civilisation. The social condition of the nation was described,
in the state of a man whose life could only be preserved at the cost of
a terrible amputation. The operation once over, the body would recover
its functions of health and stability. This was the image daily
reproduced, till the public mind grew to regard it as a truism. The
noblesse represented the diseased and rotten limb, whose removal was so
imperative, and there were but too many circumstances which served to
favour the comparison.

Gerald was of an age when fervour and daring exercised a deeper
influence than calm conviction. The men of warm and glowing impulses,
of passionate words and desperate achievements, are sure to exercise a
powerful sway over the young, especially when they themselves are from
the accident of fortune in the position of adventurers. The language
he now heard was bold and definite: there was nothing of subterfuge or
concealment about it. The men who spoke were ready to pledge their lives
to their words; they were even more willing to fight than preach. There
was, besides, a splendid assertion of self-devotion in their plans;
personal advancement had no place in their speculations. All was for
France and Frenchmen: nothing for a party; nothing for a class. Their
aspirations were the highest too; the liberty they contended for was to
be the birthright of every man. Brissot, beside whom Gerald sat, was one
well adapted to captivate his youthful admiration. His long fair hair,
his soft blue eyes, an almost girlish gentleness of look, contrasting
with the intense fervour with which he uttered his convictions, imparted
an amount of interest to him that Gerald was not slow to appreciate. He
spoke, besides, with--what never fails in its effect--the force of an
intense conviction. That they were to regenerate France; that the
nation long enslaved, corrupted and degraded was to be emancipated,
enlightened, and elevated by _them_, was his heartfelt belief. The
material advantages of a great revolution to those who should effect it,
he would not stop to consider. In his own phrase: 'It was not to a mere
land flowing with milk and honey Moses led the Israelites, but to a land
promised to their forefathers, to be a heritage to their children!'

It is true his companions regarded him as a wild and dreamy enthusiast,
impracticable in his notions, and too hopeful of humanity; but they
wisely saw how useful such an element of 'optimism' was in fl