On one side, sheltered by treachery and, on the other side, by
assassination, the insurrection may now go on in full security in
front of the terrible hypocrite who solemnly complains of his voluntary
captivity, and before the corpse, with shattered brow, lying on the
steps of the Hôtel-de-ville. On the right bank of the river, the
battalions of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, and, on the left, those of the
Faubourg Saint-Marcel, the Bretons, and the Marseilles band, march forth
as freely as if going to parade. Measures of defense are frustrated
by the murder of the commanding general, and by the mayor's duplicity;
there is not resistance on guarded spots, at the arcade Saint-Jean,
the passages of the bridges, along the quays, and in the court of the
Louvre. An advance guard of the mob, women, children, and men, armed
with cutters, cudgels, and pikes, spread over the abandoned Carrousel,
and, towards eight o'clock, the advance column, led by Westerman,
appears in front of the palace.
VII.--August 10.
The King's forces.--Resistance abandoned.--The King in the
National Assembly.--Conflict at the palace and discharge of
the Swiss Guard.--The palace evacuated by the King's order.
--The massacres.--The enslaved Assembly and its decrees.
If the King had wanted to fight, he might still have defended himself,
saved himself, and even been victorious.[2676]--In the Tuileries, 950 of
the Swiss Guard and 200 gentlemen stood ready to die for him to the last
man. Around the Tuileries, two or three thousand National Guard,
the élite of the Parisian population, had just cheered him as he
passed.[2677] "Hurrah for the King! Hurrah for Louis XVI.! He is our
King and we want no other; we want him only! Down with the rioters! Down
with the Jacobins! We will defend him unto death! Let him put himself
at our head! Hurrah for the Nation, the Law, the Constitution, and
the King, which are all one! If the gunners were silent, and seemed
ill-disposed,[2678] it was simply necessary to disarm them suddenly,
and hand over their pieces to loyal men. Four thousand rifles and eleven
pieces of artillery, protected by the walls of the courts and by the
thick masonry of the palace, were certainly sufficient against the nine
or ten thousand Jacobins in Paris, most of them pikemen, badly led by
improvised or rebellious battalion officers,[2679] and, still worse,
commanded by their new general, Santerre, who, always cautious, kept
himself aloof in the Hôtel-de-ville, out of harm's way. The only
staunch men in the Carrousel were the eight hundred men from Brest and
Marseilles; the rest consisted of a rabble like that of July 14, October
5, and June 20;[2680] the palace, says Napoleon Bonaparte, was attacked
by the vilest canaille, professional rioters, Maillard's band, and the
bands of Lazowski, Fournier, and Théroigne, by all the assassins, indeed
of the previous night and day, and of the following day, which species
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account