Transcription

  “The news of this change began to be known in Paris about 1 or 2 o’clock. In the afternoon a body of about 100 German cavalry were advanced and drawn up in the place Louis XV. and about 300 Swiss posted at a little distance in their rear. this drew people to that spot, who naturally formed themselves in front of the troops, at first merely to look at them; but as their numbers encreased [sic], their indignation arose: They retired a few steps, posted themselves on and behind large piles of loose stones collected in that place for a bridge adjacent to it, and attacked the horse with stones. The horse charged, but the advantageous position of the people, and the showers of stones obliged them to retire, and even to quit the field altogether, leaving one of their number on the ground. The Swiss in their rear were observed never to stir. This was the signal for universal insurrection, and this body of cavalry to avoid being massacred, retired towards Versailles. The people now armed themselves with such weapons