Roland made overtures to Dumouriez, then at the head of the army, and was welcomed. Danton did his best to persuade the Girondins to forget the September massacres, and turn all their attention to protecting the country. A portion of the party was ready to compromise, but others refused; they were the circle about Madame Roland. Dumouriez, who came to Paris after the important victory of Valmy in September, did his best to reconcile her. In his judgment, “there was but one man who could support the Gironde, save the King and his country,—that man was Danton,” but he was unsuccessful in spite of his diplomacy. The experiences of September, the desperate condition of affairs, the need of concentrating the entire force of the nation against the invaders, the disorganization which was increasing on account of the dissension among the patriots, the impotence of Roland, the power of the Commune,—all seemed calculated to force Madame Roland to compromise with the insurrectionary force as represented by Danton. That she would not see the necessity of it, that she, so intelligent when she was unprejudiced, so good a politician when she undertook a cause, should refuse the only relation which could have enabled the Gironde to keep the direction of the new government, was no doubt due partly to the fact that she was at this time under the influence of the deepest passion of her life. A woman in love is never a good politician. The sentiment she experiences lifts her above all ordinary considerations. All relations seem petty beside the supreme union which she desires. The object of her passion becomes the standard for her feelings towards others. She is revolted by natures which are in opposition to the one which is stirring hers. The sentiments, the opinions, the course of action of her lover, become personal matters with her. She is incapable of judging them objectively. She defends them with the instinctive passion of the animal, because they are _hers_. Intelligence has little or nothing to do with this defence. Even if she be a cool-headed woman with a large sense of humor and see that her championship is illogical, she cannot give it up. [Illustration: Engraving of Buzot by Nargeot, after the portrait worn by Madame Roland during her captivity. ]