r the insolence and
revolt of a few factions, and outrages that a despot would not bear for
a fortnight. How shall we be looked upon? No! we must avenge ourselves,
or become the opprobrium of all the other nations. We must avenge
ourselves by destroying these herds of _brigands_, or consent to behold
faction, conspiracy, and rebellion perpetuated, and the insolence of the
aristocrats greater than ever. They rely on the army at Coblentz,--in
that they put their trust. If you would at one blow destroy the
aristocracy, destroy Coblentz, and the chief of the nation will be
compelled to reign, according to the Constitution, with us and through
us."

These words, pronounced by the statesman of the Gironde, awakened an
echo in the breast of every man, from the Jacobin Club to the extremity
of the country. The vehement applause of the tribunes was merely the
expression of that impatience to know the final decision that pervaded
all parties. Robespierre needed iron nerve and determination to confront
his friends, his enemies, and public opinion; and yet he sustained this
struggle of a single idea against all this passion for weeks. Great
convictions are indefatigable; and Robespierre, by his own unaided
exertions, balanced all France during a month. His very enemies spoke
with respect of his firmness, and those who had not the courage to
follow him, yet would have been ashamed not to esteem him. His
eloquence, which had been dry, verbose, and dialectic, now became more
elegant and more imposing. The public journals printed his speeches.
"You, O people, who do not possess the means of procuring the speeches
of Robespierre, I promise them to you," said the _Orateur du Peuple_,
the Jacobin paper. "Preserve carefully the numbers that contain these
speeches; they are masterpieces of eloquence, that should be preserved
in every family, in order to teach future generations that Robespierre
existed for the public good and the preservation of liberty."

After having exhausted every argument that philosophy, policy, and
patriotism could suggest against an offensive war, commenced by the
Gironde, and secretly fomented by the ministers, and carried on by the
generals most suspected by the people, he mounted the tribune for the
last time, against Brissot, on the night of the 13th January, and
declared his conviction against war, in a speech as admirable as it was
pathetic.

VI.

"Yes, I am vanquished; I yield to you," cried he, in a b