dwelt there, and all that she now was by the will of the People.

Chaumette, as you see, was refined, artistic;--the torture of the fallen
Queen's heart meant more to him than a blow of the guillotine on her
neck.

No wonder, therefore, that it was Procureur Chaumette who first
discovered exactly what type of new religion Paris wanted just now.

"Let us have a Goddess of Reason," he said, "typified if you will by
the most beautiful woman in Paris. Let us have a feast of the Goddess
of Reason, let there be a pyre of all the gew-gaws which for centuries
have been flaunted by overbearing priests before the eyes of starving
multitudes, let the People rejoice and dance around that funeral pile,
and above it all let the new Goddess tower smiling and triumphant.
The Goddess of Reason! the only deity our new and regenerate
France shall acknowledge throughout the centuries which are to
come!"

Loud applause greeted the impassioned speech.

"A new goddess, by all means!" shouted the grave gentlemen of the
National Assembly, "the Goddess of Reason!"

They were all eager that the People should have this toy; something
to play with and to tease, round which to dance the mad Carmagnole
and sing the ever-recurring "Ca ira."

Something to distract the minds of the populace from the
consequences of its own deeds, and the helplessness of its legislators.