d were marching towards the Place
Vendome, where the battalions of the Committee were collected in
masses, and where, as is well known, the staff of the National Guard
had its head-quarters. There, as in the Rue Drouot, the drums were
beaten and arms presented to us; more than that, an officer came and
informed the leaders of the manifestation that a delegate of the
Central Committee begged them to proceed to the staff quarters. At
this moment I was carrying the flag. We advanced in silence. When we
arrived beneath the balcony, surrounded by National Guards, whose
attitude was generally peaceful; there appeared on the balcony a
rather young man, without uniform, but wearing a red scarf, and
surrounded by several superior officers; he came forward and
said--'Citizens, in the name of the Central Committee....' when he
was interrupted by a storm of hisses and by cries of '_Vive l'Ordre!
Vive l'Assemblee Nationale! Vive la Republique!_' In spite of these
daring interruptions we were not subjected to any violence, nor
even to any threats, and without troubling ourselves any more about
the delegate, we marched round the column, and having regained the
boulevards proceeded towards the Place de la Concorde. There, some
one proposed that we should visit Admiral Saisset, who lived in the
Rue Pauquet, in the quarter of the Champs Elysees, when a grave
looking man with grey hair said that Admiral Saisset was at
Versailles. 'But,' he added, 'there are several admirals amongst
you.' He gave his own name, it was Admiral de Chaille. From that
moment he headed the manifestation, which passed over the Pont de la
Concorde to the Faubourg St. Germain. Constantly received with
acclamations, and increasing in numbers, we paraded successively all
the streets of the quarter, and each time that we passed before a
guard-house the men presented arms. On the Place St. Sulpice a
battalion drew up to allow us to pass. We afterwards went along the
Boulevard St. Michel and the Boulevard de Strasbourg. During this
part of our course we were joined by a large group, preceded by a
tricolor flag with the inscription, '_Vive l'Assemblee Nationale!_'
From this time the two flags floated side by side at the head of the
augmented procession. As we were about to turn into the Boulevard
Bonne-Nouvelle, a man dressed in a pale