*
* It is said, that, at the conclusion of this disgraceful business,
the members of the convention crouded about the delinquents with
their habitual servility, and appeared gratified that their services
on the occasion had given them a claim to notice and familiarity.
Though the galleries of the Convention were more than usually furnished
on the day with applauders, yet this decision has been universally ill
received. The time is passed when the voice of reason could be silenced
by decrees. The stupendous tyranny of the government, though not
meliorated in principle, is relaxed in practice; and this vote, far from
operating in favour of the culprits, has only served to excite the public
indignation, and to render them more odious. Those who cannot judge of
the logical precision of Lecointre's arguments, or the justness of his
inferences, can feel that his charges are merited. Every heart, every
tongue, acknowledges the guilt of those he has attacked. They are
certain France has been the prey of numberless atrocities--they are
certain, that these were perpetrated by order of the committee; that
eleven members composed it; and that Robespierre and his associates being
but three, did not constitute a majority.
These facts are now commented on with as much freedom as can be expected
among a people whose imaginations are yet haunted by revolutionary
tribunals and Bastilles, and the conclusions are not favourable to the
Convention.
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