The Opposition Paper: Leader IT is difficult to repress a feeling of natural indignation when one considers the policy which the Government and Mr. Robespierre have seen fit to pursue during the last two years, and especially since the unfortunate blunder of Mr. Danton and Mr. Desmoulins. We have never hidden our opinion that these two gentlemen—able and disinterested men as they undoubtedly were—acted rashly in stepping out of the party (as it were) and attempting to form an independent organisation at a moment when the strictest discipline was necessary in the face of the enormous and servile majority commanded by the Government. However unrepresentative that majority may be of the national temper at this moment, the business of a member of the Convention lies chiefly on the floor of the House, and it is the height of unwisdom to divide our forces even by an act of too generous an enthusiasm for the cause. We would not write a word that might give offence to the surviving relatives of the two statesmen we have named, but this much must be said: the genius of the nation is opposed to particular action of this sort; the[98] electors understand Government and Opposition, by separate action like Mr. Danton’s and Mr. Desmoulin’s they are simply bewildered. Such eccentric displays do no good, and may do very great harm. Meanwhile, we must repeat that the general attitude of the Government is indefensible. That is a strong word, but hardly too strong under the circumstances. It is not the executions themselves which have (as we maintain) alienated public sentiment, nor their number—though it must be admitted that 1200 in four months is a high record—it is rather the pressure of business in the Courts and the disorganisation of procedure which the Plain Man in the Street notices and very rightly condemns, and we would warn Mr. Robespierre that unless a larger number of judges are created under his new Bill the popular discontent may grow to an extent he little imagines, and show itself vigorously at the polls. We are all agreed that Mr. Carnot shows admirable tact and energy at the War Office, and it is characteristic of that strong man that he has left to others the more showy trappings of power. We would urge upon him as one who is, in a sense, above party politics, to counsel his colleagues in the Government in the direction we have suggested. It may seem a small point, but it is one of practical importance, and the Man in the Street cares more for practical details than he does for political theories.
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The Government Paper: Leader
The present moment is opportune for reviewing the work of the Government to date, and drawing up a political balance-sheet as it were of its successes and failures. We have always been open critics of the present Administration, whenever we thought that national interests demanded such criticism, and our readers will remember that we heartily condemned the ill-fated proposal to change the place of public executions from the Place de la Revolution to the Square de l’Egalité—a far less convenient spot; but apart from a few tactical errors of this sort it must be admitted, and is admitted even by his enemies, that Mr. Robespierre has handled a very difficult situation with admirable patience and with a tremendous grasp of detail. It is sometimes said of Mr. Robespierre that he owes his great position mainly to his mastery over words. To our thinking that judgment is as superficial as it is unjust. True, Mr. Robespierre is a great orator, even (which is higher praise) a great Parliamentary orator, but it is not this one of his many talents which is chiefly responsible for his success. It is rather his minute acquaintance with the whole of his subject which impresses the House. No assembly in the world is a better judge of character than the Convention, and its appreciation of Mr. Robespierre’s character is that it is above all a practical one. His conduct of the war—for in a sense the head of the Government and[100] Leader of the House may be said to conduct any and every national enterprise—has been remarkable. The unhappy struggle is now rapidly drawing to a close and we shall soon emerge into a settlement to which may be peculiarly applied the phrase “Peace with Honour.” The restraint and kindliness of our so............