was indeed rare in those days, when passion was supreme and pure love was almost unknown.  Mr. Dobson says that this one trait by which she gave real expression of virtue is profoundly a product of her mental self.  Her instinct would have led her to self-abandonment, so common in that day, but her “man by the head” self was stronger than her “woman by the heart” self.  These two sides of her character, fostered by incessant reading, incited her fearful and unrelenting hatreds as well as her passion, “masculine enough to be mistrusted and feminine enough to be admired.”  These two qualities made her a power and an attraction.  Her better side will continue to shine clearer as the horror of those days is revealed.  Whatever may be the effects of her ambitious nature and of her unfortunate passion for Buzot, by the very virtue of her intellect and reasoning she will remain the one great woman of the Revolution who willingly and conscientiously sacrificed her life for her country.

A type perhaps more universally known in her relation to the Revolution than is Mme. Roland, though no better understood, was Charlotte Corday.  Possessed of a most intense patriotism and an unusual emotional nature, she represented better than any other woman of her age the peculiar French trait—­namely, the emotional perfectly combined with the mathematical.  She was unique; her compatriots practised the art of studying themselves, in order to be attractive, and thus accomplished their ends, while her ambition was not to please merely, but to be of some real, practical value to her troubled country.  She stands out, however, as the product of the end of the eighteenth century, a natural result of the reading of philosophy and political pamphlets.  Quite naturally, she entertained such philosophical sentiments as this:  “No one will lose in losing me, and the country may be better off for the sacrifice.  Death comes only once, and let us use it to the good of the country or the greatest number of people.”  Thus, her philosophy led her to a complete detachment from her individual self, and fostered the idea of dying for her country.

Her decision to rid France of Marat was arrived at by degrees of silent brooding over the evils which beset her native land; at last she felt herself called to some great act which would necessitate the loss of her life.  “The time brought forth desperation, intense warmth of feeling, concentrated upon some purpose or object;” the reasoning self seemed to be stifled by the intensity of the emotion.  Yet, reason was to conquer in her.  When the Girondists returned to Caen and described Robespierre and Marat in the darkest colors, she at once felt moved to put forth all her efforts to rid France of that evil blot—­Marat.  She was beautiful, strong, and graceful, presenting a most striking appearance.  Loved by all, she felt love and devotion only for her country.  Desperate and determined, she set out to fulfil her mission.  She was a mere expression of the conservative element which acts only when driven by sheer necessity.  Her reason impressed her with her duty and circumstances; the time acted upon her mind.  “Easy, calm, resigned, she looked upon the angry masses of people who cursed her,” confident that she had done her country a service, and proud that she had been the fortunate one to render it.  This was her glory, and for this she will be remembered in history.