I demand the sanction of the decree against the priests and the twenty thousand men.

Either the sanction or you shall die!"-- But little is wanting for the threat to be carried out.

The first comers are on hand, "presenting pikes," among them "a brigand," with a rusty sword blade on the end of a pole, "very sharp," and who points this at the King.

Afterwards the attempt at assassination is many times renewed, obstinately, by three or four madmen determined to kill, and who make signs of so doing, one, a shabby, ragged fellow, who keeps up his excitement with "the foulest propositions," the second one, "a so-called conqueror of the Bastille," formerly porte-tete for Foulon and Berthier, and since driven out of the battalion, the third, a market-porter, who, "for more than an hour," armed with a saber, makes a terrible effort to make his way to the king.[2550]--Nothing is done.

The king remains impassible under every threat.