Which hypothetical sort of argument took amazingly well with the base people; for they, instead of supposing that the king might do so and so, verily believed that he had done so and so. And they became iracund in proportion. By this means two months scarcely elapsed before another attack took place upon the Tuileries. This time, however, the liberals did not enter upon any lengthy discussion with the king, but using main force and bodily strength, broke into the royal abode, furiously crying, "Long live the nation! Down with old veto! Where is the veto? Down with him!"

The king was obliged to quit the Tuileries, and take refuge in the bosom of the legislative assembly, whence he was removed to the Temple, where he was afterwards kept a close prisoner.

The liberals, at the outset, inveigled into an ambush the commandant of the national guard, as he would staunchly have defended

the palace; and when they got him by himself, with none to help him, they cut his throat so liberally that he died on the spot.

The Swiss guards whose duty it was to protect the Tuileries, after being chaffed and bullied, and beaten and bruised, and shot and slaughtered to a very great extent, naturally began to offer resistance to the tumultuous liberals. Whereupon a pitched battle ensued between them, and the redcap battalions of the Faubourg St. Antoine, and other Faubourgs, and the Marseillais. The brave Swiss, although behaving very discreetly, could not hold out against such terrible odds; so, in a short time, most of them were cut up in the fray, and the rest, like the king, taken prisoners.

What awaited both them and their master, we propose to find out in a subsequent chapter.

t

CHAP. X.

More French Liberalism.

THE tenth of August, 1792, witnessed also other achievements on the part of the ultraliberals; for, immediately after the storming of the Tuileries, they resolved that the king's authority should be suspended, his ministers dismissed, and a national convention summoned to meet on the 23rd of September.

These were bold measures from which the agents well knew there was no receding. So the cry now became, "push on, keep moving, my hearties!" They therefore demanded the immediate establishment of a new tribunal, to try the conspirators of the 10th of August. This, properly speaking,

would have been a tribunal to try themselves, for they were the only real conspirators on that occasion; they, however, meant to designate thereby those unfortunate people who had got into their clutches by virtue of that conspiracy, and were its only victims. The ineffable impudence of the proposal was too much even for the liberality of the legislative assembly, who seemed disposed to give the matter the go-bye; which, no sooner was it perceived by the commune, than it made that municipal monster uncommonly irate. So a deputation, consisting of some of the most entirely radical commoncouncilmen, was forthwith despatched to the house of assembly to enforce the demand. The spokesman of the party thus delivered himself to the obstinate senators: 66 As a citizen," quoth he, " and a magistrate of the people, I come to tell you that this very night we shall sound the tocsin and beat the générale," he did not say what general"for the people are thirsting for vengeance,

being unavenged so long; and if you don't help them to vengeance, take my word for it they will help themselves." The assembly, thinking the people might help themselves very improperly, should they be left to execute vengeance in their own way, reluctantly gave their consent.

The tribunal soon came into existence, and soon put out of existence those who came before it; yet it was not considered efficient enough, by the more ardent liberals, who were still thirsting for vengeance, because "much would have more;" and they determined to contrive some kind of machinery whereby they might commit murder wholesale, and thus get rid of their enemies (and friends too) with the least possible trouble.:

A circumstance to which we have before alluded—namely, the approach of the returning emigrants with their foreign friendsafforded a pretext for carrying into effect the designs of the ultra-liberals. It was a