The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-03-03
4 ! ] iz<!l{ ) t|i. 11!11

! iAiih fAlIdtiS litiu some leNAtiS
during his career a physician, which
are proofs either of a fairly good char
acter or of considerable hypocrisy. Marat
says:
who are my detractors? Is ii neces-
sary to ask? Envious towards, the nu-
merous crowd of whom does not cease
to devote itself to my destruction
modern philosophers. hidden under an
| onymity or false names in order to de-
fame me Shall I, then, always he the
butt of their III humor. for having re-
nounced academic honors for the love
Of truth, for having advanced useful
knowledge. for having called back to
life great number of my brethren de
clared incurable. for having defended
the cause of virtue? AT this idea my
heart re bells But no; | will not muir
muir against the holy decree of ProVi-
deuce. and no matter what may be the
1 excuses to which my adVersaries lend
themselves, never shall they force me
to repent Of having been good man.
This contrasts somewhat curiously with
the remark which Victor Hugo puts into
the mouth Of Danton:
For six thousand years Cain has
been preserved in hatred. like the toad
! In rock; the rock breaks, Cain
springs out among men, and is called
/ Aiarat.
/ And this is lIueo's description OF him:
The little one was yellow man, who
looked deformed when seated. He car
/ IlCu MS mead thrown BACK. the eyes
| were injected with blood there were
NNid bIutches on his face: he had
handkerchief knotted about his greasy,
/ straight hair; he had no forehead; the
! mouth was enormous and horrible.
The reader OF Mr. BaN's book can Judge
from the portraits displayed therein
] whether this picture is a proper one.
( Chapters are devoted to Marat as a po-
liticai writer, to Msrat as a political pow
J No IA.
/ last named chapter Mr. Bax fatty calls
( Carlyle a liar and panderer TO class ha-
/ tired. Possibly Carlyle was not all that
Z he might be an unprecedented historian,
: but this is rather strong language. Still.
: the fact remains that either Carlyle was
wrong or Marat was a fiend incarnate,
and after mature consideration of the pic
ture OF him offered in this book the reader
may judge for himself which estimate is
likely tc he the truer.
In the chapter which deals with Marat
as deputy. there is a description of him
which is more likely to be exact than
that given by Hugo. II is from the pen
of Danton's friend, the dramatist, Fabre
d Byzantine, and is SIS follows:
''Marat was of short stature, scarce
~ i've feet high. He was nevertheless
OF 4 firm, thick-set figure, without
being stout he shoulders and bust
were broad. the lower part of the body
thin. thighs short ana wide, the legs
bowed. strong arms, which he
ployed with much Yigor and grace.
Upon rather short neck he carried
head of very pronounced cnal acter:
he had large and hony face. aquiiine
nose. nat and slightly depressed, the
under part Of the nose prominent, the
mouth medium-sZed and curled at one
corner by n frequent contraction; the
lips We're thin the forehead large, the
eyes OF a yellowish grey color. spirit
ual, animated, piercing. clear. natur-
ally soft. and even gracious, ano with
confident look; the eyebrows thin,
the complexion thick, and skin wither-
ed. chin unshaven, the hair brown and |
neglected. He was accustomed to walk
with head erect, straight and TIN own /
back, with a measured trad which
kept time with the movement of his
hips. His ordinary carriage was with
his two arms firmly crossed upon his
chest. In speaking in society, he al
ways appeared much agitated. and a.
most invariably ended the expression
of sen.'ment by move mt OF his
foot, which he thrust rapidly forward,
stamping with it at the same time,
the ground, and then rising On tiptoe.
as though to lift his short stature to ,
the height Of his opinion. The tona of
his voice was thin. sonorous, slightly |
hoarse and of ringing quality.
II is impossible. of course, to explain
away the horrors of the French Revolu-
ton. or to deny that Marat was largely
responsible for them. il must be remem-
bered, however. that the times We're tur-
Lulent, and the enemy which the Three
were obliged to fight was, according to
their idea, a hydra-headed and savage
monster; also they had suffered much
from il in times past. The key TO the
character Of Marat in particular, in the
opinion Of Mr.. Bax. is his ceaseless dis
trust Of ohlcialdom; and the biographer
saws in the closing thapter
His ceaseIess defiance was based
on the view, on which ne untirngly |
insisted, that no faith whatever should
be placed in the bureaucrat or the Of
fcIal as such-that he should be
trusted no farther than he could be
seen. Aarat knew that the official
person, the member of bureaucracy,
is by nature "A liar. His position car
ries with IL that he should be pre-
pared to falsely fact in the interest of
the bureaucracy Of which he is
member. That Marat was right royal
commissions, Blue Books. and indie
pendent Investigations galore afford |
us evidence. Not many years ago
on some facts being brought out on |
the evidence Of prisoners with regard
to "A question Of prison administration |
the Home Secretary of the day begged |
the House Of Commons not TO attach
any weight to the statements of con-
Victs which he represented as neces-
sarily unworthy of any credence
whatever; but. on the other hand to
plantations Of persons in authority AT
least until they We're traversed by the
most conclusive evidence. Now this
We fear is still the popular attitude
toward the OFFICIAL class. IT is the
exact contrary Of Marats attitude. as
II Is OF the facts Of history and of
comparative Psychology The convict
II Is trUe-i. g, the man presume, HI,
Of more or less criminal tendenci.eS
may not be the most reliable of wit
nesses. but he is not necessarily or
invariably liar on the other bapG
the bureducr1t, the functionary thc
official, Is necessarily by instinct a
liar and prevaricator in matters
which concern his colleagues and his
department, even though in private |
life he may he a man Of tho stricrest
integrity and the most scrupulous
truthfuness.
This is somewhat radical doctrine Inn,
il is worth thinking about. especiaIjv in
this day and generation. II We ever have
another French Revolution, in this coun-
try, there IS no doubt whatever that the
lies Of oiiicialdom Will De at the bottom
of if; and in that ease there may appear
another Marat. rather better understood
and more successful than the first one
was. The book Is worth the reading. not
only of students OF history aud political
economy, but Of statesmen and poIitjci
ans. Boston: Small, Maynard q co
$2.50)
Little Tonr i'm France
Two Gentlemen In Touraine." BY Rich
ard sudbury is book of travel. rather
eiaboratoly gotten up. and containing
sctAe Interesting descriptions of localities
in urpy-fuea Will, ,.si.E.t, g.,