of
his Royal Guard repulsed them.

The cabinet ministers, under the protection of the troops, were in
permanent session at the Tuileries. Prince Polignac, a thoroughly
impractical man, who was at the head of the Government, seems not at
all to have comprehended the true state of affairs. When General
Marmont sent him word, on the evening of the 28th, that the troops of
the line were fraternizing with the people, he is reported to have
replied, with extraordinary coolness and simplicity, "Well, if the
troops have gone over to the insurgents, we must fire upon the
troops."

Many of these officers found themselves in a very painful situation,
embarrassed by the apparently conflicting claims of duty--fidelity to
their sovereign on the one hand, and fidelity to the rights of the
people on the other. Some, like General Marmont, remained faithful to
their colors, some silently abandoned their posts, but refused to
enter the ranks of the people to fight against their former comrades;
some openly passed over to the people and aided them in the struggle,
thus with certainty forfeiting their own lives should the royal
troops conquer. The following letter from Count de Raoul to Prince de
Polignac, resigning his commission, will give the reader some idea of
the embarrassments with which these honorable men were agitated:

"MONSEIGNEUR,--After a day of massacres and disasters,
entered on in defiance of all laws, divine and human, and in
which I have taken part only from respect to human
considerations, for which I reproach myself, my conscience
imperiously forbids me to serve a moment longer. I have
given, in the course of my life, proofs sufficiently
numerous of my devotion to the king, to warrant me, without
exposing my intentions to unjust suspicions, to draw a
distinction between what emanates from him and the
atrocities which are committed in his name. I have the honor
to request, monseigneur, that you will lay before the king
my resignation of my commission as captain of his guard."

In the confusion of those hours it appears that this letter did not
reach its destination. M. Polignac writes: "I never received this
letter, I would have sent it back to its author. In the moment of
danger no one's resignation is accepted."

The dismal night of the 28th passed quickly away, as both parties
summoned their mightiest energies for the death-struggle on the
morrow. Th