La république misérable, infélice,
Sera vastée du nouveau magistrat
Leur grand amas de l'exil maléfice,
Fera Sueve ravir leur grand contract.
The republic, miserable, unhappy,
Will get rid of the new magistrate:
Their great gathering for the malefic exile,
Will be the end of the great pact of the 'Sueves'
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république misérable, infélice Sera vastée Du nouveau magistrat.
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Republic. In the context of the quatrain, it is the French Republic. miserable and unhappy. With the exception of World War II, the French Republic was never in a worst shape than during the French Revolution of 1789. People were unhappy and hungry and anyone could find himself overnight, under the blade of the guillotine. from the latin verb vastare, in french, dénuder, enlever, to strip, to remove, and by extension to get rid of. The new magistrate is Robespierre, the muscleman of the Revolution, the lawyer, and later on, the more powerful magistrate of France, the man who invented Terror during the Revolution.
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History
Born in Arras in 1758, lawyer and deputy at the États Généraux, Robespierre is the one who led the Révolution to the most bloody epic of its history, epic that decimated the ranks of french aristocracy and sowed Terror throughout all France:
Deputy at the Convention, he requests the execution of Louis XVI, without trial, as a measure of public safety. He relies on the Commune to knock down the Girondins whose main leaders are excluded from the Convention and arrested...Disciple of Rousseau, he orders the execution of the 'Enragés' and the 'Hébertistes'who lead a campaign for dechristianization. ...Then, he institutes the cult of the Supreme Being, he passes the law of the Prairial that takes away all warranty to the accused and leads to the great Terror... (La République, misérable, infélice)
An heterogeneous coalition is formed against Robespierre: terrorists whose exaggerations are condemned by Robespierre, the rich, disturbed by his politics in favor of people of modest means, moderates who want the end of the Terror.
The 9 Thermidor, (27 juillet 1794), the Convention orders his arrest. He is liberated by the Commune who declares him outlaw. Arrested onece again, he is sent to the guillotine (Sera vastée du nouveau magistrat)the 10 Thermidor with 20 of his partisans.
(Translation F.L. - Encyclopédie Universelle Illustrée - Georges Pascal)