64 Jeanette Needham. 
Such an attempt can only be regarded as the natural consequence 
of conditions. Ever since the royal session of June 23, the hall 
had been completely invested with troops and every day the 
number of soldiers in Versailles was being increased. A detach- 
ment of hussars arrived on the morning of June 25 and—if we 
accept the statement of the Point du jour—was dispersed in 
different quarters of the city.** A force of French guards that 
was said to have arrived at the same time as the hussars, evi- 
dently was sent to the hall of the estates, for the Point du jour 
adds that the patrols of Swiss and French Guards, as well as 
two squadrons of the king’s body guards sent there at one 
o’clock, did not disappear from around the hall until about 
four o'clock. Furthermore, the body guards had definite 
instructions to use force as shown by the order of the king, given 
to the Duc de Guiche apparently on June25. It ran: “I order 
Monsieur de Guiche, captain of my body guards, if it is 
necessary in Versailles, to repel force with force. Louis.’ 
The extra precautions, Barentin states, were due in part 
to the indignities inflicted upon the Archbishop of Paris as 
the Point du jour surmises, but at any rate, the presence of 
a strong and increasing armed force must have been_a constant 
source of irritation to all whose interest centered in the assembly 
hall. In addition to this, popular feeling had been raised to 
the highest tension through street encounters with men believed 
to be antagonistic to the general welfare.** Furthermore, the 
secret, No. 47 (La révolution francaise, XXIV, 72), both mention the attempt 
of the people to enter but do not indicate just when the attempt was made. 
The Courrier de Provence (Lettre XIII, 13) says the proposition of an address 
to the king to ask the removal of the troops was up when the popular attempt 
at forcing the door occurred. Boullé (Docs. inédits, Revue de la rév., XIII, 76) 
states that the noise was heard during the roll-call. 
3 Point du jour, I, 50; Duquesnoy, I, 128. 
83 Point du jour, I, 51; Biauzat, II, 140. 
34 Biauzat, II, 140; Point du jour, I, 51; copy of the order is given in La 
révolution frangaise, XXI, 538. 
8 Point du jour, 1, 50, 51; Courrier de Provence, Lettre XIII, 13. Lettres et 
bulletins de Barentin & Louis X VI, LVIII, 25 juin, 1789. 
86 Biauzat, II, 138; Point du jour, I, 51; Young, 180; Assemblée nationale, 
I, 219-20; Duquesnoy, I, 128-132. He records several instances of popular 
hostility and vulgar jokes at the expense of the upper classes. 
178 
