Reflections on the Revolution in France causes and sided with the Americans in their war for independence; opponents and allies alike were surprised at the strength of his conviction that the French Revolution was a disaster and the revolutionists 'a swinish multitude.'". In 1789, soon after the fall of the Bastille, the French aristocrat Charles-Jean-François Depont asked his impressions of the Revolution; Burke replied with two letters. The longer, second letter, drafted after he read Richard Price's speech "A Discourse on the Love of Our Country" in January 1790, became "Reflections on the Revolution in France". Published in November 1790, the work was an instant bestseller:
Patriotic Society of 1789 Patriotic Society of 1789 The Society of 1789 (French: "Club de 1789"), or the Patriotic Society of 1789 (French: "Société patriotique de 1789"), was a political club of the French Revolution inaugurated during a festive banquet held at Palais-Royal in May 1790 by more moderate elements of the Club Breton. At their height of influence, it was the second most important club after the Jacobin Club. Among its members were Jean Sylvain Bailly, Mayor of Paris; Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette, commander-in-chief of the National Guard; François Alexandre Frédéric, duc de la Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, Isaac René Guy le Chapelier,