Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 6.djvu/854

818 the Jacobin club was &quot; purified &quot; in the winter, Danton s name would have been struck out as a moderate, if Robes pierre had not defended him. The committees had deliber ated on his arrest soon afterwards, and again it was Robes pierre who resisted the proposal. Yet though he had been warned of the lightning that was thus playing round his head, Danton did not move. Either he felt himself power less, or he rashly despised his enemies. At last Billaud de Varennes, the most prominent spirit of the committee after Robespierre, succeeded in gaining Robespierre over to his designs against Danton. Robespierre was probably actuated by motives of selfish policy, which soon proved the greatest blunder of his life. The Convention, aided by Robespierre and the authority of the committee, assented with ignoble unanimity. On March 30 Danton, Desmoulins, and others of the party were suddenly arrested. Danton displayed such vehemence before the revolutionary tribunal, that his enemies feared lest he should excite the crowd in his favour. The Convention, in one of its worst fits of cowardice, assented to a proposal made by St Just that, if a prisoner showed want of respect for justice, the tribunal might pro nounce sentence without further delay. Danton was at once condemned, and led, in company with fourteen others, including Camille Desmoulins, to the guillotine (April 5, 1794). &quot; I leave it all in a frightful welter,&quot; he said; &quot; not a man of them has an idea of government. Robespierre will follow me ; he is dragged down by me. Ah, better be a poor fisherman than meddle with the govern ment of men ! &quot; Events went as Danton foresaw. The committees presently came to quarrel with the pretensions of Robespierre. Three months after Danton, Robespierre fell. His assent to the execution of Danton had deprived him of the single great force that might have supported him against the committee. The man who had &quot; saved France from Brunswick &quot; might perhaps have saved her from the White reaction of 1794.  DANTZIC (or, according to the German form, which is often used, ), an important seaport of Prussia, the capital of West Prussia, is situated on the left bank of the Vistula, about three miles from its mouth, 253 miles north east of Berlin, in 54 21 N. lat. and 18 41 E. long. In 1875 the inhabitants, most of whom are Protestants, num bered 98,181. The town is traversed by the Mottlau, a small branch of the Vistula. It ranks as a fortress of the first class, the fortifications including ramparts, bastions, wet ditches, and works for laying the surrounding country under water. There is a harbour in the town, but the principal port is at Neufahrwasser, at the mouth of the Vistula. Dantzic is entered by four gates, one of which dates from the 16th century, and another from the 17th. The streets are narrow and winding, but in the Langgasse, the chief street, reaching from the Hohe Thor to the Langenmarkt, there are many interesting specimens of ancient architec ture. The high gables, often elaborately ornamented, give the houses a very picturesque aspect. There are 13 Protestant churches, 5 Catholic churches, and 2 syna gogues. Of these the most important is St Mary s, one of the largest Protestant churches in existence, begun in, completed in. It possesses a famous painting of the Last Judgment, known as the Dantzic picture, formerly attributed to Jan van Eyck, but probably by Memling. The town hall, founded in, is a fine Gothic structure, the interior of which has recently been restored. Among other noteworthy buildings are the exchange, built in the 14th century, the citadel, built in 1605, and the theatre, of recent date. To the west of the town is a suburban dis trict of considerable extent, with wide, pleasant streets.

Plan of Dantzic. 1 Library. 2. St Bartholomew s Church. 3. St Bridget s Church. 4. St Catherine s Church. 5. Old Armoury. 6. St M&ry s Church. 7. Government Buildings. 8. St Barbara s Church. 9. Town Hall. 10. Barracks. 11. New Armoury

The Government of West Prussia, and a Board of Commerce and of Admiralty, have their seat in Dantzic. It is also a naval station, with docks, magazines, and a marine depot. The educational institutions of the town, besides providing amply for elementary education, include a gymnasium, founded in 1558, two real-schools of tho highest class, a commercial academy, a technical school, and a school of navigation. There are a public library, containing 50,000 volumes, a collection of paintings, chiefly modern, and several societies for the promotion of science, art, and literature. The manufacture of arms and artillery is carried on to a large extent, and the imperial and private docks give employment to a great number of work men. The town is still famous for its amber, beer, brandy, and the liqueur known as Danziges Goldwasser ; and its transit trade makes it one of the most important commercial towns in the north of Europe. Its harbours are visited annually by about 2000 sea-going vessels, besides an immense number of smaller craft employed in river naviga tion. The chief exports are grain, especially wheat, which comes for the most part from Poland and is of excellent quality, and timber. The principal imports are herring, coal, petroleum, salt, and wine. The annual value of the imports by sea is from 2,500,000 to 3,000,000, by river about 2,250,000, by railway from 2,400,000 to 2,750,000 ; that of exports by sea from 2,500,000 to 2,750,000, by river from 750,000 to 1,250,000, by railway about 2,500,000.

History.—The origin of Dantzic is unknown, but it is mentioned in as an important town. At different times it was held by Pomerania, Poland, Brandenburg, and Denmark, and in it fell into the hands of the Teutonic knights, under whose rule it long prospered. It was ouo of the four chief towns of the Hanseatic 