"Mercy of God! While we are at the front, these wretches will pillage our shops, assault our daughters, slaughter our wives. No, no, it shall never be!"
"Can we go away and leave behind us our women, our children, the old men, exposed to the rage of our enemies? What shall we do?"
"The Friend of the People tells us what to do!" cried a voice in the crowd. "Long live Marat. To the lamp-post with the aristocrats! Here is what it says:
"'The Friend of the People to the Parisians:
"'Folly! Folly! It is useless to proceed with law against the counter-revolutionaries!
"'People, march in arms to the Abbey!
"'Drag out the traitors, the Swiss officers, and their accomplices, the priests, the Jesuits, the monks—let them feel the edge of the sword!
"'People, strike your enemies with terror; otherwise you are lost!'"
"We approve the advice!" shouted several voices in response. "Legal justice absolves the guilty. Let us replace the judges, and strike the culprits. To the Abbey!—to the Abbey!"
Frightened at the turn things were taking, and dreading the consequences of the assent given to Marat's appeal, I attempted to fend off the massacre of the prisoners. Raising my voice above the tumult, I addressed myself to the speaker: