210 : BAILLY. 
lution, was very troublesome to lead and to rule. Insub- 
ordination appeared to be the rule in its ranks; and 
hierarchical obedience a very rare exception. My re- 
mark may perhaps appear severe: well, Gentlemen, read 
the contemporary writings, Grimm’s Correspondence, for 
example, and you will see, under date of November 1790, 
a dismissed captain replying to the regrets of his com- 
pany in the following style: “Console yourselves, my 
companions, I shall not quit you; only, henceforward I 
shall be a simple fusilier; if you see me resolved to be 
no longer your chief, it is because I am content to com- 
mand in my turn.” 
It is allowable besides to suppose that the National 
Guard of 1791 was deficient, in the presence of such 
crowds, of that patience, that clemency, of which the 
French troops of the line have often given such perfect 
examples. It was not aware that, in a large city, crowds 
are chiefly composed of the unemployed and the idly 
curious. 
It was half-past seven o’clock when the municipal 
body arrived at the Champ de Mars. Immediately some 
individuals placed on the glacis exclaimed: “ Down with 
the red flag! down with the bayonettes!” and threw 
some stones. There was evena gun fired. A volley 
was fired in the air to frighten them; but the cries soon 
recommenced; again some stones were thrown; then 
only the fatal fusillade of the National Guard began! 
These, Gentlemen, are the deplorable events of the 
Champ de Mars, faithfully analyzed from the relation that 
Bailly himself gave of the 18th July to the Constituent 
Assembly. This recital, the truth of which no one as- 
suredly will question any more than myself, labours under 
some involuntary but very serious omissions. I will 
