Excerpt from The History of the French Revolution, Vol. 2 of 5: 1789-1800
The executive power being abolished by the suspension of Louis XVI., only two other authorities were left in Paris that of the Commune and that of the Assembly. As we have seen in the narrative of the loth of August, deputies of the sections had assembled at the hotel de Ville, expelled the former magistrates, seized the municipal power, and directed the insurrection during the whole night and day of the loth. They possessed the real power of action. They had all the ardour of victory, and represented that new and impetuous revolutionary class which had struggled during the whole session against the inertness of the other more enlightened but less active class of men of which the Legislative Assembly was composed.
The first thing the deputies of the sections did, was to displace all the high authorities, which, being closer to the supreme power, were more attached to it. They had suspended the staff of the national guard, and by withdrawing Mandat from the palace, had disorganized its defence. Santerre had been invested by them with the command of the national guard. They had been in not less haste to suspend the administration of the department, which, from the lofty region wherein it was placed, had continually curbed the popular passions, in which it took no share.
As for the municipality, they had suppressed the general council, substituted themselves in the place of its authority, and merely retained Petion, the mayor, Manuel, the procureur syndic, and the sixteen municipal administrators. All this had taken place during the attack on the palace. Danton had audaciously directed that stormy sitting; and when the grape-shot of the Swiss had caused the mob to fall back along the quays, he had gone out, saying, Our brethren call for aid; let us go and give it to them. His presence had con tributed to lead the populace back to the field of battle, and to decide the victory.
When the combat was over it was proposed that Petion should be released from the guard placed over him, and rein stated in his office of mayor. Nevertheless, either from real anxiety for his safety, or from fear of giving themselves too scrupulous a chief during the first moments of the insurrection, it had been decided that he should be guarded a day or two longer, under pretext of putting his life out of danger. At the same time they had removed the busts of Louis XVI., Bailly, and Lafayette from the hall of the general council. The new class which was raising itself thus displaced the first emblems of the Revolution, in order to substitute its own in their stead.
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