d as the foundation of every other, he tells La Marck: "The
moment will soon come when it will be necessary to try what can be done by
a woman and a child on horseback. For her it is but the adoption of an
hereditary mode of action.[8] But she must be prepared for it, and must
not suppose that one can extricate one's self from an extraordinary crisis
by mere chance or by the combinations of an ordinary man."

The hopes with which the acquisition of such an ally inspired the queen at
this time nerved her to bear her part in the festival with which the
Assembly had decided on celebrating the demolition of the Bastile. The
arrangements for it were of a gigantic character. Round the sides of the
Champ de Mars a vast embankment was raised, so as to give the plain the
appearance of an amphitheatre, and to afford accommodation to three
hundred thousand spectators. At the entrance a magnificent arch of triumph
was erected. The centre was occupied by a grand altar; and on one side a
gorgeous pavilion was appropriated to the king, his family, and retinue,
the members of the Assembly, and the municipal magistrates. They were all
to be performers in the grand ceremony which was to be the distinguishing
feature of the day. The Constitution was scarcely more complete than it
had been when Louis signified his acceptance of it five months before; but
now, not only were he, the deputies, and municipal authorities of Paris to
swear to its maintenance, but the same oath was to be taken by the
National Guard, and by a deputation from every regiment in the army; and
it was to bind the soldiers throughout the kingdom to the new order of
things that the ceremony was originally designed.[9]

As a spectacle few have been more successful, and perhaps none has ever
been so imposing. Before midnight on the 13th of July, the whole of the
vast amphitheatre was filled with a dense crowd, in its gayest holiday
attire--a marvelous and magnificent sight from its mere numbers; and early
the next morning the heads of the procession began to defile under the
arch at the entrance of the plain--La Fayette, at the head of the National
Guard, leading the way. It was a curious proof of the king's weakness, and
of the tenacity with which he clung to his policy of conciliation, that,
in spite of his knowledge of the general's bitter animosity to his
authority and to himself, and of his recent vote for the suppression of
all titles of honor, Louis had offered him t