64 Laura B. Pfciffcr 



that body convened. ^^^ They were admitted at once and Roederer 

 addressed the meeting. He said, " An extraordinary gathering 

 of armed men exists at this moment in spite of the law, in spite 

 of two decrees, one of the commune, the other of the depart- 

 ment." He went on to explain that the gathering was composed 

 of persons of various intentions and that it had several objects 

 in view. The object of the great majority of the people, he said, 

 was certainly to plant a liberty tree, to hold a civic fete, and to 

 present a new tribute of its homage to the national assembly, but 

 he thought there was reason to fear that the attempt to present 

 a petition to the king would be supported by force and as armed 

 petitioners they should not be permitted to take such action. 

 He added that reports made during the night justified these fears 

 and that a letter from the minister of the interior at nine o'clock 

 had advised the directory to order out troops at once to defend 

 the chateau because the latest reports indicated pressing danger. 

 He pleaded for the execution of the decree of the directory and 

 of the wishes of the minister of the interior expressed in his 

 letter. He said the directory felt responsible to the nation for 

 the security of the assembly and of Paris. He again called atten- 

 tion to the law forbidding all armed assemblies and all unarmed 

 ones except by permission of the municipality, and to the law 

 against deputations of more than twenty persons for the purpose 

 of presenting petitions. He said that while today men might 

 be assembled for civic purposes, tomorrow there might assemble 

 malcontents, enemies of the revolution and of the assembly. He 

 asked, " What will we saV to them? What obstacle can we put 

 in the way of their gathering? In a word, how can we and the 

 municipality answer for your safety if the law does not furnish 

 the means ? " He urged the assembly to uphold the law and not 

 to receive this armed multitude in its midst, and to let nothing 

 diminish its obligation to die for the sake of the public peace."® 



"* Roederer, Chrotiiquc de cinquaittc jours, 23. 



"'^ Moniteur, XII, 711-12; Journal des debafs et dccrets, No. 267, p. 261; 

 Proccs-verbal de I'assemblee vationale, 367; Journal de I'assemblee na- 

 tionale, XXI, 296. Roederer cites the last as giving the text of his ad- 

 dresses. I have followed it. Le patriate frangais. No. 1046, p. 68g, says 



260 



