The discharge was simultaneous from Porte Saint-Denis as far as the Cafe du Grand Balcon.

The artillery soon took part with the musketry.' "Another witness says:-- "'At quarter past three, a singular movement took place.

The soldiers who were facing Porte Saint-Denis, suddenly faced about, resting on the houses from the Gymnase, the Maison du Pont-de-Fer, and the Hotel Saint-Phar, and immediately, a running fire was directed on the people on the opposite side of the way, from Rue Saint-Denis to Rue Richelieu.
A few minutes were sufficient to cover the pavement with dead bodies; the houses were riddled with balls, and this paroxysm of fury on the part of the troops continued for three quarters of an hour.' "Another witness says:-- "'The first cannon-shots aimed at the barricade Bonne-Nouvelle served as a signal to the rest of the troops, who fired almost simultaneously at every one within range of their muskets.' "Another witness says:-- "'No words are powerful enough to describe such an act of barbarity.
One must himself have seen in order to be bold enough to speak of it, and to attest the truth of so unspeakable a deed.' "'The soldiers fired thousands and thousands of shots--the number is inappreciable[1]--on the unoffending crowd, and that without any sort of necessity.

There was a desire to produce a deep impression.

That was all.' [1] The witness means _incalculable_, but we have preferred to change nothing in the original depositions.
"Another witness says:-- "'The troops of the line, followed by the cavalry and the artillery, arrived on the boulevard at a time when the general excitement was very great.