After Thermidor，[108] and after Vendémiaire， they remained the same；they became rigid against "the faction of old boundaries，" and against any moderate policy； at first， against the pacific minority， then against the pacific majority， against the entreaties of all France， against their own military director， "the organizer of victory "Carnot， who， as a good Frenchman， is not desirous of gratuitously increasing the embarrassments of France nor of taking more than France could usefully and surely keep. - If， before Fructidor， his three Jacobin colleagues， Reubell， Barras and La Révellière， broke with him， it was owing not merely to inside matters， but also to outside matters， as he opposed their boundless violent purposes. They were furious on learning the preliminary treaty of Leoben， so advantageous to France； they insulted Carnot， who had effected it；[109] when Barthélémy， the ablest and most deserving diplomat in France， became their colleague， his recommendations， so sensible and so well warranted， obtained from them no other welcome than derision.[110]
They already desire， and obstinately， to get possession of Switzerland， lay hands on Hamburg， "humiliate England，" and "persevere in the unlucky system of the Committee of Public Safety，" that is to say， in the policy of war， conquest and propaganda. Now that the 18th Fructidor is accomplished， Barthélémy deported， and Carnot in flight， this policy is going to be applied everywhere.
Never had peace been so near at hand；[111] they almost had)it in their grasp； conference at Lille it was only necessary to take complete hold of it. England， the last and most tenacious of her enemies， was disarming； not only did she accept the aggrandizement of France， the acquisition of Belgium and the left bank of the Rhine， the avowed as well as the disguised annexations， the great Republic as patron and the smaller ones as clients， Holland， Genoa， and the Cis-Alpine country， but， again， she restored all her own conquests， all the French colonies， all the Dutch colonies， except the Cape of Good Hope，[112] and all the Spanish colonies except Trinidad. All that amour-propre could demand was obtained， and they obtained more than could be prudently expected； there was not a competent and patriotic statesman in France who would not have signed the treaty with the greatest satisfaction. - But the motives which， before Fructidor， animated Carnot and Barthélémy， the motives which， after Fructidor， animated Colchen and Maret， do not animate the Fructidoreans. France is of but little consequence to them； they are concerned only for their faction， for power， and for their own persons. La Révellière， president of the Directory， through vainglory， "wanted to have his name go with the general peace；" but he is controlled by Barras， who needs war in order to fish in troubled waters，[113] and especially by Reubell， a true Jacobin in temperament and intellect， "ignorant and vain， with the most vulgar prejudices of an uneducated and illiterate man，" one of those coarse， violent， narrow sectarians anchored on a fixed idea and whose "principles consist in revolutionizing everything with cannon-balls without examining wherefore."[114] There is no need of knowing the wherefore； the animal instinct of self-preservation suffices to impel the Jacobins onward， and， for a long time， their clear-sighted men， among them Siéyès， their thinker and oracle， have told them that "if they make peace they are lost."[115] - To exercise their violence within they require peril without； lacking the pretext of public safety they cannot prolong their usurpation， their dictatorship， their despotism， their inquisition， their proscriptions， their exactions. Suppose that peace is effected， will it be possible for the government， hated and despised as it is， to maintain and elect its minions against public clamor at the coming elections？ Will so many retired generals consent to live on half-pay， indolent and obedient？ Will Hoche， so ardent and so absolute， will Bonaparte， who already meditates his coup-d'état，[116] be willing to stand sentry for four petty lawyers or litterateurs without any titles and for Barras， a street-general， who never saw a regular battle？ Moreover on this skeleton of France， desiccated by five years of spoliation， how can the armed swarm be fed even provisionally， the swarm， which， for two years past， subsists only through devouring neighboring nations？
Afterwards， how disband four hundred thousand hungry officers and soldiers？ And how， with an empty Treasury， supply the millions which， by a solemn decree， under the title of a national recompense， have once more just been promised to them.[117] Nothing but a prolonged war， or designedly begun again， a war indefinitely and systematically extended， a war supported by conquest and pillage can give armies food， keep generals busy， the nation resigned， the maintenance of power of the ruling faction， and secure to the Directors their places， their profits， their dinners and their mistresses. And this is why they， at first， break with England through repeated exactions， and then with Austria and the Emperor， through premeditated attacks， and again with Switzerland， Piedmont， Tuscany， Naples， Malta， Russia and even the Porte.[118] At length， the veils fall and the character of the sect stands out nakedly. Defense of the country， deliverance of the people， all its grand phrases disappear in the realm of empty words. It reveals itself just as it is， an association of pirates on a cruise， who after ravaging their own coast， go further off and capture bodies and goods， men and things. Having eaten France， the Parisian band undertakes to eat all Europe， "leaf by leaf， like the head of an artichoke."[119]