But as their numbers increased,
their indignation arose; they retired a few steps, posted themselves
on and behind large piles of loose stone, 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 as they
could find in armorers' shops and private houses, and with bludgeons,
and were roaming all night through all parts of the city, without any
decided practicable object. The next day, the States pressed on the King
to send away the troops, to permit the _Bourgeois_ of Paris to arm for
the preservation of order in the city, and offered to send a deputation
from their body to tranquillize them. He refused all their propositions.
A committee of magistrates and electors of the city were appointed by
their bodies, to take upon them its government. The mob, now openly
joined by the French guards, forced the prison of St.
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