第716章

.[165] Day before yesterday， the sister of the former Comte de Bethune sneezed in the sack." Carrier loudly proclaims "the pleasure he has derived" from seeing priests executed： "I never laughed in my life as I did at the faces they made in dying."[166] This is the extreme perversity of human nature， that of a Domitian who watches the features of the condemned， to see the effect of suffering， or， better still， that of the savage who holds his sides with laughter at the aspect of a man being impaled. And this delight of contemplating death throes， Carrier finds it in the sufferings of children.

Notwithstanding the remonstrances of the revolutionary Tribunal and the entreaties of President Phélippes-Tronjolly，[167] he signs on the 29th of Frimaire， year II.， a positive order to guillotine without trial twenty-seven persons， of whom seven are women， and， among these， four sisters， Mesdemoiselles de la Metayrie， one of these twenty-eight years old， another twenty-seven， the third twenty-six， and the fourth seventeen. Two days before， notwithstanding the remonstrances of the same tribunal and the entreaties of the same president， he signed a positive order to guillotine twenty-six artisans and farm-hands， among them two boys of fourteen， and two of thirteen years of age. He was driven " in a cab to the place of execution and he followed it up in detail. He could hear one of the children of thirteen， already bound to the board， but too small and having only the top of the head under the knife， ask the executioner， "Will it hurt me much？" What the triangular blade fell upon may be imagined！ Carrier saw this with his own eyes， and whilst the executioner， horrified at himself， died a few days after in consequence of what he had done， Carrier put another in his place， began again and continued operations.

________________________________________________________________________Notes：

[1] Thibaudeau： "Mémoires，" I.， 47， 70. - Durand-Maillane， "Mémoires，" 183. - Vatel， "Charlotte Corday et les Girondins，" II.， 269. Out of the seventy-six presidents of the convention eighteen were guillotined， eight deported， twenty-two declared outlaws， six incarcerated， three who committed suicide， and four who became insane， in all sixty-one. All who served twice perished by a violent death.

[2] Moniteur， XVIII.， 38. (Speech by Amar， reporter， Oct. 3. '793.)"The apparently negative behavior of the minority in the convention， since the 2nd of June， is a new plot hatched by Barbaroux."[3] Mortimer-Ternaux， VIII.， 44. Election of Collot d'Herbois as president by one hundred and fifty-one out of two hundred and forty-one votes， June 13， 1793.-Moniteur， XVII.， 366. Election of Hérault-Sechelles as president by one hundred and sixty-five out of two hundred and thirty-six votes， Aug. 3， 1793.

[4] "The Revolution，" vol. III.， ch. I. - Mortimer-Ternaux， VII.， 435. (The three substitutes obtain， the first， nine votes， the second， six votes， and the third， five votes.)[5] Marcelin Boudet， "Les conventionnels d' Auvergne，" 206.

[6] Le Marais or the Swamp (moderate party in the French Revolution).

SR.

[7] Dussault： " Fragment pour servir a' l'histoire de la convention."[8] Sainte-Beuve "causeries du Lundi，" V.， 216. (According to the unpublished papers of Siéyès.)[9] Words of Michelet.

[10] Moniteur， XX.， 95， 135. (Sessions of Germinal II. in the Convention and at the Jacobin club.)[11] Buchez et Roux， XXXII.， 17. (Sessions of Vent？se 26， year II.

Speech of Robespierre.) "In what country has a powerful senate ever sought in its own bosom for the betrayers of the common cause and handed them over to the sword of the law？ Who has ever furnished the world with this spectacle？ You， my fellow citizens."[12] Miot de Melito， "Mémoires，" I. 44. Danton， at table in the ministry of Foreign Affairs， remarked： "The Révolution， like Saturn， eats its own children." As to Camille Desmoulins， "His melancholy already indicated a presentiment of his fate； the few words he allowed to escape him always turned on questions and observations concerning the nature of punishment， inflicted on those condemned by the revolutionary Tribunal and the best way of preparing oneself for that event and enduring it."[13] Buchez et Roux， XXXIII.， 363.357. (Police reports on the deputies， Messidor 4， and following days.) - Vilate： "coups secrètes de la Revolution du 9 et 10 Thermidor，" a list designated by Barère.

- Denunciation by Lecointre. (2nd ed. p.13.)[14] Thibaudeau， I.， 47. "Just as in ordinary times one tries to elevate oneself， so does one strive in these times of calamity to lower oneself and be forgotten， or atone for one's inferiority by seeking to degrade oneself."[15] Madame Roland： "Mémoires，" I.， 23.