Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-08-30

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war had proved failure SO far The
spirit with which the army went out to
fight almost evaporated. The soldiers
broke and ran. The allies swept every
thing before them. Enthusiasm proved
no match for discipline. tactics and ac-
curate artillery. In a rage the mobs fell
upon the jails where were imprisoned
the suspected supporters OF the court.
and in September LOO were massacred.
The order for this infamous act was
September % the third assembly. known
as the convention, met. and it continued
for three years to give France what
government it had, If government it can
be called. The second day Of the session
1t voted unanimously that royalty be
abolished. The next day it was decided
that public documents should bear the
date The First Year of the Republic"
Thus came first into official use the desig-
nation of a new form of government
About this time also. to the surprise of
all concerned. the allies negotiated for a
cessation of hostilities and their with
drawal from French soil. Not only had
they met with an unexpected check in
their invasion, just as the Germans did
this month in Belgium. but sickness and
a failure Of the commissary to keep up
connections had reduced them to a state
where peace was necessary.
+ When everything seemed to favor the
new republic a violent dissension broke
out between the municipal and the ma
ttonal government in the convention.
The former was now carried away by the
revolutionary and military spirit. and the
Girondins were the especial objects OF
Its hatred and suspicion. The Mountain
supported by the municipal government
was determined on the strong hand In
administration. 1t decreed fraternity
with all peoples battling for freedom. I,
advocated breaking faith with England
and others by opening the scheldt and
on January Is, 1913, the convention
voted the kings death. He assembled the
scanold six days later and Sanson's
knife put an end to Louis.
The war party should have been salts
fled, for the republic was soon fighting
Spain. England and Holland. Du-
mouriez who had led its armies against
Austria and Prussia. soon found his
force in the Rhine country without proper
basis. and he retreated to Neerwinden
where he suffered bad defeat.
But the republics trouble was not al
with it's foreign enemies 1t had a revo
luton of its own to combat. several o,
them. La Vendee. the country at the
mouth Of the Loire had fought the con.
scription of February not only as such
but because the people detested the reyo
masse. captured several villages. ano
butchered the officials. even besiegine
Nantes. The army was busy being de.
feated on the frontier and the opposition
to the Vendeean rebels was worthless
The new revolution spread to Lyons
where Girondin and royalist fought
shoulder to shoulder This news and the
fact that the allies had reached valen
CHIMES maddened Paris.
+ y
At Danton's suggestion the revolution
airy tribunal had been formed to try
cases Of treason. The convention ap
pointed also the committee Of public safe
ty to manage the military affairs of the
republic, while another committee to con.
troll ministers had its powers enlarged.
The organization OF the committee oil
public safety, however. was destined t.
have an immense and lasting effect upor
the destinies Of the republic. This com.
mittee. controlled by Danton and Barere
determined to give the Girondins over te
the commune Twenty-nine of the leaders
were taken out of the convention and
deprived of their office. Later many
were executed and a number took theil
own lives. That summer also the con.
vention had voted the constitution, con.
tanning universal suffrage an annual par.
lament, and a referendum.
The revolution against Paris had spread
to many provinces Bordeaux and Mar
seilie We're in arms. Normandy was
adame, while Toulon opened its port to
the English and Spaniards and proclaim
ed the dauphin as Louis XVII. The al
lies were in Valenciennes and Mayence
and DunErk was threatened
It was then that Carnot entered the
committee Of public safety and applied
his military genius to organize the opera.
tons in the field. So well did he do this
that within month the allies fed from
L.
October. The Girondins lost Lyons an6
the north was quieted, while a youne
major of artillery. Bonaparte by name
had driven the enemy from Toulon.
madness now seized those in power
Every one whom the committee of public
policy was recommended to the revolu
tionary tribunal for execution. These
with those it judged guilty of treason OF
for infractions of discipline. numbered
almost 1000. Danton and Desmoulins
suffered with the rest. The persecution
extended in the country to the clergy
hundreds of whom were murdered or sent
into exile.
Alone with all these victims were a
number of radicals whose extreme views
were feared as likely to cause a reaction
The queen and her sister-in-law. Nine
Elizabeth. suffered death. together with
hundreds of men and women whose only
crime was their noble birth The little
dauphin, after being starved and beaten
until he became almost an imbecile. for
tunately died on his captors' hands.
Robespierre shared with Carnot the
power of the committee. He is credited
with sending Danton, as well as many
others. to the scaffold. fate which he
himself was to share Marat, the friend
Of the people," as he was called. from
whom obloquy attaches for his acts of
savage cruelty. He himself was assassi-
mated while at his bath by Charlotte Cor
day, a Norman girl. Robespierre was
shot by young man while he was draw
ing up a proclamation Of Instruction.
He lived, however, to pay the penalty on
the scaffold. The committee decreed his
The populace had tired Of him and eager
ly sought his extinction. With his death
the terror ended.
Paris was so glutted with blood that a
reaction slowly set in. The terrorist gov
eminent gave way to the moderates, and,
although cruelty and executions by no
means ceased, France began to assume
the semblance Of peace and order, par
i. tlcularly as Prussia and Spain withdrew
from the war. leaving England and Aus
tria still her enemies.
In 1895 government by directory was
attempted and a decided reactionary
spirit set in. Everything which before
had been venerated was now despised
Men who had been extolled as profound
patriots now had their memories exc