The insolence of the galleries goes so far that frequently almost the entire Assembly murmurs while they applaud; the majority, in short, loudly expresses anger at its bondage.[2624]--Let it be careful! In the tribunes and at the approaches to the edifice, stand the Federates, men who have a tight grip.

They will force it to vote the decisive measure, the accusation of Lafayette, the decree under which the armed champion of the King and the Constitution must fall.

The Girondists, to make sure of it, exact a call of the house; in this way the names are announced and printed, thus designating to the populace the opponents of the measure, so that none of them are sure of getting to their homes safe and sound .-- Lafayette, however, a liberal, a democrat, and a royalist, as devoted to the Revolution as to the Law, is just the man, who, through his limited mental grasp, his disconnected political conceptions, and the nobleness of his contradictory sentiments, best represents the present opinion of the Assembly, as well as that of France.[2625] Moreover, his popularity, his courage, and his army are the last refuge.

The majority feels that in giving him up they themselves are given up, and, by a vote of 400 to 224, it acquits him .-- On this side, again, the strategy of the Girondists is found erroneous.

Power slips away from them the second time.