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"May
it be to the world, what I believe it will be, (to some parts
sooner, to others later, but finally to all,) the signal of
arousing men to burst the chains under which monkish ignorance
and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves, and
to assume the blessings and security of self-government. That
form which we have substituted, restores the free right to
the unbounded exercise of reason and freedom of opinion. All
eyes are opened, or opening, to the rights of man. The general
spread of the light of science has already laid open to every
view the palpable truth, that the mass of mankind has not
been born with saddles on their backs, not a favored few booted
and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately, by the grace
of God. These are grounds of hope for others. For ourselves,
let the annual return of this day forever refresh our recollections
of these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them."
—Thomas Jefferson to Roger C. Weightman, 24 June 1826,
on the 50th anniversary of Independence
Thomas
Jefferson
Declaring
Independence
(Library of Congress)
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Although
many people the world over know 14 July as "Bastille
Day," few even in France are actually familiar with the
history of the holiday. In 1790, it took the form of the Festival
of the Federation in honor of national unity, but from then
until the birth of the Empire it was celebrated only fitfully
and with considerable variation. It
did not become the official French national holiday until
1880.
history
of Bastille Day (from the French Senate)
distribution
of flags to the army, a central part of the first official
14 July celebration of the Third Republic
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Few
figures in the history of the French Revolution have been
so reviled and so misunderstood. Singlemindedly devoted to
civic virtue, Robespierre struck out against both right and
left in order (as he saw it) to save the Revolution, in the
process sacrificing some of its principles. The men who toppled
him were motivated by fear and opportunism rather than opposition
to the Terror. Decades later, one of them, Bertrand Barère,
said, "Since then, I have thought much about this man.
I have seen that his dominating passion was to establish a
Republican government and that those he wished to bring to
justice were the men whose opposition stood in the way of
the operation of such a government." He was "without
personal ambition," and his downfall was "a great
calamity!"
Association
Maximilien Robespierre pour l'idéal démocratique
discours
de Robespierre
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