The Reign of Terror: A Collection of Authentic Narratives of the Horrors Committed by the Revolutionary Government of France Under Marat and Robespierre, Volume 1W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, 1826 - Correctional institutions |
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10th of August 9th Thermidor Abbaye Abbé Sicard accused afterwards aged alarm amongst appeared arms arrested arrived assassins Assembly assignats Beaumarchais behold Bergot Bicêtre Billaud Varennes blood Bordeaux born ci-devant citizens commissaries committee Commune Commune of Paris companions Conciergerie condemned conduct courage court cries crime deaf and dumb death door dreadful dungeon Editors endeavoured entered escape exclaimed execution eyes fate father favour forced France friends fury gaoler gave Gosnay guillotined hands head heard heart horrible horror Jacobins Jeaubert judges Lazare letter liberty livres Louis XVI Madame massacre Meard ment midst misfortune morning municipality murderers never night o'clock officer Paris passed patriots president priests Princess de Lamballe prison prison of St received replied revolution revolutionary tribunal Robespierre sabres Sans-culottes scaffold Semé sent September suffer terror tion took turnkeys unfortunate victims wife window wished words worthy wretches
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Page 293 - Orleans, who met his doom in utter silence;' in November also Madame Roland, who in passing by bowed her head before the statue of Liberty, and spoke these memorable words : ' Oh Liberty, how many crimes are committed in thy name !' The Guillotine was by no means the only expedient for clearing the prisons in France. Not, of course, that there was any release or mercy to the prisoners. But in the provinces the executions were marked by agreeable varieties denoting a playful wit. Thus at Nantes, for...
Page 53 - ... what caused his death, of which I shall shortly speak. M. Emard, who, the evening before, had given me some hints for making an olograph will, communicated to me the motives for which he had been arrested. I considered them so unjust, that, in order to give him a proof of the certainty I felt that he would not perish, I made him a present of a silver medal, entreating him to preserve it, and to show it to me ten years afterwards, if we met. ... If he should read this article, it will recall to...
Page 429 - Abbaye, already pierced by many pike-wounds, ran naked into the court, falling and rising again alternately. I saw him advance again several tottering steps forward, and struggle for more than ten minutes against death, which at last vanquished him. The following are the abridged, but bond fide, words of Billaud Varennes to the assassins :— ' Respectable citizens, you have just destroyed a set of scoundrels; you have saved the country; all France owes you eternal gratitude; the municipality knows...
Page 123 - Behold the bosom through which you must pass to reach that of this good citizen," said Mounot, who knew the abbe only by sight and reputation ; " you do not know him. He is the Abbe Sicard, one of the most benevolent of men, the most useful to his country, the father of the deaf and dumb.
Page 156 - It has been stated that you rob these rascally aristocrats, after having done yourselves justice upon them. Leave, leave all the ornaments, all the money, and all the effects they have upon them, to contribute towards the expenses of the great act of justice which you exercise. Care shall be taken to pay you, as has been agreed upon with you. Be noble, great, and generous, as the profession which you fill. Let all in this great day be worthy of the people, whose sovereignty is committed to you.
Page 181 - August, 1792, in thq morning, I received a letter from a gentleman, who gave his name without any mystery, informing me, that he was anxious to acquaint me of an urgent and important affair which nearly concerned me, and requested an interview. We met as he desired, at an appointed rendezvous; and he then apprised me, that a band of thirty robbers had formed a project to come and pillage my house, on the night between Thursday and Friday; that six men, in the uniform of National or Federal Guards,...
Page 59 - Author, a table, upon which were seen papers, an inkstand, some pipes, and some bottles. This table was surrounded by ten persons, sitting or standing; two of them had jackets and aprons on ; others were stretched out upon benches sleeping. Two men, in their shirt-sleeves, stained with blood, sword in hand, guarded the entrance of the room ; an old turnkey had his hand upon the bolts. In the presence of the president, three men were holding a prisoner, who appeared to be about sixty years of age....
Page 320 - These bodies of victims, to which they gave the name of batches, were composed of men the most diametrically opposite in principles and parties. Thouret walked side by side with d'Espremenil ;* Le Chapelier with the ci-devant Duchess of Grammont. Entire generations have literally been swept away in one day. The venerable Malesherbes,f upwards of eighty years, was dragged to the scaffold, at the head of his whole family. He perished together with his sister, his daughter, and his sonin-law, and the...
Page 286 - ... the fierce assassins present — the same who had taken a part in the massacres of September. This being perceived, he and the other prisoners were forbidden to speak, and, by a bitter perversion of all justice, were condemned unheard. On hearing his sentence, La Source merely repeated those words of one of the ancients — " I die at a moment when the people have lost their reason, but you will die when they recover it.
Page 52 - Yet a ray of hope began to beam upon our hearts ; some even believed their deliverance so near at hand, that they had already taken their bundles under their arms; but soon afterwards new cries of death plunged us into our former agonies. I had formed a particular intimacy with M. Maussabre, who had only been arrested because he had been aid-de-camp of M. de Brissac. He had often given proofs of courage ; but the fear of being assassinated had completely sunk his heart. I had, * The name of this...