СНАР. 1789. Proceedings at Arrival of the mob. 66 During these transactions, and for several hours, the tocsin or alarm bell had been ringing. The Council of the Commune was sitting, and Lafayette was near them; but neither advice nor action was the consequence. At length, the General was aroused by a deputation from the grenadiers of the national guard, who, paying him the cold compliment that they did not believe him to be a traitor, said the government was betraying the nation. "The people are wretched," they exclaimed; " and the source of the evil is at Ver"sailles. We will go and bring the King to Paris, "and exterminate the regiment of Flanders and the gardes-du-corps, who have dared to trample on the "national cockade." Lafayette Lafayette and Bailly remonstrated in vain. Their voices were drowned in an imperious clamour, "To Versailles! to Versailles!" and at length a written order was given to the General to obey his troops; and four commissioners were appointed to attend him. He took, as an advanced guard, three companies of grenadiers and one of fusileers, with field pieces; and there were seven or eight hundred men armed with muskets and pikes; they had also artillery and baggage waggons. What they were to do, they knew not; probably the General himself had never thought on the matter. On that morning, the King had gone to Meudon, to enjoy the sports of the field. The alarming intelligence being conveyed to him about one o'clock, he expressed his wishes that the supply of grain depended on him, his people should never have wanted; disclaimed all sensation of fear, and expressly commanded that the gardes-du-corps should not use their arms. About three o'clock, the first body of females made their appearance, led by one Stanislaus Maillard, who, with a deputation of fifteen women, was admitted. He demanded bread, of which he said there had been none for three days, and the punishment of the gardesdu-corps, who had insulted the national cockade. The military commanders, does it not seem monstrous that so much indignation should be expressed because the supposed song of the troubadour Blondel, which had been five or six years on the stage, should be sung in a moment of conviviality at a military dinner? aristocrats, he said, had bribed the millers not to grind corn, and he had taken a black cockade from one of these aristocrats. After a very little interrogation, the falsehood of his assertions became evident, and he began to own himself satisfied, when a large body of women burst into the hall, screaming for bread, for the dismission of the regiment de Flandres, and the punishment of the gardes-du-corps, and howling execrations against the Queen. To the august and passive representatives of the people, they behaved with insolent familiarity and imperious contumacy, commanding some to speak, and others to hold their tongues, as suited their caprice. CHAP. LXVI. 1789. A deputation, headed by the President, was ap- Deputation to pointed to wait on the King, to represent the state of the King. the capital; the women, on the outside, insisted on accompanying them; but, after much trouble, six were agreed to, and twelve went. They soon returned, proclaiming with joy his benevolent expressions; but their comrades swore they had been bribed, and two of them were only rescued from execution by the gardes-du-corps. They were again admitted, and obtained from the King a written declaration that he would cause supplies to be sent from Senlis and Lagni, and that all obstacles to the victualling of the capital should be removed. It was obvious that, in effect, this promise was of no value, but as an expression of kindness and good-will. Situated as he was, the King could no more command the grain in France, than that in Germany or America; he could neither interpose nor remove an obstruction; but it perfectly dispelled the illusion that he voluntarily occasioned the public distress; and Maillard, with forty of the women, returned to Paris in carriages, to communicate the joyous intelligence. Another delusion was removed by seeing the gardes-du-corps: they had not a black cockade among them; no public order had commanded the use of the three-coloured, and they continued the white, their accustomed and regulated uniform. Still the mob was unappeased; being joined by Further prothe populace, and even the national guard of Ver- ceeding of the mob. СНАР. 1789. The King forced to assent tion of the rights of man. sailles, they tried to irritate the soldiery by outrageous abuse, and at length assailed them with stones and missiles, and even wounded one with a musket shot. Under all these provocations, the military made no attack, but, at last, shifted their ground just in time to avoid a general discharge of musketry and grape which was prepared for them. In all this transaction, the irresolution of the King, or rather his unwarrantably forbearing to direct rightly the force in his hands, was his bane. One charge of cavalry would have altered the whole aspect of affairs, and changed the clamours of unbridled insolence, and the shouts of unresisted triumph to tones of supplication and murmurs of despair. The deputation from the Assembly, feeling that to the declara- the time was improper, did not, as they were instructed, require from the King a pure and unqualified recognition of their declaration of the rights of man; but the majority of the body, restrained by no such delicacy, ordered their immediate return; and, amidst the yells and threats of a drunken and blood-thirsty rabble, the King was forced to give his free and full assent. Arrival of Lafayette. ings. Scenes of an atrocious and disgusting description continued until the arrival of Lafayette, at a late hour. On approaching the hall of the Assembly, he made his troops again go through the unavailing ceremony of swearing fidelity to the nation, the law, and the King. Entering the hall, he found very few deputies, the greater number having retired for the night, and a large assemblage of the Paris mob, sitting intermixed His proceed with those who remained, eating and drinking. Confiding, with characteristic vanity and folly, in his own influence, he assured the President of perfect tranquillity and safety. He then repaired to the King, and, after a short interview, returned and dismissed the faithful gardes-du-corps, placing in their stead the gardes françoises, of whose disloyalty and treachery he could not be ignorant. The regiment de Flandres was no longer to be trusted; a troop of Parisian women, headed by Theroigne de Mericourt, an Amazonian prostitute, had openly gone into the ranks and CHAP. LXVI. 1789. bribed them all. The gardes françoises, resuming the posts they had occupied before their defection, insisted also that the gate to the Prince's court should be opened; a measure most dangerous to the royal family, but which was permitted, on the assurances of Lafayette, that by assenting to the declaration of the rights of man and the constitutional articles, and by permitting the former French guards to return to their old posts, his Majesty had allayed the fermentation; that the people were tranquil; and that Versailles would be cleared by break of day. "I beseech your And assurMajesty," he added, "to go to bed, and to repose fully on my care; I will be answerable for all." 66 66 ances. State of the Believing, or not shewing any disbelief, in these 6th. assurances, the King and Queen retired to their apartments at two o'clock; the troops on whom they could rely were withdrawn to Trianon, except about eighty or a hundred gardes-du-corps, who remained in the palace. The mob, rendered additionally ferocious by wine, and increased rather than diminished in numbers, continued around the palace, screaming, vociferating, cursing, and threatening. Some were in the Place d'Armes, and the avenue to Paris, where great fires were lighted, around which they sat, eating and drinking; some took shelter in the guard-house, while others crowded the hall of the Assembly, where, amidst insolent interruptions, a debate on the criminal law was continued, until four o'clock, when they broke up; but it was observed, that a few members, among whom were Barnave, Mirabeau, and Petion, remained in the hall all night. In this state of things, and having left for protection of the royal family no greater number of the gardes françoises than had been usual in the most tranquil moments, Lafayette, either through stupidity or treachery, retired to his bed. into the palace Favoured thus by purposed or accidental oppor- They break tunity, restrained by no fear of control or opposition, the mob clustered at day-break, between five and six o'clock, about the iron-gate of the Prince's court; it was treacherously opened. At first, a small number entered; but when the crowd increased, both in num CHAP. 1789. Lafayette asleep. Escape of the The royal ber and violence, the commanding officer marched the gardes-du-corps to their place of duty in the palace. The mob attempted to fire upon them; but, fortunately, the priming of their pieces had been spoiled by the rain. The order to these brave and dutiful men not to use their arms was repeated by the major, and they promised obedience, declaring, at the same time, that they expected to be murdered. Two columns of assassins rushed in different directions; the one toward the Queen's apartments, who would certainly have been their victim, but for the courageous devotion of the gardes-du-corps. These brave men, whose whole number did not exceed a hundred, contested every step with the murderers, by barricading doors, and opposing personal strength where they had no other resource. Two were savagely murdered; others were rescued from the same fate by their own strenuous efforts and the intervention of some of the grenadiers; but at length an explanation on the subject of cockades took place, and further projects of assassination were given up. But where was Lafayette all this while?-fast asleep. -No aid-de-camp, no stationed officer;-no trusty friend had disturbed his tranquil slumber. When he went to bed, he knew the state in which matters were; -his experience before he left Paris had informed him of the quality and disposition of the party he followed to Versailles; but he took no more measures of precaution than he would in times of profound tranquillity. At length he appeared on horseback, when the heat of violence had subsided. The Queen escaped by a private passage into the chamber of the King, and was joined by her children. The murderers, when they had broken into her chamber, gratified their vengeful passion by stabbing her bed and pillows, and their predatory inclination by stealing whatever property they could convey away. In hopes, probably, of reviving the fury which family forced seemed in some degree tranquillized, the mob demanded the appearance of the Queen. She, whose to go to Paris. courage during the whole of these dreadful scenes had |