IV. 1789. Breteuil as prime minister, and the Marshal de Broglie CHAP. as minister at war, were placed at the head of affairs; the saloons at Versailles were filled with generals and aides-de-camp, and every thing indicated the adoption of hostile resolutions.* Louis, preserving his calmness and moderation in the midst of the general tumult, refused to order Necker's arrest, as some proposed,+ but sent him a letter, in which he expressed his regret at his dismissal, his regard for his character, and declared that he was overruled by necessity. Necker's conduct on this occasion was worthy of the elevated principles by which, notwithstanding his fatal errors of judgment, his conduct had been regulated. He received the King's letter at dinner, and, without testifying any emotion on reading it, said, as if nothing had occurred, to M. de la Luzerne, the minister of marine, who brought it, that he would meet him in the evening at the council, and continued to converse, with perfect self-possession, with the Archbishop of Bordeaux, 1 De Stael, and other gentlemen present. After sitting the usual Bert. de time at table, he rose, and without communicating with Moll, i. 292. any person in his family-not even with his daughter, July 17, 20, Madame de Stael-retired for the night to his country- Mém. de la house at Saint Ouen, from whence he set out next morn- Lab.iii. 176. ing for Brussels, accompanied by Madame Necker, to * "J'allai trouver le Maréchal de Broglie à Versailles. Le Maréchal, prenant le ton d'un général d'armée, disposait de tout comme s'il avait été en face de l'ennemi. Je lui représentai que la position était bien différente; qu'il n'était pas question d'atteindre le but qu'on se proposait à coups de fusil: qu'il fallait prendre garde de pousser les choses aux dernières extrémités avec des esprits tellement échauffés qu'ils ne connaissaient plus de frein. Le Maréchal reçut mal mes représentations: J'insistai; il se facha. Le Maréchal avait fait du château de Versailles un camp. Il avait mis un régiment dans l'orangerie; il affectait des appréhensions pour la personne du roi, pour la famille royale, . aussi déplacées que dangereuses. Son antichambre était remplie d'ordonnances de tous les régimens, et d'aides-de-camp tout prêts à monter à cheval. On y voyait des bureaux et des commis occupés à écrire; on donnait une liste d'officiers généraux employés; on faisait un ordre de bataille. De pareilles démonstrations ne pouvaient qu'accroître l'inquiétude de l'Assemblée Nationale."-BESENVAL, Mém. ii. 371. "Non,' disait le roi; 'il m'a promis de se retirer sans bruit, si ses services déplaisent je réponds de sa soumission, et il obéira à l'ordre que je lui enverrai.""-LABAUME, iii. 175. i. 233. Moniteur, 1789. Jour. Rev. ii. 35. IV. CHAP. whom he revealed for the first time, when in the carriage, that he had ceased to be a minister of the crown. It may safely be affirmed that Necker was greater in his fall than he had ever been in his elevation. 1789. 90. the revolt ance Camille July 12. The news of Necker's dismissal was not known at Paris Progress of on the 11th, when the revolt broke out; on the contrary, in Paris, and Dr Guillotin arrived there from Versailles at nine at first appear night, with the intelligence that the Swiss minister was Desmoulins, more than ever confirmed in the confidence of the King, and that Lafayette had just presented a declaration on the rights of man. But on the following morning, at nine o'clock, accounts were received of the change of ministry and of Necker's departure; and soon afterwards placards were put up about the streets bearing the old title, “De par le Roi," in which the Parisians were invited to remain at home, and not to be alarmed at the presence of the troops, who had become necessary to defeat the designs of the brigands. At the same time a considerable movement of military was observed; infantry and cavalry, with a few pieces of artillery, entered the town; and aides-de-camp and officers were seen riding about in all directions. Indescribable was the sensation which these events occasioned. Paris was thrown into the utmost consternation. Fury immediately succeeded to alarm; the theatres were closed; the Palais Royal resounded with the cry "To arms!" and a leader destined to future distinction, Camille Desmoulins, armed with pistols, gave the signal for insurrection by breaking a branch off a tree in the gardens, which he placed in his hat. The whole foliage was instantly stripped off the trees, and the crowds decorated themselves with the symbols of revolt. "Citizens," said Camille Desmoulins, "the moment for action is arrived; the dismissal of M. Necker is the signal for a St Bartholomew of the patriots: a hundred barrels of powder are placed under the Assembly to blow the deputies into the air; a hundred guns on Montmartre and Belleville are already pointed on Paris: furnaces for CHAP. 1789. red-hot shot are preparing in the Bastile men, women, and children will be massacred, none spared: this very evening the Swiss and German battalions will issue from the Champ de Mars to slaughter us; one resource alone is left, which is to fly to arms." The crowd tumultuously adopted this proposal, and, decorated with green boughs, marched through the streets, bearing in triumph the busts of M. Necker and the Duke of Orleans. They were charged by the regiment of Royal Allemand, which was put to flight by showers of stones; but the dragoons of Prince Lambesc having come up, the mob retreated, and dispersed through the gardens of the Tuileries. In the tumult, the busts were destroyed, a French soldier killed, and an old man wounded by Prince Lambesc-this was the first blood shed in the Revolution. From the lead 1 Hist. Parl. which he took on this occasion, Camille Desmoulins ii. 81, 82. acquired the name of the "First Apostle of Liberty." Moll. i. 293, Associated with Danton, he long enjoyed the gales of vii. 70. Th. popular favour. He died on the scaffold, the victim of Amis,i.276. the very faction he had so great a share in creating.1 Bert. de 294. Lac. i. 89. Deux front of the chery of the This tumult was shortly followed by another of a still 91. more important character, from the decisive evidence Combat in which it afforded of the defection of the army. The barracks, Prince Lambesc had placed a squadron of dragoons in and treafront of the barracks of the French guards, to overawe troops. that disaffected regiment. When intelligence of the rout in the gardens in the Tuileries arrived, the troops broke down the iron rails in front of their barracks, and opened a volley upon the horse, which obliged them to retire : they pursued them to the gardens of the Tuileries, and posted themselves in order of battle in front of the populace, and between them and the royal troops. The soldiers in the Champ de Mars received orders to advance and dislodge them; they were received by a discharge of musketry, and were so much restrained by the orders not to shed blood, that they did not venture to return the fire. The monarchy was lost: the household troops had VOL. I. 2 L IV. CHAP. revolted; and the remainder of the army was not permitted to act against the people. Encouraged by this 1789. impunity, the Gardes Françaises now openly joined the insurgents twelve hundred of them repaired to the Palais Royal, with their arms, but without their officers, and there, fraternising with the people, and plied with wine, gave themselves up to the universal transports. Soon they returned with a numerous band of the mob to the Place Louis XV., in order to clear it entirely of the foreign troops; but Baron Besenval, who commanded them, seeing the contagion of defection rapidly gaining their ranks, had previously withdrawn them to the Champ de Mars. The field was now clear; all resistance had ceased for the 275,279. night on the part of the royal forces; and bands of the insurgents traversed the town in all directions, exclaiming, "To arms! to arms!" Meanwhile a storm arose in the Toul. i. 73. heavens; the thunder rolled above even the cries of the multitude; and frequent discharges of fire-arms from the brigands added to the general consternation.1 1 Deux Amis, i. Bert. de 296, 299. Lac. vii. 74. Mig. i. 50. 92. Efforts of the Orleans party to excitement. 66 Indefatigable were the efforts made by the satellites of the Duke of Orleans, and leaders of the Revolution, to inflame the public mind, and turn to the best account this increase the prodigious ebullition of popular fury. There was no end to the fabrications which they made, the avidity with which they were listened to, or the credulity with which they were believed. At one time the cry was They will burn Paris- they will decimate its inhabitants." At another" Lorraine is sold to the Emperor Joseph for money to crush the Revolution-the troops on the Champ de Mars are about to massacre the people." No words can adequately paint the mingled fury and enthusiasm which these reports and announcements, rapidly succeeding each other, produced in the public mind. In vain the urban guard and police of the capital ran into every street, and joined every group, to assure them that there was no cause for apprehension, that no hostile designs were contemplated. None listened to what they said. All CHAP. 1789. Numbers lay down and put their ears on the ground, to catch the first sound of the approaching cannon. business was at a stand. The courts of law were shut. Almost all the shops were closed. Crowds thronged every street. Unbearable anxiety filled every bosom. Real alarms, as night approached, were joined to these imaginary terrors. The hired brigands, encouraged by the impunity with which their excesses on the preceding evening had been committed, issued from the faubourgs, and burned the barriers of Saint Antoine, Saint Marceau, and Saint Jacques. The flames spread a prodigious light over all that quarter of the heavens, and produced a general belief that the conflagration of the city by the foreign troops had already commenced. Meanwhile, the destruction of the barriers being completed, ferocious bands of smugglers from the adjacent country broke in, joined the tumultuous crowds of the suburbs, and, with loud 279. Hist. shouts, and waving torches, proceeded to the attack of 83. the remaining barriers of the city.1 1 Bailly, ii. 81, 83. 185. Deux Lab.iii. 184, Amis, i. 278, Parl. ii. 82, 93. ance of the want of on the part These alarming appearances had no effect whatever in inducing the military authorities to take any effectual Continusteps for warding off the danger. Accustomed to see riots on the Paris ruled without difficulty by a small body of police, 13th, and and an inconsiderable civic guard, they persisted in preparation regarding the disturbances as mere local outrages which of the court. were attended with no public danger. No military posts around Paris were occupied; not a gun was mounted on Montmartre or Belleville; the garrison of eighty men in the Bastile was not even reinforced; and this slender detachment, though abundantly supplied with ammunition, was almost destitute of provisions. M. Besenval, who commanded the military around Paris, had no force within its walls under his orders. Twenty-five thousand men occupied St Denis, Courbevoie, Charenton, Sèvres, Amis, i. and all the villages round to the Champ de Mars; but de Moll. i. none were drawn nearer to the capital, which was left at ii. 197. the mercy of ferocious brigands and a maddened people.2 2 Deux 281. Bert. 301. Lab. |