Page:Heroines of freethought (IA cu31924031228699).pdf/51

Rh I doubt also whether any belief in his atoning virtues could have made this woman's death more heroic than did her faith in “all that was great, and good, and immortal,” within herself, and her belief of the truths she advocated, and for which she died.

As soon as M. Roland heard of her execution, filled with anguish and despair he emerged from his concealment at Rouen, and started on the road to Paris, probably with some vague thought of avenging her death; but, unable to endure his poignant grief, killed himself with his sword, by the wayside, leaving a note by which to identify his body, in which he said, “Indignation, not fear, induced me to quit my retreat. When I heard of the fate of my wife, I no longer wished to live in a world so polluted with crime!" His corpse was found under a tree by the roadside.

Madame Roland had declared that her husband would never consent to survive her execution, and the event justified her prophetic fear. Beautiful faith of a wife in a