CHAPTER XXV.
CORRECTING THE PETITION.
On the Field of Mars the Altar of the Country still stood, set up forthe anniversary of the Bastile Capture, a skeleton of the past. Onthis sixteenth of July, it was used as a table on which was spreada petition to the Assembly, which considered that the King hadpractically abdicated by his flight, and that he ought to be replaced by"Constitutional methods." This was a cunning way to propose the Duke ofOrleans as Regent.
Politics is a fine veil, but the people see through it if they are giventime.
There was some discussion by the persons called on to sign over thesevery words. But they might have been glossed over by the man in chargeof the paper, the pen and the ink, but for a man of the people, judgingby his manners and dress, who, with a frankness next to roughness,stopped the secretary abruptly.
"Halt, this is cheating the people," said he.
"What do you mean?"
"This stuff about replacing the abdicated King by 'constitutionalmeans.' You want to give us King Stock instead of King Log. You want torig up royalty again and that is just what we don't want any more of."
"No, no more Kings--enough of royalty?" shouted most of the lookers on.
The secretary was Brissot, a Jacobin, and strange thing, here were thearch-revolutionists, the Jacobins defending royalty!
"Have a care, gentlemen," cried he and his supporters, "with no royalty,no king; the Republic would come, and we are not ripe for anything ofthat kind."
"Not ripe?" jeered the Commoner: "a few such suns as shone on Varenneswhen we nabbed the skulking King, will ripen us."
"Let's vote on this petition."
"Vote," shouted those who had clamored for no more royalty.
"Let those who do not want Louis XVI. or any other king, put up theirhand," cried the plebeian in a lusty voice.
Such a powerful number held up their hands that the Ayes had it beyond anecessity of farther trial.
"Good," said the stranger; "to-morrow is Sunday, the seventeenth; letall the boys come out here to sign the petition as amended to ourliking. I, Billet, will get the right sort ready."
At this name everybody recognized Farmer Billet, the Taker of theBastile, the hero of the people, the volunteer envoy who had accompaniedLafayette's dandy aid to Varennes where he arrested the King whom he hadbrought back to Paris.
Thus, at the first start, the boldest of the politicians had beensurpassed by--a man of the people, the embodied instincts of the masses!The other leaders said that a storm would be raised and that they hadbest get permission of the Mayor to hold this meeting on the morrow.
"Very well," said Billet, "obtain leave, and if refused you, I willwrest it from them."
Mayor Bailly was absent when Brissot and Desmoulins called for theleave: his deputy verbally granted it, but sent word to the House whathe had done.
The House was caught napping, for it had done nothing in fixing thestatus of the King after his flight. As if from an enemy of the rulers,the decree was passed that "The suspension of the executive power willlast until the King shall have accepted and signed the ConstitutionalAct." Thus he was as much of a king as before; the popular petitionbecame useless.
Whoever claimed the dethronement of a monarch who was constitutionallymaintained by the House, so long as the King agreed to accomplishthis condition, was a rebel, of course. The decree was to be postedthroughout the town next morning at eight.
Prudent politicians went out of the town. The Jacobins retired, andtheir vulgar member, Santerre, the great brewer of the working quarter,was chosen to go and withdraw the petition from the Altar of theCountry.
But those meant to attend, spite of governmental warning, who are likethe wolves and vultures who flock to the battlefields.
Marat was confined to his cellar by his monomania, but he yelled for theAssembly to be butchered and cried for a general massacre out of whichhe would wade a universal dictator.
Verriere, the abominable hunchback, careered about on a horse like thespectre of the Apocalypse, and stopped at every crossroad to invite themasses to meet on the Field of Mars.
So the thousands went to the rendezvous, to sign the paper, sing anddance and shout "The Nation Forever!"
The sun rose magnificently. All the petty tradesfolk who cater to themultitude swarmed on the parade-ground where the Altar of the Countrystood up in the middle like a grand catafalque.
By half past four a hundred and fifty thousand souls were present. Thosewho rise early are usually bad sleepers, and who has not slept well iscommonly in a bad humor.
In the midst of the chatter a woman's scream was heard. On the crowdflocking round her, she complained of having been stabbed in the anklewhile leaning against the altar. Indeed the point of a gimlet was seensticking through the boards. In a twinkling the planks were torn downand two men were unearthed in the hollow. They were old cronies, sotswho had taken a keg of liquor with them and eatables, and stolen a marchon the crowd by hiding here overnight.
But unfortunately the mob at the woman's cue thought they made peepholesfor a mean purpose and cried that the keg contained powder to blow upthe signers of the petition. They forgot that these new Guido Fawkeshardly looked the sort to blow themselves up with their victims.
Be this as it may, they were taken to the police court where themagistrates laughingly released them; but the washer-women, greatsticklers for women not to be probed in the ankle by gimlets, gave thema beating with the paddles used in thumping linen. This was not all: thecry that powder was found getting spread, they were taken from the womenand slain. A few minutes after, their heads were cut off and the readypikes were there to receive them on their points.
The news was perverted on its way to the Assembly where the heads werestated to be of two friends of order who had lost them while preachingrespect to the law.
The Assembly at once voted the City to be under martial law.
Santerre, sent by the Jacobin Club to withdraw their petition beforeBillet transformed it, found that worthy the centre of the immensegathering. He did not know how to write but he had let some one guidehis hand when he "put his fist" to it.
The brewer went up the steps of the altar, announced that the Assemblyproclaimed any one a rebel who dared demand the dethronement of theKing, and said he was sent to call in the petition.
Billet went down three steps to face the brewer. The two members of thelower orders looked at each other, examining the symbols of the twoforces ruling France, the town and the country.
They had fought together to take the Bastile and acknowledged that theywere brothers.
"All right," said Billet, "we do not want your petition; take yours backto the Jacobins; we will start another."
"And fetch it along to my brewery in the St. Antoine Suburb, where Iwill sign it and get my men and friends to do the same."
He held out his broad hand in which Billet clapped his.
At sight of this powerful alliance, the mob cheered.
They began to know the worth of the brewer, too. He went away with oneof those gestures expressive of meeting again, which the lower classesunderstood.
"Now, look here," said Billet, "the Jacobins are afraid. They have aright to back out with their petition, but we are not afraid and we havethe right to draw up another."
"Hurrah for another petition! all be on hand to-morrow."
"But why not to-day?" cried Billet: "who knows what may happento-morrow?"
"He's right," called out many; "to-day--at once!"
A group of enlightened men flocked round Billet; they were members ofthe Invisibles like him, and, besides, strength has the loadstone'spower to attract.
Roland and his celebrated wife with Dr. Gilbert, wrote the petition,which was read in silence, while all bared their head to this documentdictated by the people. It declared that the King had abdicated thethrone by his flight and called for a fresh House to "proceed in a trulynational manner to try the guilty ruler and organize a new executivep
ower."
It answered to everybody's wish so that it was applauded at the lastphrase. Numbered sheets were served out for the signatures to be writtenon them by the many who sought to sign, all over the place.
During this work, which was so quietly done that women were strollingabout the groups with their children, Lafayette arrived with his specialguard, who were paid troops.
But he could not see any cause to intervene and marched away. It is truethat on the road he had to take one barricade set up by the gang who hadslaughtered the two Peeping Toms of the Altar of the Country. One of hisaids had been fired at in this scuffle; and the report ran to the Housethat in a severe action Lafayette had been shot and his officerswounded.
The house sent a deputation to inquire.
This party of three found the multitude still signing, and signing adocument so harmless that they personally said they would put their ownnames to it if they were not in an official position.
In the conflict of no importance between the mob and the National Guardstwo prisoners had been made by the latter. As usual in such cases theyhad nothing to do with the riot.
The principal petitioners asked their release.
"We can do nothing in the matter," replied the deputation; "but send acommittee to the City Hall and the liberation will be given."
Billet was unanimously chosen chairman of a party of twelve. They werekept waiting an hour before the Mayor Bailly came to receive them.Bailly was pale but determined; he knew he was unjust but he had theAssembly's order at his back and he would carry it out to the end.
But Billet walked straight up to him, saying, in his firm tone:
"Mayor, we have been kept waiting an hour."
"Who are you and what have you to say to me?"
"I am surprised you should ask who I am, Mayor Bailly but those who turnoff the right road do not always get back on the track. I am FarmerBillet."
Bailly was reminded of one of the Takers of the Bastile, who had triedto save the objects of public wrath from the slaughterers; the man whohad given the King the tricolor cockade; who had aroused Lafayette onthe night when the Royal Family were nearly murdered; the leader who hadnot shrank from making the King and the Queen prisoners.
"As for what I have to say," continued he, "we are the messengers of thepeople assembled on the parade-ground: we demand the fulfillment of thepromise of your three envoys--that the two citizens unjustly accused andwhose innocence we guarantee, shall be set free straightway."
"Nonsense, whoever heard of promises being kept that were made torioters?" returned Bailly, trying to go by.
The committee looked astonished at one another and Billet frowned.
"Rioters? so we are rioters now, eh?"
"Yes, factious folk, among whom I will restore peace by going to theplace."
Billet laughed roughly in that way which is a menace on some lips.
"Restore peace? Your friend Lafayette has been there, and your threedelegates, and they will say it is calmer than the City Hall Square."
At this juncture a captain of militia came running up in fright to tellthe Mayor that there was fighting on the Field of Mars, "where fiftythousand ragamuffins were making ready to march on the Assembly."
Scarce had he got the words out before he felt Billet's heavy hand onhis shoulder.
"Who says this?" demanded the farmer.
"The Assembly."
"Then the Assembly lies." The captain drew his sword on him, which heseized by the hilt and the point and wrenched from his grasp.
"Enough, gentlemen," said Bailly; "we will ourselves see into this.Farmer Billet, return the sword, and if you have influence over thoseyou come from, hasten back, to make them disperse."
Billet threw the sabre at the officer's feet.
"Disperse be hanged! the right to petition is recognized by decree andtill another revokes it, nobody can prevent citizens expressing theirwishes--mayor, or National Guards commander, or others. Come to theplace--we will be there before you."
Those around expected Bailly to give orders for the arrest of this boldspeaker, but he knew that this was the voice of the people, so loud andlofty. He made a sign and Billet and his friends passed out.
When they arrived on the parade-ground, the crowd was a third larger,say, sixty thousand, all old, women and men. There was a rush for thenews.
"The two citizens are not released: the mayor will not answer exceptthat we are all rioters."
The "rioters" laughed at this title and went on signing the petition,which had some five thousand names down: by night it would be fiftythousand, and the Assembly would be forced to bow to such unanimity.
Suddenly the arrival of the military was shouted. Bailly and the cityofficials were leading the National Guards hither.
When the bayonets were seen, many proposed retiring.
"Brothers, what are you talking of?" said Billet, on the Altar of theCountry, "why this fear? either martial law is aimed at us, or not. Ifnot, why should we run? if it is, the riot act must be read and thatwill give time to get away."
"Yes, yes," said many voices, "we are lawfully here. Wait for thesummons to disperse. Stand your ground."
The drums were heard and the soldiers appeared at three entrances intothe ground. The crowd fell back towards the Altar which resembled apyramid of human bodies. One corps was composed of four thousand menfrom the working quarter and Lafayette, who did not trust them, hadadded a battalion of his paid Guards to them. They were old soldiers,Fayettists, who had heard of their god being fired on and were burningto avenge the insult.
So, when Bailly was received by the "booing" of the boys, and one shotwas heard from the mob in that part, which sent a bullet to slightlywound a dragoon, the Mayor ordered a volley, but of blank cartridge fromthose soldiers around him.
But the Fayettists, also obeyed the command and fired on the mass at theAltar, a most inoffensive crowd.
A dreadful scream arose there, and the fugitives were seen leavingcorpses behind them, with the wounded dragging themselves in trailsof blood! Amid the smoke and dust the cavalry rushed in chase of therunning figures.
The broad expanse presented a lamentable aspect, for women and childrenhad mostly been shot and cut down.
An aid galloped up to the East-end battalions and ordered them to marchon their side and sweep the mob away till they had formed a junctionwith the other corps. But these workingmen pointed their guns at him andthe cavalry running down the fugitives and made them recoil before thepatriotic bayonets. All who ran in this direction found protection.
Who gave the order to fire? none will ever know. It remains one ofthose historical mysteries inexplicable despite the most conscientiousinvestigations. Neither the chivalric Lafayette nor the honest Baillyliked bloodshed, and this stain clung to them to the end. In vain werethey congratulated by the Assembly; in vain their press organs calledthis slaughter a constitutional victory; this triumph was branded likeall those days when the slain were given no chance to fight. The peoplewho always fit the cap to the right head, call it "The Massacre of theChamp de Mars."