Page:Voices of Revolt - Volume 1.djvu/40

 36 the evening the session in the Jacobins; the various committees then went on all night.

In the course of this labor, Robespierre succeeded in gathering a host of men about him. The enemies and friends of the Republic recognized that he was its head. If he is accused of seeking the dictatorship, we must point out that he himself best answered this accusation when he asked where was his private army, where were his treasures and his intrigues, and found no one to answer his question; his treasures were the seven francs found in his possession after his death; his army was the devoted battalions of the republicans, and his intrigues were reflected in the fact that he was perhaps the only head of the Revolution who belonged to no clique, to no salon, to no caucus. He could give account of how he had spent each moment of the day, for every moment in his work meant a further step in the advance of the armies at the boundaries against the European coalition.

In the session of the Convention held on the day on which Maximilien was overthrown, the cowardice and avarice of the trading elements had joined hands. It was no longer possible for them to bear the glances of the Incorruptible.

To destroy Robespierre was equivalent to annihilating the Republic. The men standing to the Left