The Assembly of the Notables convened in 1787 to consider the state of
the kingdom. La Fayette was its most distinguished and trusted member,
and it was he who demanded a convocation of the representatives of all
the departments of France, for the purpose of devising a permanent
remedy for the evils under which France was suffering.

"What, sir," said one of the royal princes to La Fayette, "do you really
demand the assembling of a general congress of France?"

"Yes, my Lord," replied La Fayette, "and _more than that_."

Despite the opposition of the court, this memorable congress met in
Paris in 1789, and La Fayette represented in it the nobility of his
province. It was he who presented the "Declaration of Rights," drawn
upon the model of those with which he had been familiar in America, and
it was finally adopted. It was he, also, who made the ministers of the
crown responsible for their acts, and for the consequences of their
acts.

When this National Assembly was declared permanent, La Fayette was
elected its vice-president, and it was in that character that, after the
taking of the Bastile, he went to the scene, at the head of a deputation
of sixty members, to congratulate the people upon their triumph. The
next day, a city guard was organized to preserve the peace of Paris, and
the question arose in the assembly who should command it. The president
arose and pointed to the bust of La Fayette, presented by the State of
Virginia to the city of Paris. The hint was sufficient, and La Fayette
was elected to the post by acclamation. He called his citizen soldiers
by the name of National Guards, and he distinguished them by a
tri-colored cockade, and all Paris immediately fluttered with
tri-colored ribbons and badges.

"This cockade," said La Fayette, as he presented one to the National
Assembly, "will make the tour of the world." From the time of his
acceptance of the command of the National Guard, the course of La
Fayette changed its character, and the change became more and more
marked as the revolution proceded. Hitherto he had been chiefly employed
in rousing the sentiment of liberty in the minds of his countrymen; but
now that the flame threatened to become a dangerous conflagration, it
devolved upon him to stay its ravages. It was a task beyond human
strength, but he most gallantly attempted it. On some occasions he
rescued with his own hands the victims of the popular fury, and arrested
the cockaded assa