The Taney County republican. (Forsyth, Mo.) 1895-1992, 1919-01-16

expressing the vileness Of Simon treat
men, Of the dauphiu. For this Robes
pierre must be held primarily respon
sible. The execution Of the daurhin
might be understandable aud possibly
iomethihg might have been said in
4 neH Of such a course since foreign
trmies we're ,hreatning to restore him
70 the throne but Tor the lingering
tor lres dragged on for months there
can be no palliatiop.
We can not 20 into many details ci
the Terror nor is it necessary. Robes
pierre came to the fore as the avOwed
leader OF liberty and freedom. His
ideal was justice. But in the height
OF his power he delbertely destroyed
all semblaDce Of justice snd carried
Law permitting conviction without even
allowing witnesses to be called. While
at his zenith he destroyed practically
all the men Of action who might have
saved France from the reign Of Napo-
leon.
Robespiere ruled BY virtue Of his
ability to appeal to the maddest and
most unthinking OF the Paris mob.
He cared nothing for the terrible h1od
he loosed upon France so long as his
power continued. Never during his
reign did he permit the disordered
passions to cool. So long as he con
tinued in power streams OF blood
flowed constantly from the guilloline,
Though for centuries France had sui'
feted under the rule Of the most auto
cratic Of royal masters, and had a
grievance to settle the poorest way in
the world to settle it vas to enlrust
her fortunes to an autocratic dema-
gogue. He proved to be the worst
master she ever had.
I, the hour when France passed
through the travail there was no clear
visioned stateman with sufficient cour-
age and ability TO lead the maddened
nation into an ordered Revolution
such as Cromwell had directed 10 Eng
laud nearly one hundred and Fifty years
before II is not possible to read Of
the long generations Of inhuman treat
ment OF the common people in France
without feeling a hot anger at the
Bourbons. But under Robespierre
there was an even more unreasoning
oppression, a wilder riot OF blood.
Except for moments Of maddened and
primeysl savagery an intense haired Of
anarchy is one OF the most fundamental
instincts Of mankind. Men will en-
dure almost any courtailment Of liberty
tha, follows known and regular order
rather than suffer The demoniac tyranny
OF a seli-ceutered, Ian1tic anarchist
But this lesson has been learned in
ihe bitter school Of experience and
there have been occasions when men
blinded by the expressions they have
endured under a monarchy have Tor
gotten this lesson and have rushed to
the extreme Of unreasoning brutality
such as characterized the Reign oI
Terror in France Russia today is ex'
peliencing somewhat the same anarchy
and it has repeated many phases o.
France during the time Of Robespiere
The same seed time Of oppression ha'
brought a similar harves'. The mass
es kept In ignorance were unable wher
they fnally broke the power Of the
car to select patriotic and cle5r
visioned men 10 direct their destiny
Prince Lv, f who first came to tn,
front was man OF wisdom and intel
ligence bat the benighted peasantr!
who form the hope Of the Slav race
were not able to understand that the
must support some such leader
they were to achieve a lasting liberty
In their indifference they permitted
gang Of be-whiskeIed cut throats Il
establish a mobocracy that for shee
devilshness surpasses anything tn
car ever dreamed Of. Nor shoulI
we think the menace from this sourc
is over. The one hundred eighty mi