14 Jeanette Needham. 
Belloy, had informed the committee that he had orders to per- 
mit the members of the estates-general to enter, either indi- 
vidually or collectively, at any hour, but not to permit strangers 
to enter. In so far, his instructions were identical with those 
of the interior guard, but he had the additional duty of indicating 
the accesses to the different halls, conformably to the text of the 
earlier government communication.” 
' But despite the fact that both interior and exterior Be 
were charged to keep the public out, many persons, other than 
the deputies, are said to have been present.22. Such a state of 
affairs reflects strongly upon the effectiveness of the troops, or, 
rather, furnishes a marked comment upon the degree of their 
disaffection toward the government. This attitude was revealed 
first, perhaps, in the readiness of the officers to yield to the 
demands for their orders, on the part of the assembly which 
had no legal power over them; then by the willingness of Renne- 
court to impart information for which, apparently, he was not 
asked, as if he would correct the false impression of the assembly 
that communication with the other orders was not possible. 
Finally, the presence of strangers in numbers seems the strongest 
point of all in testing the fidelity of the troops. Had the latter 
been perfectly loyal to the government, it must have been well 
nigh impossible for many, not belonging to the estates, to have 
forced their way into the hall through two sets of guards. 
But however effective or non-effective the troops may have 
been, the definite knowledge of what the government through 
those troops was ostensibly seeking to accomplish furnished the 
assembly a firm ground from which to present its side of the 
1 Procés-verbal, No. 6, 3; Assemblée nationale, 1, 217. The latter merely 
notes this: ‘ L’officier tenait ses ordres du roi.’ The former gives the full 
report of the officer to the committee. Bailly (I, 224) confirms what is given 
in the Procés-verbal. The Point du jour makes no mention of the committee 
to the exterior guard. 
22 Duquesnoy, I, 128; Bailly, I, 226-27. The former says: “ A peu prés 
deux ou trois cents personnes; ”’ the latter: “ Il y avait toujours de six cents 
spectateurs.’ We may be sure that both are merely estimates and since 
Bailly wrote so long afterward, we may assume that his ‘‘ 600”’ is too high 
an estimate. We may feel certain that strangers were present, probably in 
noticeable numbers. 
128 
Uae patel RRC noe MENTS 
. 
