I entertained at heart, I repeat, wrongly or rightly, a bitter reproach

for the opportunity lost during the morning. I said to myself that on

critical days such moments come, but do not return. There are two

theories of Revolution: to arouse the people, or to let them come of

themselves. The first theory was mine, but, through force of discipline,

I had obeyed the second. I reproached myself with this. I said to myself,

The People offered themselves, and we did not accept them. It is for us

now not to offer ourselves, but to do more, to give ourselves."

Meanwhile the omnibus had started. It was full. I had taken my place at

the bottom on the left; Arnauld (de l'Ariége) sat next to me, Carini

opposite, Montanelli next to Arnauld. We did not speak; Arnauld and

myself silently exchanged that pressure of hands which is a means of

exchanging thoughts.

As the omnibus proceeded towards the centre of Paris the crowd became

denser on the Boulevard. As the omnibus entered into the cutting of the

Porte St. Martin a regiment of heavy cavalry arrived in the opposite

direction. In a few seconds this regiment passed by the side of us. They

were cuirassiers. They filed by at a sharp trot and with drawn swords.

The people leaned over from the height of the pavements to see them pass.

Not a single cry. On the one side the people dejected, on the other the

soldiers triumphant. All this stirred me.

Suddenly the regiment halted. I do not know what obstruction momentarily

impeded its advance in this narrow cutting of the Boulevard in which we

were hemmed in. By its halt it stopped the omnibus. There were the

soldiers. We had them under our eyes, before us, at two paces distance,

174

The History of a Crime