e council an arrogant, pedagogical
remonstrance, scrutinizing his sentiments, informing him of his duties,
calling upon him to accept the new "religion," to sanction the decree
against unsworn ecclesiastics, that is to say, to condemn to beggary,
imprisonment, and transportation[2515] 70,000 priests and nuns guilty of
orthodoxy, and authorize the camp around Paris, which means, to put his
throne, his person, and his family at the mercy of 20,000 madmen, chosen
by the clubs and other assemblages expressly to do him harm;[2516] in
short, to discard at once his conscience and his common sense.--Strange
enough, the royal will this time remains staunch; not only does the King
refuse, but he dismisses his ministers. So much the worse for him, for
sign he must, cost what it will; if he insists on remaining athwart
their path, they will march over him.--Not because he is dangerous, and
thinks of abandoning his legal immobility. Up to the 10th of August,
through a dread of action, and not to kindle a civil war, he rejects
all plans leading to an open rupture. Up to the very last day he resigns
himself even when his personal safety and that of his family is at
stake, to constitutional law and public common sense. Before dismissing
Roland and Servan, he desires to furnish some striking proof of his
pacific intentions by sanctioning the dissolution of his guard and
disarming himself not only for attack but for defense; henceforth he
sits at home and awaits the insurrection with which he is daily menaced;
he resigns himself to everything, except drawing his sword; his attitude
is that of a Christian in the amphitheatre.[2517]--The proposition of
a camp outside Paris, however, draws out a protest from 8,000 Paris
National Guards. Lafayette denounces to the Assembly the usurpations
of the Jacobins; the faction sees that its reign is threatened by this
reawakening and union of the friends of order. A blow must be struck.
This has been in preparation for a month past, and to renew the days of
October 5th and 6th, the materials are not lacking.

II.--The floating and poor population of Paris.

Disposition of the workers.--Effect of poverty and want of
work.--Effect of Jacobin preaching.--The revolutionary
army.--Quality of its recruits--Its first review.--Its
actual effective force.

Paris always has its interloping, floating population. A hundred
thousand of the needy, one-third of these from the departments,