THE 14TH OF JULY

Whilst the panic concerning the approach of the troops was thus being prepared, how were these bloodthirsty legions engaged ? Bézenval, having waited in vain for orders throughout the whole day of the 13th, decided at one o’clock in the morning of the 14th to retreat to the Champ de Mars and the École Militaire on the other side of the Seine ; and thus at the very moment that the alarm of their advance on the city was trumpeted to the terrified population, the troops were actually moving away to the distance. This circumstance might have been expected to refute the false alarm in circulation, but the agitators were clever enough to turn it to their own advantage. The troops were on the move, they told the people, and though they might appear to be retreating, this manœuvre was only a question of reculer pour mieux sauter—it was evident that De Broglie intended to unite these troops with superior forces in order to make an overwhelming advance on the capital, and reduce it to ashes. Such was the amazing credulity of the Parisians that this ludicrous story was universally believed and once more threw the city into a state of frenzied panic. The citizens, who yesterday had flown to arms against the brigands, now prepared themselves to do battle with the bloodthirsty troops of the King.[64]

The terror and confusion that prevailed throughout the city was indescribable ; from seven o’clock in the morning of the 14th false alarms succeeded each other without intermission—the Royal Allemand had already encamped at the Barrière du Trône, other regiments had actually entered the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, cannons had been placed across the streets, whilst those on the ramparts of the Bastille were pointing at the city. “ At the Palais Royal the most violent motions followed each other with terrifying rapidity ; the most vehement orators, mounted on tables, inflamed the imagination of the audience that crowded around them, and spread itself about the city like the burning lava of a volcano ; inside the houses were seen the distress of husbands and wives, the grief of mothers, the tears of children : and in the midst of this universal confusion the tocsin sounded without interruption at the cathedral, at the palace (the Palais de Justice) and in all the parishes, drums beat the ‘ générale ’ in every quarter, false alarms were repeated, and the cry of ‘ To arms ! To arms ! ’ The machinery of war and desolation, convulsive http://yamaguchy.netfirms.com/webster/frenchrev/fr_rev_02.html (30 of 66)5.4.2006 10:39:45

 

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movements, and the sombre courage of despair-such is the horrible picture that Paris presented on the 14th July.”

One might suppose this lurid description to emanate from the pen of an incorrigible reactionary, unable to see in the tumult of the capital the sublime spectacle of a nation rising as one man to oppose tyranny, and representing as agitators those noble orators who called the citizens to arms. Not at all. This account is given by no other than the Two Friends of Liberty themselves, who thus ingenuously disclose the methods used by the revolutionaries to create a panic. For all this terror and confusion, these tears and cries and “ movements of despair,” there was no cause whatever ; the troops at the Champ de Mars remained completely inactive, the Bastille was utterly unprepared for defence, still less for aggression, and the only soldiers in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine were the increasing numbers of deserters from the army, whilst the one real danger—the brigands—had been disarmed and subdued by the milice bourgeoise. Thus the whole agitation was the work of the revolutionary leaders who, in order to accomplish their designs, did not scruple to strike terror and dismay into the hearts of the people. What, indeed, were the “ tears of mothers ” or the “ cries of children ” to cynics such as Laclos and Chamfort, to the members of the councils of Montrouge and of Passy, and the agitators of the Palais Royal, to Danton, Camille Desmoulins, Santerre, and St.

Huruge ? The “ people ” existed to serve their purpose, not to inspire their pity.

But how was an unarmed multitude to carry out the attack on the Bastille ? The disarming of the brigands by the patriotic citizens the day before had deprived the revolutionary leaders of their most valuable instruments, and, in order to re-arm these ragged legions, it was necessary to drive the population once more to raid the armouries. This was speedily effected, and in the course of the morning thirty to forty thousand people of all sorts and conditions, with Theroigne de Méricourt in their midst, invaded the arsenal of the Invalides and seized every weapon they could find, whilst the troops in the neighbouring Champs de Mars—obedient to the order not to shed the blood of the citizens—offered no resistance. “ Famished tigers,” say the Two Friends of Liberty, “ fall less rapidly upon their prey.” In the struggle several were suffocated, others killed in their furious endeavours to wrest the weapons from each other. Such were the citizens to whom Flesselles was denounced as a traitor for not delivering arms.

But now the moment had arrived to turn the attention of the people in the direction of the Bastille, for so far the alarm of the pointing cannons had created no popular determination to attack the state prison. A further incentive must therefore be provided in order to produce the effect desired by the leaders of a spontaneous movement of the people to overthrow the monument of despotism. For this purpose a fresh rumour was circulated by a bandit posted in the crowd collected in the Place de Grève around the http://yamaguchy.netfirms.com/webster/frenchrev/fr_rev_02.html (31 of 66)5.4.2006 10:39:45

 

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Hôtel de Ville—the arms the people sought had been conveyed to the Bastille, it was there that they must go to find them. And at this news a roar arose from the excited crowd, and from thousands of throats the cry went up, “ Let us go to the Bastille ! ”

What was the Bastille, that monument of despotism, at whose destruction lovers of liberty all over the world rejoiced ? A grey stone fortress with eight pointed towers, surrounded by a dry moat and separated by two drawbridges from a gateway opening http://yamaguchy.netfirms.com/webster/frenchrev/fr_rev_02.html (32 of 66)5.4.2006 10:39:45

 

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into the Rue Saint-Antoine. Over the poor and populous Faubourg it loomed forbiddingly, a mysterious relic of the past, holding within its wall many ancient secrets.

Yet was it the place of horror it has been represented ? In order to realize how far its evil reputation was merited in its day we must compare it with other prisons of the period. Now if we consult the report of the philanthropic John Howard on the State of the Prisons all over Europe, published in 1792, we shall find that the prisons of France in the reign of Louis XVI. compared very favourably with those of other countries. In England, Howard tells us he saw prisoners during the years 1774, 1775, and 1776 “ pining under diseases, expiring on the floors in loathsome cells, of pestilential fevers,” half starved and in rags ; in some gaols they occupied “ subterranean dungeons, of which the floor was very damp, with sometimes an inch or two of water.” Even women were loaded with heavy irons. Many of these unhappy creatures were, moreover, innocent, being detained in prison a year before trial. When Elizabeth Fry visited Newgate over thirty years later, matters had not improved very appreciably. All this, however, was due less to deliberate cruelty than to the carelessness that characterized our forefathers, and is not to be compared with the deliberate brutality exercised in German prisons. Howard, on visiting Germany, was taken down into “ a black torture chamber round which hung various instruments of torture, some stained with blood.

When the criminals suffer the candles are lighted, for the windows are shut close, to prevent their cries being heard abroad.”

In France, Howard found active reforms being carried out in the prison system. “ The King’s declaration … dated the 30th of August 1780, contains some of the most humane and enlightened sentiments respecting the conduct of prisons. It mentions the construction of airy and spacious infirmaries for the sick … a total abolition of underground dungeons.” Howard had, unfortunately, not provided himself with a permit to visit the Bastille, and so was unable to gain admission,[65] yet in one sentence he sums

up the feeling that the state prison inspired in the minds of contemporaries : “ In this castle all is mystery, trick, artifice, snare, and treachery.”

Imagine an old house where, at the end of a long passage, a black door was to be found, locked and bolted, through which one might not pass, leading into a room that held a secret of some strange and terrible kind, known only to the owner of the house ; then picture the wild imaginings to which the mystery would give rise, the children hurrying past with bated breath, the servants whispering their suspicions to the village, conjuring up monstrous theories of what was to be found there.

Thus the Bastille at the end of the Rue Saint-Antoine, with its grim portals and its eight grey towers, provided a perpetual matter of speculation to imaginative minds ; and if at times the preposterously thick doors with their gigantic locks opened to admit the http://yamaguchy.netfirms.com/webster/frenchrev/fr_rev_02.html (33 of 66)5.4.2006 10:39:45

 

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curious, they suspected that much was still concealed from them. Down below those stone floors, hidden from the light of day, were there not subterranean dungeons, “ the resort of toads, of lizards, of monstrous rats and spiders,” where the victims of despotism “ pined in darkness and solitude ” until the mind gave way, so that when at last deliverance came, the prisoner had passed beyond all human aid ? Worse still, were there not dreadful torture-chambers, iron cages eight feet long, in which unhappy captives were confined, and, beneath the masonry of those stone walls, the mouldering skeletons of men done to death secretly at dead of night ? Most gruesome of all was the story of the chambre des oubliettes, a room of outwardly smiling aspect, scented with flowers, and lit by fifty candles. Here the unsuspecting prisoner was led before the governor and promised his liberty. But the human monster who presided over the destinies of the captives waited only to see the rapture of his victim before giving a signal at which the floor opened, and the wretched man fell upon a wheel of knives and was torn to pieces. [66]

Such is the legend of the Bastille, perpetuated by Louis Blanc and Michelet, and in our country by Carlyle and Dickens, but which rests on no shadow of a foundation. It should be noted that it was not amongst the people that the legend arose ; “ the people,” says Mercier, “ dread the Châtelet more than the Bastille ; they are not afraid of the latter because it does not concern them, consequently they hardly pity those imprisoned there.” Such awe as it inspired in them, such curiosity as it aroused in their minds, had therefore been instilled in them by the men whose wealth or talents or importance entitled them to lettres de cachet—the tickets of admission to the Bastille. The State Prison, known ironically to contemporaries as the “ Hôtel des Gens de Lettres,” was almost exclusively reserved for people suspected of designs against the State, for conspirators, forgers, writers of obscene books or seditious pamphlets whose lively imaginations threw a lurid light over their experiences. Of these, the most vehement in their denunciations were Latude and Linguet, both, as M. Funck Brentano and M.

Edmond Biré have proved, unscrupulous liars whose testimony is refuted not merely by the statements of other prisoners, but by the still existing archives of the Bastille.

Researches also made by M. Alfred Begis, M. Victorien Sardou, M. Victor Fournel, M.

Ravaisson, and M. Gustave Bord have unanimously revealed the fact that under Louis XVI. the Bastille, though dreadful merely as a place of captivity, bore no resemblance to its legendary counterpart. The damp, dark dungeons had fallen into complete disuse ; since the first ministry of Necker in 1776, no one had ever been imprisoned there. All the rooms were provided with windows, and either stoves or fireplaces, good beds, and furniture, whilst the prisoners were allowed to occupy themselves in various ways—with books, music, drawing, and so on—and in certain cases to meet in each other’s rooms http://yamaguchy.netfirms.com/webster/frenchrev/fr_rev_02.html (34 of 66)5.4.2006 10:39:45

 

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for games. The food was excellent and plentiful ; many of the menus recorded by prisoners would tantalize the palate of an epicure, and this was so even under Louis XV., when De Renneville, in a pamphlet written after his release with the object of denouncing the Bastille, admitted that “ certain people had themselves imprisoned there in order to enjoy good cheer without expense.” [67]

Yet, for all these amenities, the abolition of the Bastille as a place of arbitrary imprisonment was undoubtedly desired by the nation, and had been demanded by the cahiers of the noblesse as well as of the Tiers États. The request was made, moreover, in no spirit of sedition ; the King was confidently appealed to, in virtue of his well-known humanity, to demolish this relic of bygone tyranny.

As early as 1784 the architect Corbet had published the Plan of a Public Square to the Glory of Louis XVI. on the Site of the Bastille, and this scheme was being openly discussed in 1789. Moreover, in the Séance Royale on June 23, Louis XVI. had again proposed the abolition of lettres de cachet, thereby, as M. Bire points out, sounding the knell of the Bastille.

The destruction of the Bastille by force was therefore needless from the point of view of the nation as a whole, but necessary to the designs of the revolutionary leaders, firstly, because it deprived the King of the glory of destroying it ; secondly, because it served as a pretext for an insurrection ; thirdly, because it exercised a restraining influence over the Faubourg Saint-Antoine ; and fourthly, because its continued existence was a menace to their personal security. The State Prison must be demolished instantly if they were to make sure of not expiating their crimes within its precincts.

This was the task the people were to be worked up to by terror to perform. It is evident, however, that no intention of this kind existed in their minds when the march on the Bastille began.[68] On this point all reliable contemporaries are agreed— the idea of “ the people ” rising as one man to overthrow the “ monument of despotism ” is a fiction ; the greater proportion of the crowd that marched on the Bastille were animated by one motive only—that of procuring arms for their protection.[69] “ It was not,” says M.

Funck Brentano, “ a question of liberty or of tyranny, of delivering prisoners or of protesting against authority. The taking of the Bastille was carried on to the cries of ‘

Vive le Roi ! ’ ‘ March,’ said the women to their men, ‘ it is for the King and country ! ’

”[70]

 

 

Whilst the honest citizens, animated by no sanguinary intentions, thus prepared to march on the Bastille, what was the disposition of the Governor, De Launay ? It is amusing to http://yamaguchy.netfirms.com/webster/frenchrev/fr_rev_02.html (35 of 66)5.4.2006 10:39:45

 

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compare the fiction circulated amongst the populace with the reality recorded by the colleagues of De Launay. “ Despotism,” say the Two Friends of Liberty, “ threatened us from the ramparts of the Bastille. De Launay, worthy minister of its vengeance, was entrusted with the care of its fearful dungeons, shuddering at the very name of liberty, trembling lest, with the tears of his victims, the gold that was the object of his desires, the price of their torments and of his brutality, should cease the cowardly and avaricious satellite of tyranny had long been surrounding himself with arms and cannons. Since the insurrection of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine (the Affaire Réveillon) he had been unceasingly engaged in preparations for defence… .” [71]

The truth was that De Launay had reduced the other officers to desperation by his unpreparedness. In vain Bézenval had warned him that the castle was unfit to resist the attack ; in vain De Flue, the captain of the Swiss contingent, sent to reinforce the garrison on July 7, urged him to take measures of defence. “ From the day of my arrival,” says De Flue, “ I learnt to know this man ; by the meaningless preparations he made for the defence of his post, and by his continual anxiety and irresolution, I saw clearly that we should be ill commanded if we were attacked. He was so overcome with terror that at night he took for enemies the shadows of trees and other surrounding objects… .” [72] Even M. Flammermont is obliged to admit the pacific intentions of the

Governor : “ One sees that De Flue cannot understand the weakness of poor De Launay. For him, a soldier by profession and a foreigner, the besiegers are simply enemies—‘ Feinde ’—this is the word he constantly applies to them ; whilst the Governor no doubt saw in them citizens whose blood he feared to shed even in the defence of the fortress confided to his care.”[73]

This tribute from a writer whose sole object is to glorify the besiegers of the Bastille effectually disposes of the theory of De Launay as the instrument of despotism. In fact, as all evidence proves, he did everything in his power to settle matters by peaceful arbitration. When at ten o’clock in the morning of the 14th a deputation of three citizens arrived at the Bastille to complain that “the cannons on the ramparts were pointing in the direction of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine ”—a position they had always occupied[74]—De Launay received them with his customary urbanity and invited them to breakfast with him. The cannons, he assured them, should be drawn back in their embrasures ; the embrasures themselves should be boarded over to soothe the alarms of the people. No injury whatever should be done to the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, and in return he hoped that the inhabitants would refrain from aggression.

The deputies lingered so long at De Launay’s hospitable board that the crowd of citizens who had followed them, and were waiting meanwhile in the outer court, began to grow http://yamaguchy.netfirms.com/webster/frenchrev/fr_rev_02.html (36 of 66)5.4.2006 10:39:45

 

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impatient. The sight of the cannons being drawn back in their embrasures added further to their excitement, and it was immediately concluded that this movement had been made for the purpose of charging the guns with balls.

De Launay and the three deputies were still at breakfast when a second deputation arrived from the district surrounding the Bastille, headed by M. Thuriot de la Rozière, and again followed by a crowd. De la Rozière was admitted to the Governor’s apartments opposite the entrance to the courtyard of the prison, and as soon as the three former deputies had departed he addressed De Launay in these words :

“ I come, sir, in the name of the nation and of the country to represent to you that the cannons placed on the towers of the Bastille are a cause of great anxiety and spread alarm throughout Paris. I beg you to have them taken down, and I hope you will acquiesce with the demand I have been ordered to make to you.” De Launay may not have been lion-hearted, but to this proposition he had the courage to reply : “ That is not in my power ; these cannons have been on the towers from time immemorial and I cannot take them down without an order from the King. Already informed of the alarm they cause in Paris but unable to be taken off their mountings, I have had them drawn back from their embrasures.”

No governor of a fortress could possibly make a more pacific reply, but it did not satisfy De la Rozière, who now requested De Launay to admit him to the prison. To this the Governor at first demurred, but finally allowed himself to be over-persuaded by Major de Losme, the most humane and broad-minded of all the officers at the Bastille, known as the “ Consoler of the Prisoners,” and the very antithesis of the despotic De Flue.

The Governor having led De la Rozière over the smaller drawbridge into the courtyard of the Bastille, they found the Swiss Guard, some of the Invalides, and all the officers assembled there, whereupon De la Rozière proceeded to appeal to them “ in the name of honour, of the nation, and of their country, to change the direction of the cannons and to surrender.”

It is difficult here to recognize the “ ferocious De Launay shuddering at the very name of liberty ” : for at this open defiance of his authority he joined De la Rozière in making the soldiers swear that they would not fire or make use of their arms unless they were attacked. [75]

De la Rozière, however, not content with this assurance, insisted on wasting more time by going up to inspect the battlements, whilst the people outside grew more and more impatient and excited. De Launay, who had accompanied him, now looked forth from the heights of the Bastille and saw for the first time the large and threatening multitude that completely blocked the end of the Rue Saint-Antoine and was beginning to http://yamaguchy.netfirms.com/webster/frenchrev/fr_rev_02.html (37 of 66)5.4.2006 10:39:45

 

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penetrate into the outer courtyard of the prison. At this sight, it is said, the Governor grew pale ; the thing he had long dreaded had come to pass : the people were marching on the Bastille. Was it cowardice that whitened the cheek of the unfortunate Governor ?

It seems unlikely ; De Launay was provided with formidable measures of defence—“ fifteen cannons bordered the towers, and three field-pieces were placed in the great courtyard opposite the entrance gate presenting a certain death to those bold enough to attack it. Ammunition, moreover, was not wanting… .” Why, then, should the Governor tremble ? Could he not, with a few volleys from his guns, sweep both street and courtyard clear of the encroaching multitude ? This was, however, precisely the course he feared to take, so he found himself in the dilemma that faced all upholders of the royal authority throughout the Revolution—the necessity for repressing violence, coupled with a dread of shedding the blood of the people. The power was all in their hands, but they feared to use it, and this fear—the outcome of the philosophy of the age, increased by a knowledge of the King’s humanity—paralysed the arm of law and order, and gave to the revolutionaries an immense advantage. This, then, was the fear that caused De Launay to grow pale, and that, according to De Flue, would have made him surrender the castle had not De Flue and the other officers represented to him that he could not thus betray his trust to his royal master.[76]

When at last De la Rozière left the castle it was too late to stem the rising tide, and a short half-hour later the armed crowd arrived on the scene. This crowd that we have already seen setting forth for the purpose of obtaining arms had now, however, been reinforced by other elements, which it is important to distinguish if we would attempt to understand the chaotic movement that followed.

First of all, then, there were the honest citizens who desired arms for their defence ; secondly, the revolutionary leaders, the ferocious Maillard, Théroigne de Méricourt, and Jourdan, later to be known as “ Coupe-tête,” all determined to accept no pacific measures but to destroy the castle ; thirdly, the motley crew of “ brigands ” not in the secret of the leaders, thirsting for violence, consisting not only of the aforesaid Marseillais and Italians, but also, according to Marat, of large numbers of Germans,[77]

presumably deserters from the royal troops ; fourthly and lastly, the crowds of merely curious who longed to explore the innermost recesses of the Bastille, to see for themselves the ghastly torture-chamber, the iron cages and the oubliettes, and bring to light the many nameless and unhappy prisoners lingering forgotten in dark dungeons down below.

This tumultuous and heterogeneous mob, armed with guns, sabres, and hatchets, now surged into the outer courtyard (the Cour de l’Avancée) shouting, “ We want the Bastille ! Down with the troops ! ”

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The besiegers were, however, confronted by the raised drawbridge known as the Pont de l’Avancée opening into the Cour du Gouvernement, and beyond that by the second drawbridge leading into the castle itself. Two men, Tournay and Bonnemere,[78]

thereupon climbed to the roof of the shop of M. Riquet, a perfumer, and by this means reached the wall surrounding the moat of the Bastille. Sitting astride on the top they managed to work themselves along to the Corps des Gardes by the side of the drawbridge, and the amazing point is that the garrison allowed them to do this without firing a shot, contenting themselves merely with shouting warnings from the battlements, [79] and this conciliatory attitude was maintained even when the two men proceeded to cut through the chains of the drawbridge “ de l’Avancée,” which fell with a terrific crash, killing one man in the crowd and wounding another. Instantly the whole mob rushed forward into the Cour du Gouvernement, and now for the first time the garrison, anxious to prevent their attacking the second drawbridge, opened a fire of musketry, scattering the people in all directions, and finally driving them back into the outer courtyard. This was the incident which gave rise to the legend that De Launay, having let down the drawbridge and enticed the people into the Cour du Gouvernement, treacherously opened fire on them.

Around this treachery—the first of the two with which De Launay was accused during the siege of the Bastille—controversy raged for over a century, but responsible French historians are now agreed that the incident occurred as it is here described. [80]

The most convincing proof in favour of De Launay lies perhaps in the inexpediency of such a manoeuvre. If he would not make use of the legitimate means of defence at his disposal, why should he resort to treachery and thereby needlessly enrage the people ?

Had he wished to carry death and destruction into their ranks he had only to fire any of his fifteen cannons from the ramparts. There was no necessity to entice them within range of musketry fire.

It is easy, however, to understand the misunderstanding that gave rise to the story of De Launay’s treachery. The rearguard of the crowd, seeing the fall of the drawbridge, the onrush of the people in the front, and then the fire directed on them from the battlements, could not know by what means the drawbridge had been let down, and immediately concluded that the order had been given by De Launay so as to lure the people on to their destruction. The cry of treachery having once been uttered, the agitators, mingling in the crowd, saw their opportunity to fan the flame of popular fury, and messengers were despatched all over Paris to circulate the news of De Launay’s hideous perfidy. At the Hôtel de Ville it raised a storm of indignation, and a further deputation was sent to the Bastille to inquire of M. de Launay whether he “ would be disposed to receive into http://yamaguchy.netfirms.com/webster/frenchrev/fr_rev_02.html (39 of 66)5.4.2006 10:39:45

 

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the château the troops of the Parisian militia, who would guard it with the troops already stationed there and who would be under the orders of the town.” But when the deputation arrived, the fusillade going on between the garrison and the besiegers made it impossible to communicate with the Governor, and in the frightful uproar that now prevailed the white handkerchiefs waved by the deputies in sign of truce passed unperceived. A second deputation, armed this time with a flag and drum, succeeded, however, in attracting the attention of the Governor and officers on the battlements, who replied by inviting the deputies to come forward, but to persuade the crowd to keep back. At the same moment a subordinate officer on the ramparts, to prove the good faith of the garrison, reversed his gun in sign of peace, and this example was followed by his comrades, who called out loudly to the crowd, “ Have no fear, we will not fire, stay where you are. Bring forward your flag and your deputies. The Governor will come down and speak to you.”

But here another misunderstanding occurred which gave rise to the story of a second treachery on the part of De Launay, for just as the deputies were about to advance, a man in the crowd—obviously an agitator posted there to prevent arbitration—started a fresh alarm that one of the cannons was pointing at the people, and immediately every one took up the cry and urged the deputies not to trust the “ perfidious promises ” of the garrison.[81] The deputies thereupon retreated into the Cour de l’Orme and remained

standing there for a quarter of an hour, disregarding the shouts of the garrison urging them to advance. De Launay, now convinced that the signals of peace were merely a ruse to obtain admittance to the castle by treachery, remarked to his officers : “ You must perceive, messieurs, that these deputies and this flag cannot belong to the town ; the flag is certainly one that the people have seized and which they are using to surprise us. If they were really deputies they would not have hesitated, considering the promise you made them, to come and declare to me the intentions of the Hôtel de Ville ! ”[82]

Then, since the crowd continued to fire at the garrison, the garrison once more returned their fire, and the battle continued with redoubled violence. The story of this second treachery of De Launay was again circulated through Paris—the Governor, it was said, had replied to the flag of truce with signs of peace and, the deputies having confidingly advanced, the garrison had discharged a volley of musketry, killing several people at their side. Around this point again controversy has raged, but all reliable evidence proves that the second accusation of treachery was as unfounded as the first,[83] for on

two points all accounts agree—the deputies did not advance and the crowd continued without interruption to fire on the garrison.

Moreover, to this second charge of treachery, as to the first, the same line of reasoning may be applied—what object could De Launay possibly have for needlessly infuriating http://yamaguchy.netfirms.com/webster/frenchrev/fr_rev_02.html (40 of 66)5.4.2006 10:39:45

 

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the people, though still at this stage of the siege he refused to open fire on them from the cannons ? Further, why should he fire on a deputation when we know from the evidence of his officers that he would have seized any opportunity to capitulate, and that it was mainly at the instance of the Swiss De Flue that he continued the siege ? [84] Obviously, as Beaulieu remarks, “ there was no treachery, but only a frightful confusion.” At the Hôtel de Ville the news of De Launay’s latest perfidy roused a fresh storm of indignation, and the wildest rumours were circulated amongst the crowd assembled in the Place de Grève. Now, amongst the groups of citizens angrily discussing the situation, there moved a tall young man, who listened eagerly to all that was said, and at last entering into the conversation heard of the “ massacre of citizens ” that was taking place at the Bastille. This young man was Pierre Hulin, the manager of a laundry on the outskirts of Paris ; he had come into Paris early that morning on business, and, finding a crowd assembled in the Place de Grève, he joined it at the precise moment that the news of De Launay’s second treachery had set all minds aflame. Hulin, who was a brave man, unconnected with any intrigue, shared the general indignation, and seeing that his handsome countenance and commanding appearance had evidently found favour with the multitude, he turned and addressed them in these spirited words : “ My friends, are you citizens ? Let us march on the Bastille ! Our friends, our brothers, are being massacred. I will expose you to no chances, but if there are risks to run, I will be the first to run them, and I swear to you on my Honour that I will bring you back victorious or you will bring me back dead ! ” [85]

The people, taking this courageous and eloquent young man to be at least an officer, immediately rallied around him, and the whole Place de Grève resounded with the cry, “ You shall be our commander ! ”

Hulin accepted and found himself at the head of an army by no means contemptible ; here were grenadiers of Ruffeville, fusiliers of the company of Lubersac, a host of bourgeois, and three cannons, and these on their way to the Bastille were reinforced by several Invalides and two more cannons.

In this second start for the Bastille there was undeniably a strong element of heroism ; these men setting forth, burning with indignation at a supposed outrage on their fellow-citizens, are in no way to be confounded with the brigands who had preceded them. To attack the fortress, which at this moment they honestly regarded as the stronghold of tyranny, belching forth fire and smoke on all those who attempted to approach it, was indeed a brave adventure that required no little personal courage and self-sacrifice. The fact that all the commotion was based on a misunderstanding does not detract from the gallantry of the enterprise. The incident is all the more remarkable in that it was the one http://yamaguchy.netfirms.com/webster/frenchrev/fr_rev_02.html (41 of 66)5.4.2006 10:39:45

 

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and only occasion in the history of the Revolution when a crowd was led by a true man of the people, and not by the professional agitators or their tools. Hulin was a noble and disinterested man, and, as we shall see, proved himself worthy of the confidence the people had placed in him.

This formidable contingent with their five cannons, Hulin marching at the head of the bourgeois, sergeants leading the Gardes Françaises, arrived at the Bastille by way of the Arsenal to find a scene of indescribable confusion. The crowd, infuriated by De Launay’s supposed treachery, had bethought themselves of a plan for burning down his house by wheeling wagon-loads of straw into the Cour du Gouvernement and setting light to them. The brigands in the crowd, not content with inanimate objects on which to vent their fury, seized on a pretty girl, Mlle. de Monsigny, the daughter of a captain of the Invalides, whom they took to be the daughter of De Launay, and by signs intimated to the garrison that they would burn her alive if the castle were not surrendered. The girl, who was little more than a child, fainted with terror, and was dragged unconscious on to a heap of straw. M. de Monsigny, seeing this from the towers of the castle, rushed to his daughter’s rescue, but was knocked down by two shots from the besiegers, and the horrible crime was only averted by the bravery of Aubin Bonnemère—he who had cut the chains of the drawbridge—and who now succeeded in carrying the girl away to a place of safety.

It is difficult to reconstruct the exact order of events at this point of the siege, but it would seem that the arrival of Hulin and the army with cannons coincided with the setting light to the wagon-loads of straw, and that at this moment the first and only charge was fired from one of the cannons of the Bastille. According to Montjoie the discharge was made when the garrison perceived the cannons of the besiegers arriving on the scene ; according to the Two Friends of Liberty it followed on the attempt to set fire to the Governor’s house ; but on one point all authorities are agreed— the Bastille had fifteen cannons, and during the whole siege one was fired once.[86] No further proof

is needed of De Launay’s humanity : had he chosen to make use of the means within his power, even the authors of the Bastille dévoilée are obliged to admit, he could have swept the courtyard clear of assailants : “ If the platform of the great bridge had been lowered, and the three cannons charged with grape-shot in the courtyard had been fired, what carnage would not have been made ? ” [87] But now the artillery of the besiegers being brought into play, the confusion reached its height : the roar of the cannons and the rattle of musketry mingled with the howls of the mob, whilst the smoke of the burning wagon-loads of straw blinded and nearly suffocated the besiegers. A brave soldier, Élie, of the Queen’s Infantry, assisted by a “ muscular and intrepid linen-draper, Reole,” at the risk of their lives dashed into the flames and removed the wagons, thereby http://yamaguchy.netfirms.com/webster/frenchrev/fr_rev_02.html (42 of 66)5.4.2006 10:39:45

 

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clearing the atmosphere, but in no way quieting the pandemonium. On all sides men were falling dead and dying to the ground, but most of these casualties were caused, not by the fire of the Bastille, but by the crowd itself who, not knowing how to load the cannon, were killed by the recoil or were fired on by each other. Hulin had succeeded, however, in destroying by gunfire the chains of the drawbridge de l’Avancée, whereupon the whole mob pressed forward once more into the Cour du Gouvernement, and two cannons were mounted opposite the second drawbridge leading into the Bastille itself.

This movement seems to have entirely deranged De Launay ; obliged to choose, and choose immediately, between the shame of surrender and the wholesale massacre of the people by cannon fire, he was indeed between the devil and the deep sea, and it is said that, unable to decide on either course, he now resolved on the desperate measure of setting light to the powder magazine and blowing up the castle. But two Invalides, Becquard and Ferrand, restrained his hand, thereby saving both besiegers and besieged from total destruction.

One thing is certain, the garrison made almost no defence. “ I was present at the siege of the Bastille,” says the Chancelier Pasquier, “ and the socalled combat was not serious ; the resistance shown was practically nil… . A few shots from guns were fired (by the besiegers) to which no reply was made, then four or five cannon shots… . What I did see perfectly was the action of the soldiers, Invalides and others, ranged on the platform of the high tower, raising the butts of their rifles in the air, and expressing by every means used under such circumstances the wish to surrender.” [88]

It is evident, as Beaulieu says, that the garrison were divided, the Swiss, with De Flue at their head, urging the Governor to continue the siege, and the Invalides, whose sympathies were with the people, begging him to capitulate. [89] At last De Launay, yielding to the entreaties of the latter, ordered two of his men to go up to the battlements with a drum and a white flag of truce. No flag was forthcoming, but the Governor’s handkerchief was hoisted on a staff, and with this banner the men paraded the towers of the prison for a quarter of an hour. The people, however, continued to fire, and replied to the overtures of the garrison with cries of “ Down with the bridges ! No capitulation !

De Launay then retired to the Salle de Conseil and wrote a desperate message to the besiegers : “ We have twenty thousand weight of powder ; we shall blow up the garrison and the whole district if you do not accept the capitulation.” In vain De Flue represented to De Launay that this terrible expedient was wholly needless, that the gates of the fortress were still intact, that means of defence were not http://yamaguchy.netfirms.com/webster/frenchrev/fr_rev_02.html (43 of 66)5.4.2006 10:39:45

 

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lacking, that the garrison had suffered the loss of only one man killed and two wounded—the note was handed to a Swiss, who passed it through a hole in the raised drawbridge to the crowd beyond. The besiegers gathered on the stone bridge at the other side of the moat were at first unable to reach it, but a plank was fetched, a man in the crowd came forward, walked along it, fell into the moat and was killed instantly. A second man followed—according to one report the, according to another Maillard—and this time the slip of paper was safely conveyed to the people. At the words, read aloud by the, a confused cry arose, “ Down with the bridges ! ” but whilst some added, “ No harm shall be done you,” others continued to shout, “ No capitulation ! ” But the answered loudly, “ On the word of an officer no one shall be injured ; we accept your capitulation ; let down your bridges ! ”

On the strength of this promise De Launay gave up the key of the smaller drawbridge, the bridge was let down, and the leaders of the people—Élie, Hulin, Tournay, Maillard, Réole, Arné, and Humbert—entered the castle. The next moment an unknown hand inside the courtyard of the prison lowered the great drawbridge, and instantly the immense crowd poured on to it and with a mighty rush surged forward into the Bastille.

Whose was the hand that did the deed ? No one to this day knows for certain. De Launay had not intended admitting the crowd before parleying with the leaders, and it seems probable that the bridge was treacherously lowered by certain of the Invalides who were in collusion with the people. [90]

If so, they paid dearly for their cowardice ; for the mob, according to the habit of mobs, did not pause to discriminate, but fell upon the Invalides with fury, leaving the Swiss to escape unharmed.

Meanwhile the and his comrades approached the Governor, who was standing with his staff in the great courtyard dressed in a grey coat, with a poppy-coloured ribbon in his buttonhole, and holding in his hand a gold-headed sword-stick. According to certain accounts Maillard, or a man named Degain, thereupon seized him, crying out, “ You are the Governor of the Bastille.” Legris addressed him brutally.[91] Marmontel shows a

nobler picture of this dramatic moment “ the entered with his companions, all brave men and thoroughly determined to keep their word. Seeing this the Governor came up to him, embraced him, and presented him with his sword and the keys of the Bastille.” “ I refused his sword,” the told Marmontel, “ I only accepted the keys.” Élie’s companions greeted the staff and officers of the castle with the same cordiality, swearing to act as their guard and their defence. [92] Hulin, too, kissed the unfortunate Governor, promising to save his life, and De Launay returning the embrace, pressed the hand of Hulin, saying, “ I trust to you, brave man, and I am your prisoner.”

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But though these pioneers showed themselves magnanimous, “ those that followed them breathed only carnage and vengeance,” for at the fall of the great drawbridge it was the brigands armed with forks and hatchets who first penetrated into the castle, leaving the soldiers who had carried on the siege at the other side of the moat. This horrible crowd gathered so threateningly around the Governor that Élie, Hulin, and Arné resolved to lead him out of the castle to the Hôtel de Ville. At the risk of their lives the little procession started out, the carrying the capitulation on the point of his sword, Hulin and Arné following with De Launay held between them.

Thus began the terrible journey to the Place de Grève ; fighting every inch of the way, the two heroic men led their prisoner, receiving on their heads and shoulders the blows of the multitude. All through the seething Rue Saint-Antoine Hulin never left the arm of De Launay ; struck at, fired at, insulted, he struggled forward ; once, fearing that the bare head of the Governor exposed him to danger, Hulin quickly covered it with his own hat, but the next instant nearly fell himself a victim to the fury of the populace. Three times the people tore De Launay from his arms, and three times Hulin wrenched him from their clutches with torn garments and blood streaming from his face. De Launay, wounded from head to foot, pale but resolute, “ with head held high and a still proud eye,” made no complaint, uttered not a single murmur, only when the crowd had again hurled themselves upon him, and Hulin once more dashing into the fray had caught him in his arms and borne him from their midst, the old man pressed him to his heart and cried, “ You are my saviour. Only a little more strength and courage… . Stay with me as far as the Hôtel de Ville.” And turning to Élie he exclaimed, “ Is this the safety you promised me ? Ah, sir, do not leave me.”

But Hulin’s strength was now rapidly failing him. The interminable journey was almost ended ; they had reached the Arcade de St. Jean—only forty steps onward to the Hôtel de Ville and safety. But even as they entered the Place de Grève a furious horde of brigands bore down on the procession, and once more De Launay was torn from the arms of his protectors, whilst this time Hulin, utterly exhausted, sank upon a heap of stones—or, according to another account, was dragged there by the hair and flung down senseless. When again he opened his eyes it was to see the head of De Launay raised on a pike amidst the savage cries of his murderers.

“ I have seen the Sieur Hulin more than a year afterwards,” writes Montjoie, “ grow pale with horror and shed torrents of tears as he recalled that bloody sight. ‘ The last words of the Marquis de Launay will always echo in my heart,’ he said ; ‘ night and day I see him, overwhelmed with insults, covered with blood, and gently addressing his murderers with these words, “ Ah, my friends, kill me, kill me on the spot ! For pity’s sake do not let me linger ! ” ’ ”

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Ghastly as was the massacre of De Launay, it was followed by crimes even more glaringly unjust. The Swiss who, as we have seen, during the siege of the Bastille were the keenest to continue the defence, and to whom most of the firing was due, one and all escaped without injury, but to the Invalides, who had sympathized with the besiegers, the crowd showed no pity. Three were immediately put to death, and amongst these was Becquard, who had restrained De Launay from blowing up the castle. The hand that had thus saved the lives of countless citizens was cut off and paraded through the streets, then Becquard himself was hoisted to the fatal lantern. Three officers also perished, and to make the senseless violence of the day complete, De Flue, who throughout the siege had urged the Governor to greater severity, was allowed to escape, whilst the merciful De Losme was barbarously butchered.

Two former Bastille prisoners, the Marquis de Pelleport and the Chevalier de Jean, [93]

entered the Place de Grève at the moment of De Launay’s death. Pelleport, seeing that the same fate would befall De Losme, who during his captivity had always been his friend, rushed forward and threw his arms around him.

“ Wait ! ” he cried to the mob, “ you are going to sacrifice the best man in the world ! I was five years in the Bastille, and he was my consoler, my friend, my father ! ” At this De Losme raised his eyes and said gently, “ Young man, what are you doing ?

Go back, you will only sacrifice yourself without saving me.”

But Pelleport still clung to De Losme, and since he was unarmed, attempted with his hands to keep off the raging multitude. “ I will defend him against you all ! ” he cried ; “ yes, yes, against you all ! ”

Thereupon a brigand in the crowd dealt Pelleport a blow with an axe that cut into his neck, and raising the weapon was about to strike again when De Jean flung himself upon him and threw him to the ground. But De Jean in his turn was assailed on all sides, struck with sabres, pierced with bayonets, until at last he fell fainting on the steps of the Hôtel de Ville. Then De Losme was massacred, and his head was raised on a pike and carried in procession with De Launay’s.

The remaining Invalides were led through Paris amidst the execrations of the crowd : twenty-two of these unfortunate old men and several Swiss children in the service of the Bastille were brought to the Hôtel de Ville, where on their arrival a revolutionary elector [94] brutally addressed them with these words : “ You fired on your fellow-citizens, you deserve to be hanged, and you will be on the spot.” Instantly a chorus of voices took up the cry : “ Give them up to us that we may hang them ! ” But the Gardes Françaises, with Élie at their head, interposed, throwing themselves courageously between the Invalides and their assailants.

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“ I shall never forget that terrible moment,” wrote Pitra ; “ the crowd hurling itself upon the prisoners, the Swiss on their knees, the Invalides clasping the feet of Élie, who, standing on a table crowned with laurels, vainly strove to make his voice heard above the tumult, whilst the Gardes Françaises surrounded them, making a rampart of their bodies and tearing them from the hands of those who would have dragged them away.” So, says Montjoie, “ men of no education, soldiers and rebels, gave a lesson in justice and humanity to the barbarous elector.”

But this mobile crowd, stirred by a word to violence, was also by a word moved to pity.

Suddenly one of the Gardes Françaises cried aloud, “ We ask for the lives of our old comrades as the price of the Bastille and of the services we have rendered ! ” Élie in a broken voice, with trembling lips, joined his entreaties to theirs, “ I ask for mercy to be shown to my companions as the prize of our deeds ” ; and pointing to the silver plate belonging to De Launay which had been offered to him he added, “ I want none of this silver ; I want no honours. Mercy, mercy for these children,” he turned to the little Swiss standing by him ; “ mercy, mercy for these old men,” he added, taking the hands of the trembling Invalides, “ for they have only done their duty.”

“ Élie,” says Dussaulx, “ reigned supreme, as he continued to calm the minds of the people. His disordered hair, his streaming brow, his dented sword held proudly, his torn and crumpled clothing, served to heighten and to sanctify the dignity of his appearance, and gave him a martial air that carried us back to heroic times. All eyes were fixed on him…. I seem still to hear him speaking : ‘ Citizens, above all, beware of staining with blood the laurels you have bound about my head—otherwise take back your palms and crowns ! ’ ”

At these noble words a sudden silence fell on the tumultuous crowd, then a few voices murmured “ Mercy ! ” and the next moment a mighty shout went up from every mouth.

“ Mercy, yes, mercy, mercy for all ! ” and the great hall re-echoed the cry of pardon.

So at last the Invalides and little Swiss were led out by the same crowd that had clamoured for their blood, and fêted amidst general rejoicing.

“ Thus ended this great scene of fury, of vengeance, of victory, of joy, of atrocities, but where there gleamed a few rays of humanity.”[95]

More than a few rays ! On this terrible 14th of July great deeds were done, deeds of glorious valour and self-sacrifice. Against the murky background of brutality and horror the names of Élie, Hulin, Arné, Bonnemère stand out in shining letters, and the fact that these men took no part in the subsequent excesses of the Revolution shows that they were not the tools of agitators but honest men acting on their own initiative and, as such, truly representative of the people. For patriots like these the revolutionary leaders had http://yamaguchy.netfirms.com/webster/frenchrev/fr_rev_02.html (47 of 66)5.4.2006 10:39:45

 

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no use ; the instruments they needed were of a different stamp. Jourdan, Maillard, Théroigne, Desnot, the “ cook out of place ” who had cut off the head of De Launay, all these will reappear again and again in the great scenes of the Revolution, but of Élie we shall hear no more.

What share must we attribute to the people in the crimes of this day ? Out of the 800,000 inhabitants of Paris only approximately 1000 took any part in the siege of the Bastille, [96] and we have already seen the elements of which this 1000 were composed.

That the mob by whom the atrocities were committed consisted mainly of the brigands, the evidence of Dussaulx further testifies :

“ They were men,” he says, “ armed like savages. And what sort of men ? Of the sort that one could not remember ever having met in broad daylight. Where did they come from ? Who had drawn them from their gloomy lairs ?” And again : “ They did not belong to the nation, these brigands that were seen filling the Hôtel de Ville, some nearly naked, others strangely clothed in garments of divers colours, beside themselves with rage, most of them not knowing what they wanted, demanding the death of the victims pointed out to them, and demanding it in tones that more than once it was impossible to resist.” Further, that they were actually hired for their task is evident. Mme. Vigée le Brun records that on the morning of this day she overheard two men talking; one said to the other, “ Do you want to earn 10 francs ? Come and make a row with us. You have only got to cry, ‘ Down with this one ! down with that one.’ Ten francs are worth earning.” The other answered, “ But shall we receive no blows ? ” “ Go to ! ” said the first man, “ it is we who are to deal the blows ! ”

Dussaulx confirms this statement in referring to the lanterne, “ where butchers paid by real assassins committed atrocities worthy of cannibals.”

But tools when they happen to be human are sometimes difficult to manipulate. In massacring the garrison of the Bastille it is evident that the brigands exceeded their orders, for neither De Launay nor the Invalides had been proscribed in the councils of the revolutionary leaders. [97] The murder of Flesselles, the provost-marshal, had, however, as we have seen, been ordained during the preceding night. The forged note was prepared and handed round amongst the populace ; it purported to be a message from Flesselles to De Launay and contained these words : “ I am keeping the Parisians amused with promises and cockades ; hold out till the evening and you will be reinforced.” This note, of which only a copy was produced, and the original, though sought for during six months, could never be discovered, is admitted by Dussaulx, Bailly, and Pitra to have been merely the faked-up pretext given to the people by those who desired the death of Flesselles. But on this occasion “ the people ” proved http://yamaguchy.netfirms.com/webster/frenchrev/fr_rev_02.html (48 of 66)5.4.2006 10:39:45

 

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recalcitrant, and Flesselles was allowed to pass unharmed out of the Hôtel de Ville.

Then a hired assassin, “ not a man of the people,” says Montjoie, but a well-to-do jeweller named Moraire, approached him as he came down the steps and fired a revolver into his ear. Flesselles fell dead, and the crowd, once more carried away by the sight of blood, cut off his head and bore it on a pike with De Launay’s to the Palais Royal. Thus perished the first victim on the list of proscriptions drawn up by the Palais Royal ; the only other in Paris at the time was the Prince de Lambesc, but though attacked by the mob, his carriage seized and burnt, he was able to make good his escape. At the King’s command the Comte d’Artois, De Breteuil, and De Broglie left Versailles and succeeded in reaching the frontier unmolested, thus avoiding the fate designed for them by the conspirators, but the Prince de Condé on his journey from Chantilly encountered at Crépy-en-Valois—the constituency of the Duc d’Orléans—emissaries sent by the duke to stir up the peasants, and narrowly escaped drowning in the Oise.

Foullon, though warned of the conspirators’ intentions regarding him, was at his château of Morangis and refused to fly. To the supplications of his daughter-in-law he only answered “ My daughter, you are aware of all the infamies circulated about me ; if I leave I shall seem to justify my condemnation. My life is pure, I wish it to be examined, and to leave my children an untarnished name.” He consented, however, to go to the château of his friend M. de Sartines at Viry, and on the morning of the 22nd of July he started forth on foot. M. de Sartines was out when he arrived, and Foullon awaited his return in the garden, when suddenly a horde of ruffians, led by one Grappe, burst in upon him. His whereabouts had been discovered by the treachery of a servant of Sartines’—not, as certain writers have stated, his own servant, who remained with him and endeavoured to protect him from his murderers.

Then the unfortunate old man of seventy-four was led to Paris, and in ghastly mockery the ruffians proceeded to mimic the sufferings of our Lord, crowning Foullon with thorns and, when on the long road to Paris he complained of thirst, giving him vinegar to drink.

At the Hôtel de Ville Lafayette vainly attempted to save him from the fury of the populace. “ But this agitation,” says Bailly, now the mayor of Paris, “ was not natural and spontaneous. In the square, and even in the hall, people of decent appearance were seen mingling in the crowd and exciting them to severity. One well-dressed man, addressing the bench, cried out angrily, ‘ What need is there to judge a man who has been judged for thirty years ? ’ ” The lying phrase attributed to Foullon, “ If the people have no bread let them eat hay,” was successfully circulated, and at last the infuriated mob stuffed his mouth with hay and hung him to the lantern.[98]

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Meanwhile Foullon’s son-in-law, Berthier, was arrested at Compiègne, in the midst of his efforts to assure the provisioning of Paris. It was said, to inflame the passions of the crowd, that he had ordered the corn to be cut green so as to starve the people. The truth was that letters had reached him from all sides describing the urgent demand for grain, and Necker himself had written on the 14th of July ordering him to cut 20,000 septiers of rye before the harvest in order to supply the present need, [99] but Berthier had refused

to comply, preferring to ensure the circulation of grain already stored, and by means of untiring activity he succeeded in providing the necessary supplies. This, of course, the revolutionaries could not forgive him, and Berthier was driven to Paris amidst the execrations of the populace. As he entered the capital, followed by a mob of armed brigands, the head of his father-in-law was thrust through his carriage-window on the end of a pike. Faint with hunger and sick with horror he reached the Hôtel de Ville, but before the lantern could be lowered a mutineer of the Royal Cravatte plunged his sabre into his body. Thereupon “ a monster of ferocity, a cannibal,” tore out his heart, and Desnot, the “ cook out of place ” who had cut off the head of De Launay and again “ happened ” to be on the spot, carried it to the Palais Royal.[100] This ghastly trophy,

together with the victim’s head, was placed in the middle of the supper-table around which the brigands feasted.

Such were the consequences of the siege of the Bastille so vaunted by panegyrists of the Revolution. Well may M. Madelin exclaim : “ A new era was born of a prodigious lie.

Liberty bore a stain from its birth, and the paradox once created can never be dispelled.”

And what of the Bastille, that haunt of despotism, whose destruction was to atone for these atrocities ? Alas for the deception of the people, their investigation of the hated fortress revealed nothing remotely resembling the visions presented to their imaginations—no skeletons or corpses were to be found, no captives in chains, no oubliettes, no torture-chambers.[101] True, an “ iron corselet ” was discovered, “

invented to restrict a man in all his joints and to fix him in perpetual immobility,” but this was proved to be an ordinary suit of armour ; a destructive machine, “ of which one could not guess the use,” turned out to be a printing-press confiscated by the police ; whilst a collection of human bones that seemed to offer a sinister significance was traced to the anatomical collection of the surgery.

The prisoners proved equally disappointing. Seven only were found—four forgers, Béchade, Lacaurège, Pujade, and Laroche ; two lunatics, Tavernier and De Whyte, who were mad before they were imprisoned, and the Comte de Solages, incarcerated for “ monstrous crimes ” at the request of his family. The first four disappeared into Paris.

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interested populace. Finally, the Comte de Solages was sent back to his inappreciative relations, whilst a kind-hearted wig-maker attempted keeping Tavernier as a pet, but was obliged to return him hastily to the Comité, who despatched him with De Whyte to the lunatic asylum at Charenton.

The Revolution showed itself less indulgent to Bastille prisoners than the Old Régime.

The romantic conception of Dickens in the Tale of Two Cities, wherein a former victim of despotism is made to remark that “ as a Bastille prisoner not a soul would harm a hair of his head,” is entirely refuted by history. Two, as we have already seen, were nearly massacred in their attempts to save De Losme, and subsequently no less than ten Bastille prisoners perished at the hands of the revolutionaries—eight were guillotined and two were shot. Of these—greatest irony of all—was Linguet, the man whose revelations had contributed more than any other evidence to inflame public feeling on the subject of the Bastille. Linguet did his best to atone for the calumnies he had circulated, for in December 1792 he wrote to Louis XVI. begging to be allowed the honour of defending him. Eighteen months later, in one of the many horrible prisons of the Terror where he awaited his summons to the guillotine, Linguet had leisure to meditate on the amenities of the Bastille.

 

THE KING’S VISIT TO PARIS

 

It was through the medium of the Palais Royal that the news of the taking of the Bastille reached Versailles, for the King’s messengers were waylaid by revolutionary emissaries, whilst the Vicomte de Noailles and other Orléanistes were deputed to announce the events of the day to the Assembly. Needless to say, these events were ingeniously distorted to suit the purpose of the intrigue—the Bastille had been taken by force, De Launay had fired on the deputation of citizens and met with the just reward of his treachery at the hands of “ the people.” The presence of the troops was, of course, still represented as the only reason for these disorders.

The King, informed of the desperate state of affairs, replied to the Assembly : “ You rend my heart more and more by the account you give me of the troubles of Paris. It is not possible to believe that the orders given to the troops can be the cause.” They were most certainly not the cause, and the removal of the troops was followed a week later, as we have seen, by disorders still more frightful in the massacres of Foullon and of Berthier. But the King, assured by succeeding deputations that no other measure would restore peace to the capital, torn between his own convictions and the entreaties of the deputies, finally resolved to appeal to the better feelings of the Assembly. Accompanied http://yamaguchy.netfirms.com/webster/frenchrev/fr_rev_02.html (51 of 66)5.4.2006 10:39:45

 

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by his two brothers he appeared in the great hall, and in the simple human language peculiar to him, that contrasts so strangely with the redundant periods of the day, he implored their aid in dealing with the crisis :

“ Messieurs, I have assembled you to consult on the most important affairs of state, of which none is more urgent, none touches my heart more deeply, than the frightful disorder that reigns in the capital. The head of the nation comes with confidence into the midst of its representatives to tell them of his grief, to ask them to find means for restoring calm and order.” Then, referring to the hideous calumnies circulated on his intentions—notably the monstrous fable that he had ordered the hall of the Assembly to be mined in order to blow up the deputies—he added, with a pathos and dignity that won for him the sympathy of almost the whole Assembly :

“ I know that people have aroused unjust suspicions in your minds ; I know that they have dared to say that your persons were not in safety. Is it necessary to reassure you concerning such criminal rumours, refuted beforehand by your knowledge of my character ? Well, then, it is I, who am one with my nation, it is I who trust in you ! Help me in these circumstances to assure the salvation of the State ; I await this from the National Assembly, from the zeal of the representatives of my people… .” Then, since he was persuaded the milice bourgeoise were competent to maintain “ order ” in the capital, he ended by announcing that he had ordered the troops to retire from Paris to Versailles.

In the wild enthusiasm that followed this speech of the King the voice of the revolutionary factions was for once stifled, and Louis XVI. was escorted back to the Palace amidst the acclamations of deputies and people. Cries of “ Vive le Roi ! ” resounded on every side, and so immense a crowd assembled that the King took an hour and a half to cover the short distance between the Salle des Menus and the Château. The unfortunate monarch, pressed upon from every side, saluted unresistingly on both cheeks by a woman of the people, grilled by the rays of the July sun, suffered almost as much by the warmth of his subjects’ affection as two days later he was to suffer by their coldness, and he reached at last the marble staircase nearly suffocated and streaming with perspiration.

Meanwhile the Queen, holding the Dauphin in her arms and little Madame Royale by the hand, came out on to the balcony—that same balcony from which less than three months later she was to face a very different crowd. The children of the Comte d’Artois came to kiss her hand ; the Queen stooped to embrace them, holding the Dauphin towards them.

The little boys pressed him to their hearts, and Madame Royale, slipping her head under her mother’s arm, joined in the caresses. The King arrived at this moment and appeared http://yamaguchy.netfirms.com/webster/frenchrev/fr_rev_02.html (52 of 66)5.4.2006 10:39:45

 

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on the balcony amidst the cheers and benedictions of his people.

In Paris, likewise, the people longed for peace. When on the same day eighty-four deputies went to the capital to read aloud the King’s discourse, and to announce the dismissal of the troops, they were received with acclamations, and from thousands of throats arose the cry, “ Vive le Roi ! Vive la Nation ! ” The whole city was in an ecstasy of happiness. Lally, the tenderhearted Lally, took advantage of the restored good-humour of the people to address them at the Hôtel de Ville and entreat them to put an end to disorder :

“ Messieurs, we have come to bring you peace from the King and the National Assembly. (Cries of Peace ! Peace !) You are generous ; you are Frenchmen ; you love your wives, your children, your country. (Yes ! Yes !) There are no more bad citizens. Everything is calm, everything is peaceful … there will be no more proscriptions, will there ? ” And with one voice the people answered, “ Yes, yes, peace ; no more proscriptions ! ”

Then the Archbishop of Paris (Monseigneur de Juigné) spoke with fatherly compassion of the misfortunes of the capital, after which he led the people amidst thunderous applause to sing a Te Deum of thanksgiving at Notre Dame.

Alas, the people were not allowed to enjoy for long this restored harmony ! Such was the amazing ingenuity of the agitators and the credulity of the Parisians that in the space of a few hours the city was thrown into a fresh panic—“ The troops are not being sent away—flour intended for Paris is being held up—soldiers are tearing the national cockade off passers-by and stuffing their guns with them—the city has only three days’

supplies.” The workmen engaged in demolishing the Bastille were told that their bread and wine were poisoned. [102]

Then, when the fury of the populace was once more thoroughly aroused, deputations of fishwives were sent by the leaders of the conspiracy to demand that the King should come to Paris. It was the first of the series of attempts made by the revolutionaries to have the King assassinated by the People. They dared not do the deed themselves, for they knew the frightful punishment attaching to regicide ; they knew, moreover, the furious indignation so foul a crime would arouse in the minds of the people in general to whom the King was still almost a sacred being. But if the populace could be sufficiently inflamed, and at the psychological moment the King were brought amongst them, might not some brigand lurking in the crowd, some obscure fanatic, give way to a sudden impulse and pull the trigger of his rusty flint-lock ? The thing was not impossible. [103]

The Queen, who foresaw the same possibilities, threw herself in vain at the King’s feet and implored him not to expose himself to the threatening populace. But the King, http://yamaguchy.netfirms.com/webster/frenchrev/fr_rev_02.html (53 of 66)5.4.2006 10:39:45

 

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convinced “ that if each citizen owes to his sovereign the sacrifice of his life, the sovereign equally owes to his country the sacrifice of his, turned a deaf ear to all forebodings, trusted to his people and the good genius of France, and in spite of the Queen’s entreaties showed himself firm and unshakable. ‘ I have promised,’ he said ; ‘

my intentions are pure ; I trust in this. The people must know that I love them, and, anyhow, they can do as they like with me.’ ” [104]

“ Louis XVI.,” says De Lescure, “ was neither a superior intellect nor an energetic will, he was an incorruptible conscience,” and these words give the clue to all his oscillations, for conscience is necessarily a more uncertain guide than policy or self-interest. As long as he felt convinced a certain course was right he followed it without a thought for his personal safety or advantage—the trouble was that he could not always decide which course was right, and allowed himself to be swayed by conflicting counsels. On this occasion he did not hesitate—the people wished him to go to Paris ; he would go, and his conscience being at rest he could meet any fate with tranquillity.

At ten o’clock in the morning of July 17 the King, escorted by the deputies of the Assembly and the milice bourgeoise, set forth for Paris. His guards were taken from him, and in their place marched 200,000 men armed with scythes and pickaxes, with guns and lances, dragging cannons behind them, and women dancing like Bacchantes, waving branches of leaves tied with ribbons. In order not to tire the people the King had ordered the procession to move at foot’s-pace, and it was four o’clock by the time it reached Paris. [105] In the midst of this threatening escort Louis XVI. sat pale and

anxious, and on entering the city he leant forward, casting his eyes wonderingly over the assembled multitude that received him in an ominous silence, for the people had been forbidden to cheer him. So potent was the spell exercised over the popular mind by the leaders of the Revolution that not a soul dared to utter the cry of “ Vive le Roi ! ” and brigands posted in the crowd silenced the least murmur of applause.[106] Thus, dragged

like a captive through the streets of the city, the King was obliged to endure this terrible humiliation for which no cause whatever existed ; he had done absolutely nothing to forfeit the popularity which only two days earlier he had enjoyed. The good Archbishop of Paris fared still worse at the hands of the populace, for alone of all the procession he was hissed by those he had ruined himself to feed. Sitting in his carriage, his eyes downcast, striving to overcome the agitation of his mind, his thoughts must have indeed been bitter.

As the procession passed through the Place Louis XV the possibility that both the Queen and the revolutionary leaders had foreseen was realized—a hand in the crowd pulled the trigger of a gun, and the shot missing the King killed a poor woman at the back of the http://yamaguchy.netfirms.com/webster/frenchrev/fr_rev_02.html (54 of 66)5.4.2006 10:39:45

 

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royal carriage.[107] The incident was hushed up, and even the King was unaware it had

occurred. Thus, saved by the mysterious power which protected him every time that lie was brought face to face with the people, the King reached the Hôtel de Ville.

Under an archway of pikes and naked swords he passed to the throne prepared for him.

Bailly presented him with the tricolour cockade, and the King accepting it as that which it professed to be—the cockade of Paris—placed it in his hat. Then suddenly it seemed that the spell was broken, and cries of “ Vive le Roi ! ” broke out on all sides. Once more Lally passionately appealed to the people’s loyalty :

“ Well, citizens, are you satisfied ? Here is the King for whom you called aloud, and whose name alone excited your transports when two days ago we uttered it in your midst. Rejoice, then, in his presence and his benefits.” After reminding the people of all the King had done for the cause of Liberty he turned to assure the King of the people’s love : “ There is not a man here who is not ready to shed for you the last drop of his blood. No, Sire, this generation of Frenchmen will not go back on fourteen centuries of fidelity. We will all perish, if necessary, to defend the throne that is as sacred to us as to yourself. Perish those enemies who would sow discord between the nation and its chief ! King, subjects, citizens, let us join our hearts, our wishes, our efforts, and display to the eyes of the universe the magnificent spectacle of one of its finest nations, free, happy, triumphant, under a just, cherished, and revered King, who, owing nothing to force, will owe everything to his virtues and his love.”

Again and again Lally was interrupted by tumultuous applause, and the King, overwhelmed by this sudden revulsion of popular feeling, could only murmur brokenly in reply, “ My people can always count on my love.”

His departure for Versailles was as triumphant as his arrival had been humiliating.

When he entered his carriage with the tricolour cockade in his hat an immense crowd gathered round him, crying, “ Long live our good King, our friend, our father ! ” It was eleven o’clock before he reached the Château. On the marble staircase the Queen, with the Dauphin in her arms, was waiting for him in an agony of suspense, and at the sight of the husband she had not dared to hope ever to see again Marie Antoinette fell weeping on his neck. But when she raised her eyes and saw that sinister badge—the enemy’s colours in his hat—her heart sank ; from that moment she felt that all was lost.

But the King was happy, not because his life had been spared, but because he believed that he had regained the love of his people.