Madame Roland, in the name of her husband, drew up for the Convention the plan of a republic as a substitute for the throne. From childhood she had yearned for a republic, with its liberty and purity, fascinated by the ideal of Roman virtue, from which her lively imagination had banished all human corruption. But now that the throne and hereditary rank were virtually abolished, and all France clamoring for a republic, and the pen in her hand to present to the National Assembly a Constitution of popular liberty, her heart misgave her. Her husband was nominally Minister of the Interior, but his power was gone. The mob of Paris had usurped the place of king, and Constitution, and law. The Jacobins were attaining the decided ascendency. The guillotine was daily crimsoned with the blood of the noblest citizens of France. The streets and the prisons were polluted with the massacre of the innocent. The soul of Madame Roland recoiled with horror at the scenes she daily witnessed. The Girondists struggled in vain to resist the torrent, but they were swept before it. The time had been when the proclamation of a republic would have filled her soul with inexpressible joy. Now she could see no gleam of hope for her country. The restoration of the monarchy was impossible. The substitution of a republic was inevitable. No earthly power could prevent it. In that republic she saw only the precursor of her own ruin, the ruin of all dear to her, and general anarchy. With a dejected spirit she wrote to a friend, "We are under the knife of Robespierre and Marat. You know my enthusiasm for the Revolution. I am ashamed of it now. It has been sullied by monsters. It is hideous."
Advance of the allies.--Hopes of the king's friends.--Consternation at Paris.--Speech of Danton.--Despotic measures.--Domiciliary visits.--Opening of the catacombs.--Terror of the people.--Scenes of terror.--Vain attempts at concealment.--Numbers arrested.--The priests.--A human fiend.--Butchery of the priests.--Arrival at the prison.--Prison tribunal.--Massacre in the prisons.--Fiendish orgies.--Female spectators.--Character of the victims.--The Bicetre.--Numbers massacred.--Girls sent to the guillotine.--Their heroism.--The assassins rewarded.--They threaten their instigators.--Ascendency of the mob.--Peril of the Girondists.--The Assembly surrounded.--Adroitness of the Jacobins.--Advance of the allies.--Robespierre and Danton.--Bold measures proposed by Madame Roland.--Decisive stand taken by MM. Roland and Vergniaud.--The Girondists defeated.--Resignation of M. Roland.--Attacks upon Madame Roland.--How received in the Assembly.--Letter from M. Roland.--Its lofty tone.--Danton seeks a reconciliation.--His failure.--Plans of the Jacobins.--Fearlessness of Madame Roland.