Church and of the emigrant nobles had passed into the hands of small peasant-proprietors, their interests were enlisted in the cause of the Revolution.
Be this as it may, the ferment in the Clubs and sections of Paris exploded on the 10th of March in the abortive insurrection aimed at the Gironde. But it would appear that neither Robespierre, Danton, nor Marat himself had had any share in this anarchical attempt to coerce the national representation. Danton, on the contrary, had sent warnings time after time to the unpopular deputies, although after a last fruitless effort at conciliation he had definitely thrown in his lot with the Jacobins. On the day of this insurrection he had made one of his grand speeches, exhorting the parties to union in face of their common danger. Under the spell of his appeal the shrieking discords resolved themselves for a moment into harmony.
Alas! this harmony, which would have saved the Republic, was of brief duration. The formation of the Revolutionary Tribunal became the subject of fresh controversies. From the vision of this terrible instrument, to be entrusted with unlimited powers to judge and slay, Buzot drew back with a shudder. "They were going to institute a despotism more frightful than anarchy itself," he said; and, although interrupted by violent uproar, he nevertheless continued to render thanks to those who had hitherto deigned to spare his life. . . . "Let them only leave me time enough to clear my memory from dishonour by voting against this tyranny of the Convention! . . . What does it signify whether the tyrant be single or plural? When the public entrusted you with unrestricted powers, it was not that you might usurp its liberty." Vergniaud branded this prospective of trial without jury with the
