1792 Les Miserables
dettes at the corners of all open spaces, and audaciously sent
their patrols outside the barricades. Each side was watching
the other. The Government, with an army in its hand, hesi-
tated; the night was almost upon them, and the Saint-Merry
tocsin began to make itself heard. The Minister of War at
that time, Marshal Soult, who had seen Austerlitz, regarded
this with a gloomy air.
These old sailors, accustomed to correct manoeuvres
and having as resource and guide only tactics, that compass
of battles, are utterly disconcerted in the presence of that
immense foam which is called public wrath.
The National Guards of the suburbs rushed up in haste
and disorder. A battalion of the 12th Light came at a run
from Saint-Denis, the 14th of the Line arrived from Cour-
bevoie, the batteries of the Military School had taken up
their position on the Carrousel; cannons were descending
from Vincennes.
Solitude was formed around the Tuileries. Louis Philippe
was perfectly serene.