Reign of Terror June 1793 and the end of July 1794, there were 16,594 official death sentences in France, of which 2,639 were in Paris. There was a sense of emergency among leading politicians in France in the summer of 1793 between the widespread civil war and counter-revolution. Bertrand Barère exclaimed on 5 September 1793 in the Convention: "Let's make terror the order of the day!" They were determined to avoid street violence such as the September Massacres of 1792 by taking violence into their own hands as an instrument of government. Robespierre in February 1794 in a speech explained the necessity of
In the Reign of Terror: The Adventures of a Westminster Boy Dear Lads," a common practice in boys' adventure novels and with Henty's texts in particular. Like many of Henty's historical adventure novels, "In the Reign of Terror" emphasises the importance of British morals and encourages young boys to be courageous and virtuous. Henty's historical adventure novels were primarily written for children, which is reflected in his simplistic writing style and straightforward narrative. The plot, while at times complex and detailed, relies on constant forward action interspersed with brief introspections from the main character. Although many characters are violently killed in the novel, the accounts are primarily second-hand and Henty describes