[162] Today， more than 100 years later， where are we？ Is it possible that man can thus lie to himself and hence to others？ Robert Wright， in his book "The Moral Animal"， describing "The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology"， writes (page 280)： "The proposition here is that the human brain is， in large part， a machine for winning arguments， a machine for convincing others that its owner is in the right - and thus a machine for convincing its owner of the same thing.
The brain is like a good lawyer： given any set of interests to defend， its sets about convincing the world of their moral and logical worth， regardless of whether they in fact have any of either. Like a lawyer， it is sometimes more admirable for skill than for virtue." (SR).
[163] Buchez et Roux， XXXIII.， 151. - Cf.. Dauban， "Paris en 1794，"p.386 (engraving) and 392， Fête de l'être Suprême à Sceaux，" according to the programme drawn up by the patriot Palloy. "All citizens are requested to be at their windows or doors， even those occupying the rear part of the main buildings."- Ibid.， 399. "Youthful citizens will strew flowers at each station， fathers will embrace their children and mothers turn their eyes upward to heaven." - Moniteur， XXX.， 653. "Plan of the fête in honor of the Supreme Being， drawn up by David， and decreed by the National Convention."[164] Buchez et Roux， XXXIII.， 176. (Narrative by Valate.)[165] Hamel， III.， 541.
[166] Buchez et Roux， XXVIII.， 178， 180.
[167] Ibid.， 177 (Narrative by Vilate.) Ibid.， 170， Notes by Robespierre on Bourdon (de l'Oise) 417. Passages erased by Robespierre in the manuscript of his speech of Thermidor 8. - 249.
Analogous passages in his speech as delivered， - all these indications enable us to trace the depths of his resentment.
[168] Ibid.， 183. Memoirs of Billaud-Varennes， Collot d'Herbois， Vadier and Barère. "The next day after Prairial 22， at the morning session (of the committee of Public Safety) . . . . I now see， says Robespierre， that I stand alone， with nobody to support me， and， getting violently excited， he launched out against the members of the committee who had conspired against him. He shouted so loud as to collect together a number of citizens on the Tuileries terrace."Finally， "he pushed hypocrisy so far as to shed tears." The nervous machine， I imagine， broke down. - Another member of the committee， Prieur， (Carnot， "Mémoires，" II.， 525)， relates that， in the month of Floréal， after another equally long and violent session， "Robespierre， exhausted， became ill."[169] Carnot， "Mémoires，" II. 526. "As his bureau was in a separate place， where none of us set foot， he could retire to it without coming in contact with any of us， as in effect， he did. He even made a pretence of passing through the committee rooms， after the session was over， and he signed some papers； but he really neglected nothing， except our common discussions. He held frequent conferences in his house with the presidents of the revolutionary tribunals， over which his influence was greater than ever."[170] Dauban， "Paris en 1794，" 563. - Archives Nationales， AF.II.， 58. The signature of Robespierre， in his own handwriting， is found affixed to many of the resolutions of the Committee of Public Safety， passed Thermidor 5 and 7， and those of St. Just and Couthon after this， up to Thermidor 3， 6 and 7. On the register of the minutes of the Committee of Public Safety， Robespierre is always recorded as present at all meetings between Messidor 1 and Thermidor 8， inclusive.
[171] Archives Nationales， F.7， 4438. Report to the Committee of Public Safety by Herman， Commissioner of the civil and Police administrations and of the Courts， Messidor 3， year II. "The committee charged with a general surpervision of the prisons， and obliged to recognize that all the rascals mostly concerned with liberticide plots are. . . . still in the prisons， forming a band apart， and rendering surveillance very troublesome； they are a constant source of disorder， always getting up attempts to escape， being a daily assemblage of persons devoting themselves wholly to imprecations against liberty and its defenders. . . . It would be easy to point out in each prison， those who have served， and are to serve， the diverse factions， the diverse conspiracies. . . . It may be necessary， perhaps， to purge the prisons at once and free the soil of liberty of their filth， the refuse of humanity." The Committee of Public Safety consequently "charges the commission to ascertain in the prisons of Paris. . . who have been more specially concerned in the diverse factions and conspiracies that the National convention has destroyed." The word "approved" appears at the foot of the resolution in Robespierre's handwriting， then the signature of Robespierre， and lower down， those of Billaud and Barère. A similar resolution providing for the 7th of Messidor， signed by the same parties and five others， is dispatched the same day. (M. de Martel came across and made use of this conclusive document before I did， most of it being quoted in "Les Types Revolutionnaires.")[172] Buchez et Roux， XXXIII.， 434.
