I.The Convention.
The Convention after Thermidor 9. - Reaction against the Terrorists.
- Aversion to the Constitutionalists. - The danger they run if they lose power.
Nevertheless they too， these glutted sovereigns， are anxious， and very much so， we have just seen why； it's a question of remaining in office in order to remain alive， and henceforth this is their sole concern.
- A good Jacobin， up to the 9th of Thermidor， could， by shutting his eyes， still believe in his creed.[1] After the 9th of Thermidor， unless born blind， like Soubrany， Romme and Goujon， a fanatic whose intellectual organs are as rigid as the limbs of a fakir， nobody in the Convention can any longer believe in the Contrat-Social， in a despotic equalizing socialism， in the merits of Terror， in the divine right of the pure. For， to escape the guillotine of the pure， the purest had to be guillotined， Saint-Just， Couthon and Robespierre， the high-priest of the sect. That very day the "Montagnards，" in giving up their doctor， abandoned their principles， and there is no longer any principle or man to which the Convention could rally. In effect， before guillotining Robespierre and his associates as orthodox， it guillotined the Girondins， Hébert and Danton， as heretics. Now， "the existence of popular idols and of head charlatans is irrevocably ended."[2] Ever the same conventional symbol before the empty sanctuary in the blood-stained temple， and ever the same loud-intoned anthem； but faith is gone， and only the acolytes remain to drone out the revolutionary litany， old train-bearers and swingers of incense， the subaltern butchers who， through a sudden stroke， have become pontiffs； in short， the valets of the church who have donned the mitres and croziers of their masters after having assassinated them.
From month to month， under the pressure of public opinion， they detach themselves from the worship at which they have officiated， for， however blunted or perverted their consciences， they cannot avoid admitting that Jacobinism， as they have practiced it， was the religion of robbery and murder. Previous to Thermidor an official phraseology[3] drowned with its doctrinal roar the living truth， while each Conventional sacristan or beadle， confined to his own chapel， saw clearly only the human sacrifices in which he himself had taken part.
After Thermidor， the friends and kindred of the dead， the oppressed， make their voices heard， and he is forced to see collectively and in detail all the crimes to which， nearly or remotely， he has contributed either through his assent or through his vote， the same as in Mexico， the priest of Huichilobos walks about in the midst of the six hundred thousand skulls amassed in the vaults of his temple. - In quick succession， during the whole of year III.， through the freedom of the press and the great public discussions， the truth becomes known.
First， comes an account of the funereal journey of one hundred and thirty-two Nantese， dragged from Nantes to Paris，[4] and the solemn acquittal， received with transports， of the ninety-four who survive.
After this， come the trials of the most prominent terrorists， that of Carrier and the Revolutionary Committee of Nantes， that of Fouquier-Tinville and the old revolutionary Tribunal of Paris， that of Joseph Lebon，[5] and， during thirty or forty consecutive sessions， hundreds of minute， verified depositions ending in the most complete and satisfactory testimony. - In the mean time， revelations multiply at the tribune of the Convention； these consist of the letters of the new representatives on mission and the denunciations of the towns against their overthrown tyrants； against Maignet， Dartigoyte， Piochefer-Bernard， Levasseur， Crassous， Javogues， Lequinio， Lefiot， Piorry， Pinet， Monestier， Fouché， Laplanche， Lecarpentier， and many others.
Add to these the reports of commissions charged with examining into the conduct of old dictators， Collot d'Herbois， Billaud-Varennes， Barère， Amar， Vouland， Vadier and David， the reports of the representatives charged with investigating certain details of the abolished system， that of Grégoire on revolutionary vandalism， that of Cambon on revolutionary taxes， that of Courtois on Robespierre's papers. - All these rays combine in a terrible illumination which imposes itself even on the eyes that turn away from it： It is now but too plain that France， for fourteen months， has been devastated by a gang of bandits. All that can be said in favor of the least perverted and the least vile is that they were born so， or had become crazy.[6]