nisters, and the care of the poor. The crown-lands
and the property of the _emigres_, which were confiscated July 26, 1792,
were also declared national property, _biens nationaux_, and these biens
were said to be the _dot_ of the new constitution. The collection of the
revenue was simplified and made less vexatious, each citizen to
contribute his just proportion.

The supreme moment of the Revolution was, perhaps, the Fete of the
Federation, celebrated on the first anniversary of the fall of the
Bastille, on the Champ-de-Mars, by the Parisians and the delegates sent
by the army and the departments. The citizens, fearing that the great
amphitheatre destined for this celebration would not be prepared in
time, armed themselves with spades and picks, and thronged to the
location to aid the workmen in this patriotic labor. The king presided;
the queen, seated in a gallery of the Ecole Militaire, took the dauphin
in her arms and presented him to the people at the moment when his
father was taking the oath to employ all the power delegated to him by
the constitutional law of the State to maintain the constitution decreed
by the Assemblee and accepted by him. The _Te Deum_ was chanted before
the immense "altar of the country" erected in the midst of the
Champ-de-Mars, and the sun, suddenly breaking through the rain-clouds,
illuminated the scene as if the heavens approved. In the evening, and
for three days following, the populace danced on the Place de la
Bastille.

[Illustration: SOLDIERS OF THE DIRECTOIRE. From a drawing by J. Le
Blant.]

It was in this year, 1790, that the municipalite or commune of Paris was
organized by the law of the 7th of May, which decreed that it should be
administered by a _maire_, or mayor, sixteen _administrateurs_,
thirty-two members of the council, ninety-six notables, a procureur of
the commune, and two substitutes. The city was divided into forty-eight
_sections_, which were to be as nearly equal as possible, relative to
the number of citizens. The ninety-six notables, the maire, and the
forty-eight members of the corps municipal constituted the _conseil
general_ of the commune. The municipality had a treasurer, a _secretaire
greffier_ with two assistants, a keeper of the archives, and a
librarian.

A very important part in the administration of the State, which became
more and more an irregular administration in which the powers of the
authorized government were tempered or set aside by p