Robespierre / Thomas Paine

 

Thomas Paine

Thomas Paine once a hero in France and a member of the National Convention has been imprisoned by Robespierre who considered him a dangerous influence. Paine has been taken from his cell and brought into the presence of Robespierre.

Thomas Paine: Surely, Sir you have reasons for taking this action against me but I am truly grateful for this opportunity to speak to you.

Maximilien Robespierre: I’ve allowed you to come for a brief interview because il faut savoir you have applauded the efforts of la revolution en France. Cependant, I do not believe in the long run that your ideas are healthy ones for our people.

Paine: Why would I not applaud the efforts of men to free themselves from oppression? In 1776, I cautioned the American people to sever their ties with Great Britain and seek independence. It is this war that gave France the strength to revolt against its own monarchs.

Robespierre: Non, Monsieur. France does not follow America. France leads the world. You think your ideas are unique. Study the French philosophers, mon ami, the seeds of discontent were sown in the soil of this country as early as the sixteen hundreds. There is a great difference between having a great ideal and the strength to force those who oppose you into accepting it.

Paine: I simply meant…

Robespierre: Do not interrupt please. Do you think that the American Revolution would have been successful without the help of France? Bien sûr que non! It would have happened at some point but not in 1776 or at your urging. How do I know? I know because George Washington was no match for the battalions of General Howe. Washington was losing every battle until word was spread that France had entered the conflict. Now, what were you about to say?

Paine: I wanted to say that it was the fever of the times. Freedom is not to be timidly requested but snatched away with violence if necessary. It is true that America owes France a great debt. Part of that debt is to show that much can be accomplished with the will of the masses.

Robespierre: Fine, you agree with me. Now ask me why I’ve placed you in prison.

Paine: I’m sure you have every intention of telling me without my prompting you.

Robespierre: You think we Frenchmen should give you a place of honor in our new society because you opposed Edmund Burke’s views on our revolution? He is a complete fool who thinks he can appease the British monarchy by showing how a revolution can be fought without spilling blood of the nobility. Have you ever tried to eat a roast of beef without killing the animal? Blood must be shed. You are not so different from Burke when you say that the French monarchs must not be sent to the guillotine. They must die for a new order to be born.

Maximilien Robespierre

Paine: With respect to Maximilien Robespierre, the architect of the French Revolution's Reign of Terror, my writings are not just for the people of France but for the people of the world who have lived under oppression without the hope of change. Just as my writing during the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia was not just for the people of America but for all people who have never asked themselves why they must live in abject poverty and subservience when they could be free. Liberty is not just for the taking; it comes with a great cost but to pay the cost without first understanding the limits of the game is sheer lunacy.

Robespierre: I have done well to put you in irons. I will raise my glass to the bloody revolution of France. The bloodier the revolution, the longer it will be remembered and feared. You drink alone, friendless in the dark corners of life. The ones who praise you at first quickly turn against you, like John Adams and Thomas Jefferson and like Maximilien Robespierre.

Paine: They perhaps turn against me because they poorly understood the scope of my philosophy. Perhaps they sought to control the movement of independence to suit their own purposes. I am not a fool enough to think that the abuses that are overturned by revolution will not engender abuses of their own. Your country has given the world enlightenment with Montesquieu, Voltaire and Rousseau. Robespierre has given the world a bath of blood.

Robespierre: And I have the power to add the few drops of blood in your veins to this bath if I should choose. But your veins are dry. You will not die by my hand but alone with only regrets for company. You think that I don’t know the cost of sending almost twenty thousand enemies of the Revolution to the guillotine? You think I don’t know that I will be overthrown and arrested by the National Convention and be executed for my deeds? All this I know but all this I will have done for the future of France.