I'm quite sure that line does not appear anywhere in Büchner. It definitely is not in his Saint-Just's great speech, though it would be very much in tune with that. His Robespierre says (approximately) "We will not let the vessel of Revolution run aground on these people's shallow calculations and mudflats.", but that is the only mention of a vessel; his Saint-Just mentions a Red Sea, but does not literally state that it is reddened by blood, though it is surely implied ("Moses led his people through the Red Sea and through the wilderness until the old and rotten generation had dissolved before he founded the new state. [...] We have neither Red Sea nor wilderness, but we have the war and we have the guillotine."). I've read it attributed to Barère via Vilate in his "Causes secretes de la Revolution du 9 au 10 Thermidor" from 1795; that seems to be the likely first appearance, and the source used by all other works giving the line to Barère (such as Catherine Gore's "The Tuileries"). Whether or not Vilate's testament is trustworthy is another question.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2009-09-05 08:26 pm (UTC)I've read it attributed to Barère via Vilate in his "Causes secretes de la Revolution du 9 au 10 Thermidor" from 1795; that seems to be the likely first appearance, and the source used by all other works giving the line to Barère (such as Catherine Gore's "The Tuileries"). Whether or not Vilate's testament is trustworthy is another question.