It is the movement of a brute nature exasperated by want and maddened by suspicion. -- Have paid hands， which are invisible goaded it on from beneath？ Contemporaries are convinced of this， and it is probably the case.[10] But the uproar made around the suffering brute would alone suffice to make it shy， and explain its arousal. - On the 21st of April the Electoral Assemblies have begun in Paris； there is one in each quarter， one for the clergy， one for the nobles， and one for the Third-Estate. Every day， for almost a month， files of electors are seen passing along the streets. Those of the first degree continue to meet after having nominated those of the second： the nation must needs watch its mandatories and maintain its imprescriptible rights. If this exercise of their rights has been delegated to them， they still belong to the nation， and it reserves to itself the privilege of interposing when it pleases. A pretension of this kind travels fast； immediately after the Third-Estate of the Assemblies it reaches the Third-Estate of the streets. Nothing is more natural than the desire to lead one's leaders： the first time any dissatisfaction occurs， they lay hands on those who halt and make them march on as directed. On a Saturday， April 25th，[11] a rumor is current that Réveillon， an elector and manufacturer of wall-paper， Rue Saint-Antoine， and Lerat， a commissioner， have "spoken badly" at the Electoral Assembly of Sainte-Marguerite. To speak badly means to speak badly of the people. What has Réveillon said？
Nobody knows， but popular imagination with its terrible powers of invention and precision， readily fabricates or welcomes a murderous phrase. He said that "a working-man with a wife and children could live on fifteen sous a day." Such a man is a traitor， and must be disposed of at once； "all his belongings must be put to fire and sword." The rumor， it must be noted， is false.[12] Réveillon pays his poorest workman twenty-five sous a day， he provides work for three hundred and fifty， and， in spite of a dull season the previous winter， he kept all on at the same rate of wages. He himself was once a workman， and obtained a medal for his inventions， and is benevolent and respected by all respectable persons. -- All this avails nothing； bands of vagabonds and foreigners， who have just passed through the barriers， do not look so closely into matters， while the Journeymen， the carters， the cobblers， the masons， the braziers， and the stone-cutters whom they go to solicit in their lodgings are just as ignorant as they are. When irritation has accumulated， it breaks out haphazardly.
Just at this time the clergy of Paris renounce their privileges in way of imposts，[13] and the people， taking friends for adversaries， add in their invectives the name of the clergy to that of Réveillon.