Page:Coubertin - France since 1814, 1900.djvu/103

 were held in the afternoon and evening. The deputies, together with some sections of the electors, thought of nothing but organising la résistance légale ; there was some talk of refusing to pay a tax, as the very utmost that could be dared ; there was also some idea of reorganising the old National Guard, which, though disarmed, could still muster, it was said, nearly 30,000 muskets. Those who made this proposal looked to the National Guard as a defence against a possible insurrection rather than as a weapon of offence against the Government. The Ministers resolved to proclaim a state of siege, while showing a conceited security before the King, who was all the time at St. Cloud, quietly resting.

On the morning of the 28th the professional agitators made their appearance. It was just three days since the Ordinances had been signed, two days since they had been published ; and in spite of Thiers' zeal, the throne had not yet been threatened. That morning, in their walks abroad, the mob — up till then having contented itself with raising one barricade and smashing a few lampposts — the unemployed artisans, enthusiastic students, Republicans, and old " Carbonari,"