At first sight their success seems doubtful， for they are in a minority， and a very small one. At Besan？on， in November， 1791， the revolutionaries of every shade of opinion and degree， whether Girondists or Montagnards， consist of about 500 or 600 out of 3，000electors， and， in November， 1792， of not more than the same number out of 6，000 and 7，000.[41] At Paris， in November， 1791， there are 6，700out of more than 81，000 on the rolls； in October， 1792， there are less than 14，000 out of 160，000.[42] At Troyes， in 1792， there are found only 400 or 500 out of 7，000 electors， and at Strasbourg the same number out of 8，000 electors.[43] Accordingly only about one-tenth of the electoral population are revolutionaries， and if we leave out the Girondists and the semi-conservatives， the number is reduced by one-half. Towards the end of 1792， at Besan？on， scarcely more than 300pure Jacobins are found in a population of from 25，000 to 30，000， while at Paris， out of 700，000 inhabitants only 5，000 are Jacobins.
It is certain that in the capital， where the most excitement prevails， and where more of them are found than elsewhere， never， even in a crisis and when vagabonds are paid and bandits recruited， are there more than 10，000.[44] In a large town like Toulouse a representative of the people on missionary service wins over only about 400persons.[45] Counting fifty or so in each small town， twenty in each large borough， and five or six in each village， we find， on an average， but one Jacobin to fifteen electors and National Guards， while， taking the whole of France， all the Jacobins put together do not amount to 300，000.[46] -- This is a small number for the enslavement of six millions of able-bodied men， and for installing in a country of twenty-six millions inhabitants a more absolute despotism than that of an Asiatic sovereign. Force， however， is not measured by numbers； they form a band in the midst of a crowd and， in this disorganized， inert crowd， a band that is determined to push its way like an iron wedge splitting a log.
And against sedition from within as well as conquest from without a nation may only defend itself through the activities of its government， which provides the indispensable instruments of common action. Let it fail or falter and the great majority， undecided about what to do， lukewarm and busy elsewhere， ceases to be a corps and disintegrates into dust. Of the two governments around which the nation might have rallied， the first one， after July 14， 1789， lies prostrate on the ground where it slowly crumbles away. Now its ghost， which returns， is still more odious because it brings with it the same senseless abuses and intolerable burdens， and， in addition to these， a yelping pack of claimants and recriminators. After 1790 it appears on the frontier more arbitrary than ever at the head of a coming invasion of angry émigrés and grasping foreigners. - - The other government， that just constructed by the Constituent Assembly， is so badly put together that the majority cannot use it. It is not adapted to its hand； no political instrument at once so ponderous and so helpless was ever seen. An enormous effort is needed to set it in motion； every citizen is obliged to give it about two days labor per week.[47] Thus laboriously started but half in motion， it poorly meets the various tasks imposed upon it -- the collection of taxes， public order in the streets， the circulation of supplies， and security for consciences， lives and property. Toppled over by its own action， another rises out of it， illegal and serviceable， which takes its place and stands. --In a great centralized state whoever possesses the head possesses the body. By virtue of being led， the French have contracted the habit of letting themselves be led.[48] People in the provinces involuntarily turn their eyes to the capital， and， on a crisis occurring， run out to stop the mailman to know what government happens to have fallen， the majority accepts or submits to it. -- Because， in the first place， most of the isolated groups which would like to overthrow it dare not engage in the struggle： it seems too strong； through inveterate routine they imagine behind it that great， distant France which， under its impulsion， will crush them with its mass.[49] In the second place， should a few isolated groups undertake to overthrow it， they are not in a condition to keep up the struggle： it is too strong. They are， indeed， not yet organized while it is fully so， owing to the docile set of officials inherited from the government overthrown. Under monarchy or republic the government clerk comes to his office regularly every morning to dispatch the orders transmitted to him.[50]
Under monarchy or republic the policeman daily makes his round to arrest those against who he has a warrant. So long as instructions come from above in the hierarchical order of things， they are obeyed.
From one end of the territory to the other， therefore， the machine， with its hundred thousand arms， works efficiently in the hands of those who have seized the lever at the central point. Resolution， audacity， rude energy， are all that are needed to make the lever act， and none of these are wanting in the Jacobin. [51]
First， he has faith， and faith at all times "moves mountains.[52]
"Take any ordinary party recruit， an attorney， a second-rate lawyer， a shopkeeper， an artisan， and conceive， if you can， the extraordinary effect of this doctrine on a mind so poorly prepared for it， so narrow， so out of proportion with the gigantic conception which has mastered it. Formed for the routine and the limited views of one in his position， he is suddenly carried away by a complete system of philosophy， a theory of nature and of man， a theory of society and of religion， a theory of universal history，[53] conclusions about the past， the present， and the future of humanity， axioms of absolute right， a system of perfect and final truth， the whole concentrated in a few rigid formulae as， for example：