invoke the magic name of the Republic. Penetrated with classic ideas, the death of tyrants was an article of their creed; Aristogiton and Brutus were saints in their eyes. We have seen at what an early stage Madame Roland had cried, "Two heads must fall!" Perhaps, had they then fallen, it might have saved incalculable bloodshed. But the aspect of affairs had entirely changed since then, and this change was instinctively felt by the Gironde.
For, before all, the Girondins were humanitarians, and only politicians and statesmen after. It may have been the cause of their failure; but, if so, it became them better than success. One of Brissot's first acts when in power was the abolition of slavery in St. Domingo, and, if attended with unfortunate results, it shows none the less, among many other things, his zeal for the happiness of man. With such tendencies, the attitude of the Gironde towards a fallen monarch was not what it had been when that monarch was surrounded by all the pomp of royalty. As king, was he not virtually dead already? Why revive him then—why bring him once more prominently before the public, and invest him with a factitious pathos by death? Unanimous in their conviction of his guilt and of the urgency of a trial, they were divided in their votes as to the kind of trial and punishment to be chosen. This lamentable schism which split up their ranks unfortunately broke the backbone of their party.
