A Place of Greater Safety: A Novel

PART FIVE

Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, stern and inflexible; it is not so much a particular principle as a consequence of the general principle of democracy applied to the most urgent needs of our country … . The government of the Revolution is the despotism of liberty against the tyrants.

MAXIMILIEN ROBESPIERRE

In a word, during these reigns, the natural death of a famous man was so rare that it was gazetted as an event and handed down to posterity by the historians. Under one consulate, says the annalist, there was a Pontiff called Pisonius, who died in his bed; this was regarded as a marvel.

CAMILLE DESMOULINS