12, 1792 .-- This very interesting letter shows how mobs are composed at this epoch.

A small gang of regular brigands and thieves plot together some enterprise, to which is added a frightened, infatuated crowd, which may become ferocious, but which remains honest.] [Footnote 26135: The words of Hobbes applied by Roederer to the democracy of 1792: "In democratia tot possent esse Nerones quot sunt oratores qui populo adulantur; simul et plures sunt in democratia, et quotidie novi suboriuntur."] [Footnote 26136: Lucas de Montigny, "Memoires de Mirabeau," II.

231 and following pages .-- The preface affixed by Manuel to his edition (of Mirabeau's letters) is a masterpiece of nonsense and impertinence .-- Peltier, "Histoire du 10 Aout," II.

205 .-- Manuel "came out of a little shop at Montargis and hawked about obscene tracts in the upper stories of Paris.

He got hold of Mirabeau's letters in the drawers of the public department and sold them for 2,000 crowns." (testimony of Boquillon, juge-de la paix).] [Footnote 26137: Lafayette, "Memoires," I.467, 471.