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LOUIS XVI. (FBANOE) he addressed for the first time by this title. He came without his guards, accompanied only by his two brothers. He made a speech which for a while restored popular confidence, assu- ring the assembly that its freedom should be saved, though he had with his usual infirmity of purpose already signed the order for the army to advance upon Paris. On July 17, accompanied by the national assembly, he visit- ed Paris, and was conducted through a mob of 100,000 armed men to the hotel de ville, where he showed himself to the people, wearing on his breast the tricolor, which had recently been adopted as the revolutionary emblem. He was then reconducted to Versailles amid the strong- est demonstrations of popular attachment. On the day of the king's entry into Paris the princes of the blood, except Monsieur (after- ward Louis XVIIL), and the chiefs of the aris- tocratical faction fled from the kingdom. They were followed by large numbers of the nobles and by the ministry, whom the assembly had impeached. At the same time Necker was recalled, conducted to Paris in triumph, and reinstated in his office. From this period the revolution went rapidly onward. An impru- dent outburst of loyal enthusiasm among the officers of the troops stationed at Versailles produced a sudden commotion in Paris, and a furious mob marched (Oct. 5) from that city to Versailles, where they took possession of the royal palace, and after committing great outrages compelled the king, queen, and royal family, who had narrowly escaped massacre, to return with them to Paris, where they were permitted to occupy the Tuileries, which was strictly guarded to prevent their escape, and Louis remained a virtual prisoner till the fol- lowing year. On July 14, 1790, he took part in the imposing ceremony of the confedera- tion in the Champ de Mars, where in presence of half a million of spectators he swore to be faithful to the constitution which the nation- al assembly was then preparing. After this, however, his situation grew constantly worse. Necker, unequal to the difficulties of his post, retired to Switzerland. Mirabeau, who had been won over partly by bribery to the side of the king, died, and with him fell the last hope of the monarchy. The king, to test the degree of restraint to which he was subject, endeav- ored in April, 1791, to pay a visit to his palace of St. Cloud, but his departure from the Tuile- ries was prevented by the mob. He now de- termined to make his escape from this disgrace- ful thraldom, and from the violence, insult, and danger to which he was continually exposed in Paris, and, calling around him at some place on the frontiers such subjects as were yet loyal, make a stand against the tyranny of the assem- bly and the mob. In concert with the marquis de Bouill6, an able and resolute general, who commanded a body of loyal troops in Lorraine, a plan was at length formed for the flight of the whole royal family to Montm6dy on the northern frontier, about 200 miles from Paris. It was put in execution June 20, and failed of success chiefly through the obstinacy and want of com- mon sense of the king himself, who could not be persuaded to make use of common carriages, but had a peculiar coach built for his own use, which attracted attention, and who besides did not on his journey take care to keep himself concealed from observation. He was recog- nized by the assistant postmaster Drouet at Ste. Menehould, stopped by the national guards at Varennes, 150 miles from Paris, and brought back to the capital a prisoner, accompanied by the stern Pe" tion, and by Barnave, who now be- came a defender of the throne. On the morn- ing after his return a decree of the national assembly provisionally suspended him from his functions as king, and a strict guard was placed over him and the royal family. In Sep- tember the new constitution was submitted to him for acceptance, his freedom being pre- viously restored to him. After several days' examination he sent this message to the as- sembly, Sept. 13 : "I accept the constitution ; I engage to maintain it alike against civil dis- cord and foreign aggression, and to enforce its execution to the utmost of my power." On the following day he repaired in person to the assembly to declare his acceptance, and on Sept. 29 he attended the closing session of the assembly and delivered a speech in which he said : " Tell your constituents that the king will always be their first and best friend ; that he has need of their affection ; that he knows no enjoyment but in them and with them ; that the hope of contributing to their happi- ness will sustain his courage, as the, satisfac^ tion of having done so will constitute his re- ward." For a brief period after this Louis had a certain degree of peace and even of pop- ularity ; but his vetoes upon the decrees against the emigrant royalists and the priests who would not swear to support the constitution, and his veto of the decree for the defence of Paris against the Austrians and Prussians, caused such irritation that on June 20, 1792, a mob marched from the suburbs to the Tuileries, took possession of the palace, seized the king, and sought by menaces and insults to make him withdraw his vetoes. He refused with great dignity and firmness, and after several hours of stoical endurance he was rescued by the arrival of the mayor with the national guard. The invasion of France by the Prussians and Austrians, and the insolent manifesto of the duke of Brunswick, their commander, again aroused the Parisians to fury ; and on Aug. 10 they rose in insurrection, stormed the Tuile- ries, and massacred the Swiss guards, who had made a gallant defence. Louis with his family sought refuge in the hall of the national assem- bly, where they passed 16 hours in a narrow closet. The assembly, meantime, passed an act to suspend the royal authority, to place the king and his family under control, to give the dauphin a tutor, and to assemble a national convention. The Temple, an ancient fortress