They give notice
to the gate-keeper "not to let any dragoon enter the town either on
foot or mounted, at the peril of his life," and declare that "the
bishop's quarters were not made for a guard-house." - A mob
forms, and shouting takes place under the windows; stones are
thrown; the bugle of a dragoon, who sounds the roll-call, is broken
and two shots are fired.[7] The dragoons immediately fire a volley,
which wounds a good many people and kills seven. From this moment,
firing goes on during the evening and all night, in every quarter of
the town, each party believing that the other wants to exterminate
it, the Protestants satisfied that it is another St. Bartholomew,
and the Catholics that it is "a Michelade."[8] There is no one to
act between them. The municipality authorities, far from issuing
orders, receive them: they are roughly handled, hustled and jostled
about, and made to march about like servants. The patriots seize
the Abb? de Belmont, a municipal officer, at the H?tel-de-Ville,
order him, on pain of death, to proclaim martial -law, and place the
red flag in his hand.
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