As I gazed upon these men, whose appearance was slovenly, I was lost in amazement, by reflecting that they were part of that military force which had made itself terrible to so large a portion of Europe, which in its first organization was composed of men, many of whom had never had a musket in their hands, and commanded by generals who had never witnessed a military manœuvre; many of the most shining of whom had undergone an immediate transition from the most peaceful, and even the most subordinate occupations in life, to conduct armies to the field of battle, to confront and rout some of the prime, veteran troops of nations, long renowned for their eminence and military character. Robespierre may be considered as having laid the foundation of all the military glory of France, and by the unexampled energy and prospective acuteness of his measures, to have accomplished a system by which France has achieved so many brilliant victories. No one but a tyrant, who to a sanguinary soul united profound penetration, could have accomplished what he did. He swept away in a deep and impetuous stream of blood the immediate branches of the royal family, the court, its valuable and its obnoxious appendages, and made a clear arena to act upon. In the name of Liberty he invoked those who were favourably disposed to her cause, and by terror he forced the reluctant to sustain the miseries and perils of a camp. Glory or the guillotine were eternally before the eyes of the republican commanders, who thus stimulated, never revolted at a profuse expenditure of life, nor considered any victory dearly obtained, so that it was obtained: the soldiers were all young men, amongst many of whom high ardour and a passion for heroic enterprize, characteristic of that season of life, prevailed, which soon spread with electric influence upon the more considerate, prudent, and even timid part of the body. Thus impelled, they pushed on, and soon felt their enthusiasm redouble, upon beholding the brilliant impression which they made upon troops inured to war and led by distinguished commanders, who receded before them, from a conviction that they could only hope to repel the attack by an assimilation of tactics and a lavish waste of blood, a consideration which frequently forced the followers of the old school to meditate when they ought to have acted.