insignificant minority—on the Paris Commune or municipality, and was placed on the chief or central committee, a kind of Cabinet. There were plenty of foreigners to keep him company, for Pache and Marat were Swiss, Dubuisson and Pereire Belgians, Proly and the two brothers Frey Austrians, Guzman was a Spaniard, and Dufourny an Italian. Foreigners, indeed, formed the majority. It was at Arthur's suggestion that the name of all inmates had to be inscribed on the door of every Paris house. As a "municipal" Arthur took his turn in guarding the royal family in the Temple, and in March 1793 he denounced two of his colleagues for secretly conversing with Marie Antoinette and making her laugh. They were consequently struck off the roll, and one of them confessed long afterwards that he secretly carried newspapers to the Queen, and was plotting her escape.[1]
Delation became habitual with Arthur. He denounced speculators who melted down the copper coinage. He charged Pitt's agents with a plot for slaughtering cows and sheep, so as to starve France, and suggested that every citizen should be required to keep a cow. He accused Delamarche of dishonesty in the manufacture of paper money, alleging that he had in private conversation at his dinner-table advocated national bankruptcy. Arthur's father was cited to confirm this, but Delamarche
- ↑ "Souvenirs de J. F. Lepitre," 1817.
