The Society of the Friends of Truth was established by Nicholas Bonneville and Claude Fauchet, who announced its birth in the popular press on 21 February 1790. The original purpose of the club was to become a "clearing-house" for correspondence between and among scholars from all over Europe. In the spirit of its founders, the club wished to cultivate a "public mandate" under which its activities would be governed. Thus, its newsletter, "Mouth of Iron" ("La Bouche de fer"), solicited letters from readers to comment on political affairs and to issue denunciations of counter-revolutionary plots.