"Glory calls you, the country looks to you [...] March, strike!"
Document signed (address by the Committee of Public Safety to the victorious Republican armies).
Folio (205 x 315 mm). 2 pp on 1 f.
€ 12.500,00
A rousing and martial address to the victorious army of the Republic from the Committee of Public Safety, signed by most notorious figure of the French Revolution. Robespierre endorses an address from the Committee of Public Safety to the victorious French Revolutionary armies, following a string of victories: "Soldats Républicains, Les lâches Sattelites de la tyrannie ont fui devant vous à votre approche, ils ont abandonné Dunkerque et leur artillerie; ils se sont hâtés d'échaper à leur ruine entiere".
The document bears the autograph signatures of Robespierre along with his fellow members of the Committee, Lazare Carnot, Herault de Sechelles, and Jacques Billaud-Varenne underneath a secretarial text. Another copy of the speech in Robespierre's own hand is recorded in the catalogue of the Chambry collection (there dated two days later, to 4 Brumaire / 25 October). Here we have the date 2 Brumaire, the top of the sheet reading "Paris, le 2 Jour du 2 mois de l'an 2 de la République française".
The Battle of Wattignies had taken place shortly before (15-16 October 1793), in which the French had defeated Austrian forces. The speech goes on to celebrate that "les Piémontais et les Espagnols sont chassés de notre territoire; les défenseurs de la République viennent de détruire les repaises des Rebelles de la Vendée; ils ont esterminé leur cohortes sacrileges". The text ends with an exhortation to the victorious soldiers that "la gloire vous appelle, la Patrie vous regarde, les Représentants de la Nation vous encouragent et vous guident; Marchez, frapez; que dans un mois, le peuple français soit vengé, la liberté afermie, la République triomphante; que les tyrans et les esclaves disparoissent de la terre; qu'il n'y reste plus que la Justice, le Bonheur et la Vertu".
Over the following months, Robespierre's actions during the Reign of Terror would ultimately lead to his fall from power and execution. A striking document from the height of the French Revolution.
Light horizontal and vertical creasing from folding, light foxing and browning, two small tears, one in the top (3 mm) and one (17 mm) in lower left corner, scarcely visible. Clear and legible writing, a handsome document.
