MARAT.

NZ Truth, Issue 281, 12 November 1910, Page 8

MARAT.

"Star Villain" of the French

Revolution,

Historic Blackguards. — No. 3.

(By Albert Payson Terhune).

A slovenly, unkempt . dwarf—scarcely five feels tail— with bleared eyes peering forth from a blotched and pal. id face. Such was Jean Paul Marat, ruler "of France's destinies at a day when France .was one huge slaughter-house i' Tfao French Revolution was at its height. "After throwing ofr the cruel bondage of royality, under which they had groaned' for centuries the French people beheaded their olid tyrants. Then,, the thirst of blood being still unslaked, they fell to beheading each other, 'Hie "Reign" of Terror" set m. First the Revolutionists who believed m higher, ideals, and gentler methods were .slain.- Then the more ratoid Revolutionists .divided into several parties , or factions. And, whichever faction chanced at tha moment to be uppermost, it executed members of the other. One leader after another arose to outdo his predecessors m deeds of violenoe, pnty to lose his own life and power to some still more murderous demagogue. And the heart and soul of the "Reign of Terror" was Marat. He was a Swiss by birth, and had. at various times been a scientist, a literary man, and a physician— so says Carlyle— a horse -.dopier. When the Revolution began he started a paper called "The Friend .of the People." It was probably the inmost scurrilous: .bloodthirsty sheet ever published. In one of its early issues he suggested that 800 prominent French. statesmen be put to death, and denounced many more as traitors and scoundrels. The Revolution at that time had not wholly thrown sanity aside. JVlarat's arrest was ordered. He escaped and fled to the lowest slums. There, hidden In the sewers and cellars, he spent his time making friends with the vile outcasts of the Paris underworld and m preach'iug to them his doctrine of wholesale murder. From time to time, as the Revolution waxed more fierce, he emerge from hiding with new plans for deeds of violence. Each time the saner leaders denounced him. But, soon or late, tUoy followed his a-d-Vice. And thus the Revolution grew : daily into the "Reign of Terror..!' At last it became safe for Mappjc to come wholly out of seclusion an cl to proclaim aloud, by voice t.nd by his newspaper, his ideas fp^' the death of his fellow-men. .._.3>e Revolutionary jleadovs reared a , K j i, a tcd him. They held him > x contempt for his squalid filth :fnd his shrieking clamor for -^ood. But they could no longer send [him into hiding. For the worst element of the mob now ruled Paris. And the mob adored Marat. He grew m power, and his most terrible ordeis woro obeyed. He framed a law by which 4 00,000 persons were arrested on suspicion of being false to the Revolution. Hundreds more were guillotined at his command. He even gravely expressed J a viftt to behead an entire French army of 270,000 officers and men. I Everybody dreaded his terrible

newspaper, For a denunciation m that sheet meant instawt death. He wiped out a whole faction of Ms political enemies (the Girondists) and branded as a traitor anyone who did not believe m constant executions. With Robespierre and Danton (both of whom latex fell victim to the guillotine) ho formed a triumvirate to govern the French people. . For a tune he was the ruling spirit of this combination. All feared him— except possibly the gallant, -big-souled Danton, who laughed at Fate, and feared nothing. . Once, when Mara* asked Danton for advice, Danton replied, dryly : "Wash and put on a clean shirt \ 7 * I But sneers were lost on Marat. In vain. did his opponents call him "sewer rat" and even less complimentary names. In vain did they plot for his downfall. By sheer force of evil he crushed all opposition. And the crazy mob slavishly followed his every word and wish.* Honesty— of a sort— was his one virtue. By grafting, as did other Revolutionary ohieis, he might have made millions of pounds. He died just worth tenpeuce halfpenny. Nature at last did what man* would not to shorten ihe career of this 'star villain*' o f France's Scaxlet Tragedy. Marat's health gave out. He suffered intolerable pains. The on*? relief he could get was to lie ior hours m a tub of hot water. The Great Unwashed was actually forced to bathe ! It was while he was draped m a sheet m his steaming bathtub on the evening of ■ July 19, 179a, that a young girl from the provinces called to see him. She said she had with her a list of traitors' names, and began to read them to him. Marat listened greedily. At the end he croaked : — "They shall die-! Every one of them !»••...". As he spoke, the girl— Charlotte Coiday^— stialbbetl- him to the heart. She had hoped to free France from a tyrant. But she did more harm than good. In the first place, Marat had already been dying from disease, and at most could have but a few weeks to live. In the second, she made tfte people regard a Monster as a Martyr. And- for months the most atarccious cruelties were carried on, under the pretext that Marat Would featfe wished them. • Instead of ending the "Reign of Te-rroi," Charlotte Cordray had but increased its horrors. Hers was a wasted crtme.

The German Emperor has decided I to edit a newspaper. His sub-editor will have a busy time.