Twenty Centuries of ParisSmith, Mabell S. C. (Mabell Shippie Clarke)
History
Twenty Centuries of Paris
Smith, Mabell S. C. (Mabell Shippie Clarke)
Paris (France) -- History
October, _Vendémiaire_, “Vintage month”
November, _Brumaire_, “Fog month”
December, _Frimaire_, “Hoar-frost month”
January, _Nivose_, “Snow month”
February, _Pluviose_, “Rain month”
March, _Ventose_, “Wind month”
April, _Germinal_, “Sprout month”
May, _Floréal_, “Flower month”
June, _Prairial_, “Meadow month”
July, _Messidor_, “Harvest month”
August, _Thermidor_, “Heat month”
September, _Fructidor_, “Fruit month.”
On the other hand some excellent constructive work was accomplished by
the foundation of several schools and libraries, of several museums,
among them the Louvre, and of the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers,
established in the ancient priory of Saint Martin-des-Champs. Thanks to
the good sense of a private individual many architectural relics of
priceless value were saved from destruction and converted into a museum
in what is now the Palais des Beaux Arts. After the Revolution most of
them were restored whence they had come.
It has been computed that the Revolution cost France 1,002,351 lives. To
make up these figures Robespierre was now killing two hundred people a
week. At last, when he tried to establish his own position with some
show of legality the end of the Terror was in sight. For the moment,
however, it seemed as if there were only increased horror, for the
Parisians took possession of
[Illustration: “THE CONVENTION.” MODEL OF GROUP BY SICARD, TEMPORARILY
PLACED IN THE PANTHEON.]
Robespierre and fought fiercely in his defence against the supporters of
the Convention. It was the Grève, the theater of many wild scenes, which
furnished the battleground. Robespierre and the mob were defeated and
when Robespierre went to the guillotine, with his face, which has been
described as looking like a “cat that had lapped vinegar,” bound up
because of a wound, then the Terror died with him. Thousands of suspects
were released at once from prison, and the city, except for the vicious
element whose worst spirit he incarnated, breathed freely once again.
So strong was the reaction that the royalists hoped for a return of
power, and even marched against the Tuileries where the Convention was
sitting. They were hotly received, however, by the troops of the
Convention, one of whose officers, Bonaparte, killed royalist pretenses
now only to revive imperial aspirations later on.
CHAPTER XIX
PARIS OF NAPOLEON
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