The year was 1792.....................

     The situation in which Talleyrand now found himself was even more difficult than that in which he had been placed at the beginning of the year.  Pitt was as anxious to avoid war as he had ever been; Talleyrand was as sincere in his repudiation of all forms of propaganda and in his assurances as to the pacific intentions of the French Government.  But already the 'war on kings' had been declared in the Assembly;  already the missionary spirit was abroad in the streets of Paris and finding noisy utterance in the press; already the first soldiers of the revolutionary crusade had crossed the border into the Low Countries; and already the English people were irritated, indignant, and alarmed.  Wise and moderate individuals were still struggling for peace, but ignorant and passionate mobs were sweeping all obstacles before them as they surged irresistibly forward to their own destruction in war.

-Duff Cooper,  Talleyrand