Page:The American fugitive in Europe.djvu/91

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PLACES AND PEOPLE ABROAD.
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Honore, opposite the Church of the Assumption. It stands back, and is reached by entering a court. During the first revolution it was occupied by M. Duplay, with whom Robespierre lodged. The room used by the great man of the revolution was pointed out to me. It is small, and the ceiling low, with two windows looking out upon the court. The pin upon which the blue coat once hung is still in the wall. While standing there. I could almost imagine that I saw the great "Incorruptible," sitting at the small table, composing those speeches which gave him so much power and influence in the convention and the clubs.

Here the disciple of Rousseau sat and planned how he should outdo his enemies and hold on to his friends. From this room he went forth, followed by his dog Brunt, to take his solitary walk in a favorite and neighboring field, or to the fiery discussions of the National Convention. In the same street is the house in which Madame Roland—one of Robespierre's victims—resided.

A view of the residence of one of the master-spirits of the French Revolution inclined me to search out more: and, therefore, I proceeded to the old town, and after winding through several small streets—some of them so narrow as not to admit more than one cab at a time—I found myself in the Rue de L'Ecole de Medecine, and standing in front of house No. 20. This was the residence, during the early days of the revolution, of that blood-thirsty demon in human form, Marat.