Page:Voices of Revolt - Volume 1.djvu/37

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INTRODUCTION
33

against the Right as well as against the Left. When Danton said a few words in favor of Fabre d'Eglantine in the Convention, he was treated to the remark, from the Left, that "Any man who trembles now is guilty."

The Dantonistes became the defenders of all the fatigued. Danton proclaimed that the Revolution must not overstep its own goal. He, the former initiator of the Revolutionary Tribunal; he, at a certain moment the incarnation of the resistance to the foreign foe, now spoke of conciliation and was approaching the faction of the Rights closer and closer. We do not believe that Danton was conspiring against Robespierre; in fact, Danton showed very little activity of any kind during the last few months of his life. But in this most terrible of all moments Danton, the inactive, was a danger for the Committee of Public Safety. His name had a splendid sound; his voice was still the revered and familiar voice; Danton was a moral power behind which all the enemies of the Revolution lay hid.

The Left in the Committee of Public Safety was ceaselessly demanding the heads of Danton and his friends from Robespierre. The Left was opposed to the execution of the Hébertistes; for months they had been putting pressure on Robespierre, and finally Robespierre sacrificed Danton to them.

Danton was handed over to the Revolutionary