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Surely in no other nation under heaven could such scenes have taken place; yet so blinded were some of our countrymen, that all this did not open their eyes to the true nature of this revolution. It was after these dreadful days that Dr. Priestley became a French citizen, and was elected a member of the convention, which continued to approve of the like demonstrations. Others, however, were perfectly cured of French modes of regeneration. " Oh! " exclaimed Sir Samuel Romilly, " how could we ever be so deceived in the character of the French nation as to think them capable of liberty? - wretches, who, after all their professions and boasts about liberty, and patriotism, and courage, and dying; and after taking oath after oath, at the very moment when their country is invaded, and the enemy is marching through it unresisted, employ whole days in murdering women, and priests, and prisoners? Others who can deliberately load whole wagons-full of victims, and bring them like beasts to be butchered in the metropolis; and then, who are worse even than these, the cold instigators of these murders, who, while blood is streaming round them on every side, permit this carnage to go on, and reason about it, and talk about the example they are setting to the nations! One might as well think of establishing a republic of tigers in some forest of Africa, as of maintaining a free government amongst such monsters."
Yet, after all, Petion, who had winked at all this, and, in his usual way, had stepped aside and let it go on, had the impudence to go to the bar of the assembly, and declare that there was no doubt that all this crime was perpetrated by the paid agents of the enemies of liberty! The effete assembly itself was expiring, and Roland was charged to prepare a part of the palace of the Tuileries for the reception of the convention, which was to meet on the 21st. The nation having driven out the king, and made a wretched captive of him, was about to take possession of his devastated dwelling.
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