"Indeed! Then you are a neighbor of mine. I live there also," said Danton. Robespierre continued:-- "There is not a moment to lose. To-morrow you will receive your formal commission, signed by all the members of the Committee of Public Safety. This is a confirmation of the commission accrediting you specially to the acting representatives Philippeaux, Prieur de la Marne, Lecointre, Alquier, and others. We know you; your powers are unlimited. It rests with you to make Gauvain a general or send him to the scaffold. You will receive your commission to-morrow at three o'clock. When will you start?" "At four o'clock," said Cimourdain; and they separated. On returning home, Marat informed Simonne Évrard that he should go to the Convention to-morrow. [Illustration: The Convention. 052] BOOK III. THE CONVENTION. [Illustration 053] I. THE CONVENTION. I. We are approaching the summit. The Convention is before our eyes, and in the presence of this lofty eminence the gaze grows steady. Nothing more towering ever rose above the human horizon. There is but one Himalaya, but one Convention. The Convention may perhaps be called the culminating point in history. During its lifetime--an assembly actually lives--one did not realize what it was. Its supreme grandeur was not appreciated by its contemporaries, who were too much terrified to be dazzled. Mediocrities and moderate hills levy no severe tax on one's admiration; but the majestic inspires a holy horror, whether it be the majesty of genius or of a mountain, an assembly or a masterpiece. Too close proximity excites alarm; every peak seems exaggerated, the ascent is fatiguing, and one loses breath in climbing its sharp acclivities, misses his footing on the slopes, and is wounded by the cragged surfaces, which in themselves are beauties; the foaming torrent indicates the presence of the chasm, the summit is veiled in clouds; whether ascending or descending, it is equally frightful, hence one feels the influence of terror rather than of admiration,--a kind of aversion to grandeur, which is a strange enough sensation. While gazing on the abyss, one cannot always appreciate its sublimity; the monster is more evident than the miracle. It was thus that men first judged the Convention. The purblind undertook to fathom an abyss whose depths could only be sounded by the eagle. To-day we behold it in the perspective outlining the granite profile of the French Revolution against the calm and tragic background of the far-away heavens. II. The 14th of July set the nation free. The 10th of August hurled its thunderbolts. The 21st of September founded a new era; for the 21st of September was the equinox, the equilibrium, _Libra_,--the balance-scales of Justice. According to the remark of Romme, the Republic was proclaimed beneath this sign of Equality and Justice,--heralded, so to speak, by a constellation.