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appearance unattractive, and his speech impaired by a painful stammer. He indulged, however, his love for literature, was closely observant of public affairs, and thus gradually Or Alt From See also:

Cambridge Natural See also:

HISTORY

History, vol. ii., "See also:

WORMS

Worms," &c, by permission of See also:

MACMILLAN

Macmillan & Co. Ltd. See also:

FEMALE

Female Desmoscolex elongatus Panceri, ventral view. a, Ovary. (From Panceri.) prepared himself for the See also:

main duties of his life—those of a See also:

POLITICAL

political litterateur. In March 1789 Desmoulins began his political career. Having been nominated See also:

DEPUTY (through the Fr. from a Late Lat. use of deputare, to cut off, allot; putare having the original sense of to trim, prune)

deputy from the bailliage of Guise, he appeared at See also:

LAON

Laon as one of the commissioners for the See also:

election of deputies to the States-General summoned by royal See also:

EDICT (Lat. edictum, from e, out, and dicere, to say, speak)

edict of See also:

JANUARY

January 24th. Camille heralded its See also:

MEETING (from " to meet," to come together, assemble, 0. Eng. metals ; cf. Du. moeten, Swed. mota, Goth. gamotjan, &c., derivatives of the Teut. word for a meeting, seen in O. Eng. Wit, moot, an assembly of the people; cf. witanagemot)

meeting by his See also:

ODE (Gr. uiSri, from aei&ew, to sing)

Ode to the States-General.

It is, moreover, highly probable that he was the author of a See also:

RADICAL (Lat. radix, a root)

radical pamphlet entitled La Philosophic au See also:

PEOPLE

people See also:

FRANCAIS, ANTOINE, COUNT (1756-1836)

francais, published in 1788, the See also:

TEXT (Lat. textum, woven fabric, from texere, to weave)

text of which is not known. His hopes of professional success were now scattered, and he was living in Paris in extreme poverty. He, however, shared to the full the excitement which attended the meeting of the States-General. As appears from his letters to his father, he watched with exultation the procession of deputies at See also:

VERSAILLES

Versailles, and with violent indignation the events of the latter part of See also:

JUNE

June which followed the closing of the Salle See also:

des Menus to the deputies who had named themselves the See also:

NATIONAL

National See also:

ASSEMBLY, UNLAWFUL

Assembly. It is further evident that Desmoulins was already sympathizing, not only with the See also:

ENTHUSIASM

enthusiasm, but also with the fury and See also:

CRUELTY (through the O. Fr. crualte, mod. cruaute, from the Lat. crudelitas)

cruelty, of the Parisian crowds. The sudden dismissal of See also:

NECKER, JACQUES (1732—1804)

Necker by Louis XVI. was the event which brought Desmoulins to fame. On the 12th of See also:

JULY

July 1789 Camille, leaping upon a table outside one of the cafes in the See also:

GARDEN (from O. Fr. garden, mod. Fr. jardin; this, like our words " garth," a paddock attached to a building, and " yard," comes from a Teutonic word for an enclosure which appears in Gothic as gards and O. H. Ger. gart, cf. Dutch gaarde and Ger. .garten)

garden of the Palais Royal, announced to the See also:

CROWD, CROUTH, CROWTH

crowd the dismissal of their favourite. Losing, in his violent excitement, his stammer, he inflamed the passions of the See also:

mob by his burning words and his See also:

CALL (from Anglo-Saxon ceallian, a common Teutonic word, cf. Dutch kallen, to talk or chatter)

call " To arms! " " This dismissal," he said, " is the See also:

TOCSIN

tocsin of the St See also:

Bartholomew of the patriots." See also:

DRAWING

Drawing, at last, two pistols from under his coat, he declared that he would not fall alive into the hands of the See also:

POLICE (Fr. police, government, civil administration, a police force, Gr. sroXumeia, constitution, condition of a state, roars, city, state)

police who were watching his movements. He descended amid the embraces of the crowd, and his cry " To arms! " resounded on all sides. This See also:

SCENE (Fr. scene, Lat. scaena, Gr. oflvil, a tent or booth, a stage or scene)

scene was the beginning of the actual events of the Revolution.

Following Desmoulins the crowd surged through Paris, procuring arms by force; and on the 13th it was partly organized as the Parisian See also:

MILITIA (Fr. milice, Ger. Miliz, from Lat. miles, soldier, militia, military service)

militia which was afterwards to be the National Guard. On the 14th the See also:

BASTILLE (from Fr. bastir, now bdtir, to build)

Bastille was taken. Desmoulins may be said to have begun on the following See also:

day that public See also:

LITERARY

literary career which lasted till his See also:

DEATH

death. In May and June 1789 he had written La See also:

France Libre, which, to his chagrin, his publisher refused to See also:

print. The taking of the Bastille, however, and the events by which it was preceded, were a sign that the times had changed; and on the 18th of July Desmoulins's See also:

WORK

work was issued. Considerably in advance of public See also:

OPINION (Lat. opinio, from opinari, to think)

opinion, it already pronounced in favour of a See also:

REPUBLIC (Lat. respublica, a commonweal or common-wealth)

republic. By its erudite, brilliant and courageous examination of the rights of See also:

king, of nobles, of See also:

clergy and of people, it attained a wide and sudden popularity; it secured for the author the friendship and See also:

PROTECTION

protection of See also:

Mirabeau, and the studied abuse of numerous royalist pamphleteers. Shortly afterwards, with his vanity and love of popularity inflamed, he pandered to the passions of the See also:

LOWER

lower orders by the publication of his Discours de la lanterne aux Parisiens which, with an almost fiendish reference to the excesses of the mob, he headed by a See also:

QUOTATION

quotation from St See also:

John, Qui male agit odit lucent. Camille was dubbed " Procureur-general de la lanterne." In See also:

NOVEMBER (Lat. novem, nine)

November 1789 Desmoulins began his career as a journalist by the issue of the first number of a weekly publication, See also:

Les Revolutions de France et de See also:

Brabant. The See also:

TITLE (0. Fr. title, mod. titre, from Lat. titulus)

title of the publication changed after the 73rd number. It ceased to appear at the end of July 1791.1 Success attended the Revolutions from its first to its last number, Camille was everywhere famous, and his poverty was relieved. These See also:

numbers are valuable as an See also:

EXHIBITION

exhibition not so much of events as of the feelings of the Parisian people; they are adorned, moreover, by the erudition, the wit and the See also:

GENIUS (from Lat. genere, gignere)

genius of the author, but they are disfigured, not only by the most biting personalities and the See also:

defence and even advocacy of the excesses of the mob, but by the entire See also:

ABSENCE (Lat. absentia)

absence of the forgiveness and pity for which the writer was afterwards so eloquently to plead.

In See also:

APRIL

April 1792 Destnoulins founded with Stanislas See also:

Freron a new See also:

journal, La See also:

TRIBUNE (med. Lat. tribune, from classical Lat. tribunal)

Tribune des patriotes, but only four numbers appeared. Desmoulins was powerfully swayed by the See also:

INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

influence of more. vigorous minds; and for some See also:

time before the death of Mirabeau, in April 1791, he had begun to be led by See also:

DANTON, GEORGE JACQUES (1759-1794)

Danton, with whom he remained associated during the See also:

REST (O. Eng. rest, reste, bed, cognate with other Teutonic forms, e.g. Ger. Rast, Riiste, rest, and probably Gothic Rasta, league, i.e. resting or stopping place)

rest of his See also:

LIFE

life. In July 1791 Camille appeared before the See also:

MUNICIPALITY

municipality of Paris as See also:

head of a deputation of petitioners for the deposition of the king. In that See also:

month, however, such a See also:

REQUEST, LETTERS OF

request was dangerous; there was excitement in the See also:

CITY (through Fr. cite, from Lat. civitas)

city over the presentation of the See also:

PETITION (Lat. for " seeking " or " praying ")

petition, and the private attacks to which Desmoulins had often been subject were now followed by a See also:

WARRANT (Med. Lat. warantum; O. Fr. garant, warant, derived from O.H.G. root represented in modern German bygewdhren)

warrant for the See also:

ARREST (Fr. arrester, arreeter, to stop or stay)

arrest of himself and Danton. Danton left Paris for a little; Desmoulins, however, remained there, appearing occasionally at the Jacobin See also:

CLUB (connected with " clump ")

club. Upon the failure of this See also:

ATTEMPT (Lat. adtemptare, attentare, to try)

attempt of his opponents, Desmoulins published a pamphlet, See also:

JEAN

Jean See also:

PIERRE

Pierre See also:

BRISSOT, JACQUES PIERRE (1754-1793)

Brissot demasque, which abounded in the most violent personalities. This pamphlet, which had its origin in a See also:

PETTY, SIR WILLIAM (1623-1687)

petty squabble, was followed in 1793 by a Fragment de l'histoire secrete de la Revolution, in which the party of the See also:

GIRONDE

Gironde, and specially Brissot, were most mercilessly attacked. Desmoulins took an active part on the loth of See also:

AUGUST (originally Sextilis)

August and became secretary to Danton, when the latter became See also:

MINISTER (Lat. minister, servant)

minister of See also:

JUSTICE (Lat. justitia)

justice. On the 8th of See also:

SEPTEMBER (Lat. septem, seven)

September he was elected one of the deputies for Paris to the National See also:

Convention, where, however, he was not successful as an orator. He was of the party of the " See also:

Mountain," and voted for the abolition of See also:

ROYALTY (0. Fr. realte, reialte, royaulte, from Med. Lat. regalitas, the substantive of regalis, of or belonging to a king, rex)

royalty and the death of the king. With Robespierre he was now more than ever associated, and the Histoire des Brissotins, the fragment above alluded to, was inspired by the See also:

arch-revolutionist. The success of the brochure, so terrible as to send the leaders of the Gironde to the See also:

GUILLOTINE

guillotine, alarmed Danton and the author.

Yet the role of Desmoulins during the Convention was of but secondary importance. In See also:

DECEMBER (Lat. decent, ten)

December 1793 was issued the first number of the Vieux Cordelier, which was at first directed against the Hebertists and approved of by Robespierre, but which soon formulated Danton's See also:

IDEA (Gr. Ibia, connected with i&eiv, to see; cf. Lat. species from specere, to look at)

idea of a See also:

COMMITTEE (from commute, an Anglo-Fr. past participle of commettre, Lat. committere, to entrust; the modern Fr. equivalent comite is derived from the Eng.)

committee of clemency. Then Robespierre turned against Desmoulins and took See also:

ADVANTAGE

advantage of the popular indignation roused against the Hebertists to send them to death. The time had come, however, when See also:

SAINT (lat. sanctus, " holy ")

Saint Just and he were to turn their See also:

ATTENTION (from Lat. ad-tendo, await, expect; the condition of being " stretched " or " tense ")

attention not only to les enrages, but to les indulgentsthe powerful See also:

FACTION (through the French, from Lat. factio, a company of persons combined for action, facere, to do; from the other French derivative facon comes " fashion ")

faction of the Dantonists. On the 7th of January 1794 Robespierre, who on a former occasion had defended Camille when in danger at the hands of the National Convention, in addressing the Jacobin club counselled not the See also:

EXPULSION (Lat. expulsio, from expellere)

expulsion of Desmoulins, but the burning of certain numbers of the Vieux Cordelier. Camille sharply replied that he would See also:

ANSWER (derived from and, against, and the same root as swear)

answer with See also:

Rousseau,—" burning is not answering," and a See also:

BITTER, KARL THEODORE FRANCIS (1867– )

bitter See also:

QUARREL

quarrel thereupon ensued. By the end of March not only were See also:

Hebert and the leaders of the extreme party guillotined, but their opponents, Danton, Desmoulins and the best of the moderates, were arrested. On the 31st the warrant of arrest was signed and executed, and on the 3rd, 4th and 5th of April the trial took See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place before the Revolutionary Tribunal. It was a scene of terror not only to the accused but to See also:

JUDGES, THE BOOK OF

judges and to See also:

JURY

jury. The retorts of the prisoners were notable. Camille on being asked his age, replied, " I am See also:

THIRTY

thirty-three, the age of the sans-culotte Jesus, a See also:

CRITICAL (in alphabetical order of authors)

critical age for every patriot." This was false; he was thirty-four? The accused were prevented from defending themselves; a See also:

DECREE (from the past participle, decretus, of Lat. decernere)

decree of the Convention denied them the right of speech.

Armed with this and the false See also:

REPORT (O.Fr. report or raport, modern rapport, from O.Fr. reporter, mod. rap porter, Lat. reportare, to bring back, in poetical use only, of bringing back an account, news, &c.)

report of a See also:

spy, who charged the wife of Desmoulins with conspiring for the See also:

ESCAPE (in mid. Eng. eschape or escape, from the O. Fr. eschapper, modern echapper, and escaper, low Lat. escapium, from ex, out of, and cappa, cape, cloak; cf. for the sense development the Gr. iichueoOat, literally to put off one's clothes, hence to sli

escape of her See also:

HUSBAND

husband and the ruin of the republic, Fouquier-Tinville by threats and entreaties obtained from the jury a See also:

SENTENCE (Lat. sententia, a way of thinking, opinion, judgment; vote, sentire, to feel, think)

sentence of death. It was passed in absence of the accused, and their See also:

EXECUTION (from Lat. ex-sequor, exsecutus, follow or carry out)

execution was appointed for the same day. Since his arrest the courage of Camille had miserably failed. He had exhibited in the numbers of the Vieux Cordelier almost a disregard of the death which he must have known hovered over him. He had with consummate ability exposed the terrors of 2 This is See also:

BORNE, KARL LUDWIG (1786–1837)

borne out by the See also:

BIRTH (a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages from the root of the verb " to bear ")

birth and See also:

BAPTISM

baptism, and by words in his last See also:

LETTER (through Fr. lettre from Lat. littera or litera, letter of the alphabet; the origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has probably no connexion with the root of linere, to smear, i.e. with wax, for an inscription with a stilus)

letter to his wife,—" I See also:

die at thirty-four." The See also:

DATES

dates (1762–1784) given in so many See also:

BIOGRAPHIES

biographies of Desmoulins a:a certainly inaccurate. the Revolution, and had adorned his pages with illustrations from See also:

Tacitus, the force of which the commonest reader could feel. In his last number, the seventh, which his publisher refused to print, he had dared to attack even Robespierre, but at his trial it was found that he was devoid of See also:

PHYSICAL

physical courage. He had to be torn from his seat ere he was removed to See also:

PRISON (derived through the Fr. from the Lat. prehensio, seizure)

prison, and as he sat next to Danton in the tumbrel which conveyed them to the guillotine, the calmness of the great See also:

LEADER, BENJAMIN WILLIAMS (1831– )

leader failed to impress him. In his violence, See also:

BOUND, or BOUNDARY (from O. Fr. bonde, Med. Lat. bodena or butina, a frontier line)

bound as he was, he tore his clothes into shreds, and his See also:

BARE

bare shoulders and See also:

BREAST (a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. the Ger. Brust, possibly connected with an O. Sax. brustian, to bud)

breast were exposed to the gaze of the surging crowd. Of the fifteen guillotined together, including among them See also:

MARIE

Marie Jean See also:

HERAULT

Herault de Sechelles, See also:

FRANCOIS (1558-1614)

Francois See also:

Joseph Westermann and Pierre Philippeaux, Desmoulins died third; Danton, the greatest, died last. On the 29th of December 1790 Camille had married Lucile Duplessis, and among the witnesses of the ceremony are observed the names of Brissot, Petion and Robespierre. The only See also:

child of the See also:

MARRIAGE

marriage, See also:

HORACE [QuINTus HORATIUS FLACCUS] (65-8 B.C.)

Horace Camille, was born on the 6th of July 1792.

Two days afterwards Desmoulins brought it into See also:

NOTICE

notice by appearing with it before the municipality of Paris to demand " the formal statement of the See also:

CIVIL

civil See also:

ESTATE (through O. Fr. estat, mod. flat, from Lat. status, state, condition, position, stare, to stand)

estate of his son." The boy was afterwards pensioned by the French See also:

government, and died in See also:

HAITI [HAITI, HAYTI, SAN DOMINGO, Or HISPANIOLA]

Haiti in 1825. Lucile, Desmoulins's accomplished and affectionate wife, was, a. few days after her husband; and on a false See also:

charge, condemned to the guillotine. She astonished allonlookers by the calmness with which she braved death (April 13, 1794). See J. See also:

CLARETIE, JULES

Claretie, (Ruvres de Camille Desmoulins aver une etude biographique . . . &c. (Paris, 1874), and Camille Desmoulins, Lucile Desmoulins, etude sur les Dantonistes (Paris, 1875; Eng. trans., See also:

LONDON

London, 1876) ; F. A. See also:

AULARD, FRANCOIS

Aulard, Les Orateurs de la Legislative et de la Convention (Paris, 1905, 2nd ed.) : G. Lenbtre, " LaMaisondeCamille Desmoulins " (Le Temps, March 25, 1899).

End of Article: DESMOULINS, LUCIE SIMPLICE CAMILLE BENOIST (1760-1794)

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