CHAMBERS' EDINBURGH JOURNAL
CONTENTS
TIME'S REVIEW OF CHARACTER.
INFANT SCHOOLS IN HUNGARY.
THE LOSING GAME.
PARTNERSHIP IN COMMANDITE.
RECENT FIRE-PANICS.
THINGS TALKED OF IN LONDON.
A WORD TO GENTEEL EMIGRANTS.
COLOURS IN LADIES' DRESS.
SITTING ON THE SHORE.
THE PALO DE VACA, OR COW-TREE OF BRAZIL.
CONDUCTED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS, EDITORS OF 'CHAMBERS'SINFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE,' 'CHAMBERS'S EDUCATIONAL COURSE,' &c.
| No. 426. New Series. | SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1852. | Price 1½d. |
TIME'S REVIEW OF CHARACTER.
ROBESPIERRE.
Some characters are a puzzle to history, and none is more so than thatof Robespierre. According to popular belief, this personage was ablood-thirsty monster, a vulgar tyrant, who committed the mostunheard-of enormities, with the basely selfish object of raisinghimself to supreme power—of becoming the Cromwell of the Revolution.Considering that Robespierre was for five years—1789 to 1794—a primeleader in the political movements in France; that for a length of timehe was personally concerned in sending from forty to fifty heads tothe scaffold per diem; and that the Reign of Terror ceased immediatelyon his overthrow—it is not surprising that his character isassociated with all that is villainous and detestable. Nevertheless,as the obscurities of the great revolutionary drama clear up, astrange suspicion begins to be entertained, that the popular legendrespecting Robespierre is in a considerable degree fallacious; nay, itis almost thought that this man was, in reality, a most kind-hearted,simple, unambitious, and well-disposed individual—a person who, tosay the least of it, deeply deplored the horrors in whichconsiderations of duty had unhappily involved him. To attempt anunravelment of these contradictions, let us call up the phantom ofthis mysterious personage, and subject him to review.
To understand Robespierre, it is necessary to understand the FrenchRevolution. The proximate cause of that terrible convulsion was, as iswell known, an utter disorder in all the functions of the state, andmore particularly in the finances, equivalent to national bankruptcy.That matters might have been substantially patched up by judiciousstatesmanship, no one doubts; but