If the spring of popular government in time of peace is virtue, the springs of popular government in revolution are at once virtue and terror: virtue, without which terror is fatal; terror, without which virtue is powerless.
Observation: The French at the time believed that the revolution was a justified reason for using terror.
Interpretation: The French believed that they could use terror/fear as a tactic to control the people of the French State. They did this to ensure that they would fall in line with the beliefs of the government.
Connection: In the Tertiary source it explains how the French government was in a lot of debt due to paying salaried officials and maintaining control over the nobility.
Causality: This thought that terror was an acceptable tactic to help control their people was caused by the fear of a revolution. This fear required a way to control the people and stop them from rebelling.