"Good morning， my good fellows， we shall need you soon， and at better work. You won't have wood to carry in your carts -- you'll have to carry dead bodies.""All right，" replies one of the hands， half tipsy， "we'll do it as we did the 2nd of September. We'll turn a penny by it." -Cheynard， a locksmith and machinist at the mint， is manufacturing daggers， and the women of the tribunes are already supplied with two hundred of them." -Finally， on the 29th of May， Hébert proposes， in the Jacobin club，[123] "to pounce down on the Commission of Twelve，" and another Jacobin declares that "those who have usurped dictatorial power，"meaning by that the Girondists， "are outlawed."All this is extreme， clumsily done， useless and dangerous， or， at least， premature， and the chiefs of the "Mountain，" Danton， Robespierre， and Marat himself； better informed and less shortsighted， are well aware that brutal murder would be revolting to the already half-aroused departments.[124] The legislative machinery is not to be shattered， but made use of； it must be employed against itself to effect the required injury； in this way the operation at a distance will appear legal， and， garnished with the usual high-flown speeches， impose on the provincial mind.[125] From the 3rd of April， Robespierre， in the Jacobin club， always circumspect and considerate， had limited and defined in advance the coming insurrection. "Let all good citizens，" he says， "meet in their sections， and come and force us to place the disloyal deputies under arrest." Nothing can be more moderate， and， if they refer to principles， nothing can be more correct. The people always reserves the right to cooperate with its mandatories， which right it practices daily in the galleries. Through extreme precaution， which well describes the man，[126] Robespierre refuses to go any further in his interference. "I am incapable of advising the people what steps to take for its salvation. That is not given to one man alone. I， who am exhausted by four years of revolution， and by the heart-rending spectacle of the triumph of tyranny， am not thus favored. . . . I， who am wasted by a slow fever， and， above all by the fever of patriotism. As I have said， there remains for me no other duty to fulfill at the present moment."What's more， he enjoins the municipality "to unite with the people， and form a close alliance with it." -- In other words， the blow must be struck by the Commune， the "Mountain" must appear to have nothing to do with it. But， "it is privy to the secret"；[127] its chiefs pull the wires which set the brutal dancing-jacks in motion on the public trestles of the H？tel-de-ville. Danton and Lacroix wrote in the bureau of the Committee of "Public Safety，" the insolent summons which the procureur of the Commune is to read to the Convention on the 31st of May， and， during seven days of crisis， Danton， Robespierre and Marat are the counselors， directors and moderators of all proceedings， and lead， push on or restrain their stooges of the insurrection within the limits of this program.
VII. The central Jacobin committee in power.
The 27th day of May. - The central revolutionary committee. - The municipal body displaced and then restored. - Henriot， commanding general. -It is a tragicomic drama in three acts， each winding up with a coup de théatre， always the same and always foreseen. Legendre， one of the principal stage hands， has taken care to announce beforehand that，"If this lasts any longer，" said he， at the Cordeliers club，[128] "if the 'Mountain' remains quiet any longer， I shall call in the people， and tell the galleries to come down and take part with us in the deliberations."At first， on the 27th of May， in relation to the arrest of Hébert and his companions， the "Mountain，" supported by the galleries， becomes furious.[129] In vain does the majority again and again demonstrate its numerical superiority. "We shall resist，" says Danton， "so long as there are a hundred true citizens to help us." -- "President，"exclaims Marat to Isnard， you are a tyrant！ a despicable tyrant！" --"I demand，" says Couthon， "that the President be impeached！" -- "Off with the President to the Abbaye！" -- The "Mountain" has decided that he shall not preside； it springs from the benches and rushes at him， shouts "death to him，" becomes hoarse with its vociferations， and compels him to leave the chair through weariness and exhaustion. It drives out his successor， Fonfrède， in the same manner， and ends by putting Hérault-Séchelles， one of its own accomplices， in the chair.
