206 BAILLY. 



THE KING'S FLIGHT. EVENTS ON THE CHAMP 



DE MARS. 



In the month of April, 1791, Bailly perceived that his 

 influence over the Parisian population was decreasing. 

 The king had announced that he should depart on the 

 18th, and would remain some days at St. Cloud. The 

 state of his health was the ostensible cause of his de- 

 parture. Some religious scruples were probably the 

 real cause ; the holy week was approaching, and the 

 king would have no communications with the ecclesi- 

 astics sworn in for his parish. Bailly was not discom- 

 posed at this projected journey ; he regarded it even 

 with satisfaction. Foreign courts, said our colleague, 

 looked upon him as a prisoner. The sanction he gives 

 to various decrees, appears to them extorted by violence ; 

 the visit of Louis XVI. to Saint Cloud will dissipate all 

 these false reports. Bailly therefore concerted measures 

 with La Fayette for the departure of the royal family ; 

 but the inhabitants of Paris, less confiding than their 

 mayor, already saw the king escaping from St. Cloud, 

 and seeking refuge amidst foreign armies. They there- 

 fore rushed to the Tuileries, and notwithstanding all the 

 efforts of Bailly and his colleague, the court carriages 

 could not advance a step. The king and queen there- 

 fore, after waiting for an hour and a half in their carriage, 

 reascended into the palace. 



To remain in power after such a check, was giving to 

 the country the most admirable proof of devotion. 



In the night of the 20th to the 21st of June, 1791, the 

 king quitted the Tuileries. This flight, so fatal to the 

 monarchy, irretrievably destroyed the ascendency that 

 Bailly had exercised over the capital. The populace 



