to arrange a peace, or long truce, between the two countries, but without success. Hostilities however had been for a considerable time suspended by these negociations, when King Robert, now awakened to a strong suspicion of the designs of his brother Albany, resolved to send his only surviving son James, styled Earl of Carrick, to France for safety; and the prince, then in his eleventh year, was on the 30th of March 1405 captured at sea by an English vessel on his way to that country. [JAMES I. of Scotland.] His detention by King Henry is believed to have broken the heart of his father, who expired at the castle of Rothsay, in Bute, on the 4th of April 1406. He was succeeded by his son, James I.

ROBERT OF GLOUCESTER is supposed to have been a monk in the abbey there, but of his personal history nothing whatever is certainly known. It may however be collected, from a passage in his work, that he was living at the time of the battle of Evesham; and he seems to have lived not very long after that event, as the history of English affairs which he has left us ends before the beginning of the reign of Edward I.

This history is the only writing that is attributed to him, and is, in more points of view than one, among the most curious and valuable writings of the middle period that have come down to us. It is a history of English affairs from the beginning, including the pictures of Geoffrey of Monmouth, and ending with the death of Sir Henry of Almaine, valuable in the latter portions for the facts which it contains, whether peculiar to itself or correlative with the statements of other chroniclers; and abounding throughout with anecdotes or minor historical circumstances peculiar to itself, and sometimes of an interesting if not useful nature. It is in the vernacular language of the time; that is, in the language in which we find the Anglo-Saxon passing into the language of Chaucer and Wycliffe, this work and the similar work of Robert of Bonne being the best specimens which remain of the language. It is in verse, and may stand therefore as a specimen of the poetry of the time. It consists of more than ten thousand lines.

The work was popular in the middle ages, as appears by the number of manuscripts that still exist of it. The principal are the Bodleian, the Cottonian, and the Harleian. There is one in the library of the Heralds' College. There are slight variations in the text of each, and that at the Heralds' College appears to have had the language modernised by some early copyist. Little regard was paid to Robert by the persons who in the reign of Elizabeth collected and printed the manuscripts of the best English chroniclers, though Camden, in his 'Britannia,' and still more frequently in his 'Remains,' has citations from him. Weever, in his 'Antient Funeral Monuments,' has many quotations from him; and Selden quotes him on several occasions. The work was given at large to the public in 1724 by Hearne in two octavo volumes, of which there was a reprint in 1810.

ROBERT (GROSSETESTE), Bishop of Lincoln, a very eminent scholar and prelate in the early years of the reign of Henry III. The exact time and the place of his birth, and the family from which he sprung, are alike lost in the obscurity of those remote times; but it may be calculated from the dates ascertained of other events in his life, that he was born about the year 1175. He studied at Oxford, and, like most of the very eminent of the English theologians of that period, he went from thence to Paris. He there applied himself to the study of the Hebrew and Greek languages, of both of which he attained the mastery, and distinguished himself by his attainments in the whole course of study presented to the students in that learned university. He returned to England skilled not only in the five languages, English, French, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, but skilled also in logic and philosophy, divinity and the Scriptures, and possessing also a knowledge of medicine and ecclesiastical law. There is no exaggeration in this, for many of his writings have descended to our time, which prove the statement, to a considerable extent at least. We may refer particularly to his numerous treatises in natural philosophy, which it will not be expected of us to describe individually, as the titles, with little more respecting them, fill four quarto pages of Dr. Pegge's Life of him (4to, 1793, pp. 278-283).

When he returned to England, he settled at Oxford, where he delivered lectures. There is extant a letter of Giraldus Cambrensis to the Bishop of Hereford, recommending Grosseteste to his notice, but the bishop died so soon after, that little advantage can have arisen from it. He found however a very efficient patron in another prelate, namely, Hugh de Wells, Bishop of Lincoln, who, as a first mark of his favour, gave him the prebend of Clifton in the church of Lincoln. He had also several archdeaconries, as of Chester, Northampton, and Leicester, and in 1235 he succeeded his patron in the bishopric of Lincoln, then a diocese of immense extent. This dignity he held for eighteen years, dying in 1253.

Bishop Grosseteste made the power which his acknowledged and extraordinary attainments gave him, subservient to the accomplishment of important public objects. He was a great reformer of his diocese, a vigilant superintendent of his clergy, a maintainer of order among them and in all ecclesiastical affairs. If one of the great earls or barons offended, he did not scruple to assert at once the right he possessed to correct the abuse, of which an instance is related in his calling the Earl of Warren to account for irregular religious solemnisations. He stood up against the king when he would interfere with the

BIOG. DIV, VOL. V.

rights of the clergy, who formed in those times the strongest part of the opposition to the will of kings, who, if there had been no clergy, would have been almost absolute; and he opposed with equal firmness and success the pope, when he would support ancient abuses or introduce new, to the injury of the English clergy or people. In short, he can hardly be regarded in any other light than one of the great benefactors to the English Church and nation in the discharge of his political duties as a bishop, and he was one of the lights of his age by the lectures which he delivered and the books which he wrote. His attainments in natural science, however, gained for him the repu tation of being a magician and a sorcerer, and many fables gathered about his name.

Many of his writings have been printed, and many remain in manuscript and are found in most of the great libraries of Europe. An ample list of these is given in Dr. Pegge's work before referred to; ia which work may be found critical inquiries into all the particulars of his life, and a great mass of curious information respecting the state of ecclesiastical affairs in England in the first half of the thirteenth century.

ROBERT, HUBERT, an artist, celebrated for his admirable architectural compositions and subjects of that class, was born at Paris in 1733. On quitting school Robert applied himself assiduously to his studies. In 1753 he set out for Rome, and spent twelve years in that city, occupied not merely in making drawings and views of nearly all the numerous architectural monuments, but studying their character completely. Thoroughly impressed with the poetry of such subjects, he enabled others to feel it likewise, by the peculiar charm with which he invested them and by his felicitous treatment, so different from that whose chief merit consists in literal exactness and cold correctness. On his return to Paris he was immediately elected by the Academy, and his reputation became established as one whose productions formed an epoch in that department of the art which he had selected.

Among his numerous works are many chefs-d'œuvre of first-rate excellence. Two of the most remarkable for the singularity of tho idea are those representing the Musée Napoléon, the one in all its pride and pomp, and the other, an architectural wreck, as it may perhaps present itself to the eye after the lapse of centuries. Robert was an enthusiast in his profession: he was indeed one of those fortunate persons whose existence seems to form an exception from the common lot of mortals. Happy in himself, happy in his union with a most amiable woman, possessing a source of constant enjoyment in his art, his life passed in one uninterrupted tenor; in a calm, undisturbed even by the stormy period of the revolution. Nor was he less happy at its close, for he died almost without a struggle, and with his pencil in his hand, on the 15th of April 1808, at the age of seventy-six.

ROBERT, LOUIS-LEOPOLD, a French artist of great and deserved celebrity, was born at Chaux-le-Fonds, in the canton of Neufchâtel, in 1794. His father intended to bring him up to his own trade, which was that of a watchmaker; but yielding to the boy's decided inclination for the arts, sent him to Paris to study engraving under Girardet, an artist known by his print of the Transfiguration,' after Raffaelle. His progress was so rapid, that in 1812 he obtained the second grand prize at the École des Beaux Arts, after which he began to study painting in the school of David. He then proceeded to Italy, and, renouncing engraving altogether, devoted himself entirely to his pencil, leading a life of solitude and privation, without either patrons or friends. But though his enthusiasm for his art was great, it was marked rather by severe application than by that promptitude which is generally supposed to characterise genius. Though he worked constantly, he executed few productions, being not only remarkably slow with his pencil, but in the habit of destroying or laying aside picture after picture until he could satisfy himself with the subject that he had commenced. He is said to have thus spent between three and four years on a single picture; for instance, that of the 'Reapers,' which excited so much admiration when first exhibited at Paris in 1831. In that piece, in the Neapolitan Improvisatore,' the 'Madonna dell' Arco,' and similar subjects, he succeeded in delineating Italian life and character in the happiest manner, with perfect fidelity, but also with a touching refinement and grace, at the same time without any of that affectation which the French schools are apt to mistake for refinement. His last work was his 'Venetian Fishermen,' a picture that has served to raise his name as that of the greatest artist of his age in the peculiar walk which he had chosen. The general admiration which it excited when exhibited at Paris was however mingled with mournful regret at the fate of the artist himself; for he had previously put an end to his life at Venice, where he had resided several years, and where he drowned himself on the 20th of March 1835, in his thirty-eighth year.

ROBERTS, DAVID, R.A., was born in 1796, at Stockbridge, Edinburgh. Being designed for business, he was apprenticed to a house-painter in that city; but as soon as he could follow his own bent, he entered as a student in the Trustees' Academy, whence have proceeded so many eminent painters in every branch of the art. About 1821 or 1822 he came to London, and for some years practised as a scene-painter, having, during much of his career in the theatre, Stanfield for his colleague. Occasionally however an oil painting by

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him appeared in the exhibitions, and he began to be regarded as one of our most promising painters of architectural subjects. After his visit to Spain, 1832-33, he does not seem to have returned to scenepainting. His Spanish pictures were much admired, and a folio volume of lithographic copies of his 'Spanish Sketches' did much to extend his reputation. From 1835 to 1838 inclusive he furnished the illustrations to the Landscape Annual,' embracing views selected from many of the most picturesque parts of Spain and Morocco; he also made the drawings for the original edition of Sir Bulwer Lytton's 'Pilgrims of the Rhine.' Like many other young painters Mr. Roberts joined the Society of British Artists, of which he came to be a vicepresident; but he resigned his connection with that society when, from the celebrity acquired by his Spanish pictures and sketches, it became evident that his admission into the Royal Academy would, on application, be a matter of certainty. He was accordingly elected A.R.A. in 1839, and admitted to the full honours of an academician in 1841.

The success of his Spanish views led Mr. Roberts to make a protracted visit to Syria and Egypt, where, with marvellous patience and unflagging industry, he made a body of drawings and sketches which, for extent, variety, and finish, have never perhaps been equalled by a single artist while travelling in such a country and exposed to such a climate. And they are admitted by all competent judges who have followed the artist over the country he has depicted, to be as accurate as they are graceful and brilliant. Lithographic fac-similes of these sketches form the well-known and very splendid work entitled 'The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, and Nubia,' four volumes, large folio, 1842, &c. The drawings of this 'great work were placed on the stone by Mr. Haghe [HAGHE, LOUIS], in a style that left nothing to be desired, and the work on its completion took its stand by general admission at the head of all such publications hitherto issued in this or any other country. Throughout the Continent it bears as high a fame as in England.

For some years after his election into the Royal Academy, Mr. Roberts's pictures in the exhibitions of that body chiefly consisted of 'subjects collected in his Eastern tour. Among the more noticeable ones a few may be mentioned :- The Outer Court of the Temple at Edfou in Upper Egypt;' 'Statues of the Vocal Memnon on the Plain of Thebes,' and 'The Greek Church of the Holy Nativity at Bethlehem, taken during the Resort of Pilgrims at Easter,' 1840; The Temple of Denderah,' and 'Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives,' 1841; Thebes, looking across the Great Hall, Petra,' and Interior of the Church of St. Miguel, Xercy, Spain,' 1842; Gateway of the Great Temple at Baalbec,' 'Ruins on the Island of Philoe,' and Entrance to the Crypt-Roslin Chapel,' 1843; Pyramids of Ghizeh,' 'Chapel of Jean at Caen, Normandy,' 1844. In 1845 he exhibited only two pictures, but they were large in size and ambitious in character-Ruins of the Great Temple of Karnak, looking towards the Lybian Hills-sunset;' and 'Jerusalem from the South-East-the Mount of Olives;' both works of much grandeur of style. Not to follow his course too minutely-and to enumerate even the leading pictures of so prolific an artist would require more space than can be spared here-it may suffice to add that 1848 was distinguished by his Chancel of the Collegiate Church of St. Paul, Antwerp,' painted for Mr. Vernon, and now with the rest of that gentleman's collection the property of the nation, and that since that time ecclesiastical interiors, with the picturesque features of the Roman Catholic worship as seen in the churches and cathedrals of the Continent, have formed a considerable proportion of the productions of his pencil. In 1849 was exhibited his large painting of The Destruction of Jerusalem,' which has since been copied in one of the largest coloured lithographs yet published. In 1850-51 interiors of Belgian churches were his most characteristic contributions; from 1852 to 1854 Vienna, Verona, and Venice were chiefly laid under contribution; but in 1853 also appeared The Inauguration of the Exhibition of All Nations-painted by command of her Majesty.' The only picture in 1855 was Rome,' but it was one of his largest works in point of size, and noblest in conception and execution. The Imperial city was seen under the influence of the setting sun, and the whole was depicted in a glow of deep sombre colour, and with a simplicity and severity of style which admirably accorded with the character of the scene. His pictures exhibited in 1856 were more diversified and more popular in character: Christmas Day in St. Peter's at Rome, 1854;' 'St. Peter's-looking back upon Rome;' Venice-Approach to the Grand Canal;' 'Italy;' and 'Monument to Bartolomeo Colleoni, SS. Giovanni e Paolo, Venice.'

Enough has been said to show with how much industry Mr. Roberts has gathered the materials for his pictures, and how much interest they derive from their subjects as well as from the skill with which they are treated. But their interest is heightened by the characteristic circumstances with which the artist associates places which most painters would regard as sufficient in themselves to attract and satisfy the spectator. In the Egyptian views are depicted the halt of a caravan, moslems in their hour of prayer, or some equally striking incident; in the church of the Holy City is shown the assembly of the pilgrims at their great annual gathering; in St. Peter's we see the pope in all the pomp of the most imposing ceremonial of the Romish Church; and all this is done so as to heighten

the general effect of the scene, while the main subject of the picture still retains its unimpaired superiority. As a painter of architectural interiors Mr. Roberts is confessedly without an equal among English painters, and admirable as are some of his Continental rivals in this line of art, we know of none who attain to equal splendour of effect along with equal fidelity. In his architectural exteriors and more extensive scenes he is equally striking, but in them we may still trace the influence of his old theatrical training, in the too palpably artificial and conventional arrangements of groups or single figures, fallen columns, and other foreground objects which admit of strongly contrasted points of light and shadow, and of colour. But these are trifling failings only visible perhaps to a somewhat captious critic; and the most captious may be well content to leave them unquestioned in his admiration of the artist's great technical skill, poetic feeling, fidelity of representation, and refined taste. [See SUPPLEMENT.] ROBERTSON, WILLIAM, was the son of a clergyman who for some time had the congregation in the old chapel of London Wall, and afterwards was one of the ministers of Edinburgh, where Dr. Robertson was born in 1721. His mother was daughter of Pitcairn of Dreghan. In 1743 he was presented to the living of Gladsmuir in East Lothian. He distinguished himself as a preacher, and also as one of the most powerful speakers and most eminent leaders in the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. In addition to his professional pursuits, he applied himself to historical studies, and in 1759 published his 'History of Scotland during the Reigns of Mary and of King James VI. till his Accession to the Crown of England, with a Review of the Scottish History previous to that Period, and an Appendix containing original Papers,' 2 vols. 4to, 1759. The work was very well received, and went through numerous editions in the author's lifetime. In 1761 Dr. Robertson was made one of the king's chaplains, and in 1762 he was appointed Principal of the University of Edinburgh. Two years after he was made historiographer to his Majesty for Scotland, with a salary of 2001. In 1769 he published his History of Charles V.' in 3 vols. 4to, a work which raised his reputation still higher, and which, from the general interest belonging to the subject, was very popular; it was immediately translated into several languages. The introductory part consists of an able, though superficial, sketch of the political and social state of Europe at the time of the accession of Charles V., a most important period which forms the connection between the middle ages and the history of modern European society and politics. This part of the work has been much admired for the comprehensiveness of its views, for clearness of exposition and graphic power; but its sweeping statements must often be received with considerable caution. The narrative of the reign and age of Charles is Robertson's master-piece. For his History of America,' 2 vols. 4to, 1777, Robertson obtained, through several friends, much valuable information from the Spanish and other archives. In 1785 he published some valuable Additions and Corrections to the former Editions of the History of Scotland.'

His celebrity as an author, and the powers which he displayed as a party chief in the Church, where his influence was unbounded, gave rise to a proposition from the court, at the end of George II.'s reign, having for its object his promotion to the dignities of the English Church. This (says his biographer, Dugald Stewart) met with such a repulse as effectually prevented a repetition of the attempt.

In 1791 Dr. Robertson published an Historical Disquisition concerning the Knowledge which the Antients had of India, and the Progress of Trade with that Country previous to the Discovery of the Cape of Good Hope.' This agreeable and well written essay is now nearly superseded by more recent works.

Dr. Robertson died at Grange House, near Edinburgh, June 11, 1793. He is justly reckoned among the best British historical writers. His style is easy and flowing, his language correct, his tone philosophic, his opinions are enlightened and sober, and his expressions temperate. But he was too apt to be satisfied with secondary and common-place authorities, and to put off or evade original investigation, while it must be owned that in his fondness for generalising, and for heightening effect, he sometimes makes statements and describes incidents which are wholly unwarranted by the authorities he cites. Hume, who was his intimate friend notwithstanding the difference of their opinions, greatly extolled Robertson's History of Scotland,' and Gibbon has borne ample testimony both to his accuracy and his style.

The works of Robertson were published together in French, 'Euvres complétes de W. Robertson, précédées d'une Notice par J. A. C. Buchot,' 2 vols. large 8vo, Paris, 1837. Mr. Prescott has lately published a new edition of Robertson's History of Charles V.,' with notes and a supplement, embodying much important matter which has come to light since Robertson's death.

ROBERVAL, a French mathematician, whose proper name was GILES PERSONIER. He was born in 1602, at a place called Roberval in the diocese of Beauvais; and having completed an extensive course of study, he went, in 1627, to Paris, where he connected himself with Père Mersenne and other learned men of the age, among whom his talents soon acquired for him considerable reputation. He was chosen professor of mathematics in the college of Gervais, which had been founded by Ramus at Paris, and, together with this appointment, he was allowed to hold, after the death of Morin, the chair of mathematics at the college of France.

The 'Method of Indivisibles,' which forms a link between the ancient geometry and the fluxionary or differential calculus, had been (1635) made public in Italy by Cavalleri, who is always considered as its inventor. In a letter to Torricelli however (1644), Roberval states that he himself had long before that time discovered a similar method of investigating propositions; and he adds, that he kept his processes to himself, in order that he might have a superiority over his rivals in solving such problems as were proposed to them. The statement may be correct; but if so, it happened that the French mathematician, by his reserve, like many others in similar circumstances, lost the honour which he might have obtained; a just punishment, observes Montucla, for those who, from such unworthy motives, make a mystery of their discoveries. At the end of the treatise of Roberval on this subject, there is explained a method of finding the areas of spaces comprehended between curve-lines of indefinite length, and it may be that the credit of the discovery is due to him, though it is right to observe that the investigation of such areas had been made in England by James Gregory and Dr. Barrow before the publication of Roberval's work. Curves with infinite branches, and which admit of an expression for the area between them, were called Robervallian lines by Torricelli. Roberval discovered an ingenious method of determining the direction of a tangent at any point of a curve-line by the rule for the composition of forces or motions; but he applied it only to the conic sections in which the component forces are supposed to act in the directions of lines drawn from the point in the curve to the foci. It appears that Torricelli laid claim to the first discovery of the method, which he asserts that he had made in 1644; but Roberval states, in a letter to the Italian philosopher, that he was acquainted with it in 1636, and that in 1640 he had communicated it to Fermat.

As early as the year 1616, P. Mersenne suggested the idea of the cycloid, and having made some fruitless attempts to find its area, he proposed the subject to Roberval in 1628; the latter, not succeeding immediately, abandoned the research, and apparently thought nothing of it during about ten years. At the end of that time, the question being revived, he resumed the inquiry with the advantage of greater experience, and fortunately discovered a method by which the area might be determined. Descartes afterwards proposed to Roberval and Fermat to determine the position of a tangent to the cycloid, and Fermat soon resolved the problem, but Roberval appears to have failed, or to have succeeded with difficulty, and only after many trials. He subsequently however discovered the rules for finding the volumes of the solids formed by the revolution of a cycloid about its base and about its axis.

In 1646, Descartes, Roberval, and Huyghens attempted at the same time to investigate the duration of the oscillations made by planes and solids moving about an axis; and here Roberval appears to have been more successful than his competitors, though the state of science was not then sufficiently advanced to allow any of them to attain a solution which should be applicable to every kind of vibrating body. None of Roberval's works were printed during his life, except a treatise on Statics, which was inserted by Mersenne in his Harmonie Universelle.' The others were published by his friend the Abbé Galois, in 1693, among the mathematical and physical works in the old 'Mémoires' of the Academy of Sciences. These relate chiefly to the subjects above mentioned, and include a treatise on the 'Recognition and Construction of Equations,' a work of little utility, since it is formed agreeably to the ideas of Descartes and Fermat, and is expressed in the language and notation of Vieta. Among them also is an account of a new kind of balance (a sort of steelyard) which Roberval had invented, and which was thought to be useful in finding the weight or pressure of the air.

Roberval, unfortunately for his fame, appears among the opponents of Descartes in matters relating to algebra: he is said to have made some objections to the theorems of his countryman in the construction of equations and concerning the nature of the roots; but the objections are without foundation, and serve only to expose his own jealousy and obstinacy.

To Roberval is ascribed the reply, "Qu'est ce que cela prouve?" when, having been present at the representation of a tragedy, some one asked what impression it had made on him. The story is perhaps untrue; but such a circumstance is not improbable, since, in those days, science was profoundly studied, and the mathematicians were so completely absorbed in their pursuits, that they had little time to spare for other subjects. It is said that Roberval could never express his ideas with clearness and precision, and certainly readers well acquainted with the ancient methods of investigation, can with difficulty follow him in his tedious demonstrations. He was elected a member of the Academy of Sciences when the latter was formed (1665), and he died October 27, 1675.

ROBESPIERRE, FRANÇOIS-MAXIMILIEN-JOSEPH-ISIDORE, was born at Arras in 1759. His father, a provincial advocate of no reputation, quitted France during the infancy of his children, who were not long afterwards left in a desolate condition by the death of their mother. François Maximilien was the eldest, and Augustin Bon Joseph the second son; the third child was a daughter. Augustin imitated his brother, and perished with him; the daughter lived in quiet respectability, and became a pensioner of the state.

Through the kindness of the bishop of Arras, Robespierre was well educated at Paris. He studied jurisprudence; and having returned to his native town, followed his father's profession, in which he gained some reputation. By his legal talents and his situation as president of the academy at Arras, he obtained an influence, through which, on the summoning of the States-Ceneral in 1789, he was elected a deputy of the tiers-état. No sooner was he elected than he went to Versailles to enter on his duties. Within the Assembly, for several months after its meeting, he was of little importance; without its doors, he gradually gained authority by gathering idlers and adventurers round him in the coffee-houses, and haranguing them on liberty and equality. It was by dexterity of address, and the coincidence or adaptation of the opinions which he expressed, to those of his low, discontented, and excited hearers, that this authority was raised. He had no physical advantages to assist him: he was a short insignificant-looking man; his features were small, his complexion was pale, his face deeply marked with the small-pox, and his voice harsh, shrill, and disagreeable. Notwithstanding these disadvantages, he increased in popular estimation. It was on the 17th of June 1789, that he delivered his first speech in the Assembly. From that time he daily threw aside more and more of the backwardness and reserve that he had hitherto maintained: he clearly saw that the weakness and want of energy in the government were so great, that he might with safety assert in the National Assembly the most violent democratic opinions and throw the populace into excitement. His importance in the Assembly was in a great measure attributable to the prominent part which he played in the Jacobin Club. This club already contained so many members, that the large church in which its meetings were held, was continually filled, and it had corresponding affiliated societies throughout the provinces, which disseminated its revolutionary views and projects, and rendered its power most formidable. Here was Robespierre's principal scene of action; here he decried every attribute of monarchy, and denounced those who would control the people, as conspirators against their country. Robespierre laid down this principle, that "France must be revolutionised," and for this object he laboured with a determination which his opponents could find no means of diminishing. It was certain that he could not be tampered with; and the Jacobin newspapers, daily overflowing with his praises, surnamed him "The Incorruptible." His exclusion from the Legislative Assembly, to which he was rendered ineligible by a vote in which he himself had joined, enabled him to devote his whole time and energies to the direction of the Jacobin Club. The violence of the club had somewhat diminished, but its power was increased by the enrolment of many of the municipal officers, who could carry out its projects by their authority. At this time he was named Public Accuser.

When the attack was made upon the Tuileries (Aug. 10, 1792), Robespierre was not present; and for three days afterwards he forsook the club and remained in seclusion. It was his custom neither to take an active part in the great overt acts of massacre or rebellion, nor to appear immediately after their commission; but rather to pause a while, that he might see by what means they might best be turned to the promotion of his political objects and the increase of his own popularity. It was with joy that he saw the National Assembly suspend the royal authority and call upon the nation to elect a convention which should determine on a new form of government. He became a member of the Convention; and on its opening (Sept. 21, 1792), seated himself on the montagne,' or higher part of the room, occupied by the most violent, which was also rapidly becoming the most powerful party. It was now that Robespierre first appeared in the foremost rank, which comprised the most powerful men: until now, notwithstanding all his efforts, he had had superiors even in his own party;-in the days of the Constituent Assembly, the well-known leaders of the time; during the continuance of the Legislative Assembly, Brissot and Péthion; and on the 10th of August, Danton. In the first assembly he could attract notice only by the profession of extravagant opinions; during the second he became more moderate, because his rivals were innovators; and he maintained peace before the Jacobins, because his rivals called for war. Now, as we have said, he was in the first rank, and his chief aim was to annihilate the Girondins, who hoped, on the other hand, that the eminence he had attained was insecure as well as high, and that he might be overthrown himself. Barbaroux, Rebecqui, and Louvet dared to accuse him of seeking to be dictator. But the time had not come for accusations to be successful; the tide of his popularity had not turned. He demanded time to prepare his defence, and absented himself for eight days both from the Convention and the Jacobin Club. During this absence the Jacobins protested his innocence and intimidated his accusers, the excitement in the Convention subsided, and on his re-appearance he was triumphantly exculpated.

At this time the king was in prison, but his days were drawing to a close. Robespierre vehemently combated those who either asserted the necessity of a trial or declared the king inviolable: he demanded that he should be beheaded at once, and promoted unscrupulously the execution of his whole family. The death of the king augmented both party strife and private bitterness; each faction and each leader had some rival to destroy. The Montagnards struggled with the Girondins for supremacy, gained their end, and massacred their opponents. The kingdom was chiefly governed by the Committee of Public Safety, of