ROBESPIERRE MAXIMILIEN: (1758-1794) French Lawyer and Politician. One of the most influential figures of the French ...

ROBESPIERRE MAXIMILIEN: (1758-1794) French Lawyer and Politician. One of the most influential figures of the French Revolution. Guillotined.
A rare and exceptional L.S., Robespierre, (and also by four other members of the Committee of Public Safety), two pages, 4to, Paris, 16th June 1794, to [Pierre-Rene] Choudieu and [Joseph-Etienne] Richard, on the printed stationery of the Committee of Public Safety, War department, in French. The letter states `We expect, dear colleagues and representatives of the citizenship, that the city of Ypres will have capitulated when this letter will reach you. If however the enemy would persist in defending the city and you would have to negotiate the conditions of their surrender, you are free to fix them in the best way you will consider and find convenient according to the National dignity, accelerating this way the important victory we must not let escape.´ further specifying `The decree which states that we will not take English nor Hanovrien prisoners does not affect the Hesse people, you must take them prisoners and exchange the others against the same number of our soldiers and sailors. Regarding the emigrants there is no way or option of pardon..´ Robespierre and the members of the Committee further order `Inmediately after Ypres´ surrender you must do the same with Nieuport and besiege Ostende.´ and instruct `Do not forget to take hostages among the important persons devoted to the imperial party...take the Bruges warehouses, and bring the terror to Ghent', further concluding `You will soon become the absolute masters of the maritime Flanders.' Countersigned at the conclusion by Lazare Carnot ('Carnot'), Georges Couthon ('Couthon'), Jean-Marie Collot d'Herbois ('Collot d'herbois') and Jacques Nicolas Billaud-Varenne ('Billaud Varenne'). With blank integral leaf. A letter of excellent historical content signed by the four instrumental figures of the Reign of Terror. Some light overall foxing and signs of age wear, the central vertical fold strengthened in places with clear tape and some small areas of paper loss and minor tears at the edges, most of which have been professionally repaired. None of the faults affect the signatures. GThe present letter was signed by Robespierre and Couthon just over a month before their executions, by guillotine, at the young ages of 36 and 38 respectively.Pierre-Rene Choudieu (1761-1838) French Politician, a Member of the Convention and a Deputy to the Legislative Assembly. He voted for the death of the King and contributed to the fall of the Girondins. Choudieu was accussed of complicity in the insurrection of 1st April 1795 and imprisoned.Joseph-Etienne Richard (1761-1834) French Politician, a Member of the Convention and the Legislative Assembly.Lazare Carnot (1753-1823) French Politician, Engineer, Freemason and Mathematician. The 'Organiser of Victory' in the French Revolutionary Wars. President of the National Convention May - June 1794 and a Member of the Committee of Public Safety 1793-94.Georges Couthon (1755-1794) French Politician and Lawyer, known for his service as a deputy on the Legislative Assembly during the French Revolution. President of the National Convention 1793-94 and a Member of the Committee of Public Safety 1793-94.Jean-Marie Collot d´Herbois (1749-1796) French Actor, Dramatist and Revolutionary. President of the National Convention June 1793 and a Member of the Committee of Public Safety 1793-94. Although he saved Madame Tussaud from the guillotine, d'Herbois administered the execution of more than 2,000 people in the city of Lyon during the Reign of Terror.Jacques Nicolas Billaud-Varenne (1756-1819) French Revolutionary, an instrumental figure during the Reign of Terror. President of the National Convention September 1793 and President of the Committee of Public Safety July - September 1794.The Committee of Public Safety was created in April 1793 by the National Convention and then restructured in July 1793, and formed the de facto executive government in France during the Reign of Terror. A forceful unit during the French Revolution, the Committee reached the height of its powers between August 1793 and July 1794 (during which time the present document was signed) under the leadership of Robespierre, who had established a virtual dictatorship. Following the execution of Robespierre the Committee's influence diminished and it was disestablished in 1795.Robespierre is one of the best known and most influential figures of the French Revolution, particularly remembered for his defence of the Republic and his role in the Reign of Terror. Robespierre's personal responsibility for the excesses of the Terror remains the subject of intense debate among historians of the French Revolution, however his name is continually associated with the radical purification of politics through the killing of enemies.