Jean-paul Marat: Terror and Death for The Sake of Death?
by From Hero or Villain: More Prisoners of Eternity.
In January, 1790, his venomous and repeated attacks upon the hero of the American Revolution and Commander of the Paris National Guard, the Marquis de Lafayette, forced Marat to flee temporarily to London. On his return to Paris he hid for a time in the sewers catacombs of the city. But the life of a man on the run only served to exacerbate his scrofula (a debilitating skin disease). Still he continued to write and agitate. In early 1792, he demanded the deaths of almost the entire legislative assembly. Directly addressing the common people of Paris he wrote: “Five or six hundred heads cut off would have assured our repose, and happiness. A false humanity has held your arms and suspended your blows; because of this millions of your brothers will lose their lives”.
His lust for blood unsated, he now turned his ire on the ruling Girondin faction in the National Assembly. This was a dangerous move. Fearing for their lives the Girondins struck first, charging Marat with treason and putting him on trial before the Revolutionary Tribunal. Marat defended himself ably and was sensationally acquitted on all charges. Chaired from the Court and greeted by thousands of cheering Parisians he was genuinely the hero of the people. He was the man who wanted the revolution they wanted. He would winkle out corruption, he would expose the tyrants, he would destroy the old regime. He was now the most dangerous man in France. But his glory was to be short-lived. On 2 June, 1793, the Girondins fell from power, and Robespierre, St-Just, and the Jacobins would steal his thunder. They did not just demand the guillotine, they used it. In the Terror that was to follow tens of thousands of “enemies of the people” were to lose their lives.
But Marat was not one to sit on his laurels. The terror he advocated was now being fuelled by the blood he demanded but even so his volume of writing increased and his pen became ever more venomous. But so did his illness. The skin disease that scarred his body and discoloured his skin was becoming unbearable and he had taken to soaking in a medicinal bath. He had also it would appear, by this time made one enemy too many.
Charlotte Corday
Charlotte Corday
On 13 July, 1793, whilst soaking in his bathtub he was informed that a young lady by the name of Charlotte Corday, wished to see him. She had important information. She was admitted to his presence. Corday told Marat that she had just returned from Caen with proof that the Girondins were reforming and establishing a power-base in Normandy. Marat demanded that she provide him with the names of those involved and proceeded to compile a list. On its completion he curtly informed her not to worry, all those on the list would be guillotined on the morrow. Corday now produced a knife that she had secreted on her person and plunged its 6 inch blade deep into Marat’s chest. He cried “Help me! Please, God help me!”, but dragged from his bath he died soon after. Corday, it transpired, was a Royalist and a Girondin, and blamed Marat for the murder of many of her friends and relatives. At her subsequent trial she showed no remorse and stated “I killed one man to save a hundred thousand”. Charlotte Corday was guillotined on 17 July, 1793. Many thousands of others were to die in reprisals for what she had done.
The people of Paris thronged the streets of the city to witness Marat’s funeral procession as it passed by. The Deputies of the National Assembly turned out to display their grief. The Marquis de Sade, wrote his eulogy, and his death was immortalised in the iconic painting by Jacques-Louis David, a piece of revolutionary propaganda of which Marat would have been proud. His remains were interred in the Pantheon.
Revolutionary Propaganda: The Death of Marat by Louis David
Quotes
“Man has the right to deal with his oppressors by devouring their palpitating hearts”.
“To ensure public tranquillity 270,000 more heads should roll”.
“Nothing superfluous can belong to us legitimately as long as others lack necessities”.
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