The record., 1912-08-15

destinieS at a day III - * -
when France was a slaughter house.
The French Revolution was at its
height After throwing OFF 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 rcvoln-
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 Glanced at the mo-
ment to be uppermost executed mcm-
bers of the others. One leader after
another arose to outdo his predeces-
sors in deeds of violence only TO lose
his own life and 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 a paper called "The
Friend of the People" 1t was prob
ably the most scurrilous, bloodthirsty
sheet ever published.
The revolution at that time had
not wholly thrown sanity aside.
Marat's arrest was ordered. He cs-
caped and fed to the lowest slums.
There hiding in the sewers and cell
lars, he spent his time making friends
with the vile outcasts of the Paris m
derworld and In preaching to them his
| l.dpi-frn OF h''nsale murder. From
|;fve vrif 'as sfS76spTl6ss=<S=s..-,
rlofe rsrcc DC would emerge fro N
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 II became safe for Marat to
come wholly out of scciusion 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 shrieking clamor for
blood. But they could no longer send
him into hiding. For the worst ele-
ment Of the mob now ruled Paris
And the mob adored AIarat. 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 we're guillotined at his
command He even gravely expressed
a wish to behead an entire French
army of 27o,000 officers and men.
With Robespierre and Danton Cboth
of whom later fell victims to the guillo-
tine) he formed a triumvirate 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 havo
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
intolerable pain. The only relief he
could get was to lie for hours in a tub
of hot water. The great unwashed
was actually forced to bathe!
It was while he was wrapped in a
sheet in the steaming bathtub on the
evening of July 13, 1893, that a young
girl from the provinces called to see
him. She said she had with her q
list Of traitors names and began to
read them to him. NIarat listened
greedily. At the end he croaked:
"They shall die! Every one Of
them,"
As he spoke. the girl-Charlotte
Corday-stabbed him to the heart
She had hoped to free France from a
tyrant. But she did more harm than
good. In the first place, Marat had
already been dying from disease. and
mt most could have had but q few
weeks to live. In the second, she
made the people regard a monster as
a martyr. And. for months, the most
atrocious cruelties were carried on,
under the pretext that Marat would
have wished them.