24 
 
 LIFE Oi- ROBESPIERRE. 
 
 all was bustle and noise 2 all accused each 
 other. There was no longer any leader, and 
 there was no formed party. The former 
 system of terror was declared at an end, and 
 a new system of moderatism succeeded. This 
 was carried to as great a height as the system 
 of terror had formerly been ; and all means 
 were taken to render popular the fall of their 
 late tyrant. The committees were organized 
 anew, and their members ordered to be fre- 
 quently changed. The correspondence be- 
 tween the affiliated Jacobin Clubs was pro- 
 hibited, and at last the Jacobin Club itself 
 was abolished. This last event was accom- 
 plished with ease ; and that society, which had 
 been the great engine of the Revolution, was 
 itself, without resistance, overturned : 71 depu- 
 ties of the Girondist party, who had been im- 
 prisoned since the 31st of May 1793, were sfct 
 at liberty. 
 
 JiMES Bkydovb, Printer, 17 South Htnortr Street, Edinburgh. 
 
 [No. 11. 
 
 THE HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 THIS MAN" 
 
 wn u 
 
 THE IRON MASK; 
 
 rOGETHEH WITH 
 
 THE LIFE 
 
 07 Tin: 
 
 BLOODY ROBESPIERRE. 
 
 EDINBURGH . 
 PRINTED & PUBLISHED BY J. BUYDONE, 
 SOUTH HANOVER BTREBT. 
 
THE LIFE 
 
 OP 
 
 THE BLOODY ROBESPIERRE. 
 
 The very name of Robespierre excites a variety 
 of disagreeable sensations,— wonder, rase, hor- 
 ror, and revenge, occupy the bosom by turns. 
 Of his countrymen, some claim a murdered 
 parent, others their mangled sons and daugh- 
 ters ; the husband his bleeding wife ; the wife 
 her decollated husband. France, converted into 
 a charnel-house under his administration, be- 
 held more than an hundred thousand of her 
 children proscribed, starved, expatriated, as- 
 sassinated, and cut off, either with or without 
 the forms of law ! The patriot and the perfi- 
 dious citizen, /the republican and the royalist, 
 
 the anarchist and the lover of order, all 
 
 equally experienced his hatred, and perished 
 by his deadly enmity. Never did Liberty suffer 
 more than by his hypocritical attachment; 
 never did despotism receive so much consola- 
 tion as arose from his cruelties. Tyranny 
 brandished her whips, and shook her chains, 
 horn Moscow to Algiers; and boasted, with a 
 perfidious triumph, her milder empire ! 
 
 Maximilian Robespierre was born, in If 59 
 withm the walls of the city of Arras, the 
 capital of the ci-decant province of Artois. The 
 royalists, as if fiction had been necessary to 
 vendor his memory more detestable, pretend 
 
 LirB 0? ItOHESl'lERRE. 
 
 13 
 
 that he was the nephew of that Damions who 
 assassinated Louis XV. It is but justice, on 
 the contrary, to state, that his family was both 
 ancient and respectable ; for his progenitors 
 had occupied some of the higher departments 
 of the magistracy, and appertained to that class 
 foi ■merly termed, by way of eminence, la noblesse 
 do la robe. His father was an adyocate of great 
 knowledge and purity ; but, as economy" was 
 not among his virtues, his two sons and a 
 daughter inherited nothing from him but his 
 poverty. His unsullied reputation, however, 
 proved serviceable to his family ; for a relation 
 undertook the maintenance of the female, and 
 the two boys had the good fortune to be protect- 
 ed, or rather adopted, by the Bishop of Arras. 
 
 Maximilian, the elder" brother, was, accord- 
 ingly, educated under the immediate inspection 
 of this prelate, who, doubtless, instilled excel- 
 lent principles into his mind ; but malice, al- 
 ways active and always uncharitable, has traced 
 to this very source that consummate hypocrisv 
 which distinguished his pupil through life, and 
 which, it is pretended, he could have only ac- 
 quired under the tuition of a priest ! 
 
 At a proper age, young Robespierre was 
 sent to the college of Louis le Grand, a famous 
 seminary, formerly under the direction of the 
 Jesuits. There he distinguished himself bv his 
 assiduity and talents, and bore away the annual 
 prizes from all competitors of his own class. 
 
 This — and it must be allowed to have been a 
 very honourable one— was the only distinguish- 
 ing characteristic of Ids youl h [ for it is allowed 
 that he did not develope even the germ of those 
 passions which influenced his bosom in his more 
 advanced years, and rendered him not only the 
 
4 THE MAN WITH THE IRON MASK. 
 
 governor himself placed his dishes on the table, 
 retiring immediately after, and locking the door 
 behind him. Ho tu-to^yoit (thee ] d and thoiCd) 
 the governor 5 who, on the other hand, behav- 
 ed to him in the most respectful manner, and 
 never wore his hat before him, nor ever sat 
 down in his presence without being desired. 
 The Marquis of Louvoisis, who went to see 
 him at St Marguerite, spoke to him standing, 
 and with that land of attention which denotes 
 high respect. During his resilience here, ho 
 attempted twice, in an indirect manner, to 
 make himself known. One day, he wrote some- 
 thing with his knife on a plate, and threw it 
 out of his window tow r ards a boat that was 
 drawn on shore near the foot of the tower. A 
 fisherman picked it up, and carried it to the 
 governor. M. de St Mars was alarmed at the 
 sight ; and asked the man, with great anxiety, 
 whether he could read, and whether any ono 
 else had seen the plate ? The man answered 
 that he could not read ; that ho had but just 
 found the plate ; and that no one else had seen 
 it. He was, however, confined till the gover- 
 nor was well assured of the truth of his asser- 
 tions. Another attempt to discover himself 
 proved equally unsuccessful. A young man, who 
 lived in the isle, one day perceived something 
 floating under the prisoner's window ; and on 
 picking it up, he discovered it to be a very fine 
 shirt written all over. He carried it imme- 
 diately to the governor ; who, having looked at 
 some parts of the writing, asked the lad, with 
 some appearance of anxiety, if he had not had 
 the curiosity to read it ? He protested repeat- 
 edly that he had not ; but two days afterwards 
 ho was found dead in his bed. The Mask de 
 
 UFICOF KOnESPIERRE. 2L 
 
 .system of the J3rissotines. The result of a 
 long debate was, that Robespierre was appa- 
 rently victorious, and his speech was ordered 
 to be printed. But, on the 27th, the Conven- 
 tion appeared ripe for a change : St Just, a 
 member of the Committee of Public Safety, in 
 attempting to defend Robespierre, was repeat- 
 edly interrupted ; and Billaud Varennes enume- 
 rated the crimes, and proclaimed the tyranny, 
 of Robespierre. The speech was received with 
 bursts of applause. Robespierre in vain at- 
 tempted to defend himself; he was silenced 
 by shouts of execration from every part of 
 t he hall. Tallien seconded the former speaker 
 in his accusation. The sitting was declared 
 permanent, and a decree of arrest was passed 
 against Robespierre and his younger brother, 
 along with St Just, Couthon, and Lebas. 
 These men left the Convention, and found secu- 
 rity in the hall of the Commune of Paris ; where 
 the municipal officers agreed to protect and 
 stand by them. The tocsin was sounded ; tho 
 armed force was under their command ; an in- 
 surrection was therefore attempted against the 
 Convention : but the sections of Paris refused 
 their support. Very few of the troops could 
 be collected, and these were not firm ; the late 
 tyratmy had become odious. The hall of tho 
 Commune was therefore speedily surrendered; 
 and about three o'clock a m. of the 28th, Robes- 
 pierre and his associates were mado prisoners. 
 They had been outlawed by the Convention, 
 on account of their resistance. 
 
 On the morning of tho 10th Thermidor, (July 
 28, 1794,) he was led to execution, amidst the 
 execrations of the people, with one eye hanging 
 out of the socket, and his lower jaw attached 
 
20 LIEfE OF nOHKiPliSKKR. 
 
 sacrifice to that system of terror which they 
 had contributed to erect. Even the Jacobins 
 themselves, though neither timid nor cautious 
 in the shedding of blood, began to murmur 
 when they saw that awful privilege confined 
 within a few hands, or rather monopolized by 
 an individual. 
 
 In this state, things remained for some time ; 
 and it appeared how possible it is for an in- 
 dividual to govern a great nation even while 
 the whole of that nation is hostile to his power. 
 One circumstance tended much to accelerate 
 the fall of Robespierre. He had procured a 
 decree to be passed, authorizing the Committee 
 of Public Safety to imprison at its pleasure, and 
 bring to trial, any member of the Convention. 
 All the individuals of that body found them- 
 selves placed by this decree in the power of a 
 man whose severe and suspicious temper thev 
 well knew. Still, however, they were so much 
 surrounded by spies, that it was difficult to 
 form a party or plan of operations ; even the 
 majority of theCommittec of Public Safety were 
 among the number of the discontented, but' 
 they dared not to withstand their chief. At last, 
 on the 25th of July 1795, the Convention be- 
 gan to exhibit signs of agitation. It was un- 
 derstood, that, in the course of a few days, 
 Robespierre would sacrifice a number of the 
 members to his suspicions 
 
 On the 26th, the sitting of the Convention 
 was still more tempestuous. In a long speech, 
 Robespierre defended his own conduct against 
 those who accused him of aspiring to the dic- 
 tatorship. Ho attacked the party styled 
 Moderate, as wishing to overturn the revolu- 
 tionary government, and to restore the feeble 
 
 Tin-: max with the iuox mask. 5 
 
 Fer, or Man with the Iron Mask, remained in 
 this isle till 1698, when M. de St Mars, being 
 promoted to the government of the Bastile, 
 conducted his prisoner to that fortress. In his 
 way thither, he stopt with him at his estate 
 near Palteau. The Mask arrived there in a 
 litter, surrounded by a numerous guard on 
 horseback. M. de St Mars eat at the same 
 table with him all the time they resided at Pal- 
 ttau ; but the latter was always placed with 
 his back towards the windows ; and the pea- 
 sants, who came to pay their compliments to 
 their master, and whom curiosity kept con- 
 stantly on the watch, observed that M. de St 
 Mars always sat opposite to him, with two pis- 
 tols by the side of his plate. They were waited 
 on by one servant only, who brought in and 
 carried out the dishes, always carefully shut- 
 ting the door both in going out and returning. 
 The prisoner was always masked, even when 
 he passed through the court ; but the people 
 saw his teeth and lips, and observed that his 
 hair was grey. The governor slept in the same 
 room with him, in a second bed that was placed 
 in it on that occasion. In the course of their 
 journey, the Mask was one day heard to ask 
 his keeper whether the king had any design 
 on his life ? " No, prince," he replied ; " pro- 
 vided that you quietly allow yourself to be con- 
 ducted, your life is perfectly secure." The 
 stranger was accommodated as well as it was 
 possible to be in the Bastile. An apartment 
 had been prepared for him by order of the 
 governor before his arrival, fitted up in the most 
 convenient stylo ; and everything he expressed 
 a desire for was instantly procured him. J lis 
 1 able was the best that could be provided ; and 
 
J ■ 6tl* OF nOBKSPIKKKK. 
 
 first Legislature ; and was considered as a pas- 
 sionate, hot-headed young man, whoso chief 
 merit consisted in his being warmly and sin- 
 cerely attached to the cause of liberty. It was 
 he who first brought the term Aristocrat into 
 common use. This occurred on Thursday, 
 Nov. 19, 1790 ; when a deputation from a cor- 
 poration in the Cambresis having complained 
 at the bar of some abuses, the deputy for Arras 
 ascended the tribune, and exclaimed, that the 
 petitioners deserved no favour, being them- 
 selves ( nn corps aristocrat} que) an aristocraiieal 
 body. The Assembly burst into a fit of laughter 
 on the mention of this word : it> howeverfsoon 
 produced far different sensations ! 
 
 It was about this time that he became the 
 editor of a journal entitled LTnion, ou Journal 
 de la Liberie, The royalists, who accuse him of 
 gross ignorance, enumerate, with exultation, 
 the geographical political, and even gramma- 
 tical blunders daily exhibited in tlnVnewspa- 
 por. It k allowed by every one that it was 
 conducted with extreme violence, and displayed 
 but little taste or genius. Indeed, the exag- 
 gerating disposition of the editor had brought 
 him into some degree of contempt; and it was 
 at that time customary to remark, witli a kind 
 Of satirical eulogium— 'r/uc Mlndjeau e/oit le flaw- 
 bran de la Prove nee. and llobeyierre la cliandelh* 
 d' Arras /-— that Mirabeau was the flambeau of 
 Provence, and Robespierre the candle of Arras ! 
 This much is certain, that he never was elected 
 into any of the committees, or honoured with 
 the presidnifs chair in the first Assembly. 
 
 To the Society of the Jacobins. Robespierre 
 ia indebted for all his celebrity and all hi* 
 power, lie became their chief; and it was the 
 
 Tlli-: M.VX WITH TilK 1R0.\ MASK. [) 
 
 In which it is asserted that u the birth of the 
 prisoner happened in the evening of the 5th 
 September 1638, in presence of the chancellor, 
 the bishop of hh .\aux, the author of the MS., a 
 midwife named Peronete, and a sieur Honorat. 
 This circumstance greatly disturbed the king's 
 mind : he observed, that the Salique law had 
 made no provision for such a case. By the 
 advice of Cardinal liichlieu, it was therefore 
 resolved to conceal his birth, but to preserve 
 his life, in case, by the death of his brother, it 
 should be necessary to avow him. A declara- 
 tion was drawn up, and signed and sworn to 
 by all present, in which every circumstance 
 was mentioned, and several marks on his body 
 described. This document, being sealed by the 
 chancellor with, the royal seal, was delivered to 
 the king; and all took an oath never to speak 
 on the subject, not even in private and among 
 themselves. The child was delivered to the 
 care of Madame Peronete, to be under the 
 direction of Cardinal liichlieu, at whose death 
 the charge devolved to Cardinal Mazarin. 
 Mazarin appointed the author of the MS. his 
 governor, and intrusted to him the care of his 
 education. lint as the prisoner was extremely 
 attached to Madame Peronete, and she equally 
 so to him, she remained with him till her death. 
 His governor carried him to his house in Bur- 
 gundy, where he paid the greatest attention to 
 his education. As the prisoner grew up, lie 
 became impatient to discover h\s birth, and 
 often importuned his governor on that subject. 
 His curiosity hafl'J been -roused bv observing 
 that messengers from the court frequently ar- 
 rived at the house ; and a box, containing let- 
 ters from the queen and the cardinal, having 
 
8 
 
 BHE MAN WITH THE [R&N MASK, 
 
 is said to liave been the Duke of Buckingham, 
 who came to France, in May 1 6*25, to conduct 
 the Princess Henrietta, wife of Charles L, to 
 England. The private letters and memoirs of 
 those times speak very suspiciously of the queen 
 and Buckingham : his behaviour at Amiens, 
 whither the queen and queen-mother accom- 
 panied the princess in her way to Boulogne, 
 occasioned much ichispering ; and it appears 
 that the king, on this occasion, was extremely 
 offended at her, and that it required all the in- 
 fluenceand address of thequeen-mother to effect 
 a reconciliation. It is said that this child was 
 privately brought up in the country ; that when 
 Mazarin became a favourite, he was intrusted 
 with the care of him; and that Louis XIV., 
 having discovered the secret on the death of the 
 cardinal, thought it necessary to confine him in 
 the manner above related. 2. The second, and 
 the most probable opinion, is, that he was the 
 twin-brother of Louis XIV., born some hours 
 after him. This first appeared in a short 
 anonymous work published without date, or 
 name of place, or printer. It is therein said, — 
 W Louis XIV. was born at St Germains en Laye 
 on the 5th September 1638, about noon; and 
 the illustrious prisoner, known by the appella- 
 tion of the Iron Mask, was born the same dav, 
 while Louis XIII. was at supper. The king 
 and the cardinal, fearing that the pretensions 
 of a twin-brother might one day be employed 
 to renew those civil wars with \vhich France 
 had been so often afflicted, cautiously con- 
 cealed his birth, and sent him away to be 
 brought up privately." This opinion was con- 
 firmed in a work called Mcmoires de Marechal 
 Due de BlchUeiu written by the Abbe Soulavie ; 
 
 7, IFF, OF ROBESPIERRE. 
 
 members of this body who first propagated the 
 idea, " that the Assembly had ruined France, 
 and Robespierre could alone save it P 1 
 
 It is but candid here to confess that his con- 
 duct in the Legislative Body was pure and un- 
 spotted ; that he stedfastly opposed the inte- 
 rred revision of the constitution, and with- 
 stood every temptation arising from the cor- 
 ruption so prodigally administered by the court. 
 Alas ! this very circumstance, in the end, ren- 
 dered him more dangerous to Liberty, and the 
 surname of Incorruptible enabled him to sacri- 
 iice all his real or supposed enemies to his 
 vengeance. 
 
 Robespierre did not refuse to fill subordi- 
 nate offices, as has been asserted : he, however, 
 did not retain them any considerable time. He 
 was first nominated President of the Tribunal 
 of the district of Versailles ; and was, conse- 
 quently, empowered to decide both in civil and 
 criminal affairs, as the juries had not been then 
 organized. Having resigned this employment, 
 he next obtained that of Accusateur-Public to 
 the Criminal Tribunal of the department of 
 Paris, which he also held but for a short period. 
 His conduct in the exercise of these functions 
 stands unimpeached: no one instance of cruelty 
 or injustice has been adduced by the bitterest 
 of his enemies ; and had the court but proved 
 faithful to that constitution, from which it could 
 not recede without the foulest perjury. Robes- 
 pierre would never have been elevated to tho 
 dictatorship ! 
 
 It was during the National Convention that 
 this man attained the summit of his ambition. 
 In the first Legislature he had joined tho 
 patriots, in tho second he declared for the re- 
 
() THE MAX WIJII 'Mil' LKOX },} \ K . 
 
 lie was supplied with as rich clothes as he de- 
 8ired ; but his chief taste in this last particu- 
 lar was i'or lace, and for linen remarkably fine. 
 He was allowed the use of such books as he 
 desired, and ho spent much of his time in read- 
 ing. He also amused himself with playing up- 
 on the guitar. He had the liberty of going to 
 mass ; but was then strictly forbid to speak or 
 uncover his face : orders were even given to 
 the soldiers to fire upon him if he attempt- 
 ed to do either ; and their pieces were always 
 pointed towards him as he passed through the 
 court. When he had occasion to see a sur- 
 geon or a physician, he was obliged, under pain 
 of death, constantly to wear his mask. An 
 old physician of the Bastile, who had often at- 
 tended him when he was indisposed, said, that 
 he never saw his face, though he had frequently 
 examined his tongue and different ['arts of his 
 body; and that he never complained of his 
 confinement, nor let fall any hint bv which it 
 might be guessed who he was. He often passed 
 the night In walking up and down his room. 
 This unfortunate prince died on the lf)th No- 
 vember 170o, after a short illness; and was in- 
 terred next day in the burying-place of the 
 parish of St Paul. The expense of his funeral 
 amounted only to 40 livres. The name given 
 him was A/archiali : and even his age, ds well 
 as his real name, it seemed of importance to 
 conceal ; for, in the register made of his fune- 
 ral, it was mentioned that he was about 40 
 years old ; though lie had told his apothecary, 
 some time before his death, that he thought 
 he must be (10. Immediately afier his death, 
 his apparel, Mnen, clothes, mattresses, and, in 
 short, every thing that had been used by him. 
 
 lilt: or ROBfegpf^RI®, 19 
 
 rilian/ H&ifi awakened the sleeping victims of 
 persecution to misery and destruction ; while 
 revolutionary tribunals condemned them bv 
 scores, un pitied, and even unheard. The laws 
 were no longer maintained ; the idea of a con- 
 stitution became intolerable ; all power was 
 concentrated, as among the eastern nations ; 
 th8 government degenerated into a Turkish 
 Divan : it was the Committee of Public Safe/// 
 that regulated every thing, that absolved or 
 t ied. that spoiled or enriched, that murdered 
 or saved ; and this committee was entirely re- 
 gulated by the will of Kobespicrre, who go- 
 verned it by the means of his creatures, St Just 
 and Couthon. 
 
 Ho reserved for himself, however, the imme- 
 diate superintendence of the revolutionary tribu- 
 nals, wasaccustomed,at night,to mark down 
 the victims who were to perish before the set- 
 ting of the morrow's sun. 
 
 The execution of four or five a-day did not 
 ' a tiate his vengeance ; the murder of thirty or 
 forty was demanded, and obtained : the streets 
 became deluged with blood ; canals were ne- 
 cessary to convey it to the Seine; and experi- 
 ments were actually made at the Bicetre with 
 an instrument for cutting off half a score heads 
 at a single motion ! 
 
 Amidst this accumulation, however, of seem- 
 ingly irresistible authority, Kobeseie.a e was on 
 the brink' of ruin. The whole of the old Gi- 
 rondist party was indeed subdued and silent; 
 but many members of the Convention still re- 
 mained attached to it. 1 The party of the 
 Mountain, by means of whom Robespierre had 
 risen to power, found thomselves not only dis- 
 regarded, but ready at every instant to fall a 
 
 ] (S LiFfi 0!" !iO!:KS!'i!-:!;!M-:. 
 
 pablicaics: in both, his parrv had proved vieto- 
 rious. It was in the third that he himself was 
 doomed to triumph, not only over his rivals, 
 but his country. 
 
 The Commune of Paris, the Jacobin Society, 
 and even the Assembly itself, were filled with 
 his creatures, and became obedient to his com- 
 mands. In short, the nation looked up to him 
 as to a saviour. 
 
 No sooner, however, had he attained the 
 giddy eminence of power, than his nature 
 seems to have experienced a total change ; and 
 Robespierre, like many others, here affords a 
 memorable instance of the effects of sudden 
 elevation in debasing the human mind, by 
 making it ferocious. Rendered cruel by habit 
 and sa spicion, both royalists and republicans 
 equally experienced has vengeance; a number 
 of the first were cruelly butchered in prison ; 
 and of the latter, Brissot, Vergniaux. (Jensonne, 
 Valaze, &c. &c, fell by the guillotine; while 
 the ex-minister Roland, and the celebrated 
 ex-seeretarv Condorcet, were reduced to the 
 melancholy necessity of putting themselves to 
 death. In the Girondist perished nearly all 
 that was great and amiable in France ; in 
 Madame Roland fell the first female genius of 
 her age; in the person of her husband, virtue 
 itself was outraged; whil<\ in the executions 
 of Condorcet, Lavoisier, and Bailly, science 
 received a mortal and irrecoverable stab. 
 
 The proscriptions of Sylla and Marius were 
 once more renewed in the most polished country 
 of modern Europe, and in an age. too. boast ful 
 of its studied reiinements. Suspected persons, 
 or, in other words, everv one either dreaded or 
 hated by those in power, were arrested : donii- 
 
 THE MA«f with tin: iao\ mask. 7 
 
 wero burnt ; the walls of his room were scraped; 
 the lioor taken up, evidently from the appre- 
 hension that he might have found means of 
 writing any thing that would have discovered 
 who he was. Nay, such was the fear of his 
 having left a letter, or any mark which might 
 lead to a discovery, that his plate was melted 
 dev/n ; She glass was taken out of the window 
 of his room and pounded to dust ; the window- 
 frame and doors burnt ; and the ceiling of the 
 room, and the plaster of the inside of the chim- 
 ney, taken down. Several persona have af- 
 firmed that the body was buried without a 
 head ; and Mi do St Foix informs us in his 
 Essais Historiqucs, that tC a gentleman, having 
 bribed the sexton, had the body taken up in 
 the night, and found a stone instead of the 
 head."' The natural inference from these ex- 
 traordinary accounts, is, that the Iron Mask 
 was not only a person of high birth, but must 
 have been of grea.t consequence ; and that his 
 being concealed was of the utmost importance 
 to the king and ministry. Among the various 
 conjectures that have been formed concerning 
 the real mime and condition of this remarkable 
 personage, none appear to have any probabi- 
 lity except the following That he was a son 
 of Anne of Austria, queen to Louis XIIL, 
 and, consequently, that he was a brother of 
 Louis XIV.; but whether a bastard brother, 
 a brothcr-german, or a half-brother, is a 
 question that has given rise to three seve- 
 ral opinions, viz., 1. That the queen proved 
 with child at a time when it was evident it 
 could not have been by her husband, who, for 
 some months before, had never been with her 
 in private. The supposed father of this child 
 
in 
 
 Tin: max with tuk u;ox mask. 
 
 T.I m <>!• HOHESI'JJ- li hi:. 
 
 15 
 
 one day been inadvertently left out, lie opened 
 it, and saw enough to guess at the secret. 
 Urom that tune he became thoughtful and 
 melancholy, ' which (says the author) I could 
 not then account for. He shortly after asked 
 me to get him a portrait of the late and pre- 
 sent king; but I put him off by savin- that I 
 could not procure any that were "good He 
 then desired mo to let him go to Dijon ; which 
 1 have known since was with an intention of 
 seeing a portrait of the king there, and of 
 going secretly to St John de'Lus, where fcfa 
 court then was on occasion of the marria-e 
 with the Infanta. He was beautiful; and 
 ove helped him to accomplish his wishes He 
 had captivated the affections of a young house- 
 keeper, who procured him a portrait of the 
 king It might have served for either of the 
 brothers; and the discovery put him into so 
 violent a passion, that he immediately came to 
 me with the portrait in his hand, savin- Yolla 
 'monfrere, et voila qui je suis, shewing me, at the 
 same time, a letter of the Cardinal de Mazarin 
 that he had taken out of the box/ Upon this 
 discovery, his governor immediatelv sent an 
 express to court to communicate what had hap- 
 pened, and to desire new instructions ; the con- 
 sequence of which wa.s, that the governor and 
 the young prince un.ler his care were arrested 
 W confined." The author of this memoir 
 concludes,-- I have suffered with him in our 
 common prison: I am now summoned to ap- 
 pear before my Judge on high* and for tin- 
 peace of my soul I cannot hut make this de- 
 claration, which mav point out to him tlu> 
 means of freeing himself from hi.s present lira* 
 mmious situation, in case the kin-, his brother 
 
 provincial pleaders, had not an uncommon oc- 
 currence of circumstances elevated him to a 
 situation in which the eyes of all Europe were 
 mxed upon hum He, however, made himself 
 known as an author, if not as an advocate; 
 for he published two treatises about this time 
 m one ot which he explained the principles of 
 Klectnc.ty ami removed the vulgar prejudices 
 taat prevailed respecting o„ ■/ the erec- 
 tion of which was opposed by the ignorant 
 under the pretence that they were impious, and 
 better calculated to produce destruction than 
 ensure safety. 
 
 Tim other was on Death considered as a 
 punishment. In this, all the modern govern- 
 ments were justly reproached for the sanguin- 
 ary laws still prevalent in their criminal codes 
 and doubts were hinted as to the ri-ht claimed 
 by society of cutting off the life of an individual. 
 
 No sooner had the letters of convocation to 
 the btates-Umeral been issued, than Itobes- 
 pierre determined to become a candidate He 
 proved successful in his endeavours ; and was 
 accordingly, nominated one of the representa- 
 tives of Ins native province. He is said to have 
 drawn up the cahiers. or instructions ; by means 
 ot which the electors were accustomed to re-u- 
 iate the conduct of their deputies. 
 
 In the National Assembly, he sat and voted 
 with the cote c/auc/te, or patriotic side ; and was 
 • ometunes confounded with the Orleanists and 
 sometimes with the Constitutionels. Th,. fofl 
 mer _ wished to place Philip on the throne of 
 Louis ; the latter were zealous for the adoption 
 7 tho constitution. It is no less « ue 
 
 than singular, however, that Jiobe.spiorro re- 
 mained in the greatest obscurity during the 
 
 J to 
 
 14 LIFE OF ROHESPlEKKi;. 
 
 scourge of his country, but of mankind. Pas- 
 chal, amidst t&e silence of his prison, meditated 
 on Euclid ; and Voltaire chalked the first lines 
 of his Henriade on the wahs of his dungeon; 
 but ^llubospionv did not diseowr his future 
 destiny by anticipation ; and it was the opinion 
 of the professors, that hi ; reputation would 
 never extend beyond the walls of tho college in 
 which fag had boon educated. 
 
 At the age of seventeen, it was determin-d 
 that he should bo bred to the bar; and his 
 friends, judging from his early success, already 
 imagined that he would di unto the palm of 
 eloquence with the first lawyers of France. He 
 was, accordingly, committed to the care of a 
 M. Ferricres, nephew to an advocate of [lie 
 same name, who had distinguished himself by 
 an excellent Treatise on Jurisprudence. 
 
 It is asserted, however, that, notwithstand- 
 ing the repeated admonitions of that gentleman, 
 Maximilian could never be prevailed upon to 
 pay any degree of attention to his professional 
 studies. Incapable of application, disgusted 
 with the slightest difficulties, he is smd to have 
 acquired an antipathy to kftoiBe^gaj and to 
 have sworn a deadly enmity both to learning 
 and learned men ! 
 
 It was at first determined that he should 
 practise before the Parliament of Paris, but 
 this scheme was never carried into execution ; 
 for he returned to his native province, and was 
 admitted an advocate in the Superior Council 
 of Artois. 
 
 We do not find that he distinguished himself 
 there by his eloquence ; and have every reason 
 to suppose that he would never h ive ris m abovo 
 mediocrity, nor h- m noliecd in tiio crowd of 
 
 THE MAN WITH THE IROX MASK, 11 
 
 should die without children. Can an extorted 
 oath compel me to observe secrecy on a thing 
 so incredible, but which ought to be left on re- 
 cord to posterity P 3. The third opinion is, 
 that he was a son of tho queen bv Cardinal 
 M azarin, born about a year after the death of 
 her husband, Louis XIII.; that lie was brought 
 up secretly ; and that, soon after the death of 
 the cardinal on the 9th March 1661, he was 
 sent to Pignerol. To this account, Father 
 Crirfet justly objects, * w that it was needless to 
 mask a face that was unknown ; and, therefore, 
 that this opinion does not merit discussion. M 
 Indeed, it seems totally unaccountable that so 
 much care should have been taken to conceal 
 a child of the queen by the cardinal, who, 
 whether they were private]'/ ms/H-d or not, 
 could never have had tho moot distant claim 
 to the crown of France. The conjectures ad- 
 vanced by other authors, that he was the Duke 
 of Monmouth, the Count of Vermandois, or 
 the Duke of Pcaufort, &c, are still more im- 
 probable. 
 
ST 
 
 life or i;oi;i:,-i'H:uRE. 23 
 
 that of the Basilisk would, perhaps, have been 
 more appropriate. 
 
 He affected to be called a Sans-Culotte ; but 
 his clothes wore always chosen with taste; and 
 his hair was constantly droned and powdered, 
 with a precision that bordered on foppery. He 
 was but an imiiilerent orator; for his person, 
 voice, and provincial accent, militated against 
 the grand characteristics of eloquence. He 
 wa> generally deficient, also, in point of compo- 
 sition i his speech, however, on the trial of 
 Louis XVI. is an exception. That on the 
 recognition of the Supreme Being is said to 
 have been written by a member of one of the 
 ci-devant academics. 
 
 It was the idea of his virtue, and confidence 
 in his principles, that procured him the un- 
 boundod esteem of a corrupt age. Until by- 
 toxicated with power, his conduct and morals 
 must be allowed to have been unimpeachable. 
 While a private man, he exhibited virtues that 
 seemed to render him worthy of command ; and 
 it was not till he was vested with supreme 
 authority, that, like the deified Caesars of an- 
 cient times, he threw off the character of hu- 
 manity, and became a demon. He was never 
 a republican ; for the idea of a commonwealth 
 supposes a restraint on governors, as well as on 
 the governed ; and, if we are to believe the 
 assertion of an illustrious woman, (Madame 
 Roland,) who was basely murdered by him, he 
 was accustomed to sneer on the mention of the 
 term, and ask what it meant. 
 
 After the fall of Robespierre, the Convention 
 exhibited no small change of appearance. In- 
 stead of that silence which formerly prevailed, 
 
 22 
 
 tMM OF limn: -;'ij;!;ie:. 
 
 to the upper by means of a handkerchief. It 
 liad been separated bv a musket-ball 
 
 Thus perished Maximilian Robespierre, in 
 the tmrty-hfth year of his age. His character 
 does not possess the least resemblance to any 
 of the illustrious ruffians of antiquity, who have 
 been rendered memorable either bv their crimes 
 or their exploits. Sylla and Marine bred up 
 to arms, and inured to warfare, were both brave 
 to excess. Julius, before he crossed the Rubi- 
 con, and became the tyrant of his country, had 
 displayed uncommon personal courage on many 
 occasions Even the luxurious Antony, and 
 che vile Augustus-the latter of whom" it has 
 been too long the fashion to praise— were at 
 tunes capable of exhibiting instances of intre- 
 pidity, tatahne, in the very hour of his death, 
 was terrible ; for his mutilated corpse was sur- 
 rounded by heaps that had perished by his own 
 imnd. J^t Robespierre was a base coward, 
 who, on all occasions, was solicitous for his own 
 lftfet# and trembled like a woman at the very 
 idea of danger. He was bold only in words 
 and gestures. 
 
 On the 10th of August he hid himself as 
 usual, and only came out of his lurking hole to 
 ™ m tli(J triumphs of that memorable day 
 ^ven on the 1st, 2d, and 3d of September, he 
 te &m to have been concealed, until he could 
 MMy reap all the advantages of the barbarous 
 murders committed Ky his partisans. 
 
 person of ^/uspierre was below the 
 middle size ; the temperament of his body was 
 n^vous and irritable; and he had something 
 hideous m his aspect, which was greatly in* 
 erased by moans of a pair of green Wtacles. / 
 i his acquired Imn the apportion oUke DmgMi: I 
 
 THE 
 
 MAX WITH THE IRON MASK. 
 
 J his remarkable person existed as a state 
 prisoner ,n I ranee during the latter part of 
 he lull century. The circumstances of 
 tins person form a historical ami-ma, which 
 has occasioned much inquiry and many con- 
 jectures, lhe authenticated particulars con- 
 cerning the Iron jiatk arc as follows : A 
 
 few months after the death of Cardinal Ma/a- 
 nn, there arrived at the isle of Sainte Mar- 
 guerite, m the sea of Provence, a voun- mL 
 souer whose appearance was peculiarly attract- 
 ing : his person was above the middle size, and 
 /ormcd; his mien and deportment 
 were noble, and his manners graceful; and 
 fft$ the sound of his voice had in it something 
 uncommonly interesting. On the road, he con- 
 stantly wore a mask made with iron spring 
 to enable him to eat without taking it off It 
 was at hrst believed that this mask was made 
 entirely of iron; whence he acquired the title 
 of the Man with the Iron Mask. His attendants 
 liad received orders to dispatch him if lie 
 attempted to take off his mask, or discover 
 Himself He had been first confined at Phmerol 
 umier the care of the governor M. de St Mars ■ 
 and upon being sent thence to St Marguerite 
 ile Vffl a-eompanied thither by the same per- 
 fOTl Wm continued to have the charge of him. 
 ±le was always treated with the utmost respect- 
 was served constantly in plate; and the