They had set themselves up as theoreticians, and likewise as optimists, without looking at the things, or else imagining the them as they wished to have them.

In the national assemblies, as well as with the public, the task was deemed easy and simple, whereas it was extraordinary and immense; for the matter in hand consisted in effecting a social revolution and in carrying on an European war.

The materials were supposed to be excellent, as manageable as they were substantial, while, in fact, they were very poor, being both refractory and brittle, for these human materials consisted of the Frenchmen of 1789 and of the following years; that is to say, of exceedingly sensitive men doing each other all possible harm, inexperienced in political business, Utopians, impatient, intractable, and overexcited.

Calculations had been made on these prodigiously false data; consequently, although the calculations were very exact, the results obtained were found absurd.

Relying on these data, the machine had been planned, and all its parts been adjusted, assembled, and balanced.