which contained a considerable depot of arms. It displayed no fear of the
troops established in the Champ de Mars, broke into the Hotel, in spite of
the entreaties of the governor, M. de Sombreuil, found twenty-eight
thousand guns concealed in the cellars, seized them, took all the sabres,
swords, and cannon, and carried them off in triumph. 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.

Even during the same morning an alarm was given that the regiments
stationed at Saint Denis were on the march, and that the cannon of the
Bastille were pointed on the Rue Saint Antoine. The committee immediately
sent to ascertain the truth; appointed bands of citizens to defend that
side of the town, and sent a deputation to the governor of the Bastille,
soliciting him to withdraw his cannon and engage in no act of hostility.
This alarm, together with the dread which that fortress inspired, the
hatred felt for the abuses it shielded, the importance of possessing so
prominent a point, and of not leaving it in the power of the enemy in a
moment of insurrection, drew the attention of the populace in that
direction. 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.

A deputy of the district of Saint Louis de la Culture, named Thuriot de la
Rosiere, then requested a parley with De Launay, the governor. When
admitted to his presence he summoned him to change the direction of the
cannon. The governor replied, that the cannon had always been placed on
the towers, and it was not in his power to remove them; yet, at the same