eight
o'clock
Lead was cast for bullets , cartridges were rolled about . The trees on the boulevards , the urinals , the benches , the gratings , the gas-burners , everything was torn off and thrown down . Paris , that morning , was covered with barricades . The resistance which was offered was of short duration , so that at eight o'clock the people , by voluntary surrender or by force , had got possession of five barracks , nearly all the municipal buildings , the most favourable strategic points . Of its own accord , without any effort , the Monarchy was melting away in rapid dissolution , and now an attack was made on the guard-house of the Château d'Eau , in order to liberate fifty prisoners , who were not there . Frederick was forced to stop at the entrance to the square . It was filled with groups of armed men .