Accounts of Committee meeting on March 30, '94 (when Danton's arrest was ordered)??

[wolfshadow713.livejournal.com]

I know that there aren't any official minutes of the March 30 joint meeting of the Committees (or any meeting, really), but there are at least partial accounts of what transpired. Does anyone know of a relatively complete account, either from some primary source document (ie. someone's memoirs) or something pieced together by historians)?

Comments

[victoriavandal.livejournal.com]

The book I have that goes into the trial in the most detail is Jules Claretie's book on the Desmoulins (which I have in an 1876 (?) translation) - he transcribed documents since lost in the Hotel de Ville fire. In it, he includes the detail that Robespierre's name is written twice, and crossed out twice, in the list of witnesses to be called. I was wondering if you had come across any more info on this? I don't think Claretie knows if this is a defence or prosecution witness call - it'd be interesting to know if Danton or Desmoulins were still hoping for some assistance from that direction, or a chance to attack him in court!

[wolfshadow713.livejournal.com]

Most sources that I've seen suggest that Robespierre was called by the defense, but I don't know their motives. My guess is that it is a bit of both--Danton was quite oppertunistic in his defense and a good off the cuff speaker so he probably would have gone either way depending on whether Robespierre was inclined to help them or further defame them.

I will have to get a copy of htat book.

[victoriavandal.livejournal.com]

It's an excellent book, written in the 1870's, so there's a great sense of dramatic gloom about it - great appendices, too - the rather sad inventory of cell contents, etc. (Fabre has a lot of bottles of pickles, if I remember rightly!).