Chapter 22

[199]So says Des Ferrieres, and pretends that Madame Roland's pretensions to be presented at the ministerial parties being rejected, was the first breach to the amicable understanding of the ministers. But nothing of this sort is to be found in her Memoirs, and we are confident she would have recorded it, had the fact been accurate.—S.[200]The court nicknamed the new ministry, "Le Ministère sans culottes."[201]When Roland, whose dress was somewhat like that of a Quaker, appeared at court in shoestrings, the usher approached him with a severe look, and addressed him, "How, sir, no buckles?"—"Ah," said Dumouriez, who laughed at all and every thing, "all is lost."—S.—Roland, part ii., p. 8;Mignet, tom. i., p. 166.[202]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 109.[203]Prudhomme, tom. ii., p. 271.[204]Bouillé's Memoirs, p. 215.[205]Mignet, tom. i., p. 172; Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 114; Dumouriez, vol. ii., p. 350.[206]Dumouriez, vol. ii., p. 353.[207]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 116; Mignet, tom. i., p. 173; Dumouriez, vol. ii., p. 360.[208]"Je sais que le langage austère de la vérité est rarement accueillé près du trone."—See the Letter in Prudhomme, tom. iii., p. 82.[209]Prudhomme, tom. iii., p. 92.[210]Dumouriez, tom. ii., p. 392; Mignet, tom. i., p. 173; Lacretelle, tom. i., p. 240.[211]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 136.[212]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 131.[213]The passage of the procession lasted three hours.—See Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 135; Thiers, tom. ii., p. 133[214]It may be alleged in excuse, that the Assembly had no resource but submission. Yet, brave men in similar circumstances have, by a timely exertion of spirit, averted similar insolencies. When the furious Anti-Catholic mob was in possession of the avenues to, and even the lobbies of, the House of Commons, in 1780, General Cosmo Gordon, a member of the House, went up to the unfortunate nobleman under whose guidance they were supposed to act, and addressed him thus: "My lord, is it your purpose to bring your rascally adherents into the House of Commons? for if so, I apprise you, that the instant one of them enters, I pass my sword, not through his body, but your lordship's." The hint was sufficient, and the mob was directed to another quarter. Undoubtedly there were, in the French Legislative Assembly, men capable of conjuring down the storm they had raised, and who might have been moved to do so, had any man of courage made them directly and personally responsible for the consequences.—See Wraxall, vol. i., p. 247, for the story of Lord George Gordon and General Gordon; but the Editor is informed, that the person who really threatened Lord George in the manner described, was Colonel Holroyd, now Lord Sheffield.[215]Dryden has expanded these magnificent lines, without expressing entirely either their literal meaning or their spirit. But he has added, as usual, beautiful ideas of his own, equally applicable to the scene described in the text:—"A mighty breach is made; the rooms conceal'dAppear, and all the palace is reveal'd;The halls of audience, and of public state—And where the lovely Queen in secret sate,Arm'd soldiers now by trembling maids are seenWith not a door, and scarce a space between."Æneid, book ii.—S.[216]Prudhomme, tom. iii., p. 117; Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 139; Madame Campan, vol. ii., p. 212.[217]Prudhomme, tom. iii., p. 117; Mignet, tom. i., p. 178; Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 142; Campan, vol. ii., p. 212.[218]Napoleon was a witness of this scene from the gardens of the Tuileries. "While we were leading," says De Bourrienne, "a somewhat idle life, the 20th June arrived. We met that morning, as usual, in a coffee-room, Rue St. Honoré. On going out we saw approaching a mob, which Buonaparte computed at five or six thousand men, all in rags, and armed with every sort of weapon, vociferating the grossest abuse, and proceeding with rapid pace towards the Tuileries. 'Let us follow that rabble,' said Buonaparte to me. We got before them, and went to walk in the gardens, on the terrace overlooking the water. From this station he beheld the disgraceful occurrences that ensued. I should fail in attempting to depict the surprise and indignation aroused within him. He could not comprehend such weakness and forbearance. But when the King showed himself at one of the windows fronting the garden, with the red cap which one of the mob had just placed upon his head, Buonaparte could no longer restrain his indignation. 'What madness!' exclaimed he; 'how could they allow these scoundrels to enter? They ought to have blown four or five hundred of them into the air with cannon; the rest would then have taken to their heels.'"—De Bourrienne, tom. i., p. 49.[219]"By eight o'clock in the evening they had all departed, and silence and astonishment reigned in the palace."—Mignet, tom. i., p. 178.[220]Jomini, Hist. des Guerres de la Révolution, tom. ii., p. 53; Dumont, p. 343.[221]For the letter itself, see Annual Register, vol. xxxiv., p. 206.[222]Thiers, tom. ii., p. 154; Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 153.[223]Madame Campan, tom. ii., p. 224.[224]"He was burnt in effigy by the Jacobins, in the garden of the Palais Royal."—Prudhomme, tom. iii., p. 131.[225]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 161. After the dissolution of the Legislative Assembly, L'Amourette returned to Lyons, and continued there during the siege. He was afterwards conducted to Paris, condemned to death, and decapitated in January, 1794. The abbé was the author of several works, among others, "Les Délices de la Religion, ou Le Pouvoir de l'Evangile de nous rendre heureux."[226]"The expression of the Queen's countenance on this day will never be effaced from my remembrance; her eyes were swollen with tears; the splendour of her dress, the dignity of her deportment, formed a contrast with the train that surrounded her. It required the character of Louis XVI., that character of martyr which he ever upheld, to support, as he did, such a situation. When he mounted the steps of the altar, he seemed a sacred victim, offering himself as a voluntary sacrifice. He descended; and, crossing anew the disordered ranks, returned to take his place beside the Queen and his children."—M. De Staël, vol. ii., p. 53.[227]"To the astonishment of both parties, the accusation against La Fayette was thrown out by a majority of 446 to 224,"—Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 190.[228]Le Fanatisme.[229]Madame Roland describes him as one "whose features no painter would disdain to copy for the head of an Antinous."—Memoirs, part i., p. 146.[230]"I never," says Madame de la Rochejaquelein, "heard any thing more impressive and terrible than their songs."[231]Espremenil suffered by the guillotine in June, 1793; but Pétion, becoming at that time an object of suspicion to Robespierre, took refuge in the department of the Calvados, where he is supposed to have perished with hunger; his body being found in a field half devoured by wolves.[232]See Annual Register, vol. xxxiv., p. 229.[233]Thiers, tom. ii., p. 145.[234]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 172.[235]"The question of abdication was discussed with a degree of frenzy. Such of the deputies as opposed the motion were abused, ill-treated, and surrounded by assassins. They had a battle to fight at every step they took; and at length they did not dare to sleep in their houses."—Montjoie.[236]Thus imitated by the dramatist Lee, from the historian Davila:—"Have you not heard—the King, preventing day,Received the guards within the city gates;The jolly Swisses marching to their pipes,The crowd stood gaping heedless and amazed,Shrunk to their shops, and left the passage free."—S.[237]M. de Staël, tom. ii., p. 59.[238]When they were, in similar circumstances, maltreated by the national guard.—Seeante, p.119.—S.[239]"M. de St. Souplet, one of the King's equerries, and a page, instead of muskets, carried upon their shoulders the tongs belonging to the King's ante-chamber, which they had broken and divided between them."—Mad. Campan.vol. ii., p. 246.[240]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 201.[241]Dernier Tableau de Paris, tom. i., p. 176.[242]"The King ought then to have put himself at the head of his troops, and opposed his enemies. The Queen was of this opinion, and the courageous counsel she gave on this occasion does honour to her memory."—M. de Staël, tom. ii., p. 60."This invasion of the 10th of August, was another of those striking occasions on which the King, by suddenly changing his character, and assuming firmness, might have recovered his throne. The mass of the French people were weary of the excesses of the Jacobins, and the outrage of the 20th of June roused the general indignation. Had he ordered the clubs of the Jacobins and Cordeliers, to be shut up, dissolved the Assembly, and seized upon the factions, that day had restored his authority: but this weak prince, unmindful that the safety of his kingdom depended upon the preservation of his own authority, chose rather to expose himself to certain death, than give orders for his defence."—Dumont, p. 362.[243]Mignet, tom. i., p. 190; Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 208.[244]"The muscular expansion of his tall person, the sonorous hoarseness of his voice, his rough manners, and his easy and vulgar eloquence, made him, of course, a hero among the rabble. In truth, he had gained a despotic empire over the dregs of the Fauxbourgs. He could excite them at will; but that was the extent of his skill and capacity."—Montjoie,Hist. de Marie Antoinette, p. 295.[245]"I was at a window looking on the garden. I saw some of the gunners quit their posts, go up to the King, and thrust their fists in his face, insulting him by the most brutal language. He was as pale as a corpse. When the royal family came in again, the Queen told me that all was lost; that the King had shown no energy, and that this sort of review had done more harm than good."—Mad. Campan, vol. ii., p. 245.[246]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 214.[247]Mémoires de Barbaroux, p. 69.[248]"And I," exclaimed the King, "I, too, say 'Vive la Nation!'—its happiness has ever been the dearest object of my heart."—Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 214.[249]Prudhomme, tom. iii., p. 198; Mad. Campan, vol. ii., p. 247.[250]"'Oui,' disait-elle à MM. de Briges et de Saint Priest, 'j'aimerais mieux me faire clouer aux murs du château que de choisir cet indigne refuge.'"—Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 216.[251]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 219; Mad. Campan, vol. ii., p. 247.[252]Mad. Campan, vol. ii., p. 429; Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 220.[253]"The Queen told me, that the King had just refused to put on the under-waistcoat of mail which she had prepared for him; that he had consented to wear it on the 14th of July, because it was merely going to a ceremony, where the blade of an assassin was to be apprehended; but that, on a day in which his party might have to fight against the revolutionists, he thought there was something cowardly in preserving his life by such means."—Mad. Campan, vol. ii., p. 243.[254]Chabot.[255]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 223.[256]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 227.[257]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 231; Mignet, tom. i., p. 195; Thiers, tom. ii., p. 263.[258]"S'il y avait eu trois cents cavaliers fidèles pour marcher à la poursuite des rebelles, Paris était soumis au roi, et l'Assemblée tombait aux pieds de son captif."—Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 230.[259]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 233; Toulongeon, tom. ii., p. 253.[260]"L'histoire ne peut dire les obscènes et atroces mutilations que d'impudiques furies firent subir aux cadavres des Suisses."—Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 240.[261]Prudhomme, tom. iii., p. 202; but see Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 241.[262]Mémoires de Barbaroux. "L'anecdote," says Lacretelle, "est fausse; mais quelle fiction atroce!" tom. ix., p. 243.[263]Mignet, tom. i., p. 195; Thiers, tom. i., p. 263; Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 244.[264]"For fifteen hours the royal family were shut up in the short-hand writer's box. At length, at one in the morning, they were transferred to the Feuillans. When left alone, Louis prostrated himself in prayer. 'Thy trials, O God! are dreadful; give us courage to bear them. We bless thee in our afflictions, as we did in the day of prosperity: receive into thy mercy all those who have died fighting in our defence.'"—Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 250."The royal family remained three days at the Feuillans. They occupied a small suite of apartments, consisting of four cells. In the first were the gentlemen who had accompanied the King. In the second we found the King: he was having his hair dressed; he took two locks of it, and gave one to my sister and one to me. In the third was the Queen, in bed, and in an indescribable state of affliction. We found her attended only by a bulky woman, who appeared tolerably civil; she waited upon the Queen, who, as yet, had none of her own people about her. I asked her Majesty what the ambassadors from foreign powers had done under existing circumstances? She told me that they could do nothing, but that the lady of the English ambassador had just given her a proof of the private interest she took in her welfare by sending her linen for her son."—Mad. Campan, vol. ii., p. 259."At this frightful period, Lady Sutherland," [the present Duchess and Countess of Sutherland,] "then English ambassadress at Paris, showed the most devoted attentions to the royal family."—Mad. de Staël, tom. ii., p. 69.[265]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 265; Mignet, tom. i., p. 197.[266]Bursau de Pucy, Latour Maubourg, and Alexander Lameth. Their intention was to proceed to the United States of America.[267]"I never saw any countenance that so strongly expressed the violence of brutal passions, and the most astonishing audacity, half-disguised by a jovial air, an affectation of frankness, and a sort of simplicity."—Mad. Roland, part i., p. 88.[268]"In 1789, he was a miserable lawyer, more burdened with debts than causes. He went to Belgium to augment his resources, and now had the hardihood to avow a fortune of 1,400,000 livres, (£58,333,) and to wallow in luxury, whilst preaching sans-culottism, and sleeping on heaps of slaughtered men. O, Danton! cruel as Marius, and more terrible than Cataline, you surpass their misdeeds, without possessing their good qualities."—Mad. Roland, part ii., p. 59.[269]"Il avait une manière de prononcerpauvre peuple et peuple vertueux, qui ne manqua jamais son effet sur de feroces spectateurs."—Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 15.[270]Mémoires de Barbaroux, p. 63.[271]"I once conversed with Robespierre at my father's house, in 1789. His features were mean, his complexion pale, his veins of a greenish hue."—Mad. de Staël, vol. ii., p. 140."I had twice occasion to converse with Robespierre. He had a sinister expression of countenance, never looked you in the face, and had a continual and unpleasant winking of the eyes."—Dumont, p. 202.[272]Mémoires de Barbaroux, p. 57.[273]Mignet, tom. i., p. 220; Garat, p. 174.[274]Lacretelle, tom. ix., pp. 292, 316.[275]"Un emploi si rigoureux répugnerait trop à mes principes philanthropiques."—Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 274.[276]"The carriage which conveyed the royal family to the Temple, was stopped on the Place Vendôme, in order that the King might see the fragments of the statue of Louis the Great."—Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 262.[277]"Nuit de terreur! prelude affreux de plusieurs jours de sang! nuit où une capitale perdue dans la mollesse, infectée des maximes de l'égoïsme philosophique, expia le sort honteux de s'être laissé asservir par tout ce que sa population offrait de plus abjèct et de plus criminel!"—Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 288.[278]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 296.[279]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 298.[280]Mignet, tom. i., p. 204; Thiers, tom. ii., p. 61; Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 293.[281]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 314.[282]Seeante, p.92.[283]Mon Agonie de Trente-six Heures, p. 30.[284]Thiers, tom. iii., p. 8; Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 325.[285]Thiers, tom. iii., p. 64.[286]Thiers, tom. iii., p. 127; Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 348.[287]The books of the Hôtel de Ville preserve evidence of this fact. Billaud-Varennes appeared publicly among the assassins, and distributed the price of blood.—S.—"I am authorised," he said, "to offer to each of you twenty-four francs, which shall be instantly paid. Respectable citizens, continue your good work, and acquire new titles to the homage of your country! Let every thing on this great day be fitting the sovereignty of the people, who have committed their vengeance to your hands."—Sicard, p. 135;Thiers, tom. iii., p. 74.[288]Louvet's Memoirs, p. 73; Barbaroux, p. 57; Thiers, tom. iii., p. 77.[289]"The abbé would have been instantly murdered, had not a courageous watchmaker, of the name of Monnot, rushed between them, and staid the lance already raised to be plunged in his bosom."—Thiers, tom. iii., p. 71.[290]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 317[291]Mémoires de Buzot, p. 82.[292]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 359.[293]Among others of the same party thus elected were David, the painter, Camille Desmoulins, Collot d'Herbois, and the Duke of Orleans, who had abdicated his titles, and was now called Philip Egalité.—SeeThiers, tom. iii., p. 133.[294]"The first measure of the Convention was to abolish Monarchy and proclaim a Republic. The calendar was changed; it was no longer the fourth year of Liberty, but the first of the French Republic."—Mignet, tom. i., p. 212.[295]Dumouriez, vol. ii., p. 387.[296]Jomini, tom. ii., p. 133.[297]Dumouriez, vol. iii., p. 63; Jomini, tom. ii., p. 138.[298]"All the villages were filled with dead and the dying; without any considerable fighting, the allies had lost, by dysentery and fevers, more than a fourth of their numbers."—Toulongeon, tom. ii., p. 357.[299]King John, act iii., sc. i.[300]Botta, tom. i., p. 88; Jomini, tom. ii., p. 190.[301]Thiers, tom. iii., p. 182; Jomini, tom. ii., p. 151.[302]Dumouriez, vol. iii., p. 169; Toulongeon, tom. iii., p. 47; Jomini, tom. ii., p. 217.[303]Annual Register, vol xxxiv., pp. 230, 236.[304]Bouillé's Memoirs, p. 250.[305]Manuel was born at Montargis in 1751. On the trial of the King he voted for imprisonment and banishment in the event of peace. When the Queen's trial came on, he was summoned as a witness against her; but only expressed admiration of her fortitude, and regret for her misfortunes. In November, 1793, he was condemned to death by the Revolutionary Tribunal, and executed. Among other works, Manuel published "Coup d'œil Philosophique sur le Règne de St. Louis," "Voyages de l'Opinion dans les Quatres Parties du Monde," and "Lettres sur la Révolution."[306]Lacretelle, tom. x., p. 12; Mignet, tom. iii., p. 150.[307]Born at Bourdeaux in 1765. He voted for the death of the King—and was guillotined, Oct., 1793.[308]Lacretelle, tom. x., p. 16.[309]Esprit des Lois, liv. iii., c. 9.[310]"One night the jewel-office, in the Tuileries, was pillaged, and all the splendid ornaments of the crown disappeared. The seals affixed on the locks were removed, but no marks of violence appeared on them, which showed that the abstraction was by order of the authorities, and not by popular violence."—Thiers, tom. iii., p. 103.[311]Dumouriez, vol. iii., p. 262; Journal des Jacobins, 14th Oct., 1792.[312]Emile, liv. i.[313]"The first vault opened was that of Turenne. The body was found dry like a mummy, the features perfectly resembling the portrait of this distinguished general. Relics were sought after with eagerness, and Camille Desmoullins cut off one of the little fingers. The body, at the intercession of M. Desfontaines, was removed to the Jardin des Plantes. The features of Henry the Fourth were also perfect. A soldier cut off a lock of the beard with his sabre, and putting it upon his upper lip, exclaimed, 'Et moi aussi, je suis soldat Français! désormais je n'aurai pas d'autre moustache!' The body was placed upright upon a stone for the rabble to divert themselves with it; and a woman, reproaching the dead Henry with the crime of having been a king, knocked down the corpse, by giving it a blow in the face. Two large pits had been dug in front of the north entrance of the church, and quick lime laid in them; into those pits the bodies were thrown promiscuously; the leaden coffins were then carried to a furnace, which had been erected in the cemetery, and cast into balls, destined to punish the enemies of the republic."—See Promenade aux Sépultures Royales de Saint Denis, par M. P. St. A. G., andLacretelle, tom. xi., p. 264.[314]"To a very beautiful person, Madame Roland united great powers of intellect; her reputation stood very high, and her friends never spoke of her but with the most profound respect. In character she was a Cornelia; and had she been blessed with sons, would have educated them like the Gracchi. The simplicity of her dress did not detract from her natural grace and elegance, and though her pursuits were more adapted to the other sex, she adorned them with all the charms of her own. Her personal memoirs are admirable. They are an imitation of Rousseau's Confessions, and often not unworthy of the original."—Dumont, p. 326.

[200]The court nicknamed the new ministry, "Le Ministère sans culottes."

[201]When Roland, whose dress was somewhat like that of a Quaker, appeared at court in shoestrings, the usher approached him with a severe look, and addressed him, "How, sir, no buckles?"—"Ah," said Dumouriez, who laughed at all and every thing, "all is lost."—S.—Roland, part ii., p. 8;Mignet, tom. i., p. 166.

[202]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 109.

[203]Prudhomme, tom. ii., p. 271.

[204]Bouillé's Memoirs, p. 215.

[205]Mignet, tom. i., p. 172; Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 114; Dumouriez, vol. ii., p. 350.

[206]Dumouriez, vol. ii., p. 353.

[207]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 116; Mignet, tom. i., p. 173; Dumouriez, vol. ii., p. 360.

[208]"Je sais que le langage austère de la vérité est rarement accueillé près du trone."—See the Letter in Prudhomme, tom. iii., p. 82.

[209]Prudhomme, tom. iii., p. 92.

[210]Dumouriez, tom. ii., p. 392; Mignet, tom. i., p. 173; Lacretelle, tom. i., p. 240.

[211]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 136.

[212]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 131.

[213]The passage of the procession lasted three hours.—See Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 135; Thiers, tom. ii., p. 133

[214]It may be alleged in excuse, that the Assembly had no resource but submission. Yet, brave men in similar circumstances have, by a timely exertion of spirit, averted similar insolencies. When the furious Anti-Catholic mob was in possession of the avenues to, and even the lobbies of, the House of Commons, in 1780, General Cosmo Gordon, a member of the House, went up to the unfortunate nobleman under whose guidance they were supposed to act, and addressed him thus: "My lord, is it your purpose to bring your rascally adherents into the House of Commons? for if so, I apprise you, that the instant one of them enters, I pass my sword, not through his body, but your lordship's." The hint was sufficient, and the mob was directed to another quarter. Undoubtedly there were, in the French Legislative Assembly, men capable of conjuring down the storm they had raised, and who might have been moved to do so, had any man of courage made them directly and personally responsible for the consequences.—See Wraxall, vol. i., p. 247, for the story of Lord George Gordon and General Gordon; but the Editor is informed, that the person who really threatened Lord George in the manner described, was Colonel Holroyd, now Lord Sheffield.

[215]Dryden has expanded these magnificent lines, without expressing entirely either their literal meaning or their spirit. But he has added, as usual, beautiful ideas of his own, equally applicable to the scene described in the text:—"A mighty breach is made; the rooms conceal'dAppear, and all the palace is reveal'd;The halls of audience, and of public state—And where the lovely Queen in secret sate,Arm'd soldiers now by trembling maids are seenWith not a door, and scarce a space between."Æneid, book ii.—S.

"A mighty breach is made; the rooms conceal'dAppear, and all the palace is reveal'd;The halls of audience, and of public state—And where the lovely Queen in secret sate,Arm'd soldiers now by trembling maids are seenWith not a door, and scarce a space between."Æneid, book ii.—S.

Æneid, book ii.—S.

[216]Prudhomme, tom. iii., p. 117; Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 139; Madame Campan, vol. ii., p. 212.

[217]Prudhomme, tom. iii., p. 117; Mignet, tom. i., p. 178; Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 142; Campan, vol. ii., p. 212.

[218]Napoleon was a witness of this scene from the gardens of the Tuileries. "While we were leading," says De Bourrienne, "a somewhat idle life, the 20th June arrived. We met that morning, as usual, in a coffee-room, Rue St. Honoré. On going out we saw approaching a mob, which Buonaparte computed at five or six thousand men, all in rags, and armed with every sort of weapon, vociferating the grossest abuse, and proceeding with rapid pace towards the Tuileries. 'Let us follow that rabble,' said Buonaparte to me. We got before them, and went to walk in the gardens, on the terrace overlooking the water. From this station he beheld the disgraceful occurrences that ensued. I should fail in attempting to depict the surprise and indignation aroused within him. He could not comprehend such weakness and forbearance. But when the King showed himself at one of the windows fronting the garden, with the red cap which one of the mob had just placed upon his head, Buonaparte could no longer restrain his indignation. 'What madness!' exclaimed he; 'how could they allow these scoundrels to enter? They ought to have blown four or five hundred of them into the air with cannon; the rest would then have taken to their heels.'"—De Bourrienne, tom. i., p. 49.

[219]"By eight o'clock in the evening they had all departed, and silence and astonishment reigned in the palace."—Mignet, tom. i., p. 178.

[220]Jomini, Hist. des Guerres de la Révolution, tom. ii., p. 53; Dumont, p. 343.

[221]For the letter itself, see Annual Register, vol. xxxiv., p. 206.

[222]Thiers, tom. ii., p. 154; Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 153.

[223]Madame Campan, tom. ii., p. 224.

[224]"He was burnt in effigy by the Jacobins, in the garden of the Palais Royal."—Prudhomme, tom. iii., p. 131.

[225]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 161. After the dissolution of the Legislative Assembly, L'Amourette returned to Lyons, and continued there during the siege. He was afterwards conducted to Paris, condemned to death, and decapitated in January, 1794. The abbé was the author of several works, among others, "Les Délices de la Religion, ou Le Pouvoir de l'Evangile de nous rendre heureux."

[226]"The expression of the Queen's countenance on this day will never be effaced from my remembrance; her eyes were swollen with tears; the splendour of her dress, the dignity of her deportment, formed a contrast with the train that surrounded her. It required the character of Louis XVI., that character of martyr which he ever upheld, to support, as he did, such a situation. When he mounted the steps of the altar, he seemed a sacred victim, offering himself as a voluntary sacrifice. He descended; and, crossing anew the disordered ranks, returned to take his place beside the Queen and his children."—M. De Staël, vol. ii., p. 53.

[227]"To the astonishment of both parties, the accusation against La Fayette was thrown out by a majority of 446 to 224,"—Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 190.

[228]Le Fanatisme.

[229]Madame Roland describes him as one "whose features no painter would disdain to copy for the head of an Antinous."—Memoirs, part i., p. 146.

[230]"I never," says Madame de la Rochejaquelein, "heard any thing more impressive and terrible than their songs."

[231]Espremenil suffered by the guillotine in June, 1793; but Pétion, becoming at that time an object of suspicion to Robespierre, took refuge in the department of the Calvados, where he is supposed to have perished with hunger; his body being found in a field half devoured by wolves.

[232]See Annual Register, vol. xxxiv., p. 229.

[233]Thiers, tom. ii., p. 145.

[234]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 172.

[235]"The question of abdication was discussed with a degree of frenzy. Such of the deputies as opposed the motion were abused, ill-treated, and surrounded by assassins. They had a battle to fight at every step they took; and at length they did not dare to sleep in their houses."—Montjoie.

[236]Thus imitated by the dramatist Lee, from the historian Davila:—"Have you not heard—the King, preventing day,Received the guards within the city gates;The jolly Swisses marching to their pipes,The crowd stood gaping heedless and amazed,Shrunk to their shops, and left the passage free."—S.

[236]Thus imitated by the dramatist Lee, from the historian Davila:—

"Have you not heard—the King, preventing day,Received the guards within the city gates;The jolly Swisses marching to their pipes,The crowd stood gaping heedless and amazed,Shrunk to their shops, and left the passage free."—S.

[237]M. de Staël, tom. ii., p. 59.

[238]When they were, in similar circumstances, maltreated by the national guard.—Seeante, p.119.—S.

[239]"M. de St. Souplet, one of the King's equerries, and a page, instead of muskets, carried upon their shoulders the tongs belonging to the King's ante-chamber, which they had broken and divided between them."—Mad. Campan.vol. ii., p. 246.

[240]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 201.

[241]Dernier Tableau de Paris, tom. i., p. 176.

[242]"The King ought then to have put himself at the head of his troops, and opposed his enemies. The Queen was of this opinion, and the courageous counsel she gave on this occasion does honour to her memory."—M. de Staël, tom. ii., p. 60."This invasion of the 10th of August, was another of those striking occasions on which the King, by suddenly changing his character, and assuming firmness, might have recovered his throne. The mass of the French people were weary of the excesses of the Jacobins, and the outrage of the 20th of June roused the general indignation. Had he ordered the clubs of the Jacobins and Cordeliers, to be shut up, dissolved the Assembly, and seized upon the factions, that day had restored his authority: but this weak prince, unmindful that the safety of his kingdom depended upon the preservation of his own authority, chose rather to expose himself to certain death, than give orders for his defence."—Dumont, p. 362.

"This invasion of the 10th of August, was another of those striking occasions on which the King, by suddenly changing his character, and assuming firmness, might have recovered his throne. The mass of the French people were weary of the excesses of the Jacobins, and the outrage of the 20th of June roused the general indignation. Had he ordered the clubs of the Jacobins and Cordeliers, to be shut up, dissolved the Assembly, and seized upon the factions, that day had restored his authority: but this weak prince, unmindful that the safety of his kingdom depended upon the preservation of his own authority, chose rather to expose himself to certain death, than give orders for his defence."—Dumont, p. 362.

[243]Mignet, tom. i., p. 190; Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 208.

[244]"The muscular expansion of his tall person, the sonorous hoarseness of his voice, his rough manners, and his easy and vulgar eloquence, made him, of course, a hero among the rabble. In truth, he had gained a despotic empire over the dregs of the Fauxbourgs. He could excite them at will; but that was the extent of his skill and capacity."—Montjoie,Hist. de Marie Antoinette, p. 295.

[245]"I was at a window looking on the garden. I saw some of the gunners quit their posts, go up to the King, and thrust their fists in his face, insulting him by the most brutal language. He was as pale as a corpse. When the royal family came in again, the Queen told me that all was lost; that the King had shown no energy, and that this sort of review had done more harm than good."—Mad. Campan, vol. ii., p. 245.

[246]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 214.

[247]Mémoires de Barbaroux, p. 69.

[248]"And I," exclaimed the King, "I, too, say 'Vive la Nation!'—its happiness has ever been the dearest object of my heart."—Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 214.

[249]Prudhomme, tom. iii., p. 198; Mad. Campan, vol. ii., p. 247.

[250]"'Oui,' disait-elle à MM. de Briges et de Saint Priest, 'j'aimerais mieux me faire clouer aux murs du château que de choisir cet indigne refuge.'"—Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 216.

[251]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 219; Mad. Campan, vol. ii., p. 247.

[252]Mad. Campan, vol. ii., p. 429; Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 220.

[253]"The Queen told me, that the King had just refused to put on the under-waistcoat of mail which she had prepared for him; that he had consented to wear it on the 14th of July, because it was merely going to a ceremony, where the blade of an assassin was to be apprehended; but that, on a day in which his party might have to fight against the revolutionists, he thought there was something cowardly in preserving his life by such means."—Mad. Campan, vol. ii., p. 243.

[254]Chabot.

[255]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 223.

[256]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 227.

[257]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 231; Mignet, tom. i., p. 195; Thiers, tom. ii., p. 263.

[258]"S'il y avait eu trois cents cavaliers fidèles pour marcher à la poursuite des rebelles, Paris était soumis au roi, et l'Assemblée tombait aux pieds de son captif."—Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 230.

[259]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 233; Toulongeon, tom. ii., p. 253.

[260]"L'histoire ne peut dire les obscènes et atroces mutilations que d'impudiques furies firent subir aux cadavres des Suisses."—Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 240.

[261]Prudhomme, tom. iii., p. 202; but see Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 241.

[262]Mémoires de Barbaroux. "L'anecdote," says Lacretelle, "est fausse; mais quelle fiction atroce!" tom. ix., p. 243.

[263]Mignet, tom. i., p. 195; Thiers, tom. i., p. 263; Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 244.

[264]"For fifteen hours the royal family were shut up in the short-hand writer's box. At length, at one in the morning, they were transferred to the Feuillans. When left alone, Louis prostrated himself in prayer. 'Thy trials, O God! are dreadful; give us courage to bear them. We bless thee in our afflictions, as we did in the day of prosperity: receive into thy mercy all those who have died fighting in our defence.'"—Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 250."The royal family remained three days at the Feuillans. They occupied a small suite of apartments, consisting of four cells. In the first were the gentlemen who had accompanied the King. In the second we found the King: he was having his hair dressed; he took two locks of it, and gave one to my sister and one to me. In the third was the Queen, in bed, and in an indescribable state of affliction. We found her attended only by a bulky woman, who appeared tolerably civil; she waited upon the Queen, who, as yet, had none of her own people about her. I asked her Majesty what the ambassadors from foreign powers had done under existing circumstances? She told me that they could do nothing, but that the lady of the English ambassador had just given her a proof of the private interest she took in her welfare by sending her linen for her son."—Mad. Campan, vol. ii., p. 259."At this frightful period, Lady Sutherland," [the present Duchess and Countess of Sutherland,] "then English ambassadress at Paris, showed the most devoted attentions to the royal family."—Mad. de Staël, tom. ii., p. 69.

"The royal family remained three days at the Feuillans. They occupied a small suite of apartments, consisting of four cells. In the first were the gentlemen who had accompanied the King. In the second we found the King: he was having his hair dressed; he took two locks of it, and gave one to my sister and one to me. In the third was the Queen, in bed, and in an indescribable state of affliction. We found her attended only by a bulky woman, who appeared tolerably civil; she waited upon the Queen, who, as yet, had none of her own people about her. I asked her Majesty what the ambassadors from foreign powers had done under existing circumstances? She told me that they could do nothing, but that the lady of the English ambassador had just given her a proof of the private interest she took in her welfare by sending her linen for her son."—Mad. Campan, vol. ii., p. 259.

"At this frightful period, Lady Sutherland," [the present Duchess and Countess of Sutherland,] "then English ambassadress at Paris, showed the most devoted attentions to the royal family."—Mad. de Staël, tom. ii., p. 69.

[265]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 265; Mignet, tom. i., p. 197.

[266]Bursau de Pucy, Latour Maubourg, and Alexander Lameth. Their intention was to proceed to the United States of America.

[267]"I never saw any countenance that so strongly expressed the violence of brutal passions, and the most astonishing audacity, half-disguised by a jovial air, an affectation of frankness, and a sort of simplicity."—Mad. Roland, part i., p. 88.

[268]"In 1789, he was a miserable lawyer, more burdened with debts than causes. He went to Belgium to augment his resources, and now had the hardihood to avow a fortune of 1,400,000 livres, (£58,333,) and to wallow in luxury, whilst preaching sans-culottism, and sleeping on heaps of slaughtered men. O, Danton! cruel as Marius, and more terrible than Cataline, you surpass their misdeeds, without possessing their good qualities."—Mad. Roland, part ii., p. 59.

[269]"Il avait une manière de prononcerpauvre peuple et peuple vertueux, qui ne manqua jamais son effet sur de feroces spectateurs."—Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 15.

[270]Mémoires de Barbaroux, p. 63.

[271]"I once conversed with Robespierre at my father's house, in 1789. His features were mean, his complexion pale, his veins of a greenish hue."—Mad. de Staël, vol. ii., p. 140."I had twice occasion to converse with Robespierre. He had a sinister expression of countenance, never looked you in the face, and had a continual and unpleasant winking of the eyes."—Dumont, p. 202.

[271]"I once conversed with Robespierre at my father's house, in 1789. His features were mean, his complexion pale, his veins of a greenish hue."—Mad. de Staël, vol. ii., p. 140.

"I had twice occasion to converse with Robespierre. He had a sinister expression of countenance, never looked you in the face, and had a continual and unpleasant winking of the eyes."—Dumont, p. 202.

[272]Mémoires de Barbaroux, p. 57.

[273]Mignet, tom. i., p. 220; Garat, p. 174.

[274]Lacretelle, tom. ix., pp. 292, 316.

[275]"Un emploi si rigoureux répugnerait trop à mes principes philanthropiques."—Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 274.

[276]"The carriage which conveyed the royal family to the Temple, was stopped on the Place Vendôme, in order that the King might see the fragments of the statue of Louis the Great."—Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 262.

[277]"Nuit de terreur! prelude affreux de plusieurs jours de sang! nuit où une capitale perdue dans la mollesse, infectée des maximes de l'égoïsme philosophique, expia le sort honteux de s'être laissé asservir par tout ce que sa population offrait de plus abjèct et de plus criminel!"—Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 288.

[278]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 296.

[279]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 298.

[280]Mignet, tom. i., p. 204; Thiers, tom. ii., p. 61; Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 293.

[281]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 314.

[282]Seeante, p.92.

[283]Mon Agonie de Trente-six Heures, p. 30.

[284]Thiers, tom. iii., p. 8; Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 325.

[285]Thiers, tom. iii., p. 64.

[286]Thiers, tom. iii., p. 127; Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 348.

[287]The books of the Hôtel de Ville preserve evidence of this fact. Billaud-Varennes appeared publicly among the assassins, and distributed the price of blood.—S.—"I am authorised," he said, "to offer to each of you twenty-four francs, which shall be instantly paid. Respectable citizens, continue your good work, and acquire new titles to the homage of your country! Let every thing on this great day be fitting the sovereignty of the people, who have committed their vengeance to your hands."—Sicard, p. 135;Thiers, tom. iii., p. 74.

[288]Louvet's Memoirs, p. 73; Barbaroux, p. 57; Thiers, tom. iii., p. 77.

[289]"The abbé would have been instantly murdered, had not a courageous watchmaker, of the name of Monnot, rushed between them, and staid the lance already raised to be plunged in his bosom."—Thiers, tom. iii., p. 71.

[290]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 317

[291]Mémoires de Buzot, p. 82.

[292]Lacretelle, tom. ix., p. 359.

[293]Among others of the same party thus elected were David, the painter, Camille Desmoulins, Collot d'Herbois, and the Duke of Orleans, who had abdicated his titles, and was now called Philip Egalité.—SeeThiers, tom. iii., p. 133.

[294]"The first measure of the Convention was to abolish Monarchy and proclaim a Republic. The calendar was changed; it was no longer the fourth year of Liberty, but the first of the French Republic."—Mignet, tom. i., p. 212.

[295]Dumouriez, vol. ii., p. 387.

[296]Jomini, tom. ii., p. 133.

[297]Dumouriez, vol. iii., p. 63; Jomini, tom. ii., p. 138.

[298]"All the villages were filled with dead and the dying; without any considerable fighting, the allies had lost, by dysentery and fevers, more than a fourth of their numbers."—Toulongeon, tom. ii., p. 357.

[299]King John, act iii., sc. i.

[300]Botta, tom. i., p. 88; Jomini, tom. ii., p. 190.

[301]Thiers, tom. iii., p. 182; Jomini, tom. ii., p. 151.

[302]Dumouriez, vol. iii., p. 169; Toulongeon, tom. iii., p. 47; Jomini, tom. ii., p. 217.

[303]Annual Register, vol xxxiv., pp. 230, 236.

[304]Bouillé's Memoirs, p. 250.

[305]Manuel was born at Montargis in 1751. On the trial of the King he voted for imprisonment and banishment in the event of peace. When the Queen's trial came on, he was summoned as a witness against her; but only expressed admiration of her fortitude, and regret for her misfortunes. In November, 1793, he was condemned to death by the Revolutionary Tribunal, and executed. Among other works, Manuel published "Coup d'œil Philosophique sur le Règne de St. Louis," "Voyages de l'Opinion dans les Quatres Parties du Monde," and "Lettres sur la Révolution."

[306]Lacretelle, tom. x., p. 12; Mignet, tom. iii., p. 150.

[307]Born at Bourdeaux in 1765. He voted for the death of the King—and was guillotined, Oct., 1793.

[308]Lacretelle, tom. x., p. 16.

[309]Esprit des Lois, liv. iii., c. 9.

[310]"One night the jewel-office, in the Tuileries, was pillaged, and all the splendid ornaments of the crown disappeared. The seals affixed on the locks were removed, but no marks of violence appeared on them, which showed that the abstraction was by order of the authorities, and not by popular violence."—Thiers, tom. iii., p. 103.

[311]Dumouriez, vol. iii., p. 262; Journal des Jacobins, 14th Oct., 1792.

[312]Emile, liv. i.

[313]"The first vault opened was that of Turenne. The body was found dry like a mummy, the features perfectly resembling the portrait of this distinguished general. Relics were sought after with eagerness, and Camille Desmoullins cut off one of the little fingers. The body, at the intercession of M. Desfontaines, was removed to the Jardin des Plantes. The features of Henry the Fourth were also perfect. A soldier cut off a lock of the beard with his sabre, and putting it upon his upper lip, exclaimed, 'Et moi aussi, je suis soldat Français! désormais je n'aurai pas d'autre moustache!' The body was placed upright upon a stone for the rabble to divert themselves with it; and a woman, reproaching the dead Henry with the crime of having been a king, knocked down the corpse, by giving it a blow in the face. Two large pits had been dug in front of the north entrance of the church, and quick lime laid in them; into those pits the bodies were thrown promiscuously; the leaden coffins were then carried to a furnace, which had been erected in the cemetery, and cast into balls, destined to punish the enemies of the republic."—See Promenade aux Sépultures Royales de Saint Denis, par M. P. St. A. G., andLacretelle, tom. xi., p. 264.

[314]"To a very beautiful person, Madame Roland united great powers of intellect; her reputation stood very high, and her friends never spoke of her but with the most profound respect. In character she was a Cornelia; and had she been blessed with sons, would have educated them like the Gracchi. The simplicity of her dress did not detract from her natural grace and elegance, and though her pursuits were more adapted to the other sex, she adorned them with all the charms of her own. Her personal memoirs are admirable. They are an imitation of Rousseau's Confessions, and often not unworthy of the original."—Dumont, p. 326.

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