174  HISTORY   OP

Marat's  accusation  was  not  attended  with  any  results;  he
inspired  more  disgust,  but  less  hatred  than  Robespierre;
some  regarded  him  as  a  madman;  others  considered  these
debates  as  the  quarrels  of  parties,  and  not  as  an  object  of
interest  for  the  republic.  Moreover,  it  seemed  dangerous  to
attempt  to  purify  the  convention,  or  to  dismiss  one  of  its
members,  and  it  was  a  difficult  step  to  get  over,  even  for
parties.  Danton  did  not  exonerate  Marat.  "  I  do  not  like
him,"  said  he;  "I  have  had  experience  of  his  temperament;
it  is  volcanic,  crabbed  and  unsociable.  But  why  seek  for  the
language  of  a  faction  in  wrhat  he  writes?  Has  the  general
agitation  any  other  cause  than  that  of  the  revolutionary  move-
ment itself?"  Robespierre,  on  his  part,  protested  that  he
knew  very  little  of  Marat;  that,  previous  to  the  10th  of
August,  he  had  only  had  one  conversation  with  him,  after
which  Marat,  whose  violent  opinions  he  did  not  approve,  had
considered  his  political  views  so  narrow,  that  he  had  stated
in  his  journal,  that  he  had  neither  the  higher  views  nor  the
daring  of  a  statesman.
