The SPY of the FRENCH REVOLUTION

CHAPTER 6

51

Storming of the Bastille, massacres of Launay and Flesselles, the business of 11 soldiers freed from prison; the delirium of Parisians on this subject; the citizens of Paris invade the precincts of authority; d'Orleans joins this new party; the king is forced to recall Necker; Louis XVI goes to the assembly; extract of his speech; he is ordered to repeat it in Paris and he agrees to it; he is wounded slightly; the king authorizes the formation of a bourgeois national guard; he dissolves his army, destroyed by this act, and puts himself at the mercy of those who seek his removal.

The rumour circulates that the Bastille is an arsenal filled with weapons, and that there is a project afoot to make use of these to serve Paris. "It is necessary to seize some," shout several voices at once. "Yes...Yes...Yes!" At once 15 or 20 cut-throats, some men disguised as women, march forward, followed by an army of people. Some soldiers

52

of the guards offered to lead the charge and the troop is organized. Weapons and a cannon were found; all was in readiness: cartridges, matches and wicks, etc. An official arrives and curious bystanders become soldiers. The attack begins.

Launay was the governor of this fortress, the Bastille. (He was the one who had resisted the great Condé.) Summoned to meet the deputation, he received a large delegation. Pretending at first to capitulate, he ordered the bridges to be raised and then ordered the massacre of the emissaries of this rabble.

Then the cannon roared. One volley broke the chains; the drawbridges came down and were mounted. The fortress was demolished while plundering and massacre continued. Launay was seized and led to the Place de Grève where he was thrown to the bottom of the staircase of the city hall.

Amongst the papers found on this governor was, unfortunately, a letter from Flesselles, provost of merchants, who had promised him assistance. A deputation hurried to his home but he escaped. However, one named Moraire found him and killed him whereupon their two heads were mounted on pikes and used as standards by the victors. A little while later Foulon and Berthier were also massacred.

As a result of this action,

53

the heroes, so much praised for their activities on July 14, were nothing but a drunk bunch of rascals, the majority of whom are notable only for their treachery, and in the pay of the leaders of the national assembly aligned with d'Orleans. [It should be noted that the Bastille, looked upon as a prison for the unfortunate victims of the hatred of those in power, incarcerated only (by a summary formed on the basis of authentic data) about 300 people in 315 years. This period contained some of the most turbulent times involving the monarchy, civil wars, and the reigns of ministers who exercised some of the greatest abuses of power. Therefore it is notorious that, during the first months of the constituent assembly, it imprisoned ten times more people arbitrarily than during that 315 year period. The fact is that the Bastille was not destroyed for being a prison, but for being a fortress.]

It is these kinds of popular hurricanes that can, in single moment, ruin twenty centuries of development. This is how the Goths and vandals operated. Just as easily the Pont Neuf and the palace of the Tuilieries could be destroyed.

The truth is, that a similar movement could not have come from the people to whom the lettres de cachet were quite indifferent. Why then didn't they destroy the castles of Ham, Doulens, Guise and others?

The Bastille, considered to be a fortress, worried

54

people. It had to be destroyed because if it wasn't, the instigators feared a backlash on behalf of the disgrunted. Thus the 'heros' of the Bastille were only rascals who were well-paid to strike a blow that already had widespread popular appeal, and the subsequent festivities about the storming of the Bastille are only sentimental nonsense which invoke useless expenditures. It is time to raise the curtain on such nonsense.

The storming of the Bastille struck the royal court like a thunderbolt but it believed, in one hopeful moment, that the uprising in Paris would be an embarassment to the States General. This reasoning is what caused the king to suddenly show firmness when the translation of the assembly in Paris was proposed to him. He replied that he alone knew what measures would have to be taken.

The duke of Liancourt reported, in the strongest terms, the dreadful state of Paris. The Count d'Artois, a little nervous, answered: "It is a tempest without pants [culottes - hence the origin of the cult 'sans-culottes' - without breeches] which can be put right." - "That which you call 'sans-culottes'," retorted the duke de Liancourt, "is an army in fury. It took the Bastille, and now it can come to Versailles." Then in a doleful tone he added, "Your head is at risk."

Here is the cause of

55

the emigration of the count d' Artois. He was determined.

The spirit of Paris was a tempest. About this time, eleven soldiers who were insubordinate and thieves were imprisoned in the Abbey. Craftily they conceived the idea of sending a message to the Palais Royal in which they declared that the cause of their detention was the devotion which they showed for the interests of the people.

Instantly some 200 young people left the Palais Royal followed by a multitude of curious onlookers. This troop then broke into houses and plundered all the tools they could find in order to break down the doors of the prison and free the eleven soldiers. They had a sumptuous meal in their honor followed by a farcical comedy. The night guard by torchlight forced the authorities who had punished them to reinstate these soldiers. So this is what the Parisians were like! Light headed, prompt execution, void of any common sense.

In this moment of crisis, the voters who had elected the deputies to Paris considered themselves to have amassed power and they demanded a chamber in the municipality in which to deliberate. This was granted and at once this odd assembly seized the treasures, the tolls, the barriers,

56

stopped the couriers of the king, and carried the audacity to the point of madness.

D'Orleans clung to this new party. It was agreed that he would come to offer his sword to the third-estate, and that he would be proclaimed lieutenant-general of the kingdom. The appointment was fixed, but the duke didn't appear. This was also the day when the tricolour rosette made its first appearance. [Originally it was green, but its colors were changed so as not to carry the colors of the count d'Artois.]

Lafayette was promoted by this same body to the rank of General of the Parisian militia because, out of respect, he had lowered his sword in the face of the majestic rabble. It is while crawling that the snake advances...

Following the spectacle of the Bastille and the reinstatement of Necker, the cunning flatterers who had been in the king's company came to him saying, "Sire, you are the idol of your people. Sire, the minister [Necker] that you have just rejected had his rights and his esteem. Sire, the troops confined in the surroundings of Paris are spreading concern, fear and famine."

In other words, "Sire, you are the best of kings and we as subjects are well-governed,

57

but we want Necker to be reinstated, and also to have your troops demobilized!"

The advice that the court received about the state of Paris had its effect. It was decided, with the king's approval, that d'Orleans would go to the chateau and that he would offer to serve as a mediator between the people and the king. What a perfect role to play! But integrity was needed and the heart of the duke was gangrenous. He dissembled and degraded himself. Louis d'Orleans, having become indignant, took his delegation to the national assembly where he dutifully delivered the following speech:

"I have called you together to consult you on the significant businesses of the state. Nothing more urgent touches my heart than the dreadful disorders which beset the capital. The head of the nation comes with confidence to you, its representatives, to testify of my anguish and to invite you to find the means of restoring order and tranquility.

I sense that you have suffered unjust restraints in the past. I know that certain accounts were published stating that you people weren't trustworthy. Would it therefore be necessary for me to reassure you about such faulty allegations and be denied the right to approach you considering my well-known character?

58

"Very well! It is I who am one with my nation. It is I who trusts you. So now help me in this situation to ensure the good of the state. I await the counsel of the national assembly. The zeal of the representatives of my people, brought together for the common good, is my assurance and I count on the fidelity of my subjects. I have given the order for the army to move away from Paris and Versailles. Now I authorize you, and even invite you, to make your wishes known to the capital."

This initiative of the monarch didn't alleviate misgivings. He was instructed to come in person to Paris to repeat his declaration. This he did in a very plain carriage, and the journey was certainly a courageous act considering that it was quite likely that a project was afoot to assassinate him. The monarch made the trip in the midst of eight guns and surrounded by a horde armed with axes, pikes, and iron rods.

Lafayette had provided such security that occasionally one heard "Long live the king." However, farther along a rifle shot was fired at the king's carriage. The ball went on to kill a woman named Duprateau. The king was even wounded in the incident but so slightly that he realized it only while being undressed.

59

Many deputies followed the carriage on foot. Having arrived at the city hall, he repeated his honorable intentions. He was jeered but he wore the tricolour rosette to the cries of "Long live the nation." He bore himself so well that one person even added the words, "and the king."

Louis then authorized the establishment of a bourgeois guard, dismantled his own private forces, and placed himself at the mercy of those who wanted him gone.

The bourgeois guard consisted of all the men called to the first assembly, consequently they were many and formidable. By a folly without precedent, there was absolutely no relation between it and the monarch. Thus three or four million men equipped with weapons and ammunition had as a head only the municipal authorities. This army was not long in being made mistress of all the large cities and garrisons without even a War Minister being able to direct its movements. As a consequence the national army, even without the help of seductions, had become subordinated to this municipal army.

Thus the royal authority was destroyed. All this could have been avoided but never was behind-the-scenes intrigue falser than that of the courtiers in whose counsel the king had placed his confidence.

60

At that time, the three orders met. What an opportune moment to destroy the despotism! But all that was heard was rhetoric about how the will of the common man had become the supreme power.

The developments in Paris made one feel that it was impossible to resist a similar population anywhere else and this impression permeated all of France. This is why it would have been better had the king convoked the Estates-General either in Metz or Compiegne where, supported by strong garrisons, he could have maintained order and contained the mutineers. A grave error was to have expelled Mr. Necker who had the popular support of the people. His recall was a humiliation for the king, and once a king is humiliated his crown falters. One will soon see the full consequence of this excessive condescension.

The people, always wild when it gets excited, continued to show its lust for blood which eventually turned it into a torturer. To dawdle and take time for reflection was in fashion during this time, and in this period of inactivity the terror managed gradually to expand throughout the provinces. All the passions ran together in the assembly where the deputies never bothered to examine whether their notions of governance were practical and whether it was even prudent to reverse a building which over time had proven its stability, and then to raise another absolutely experimental system without so much as a model.