Part 28 (1/2)

Hardly had Roederer p.r.o.nounced the words when the detonation of an artillery discharge shook the windowpanes of the chamber. The fight at the Tuileries was on! The first discharge was answered by a rapid fire of musketry, broken every now and again by the thunder of a new cannonade. Stupor seized the a.s.sembly and the galleries. It was a fresh royalist act of treason.

The almost incessant boom of artillery and rattle of musketry bore evidence to the warmth of the engagement. It is impossible to picture the anxiety, the heaving agitation of the chamber and the people in the hall. Among the latter, exasperation reached the last pitch. They broke into threats, into curses against Veto, against the Austrian woman.

”Down with the King!” ”Down with the Queen!” rang the cry.

Of a sudden the cannonade burst into still wilder fury. The reverberations of the artillery fire were so violent that several windows in the hall were s.h.i.+vered to bits. But soon the volleys slackened; they became less and less lively and frequent; then one heard only gunshots, rare, desultory, far between; and then one heard--nothing.

Victory, evidently, not a suspension of hostilities, had terminated the battle. Clearly, also, the victory had been a decisive one. But who were the conquerors, the inhabitants of the Sections, or the Swiss regiments?

Terrible alternative! Under the spell of this incert.i.tude the tumult, at its height some minutes before, fell of itself. A poignant load weighed upon every heart, choked every voice, paralyzed every movement; a mournful silence held sway over the house. If the insurrection were victorious, it was done for Louis XVI and the monarchy! Marie Antoinette by her att.i.tude and facial expression revealed her belief--she was confident the royal troops had won the day.

The uncertainty was not long in being dispelled. A deputation of members of the new Commune of Paris presented itself at the bar of the a.s.sembly.

It was attended by citizens bearing a banner with the device ”LIBERTY, EQUALITY, FRATERNITY.”

The head of the deputation spoke:

”Citizens, we are the victors! After prodigies of heroism, the people have taken the Tuileries! Long live the Nation!”

The majority of the Representatives rose in their seats, and all repeated with enthusiasm:

”Long live the Nation!”

The joy, the patriotic exaltation of the galleries bordered on delirium.

The session previously so agitated was now resumed amid relative calm.

All doubt as to the triumph of the people being laid, the deputies went back to their places; the president tapped his bell, and said:

”I beg the members of the a.s.sembly, as well as the public in the galleries, to refrain from further interruption. The graver the circ.u.mstances, all the more should we preserve calmness and dignity in our deliberations. The delegate of the Commune has the floor.”

”Citizen legislators,” resumed the latter, ”in the name of the victorious people, we have come to demand of you the deposition of Louis Capet.” All eyes were turned towards the booth where Louis XVI sat with his face in his hands. ”To-morrow we shall bring to the a.s.sembly the records of this memorable day of the tenth of August, 1792. This record should be sent to the forty-four thousand munic.i.p.alities of France, that it may arouse their national pride!” (Applause.) ”We announce to you that Petion, Manuel and Danton are still our colleagues in the Commune.

We have named Citizen Santerre commander of the armed force of Paris.”

Seeing the delegate was through, President Morlot announced to the a.s.sembly: ”During the invasion of the Tuileries by the people, a box of jewels was found in the Queen's apartment. A citizen, wounded in the attack, has just thrown it on the table.”

This lofty act, so free from all thought of pillage or petty personal gain, stirred the admiration of the a.s.sembly, and prepared the way for others of similar stamp. ”I propose,” said Bazire, rising, ”that the a.s.sembly decree that the Swiss citizens and all other foreigners residing in Paris are placed in the safekeeping of the law and in the hospitality of the French people!”

The motion was carried unanimously, amidst the echoing applause of the galleries.

Several of the combatants from the Tuileries, covered with dust, now appeared at the bar. One of these, in the uniform of the National Guard, his forehead bound in a b.l.o.o.d.y bandage, held in one hand his gun, and with the other dragged after him a Swiss soldier, pale and overcome with terror. The unhappy fellow's red uniform was in ribbons; he seemed ready to swoon. The wounded citizen, leaning on his weapon, drew close to the bar and said with emotion:

”Legislators, we come to express to you our indignation! Long has a perfidious court trifled with the French people. To-day it has drawn our blood. We penetrated the palace only over the corpses of our ma.s.sacred brothers. We have taken prisoner several Swiss soldiers, wretched instruments of tyranny! Some of them have thrown down their arms. As to us, we shall use toward them only the arms of generosity; we shall treat them as brothers.”

At ten o'clock that evening, when the illumination of the lamps had long replaced the light of day, the National a.s.sembly, having been in continuous session since the night of August 9, took a recess of an hour.

At eleven o'clock, when the a.s.sembly reconvened, the reporters' lodge was still occupied by the royal family. Louis XVI was crushed. His flaccid lips, his fixed and sunken eyes, announced his complete mental prostration. Marie Antoinette, on the contrary, seemed to have preserved all the energy of her character. Her eyes were red and dry; but her glance, when she occasionally allowed it to travel about, bore still its look of hateful disdain and defiance.

The Dauphin slept on the knees of Madam Elizabeth, who bent her pale brow toward the child. Dames Tourzel and Lamballe were silent and dazed.

Almost as soon as the session was reopened, a citizen presented himself at the bar: