MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF MARIE ANTOINETTE, QUEEN OF FRANCE

Being the Historic Memoirs of Madam Campan, First Lady in Waiting to the Queen

Volume 6

CHAPTER V. 

In the beginning of the spring of 1791, the King, tired of remaining atthe Tuileries, wished to return to St. Cloud. His whole household hadalready gone, and his dinner was prepared there. He got into his carriageat one; the guard mutinied, shut the gates, and declared they would notlet him pass. This event certainly proceeded from some suspicion of aplan to escape. Two persons who drew near the King's carriage were veryill treated. My father-in-law was violently laid hold of by the guards, who took his sword from him. The King and his family were obliged toalight and return to their apartments. 

They did not much regret this outrage in their hearts; they saw in it ajustification, even in the eyes of the people, of their intention to leaveParis. 

So early as the month of March in the same year, the Queen began to busyherself in preparing for her departure. I spent that month with her, andexecuted a great number of secret orders which she gave me respecting theintended event. It was with uneasiness that I saw her occupied with careswhich seemed to me useless, and even dangerous, and I remarked to her thatthe Queen of France would find linen and gowns everywhere. My observationswere made in vain; she determined to have a complete wardrobe with her atBrussels, as well for her children as herself. I went out alone and almostdisguised to purchase the articles necessary and have them made up. 

I ordered six chemises at the shop of one seamstress, six at that ofanother, gowns, combing cloths, etc. My sister had a complete set ofclothes made for Madame, by the measure of her eldest daughter, and Iordered clothes for the Dauphin from those of my son. I filled a trunkwith these things, and addressed them, by the Queen's orders, to one ofher women, my aunt, Madame Cardon, --a widow living at Arras, by virtue ofan unlimited leave of absence, --in order that she might be ready to startfor Brussels, or any other place, as soon as she should be directed to doso. This lady had landed property in Austrian Flanders, and could at anytime quit Arras unobserved. 

The Queen was to take only her first woman in attendance with her fromParis. She apprised me that if I should not be on duty at the moment ofdeparture, she would make arrangements for my joining her. She determinedalso to take her travelling dressing-case. She consulted me on her ideaof sending it off, under pretence of making a present of it to theArchduchess Christina, Gouvernante of the Netherlands. I ventured tooppose this plan strongly, and observed that, amidst so many people whowatched her slightest actions, there would be found a sufficient numbersharp-sighted enough to discover that it was only a pretext for sendingaway the property in question before her own departure; she persisted inher intention, and all I could arrange was that the dressing-case shouldnot be removed from her apartment, and that M. De charge d'afaires fromthe Court of Vienna during the absence of the Comte de Mercy, should comeand ask her, at her toilet, before all her people, to order one exactlylike her own for Madame the Gouvernante of the Netherlands. The Queen, therefore, commanded me before the charge d'affaires to order the articlein question. This occasioned only an expense of five hundred louis, andappeared calculated to lull suspicion completely. 

About the middle of May, 1791, a month after the Queen had ordered me tobespeak the dressing-case, she asked me whether it would soon be finished. I sent for the ivory-turner who had it in hand. He could not complete itfor six weeks. I informed the Queen of this, and she told me she shouldnot be able to wait for it, as she was to set out in the course of June. She added that, as she had ordered her sister's dressing-case in thepresence of all her attendants, she had taken a sufficient precaution, especially by saying that her sister was out of patience at not receivingit, and that therefore her own must be emptied and cleaned, and taken tothe charge d'affaires, who would send it off. I executed this orderwithout any, appearance of mystery. I desired the wardrobe woman to takeout of the dressing-case all that it contained, because that intended forthe Archduchess could not be finished for some time; and to take greatcare to leave no remains of the perfumes which might not suit thatPrincess. 

The woman in question executed her commission punctually; but, on theevening of that very day, the 15th of May, 1791, she informed M. Bailly, the Mayor of Paris, that preparations were making at the Queen's residencefor a departure; and that the dressing-case was already sent off, underpretence of its being presented to the Archduchess Christina. 

[After the return from Varennes M. Bailly put this woman's deposition intothe Queen's hands. --MADAME CAMPAN. ]

It was necessary, likewise, to send off all the diamonds belonging to theQueen. Her Majesty shut herself up with me in a closet in the entresol, looking into the garden of the Tuileries, and we packed all the diamonds, rubies, and pearls she possessed in a small chest. The cases containingthese ornaments, being altogether of considerable bulk, had beendeposited, ever since the 6th of October, 1789, with the valet de chambrewho had the care of the Queen's jewels. That faithful servant, himselfdetecting the use that was to be made of the valuables, destroyed all theboxes, which were, as usual, covered with red morocco, marked with thecipher and arms of France. It would have been impossible for him to hidethem from the eyes of the popular inquisitors during the domiciliaryvisits in January, 1793, and the discovery might have formed a ground ofaccusation against the Queen. 

I had but a few articles to place in the box when the Queen was compelledto desist from packing it, being obliged to go down to cards, which beganat seven precisely. She therefore desired me to leave all the diamondsupon the sofa, persuaded that, as she took the key of her closet herself, and there was a sentinel under the window, no danger was to be apprehendedfor that night, and she reckoned upon returning very early next day tofinish the work. 

The same woman who had given information of the sending away of thedressing-case was also deputed by the Queen to take care of her moreprivate rooms. No other servant was permitted to enter them; she renewedthe flowers, swept the carpets, etc. The Queen received back the key, when the woman had finished putting them in order, from her own hands;but, desirous of doing her duty well, and sometimes having the key in herpossession for a few minutes only, she had probably on that accountordered one without the Queen's knowledge. It is impossible not tobelieve this, since the despatch of the diamonds was the subject of asecond accusation which the Queen heard of after the return from Varennes. She made a formal declaration that her Majesty, with the assistance ofMadame Campan, had packed up all her jewelry some time before thedeparture; that she was certain of it, as she had found the diamonds, andthe cotton which served to wrap them, scattered upon the sofa in theQueen's closet in the 'entresol'; and most assuredly she could only haveseen these preparations in the interval between seven in the evening andseven in the morning. The Queen having met me next day at the timeappointed, the box was handed over to Leonard, her Majesty'shairdresser, --[This unfortunate man, after having emigrated for some time, returned to France, and perished upon the scaffold. --NOTE BY EDITOR]--wholeft the country with the Duc de Choiseul. The box remained a long timeat Brussels, and at length got into the hands of Madame la Duchessed'Angouleme, being delivered to her by the Emperor on her arrival atVienna. 

In order not to leave out any of the Queen's diamonds, I requested thefirst tirewoman to give me the body of the full dress, and all theassortment which served for the stomacher of the full dress on days ofstate, articles which always remained at the wardrobe. 

The superintendent and the dame d'honneur being absent, the firsttirewoman required me to sign a receipt, the terms of which she dictated, and which acquitted her of all responsibility for these diamonds. She hadthe prudence to burn this document on the 10th of August, 1792. --[The dateof the sack of the Tuileries and slaughter of the Swiss Guard]--The Queenhaving determined, upon the arrest at Varennes, not to have her diamondsbrought back to France, was often anxious about them during the year whichelapsed between that period and the 10th of August, and dreaded above allthings that such a secret should be discovered. 

In consequence of a decree of the Assembly, which deprived the King of thecustody of the Crown diamonds, the Queen had at this time already given upthose which she generally used. 

She preferred the twelve brilliants called Hazarins, from the name of theCardinal who had enriched the treasury with them, a few rose-cut diamonds, and the Sanci. She determined to deliver, with her own hands, the boxcontaining them to the commissioner nominated by the National Assembly toplace them with the Crown diamonds. After giving them to him, she offeredhim a row of pearls of great beauty, saying to him that it had beenbrought into France by Anne of Austria; that it was invaluable, on accountof its rarity; that, having been appropriated by that Princess to the useof the Queens and Dauphinesses, Louis XV. Had placed it in her hands onher arrival in France; but that she considered it national property. "That is an open question, Madame, " said the commissary. "Monsieur, "replied the Queen, "it is one for me to decide, and is now settled. "

My father-in-law, who was dying of the grief he felt for the misfortunesof his master and mistress, strongly interested and occupied the thoughtsof the Queen. He had been saved from the fury of the populace in thecourtyard of the Tuileries. 

On the day on which the King was compelled by an insurrection to give up ajourney to St. Cloud, her Majesty looked upon this trusty servant asinevitably lost, if, on going away, she should leave him in the apartmenthe occupied in the Tuileries. Prompted by her apprehensions, she orderedM. Vicq-d'Azyr, her physician, to recommend him the waters of Mont d'Or inAuvergne, and to persuade him to set off at the latter end of May. At themoment of my going away the Queen assured me that the grand project wouldbe executed between the 15th and the 20th of June; that as it was not mymonth to be on duty, Madame Thibaut would take the journey; but that shehad many directions to give me before I went. She then desired me towrite to my aunt, Madame Cardon, who was by that time in possession of theclothes which I had ordered, that as soon as she should receive a letterfrom M. Augur, the date of which should be accompanied with a B, an L, oran M, she was to proceed with her property to Brussels, Luxembourg, orMontmedy. She desired me to explain the meaning of these three lettersclearly to my sister, and to leave them with her in writing, in order thatat the moment of my going away she might be able to take my place inwriting to Arras. 

The Queen had a more delicate commission for me; it was to select fromamong my acquaintance a prudent person of obscure rank, wholly devoted tothe interests of the Court, who would be willing to receive a portfoliowhich she was to give up only to me, or some one furnished with a notefrom the Queen. She added that she would not travel with this portfolio, and that it was of the utmost importance that my opinion of the fidelityof the person to whom it was to be entrusted should be well founded. Iproposed to her Madame Vallayer Coster, a painter of the Academy, and anamiable and worthy artist, whom I had known from my infancy. She lived inthe galleries of the Louvre. The choice seemed a good one. The Queenremembered that she had made her marriage possible by giving her a placein the financial offices, and added that gratitude ought sometimes to bereckoned on. She then pointed out to me the valet belonging to hertoilet, whom I was to take with me, to show him the residence of MadameCoster, so that he might not mistake it when he should take the portfolioto her. The day before her departure the Queen particularly recommendedme to proceed to Lyons and the frontiers as soon as she should havestarted. She advised me to take with me a confidential person, fit toremain with M. Campan when I should leave him, and assured me that shewould give orders to M. ------ to set off as soon as she should be knownto be at the frontiers in order to protect me in going out. Shecondescended to add that, having a long journey to make in foreigncountries, she determined to give me three hundred louis. 

I bathed the Queen's hands with tears at the moment of this sorrowfulseparation; and, having money at my disposal, I declined accepting hergold. I did not dread the road I had to travel in order to rejoin her;all my apprehension was that by treachery or miscalculation a scheme, thesafety of which was not sufficiently clear to me, should fail. I couldanswer for all those who belonged to the service immediately about theQueen's person, and I was right; but her wardrobe woman gave mewell-founded reason for alarm. I mentioned to the Queen manyrevolutionary remarks which this woman had made to me a few days before. Her office was directly under the control of the first femme de chambre, yet she had refused to obey the directions I gave her, talking insolentlyto me about "hierarchy overturned, equality among men, " of course moreespecially among persons holding offices at Court; and this jargon, atthat time in the mouths of all the partisans of the Revolution, wasterminated by an observation which frightened me. "You know manyimportant secrets, madame, " said this woman to me, "and I have guessedquite as many. I am not a fool; I see all that is going forward here inconsequence of the bad advice given to the King and Queen; I couldfrustrate it all if I chose. " This argument, in which I had been promptlysilenced, left me pale and trembling. Unfortunately, as I began mynarrative to the Queen with particulars of this woman's refusal to obeyme, --and sovereigns are all their lives importuned with complaints uponthe rights of places, --she believed that my own dissatisfaction had muchto do with the step I was taking; and she did not sufficiently fear thewoman. Her office, although a very inferior one, brought her in nearlyfifteen thousand francs a year. Still young, tolerably handsome, withcomfortable apartments in the entresols of the Tuileries, she saw a greatdeal of company, and in the evening had assemblies, consisting of deputiesof the revolutionary party. M. De Gouvion, major-general of the NationalGuard, passed almost every day with her; and it is to be presumed that shehad long worked for the party in opposition to the Court. The Queen askedher for the key of a door which led to the principal vestibule of theTuileries, telling her she wished to have a similar one, that she mightnot be under the necessity of going out through the pavilion of Flora. M. De Gouvion and M. De La Fayette would, of course, be apprised of thiscircumstance, and well-informed persons have assured me that on the verynight of the Queen's departure this wretched woman had a spy with her, whosaw the royal family set off. 

As soon as I had executed all the Queen's orders, on the 30th of May, 1791, I set out for Auvergne, and was settled in the gloomy narrow valleyof Mont d'Or, when, about four in the afternoon of the 25th of June, Iheard the beat of a drum to call the inhabitants of the hamlet together. When it had ceased I heard a hairdresser from Bresse proclaim in theprovincial dialect of Auvergne: "The King and Queen were taking flight inorder to ruin France, but I come to tell you that they are stopped, andare well guarded by a hundred thousand men under arms. " I still venturedto hope that he was repeating only a false report, but he went on: "TheQueen, " with her well-known haughtiness, lifted up the veil which coveredher face, and said to the citizens who were upbraiding the King, "Well, since you recognise your sovereign, respect him. " Upon hearing theseexpressions, which the Jacobin club of Clermont could not have invented, Iexclaimed, "The news is true!"

I immediately learnt that, a courier being come from Paris to Clermont, the 'procureur' of the commune had sent off messengers to the chief placesof the canton; these again sent couriers to the districts, and thedistricts in like manner informed the villages and hamlets which theycontained. It was through this ramification, arising from theestablishment of clubs, that the afflicting intelligence of the misfortuneof my sovereigns reached me in the wildest part of France, and in themidst of the snows by which we were environed. 

On the 28th I received a note written in a hand which I recognised as thatof M. Diet, --[This officer was slain in the Queen's chamber on the 10th ofAugust]--usher of the Queen's chamber, but dictated by her Majesty. Itcontained these words: "I am this moment arrived; I have just got into mybath; I and my family exist, that is all. I have suffered much. Do notreturn to Paris until I desire you. Take good care of my poor Campan, soothe his sorrow. Look for happier times. " This note was for greatersafety addressed to my father-in-law's valet-de-chambre. What were myfeelings on perceiving that after the most distressing crisis we wereamong the first objects of the kindness of that unfortunate Princess!

M. Campan having been unable to benefit by the waters of Mont d'Or, andthe first popular effervescence having subsided, I thought I might returnto Clermont. The committee of surveillance, or that of general safety, had resolved to arrest me there; but the Abbe Louis, formerly aparliamentary counsellor, and then a member of the Constituent Assembly, was kind enough to affirm that I was in Auvergne solely for the purpose ofattending my father-in-law, who was extremely ill. The precautionsrelative to my absence from Paris were limited to placing us under thesurveillance of the 'procureur' of the commune, who was at the same timepresident of the Jacobin club; but he was also a physician of repute, andwithout having any doubt that he had received secret orders relative tome, I thought it would favour the chances of our safety if I selected himto attend my patient. I paid him according to the rate given to the bestParis physicians, and I requested him to visit us every morning and everyevening. I took the precaution to subscribe to no other newspaper thanthe Moniteur. Doctor Monestier (for that was the physician's name)frequently took upon himself to read it to us. Whenever he thought properto speak of the King and Queen in the insulting and brutal terms at thattime unfortunately adopted throughout France, I used to stop him and say, coolly, "Monsieur, you are here in company with the servants of Louis XVI. And Marie Antoinette. Whatever may be the wrongs with which the nationbelieves it has to reproach them, our principles forbid our losing sightof the respect due to them from us. " Notwithstanding that he was aninveterate patriot, he felt the force of this remark, and even procuredthe revocation of a second order for our arrest, becoming responsible forus to the committee of the Assembly, and to the Jacobin society. 

The two chief women about the Dauphin, who had accompanied the Queen toVarennes, Diet, her usher, and Camot, her garcon de toilette, --the womenon account of the journey, and the men in consequence of the denunciationof the woman belonging to the wardrobe, --were sent to the prisons of theAbbaye. After my departure the garcon de toilette whom I had taken toMadame Vallayer Coster's was sent there with the portfolio she had agreedto receive. This commission could not escape the detestable spy upon theQueen. She gave information that a portfolio had been carried out on theevening of the departure, adding that the King had placed it upon theQueen's easy-chair, that the garcon de toilette wrapped it up in a napkinand took it under his arm, and that she did not know where he had carriedit. The man, who was remarkable for his fidelity, underwent threeexaminations without making the slightest disclosure. M. Diet, a man ofgood family, a servant on whom the Queen placed particular reliance, likewise experienced the severest treatment. At length, after a lapse ofthree weeks, the Queen succeeded in obtaining the release of her servants. 

The Queen, about the 15th of August, had me informed by letter that Imight come back to Paris without being under any apprehension of arrestthere, and that she greatly desired my return. I brought my father-in-lawback in a dying state, and on the day preceding that of the acceptation ofthe constitutional act, I informed the Queen that he was no more. "Theloss of Lassonne and Campan, " said she, as she applied her handkerchief toher streaming eyes, "has taught me how valuable such subjects are to theirmasters. I shall never find their equals. "

I resumed my functions about the Queen on the 1st of September, 1791. Shewas unable then to converse with me on all the lamentable events which hadoccurred since the time of my leaving her, having on guard near her anofficer whom she dreaded more than all the others. She merely told methat I should have some secret services to perform for her, and that shewould not create uneasiness by long conversations with me, my return beinga subject of suspicion. But next day the Queen, well knowing thediscretion of the officer who was to be on guard that night, had my bedplaced very near hers, and having obtained the favour of having the doorshut, when I was in bed she began the narrative of the journey, and theunfortunate arrest at Varennes. I asked her permission to put on my gown, and kneeling by her bedside I remained until three o'clock in the morning, listening with the liveliest and most sorrowful interest to the account Iam about to repeat, and of which I have seen various details, of tolerableexactness, in papers of the time. 

The King entrusted Count Fersen with all the preparations for departure. The carriage was ordered by him; the passport, in the name of Madame deKorf, was procured through his connection with that lady, who was aforeigner. And lastly, he himself drove the royal family, as theircoachman, as far as Bondy, where the travellers got into their berlin. Madame Brunier and Madame Neuville, the first women of Madame and theDauphin, there joined the principal carriage. They were in a cabriolet. Monsieur and Madame set out from the Luxembourg and took another road. They as well as the King were recognised by the master of the last post inFrance, but this man, devoting himself to the fortunes of the Prince, leftthe French territory, and drove them himself as postilion. MadameThibaut, the Queen's first woman, reached Brussels without the slightestdifficulty. Madame Cardon, from Arras, met with no hindrance; andLeonard, the Queen's hairdresser, passed through Varennes a few hoursbefore the royal family. Fate had reserved all its obstacles for theunfortunate monarch. 

Nothing worthy of notice occurred in the beginning of the journey. Thetravellers were detained a short time, about twelve leagues from Paris, bysome repairs which the carriage required. The King chose to walk up oneof the hills, and these two circumstances caused a delay of three hours, precisely at the time when it was intended that the berlin should havebeen met, just before reaching Varennes, by the detachment commanded by M. De Goguelat. This detachment was punctually stationed upon the spot fixedon, with orders to wait there for the arrival of certain treasure, whichit was to escort; but the peasantry of the neighbourhood, alarmed at thesight of this body of troops, came armed with staves, and asked severalquestions, which manifested their anxiety. M. De Goguelat, fearful ofcausing a riot, and not finding the carriage arrive as he expected, divided his men into two companies, and unfortunately made them leave thehighway in order to return to Varennes by two cross roads. The King lookedout of the carriage at Ste. Menehould, and asked several questionsconcerning the road. Drouet, the post-master, struck by the resemblanceof Louis to the impression of his head upon the assignats, drew near thecarriage, felt convinced that he recognised the Queen also, and that theremainder of the travellers consisted of the royal family and their suite, mounted his horse, reached Varennes by cross roads before the royalfugitives, and gave the alarm. --[Varennes lies between Verdun andMontmedy, and not far from the French frontier. ]

The Queen began to feel all the agonies of terror; they were augmented bythe voice of a person unknown, who, passing close to the carriage in fullgallop, cried out, bending towards the window without slackening hisspeed, "You are recognised!" They arrived with beating hearts at thegates of Varennes without meeting one of the horsemen by whom they were tohave been escorted into the place. They were ignorant where to find theirrelays, and some minutes were lost in waiting, to no purpose. Thecabriolet had preceded them, and the two ladies in attendance found thebridge already blocked up with old carts and lumber. The town guards wereall under arms. The King at last entered Varennes. M. De Goguelat hadarrived there with his detachment. He came up to the King and asked himif he chose to effect a passage by force! What an unlucky question to putto Louis XVI. , who from the very beginning of the Revolution had shown inevery crisis the fear he entertained of giving the least order which mightcause an effusion of blood! "Would it be a brisk action?" said the King. "It is impossible that it should be otherwise, Sire, " replied theaide-decamp. Louis XVI. Was unwilling to expose his family. Theytherefore went to the house of a grocer, Mayor of Varennes. The Kingbegan to speak, and gave a summary of his intentions in departing, analogous to the declaration he had made at Paris. He spoke with warmthand affability, and endeavoured to demonstrate to the people around himthat he had only put himself, by the step he had taken, into a fitsituation to treat with the Assembly, and to sanction with freedom theconstitution which he would maintain, though many of its articles wereincompatible with the dignity of the throne, and the force by which it wasnecessary that the sovereign should be surrounded. Nothing could be moreaffecting, added the Queen, than this moment, in which the King felt boundto communicate to the very humblest class of his subjects his principles, his wishes for the happiness of his people, and the motives which haddetermined him to depart. 

Whilst the King was speaking to this mayor, whose name was Sauce, theQueen, seated at the farther end of the shop, among parcels of soap andcandles, endeavoured to make Madame Sauce understand that if she wouldprevail upon her husband to make use of his municipal authority to coverthe flight of the King and his family, she would have the glory of havingcontributed to restore tranquillity to France. This woman was moved; shecould not, without streaming eyes, see herself thus solicited by herQueen; but she could not be got to say anything more than, "Bon Dieu, Madame, it would be the destruction of M. Sauce; I love my King, but Ilove my husband too, you must know, and he would be answerable, you see. "Whilst this strange scene was passing in the shop, the people, hearingthat the King was arrested, kept pouring in from all parts. M. DeGoguelat, making a last effort, demanded of the dragoons whether theywould protect the departure of the King; they replied only by murmurs, dropping the points of their swords. Some person unknown fired a pistolat M. De Goguelat; he was slightly wounded by the ball. M. Romeuf, aide-de-camp to M. De La Fayette, arrived at that moment. He had beenchosen, after the 6th of October, 1789, by the commander of the Parisianguard to be in constant attendance about the Queen. She reproached himbitterly with the object of his mission. "If you wish to make your nameremarkable, monsieur, " said the Queen to him, "you have chosen strange andodious means, which will produce the most fatal consequences. " Thisofficer wished to hasten their departure. The Queen, still cherishing thehope of seeing M. De Bouille arrive with a sufficient force to extricatethe King from his critical situation, prolonged her stay at Varennes byevery means in her power. 

The Dauphin's first woman pretended to be taken ill with a violent colic, and threw herself upon a bed, in the hope of aiding the designs of hersuperiors; she went and implored for assistance. The Queen understood herperfectly well, and refused to leave one who had devoted herself to followthem in such a state of suffering. But no delay in departing was allowed. The three Body Guards (Valory, Du Moustier, and Malden) were gagged andfastened upon the seat of the carriage. A horde of National Guards, animated with fury and the barbarous joy with which their fatal triumphinspired them, surrounded the carriage of the royal family. 

The three commissioners sent by the Assembly to meet the King, MM. DeLatour-Maubourg, Barnave, and Potion, joined them in the environs ofEpernay. The two last mentioned got into the King's carriage. The Queenastonished me by the favourable opinion she had formed of Barnave. When Iquitted Paris a great many persons spoke of him only with horror. She toldme he was much altered, that he was full of talent and noble feeling. "Afeeling of pride which I cannot much blame in a young man belonging to theTiers Etat, " she said, "made him applaud everything which smoothed theroad to rank and fame for that class in which he was born. And if we getthe power in our own hands again, Barnave's pardon is already written onour hearts. " The Queen added, that she had not the same feeling towardsthose nobles who had joined the revolutionary party, who had alwaysreceived marks of favour, often to the injury of those beneath them inrank, and who, born to be the safeguard of the monarchy, could never bepardoned for having deserted it. She then told me that Barnave's conductupon the road was perfectly correct, while Potion's republican rudenesswas disgusting; that the latter ate and drank in the King's berlin in aslovenly manner, throwing the bones of the fowls out through the window atthe risk of sending them even into the King's face; lifting up his glass, when Madame Elisabeth poured him out wine, to show her that there wasenough, without saying a word; that this offensive behaviour must havebeen intentional, because the man was not without education; and thatBarnave was hurt at it. On being pressed by the Queen to take something, "Madame, " replied Barnave, "on so solemn an occasion the deputies of theNational Assembly ought to occupy your Majesties solely about theirmission, and by no means about their wants. " In short, his respectfuldelicacy, his considerate attentions, and all that he said, gained theesteem not only of the Queen, but of Madame Elisabeth also. 

The King began to talk to Petion about the situation of France, and themotives of his conduct, which were founded upon the necessity of giving tothe executive power a strength necessary for its action, for the good evenof the constitutional act, since France could not be a republic. "Not yet, 'tis true, " replied Petion, "because the French are not ripe enough forthat. " This audacious and cruel answer silenced the King, who said nomore until his arrival at Paris. Potion held the little Dauphin upon hisknees, and amused himself with curling the beautiful light hair of theinteresting child round his fingers; and, as he spoke with muchgesticulation, he pulled his locks hard enough to make the Dauphin cryout. "Give me my son, " said the Queen to him; "he is accustomed totenderness and delicacy, which render him little fit for suchfamiliarity. "

The Chevalier de Dampierre was killed near the King's carriage uponleaving Varennes. A poor village cure, some leagues from the place wherethe crime was committed, was imprudent enough to draw near to speak to theKing; the cannibals who surrounded the carriage rushed upon him. "Tigers, "exclaimed Barnave, "have you ceased to be Frenchmen? Nation of brave men, are you become a set of assassins?" These words alone saved the cure, whowas already upon the ground, from certain death. Barnave, as he spoke tothem, threw himself almost out of the coach window, and Madame Elisabeth, affected by this noble burst of feeling, held him by the skirt of hiscoat. The Queen, while speaking of this event, said that on the mostmomentous occasions whimsical contrasts always struck her, and that evenat such a moment the pious Elisabeth holding Barnave by the flap of hiscoat was a ludicrous sight. 

The deputy was astonished in another way. Madame Elisabeth's commentsupon the state of France, her mild and persuasive eloquence, and the, easeand simplicity with which she talked to him, yet without sacrificing herdignity in the slightest degree, appeared to him unique, and his heart, which was doubtless inclined to right principles though he had followedthe wrong path, was overcome by admiration. The conduct of the twodeputies convinced the Queen of the total separation between therepublican and constitutional parties. At the inns where she alighted shehad some private conversation with Barnave. The latter said a great dealabout the errors committed by the royalists during the Revolution, addingthat he had found the interest of the Court so feebly and so badlydefended that he had been frequently tempted to go and offer it, inhimself, an aspiring champion, who knew the spirit of the age and nation. The Queen asked him what was the weapon he would have recommended her touse. 

"Popularity, Madame. "

"And how could I use that, " replied her Majesty, "of which I have beendeprived?"

"Ah! Madame, it was much more easy for you to regain it, than for me toacquire it. "

The Queen mainly attributed the arrest at Varennes to M. De Goguelat; shesaid he calculated the time that would be spent in the journeyerroneously. He performed that from Montmedy to Paris before taking theKing's last orders, alone in a post-chaise, and he founded all hiscalculations upon the time he spent thus. The trial has been made since, and it was found that a light carriage without any courier was nearlythree hours less in running the distance than a heavy carriage preceded bya courier. 

The Queen also blamed him for having quitted the high-road atPont-de-Sommevelle, where the carriage was to meet the forty hussarscommanded by him. She thought that he ought to have dispersed the verysmall number of people at Varennes, and not have asked the hussars whetherthey were for the King or the nation; that, particularly, he ought to haveavoided taking the King's orders, as he was previously aware of the replyM. D'Inisdal had received when it was proposed to carry off the King. 

After all that the Queen had said to me respecting the mistakes made by M. De Goguelat, I thought him of course disgraced. What was my surprisewhen, having been set at liberty after the amnesty which followed theacceptance of the constitution, he presented himself to the Queen, and wasreceived with the greatest kindness! She said he had done what he could, and that his zeal ought to form an excuse for all the rest. 

[Full details of the preparations for the flight to Varennes will be foundin "Le Comte de Fersen et La Cour de France, " Paris, Didot et Cie, 1878 (areview of which was given in the Quarterly Review for July, 1880), and inthe "Memoirs of the Marquis de Bouille", London, Cadell and Davis, 1797;Count Fersen being the person who planned the actual escape, and DeBouille being in command of the army which was to receive the King. Theplan was excellent, and would certainly have succeeded, if it had not beenfor the royal family themselves. Marie Antoinette, it will have been seenby Madame Campan's account, nearly wrecked the plan from inability to dowithout a large dressing or travelling case. The King did a more fatalthing. De Bouille had pointed out the necessity for having in the King'scarriage an officer knowing the route, and able to show himself to giveall directions, and a proper person had been provided. The King, however, objected, as "he could not have the Marquis d'Agoult in the same carriagewith himself; the governess of the royal children, who was to accompanythem, having refused to abandon her privilege of constantly remaining withher charge. " See "De Bouille, " pp. 307 and 334. Thus, when Louis wasrecognised at the window of the carriage by Drouet, he was lost by thevery danger that had been foreseen, and this wretched piece of etiquetteled to his death. ]

When the royal family was brought back from Varennes to the Tuileries, theQueen's attendants found the greatest difficulty in making their way toher apartments; everything had been arranged so that the wardrobe woman, who had acted as spy, should have the service; and she was to be assistedin it only by her sister and her sister's daughter. 

M. De Gouvion, M. De La Fayette's aide-de-camp, had this woman's portraitplaced at the foot of the staircase which led to the Queen's apartments, in order that the sentinel should not permit any other women to make theirway in. As soon as the Queen was informed of this contemptibleprecaution, she told the King of it, who sent to ascertain the fact. HisMajesty then called for M. De La Fayette, claimed freedom in hishousehold, and particularly in that of the Queen, and ordered him to senda woman in, whom no one but himself could confide out of the palace. M. DeLa Fayette was obliged to comply. 

On the day when the return of the royal family was expected, there were nocarriages in motion in the streets of Paris. Five or six of the Queen'swomen, after being refused admittance at all the other gates, went withone of my sisters to that of the Feuillans, insisting that the sentinelshould admit them. The poissardes attacked them for their boldness inresisting the order excluding them. One of them seized my sister by thearm, calling her the slave of the Austrian. "Hear me, " said my sister toher, "I have been attached to the Queen ever since I was fifteen years ofage; she gave me my marriage portion; I served her when she was powerfuland happy. She is now unfortunate. Ought I to abandon her?"--"She isright, " cried the poissardes; "she ought not to abandon her mistress; letus make an entry for them. " They instantly surrounded the sentinel, forced the passage, and introduced the Queen's women, accompanying them tothe terrace of the Feuillans. One of these furies, whom the slightestimpulse would have driven to tear my sister to pieces, taking her underher protection, gave her advice by which she might reach the palace insafety. "But of all things, my dear friend, " said she to her, "pull offthat green ribbon sash; it is the color of that D'Artois, whom we willnever forgive. "

The measures adopted for guarding the King were rigorous with respect tothe entrance into the palace, and insulting as to his private apartments. The commandants of battalion, stationed in the salon called the grandcabinet, and which led to the Queen's bedchamber, were ordered to keep thedoor of it always open, in order that they might have their eyes upon theroyal family. The King shut this door one day; the officer of the guardopened it, and told him such were his orders, and that he would alwaysopen it; so that his Majesty in shutting it gave himself useless trouble. It remained open even during the night, when the Queen was in bed; and theofficer placed himself in an armchair between the two doors, with his headturned towards her Majesty. They only obtained permission to have theinner door shut when the Queen was rising. The Queen had the bed of herfirst femme de chambre placed very near her own; this bed, which ran oncasters, and was furnished with curtains, hid her from the officer'ssight. 

Madame de Jarjaye, my companion, who continued her functions during thewhole period of my absence, told me that one night the commandant ofbattalion, who slept between the two doors, seeing that she was sleepingsoundly, and that the Queen was awake, quitted his post and went close toher Majesty, to advise her as to the line of conduct she should pursue. Although she had the kindness to desire him to speak lower in order thathe might not disturb Madame de Jarjaye's rest, the latter awoke, andnearly died with fright at seeing a man in the uniform of the Parisianguard so near the Queen's bed. Her Majesty comforted her, and told hernot to rise; that the person she saw was a good Frenchman, who wasdeceived respecting the intentions and situation of his sovereign andherself, but whose conversation showed sincere attachment to the King. 

There was a sentinel in the corridor which runs behind the apartments inquestion, where there is a staircase, which was at that time an inner one, and enabled the King and Queen to communicate freely. This post, whichwas very onerous, because it was to be kept four and twenty hours, wasoften claimed by Saint Prig, an actor belonging to the Theatre Francais. He took it upon himself sometimes to contrive brief interviews between theKing and Queen in this corridor. He left them at a distance, and gavethem warning if he heard the slightest noise. M. Collot, commandant ofbattalion of the National Guard, who was charged with the military duty ofthe Queen's household, in like manner softened down, so far as he couldwith prudence, all, the revolting orders he received; for instance, one tofollow the Queen to the very door of her wardrobe was never executed. Anofficer of the Parisian guard dared to speak insolently of the Queen inher own apartment. M. Collot wished to make a complaint to M. De LaFayette against him, and have him dismissed. The Queen opposed it, andcondescended to say a few words of explanation and kindness to the man; heinstantly became one of her most devoted partisans. 

The first time I saw her Majesty after the unfortunate catastrophe of theVarennes journey, I found her getting out of bed; her features were notvery much altered; but after the first kind words she uttered to me shetook off her cap and desired me to observe the effect which grief hadproduced upon her hair. It had become, in one single night, as white asthat of a woman of seventy. Her Majesty showed me a ring she had just hadmounted for the Princesse de Lamballe; it contained a lock of her whitenedhair, with the inscription, "Blanched by sorrow. " At the period of theacceptance of the constitution the Princess wished to return to France. The Queen, who had no expectation that tranquillity would be restored, opposed this; but the attachment of Madame de Lamballe to the royal familyimpelled her to come and seek death. 

When I returned to Paris most of the harsh precautions were abandoned; thedoors were not kept open; greater respect was paid to the sovereign; itwas known that the constitution soon to be completed would be accepted, and a better order of things was hoped for. 

CHAPTER VI. 

On my arrival at Paris on the 25th of August I found the state of feelingthere much more temperate than I had dared to hope. The conversationgenerally ran upon the acceptance of the constitution, and the fetes whichwould be given in consequence. The struggle between the Jacobins and theconstitutionals on the 17th of July, 1791, nevertheless had thrown theQueen into great terror for some moments; and the firing of the cannonfrom the Champ de Mars upon a party which called for a trial of the King, and the leaders of which were in the very bosom of the Assembly, left themost gloomy impressions upon her mind. 

The constitutionals, the Queen's connection with whom was not slackened bythe intervention of the three members already mentioned, had faithfullyserved the royal family during their detention. 

"We still hold the wire by which this popular mass is moved, " said Barnaveto M. De J----- one day, at the same time showing him a large volume, inwhich the names of all those who were influenced with the power of goldalone were registered. It was at that time proposed to hire aconsiderable number of persons in order to secure loud acclamations whenthe King and his family should make their appearance at the play upon theacceptance of the constitution. That day, which afforded a glimmeringhope of tranquillity, was the 14th of September; the fetes were brilliant;but already fresh anxieties forbade the royal family to encourage muchhope. 

The Legislative Assembly, which had just succeeded the ConstituentAssembly (October, 1791), founded its conduct upon the wildest republicanprinciples; created from the midst of popular assemblies, it was whollyinspired by the spirit which animated them. The constitution, as I havesaid, was presented to the King on the 3d of September, 1791. Theministers, with the exception of M. De Montmorin, insisted upon thenecessity of accepting the constitutional act in its entirety. The Princede Kaunitz--[Minister of Austria]--was of the same opinion. Malouet wishedthe King to express himself candidly respecting any errors or dangers thathe might observe in the constitution. But Duport and Barnave, alarmed atthe spirit prevailing in the Jacobin Club, [The extreme revolutionary party, so called from the club, originally"Breton, " then "Amis de la Constitution, " sitting at the convent of theDominicans (called in France Jacobins) of the Rue Saint Honore. ]

and even in the Assembly, where Robespierre had already denounced them astraitors to the country, and dreading still greater evils, added theiropinions to those of the majority of the ministers and M. De Kaunitz;those who really desired that the constitution should be maintainedadvised that it should not be accepted thus literally. The King seemedinclined to this advice; and this is one of the strongest proofs of hissincerity. 

Alexandre Lameth, Duport, and Barnave, still relying on the resources oftheir party, hoped to have credit for directing the King through theinfluence they believed they had acquired over the mind of the Queen. Theyalso consulted people of acknowledged talent, but belonging to no councilnor to any assembly. Among these was M. Dubucq, formerly intendant of themarine and of the colonies. He answered laconically in one phrase:"Prevent disorder from organising itself. "

The letter written by the King to the Assembly, claiming to accept theconstitution in the very place where it had been created, and where heannounced he would be on the 14th September at mid-day, was received withtransport, and the reading was repeatedly interrupted by plaudits. Thesitting terminated amidst the greatest enthusiasm, and M. De La Fayetteobtained the release of all those who were detained on account of theKing's journey [to Varennes], the abandonment of all proceedings relativeto the events of the Revolution, and the discontinuance of the use ofpassports and of temporary restraints upon free travelling, as well in theinterior as without. The whole was conceded by acclamation. Sixtymembers were deputed to go to the King and express to him fully thesatisfaction his Majesty's letter had given. The Keeper of the Sealsquitted the chamber, in the midst of applause, to precede the deputationto the King. 

The King answered the speech addressed to him, and concluded by saying tothe Assembly that a decree of that morning, which had abolished the orderof the Holy Ghost, had left him and his son alone permission to bedecorated with it; but that an order having no value in his eyes, save forthe power of conferring it, he would not use it. 

The Queen, her son, and Madame, were at the door of the chamber into whichthe deputation was admitted. The King said to the deputies, "You seethere my wife and children, who participate in my sentiments;" and theQueen herself confirmed the King's assurance. These apparent marks ofconfidence were very inconsistent with the agitated state of her mind. "These people want no sovereigns, " said she. "We shall fall before theirtreacherous though well-planned tactics; they are demolishing the monarchystone by stone. "

Next day the particulars of the reception of the deputies by the King werereported to the Assembly, and excited warm approbation. But the Presidenthaving put the question whether the Assembly ought not to remain seatedwhile the King took the oath "Certainly, " was repeated by many voices;"and the King, standing, uncovered. " M. Malouet observed that there wasno occasion on which the nation, assembled in the presence of the King, did not acknowledge him as its head; that the omission to treat the headof the State with the respect due to him would be an offence to thenation, as well as to the monarch. He moved that the King should take theoath standing, and that the Assembly should also stand while he was doingso. M. Malouet's observations would have carried the decree, but a deputyfrom Brittany exclaimed, with a shrill voice, that he had an amendment topropose which would render all unanimous. "Let us decree, " said he, "thatM. Malouet, and whoever else shall so please, may have leave to receivethe King upon their knees; but let us stick to the decree. "

The King repaired to the chamber at mid-day. His speech was followed byplaudits which lasted several minutes. After the signing of theconstitutional act all sat down. The President rose to deliver hisspeech; but after he had begun, perceiving that the King did not rise tohear him, he sat down again. His speech made a powerful impression; thesentence with which it concluded excited fresh acclamations, cries of"Bravo!" and "Vive le Roi!"--"Sire, " said he, "how important in our eyes, and how dear to our hearts--how sublime a feature in our history--must bethe epoch of that regeneration which gives citizens to France, and acountry to Frenchmen, --to you, as a king, a new title of greatness andglory, and, as a man, a source of new enjoyment. " The whole Assemblyaccompanied the King on his return, amidst the people's cries ofhappiness, military music, and salvoes of artillery. 

At length I hoped to see a return of that tranquillity which had so longvanished from the countenances of my august master and mistress. Theirsuite left them in the salon; the Queen hastily saluted the ladies, andreturned much affected; the King followed her, and, throwing himself intoan armchair, put his handkerchief to his eyes. "Ah! Madame, " cried he, his voice choked by tears, "why were you present at this sitting? towitness--" these words were interrupted by sobs. The Queen threw herselfupon her knees before him, and pressed him in her arms. I remained withthem, not from any blamable curiosity, but from a stupefaction whichrendered me incapable of determining what I ought to do. The Queen saidto me, "Oh! go, go!" with an accent which expressed, "Do not remain to seethe dejection and despair of your sovereign!" I withdrew, struck with thecontrast between the shouts of joy without the palace and the profoundgrief which oppressed the sovereigns within. Half an hour afterwards theQueen sent for me. She desired to see M. De Goguelat, to announce to himhis departure on that very night for Vienna. The renewed attacks upon thedignity of the throne which had been made during the sitting; the spiritof an Assembly worse than the former; the monarch put upon a level withthe President, without any deference to the throne, --all this proclaimedbut too loudly that the sovereignty itself was aimed at. The Queen nolonger saw any ground for hope from the Provinces. The King wrote to theEmperor; she told me that she would herself, at midnight, bring the letterwhich M. De Goguelat was to bear to the Emperor, to my room. 

During all the remainder of the day the Chateau and the Tuileries werecrowded; the illuminations were magnificent. The King and Queen wererequested to take an airing in their carriage in the Champs-Elysees, escorted by the aides-decamp, and leaders of the Parisian army, theConstitutional Guard not being at the time organised. Many shouts of"Vive le Roi!" were heard; but as often as they ceased, one of the mob, who never quitted the door of the King's carriage for a single instant, exclaimed with a stentorian voice, "No, don't believe them! Vive laNation!" This ill-omened cry struck terror into the Queen. 

A few days afterwards M. De Montmorin sent to say he wanted to speak tome; that he would come to me, if he were not apprehensive his doing sowould attract observation; and that he thought it would appear lessconspicuous if he should see me in the Queen's great closet at a timewhich he specified, and when nobody would be there. I went. After havingmade some polite observations upon the services I had already performed, and those I might yet perform, for my master and mistress, he spoke to meof the King's imminent danger, of the plots which were hatching, and ofthe lamentable composition of the Legislative Assembly; and heparticularly dwelt upon the necessity of appearing, by prudent remarks, determined as much as possible to abide by the act the King had justrecognised. I told him that could not be done without committingourselves in the eyes of the royalist party, with which moderation was acrime; that it was painful to hear ourselves taxed with beingconstitutionalists, at the same time that it was our opinion that the onlyconstitution which was consistent with the King's honour, and thehappiness and tranquillity of his people, was the absolute power of thesovereign; that this was my creed, and it would pain me to give any roomfor suspicion that I was wavering in it. 

"Could you ever believe, " said he, "that I should desire any other orderof things? Have you any doubt of my attachment to the King's person, andthe maintenance of his rights?"

"I know it, Count, " replied I; "but you are not ignorant that you lieunder the imputation of having adopted revolutionary ideas. "

"Well, madame, have resolution enough to dissemble and to conceal yourreal sentiments; dissimulation was never more necessary. Endeavours arebeing made to paralyse the evil intentions of the factious as much aspossible; but we must not be counteracted here by certain dangerousexpressions which are circulated in Paris as coming from the King andQueen. "

I told him that I had been already struck with apprehension of the evilwhich might be done by the intemperate observations of persons who had nopower to act; and that I had felt ill consequences from having repeatedlyenjoined silence on those in the Queen's service. 

"I know that, " said the Count; "the Queen informed me of it, and thatdetermined me to come and request you to increase and keep alive, as muchas you can, that spirit of discretion which is so necessary. "

While the household of the King and Queen were a prey to all these fears, the festivities in celebration of the acceptance of the constitutionproceeded. Their Majesties went to the Opera; the audience consistedentirely of persons who sided with the King, and on that day the happinessof seeing him for a short time surrounded by faithful subjects might beenjoyed. The acclamations were then sincere. 

"La Coquette Corrigee" had been selected for representation at the TheatreFrancais solely because it was the piece in which Mademoiselle Contatshone most. Yet the notions propagated by the Queen's enemies coincidingin my mind with the name of the play, I thought the choice veryill-judged. I was at a loss, however, how to tell her Majesty so; butsincere attachment gives courage. I explained myself; she was obliged tome, and desired that another play might be performed. They accordinglyselected "La Gouvernante, " almost equally unfortunate in title. 

The Queen, Madame the King's daughter, and Madame Elisabeth were all wellreceived on this occasion. It is true that the opinions and feelings ofthe spectators in the boxes could not be otherwise than favourable, andgreat pains had been taken, previously to these two performances, to fillthe pit with proper persons. But, on the other hand, the Jacobins tookthe same precautions on their side at the Theatre Italien, and the tumultwas excessive there. The play was Gretry's "Les Evenements Imprevus. "Unfortunately, Madame Dugazon thought proper to bow to the Queen as shesang the words, "Ah, how I love my mistress!" in a duet. Above twentyvoices immediately exclaimed from the pit, "No mistress! no master!liberty!" A few replied from the boxes and slips, "Vive le Roi! vive laReine!" Those in the pit answered, "No master! no Queen!" The quarrelincreased; the pit formed into parties; they began fighting, and theJacobins were beaten; tufts of their black hair flew about thetheatre. --[At this time none but the Jacobins had discontinued the use ofhairpowder. --MADAME CAMPAN. ]--A military guard arrived. The Faubourg St. Antoine, hearing of what was going on at the Theatre Italien, flockedtogether, and began to talk of marching towards the scene of action. TheQueen preserved the calmest demeanour; the commandants of the guardsurrounded and encouraged her; they conducted themselves promptly anddiscreetly. No accident happened. The Queen was highly applauded as shequitted the theatre; it was the last time she was ever in one!

While couriers were bearing confidential letters from the King to thePrinces, his brothers, and to the foreign sovereigns, the Assembly invitedhim to write to the Princes in order to induce them to return to France. The King desired the Abbe de Montesquiou to write the letter he was tosend; this letter, which was admirably composed in a simple and affectingstyle, suited to the character of Louis XVI. , and filled with verypowerful arguments in favour of the advantages to be derived from adoptingthe principles of the constitution, was confided to me by the King, whodesired me to make him a copy of it. 

At this period M. M-----, one of the intendants of Monsieur's household, obtained a passport from the Assembly to join that Prince on businessrelative to his domestic concerns. The Queen selected him to be thebearer of this letter. She determined to give it to him herself, and toinform him of its object. I was astonished at her choice of this courier. The Queen assured me he was exactly the man for her purpose, that sherelied even upon his indiscretion, and that it was merely necessary thatthe letter from the King to his brothers should be known to exist. ThePrinces were doubtless informed beforehand on the subject by the privatecorrespondence. Monsieur nevertheless manifested some degree of surprise, and the messenger returned more grieved than pleased at this mark ofconfidence, which nearly cost him his life during the Reign of Terror. 

Among the causes of uneasiness to the Queen there was one which was buttoo well founded, the thoughtlessness of the French whom she sent toforeign Courts. She used to say that they had no sooner passed thefrontiers than they disclosed the most secret matters relative to theKing's private sentiments, and that the leaders of the Revolution wereinformed of them through their agents, many of whom were Frenchmen whopassed themselves off as emigrants in the cause of their King. 

After the acceptance of the constitution, the formation of the King'shousehold, as well military as civil, formed a subject of attention. TheDuc de Brissac had the command of the Constitutional Guard, which wascomposed of officers and men selected from the regiments, and of severalofficers drawn from the National Guard of Paris. The King was satisfiedwith the feelings and conduct of this band, which, as is well known, existed but a very short time. 

The new constitution abolished what were called honours, and theprerogatives belonging to them. The Duchesse de Duras resigned her placeof lady of the bedchamber, not choosing to lose her right to the tabouretat Court. This step hurt the Queen, who saw herself forsaken through theloss of a petty privilege at a time when her own rights and even life wereso hotly attacked. Many ladies of rank left the Court for the samereason. However, the King and Queen did not dare to form the civil partof their household, lest by giving the new names of the posts they shouldacknowledge the abolition of the old ones, and also lest they should admitinto the highest positions persons not calculated to fill them well. Sometime was spent in discussing the question, whether the household should beformed without chevaliers and without ladies of honour. The Queen'sconstitutional advisers were of opinion that the Assembly, having decreeda civil list adequate to uphold the splendour of the throne, would bedissatisfied at seeing the King adopting only a military household, andnot forming his civil household upon the new constitutional plan. "How isit, Madame, " wrote Barnave to the Queen, "that you will persist in givingthese people even the smallest doubt as to your sentiments? When theydecree you a civil and a military household, you, like young Achillesamong the daughters of Lycomedes, eagerly seize the sword and scorn themere ornaments. " The Queen persisted in her determination to have nocivil household. "If, " said she, "this constitutional household beformed, not a single person of rank will remain with us, and upon a changeof affairs we should be obliged to discharge the persons received intotheir place. "

"Perhaps, " added she, "perhaps I might find one day that I had saved thenobility, if I now had resolution enough to afflict them for a time; Ihave it not. When any measure which injures them is wrested from us theysulk with me; nobody comes to my card party; the King goes unattended tobed. No allowance is made for political necessity; we are punished forour very misfortunes. "

The Queen wrote almost all day, and spent part of the night in reading:her courage supported her physical strength; her disposition was not atall soured by misfortunes, and she was never seen in an ill-humour for amoment. She was, however, held up to the people as a woman absolutelyfurious and mad whenever the rights of the Crown were in any way attacked. 

I was with her one day at one of her windows. We saw a man plainlydressed, like an ecclesiastic, surrounded by an immense crowd. The Queenimagined it was some abbe whom they were about to throw into the basin ofthe Tuileries; she hastily opened her window and sent a valet de chambreto know what was going forward in the garden. It was Abbe Gregoire, whomthe men and women of the tribunes were bringing back in triumph, onaccount of a motion he had just made in the National Assembly against theroyal authority. On the following day the democratic journalistsdescribed the Queen as witnessing this triumph, and showing, by expressivegestures at her window, how highly she was exasperated by the honoursconferred upon the patriot. 

The correspondence between the Queen and the foreign powers was carried onin cipher. That to which she gave the preference can never be detected;but the greatest patience is requisite for its use. Each correspondentmust have a copy of the same edition of some work. She selected "Paul andVirginia. " The page and line in which the letters required, andoccasionally a monosyllable, are to be found are pointed out in ciphersagreed upon. I assisted her in finding the letters, and frequently I madean exact copy for her of all that she had ciphered, without knowing asingle word of its meaning. 

There were always several secret committees in Paris occupied incollecting information for the King respecting the measures of thefactions, and in influencing some of the committees of the Assembly. M. Bertrand de Molleville was in close correspondence with the Queen. TheKing employed M. Talon and others; much money was expended through thelatter channel for the secret measures. The Queen had no confidence inthem. M. De Laporte, minister of the civil list and of the household, also attempted to give a bias to public opinion by means of hirelingpublications; but these papers influenced none but the royalist party, which did not need influencing. M. De Laporte had a private police whichgave him some useful information. 

I determined to sacrifice myself to my duty, but by no means to anyintrigue, and I thought that, circumstanced as I was, I ought to confinemyself to obeying the Queen's orders. I frequently sent off couriers toforeign countries, and they were never discovered, so many precautions didI take. I am indebted for the preservation of my own existence to thecare I took never to admit any deputy to my abode, and to refuse allinterviews which even people of the highest importance often requested ofme; but this line of conduct exposed me to every species of ill-will, andon the same day I saw myself denounced by Prud'homme, in his 'GazetteRevolutionnaire', as capable of making an aristocrat of the mother of theGracchi, if a person so dangerous as myself could have got into herhousehold; and by Gauthier's Gazette Royaliste, as a monarchist, aconstitutionalist, more dangerous to the Queen's interests than a Jacobin. 

At this period an event with which I had nothing to do placed me in astill more critical situation. My brother, M. Genet, began his diplomaticcareer successfully. At eighteen he was attached to the embassy toVienna; at twenty he was appointed chief secretary of Legation in England, on occasion of the peace of 1783. A memorial which he presented to M. DeVergennes upon the dangers of the treaty of commerce then entered intowith England gave offence to M. De Calonne, a patron of that treaty, andparticularly to M. Gerard de Rayneval, chief clerk for foreign affairs. So long as M. De Vergennes lived, having upon my father's death declaredhimself the protector of my brother, he supported him against the enemieshis views had created. But on his death M. De Montmorin, being much inneed of the long experience in business which he found in M. De Rayneval, was guided solely by the latter. The office of which my brother was thehead was suppressed. He then went to St. Petersburg, strongly recommendedto the Comte de Segur, minister from France to that Court, who appointedhim secretary of Legation. Some time afterwards the Comte de Segur lefthim at St. Petersburg, charged with the affairs of France. After hisreturn from Russia, M. Genet was appointed ambassador to the United Statesby the party called Girondists, the deputies who headed it being from thedepartment of the Gironde. He was recalled by the Robespierre party, which overthrew the former faction, on the 31st of May, 1793, andcondemned to appear before the Convention. Vice-President Clinton, atthat time Governor of New York, offered him an asylum in his house and thehand of his daughter, and M. Genet established himself prosperously inAmerica. 

When my brother quitted Versailles he was much hurt at being deprived of aconsiderable income for having penned a memorial which his zeal alone haddictated, and the importance of which was afterwards but too wellunderstood. I perceived from his correspondence that he inclined to someof the new notions. He told me it was right he should no longer concealfrom me that he sided with the constitutional party; that the King had infact commanded it, having himself accepted the constitution; that he wouldproceed firmly in that course, because in this case disingenuousness wouldbe fatal, and that he took that side of the question because he had had itproved to him that the foreign powers would not serve the King's causewithout advancing pretensions prompted by long-standing interests, whichalways would influence their councils; that he saw no salvation for theKing and Queen but from within France, and that he would serve theconstitutional King as he served him before the Revolution. And lastly, he requested me to impart to the Queen the real sentiments of one of hisMajesty's agents at a foreign Court. I immediately went to the Queen andgave her my brother's letter; she read it attentively, and said, "This isthe letter of a young man led astray by discontent and ambition; I knowyou do not think as he does; do not fear that you will lose the confidenceof the King and myself. " I offered to discontinue all correspondence withmy brother; she opposed that, saying it would be dangerous. I thenentreated she would permit me in future to show her my own and mybrother's letters, to which she consented. I wrote warmly to my brotheragainst the course he had adopted. I sent my letters by sure channels; heanswered me by the post, and no longer touched upon anything but familyaffairs. Once only he informed me that if I should write to himrespecting the affairs of the day he would give me no answer. "Serve youraugust mistress with the unbounded devotion which is due from you, " saidhe, "and let us each do our duty. I will only observe to you that atParis the fogs of the Seine often prevent people from seeing that immensecapital, even from the Pavilion of Flora, and I see it more clearly fromSt. Petersburg. " The Queen said, as she read this letter, "Perhaps hespeaks but too truly; who can decide upon so disastrous a position as ourshas become?" The day on which I gave the Queen my brother's first letterto read she had several audiences to give to ladies and other personsbelonging to the Court, who came on purpose to inform her that my brotherwas an avowed constitutionalist and revolutionist. The Queen replied, "Iknow it; Madame Campan has told me so. " Persons jealous of my situationhaving subjected me to mortifications, and these unpleasant circumstancesrecurring daily, I requested the Queen's permission to withdraw fromCourt. She exclaimed against the very idea, represented it to me asextremely dangerous for my own reputation, and had the kindness to addthat, for my sake as well as for her own, she never would consent to it. After this conversation I retired to my apartment. A few minutes later afootman brought me this note from the Queen: "I have never ceased to giveyou and yours proofs of my attachment; I wish to tell you in writing thatI have full faith in your honour and fidelity, as well as in your othergood qualities; and that I ever rely on the zeal and address you exert toserve me. "

[I had just received this letter from the Queen when M. De la Chapelle, commissary-general of the King's household, and head of the offices of M. De Laporte, minister of the civil list, came to see me. The palace havingbeen already sacked by the brigands on the 20th of June, 1792, he proposedthat I should entrust the paper to him, that he might place it in a safersituation than the apartments of the Queen. When he returned into hisoffices he placed the letter she had condescended to write to me behind alarge picture in his closet; but on the loth of August M. De la Chapellewas thrown into the prisons of the Abbaye, and the committee of publicsafety established themselves in his offices, whence they issued all theirdecrees of death. There it was that a villainous servant belonging to M. De Laporte went to declare that in the minister's apartments, under aboard in the floor, a number of papers would be found. They were broughtforth, and M. De Laporte was sent to the scaffold, where he suffered forhaving betrayed the State by serving his master and sovereign. M. De laChapelle was saved, as if by a miracle, from the massacres of the 2d ofSeptember. The committee of public safety having removed to the King'sapartments at the Tuileries, M. De la Chapelle had permission to return tohis closet to take away some property belonging to him. Turning round thepicture, behind which he had hidden the Queen's letter, he found it in theplace into which he had slipped it, and, delighted to see that I was safefrom the ill consequences the discovery of this paper might have broughtupon me, he burnt it instantly. In times of danger a mere nothing maysave life or destroy it. --MADAME CAMPAN]

At the moment that I was going to express my gratitude to the Queen Iheard a tapping at the door of my room, which opened upon the Queen'sinner corridor. I opened it; it was the King. I was confused; heperceived it, and said to me, kindly: "I alarm you, Madame Campan; I come, however, to comfort you; the Queen has told me how much she is hurt at theinjustice of several persons towards you. But how is it that you complainof injustice and calumny when you see that we are victims of them? Insome of your companions it is jealousy; in the people belonging to theCourt it is anxiety. Our situation is so disastrous, and we have met withso much ingratitude and treachery, that the apprehensions of those wholove us are excusable! I could quiet them by telling them all the secretservices you perform for us daily; but I will not do it. Out of good-willto you they would repeat all I should say, and you would be lost with theAssembly. It is much better, both for you and for us, that you should bethought a constitutionalist. It has been mentioned to me a hundred timesalready; I have never contradicted it; but I come to give you my word thatif we are fortunate enough to see an end of all this, I will, at theQueen's residence, and in the presence of my brothers, relate theimportant services you have rendered us, and I will recompense you andyour son for them. " I threw myself at the King's feet and kissed hishand. He raised me up, saying, "Come, come, do not grieve; the Queen, wholoves you, confides in you as I do. "

Down to the day of the acceptance it was impossible to introduce Barnaveinto the interior of the palace; but when the Queen was free from theinner guard she said she would see him. The very great precautions whichit was necessary for the deputy to take in order to conceal his connectionwith the King and Queen compelled them to spend two hours waiting for himin one of the corridors of the Tuileries, and all in vain. The first daythat he was to be admitted, a man whom Barnave knew to be dangerous havingmet him in the courtyard of the palace, he determined to cross it withoutstopping, and walked in the gardens in order to lull suspicion. I wasdesired to wait for Barnave at a little door belonging to the entresols ofthe palace, with my hand upon the open lock. I was in that position foran hour. The King came to me frequently, and always to speak to me of theuneasiness which a servant belonging to the Chateau, who was a patriot, gave him. He came again to ask me whether I had heard the door called deDecret opened. I assured him nobody had been in the corridor, and hebecame easy. He was dreadfully apprehensive that his connection withBarnave would be discovered. "It would, " said the King, "be a ground forgrave accusations, and the unfortunate man would be lost. " I thenventured to remind his Majesty that as Barnave was not the only one in thesecret of the business which brought him in contact with their Majesties, one of his colleagues might be induced to speak of the association withwhich they were honoured, and that in letting them know by my presencethat I also was informed of it, a risk was incurred of removing from thosegentlemen part of the responsibility of the secret. Upon this observationthe King quitted me hastily and returned a moment afterwards with theQueen. "Give me your place, " said she; "I will wait for him in my turn. You have convinced the King. We must not increase in their eyes thenumber of persons informed of their communications with us. "

The police of M. De Laporte, intendant of the civil list, apprised him, asearly as the latter end of 1791, that a man belonging to the King'soffices who had set up as a pastrycook at the Palais Royal was about toresume the duties of his situation, which had devolved upon him again onthe death of one who held it for life; that he was so furious a Jacobinthat he had dared to say it would be a good thing for France if the King'sdays were shortened. His duty was confined to making the pastry; he wasclosely watched by the head officers of the kitchen, who were devoted tohis Majesty; but it is so easy to introduce a subtle poison into madedishes that it was determined the King and Queen should eat only plainroast meat in future; that their bread should be brought to them by M. Thierry de Ville-d'Avray, intendant of the smaller apartments, and that heshould likewise take upon himself to supply the wine. The King was fondof pastry; I was directed to order some, as if for myself, sometimes ofone pastry-cook, and sometimes of another. The pounded sugar, too, waskept in my room. The King, the Queen, and Madame Elisabeth ate together, and nobody remained to wait on them. Each had a dumb waiter and a littlebell to call the servants when they were wanted. M. Thierry used himselfto bring me their Majesties' bread and wine, and I locked them up in aprivate cupboard in the King's closet on the ground floor. As soon as theKing sat down to table I took in the pastry and bread. All was hiddenunder the table lest it might be necessary to have the servants in. TheKing thought it dangerous as well as distressing to show any apprehensionof attempts against his person, or any mistrust of his officers of thekitchen. As he never drank a whole bottle of wine at his meals (thePrincesses drank nothing but water), he filled up that out of which he haddrunk about half from the bottle served up by the officers of his butlery. I took it away after dinner. Although he never ate any other pastry thanthat which I brought, he took care in the same manner that it should seemthat he had eaten of that served at table. The lady who succeeded me foundthis duty all regulated, and she executed it in the same manner; thepublic never was in possession of these particulars, nor of theapprehensions which gave rise to them. At the end of three or four monthsthe police of M. De Laporte gave notice that nothing more was to bedreaded from that sort of plot against the King's life; that the plan wasentirely changed; and that all the blows now to be struck would bedirected as much against the throne as against the person of thesovereign. 

There are others besides myself who know that at this time one of thethings about which the Queen most desired to be satisfied was the opinionof the famous Pitt. She would sometimes say to me, "I never pronounce thename of Pitt without feeling a chill like that of death. " (I repeat hereher very expressions. ) "That man is the mortal enemy of France; and hetakes a dreadful revenge for the impolitic support given by the Cabinet ofVersailles to the American insurgents. He wishes by our destruction toguarantee the maritime power of his country forever against the effortsmade by the King to improve his marine power and their happy resultsduring the last war. He knows that it is not only the King's policy buthis private inclination to be solicitous about his fleets, and that themost active step he has taken during his whole reign was to visit the portof Cherbourg. Pitt had served the cause of the French Revolution from thefirst disturbances; he will perhaps serve it until its annihilation. Iwill endeavour to learn to what point he intends to lead us, and I amsending M. ----- to London for that purpose. He has been intimatelyconnected with Pitt, and they have often had political conversationsrespecting the French Government. I will get him to make him speak out, at least so far as such a man can speak out. " Some time afterwards theQueen told me that her secret envoy was returned from London, and that allhe had been able to wring from Pitt, whom he found alarmingly reserved, was that he would not suffer the French monarchy to perish; that to sufferthe revolutionary spirit to erect an organised republic in France would bea great error, affecting the tranquillity of Europe. "Whenever, " saidshe, "Pitt expressed himself upon the necessity of supporting monarchy inFrance, he maintained the most profound silence upon what concerns themonarch. The result of these conversations is anything but encouraging;but, even as to that monarchy which he wishes to save, will he have meansand strength to save it if he suffers us to fall?"

The death of the Emperor Leopold took place on the 1st of March, 1792. When the news of this event reached the Tuileries, the Queen was gone out. Upon her return I put the letter containing it into her hands. Sheexclaimed that the Emperor had been poisoned; that she had remarked andpreserved a newspaper, in which, in an article upon the sitting of theJacobins, at the time when the Emperor Leopold declared for the coalition, it was said, speaking of him, that a pie-crust would settle that matter. At this period Barnave obtained the Queen's consent that he should readall the letters she should write. He was fearful of privatecorrespondences that might hamper the plan marked out for her; hemistrusted her Majesty's sincerity on this point; and the diversity ofcounsels, and the necessity of yielding, on the one hand, to some of theviews of the constitutionalists, and on the other, to those of the FrenchPrinces, and even of foreign Courts, were unfortunately the circumstanceswhich most rapidly impelled the Court towards its ruin. 

However, the emigrants showed great apprehensions of the consequenceswhich might follow in the interior from a connection with theconstitutionalists, whom they described as a party existing only in idea, and totally without means of repairing their errors. The Jacobins werepreferred to them, because, said they, there would be no treaty to be madewith any one at the moment of extricating the King and his family from theabyss in which they were plunged. 

CHAPTER VII. 

In the beginning of the year 1792, a worthy priest requested a privateinterview with me. He had learned the existence of a new libel by Madamede Lamotte. He told me that the people who came from London to get itprinted in Paris only desired gain, and that they were ready to deliverthe manuscript to him for a thousand louis, if he could find any friend ofthe Queen disposed to make that sacrifice for her peace; that he hadthought of me, and if her Majesty would give him the twenty-four thousandfrancs, he would hand the manuscript to me. 

I communicated this proposal to the Queen, who rejected it, and desired meto answer that at the time when she had power to punish the hawkers ofthese libels she deemed them so atrocious and incredible that she despisedthem too much to stop them; that if she were imprudent and weak enough tobuy a single one of them, the Jacobins might possibly discover thecircumstance through their espionage; that were this libel brought up, itwould be printed nevertheless, and would be much more dangerous when theyapprised the public of the means she had used to suppress it. 

Baron d'Aubier, gentleman-in-ordinary to the King, and my particularfriend, had a good memory and a clear way of communicating the substanceof the debates and decrees of the National Assembly. I went daily to theQueen's apartments to repeat all this to the King, who used to say, onseeing me, "Ah! here's the Postillon par Calais, "--a newspaper of thetime. 

M. D'Aubier one day said to me: "The Assembly has been much occupied withan information laid by the workmen of the Sevres manufactory. Theybrought to the President's office a bundle of pamphlets which they saidwere the life of Marie Antoinette. The director of the manufactory wasordered up to the bar, and declared he had received orders to burn theprinted sheets in question in the furnaces used for baking his china. "

While I was relating this business to the Queen the King coloured and heldhis head down over his plate. The Queen said to him, "Do you knowanything about this, Sire?" The King made no answer. Madame Elisabethrequested him to explain what it meant. Louis was still silent. Iwithdrew hastily. A few minutes afterwards the Queen came to my room andinformed me that the King, out of regard for her, had purchased the wholeedition struck off from the manuscript which I had mentioned to her, andthat M. De Laporte had not been able to devise any more secret way ofdestroying the work than that of having it burnt at Sevres, among twohundred workmen, one hundred and eighty of whom must, in all probability, be Jacobins! She told me she had concealed her vexation from the King;that he was in consternation, and that she could say nothing, since hisgood intentions and his affection for her had been the cause of themistake. 

[M. De Laporte had by order of the King bought up the whole edition of the"Memoirs" of the notorious Madame de Lamotte against the Queen. Insteadof destroying them immediately, he shut them up in one of the closets inhis house, The alarming and rapid growth of the rebellion, the arroganceof the crowd of brigands, who in great measure composed the populace ofParis, and the fresh excesses daily resulting from it, rendered theintendant of the civil list apprehensive that some mob might break intohis house, carry off these "Memoirs, " and spread them among the public. In order to prevent this he gave orders to have the "Memoirs" burnt withevery necessary precaution; and the clerk who received the order entrustedthe execution of it to a man named Riston, a dangerous Intriguer, formerlyan advocate of Nancy, who had a twelve-month before escaped the gallows byfavour of the new principles and the patriotism of the new tribunals, although convicted of forging the great seal, and fabricating decrees ofthe council. This Riston, finding himself entrusted with a commissionwhich concerned her Majesty, and the mystery attending which bespokesomething of importance, was less anxious to execute it faithfully than tomake a parade of this mark of confidence. On the 30th of May, at ten inthe morning, he had the sheets carried to the porcelain manufactory atSevres, in a cart which he himself accompanied, and made a large fire ofthem before all the workmen, who were expressly forbidden to approach it. All these precautions, and the suspicions to which they gave rise, undersuch critical circumstances, gave so much publicity to this affair that itwas denounced to the Assembly that very night. Brissot, and the wholeJacobin party, with equal effrontery and vehemence, insisted that thepapers thus secretly burnt could be no other than the registers anddocuments of the correspondence of the Austrian committee. M. De Laportewas ordered to the bar, and there gave the most precise account of thecircumstances. Riston was also called up, and confirmed M. De Laporte'sdeposition. But these explanations, however satisfactory, did not calmthe violent ferment raised in the Assembly by this affair. --"Memoirs ofBertrand de Molleville. "]

Some time afterwards the Assembly received a denunciation against M. DeMontmorin. The ex-minister was accused of having neglected fortydespatches from M. Genet, the charge d'affaires from France in Russia, nothaving even unsealed them, because M. Genet acted on constitutionalprinciples. M. De Montmorin appeared at the bar to answer thisaccusation. Whatever distress I might feel in obeying the order I hadreceived from the King to go and give him an account of the sitting, Ithought I ought not to fail in doing so. But instead of giving my brotherhis family name, I merely said "your Majesty's charge d'affaires at St. Petersburg. "

The King did me the favour to say that he noticed a reserve in my account, of which he approved. The Queen condescended to add a few obligingremarks to those of the King. However, my office of journalist gave me inthis instance so much pain that I took an opportunity, when the King wasexpressing his satisfaction to me at the manner in which I gave him thisdaily account, to tell him that its merits belonged wholly to M. D'Aubier;and I ventured to request the King to suffer that excellent man to givehim an account of the sittings himself. I assured the King that if hewould permit it, that gentleman might proceed to the Queen's apartmentsthrough mine unseen; the King consented to the arrangement. ThenceforwardM. D'Aubier gave the King repeated proofs of zeal and attachment. 

The Cure of St. Eustache ceased to be the Queen's confessor when he tookthe constitutional oath. I do not remember the name of the ecclesiasticwho succeeded him; I only know that he was conducted into her apartmentswith the greatest mystery. Their Majesties did not perform their Easterdevotions in public, because they could neither declare for theconstitutional clergy, nor act so as to show that they were against them. 

The Queen did perform her Easter devotions in 1792; but she went to thechapel attended only by myself. She desired me beforehand to request oneof my relations, who was her chaplain, to celebrate a mass for her at fiveo'clock in the morning. It was still dark; she gave me her arm, and Ilighted her with a taper. I left her alone at the chapel door. She didnot return to her room until the dawn of day. 

Dangers increased daily. The Assembly were strengthened in the eyes ofthe people by the hostilities of the foreign armies and the army of thePrinces. The communication with the latter party became more active; theQueen wrote almost every day. M. De Goguelat possessed her confidence forall correspondence with the foreign parties, and I was obliged to have himin my apartments; the Queen asked for him very frequently, and at timeswhich she could not previously appoint. 

All parties were exerting themselves either to ruin or to save the King. One day I found the Queen extremely agitated; she told me she no longerknew where she was; that the leaders of the Jacobins offered themselves toher through the medium of Dumouriez; or that Dumouriez, abandoning theJacobins, had come and offered himself to her; that she had granted him anaudience; that when alone with her, he had thrown himself at her feet, andtold her that he had drawn the 'bonnet rouge' over his head to the veryears; but that he neither was nor could be a Jacobin; that the Revolutionhad been suffered to extend even to that rabble of destroyers who, thinking of nothing but pillage, were ripe for anything, and might furnishthe Assembly with a formidable army, ready to undermine the remains of athrone already but too much shaken. Whilst speaking with the utmostardour he seized the Queen's hand and kissed it with transport, exclaiming, "Suffer yourself to be saved!" The Queen told me that theprotestations of a traitor were not to be relied on; that the whole of hisconduct was so well known that undoubtedly the wisest course was not totrust to it;

[The sincerity of General Dumouriez cannot be doubted in this instance. The second volume of his Memoirs shows how unjust the mistrust andreproaches of the Queen were. By rejecting his services, Marie Antoinettedeprived herself of her only remaining support. He who saved France inthe defiles of Argonne would perhaps have saved France before the 20th ofJune, had he obtained the full confidence of Louis XVI. And theQueen. --NOTE BY THE EDITOR. ]

that, moreover, the Princes particularly recommended that no confidenceshould be placed in any proposition emanating from within the kingdom;that the force without became imposing; and that it was better to relyupon their success, and upon the protection due from Heaven to a sovereignso virtuous as Louis XVI. And to so just a cause. 

The constitutionalists, on their part, saw that there had been nothingmore than a pretence of listening to them. Barnave's last advice was asto the means of continuing, a few weeks longer, the Constitutional Guard, which had been denounced to the Assembly, and was to be disbanded. Thedenunciation against the Constitutional Guard affected only its staff, andthe Duc de Brissac. Barnave wrote to the Queen that the staff of theguard was already attacked; that the Assembly was about to pass a decreeto reduce it; and he entreated her to prevail on the King, the veryinstant the decree should appear, to form the staff afresh of personswhose names he sent her. Barnave said that all who were set down in itpassed for decided Jacobins, but were not so in fact; that they, as wellas himself, were in despair at seeing the monarchical government attacked;that they had learnt to dissemble their sentiments, and that it would beat least a fortnight before the Assembly could know them well, andcertainly before it could succeed in making them unpopular; that it wouldbe necessary to take advantage of that short space of time to get awayfrom Paris, immediately after their nomination. The Queen was of opinionthat she ought not to yield to this advice. The Duc de Brissac was sentto Orleans, and the guard was disbanded. 

Barnave, seeing that the Queen did not follow his counsel in anything, andconvinced that she placed all her reliance on assistance from abroad, determined to quit Paris. He obtained a last audience. "Yourmisfortunes, Madame, " said he, "and those which I anticipate for France, determined me to sacrifice myself to serve you. I see, however, that myadvice does not agree with the views of your Majesties. I augur butlittle advantage from the plan you are induced to pursue, --you are tooremote from your succours; you will be lost before they reach you. Mostardently do I wish I may be mistaken in so lamentable a prediction; but Iam sure to pay with my head for the interest your misfortunes have raisedin me, and the services I have sought to render you. I request, for mysole reward, the honour of kissing your hand. " The Queen, her eyessuffused with tears, granted him that favour, and remained impressed witha favourable idea of his sentiments. Madame Elisabeth participated inthis opinion, and the two Princesses frequently spoke of Barnave. TheQueen also received M. Duport several times, but with less mystery. Herconnection with the constitutional deputies transpired. Alexandre deLameth was the only one of the three who survived the vengeance of theJacobins. 

[Barnave was arrested at Grenoble. He remained in prison in that townfifteen months, and his friends began to hope that he would be forgotten, when an order arrived that he should be removed to Paris. At first he wasimprisoned in the Abbaye, but transferred to the Conciergerie, and almostimmediately taken before the revolutionary tribunal. He appeared therewith wonderful firmness, summed up the services he had rendered to thecause of liberty with his usual eloquence, and made such an impressionupon the numerous auditors that, although accustomed to behold onlyconspirators worthy of death in all those who appeared before thetribunal, they themselves considered his acquittal certain. The decree ofdeath was read amidst the deepest silence; but Barnave'a firmness wasimmovable. When he left the court, he cast upon the judges, the jurors, and the public looks expressive of contempt and indignation. He was ledto his fate with the respected Duport du Tertre, one of the last ministersof Louis XVI. When he had ascended the scaffold, Barnave stamped, raisedhis eyes to heaven, and said: "This, then, is the reward of all that Ihave done for liberty!" He fell on the 29th of October, 1793, in thethirty-second year of his age; his bust was placed in the Grenoble Museum. The Consular Government placed his statue next to that of Vergniaud, onthe great staircase of the palace of the Senate. --"Biographie deBruxelles. "]

The National Guard, which succeeded the King's Guard, having occupied thegates of the Tuileries, all who came to see the Queen were insulted withimpunity. Menacing cries were uttered aloud even in the Tuileries; theycalled for the destruction of the throne, and the murder of the sovereign;the grossest insults were offered by the very lowest of the mob. 

About this time the King fell into a despondent state, which amountedalmost to physical helplessness. He passed ten successive days withoututtering a single word, even in the bosom of his family; except, indeed, when playing at backgammon after dinner with Madame Elisabeth. The Queenroused him from this state, so fatal at a critical period, by throwingherself at his feet, urging every alarming idea, and employing everyaffectionate expression. She represented also what he owed to his family;and told him that if they were doomed to fall they ought to fallhonourably, and not wait to be smothered upon the floor of theirapartment. 

About the 15th of June, 1792, the King refused his sanction to the twodecrees ordaining the deportation of priests and the formation of a campof twenty thousand men under the walls of Paris. He himself wished tosanction them, and said that the general insurrection only waited for apretence to burst forth. The Queen insisted upon the veto, and reproachedherself bitterly when this last act of the constitutional authority hadoccasioned the day of the 20th of June. 

A few days previously about twenty thousand men had gone to the Commune toannounce that, on the 20th, they would plant the tree of liberty at thedoor of the National Assembly, and present a petition to the Kingrespecting the veto which he had placed upon the decree for thedeportation of the priests. This dreadful army crossed the garden of theTuileries, and marched under the Queen's windows; it consisted of peoplewho called themselves the citizens of the Faubourgs St. Antoine and St. Marceau. Clothed in filthy rags, they bore a most terrifying appearance, and even infected the air. People asked each other where such an armycould come from; nothing so disgusting had ever before appeared in Paris. 

On the 20th of June this mob thronged about the Tuileries in still greaternumbers, armed with pikes, hatchets, and murderous instruments of allkinds, decorated with ribbons of the national colours, Shouting, "Thenation for ever! Down with the veto!" The King was without guards. Someof these desperadoes rushed up to his apartment; the door was about to beforced in, when the King commanded that it should be opened. Messieurs deBougainville, d'Hervilly, de Parois, d'Aubier, Acloque, Gentil, and othercourageous men who were in the apartment of M. De Septeuil, the King'sfirst valet de chambre, instantly ran to his Majesty's apartment. M. DeBougainville, seeing the torrent furiously advancing, cried out, "Put theKing in the recess of the window, and place benches before him. " Sixroyalist grenadiers of the battalion of the Filles Saint Thomas made theirway by an inner staircase, and ranged themselves before the benches. Theorder given by M. De Bougainville saved the King from the blades of theassassins, among whom was a Pole named Lazousky, who was to strike thefirst blow. The King's brave defenders said, "Sire, fear nothing. " TheKing's reply is well known: "Put your hand upon my heart, and you willperceive whether I am afraid. " M. Vanot, commandant of battalion, wardedoff a blow aimed by a wretch against the King; a grenadier of the FillesSaint Thomas parried a sword-thrust made in the same direction. MadameElisabeth ran to her brother's apartments; when she reached the door sheheard loud threats of death against the Queen: they called for the head ofthe Austrian. "Ah! let them think I am the Queen, " she said to thosearound her, "that she may have time to escape. "

The Queen could not join the King; she was in the council chamber, whereshe had been placed behind the great table to protect her, as much aspossible, against the approach of the barbarians. Preserving a noble andbecoming demeanour in this dreadful situation, she held the Dauphin beforeher, seated upon the table. Madame was at her side; the Princesse deLamballe, the Princesse de Tarente, Madame de la Roche-Aymon, Madame deTourzel, and Madame de Mackau surrounded her. She had fixed a tricolouredcockade, which one of the National Guard had given her, upon her head. The poor little Dauphin was, like the King, shrouded in an enormous redcap. The horde passed in files before the table;

[One of the circumstances of the 20th of June which most vexed the King'sfriends being that of his wearing the bonnet rouge nearly three hours, Iventured to ask him for some explanation of a fact so strikingly incontrast with the extraordinary intrepidity shown by his Majesty duringthat horrible day. This was his answer: "The cries of 'The nation forever!' violently increasing around me, and seeming to be addressed to me, I replied that the nation had not a warmer friend than myself. Upon thisan ill-looking man, making his way through the crowd, came up to me andsaid, rather roughly, 'Well, if you speak the truth, prove it by puttingon this red cap. ' 'I consent, ' replied I. One or two of them immediatelycame forward and placed the cap upon my hair, for it was too small for myhead. I was convinced, I knew not why, that his intention was merely toplace the cap upon my head for a moment, and then to take it off again;and I was so completely taken up with what was passing before me that Idid not feel whether the cap did or did not remain upon my hair. I was solittle aware of it that when I returned to my room I knew only from beingtold so that it was still there. I was very much surprised to find itupon my head, and was the more vexed at it because I might have taken itoff immediately without the smallest difficulty. But I am satisfied thatif I had hesitated to consent to its being placed upon my head the drunkenfellow who offered it to me would have thrust his pike into mystomach. "--"Memoirs of Bertrand de Molleville. "]

the sort of standards which they carried were symbols of the mostatrocious barbarity. There was one representing a gibbet, to which adirty doll was suspended; the words "Marie Antoinette a la lanterne" werewritten beneath it. Another was a board, to which a bullock's heart wasfastened, with "Heart of Louis XVI. " written round it. And a third showedthe horn of an ox, with an obscene inscription. 

One of the most furious Jacobin women who marched with these wretchesstopped to give vent to a thousand imprecations against the Queen. HerMajesty asked whether she had ever seen her. She replied that she hadnot. Whether she had done her any, personal wrong? Her answer was thesame; but she added:

"It is you who have caused the misery of the nation. "

"You have been told so, " answered the Queen; "you are deceived. As thewife of the King of France, and mother of the Dauphin, I am aFrench-woman; I shall never see my own country again, I can be happy orunhappy only in France; I was happy when you loved me. "

The fury began to weep, asked her pardon, and said, "It was because I didnot know you; I see that you are good. "

Santerre, the monarch of the faubourgs, made his subjects file off asquickly as he could; and it was thought at the time that he was ignorantof the object of this insurrection, which was the murder of the royalfamily. However, it was eight o'clock in the evening before the palacewas completely cleared. Twelve deputies, impelled by attachment to theKing's person, ranged themselves near him at the commencement of theinsurrection; but the deputation from the Assembly did not reach theTuileries until six in the evening; all the doors of the apartments werebroken. The Queen pointed out to the deputies the state of the King'spalace, and the disgraceful manner in which his asylum had been violatedunder the very eyes of the Assembly; she saw that Merlin de Thionville wasso much affected as to shed tears while she spoke. 

"You weep, M. Merlin, " said she to him, "at seeing the King and his familyso cruelly treated by a people whom he always wished to make happy. "

"True, Madame, " replied Merlin; "I weep for the misfortunes of a beautifuland feeling woman, the mother of a family; but do not mistake, not one ofmy tears falls for either King or Queen; I hate kings and queens, --it ismy religion. "

The Queen could not appreciate this madness, and saw all that was to beapprehended by persons who evinced it. 

All hope was gone, and nothing was thought of but succour from abroad. TheQueen appealed to her family and the King's brothers; her letters probablybecame more pressing, and expressed apprehensions upon the tardiness ofrelief. Her Majesty read me one to herself from the ArchduchessChristina, Gouvernante of the Low Countries: she reproached the Queen forsome of her expressions, and told her that those out of France were atleast as much alarmed as herself at the King's situation and her own; butthat the manner of attempting to assist her might either save her orendanger her safety; and that the members of the coalition were bound toact prudently, entrusted as they were with interests so dear to them. 

The 14th of July, 1792, fixed by the constitution as the anniversary ofthe independence of the nation drew near. The King and Queen werecompelled to make their appearance on the occasion; aware that the plot ofthe 20th of June had their assassination for its object, they had no doubtbut that their death was determined on for the day of this nationalfestival. The Queen was recommended, in order to give the King's friendstime to defend him if the attack should be made, to guard him against thefirst stroke of a dagger by making him wear a breastplate. I was directedto get one made in my apartments: it was composed of fifteen folds ofItalian taffety, and formed into an under-waistcoat and a wide belt. Thisbreastplate was tried; it resisted all thrusts of the dagger, and severalballs were turned aside by it. When it was completed the difficulty wasto let the King try it on without running the risk of being surprised. Iwore the immense heavy waistcoat as an under-petticoat for three dayswithout being able to find a favourable moment. At length the King foundan opportunity one morning to pull off his coat in the Queen's chamber andtry on the breastplate. 

The Queen was in bed; the King pulled me gently by the gown, and drew meas far as he could from the Queen's bed, and said to me, in a very lowtone of voice: "It is to satisfy her that I submit to this inconvenience:they will not assassinate me; their scheme is changed; they will put me todeath another way. " The Queen heard the King whispering to me, and whenhe was gone out she asked me what he had said. I hesitated to answer; sheinsisted that I should, saying that nothing must be concealed from her, and that she was resigned upon every point. 

When she was informed of the King's remark she told me she had guessed it, that he had long since observed to her that all which was going forward inFrance was an imitation of the revolution in England in the time ofCharles I. , and that he was incessantly reading the history of thatunfortunate monarch in order that he might act better than Charles haddone at a similar crisis. "I begin to be fearful of the King's beingbrought to trial, " continued the Queen; "as to me, I am a foreigner; theywill assassinate me. What will become of my poor children?"

These sad ejaculations were followed by a torrent of tears. I wished togive her an antispasmodic; she refused it, saying that only happy womencould feel nervous; that the cruel situation to which she was reducedrendered these remedies useless. In fact, the Queen, who during herhappier days was frequently attacked by hysterical disorders, enjoyed moreuniform health when all the faculties of her soul were called forth tosupport her physical strength. 

I had prepared a corset for her, for the same purpose as the King'sunder-waistcoat, without her knowledge; but she would not make use of it;all my entreaties, all my tears, were in vain. "If the factionsassassinate me, " she replied, "it will be a fortunate event for me; theywill deliver me from a most painful existence. " A few days after the Kinghad tried on his breastplate I met him on a back staircase. I drew backto let him pass. He stopped and took my hand; I wished to kiss his; hewould not suffer it, but drew me towards him by the hand, and kissed bothmy cheeks without saying a single word. 

The fear of another attack upon the Tuileries occasioned scrupulous searchamong the King's papers

I burnt almost all those belonging to the Queen. She put her familyletters, a great deal of correspondence which she thought it necessary topreserve for the history of the era of the Revolution, and particularlyBarnave's letters and her answers, of which she had copies, into aportfolio, which she entrusted to M. De J----. That gentleman was unableto save this deposit, and it was burnt. The Queen left a few papers inher secretaire. Among them were instructions to Madame de Tourzel, respecting the dispositions of her children and the characters andabilities of the sub-governesses under that lady's orders. This paper, which the Queen drew up at the time of Madame de Tourzel's appointment, with several letters from Maria Theresa, filled with the best advice andinstructions, was printed after the 10th of August by order of theAssembly in the collection of papers found in the secretaires of the Kingand Queen. 

Her Majesty had still, without reckoning the income of the month, onehundred and forty thousand francs in gold. She was desirous of depositingthe whole of it with me; but I advised her to retain fifteen hundredlouis, as a sum of rather considerable amount might be suddenly necessaryfor her. The King had an immense quantity of papers, and unfortunatelyconceived the idea of privately making, with the assistance of a locksmithwho had worked with him above ten years, a place of concealment in aninner corridor of his apartments. The place of concealment, but for theman's information, would have been long undiscovered? The wall in whichit was made was painted to imitate large stones, and the opening wasentirely concealed among the brown grooves which formed the shaded part ofthese painted stones. But even before this locksmith had denounced whatwas afterwards called the iron closet to the Assembly, the Queen was awarethat he had talked of it to some of his friends; and that this man, inwhom the King from long habit placed too much confidence, was a Jacobin. She warned the King of it, and prevailed on him to fill a very largeportfolio with all the papers he was most interested in preserving, andentrust it to me. She entreated him in my presence to leave nothing inthis closet; and the King, in order to quiet her, told her that he hadleft nothing there. I would have taken the portfolio and carried it to myapartment, but it was too heavy for me to lift. The King said he wouldcarry it himself; I went before to open the doors for him. When he placedthe portfolio in my inner closet he merely said, "The Queen will tell youwhat it contains. " Upon my return to the Queen I put the question to her, deeming, from what the King had said, that it was necessary I should know. "They are, " the Queen answered me, "such documents as would be mostdangerous to the King should they go so far as to proceed to a trialagainst him. But what he wishes me to tell you is, that the portfoliocontains a 'proces-verbal' of a cabinet council, in which the King gavehis opinion against the war. He had it signed by all the ministers, and, in case of a trial, he trusts that this document will be very useful tohim. " I asked the Queen to whom she thought I ought to commit theportfolio. "To whom you please, " answered she; "you alone are answerablefor it. Do not quit the palace even during your vacation months: theremay be circumstances under which it would be very desirable that we shouldbe able to have it instantly. "

At this period M. De La Fayette, who had probably given up the idea ofestablishing a republic in France similar to that of the United States, and was desirous to support the first constitution which he had sworn todefend, quitted his army and came to the Assembly for the purpose ofsupporting by his presence and by an energetic speech a petition signed bytwenty thousand citizens against the late violation of the residence ofthe King and his family. The General found the constitutional partypowerless, and saw that he himself had lost his popularity. The Assemblydisapproved of the step he had taken; the King, for whom it, was taken, showed no satisfaction at it, and he saw himself compelled to return tohis army as quickly as he could. He thought he could rely on the NationalGuard; but on the day of his arrival those officers who were in the King'sinterest inquired of his Majesty whether they were to forward the views ofGendral de La Fayette by joining him in such measures as he should pursueduring his stay at Paris. The King enjoined them not to do so. From thisanswer M. De La Fayette perceived that he was abandoned by the remainderof his party in the Paris guard. 

On his arrival a plan was presented to the Queen, in which it was proposedby a junction between La Fayette's army and the King's party to rescue theroyal family and convey them to Rouen. I did not learn the particulars ofthis plan; the Queen only said to me upon the subject that M. De LaFayette was offered to them as a resource; but that it would be better forthem to perish than to owe their safety to the man who had done them themost mischief, or to place themselves under the necessity of treating withhim. 

I passed the whole month of July without going to bed; I was fearful ofsome attack by night. There was one plot against the Queen's life whichhas never been made known. I was alone by her bedside at one o'clock inthe morning; we heard somebody walking softly down the corridor, whichpasses along the whole line of her apartments, and which was then lockedat each end. I went out to fetch the valet de chambre; he entered thecorridor, and the Queen and myself soon heard the noise of two menfighting. The unfortunate Princess held me locked in her arms, and saidto me, "What a situation! insults by day and assassins by night!" Thevalet de chambre cried out to her from the corridor, "Madame, it is awretch that I know; I have him!"--"Let him go, " said the Queen; "open thedoor to him; he came to murder me; the Jacobins would carry him about intriumph to-morrow. " The man was a servant of the King's toilet, who hadtaken the key of the corridor out of his Majesty's pocket after he was inbed, no doubt with the intention of committing the crime suspected. Thevalet de chambre, who was a very strong man, held him by the wrists, andthrust him out at the door. The wretch did not speak a word. The valetde chambre said, in answer to the Queen, who spoke to him gratefully ofthe danger to which he had exposed himself, that he feared nothing, andthat he had always a pair of excellent pistols about him for no otherpurpose than to defend her Majesty. The next day M. De Septeuil had allthe locks of the King's inner apartments changed. I did the same by thoseof the Queen. 

We were every moment told that the Faubourg St. Antoine was preparing tomarch against the palace. At four o'clock one morning towards the latterend of July a person came to give me information to that effect. Iinstantly sent off two men, on whom I could rely, with orders to proceedto the usual places for assembling, and to come back speedily and give mean account of the state of the city. We knew that at least an hour mustelapse before the populace or the faubourgs assembled on the site of theBastille could reach the Tuileries. It seemed to me sufficient for theQueen's safety that all about her should be awakened. I went softly intoher room; she was asleep; I did not awaken her. I found General deW----in the great closet; he told me the meeting was, for this once, dispersing. The General had endeavoured to please the populace by thesame means as M. De La Fayette had employed. He saluted the lowestpoissarde, and lowered his hat down to his very stirrup. But the populace, who had been flattered for three years, required far different homage toits power, and the poor man was unnoticed. The King had been awakened, and so had Madame Elisabeth, who had gone to him. The Queen, yielding tothe weight of her griefs, slept till nine o'clock on that day, which wasvery unusual with her. The King had already been to know whether she wasawake; I told him what I had done, and the care I had taken not to disturbher. He thanked me, and said, "I was awake, and so was the whole palace;she ran no risk. I am very glad to see her take a little rest. Alas! hergriefs double mine!" What was my chagrin when, upon awaking and learningwhat had passed, the Queen burst into tears from regret at not having beencalled, and began to upbraid me, on whose friendship she ought to havebeen able to rely, for having served her so ill under such circumstances!In vain did I reiterate that it had been only a false alarm, and that sherequired to have her strength recruited. "It is not diminished, " said she;"misfortune gives us additional strength. Elisabeth was with the King, and I was asleep, --I who am determined to perish by his side! I am hiswife; I will not suffer him to incur the smallest risk without my sharingit. "

CHAPTER VIII. 

During July the correspondence of M. Bertrand de Molleville with the Kingand Queen was most active. M. De Marsilly, formerly a lieutenant of theCent-Suisses of the Guard, was the bearer of the letters. 

[I received by night only the King's answer, written with his own hand, inthe margin of my letter. I always sent him back with the day's letterthat to which he had replied the day before, so that my letters and hisanswers, of which I contented myself with taking notes only, neverremained with me twenty-four hours. I proposed this arrangement to hisMajesty to remove all uneasiness from his mind; my letters were generallydelivered to the King or the Queen by M. De Marsilly, captain of theKing's Guard, whose attachment and fidelity were known to their Majesties. I also sometimes employed M. Bernard de Marigny, who had left Brest forthe purpose of sharing with his Majesty's faithful servants the dangerswhich threatened the King. --"Memoirs of Bertrand de Molleville, " vol. Ii. , p. 12. ]

He came to me the first time with a note from the Queen directed to M. Bertrand himself. In this note the Queen said: "Address yourself withfull confidence to Madame Campan; the conduct of her brother in Russia hasnot at all influenced her sentiments; she is wholly devoted to us; and if, hereafter, you should have anything to say to us verbally, you may relyentirely upon her devotion and discretion. "

The mobs which gathered almost nightly in the faubourgs alarmed theQueen's friends; they entreated her not to sleep in her room on the groundfloor of the Tuileries. She removed to the first floor, to a room whichwas between the King's apartments and those of the Dauphin. Being awakealways from daybreak, she ordered that neither the shutters nor thewindow-blinds should be closed, that her long sleepless nights might bethe less weary. About the middle of one of these nights, when the moonwas shining into her bedchamber, she gazed at it, and told me that in amonth she should not see that moon unless freed from her chains, andbeholding the King at liberty. She then imparted to me all that wasconcurring to deliver them; but said that the opinions of their intimateadvisers were alarmingly at variance; that some vouched for completesuccess, while others pointed out insurmountable dangers. She added thatshe possessed the itinerary of the march of the Princes and the King ofPrussia: that on such a day they would be at Verdun, on another day atsuch a place, that Lille was about to be besieged, but that M. De J-----, whose prudence and intelligence the King, as well as herself, highlyvalued, alarmed them much respecting the success of that siege, and madethem apprehensive that, even were the commandant devoted to them, thecivil authority, which by the constitution gave great power to the mayorsof towns, would overrule the military commandant. She was also veryuneasy as to what would take place at Paris during the interval, and spoketo me of the King's want of energy, but always in terms expressive of herveneration for his virtues and her attachment to himself. --"The King, "said she, "is not a coward; he possesses abundance of passive courage, buthe is overwhelmed by an awkward shyness, a mistrust of himself, whichproceeds from his education as much as from his disposition. He is afraidto command, and, above all things, dreads speaking to assembled numbers. He lived like a child, and always ill at ease under the eyes of Louis XV. , until the age of twenty-one. This constraint confirmed his timidity. 

"Circumstanced as we are, a few well-delivered words addressed to theParisians, who are devoted to him, would multiply the strength of ourparty a hundredfold: he will not utter them. What can we expect fromthose addresses to the people which he has been advised to post up?Nothing but fresh outrages. As for myself, I could do anything, and wouldappear on horseback if necessary. But if I were really to begin to act, that would be furnishing arms to the King's enemies; the cry against theAustrian, and against the sway of a woman, would become general in France;and, moreover, by showing myself, I should render the King a mere nothing. A queen who is not regent ought, under these circumstances, to remainpassive and prepare to die. "

The garden of the Tuileries was full of maddened men, who insulted all whoseemed to side with the Court. "The Life of Marie Antoinette" was criedunder the Queen's windows, infamous plates were annexed to the book, thehawkers showed them to the passersby. On all sides were heard thejubilant outcries of a people in a state of delirium almost as frightfulas the explosion of their rage. The Queen and her children were unable tobreathe the open air any longer. It was determined that the garden of theTuileries should be closed: as soon as this step was taken the Assemblydecreed that the whole length of the Terrace des Feuillans belonged to it, and fixed the boundary between what was called the national ground and theCoblentz ground by a tricoloured ribbon stretched from one end of theterrace to the other. All good citizens were ordered, by notices affixedto it, not to go down into the garden, under pain of being treated in thesame manner as Foulon and Berthier. A young man who did not observe thiswritten order went down into the garden; furious outcries, threats of lalanterne, and the crowd of people which collected upon the terrace warnedhim of his imprudence, and the danger which he ran. He immediately pulledoff his shoes, took out his handkerchief, and wiped the dust from theirsoles. The people cried out, "Bravo! the good citizen for ever!" He wascarried off in triumph. The shutting up of the Tuileries did not enablethe Queen and her children to walk in the garden. The people on theterrace sent forth dreadful shouts, and she was twice compelled to returnto her apartments. 

In the early part of August many zealous persons offered the King money;he refused considerable sums, being unwilling to injure the fortunes ofindividuals. M. De la Ferte, intendant of the 'menus plaisirs', broughtme a thousand louis, requesting me to lay them at the feet of the Queen. He thought she could not have too much money at so perilous a time, andthat every good Frenchman should hasten to place all his ready money inher hands. She refused this sum, and others of much greater amount whichwere offered to her. 

[M. Auguie, my brother-in-law, receiver-general of the finances, offeredher, through his wife, a portfolio containing one hundred thousand crownsin paper money. On this occasion the Queen said the most affecting thingsto my sister, expressive of her happiness at having contributed to thefortunes of such faithful subjects as herself and her husband, butdeclined her offer. --MADAME CAMPAN. ]

However, a few days afterwards, she told me she would accept M. De laFerte's twenty-four thousand francs, because they would make up a sumwhich the King had to expend. She therefore directed, me to go andreceive those twenty-four thousand francs, to add them to the one hundredthousand francs she had placed in my hands, and to change the whole intoassignats to increase their amount. Her orders were executed, and theassignats were delivered to the King. The Queen informed me that MadameElisabeth had found a well-meaning man who had engaged to gain over Petionby the bribe of a large sum of money, and that deputy would, by apreconcerted signal, inform the King of the success of the project. HisMajesty soon had an opportunity of seeing Petion, and on the Queen askinghim before me if he was satisfied with him, the King replied, "Neithermore nor less satisfied than usual; he did not make the concerted signal, and I believe I have been cheated. " The Queen then condescended toexplain the whole of the enigma to me. "Petion, " said she, "was, whiletalking to the King, to have kept his finger fixed upon his right eye forat least two seconds. "--"He did not even put his hand up to his chin, "said the King; "after all, it is but so much money stolen: the thief willnot boast of it, and the affair will remain a secret. Let us talk ofsomething else. " He turned to me and said, "Your father was an intimatefriend of Mandat, who now commands the National Guard; describe him to me;what ought I to expect from him?" I answered that he was one of hisMajesty's most faithful subjects, but that with a great deal of loyalty hepossessed very little sense, and that he was involved in theconstitutional vortex. "I understand, " said the King; "he is a man whowould defend my palace and my person, because that is enjoined by theconstitution which he has sworn to support, but who would fight againstthe party in favour of sovereign authority; it is well to know this withcertainty. "

On the next day the Princesse de Lamballe sent for me very early in themorning. I found her on a sofa facing a window that looked upon the PontRoyal. She then occupied that apartment of the Pavilion of Flora whichwas on a level with that of the Queen. She desired me to sit down by her. Her Highness had a writing-desk upon her knees. "You have had manyenemies, " said she; "attempts have been made to deprive you of the Queen'sfavour; they have been far from successful. Do you know that even Imyself, not being so well acquainted with you as the Queen, was renderedsuspicious of you; and that upon the arrival of the Court at the TuileriesI gave you a companion to be a spy upon you; and that I had anotherbelonging to the police placed at your door! I was assured that youreceived five or six of the most virulent deputies of the Tiers Etat; butit was that wardrobe woman whose rooms were above you. 

"In short, " said the Princess, "persons of integrity have nothing to fearfrom the evil-disposed when they belong to so upright a prince as theKing. As to the Queen, she knows you, and has loved you ever since shecame into France. You shall judge of the King's opinion of you: it wasyesterday evening decided in the family circle that, at a time when theTuileries is likely to be attacked, it was necessary to have the mostfaithful account of the opinions and conduct of all the individualscomposing the Queen's service. The King takes the same precaution on hispart respecting all who are about him. He said there was with him aperson of great integrity, to whom he would commit this inquiry; and that, with regard to the Queen's household, you must be spoken to, that he hadlong studied your character, and that he esteemed your veracity. "

The Princess had a list of the names of all who belonged to the Queen'schamber on her desk. She asked me for information respecting eachindividual. I was fortunate in having none but the most favourableinformation to give. I had to speak of my avowed enemy in the Queen'schamber; of her who most wished that I should be responsible for mybrother's political opinions. The Princess, as the head of the chamber, could not be ignorant of this circumstance; but as the person in question, who idolised the King and Queen, would not have hesitated to sacrifice herlife in order to save theirs, and as possibly her attachment to them, united to considerable narrowness of intellect and a limited education, contributed to her jealousy of me, I spoke of her in the highest terms. 

The Princess wrote as I dictated, and occasionally looked at me withastonishment. When I had done I entreated her to write in the margin thatthe lady alluded to was my declared enemy. She embraced me, saying, "Ah!do not write it! we should not record an unhappy circumstance which oughtto be forgotten. " We came to a man of genius who was much attached to theQueen, and I described him as a man born solely to contradict, showinghimself an aristocrat with democrats, and a democrat among aristocrats;but still a man of probity, and well disposed to his sovereign. ThePrincess said she knew many persons of that disposition, and that she wasdelighted I had nothing to say against this man, because she herself hadplaced him about the Queen. 

The whole of her Majesty's chamber, which consisted entirely of persons offidelity, gave throughout all the dreadful convulsions of the Revolutionproofs of the greatest prudence and self-devotion. The same cannot besaid of the antechambers. With the exception of three or four, all theservants of that class were outrageous Jacobins; and I saw on thoseoccasions the necessity of composing the private household of princes ofpersons completely separated from the class of the people. 

The situation of the royal family was so unbearable during the monthswhich immediately preceded the 10th of August that the Queen longed forthe crisis, whatever might be its issue. She frequently said that a longconfinement in a tower by the seaside would seem to her less intolerablethan those feuds in which the weakness of her party daily threatened aninevitable catastrophe. 

[A few days before the 10th of August the squabbles between the royalistsand the Jacobins, and between the Jacobins and the constitutionalists, increased in warmth; among the latter those men who defended theprinciples they professed with the greatest talent, courage, and constancywere at the same time the most exposed to danger. Montjoie says: "Thequestion of dethronement was discussed with a degree of frenzy in theAssembly. Such of the deputies as voted against it were abused, illtreated, and surrounded by assassins. They had a battle to fight at everystep they took; and at length they did not dare to sleep in their ownhouses. Of this number were Regnault de Beaucaron, Froudiere, Girardin, and Vaublanc. Girardin complained of having been struck in one of thelobbies of the Assembly. A voice cried out to him, 'Say where were youstruck. ' 'Where?' replied Girardin, 'what a question! Behind. Doassassins ever strike otherwise?"]

Not only were their Majesties prevented from breathing the open air, butthey were also insulted at the very foot of the altar. The Sunday beforethe last day of the monarchy, while the royal family went through thegallery to the chapel, half the soldiers of the National Guard exclaimed, "Long live the King!" and the other half, "No; no King! Down with theveto!" and on that day at vespers the choristers preconcerted to use loudand threatening emphasis when chanting the words, "Deposuit potentes desede, " in the "Magnificat. " Incensed at such an irreverent proceeding, the royalists in their turn thrice exclaimed, "Et reginam, " after the"Domine salvum fac regem. " The tumult during the whole time of divineservice was excessive. 

At length the terrible night of the 10th of August, 1792, arrived. On thepreceding evening Potion went to the Assembly and informed it thatpreparations were making for an insurrection on the following day; thatthe tocsin would sound at midnight; and that he feared he had notsufficient means for resisting the attack which was about to take place. Upon this information the Assembly passed to the order of the day. Petion, however, gave an order for repelling force by force. 

[Petion was the Mayor of Paris, and Mandat on this day was commandant ofthe National Guard. Mandat was assassinated that night. --"Thiers, " vol. I. , p. 260. ]

M. Mandat was armed with this order; and, finding his fidelity to theKing's person supported by what he considered the law of the State, heconducted himself in all his operations with the greatest energy. On theevening of the 9th I was present at the King's supper. While his Majestywas giving me various orders we heard a great noise at the door of theapartment. I went to see what was the cause of it, and found the twosentinels fighting. One said, speaking of the King, that he was hearty inthe cause of the constitution, and would defend it at the peril of hislife; the other maintained that he was an encumbrance to the onlyconstitution suitable to a free people. They were almost ready to cut oneanother's throats. I returned with a countenance which betrayed myemotion. The King desired to know what was going forward at his door; Icould not conceal it from him. The Queen said she was not at allsurprised at it, and that more than half the guard belonged to the Jacobinparty. 

The tocsin sounded at midnight. The Swiss were drawn up like walls; andin the midst of their soldierlike silence, which formed a strikingcontrast with the perpetual din of the town guard, the King informed M. DeJ-----, an officer of the staff, of the plan of defence laid down byGeneral Viomenil. M. De J----- said to me, after this private conference, "Put your jewels and money into your pockets; our dangers are unavoidable;the means of defence are nil; safety might be obtained by some degree ofenergy in the King, but that is the only virtue in which he is deficient. "

An hour after midnight the Queen and Madame Elisabeth said they would liedown on a sofa in a room in the entresols, the windows of which commandedthe courtyard of the Tuileries. 

The Queen told me the King had just refused to put on his quiltedunder-waistcoat; that he had consented to wear it on the 14th of Julybecause he was merely going to a ceremony where the blade of an assassinwas to be apprehended, but that on a day on which his party might fightagainst the revolutionists he thought there was something cowardly inpreserving his life by such means. 

During this time Madame Elisabeth disengaged herself from some of herclothing which encumbered her in order to lie down on the sofa: she took acornelian pin out of her cape, and before she laid it down on the tableshe showed it to me, and desired me to read a motto engraved upon it rounda stalk of lilies. The words were, "Oblivion of injuries; pardon foroffences. "--"I much fear, " added that virtuous Princess, "this maxim hasbut little influence among our enemies; but it ought not to be less dearto us on that account. "

[The exalted piety of Madame Elisabeth gave to all she said and did anoble character, descriptive of that of her soul. On the day on whichthis worthy descendant of Saint Louis was sacrificed, the executioner, intying her hands behind her, raised up one of the ends of her handkerchief. Madame Elisabeth, with calmness, and in a voice which seemed not to belongto earth, said to him, "In the name of modesty, cover my bosom. " Ilearned this from Madame de Serilly, who was condemned the same day as thePrincess, but who obtained a respite at the moment of the execution, Madame de Montmorin, her relation, declaring that her cousin wasenceinte. -MADAME CAMPAN. ]

The Queen desired me to sit down by her; the two Princesses could notsleep; they were conversing mournfully upon their situation when a musketwas discharged in the courtyard. They both quitted the sofa, saying, "There is the first shot, unfortunately it will not be the last; let us goup to the King. " The Queen desired me to follow her; several of her womenwent with me. 

At four o'clock the Queen came out of the King's chamber and told us shehad no longer any hope; that M. Mandat, who had gone to the Hotel de Villeto receive further orders, had just been assassinated, and that the peoplewere at that time carrying his head about the streets. Day came. TheKing, the Queen, Madame Elisabeth, Madame, and the Dauphin went down topass through the ranks of the sections of the National Guard; the cry of"Vive le Roi!" was heard from a few places. I was at a window on thegarden side; I saw some of the gunners quit their posts, go up to theKing, and thrust their fists in his face, insulting him by the most brutallanguage. Messieurs de Salvert and de Bridges drove them off in aspirited manner. The King was as pale as a corpse. The royal family camein again. The Queen told me that all was lost; that the King had shown noenergy; and that this sort of review had done more harm than good. 

I was in the billiard-room with my companions; we placed ourselves uponsome high benches. I then saw M. D'Hervilly with a drawn sword in hishand, ordering the usher to open the door to the French noblesse. Twohundred persons entered the room nearest to that in which the family were;others drew up in two lines in the preceding rooms. I saw a few peoplebelonging to the Court, many others whose features were unknown to me, anda few who figured technically without right among what was called thenoblesse, but whose self-devotion ennobled them at once. They were all sobadly armed that even in that situation the indomitable French livelinessindulged in jests. M. De Saint-Souplet, one of the King's equerries, anda page, carried on their shoulders instead of muskets the tongs belongingto the King's antechamber, which they had broken and divided between them. Another page, who had a pocket-pistol in his hand, stuck the end of itagainst the back of the person who stood before him, and who begged hewould be good enough to rest it elsewhere. A sword and a pair of pistolswere the only arms of those who had had the precaution to providethemselves with arms at all. Meanwhile, the numerous bands from thefaubourgs, armed with pikes and cutlasses, filled the Carrousel and thestreets adjacent to the Tuileries. The sanguinary Marseillais were attheir head, with cannon pointed against the Chateau. In this emergencythe King's Council sent M. Dejoly, the Minister of Justice, to theAssembly to request they would send the King a deputation which mightserve as a safeguard to the executive power. His ruin was resolved on;they passed to the order of the day. At eight o'clock the departmentrepaired to the Chateau. The procureur-syndic, seeing that the guardwithin was ready to join the assailants, went into the King's closet andrequested to speak to him in private. The King received him in hischamber; the Queen was with him. There M. Roederer told him that theKing, all his family, and the people about them would inevitably perishunless his Majesty immediately determined to go to the National Assembly. The Queen at first opposed this advice, but the procureur-syndic told herthat she rendered herself responsible for the deaths of the King, herchildren, and all who were in the palace. She no longer objected. TheKing then consented to go to the Assembly. As he set out, he said to theminister and persons who surrounded him, "Come, gentlemen, there isnothing more to be done here. "

["The King hesitated, the Queen manifested the highest dissatisfaction. 'What!' said she, ' are we alone; is there nobody who can act?'--'Yes, Madame, alone; action is useless--resistance is impossible. ' One of themembers of the department, M. Gerdrot, insisted on the prompt execution ofthe proposed measure. 'Silence, monsieur, ' said the Queen to him;'silence; you are the only person who ought to be silent here; when themischief is done, those who did it should not pretend to wish to remedyit. ' . . . 

"The King remained mute; nobody spoke. It was reserved for me to give thelast piece of advice. I had the firmness to say, 'Let us go, and notdeliberate; honour commands it, the good of the State requires it. Let usgo to the National Assembly; this step ought to have been taken long ago:'Let us go, ' said the King, raising his right hand; 'let us start; let usgive this last mark of self-devotion, since it is necessary. ' The Queenwas persuaded. Her first anxiety was for the King, the second for herson; the King had none. 'M. Roederer--gentlemen, ' said the Queen, 'youanswer for the person of the King; you answer for that of myson. '--'Madame, ' replied M. Roederer, 'we pledge ourselves to die at yourside; that is all we can engage for. '"--MONTJOIE, "History of MarieAntoinette. "]

The Queen said to me as she left the King's chamber, "Wait in myapartments; I will come to you, or I will send for you to go I know notwhither. " She took with her only the Princesse de Lamballe and Madame deTourzel. The Princesse de Tarente and Madame de la Roche-Aymon wereinconsolable at being left at the Tuileries; they, and all who belonged tothe chamber, went down into the Queen's apartments. 

We saw the royal family pass between two lines formed by the Swissgrenadiers and those of the battalions of the Petits-Peres and the FillesSaint Thomas. They were so pressed upon by the crowd that during thatshort passage the Queen was robbed of her watch and purse. A man of greatheight and horrible appearance, one of such as were to be seen at the headof all the insurrections, drew near the Dauphin, whom the Queen wasleading by the hand, and took him up in his arms. The Queen uttered ascream of terror, and was ready to faint. The man said to her, "Don't befrightened, I will do him no harm;" and he gave him back to her at theentrance of the chamber. 

I leave to history all the details of that too memorable day, confiningmyself to recalling a few of the frightful scenes acted in the interior ofthe Tuileries after the King had quitted the palace. 

The assailants did not know that the King and his family had betakenthemselves to the Assembly; and those who defended the palace from theaide of the courts were equally ignorant of it. It is supposed that ifthey had been aware of the fact the siege would never have taken place. 

[In reading of the events of the 10th of August, 1792, the reader mustremember that there was hardly any armed force to resist the mob. Theregiments that had shown signs of being loyal to the King had been removedfrom Paris by the Assembly. The Swiss had been deprived of their ownartillery, and the Court had sent one of their battalions into Normandy ata time when there was an idea of taking refuge there. The National Guardwere either disloyal or disheartened, and the gunners, especially of thatforce at the Tuileries, sympathised with the mob. Thus the King had about800 or 900 Swiss and little more than one battalion of the National Guard. Mandat, one of the six heads of the legions of the National Guard, towhose turn the command fell on that day, was true to his duty, but wassent for to the Hotel de Ville and assassinated. Still the small force, even after the departure of the King, would have probably beaten off themob had not the King given the fatal order to the Swiss to cease firing. (See Thiers's "Revolution Francaise, " vol. I. , chap. Xi. ) Bonaparte'sopinion of the mob may be judged by his remarks on the 20th June, 1792, when, disgusted at seeing the King appear with the red cap on his head, heexclaimed, "Che coglione! Why have they let in all that rabble? Whydon't they sweep off 400 or 500 of them with the cannon? The rest wouldthen set off. " ("Bourrienne, " vol. I. , p. 13, Bentley, London, 1836. )Bonaparte carried out his own plan against a far stronger force ofassailants on the Jour des Sections, 4th October, 1795. ]

The Marseillais began by driving from their posts several Swiss, whoyielded without resistance; a few of the assailants fired upon them; someof the Swiss officers, seeing their men fall, and perhaps thinking theKing was still at the Tuileries, gave the word to a whole battalion tofire. The aggressors were thrown into disorder, and the Carrousel wascleared in a moment; but they soon returned, spurred on by rage andrevenge. The Swiss were but eight hundred strong; they fell back into theinterior of the Chateau; some of the doors were battered in by the guns, others broken through with hatchets; the populace rushed from all quartersinto the interior of the palace; almost all the Swiss were massacred; thenobles, flying through the gallery which leads to the Louvre, were eitherstabbed or shot, and the bodies thrown out of the windows. 

M. Pallas and M. De Marchais, ushers of the King's chamber, were killed indefending the door of the council chamber; many others of the King'sservants fell victims to their fidelity. I mention these two persons inparticular because, with their hats pulled over their brows and theirswords in their hands, they exclaimed, as they defended themselves withunavailing courage, "We will not survive!--this is our post; our duty isto die at it. " M. Diet behaved in the same manner at the door of theQueen's bedchamber; he experienced the same fate. The Princesse deTarente had fortunately opened the door of the apartments; otherwise, thedreadful band seeing several women collected in the Queen's salon wouldhave fancied she was among us, and would have immediately massacred us hadwe resisted them. We were, indeed, all about to perish, when a man with along beard came up, exclaiming, in the name of Potion, "Spare the women;don't dishonour the nation!" A particular circumstance placed me ingreater danger than the others. In my confusion I imagined, a momentbefore the assailants entered the Queen's apartments, that my sister wasnot among the group of women collected there; and I went up into an'entresol', where I supposed she had taken refuge, to induce her to comedown, fancying it safer that we should not be separated. I did not findher in the room in question; I saw there only our two femmes de chambreand one of the Queen's two heyducs, a man of great height and militaryaspect. I saw that he was pale, and sitting on a bed. I cried out tohim, "Fly! the footmen and our people are already safe. "--"I cannot, " saidthe man to me; "I am dying of fear. " As he spoke I heard a number of menrushing hastily up the staircase; they threw themselves upon him, and Isaw him assassinated. 

I ran towards the staircase, followed by our women. The murderers leftthe heyduc to come to me. The women threw themselves at their feet, andheld their sabres. The narrowness of the staircase impeded the assassins;but I had already felt a horrid hand thrust into my back to seize me by myclothes, when some one called out from the bottom of the staircase, "Whatare you doing above there? We don't kill women. " I was on my knees; myexecutioner quitted his hold of me, and said, "Get up, you jade; thenation pardons you. "

The brutality of these words did not prevent my suddenly experiencing anindescribable feeling which partook almost equally of the love of life andthe idea that I was going to see my son, and all that was dear to me, again. A moment before I had thought less of death than of the pain whichthe steel, suspended over my head, would occasion me. Death is seldomseen so close without striking his blow. I heard every syllable utteredby the assassins, just as if I had been calm. 

Five or six men seized me and my companions, and, having made us get up onbenches placed before the windows, ordered us to call out, "The nation forever!"

I passed over several corpses; I recognised that of the old Vicomte deBroves, to whom the Queen had sent me at the beginning of the night todesire him and another old man in her name to go home. These brave mendesired I would tell her Majesty that they had but too strictly obeyed theKing's orders in all circumstances under which they ought to have exposedtheir own lives in order to preserve his; and that for this once theywould not obey, though they would cherish the recollection of the Queen'sgoodness. 

Near the grille, on the side next the bridge, the men who conducted measked whither I wished to go. Upon my inquiring, in my turn, whether theywere at liberty to take me wherever I might wish to go, one of them, aMarseillais, asked me, giving me at the same time a push with the butt endof his musket, whether I still doubted the power of the people? Ianswered "No, " and I mentioned the number of my brother-in-law's house. Isaw my sister ascending the steps of the parapet of the bridge, surroundedby members of the National Guard. I called to her, and she turned round. "Would you have her go with you?" said my guardian to me. I told him I didwish it. They called the people who were leading my sister to prison; shejoined me. 

Madame de la Roche-Aymon and her daughter, Mademoiselle Pauline deTourzel, Madame de Ginestoux, lady to the Princesse de Lamballe, the otherwomen of the Queen, and the old Comte d'Affry, were led off together tothe Abbaye. 

Our progress from the Tuileries to my sister's house was most distressing. We saw several Swiss pursued and killed, and musket-shots were crossingeach other in all directions. We passed under the walls of the Louvre;they were firing from the parapet into the windows of the gallery, to hitthe knights of the dagger; for thus did the populace designate thosefaithful subjects who had assembled at the Tuileries to defend the King. 

The brigands broke some vessels of water in the Queen's first antechamber;the mixture of blood and water stained the skirts of our white gowns. Thepoissardes screamed after us in the streets that we were attached to theAustrian. Our protectors then showed some consideration for us, and madeus go up a gateway to pull off our gowns; but our petticoats being tooshort, and making us look like persons in disguise, other poissardes beganto bawl out that we were young Swiss dressed up like women. We then saw atribe of female cannibals enter the street, carrying the head of poorMandat. Our guards made us hastily enter a little public-house, calledfor wine, and desired us to drink with them. They assured the landladythat we were their sisters, and good patriots. Happily the Marseillaishad quitted us to return to the Tuileries. One of the men who remainedwith us said to me in a low voice: "I am a gauze-worker in the faubourg. I was forced to march; I am not for all this; I have not killed anybody, and have rescued you. You ran a great risk when we met the mad women whoare carrying Mandat's head. These horrible women said yesterday atmidnight, upon the site of the Bastille, that they must have their revengefor the 6th of October, at Versailles, and that they had sworn to kill theQueen and all the women attached to her; the danger of the action savedyou all. "

As I crossed the Carrousel, I saw my house in flames; but as soon as thefirst moment of affright was over, I thought no more of my personalmisfortunes. My ideas turned solely upon the dreadful situation of theQueen. 

On reaching my sister's we found all our family in despair, believing theyshould never see us again. I could not remain in her house; some of themob, collected round the door, exclaimed that Marie Antoinette'sconfidante was in the house, and that they must have her head. Idisguised myself, and was concealed in the house of M. Morel, secretaryfor the lotteries. On the morrow I was inquired for there, in the name ofthe Queen. A deputy, whose sentiments were known to her, took uponhimself to find me out. 

I borrowed clothes, and went with my sister to the Feuillans--[A formermonastery near the Tuileries, so called from the Bernardines, one of theCistercian orders; later a revolutionary club. ]--We got there at the sametime with M. Thierry de Ville d'Avray, the King's first valet de chambre. We were taken into an office, where we wrote down our names and places ofabode, and we received tickets for admission into the rooms belonging toCamus, the keeper of the Archives, where the King was with his family. 

As we entered the first room, a person who was there said to me, "Ah! youare a brave woman; but where is that Thierry, [M. Thierry, who never ceased to give his sovereign proofs of unalterableattachment, was one of the victims of the 2d of September. --MADAMECAMPAN. ]

that man loaded with his master's bounties?"--"He is here, " said I; "he isfollowing me. I perceive that even scenes of death do not banish jealousyfrom among you. "

Having belonged to the Court from my earliest youth, I was known to manypersons whom I did not know. As I traversed a corridor above thecloisters which led to the cells inhabited by the unfortunate Louis XVI. And his family, several of the grenadiers called me by name. One of themsaid to me, "Well, the poor King is lost! The Comte d'Artois would havemanaged it better. "--"Not at all, " said another. 

The royal family occupied a small suite of apartments consisting of fourcells, formerly belonging to the ancient monastery of the Feuillans. Inthe first were the men who had accompanied the King: the Prince de Poix, the Baron d'Aubier, M. De Saint-Pardou, equerry to Madame Elisabeth, MM. De Goguelat, de Chamilly, and de Hue. In the second we found the King; hewas having his hair dressed; he took two locks of it, and gave one to mysister and one to me. We offered to kiss his hand; he opposed it, andembraced us without saying anything. In the third was the Queen, in bed, and in indescribable affliction. We found her accompanied only by a stoutwoman, who appeared tolerably civil; she was the keeper of the apartments. She waited upon the Queen, who as yet had none of her own people abouther. Her Majesty stretched out her arms to us, saying, "Come, unfortunatewomen; come, and see one still more unhappy than yourselves, since she hasbeen the cause of all your misfortunes. We are ruined, " continued she;"we have arrived at that point to which they have been leading us forthree years, through all possible outrages; we shall fall in this dreadfulrevolution, and many others will perish after us. All have contributed toour downfall; the reformers have urged it like mad people, and othersthrough ambition, for the wildest Jacobin seeks wealth and office, and themob is eager for plunder. There is not one real patriot among all thisinfamous horde. The emigrant party have their intrigues and schemes;foreigners seek to profit by the dissensions of France; every one has ashare in our misfortunes. "

The Dauphin came in with Madame and the Marquise de Tourzel. On seeingthem the Queen said to me, "Poor children! how heartrending it is, instead of handing down to them so fine an inheritance, to say it endswith us!" She afterwards conversed with me about the Tuileries and thepersons who had fallen; she condescended also to mention the burning of myhouse. I looked upon that loss as a mischance which ought not to dwellupon her mind, and I told her so. She spoke of the Princesse de Tarente, whom she greatly loved and valued, of Madame de la Roche-Aymon and herdaughter, of the other persons whom she had left at the palace, and of theDuchesse de Luynes, who was to have passed the night at the Tuileries. Respecting her she said, "Hers was one of the first heads turned by therage for that mischievous philosophy; but her heart brought her back, andI again found a friend in her. "

[During the Reign of Terror I withdrew to the Chateau de Coubertin, nearthat of Dampierre. The Duchesse de Luynes frequently came to ask me totell her what the Queen had said about her at the Feuillans. She wouldsay as she went away, "I have often need to request you to repeat thosewords of the Queen. "--MADAME CAMPAN. ]

I asked the Queen what the ambassadors from foreign powers had done underexisting circumstances. She told me that they could do nothing; and thatthe wife of the English ambassador had just given her a proof of thepersonal interest she took in her welfare by sending her linen for herson. 

I informed her that, in the pillaging of my house, all my accounts withher had been thrown into the Carrousel, and that every sheet of my month'sexpenditure was signed by her, sometimes leaving four or five inches ofblank paper above her signature, a circumstance which rendered me veryuneasy, from an apprehension that an improper use might be made of thosesignatures. She desired me to demand admission to the committee ofgeneral safety, and to make this declaration there. I repaired thitherinstantly and found a deputy, with whose name I have never becomeacquainted. After hearing me he said that he would not receive mydeposition; that Marie Antoinette was now nothing more than any otherFrenchwoman; and that if any of those detached papers bearing hersignature should be misapplied, she would have, at a future period, aright to lodge a complaint, and to support her declaration by the factswhich I had just related. The Queen then regretted having sent me, andfeared that she had, by her very caution, pointed out a method offabricating forgeries which might be dangerous to her; then again sheexclaimed, "My apprehensions are as absurd as the step I made you take. They need nothing more for our ruin; all has been told. "

She gave us details of what had taken place subsequently to the King'sarrival at the Assembly. They are all well known, and I have no occasionto record them; I will merely mention that she told us, though with muchdelicacy, that she was not a little hurt at the King's conduct since hehad quitted the Tuileries; that his habit of laying no restraint upon hisgreat appetite had prompted him to eat as if he had been at his palace;that those who did not know him as she did, did not feel the piety and themagnanimity of his resignation, all which produced so bad an effect thatdeputies who were devoted to him had warned him of it; but no change couldbe effected. 

I still see in imagination, and shall always see, that narrow cell at theFeuillans, hung with green paper, that wretched couch whence thedethroned, Queen stretched out her arms to us, saying that ourmisfortunes, of which she was the cause, increased her own. There, forthe last time, I saw the tears, I heard the sobs of her whom high birth, natural endowments, and, above all, goodness of heart, had seemed todestine to adorn any throne, and be the happiness of any people! It isimpossible for those who lived with Louis XVI. And Marie Antoinette not tobe fully convinced, while doing full justice to the King's virtues, thatif the Queen had been from the moment of her arrival in France the objectof the care and affection of a prince of decision and authority, she wouldhave only added to the glory of his reign. 

What affecting things I have heard the Queen say in the affliction causedher by the belief of part of the Court and the whole of the people thatshe did not love France! How did that opinion shock those who knew herheart and her sentiments! Twice did I see her on the point of going fromher apartments in the Tuileries into the gardens, to address the immensethrong constantly assembled there to insult her. "Yes, " exclaimed she, asshe paced her chamber with hurried steps, "I will say to them Frenchmen, they have had the cruelty to persuade you that I do not love France!--I!the mother of a Dauphin who will reign over this noble country!--I! whomProvidence has seated upon the most powerful throne of Europe! Of all thedaughters of Maria Theresa am I not that one whom fortune has most highlyfavoured? And ought I not to feel all these advantages? What should Ifind at Vienna? Nothing but sepulchres! What should I lose in France?Everything which can confer glory!"

I protest I only repeat her own words; the soundness of her judgment soonpointed out to her the dangers of such a proceeding. "I should descendfrom the throne, " said she, "merely, perhaps, to excite a momentarysympathy, which the factious would soon render more injurious thanbeneficial to me. "

Yes, not only did Marie Antoinette love France, but few women took greaterpride in the courage of Frenchmen. I could adduce a multitude of proofsof this; I will relate two traits which demonstrate the noblestenthusiasm: The Queen was telling me that, at the coronation of theEmperor Francis II. , that Prince, bespeaking the admiration of a Frenchgeneral officer, who was then an emigrant, for the fine appearance of histroops, said to him, "There are the men to beat your sans culottes!" "Thatremains to be seen, Sire, " instantly replied the officer. The Queenadded, "I don't know the name of that brave Frenchman, but I will learnit; the King ought to be in possession of it. " As she was reading thepublic papers a few days before the 10th of August, she observed thatmention was made of the courage of a young man who died in defending theflag he carried, and shouting, "Vive la Nation!"--"Ah! the fine lad!" saidthe Queen; "what a happiness it would have been for us if such men hadnever left off crying, 'Vive de Roi!'"

In all that I have hitherto said of this most unfortunate of women and ofqueens, those who did not live with her, those who knew her but partially, and especially the majority of foreigners, prejudiced by infamous libels, may imagine I have thought it my duty to sacrifice truth on the altar ofgratitude. Fortunately I can invoke unexceptionable witnesses; they willdeclare whether what I assert that I have seen and heard appears to themeither untrue or improbable. 

ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS:

A man born solely to contradictAlas! her griefs double mine!He is afraid to commandHis ruin was resolved on; they passed to the order of the dayKing (gave) the fatal order to the Swiss to cease firingLa Fayette to rescue the royal family and convey them to RouenPrevent disorder from organising itselfThe emigrant party have their intrigues and schemesThere is not one real patriot among all this infamous hordeThose who did it should not pretend to wish to remedy it