THE COLTON PAPERS. 235 



the royal troops, driven from their regular posts, occupied only a 

 circumscribed and contracted portion of Paris, on the right side of 

 the Seine. Their line might be said to commence at the Louvre, 

 which they still held, in conjunction with the Tuileries. The Place 

 of St. Germain 1'Auxerrois and the Place of the Palais Royal was 

 also occupied by them, together with those parts of the Rue St. 

 Honore leading to the Market of the Jacobins and the Rue Neuve 

 des Petits Champs. From these places their lines continued so as 

 to keep up a communication with the Place Vendome, the Rue 

 de la Paix, and the Boulevard of the Madeline, extending them- 

 selves down the Rue Royale to the occupation of the Place Louis 

 XV., and the entrance of the Champs Elysee?, and holding pos- 

 session of the bridge opposite the Chamber of Deputies. After so 

 much boasting and so much bloodshed, this position left them little 

 to be proud of; in fact it was a position tantamount to a defeat. 

 The royal troops were no longer in a situation to attack, and it 

 was with difficulty that they could act on the defensive. They 

 were surrounded by an immense population in arms a population 

 constantly on the alert, indefatigable, fearless, and encouraged on 

 all sides by their friends, who at this period occupied themselves in 

 supplying all their physical necessities. But the case was entirely 

 different with respect to the troops. Their selfish and ungrateful 

 rulers cared not how much they suffered from famine or thirst. 

 Their object had been to provide them with arms, under the dis- 

 appointed hope that they would be enabled to provide themselves 

 with nourishment. Such was the improvidence of the party of the 

 Court, that they had not adopted a single measure necessary in case 

 of a reverse. They had provided neither bread, nor meat, nor 

 wine ; a little brandy had been served out to them, and this was all 

 they received. If a few were so fortunate as to obtain any little 

 assistance, it was from the commiseration of those whom they came 

 to massacre. In consequence of this neglect, the greatest confusion 

 reigned throughout the different regiments. Harassed not only by 

 inanition, want of sleep, and all other physical privations, their moral 

 courage also was shaken. They found that neither the King, nor 

 the Dauphin, nor any of the leading men of the Government, either 

 countenanced them by their presence, or solaced them by their aid. 

 They saw themselves deserted by the higher orders, and assailed at 

 all points by the lower. This complete insulation, even in the midst 

 of society, convinced them that the cause they were defending was 

 that of One Man, and that which they were opposing was that of a 

 whole Nation. Furthermore, the unexpected resistance, and un- 

 looked-for determination displayed by the citizens, completed their 

 discouragement ; every thing about them and around them was 

 either menacing or gloomy ; they had heard themselves on all sides 

 accused of supporting "the cause of despotism" their consciences 

 told them that the accusation was more than just. 



