56 Laura B. Pfeiffer 



Saint-Antoine the decree of the directory had been posted during 

 the night and crowds of people armed and unarmed were angrily 

 commenting upon it. Sergent and Panis, the administrators of 

 police sent out by Petion. reached this faubourg at about eight 

 o'clock. They were soon recognized and surrounded. They 

 urged the people to lay down their arms, showing them that it 

 was illegal to present a petition in arms. The people assured them 

 that they had no intention of abandoning their arms and that 

 they did not intend to attack the assembly nor the king. They 

 said they had two objects, one to form a procession for the twenty 

 legal petitioners who wished to present a petition to the assembly 

 and to the king, the other to celebrate the anniversary of the oath 

 of the tennis court by planting a maypole in military fashion. 

 Besides they said they feared they would be fired upon at the 

 Tuileries. The committee of the section Ouinze-Vingts in this 

 faubourg was in session surrounded by a great crowd of citizens 

 armed and unarmed and with or without uniforms. Here the 

 battalion Enfants-Trouvees was assembled with officers. San- 

 terre was the central figure here and the mayor's letter stating the 

 intention of the directory was the subject of discussion. Panis 

 and Sergent continued their efiforts to induce the people to 

 respect the law% but in vain. Santerre, after inviting the adminis- 

 trators of police to go with them, referred the cjuestion to the 

 people and they shouted that other armed deputations and 

 battalions had been received by the assembly and that the 

 directory had not opposed them, that the law was the same for 

 all, and that they also would be received. After more vain 

 efiforts to execute the law, the officers withdrew and on going 

 into the street saw a part of an armed battalion and a street full 

 of citizens whose spirits were dominated with joy. The maypole, 

 loaded on a wagon, was in their midst. Commissioners of the 

 section and commissioners of police came to join the citizens and 

 a banner inscribed, " In commemoration of the oath of the tennis 

 court," was carried aloft. Sergent and Paris then set out toward 

 the Place de la Bastille where they saw armed citizens continually 



**"Conduite tenue par M. le maire." 



252 



