ened, 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 the order I had
just written, for it could not be found. They surrounded me, saying that
I had not written it at all, and I was on the point of being trampled
underfoot, when a militiaman found it all crumpled up in his pocket. The
threats grew louder, and once more it was because I did not carry the
flag high enough, everyone insisting that I was quite tall enough to
display it to better advantage.

"However, at this point the militiamen with the red tufts made their
appearance, a few armed with muskets but the greater number with swords;
shots were exchanged, and the soldiers of the line and the National Guard
arranged themselves in battle order, in a kind of recess, and desired me
to