348 THE COLTON PAPERS. 



had to combat two regiments of the Royal Guards and Swiss, and 

 three strong detachments of Lancers, Cuirassiers, and Foot Grena- 

 diers, occupying the Carrousel, supported by a reserve of Artillery, 

 planted in the Garden of the Tuileries. 



The Royal Guards, thus strongly posted, permitted the first 

 assailants to approach, and here the contest ended, almost as soon as 

 it was begun, by the slaughter of the front rank of the citizens; but 

 the troops were instantly afterwards driven back. Fresh columns of 

 the besiegers were seen advancing at the pas de charge ; and at th$ 

 same moment the retreating Swiss, from the Louvre, poured like a 

 torrent through the Triumphal Arch of the Carrousel, carrying the 

 Duke of Ragusa, who was vainly endeavouring to rally his troops in 

 the court of the palace, away in the tumultuous mass. The Marshal 

 had brought forward the whole of his forces not actually engaged, 

 in order to cover the retreat, but, thrown into confusion by the 

 Swiss, a panic had seized the whole troops, and, keeping up a 

 straggling fire, they passed through the palace under the Tower of 

 the Clock, and traversed the Gardens of the Tuileries, in full retreat, 

 to the Place Louis XV. 



The defeated soldiery were so closely followed by the assailants, 

 that the latter entered the court under the gate of the Triumphal 

 Arch before the former had evacuated it. This entrance, which the 

 retreating troops had not time to close against the besiegers, greatly 

 facilitated their obtaining possession of the Chateau. Still resistance 

 was offered with bloody obstinacy on other points, particularly the 

 Pavilion of Flora, from which a constant firing had been kept up 

 from seven in the morning upon the Pont Royal. Twice this wing 

 of the Palace was taken and abandoned, but at half past one the 

 Citizens were finally victorious, and two tri-coloured flags were 

 planted on the central pavilion. 



On taking possession of the Chateau some excesses were committed 

 by the populace, who were irritated by the discovery of proclama- 

 tions of the Government to the troops, stimulating them against the 

 citizens, dated the preceding day. These were found in the Pavilion 

 of Flora, in which nearly every article of furniture was destroyed, 

 and thrown, with various precious effects, from the windows, as were 

 some thousands of papers, pamphlets, and even books. It is remark- 

 able, that in the library of the Duchess of Angouleme alone were 

 found any pamphlets, or other works, calculated to give information 

 upon the state of popular feeling, or the events passing without the 

 walls of the royal residence. The literary treasures found in the 

 apartments of the Dauphin were limited to a complete set of Alma- 

 nacks ! from the sixteenth century. It must not be supposed how- 

 ever that the royal library was deficient in valuable works ; on the 

 contrary, it contained a truly noble collection, including the works 

 of nearly every renowned writer from Homer downwards. The de- 

 vastations of the populace were not however confined to the Pavilion 

 of Flora. All the royal apartments suffered considerably. Splendid 

 specimens of porcelain, ornaments of the most costly description, and 

 magnificent mirrors, were broken without mercy. A portrait of the 

 Duke of Ragusa, in the Salle des Marechaux, was torn into a thou- 



