cts to espouse, are
but the pretexts of his hate; and the _emigres_ themselves are but his
instruments. Let us despise these _emigres_: it is the duty of the high
national court to execute justice on these mendicant princes. The
electors of the empire are not worthy of your anger; fear causes them
beforehand to prostrate themselves at your feet--a free people does not
crush a fallen foe: strike at the head--this head is the emperor."

He communicated his own ardour to the Assembly; but Brissot, although a
skilful politician, and the able counsellor of his party, did not
possess that sonorous oratory that elevates an opinion to the level of
the voice of a nation. Vergniaud alone was gifted with a soul, in which
was combined all the passion and eloquence of a party: by meditating on
the annals of the past, he elevated his mind to scenes that passed then
analogous to those in which he was an actor, and communicated an
importance and solemnity to every word. "Our revolution," said he at the
same sitting, "has spread alarm amongst every throne, for it has given
an example of the destruction of the despotism that sustains them. Kings
hate our constitution because it renders men free, and because they
would reign over slaves. This hate has been manifested on the part of
the emperor by all the measures he has adopted, to disturb us or to
strengthen our enemies, and encourage those Frenchmen who have rebelled
against the laws of their country. We must not believe that this hate
has ceased to exist, but it must cease to work. The genius of Liberty
watches over our frontiers, which are less defended by our troops and
our national guards than by the enthusiasm of freedom. Liberty, since
its birth, has been the object of a shameful and secret war, waged
against it even in its very cradle. What is this war? Three armies of
reptiles and venomous insects breed and creep in your own breast: one is
composed of paid libellists and hired calumniators, who strive to arm
the two powers against each other by inspiring them with mutual
distrust; the other army, equally dangerous, is composed of seditious
priests, who feel that their God is forsaking them, and that their power
is crumbling away with their _prestige_, and who, to retain their
empire, term vengeance religion, and crime virtue. The third is composed
of greedy speculators and financiers, who can grow rich only on our
ruin: national prosperity would be destruction to their egotistica