A few months later, of all the National Guard called upon
to protect the clerks, only the commandant and two officers respond
to the summons. If a docile taxpayer happens to be found, he is not
allowed to pay the dues; this seems a defection and almost
treachery. An entry of three puncheons of wine having been made,
they are stove in with stones, a portion is drunk, and the rest
taken to the barracks to debauch the soldiers; M. de Sauzay,
commandant of the "Royal Roussillon," who was bold enough to save
the clerks, is menaced, and for this misdeed he barely escapes being
hung himself. When the municipal body is called upon to interpose
and employ force, it replies that "for so small a matter, it is not
worth while to compromise the lives of the citizens," and the
regular troops sent to the H?tel-de-Ville are ordered by the people
not to go except with the but-ends of their muskets in the air.
Five days after this the windows of the excise office are smashed,
and the public notices are torn down; the fermentation does not
subside, and M.
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