The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1912-06-10

The French Revolution was at It's
height. After throwing of the cruel
bondage of royalty under which they
had groaned for centuries, the French
| people beheaded their old tyrants, the
aristocrats Then. the thirst for
blood being still unslaked. they fell
| to beheading each other. The Reign
| OF Terror" set in. First the reyolu-
tionists who believed In higher ideals
and gentler methods were slain. Then
the more rabid revolutionists divided
into several parties or factions. And,
whichever faction chanced at the mo-
ment to be uppermost executed men,
bers Of the others. One leader after
another arose TO outdo his predeces-
sors in deeds OF violence, only to lose
his own life ant power to some still
more murderous demagogue.
And the heart and soul Of the Reign
Of Terror was Marat. He was a Swiss
by birth and had at various times
been a scientist, literary man. a
physician and-so says Carlyle-a
horse doctor. When the revolution be-
gan he started paper called "The
Friend of the People" 1t was prob
ably the most scurrllous, bloodthirsty
sheet ever published.
The revolution at that time had
not wholly thrown sanity aside.
Marat's arrest was ordered. He es-
capped and fed to the lowest slums.
There, hiding In the sewers and Gel
lars. he spent his time making friends
with the vile outcasts OF the Paris un.
derworld and in preaching to them his
doctrine Of wholesale murder. From
time to time. as the revolution waxed
more fierce. he would emerge from
hiding with new plans for deeds OF
violence. Each time the saner leaders
denounced him. But soon or late,
they followed his advice. And thus
the revolution grew daily into the
Reign Of Terror.
At last It became safe for Marat to
come wholly out Of secluson and to
proclaim aloud. by voice and by his
newspaper, his ideas for the death OF
his fellowmen. The revolutionary
leaders feared and hated him They
held him in contempt for his squalid
filth and his shrieklng clamor for
blood. But they could no longer send
him into hiding. For the worst eIe-
ment of the mob now ruled Paris
And the mob adored Marat. He grew
in power and his most terrible orders
were obeyed.
He framed a law by which 100000
persons were arrested on suspicion OF
being false to the revolution. Hun
dreds more were guillotlned at his
command. He even gravely expressed |
wish to behead an entire French |
army Of 2700O0 officers and men
With Robespierre and Danton (both
OF whom later fell victims to the guillo-
tine) he formed trlumvirate to gov
ern the French people. For time he
was the ruling spirit in this combina-
tion. In vain did his opponents call
him sewer rat" and even less COM
plimentary names. In vain did they
plot for his downfall. BY sheer force
of evil he crushed all opposition. And
the crazy mob slavishly followed his
one virtue. By grating, as did other
revolutionary chiefs, he might have
made millions Of dollars. He died
with Just twenty-one cents.
Nature at last did what man could
not. to shorten the career Of this "star
villain" Of Frances Scarlet Tragedy
Marat's health gave out. He suffered
pain. The only relief he
could get was to lie for hours in tub
or hot water. The great unwashed
was actually forced to bathe
1t was while he was wrapped in a
sheet in the steaming bathtub on the
evening Of July 13, 1893, that young
girl from the provinces called to see
him. She said she had with her a
list Of traitors names and began to
read them to him. Marat listened
y-eedily. At the end he croaked:
They shall die! Every one of
.hem,"
As he spoke, the girl-Charlotte
him to the heart.
She had hoped to free France from a
yrant. But she did more harm than
good. In the first place. Marat had
llready been dying from disease, and
It most could have had but a few .
weeks to live. In the second, she
made the people regard monster as
martyr. And, for months. the most
trocfous cruelties were carried on,
nder the pretext that Marat would
ave wished them.
Instead Of ending the Reign Of Ter
or, Charlotte Corday had but in
reased its horrors. Here was a
vasted crime.