The reason for all this manifestation lay in the reports which had been maliciously spread. It was alleged that the battalion was composed of Norwegians, whose well-known and invincible fidelity to the king would have been an obstacle to the minister's designs. He was going to entrust the defence of the king and the palace to German mercenaries, and so on. Even Reverdil is ready to acknowledge the absurdity of such rumours. Not more than one-half of these men were Norwegians; their service and duty had no connection with the king's personal safety; none of them had been on guard at Hirschholm during the summer, and the king was quite accessible to ill-disposed persons, if such existed. He was peculiarly at the mercy of those to whom evil designs were attributed. At Copenhagen the porters alone had orders to keep away suspicious persons; and if the pretended conspirators had been the ordinary inhabitants of the palace, the porters' guard was as useless as that of the soldiers. There were avenues which were not guarded, and the keys of which were held by the chief personages. The palace could be entered through the stables and the playhouse; lastly, any odious suspicion is destroyed by the fact, that the asserted disbandment of the Foot Guards never took place. They were to have been attached to the different regiments as light companies, but retain their officers and their high pay.[27] In that case they would have mounted guard in their turn. The garrison remained under arms the whole night, and patrols marched through the streets until the requisite number of printed discharges, signed by the king, had been filled up, and one handed to every Guardsman, with a promise that three dollars should be paid him, and any advance he owed would be wiped off. In this way everybody was contented, and on the Christmas morning the disbanded Guards left the palace of Christiansborg, after holding it for twenty-four hours, and started for their homes. On the next day the Norwegians assembled in the streets, and took leave of the citizens, who collected in mobs round them, while the sailors and populace uttered angry cries for revenge. When the commandant arrived with an escort of general officers and adjutants to order peace, he was dragged from his horse and hurled on the ground, while his suite were ridiculed, and some of them also maltreated. The discharged Guards, however, took no part in these fresh excesses, but the populace carried them on, and continued to keep the town in a state of excitement for some time after the departure of the Norwegians. How great was the terror at court is proved by the fact that no attempt was made to disarm the Guards, but they were allowed to depart with their arms and accoutrements.