On the left there was the Place de la Bastille, dark and gloomy; one could see nothing there, but one could feel a crowd; regiments were there in battle array; they did not bivouac, they were ready to march; the muffled sound of breathing could be heard; the square was full of that glistening shower of pale sparks which bayonets give forth at night time.

Above this abyss of shadows rose up black and stark the Column of July.
Proudhon resumed,-- "Listen.

I come to give you a friendly warning.

You are entertaining illusions.

The People are ensnared in this affair.