n; the bars gave way; the
huissiers and other attendants rushed through the body of the hall, and
took refuge behind the chair of the president in affright; the sleepers
started from their seats; and, with a roar which spoke the true
supremacy of the new power in France, the mob poured in. They announced
themselves a deputation from the Municipality, and instantly took
possession of the benches. Men, women, and even children, composed this
barbarian invasion; like all that I had seen, half intoxicated; but
evidently trained by higher hands for more determined evil. A chosen
set of orators, in Roman robes, probably plundered from some suburb
theatre, moved forward to the table, and took their seats round it in as
much solemnity as conscript fathers. The chief speaker then advanced
from the door, preceded by the head of one of the murdered Swiss on a
pike, a hideous spectacle, and, drawing from his belt a dagger,
commenced a furious harangue against every thing that bore the shape of
authority in the kingdom. The Assembly did not escape in the general
outpouring of its bitterness. They were charged with want of zeal, with
want of honesty, and, most formidable of all, want of patriotism. I saw
many a member cower at the word; for it was the countersign of
Jacobinism; and the man, on whom that charge was personally fastened,
was sure to fall by pistol or dagger. But the rage of the harangue was
levelled at the royal family. "There sits the tyrant!" he exclaimed,
pointing with his poniard to the meekest of monarchs and of men. "The
vengeance of the people calls for victims. How long shall it be
insulted? If justice is blind, tear the bandage from her eyes. How long
shall the sword of the people rust in its sheath! Liberty sitting on her
altar demands new sacrifices to feed the flame. The blood of tyrants is
the only incense worthy to be offered by a regenerated people!"

At every pause of those fierce interjections, the crowd burst into yells
of applause, drew knives and daggers from their bosoms, flourished them
in the air, and echoed the words. The Assembly were evidently held in
terror of their lives. The president made some faint attempts to restore
order. A few of the members made faint attempts at speeches. But the mob
were masters; and a night of such horrors passed, as I had never dreamed
of before. At daybreak the orator demanded that a decree should be
instantly passed, suspending the king, the ministry, and even th