dismission, and to enjoin him to
retire instantly, without saying a word of it to any body. He went home,
dined, and proposed to his wife a visit to a friend, but went in fact
to his country-house at St. Ouen, and at midnight set out for Brussels.
This was not known till the next day (the 12th), when the whole
ministry was changed, except Villedeuil, of the domestic department, and
Barenton, _Garde des Sceaux_. The changes were as follows.
The Baron de Breteuil, President of the Council of Finance; de la
Galasiere, Comptroller General, in the room of Mr. Necker; the Marshal
de Broglio, Minister of War, and Foulon under him, in the room of
Puy-Segur; the Duke de la Vauguyon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, instead
of the Count de Montmorin; de la Porte, Minister of Marine, in place of
the Count de la Luzerne; St. Priest was also removed from the Council.
Lucerne and Puy Segur had been strongly of the aristocratic party in
the Council but they were not considered as equal to the work now to
be done. The King was now completely in the hands of men, the principal
among whom had been noted through their lives for the Turkish despotism
of their characters, and who were associated around the King as proper
instruments for what was to be executed. The news of this change began
to be known at Paris about one or two o'clock. In the afternoon, a body
of about one hundred German cavalry were advanced, and drawn up in the
Place Louis XV., and about two hundred Swiss posted at a little distance
in their rear. This drew people to the spot, who thus accidentally found
themselves in front of the troops, merely at first as spectators; but,
as their numbers increased, their indignation rose. They retired a few
steps, and posted themselves on and behind large piles of stones, large
and small, collected in that place for a bridge, which was to be built
adjacent to it. In this position, happening to be in my carriage on a
visit, I passed through the lane they had formed, without interruption.
But the moment after I had passed, the people attacked the cavalry with
stones. They charged, but the advantageous position of the people, and
the showers of stones, obliged the horse to retire, and quit the field
altogether, leaving one of their number on the ground, and the Swiss in
their rear, not moving to their aid. This was the signal for universal
insurrection, and this body of cavalry, to avoid being massacred,
retired towards Versailles. The peopl
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