letter, which became historical, was the fall of the ministers.  After their recall, her husband became more and more powerful.  The political circulars which were published by his paper, The Sentinel, were composed by her.  Then came the horrible massacres and executions by the hundreds, which inspired Mme. Roland with hatred for Danton, a feeling she communicated to the whole Girondist party.  She desired above everything to see punished the perpetrators of the September massacres.  In this plan the Girondists failed.  Robespierre, Danton, and Marat were victorious, and Mme. Roland and her party fell.

When all parties and the whole populace vied with each other in welcoming back the victorious General Dumouriez, there seemed to be a possibility of a reconciliation between Danton and Mme. Roland, for when the general went to dine with her he presented her with a bouquet of magnificent oleanders.  This dinner, on October 14th, auguring good fortune to all, was the last success of Mme. Roland.  She had been pushed to the very front of the Revolution.  She cooeperated in composing and promulgating the numerous writings of her husband by which public opinion was to be instructed.  But she retained her implacable hatred for Danton, who, when her husband, ready to resign, was pressed to remain in office, cried out in the convention:  “Why not invite Mme. Roland to the ministry, too! everyone knows that Roland is not alone in the office!” At this period her husband made the fatal mistake of appropriating a chest of important state papers and examining them himself instead of calling together a commission.  As is known, the papers turned out to be fatal to Louis XVI.  Libels and denunciations were pronounced against Roland, but his wife, called before the convention, not only succeeded in turning aside all accusations, but was voted the honors of the sitting.

At the time of the trial of the king, the power and influence of the Girondists were waning; then the Rolands became the butt of many violent and unreasonable outbursts.  With the resignation of Roland on January 22, 1792, the day of the execution of the king, the fate of the Girondists was sealed.  This time the minister was not asked to reconsider; in fact, his exposure of the pilfering then going on among the officials made him one of the most unpopular men in Paris.  Upon their return to private life, Mme. Roland was accused of forming the plot to destroy the republic.  When an armed force arrived one morning at half-past five o’clock to arrest her husband, she resisted them, herself going to the convention to expose the iniquity of such a proceeding.  Failing in this, she returned to her husband, to find him safe with a friend.  Being again arrested, she met the ordeal with her accustomed courage; and when the officers offered to pull down the blinds of the carriage, to shield her from the gaze of the unfriendly public, she said:  “No, gentlemen!