selves be taken." Louis XVI. had said
absolutely nothing on going {307} away, and his departure discouraged
his most faithful adherents. Add to this that the Swiss had not enough
cartridges. What was to be the fate of this fine regiment, this _corps
d'elite_, which everywhere and always had set the example of discipline
and military honor; which ever since the Revolution began had haughtily
repulsed every attempt to tamper with it; and whose red uniforms alone
struck terror into the populace? These brave soldiers guarded
respectfully the traditions of their ancestors who, at the famous
retreat of Meaux, had saved Charles IX. "But for my good friends the
Swiss," said that prince, "my life and liberty would have been in a bad
way." What the Swiss of the sixteenth century had done for one King of
France, the Swiss of the eighteenth century would have done for his
successor. They would have saved Louis XVI. if he would have let
himself be saved.

A major-general who had remained at the Tuileries, judging that it was
impossible to defend the courts with so few soldiers, cried:
"Gentlemen, retire to the palace!" "They had to leave six cannon in
the power of the enemy and to abandon the courts. It should have been
foreseen that it would be necessary to retake these under penalty of
being burned in the palace; the common soldiers said so loudly.
Meanwhile they obeyed, and were disposed as well as time and the
localities permitted. The stairs and windows were lined with
soldiers." (Account of Colonel Pfyffer d'Altishoffen, published at
Lucerne in 1819.)

{308}

One post occupied the chapel, and another the vestibule and grand
staircase. There were Swiss also at the windows looking into the
courts. "Down with the Swiss!" cried the Marseillais. "Down! down!
Surrender!" However, the struggle had not yet begun. Nearly fifteen
minutes elapsed between the invasion of the Royal Court and the first
shot. The Marseillais brandished their pikes and guns, but they were
not confident, for at first they dared not cross the court more than
half-way. The Swiss and National Guards who were at the windows made
gestures to induce the populace to quiet down and go away. The throng
of insurgents grew greater every minute. They had just got their
cannon into battery against the Tuileries. What the Swiss specially
intended was to defend the grand staircase, so as to prevent the
apartments on the first floor from being invaded