierre was mani
acal in foreign policy. Danton was more than
sane; he was a Just and even a diplomatic
man. The catalogue OF his library. which has
been preserved. shows that he was fond of
wide reading. and especially OF the study Of
philosophy. His list of philosophic writings
ranges from Eabelais to the physiocrats in his
own tongue. and from Adam Smith TO the
Essay on Civil Government" in foreign Ian
Ruages Of the Encyclopedia. he possessed all
the numbers
What he aimed at in his politics was, above
all things, actual. practical and visible reform:
changes for the belt"r expressed in material
results. He differed from many OF his coun-
trymcH at that time. and from most of his
political countrymen now. in thus seeking the
tangible. This love OF practicality was n
feature Of his character nearly allied 10 the
stock of the race it made him save money and
invest 1t n land. as the French peasant does,
and it made him love. as the French peasant
loves, good government, order. security
and well-bcing. In the eItant fragments
Of his conversations belonging to the
period before tn" bursting of the storm
upon revolutionary France. and. especially,
in his demand for u u~nifying centre
when invasion from without and rebellion
from within threatened tho epublic. there
Is dlscoverable "a fixed conviction that the rev.
oIut.o;ary hihJ, rail 81 than tho revolutionary
idea. should he produced. IL was not so much
an inspiring creed as the clear vision OF n
goa 10 be reached that sustained him. Like
all r"tive minds. mis- mission was rather to
realize than To- plan. and his energies were
employed in evolving practical results from
theories which he unconsciously admitted, but
which h" was too impatient to analyHe. As ra-
CARDS his oratory. we are told that his voice
was loud. oven when his expressions were
subdued. He talked no man down, but h.
made many opponents sound weak and pip
ing after his resonant utterance. which was
OF the kind that fills great halls. and whose
deep note suggests hard phrases. There was
at the SANE time in his airtiOn a carc,essness
as to what his words might be made to mean
when partially repeated by others, and 1t ia
suggested that such carelessness has caused
historians. still more careless. to lend a false
aspect OF bohemianism to his character. A
bohemian he was not; he was a successful and
an orderly man; but energy he had. and