ose barracks
as soon as the regiment of artillery was assembled.

"Upon the 29th, at eleven o'clock in the evening, one of my friends came
to seek me at the _Rue de la Fontaine_, to conduct me to the general
rendezvous. We traversed together the whole city. A bright moon
illuminated the streets. I regarded the fine weather as a favorable omen
for the next day. I examined with care the places through which I
passed. The silence which reigned made an impression upon me. By what
would that calm be replaced to-morrow!

"'Nevertheless,' said I to my companion, 'there will be no disorder if I
succeed. It is especially to avoid the troubles which frequently
accompany popular movements that I have wished to make the revolution by
means of the army. But,' I added, 'what confidence, what profound
conviction must we have of the nobleness of our cause, to encounter not
merely the dangers which we are about to meet, but that public opinion
which will load us with reproaches and overwhelm us if we do not
succeed! And still, I call God to witness that it is not to satisfy a
personal ambition, but because I believe that I have a mission to
fulfill, that I risk that which is more dear to me than life, the esteem
of my fellow-citizens.'

"Having arrived at the house in the _Rue des Orphelins_, I found my
friends assembled in two apartments on the ground floor. I thanked them
for the devotion which they manifested for my cause, and said to them
that from that hour we would share good and bad fortune together. One of
the officers had an eagle. It was that which had belonged to the seventh
regiment of the line. 'The eagle of Labedoyere,'[L] one exclaimed, and
each one of us pressed it to his heart with lively emotion. All the
officers were in full uniform. I had put on the uniform of the artillery
and the hat of a major-general.

[Footnote L: Colonel Labedoyere was a young man of fine figure and
elegant manners, descended from a respectable family, and whose heart
ever throbbed warmly in remembrance of the glories of the Empire. Upon
the abdication of Napoleon and his retirement to Elba, Labedoyere was
in command of the seventh regiment of the line, stationed at Grenoble.
He fraternized with his troops in the enthusiasm with which one and all
were swept away at the sight of the returning Emperor. Drawing a silver
eagle from his pocket, he placed it upon the flag-staff and embraced it
in the presence of all his soldiers, who, in a state