The next day, July 14, the people that had been unable to obtain arms on the preceding day came early in the morning to solicit some from the committee, hurried in a mass to the Hotel des Invalides, which contained a considerable depot of arms, found 28,000 guns concealed in the cellars, seized them, took all the sabres, swords, and cannon, and carried them off in triumph; while the cannon were placed at the entrance of the Faubourgs, at the palace of the Tuileries, on the quays and on the bridges, for the defence of the capital against the invasion of troops, which was expected every moment.

From nine in the morning till two the only rallying word throughout Paris was “A la Bastille!  A la Bastille!” The citizens hastened thither in bands from all quarters, armed with guns, pikes, and sabres.  The crowd which already surrounded it was considerable; the sentinels of the fortress were at their posts, and the drawbridges raised as in war.  The populace advanced to cut the chains of the bridge.  The garrison dispersed them with a charge of musketry.  They returned, however, to the attack, and for several hours their efforts were confined to the bridge, the approach to which was defended by a ceaseless fire from the fortress.

The siege had lasted more than four hours when the French guards arrived with cannon.  Their arrival changed the appearance of the combat.  The garrison itself begged the governor to yield.

The gates were opened, the bridge lowered, and the crowd rushed into the Bastille.

III.—­“Bread!  Bread!"

The multitude which was enrolled on July 14 was not yet, in the following autumn, disbanded.  And the people, who were in want of bread, wished for the king to reside at Paris, in the hope that his presence would diminish or put a stop to the dearth of provisions.  On the pretext of protecting itself against the movements in Paris, the court summoned troops to Versailles, doubled the household guards, and sent in September (1789) for the dragoons and the Flanders regiment.

The officers of the Flanders regiment, received with anxiety in the town of Versailles, were feted at the chateau, and even admitted to the queen’s card tables.  Endeavours were made to secure their devotion, and on October 1, a banquet was given to them by the king’s guards.  The king was announced.  He entered attired in a hunting dress, the queen leaning on his arm and carrying the dauphin.  Shouts of affection and devotion arose on every side.  The health of the royal family was drunk with swords drawn, and when Louis XVI. withdrew the music played “O Richard!  O mon roi!  L’univers t’abandonne.”  The scene now assumed a very significant character; the march of the Hullans and the profusion of wine deprived the guests of all reserve.  The charge was sounded; tottering guests climbed the boxes as if mounting to an assault; white cockades were distributed; the tri-colour cockade, it is said, was trampled on.