Professor F. C. de Sumichrast of the French department, delivered last evening in the Fogg Lecture Room the second of his series of lectures on "Paris during the Reign of Terror," the subject being "The Republican Festivals." As a cause for these festivals, Professor Sumichrast stated that during the Reign of Terror and even before it the Parisians were for the most part in a starving condition, and longed for the festivities of the monarchical regime which had always been occasions of rejoicing and feasting. The Revolutionary authorities felt the need of preventing comparisons unfavorable to the new system of government, and it was seen that the enthusiasm which was breaking out all over the country had need of a safety valve. A number of festivals on an enormous scale were therefore ordered, the first being that of the Federation in which the king, assembly, and people all took part.

The lecturer then gave an account of the other great festivals, mentioning in particular that which attended the funeral ceremony for Mirabeau, the Festival of Liberty, and the Festival of the Supreme Being organized by Robespierre.

On the whole, these festivals were among the most effective, from a spectacular point of view, that Paris had ever beheld, and they proved once more that in the matter of fetes not even the horrors of the Reign of Terror could quench the French love of excitement and display.