associates. The more he reflected on these things, the more was he
convinced that Mirabeau was right when he said the 'Revolution was a
fire that must burn out.'

'And how long will the flames last,' cried he to himself; 'they will not
assuredly be extinguished in my time. The great convulsions of nations
will bear proportion to the vast materials they deal with. France will
not rally from this shock for half a century to come; and ere that I
shall have passed away.'

When doubt or despondency weighed upon his mind, all the crafty
reasoning of Mirabeau and all the sensual teachings of Rousseau
came freshly to his memory. They told him of a world of conflict and
struggle, but also a world of voluptuous pleasure and abandonment. They
sneered at the ideal pretexts men called loyalty and fidelity, and they
counselled the enjoyment of the present as the only true philosophy.
'Tell me you are sure of being alone to-morrow,' said Diderot, 'and I
will listen to how you mean to spend it.' like evil spirits that love
the night, these dark thoughts were sure to seek him in his hours of
gloomy depression.

There was, with all this, a sense of pique as he compared his own
position with that which Marietta had already won for herself. 'We
started together in the race, thought he, 'and see where she has
distanced me! That poor friendless girl is already a social influence
and a power, while I am a mere hanger-on of men, who use me in dangers
that show how little they regard me. What rare abilities must she
possess! What a marvellous insight into the human heart and all its
varied workings! How ingeniously, too, has she contrived to interweave
with her dramatic power the stranger and more mysterious workings of a
supernatural influence! How far is she the dupe of her own deceptions?'
This was a thought not easily solved, knowing her well as he did, and
knowing how often she was the slave of her own passionate impulses. 'I
will see her to-night with my own eyes, and mayhap be able to read her
aright.'

The receptions of Madame Roland were among the 'events' of the day. They
were the rendezvous of all that was most advanced and extravagant in
republicanism. Thoroughly true-hearted and single-minded herself, she
was rapidly attracted to those men who declaimed against courts and
courtly vices, and sincerely believed that virtue only resided beneath
lowly roofs and among narrow fortunes. Her sincere enthusiasm--the
genuine ardour of a