nd mire, which another individual also carried on a pike.
The naked body was there likewise, with its back to the ground and the
front cut open to the very breast. Danjou tried to make the crowd of
assassins who wanted to invade the Temple understand that at a moment
when the enemy was master of the frontiers, it would be impolitic to
deprive themselves of hostages so precious as Louis XVI. and his
family. "Moreover," he added, "would it not demonstrate their
innocence if you dare not try them? How much worthier it is of a great
people to execute a king guilty of treason on the scaffold!" Thus,
while preventing an immediate massacre, he held the scaffold in
reserve. Danjou said that the Communal Council, in order to show its
confidence in the citizens composing the mob, had decided that six of
them should be admitted to make the rounds of the Temple garden, with
the commissioners at their head. The ribbon was then raised and
several persons entered the enclosure. They were those who carried the
remains of Madame de Lamballe. With these were the laborers who had
been at work on the demolitions. Voices were heard demanding furiously
that Marie Antoinette should show herself at a window, so that some one
might climb up and make her {356} kiss her friend's head. As Danjou
opposed this infernal scheme, he was accused of being on the side of
the tyrant. Was the dungeon of the Temple to be forced? Were the
assassins about to seize the Queen, tear her in pieces, and drag her,
like her friend, through streets and squares to the rolling of drums
and the chanting of the _Marseillaise_ and the _Ca ira_?

A municipal officer entered the tower and began a mysterious parley
with his colleagues. As Louis XVI. asked what was going on, some one
replied: "Well, sir, since you desire to know, they want to show you
Madame de Lamballe's head." Meanwhile the cries outside were growing
louder. Another municipal came in, followed by four delegates from the
mob. One of them, who carried a heavy sabre in his hand, insisted that
the prisoners should present themselves at the window, but this was
opposed by the municipal officers, who were less cruel. This man said
to the Queen in an insulting tone: "They want us to hide the Princess
de Lamballe's head from you when we brought it to let you see how the
people avenge themselves on their tyrants. I advise you to show
yourself if you don't want the people to come up." Marie Antoinett