made: the calumnies of the Girondins now fall the ground; it is
demonstrated that the Convention does not desire to perpetuate itself
and that it has no ambition; if it remains in power it is because it
is kept there; the delegates of the people compel it to stay.

And better still, they are going to mark out its course of action. --
The next day, the 12th of August, with the zeal of new converts, they
spread themselves through the hall in such numbers that Assembly, no
longer able to carry on is deliberations, crowds toward the left and
yields the whole of the space on the right that they may occupy and
"purify"" it.[44] All the combustible material in their minds,
accumulated during the past fortnight, takes fire and explodes; they
are more furious than the most ultra Jacobins; they repeat at the bar
of the house the extravagances of Rose Lacombe, and of the lowest
clubs; they even transcend the program drawn up by the "Mountain."
"The time for deliberation is past," exclaims their spokesman, "we
must act[45]. . . Let the people rouse themselves in a mass. . .
it alone can annihilate its enemies. . . We demand that all
'suspects' be put under arrest; that they be dispatched to the
frontiers, followed by the terrible mass of sans-culottes. There, in
the front ranks, they will be obliged to fight for that liberty which
they have outraged for the past four years, or be immolated on the
tyrants' cannon. . . . Women, children, old men and the infirm
shall be kept as hostages by the women and children of sans-culottes."
Danton seizes the opportunity. With his usual lucidity he finds the
expression which describes the situation:

"The deputies of the primary assemblies," he says, "have just begun to
practice among us the initiative of terror."