The first thing of note which occurred when they resolved to call themselves the National Assembly and not the Third Estate, which they were only, was done by Mirabeau.  He ascended the tribune, when Breze, the master of ceremonies, came with a message from the King for them to join the other orders, and said in his voice of melodious thunder, “We are here by the command of the people, and will only disperse by the force of bayonets.”  From that moment, till his death, he ruled the Assembly.  The disconcerted messenger returned to his sovereign.  What did the King say at this defiance of royal authority?  Did he rise in wrath and indignation, and order his guards to disperse the rebels?  No; the amiable King said meekly, “Well, let them remain there.”  What a king for such stormy times!  O shade of Richelieu, thy work has perished!  Rousseau, a greater genius than thou wert, hath undermined the institutions and the despotism of two hundred years.

Only two courses were now open to the King,—­this weak and kind-hearted Louis XVI., heir of a hundred years’ misrule,—­if he would maintain his power.  One was to join the reformers and co-operate in patriotic work, assisted by progressive ministers, whatever opposition might be raised by nobles and priests; and the second was to arm himself and put down the deputies.  But how could this weak-minded sovereign co-operate with plebeians against the orders which sustained his throne?  And if he used violence, he inaugurated civil war, which would destroy thousands where revolution destroyed hundreds.  Moreover, the example of Charles I. was before him.  He dared not run the risk.  In such a torrent of revolutionary forces, when even regular troops fraternized with citizens, that experiment was dangerous.  And then he was tender-hearted, and shrank from shedding innocent blood.  His queen, Marie Antoinette, the intrepid daughter of Maria Theresa, with her Austrian proclivities, would have kept him firm and sustained him by her courageous counsels; but her influence was neutralized by popular ministers.  Necker, the prosperous banker, the fortunate financier, advised half measures.  Had he conciliated Mirabeau, who led the Assembly, then even the throne might have been saved.  But he detested and mistrusted the mighty tribune of the people,—­the aristocratic demagogue, who, in spite of his political rancor and incendiary tracts, was the only great statesman of the day.  He refused the aid of the only man who could have staved off the violence of factions, and brought reason and talent to the support of reform and law.

At this period, after the triumph of the Third Estate,—­now called the National Assembly,—­and the paralysis of the Court, perplexed and uncertain whether or not to employ violence and disband the assembly by royal decree, a great agitation began among the people, not merely in Paris, but over the whole kingdom.  There were meetings to promote insurrection, paid declaimers of human rights, speeches without end in