t was nothing so long as civil, social and political equality
were secured.

At the parade held on the 14th of July,--the Marseillais had not yet
arrived,--there were no cries of _Vive le roi_, and none of, _Vive la
republique_, but _Vive la nation_ was the adopted formula. Yet at the
same moment Billaud-Varennes, one of the most advanced of the Jacobins,
was addressing the Club in favour of a republic; and the _federes_ formed
a central committee which on the 17th petitioned the {143} assembly for
the suspension of the King. To support the movement further the section
committees were decreed in continuous session, and came under the control
of the organization.

On the 30th of July, Brunswick crossed the frontier; the advance of his
columns was heralded by a proclamation or manifesto. In this document he
announced to the people of France that he entered the country as the ally
of their sovereign, and with the purpose of visiting on Paris an
"exemplary and never-to-be-forgotten vengeance . . . military execution
and total subversion," and of bringing "the guilty rebels to the death
they have deserved." Copies of the manifesto reached Paris on the 3rd of
August, with immediate effect. To Louis the Prussian general's
utterances appeared so incredible that they were promptly disavowed as a
forgery. To the people they confirmed the suspicion that had been
rankling for three long years, that had been envenomed by all the poison
of Marat. A howl of execration arose, a howl not against Brunswick but
against the inmates of the Tuileries; and in that howl the voices of the
Marseillais, who had just reached the city, were raised loudest.

{144} The inevitable result followed in just one week, a week spent in
preparations by the popular leaders. At one o'clock in the morning of
the 10th of August delegates from the sections met at the Hotel de Ville
and assumed control of the city. This body was joined by Danton, Marat
and Hebert, among others, and of these Danton more than anyone else
represented the driving power. Orders were given for ringing the tocsin.
All Paris knew the movement was coming, and understood the signal.

At the Tuileries preparations for resistance had been made. The Marquis
de Mandat took charge of the defence. He had about 1,500 well-disposed
national guards from the western or middle class districts, and about
1,000 excellent Swiss infantry of the King's household troops. These he
posted to g