Élisabeth of France (1764–1794) to the spirit of equality proclaimed by the Republic [...] representing to the General Council of the Commune the absurdity of keeping three persons in the Temple Tower, who caused extra service and excessive expense", and Hébert insisted on her execution. Although Robespierre himself wished to avoid such a "useless cruelty", the political climate was such that he "hid his thought of reprieve under words of insult. He dared not claim that innocent woman from the ferocious impatience of Hebert without insulting the victim he desired to save. He called her the 'despicable sister of Capet'." On 9 May 1794,
Transport vessels for the cancelled British invasion of Île de France (1794) Transport vessels for the cancelled British invasion of Île de France (1794) In 1794, after the onset of the French Revolutionary Wars the British government contemplated an invasion of Île de France (Mauritius). To that end it detained at Portsmouth a large number of East Indiamen sailing for the British East India Company (EIC). The government cancelled the invasion and in May 1794 released the vessels it had detained. When it did so, it paid demurrage for having delayed the vessels' voyages to the Indies and China. The British government finally invaded and captured Île de France (Mauritius) in 1810.