that they have disappeared at the first cloud that has darkened
the horizon of their sovereign, and increased the danger that menaces
him by shewing that they have not courage to meet it? Heaven send, for
the honour of France, that the _noblesse_ of the court of Charles the
Tenth may not follow the disgraceful example furnished by that of his
unfortunate brother, Louis the Sixteenth! In England how different
would it be if danger menaced the sovereign!

---- has just been here, and, in answer to my question of where are the
men on whose fidelity the king could count, and in whose military
experience he might confide in such a crisis as the present, he told me
that for the purposes of election interests all the general officers
who could be trusted had unfortunately been sent from the court.

The sound of firing has announced that order, far from being restored,
seems less likely than ever to be so. People are rushing wildly through
the streets proclaiming that several persons have been killed by the
military. All is confusion and alarm, and every one appears to dread
what the coming night may produce.

Intelligence has just reached us that the mob are demolishing the
lanterns, and that they have broken into the shops of the gunsmiths,
and seized all the arms they could find. The Duc de Raguse commands the
troops, and already several charges have taken place. This selection,
under present circumstances, is not considered to be a good one.

The people are forming barricades in various parts of the town, and
some of our servants, who have been out to collect intelligence, assert
that no hinderance seems to be opposed to this mischievous measure.
Where are the civil authorities during all this commotion? is the
natural question that suggests itself to one who knows how in London,
under any disturbance, they would oppose themselves to check such
proceedings. And why, if the civil authorities are too weak to resist
the torrent, is there not a sufficient military force to stem it? is
the next question that presents itself. No one seems to know where the
blame lies, but every one foretells a dangerous result from this
unaccountable state of things.

The promulgation of the ordonnances which had led to this tumult, ought
to have been accompanied by a display of force sufficient to maintain
their enactment. If a government _will_ try the hazardous measure of a
_coup d'etat_, it ought to be well prepared to meet the probable