ossible; thereupon MM. Ferrand and Ponthier put
on their scarfs and went out.

"A few instants later several dragoons, amongst whom I recognised none
but MM. Lezan du Pontet, Paris junior, and Boudon, accompanied by a
great number of the militia, entered, demanding that the red flag should
be brought out. They tried to open the door of the council hall, and
finding it locked, they called upon me for the key. I asked that one of
the attendants should be sent for, but they were all out; then I went to
the hall-porter to see if he knew where the key was. He said M. Berding
had taken it. Meanwhile, just as the volunteers were about to force an
entrance, someone ran up with the key. The door was opened, and the red
flag seized and forced into my hands. I was then dragged down into the
courtyard, and from thence to the square.

"It was all in vain to tell them that they ought first to get authority,
and to represent to them that I was no suitable standard-bearer on
account of my profession; but they would not listen to any objection,
saying that my life depended upon my obedience, and that my profession
would overawe the disturbers of the public peace. So I went on, followed
by a detachment of the Guienne regiment, part of the first company of
the legion, and several dragoons; a young man with fixed bayonet kept
always at my side. Rage was depicted on the faces of all those who
accompanied me, and they indulged in oaths and threats, to which I paid
no attention.

"In passing through the rue des Greffes they complained that I did not
carry the red flag high enough nor unfurl it fully. When we got to the
guardhouse at the Crown Gate, the guard turned out, and the officer was
commanded to follow us with his men. He replied that he could not
do that without a written order from a member of the Town Council.
Thereupon those around me told me I must write such an order, but I
asked for a pen and ink; everybody was furious because I had none with
me. So offensive were the remarks indulged in by the volunteers and some
soldiers of the Guienne regiment, and so threatening their gestures,
that I grew alarmed. I was hustled and even received several blows;
but at length M. de Boudon brought me paper and a pen, and I wrote:--'I
require the troops to assist us to maintain order by force if
necessary.' Upon this, the officer consented to accompany us. We had
hardly taken half a dozen steps when they all began to ask what had
become of t