representing Kings, Queens, and Nobility.  He then obliged them successively to pay homage to the Guillotine, as though it had been a throne, the executioner manoeuvring the instrument all the while, and exciting the people to call for the heads of those who were forced to act in this horrid farce.  The attempt, however, did not succeed, and the spectators retired in silent indignation.

At Laval, the head of Laroche, a deputy of the Constituent Assembly, was exhibited (by order of Lavallee, a deputy there on mission) on the house inhabited by his wife.—­At Auch, in the department of Gers, d’Artigoyte, another deputy, obliged some of the people under arrest to eat out of a manger.—­Borie used to amuse himself, and the inhabitants of Nismes, by dancing what he called a farandole round the Guillotine in his legislative costume.—­The representative Lejeune solaced his leisure hours in beheading animals with a miniature Guillotine, the expence of which he had placed to the account of the nation; and so much was he delighted with it, that the poultry served at his table were submitted to its operation, as well as the fruits at his dessert! (Debates, June 1.)

But it would be tedious and disgusting to describe all the menus plaisirs of these founders of the French republic.  Let it suffice to say, that they comprised whatever is ludicrous, sanguinary, and licentious, and that such examples were but too successful in procuring imitators.  At Tours, even the women wore Guillotines in their ears, and it was not unusual for people to seal their letters with a similar representation!

We have been once at the theatre since the King’s death, and the stanza of the Reveil du Peuple, [The rousing of the people.] which contains a compliment to the Convention, was hissed pretty generally, while those expressing an abhorrence of Jacobinism were sung with enthusiasm.  But the sincerity of these musical politics is not always to be relied on:  a popular air is caught and echoed with avidity; and whether the words be "Peuple Francais, peuple de Freres," ["Brethren."]—­or "Dansons la Guillotine," the expression with which it is sung is not very different.  How often have the theatres resounded with "Dieu de clemence et de justice." ["God of mercy and justice.”] and "Liberte, Liberte, cherie!" ["Liberty, beloved Liberty!”] while the instrument of death was in a state of unceasing activity—­and when the auditors, who joined in these invocations to Liberty, returned to their homes trembling, lest they should be arrested in the street, or find a mandate or guard at their own houses.*