exclusive possession of the popular government. The multitude which was
enrolled on the 14th of July, was not as yet entirely disbanded. This
agitation from without rendered the debates upon the veto stormy; in this
way a very simple question acquired great importance, and the ministry,
perceiving how fatal the influence of an absolute decision might prove,
and seeing, also, that the _unlimited veto_ and the _suspensive veto_ were
one and the same thing, induced the king to be satisfied with the latter,
and give up the former. The assembly declared that the refusal of his
sanction could not be prolonged by the prince beyond two sessions; and
this decision satisfied every one.

The court took advantage of the agitation in Paris to realise other
projects. For some time it had influenced the king's mind. At first, he
had refused to sanction the decrees of the 4th of August, although they
were constitutive, and consequently he could not avoid promulgating them.
After accepting them, on the remonstrances of the assembly, he renewed the
same difficulties relative to the declaration of rights. The object of the
court was to represent Louis XVI. as oppressed by the assembly, and
constrained to submit to measures which he was unwilling to accept; it
endured its situation with impatience and strove to regain its former
authority. Flight was the only means, and it was requisite to legitimate
it; nothing could be done in the presence of the assembly, and in the
neighbourhood of Paris. Royal authority had fallen on the 23rd of June,
military power on the 14th of July; there was no alternative but civil
war. As it was difficult to persuade the king to this course, they waited
till the last moment to induce him to flee; his hesitation caused the
failure of the plan. It was proposed to retire to Metz, to Bouille, in the
midst of his army; to call around the monarch the nobility, the troops who
continued faithful, the parliaments; to declare the assembly and Paris in
a state of rebellion; to invite them to obedience or to force them to it;