THE COLTON PAPERS. 349 



sand pieces, and every bust or portrait of the Royal Family was in- 

 stantly mutilated or destroyed. An exception indeed was made. 

 One of the victors had raised the but-end of his musket to demolish 

 the bust of Louis XV1IL, when he was reminded that to this mo- 

 narch France was indebted for the Charter. This was sufficient to 

 ensure its preservation ; the bust was however covered with a black 

 veil, to mark the feeling entertained of the calamities the fated sway 

 of the Bourbons had brought upon their country. 



It has been regretted that the people should have permitted 

 themselves the excesses which occurred in the chateau ; but truly 

 heroic and magnanimous as they have shown themselves, the popu- 

 lace of Paris are but men ; and surely, in the first intoxication of a 

 dear-bought victory, some ebullition of feeling on the part of the 

 conquerors was to be expected; and though we may regret that the 

 amiable character of one unhappy princess, who is destined to suffer 

 so severely for the folly and wickedness of others, could not preserve 

 her apartments and property from the profanation of the multitude, 

 it is to their immortal honour that the triumph of this glorious day 

 was unsullied by a single act of rapacity. Plate, and all other arti- 

 cles of apparent value, were deposited by the conquerors at the 

 Hotel de Ville, with a scrupulous integrity scarcely equalled in the 

 history of mankind. 



The toils of the day however demanded refreshment. The stores of 

 the larder and the wine-cellars consequently suffered considerably ; 

 the most delicious viands, and the choicest wines "and liqueurs of 

 every description, were partaken of by the victors, and by crowds 

 who had followed them into the palace, but who had had no share in 

 the dangers of its capture. The scene in the magnificent saloons on 

 this occasion was curious and grotesque beyond description ; hun- 

 dreds of half-armed men, in tattered garments, covered with blood 

 and dust, seated on the richly-embroidered chairs of royalty and 

 state, relating to each other the heroic feats they had witnessed, or 

 the dangers they had escaped, formed a picture to which no pencil 

 could render justice. We should state, that whatever arms were 

 found were eagerly seized: one trophy carried off by the victors 

 was a very richly ornamented sword of state, belonging to the Dau- 

 phin, which has, however, been since restored. 



After the capture of the chateau of the Tuileries, the whole of 

 Paris, at three o'clock on the afternoon, might be said to be in the 

 occupation of the people. Three regiments, as we have already 

 stated, had refused to fire on their countrymen. The National 

 Guards had possession of the Hotel de Ville, and the tri-coloured 

 flag floated upon almost every public place in the metropolis. The 

 citizens had made themselves masters of three-fourths of the capital, 

 and it was evident it required but little more exertion to put them in 

 possession of the whole. Even that portion of the Royal Guard sta- 

 tioned in the Place Louis XV. refused any longer to continue the 

 combat. " Let them kill us if they please," said they ; " we are de- 

 termined to abandon this odious task to which the last two days have 

 condemned us." In many other quarters of Paris, the troops of the 

 line had now begun to fraternise with the inhabitants ; they shed 



M. M. No. 10. 2 Y 



