e rights of
man, like the Israelites before the Ark. The same flags and the same
obscene inscriptions visible in the streets, disgraced the temple of the
law. The tattered garments, hanging from their lances, the guillotine,
and the _potence_, with the effigy of the queen suspended from it,
traversed the Assembly with impunity. Some of the deputies applauded,
others turned away their heads or hid their faces in their hands; some
more courageous, forced the wretch who bore the _coeur saignant_,
partly by entreaties, partly by threats, to retire with his emblem of
assassination. Part of the people regarded with a respectful eye the
salle they profaned; others addressed the representatives as they
passed, and seemed to exult in their degradation. The rattling of the
strange weapons of the crowd, the clatter of their nailed shoes and
sabots on the pavement, the shrill shouts of the women, the voices of
the children, the cries of _Vive la nation_, patriotic songs, and the
sound of instruments, deafened the ear, whilst to the eye, these rags
contrasted strangely with the marbles, the statues, and the decorations
of the salle. The miasmas of this horde set in motion tainted the air,
and stifled respiration. Three hours elapsed ere all the troop had
defiled. The president hastened to adjourn the sitting, in the
expectation of approaching excesses.

XVI.

But an imposing force was drawn up in the courts of the Tuileries and
the garden, to defend the dwelling of the king against the invasion of
the people. Three regiments of the line, two squadrons of gendarmes,
several battalions of the national guard, and several pieces of cannon,
composed the means of resistance; but the troops, undecided, and acted
upon by sedition, were but an appearance of force. The cries of _Vive la
nation_, the friendly gestures of the insurgents, the appearance of the
women extending their arms towards the soldiers through the palisades,
and the presence of the municipal officers, who displayed a disdainful
neutrality towards the king, shook the feeling of resistance amongst the
troops, who beheld on either side the uniform of the national guard; and
between the population of Paris, in whose sentiments they participated,
and the chateau, which was represented to them as full of treason, they
no longer knew which it was their duty to obey. In vain did M.
Roederer, a firm organ of the constitution, and the superior officers
of the national guard, such