Radical changes in the constitution and radical social
legislation in their own behalf became the policies of the proletariat;
violence would be used as a means to an end, if other means failed.
Not all of the bourgeoisie were thoroughly devoted to the settlement of
1791. Most of them doubtless were. But a thoughtful and conspicuous
minority allied themselves with the proletariat. Probably in many
instances it was for the selfish motive of personal ambition that this
or that middle-class individual prated much about his love for "the
people" and shed tears over their wretchedness and made all manner of
election promises to them. But, on the other hand, there were sincere
and altruistic bourgeois who had been converted to the extreme
democratic doctrines of Rousseau and who were deeply touched by the
misery of the lowest classes. It was under the leadership of such men
that the proletariat grew ever more radical until they sought by force
to establish democracy in France.
[Sidenote: Center of Radicalism in Paris]
The radical movement centered in Paris, where now lived the royal
family and where the legislature met.
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