MAXIMILIEN MARIE ISIDORE DE ROBESPIERRE was born on the 6th of May, 1758, at Arras, where his father was an unsuccessful advocate. Having distinguished himself at the college of his native place, he was sent, through the influence of a canon of the cathedral of Arras, to complete his education in Paris, at the college of Louis le Grand. In his studies he was noted for diligence, regularity and intelligence; on the completion of his course at college, he devoted himself to the study of jurisprudence. After some years thus passed, he returned to Arras, to follow the profession of his father. In this his success was decided and previous to the commencement of his more public career, he had become a person of considerable local note.
On the memorable convocation of the States-general in 1789, he had local influence sufficient to secure his election as one of the deputies, in which capacity he immediately repaired to Versailles. Though in the Constitutional Assembly he spoke frequently, and - despite the disadvantages of a mean person, a harsh, shrill voice, and an ungainly manner - always with increasing acceptance, it was outside, as a popular demagogue and leader in the famous Jacobin Club, that his chief activity was exerted, and in this field his influence speedily became immense. In May, 1791, he proposed and carried the decree by which members of the assembly were excluded from a place in the legislature; a measure obviously disastrous, as deteriorating the quality of the assembly, and more and more insuring its subjection to the Jacobins, of whom Robespierre was now the idol. On the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly in October, 1791, Robespierre, now famous, revisited his native town, where he was received with enthusiasm. After a stay of seven weeks; he returned to Paris and resumed his activity as leader of the Jacobin Club. To the National Convention, which was now formed, he was returned as the head of the Paris deputies, and as recognized chief of the extreme party, called the Mountain, he was one of the main agents in procuring the execution of the king, which took place in December, 1792. In the year following, occurred his final struggle with the Girondists, who had twice before attacked him with a view to compass his destruction, and the chief men among whom he now triumphantly sent to the scaffold. The period of "the Terror" followed; Marie Antoinette and the infamous Duke of Orleans were the first victims; Petion, Danton, and Camille Desmoulins were next immolated, on a suspicion of favoring a reactionary policy; and for months, under the so-called Committee of Public Safety, Paris became the scene of an indiscriminate, quasi-judicial slaughter, in which some thousands of lives were sacrificed. With these enormous atrocities, the name of Robespierre, along with those of his friends, Couthon, and St. Just, remains peculiarly associated. But the end was near; men were weary of "the Terror," and the general sense of insecurity it induced. Robespierre had many enemies; in particular the friends of Danton were eager to avenge his death. A conspiracy was organized against "the tyrant," as he was now called, and after a scene of fierce tumult in the Convention, his arrest was accomplished. A rescue by the populace followed, but he lacked the courage and promptitude to turn the opportunity to account; while he hesitated, his enemies acted, and in July, 1794, he closed his career on the scaffold to which he had sent so many others.