- "Irreproachable" is
the word which from early youth an inward voice constantly repeats to
him in low tones to console him for obscurity and patience. Thus has
he ever been, is now, and ever will be; he says this to himself, tells
others so, and on this foundation, all of a piece, he builds up his
character. He is not, like Desmoulins, to be seduced by dinners, like
Barnave, by flattery, like Mirabeau and Danton, by money, like the
Girondists, by the insinuating charm of ancient politeness and select
society, like the Dantonists, by the bait of joviality and unbounded
license - he is the incorruptible. He is not to be deterred or
diverted, like the Feuillants, Girondists, and Dantonists, like
statesmen or specialists, by considerations of a lower order, by
regard for interests or respect for acquired positions, by the danger
of undertaking too much at once, by the necessity of not disorganizing
the service and of giving play to human passions, motives of utility
and opportunity: he is the uncompromising champion of the right.[106]
"Alone, or nearly alone, I do not allow myself to be corrupted; alone
or nearly alone, I do not compromise justice; which two merits I
possess in the highest degree.
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