"I should like to know what Brissot will say."[48] On Brissot's antecedents， cf. Edmond Biré， "La Légende des Girondins." Personally， Brissot was honest， and remained poor. But he had passed through a good deal of filth， and bore the marks of it. He had lent himself to the diffusion of an obscene book， "Le Diable dans un bénitier，" and， in 1783， having received 13，355 francs to found a Lyceum in London， not only did not found it， but was unable to return the money.
[49] Moniteur， XI. 147. Speech by Brissot， Jan. 17. Examples from whom he borrows authority， Charles XII.， Louis XIV.， Admiral Blake， Frederic II.， etc.
[50] Moniteur. X. 174. "This Venetian government， which is nothing but a farce . . . Those petty German princes， whose insolence in the last century despotism crushed out. . . Geneva， that atom of a republic. . .That bishop of Liège， whose yoke bows down a people that ought to be free . . . I disdain to speak of other princes. . . That King of Sweden， who has only twenty-five millions income， and who spends two-thirds of it in poor pay for an army of generals and a small number of discontented soldiers. . . As to that princess (Catherine II.)， whose dislike of the French constitution is well known， and who is about as good looking as Elizabeth， she cannot expect greater success than Elizabeth in the Dutch revolution."(Brissot， in this last passage， tries to appear at once witty and well read.)[51] Letter of Roland to the king， June 10， 1792， and letter of the executive council to the pope， Nov. 25， 1792. Letter of Madame Roland to Brissot， Jan. 7， 1791. "Briefly， adieu. Cato's wife need not gratify herself by complimenting Brutus."[52] Buchez et Roux， XII. 410 (meeting of the Jacobin club， Dec. 10， 1791). "A Louis XIV. declares war against Spain， because his ambassador had been insulted by the Spanish ambassador. And we， who are free， might hesitate for an instant！"[53] Moniteur， X， 503 (session of Nov.29). The Assembly orders this speech to be printed and distributed in the departments.
[54] Moniteur ， X. 762 (session of Dec. 28).
[55] Moniteur， XI. 147， 149 (session of Jan.17)； X. 759 (session of Dec. 28). -- Already， on the 10th of December， he had declared at the Jacobin club： "A people that has conquered its freedom， after ten centuries of slavery， needs war. War is essential to it for its consolidation." (Buchez et Roux， XII. 410). -- On the 17th of January， in the tribune， he again repeats： "I have only one fear， and that is， that we may not have war."[56] Moniteur， XI. 119 (session of Jan.13). Speech by Gensonné， in the name of the diplomatic committee， of which he is the reporter.
[57] Moniteur， XI. 158 (session of Jan. 18). The Assembly orders the printing of this speech.
[58] Moniteur， XI. 760 (session of Dec. 28).
[59] Moniteur， XI. 149 (session of Jan. 17). Speech by Brissot.
[60] Moniteur， XI. 178 (session of Jan.20). Fauchet proposes the following decree： "All partial treaties actually existent are declared void. The National Assembly substitutes in their place alliances with the English， the Anglo-American， the Swiss， Polish， and Dutch nations， as long as they will be free . . When other nations want our alliance， they have only to conquer their freedom to have it. Meanwhile， this will not prevent us from having relations with them， as with good natured savages . . . Let us occupy the towns in the neighborhood which bring our adversaries too near us . . . Mayence， Coblentz， and Worms are sufficient" - Ibid.，， p.215 (session of Jan.25). One of the members， supporting himself with the authority of Gélon， King of Syracuse， proposes an additional article： "We declare that we will not lay down our arms until we shall have established the freedom of all peoples." These stupidities show the mental condition of the Jacobin party.
[61] The decree is passed Jan. 25. The alliance between Prussia and Austria takes place Feb. 7 (De Bourgoing， "Histoire diplomatique de l'Europe pendant la Révolution Fran？aise，" I. 457).
[62] Albert Sorel， "La Mission du Comte de Ségur à Berlin" (published in the Temps， Oct. 15， 1878). Dispatch of M. de Ségur to M. Delessart， Feb. 24， 1792. Count Schulemburg repeated to me that they had no desire whatever to meddle with our constitution. But， said he with singular animation， we must guard against gangrene. Prussia is， perhaps， the country which should fear it least； nevertheless， however remote a gangrened member may be， it is better to it off than risk one's life. How can you expect to secure tranquility， when thousands of writers every day . . . mayors， office-holders， insult kings， and publish that the Christian religion has always supported despotism， and that we shall be free only by destroying it， and that all princes must be exterminated because they are all tyrants？"[63] A popular jig of these revolutionary times， danced in the streets and on the public squares. -TR.
[64] Buchez et Roux， XXV. 203 (session of April 3， 1793). Speech by Brissot. -Ibid.， XX. 127. "A tous les Républicains de France， par Brissot，" Oct. 24， 1792. "In declaring war， I had in view the abolition of royalty." He refers， in this connection， to his speech of Dec. 30， 1791， where he says， "I fear only one thing， and that is， that we shall not be betrayed. We need treachery， for strong doses of poison still exist in the heart of France， and heavy explosions are necessary to clear it out."[65] Mallet du Pan， "Mémoires，" I. 260 (April， 1792)， and I. 439(July， 1792).
[66] Any revolutionary leader， from Lenin， through Stalin to Andropov may confirm the advantage of acting in secret. (SR).
[67] "The French Revolution，" I. 262 and following pages.