180 BAILLY. 
The deputation completed its mandate at the Town 
Hall, to the entire satisfaction of the Parisian populace ; 
the Archbishop of Paris, its President, had already pro- 
posed to go in procession to the Cathedral to sing Te 
Deum ; they were preparing to depart, when the Assem- 
bly, giving way to a spontaneous enthusiasm, with an 
unanimous voice, proclaimed Bailly Mayor of Paris, and 
Lafayette Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard, 
the creation of which had just been authorized. 
The official minutes of the Municipality state, that on 
being thus unexpectedly named, Bailly bent forward to 
the Assembly, his eyes bathed in tears, and that amidst 
his sobs he could only utter a few unconnected words to 
express his gratitude. The Mayor’s own recital differs 
very little from this official relation. Still I shall quote 
it as a model of sincerity and of modesty. 
“ T know not whether I wept, I know not what I said ; 
but I remember well that I was never so surprised, so 
confused, and so beneath myself. Surprise adding to my 
usual timidity before a large assembly, I rose, I stam- 
mered out a few words that were not heard, and that I 
- did not hear myself, but which my agitation, much more 
than my mouth, rendered expressive. Another effect of 
my sudden stupidity was, that I accepted without know- 
ing what a burden I was taking on myself.” 
Bailly having become Mayor, and being tacitly accepted 
by the National Assembly, even from the 16th of July, 
availed himself of his intimacy with Vicq-d’Azyr, the 
Queen’s physician, to persuade Louis X VI. to show him- 
self to the Parisians. This advice was listened to. On 
the 17th the new magistrate addressed the king near 
the barriere de la Conférence, in a discourse that began 
thus :— 
