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the king.* On the same day Mounier brought up the report of the committee which had been appointed to prepare the plan of a constitution. The minister, Necker, in conjunction with Mounier, Lally-Tolendal, and Clermont-Tonnerre, was working at a constitution, while the court party had other schemes. On the 11th the king gave his answer to the address, by the keeper of the seals. He told the Assembly that the troops were brought together to maintain order, to protect the freedom of their deliberations; but if the presence of the troops near Paris, which was necessary, caused any suspicion, he would, at the request of the StatesGeneral, transfer the sittings to Noyon or Soissons, and establish himself at Compiègne, to allow communication between himself and the Assembly. The answer was not well received. Mirabeau said, the Assembly had not asked for the place of meeting to be changed; and they would not go either to Noyon or Soissons, to be placed between two or three divisions of troops, which could be brought to bear upon them at any time. He maintained that they should insist on the troops being sent away. He was not supported by a single voice. The Bishop of Chartres thought that the letter of the king ought to be discussed; but the matter dropped. It was clear that the Assembly alone could not contend against the court.

At the same sitting Lafayette read a Declaration of Rights, which began with, "Nature has made men free and equal." It declared that the " principle of all sovereignty resides in the nation: nobody, no individual, can claim any authority which does not emanate from the nation." The model was evidently the American Declaration of Independence of July the 4th, 1774. The Comte de Lally-Tolendal approved of the terms of the declaration, with some few exceptions; he made some sensible remarks on it, and on the propriety of other measures being taken at the present crisis than the making of " arbitrary definitions." The Assembly was of the same mind, and, for the present, there was no discussion on the proposal of Lafayette.

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On the 8th of July there was a skirmish at Paris, between the people and a detachment of the cavalry regiment, Royal-Allemand, commanded by the Prince of Lambesc. A pamphlet, intitled 'Lettre de M. à son Ami,' of which the Réponse de M. à son Ami' formed a part, was hawked about Paris, and thrust * But Dumont wrote the address, as he says (Souvenirs sur Mirabeau,' p. 107), and Mirabeau had all the credit of it. It is probable, however, that the leading ideas of the address were Mirabeau's own.

† Printed at full length in the 'Hist. Parlem.,' ii. 57, and among the 'Pièces Justificatives' in the Souvenirs sur Mirabeau.' See Jefferson's Letter to T. Paine,' July 11, 1789, in Tucker, Life of Jefferson, i., p. 320.

It is probable that Jefferson, then American minister at Paris, supplied Lafayette with the declaration. Mr. Jefferson attached much importance to such declarations. Mr. Madison, who had a better judgment, did not value them much. Jefferson had already volunteered a scheme for a Charter of Rights, which he had suggested to M. St. Etienne, (Rabaud St. Etienne?)-Tucker's Life of Jefferson,' chap. 12.

under the doors. Nobody knew where it came from; but the Breton Club was suspected. The pamphlet affirmed that there was to be a royal sitting on the 13th, in which the king would declare that he never intended to retract his declarations, and that he intended that they should be executed; a person had said— and it might be conjectured who it was- "I hope that we shall drive away this knave Necker in a few days, and rid ourselves of these blackguards." The StatesGeneral were to be dissolved, and there were to be new elections; the Abbé de Vermond, the queen's reader, had said this, when he was warmed with wine.* The citizens of Paris should arm to defend themselves; the critical moment is come. It was believed that the court had formed a conspiracy to settle everything by force. In the evening of the day on which this pamphlet was published, a company of artillery of the regiment of Toul, quartered at the Hotel des Invalides, came to the Palais-Royal to fraternize with the young men assembled there, and the French Guards. The citizens made a supper in the Champs-Elysées, where they were joined by some cannoniers, grenadiers, dragoons, French Guards, and some of the cavalry regiment of Royal Cravate. It was evident, says L'Ami du Roi, that the Parisians would soon corrupt all the army.

Necker had felt for some time that he was without power, and he had told the king several times that he was willing to retire. On the 11th he received a letter from the king, in which he was informed that he was no longer minister, and was desired to leave France as soon as possible, without letting anybody know.† So far the pamphlet was true. Necker took the road towards the nearest frontier, that of Flanders. There was nearly a general change of ministry: La Luzerne, Puységur, Montmorin, and St. Priest, were also dismissed. Breteuil was named president of finance, Golaizière, comtroller-general, the Maréchal de Broglie, minister of war; M. de la Porte was named intendant of war; Foulon of marine. The list comprised all the names that were most odious to the people. "Broglie," says Besenval in his 'Mémoires,'—and his testimony cannot be rejected," when I visited him at Versailles, assumed the tone of a general at the head of an army; he was making all his arrangements as if he were in the presence of an enemy. He had made a camp of the palace of Versailles: he had put a regiment in the orangery.' Besenval advised him not to push matters to extremities, but his advice was ill received. The Comte d'Artois still thought himself the head of a party: he dined daily with the Duchess de Polignac, where he received the visits of the nobility. Every thing confirmed the pamphlet of the 10th of July.

*This may be true or false. If the Abbê de Vermond knew anything, he was a very likely man to blab. Madame Campan's account of this worthless intriguer is very amusing: it was one of the queen's misfortunes that this man had been so long about her.-( Mémoires sur la Vie Privée de Maric Antoinette,' vol. i., chap. 2, and elsewhere.)

† Madame de Staël, Considérations,' etc., chap. 21.

There were disturbances at Paris on the evening of the 11th, though the news of Necker's dismissal was not yet received. In the evening the barriers of the Chaussée d'Antin were seized by the people and burnt, with the apartments of the clerks and all the books.

The French guards, who were sent to repel the mob, stood and looked on quietly. The soldiers, as usual, were dancing and drinking at the Palais-Royal, and crying, "Vive le Tiers!"

CHAPTER V.

THE INSURRECTION.

THE 12th of July was a Sunday. In the morning fire. At the barriers there was the same disturbance an extraordinary degree of activity was observed among as the evening before; and at one of these a detachthe troops at Paris: cavalry, infantry, and artillery ment of the Royal-Allemand fired on the people. But were entering the city. Enormous placards, posted at the fire of the soldiers was not very destructive, nor the corners of the streets, invited the inhabitants, in the did they prevent the demolition of the barriers, which name of the king, to stay at home, and to avoid all went on burning all night. meetings they were not to be alarmed at the presence of the troops, which were only collected as a measure of precaution against the brigands.

Before midday the Palais-Royal was crowded with people, wondering what all this military movement could mean, and this strange placard. The first person who announced the dismissal of Necker was treated as an aristocrat, and would have been thrown into one of the basins of water, if a Deputy of the Tiers-Etat, who happened to be there, had not confirmed the news. It spread like lightning through the Garden, and just at twelve o'clock the cannon of the Palais-Royal fired. "It is impossible," says L'Ami du Roi, "to describe the gloomy feeling of alarm which this sound struck into all." A young man, named Camille Desmoulins, came out of the café Foy, sprung on a table, with a drawn sword and pistols, and called, "To arms!" He plucked a leaf from a tree, and stuck it in his hat as a cockade; and thousands of men followed his example. It was immediately determined that the theatres should be closed, that there should be no dancing, no amusement-it was to be a day of mourning; and the order was carried by different bodies of men to all parts of Paris. A crowd ran to the rooms of Curtius, who had a collection of wax figures. They took the busts of Necker and of the Duke of Orléans, veiled them with crape, and carried them through the streets, followed by a great number of men, armed with sticks, swords, pistols, and axes. The procession went along the rue de Richelieu, the Boulevard, the streets St. Martin, St. Denis, and St. Honoré, till they came to the Place Vendôme, five or six thousand in number, and ragged, as the royalists say. A detachment of dragoons, which was on the spot, charged the crowd, and dispersed it. Necker's bust was broken: a French guard, unarmed, who had accompanied the procession, was killed; and a few persons were wounded.*

There were skirmishes between the people and the troops in other parts of Paris. Stones were thrown at the soldiers, and a few persons were killed by their

* Some of these facts are told differently by some authorities.

Besenval, who commanded the troops in Paris, had given no orders during the day, from which it may be concluded that he was himself without orders from Broglie. He kept the French guards to their barracks, because he could not trust them. Towards the evening he concentrated the troops on the Place Louis XV., (now the Place de la Concorde,) a Swiss regiment and two German regiments, with four pieces of artillery. This was done just at the time when a large body of people was returning from the Champs Elysées and entering the gardens of the Tuileries: they were quiet people, who had been walking about for their amusement. Some of them may have insulted the foreign troops; stones were perhaps thrown at the soldiers; but the assertion of Besenval, that pistols were fired at them, is exceedingly doubtful. However, to use his own words, he felt a strong desire to repulse the people, and he gave the Prince of Lambesc orders to charge at the head of his dragoons. Lambesc entered the gardens at a walk, but was soon stopped in front by a barricade of chairs, while a shower of bottles and stones rained upon his rear. Some shots were fired by the troops in the air, as the royalist account says, which is probable, or more mischief would have been done. Seeing that the people were going to shut him in the gardens, Lambesc wheeled about and retired. There was nobody killed; one man received a blow from a sabre. The attack was evidently not murderous, but it was unwise, and perhaps unprovoked.

The people, who rushed in alarm from the gardens of the Tuileries, cried, "To arms!" The bells were rung; at the signal, men seemed to rise out of the earth—that formidable array of pikes and clubs before which terror walked; the shops of the gunsmiths were ransacked, and the doors of the Hôtel de Ville were forced. Some of the French guards, who broke from the barracks, ran to the Palais Royal with their arms, and, forming in a body, marched upon a detachment of the Royal Allemand, which was stationed before the Hôtel Montmorency. The Royal Allemand, who had no orders, retired after receiving from the French guards a volley which killed three of their comrades. The guards, with

their numbers increased by a mass of armed people, | The President reported that he had represented to the marched to the Place Louis XV., where they expected king the alarming state of affairs, the necessity of to find the Swiss and German regiments; but they had quitted the place.*

The night was still more disturbed than the day: patroles of citizens traversed the streets, which were lighted. The burning of the barriers still continued. Paris seemed abandoned to itself by the regular authorities; and a new power sprang up.

About six in the evening a few of the electors of Paris assembled at the Hôtel de Ville, which was already occupied by the people: the great hall was filled. The electors were compelled, by the cries and menaces of the crowd, to open the magazine of arms which was in the Hôtel de Ville, or perhaps the people broke in and helped themselves. A man in his shirt, without shoes or stockings, took upon himself the duty of sentinel at the door of the hall, with his musket shouldered. About eleven a large number of electors were assembled, and they resolved that the districts should be immediately called together, and electors should be sent to the different posts, where there were armed citizens, to entreat them, in the name of their country, not to assemble together, and to avoid violence. A permanent committee was appointed, which was to be in constant activity, day and night.

promptly re-establishing tranquillity at Paris, by removing the troops, and establishing a civic guard; that the Assembly acknowledged the king's right to choose his ministers, but they could not conceal from him that the late change was the primary cause of the present disturbances. The king's answer was in these terms: "I have already acquainted you with my intentions as to the measures which the disturbances of Paris have compelled me to take: it belongs to me only to judge of their necessity, and I cannot in this matter make any change. Some cities protect themselves, but the extent of this capital does not allow a surveillance of this kind. I do not doubt the purity of the motives which induce you to offer your services in these afflicting circumstances, but your presence at Paris would do no good; it is necessary here to accelerate your important labours, which I must urge you to continue." This cold and formal answer was not suited to the circumstances, and it did not satisfy the Assembly. The blame of the answer belongs to the king's advisers. If he had been left to his own good intentions, he might have answered differently.

The Assembly immediately resolved unanimously that Necker and the ministers, who were dismissed, carried with them the esteem and regret of the Assembly; that, alarmed at the consequences which might follow the king's answer, they would never cease to insist on the removal of the troops that had been lately assembled near Paris and Versailles, and on the estab

The news of the disturbance at Paris soon reached Versailles. Couriers were sent in rapid succession from the different officers of the garrison of the capital; and, as everything was exaggerated by rumour, it was feared that all Paris would advance upon Versailles. Orders were accordingly given to interrupt all the com-lishment of a civic guard; that the ministers and funcmunications: the approaches to the palace were lined with troops; the bridges of Sèvres and St. Cloud were occupied by artillery, and all passengers were stopped. Before the end of the day all communication between Paris and Versailles was cut off.

On Monday the National Assembly learned the change of ministers, the dismissal of Necker, the confusion and alarm of Paris. Guillotin, one of the Paris deputies, informed the Assembly that he was instructed by the electors of Paris to communicate to them a resolution, which they had made late on Sunday evening. It was, in substance, to entreat the Assembly to cooperate with them in the formation of a civic guard, as the only means of preserving tranquillity. While the Assembly was discussing this communication, fresh news from Paris added to their alarm: they were told that there were ten thousand men under arms, that they were going to attack the troops in the Champs Elysées, and then to march to St. Denis, to join the regiments there, and move upon Versailles. The Assembly appointed two deputations-one to the king, the other to Paris. The deputation to the king was instructed to request that the troops might be recalled from Paris, and the ministers reinstated: the deputation to Paris was to inform the Parisians of the king's answer, if it should be such as they wished and expected. The deputation to the king soon returned with their answer. * This affair is told in a different way by some writers.

tionaries, civil and military, were responsible for anything that might be done contrary to the rights of the nation and the decrees of the Assembly; that the present ministers and the advisers of his majesty, whatever might be their rank or condition, or whatever might be their functions, were personally responsible for the present disorders, and all that might follow; that the public debt having been placed under the protection of the honour and fidelity of the French nation, which did not refuse to pay the interest, no power could pronounce the infamous word, bankruptcy; that the Assembly maintained its previous resolutions, and specially those of the 17th, the 20th, and the 23rd of June last; that this resolution should be communicated to the king, and printed. It was further resolved, that the sittings should be continued, in order that the Assembly might take such further resolutions as the circumstances should require. To relieve the aged Archbishop of Vienne, who was the president, a vicepresident was appointed, and the majority of votes was for Lafayette. The deliberations ceased at half-past eleven, but the sittings were continued.

On the morning of the 13th, the electors at the Hôtel de Ville made a formal announcement of the resolutions that they had come to the night before about twelve o'clock. It was resolved, that all the citizens assembled at the Hôtel de Ville should return to their respective districts; that the lieutenant de

In the course of the day, measures were taken for keeping up a regular communication with the National Assembly; and a deputation was appointed to inform them of the situation of the capital.

The state of affairs at Paris, on the morning of the 13th, will explain the activity of the permanent committee. Early in the day masses of men were in motion, whom hunger had driven from the suburbs and the country to add to the famine of Paris. There was a report that there was wheat at the convent of the Lazaristes; and the report happened to be true. The people forced the doors, cleared the granaries of the corn, with which these hungry men loaded fifty-two carts, and sent it to the Halle, or market. The sight of so much grain collected together excited the indignation of the assailants; it was called by the odious name of engrossing, though the Lazaristes gave largely in alms. To punish the Lazaristes, they broke their furniture, and staved in their wine-casks; they refused money that was offered by the brethren to induce them to desist. In the midst of the confusion, the prisoners escaped who were confined in the house of the Lazaristes. Eating and drinking was allowed by the people, but not stealing. A thief, it is said, was discovered and hanged. Some forty miserable wretches stayed in the cellars and got intoxicated. They were picked up the next day by the militia; but what became of them is doubtful. 'L'Ami du Roi' says, that they were taken to the prison of the Châtelet, and, as there was no room for them there, the people hanged them.

police should be invited to come forthwith to the Hôtel | their support from all the districts; and the pupils of the de Ville, to give such information as should be required Châtelet, the students in surgery, came to pay their of him; that a permanent committee should be imme- respects to the new power. diately appointed, consisting of persons to be named by the Assembly, whose numbers should be increased by the addition of electors, as it should be found advisable. But the most important part of the resolution was, that every district should form a body of two hundred citizens, which number should be from time to time increased, who should be known persons, and capable of bearing arms; that they should altogether compose a body of Parisian militia, to watch over the public safety, according to the orders of the permanent committee: the members of this permanent committee were to be divided into sub-committees at the Hôtel de Ville, to look after the provisioning of Paris, and the organization and wants of the Parisian militia; all private persons who had guns, pistols, sabres, swords, or other arms, were required to take them to the several districts to which they belonged, to place them in the hands of the heads of the said districts; and those arms were to be distributed, according to such regulations as should be made, among the citizens who were to compose the Parisian militia; that, as assemblages of people would only increase the confusion, and impede the measures necessary for the public safety, all citizens were warned to abstain from meeting in any place whatever. This resolution was to be printed, with the names of the persons who should be appointed members of the permanent committee by the assembly, until it should be joined by the members who should be chosen by the assembly of electors, which was convened for the afternoon. There were immediately named, as members of the permanent committee, among others, Flesselles, prévôt des marchands, the ordinary administrator of the city, M. de Corny, procureur du roi, the Marquis de la Salle, a military man of some experience, and the Abbé Fauchet. Grélé was the only person named who was not an elector, or an échevin; and he owed his election to himself, for he was named a member of the committee to stop his clamour. A resolution, signed by Flesselles, appeared in the afternoon, which announced that the basis of the militia should, instead of twelve thousand men, be forty-eight thousand men, until further orders; it provided for the complete organization of this militia; and for a distinctive mark, the colours of the city of Paris were chosen; every militia-man was to wear a blue and red cockade, and every man who wore the cockade without being registered in one of the districts, should be brought before the permanent committee, to be dealt with the quarter-general of the Parisian militia was established at the Hôtel de Ville.

Thus a new municipality was formed, and invested itself with power; and a militia was created, which was the origin of the National Guard. The measures taken at the Hôtel de Ville were designed to put the power in the hands of the bourgeois, and to disarm the people. It was accomplished by a small number of men of obscure names. Various bodies came to offer to them

Another band attacked the prison of La Force, where the debtors were confined, some of whom had been there for many years. The doors were broken open, and the prisoners released. The procureur-général, being informed of this, only replied, "If any prisoner still remains, he had better get out before the doors are shut." The prisoners in the Châtelet, who were criminals, made an attempt to escape amidst this general confusion; and they were just on the point of breaking out, when the keeper called to his aid a body of people who were passing along the street: a band of brigands, 'L'Ami du Peuple' says; but that is false, for they entered the prison, fired on the prisoners, and brought them to order. That the greater part of the armed men in the streets of Paris were not brigands, is proved by their conduct. Their purpose was not plunder.

The arms at the garde-meuble of the crown were seized; but it is said that they were afterwards restored. Some old armour was found there, and helmets, shields, and bucklers, were donned by men in rags. The smiths had been busy since day-break, making pikes; fifty thousand had been made in thirty-six hours; but it was fire-arms that were wanted, and the people who wanted them applied to Flesselles, at the Hôtel de Ville. Merely to rid himself of these troublesome visitors, as it seems, and without reflecting on the consequences of amusing them with false hopes, Flesselles

In the evening

sent them anywhere, to the first place that came into they were to come from Charleville. his head. A deputation came to the Hôtel de Ville some waggons crossed the Place de Grève, with the word from the district of the Mathurins, where the people" Artillery" on them. The prévôt stored away the cases: had assembled, appointed a president and other officers, the electors opened them, and they found in them nothing and begun to make a list of the citizens who were but rags and old linen. There can be no doubt that Flesable to bear arms. They sent deputies to the Hôtel de selles all along was only amusing the people and tempoVille with a list of the names of two hundred citizens, rizing; and it is probable that he was in communicawhich was presented to the sub-committee, of which tion with the court, or with some of the authorities, Flesselles was the chairman. He gave them promises Besenval, or others. His character was well known; instead of the arms, exhorted them to be patient, and he was a man of pleasure, who had a profound conpromised arms again. The deputation requested him tempt for the people, and he thought that if time could to give his approbation of the list that was presented to be gained, all would go on well. Being weary with him, to which he affixed his signature, with these his day's work, he had a bed made for him in the words, "I will send further instructions presently." | Hôtel de Ville, where he slept his last sleep.*

The soldiers-citizens of the Mathurins thought he was playing with them, and they sent again; and the deputation returned with another request, signed by Flesselles, to the Chartreuse monks, to give to the citizens of the district of the Mathurins fifty muskets. The prior of the Chartreuse, in reply to the demand, stated in writing that they had neither fire-arms nor any other arms, and had never had any. Foiled a second time, the district of the Mathurins employed themselves in establishing patroles for the night, and kept order.

In the afternoon the French guards, with some of their officers, joined the people. They had been ordered to quit Paris, and march to St. Denis; but instead of obeying the order, they offered their services to the Hôtel de Ville. Many soldiers also escaped from the camp in the Champ-de-Mars, or deserted from St. Denis, and came to join the people of Paris with arms and baggage. Just as the French guards were crossing the Boulevards, a boat was discovered going down the Seine, filled with powder. This was a fresh cause of suspicion against Flesselles, for he could not be ignorant of the existence of this ammunition, and must have concealed his knowledge of it. The powder was seized, and put in a lower room of the Hôtel de Ville. The Abbé Lefebvre d'Ormesson, a man of heroic courage, was appointed to superintend the distribution of it; and he was all night engaged in this dangerous affair, amidst a crowd of furious men, who were disputing with one another about the powder.

The confusion which reigned in Paris appears in all the accounts of the events which immediately preceded the 14th of July. The same story appears with variations, and the order of events is uncertain.* It was some time on the 13th, either before or after Flesselles had sent the soldiers of the Mathurins to the convent of the Chartreuse, that another event happened which contributed still more to irritate the people against the prévôt des marchands. Flesselles had promised arms— twelve thousand stand, or more; but where they were to come from nobody knew, and apparently he neither knew nor cared. There was some talk of his negotiation with some maker of arms somewhere; perhaps

* Several facts are stated in Louis Blanc's Histoire de la Révol. Franç.,' ii., chap. 10, differently from the usual accounts, and some of them, perhaps, nearer to the truth.

It was a terrible night at Paris, that which preceded the 14th of July. Something was going to happen, but nobody knew what it would be. All the houses were lighted; bands of armed men were moving along the streets; most of the people kept awake; but there was no sound save the march of the patroles of citizens, and the blows of the hammer on the anvil.

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The Palais Royal did not sleep the gardens and the cafés were filled. There was hawked about there a list of proscribed persons,-the Comte d'Artois, Broglie, Besenval, Breteuil, Foulon, the Prince of Lambesc, and others; and a reward was offered to those who would bring their heads to a certain café in the Palais Royal. A copy was also sent to each of the persons who were threatened. It is remarked that all the persons who were named in this list, fled after the 14th of July. The way of getting arms was also discussed at the Palais Royal; and the Hôtel des Invalides and the Bastille were named.

It was apparently at the Palais Royal that all the rumours about the conspiracy of the court were exaggerated and formed into a regular story, which appeared next morning in various pamphlets. On the night of the 14th, it was said, several members of the National Assembly were to be arrested, and a great number of the electors of Paris; there was then to be a vigorous military demonstration in Paris; the barriers were to be blockaded, and the city to be brought under the batteries constructed on Montmartre, and at Passy. The affair was to be completed by the king going to the National Assembly, and dissolving it.

It is impossible to say what was the design of the court, for the court was divided. If there was any plan, it was probably to dissolve the National Assembly, not to attack Paris. The princes, the Duchess de Polignac, and the queen, it is said, walked about in the orangery, flattering the officers, and distributing refreshments among them; a fact which, if true, proves nothing. If the court did intend to do anything, it was not done. Action was left to the people of Paris.

* Louis Blanc, 'Hist. de la Rév. Française,' ii., 365. + Copied from 'L'Ami du Roi,' in the 'Hist. Parlem.,' ii., 100. Hist. Parlem.,' ii. 101. Thiers, Hist. de la Rév. Française,' i., chap. 2.

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