In exitu Israel : $b an historical novel, volume 2 (of 2)Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
History
In exitu Israel : $b an historical novel, volume 2 (of 2)
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
France -- History -- Revolution, 1789-1799 -- Fiction
M. Bailly, with difficulty, obtained permission to enter a cabinet
adjoining the entrance, to draw up a protest against the exclusion of
the Assembly. The Count de Vertan then admitted the secretaries to
remove the papers. They found the major portion of the seats removed,
and all the avenues of the hall guarded by soldiers.
The excitement without became intense, and the streets rung with
remonstrances and protests against an arbitrary authority which
had thus insulted the representatives of the people. Bailly, with
difficulty, by standing on a flight of steps and shouting, collected
the delegates together; he then urged on them to remain till some place
suitable for continuing their meeting should present itself.
'To Marly!' shouted some. 'Let us go beneath the walls of the château,
and hold our session there. Let us show the proud Court that the Third
Estate is not to be humbled with impunity.'
'To Marly!' called others. 'Yes, we will march there at once, and make
the king hold his royal sitting amongst us, assembled in the open air.'
'Live the king!' was shouted; 'he is managed by our enemies. The queen
poisons his mind, but his heart is with the people.'
'Let us go to the Place d'Armes!' cried others.
'To the great Gallery!' was another suggestion; 'to the gallery where
the execution of him who pronounced the sacred word LIBERTY was so
lately signed.'
The mass of people began to roll towards the palace of Versailles. 'In
another twenty-four hours,' says Grégoire in his Mémoires, 'bullets
would have been flying against the old Court den.'
At this moment Bailly reappeared. He had secured the Tennis Court
in the Rue S. François of old Versailles; it was Dr. Guillotin's
suggestion.
Of all the monuments in Versailles, that old, plain, unfurnished Tennis
Court is the most interesting. The Englishman visiting Versailles
should not forget that the immense palace is but a monument of
despotism;--that its grandeur, such as it is, cries aloud of a pride
and selfishness so alarming, that Louis XIV burnt the bills for its
erection, not venturing to allow them to be seen, whilst France was
starving and sinking under a load of debt; while the Jeu de Paume, as
the birthplace of the nascent liberties of France, humble and unadorned
as it remains, is worthy of his most reverent regard.
It was a spacious room, without true windows, but with large openings
netted over, which admit light, air, and rain. The walls, covered with
yellow wash, were festooned with cobwebs, the roof was unceiled; the
floor rudely laid with common pavement, and unprovided with seats.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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