He comprehended from the first the ultimate object and definite result of the Revolution， that is to say， the dictatorship of the violent minority. Immediately after the 14th of July，" 1789， he organized in his quarter of the city[63] a small independent republic， aggressive and predominant， the center of the faction， a refuge for the riff-raff and a rendezvous for fanatics， a pandemonium composed of every available madcap， every rogue， visionary， shoulder-hitter， newspaper scribbler and stump-speaker， either a secret or avowed plotter of murder， Camille Desmoulins， Fréron， Hébert， Chaumette， Clootz， Théroigne， Marat， -- while， in this more than Jacobin State， the model in anticipation of that he is to establish later， he reigns， as he will afterwards reign， the permanent president of the district， commander of the battalion， orator of the club， and the concocter of bold undertakings. Here， usurpation is the rule there is no recognition of legal authority； they brave the King， the ministers， the judges， the Assembly， the municipality， the mayor， the commandant of the National Guard. Nature and principle raise them above the law；the district takes Marat under its protection， posts two sentinels at his door to protect him from prosecutions， and uses arms against the armed force sent with a warrant to arrest him.[64] yet more， in the name of the city of Paris， "chief sentinel of the nation，" they assume to govern France： Danton betakes himself to the National Assembly and declares that the citizens of Paris are the natural representatives of the eighty-three departments， and summons it， on their injunction， to cancel an act it has passed.[65] - The entire Jacobin conception is therein expressed： Danton， with his keen insight， took it all in and proclaimed it in appropriate terms； to apply it at the present time on a grand scale，[66] he has merely to pass from the small theatre to the large one， from the Cordeliers club to the Commune， to the Ministry， and the Committee of Public Safety， and， in all these theatres， he plays the same part with the same end in view and the same results. Adespotism formed by conquest and maintained by terror， the despotism of the Jacobin Parisian rabble， is the end to which he directly marches. He employs no other means and， adapting the means to the end and the end to the means， manages the important days and instigates the decisive measures of the Revolution： the 10th of August，[67] the 2nd of September， the 31st of May， the 2nd of June；[68] the decree providing for an army of paid sans-culottes "to keep down aristocrats with their pikes；" the decree in each commune where grain is dear， taxing the rich to put bread within reach of the poor；[69] the decree giving laborers forty sous for attending the meetings of the Section Assemblies；[70] the institution of the revolutionary Tribunal；[71] the proposal to erect the Committee of Public Safety into a provisional government； the proclamation of Terror； the concentration of Jacobin zeal on useful works； the employment of the eight thousand delegates of the primary assemblies， who had been sent home as recruiting agents for the universal armament；[72] the inflammatory expressions of young men on the frontier； the wise resolutions for limiting the levy en masse to men between eighteen and twenty-five， which put an end to the scandalous songs and dances by the populace in the very hall of the Convention.[73]
In order to set the machine up， he cleared the ground， fused the metal， hammered out the principal pieces， filed off the blisters， designed the action， adjusted the minor wheels， set it agoing and indicated what it had to do， and， at the same time， he forged the armor which guarded it against strangers and outside violence. The machine being his， why， after constructing it， did he not serve as its engineer？
Because， if competent to construct it， he was not qualified to manage it. In a crisis， he may give a helping hand， win the support of an assembly or a mob， direct， high-handedly and for a few weeks， an executive committee. But regular， persistent labor is repugnant to him； he is not made for bookkeeping，[74] for paper and administrative work. Never， like Robespierre and Billaud can he attend to both official and police duties at the same time， carefully reading minute daily reports， annotating mortuary lists， extemporizing ornate abstractions， coolly enunciating falsehoods and acting out the patient， satisfied inquisitor； and especially， he can never become the systematic executioner. - On the one hand， his eyes are not obscured by the gray veil of theory： he does not regard men through the "Contrat-Social" as a sum of arithmetical units，[75] but as they really are， living， suffering， shedding their blood， especially those he knows， each with his peculiar physiognomy and demeanor. Compassion is excited by all this when one has any feeling， and he had. Danton had a heart； he bad the quick sensibilities of a man of flesh and blood stirred by the primitive instincts， the good ones along with the bad ones， instincts which culture had neither impaired nor deadened， which allowed him to plan and permit the September massacre， but which did not allow him to practice daily and blindly， systematic and wholesale murder. Already in September， "cloaking his pity under his bellowing，"[76] he had shielded or saved many eminent men from the butchers. When the axe is about to fall on the Girondists， he is "ill with grief" and despair. "I am unable to save them，" he exclaimed， "and big tears streamed down his cheeks." - On the other hand， his eyes are not covered by the bandage of incapacity or lack of fore-thought.
He detected the innate vice of the system， the inevitable and approaching suicide of the Revolution.