Page:A cyclopaedia of female biography.djvu/678

 some youthful disappointment—as a beautiful chimera. Beneath the austere aspect of Roland, she saw and admired a soul, in Its stem and unyielding virtues, worthy of an ancient philosopher. In her enthusiasm she overrated his qualities; he proved a selfish, exacting husband; but her sense of duty, and the high esteem she felt for his qualities, enabled her to bear her lot with cheerfulness.

The opening of the French revolution drew her from the retirement of private life. She accompanied her husband in 1791, to Paris, upon his being sent there by the municipality of Lyons. Her beauty, enthusiasm, and eloquence soon exercised a powerful fascination over her husband's friends. Péthion, Buzot, Brissot, and Robespierre met constantly at her house, and she was a deeply interested observer of all that passed. Madame Roland had little faith in a constitutional monarchy; her aspirations were for a republic, pure, free, and glorious as her ideal. Without seeking it, she found herself the nucleus of a large and powerful party. The singular and expressive beauty of her face and person, the native elegance and dignity of her manners, her harmonious voice and flowing language, and above all, the fervour and eloquence of her patriotism, seemed to mark her out for the part which had been instinctively assigned to her. She presided over political meetings with so much tact and discretion as to appear a calm spectator; whilst she, in reality, imbued with her own fervent enthusiasm all those who came near her. This enthusiasm she had imparted to the colder mind of her husband, and the prominent part which he took in the important events of the period, may unquestionably be attributed to her. In 1792, when the Girondist ministry was formed, Roland was named minister of the interior; and in her new and elevated position, Madame Roland influenced not only her husband, but the entire Girondist party. Dismissed from his post, in consequence of his celebrated letter of remonstrance to the king—which letter was, in fact, written by his wife—Roland, upon the downfall of the monarchy, was recalled to the ministry. This triumph was but short-lived. The power which had been set in motion could not be arrested in its fearful course—the Girondist party fell before the influence of their blood-thirsty opponents. Protesting against the Reign of Terror, they fell its victims. Madame Roland, whose opposition to the massacres had influenced her party, drew down upon her husband and herself the hatred of Marat and Danton, and their lives were soon openly threatened. Roland, who was kept in concealment by a friend, escaped; but Madame Roland was arrested, and thrown into prison. Here during a confinement of several months, she prepared her memoirs, which have since been given to the world.

On the 10th. of November, 1793, she was removed to the Conciergerie, and her trial, as a Girondist, commenced. She was closely questioned, not only about herself, but her husband. She refused to say anything that might criminate him, or give them a clue as to his present hiding-place. She was condemned to death, and November 10th., 1793, she ascended the fatal cart, dressed in white, as an emblem of her purity of mind, and went calmly through the crowd which followed the procession. The mass of the people, moved by pity and admiration, were generally silent, but some of the more furious ones cried out, "To the guillotine! to the guillotine!" "I shall soon be there," said Madame Roland; "but those