Excerpt from The History of the French Revolution, Vol. 5 of 5: 1789-1800 Lareveillere, the most honest and the best Of men, united with a great variety of knowledge a just and observant mind. He possessed application; he was capable of giving sound ad vice on all subjects, and he did give it on important occasions. But he was frequently led away by illusions, or stopped by the scruples of an upright mind. He would sometimes fain have willed what was impossible, and he dared not will what was necessary; for it requires a great mind to calculate how much is due to circumstances without detriment to principles. Speak ing well, and possessing extraordinary firmness, he was of great service when support was needed for good opinions, and he was very useful to the Directory from his personal consideration. The part which he acted among colleagues who detested each other was extremely useful. Among the four Directors, he entertained a decided preference in favour of the most honest and the most capable, namely, Rewbel. Yet, from in dependence and prudence, he had avoided any close connection, which he would have preferred, but which would have estranged him from his other colleagues. He was not without a leaning towards Barras, and would have cultivated his acquaintance if he had found him more sincere and less depraved. He acquired a certain ascendency over his colleague, from his high character, his penetration, and his firmness. The dissolute take pleasure in scoffing at virtue, but they dread it when, with the penetra tion which fathoms them, it combines the courage that is above being afraid Of them. Lareveillere used his influence over Rewbel and Barras to keep them in harmony with one another and with Carnot. Owing to this mediator, and owing also to their zeal for the interests Of the Republic, these Directors lived on tolerable terms together, and prosecuted their task, divided with respect to the questions which they had to decide much more by their real Opinions than by their animosities. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.