III + 

At this hour, the centre of interest is the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville, where Robespierre and his friends sit entrenched and⁠—for the moment⁠—safe. The prisons have refused one by one to close their gates upon the Chosen of the People; governors and jailers alike have quaked in the face of so monstrous a sacrilege. And the same gendarmes who have been told off to escort the fallen tyrant to his penultimate resting-place, have had a touch of the same kind of scruple⁠—or dread⁠—and at his command have conveyed him to the Hôtel de Ville. + 

In vain does the Convention hastily reassemble. In vain⁠—apparently⁠—does Tallien demand that the traitor Robespierre and his friends be put outside the pale of the law. They are for the moment safe, redacting proclamations, sending out messengers in every direction; whilst Henriot and his gendarmes, having struck terror in the hearts of all peaceable citizens, hold the place outside the Town Hall and proclaim Robespierre dictator of France. + 

The sun sinks towards the west behind a veil of mist. Ferment and confusion are at their height. All around the city there is an invisible barrier that seems to confine agitation within its walls. Outside this barrier, no one knows what is happening. Only a vague dread has filtrated through and gripped every heart. The guard at the several gates appear slack and undisciplined. Sentries are accosted by passersby, eager for news. And, from time to time, from every direction, troops of the Municipal gendarmes ride furiously by, with shouts of “Robespierre! Robespierre! Death to the traitors! Long live Robespierre!” + 

They raise a cloud of dust around them, trample unheedingly over every obstacle, human or otherwise, that happens to be in their way. They threaten peaceable citizens with their pistols and strike at women and children with the flat of their sabres. + 

As soon as they have gone by, excited groups close up in their wake. + 

“Name of a name, what is happening?” everyone queries in affright. + 

And gossip, conjectures, rumours, hold undisputed sway. + 

“Robespierre is dictator of France!” + 

“He has ordered the arrest of all the Members of the Convention.” + 

“And the massacre of all the prisoners.” + 

“Pardi, a wise decree! As for me, I am sick of the eternal tumbrils and the guillotine!” + 

“Better finish with the lot, say I!” + 

“Robespierre! Robespierre!” comes as a far-off echo, to the accompaniment of thundering hoofs upon the cobblestones. + 

And so, from mouth to mouth! The meek and the peace-loving magnify these rumours into approaching cataclysm; the opportunists hold their tongue, ready to fall in with this party or that; the cowards lie in hiding and shout “Robespierre!” with Henriot’s horde or “Tallien!” in the neighbourhood of the Tuileries. + 

Here the Convention has reassembled, and here they are threatened presently by Henriot and his artillery. The members of the great Assembly remain at their post. The President has harangued them. + 

“Citizen deputies!” he calls aloud. “The moment has come to die at our posts!” + 

And they sit waiting for Henriot’s cannonade, and calmly decree all the rebels “outside the pale of the law.” + 

Tallien, moved by a spirit of lofty courage, goes, followed by a few intimates, to meet Henriot’s gunners boldly face to face. + 

“Citizen soldiers!” he calls aloud, and his voice has the resonance of undaunted courage. “After covering yourselves with glory on the fields of honour, are you going to disgrace your country?” He points a scornful finger at Henriot who, bloated, purple in the face, grunting and spluttering like an old seal, is reeling in his saddle. “Look at him, citizen soldiers!” Tallien commands. “He is drunk and besotted! What man is there who, being sober, would dare to order fire against the representatives of the people?” + 

The gunners are moved, frightened too by the decree which has placed them “outside the pale of the law.” Henriot, fearing mutiny if he persisted in the monstrous order to fire, withdraws his troops back to the Hôtel de Ville. + 

Some follow him; some do not. And Tallien goes back to the Hall of the Convention covered with glory. + 

Citizen Barras is promoted Commandant of the National Guard and of all forces at the disposal of the Convention, and ordered to recruit loyal troops that will stand up to the traitor Henriot and his ruffianly gendarmes. The latter are in open revolt against the Government; but, name of a name! Citizen Barras, with a few hundred patriots, will soon put reason⁠—and a few charges of gunpowder⁠—into them! + 