"The Comte de Vergennes told me that the King displayed the greatest

impartiality throughout the whole investigation for the exculpation of

the Queen, and made good his title on this, as he did on every occasion

where his own unbiassed feelings and opinions were called into action, to

great esteem for much higher qualities than the world has usually given

him credit for.

"I have been accused of having opened the prison doors of the culprit

Lamotte for her escape; but the charge is false. I interested myself, as

was my duty, to shield the Queen from public reproach by having Lamotte

sent to a place of penitence; but I never interfered, except to lessen

her punishment, after the judicial proceedings. The diamonds, in the

hands of her vile associates at Paris, procured her ample means to

escape. I should have been the Queen's greatest enemy had I been the

cause of giving liberty to one who acted, and might naturally have been

expected to act, as this depraved woman did.

"Through the private correspondence which was carried on between this

country and England, after I had left it, I was informed that M. de

Calonne, whom the Queen never liked, and who was called to the

administration against her will--which he knew, and consequently became

one of her secret enemies in the affair of the necklace--was discovered

to have been actively employed against Her Majesty in the work published

in London by Lamotte.

"Mr. Sheridan was the gentleman who first gave me this information.

"I immediately sent a trusty person by the Queen's orders to London, to

buy up the whole work. It was too late. It had been already so widely

circulated that its consequences could no longer be prevented. I was

lucky enough, however, for a considerable sum, to get a copy from a

person intimate with the author, the margin of which, in the handwriting

of M. de Calonne, actually contained numerous additional circumstances

which were to have been published in a second edition! This publication

my agent, aided by some English gentlemen, arrived in time to suppress.

"The copy I allude to was brought to Paris and shown to the Queen. She

instantly flew with it in her hands to the King's cabinet.

"'Now, Sire,' exclaimed she, 'I hope you will be convinced that my

enemies are those whom I have long considered as the most pernicious of

Your Majesty's Councillors--your own Cabinet Ministers--your M. de

Calonne!--respecting whom I have often given you my opinion, which,

unfortunately, has always been attributed to mere female caprice, or as

having been biassed by the intrigues of Court favourites! This, I hope,

Your Majesty will now be able to contradict!'

"The King all this time was looking over the different pages containing

M. de Calonne's additions on their margins. On recognising the

hand-writing, His Majesty was so affected by this discovered treachery of

his Minister and the agitation of his calumniated Queen that he could

scarcely articulate.

"'Where,' said he, I did you procure this?'

"'Through the means, Sire, of some of the worthy members of that nation

your treacherous Ministers made our enemy--from England! where your

unfortunate Queen, your injured wife, is compassionated!'

"'Who got it for you?'

"'My dearest, my real, and my only sincere friend, the Princesse de

Lamballe!'

"The King requested I should be sent for. I came. As may be imagined, I

was received with the warmest sentiments of affection by both Their

Majesties. I then laid before the King the letter of Mr. Sheridan, which

was, in substance, as follows:

"'MADAME,

"'A work of mine, which I did not choose should be printed, was published

in Dublin and transmitted to be sold in London. As soon as I was

informed of it, and had procured a spurious copy, I went to the

bookseller to put a stop to its circulation. I there met with a copy of

the work of Madame de Lamotte, which has been corrected by some one at

Paris and sent back to the bookseller for a second edition. Though not

in time to suppress the first edition, owing to its rapid circulation, I

have had interest enough, through the means of the bookseller of whom I

speak, to remit you the copy which has been sent as the basis of a new

one. The corrections, I am told, are by one of the King's Ministers. If

true, I should imagine the writer will be easily traced.

"'I am happy that it has been in my power to make this discovery, and I

hope it will be the means of putting a stop to this most scandalous

publication. I feel myself honoured in having contributed thus far to

the wishes of Her Majesty, which I hope I have fulfilled to the entire

satisfaction of Your Highness.

"'Should anything further transpire on this subject, I will give you the

earliest information.

"'I remain, madame, with profound respect, Your Highness' most devoted,

"'very humble servant,

"'RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN.'

[Madame Campan mentions in her work that the Queen had informed her of

the treachery of the Minister, but did not enter into particulars, nor

explain the mode or source of its detection. Notwithstanding the parties

had bound themselves for the sums they received not to reprint the work,

a second edition appeared a short time afterwards in London. This, which

was again bought up by the French Ambassador, was the same which was to

have been burned by the King's command at the china manufactory at

Sevres.]

"M. de Calonne immediately received the King's mandate to resign the

portfolio. The Minister desired that he might be allowed to give his

resignation to the King himself. His request was granted. The Queen was

present at the interview. The work in question was produced. On

beholding it, the Minister nearly fainted. The King got up and left the

room. The Queen, who remained, told M. de Calonne that His Majesty had

no further occasion for his services. He fell on his knees. He was not

allowed to speak, but was desired to leave Paris.

"The dismissal and disgrace of M. de Calonne were scarcely known before

all Paris vociferated that they were owing to the intrigues of the

favourite De Polignac, in consequence of his having refused to administer

to her own superfluous extravagance and the Queen's repeated demands on

the Treasury to satisfy the numerous dependants of the Duchess.

"This, however, was soon officially disproved by the exhibition of a

written proposition of Calonne's to the Queen, to supply an additional

hundred thousand francs that year to her annual revenue, which Her

Majesty refused. As for the Duchesse de Polignac, so far from having

caused the disgrace, she was not even aware of the circumstance from

which it arose; nor did the Minister himself ever know how, or by what

agency, his falsehood was so thoroughly unmasked."

NOTE:

[The work which is here spoken of, the Queen kept, as a proof of the

treachery of Calonne towards her and his Sovereign, till the storming of

the Tuileries on the 10th of August, 1792, when, with the rest of the

papers and property plundered on that memorable occasion, it fell into

the hands of the ferocious mob.

M. de Calonne soon after left France for Italy. There he lived for some

time in the palace of a particular friend of mine and the Marquis, my

husband, the Countess Francese Tressino, at Vicenza.

In consequence of our going every season to take the mineral waters and

use the baths at Valdagno, we had often occasion to be in company with M.

de Calonne, both at Vicenza and Valdagno, where I must do him the justice

to say he conducted himself with the greatest circumspection in speaking

of the Revolution.

Though he evidently avoided the topic which terminates this chapter, yet

one day, being closely pressed upon the subject, he said forgeries were

daily committed on Ministers, and were most particularly so in France at

the period in question; that he had borne the blame of various

imprudencies neither authorized nor executed by him; that much had been

done and supposed to have been done with his sanction, of which he had

not the slightest knowledge. This he observed generally, without

specifying any express instance.

He was then asked whether he did not consider himself responsible for the

mischief he occasioned by declaring the nation in a state of bankruptcy.

He said, "No, not in the least. There was no other way of preventing

enormous sums from being daily lavished, as they then were, on herds of

worthless beings; that the Queen had sought to cultivate a state of

private domestic society, but that, in the attempt, she only warmed in

her bosom domestic vipers, who fed on the vital spirit of her

generosity." He mentioned no names.

I then took the liberty of asking him his opinion of the Princesse de

Lamballe.

"Oh, madame! had the rest of Her Majesty's numerous attendants possessed

the tenth part of that unfortunate Victim's virtues, Her Majesty would

never have been led into the errors which all France must deplore!

"I shall never forget her," continued he, "the day I went to take leave

of her. She was sitting on a sofa when I entered. On seeing me, she

rose immediately. Before I could utter a syllable, 'Monsieur,' said the

Princess, 'you are accused of being the Queen's enemy. Acquit yourself

of the foul deed imputed to you, and I shall be happy to serve you as far

as lies in my power. Till then, I must decline holding any communication

with an individual thus situated. I am her friend, and cannot receive any

one known to be otherwise.'

"There was something," added he, "so sublime, so dignified, and

altogether so firm, though mild in her manner, that she appeared not to

belong to a race of earthly beings!"

Seeing the tears fall from his eyes, while he was thus eulogising her

whose memory I shall ever venerate, I almost forgave him the mischief of

his imprudence, which led to her untimely end. I therefore carefully

avoided wounding his few gray hairs and latter days, and left him still

untold that it was by her, of whom he thought so highly, that his

uncontradicted treachery had been discovered.

SECTION III.

"Of the many instances in which the Queen's exertions to serve those whom

she conceived likely to benefit and relieve the nation, turned to the

injury, not only of herself, but those whom she patronised and the cause

she would strengthen, one of the most unpopular was that of the promotion

of Brienne, Archbishop of Sens, to the Ministry. Her interest in his

favour was entirely created by the Abbe Vermond, himself too superficial

to pronounce upon any qualities, and especially such as were requisite

for so high a station. By many, the partiality which prompted Vermond to

espouse the interests of the Archbishop was ascribed to the amiable

sentiment of gratitude for the recommendation of that dignitary, by which

Vermond himself first obtained his situation at Court; but there were

others, who have been deemed deeper in the secret, who impute it to the

less honourable source of self-interest, to the mere spirit of

ostentation, to the hope of its enabling him to bring about the

destruction of the De Polignacs. Be this as it may, the Abbe well knew

that a Minister indebted for his elevation solely to the Queen would be

supported by her to the last.

"This, unluckily, proved the case. Marie Antoinette persisted in

upholding every act of Brienne, till his ignorance and unpardonable

blunders drew down the general indignation of the people against Her

Majesty and her protege, with whom she was identified. The King had

assented to the appointment with no other view than that of not being

utterly isolated and to show a respect for his consort's choice. But the

incapable Minister was presently compelled to retire not only from

office, but from Paris. Never was a Minister more detested while in

power, or a people more enthusiastically satisfied at his going out. His

effigy was burnt in every town of France, and the general illuminations

and bonfires in the capital were accompanied by hooting and hissing the

deposed statesman to the barriers.

"The Queen, prompted by the Abbe Vermond, even after Brienne's

dismission, gave him tokens of her royal munificence. Her Majesty feared

that her acting otherwise to a Minister, who had been honoured by her

confidence, would operate as a check to prevent all men of celebrity from

exposing their fortunes to so ungracious a return for lending their best

services to the State, which now stood in need of the most skilful

pilots. Such were the motives assigned by Her Majesty herself to me,

when I took the liberty, of expostulating with her respecting the dangers

which threatened herself and family, from this continued devotedness to a

Minister against whom the nation had pronounced so strongly. I could not

but applaud the delicacy of the feeling upon which her conduct had been

grounded; nor could I blame her, in my heart, for the uprightness of her

principle, in showing that what she had once undertaken should not be

abandoned through female caprice. I told Her Majesty that the system

upon which she acted was praiseworthy; and that its application in the

present instance would have been so had the Archbishop possessed as much

talent as he lacked; but, that now it was quite requisite for her to stop

the public clamour by renouncing her protection of a man who had so

seriously endangered the public tranquillity and her own reputation.

"As a proof how far my caution was well founded, there was an immense

riotous mob raised about this time against the Queen, in consequence of

her having, appointed the dismissed Minister's niece, Madame de Canisy,

to a place at Court, and having given her picture, set in diamonds, to

the Archbishop himself.

"The Queen, in many cases, was by far too communicative to some of her

household, who immediately divulged all they gathered from her unreserve.

How could these circumstances have transpired to the people but from

those nearest the person of Her Majesty, who, knowing the public feeling

better than their royal mistress could be supposed to know it, did their

own feeling little credit by the mischievous exposure? The people were

exasperated beyond all conception. The Abbe Vermond placed before Her

Majesty the consequences of her communicativeness, and from this time

forward she never repeated the error. After the lesson she had received,

none of her female attendants, not even the Duchesse de Polignac, to whom

she would have confided her very existence, could, had they been ever so

much disposed, have drawn anything upon public matters from her. With

me, as her superintendent and entitled by my situation to interrogate and

give her counsel, she was not, of course, under the same restriction. To

his other representations of the consequences of the Queen's indiscreet

openness, the Abbe Vermond added that, being obliged to write all the

letters, private and public, he often found himself greatly embarrassed

by affairs having gone forth to the world beforehand. One misfortune of

putting this seal upon the lips of Her Majesty was that it placed her

more thoroughly in the Abbe's power. She was, of course, obliged to rely

implicitly upon him concerning many points, which, had they undergone the

discussion necessarily resulting from free conversation, would have been

shown to her under very different aspects. A man with a better heart,

less Jesuitical, and not so much interested as Vermond was to keep his

place, would have been a safer monitor.

"Though the Archbishop of Sens was so much hated and despised, much may

be said in apology for his disasters. His unpopularity, and the Queen's

support of him against the people, was certainly a vital blow to the

monarchy. There is no doubt of his having been a poor substitute for the

great men who had so gloriously beaten the political paths of

administration, particularly the Comte de Vergennes and Necker. But at

that time, when France was threatened by its great convulsion, where is

the genius which might not have committed itself? And here is a man

coming to rule amidst revolutionary feelings, with no knowledge whatever

of revolutionary principles--a pilot steering into one harbour by the

chart of another. I am by no means a vindicator of the Archbishop's

obstinacy in offering himself a candidate for a situation entirely

foreign to the occupations, habits, and studies of his whole life; but

his intentions may have been good enough, and we must not charge the

physician with murder who has only mistaken the disease, and, though

wrong in his judgment, has been zealous and conscientious; nor must we

blame the comedians for the faults of the comedy. The errors were not so

much in the men who did not succeed as in the manners of the times.

"The part which the Queen was now openly compelled to bear, in the

management of public affairs, increased the public feeling against her

from dislike to hatred. Her Majesty was unhappy, not only from the

necessity which called her out of the sphere to which she thought her sex

ought to be confined, but from the divisions which existed in the Royal

Family upon points in which their common safety required a common scheme

of action. Her favourite brother-in-law, D'Artois, had espoused the side

of D'ORLEANS, and the popular party seemed to prevail against her, even

with the King.

"The various parliamentary assemblies, which had swept on their course,

under various denominations, in rapid and stormy succession, were now

followed by one which, like Aaron's rod, was to swallow up the rest. Its

approach was regarded by the Queen with ominous reluctance. At length,

however, the moment for the meeting of the States General at Versailles

arrived. Necker was once more in favour, and a sort of forlorn hope of

better times dawned upon the perplexed monarch, in his anticipations from

this assembly.

"The night before the procession of the instalment of the States General

was to take place, it being my duty to attend Her Majesty, I received an

anonymous letter, cautioning me not to be seen that day by her side. I

immediately went to the King's apartments and showed him the letter. His

Majesty humanely enjoined me to abide by its counsels. I told him I

hoped he would for once permit me to exercise my own discretion; for if

my royal Sovereign were in danger, it was then that her attendants should

be most eager to rally round her, in order to watch over her safety and

encourage her fortitude.

"While we were thus occupied, the Queen and my sister-in-law, the

Duchesse d'Orleans, entered the King's apartment, to settle some part of

the etiquette respecting the procession.

"'I wish,' exclaimed the Duchess, 'that this procession were over; or

that it were never to take place; or that none of us had to be there; or

else, being obliged, that we had all passed, and were comfortably at home

again.'

"'Its taking place,' answered the Queen, 'never had my sanction,

especially at Versailles. M. Necker appears to be in its favour, and

answers for its success. I wish he may not be deceived; but I much fear

that he is guided more by the mistaken hope of maintaining his own

popularity by this impolitic meeting, than by any conscientious

confidence in its advantage to the King's authority.'

"The King, having in his hand the letter which I had just brought him,

presented it to the Queen.

"'This, my dear Duchess,' cried the Queen, I comes from the Palais Royal

manufactory, [Palais d' Orleans. D.W.] to poison the very first

sentiments of delight at the union expected between the King and his

subjects, by innuendoes of the danger which must result from my being

present at it. Look at the insidiousness of the thing! Under a pretext

of kindness, cautions against the effect of their attachment are given to

my most sincere and affectionate attendants, whose fidelity none dare

attack openly. I am, however, rejoiced that Lamballe has been

cautioned.'

"'Against what?' replied I.

"'Against appearing in the procession,' answered the Queen.

"'It is only,' I exclaimed, 'by putting me in the grave they can ever

withdraw me from Your Majesty. While I have life and Your Majesty's

sanction, force only will prevent me from doing my duty. Fifty thousand

daggers, Madame, were they all raised against me, would have no power to

shake the firmness of my character or the earnestness of my attachment. I

pity the wretches who have so little penetration. Victim or no victim,

nothing shall ever induce me to quit Your Majesty.'

"The Queen and Duchess, both in tears, embraced me. After the Duchess

had taken her leave, the King and Queen hinted their suspicions that she

had been apprised of the letter, and had made this visit expressly to

observe what effect it had produced, well knowing at the time that some

attempt was meditated by the hired mob and purchased deputies already

brought over to the D'ORLEANS faction. Not that the slightest suspicion

of collusion could ever be attached to the good Duchesse d'Orleans

against the Queen. The intentions of the Duchess were known to be as

virtuous and pure as those of her husband's party were criminal and

mischievous. But, no doubt, she had intimations of the result intended;

and, unable to avert the storm or prevent its cause, had been instigated

by her strong attachment to me, as well as the paternal affection her

father, the Duc de Penthievre, bore me, to attempt to lessen the

exasperation of the Palais Royal party and the Duke, her husband, against

me, by dissuading me from running any risk upon the occasion.

"The next day, May 5, 1789, at the very moment when all the resources of

nature and art seemed exhausted to render the Queen a paragon of

loveliness beyond anything I had ever before witnessed, even in her; when

every impartial eye was eager to behold and feast on that form whose

beauty warmed every heart in her favour; at that moment a horde of

miscreants, just as she came within sight of the Assembly, thundered in

her ears, 'Orleans forever!' three or four times, while she and the King

were left to pass unheeded. Even the warning of the letter, from which

she had reason to expect some commotions, suggested to her imagination

nothing like this, and she was dreadfully shaken. I sprang forward to

support her. The King's party, prepared for the attack, shouted 'Vive le

roi! Vive la reine!' As I turned, I saw some of the members lividly

pale, as if fearing their machinations had been discovered; but, as they

passed, they said in the hearing of Her Majesty, 'Remember, you are the

daughter of Maria Theresa.'--'True,' answered the Queen. The Duc de

Biron, Orleans, La Fayette, Mirabeau, and the Mayor of Paris, seeing Her

Majesty's emotion, came up, and were going to stop the procession. All,

in apparent agitation, cried out 'Halt!' The Queen, sternly looking at

them, made a sign with her head to proceed, recovered herself, and moved

forward in the train, with all the dignity and self-possession for which

she was so eminently distinguished.

"But this self-command in public proved nearly fatal to Her Majesty on

her return to her apartment. There her real feelings broke forth, and

their violence was so great as to cause the bracelets on her wrists and

the pearls in her necklace to burst from the threads and settings, before

her women and the ladies in attendance could have time to take them off.

She remained many hours in a most alarming state of strong convulsions.

Her clothes were obliged to be cut from her body, to give her ease; but

as soon as she was undressed, and tears came to her relief, she flew

alternately to the Princesse Elizabeth and to myself; but we were both

too much overwhelmed to give her the consolation of which she stood so

much in need.

"Barnave that very evening came to my private apartment, and tendered his

services to the Queen. He told me he wished Her Majesty to be convinced

that he was a Frenchman; that he only desired his country might be

governed by salutary laws, and not by the caprice of weak sovereigns, or

a vitiated, corrupt Ministry; that the clergy and nobility ought to

contribute to the wants of the State equally with every other class of

the King's subjects; that when this was accomplished, and abuses were

removed, by such a national representation as would enable the Minister,

Necker, to accomplish his plans for the liquidation of the national debt,

I might assure Her Majesty that both the King and herself would find

themselves happier in a constitutional government than they had ever yet

been; for such a government would set them free from all dependence on

the caprice of Ministers, and lessen a responsibility of which they now

experienced the misery; that if the King sincerely entered into the

spirit of regenerating the French nation, he would find among the present

representatives many members of probity, loyal and honourable in their

intentions, who would never become the destroyers of a limited legitimate

monarchy, or the corrupt regicides of a rump Parliament, such as brought

the wayward Charles the First, of England, to the fatal block.

"I attempted to relate the conversation to the Queen. She listened with

the greatest attention till I came to the part concerning the

constitutional King, when Her Majesty lost her patience, and prevented me

from proceeding.

[This and other conversations, which will be found in subsequent pages,

will prove that Barnave's sentiments in favour of the Royal Family long

preceded the affair at Varennes, the beginning of which Madame Campan

assigns to it. Indeed it must by this time be evident to the reader that

Madame Campan, though very correct in relating all she knew, with respect

to the history of Marie Antoinette, was not in possession of matters

foreign to her occupation about the person of the Queen, and, in

particular, that she could communicate little concerning those important

intrigues carried on respecting the different deputies of the first

Assembly, till in the latter days of the Revolution, when it became

necessary, from the pressure of events, that she should be made a sort of

confidante, in order to prevent her from compromising the persons of the

Queen and the Princesse de Lamballe: a trust, of her claim to which her

undoubted fidelity was an ample pledge. Still, however, she was often

absent from Court at moments of great importance, and was obliged to take

her information, upon much which she has recorded, from hearsay, which

has led her, as I have before stated, into frequent mistakes.]

"The expense of the insulting scene, which had so overcome Her Majesty,

was five hundred thousand francs! This sum was paid by the agents of the

Palais Royal, and its execution entrusted principally to Mirabeau,

Bailly, the Mayor of Paris, and another individual, who was afterwards

brought over to the Court party.

"The history of the Assembly itself on the day following, the 6th of May,

is too well known. The sudden perturbation of a guilty conscience, which

overcame the Duc d'Orleans, seemed like an awful warning. He had

scarcely commenced his inflammatory address to the Assembly, when some

one, who felt incommoded by the stifling heat of the hall, exclaimed,

'Throw open the windows!' The conspirator fancied he heard in this his

death sentence. He fainted, and was conducted home in the greatest

agitation. Madame de Bouffon was at the Palais Royal when the Duke was

taken thither. The Duchesse d'Orleans was at the palace of the Duc de

Penthievre, her father, while the Duke himself was at the Hotel Thoulouse

with me, where he was to dine, and where we were waiting for the Duchess

to come and join us, by appointment. But Madame de Bouffon was so

alarmed by the state in which she saw the Duc d'Orleans that she

instantly left the Palais Royal, and despatched his valet express to

bring her thither. My sister-in-law sent an excuse to me for not coming

to dinner, and an explanation to her father for so abruptly leaving his

palace, and hastened home to her husband. It was some days before he

recovered; and his father-in-law, his wife, and myself were not without

hopes that he would see in this an omen to prevent him from persisting

any longer in his opposition to the Royal Family.

"The effects of the recall of the popular Minister, Necker, did not

satisfy the King. Necker soon became an object of suspicion to the Court

party, and especially to His Majesty and the Queen. He was known to have

maintained an understanding with D'ORLEANS. The miscarriage of many

plans and the misfortunes which succeeded were the result of this

connection, though it was openly disavowed. The first suspicion of the

coalition arose thus:

"When the Duke had his bust carried about Paris, after his unworthy

schemes against the King had been discovered, it was thrown into the

mire. Necker passing, perhaps by mere accident, stopped his carriage,

and expressing himself with some resentment for such treatment to a

Prince of the blood and a friend of the people, ordered the bust to be

taken to the Palais Royal, where it was washed, crowned with laurel, and

thence, with Necker's own bust, carried to Versailles. The King's aunts,

coming from Bellevue as the procession was upon the road, ordered the

guards to send the men away who bore the busts, that the King and Queen

might not be insulted with the sight. This circumstance caused another

riot, which was attributed to Their Majesties. The dismission of the

Minister was the obvious result. It is certain, however, that, in

obeying the mandate of exile, Necker had no wish to exercise the

advantage he possessed from his great popularity. His retirement was

sudden and secret; and, although it was mentioned that very evening by

the Baroness de Stael to the Comte de Chinon, so little bustle was made

about his withdrawing from France, that it was even stated at the time to

have been utterly unknown, even to his daughter.

"Necker himself ascribed his dismission to the influence of the De

Polignacs; but he was totally mistaken, for the Duchesse de Polignac was

the last person to have had any influence in matters of State, whatever

might have been the case with those who surrounded her. She was devoid

of ambition or capacity to give her weight; and the Queen was not so

pliant in points of high import as to allow herself to be governed or

overruled, unless her mind was thoroughly convinced. In that respect,

she was something like Catharine II., who always distinguished her

favourites from her Minister; but in the present case she had no choice,

and was under the necessity of yielding to the boisterous voice of a

faction.

"From this epoch, I saw all the persons who had any wish to communicate

with the Queen on matters relative to the public business, and Her

Majesty was generally present when they came, and received them in my

apartments. The Duchesse de Polignac never, to my knowledge, entered

into any of these State questions; yet there was no promotion in the

civil, military, or ministerial department, which she has not been

charged with having influenced the Queen to make, though there were few

of them who were not nominated by the King and his Ministers, even

unknown to the Queen herself.

"The prevailing dissatisfaction against Her Majesty and the favourite De

Polignac now began to take so many forms, and produce effects so

dreadful, as to wring her own feelings, as well as those of her royal

mistress, with the most intense anguish. Let me mention one gross and

barbarous instance in proof of what I say.

"After the birth of the Queen's second son, the Duc de Normandie, who was

afterwards Dauphin, the Duke and Duchess of Harcourt, outrageously

jealous of the ascendency of the governess of the Dauphin, excited the

young Prince's hatred toward Madame de Polignac to such a pitch that he

would take nothing from her hands, but often, young as he was at the

time, order her out of the apartment, and treat her remonstrances with

the utmost contempt. The Duchess bitterly complained of the Harcourts to

the Queen; for she really sacrificed the whole of her time to the care

and attention required by this young Prince, and she did so from sincere

attachment, and that he might not be irritated in his declining state of

health. The Queen was deeply hurt at these dissensions between the

governor and governess. Her Majesty endeavoured to pacify the mind of

the young Prince, by literally making herself a slave to his childish

caprices, which in all probability would have created the confidence so

desired, when a most cruel, unnatural, I may say diabolical, report

prevailed to alienate the child's affections even from his mother, in

making him believe that, owing to his deformity and growing ugliness, she

had transferred all her tenderness to his younger brother, who certainly

was very superior in health and beauty to the puny Dauphin. Making a

pretext of this calumny, the governor of the heir-apparent was malicious

enough to prohibit him from eating or drinking anything but what first

passed through the hands of his physicians; and so strong was the

impression made by this interdict on the mind of the young Dauphin that

he never after saw the Queen but with the greatest terror. The feelings

of his disconsolate parent may be more readily conceived than described.

So may the mortification of his governess, the Duchesse de Polignac,

herself so tender, so affectionate a mother. Fortunately for himself,

and happily for his wretched parents, this royal youth, whose life,

though short, had been so full of suffering, died at Versailles on the

4th of June, 1789, and, though only between seven and eight years of age

at the time of his decease, he had given proofs of intellectual

precocity, which would probably have made continued life, amidst the

scenes of wretchedness, which succeeded, anything to him but a blessing.

"The cabals of the Duke of Harcourt, to which I have just adverted,

against the Duchesse de Polignac, were the mere result of foul malice and

ambition. Harcourt wished to get his wife, who was the sworn enemy of De

Polignac, created governess to the Dauphin, instead of the Queen's

favourite. Most of the criminal stories against the Duchesse de

Polignac, and which did equal injury to the Queen, were fabricated by the

Harcourts, for the purpose of excluding their rival from her situation.

"Barnave, meanwhile, continued faithful to his liberal principles, but

equally faithful to his desire of bringing Their Majesties over to those

principles, and making them republican Sovereigns. He lost no

opportunity of availing himself of my permission for him to call whenever

he chose on public business; and he continued to urge the same points,

upon which he had before been so much in earnest, although with no better

effect. Both the King and the Queen looked with suspicion upon Barnave,

and with still more suspicion upon his politics.

"The next time I received him, 'Madame,' exclaimed the deputy to me,

'since our last interview I have pondered well on the situation of the

King; and, as an honest Frenchman, attached to my lawful Sovereign, and

anxious for his future prosperous reign, I am decidedly of opinion that

his own safety, as well as the dignity of the crown of France, and the

happiness of his subjects, can only be secured by his giving his country

a Constitution, which will at once place his establishment beyond the

caprice and the tyranny of corrupt administrations, and secure hereafter

the first monarchy in Europe from the possibility of sinking under weak

Princes, by whom the royal splendour of France has too often been debased

into the mere tool of vicious and mercenary noblesse, and sycophantic

courtiers. A King, protected by a Constitution, can do no wrong. He is

unshackled with responsibility. He is empowered with the comfort of

exercising the executive authority for the benefit of the nation, while

all the harsher duties, and all the censures they create, devolve on

others. It is, therefore, madame, through your means, and the well-known

friendship you have ever evinced for the Royal Family, and the general

welfare of the French nation, that I wish to obtain a private audience of

Her Majesty, the Queen, in order to induce her to exert the never-failing

ascendency she has ever possessed over the mind of our good King, in

persuading him to the sacrifice of a small proportion of his power, for

the sake of preserving the monarchy to his heirs; and posterity will

record the virtues of a Prince who has been magnanimous enough, of his

own free will, to resign the unlawful part of his prerogatives, usurped

by his predecessors, for the blessing and pleasure of giving liberty to a

beloved people, among whom both the King and Queen will find many

Hampdens and Sidneys, but very few Cromwells. Besides, madame, we must

make a merit of necessity. The times are pregnant with events, and it is

more prudent to support the palladium of the ancient monarchy than risk

its total overthrow; and fall it must, if the diseased excrescences, of

which the people complain, and which threaten to carry death into the

very heart of the tree, be not lopped away in time by the Sovereign

himself.'

"I heard the deputy with the greatest attention. I promised to fulfil

his commission. The better to execute my task, I retired the moment he

left me, and wrote down all I could recollect of his discourse, that it

might be thoroughly placed before the Queen the first opportunity.

"When I communicated the conversation to Her Majesty, she listened with

the most gracious condescension, till I came to the part wherein Barnave

so forcibly impressed the necessity of adopting a constitutional

monarchy. Here, as she had done once before, when I repeated some former

observations of Barnave to her, Marie Antoinette somewhat lost her

equanimity. She rose from her seat, and exclaimed:

"'What! is an absolute Prince, and the hereditary Sovereign of the

ancient monarchy of France, to become the tool of a plebeian faction, who

will, their point once gained, dethrone him for his imbecile

complaisance? Do they wish to imitate the English Revolution of 1648,

and reproduce the sanguinary times of the unfortunate and weak Charles

the First? To make France a commonwealth! Well! be it so! But before I

advise the King to such a step, or give my consent to it, they shall bury

me under the ruins of the monarchy.'

"'But what answer,' said I, 'does Your Majesty wish me to return to the

deputy's request for a private audience?'

"'What answer?' exclaimed the Queen. No answer at all is the best answer

to such a presumptuous proposition! I tremble for the consequences of

the impression their disloyal manoeuvres have made upon the minds of the

people, and I have no faith whatever in their proffered services to the

King. However, on reflection, it may be expedient to temporise. Continue

to see him. Learn, if possible, how far he may be trusted; but do not

fix any time, as yet, for the desired audience. I wish to apprise the

King, first, of his interview with you, Princess. This conversation does

not agree with what he and Mirabeau proposed about the King's recovering

his prerogatives. Are these the prerogatives with which he flattered the

King? Binding him hand and foot, and excluding him from every privilege,

and then casting him a helpless dependant on the caprice of a volatile

plebeian faction! The French nation is very different from the English.

The first rules of the established ancient order of the government broken

through, they will violate twenty others, and the King will be

sacrificed, before this frivolous people again organise themselves with

any sort of regular government.'

"Agreeably to Her Majesty's commands, I continued to see Barnave. I

communicated with him by letter,' at his private lodgings at Passy, and

at Vitry; but it was long before the Queen could be brought to consent to

the audience he solicited.

[Of these letters I was generally the bearer. I recollect that day

perfectly. I was copying some letters for the Princesse de Lamballe,

when the Prince de Conti came in. The Prince lived not only to see, but

to feel the errors of his system. He attained a great age. He outlived

the glory of his country. Like many others, the first gleam of political

regeneration led him into a system, which drove him out of France, to

implore the shelter of a foreign asylum, that he might not fall a victim

to his own credulity. I had an opportunity of witnessing in his latter

days his sincere repentance; and to this it is fit that I should bear

testimony. There were no bounds to the execration with which he expressed

himself towards the murderers of those victims, whose death he lamented

with a bitterness in which some remorse was mingled, from the impression

that his own early errors in favour of the Revolution had unintentionally

accelerated their untimely end. This was a source to him of deep and

perpetual self-reproach.

There was an eccentricity in the appearance, dress, and manners of the

Prince de Conti, which well deserves recording.

He wore to the very last--and it was in Barcelona, so late as 1803, that

I last had the honour of conversing with him--a white rich stuff dress

frock coat, of the cut and fashion of Louis XIV., which, being without

any collar, had buttons and button-holes from the neck to the bottom of

the skirt, and was padded and stiffened with buckram. The cuffs were

very large, of a different colour, and turned up to the elbows. The

whole was lined with white satin, which, from its being very much

moth-eaten, appeared as if it had been dotted on purpose to show the

buckram between the satin lining. His waistcoat was of rich green striped

silk, bound with gold lace; the buttons and buttonholes of gold; the

flaps very large, and completely covering his small clothes; which

happened very apropos, for they scarcely reached his knees, over which he

wore large striped silk stockings, that came half-way up his thighs. His

shoes had high heels, and reached half up his legs; the buckles were

small, and set round with paste. A very narrow stiff stock decorated his

neck. He carried a hat, with a white feather on the inside, under his

arm. His ruffles were of very handsome point lace. His few gray hairs

were gathered in a little round bag. The wig alone was wanting to make

him a thorough picture of the polished age of the founder of Versailles

and Marly.

He had all that princely politeness of manner which so eminently

distinguished the old school of French nobility, previous to the

Revolution. He was the thorough gentleman, a character by no means so

readily to be met with in these days of refinement as one would imagine.

He never addressed the softer sex but with ease and elegance, and

admiration of their persons.

Could Louis XIV. have believed, had it been told to him when he placed

this branch of the Bourbons on the throne of Iberia, that it would one

day refuse to give shelter at the Court of Madrid to one of his family,

for fear of offending a Corsican usurper!]

"Indeed, Her Majesty had such an aversion to all who had declared

themselves for any innovation upon the existing power of the monarchy,

that she was very reluctant to give audience upon the subject to any

person, not even excepting the Princes of the blood. The Comte d'Artois

himself, leaning as he did to the popular side, had ceased to be welcome.

Expressions he had made use of, concerning the necessity for some change,

had occasioned the coolness, which was already of considerable standing.

"One day the Prince de Conti came to me, to complain of the Queen's

refusing to receive him, because he had expressed himself to the same

effect as had the Comte d'Artois on the subject of the Tiers Etat.

"'And does Your Highness,' replied I, 'imagine that the Queen is less

displeased with the conduct of the Comte d'Artois on that head than she

is with you, Prince? I can assure Your Highness, that at this moment

there subsists a very great degree of coolness between Her Majesty and

her royal brother-in-law, whom she loves as if he were her own brother.

Though she makes every allowance for his political inexperience, and well

knows the goodness of his heart and the rectitude of his intentions, yet

policy will not permit her to change her sentiments.'

"'That may be,' said the Prince, 'but while Her Majesty continues to

honour with her royal presence the Duchesse de Polignac, whose friends,

as well as herself, are all enthusiastically mad in favour of the

constitutional system, she shows an undue partiality, by countenancing

one branch of the party and not the other; particularly so, as the great

and notorious leader of the opposition, which the Queen frowns upon, is

the sister-in-law of this very Duchesse de Polignac, and the avowed

favourite of the Comte d'Artois, by whom, and the councils of the Palais

Royal, he is supposed to be totally governed in his political career.'

"'The Queen,' replied I, 'is certainly her own mistress. She sees, I

believe, many persons more from habit than any other motive; to which,

Your Highness is aware, many Princes often make sacrifices. Your

Highness cannot suppose I can have the temerity to control Her Majesty,

in the selection of her friends, or in her sentiments respecting them.'

"'No,' exclaimed the Prince, 'I imagine not. But she might just as well

see any of us; for we are no more enemies of the Crown than the party she

is cherishing by constantly appearing among them; which, according to her

avowed maxims concerning the not sanctioning any but supporters of the

absolute monarchy, is in direct opposition to her own sentiments.

"'Who,' continued His Highness, 'caused that infernal comedy, 'Le Mariage

de Figaro', to be brought out, but the party of the Duchesse de Polignac?

[Note of the Princesse de Lamballe:--The Prince de Conti never could

speak of Beaumarchais but with the greatest contempt. There was

something personal in this exasperation. Beaumarchais had satirized the

Prince. 'The Spanish Barber' was founded on a circumstance which

happened at a country house between Conti and a young lady, during the

reign of Louis XV., when intrigues of every kind were practised and

almost sanctioned. The poet has exposed the Prince by making him the

Doctor Bartolo of his play. The affair which supplied the story was

hushed up at Court, and the Prince was punished only by the loss of his

mistress, who became the wife of another.]

The play is a critique on the whole Royal Family, from the drawing up of

the curtain to its fall. It burlesques the ways and manners of every

individual connected with the Court of Versailles. Not a scene but

touches some of their characters. Are not the Queen herself and the

Comte d'Artois lampooned and caricatured in the garden scenes, and the

most slanderous ridicule cast upon their innocent evening walks on the

terrace? Does not Beaumarchais plainly show in it, to every impartial

eye, the means which the Comtesse Diane has taken publicly to demonstrate

her jealousy of the Queen's ascendency over the Comte d'Artois? Is it

not from the same sentiment that she roused the jealousy of the Comtesse

d'Artois against Her Majesty?'

"'All these circumstances,' observed I, 'the King prudently foresaw when

he read the manuscript, and caused it to be read to the Queen, to

convince her of the nature of its characters and the dangerous tendency

likely to arise from its performance. Of this Your Highness is aware. It

is not for me to apprise you that, to avert the excitement inevitable

from its being brought upon the stage, and under a thorough conviction of

the mischief it would produce in turning the minds of the people against

the Queen, His Majesty solemnly declared that the comedy should not be

performed in Paris; and that he would never sanction its being brought

before the public on any stage in France.'

"'Bah! bah! madame!' exclaimed De Conti. The Queen has acted like a

child in this affair, as in many others. In defiance of His Majesty's

determination, did not the Queen herself, through the fatal influence of

her favourite, whose party wearied her out by continued importunities,

cause the King to revoke his express mandate? And what has been the

consequence of Her Majesty's ungovernable partiality for these De

Polignacs?'

"'You know, Prince,' said I, 'better than I do.'

"'The proofs of its bad consequences,' pursued His Highness, 'are more

strongly verified than ever by your own withdrawing from the Queen's

parties since her unreserved acknowledgment of her partiality (fatal

partiality!) for those who will be her ruin; for they are her worst

enemies.'

"'Pardon me, Prince,' answered I, 'I have not withdrawn myself from the

Queen, but from the new parties, with whose politics I cannot identify

myself, besides some exceptions I have taken against those who frequent

them.'

"'Bah! bah!' exclaimed De Conti, 'your sagacity has got the better of

your curiosity. All the wit and humour of that traitor Beaumarchais

never seduced you to cultivate his society, as all the rest of the

Queen's party have done.'

"'I never knew him to be accused of treason.'

"'Why, what do you call a fellow who sent arms to the Americans before

the war was declared, without his Sovereign's consent?'

"'In that affair, I consider the Ministers as criminal as himself; for

the Queen, to this day, believes that Beaumarchais was sanctioned by them

and, you know, Her Majesty has ever since had an insuperable dislike to

both De Maurepas and De Vergennes. But I have nothing to do with these

things.'

"'Yes, yes, I understand you, Princess. Let her romp and play with the

'compate vous',--[A kind of game of forfeits, introduced for the

diversion of the royal children and those of the Duchesse de

Polignac.]--but who will 'compatire' (make allowance for) her folly?

Bah! bah! bah! She is inconsistent, Princess. Not that I mean by this to

insinuate that the Duchess is not the sincere friend and well-wisher of

the Queen. Her immediate existence, her interest, and that of her

family, are all dependent on the royal bounty. But can the Duchess

answer for the same sincerity towards the Queen, with respect to her

innumerable guests? No! Are not the sentiments of the Duchesses

sister-in-law, the Comtesse Diane, in direct opposition to the absolute

monarchy? Has she not always been an enthusiastic advocate for all those

that have supported the American war? Who was it that crowned, at a

public assembly, the democratical straight hairs of Dr. Franklin? Why

the same Madame Comtesse Diane! Who was 'capa turpa' in applauding the

men who were framing the American Constitution at Paris? Madame Comtesse

Diane! Who was it, in like manner, that opposed all the Queen's

arguments against the political conduct of France and Spain, relative to

the war with England, in favour of the American Independence? The

Comtesse Diane! Not for the love of that rising nation, or for the sacred

cause of liberty; but from a taste for notoriety, a spirit of envy and

jealousy, an apprehension lest the personal charms of the Queen might rob

her of a part of those affections, which she herself exclusively hoped to

alienate from that abortion, the Comtesse d'Artois, in whose service she

is Maid of Honour, and handmaid to the Count. My dear Princess, these

are facts proved. Beaumarchais has delineated them all. Why, then,

refuse to see me? Why withdraw her former confidence from the Comte

d'Artois, when she lives in the society which promulgates antimonarchical

principles? These are sad evidences of Her Majesty's inconsistency. She

might as well see the Duc d'Orleans'

"Here my feelings overwhelmed me. I could contain myself no longer. The

tears gushed from my eyes.

"'Oh, Prince!' exclaimed I, in a bitter agony of grief--'Oh, Prince!

touch not that fatal string. For how many years has he not caused these

briny tears of mine to flow from my burning eyes! The scalding drops

have nearly parched up the spring of life!'"

SECTION IV.

"The dismissal of M. Necker irritated the people beyond description. They

looked upon themselves as insulted in their favourite. Mob succeeded

mob, each more mischievous and daring than the former. The Duc d'Orleans

continued busy in his work of secret destruction. In one of the popular

risings, a sabre struck his bust, and its head fell, severed from its

body. Many of the rioters (for the ignorant are always superstitious)

shrunk back at this omen of evil to their idol. His real friends

endeavoured to deduce a salutary warning to him from the circumstance. I

was by when the Duc de Penthievre told him, in the presence of his

daughter, that he might look upon this accident as prophetic of the fate

of his own head, as well as the ruin of his family, if he persisted. He

made no answer, but left the room.

"On the 14th of July, and two or three days preceding, the commotions

took a definite object. The destruction of the Bastille was the point

proposed, and it was achieved. Arms were obtained from the old

pensioners at the Hotel des Invalides. Fifty thousand livres were

distributed among the chiefs of those who influenced the Invalides to

give up the arms.

"The massacre of the Marquis de Launay, commandant of the place, and of

M. de Flesselles, and the fall of the citadel itself, were the

consequence.

"Her Majesty was greatly affected when she heard of the murder of these

officers and the taking of the Bastille. She frequently told me that the

horrid circumstance originated in a diabolical Court intrigue, but never

explained the particulars of the intrigue. She declared that both the

officers and the citadel might have been saved had not the King's orders

for the march of the troops from Versailles, and the environs of Paris,

been disobeyed. She blamed the precipitation of De Launay in ordering up

the drawbridge and directing the few troops on it to fire upon the

people. 'There,' she added, 'the Marquis committed himself; as, in case

of not succeeding, he could have no retreat, which every commander should

take care to secure, before he allows the commencement of a general

attack.

[Certainly, the French Revolution may date its epoch as far back as the

taking of the Bastille; from that moment the troubles progressively

continued, till the final extirpation of its illustrious victims. I was

just returning from a mission to England when the storms began to

threaten not only the most violent effects to France itself, but to all

the land which was not divided from it by the watery element. The spirit

of liberty, as the vine, which produces the most luxurious fruit, when

abused becomes the most pernicious poison, was stalking abroad and

revelling in blood and massacre. I myself was a witness to the

enthusiastic national ball given on the ruins of the Bastille, while it

was still stained and reeking with the hot blood of its late keeper,

whose head I saw carried in triumph. Such was the effect on me that the

Princesse de Lamballe asked me if I had known the Marquis de Launay. I

answered in the negative; but told her from the knowledge I had of the

English Revolution, I was fearful of a result similar to what followed

the fall of the heads of Buckingham and Stafford. The Princess

mentioning my observation to the Duc de Penthievre, they both burst into

tears.]

The death of the Dauphin, the horrible Revolution of the 14th of July,

the troubles about Necker, the insults and threats offered to the Comte

d'Artois and herself,--overwhelmed the Queen with the most poignant

grief.]

"She was most desirous of some understanding being established between

the government and the representatives of the people, which she urged

upon the King the expediency of personally attempting.

"The King, therefore, at her reiterated remonstrances and requests,

presented himself, on the following day, with his brothers, to the

National Assembly, to assure them of his firm determination to support

the measures of the deputies, in everything conducive to the general good

of his subjects. As a proof of his intentions, he said he had commanded

the troops to leave Paris and Versailles.

"The King left the Assembly, as he had gone thither, on foot, amid the

vociferations of 'Vive le roi!' and it was only through the enthusiasm of

the deputies, who thus hailed His Majesty, and followed him in crowds to

the palace, that the Comte d'Artois escaped the fury of an outrageous

mob.

"The people filled every avenue of the palace, which vibrated with cries

for the King, the Queen, and the Dauphin to show themselves at the

balcony.

"'Send for the Duchesse de Polignac to bring the royal children,' cried I

to Her Majesty.

"'Not for the world!' exclaimed the Queen. 'She will be assassinated,

and my children too, if she make her appearance before this infuriate

mob. Let Madame and the Dauphin be brought unaccompanied.'

"The Queen, on this occasion, imitated her Imperial mother, Maria

Theresa. She took the Dauphin in her arms, and Madame by her side, as

that Empress had done when she presented herself to the Hungarian

magnates; but the reception here was very different. It was not

'moriamur pro nostra regina'. Not that they were ill received; but the

furious party of the Duc d'Orleans often interrupted the cries of 'Vive

le roi! Vive la reine!' etc., with those of 'Vive la nation! Vive d'

Orleans!' and many severe remarks on the family of the De Polignacs,

which proved that the Queen's caution on this occasion was exceedingly

well-judged.

"Not to wound the feelings of the Duchesse de Polignac, I kept myself at

a distance behind the Queen; but I was loudly called for by the mobility,

and, 'malgre moi', was obliged, at the King and Queen's request, to come

forward.

"As I approached the balcony, I perceived one of the well-known agents of

the Duc d'Orleans, whom I had noticed some time before in the throng,

menacing me, the moment I made my appearance, with his upreared hand in

fury. I was greatly terrified, but suppressed my agitation, and saluted

the populace; but, fearful of exhibiting my weakness in sight of the

wretch who had alarmed me, withdrew instantly, and had no sooner

re-entered than I sunk motionless in the arms of one of the attendants.

Luckily, this did not take place till I left the balcony. Had it been

otherwise, the triumph to my declared enemies would have been too great.

"Recovering, I found myself surrounded by the Royal Family, who were all

kindness and concern for my situation; but I could not subdue my tremor

and affright. The horrid image of that monster seemed, still to threaten

me.

"'Come, come!' said the King, 'be not alarmed, I shall order a council of

all the Ministers and deputies to-morrow, who will soon put an end to

these riots!'

"We were ere long joined by the Prince de Conde, the Duc de Bourbon, and

others, who implored the King not to part with the army, but to place

himself, with all the Princes of the blood, at its head, as the only

means to restore tranquillity to the country, and secure his own safety.

"The Queen was decidedly of the same opinion; and added, that, if the

army were to depart, the King and his family ought to go with it; but the

King, on the contrary, said he would not decide upon any measures

whatever till he had heard the opinion of the Council.

"The Queen, notwithstanding the King's indecision, was occupied, during

the rest of the day and the whole of the night, in preparing for her

intended; journey, as she hoped to persuade the King to follow the advice

of the Princes, and not wait the result of the next day's deliberation.

Nay, so desirous was she of this, that she threw herself on her knees to

the King, imploring him to leave Versailles and head the army, and

offering to accompany him herself, on horseback, in uniform; but it was

like speaking to a corpse he never answered.

"The Duchesse de Polignac came to Her Majesty in a state of the greatest

agitation, in consequence of M. de Chinon having just apprised her that a

most malicious report had been secretly spread among the deputies at

Versailles that they were all to be blown up at their next meeting.

"The Queen was as much surprised as the Duchess, and scarcely less

agitated. These wretched friends could only, in silence, compare notes

of their mutual cruel misfortunes. Both for a time remained speechless

at this new calamity. Surely this was not wanting to be added to those

by which the Queen was already so bitterly oppressed.

"I was sent for by Her Majesty. Count Fersen accompanied me. He had

just communicated to me what the Duchess had already repeated from M.

Chinon to the Queen.

"The rumour had been set afloat merely as a new pretext for the

continuation of the riots.

"The communication of the report, so likely to produce a disastrous

effect, took place while the King was with his Ministers deliberating

whether he should go to Paris, or save himself and family by joining the

army.

"His Majesty was called from the council to the Queen's apartment, and

was there made acquainted with the circumstance which had so awakened the

terror of the royal party. He calmly replied, 'It is some days since

this invention has been spread among the deputies; I was aware of it from

the first; but from its being utterly impossible to be listened to for a

moment by any one, I did not wish to afflict you by the mention of an

impotent fabrication, which I myself treated with the contempt it justly

merited. Nevertheless, I did not forget, yesterday, in the presence of

both my brothers, who accompanied me to the National Assembly, there to

exculpate myself from an imputation at which my nature revolts; and, from

the manner in which it was received, I flatter myself that every honest

Frenchman was fully satisfied that my religion will ever be an

insurmountable barrier against my harbouring sentiments allied in the

slightest degree to such actions.

"The King embraced the Queen, begged she would tranquilise herself,

calmed the fears of the two ladies, thanked the gentlemen for the

interest they took in his favour, and returned to the council, who, in

his absence, had determined on his going to the Hotel de Ville at Paris,

suggesting at the same time the names of several persons likely to be

well received, if His Majesty thought proper to allow their accompanying

him.

"During this interval, the Queen, still flattering herself that she

should pursue her wished-for journey, ordered the carriages to be

prepared and sent off to Rambouillet, where she said she should sleep;

but this Her Majesty only stated for the purpose of distracting the

attention of her pages and others about her from her real purpose. As it

was well known that M. de St. Priest had pointed out Rambouillet as a fit

asylum for the mob, she fancied that an understanding on the part of her

suite that they were to halt there, and prepare for her reception, would

protect her project of proceeding much farther.

"When the council had broken up and the King returned, he said to the

Queen, 'It is decided.'

"'To go, I hope?' said Her Majesty.

"'No'--(though in appearance calm, the words remained on the lips of the

King, and he stood for some moments incapable of utterance; but,

recovering, added)--'To Paris!'

"The Queen, at the word Paris, became frantic. She flung herself wildly

into the arms of her friends.

"'Nous sommes perdus! nous sommes perdus!' cried she, in a passion of

tears. But her dread was not for herself. She felt only for the danger

to which the King was now going to expose himself; and she flew to him,

and hung on his neck.

"'And what,' exclaimed she, 'is to become of all our faithful friends and

attendants!'

"'I advise them all,' answered His Majesty, 'to make the best of their

way out of France; and that as soon as possible.'

"By this time, the apartments of the Queen were filled with the

attendants and the royal children, anxiously expecting every moment to

receive the Queen's command to proceed on their journey, but they were

all ordered to retire to whence they came.

"The scene was that of a real tragedy. Nothing broke the silence but

groans of the deepest affliction. Our consternation at the counter order

cast all into a state of stupefied insensibility.

"The Queen was the only one whose fortitude bore her up proudly under

this weight of misfortunes. Recovering from the frenzy of the first

impression, she adjured her friends, by the love and obedience they had

ever shown her and the King, to prepare immediately to fulfil his mandate

and make themselves ready for the cruel separation!

"The Duchesse de Polignac and myself were, for some hours, in a state of

agony and delirium.

"When the Queen saw the body-guards drawn up to accompany the King's

departure, she ran to the window, threw apart the sash, and was going to

speak to them, to recommend the King to their care; but the Count Fersen

prevented it.

"'For God's sake, Madame,'--exclaimed he, 'do not commit yourself to the

suspicion of having any doubts of the people!'

"When the King entered to take leave of her, and of all his most faithful

attendants, he could only articulate, 'Adieu!' But when the Queen saw him

accompanied by the Comte d'Estaing and others, whom, from their new

principles, she knew to be popular favourites, she had command enough of

herself not to shed a tear in their presence.

"No sooner, however, had the King left the room than it was as much as

the Count Fersen, Princesse Elizabeth, and all of us could do to recover

her from the most violent convulsions. At last, coming to herself, she

retired with the Princess, the Duchess, and myself to await the King's

return; at the same time requesting the Count Fersen to follow His

Majesty to the Hotel de Ville. Again and again she implored the Count,

as she went, in case the King should be detained, to interest himself

with all the foreign Ministers to interpose for his liberation.

"Versailles, when the King was gone, seemed like a city deserted in

consequence of the plague. The palace was completely abandoned. All the

attendants were dispersed. No one was seen in the streets. Terror

prevailed. It was universally believed that the King would be detained

in Paris. The high road from Versailles to Paris was crowded with all

ranks of people, as if to catch a last look of their Sovereign.

"The Count Fersen set off instantly, pursuant to the Queen's desire. He

saw all that passed, and on his return related to me the history of that

horrid day.

"He arrived at Paris just in time to see His Majesty take the national

cockade from M. Bailly and place it in his hat. He, felt the Hotel de

Ville shake with the long-continued cries of 'Vive le roi!' in

consequence, which so affected the King that, for some moments, he was

unable to express himself. 'I myself,' added the Count, 'was so moved at

the effect on His Majesty, in being thus warmly received by his Parisian

subjects, which portrayed the paternal emotions of his long-lacerated

heart, that every other feeling was paralysed for a moment, in exultation

at the apparent unanimity between the Sovereign and his people. But it

did not,' continued the Ambassador, 'paralyse the artful tongue of

Bailly, the Mayor of Paris. I could have kicked the fellow for his

malignant impudence; for, even in the cunning compliment he framed, he

studied to humble the afflicted Monarch by telling the people it was to

them he owed the sovereign authority.

"'But,' pursued the Count, 'considering the situation of Louis XVI. and

that of his family, agonised as they must have been during his absence,

from the Queen's impression that the Parisians would never again allow

him to see Versailles, how great was our rapture when we saw him safely

replaced in his carriage, and returning to those who were still lamenting

him as lost!

"'When I left Her Majesty in the morning, she was nearly in a state of

mental aberration. When I saw her again in the evening, the King by her

side, surrounded by her family, the Princesse Eizabeth, and yourself,

madame' said the kind Count, 'she appeared to me like a person risen from

the dead and restored to life. Her excess of joy at the first moment was

beyond description!'

"Count Fersen might well say the first moment, for the pleasure of the

Queen was of short duration. Her heart was doomed to bleed afresh, when

the thrill of delight, at what she considered the escape of her husband,

was past, for she had already seen her chosen friend, the Duchesse de

Polignac, for the last time.

"Her Majesty was but just recovered from the effects of the morning's

agitation, when the Duchess, the Duke, his sister, and all his family set

off. It was impossible for her to take leave of her friend. The hour

was late--about midnight. At the same time departed the Comte d'Artois

and his family, the Prince de Conde and his, the Prince of Hesse

d'Armstadt, and all those who were likely to be suspected by the people.

"Her Majesty desired the Count Fersen to see the Duchess in her name.

When the King heard the request, he exclaimed:

"'What a cruel state for Sovereigns, my dear Count! To be compelled to

separate ourselves from our most faithful attendants, and not be allowed,

for fear of compromising others or our own lives, to take a last

farewell!'

"'Ah!' said the Queen, 'I fear so too. I fear it is a last farewell to

all our friends!'

"The Count saw the Duchess a few moments before she left Versailles.

Pisani, the Venetian Ambassador, and Count Fersen, helped her on the

coachbox, where she rode disguised.

"What must have been most poignantly mortifying to the fallen favourite

was, that, in the course of her journey, she met with her greatest enemy,

(Necker) who was returning, triumphant, to Paris, called by the voice of

that very nation by whom she and her family were now forced from its

territory,--Necker, who himself conceived that she, who now went by him

into exile, while he himself returned to the greatest of victories, had

thwarted all his former plans of operation, and, from her influence over

the Queen, had caused his dismission and temporary banishment.

"For my own part, I cannot but consider this sudden desertion of France

by those nearest the throne as ill-judged. Had all the Royal Family,

remained, is it likely that the King and Queen would have been watched

with such despotic vigilance? Would not confidence have created

confidence, and the breach have been less wide between the King and his

people?

"When the father and his family will now be thoroughly reconciled, Heaven

alone can tell!"

SECTION V.

"Barnave often lamented his having been betrayed, by a love of notoriety,

into many schemes, of which his impetuosity blinded him to the

consequences. With tears in his eyes, he implored me to impress the

Queen's mind with the sad truths he inculcated. He said his motives had

been uniformly the same, however he might have erred in carrying them

into action; but now he relied on my friendship for my royal mistress to

give efficacy to his earnest desire to atone for those faults, of which

he had become convinced by dear-bought experience. He gave me a list of

names for Her Majesty, in which were specified all the Jacobins who had

emissaries throughout France, for the purpose of creating on the same

day, and at the same hour, an alarm of something like the 'Vesparo

Siciliano' (a general insurrection to murder all the nobility and burn

their palaces, which, in fact, took place in many parts of France), the

object of which was to give the Assembly, by whom all the regular troops

were disbanded, a pretext for arming the people as a national guard, thus

creating a perpetual national faction.

"The hordes of every faubourg now paraded in this new democratic livery.

Even some of them, who were in the actual service of the Court, made no

scruple of decorating themselves thus, in the very face of their

Sovereign. The King complained, but the answer made to him was that the

nation commanded.

"The very first time Their Majesties went to the royal chapel, after the

embodying of the troops with the national guards, all the persons

belonging to it were accoutred in the national uniform. The Queen was

highly incensed, and deeply affected at this insult offered to the King's

authority by the persons employed in the sacred occupations of the

Church. 'Such persons,' said Her Majesty, 'would, I had hoped, have been

the last to interfere with politics.' She was about to order all those

who preferred their uniforms to their employments to be discharged from

the King's service; but my advice, coupled with that of Barnave,

dissuaded her from executing so dangerous a threat. On being assured

that those, perhaps, who might be selected to replace the offenders might

refuse the service, if not allowed the same ridiculous prerogatives, and

thus expose Their Royal Majesties to double mortification, the Queen

seemed satisfied, and no more was said upon the subject, except to an

Italian soprano, to whom the King signified his displeasure at his

singing a 'salva regina' in the dress of a grenadier of the new faction.

"The singer took the hint and never again intruded his uniform into the

chapel.

"Necker, notwithstanding the enthusiasm his return produced upon the

people, felt mortified in having lost the confidence of the King. He

came to me, exclaiming that, unless Their Majesties distinguished him by

some mark of their royal favour, his influence must be lost with the

National Assembly. He perceived, he said, that the councils of the King

were more governed by the advice of the Queen's favourite, the Abbe

Vermond, than by his (Necker's). He begged I would assure Her Majesty

that Vermond was quite as obnoxious to the people as the Duchesse de

Polignac had ever been; for it was generally known that Her Majesty was

completely guided by him, and, therefore, for her own safety and the

tranquillity of national affairs, he humbly suggested the prudence of

sending him from the Court, at least for a time.

"I was petrified at hearing a Minister dare presume thus to dictate the

line of conduct which the Queen of France, his Sovereign, should pursue

with respect to her most private servants. Such was my indignation at

this cruel wish to dismiss every object of her choice, especially one

from whom, owing to long habits of intimacy since her childhood, a

separation would be rendered, by her present situation, peculiarly cruel,

that nothing but the circumstances in which the Court then stood could

have given me patience to listen to him.

"I made no answer. Upon my silence, Necker subjoined, 'You must

perceive, Princess, that I am actuated for the general good of the

nation.'

"'And I hope, monsieur, for the prerogatives of the monarchy also,'

replied I.

"'Certainly,' said Necker. 'But if Their Majesties continue to be guided

by others, and will not follow my advice, I cannot answer for the

consequences.'

"I assured the Minister that I would be the faithful bearer of his

commission, however unpleasant.

"Knowing the character of the Queen, in not much relishing being dictated

to with respect to her conduct in relation to the persons of her

household, especially the Abbe Vermond, and aware, at the same time, of

her dislike to Necker, who thus undertook to be her director, I felt

rather awkward in being the medium of the Minister's suggestions. But

what was my surprise, on finding her prepared, and totally indifferent as

to the privation.

"'I foresaw,' replied Her Majesty, 'that Vermond would become odious to

the present order of things, merely because he had been a faithful

servant, and long attached to my interest; but you may tell M. Necker

that the Abbe leaves Versailles this very night, by my express order, for

Vienna.'

"If the proposal of Necker astonished me, the Queen's reception of it

astonished me still more. What a lesson is this for royal favourites!

The man who had been her tutor, and who, almost from her childhood, never

left her, the constant confidant for fifteen or sixteen years, was now

sent off without a seeming regret.

"I doubt not, however, that the Queen had some very powerful secret

motive for the sudden change in her conduct towards the Abbe, for she was

ever just in all her concerns, even to her avowed enemies; but I was

happy that she seemed to express no particular regret at the Minister's

suggested policy. I presume, from the result, that I myself had

overrated the influence of the Abbe over the mind of his royal pupil;

that he had by no means the sway imputed to him; and that Marie

Antoinette merely considered him as the necessary instrument of her

private correspondence, which he had wholly managed.

[The truth is, Her Majesty had already taken leave of the Abbe, in the

presence of the King, unknown to the Princess; or, more properly, the

Abbe had taken an affectionate leave of them.]

"But a circumstance presently occurred which aroused Her Majesty from

this calmness and indifference. The King came in to inform her that La

Fayette, during the night, had caused the guards to desert from the

palace of Versailles.

"The effect on her of this intelligence was like the lightning which

precedes a loud clap of thunder.

"Everything that followed was perfectly in character, and shook every

nerve of the royal authority.

"'Thus,' exclaimed Marie Antoinette, 'thus, Sire, have you humiliated

yourself, in condescending to go to Paris, without having accomplished

the object. You have not regained the confidence of your subjects. Oh,

how bitterly do I deplore the loss of that confidence! It exists no

longer. Alas! when will it be restored!'

"The French guards, indeed, had been in open insurrection through the

months of June and July, and all that could be done was to preserve one

single company of grenadiers, by means of their commander, the Baron de

Leval, faithful to their colours. This company had now been influenced

by General La Fayette to desert and join their companions, who had

enrolled themselves in the Paris national guard.

"Messieurs de Bouille and de Luxembourg being interrogated by the Queen

respecting the spirit of the troops under their immediate command, M. de

Bouille answered, Madame, I should be very sorry to be compelled to

undertake any internal operation with men who have been seduced from

their allegiance, and are daily paid by a faction which aims at the

overthrow of its legitimate Sovereign. I would not answer for a man that

has been in the neighbourhood of the seditious national troops, or that

has read the inflammatory discussions of the National Assembly. If Your

Majesty and the King wish well to the nation--I am sorry to say it--its

happiness depends on your quitting immediately the scenes of riot and

placing yourselves in a situation to treat with the National Assembly on

equal terms, whereby the King may be unbiassed and unfettered by a

compulsive, overbearing mob; and this can only be achieved by your flying

to a place of safety. That you may find such a place, I will answer with

my life!'

"'Yes,' said M. de Luxembourg, 'I think we may both safely answer that,

in such a case, you will find a few Frenchmen ready to risk a little to

save all!' And both concurred that there was no hope of salvation for

the King or country but through the resolution they advised.

"'This,' said the Queen, 'will be a very difficult task. His Majesty, I

fear, will never consent to leave France.'

"'Then, Madame,' replied they, 'we can only regret that we have nothing

to offer but our own perseverance in the love and service of our King and

his oppressed family, to whom we deplore we can now be useful only with

our feeble wishes.'

"'Well, gentlemen,' answered Her Majesty, 'you must not despair of better

prospects. I will take an early opportunity of communicating your loyal

sentiments to the King, and will hear his opinion on the subject before I

give you a definite answer. I thank you, in the name of His Majesty, as

well as on my own account, for your good intentions towards us.'

"Scarcely had these gentlemen left the palace, when a report prevailed

that the King, his family, and Ministers, were about to withdraw to some

fortified situation. It was also industriously rumoured that, as soon as

they were in safety, the National Assembly would be forcibly dismissed,

as the Parliament had been by Louis XIV. The reports gained universal

belief when it became known that the King had ordered the Flanders

regiment to Versailles.

"The National Assembly now daily watched the royal power more and more

assiduously. New sacrifices of the prerogatives of the nobles were

incessantly proposed by them to the King.

"When His Majesty told the Queen that he had been advised by Necker to

sanction the abolition of the privileged nobility, and that all

distinctions, except the order of the Holy Ghost to himself and the

Dauphin, were also annihilated by the Assembly, even to the order of

Maria Theresa, which she could no longer wear, 'These, Sire,' answered

she, in extreme anguish, 'are trifles, so far as they regard myself. I do

not think I have twice worn the order of Maria Theresa since my arrival

in this once happy country. I need it not. The immortal memory of her

who gave me being is engraven on my heart; that I shall wear forever,

none can wrest it from me. But what grieves me to the soul is your

having sanctioned these decrees of the National Assembly upon the mere

'ipse dixit' of M. Necker.'

"'I have only, given my sanction to such as I thought most necessary to

tranquilise the minds of those who doubted my sincerity; but I have

withheld it from others, which, for the good of my, people, require

maturer consideration. On these, in a full Council, and in your

presence, I shall again deliberate.'

"'Oh, said the Queen, with tears in her eyes, could but the people hear

you, and know, once for all, how to appreciate the goodness of your

heart, as I do now, they would cast themselves at your feet, and

supplicate your forgiveness for having shown such ingratitude to your

paternal interest for their welfare!'

"But this unfortunate refusal to sanction all the decrees sent by the

National Assembly, though it proceeded from the best motives, produced

the worst effects. Duport, De Lameth, and Barnave well knew the troubles

such a course must create. Of this they forewarned His Majesty, before

any measure was laid before him for approval. They cautioned him not to

trifle with the deputies. They assured him that half measures would only

rouse suspicion. They enforced the necessity of uniform assentation, in

order to lull the Mirabeau party, who were canvassing for a majority to

set up D'ORLEANS, to whose interest Mirabeau and his myrmidons were then

devoted. The scheme of Duport, De Lameth, and Barnave was to thwart and

weaken the Mirabeau and Orleans faction, by gradually persuading them, in

consequence of the King's compliance with whatever the Assembly exacted,

that they could do no better than to let him into a share of the

executive power; for now nothing was left to His Majesty but

responsibility, while the privileges of grace and justice had become

merely nominal, with the one dangerous exception of the veto, to which he

could never have recourse without imminent peril to his cause and to

himself.

"Unfortunately for His Majesty's interest, he was too scrupulous to act,

even through momentary policy, distinctly against his conscience. When

he gave way, it was with reluctance, and often with an avowal, more or

less express, that he only complied with necessity against conviction.

His very sincerity made him appear the reverse. His adherents

consequently dwindled, while the Orleans faction became immeasurably

augmented.

"In the midst of these perplexities, an Austrian courier was stopped with

despatches from Prince Kaunitz. These, though unsought for on the part

of Her Majesty, though they contained a friendly advice to her to submit

to the circumstances of the times, and though, luckily, they were couched

in terms favourable to the Constitution, showed the mob that there was a

correspondence with Vienna, carried on by the Queen, and neither Austria

nor the Queen were deemed the friends either of the people or of the

Constitution. To have received the letters was enough for the faction.

"Affairs were now ripening gradually into something like a crisis, when

the Flanders regiment arrived. The note of preparation had been sounded.

'Let us go to Versailles, and bring the King away from his evil

counsellors,' was already in the mouths of the Parisians.

"In the meantime, Dumourier, who had been leagued with the Orleans

faction, became disgusted with it. He knew the deep schemes of treason

which were in train against the Royal Family, and, in disguise, sought

the Queen at Versailles, and had an interview with Her Majesty in my

presence. He assured her that an abominable insurrection was ripe for

explosion among the mobs of the faubourgs; gave her the names of the

leaders, who had received money to promote its organisation; and warned

her that the massacre of the Royal Family was the object of the

manoeuvre, for the purpose of declaring the Duke of Orleans the

constitutional King; that he was to be proclaimed by Mirabeau, who had

already received a considerable sum in advance, for distribution among

the populace, to ensure their support; and that Mirabeau, in return for

his co-operation, was to be created a Duke, with the office of Prime

Minister and Secretary of State, and to have the framing of the

Constitution, which was to be modelled from that of Great Britain. It

was farther concerted that D'ORLEANS was to show himself in the midst of

the confusion, and the crown to be conferred upon him by public

acclamation.

"On his knees Dumourier implored Her Majesty to regard his voluntary

discovery of this infamous and diabolical plot as a proof of his sincere

repentance. He declared he came disinterestedly to offer himself as a

sacrifice to save her, the King, and her family from the horrors then

threatening their lives, from the violence of an outrageous mob of

regicides; he called God to witness that he was actuated by no other wish

than to atone for his error, and die in their defence; he looked for no

reward beyond the King's forgiveness of his having joined the Orleans

faction; he never had any view in joining that faction but that of aiding

the Duke, for the good of his country, in the reform of ministerial

abuses, and strengthening the royal authority by the salutary laws of the

National Assembly; but he no sooner discovered that impure schemes of

personal aggrandisement gave the real impulse to these pretended

reformers than he forsook their unholy course. He supplicated Her

Majesty to lose no time, but to allow him to save her from the

destruction to which she would inevitably be exposed; that he was ready

to throw himself at the King's feet, to implore his forgiveness also, and

to assure him of his profound penitence, and his determination to

renounce forever the factious Orleans party.

"As Her Majesty would not see any of those who offered themselves, except

in my presence, I availed myself, in this instance, of the opportunity it

gave me by enforcing the arguments of Dumourier. But all I could say,

all the earnest representations to be deduced from this critical crisis,

could not prevail with her, even so far as to persuade her to temporise

with Dumourier, as she had done with many others on similar occasions.

She was deaf and inexorable. She treated all he had said as the effusion

of an overheated imagination, and told him she had no faith in traitors.

Dumourier remained upon his knees while she was replying, as if

stupefied; but at the word traitor he started and roused himself; and

then, in a state almost of madness, seized the Queen's dress, exclaiming,

'Allow yourself to be persuaded before it is too late! Let not your

misguided prejudice against me hurry you to your own and your children's

destruction; let it not get the better, Madame, of your good sense and

reason; the fatal moment is near; it is at hand!' Upon this, turning, he

addressed himself to me.

"'Oh, Princess,' he cried, 'be her guardian angel, as you have hitherto

been her only friend, and use your never-failing influence. I take God

once more to witness, that I am sincere in all I have said; that all I

have disclosed is true. This will be the last time I shall have it in my

power to be of any essential service to you, Madame, and my Sovereign.

The National Assembly will put it out of my power for the future, without

becoming a traitor to my country.'

"'Rise, monsieur,' said the Queen, 'and serve your country better than

you have served your King!'

"'Madame, I obey.'

"When he was about to leave the room, I again, with tears, besought Her

Majesty not to let him depart thus, but to give him some hope, that,

after reflection, she might perhaps endeavour to soothe the King's anger.

But in vain. He withdrew very much affected. I even ventured, after his

departure, to intercede for his recall.

"'He has pledged himself,' said I, 'to save you, Madame!'

"'My dear Princess,' replied the Queen, 'the goodness of your own heart

will not allow you to have sinister ideas of others. This man is like

all of the same stamp. They are all traitors; and will only hurry us the

sooner, if we suffer ourselves to be deceived by them, to an ignominious

death! I seek no safety for myself.'

"'But he offered to serve the King also, Madame.'

"'I am not,' answered Her Majesty, 'Henrietta of France. I will never

stoop to ask a pension of the murderers of my husband; nor will I leave

the King, my son, or my adopted country, or even meanly owe my existence

to wretches who have destroyed the dignity of the Crown and trampled

under foot the most ancient monarchy in Europe! Under its ruins they

will bury their King and myself. To owe our safety to them would be more

hateful than any death they can prepare for us'

"While the Queen was in this state of agitation, a note was presented to

me with a list of the names of the officers of the Flanders regiment,

requesting the honour of an audience of the Queen.

"The very idea of seeing the Flanders officers flushed Her Majesty's

countenance with an ecstasy of joy. She said she would retire to compose

herself, and receive them in two hours.

"The Queen saw the officers in her private cabinet, and in my presence.

They were presented to her by me. They told Her Majesty that, though

they had changed their paymaster, they had not changed their allegiance

to their Sovereign or herself, but were ready to defend both with their

lives. They placed one hand on the hilt of their swords, and, solemnly

lifting the other up to Heaven, swore that the weapons should never be

wielded but for the defence of the King and Queen, against all foes,

whether foreign or domestic.

"This unexpected loyalty burst on us like the beauteous rainbow, after a

tempest, by the dawn of which we are taught to believe the world is saved

from a second deluge.

"The countenance of Her Majesty brightened over the gloom which had

oppressed her, like the heavenly sun dispersing threatening clouds, and

making the heart of the poor mariner bound with joy. Her eyes spoke her

secret rapture. It was evident she felt even unusual dignity in the

presence of these noble-hearted warriors, when comparing them with him

whom she had just dismissed. She graciously condescended to speak to

every one of them, and one and all were enchanted with her affability.

"She said she was no longer the Queen who could compensate loyalty and

valour; but the brave soldier found his reward in the fidelity of his

service, which formed the glory of his immortality. She assured them she

had ever been attached to the army, and would make it her study to

recommend every individual, meriting attention, to the King.

"Loud bursts of repeated acclamations and shouts of 'Vive la reine!'

instantly followed her remarks. She thanked the officers most

graciously; and, fearing to commit herself, by saying more, took her

leave, attended by me; but immediately sent me back, to thank them again

in her name.

"They departed, shouting as they went, 'Vive la reine! Vive la Princesse!

Vive le roi, le Dauphin, et toute la famille royale!'

"When the National Assembly saw the officers going to and coming from the

King's palace with such demonstrations of enthusiasm, they took alarm,

and the regicide faction hastened on the crisis for which it had been

longing. It was by no means unusual for the chiefs of regiments,

destined to form part of the garrison of a royal residence, to be

received by the Sovereign on their arrival, and certainly only natural

that they should be so; but in times of excitement trifling events have

powerful effects.

"But if the National Assembly began to tremble for their own safety, and

had already taken secret, measures to secure it, by conspiring to put an

instantaneous end to the King's power, against which they had so long

been plotting, when the Flanders regiment arrived, it may be readily

conceived what must have been their emotions on the fraternisation of

this regiment with the body-guard, and on the scene to which the dinner,

given to the former troops by the latter, so unpremeditatedly led.

"On the day of this fatal dinner I remarked to the Queen, 'What a

beautiful sight it must be to behold, in these troublesome times, the

happy union of such a meeting!'

"'It must indeed!' replied the King; 'and the pleasure I feel in knowing

it would be redoubled had I the privilege of entertaining the Flanders

regiment, as the body-guards are doing.'

"'Heaven forbid!' cried Her Majesty; 'Heaven forbid that you should think

of such a thing! The Assembly would never forgive us!'

"After we had dined, the Queen sent to the Marquise de Tourzel for the

Dauphin. When he came, the Queen told him about her having seen the

brave officers on their arrival; and how gaily those good officers had

left the palace, declaring they would die rather than suffer any harm to

come to him, or his papa and mamma; and that at that very time they were

all dining at the theatre.

"'Dining in the theatre, mamma?' said the young, Prince. 'I never heard

of people dining in a theatre!'

"'No, my dear child,' replied Her Majesty, 'it is not generally allowed;

but they are doing so, because the body-guards are giving a dinner to

this good Flanders regiment; and the Flanders regiment are so brave that

the guards chose the finest place they could think of to entertain them

in, to show how much they like them; that is the reason why they are

dining in the gay, painted theatre.'

"'Oh, mamma!' exclaimed the Dauphin, whom the Queen adored, 'Oh, papa!'

cried he, looking at the King, 'how I should like to see them!'

"'Let us go and satisfy the child!' said the King, instantly starting up

from his seat.

"The Queen took the Dauphin by the hand, and they proceeded to the

theatre. It was all done in a moment. There was no premeditation on the

part of the King or Queen; no invitation on the part of the officers. Had

I been asked, I should certainly have followed the Queen; but just as the

King rose, I left the room. The Prince being eager to see the festival,

they set off immediately, and when I returned to the apartment they were

gone. Not being very well, I remained where I was; but most of the

household had already followed Their Majesties.

"On the Royal Family making their appearance, they were received with the

most unequivocal shouts of general enthusiasm by the troops. Intoxicated

with the pleasure of seeing Their Majesties among them, and overheated

with the juice of the grape, they gave themselves up to every excess of

joy, which the circumstances and the situation of Their Majesties were so

well calculated to inspire. 'Oh! Richard! oh, mon roi!' was sung, as

well as many other loyal songs. The healths of the King, Queen, and

Dauphin were drunk, till the regiments were really inebriated with the

mingled influence of wine and shouting vivas!