Show CHARLOTTE CORDAY COEDAY during the frech revolution of 1798 there lived in the cit city y of caen france a young youn lady charlotte corday darmont a aarand grand daughter of the celebrated cornelle though born of gentle blood she had been nurtured in the he school of adversity her father being too aristocratic aristo ertic to work and too poor to live without work mork ork in early life she w as placed in a monastery in caen where her whole future destiny was influenced by the peculiar discipline to which she was exl exi ex ased and the ideas of duty which were inculcated in the dreams or of the tha cloister her ardent soul became fired with the he ambition of exalted deess dees dee s wh ch should reder reider her a benefactress S to her race after t us kivini for six years the jacobin suppressed the tha convent an I 1 she too took tip up her residence with an elderly ril rii tive 1 in C en eli I 1 where she remained until she was nearly r twenty five years of age living amidst mid t the terrible scenes or of the re revolution here where the guil aull guillotine otine was in constant exercise and dm the mb dail dall deman teman inythe the blood of rew victims her thoughts ciatur naturally lly liy turned to the ross poss ability of g these horrors she mingled as much as possible with the giron dests d 9 to ascertain wio were the prin trin principal cipal agents ht in these there woes boes which were vere desolating her native land though danton and were hen then ben in in their the sanguinary ry delirium of murat tendered ien len dered him more conspicuous to the otte ofte people who who saw tyranny and f edom in one marys maalis mai mar Is hands only 21 to murat then the theet et es besof of charlotte corday were directed d as the one ode ho was deluging the republic in blood slie she thought thoun thou git gix git that his death would arret arre t thia flood and save the lives ives of 0 thou ands it had been annun announced ced that he had proscribed twenty five hive hundred victims in L lyons ons ong three thousand in marseilles twenty 1 eim ight thousand in hi paris and anit three hundred tiOu in britany conspiracies were being organized allover alt ait over the republic tor for or the 0 overthrow vertu row of this blo d thirsty tyrant the lover of charlotte corday whom fhe idolized with all the durity and fervor of her nature was eegao engaged ed in one of these c acles w which bich if st successful would cost t the her lives of thousands and if unsuccessful would only cono con o the power of the tyrant charlotte resolved to free france of the monster at the certain sacrifice of her own life ilfe all the e bergies of her being were now a oti on ed for the of this object it u was as no easy matter inetter for all an obscure young la y to get access to the he as to be able tomassa to assassinate him she however formed her rier plans so cautiously as to guard against every conceivable cause of failure not an individual was admitted to her confidence religious ious lous enthusiasm cont imbued its strength to her enterprise for the doubted not that she was engaged in a holy undertaking her well read bible contained a pencil mark around the pa passage sage judith went forth from the city att orned ornea with witti marvelous beauty which the lod lom had best wed on oll her to dellver deliver israel having made bli 01 her hen arrangements she fhe informed her f rinds that she was going to england to seek that asylum which france no ion lon longer er af fordel A t w maling 0 mementoes wre were co faired upon her intimate acquaintances and oil on the oth of july 1798 1708 she took the dit dil diligence gence for paris her ller whole worldly possessions consisted of a smail smale parcel of clothes and a volume f pi lives charlotte was tall and d unified with po fuse black hair and ana long eyelashes which seeming even darker than her auburn ringlets gave great depth to her piercing eyes her cheeks were well filled and had bad the freshness and the health of youth and were often crim crim with the blush of excitement and mod stir siy nm anners annera and vivacity in conversation quite won the hearts of her fellow travelers who strove unsuccessfully to draw drav from her the object of b her er jurney journey and her address one young menti gentl man mall becam so en mored that he be begged permission to solicit of her relatives her hand band in marriage she pleasantly repelled the honor but prom promised ed that he be should km kin know kaow ow re of her ere long iong after a two diya daya ride she arrived at paris I 1 and went to a hotel where she allowed herself a days rest that her faculties might be in the best condition she had no desire to figure as a heroine jt it was not for fame that she desired to sacrifice berlee her I 1 fe in the cloister she had learned the lesson of self belf abnegation and rather desired oblivion than notoriety as more pleasing to gd d she also wished the act of assassination tobe lobe a sacred solemn scene which should strike terror into tre tr e batts barts b arts atts of all tyrants she wished it to be bibic that mally many mig might ht witness the just retribution of fiendish cruelty her first plan w was as to L kill murat in the champ de marb mars at a great celebration which was to bocc r ok OH the of caly the adjournment journ ourn in ment ent of the ceremony recess decess ta ed a cha change e of theatre and he be decided to strike h in in the midst of the convention 9 grounded by his ties she had no doubt that the result to 0 herself would ba th t her body would be torn linh from limb this pan pian was frustrated as afu mirat at for some reasor reason no longer a attend attended td cd the convention her only chance of meeting him was waa at his on own house and it was tain maln access to him there Fea pea fearing rint as all tyrants do the dagger dagget of assassination he be was carefully guarded atlon mas was as necessary jec essary ebsary to accomplish her purposes pui pul pose poses a and nd she recited reci led from this more than she leato strike the blow her frank honest nature was pained by the feces necessity ity of readi resorting arting to artifice but in no other manner could her end begal be gained ned she therefore wrote two letters to murat requesting in an audience so worded as aa to induce him to belleve believe her ber one of his admirers yet capable of a different interpretation about half past seven in tle the evening of the of july she attired herself irk in the most attractive manner and proceeded to the house of murat it was avas ar an antl anti antique que somewhat seme beme what el dl mansion where the bloodstained blood stained tyrant crowned by he mob affected the display or of the utmost democratic simplicity ile he was in his bath penning inflammatory appeals pea Is 2 and ind against his enemies jt it was not unusual in that hat da day y occasionally to receive visitors in the bath balb and Cb charlotte charlott arlott after encountering considerable opposition was conducted to his gis room murat was wrapped ina lna in a soiled bathing robe his matted hair bound boand bo und and in ib a dirty h handkerchief his receding protruding eyes prominent cheekbones chork cheek bones and sneering mouth presented but little to cause womans comans ten ton derns 4 to withhold the meditated blow he excited such a loathing in charlotte that she feared to 0 o cast a second glance lest he should notice her horror and suspect her errand with downcast eyes she awaited his bis hiance hisong us tion ile he inquired as to the state of gor nor mondy and asked the names of the deputies deguti in caen she gave pave him some home he lle wrote them hern down exclaiming 0 in a voice of exulda tion lon ion I 1 wea wei before lefore they are a week older they shall have the guillotine 1 I at this charlotte with all the strength which excitement and the intense a t P enthusiasm nt h u a ia a ddn could inspire plunged to the b hilt lit into his heart with one piercing shriek for heir the miserable man fell dead charlotte we E a immediately arrested tried and condemned to the guillotine A few days after all paris was drawn to her hir execution attracted alike by the magnitude of the crime and her youth auth and wonderful beauty she ascended the scaffold with a cheerful and elastic st step ep and was bound to the block she was dressed in the red robe of a m rd eress A cold rain which was then failing falling drenched her to the skin avast A vast crowd surrounded the guillot guillotine hid hii as sailing assailing her with oaths oatha and execrations exec rations she looked around upon them with a smile aty if it were an hour ot of tr tre and and add they w were ere friends chanting her praises the plank slowly descended to its place the ax gilded glided swiftly through the groove and her bead beau dropped aped into the tile basket baskel the executioner seized it by the hair and holding it up smote it violently upon the cheek the 0 ubi servais observers report that those cheeks wire were instantly suffused with a crimson blush as though dignity and anci modesty had lasted longer ey cy tl than life annot |