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The French Revolution figures among those momentous periods about which historians and others have written at great length. Each wishes to pay tribute to this “fatal revolution,” which fascinated as much as unsettled them. Some of these texts have become classics, while others have remained unpublished and are still awaiting their fortunate discovery. The focus of this paper is to investigate a specific emotion??”namely fear??”a sentiment present in a sample of both celebrated and obscure writings. What meaning can we give to this emotion, and what role exactly should it be assigned in these texts: that of an impetus toward action, or conversely, that of a potent restraint condemning individuals to inaction? Our analysis of this impulse to bear witness and the reasons for expressing such an emotion led to an inquiry centered on the collective and individual experience of fear. The aim is to understand the power of emotions ranging from anxiety to panic in the heat of action.