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

OINs OO1NDfAls IAI WILL ~
%. and later. demanding the great levy Of 30,
the presence OF Danton. the orator. with the
voice OF command. the attitude Of a charge.
the right arm thrown forward in the gesture of
the sword" Possessed Of astounding vigor.
but lacking ambition. a lover of immediate
but not OF permanent fame. his'superb energy.
after q year OF effort. spent itself in a demand
for repose. In September. 1893. Danton sup
posed his work done and his position secure.
He went back TO his country home. walked In
the fields he loved. revel'ed in Arcis. his BIRTH
place. took his fill OF the convivial pleas
ure that he had always desired. He came
back In November. feeling safe and happy
ready. almost from without. and as a
spectator. to continue the task OF weld
ing the nation together. II was too late.
He had created q machine too strong for bis
control. He had seen the Terror swallow up
the Gircndins. and had wept because he could
not save them. With the winter OF 170}-
"a. he began his protests. his persistent de-
mands for the exercise Of reason and OF COM
mon sense in the religious and in the political
persecution. he called for a truce; always his
efforts were directed to the old idea, a united
Republican France. stronG against Europe.
with exceptional powers against treason in a
time OF danger. but with q margin on the side
OF mercy. He failed. The extreme theorists.
whom he despised. had captured his DICTATOR
ship. and. in April. 1894. they killed him.
v.
When Danton disappeared. ono man re-
mainedthe master OF the terrible machine. the
Dictatorship. which he had created. The
genius OF the dead man had ,oreseen a neces-
slty. had met it with an institution. and that
institution had proved his wisdom by its i'm
mense success. France was one within. and
was beginning on her frontiers the war. the
success Of which was not to end until IL had
rebuilt all Europe west OF the Vistula. This
unprecedented power dominated a country
long used to Capitalization and was strength
ened by the accidents OF the time. by the even
play OF the Government over a surface where
all local obstacles had broken down. by the
tacit acQuiescence OF every patriotic man. and
by the very abuse OF punitive measures. In a
supplemental chapter Mr.. Belloo depicts the
uses to which this stupendous power was
turned In the hands OF Robespierre. With
the advent OF this man to full ascendancy, we
have to deal with q phase OF history not easily
Ineligible in happier times. Danton. who saw
straight. who understood what he looked at. and
who. when the French victories began. found
leisure to pity. is a type the extremes OF which
Nv y y iouollCc, WIlll L UlOutIdllDn
forms the groundwork Of historical narrative.
In Danton we have to deal with An enthusiast
who 10 also a statesman, q man in whom the
mind has sufficient vigor to know itself even in
Its violence andlto return deliberately within It's
normal boundaries after the most fantastic ex-
cursions. The type OF the vindictive and
bioodthirsty Hebert or Carrier is also familiar.
The men are not rare In whom passions purely
personal dominate all abstract conceptions.
The deeds Of Hebert and Carrier were prompted
by the craving for revenge. whereas Danton
said once. and sincerely: Il can find no use for
hate" In Robespierrs a still different charac.
ter is presented. The man who could laugh
and the men who could hate have vanished:
the right and tho left wing Of the Revolution
have disappeared there Is left standing alone
a personality which has gradually become the
idol of the city. He could neither laugh nor
hate. The love Of country itself. which
Eliminates 80 much in the Revolution
and which explains 80 many follies in
the smaller men even that was prac-
tically absent In the mind OF Robespierre. His
character would have fitted well with the abb
sence OF the human senses. and. should some
further document discover to historians that
he lacked the sense Of taste. that he was color
or that he could not distinguish the
notes OF music. these details would do much 10
SpuipIttc lie lulIetltCl anu tTDuDllHR picture.
1t is certain that. In the sphere that is above
but coordinate with physical life. all those
avenues by which our fellow beings touch us
more nearly than do ideas were closed to
Robespierre,
To the author OF this hook. 1t seems possible
that centuries hence Robespierre may take
upon him the appearance o. MAJESTY. He had
the reserve. the dignity. the intense idealism.
the perfect belief in himself. the conviction
that Others wrre in sympathy with him-ail
the traits. in fine. which distinguish the alb
%solutists and the great reformers. In his
iron code OF theory. one seems to recognize
the ghost OF a Calvin; in his reiterated pre-
cepts OF morality and his perpetual application
OF them. there is II reminiscence Of Hildebrand.
The famous deathcry. Il have loved justice
and hated ~iniquity. therefore l die in exile"
Is not 40 far distant from Id mourn
pour 'e peuple ct den ere d6horre." the
words pronounced by Rohespierre in the tum-
bril- on his way to execution. when a woman,
doubtless a relative Of one OF his victims,
pushed forward from the crowd and smote him
In the face. We are accustomed to cloths such
figures with a solemn drapery and to lend
them. at great distances Of time. a certain ter
rible grandeur. Robespierre is too near us, he
is too well known. and his projected reforms
failed too utterly for this to be now the case
with lin Yet it may we'll happen that some
one else. treading In the same path and sue
ceeding. will sec fit to build a legend round
his name. NJ. ". H.
An Americans Adventures in South Africa.
In a volume entitled On the South African
Frontier tScribners) Mr.. WILLIAM HARVEY
BROWN has given us an account Of the adven-
lures anu observations of an American In
Mashonaland and Matabeleland. The author,