18 Prairial
An CCXXXIV
Louis Antoine Saint-Just
Saint-Just delivered the great speeches of accusation before the Convention. First against the king, then against Hébert, then against Danton. Each time he stepped onto the platform, a deep, icy silence fell over the rows of Parliament. The angel of death of the Revolution was speaking. The people’s representatives were afraid. Each feared becoming the target of accusation himself. Only Saint-Just’s final speech – on 9 Thermidor – was an attempt at conciliation: the Convention should be able to control the committees more effectively. But Saint-Just was interrupted, and they would not let him speak again. Motionless, he stood beside the rostrum and watched with contempt the shouting deputies who, that day, out of fear of their own death, carried the Revolution to its grave. Saint-Just had no fear of death. 24 hours later, he was guillotined. He was only 26 years old.
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1767 - 1794
- August 25, 1767 · Birth in Decize near Nevers.
- 1776 · The family moves to Blérancourt (Aisne department).
- 1778 · Death of the father.
- October 1779 · His mother sends Antoine to the Collège Saint-Nicolas of the Oratorians in Soissons.
- July 1786 · After finishing school in Soissons, Saint-Just returns to Bléroncourt. He learns that his beloved has been married to another man—without anyone informing him beforehand.
- October 1786 · Six-month stay in a reformatory after running away to Paris with his mother's household silver.
- 1787 · Law studies in Reims.
- May 1789 · Publication of the poem Organt, banned for lèse-majesté.
- 1791 · Saint-Just runs as an elector for the Legislative Assembly but fails because he has not yet reached the required minimum age.
- September 1792 · Elected as a deputy to the National Convention.
- November 13, 1792 · He speaks before the Convention in favor of executing the king without a formal trial. In his view, the king’s fate is a matter to be judged under the law of nations:
One cannot reign innocently.
- May 30, 1793 · Elected to the Committee of Public Safety.
- March 3, 1794 · He submits the Ventôse Decrees to the Convention, proposing that the property of the enemies of the Republic be redistributed among poor patriots.
- March 31, 1794 · Saint-Just delivers the indictment against Danton before Parliament, who had been arrested the night before. Saint-Just had pushed to confront Danton with the accusations during the session and have him arrested in Parliament. However, the Committee of General Security and the Committee of Public Safety were against it.
- June 26, 1794 · Participates as a Convention representative in the victorious Battle of Fleurus.
- July 27, 1794 · Saint-Just is prevented from speaking during the session of 9 Thermidor and arrested together with Robespierre, Couthon, Lebas, and Robespierre’s brother.
- July 28, 1794 · Execution on the Place of the Revolution in Paris.
Quotes
My decision is made: If Brutus does not kill the others, he will kill himself.
Saint-Just, July 25, 1792
Let not the prisons be crowded, but the cemeteries.
Saint-Just, 1794
When it was Saint-Just's turn to ascend, he embraced Couthon, and as he passed Robespierre, he simply said:
Adieu
. His voice betrayed no emotion.
Sanson, the executioner of Paris
Le Moniteur
David paints Saint-Just
The republican institutions
· · · Saint-Just: Œuvres complètes · · ·
External links
