5. Letter of the Municipality [Of Sainte-Menehould] to the President of the National Assembly, June 21 [1791].

. . . Between seven and half past eight in the afternoon there passed through this city, going from west to east, two carriages. They were preceded by a courier and followed by another, both dressed in chamois-colored stuff, and they departed after having changed homes without imagining that anybody had suspected who was inside.

Hardly were the two carriages lost to sight than M. Drouet, postmaster, suspecting some mystery, believed he ought to inform the city government. We at once assembled in the common hall, and all the inhabitants armed themselves. Meanwhile the dragoons had remained quiet; but, the people having demanded the disarmament of the soldiers, we invited M. d’Andoins, who commanded them, to come to the city hall. Shortly after, we had been confirmed in our fears by an express sent to us by the directorate of the department of the Marne. We had already charged M. Drouet, postmaster, and M. Guillaume, one of the inhabitants, to ride after the carriages and to have them stopped, if they could overtake them. It is two o’clock in the morning, and they have not yet returned.