indivisibility. At this, shouts arise from every point of the immense
enclosure; salvoes of artillery follow again and again; "one would say
that heaven and earth answered each other" in honor "of the greatest
epoch of humanity." -- Certainly, the delegates are beside themselves;
their nerves, strained to the utmost, vibrates too powerfully; the
millennium discloses itself before their eyes. Already, many among
them on the Place de la Bastille, had addressed the universe; others,
"seized with a prophetic spirit," promise eternity to the
Constitution. They feel themselves "reborn again, along with the
human species;" they regard themselves as beings of a new world.
History is consummated in them; the future is in their hands; they
believe themselves gods on earth. -- In this critical state, their
reason, like a pair of ill-balanced scales, yields to the slightest
touch; under the pressure of the manufacturers of enthusiasm, a sudden
reaction will carry them away. They consider the Constitution as a
panacea, and they are going to consign it, like some dangerous drug,
to this coffer which they call an ark. They have just proclaimed the
liberty of the people, and are going to perpetuate the dictatorship of
the Convention.




VI. The Mountain.

Maneuvers of the "Mountain." -- The Jacobin Club on the eve of August
11th. -- Session of the Convention on the 11th of August. -- The
Delegates initiate Terror. -- Popular consecration of the Jacobin
dictatorship.