Facts collected in the last moments of Robespierre and of his faction, from 9 to 10 Thermidor (Anony

Facts collected in the last moments of Robespierre and of his faction, from 9 to 10 Thermidor (Anonymous)1. Robespierre, during the night, spoke seven or eighttimes in the room of the Commune amidst his officers, his speeches had littleconsequences, he invited them to rally around him and the Commune and treatedall members of the Convention as assassins.The tribunes were public, and one could enter theMaison commune by showing one’s carte decitoyen as usual. Someone who gained entry by this simple means, and wholeft without experiencing difficulties, approached a group of gunners whoremained on the Place de Grêve ; when he sought to hear what was said there, hewas asked to move on.2. The gunners were ordered to leave the square; and soon, the square was only occupied by citizens who accompanied the People’s Representatives.The gunners left the place in accordance with an orderof the revolutionary committee of each of their sections.One penetrates the interior of the Maison commune; onefinds Robespierre, in a room next to the board room; he is lying on the ground,wounded by a gunshot that penetrated his jaw, one picks him up, andsans-culottes carry him by the feet and the head, there are at least twelve[people] around him; one tears apart the sleeve of his right hand, and the backof his redingote, which was blue.During this time, a policeman had found Couthon, andfired a pistol shot at his body. One went to seek the other conspirators.3. One takes Robespierre to the Committee of PublicSafety, he is still carried in the same manner by the same men. He covers hisface with his right hand. This kind of procession stops for a moment at thefeet of the great staircase; curious [people] come to increase the crowd; someof them, who are the closest to him, lift his hand in order to see his face.One says: he is not dead, because he isstill warm ; another one says: is henot a fine-looking king?, another one says: even if it were Caesar’s body! why was it not thrown on the garbagedump!, the carriers do not want him to be touched, and those who hold hisfeet tell those at his head to hold him very high, with the intention ofpreserving the bit of life that remained to him.One finally goes upstairs, with the burden, into agreat room of the Committee; one deposes him on a great table, […] one placehis head on a box filled with dusty pieces of army bread.He does not move, but he breathes a lot, he puts hisright hand on his forehead; one sees that he seeks to hide his face, [and] inspite of being disfigured, he still gives some signs of affectation, sometimesthe frontal muscles move closer [to each other] and his face becomes wrinkled.In spite of appearing half-asleep, one sees that his wound causes himgreat pains.Many people enter in order to see Robespierre,everyone tells him what comes to their mind.Among those who had carried him, there were a fire-fighterand a gunner who did not cease talking to him. They always had some pleasantwords to address to him. One [of them] said to him: Sire, your majesty suffers, another one: well! it seems to me that you have lost your voice, you did not finishyour motion, it began so well; oh! I must tell you the truth, you deceived mewell, scoundrel, and another citizen said: I know only one man who had known the art of tyrants well, this man isRobespierre.One brings St. Just, Dumas and Payan, all of themshackled, they are escorted by policemen. They stay a good quarter of an hour standing in front of thedoor of the Committee’s room; one makes them sit down onto a windowsill; theyhave still not uttered a single word, pleasant [people] make the persons whosurround these three men step aside, and say move back, let these gentlemen see their King sleep on a table, justlike a man. St. Just moves his head in order to see Robespierre.Saint-Just’s figure appeared dejected [and] humiliated, his swollen eyesexpressed chagrin.Dumas, whose figure is naturally skinny and scrawny,and by no means coloured, did not appear very affected, he had a dreamy look, aset look, and did not make any movement. He only moved his fingers next to histhigh.Payan sometimes appeared to be mocking; one saw himsmile; sitting, he gave a sign with his head, as if to say, I do not feardeath. But this sentiment does not stay on his face for long, fear spreadsamong his traits, and his face becomes dejected.Dumas says: couldI have a glass of water, policeman? One went to search what he had askedfor, and Payan, looking at St.-Juste, said: youmight as well bring three. There was only water for two of them: and sometime passed before another one was given to St.-Just. That is when the latterspoke. He had, for some moments, his eyes set on the Constitutional Act thatwas displayed on the room’s wall. He raises his hand as if to point at it andsays, with a very strong tone: and yet,this is my work, … and the Revolutionary Government, too. He speaks somemore and even uttered a rather long phrase, but it was heard only by thepoliceman who was the  closest to him.The policeman answers him in a rather ironic tone. One brings him a glass ofwater, he only drank a small part and returned the glass, saying: thank you.Soon after, Elie Lacoste arrived, one showed him thecaptives, he said: they must be taken tothe Conciergerie, they  are outlawed.One took them there.He then speaks to a surgeon, and tells him to bandageRobespierre, in order to put him into thestate of being able to be punished. Those who surrounded the body continued to takevengeance, speaking freely; and during this time, one prepares linen andshredded cloth. When everything is ready, the surgeon advances, and says: carry the wounded [man] to the edge of thetable. One lifts him onto his bottom. He supports himself on his hands. Thesurgeon washes his face. One returns him from the side of the light in order tobandage him easily. The surgeon put a key between his teeth, he sought with hisfingers in the interior of the jaw, he finds two uprooted teeth, and takes themwith a pincer; he says that the lowerjawbone is shattered. He places several linen pads in his mouth in order toabsorb the blood with which it is filled, he passes a needle through the bulletwound several times and made it leave through the mouth, he again washes theface and then puts a piece of shredded clotj onto the wound, onto which he putsa patch that is wrapped around the chin; he covers the upper part of the headwith linen, [and] during this operation, everyone says something, a man says: this is where one places the diadem for hismajesty, another one says: his headis covered like the one of a nun.He must have heard all of these things, since he hadsome strength and often opened his eyes.Once the bandaging was finished, one put him back ontothe table, taking care to place the crate under his head again in order toserve, one said, as an oreillette tohim, while waiting for his journey to thesmall window.Nota. The clothes that St.-Just wore were not harmed in any way, even his tiewas perfectly straight. His outfit was ochre, his waistcoat was white, and his culotte was made of grey-white cloth.Dumas had a coloured silk tie, which ended in his shirt,in such a way that one saw his uncovered neck. He had a dark redingote, of a veil-likefabric; once could believe that this redingote came from one of his formercassocks.The appearance of Payan was in no way harmed; he worea white collar, greyish clothes, a white coat, and a darkened culotte.As for Robespierre, he was missing his shoes, hisstockings were folded down to the ankles, his culotte [was] unbuttoned, and his entire shirt [was] covered withblood.Source: Faits recueillis aux derniers instants de Robespierre […]. -- source link
Tumblr Blog : rbzpr.tumblr.com

More pics about