Letter from C.B. Wollaston to his mother, Phillis Frampton, 18 July 1790

urn:iso:std:iso:639:ed-3:eng

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text excerpt

On Wednesday, 14th July, was held the ceremony of the ‘Fedération.’* All the Bourgeois were dressed in the national uniform, with arms, &c., to the number of between 2000 and 3000, and were drawn up on the promenade, a fine spacious walk near the town. At half-past eleven all the bells in the city began to ring, and some guns were fired, when the mayor pronounced the oath, to which they assented by holding up their hand, after which the Te Deum was sung. It rained so exceedingly hard during the ceremony, and there was such a mob of people, that we could hardly see anything that was going on, and indeed there was little to be seen. This ceremony was performed at precisely the same hour in every town in the kingdom, and there is something very well conceived and magnificent in the idea of the bells all over the kingdom ringing at the same instant of time, and the whole nation assembling to take the oath.

*Editor's fn: “Confederation of Paris,” held on the anniversary of the taking and destruction of the Bastille, at which the King was obliged to be present. He, the National Assembly, the army, and the people, solemnly swore to maintain the new Constitution, and also fidelity to the “Patriot King.” Great rejoicings followed, and Paris was illuminated.

excerpt from 'Letter from C.B. Wollaston to his mother, Phillis Frampton, 18 July 1790' pp. 29 (229 words)

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