Then it was that Paris came to the rescue of the Assembly.
[Sidenote: Popular Uprising at Paris in Behalf of the Assembly]
[Sidenote: The Destruction of the Bastille, 14 July, 1789]
The Parisian populace, goaded by real want, felt instinctively that its
own cause and that of the National Assembly were identical. Fired by an
eloquent harangue of a brilliant journalist, Camille Desmoulins (1760-
1794) by name, they rushed to arms. For three days there was wild
disorder in the city. Shops were looted, royal officers were expelled,
business was at a standstill. On the third day--14 July, 1789--the mob
surged out to the east end of Paris, where stood the frowning royal
fortress and prison of the Bastille. Although since the accession of
Louis XVI the Bastille no longer harbored political offenders,
nevertheless it was still regarded as a symbol of Bourbon despotism, a
grim threat against the liberties of Paris. The people would now take
it and would appropriate its arms and ammunition for use in defense of
the National Assembly.
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