. In a state of sweet rapture I beheld France supported by Religion" exhorting us all to concord. "The sacred ceremonies， the music， the incense， the priests in their sacrificial robes， that dais， that orb radiant with precious stones. .. I called to my mind the words of the prophet. . . . My God， my country， and my countrymen， all were one with myself！ "Such emotions repeatedly explode in the course of the session， and resulted in the passage of laws which no one could have imagined.
"Sometimes，"[8] writes the American ambassador， "a speaker gets up in the midst of a deliberation， makes a fine discourse on a different subject， and closes with a nice little resolution which is carried with a hurrah. Thus， in considering the plan of a national bank proposed by M. Necker， one of them took it into his head to move that every member should give his silver buckles， which was agreed to at once， and the honorable mover laid his upon the table， after which the business went on again."Thus， over-excited， they do not know in the morning what they will do in the afternoon， and they are at the mercy of every surprise.
When they are seized with these fits of enthusiasm， infatuation spreads over all the benches； prudence gives way， all foresight disappears and every objection is stifled. During the night of the 4th of August，[9] "nobody is master of himself . The Assembly presents the spectacle of an inebriated crowd in a shop of valuable furniture， breaking and smashing at will whatever they can lay their hands on.""That which would have required a year of care and reflection，"says a competent foreigner， "was proposed， deliberated over， and passed by general acclamation. The abolition of feudal rights， of titles， of the privileges of the provinces， three articles which alone embraced a whole system of jurisprudence and statesmanship， were decided with ten or twelve other measures in less time than is required in the English Parliament for the first reading of an important bill.""Such are our Frenchmen，" says Mirabeau again， "they spend a month in disputes about syllables， and overthrow， in a single night， the whole established system of the Monarchy ！"[10]
The truth is， they display the nervousness of women， and， from one end of the Revolution to the other， this excitability keeps on increasing.
Not only are they excited， but the pitch of excitement must be maintained， and， like the drunkard who， once stimulated， has recourse again to strong waters， one would say that they carefully try to expel the last remnants of calmness and common sense from their brains. They delight in pompous phrases， in high-sounding rhetoric， in declamatory sentimental strokes of eloquence： this is the style of nearly all their speeches， and so strong is their taste， they are not satisfied with the orations made amongst themselves. Lally and Necker， having made "affecting and sublime"speeches at the H？tel-de-Ville， the Assembly wish them to be repeated before them：[11] this being the heart of France， it is proper for it to answer to the noble emotions of all Frenchmen.
Let this heart throb on， and as strongly as possible， for that is its office， and day by day it receives fresh impulses. Almost all sittings begin with the reading of flattering addresses or of threatening denunciations. The petitioners frequently appear in person， and read their enthusiastic effusions， their imperious advice， their doctrines of dissolution. To-day it is Danton， in the name of Paris， with his bull visage and his voice that seems a tocsin of insurrection； to-morrow， the vanquishers of the Bastille， or some other troop， with a band of music which continues playing even into the hall. The meeting is not a conference for business， but a patriotic opera， where the eclogue， the melodrama， and sometimes the masquerade， mingle with the cheers and the clapping of hands.[12] -- A serf of the Jura is brought to the bar of the Assembly aged one hundred and twenty years， and one of the members of the cortège， " M. Bourbon de la Crosnière， director of a patriotic school， asks permission to take charge of an honorable old man， that he may be waited on by the young people of all ranks， and especially by the children of those whose fathers were killed in the attack on the Bastille." [13] Great is the hubbub and excitement.
The scene seems to be in imitation of Berquin，[14] with the additional complication of a mercenary consideration.
But small matters are not closely looked into， and the Assembly， under the pressure of the galleries， stoops to shows， such as are held at fairs. Sixty vagabonds who are paid twelve francs a head， in the costumes of Spaniards， Dutchmen， Turks， Arabs， Tripolitans， Persians， Hindus， Mongols， and Chinese， conducted by the Prussian Anacharsis Clootz， enter， under the title of Ambassadors of the Human Race， to declaim against tyrants， and they are admitted to the honors of the sitting. On this occasion the masquerade is a stroke devised to hasten and extort the abolition of nobility.[15] At other times， there is little or no object in it； its ridiculousness is inexpressible， for the farce is played out as seriously and earnestly as in a village award of prizes. For three days， the children who have taken their first communion before the constitutional bishop have been promenaded through the streets of Paris； at the Jacobin club they recite the nonsense they have committed to memory； and， on the fourth day， admitted to the bar of the Assembly， their spokesman， a poor little thing of twelve years， repeats the parrot-like tirade. He winds up with the accustomed oath， upon which all the others cry out in their piping， shrill voices， " We swear ！ " As a climax， the President， Trejlhard， a sober lawyer， replies to the little gamins with perfect gravity in a similar strain， employing metaphors， personifications， and everything else belonging to the stock-in-trade of a pedant on his platform：
