But it would cost the nation a great deal, and I believe that this useful project could be carried through with greater economy.
"Indeed, if the nation will give me twenty thousand francs, in a single payment, I will take the whole responsibility, and I agree, if I live, that before the expiration of seven years the _Systeme de la Nature_ in French, with the complemental addition, the corrections, and the convenient explanations, shall be at the disposition of all those who love or study natural history." FOOTNOTES: [32] Most men of science of the Revolution, like Monge and others, were advanced republicans, and the Chevalier Lamarck, though of noble birth, was perhaps not without sympathy with the ideas which led to the establishment of the republic.

It is possible that in his walks and intercourse with Rousseau he may have been inspired with the new notions of liberty and equality first promulgated by that philosopher.
His studies and meditations were probably not interrupted by the events of the Terror.

Stevens, in his history of the French Revolution, tells us that Paris was never gayer than in the summer of 1793, and that during the Reign of Terror the restaurants, _cafes_, and theatres were always full.

There were never more theatres open at the same period than then, though no single great play or opera was produced.

Meanwhile the great painter David at this time built up a school of art and made that city a centre for art students.