(LIBRARY i 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 CALIFORNIA 
 
 I SAN DIEGO
 
 /<t
 
 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN
 
 COUNT DE FERSEN.
 
 FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 (MARIE ANTOINETTE-COUNT DE FERSEN) 
 
 BY 
 
 PAUL GAULOT 
 
 TRANSLATED 
 
 BY MRS. CASHEL HOEY 
 
 WITH TWO PORTRAITS 
 
 NEW YORK 
 D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 
 
 1893
 
 Authorized Edition.
 
 PKEFACE 
 
 THE personal history of Count Fersen, and the 
 part which he played at the Court of France, 
 have been only vaguely known up to the present 
 time ; but the documents w T hich were necessary to 
 complete our information respecting the Count 
 have been supplied by a recent work. Baron 
 R. M. de Klinckowstrom, a Colonel in the 
 Swedish army, and grand-nephew of Count 
 Fersen, has given to the world Le Comte de 
 Fersen et la Cour de France, compiled from 
 extracts from the papers of Count John Axel 
 Fersen, Grand Marshal of Sweden. 
 
 Although this work is incomplete, it throws 
 so novel and unexpected a light upon the Count 
 in the first instance, and also upon certain por- 
 tions of the history of the closing years of the 
 eighteenth century, that I have thought it well 
 to retrace the life of Count Fersen, by the aid 
 of these documents and others which I have 
 succeeded in procuring elsewhere, and to add 
 a narrative of the events with which he was so 
 closely associated.
 
 vi PREFACE 
 
 A strong additional inducement to attempt 
 this task of historical reconstruction existed for 
 me in the fact that Marie Antoinette is revealed 
 in these documents in her real character, just 
 as she actually was ; so that I am enabled to 
 restore its true physiognomy to a fascinating 
 image, which has hitherto been falsely presented, 
 whether for good or evil, by the legends that 
 have been almost universally accepted as true 
 portraiture. 
 
 I am of opinion that after the lapse of a 
 century the truth may be written concerning 
 the revolutionary epoch, and the people of that 
 epoch, even though it should displease those who 
 regard history as only (to quote Fontenelle) 
 " la fable convenue" 
 
 PAUL GAULOT.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAOK 
 
 France during the last years of the reign of Louis XV. 
 Mme. du Barry The Dauphin and the Dauphiness 
 A ball given by the Dauphiness on the loth January 
 1774 Count John Axel Fersen The masked ball 
 at the Opera Shrove Tuesday at Versailles A de- 
 spatch from Count Creutz to Gustavug III. The 
 Fersen family Count Frederick John Fersen at 
 Turin and Strasburg Voltaire at Ferney Count 
 Fersen in London His return to Sweden . . . 1-25 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Count John in Sweden Gustavus III. The Count's 
 second visit to France The Queen recognises him 
 and is pleased at seeing him again Mutual liking 
 Count Creutz's despatch to the King of Sweden A 
 project of marriage attributed to Count Fersen 
 Mdlle. de Leijel He starts for America . . , 26-39 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The English colonies in America The heavy yoke of 
 England The first upheaval Washington Enthu- 
 siasm in France Franklin Count John Fersen is 
 attached to the expedition as aide-de-camp to M. de 
 Rochambeau He leaves Paris From Brest to New- 
 port Incidents The Due de Lauzun Interview be- 
 tween M. de Rochambeau and Washington General 
 Arnold's treason The feeling among the insurgent 
 population Spies Williamsburg The capitulation 
 of Lord Cornwallis (igth October 1781) Philadel- 
 phia The approaching peace Count Fersen leaves 
 America Boston Porto Cabello Return to France 
 (June 1783) 40-77
 
 viii CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 A letter from Gustavus III. to Louis XVI. Count Fersen 
 at the Court of France Mdlle. Necker An abortive 
 
 Project of marriage Stedingk and Stael Gustavus 
 II. in Germany, in Italy, and in France Count 
 Fersen's return to Sweden (1784) Political events 
 Preludes to the Eevolution Queen Marie Antoinette 
 Unpopularity The French Court The Comtesse 
 Jules de Polignac Baron de Besenval The Due de 
 Lauzun The Due de Coigny The diamond necklace 
 The louis-d'or of Strasburg M. de Calonne " The 
 King has sent in his resignation" The Assembly of 
 the Notables Count Fersen's impressions Sweden 
 in 1788 Finland expedition Count Fersen's mis- 
 sion in France Mme. de Chicogne Valenciennes and 
 Paris Revolutionary agitation . . . . 78-117 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The 5th of May at the door of the Menus-Plaisirs The 
 States-General The taking of the Bastille Count 
 Fersen's impressions October days The mob at 
 Versailles The Queen in danger The Royal Family 
 returns to Paris The Journal of Louis XVI. Count 
 Fersen at Aix-la-Chapelle Baron Taube The Fete 
 of the Federation Political news Incidents of the 
 1 8th of April 1791 Preparations for departure Un- 
 easiness among the people Vigilance of Citizens 
 Busebi and Hucher The 2ist of June M. Lemoine 
 enters the King's bedchamber It is empty Dis- 
 appearance of the Royal Family Commotion in 
 Paris Au bceuf couronntf 118-142 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Flight contemplated The plan of M. de Breteuil The 
 Marquis de Bouille Count Fersen is charged with 
 the negotiations Intervention of the Emperor of 
 Germany Movements of troops on the frontier 
 Baron de Goguelat Forces at the disposal of M. de 
 Bouille Plan of journey Reims to be avoided 
 Stages so far as Montmedy Goguelat reconnoitres the 
 route The King's commands transmitted to Bouille 
 Preparations in Paris Baroness Korff The berline
 
 CONTENTS ix 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Meeting of Count Fersen and the Due d'Orleans 
 at Vincennes The Tuileries watched Doors made 
 in the wood panelling Persons associated with the 
 projected flight : Count Fersen, Madame Sullivan, 
 Colonel Crawford Lafayette Mesdames de Tourzel, 
 Brunier, and de Neuville The body-guards, Messieurs 
 de Valory, du Moustier, and de Maldent The 2oth 
 of June in Paris The final preparations Count 
 Fersen at the Tuileries A chest of pistols and bullet- 
 casting Leaving the Tuileries Incidents Count 
 Fersen disguised as a hackney-coachman At Bondy 
 Separation First relay Pourboires too liberal The 
 royal family think they are out of danger A saying 
 of Louis XVI. His imprudence He is recognised 
 by various persons Pont Sommevesle Commotion 
 caused by the presence of the detachment commanded 
 by Choiseul and Goguelat Sainte-Menehould M. 
 d'Andoins He warns the King to hasten onward 
 Drouet the postmaster and Guillaume A quarter- 
 master escapes and pursues, but does not come up with 
 them Clermont M. de Damas Drouet arrives at 
 Varennes at a quarter to twelve o'clock The Pro- 
 cureur of the commune is warned The bridge barred 
 The berline arrives and cannot pass Arrest of the 
 travellers The alarm-bell The National Guard in 
 arms M. Destez The King makes himself known 
 The night at Varennes Goguelat attempts to deliver 
 the King Louis XVI. tries to gain time M. de 
 Bouilledoes not appear Arrival of Messieurs Romeuf, 
 aide-de-camp to Lafayette, and Baillon Departure 
 from Varennes for Paris Incidents Murder of M. 
 de Dampierre Meeting at Epernay with the three 
 commissaries sent by the National Assembly, Bar- 
 nave, Latour-Maubourg, and Petion Petion's narra- 
 tive Paris re-entered The attitude of the population 
 The King's Journal 143-209 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Count Fersen at Mons False news "The King is 
 saved ! " Count Fersen meets Bouille at Arlon 
 "All is lost !" M. de Mercy -Argenteau at Brussels 
 " He takes the gloomiest view " Notes from Marie 
 Antoinette The Princesse de Lamballe Mme. de 
 Polignac News from Paris Dejection of the King 
 The King and Queen are interrogated by Tronchet, 
 Duport, and d' Andre Indictment of the authors of
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 the "Abduction of the King" and their accomplices 
 Count Fersen's sojourn in France interdicted M. 
 de Damas, M. d'Audoins, M. de Choiseul, and M. de 
 Goguelat Courageous bearing of the three body- 
 guards Letter from the Marquis de Bouille to the 
 National Assembly Displeasure of the Royalists 
 remaining in France The King of Sweden at Spa 
 Count Fersen at Coblentz The Princes : Monsieur 
 and the Comte d'Artois M. de Calonne Count 
 Fersen at Vienna Interview with the Emperor 
 Leopold "The accursed Florentine" The political 
 interest of the House of Austria in the degradation 
 of the House of France A contemplated landing in 
 Normandy Louis XVI. accepts the Constitution 
 The Queen accused of allowing herself to be led by 
 Barnave Her double game Letters to Fersen 
 Political and private communications . . 210-252 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 Gustavus III. renews his efforts for the deliverance of the 
 royal family A scheme of flight Count Fersen is 
 commissioned to communicate with the King and 
 Queen of France Obstacles to his return to Paris 
 The Queen consents Difficulties concerning pass- 
 ports His journey, postponed at first, is accom- 
 plished in February 1792 Departure from Brussels 
 Disguise Arrival in Paris First visit to the 
 Tuileries Interview with the King Departure 
 from Paris Incidents of the return Fersen's report 
 to the King of Sweden 253-273 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Sudden death of Leopold II. Rumours of poison The 
 emigrants rejoice at the death of the Emperor 
 Francis II. News from Sweden Convocation of the 
 Diet at Gefle Dissatisfaction of the Swedish nobility 
 Superstitious credulity of Gustavus III. The 
 vision of Charles IX. In the Haga Park on an 
 evening in January 1792 Plot against the life of 
 the King The conspirators Ankarstroem Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Liliehorn The i6th of March At 
 the masked ball " Honjour, beau masque " Gustavus 
 is wounded by a pistol-shot His last hours His 
 death The doom of Ankarstroem Count Fersen's 
 grief 274-297
 
 CONTENTS xi 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The situation in France Isnard's words A summons to 
 the Electors of Treves and Mayence, and to the other 
 Princes of the Empire, to put an end to the massing 
 of troops upon the frontier The reply of Francis, 
 King 01 Bohemia and Hungary Declaration of the 
 "State of War" Satisfaction of the Queen and 
 Count Fersen Correspondence in cipher M. Rignon 
 The 2oth of June The Queen's despatches "It 
 is said, but I do not believe it" Lafayette proposes 
 a plan of flight The arrival of the Marseillais A 
 manifesto by the Duke of Brunswick M. de Limon's 
 text modified by Count Fersen It is proposed to ask 
 for a declaration by the King of England in favour 
 of the Royal Family of France The loth of August 
 The National Assembly and the Temple Lafayette 
 is made prisoner The September massacres The 
 death of Mme. de Lamballe Manuel's words M. de 
 Mercy Dumouriez Valmy (2oth September 1792) 
 Sufferings of the troops and the emigrants The 
 Duke of Brunswick's retreat Count Fersen leaves 
 Brussels Jemmapes (6th November 1792) . 298-323 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 News from Paris The trial of the King The 2ist of 
 January The Will of Louis XVI. Attitude of the 
 Princes and emigrants Indifference of foreigners 
 Attempts to escape made at Paris Toulan and Jar- 
 jayes The Stamp Agreement arrived at between 
 Dumouriez and the Prince of Coburg Hopes of 
 Count Fersen, appointed Ambassador to King Louis 
 XVII. Note of the 8th of April 1793 The defection 
 of Dumouriez Interview of the General with Count 
 Fersen at Brussels Inaction of M. de Mercy 
 Hostility of M. de Thugut Drouet The Queen 
 transferred to the Conciergerie The Chevalier de 
 Rougeville Details of the captivity of Marie Antoi- 
 nette A last effort in favour of the Queen Novere, 
 the dancing-master, and Ribbes, the banker The 
 trial of the Queen Marie Antoinette at the National 
 Window Count Fersen's grief . . . 324-357
 
 xii CONTE^ 7 TS 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 PACK 
 
 Consequences of the Queen's death The Regent of Sweden 
 deprives Count Fersen of his diplomatic post Recog- 
 nition of the French Republic The son of Gustavus 
 III. Reactionary policy The majority of Gustavus 
 IV. is proclaimed (6th November 1796) Count Fersen 
 at the Congress of Rastadt General Bonaparte's 
 speech to Fersen Return to Sweden The strong 
 protest of Gustavus IV. against Napoleon is attributed 
 to Count Fersen The fall of Gustavus IV. The 
 Duke of Sudennania is proclaimed King under the 
 name of Charles XIII. Adoption of Prince Christian 
 of Holstein-Augustenburg Sudden death of the 
 Prince Rumours of poison Accusations against 
 Count Fersen, and against his sister, Countess Piper 
 Popular excitement Moral complicity of the King 
 Funeral ceremony of the 2oth of June 1810 
 Popular feeling against the Grand Marshal Count 
 Fersen is massacred in the courtyard of the H6tel-de- 
 Ville 358-371
 
 A 
 
 FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 France during the last years of the reign of Louis XV. Mme. 
 du Barry The Dauphin and the Dauphiness A ball given 
 by the Dauphiness on the loth January 1774 Count John 
 Axel Fersen The masked ball at the Opera Shrove 
 Tuesday at Versailles A despatch from Count Creutz to 
 Gustavus III. The Fersen family Count Frederick 
 John Fersen at Turin and Strasburg Voltaire at Ferney 
 Count Fersen in London His return to Sweden. 
 
 THE well-known saying of Pope Benedict XIV., 
 " Can any further proof of the existence of 
 a Providence be desired than the prosperity 
 of France under the reign of Louis XV. ? " was 
 merely a splenetic phrase. With all the good- 
 will in the world, it would be difficult to see 
 anything else in it, for France had rarely been 
 less prosperous. 
 
 The worthless sovereign who had occupied 
 the throne of France from his earliest child- 
 hood had allowed everything to become dis- 
 organised by degrees, and to dissolve in his 
 hands. The ruin was general and lamentable. 
 Not an institution had escaped the universal 
 decay ; no, not even the institution of royal
 
 2 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 mistresses, which the sovereigns who preceded 
 him had hitherto so vigilantly defended. 
 
 Louis XV. gave Jeanne Vaubernier, ill-dis- 
 guised under her new title of Comtesse du 
 Barry, as a successor to the Duchesse de Cha- 
 teauroux and the Marquise de Pompadour ; and 
 " court and city," so the phrase still ran, had 
 observed the left-handed misalliance with aston- 
 ishment, and also with some disgust. 
 
 This was a very different matter from the 
 decorous adulterous relations of Louis XIV., 
 and accordingly respect died out. One day, 
 the King, in talking about his new love affair, 
 deigned to acknowledge that he was not Du 
 Barry's first admirer. 
 
 "It is X. whom I succeed," said Louis. 
 
 And some one present had the boldness to 
 reply- 
 
 " As your Majesty succeeds Pharamond." 
 
 The King had some excuse to plead ; he was 
 bored to death. When Louis XIV. was grow- 
 ing old, he took to devotion ; Louis XV. tried 
 to dispel his incurable ennui by new sensations. 
 What a strange malady was that for a man 
 whose destiny it was to reign over a nation 
 numbering many millions of souls ! The remedy 
 was stranger still, and, moreover, it did not 
 cure. The most it ever did was to afford him 
 some passing diversion. It appears that the 
 descendant of Henri IV. derived keen plea- 
 sure from being treated like any other of her 
 lovers by a common woman, % and gladly encour- 
 aged her in her vulgar familiarity. Not indeed 
 that she required encouragement ; that is plain
 
 "HI! FEAKCE!" 3 
 
 from some of her sayings which have been 
 recorded by history, as, for instance, " Hi ! 
 France ! your coffee is cutting away ! " (The 
 tutoiement gives this speech peculiar point and 
 insolence. ) 
 
 What the King did not see was that the 
 monarchical idea was imitating his coffee in 
 rapidly " cutting away," and preceding the fall 
 of the ancient house of France. He did in- 
 deed say, " After us the deluge ; " but by 
 that he merely meant difficulties, worries, crises, 
 perhaps a few revolts ; he neither foresaw nor 
 divined that great thing which came of his 
 faults, and was the issue of his shameful life 
 the Revolution. 
 
 It must always be a cause for regret that 
 events were not precipitated, and that Louis XV. , 
 the guilty, was not also the punished person. 
 
 Nevertheless, it may be that he was, for 
 he was not brave in the face of either danger 
 or death. This was amply proved on the occa- 
 sion of the abortive attempt of Damiens to 
 assassinate him. The doctors assured him that 
 the scratch he had received was of no importance, 
 not the slightest anxiety was felt by anybody, 
 but he continued to tremble, was convinced 
 that he was about to die, and insisted on being 
 repeatedly given absolution by the Abbe* de 
 Rochecour, the almoner of the district, who 
 w T as summoned to attend him. Of a surety, 
 he must have suffered intensely when he knew 
 that he was in the grip of the fearful malady 
 which carried him off. A fetid odour was 
 exhaled from his skin for several days before
 
 4 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 the end came. The knowledge that he was 
 an object of horror and disgust to all who 
 approached him must have sorely wounded his 
 pride, and this, added to the superstitious 
 terror of his craven soul, might have consoled 
 those who regretted that he escaped the popular 
 fury, by suggesting that he probably believed 
 himself to be stricken by divine justice. 
 
 He had only one son, Louis, who died in 
 1769. The eldest of his grandsons, the Due 
 de Berry, who was then hardly fourteen years 
 old, became Dauphin and heir-presumptive. It 
 was a strange chance of the law of heredity, 
 which has been fatal alike to France and to 
 the royal family, that a child was called to 
 succeed an old man, and thus a great nation's 
 destinies were left to the hazards of two kinds 
 of feebleness. The reign that was drawing to 
 a close was expiring amid general discontent ; 
 the reign that was imminent inspired many 
 hopes impossible of realisation. All the more 
 was expected of the new Dauphin because the 
 people grew increasingly wretched under his 
 grandfather. 
 
 It was, however, necessary that the future 
 king should have the qualities requisite for 
 the part which he would have to play. In 
 person, the Due de Berry was a big boy, short 
 of stature and clumsy, without any kind of 
 prestige, devoid of those external gifts which 
 the populace look for and like to recognise in 
 the descendants of royal families, and which 
 seem to justify the privileges of birth. His 
 eyes were lustreless, his glance was vague, his
 
 THE DAUPHIN 5 
 
 voice was shrill, and, notwithstanding his age, 
 occasionally high and sharp, breaking into vulgar 
 and disagreeable falsetto ; his gait was heavy 
 and ungraceful. He was only moderately in- 
 telligent, and he displayed no real aptitude 
 except for bodily exercises. He excelled in 
 handicraft, especially of the rougher kinds, 
 taking the greatest pleasure in forging iron, 
 mixing mortar, and raking rubble. If his evil 
 destiny had not made him a king, he would 
 have been the best mechanic in the realm. He 
 did, however, care for hunting, and willingly 
 joined in that more elevated pastime ; but if 
 he expended his strength in these "violent 
 delights," he speedily recruited it, and some- 
 thing more, for his appetite was formidable, 
 and he never lost or failed to satisfy it even 
 in the most terrible crises of his life. 
 
 He had indeed none but passive qualities, 
 but at least he could be kind, although not 
 always judiciously kind. Perhaps education 
 might have rendered the prince worthy to 
 fill the throne of France, by teaching him 
 how to conduct himself wisely in the midst 
 of the turbulence of his reign ; but in this 
 respect he had been truly unfortunate ; the 
 guidance of his youth was intrusted to the 
 blindest and least adroit of preceptors. The 
 Due de la Vauguyon, who was as vain as he 
 was noble, as full of self-sufficiency as he was 
 devoid of ideas, once in his life did a clever 
 thing. His ambition to attain a position in 
 which he might gratify his pride and realise 
 his desires, suggested to him to suborn one
 
 6 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 of the valets in the service of the Dauphin 
 (the son of Louis XV.). 
 
 "The valet conveyed to him every morning 
 the title of the book which the Prince had just 
 been reading," says the Comte d'Allonville in 
 his Memoires Secrets. " The Due de Vauguyon 
 procured the book, read it rapidly, and retained 
 so much of its contents as he knew to be on the 
 moral, political, and religious lines of the august 
 personage. Then he would skilfully contrive to 
 turn the conversation upon the subject of the 
 book, and make the Prince believe in his vast 
 and wholesome erudition. The Dauphin soon 
 came to look upon the Due de la Vauguyon as 
 the very man to bring up his son." 
 
 That the Dauphin was not a very wise person 
 must be admitted, but what lessons had he ever 
 been taught ? One little feature of the royal 
 education of those days reveals a great deal. 
 The 'young princes were given as "headlines" 
 for their copies such sentences as the following : 
 " Kings are gods upon the earth ; they can do 
 all that they will." The Due de la Vauguyon 
 was not the man to change this deplorable 
 system ; he contrived to make it worse, and 
 of more ruinous effect. 
 
 All that might have developed and formed 
 the mind and heart of the royal youth was 
 rigorously excluded from the singular programme 
 of his education, and as to all appearance the 
 blood of Henri IV. and Louis XIV. did not 
 run freely and warmly in the veins of their 
 descendant, the result proved all that was to 
 be feared and expected. The mild and passive
 
 HIS EDUCATION 7 
 
 nature of the Due de Berry led him to accept 
 whatever he was taught without question. The 
 pupil never rebelled. Petty practices, pious 
 reading, rigorous discipline had done their 
 work so well, that when the time came for 
 his marriage to be considered, the young prince 
 was as little fitted to be a husband as he was to 
 be a king. And yet the Due de la Vauguyon 
 was not completely satisfied ; he did not think 
 he had fully succeeded. During the early years 
 of their marriage he took the most ridiculous 
 precautions to keep the young couple apart, 
 even to arranging with the architects that the 
 husband and wife were to have separate apart- 
 ments. And when he could not avoid leaving 
 them together as seldom as possible he even 
 condescended to play the spy to the extent 
 of listening at keyholes in order to overhear 
 the conversations between his charge and the 
 Dauphiness, at the risk of being surprised in that 
 equivocal attitude, a catastrophe which occurred 
 one day, to the great confusion of all three. 
 
 As for the poor little Princess of fourteen, 
 taken away from her mother and her country, 
 what must her impressions have been on finding 
 herself the wife of one whom the Prince de 
 Ligne described as " the best but not the most 
 attractive youth in his kingdom " ? 
 
 Gay, lively, laughter-loving as a child 
 and indeed she was no more ignorant, inex- 
 perienced, confiding, she was thrust into a 
 gloomy and sullen milieu, surrounded in a 
 hostile Court by persons by no means kindly 
 disposed towards her. She could only have
 
 8 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 one protector, her husband ; but he, privately 
 disinclined towards a marriage made up by 
 Choiseul, and retaining, in spite of everything, 
 a certain distrust of this Austrian princess, had 
 neither the wish nor the capacity to protect 
 her. And Marie Antoinette, educated by the 
 Abbe Vermond, a Frenchman who possessed 
 every kind of esprit except the religious, had 
 nothing in common with the pupil of the Due 
 de la Vauguyon. 
 
 Was it surprising that she, who had no 
 guide, no supporter, should be guilty, if not of 
 faults, at least of imprudent actions ? Had she 
 not a ready-made excuse in her natural desire 
 to amuse herself, in her need of " distraction " ? 
 She has been mercilessly blamed for this by 
 some, and warmly defended by others. Those 
 who have regarded her as a Messalina have 
 been met by having her represented as a 
 saint. On both sides there has been ridiculous 
 exaggeration : Marie Antoinette was neither the 
 one nor the other. She was a woman in the 
 full acceptation of the word ; sometimes she 
 seemed to be a mere coquette, sometimes she 
 displayed real feeling. In her day of good for- 
 tune she had the levity and the grace which 
 beseemed her sex ; in her evil fortunes she 
 had the resignation and greatness of soul that 
 became her rank. Amid all the personages 
 who composed the royal family of France she 
 shines with an imperishable lustre, presenting 
 herself to history adorned with the twofold 
 crown of beauty and misfortune. 
 
 For close upon four years Marie Antoinette
 
 THE DAUPHINESS o 
 
 had been Dauphiness, passing her time in the 
 surface-stir and profound monotony of a future 
 queen's existence, in, but not of the Court, 
 where Madame du Barry reigned, and where 
 Louis XV., then near his death, could barely 
 drag himself about, when a trifling event, 
 whose future consequences no one, not even 
 the parties interested, foresaw, took place at 
 a ball given by her on the loth of January 
 1774. The ambassador from Sweden to the 
 Court of France presented to the Dauphiness 
 one of his countrymen, a young Swede, who 
 was travelling to complete his education Count 
 John Axel Fersen. 
 
 The daughter of Maria Theresa could not fail 
 graciously to receive the young foreigner, whose 
 presence promised to dispel a little of the dul- 
 ness of the ceremonial entertainments prescribed 
 by etiquette ; especially as the personal merit 
 of this foreigner, the bearer of an illustrious 
 name, whose renown had reached France, justi- 
 fied his welcome. 
 
 Count Fersen, who was then in his nineteenth 
 year, attracted attention by his manly beauty 
 and fine expression, although the latter was 
 rather cold ; but, as Tilly remarks, " Women do 
 not dislike impassive faces when they may hope 
 to animate them." The young Swede's counte- 
 nance was of this kind. His large, limpid eyes, 
 shaded by thick black lashes, had the calm 
 outlook of the Northern people, the impress of 
 whose melancholy he bore ; but this did not 
 always or completely conceal the warmth of a 
 generous nature quite capable of passion. He
 
 io A FEIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 had a small mouth, with expressive lips ; a 
 straight, well-formed nose ; the fine, thin nostrils 
 that are sometimes a sign of shyness, or, at 
 least, of caution and reserve. His manners 
 bore the impress of nobility and simplicity ; 
 his attitude was in every respect that of a 
 true gentleman. 
 
 Fersen was about the same age as Marie 
 Antoinette. He was born on the 4th of Sep- 
 tember 1755, and the Dauphiness on the 2nd 
 of November in the same year. Both were 
 hardly more than children when their first in- 
 terview took place, and the impressions which 
 they received from it were both keen and light, 
 as sentiments generally are at that age. Fersen 
 was naturally flattered by the welcome he re- 
 ceived, and charmed by the grace and beauty of 
 the future Queen of France. The ball began 
 at five o'clock, and was prolonged until half-past 
 nine. Count Fersen was one of the last to leave 
 the ballroom. 
 
 A few days afterwards, on the 3Oth of January, 
 chance contrived for him a second meeting, under 
 less commonplace circumstances than the first, 
 and to this the girlish spirits of the young 
 Princess lent a striking interest. 
 
 It was at the masked ball at the Opera. Fer- 
 sen, like every intelligent foreigner who wishes 
 to see and learn, had included the pleasures of 
 the capital and the study of Parisian manners 
 in his programme. Besides, at this epoch, the 
 Opera balls were the resort of the highest, if 
 not the most staid, society. On that evening 
 there was a crowd. The Swedish gentleman
 
 THE FATE MASK n 
 
 wandered about among the masks, looking 
 and admiring, when a domino approached and 
 began to coquet with him gracefully. The 
 form was elegant, the voice was charming ; he 
 lent himself willingly to the adventure which 
 offered itself ; perhaps he had been seeking one. 
 Although his conversation was not usually ani- 
 mated, it must be supposed that he acquitted 
 himself well on the occasion, as the fair mask 
 talked to him for a long time. 
 
 There was whispering around them : who was 
 his unknown ? At 'last, as usual, the secret 
 came out, and to his astonishment he recog- 
 nised the Dauphiness herself, who took as much 
 pleasure in making herself known as she had 
 derived from preserving her incognito. 
 
 Unfortunately, the crowd also had recognised 
 Marie Antoinette, and it gathered around the 
 two with the ill-bred eagerness of curiosity 
 which embarrasses but is not embarrassed. The 
 Dauphiness, to escape from this, had to retire 
 to her box, where the Dauphin and the Comte 
 de Provence, who had accompanied her on that 
 evening, were awaiting her. Fersen left the 
 scene at three o'clock in the morning, bearing 
 away a more deep and vivid remembrance of 
 this second meeting than of the first, and in 
 his mind a new-born secret sympathy with the 
 radiant Princess. 
 
 The favour that had been shown to Fersen by 
 the Dauphiness did more for him probably than 
 the distinction of his name and his personal 
 merit. He was invited everywhere, and the 
 openly-displayed favour of Count Creutz, the
 
 12 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEX 
 
 ambassador of Gustavus III. to the Court of 
 France, gave him the entree of the foreign salons 
 also. He dined with M. Bloome, the Danish 
 Minister, supped with the Duchesse d'Arville, 
 and frequently visited the Spanish ambassador, 
 the Princesse de Beauveau, Mme. du Deffand, 
 and the Comtesse de la Mark. 
 
 He attended a ball at the Palais Royal, where 
 he was " surprised, on entering, to see all the 
 women dressed as shepherdesses in gauze and 
 taffety, and the men in rich coats, embroidered 
 on all the seams." 
 
 The spectacle was quite novel to him, and it 
 shocked him a little for a moment. " I thought," 
 he writes, " that it was a public ball, and that the 
 dancers were women of the town." 
 
 He corrected this first impression, and speedily 
 learned to regard the ladies whom he met there 
 with different eyes. He particularly admired 
 " Mme. de 1'Olstein, indisputably the best and 
 prettiest dancer in Paris." 
 
 Nevertheless, his observant turn of mind 
 suggested some reflections upon certain traits 
 of character, and certain sayings which struck 
 him. " As I went away," he remarks, " I was 
 thinking that the French do not know how to 
 amuse themselves ; they have a bad habit of 
 always saying, ' I am bored,' and this poisons 
 all their pleasures." 
 
 Did Fersen, in making this remark, show much 
 discernment? We take leave to doubt it, for 
 the French at all periods, and those of that par- 
 ticular time more than those of the present day, 
 do not always say what they think. Without 
 
 \
 
 A COUKT BALL 13 
 
 quoting the too well-known saying of Talley- 
 rand concerning the charm of life prior to the 
 Revolution, we may refer to the memoirs of 
 that epoch for the proof that there was not 
 much boredom in it. 
 
 Fersen was as much at Versailles as in Paris, 
 that Versailles where royalty had taken up 
 its abode since Louis XIV., and sat enthroned 
 far from the real people, amid a world of 
 courtiers. Fetes followed each other in rapid 
 succession. He had the pleasure of seeing Marie 
 Antoinette again on Shrove Tuesday, the I5th 
 of February. 
 
 The occasion was a ball, attended by the 
 greatest personages, next to the old worn-out 
 King, who preferred solitude with Mme. du 
 Barry. The Dauphiness was there, also her 
 two sisters-in-law, the Comtesse de Provence 
 and the Comtesse d'Artois, and a young widow 
 whose beauty had captivated JL/ouis XV. to such 
 an extent that for a while some believed and 
 others feared he would marry her. This young 
 widow was the Princesse de Lamballe. 1 Among 
 the men were the Dauphin, the Comte de Pro- 
 vence, the Comte d'Artois, M. de Segur, and M. 
 de Coigny, " all wearing the Henri IV. costume, 
 which is the old French dress." 
 
 The young Swede remarked that the Dauphin 
 danced very badly ; that his brother, the Comte 
 de Provence, did likewise ; that the others were 
 better, some of them even good, dancers ; also 
 that the spectacle was charming. 
 
 AVe may fully believe him. 
 
 1 Her husband was the son of the Due de Penthievre. 
 2
 
 i4 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 Madame was tall and dark, with black arched 
 eyebrows : there was something hard in her 
 countenance and haughty in her demeanour. 
 The Comtesse d'Artois, Madame's sister, was very 
 short, and her fine complexion and pleasing ex- 
 pression hardly atoned for the extreme length 
 of her nose. But then there was the Princesse 
 de Lamballe to attract all observers by the sweet 
 expression of her angelic face, her refinement 
 and grace. 
 
 But, above " and beyond all, the young 
 Dauphiness shone with a radiant lustre. A 
 future queen by the right of her marriage, she 
 already wore the crown by right of her beauty. 
 " Let us picture to ourselves a dazzlingly fair 
 complexion, in which the tints of the earliest 
 summer roses are blended ; large, prominent 
 eyes of azure blue ; a forehead crowned with 
 luxuriant fair hair, bearing the impress of 
 majesty and frankness, gave the noblest ex- 
 pression to her whole countenance. This was 
 enhanced by the perfect shape of her nose. The 
 only defect in the face of the lovely Princess was 
 the slight protrusion of the lower lip ; but this 
 was a distinctive feature of the house of Austria, 
 and reminded all that she was the daughter of 
 Maria Theresa. Her figure was shapely and tall 
 for her age ; her neck and bust were perfect ; 
 her hands beautiful ; her legs and feet worthy 
 of the Venus de Medicis. Her movements were 
 easy and graceful, her whole person was delight- 
 fully harmonious, so that none could behold her 
 without admiration, because she always desired 
 to please all whom she saw."
 
 INBOEN MAJESTY 15 
 
 "We need not be surprised or shocked by the 
 mention of the legs and feet of Marie Antoinette, 
 for this portrait is drawn by an artist who was 
 privileged to observe them, the famous dress- 
 maker, Mdlle. Bertin. 
 
 These details justify the eulogium of the 
 writer ; but according to contemporaries the 
 general aspect of the Princess deserved even 
 greater admiration. Count Tilly, who was one 
 of her pages, sums up the common impression. 
 He writes : 
 
 " She had that which is of higher price upon 
 the throne than perfect beauty, the face of a 
 Queen of France, even at those moments in 
 which she sought to appear only as a pretty 
 woman. She had two ways of walking one was 
 firm, rather quick, and always noble ; the other 
 more leisurely and balanced I might almost 
 say it was a caressing movement, but it never 
 tempted any to forgetfulness of respect. Never 
 did woman curtsey with such grace, saluting ten 
 persons by one bend of her body, and giving each 
 his or her share by the movement of her head 
 and eyes. In a word, it would have come as 
 naturally to every man to bring forward a throne 
 for her as to offer a chair to any other woman." 
 
 Notwithstanding the pleasant manner of the 
 Dauphiness and her frank and familiar reception 
 of him, Count Fersen maintained the perfect 
 reserve of a great gentleman, who always bears 
 in mind that it is for princes to attract their 
 inferiors to them, and not for the latter to assert 
 themselves. He admired the Princess none the 
 less fervently, however, and it may safely be
 
 1 6 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 affirmed that on leaving France he carried within 
 his breast the germ of that deep attachment 
 which made him in later days the Queen's most 
 ardent defender, and the woman's most devoted 
 servant. 
 
 For he had to depart before long. His pro- 
 gramme of travel included a visit to London ; 
 and however strong the attraction that detained 
 him might be, he was obliged to obey his father's 
 instructions. He left Paris on the 1 2th of May. 
 The fetes, too, had come to an end ; not because 
 Lent had begun he remarks in his Journal 
 that the fair Parisians do not observe the peni- 
 tential season so strictly as to forego " dancing 
 suppers "- but because Louis XV., who had 
 fallen sick of confluent small-pox on the 28th of 
 April, died on the loth of May. 
 
 A few days after Count Fersen's departure, 
 Count Creutz sent the following despatch to 
 Gustavus III. : 
 
 " The young Count Fersen has just left Paris. 
 Of all the Swedes who have been here in my time 
 he has been the best received in the great world. 
 He has been extremely well treated by the royal 
 family. No one could possibly have behaved with 
 greater discretion and decorum. With his hand- 
 some face and his intelligence he could not fail to 
 succeed in society, and he has done so completely. 
 Your Majesty will assuredly be glad to hear this ; 
 but what will make Count Fersen especially 
 worthy of your Majesty's favour is that he pos- 
 sesses singular nobility and elevation of mind." 
 
 It may seem strange that the sojourn of one 
 of his subjects in France, and the conduct of
 
 "HATS" AND "CAPS" 17 
 
 a young man of nineteen, should so deeply 
 interest a king as to occupy a place in the diplo- 
 matic correspondence of his ambassador ; but 
 the youth in question was the representative of 
 one of the highest and most ancient families 
 among the Swedish aristocracy, and although no 
 one could have foreseen the part which he was 
 destined to act in the future, every one regarded 
 him as capable of playing a distinguished one. 
 
 The Fersen family was of old Livonian origin, 
 and had made its mark in Swedish history in 
 the successive reigns of Christina, Charles X., 
 and Charles XL Three of its members were 
 distinguished in the Council of the kings, and 
 were made senators, three in the army ; each 
 of the latter became a Field-Marshal. 
 
 Political parties in Sweden in the eighteenth 
 century were divided into two great branches, 
 that of the Hats, which was favourable to 
 French, and that of the Caps, which represented 
 Russian, influence. The Fersens, with almost 
 the whole of the nobility, took the side of the 
 Hats, and Count Frederick Axel Fersen, Count 
 John's father, became the head of the party. 
 
 His influence was considerable ; he was equally 
 active and eloquent, and it certainly required all 
 his skill to lead the liberal opposition in its con- 
 flict with the royal power, which was tending 
 more and more to confiscate the national liberty 
 and ignore the authority of the laws, in order 
 to transform itself into a despotism equally 
 prejudicial to the nation and opposed to the 
 fundamental compact of the Constitution. 
 
 Count Frederick Fersen had lived out of
 
 i8 A FEIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 Sweden for a long time. (Is it not marvellous 
 to observe the readiness with which the longest 
 journeys were undertaken at an epoch when the 
 means of locomotion by land and sea were so 
 defective ?) He came to France in the beginning 
 of the reign of Louis XV., and remained there 
 for several years ; he even took service in 
 the French army and attained the rank of 
 major. 1 After he returned to his own coun- 
 try, his military abilities were recognised and 
 utilised by his being given a command in 
 Pomerania. 
 
 He was three times Marshal of the Diet, and 
 played a great part in the Assembly of the 
 States in 1736. Some time previously he had 
 married Countess Hedwige Catherine de la 
 Gardie, who bore him one son, John, and two 
 daughters. The latter became respectively 
 Baroness Klinckowstrom and Countess Piper. 
 
 At that time it was the custom that the 
 descendants of great families should make a 
 journey in Europe, and this was called "the 
 grand tour." The patriotic " idea " had not then 
 entered upon the acute and jealous phase which 
 it has assumed in our day, and service in foreign 
 countries was considered the most natural thing 
 in the world ; gentlemen of every nationality 
 being held to belong, after a fashion, to all 
 the sovereigns. Thus, Count Frederick Fersen 
 obtained for his son the rank of lieutenant 
 "attached to" or "with" the Royal Baviere 
 regiment 2 in the French army, although Count 
 John was a lieutenant in the 'Smaland cavalry. 
 
 1 Marechal-de-camp. 2 Lieutenant a la suite.
 
 VOLTAIRE 19 
 
 The honorary title did not carry the obligation 
 of residence, for Count John, going to fulfil its 
 functions, took the proverbial "schoolboy's road." 
 He left Sweden in 1771, and went in the first 
 instance to the Brunswick Military School at 
 Turin, sojourning for some time afterwards at 
 Strasburg. 
 
 He then visited several countries, and in the 
 course of his peregrinations he had an oppor- 
 tunity of meeting a man whose unequalled cele- 
 brity had made him popular throughout the 
 whole of Europe, and who certainly deserved 
 that a traveller should turn aside from his 
 direct road, if it were only to obtain a glimpse 
 of him. Voltaire, in his retirement at Ferney, 
 enjoyed the renown which is rarely accorded to 
 a great man until after his death. He was both 
 clever and lucky. Although he was a very 
 middling poet, his tragedies were applauded to 
 the echo ; although he was occasionally a super- 
 ficial writer, his slightest productions were dis- 
 cussed and praised, and he had contrived to 
 secure concurrently the dislike, the admiration, 
 and the friendship of the greatest personages of 
 his day, in proportions admirably calculated to 
 spread his fame. 
 
 Posterity, which frequently pulls down those 
 who have been highly favoured by their con- 
 temporaries, has not been too hard upon Vol- 
 taire, and illustrious writers have judged him 
 with the serene impartiality of genius. It will 
 not be out of place here to recall Lamartine's 
 remarks in L'Histoire des Girondins : 
 
 " Voltaire possessed the genius of criticism,
 
 20 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 the mocking negation that blights all that it 
 overthrows. He had made human nature laugh 
 at itself; he had struck it down to raise it up 
 again ; he had displayed before it all the pre- 
 judices, all the errors, all the iniquities, all the 
 crimes of ignorance ; he had driven it into 
 insurrection against established ideas, not by 
 enthusiasm for the future, but by scorn of the 
 past. Destiny had given him eighty years of 
 life in which to decompose the old world 
 slowly ; he had had time to fight against time, 
 and when he fell it was as a conqueror. Courts, 
 Academies, and Salons were peopled by his 
 disciples." 
 
 This was true, and were a proof of its truth 
 needed, where should we find one more con- 
 vincing than the following remarks of a con- 
 temporary whose turn of mind and intellectual 
 culture were all unlike, indeed opposed to, the 
 genius of the terrible jester ? 
 
 The Comte de Segur met Voltaire one day 
 at his mother's house, and he records the im- 
 pression made upon him in an almost lyrical 
 passage. 
 
 " When I saw Voltaire, he realised my ideal 
 portrait of him. His meagre frame bore the 
 traces of his life of labour ; his antique and 
 singular costume reminded me that he was the 
 last survivor of the age of Louis XIV., the his- 
 torian of that century, and the immortal painter 
 of Henri IV. His piercing eye glittered with 
 genius and satire ; in its glance one recog- 
 nised the tragic poet, the author of (Edipe and 
 Mahomet, the profound philosopher, the acute
 
 VISIT TO FEKN T EY 21 
 
 and ingenious narrator, the witty and satirical 
 observer of mankind ; his slender bent body was 
 but a thin, almost transparent covering, through 
 which his soul and his genius shone. I was 
 filled with pleasure and admiration." 
 
 What enthusiasm concerning a man who 
 never felt any ! And how simple-minded young 
 Segur must have been to praise in such terms 
 " the author of (Edipe and Mahomet," and 
 to call the maker of bad rhymes who had 
 written La Henriade " the immortal painter of 
 Henri IV. " ! 
 
 It is amusing to compare the few lines which 
 Count John Axel Fersen devotes to the great 
 man on the occasion of his visit to Ferney, with 
 the foregoing effusion. There is none of the 
 young Frenchman's poetry in those lines ; the 
 calm, observant mind of the young Swede is com- 
 pletely manifested in the simplicity of his narra- 
 tive and in the moderation of his sentiments. 
 
 Count Fersen, being at Geneva with his 
 " governor," Bolemanny, on the 3oth of October 
 1771, took advantage of the opportunity to 
 obtain a sight of " the man of the age." M. 
 Constant, an intimate friend of Voltaire, gave 
 the two gentlemen a letter of introduction ; this, 
 however, did not do much for them : on present- 
 ing themselves at the philosopher's pretty house 
 they were refused admittance. The master had 
 " taken medicine." He habitually resorted to 
 this pretext when he did not wish to receive 
 visits ; he might have found a better, but the 
 matter was too small for consideration by so 
 great a mind.
 
 22 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 The travellers had to wait until the morrow, 
 " and thus we were obliged to remain one day 
 more," remarks Fersen in his Journal. 
 
 Were they compensated for this alteration in 
 their plan by the pleasure they derived from the 
 visit when it did come off? It would seem, at 
 least in so far as Fersen was concerned, that his 
 curiosity only was satisfied. His brief record of 
 the incident manifests no enthusiasm : 
 
 "We were received at the appointed time, 
 and we talked with him for two hours. He 
 was dressed in a scarlet vest with embroidered 
 button-holes ; no doubt, his father and grand- 
 father had worn it. An old wig, not curled ; 
 shoes after the antique ; woollen stockings rolled 
 up over his breeches, and an old dressing-gown 
 completed his toilet. It harmonised admirably 
 with his deeply wrinkled face ; but we were 
 struck by the beauty of his eyes and the 
 vivacity of his expression. The face, taken as 
 a whole, is entirely satirical. 
 
 " He has in his house Pere Adam, a Jesuit, 
 and his valet, who knows all his master's library 
 by heart. M. de Voltaire does a great deal of 
 good in his village ; he collects all the clock- 
 makers from Geneva, and allows them to work 
 at his house ; the part in which he had set up a 
 theatre being now converted into a series of lodg- 
 ing-rooms which he has placed at their disposal. 
 He has also provided for their immediate needs." 
 
 This is all. John Fersen was evidently not 
 thinking either of the writer or the philosopher 
 while writing these lines. He did not recognise 
 either in the man.
 
 DEVOTION AND DU BARRY 23 
 
 From Geneva he had proceeded to Turin, 
 where he was presented to the King, " a little, 
 wrinkled old fellow, walking with the help of 
 a cane," who advised him " to profit diligently 
 by the teaching of the Academy." 
 
 Passing by way of Milan, he saw the Arch- 
 Duke, who " talked to him for a whole quarter 
 of an hour." This did not prevent his recording 
 that "the number of visitors who formerly 
 stopped here has greatly diminished," and that 
 " visitors, wanting to escape from the trouble 
 of a presentation at Court, which involves three 
 days' formalities at least, hasten away from 
 Milan so soon as they have seen its curiosities ; 
 a custom not amusing for the Milanese." 
 
 The traveller cared little for any of these 
 things ; his eager desire was to reach France. 
 At last, on the ist of January 1774, he was 
 present at the Mass of the Holy Ghost, and he 
 paid a visit to Mme. du Barry. 
 
 These two duties unequally prescribed by 
 moral rules and those of etiquette accom- 
 plished, the young Count was free to do as 
 he liked. We have seen how he used his 
 freedom, and what were the events, very small 
 in appearance, but big with consequences, which 
 marked his sojourn in Paris and at Versailles. 
 
 He left Paris on the I2th of May, arrived 
 in London on the 26th, and remained in 
 England four months. His impressions are 
 influenced by the comparison with his recol- 
 lections of France which he was constrained to 
 institute. 
 
 He was presented to Queen Charlotte, who
 
 24 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 received him graciously ; but lie remarked that 
 " she was not at all pretty." 
 
 He was not charmed by English " high life," 
 in which he naturally moved, owing to his social 
 relations. The French, he observed, would pro- 
 test, while amusing themselves, that they were 
 bored, while the English, although really bored 
 to extinction, said nothing. 
 
 He was taken by Count X. to Almack's. To 
 his great surprise, he saw all the ladies seated on 
 benches to the right and left of a wide gallery, 
 waiting for the men who preferred remaining 
 at their clubs as late as possible and they were 
 not even talking among themselves. 
 
 The supper was less dull than the rest. Per- 
 haps this more favourable impression may be 
 attributed to the fact that Fersen was seated 
 by the side of one of the handsomest girls in 
 London, "who talked pleasantly with him." 
 But when a few days afterwards he met her 
 again and addressed her politely, " she did not 
 even answer him." 
 
 1 The entry in Count Fersen's Journal relating to this 
 incident is as follows : 
 
 " Thursday, igth May 1774. I have been presented to 
 the Queen, who is very gracious and amiable, but not at 
 
 all pretty. In the evening I \vas taken by Comte to 
 
 Almack's, a subscription ball which is held during the 
 winter. The room in which they dance is well arranged 
 and brilliantly lighted. The ball is supposed to begin at 
 ten o'clock, but the men remain at their clubs until half- 
 past eleven. During this time the women are kept waiting, 
 seated on sofas on either side of the great gallery in great 
 formality ; one would fancy oneself in a church, they look 
 so serious and quiet, not even talking amongst themselves. 
 The supper, which is at twelve o'clock, is very well served,
 
 MAKIE ANTOINETTE QUEEN 25 
 
 What a difference between this sort of thing 
 and Parisian society ! We may safely conclude 
 that when he returned to Sweden at the begin- 
 ning of 1775, of all his recollections, that of his 
 meetings with the Dauphiness was the most 
 vivid and the sweetest, and that it remained in 
 his memory a gleam of light. Did not after 
 events prove that so it was with him ? 
 
 During his absence grave events had occurred 
 in France. A demise of the crown had taken 
 place, the Dauphin was now Louis XVI. , and 
 the domino who had so prettily puzzled Count 
 Fersen one evening at a masked ball at the 
 Opera was Queen of France. 
 
 and somewhat less dull than the rest of the entertainment. 
 I was placed by the side of Lady Carpenter,* one of the 
 handsomest girls in London ; she was very agreeable, and 
 conversed a great deal. I had occasion to meet her again 
 some days later, when, to some civil remark I addressed her 
 with, she did not even reply. It surprises one to see young 
 girls talking unreservedly with men, and going about by 
 themselves; I am reminded of Lusanne in thi*, where also 
 they enjoy complete liberty." Translator's Note. 
 
 * Lady Almeria Carpenter, daughter of Lord TyrconneL
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Count John in Sweden Gustavus III. The Count's second 
 visit to France The Queen recognises him and is pleased 
 at seeing him again Mutual liking Count Creut/'s despatch 
 to the King of Sweden A project of marriage attributed to 
 Count Fersen Mdlle. de Leijel He starts for America. 
 
 ON his return to his own country, Count Fersen 
 found himself obliged by his position to lead 
 the idle and futile life of a courtier. 
 
 The King of Sweden, being full of the memory 
 of Louis XIV., was exclusively bent upon imitat- 
 ing " the great monarch," and as imitation of 
 him in big things was out of the power of 
 Gustavus, he fell back upon little things, en- 
 deavouring by display, entertainments, and 
 prodigality, to reproduce the splendour of the 
 "Sun-King" in his chilly realm. 
 
 Such a life could not be pleasing to Count 
 Fersen, perhaps not only because it was idle, 
 and out of harmony with his tastes, but also 
 because his travels in other lands had introduced 
 him to other modes of existence, and he now 
 had new ideas and aspirations. 
 
 How could he fail to regret France, and, with 
 France, all that had contributed to make the 
 time he had passed there the most agreeable 
 period of his life ? 
 
 He might, however, have expected that his 
 King would share his admiration for her who
 
 KING GUSTAVUS 27 
 
 occupied so large a place in his mind, in 
 anticipation of the time when she was to be 
 deeply rooted in his heart. 
 
 Gustavus III. had been in France ; he had 
 seen the Dauphiness ; but a strange thing no 
 sympathy had been felt by one for the other. 
 Quite the contrary, indeed ; there was nothing 
 to indicate that the future would one day con- 
 tradict the past, and that of all the sovereigns 
 of Europe the King of Sweden would be the 
 most generous, ardent, and chivalrous champion 
 of the cause of Marie Antoinette. 
 
 But this disinterested sentiment, which arose 
 from an innately lofty, rather than a modern, 
 conception of the rights and the duties of princes, 
 had not yet been awakened. Gustavus, who was 
 at that time Crown Prince (he received the in- 
 telligence of the death of his father on the ist 
 of March 1771, while he was in Paris), had 
 excited only a certain amount of curiosity. He 
 was of middle height, had dull blue eyes, and 
 did not make a " success." He talked readily, 
 and indeed too much ; he was polite rather than 
 affable, and was supposed to be indifferent to 
 the charms of the fair sex. Now, women really 
 care only for men who care for them. Notwith- 
 standing his cold reception, Gustavus professed a 
 warm admiration for France. The ignominy of 
 the later years of Louis XV. had not destroyed 
 the supremacy which our country, strong in 
 the great memories of its might and majesty 
 in the past, and still stronger in the glorious 
 expectation of its future destinies, maintained 
 over the whole world. Kosbach had not effaced
 
 28 A FEIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 Fontenoy. Gustavus III. regarded Count Fer- 
 sen's wish to return to fair France as quite 
 natural, and, Sweden being in the enjoyment 
 of profound peace, he could safely consent 
 to the absence of the young gentleman who 
 had become captain "attached" to the King's 
 Light Horse. His Majesty therefore confirmed 
 the paternal permission, and Count Fersen 
 retraced his steps towards France with the 
 utmost alacrity. 
 
 He arrived in the middle of August 1/78. 
 Three years had elapsed. The Count did not 
 indeed suppose that he had been altogether for- 
 gotten, but he was not prepared for the welcome 
 that awaited him. He proceeded at once to 
 Versailles, and had himself presented to the 
 royal family as though this were his first appear- 
 ance at Court. A voice exclaimed, " Ah, an old 
 acquaintance ! " 
 
 Marie Antoinette had recognised him. We 
 may conceive the pleasure with which Count 
 John received this precious token of royal kind- 
 ness. A courtier would have been overwhelmed 
 with joy : he was a man of feeling, and it touched 
 him deeply. The grace of the Queen's spon- 
 taneous recognition was enhanced by his speedy 
 conviction that it was not due to the caprice of 
 the moment or the hazard of a fortunate meeting. 
 The Queen took pleasure in giving him some 
 daily token of her regard. He informs his 
 father of this with delight. 
 
 " The Queen, the prettiest and the most 
 
 1 He adds, in his account of this incident to his father, " The 
 rest of the royal family did not say a word."
 
 THE QUEEN 29 
 
 amiable princess whom I know," he writes on 
 the 8th of September, "has had the goodness 
 to make frequent inquiry for me ; she asked 
 Creutz why I do not come to her reception 
 (jeu) 1 on Sundays, and having been told that 
 1 did go, on a day when the reception did not 
 take place, she made me a kind of apology." 
 
 Their mutual relation was no longer as it had 
 been during the Count's first visit, kindly, with 
 a touch of familiarity on the occasion of the 
 masked ball ; it had become almost intimate. 
 The Queen and the Count met very often. She, 
 whom Mme. du Barry called " the little red- 
 head," now Queen of France, had lost her 
 youthful shyness, and being less restrained in 
 her sayings and doings, she made no secret of 
 her liking for amusement ; and at the risk 
 of horrifying the Comtesse de Noailles, whom 
 she jestingly nicknamed " Madame 1'Etiquette," 
 she gave herself up to the joy of living, 
 and asked no better than to lead the life of a 
 mere bourgeoise, far from the obligations of the 
 Court, and free from the boredom of supreme 
 rank. 
 
 This was easy for Marie Antoinette, because 
 she now possessed a retreat in which she might 
 lay aside her greatness and escape from tiresome 
 folk. The King, awkwardly kind and clumsily 
 gallant, had made her a present on New Year's 
 Day, 1774. "You love flowers?" he said to 
 the astonished Queen. " Well, then, I have a 
 bouquet to give you : it is the Little Trianon." 
 
 1 Trictrac, quinze, and billiards was played at le jeu de la 
 Seine.
 
 30 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 Thenceforth, Marie Antoinette, being free to 
 select her own society, began little by little to 
 indulge in fancies, which, although very natu- 
 ral on the part of a young woman, could not 
 fail to expose a Queen of France to adverse 
 criticism. 
 
 The representatives of the old French families 
 were shocked by her ways even her habit of 
 according a ready welcome to foreigners offended 
 them ; but what did she care ? It was so 
 pleasant to have friends and not mere courtiers 
 about her, or only for she was not apt at dis- 
 cerning the difference courtiers whom she took 
 to be friends. 
 
 Fersen was certainly one of the most favoured 
 of this limitedly-intimate circle. Encouraged 
 by Marie Antoinette herself, " the most amiable 
 princess whom he knows," he attended her re- 
 ceptions frequently, and on each occasion she 
 noticed his presence, and addressed him with 
 graceful and gracious kindness, by which he was 
 profoundly affected. 
 
 One day somebody alluded before the Queen 
 to the Swedish uniform of the young captain of 
 Light Horse ; she immediately took a fancy to 
 see him in that costume, and expressed her wish. 
 A few days afterwards Fersen, happy to obey 
 her, appeared in the private apartments wearing 
 his handsome uniform. 
 
 He attended the soirees intimes at Trianon, 
 and figured at the fetes given in honour of 
 the Queen by Mme. de Lamballe and Mme. de 
 Polignac. 
 
 By degrees the intimacy between Marie
 
 ADMIRATION AND LOVE 31 
 
 Antoinette and Count John increased; notwith- 
 standing his reserve and his apparently cold 
 nature, it was evident that his admiration had 
 given place to a more tender feeling. Fersen 
 was deeply in love with the Queen. 
 
 She, whose imprudence had kindled the flame, 
 was neither frightened nor surprised. She liked 
 to see the young Swede ; she knew he loved her, 
 and she was not displeased ; nay, more, touched 
 by the sentiment she had inspired, she came 
 very near to returning it ; how could she fail to 
 be moved by a passion so profound, so discreet, 
 so respectful ? Her heart was softened, and 
 many signs betrayed the young Queen's predi- 
 lection for the adorer who dared not tell his 
 love, to the sharp eyes of some of her familiar 
 associates. 
 
 One day, when she was singing to her harp- 
 sichord, Fersen was by her side, and she was 
 betrayed by her own music into an avowal which 
 song made easy. Her eyes sought the Count's 
 while her voice uttered the passionate words 
 of some fashionable opera, and his ill-disguised 
 emotion emphasised an evident allusion. 1 
 
 Less than this would have sufficed to gain 
 the credit of a royal " bonne fortune " for the 
 brilliant Swedish officer. Did he not possess 
 
 1 M. Geoffrey states, in his Gustave III. et la Cour de France, 
 that Count Fersen's friend and travelling companion, Stedingk, 
 was also received in the Queen's intimate circle. The com- 
 promising couplet of the above anecdote was the following, from 
 the now-forgotten opera of " Didon " : 
 
 " Ah ! que je fus bien inspiree 
 Quandje vous reus dans ma cour." 
 
 Translators Note.
 
 32 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 all the attributes of a hero of romance, and 
 had not she, who was thenceforth regarded as 
 his " conquest," an excuse in advance of the 
 fact for yielding to the promptings of her heart ? 
 The beautiful young Queen had found neither 
 the majesty of a king nor the affection of a 
 husband in her consort, and the personal rela- 
 tions of the royal couple were well known. 
 
 From the first, Marie Antoinette, whose 
 womanly pride was hurt by the Dauphin's in- 
 difference to her, formed a " poor notion (mince 
 id6e) of the character and intellect of her hus- 
 band." M. de Mercy, who transmitted this 
 impression to the Empress Maria Theresa, wrote 
 that in his opinion her daughter's notion of 
 Louis was too poor ; but was he a good judge, 
 and would he not have agreed with the young 
 Princess afterwards if he had seen the King 
 elsewhere than at the solemn function of a 
 reception of the Austrian ambassador ? If he 
 could have read the journal of the personage 
 whom Marie Antoinette once called " poor 
 man ! " he would have been convinced, and 
 forced to recognise that her estimate of her 
 husband was just. What is to be thought of 
 a prince who, in the very month of his mar- 
 riage, finds nothing more sentimental or inte- 
 resting to set down than the following : 
 
 Sunday, 13. Left Versailles. Supped and slept at Com- 
 piegne at the house of M. de Saint FLorentin. 
 
 Monday, 14. Interview with Madame la Daupltine. 
 
 Tuesday, 15. Supped at La Muette. Slept at Versailles. 
 
 Wednesday, 16. My marriage. Apartment in the gal- 
 lery. Royal banquet in the Salle d' Opera. 
 
 Thursday, 17. Opera of Perseus.
 
 WOUNDED PEIDE 33 
 
 Friday, 18. Stag hunt. Meet at La Belle Image. 
 Took one. 
 
 Saturday, 19. Dress-loll in the Salle d' Opera. Fire- 
 works. 
 
 The month's chronicle ends with this charac- 
 teristic record : 
 
 3 1. / had an indigestion. 
 
 For seven years, Marie Antoinette's sole 
 wifely privilege was the beholding of her stupid 
 husband as he ate, drank, hunted, and did his 
 locksmith's work. Is it to be wondered at that 
 she was wounded to the heart by such extra- 
 ordinary indifference, and that she sometimes 
 allowed bitter and sarcastic words to escape 
 her lips ; for instance, when she impatiently 
 answered one of her ladies, who urged her not 
 to go out riding 
 
 " For God's sake, leave me in peace, and 
 know once for all that I am not endangering 
 an heir ! " 
 
 The following passage from a letter written 
 at this period by the Queen to the Comte de 
 Eosenberg Orsini throws a strong light upon 
 the feelings of the neglected wife : " I shall 
 never trouble myself about the stories that 
 go to Vienna," she writes, " so long as you are 
 told of them. You know Paris and Versailles ; 
 you have seen and judged. If I had to excuse 
 myself, I should readily confide in you ; indeed, 
 I would candidly acknowledge more than you 
 say ; for instance, that my tastes are not the 
 same as those of the King, who cares only for 
 hunting and blacksmith's work. You will admit 
 that I should not show to advantage in a forge.
 
 34 A FKfEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 I could not appear there as Vulcan, and the part 
 of Venus might displease him even more than 
 my tastes, which, however, he does not dislike." 
 
 The result of such a situation, so prolonged, 
 was that, when Louis XVI. , yielding to the re- 
 monstrances of his brother-in-law, the Emperor 
 of Austria, and comprehending at length that he 
 owed it to the crown of France to give it an 
 heir, became the husband of his wife, it was too 
 late for him to gain her affection. Her heart 
 was still to be won, and the prize fell to Fersen. 
 
 But, at the very moment when he might 
 regard himself as the fortunate winner of a 
 woman and a queen, well accustomed to homage, 
 and to whom vows, far less discreet and respect- 
 ful than those of the Swedish gentleman, were 
 offered, Fersen proved, by his absolute devotion 
 and self-abnegation, how worthy he was to in- 
 spire such a sentiment. 
 
 Calumny had already been busy with Marie 
 Antoinette, who was doubly exposed to its 
 malice by her position as a neglected wife, 
 and by the free and independent ways which 
 her life at Trianon facilitated. These attacks 
 had hitherto been vague ; we may therefore guess 
 how glad the enemies of the Queen were when 
 distinct indications and real facts enabled them 
 to speed their darts with a truer aim. 
 
 Every day of her life the Queen was under 
 the scrutiny of eyes sharpened by curiosity, 
 jealousy, or enmity ; she could not keep her 
 dangerous secret, and her preference for the 
 noble foreigner soon became the common topic 
 of her calumniators.
 
 THE MALICE OF " MONSIEUR " 35 
 
 In this state of things the pregnancy of the 
 Queen was announced, and immediately became 
 the subject of malicious insinuations. The cabal, 
 led by the Comte de Provence, who hated his 
 sister-in-law with brotherly hate, thenceforward 
 pursued its abominable task of foul-mouthed 
 slander with increased energy. Why should it 
 have laid down arms ? Had not the heir-pre- 
 sumptive, the natural supporter of the throne, 
 bestowed his powerful patronage upon calumny 
 by casting the most offensive accusation that 
 could be brought against her upon the young 
 mother, in the Cathedral of Notre Dame itself, 
 at the baptism of her infant daughter, Marie 
 Therese ? 
 
 The King of Spain was the godfather of the 
 newly -born princess, but the Comte de Provence 
 acted as his Majesty's proxy, and presented her 
 at the baptismal font. The Grand Almoner, who 
 officiated, having asked what name was to be 
 given to the child, Monsieur answered : " But 
 we don't begin by that ; the first thing is to 
 know who are the father and mother." The 
 sardonic tone in which these words were spoken 
 gave them emphasis that could not escape any- 
 body's attention ; and besides, they were let fall 
 on well-prepared ground ! 
 
 Fersen was far too observant not to see what 
 was passing around him, too clear-sighted not to 
 feel that his presence was harmful to the Queen. 
 Then did he prove himself chivalrous enough to 
 save her, and heroic enough to do this at the 
 cost of the hardest of sacrifices. 
 
 There was only one way in which he could
 
 36 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 give the evil-speakers the lie ; it was by absent- 
 ing himself from the Queen, from the Court, 
 from Paris, Versailles, France. And to prevent 
 his departure itself from being malignantly in- 
 terpreted, he would have to find a motive lofty 
 enough to appear natural, and sufficiently plau- 
 sible to appear spontaneous. 
 
 Circumstances strangely favoured his generous 
 plan. The struggle between Great Britain and 
 her colonies had just begun. France, already 
 feeling the impulse of her great destiny, 
 thrilled at the mere words " Independence " and 
 " Liberty." Enthusiasm was aroused among all 
 classes ; it was of a strangely blind kind among 
 the nobility, while the enthusiasm of the people 
 was a perhaps unconscious instinct. That aid 
 and succour should be carried to the "brothers" 
 in America was the demand of all, and as the 
 oppressors were the English, always regarded as 
 the enemies of our nation, there was nothing to 
 check the general impulse. 
 
 Count John Axel Fersen announced his ap- 
 proaching departure for America, and begged 
 to be enrolled in one of the corps formed by 
 Lafayette and Eochambeau. This brave reso- 
 lution had its dangers also, for it shed a lustre 
 round him who was capable of forming it. 
 Marie Antoinette, deeply touched by so great 
 a sacrifice, was no more able to hide her sorrow 
 than to conceal her attachment from the persons 
 about her. While the latter rejoiced that they 
 were to be rid of the object of their envy, the 
 Queen could not put such restraint upon her- 
 self as to look upon the friend whom she was
 
 A SECRET DESPATCH 37 
 
 about to lose, it might be for ever, with com- 
 posure, and her grief, sincere and deep, betrayed 
 itself by her irrepressible tears. 
 
 Fersen, firm in his purpose, resolutely ad- 
 vanced its realisation, and the moment soon 
 arrived when he was to leave Paris to join the 
 corps to which he was attached at Brest. He 
 could not go away without apprising his father 
 and his sovereign : they learned the fact from 
 himself, but it was another who informed them 
 of the true reason. 
 
 The fate of queens, whose greatness forbids 
 them even to weep in privacy, is sad. It is 
 through a diplomatic " act," by an ambassador's 
 letter preserved among the papers of G-ustavus 
 III. in the archives at Upsala, that history 
 is now placed in possession of the secrets of a 
 royal woman's heart. What does it matter? 
 They do her no discredit. 
 
 On the loth of April 1779, Count Creutz 
 addressed the following secret despatch to the 
 King of Sweden : 
 
 " I must confide to your Majesty that the 
 young Count Fersen has been so well received 
 by the Queen, that several persons have taken 
 umbrage. I own that I cannot help thinking 
 she has a liking for him ; I have seen indica- 
 tions of this too certain to be doubted. The 
 young Count has behaved, under these circum- 
 stances, with admirable modesty and reserve, 
 and his going to America is especially to be 
 commended. By absenting himself he avoids 
 danger of all kinds ; but it evidently required 
 firmness beyond his years to resist such an 
 
 3
 
 38 A FK1END OF THE QUEEN 
 
 attraction. During the last days of his stay, 
 the Queen could not take her eyes off him, and 
 as she looked they were full of tears. I entreat 
 your Majesty to keep their secret for yourself 
 and Senator Fersen. 1 
 
 " When the approaching departure of the 
 Count was made known, all the favourites were 
 delighted. 
 
 " ' How is this, Monsieur ? ' said the Duchesse 
 de Fitz- James, ' you forsake your conquest ! ' 
 ' Had I made one,' he replied; ' / should not 
 forsake it ; I go away free, and unfortunately 
 without leaving any regrets.' 
 
 " Your Majesty will own that the Count's 
 answer was wise and prudent beyond his years. 
 The Queen, moreover, behaves with much more 
 self-restraint and prudence than formerly. The 
 King not only entirely complies with her 
 wishes, but shares her tastes and her plea- 
 sures." ' 
 
 It was just at this time that a project of 
 marriage between John Fersen and Mdlle. de 
 Leigel, the daughter of a Swedish noble who 
 was naturalised in England, and lived in Lon- 
 don, was entertained. The match would have 
 been suitable, for the young lady inherited the 
 fortune of two of her uncles, who were members 
 of the East India Company. 
 
 Although John Fersen had corresponded with 
 his father on this matter, and the latter had 
 approved, it would seem that things did not 
 go very far. Fersen probably lent himself to 
 
 1 The father of Count John. 
 
 2 Gustave III. et la Cour de France, par M. Geoffroy.
 
 PASTING 39 
 
 the project, in order to have it believed that 
 he was not averse to marriage ; but that he 
 was not in earnest about it is proved by the 
 fact that he went away to America without 
 coming to any conclusion, and during his ab- 
 sence Mdlle. de Leigel married one of her new- 
 made countrymen. 
 
 This episode, which is revealed by the 
 Count's correspondence, does not appear to 
 have been known in France at the time. At 
 all events, it occasioned him neither solicitude 
 nor regret. 
 
 For the second time Fersen bade adieu to 
 France ; but under what conditions ? We ad- 
 mire Titus and Berenice for immolating their 
 love to a policy which prohibited it. Why 
 should we not admire these two who sacrificed 
 a pure and lofty sentiment to one still higher, 
 and who likewise parted invictus, invicta ?
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 The English colonies in America The heavy yoke of England 
 The first upheaval Washington Enthusiasm in France 
 Franklin Count John Fersen is attached to the expedition 
 as aide-de-camp to M. de Rochambeau He leaves Paris 
 From Brest to Newport Incidents The Due de Lauzun 
 Interview between M. de Rochambeau and Washington 
 General Arnold's treason The feeling among the insurgent 
 population Spies Williamsburg The capitulation of 
 Lord Cornwallis (igth October 1781) Philadelphia The 
 approaching peace Count Fersen leaves America Boston 
 Porto Cabello Return to France (June 1783). 
 
 TOWARDS the middle of the year 1773, the town 
 of Boston became strangely disturbed. The 
 East India Company, being encumbered with a 
 great quantity of tea, sent several ships carrying 
 cargoes to that port from London. Now, the 
 English colonies in America had pledged them- 
 selves to use no more English merchandise 
 in consequence of certain disputes with the 
 metropolis. At the sight of the ships the popu- 
 lation rose, and gave vent to their indignation ; 
 while fishermen, disguised as Indian " braves," 
 and urged on by the crowd, boarded the vessels, 
 seized upon the chests of tea, stove them in, and 
 flung them with their contents into the sea. 
 
 The English Government heard with amaze- 
 ment of this violent resistance to their will. 
 Lord North immediately had a bill passed closing 
 
 the port of Boston, and depriving the province 
 
 40
 
 HOSTILITIES 41 
 
 of Massachusetts of the right to appoint its own 
 magistrates. 
 
 Intimidation was of no avail. The metropolis 
 resists ? So be it. The Colony accepted conflict 
 but not chastisement, proclaimed itself in in- 
 surrection, and appealed to the neighbouring 
 States. The latter approved of the conduct of 
 Massachusetts, and the Congress of Philadelphia 
 (September 1774) formed the union of all against 
 the claims of England. 
 
 This was the prelude to hostilities. England 
 ought to have been prepared for the course of 
 events. Her American colonies were not like 
 her other dependencies, and it was easy to 
 predict that they would be by no means dis- 
 posed to accept the fate of the unhappy natives 
 of Hindostan. These colonies had been founded 
 by well-to-do and well-educated Puritans, who 
 had not left their native land to seek their for- 
 tune, but in order to enjoy the religious liberty 
 w r hich England denied them, and they had no 
 notion of enduring oppression from the mother 
 country, which to them had never been a mother, 
 and had now almost ceased to be a country. 
 
 The result of the Boston incident and the 
 Philadelphia Congress was that the thirteen 
 provinces formed a confederation, under the 
 grand name of the United States. They then 
 had the supreme good fortune to find a man 
 who was equally able as a politician and capable 
 as a general, and he, combining all its powers, 
 became the soul of the revolt. A great soul, if 
 ever one existed, was George Washington. 
 
 In the meantime, the revolted provinces sent
 
 42 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 forth appeals to all generous spirits the whole 
 world over, while negotiating secretly with the 
 enemies of England. We know there never was 
 a lack of the latter ; so that Europe, while caring 
 but little about the colonies in insurrection, but 
 very glad to injure Great Britain, hastened to 
 lend her moral support to the new United 
 States. France placed herself in the van of this 
 movement. 
 
 It is difficult for us to realise nowadays the 
 enthusiasm which our nation felt and proved for 
 the cause of " these Spartan Protestants " more 
 Protestant than Spartan, by the way. Not only 
 did the populace espouse the cause of the rebels, 
 but the " noblesse," being desirous of effacing 
 the disgrace of the last war and the humiliation 
 of the Treaty of 1763, bestirred themselves, and 
 many of them proclaimed their readiness to start 
 on this novel kind of crusade. Such being the 
 disposition of all classes, the public mind was 
 puzzled by the undeniably logical opposition of 
 Louis XVI. and his brother-in-law, Joseph II., 
 who was then in France. There were persons 
 who were actually astonished at this, and even 
 said so. 
 
 "But, Madame, it is my business to be a 
 royalist," was Joseph's reply to one of these 
 persons. The sweet reasonableness of this 
 humorous rejoinder, made by a sovereign, was 
 not fully understood. On the other hand, when 
 Franklin appeared, the general enthusiasm knew 
 no bounds. Everybody wanted to see him, to 
 speak to him, to admire him at close quarters. 
 'He produced a favourable impression.
 
 FRANKLIN'S STUDIED PLAINNESS 43 
 
 " I was very young when I saw the illus- 
 trious Franklin," writes the Due de LeVis ; 
 " but the candour and nobility of his face, 
 and his beautiful white hair, I shall never 
 forget." 
 
 Anybody who discovered "candour" in Frank- 
 lin must indeed have been very young. He 
 was an ardent patriot, he neglected nothing 
 that could be of utility to his country, and he 
 contributed to the success of its cause, but not 
 by methods remarkable for frankness. On the 
 contrary, Franklin displayed consummate skill, 
 extreme acuteness, and his simplicity was too 
 much studied ever to be candid. He prepared 
 everything, even to the smallest details of 
 costume, or, so to speak, scenery and stage 
 management, with sedulous care, and if he 
 appeared amid the elegant and refined society 
 of that period in the plainest attire and with 
 unpowdered hair, he did so because he desired 
 everything about him to attract attention, as a 
 means, he believed, of securing sympathy. 
 
 The French Government, under the pressure 
 of public opinion, signed a Treaty of Commerce 
 with the United States, which soon became a 
 Treaty of Alliance (6th February 1778), and 
 after this it had no right to oppose the de- 
 parture of any Frenchmen who wished to go 
 to America with the intention of helping the 
 cause of independence by their swords. 
 
 Lafayette had already set out. A new corps 
 was in process of formation under the com- 
 mand of Eochambeau, and Count Fersen had 
 asked leave to join it.
 
 44 A FKIEOT) OF THE QUEEN 
 
 The thing was not done without difficulty. 
 In fact, a considerable number of gentlemen 
 solicited the favour of accompanying the corps 
 about to depart ; but what could be done with 
 them ? They were not required as officers 
 they were not on the strength ; accordingly, the 
 requests of most of them were refused. 
 
 Fersen had better fortune. Owing to the 
 reputation of his father, who, as we know, 
 had formerly taken service in France, and 
 also to the support of M. de Vergennes, 
 obstacles were smoothed away for him, and 
 better still, Eochambeau consented to attach 
 him to his personal staff as aide-de-camp, to 
 the great joy of the recipient of so marked a 
 favour. 
 
 It was no easy matter in those days to 
 transport, not to say an army, but even a 
 troop of any numerical importance to America. 
 The voyage might be long, the vessels being at 
 the mercy of the winds ; and then there was 
 the risk of meeting the English fleet, which 
 was cruising in the seas to prevent the arrival 
 of European reinforcements. Kochambeau's 
 command numbered 7000 men ; the force was 
 to muster and embark at Brest. The depar- 
 ture was fixed for the beginning of April, from 
 the ist to the 4th. 
 
 Among those who, like the fortunate young 
 Swede, had obtained leave to accompany the 
 expedition, was the brilliant and almost famous 
 Due de Lauzun, equally renowned for his love 
 adventures and distinguished by his birth. 
 He was of a daring and versatile disposition,
 
 LAUZUN 45 
 
 and after having served with distinction in 
 America, he went wrong, but made a good 
 end. It was the strange destiny of this noble 
 Duke to become a republican general and to 
 die on the scaffold. 
 
 At this juncture there was no foreshadowing 
 of such a future for him, and the war, in which 
 he took part, gave him an opportunity of dis- 
 playing all his qualities ; hearty good-humour 
 and sprightliness in the first instance, and 
 distinguished gallantry so soon as it was called 
 for. 
 
 He has drawn amusing sketches of some of 
 his comrades. A sketch of his chief and the 
 officers of his staff deserves to be reproduced 
 at this point. 
 
 " M. de Eochambeau, major in command of 
 the vanguard, talked of nothing but war, 
 manoeuvred, and occupied positions in the open, 
 in the room, on the table, on your snuff-box 
 if you took it out of your pocket. He is 
 exclusively occupied with his business, and 
 understands it thoroughly. 
 
 "M. de Caraman, dressed to the pitch of 
 perfection, soft-spoken, fidgety, stopped every- 
 body in the street whose coat was buttoned 
 awry, and gave them little military lessons 
 with an air of interest ; he was an excellent 
 officer, highly informed and active. 
 
 "M. Wall, major, an old Irish officer, was 
 very like Harlequin, with the addition of 
 humour, liked good eating, drank punch all 
 day, said that everybody was right, and did 
 not meddle in anything.
 
 46 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 " M. de Crussol, major, had a crooked neck, 
 and not too straight a mind." 
 
 The other generals were the Marquis de 
 Jaucourt and the Marquis de Viomesnil, the 
 latter a very indifferent officer. The other 
 two were more meritorious, or at least had a 
 better reputation. 
 
 The convoy, prepared to carry the troops, 
 was to be escorted by twelve vessels accom- 
 panied by an adequate number of frigates, 
 and placed under the command of M. Duch- 
 affand. But the delays inevitable in such a 
 case prevented the sailing of the convoy on 
 the appointed day ; moreover, of the 7683 
 men mustered for embarkation, only 5088 
 could be taken on board the ships in the port ; 
 2595 had to be left in France. Thus the 
 small force under command of M. de Kocham- 
 beau was seriously reduced " by the negligence 
 and ineptitude with which everything is now 
 done in this country," adds Count Fersen. 
 
 The convoy fleet numbered only seven vessels 
 instead of twelve. Kochambeau, with his aide- 
 de-camp of longest standing, sailed in the 
 Due de Bourgogne, a great ship of eighty 
 guns. Fersen embarked on the Jason, Lauzun 
 on the Provence. The expedition carried a 
 great deal of artillery, a considerable siege 
 train, and victuals for eight months. 
 
 On the 4th of May, one month after date, 
 the anchors were lifted and the fleet sailed. 
 The voyage was tedious. From Brest, the 
 convoy proceeded to the Gulf of Gascony, 
 where it encountered a gale, then doubled Cape
 
 ON BOAED 47 
 
 Finistere, to the north-west of Spain. In sight 
 of the cape, Fersen wrote the following short 
 note to his father : 
 
 "At Sea, iGth of May (Monday) 1780, 
 On board the Jason, in sight of Finistere. 
 
 " I have only time to write a few words, 
 to tell you that I am well. I have not suffered 
 from the sea. We have already had rough 
 weather, which dismasted one of our vessels. 
 The wind is fair, and I think we may reach 
 America in forty days. We have just seen a 
 large ship very far off ; we do not know whether 
 it is a friend or an enemy. I have no time 
 to write more." 
 
 The fleet kept on its course towards the 
 south until the 27 of latitude, then steered 
 to the west. On the 2oth of June, off the 
 Bermudas, it sighted five English vessels and 
 a frigate, and they exchanged fire for two hours, 
 but at a great distance, so that the hos- 
 tilities were harmless. The night separated the 
 combatants ; at dawn the English ships had 
 disappeared. 
 
 The French fleet was preparing to land in 
 Chesapeake Bay, and on the 4th of July was 
 within fifteen leagues of the mouth of the bay, 
 when eleven ships hove in sight, evidently 
 meaning mischief. 
 
 It would have been mad to risk a fight, and 
 almost certain destruction to the troops under 
 convoy ; therefore the commander immediately 
 ordered the ships' course to be changed, and 
 steered towards the north. Seven days after- 
 wards, the fleet anchored in the harbour of
 
 48 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 Khode Island, and the landing was effected in 
 the island of Newport. This was accomplished 
 only just in time. Shortly afterwards twenty 
 sail appeared, and the newly landed troops were 
 blockaded. 
 
 The story of the War of Independence does 
 not come within the scope of this work ; its 
 purpose is only to record, in its proper place, 
 the part which Fersen played, and the im- 
 pressions made upon him ; and to this effect 
 his correspondence must be largely drawn 
 upon. 
 
 The French set to work at once to form a 
 camp at Newport and to surround it with earth- 
 works. Strict discipline was maintained, and, 
 as always happens at the beginning, the army 
 treasure - chest and the soldiers' purses being 
 well furnished, the inhabitants were paid in 
 ready money for all the provisions purchased 
 from them. " The discipline is admirable," re- 
 marks Fersen ; "it fairly astonishes the natives, 
 who are accustomed to being pillaged by the 
 English troops and their own." 
 
 Although the blockading fleet had gone away, 
 the French had apparently no chance of an 
 immediate transfer to the mainland, and the 
 prospect of passing the winter at Newport was 
 not attractive. 
 
 "You know the French, my dear father," 
 writes Count John, " and what are called Court- 
 people well enough to imagine the dismay 
 with which our young fellows of that class 
 contemplate the prospect of a quiet winter at 
 Newport, far from their mistresses and the plea-
 
 FEKSEN "COCK-SUKE" 49 
 
 sures of Paris no suppers, no plays, no balls ! 
 They are in despair ; nothing short of an order 
 to march against the enemy can console them. 
 
 "This is a charming country, with a superb 
 climate. We went to the mainland a week 
 ago with the General. I was the only one of 
 his aides-de-camp who accompanied him. We 
 stayed two days, and we saw the fairest land 
 in the world, well cultivated, with beautiful sites, 
 well-to-do inhabitants, but without lavishness 
 or show , they are satisfied with a scale of 
 living which in other countries is adopted by 
 a less elevated class ; their clothing is simple 
 but good, and their morals and manners have 
 not yet been spoiled by European luxury. It 
 is a country which would be very happy if it 
 might enjoy a long period of peace, and if the 
 two parties by which it is now divided did 
 not inflict the fate of Poland and that of 
 so many other republics upon it. These two 
 parties are called 'Whigs' and ' Tories.' ' : 
 
 It is evident that Fersen was led into the 
 error, common to all travellers, of supposing 
 himself capable of forming a sound judgment 
 of a nation at first sight, after he had passed 
 two months in a small island off the coast, 
 and two days on the mainland. He after- 
 wards learned the wisdom of distrusting his 
 first impressions. 
 
 In the meantime hostilities had begun with 
 varying fortunes. Fersen sent all news to his 
 father. General Gates had been beaten by 
 Lord Cornwallis, and nothing was said about 
 going to the assistance of the defeated com-
 
 50 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 mander. Far from this, indeed, action was 
 deferred until the arrival of the second division 
 that of the men left at Brest. And so " the 
 garrison of Newport began to be very dull and 
 depressed." 
 
 However dull the duty may have been, 
 thanks to the industry characteristic of the 
 French, the garrison found means to cheat the 
 demon of ennui to some extent. Lauzun was 
 not of Fersen's opinion. He made no secret 
 of this, and when he had to go over to the 
 mainland, Rochambeau having ascertained that 
 the resources of Newport were not sufficient, 
 received his orders from his chief with a touch 
 of melancholy. 
 
 " The want of forage obliged him to send 
 me into the wilds of Connecticut, eighty miles 
 away. ... I did not leave Newport without 
 regret ; I had found very agreeable society 
 there." 
 
 He evidently included Count Fersen, his 
 comrade in arms ; the two were on very intimate 
 terms. Between these two admirers of Marie 
 Antoinette admirers with the difference arising 
 as much from their characters as from their 
 nationality there were points in common. 
 The young Swede had been attracted by the 
 sprightliness and graceful manners of the 
 Duke. 
 
 " Opinions are divided respecting him," wrote 
 Fersen to his father ; " you will hear both good 
 and evil said of him. Those who speak well of 
 him are right, the others are wrong. He has 
 formed a friendship with me, and asks me, in
 
 TEDIUM AND IDLENESS 51 
 
 the frankest way in the world, to accept the 
 post of colonel-commandant of his legion. . . . 
 The Due de Lauzun has written on the subject 
 to the Queen, who shows him great kindness, 
 as she does to me also. I, too, am writing to 
 her about this." 
 
 Of course he eagerly seized upon such a pre- 
 text, which was a welcome relief to him, but not 
 sufficient to dispel his ennui. His inaction was 
 beginning to weigh upon him, and the whole of 
 the little army felt as he did. There was too 
 much difference between that which they had 
 come to do, and that which they were doing. 
 Fersen's calm and observant mind understood 
 this, and his reflections on the subject are full 
 of good sense. 
 
 " Far from being useful to the Americans," 
 he writes, " we are a burden to them. We do 
 not reinforce their army, for we are twelve days' 
 march from it, separated by arms of the sea 
 which it is impossible to pass in winter, when 
 they are encumbered with floating ice. We are 
 an expense to them, because, by increasing 
 consumption, we make provisions more scarce, 
 and by paying cash we depreciate their paper 
 money, thereby depriving General Washington's 
 army of the facility of procuring victuals, which 
 the purveyors refuse to give for paper. 
 
 " Our condition is better than our position ; 
 we brought with us only two million six hundred 
 thousand livres, one half in ready money and 
 the rest in drafts on Mr. Holker, a banker in 
 Philadelphia. We should have brought double 
 that sum ; the lack of specie in a country where
 
 52 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 one wants money in one's Land at every turn 
 obliges us to practise great economy, while 
 magnificence and profusion are required. This 
 ruins our credit." 
 
 Besides, idleness is an evil counsellor. "The 
 generals are not agreed among themselves. The 
 whole army is discouraged by being left so long 
 without doing anything" (i6th October 1780). 
 
 The commander-in-chief was aware that such 
 a state of things could not be indefinitely 
 prolonged without danger, that it must be 
 remedied as speedily as possible ; but how was 
 this to be done without aid in men and money 
 from France ? It was urgently necessary that 
 he should inform the Government at once of 
 the bad condition of affairs and the necessities 
 of the moment. In order to do this, Rocham- 
 beau determined to detach a frigate from the 
 fleet and to send a trustworthy officer to 
 bear his just demands to the King and his 
 Ministers. 
 
 Every officer of any exceptional importance 
 in the expeditionary corps cherished a secret un- 
 spoken hope that he might be the one selected. 
 Long months passed in idleness, and the pros- 
 pect of a winter equally devoid of occupation, 
 rendered such a desire more than excusable. The 
 best of it was that each believed himself to be 
 the chosen emissary. Fersen makes no conceal- 
 ment on that point. 
 
 " Everybody names me," he writes , " several 
 of the general officers, M. de Chatelux and 
 Baron de Viomesnil, have spoken of me as one 
 fitted to carry out the intentions of the Gene-
 
 ROCHAMBEAU AND WASHINGTON 53 
 
 ral in this matter. I do not know what the 
 result will be, but I shall take no step to 
 influence it, neither shall I refuse the proposal 
 if the General should make it to me. Neverthe- 
 less, I would rather not be charged with this 
 task Something interesting might happen 
 during my absence, and I should be in despair 
 at having missed it." 
 
 Lauzun, too, states in his Memoirs that his 
 name was put forward. Perhaps those two 
 were not the only candidates. In any case, 
 they were all disappointed, and Eochambeau 
 finally appointed his son. This was quite natu- 
 ral, for whatever may have been the confidence 
 of the commander-in-chief in the other officers, 
 he was still more sure of his son, and the 
 communications with which the latter was 
 charged were of the utmost gravity. In fact, 
 Rochambeau had had an interview with Wash- 
 ington himself. 
 
 A meeting between the two generals had 
 been arranged for the beginning of October at 
 Hartford in Connecticut. The English must 
 have been relying just then upon the winter 
 to paralyse the movements of their enemies, 
 for they do not appear to have watched the 
 coming and going of the leaders at all closely. 
 Rochambeau, accompanied by the Admiral, the 
 commanding officer of engineers, his son, and 
 two aides-de-camp, had not even an escort on 
 his way from Newport to Hartford, a distance 
 of forty leagues. Fersen, who was one of the 
 two aides-de-camp selected, was sent in advance 
 to announce the arrival of the French general,
 
 54 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 and thus he was the first to see Washington, 
 the hero of Independence, who produced a pro- 
 found impression upon the Count, as upon all 
 who approached him. Fersen writes : 
 
 "His face, handsome and majestic, but at 
 the same time kind and gentle, completely 
 corresponds with his moral qualities ; he looks 
 like a hero ; he is very cold, and says little, 
 but he is polite and frank. There is a sadness 
 in his countenance which does not misbecome 
 him, and renders him more interesting." 
 
 Washington had consumed three days in 
 coming to Hartford, but as "he passed through 
 a country filled with enemies," he had taken an 
 escort. We cannot believe that these enemies 
 were very numerous, for the escort was com- 
 posed of only twenty-two dragoons, and no 
 accident or unpleasant encounter befell the 
 party. Yet this would have been a good 
 opportunity for laying hold of the leaders of 
 the revolt, for, in addition to Washington and 
 Rochambeau, Lauzun was there ; but, as Lauzun 
 remarks in reference to the fact, " The English, 
 throughout the whole course of that war, 
 seemed to be struck with blindness ; they 
 always did what ought not to be done, and 
 failed to avail themselves of the clearest and 
 most certain advantages." 
 
 The three generals and the Admiral began 
 their conference. Lafayette's presence was 
 doubly useful, for he acted as interpreter. 
 General Washington did not speak or under- 
 stand French, 
 
 What passed during that interview ? The
 
 A TKAITOR 55 
 
 secret was well kept. All that can be related 
 is, that the three parted well pleased with 
 each other ; "at least they say so," adds the 
 cautious Swede. 
 
 That they should be pleased with each other 
 was very natural the energies of all were 
 directed to the success of a common object ; 
 but it is doubtful whether they were content 
 with the situation and with events. At this 
 precise conjuncture they were informed of a 
 formidable danger to which the cause of Inde- 
 pendence had just been exposed. 
 
 General Arnold, one of the best officers in the 
 American army, had turned traitor, and that 
 his treachery was baffled before it had caused 
 irreparable misfortune, was due solely to an 
 extraordinary coincidence. 
 
 Arnold, who was brave to the point of heroism 
 and bold to the point of temerity, had distin- 
 guished himself by deeds which had made him 
 famous. Being ordered in 1775 to help Mont- 
 gomery to take Quebec, he set out from Boston 
 with a thousand men, plunged into uninhabitable 
 country, and led his small force by an unknown 
 route, in spite of innumerable obstacles, to the 
 front of the city, arriving before Montgomery. 
 No sooner had the latter joined him than the 
 assault was attempted. The daring of their 
 chiefs electrified the soldiery. The besiegers 
 were, however, already weakened ; a discharge 
 of grapeshot killed Montgomery. Arnold rallied 
 his troops, but was struck down by a ball which 
 broke his leg. He was forced to retreat, and 
 the valiant general, wounded, and exhausted by
 
 56 A FEIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 fatigue and pain, mustered the remnant of his 
 little army and retired, beaten and glorious. 
 
 After such proofs of courage and patriotism, 
 who could have doubted Arnold ? 
 
 When a general was to be appointed to the 
 command at Westpoint, Washington thought 
 he could not do better than to select Arnold, 
 and he gave him the post with entire confi- 
 dence. Westpoint, which was one of the most 
 important positions so important that it has 
 been called " the Gibraltar of America " was 
 a fort built upon a promontory that juts out 
 into the Hudson, and commands the course of 
 that river. 
 
 This citadel, in the neighbourhood of New 
 York, was the centre of resistance, and regarded 
 as impregnable. The English knew what an 
 advantage it would be for them if it should 
 fall into their hands, and as they could not 
 take it by force, they tried stratagem. They 
 have always known how to use with skill the 
 aptly-named " cavalry of St. George," and in- 
 deed what is this but putting in practice the 
 time-honoured axiom of Philip of Macedon, 
 that " no place is impregnable if a mule laden 
 with gold can be made to climb into it." 
 
 This must be a truth true in all ages and 
 in every country, since a traitor was found in 
 Westpoint, and that traitor was Arnold ! How 
 was it that the commander of the English 
 forces, Sir Henry Clinton, who was acquainted 
 with the . great reputation of the American 
 general, ever ventured to reckon upon such 
 a hero's being capable of such a "falling-
 
 MAJOR ANDEE 57 
 
 off ; " how could he believe the thing to be, 
 if not feasible, at least possible ? This would 
 appear incredible did we not know what re- 
 spect the Englishman professes for the power 
 of gold, and what contempt for the weakness 
 of conscience. At all events, the fact was that 
 Sir Henry Clinton had directed one of his aides- 
 de-camp, Major Andre", a brave and talented 
 young officer he was only twenty-four to place 
 himself in communication with Arnold. 
 
 Major Andre, holding that no task is un- 
 worthy of a soldier provided it be useful to 
 his country, set to work at once with such 
 success, that for eighteen months secret rela- 
 tions had been in existence between Clinton 
 and Arnold. 
 
 What induced Arnold to listen to these pro- 
 posals, and then to accept them ? How did 
 this brave man, who had so often risked his 
 life for his country, allow himself to grow 
 familiar with the idea of selling his country ? 
 We can answer only that herein lies a mystery 
 of the human heart, which is more earthy than 
 the body itself, and in which the mud some- 
 times comes to the surface, when regrets for 
 useless sacrifices arise, and when unruly appe- 
 tites for forbidden pleasures are awakened. 
 
 Arnold's resolution must have been very 
 strong if it were never shaken for an instant 
 during those eighteen months. The English 
 had found their man : strange to say, they 
 trusted this traitor, and the traitor remained 
 true to them. 
 
 The goal was near. On the 2 1 st of September
 
 58 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 Major Andrd got into Westpoint in the disguise 
 of a peasant, and made the final arrangements 
 with Arnold. The two accomplices had exa- 
 mined the fortifications, agreed upon points of 
 attack, and simulated preparations for defence, 
 so that the American general might withdraw 
 without giving rise to suspicion. The crime 
 was about to be consummated, when the Un- 
 foreseen, that unknown factor which thwarts 
 the best-laid plans, brought the criminal com- 
 pact to nought. 
 
 The coup-de-thedtre occurred in this wise. 
 On the conclusion of the Hartford conference, 
 Washington and Lafayette resolved to proceed 
 to Westpoint, and they sent two aides-de-camp 
 in advance to give General Arnold notice of 
 their coming. The aides-de-camp presented 
 themselves, and found Arnold at breakfast with 
 his wife. They were invited to partake of 
 the meal, and while the little party were 
 talking, a messenger came in suddenly and 
 handed a sealed note, sent by Arnold's subor- 
 dinate, Lieutenant - Colonel Jameson, to the 
 General. Arnold opened the paper, started, 
 bent over his wife and whispered, " Farewell 
 for ever." He went out, proceeded to his own 
 room, collected a few things, had a horse 
 saddled, desired one of his aides-de-camp to 
 tell Washington that he was obliged to go 
 away, but would return in an hour, mounted, 
 and rode off at a gallop. 
 
 His wife had fainted. The two officers re- 
 mained with her, doing all they could to restore 
 her to consciousness, understanding nothing of
 
 ANDRE A PRISONER 59 
 
 what was passing, and unable to assign any 
 cause for Mrs. Arnold's sudden swoon. 
 
 On this scene Washington and Lafayette 
 arrived. The mystery of the flight of the 
 General and the emotion of his wife was 
 speedily cleared up. 
 
 What had happened was this. On leaving 
 the fortress, Major Andre had gone towards 
 the bank of the Hudson, where an English 
 frigate was waiting to convey him away. But, 
 to his great surprise, the sloop which had 
 carried him from the frigate to the land was 
 not at the appointed place. Both the frigate 
 and the sloop had been forced to retire by 
 the Westpoint guns, which were turned upon 
 them, and had proceeded two leagues lower 
 down the river. It had been impossible to 
 inform Major Andre of this unavoidable de- 
 parture from the plan of action. He sought 
 about, came and went, all in vain, and finally 
 determined to get to New York by land. He 
 started immediately. The road was by no 
 means safe for him ; however, he happily 
 avoided the American posts, and might have 
 believed that he was safe, when he encountered 
 some peasants, who, in spite of his disguise, 
 or perhaps in consequence of it, stopped him, 
 and, notwithstanding his protestations, handed 
 him over to three militiamen whom they met 
 on their way. 
 
 Major Andre' then showed them a passport 
 signed by General Arnold. The militiamen, 
 either because they doubted its authenticity,, 
 or because they thought it strange that a
 
 60 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 person like him should possess such a pass- 
 port, took no notice of it, but brought him 
 along. He felt his danger, and strove to win 
 over the three men by promises and offers of 
 money ; but the soldiers were more honest than 
 their chief they resisted temptation and con- 
 ducted their prisoner to the nearest post at 
 North Castle 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Jameson was in command 
 there ; he hastened to apprize his superior officer 
 of the arrest of a spy. But that superior officer 
 was General Arnold, and it was to him that 
 the letter which announced the capture of Major 
 Andre', and consequently the discovery of his 
 own treason, was delivered. This marvellous 
 stroke of chance, following close upon the first, 
 which had ruined him, afforded him the means 
 of safety. Thanks to it, he was warned in 
 time and could fly. 
 
 In the meantime the prisoner had been 
 searched, and proofs of his identity, of the 
 plot, and of his agency in it were brought to 
 light. Various papers were found upon him, 
 among them " the report of a very interesting 
 council of war, the state of the garrison and 
 the works, observations on the means of attack 
 and defence, the whole in the handwriting of 
 General Arnold." 
 
 Such was the intelligence that awaited Wash- 
 ington and Lafayette on their arrival at West- 
 point. Their astonishment may be imagined. 
 The commander-in-chief, however, quickly re- 
 covered his composure, and without loss of time 
 he reassembled the troops that had been more
 
 UNAVAILING INSOLENCE 61 
 
 or less scattered by Arnold, and took all the 
 necessary measures for the safety of a place 
 which " the English would respect less on better 
 acquaintance." 
 
 Then he gave orders for the arrest of the 
 chief culprit, and the pursuit was instantly 
 begun. But Arnold had had a good start ; no 
 one suspected that he was a fugitive, and, of 
 course, he had not been stopped at any post. 
 The traitor had procured a boat and reached 
 the English frigate Vulture. The wretch, being 
 sure of escaping punishment, took pleasure in 
 mocking his former chief. 
 
 When Colonel Hamilton, who had come 
 closest to the fugitive without being able to 
 reach him, appeared near the place where he 
 had found refuge, he was met by a parliamen- 
 tary who handed him two letters for General 
 Washington. One of these was from General 
 Arnold, who took a high tone with his former 
 superior, and spoke of his treason as a perfectly 
 natural thing, without even attempting the 
 slightest justification. The other was from the 
 English general, Robertson, who demanded the 
 release of Major Andre in a very insolent 
 style, that officer, he affirmed, having acted 
 only " by the permission of General Arnold." 
 
 Washington made answer to these two letters 
 in a manner which was at once worthy of 
 his humanity, and in conformity with his 
 duty. 
 
 Knowing that Mrs. Arnold was in a state 
 of extreme anxiety at Westpoint, he would not 
 have the poor woman, who was innocent of 
 
 4
 
 62 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 her husband's crime, punished more severely 
 than he. He accordingly despatched one of 
 his aides-de-camp to inform her that " he had 
 done all in his power to arrest Arnold, but that 
 not having succeeded, it gave him pleasure to 
 inform her that her husband was in safety." 
 
 As for Major Andre", he could not give him 
 up : he was brought before a court-martial. 
 The case was simple, the sentence a foregone 
 conclusion. Nevertheless, his judges did not 
 condemn the brilliant young officer to death 
 without being touched by his youth, his cool- 
 ness, and his courage. 
 
 Andre* was deeply moved when he saw the 
 gallows that had been erected for his execu- 
 tion.. This was not the death the soldier had 
 foreseen. He understood, too late, the dis- 
 honourable nature of his action, although the 
 fault lay with his chief, and betrayed the 
 shame he felt. In the words he addressed to 
 those who witnessed his death he gave ex- 
 pression to that shame. Those words were : 
 
 " You are witnesses that I die like a man of 
 honour." 
 
 As for Arnold, his treason was rewarded by 
 his being made brigadier-general of the British 
 forces, and subsequently second in command 
 of the army under Lord Cornwallis ; but the 
 latter did not like the presence of this traitor 
 at his side, so he got rid of him and sent him 
 back to New York. 
 
 Arnold's action did not bring about any de- 
 fection among the revolted population. It met 
 with unanimous reprobation.
 
 A FINE REPLY 63 
 
 " If I had fallen into your hands, what would 
 you have done with me ? " said Arnold one 
 day to an American who had been captured 
 by the English. His fellow-countryman an- 
 swered 
 
 " We should have cut off the leg that was 
 wounded in the service of the country, and 
 hung the rest of your body on a gallows." 
 
 He escaped the gallows, but not the pillory 
 of public scorn. 
 
 Lafayette records in his Memoires that 
 " General Arnold was the only American officer 
 who ever thought of using his command as a 
 means of gaining money." Such disinterested- 
 ness and patriotism are all the more admirable, 
 because times of revolution are propitious to 
 nefarious transactions of every kind, and also 
 because American nationality was of very recent 
 formation. 
 
 Just at this time the cause of Independence 
 had received a serious check : General Gates 
 had been beaten by Lord Cornwallis in South 
 Carolina. His close intimacy with Arnold had 
 exposed him to suspicion, which was increased 
 by his defeat, and immediately upon that mis- 
 fortune he was recalled to Philadelphia, and 
 the Congress appointed General Green to suc- 
 ceed him. Gates was unjustly suspected, but 
 his dismissal did no harm to the Americans, 
 thanks to the merit and the military ability of 
 his successor. 
 
 The three States of New York, Connecticut, 
 and Massachusetts now took a step which 
 shows how deeply the necessity of an indis-
 
 64 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 putable authority in times of disturbance im- 
 presses itself upon even the most ardent lovers of 
 liberty they nominated Washington dictator, 
 with the most widely extended powers. The 
 measure was wise, for a firm and strong hand 
 was needed to restrain the unequal and scattered 
 elements of the great resistance, and to unite 
 them solidly against the enemy. 
 
 This precaution was rendered all the more 
 necessary by the approach of winter, and 
 with it the setting in of a period of inaction, 
 so fatal to troops composed of volunteers and 
 soldiers " on the job," so to speak. 
 
 Kochambeau's corps remained in the same 
 position, still stationed at Newport, still iso- 
 lated, and without any communication with 
 France. 
 
 " It was ten months since we left France," 
 writes Lauzun, " and we had received neither 
 news nor money." Fersen, making the same 
 statement, adds : " This oblivion on the part of 
 the Minister or the Ministry is unpardonable." 
 
 Their prolonged solitude affected the spirits of 
 the entire force, and, with the addition of the 
 annoyance which all felt at having been brought 
 so far to fight, and then having to remain 
 hidden behind ramparts, " like an oyster in its 
 shell," produced a considerable abatement of 
 enthusiasm among even the best disposed. 
 
 Fersen made a second excursion with Koch- 
 ambeau, but the admiration of the earlier time 
 is absent from his narrative. " We have seen," 
 he writes, " neither a fine country nor good 
 people ; they are, in general, idle and grasping.
 
 A HAESH JUDGMENT 65 
 
 How are they, with these two characteristics, to be 
 made useful for the war ? " (7th November 1780.) 
 
 A few days afterwards he returns to this 
 subject and dwells upon it : " The spirit of 
 patriotism exists only in the leaders and in 
 the principal personages of the country, who 
 make very great sacrifices ; the others, forming 
 the majority, care for nothing but their per- 
 sonal interest. Money is the moving spring of 
 all their actions, they think only of how to 
 acquire it ; every man is for himself, none are 
 for the common weal." 
 
 Is not this generalisation rather too severe ? 
 Can poor peasants be blamed with any justice 
 for selling the produce of their industry in 
 order to live ? However exacting patriotism 
 may be, it cannot require patriots to starve. 
 Fersen condemns them, with greater fairness, 
 for selling to " their friends the French " at 
 too high a price, especially as the resources of 
 the French were considerably diminished after 
 their long sojourn at Newport. 
 
 " The inhabitants of the coast, even the 
 soundest Whigs, supply provisions of all kinds 
 to the English fleet in Gardiner's Bay, and 
 that because they get well paid. They fleece 
 us mercilessly ; everything is exorbitantly dear ; 
 they have treated us like enemies rather than 
 friends in all the dealings we have had with 
 them. Their cupidity is unequalled ; money is 
 their god ; virtue, honour, all that is nothing 
 to them compared with coin. Not that one 
 may not find estimable persons among them, 
 persons of noble and generous natures ; there
 
 66 A FKIEKD OF THE QUEEN 
 
 are many such ; but I speak of the nation in 
 general. I believe it is more Dutch than 
 English." 
 
 We hardly expect to find the Dutch brought 
 into this affair, for that nation has not the 
 monopoly of cupidity any more than others 
 unless, indeed, to be a trader is to be guilty of 
 that vice. 
 
 Fersen had to complain of matters more im- 
 portant than these small grievances. First, it 
 is " a coolness between General Washington 
 and M. de Eochambeau." The latter was un- 
 aware of the cause of this, but he did what 
 prudence dictated ; he wrote to the American 
 general, and commissioned Fersen to be the 
 bearer of the letter, and to inquire into the 
 origin of Washington's dissatisfaction. 
 
 " You see, my dear father," writes the young 
 Swede, " that I have gone into negotiation ; 
 this is my first attempt, I shall endeavour to 
 get out of it well." He did get out of it 
 well, and Washington's displeasure was not 
 lasting. 
 
 Fersen does not even allude again to the 
 incident, and no after-occurrence recalled this 
 momentary misunderstanding, real or supposed. 
 
 Then it came to Fersen's own turn the calm 
 and judicious Fersen himself to be displeased 
 with his chief. 
 
 " I am getting tired of being with M. de 
 Eochambeau," he writes. " He treats me with 
 distinction, it is true, and I am very sensible 
 of this ; but he is disagreeably, and even in- 
 sultingly, distrustful. He has more confidence
 
 BARON DE VIOMESNIL 67 
 
 in me than in my comrades, but even that is 
 little ; and he places no greater trust in his 
 general officers, who are very discontented on 
 this point, as the superior officers of the army 
 are likewise." 
 
 A few months later Fersen said of the same 
 general : "I do not doubt that the troops he 
 asks for will be sent to M. de Eochambeau ; he 
 knows too well how to make use of them." 
 
 When he went away, the officers and soldiers 
 were entirely agreed in the opposite sense : 
 
 " M. de Eochambeau left us at Providence : 
 the whole army regrets him, and with reason." 
 
 " We have parted with M. de Eochambeau 
 with pain ; all were glad to be commanded by 
 him. It is to be hoped there may be the 
 same feeling with regard to Baron de Viomes- 
 nil. The Baron has not the coolness of M. de 
 Eochambeau. He was the only man to com- 
 mand us out here, and to maintain the perfect 
 harmony that has prevailed between two nations 
 differing so widely in manners and language, and 
 who, in reality, do not like one another. . . . 
 The wise, prudent, and simple bearing of M. 
 de Eochambeau has done more to gain the 
 friendship of America for us than four battles 
 fought and won could have accomplished." 
 
 It was well to quote these contradictory state- 
 ments in order to show, once more, how little 
 reliance ought to be placed upon the verdicts 
 returned by subordinates upon commanders- 
 in-chief. The latter are more easily called to 
 account for what they do not, than even for 
 what they do. Besides, is it possible for them
 
 68 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 to make explanations to their subordinates ? 
 Obviously it is not ; how then are the latter 
 to form a just judgment of them in their 
 ignorance of the necessarily secret motives 
 which actuate them ? This remark applies 
 equally to every age. 
 
 It was more than a year since the little 
 French army had left France, and the troops 
 were weary of idleness at Newport ; but the 
 day was drawing nigh when it should cast off 
 its torpor, when the courage and good-will of 
 every man in the corps would be put to the 
 test ; when every trifling quarrel and selfish 
 complaint were to be forgotten in the common 
 peril of conflict ; when gunpowder was to speak, 
 and its roar was to cover every other discordant 
 sound. 
 
 A second interview between Washington and 
 Rochambeau took place, and again at Hartford. 
 The end of May was near, a propitious moment 
 for the beginning of a summer campaign. It 
 was necessary to strike a great blow. The 
 English were making too good use of time ; 
 on the one hand they burned and pillaged 
 where they were resisted, on the other they 
 lavished money, and by the two means, terror 
 and bribery, they were gaining friends and 
 partisans. Their progress in the South was so 
 considerable that they were credited with the 
 intention of putting a stop to a costly war by 
 recognising the independence of a portion of 
 the North, so as to secure a more solid footing 
 in the Southern provinces. 
 
 Money, in which lay the great strength of
 
 YORKTOWN BESIEGED 69 
 
 the English, was scarce with the Americans, 
 and especially with the French. The latter, 
 being reduced to their last resources, were 
 obliged to practise a lamentable economy. 
 They could not even learn what was going on 
 in the enemy's camp ; for they were unable to 
 pay spies. Those who served the allied army 
 in that capacity were poor men, who did so from 
 motives of pure patriotism. Their obscure 
 heroism furnished Cooper with the theme of one 
 of his most thrilling romances, " The Spy," and 
 Harvey Birch, " the spy of the neutral ground," 
 is a typical figure. Volunteer-spies, however, 
 were becoming few, for, as Fersen remarks, 
 " Men soon tire of an unpaid business which 
 leads to the gallows." 
 
 The decisive hour had come. The chiefs knew 
 that it was so, and the troops were put in motion. 
 At last the French left Newport and effected 
 their junction with the Americans (i2th June 
 to 6th July 1781). 
 
 Washington immediately made a demonstra- 
 tion on New York to deceive Clinton ; the 
 trick succeeded perfectly. He then took his 
 way to Philadelphia, rejoined Lafayette at 
 Williamsburg, and afterwards proceeded to be- 
 siege Yorktown, where Lord Cornwallis was 
 shut up. 
 
 On the 29th of September the investment 
 was complete ; on the 6th of October the first 
 trench was opened. Two external redoubts 
 were attacked by two columns, one composed 
 of Americans, the other of French ; rivalry 
 made them perform prodigies of valour, and
 
 7 o A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 as they were equally brave, their success was 
 equal : the two redoubts were carried. 
 
 On the 1 6th of October all was ready for 
 the assault. Lord Cornwallis, who had re- 
 sisted so long as he could, expecting the arrival 
 of Sir Thomas Clinton, who had promised to 
 come to his assistance, but did not appear, 
 endeavoured to effect the escape of his army 
 by the York River ; but this daring and foolish 
 enterprise was frustrated by a violent storm 
 which scattered all his boats. Resistance had 
 now become impossible, and on the i;th he 
 proposed a capitulation. Only ten balls and 
 one bombshell remained in his arsenal. 
 
 The vanquished army yielded up the fort 
 and passed before the conqueror. Cornwallis 
 pleaded illness to escape this humiliation. He 
 was represented by General O'Hara, who ad- 
 vanced towards Rochambeau and presented 
 his sword. 
 
 " I am only an auxiliary," said the French- 
 man as he refused to receive it, and pointed 
 out Washington as the chief to whom the 
 Englishman l was to surrender. 
 
 This capitulation produced an immense effect. 
 The English had now in their power only 
 New York, Charlestown, and Savannah, and 
 their prestige was considerably lowered. The 
 cause of Independence was triumphant ; peace 
 rumours were already abroad. 
 
 The presence of the French was, however, 
 still necessary to the consolidation of the suc- 
 cess that had been achieved. Rochambeau's 
 
 1 O'Hara was an Irishman.
 
 FERSEN REMAINS AT HIS POST 71 
 
 forces prepared for winter quarters, and head- 
 quarters was established at Williamsburg, " a 
 wretched little town, more like a village." 
 
 Most of the officers shrank from the doleful 
 prospect of again passing three long months 
 without either fun or fighting, and several 
 asked for leave. " All our young colonels 
 of the Court are going away to pass their 
 winter in Paris. Some will not come back, 
 others will, and will be much surprised that 
 they are not made brigadiers for having been 
 at the siege of Yorktown ; they think they 
 have done the finest thing in the world. I 
 shall remain ; I should have no other reason 
 for going to Paris than my amusement and 
 my pleasure : I must sacrifice these." 
 
 The Due de Lauzun acted more adroitly ; 
 he contrived to get himself sent to France 
 as bearer of the news of the brilliant success 
 of the allies. He embarked on the Surveillante, 
 and, after a voyage of eighty-two days, he 
 arrived at Brest, from whence he proceeded 
 to Versailles. There he passed the winter, and 
 did not return to America until the following 
 year. Fersen, on the contrary, had remained, 
 like the brave and noble soldier that he was ; 
 for the courage of a soldier resides in the doing 
 of his duty, whatsoever that may be, without 
 always claiming to be paid in gold or in glory. 
 
 Nor was this time lost by him. He turned 
 it to advantage in an intelligent and practical 
 manner, by making himself better acquainted 
 with the country, and with the people among 
 whom he was detained. He visited various
 
 72 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 parts of the new State, accompanied by the 
 Chevalier de la Luzerne, an amiable and talented 
 Frenchman, and described his excursions to his 
 father in letters full of interest and vivacity, 
 which denote remarkably sound judgment on 
 his part. 
 
 In the first instance he relates his experiences 
 in Virginia (25th March 1782) : 
 
 "We have had a charming journey, and 
 the canteen which Luzerne brought with him, 
 packed with pates, ham, wine, and bread, 
 prevented us from noticing the poverty of the 
 inns, where there is nothing to be had but 
 salted meat, and no bread. 
 
 " In Virginia, only Indian-corn cakes are 
 eaten. These cakes are heated in front of the 
 fire, and though hardened on the outside, are 
 merely raw dough inside. The only drink is 
 rum, otherwise sugar-brandy, mixed with water ; 
 this they call * grog.' Apples have failed this 
 year, so that cider is not to be had. 
 
 " In the part of Virginia called ' The Moun- 
 tains,' all is different. The soil is better ; the 
 great tobacco-culture is carried on there ; the 
 land produces wheat and every kind of fruit ; 
 but in the Plain, in the region of the coast, 
 only Indian-corn is grown. 
 
 " The chief product of Virginia is tobacco ; 
 not because this province, the largest of the 
 thirteen, is not suited to other kinds of cultiva- 
 tion, but because the laziness and the vanity of 
 its inhabitants form an obstacle to industry. 
 
 " In fact, the Virginians seem to belong to 
 another race ; instead of occupying themselves
 
 THE "RUB" FORESEEN 73 
 
 with their farms and with commerce, every 
 landowner wants to be a ' grand seigneur.' A 
 white man never works ; as in the West Indian 
 Islands, all the labour is performed by negro 
 slaves, who are superintended by white men, 
 and there is an overseer at the head of each 
 plantation. There are at least twenty negroes 
 to one white man in Virginia ; and this is the 
 reason why the province sends so few soldiers 
 to the army. 
 
 " All the traders here are regarded as inferior 
 to the landowners, who say that the former 
 are not ' gentlemen/ and will not associate 
 with them. They hold aristocratic principles, 
 and, when one sees them, one can hardly 
 understand how they have come to join the 
 general confederation, and accept a government 
 founded upon conditions of absolute equality. 
 But the same spirit which has led them to 
 cast off the English yoke might well urge them, 
 on to other measures, and I should not be 
 surprised to see Virginia, when .peace comes, 
 detach itself from the other States. I should 
 not, indeed, be surprised to see the American 
 government become a complete aristocracy." 
 
 Is it not curious that the young officer should 
 already comment upon the antagonism be- 
 tween the North and South, which was not to 
 break out until eighty years afterwards, and 
 should in a measure foresee " the War of 
 Secession " ? 
 
 Fersen made an excursion to Portsmouth with 
 Rochambeau and the Chevalier de la Luzerne. 
 On their return they heard of the disastrous
 
 74 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEX 
 
 defeat of M. de Grasse, who was captured with 
 the Ville de Paris, the Admiral's ship, and six 
 other vessels ; a victory which gave the superi- 
 ority in the West Indian Islands to the English. 
 " This is most vexatious," writes Fersen, " espe- 
 cially if we have the misfortune to be kept here 
 (at Williamsburg). The heat is already exces- 
 sive ; just think what it will be in July and 
 August" (27th May 1782). 
 
 No news came from France. Lauzun was 
 impatiently expected, but he did riot arrive. 
 The situation again became gloomy. The 
 Americans talked of attempting the siege of 
 New York, but they were too weak for such 
 an enterprise, and a check would mean the risk 
 of very serious results. 
 
 All of a sudden, just as the forecast of events 
 was tending to ill, a change of attitude on the 
 part of the English took place. Peace was 
 talked of peace was meant. The English, vic- 
 torious on the sea in America, had experienced 
 great reverses in India, and Suffren was threat- 
 ening that other colonial empire, which it would 
 ruin them to lose. 
 
 The war had cost them one hundred millions ; 
 their trade was encountering obstacles all over 
 the world ; the nation was weary of such heavy 
 sacrifices. The Government gave way. 
 
 On the 1 7th of August 1782 Fersen wrote to 
 his father : " From the news which we have 
 from England, for as yet we have none from 
 France, it appears that peace is near. Eng- 
 land is very well disposed, if only France be 
 moderate in her demands.
 
 RETURN TO FRANCE 75 
 
 " This idea causes universal joy ; it gives me 
 pleasure which I cannot express." 
 
 It was natural that he should feel thus, even 
 apart from the consideration of those whom he 
 hoped to rejoin in Europe, for he greatly needed 
 rest. He had been moving about incessantly 
 for some months, and " ill with a heavy cold." 
 Nevertheless he had discharged all the duties of 
 his service a severe one, especially as the heat 
 was great, and water was scarce in the country. 
 Now the cold weather was setting in ; his " tent 
 and mattress" afforded him only meagre pro- 
 tection, for he was " not very well off for 
 blankets, but eked them out with his cloak." 
 
 The hour of departure was drawing near. The 
 news regarding peace was confirmed. Lauzun 
 returned, and transports were prepared to con- 
 vey the French volunteers back to France. 
 
 The troops assembled at Providence to await 
 embarkation. Count Fersen availed himself of 
 the opportunity to visit his friends in the little 
 island of Newport and bid them farewell. This 
 duty being accomplished, he rejoined his com- 
 rades and proceeded with them to Boston, 
 where the ships awaited them. Fersen went 
 on board the Brave with the Comte de Deux- 
 Ponts and the three first companies. 
 
 The Brave was a ship of seventy-four guns, 
 and would certainly not have deserved to keep 
 her name had she been responsible for the 
 shortcomings of her captain, the Chevalier 
 d'Amblimont, who had already behaved very 
 ill in the disaster of the 1 2th of April. Instead 
 of obeying the signals, he fled, and on being
 
 7 6 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 hailed by Bougainville and asked the reason 
 of such conduct, he replied that "as the fleet 
 was lost, at least one ship should be saved 
 for the King." 
 
 His foresight had apparently done him no 
 harm, as his command had not been taken 
 from him. And then he really was a charming 
 man ; " so amiable," says Fersen, speaking of 
 him, " so polite. He has a good ship. I am 
 well berthed and well fed. This is all I want. 
 I can dispense with his courage." 
 
 Contrary winds detained the fleet at Boston 
 until the end of December. The orders of 
 the Government were that the ships were to 
 proceed to the Antilles. " The voyage," wrote 
 Fersen, " was horrible ; while on board, occupa- 
 tion was impossible ; being always in the same 
 room with forty-five persons was odious. It is 
 a horrid kind of life. The navy is a wretched 
 calling, especially in France." 
 
 All the ships in the fleet were driven by the 
 wind and dispersed ; several were lost with all on 
 board, and one of them, the Bourgogne, carried 
 400 men. A few put safely into port at Curacoa ; 
 the Brave took thirteen days to make the thirty- 
 five leagues which divide that island from Porto- 
 Cabello, a Venezuelan port ( 1 3th February 1783). 
 
 Fersen had cause to congratulate himself 
 upon being on board one of the best ships. 
 He regarded it as "a miracle" that he had 
 " reached terra Jirma safe and sound." Not 
 that the place was attractive or agreeable by 
 any means ; there were no resources of any 
 kind in Porto-Cabello. But, bad as this haven
 
 A FOKBIDDEN DECORATION 77 
 
 of refuge was, it enabled the fleet to collect 
 its scattered numbers. Crossing the seas from 
 thence, the returning expedition reached France 
 in June. 
 
 By his three years' service with the expedi- 
 tion, Count Fersen had gained the decoration of 
 the Order of Cincinnatus, a glorious memorial, 
 given by General Washington himself, but the 
 King of Sweden forbade him to wear it. 
 
 France derived an analogous advantage from 
 her intervention. By the Treaty of Versailles 
 (1783) she had obtained that England should 
 recognise the independence of the United States. 
 The latter gave her an unexpected proof of 
 their independence : they had treated with Eng- 
 land separately, and unknown to France, six 
 months previously.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 A letter from Gustavus III. to Louis XVI. Count Fersen at 
 the Court of France Mdlle. Necker An abortive project 
 of marriage Stedingk and Stael Gustavus III. in Ger- 
 many, in Italy, and in France Count Fersen's return to 
 Sweden (1784) Political events Preludes to the Eevolu- 
 tion Queen Marie Antoinette Unpopularity The French 
 Court The Comtesse Jules de Polignac Baron de Besenval 
 The Due de Lauzun The Due de Coigny The diamond 
 necklace The louis-d'or of Strasburg M. de Calonne 
 " The King has sent in his resignation " The Assembly of 
 the Notables Count Fersen's impressions Sweden in 1788 
 Finland expedition Count Fersen's mission in France 
 Mme. de Chicogne Valenciennes and Paris Bevolutionary 
 agitation. 
 
 COUNT FERSEN returned to France 
 
 " pare de cette gloire 
 
 Que donne aux jeunes coeurs la premiere victoire." 
 
 The halo of military gallantry now enhanced 
 his personal merit, and it shone all the more 
 brightly because his fame had been gained in 
 a distant and popular war. 
 
 The King of Sweden was proud of his sub- 
 ject ; he thought it a good opportunity to 
 obtain a position in the French army for him 
 similar to that which he held in the Swedish. 
 Accordingly, he wrote to the King of France at 
 the beginning of September 1783, as follows : 
 
 " Sir, my brother and cousin, Count Fersen, 
 having served in the army of your Majesty 
 
 with general approbation, and having thereby 
 
 7 8
 
 ROYAL FAVOUR 79 
 
 rendered himself worthy of your good -will, 
 I do not think that I commit an indiscretion 
 in asking you for a proprietary regiment for 
 him. His birth, his fortune, the place that 
 he occupies about my person, the prudence of 
 his conduct, the talents and the example of 
 his father, who formerly enjoyed the same 
 favour in France, all authorise me to believe 
 that his services cannot fail to be agreeable 
 to your Majesty ; and as he will remain equally 
 attached to my service, and will divide his 
 time between the duties of his posts in France 
 and in Sweden, I see with pleasure that the 
 confidence which I accord to Count Fersen and 
 the high position which he enjoys in his own 
 country will still further extend the relations 
 that exist between the two nations, and will 
 prove the constant desire which I have to 
 cultivate more and more the friendship which 
 unites me to you and becomes each day more 
 dear to me." 
 
 As a proof that his recommendation was 
 the genuine expression of his esteem for the 
 Count, the King made him "titular colonel" 
 in his army, a knight of the Order of the 
 Sword, and lieutenant-colonel " in service " in 
 the King's Light Horse. This significant ex- 
 ample was not necessary. Fersen's deserts and 
 the services he had rendered were well known 
 at the French Court ; he did not want for 
 interest, especially in high places ; absence had 
 not caused him to be forgotten, and on his 
 return he was welcomed as a friend. 
 
 1 Gustave III. et la Cour de France, par M. Geoffrey.
 
 8o A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 The Queen herself replied to the letter of the 
 King of Sweden, on the iQth of September : 
 
 " Sir, my brother and cousin, I profit by the 
 departure of Count Fersen to repeat anew the 
 sentiments which attach me to your Majesty. 
 The recommendation that you have made to 
 the King has been received as it ought to be, 
 coming from you, and in favour of so good 
 a subject. His father is not forgotten here ; 
 the services which he rendered and his good 
 reputation have been renewed by the son, who 
 has greatly distinguished himself, in the war 
 in America, by his character and his good 
 qualities, and who has gained the esteem and 
 affection of all who have had the opportunity 
 of knowing him. I hope that without delay 
 he will be provided with a regiment. I shall 
 not fail to second the views of your Majesty 
 in everything, and to give you on this occa- 
 sion, as on every other, proofs of the sincere 
 attachment with which I am, sir, your good 
 sister and cousin." 
 
 Promise was quickly followed by perform- 
 ance. Fersen, who had been previously deco- 
 rated with the Order of Military Merit, was 
 made proprietary-colonel of the Royal Suedois, 
 a regiment then in garrison at Valenciennes. 
 
 This post, these favours, the personal kind- 
 ness of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette to 
 Fersen, were likely to give a fresh start to 
 the gossip which it had been his purpose to 
 arrest by his departure for America. In fact, 
 his return was an imprudence from one point 
 of view ; but although, being master of himself
 
 BACK AGAIN! 81 
 
 and of his passion, he had formed the most 
 generous and difficult of resolutions in a 
 moment of heroic courage, heroism unhappily 
 has its limits, and perhaps he considered that, 
 by three years of absence, he had purchased the 
 right to see her whose image he always bore 
 in his heart, the right to be near her and to 
 render her devoted service. 
 
 He might have diverted, if not entirely 
 dispelled suspicion, if he would have taken 
 advantage of his social success, and made him- 
 self conspicuous as the lover of some fashion- 
 able frail beauty. Handsome, renowned, sought 
 and courted everywhere, why did he not 
 imitate his contemporaries ? What prevented 
 Fersen from becoming a Eichelieu, a Lauzun, 
 a Tilly ? Nothing, if not himself ; he preferred 
 to respect his love, even as he respected its 
 object, and to remain Fersen. 
 
 Communication of the despatch of Count 
 Creutz had apparently been made to Fersen's 
 father, Count Frederick ; but either because 
 he did not believe at all in a lasting mutual 
 attachment between such young hearts, or be- 
 cause he thought it could not possibly sur- 
 vive three years of absence, the Count desired 
 that his son should marry, with a view to 
 the perpetuation of their illustrious family. 
 He wrote to Count John, reminding him that 
 it was time he should think of marriage ; and as 
 Count John was nearly twenty-eight years of age, 
 and in a prosperous position in all respects, he 
 had no good reason for opposing his father's wish 
 no reason, at least, which he would divulge.
 
 82 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 The consequence was that, as he Tiad formerly 
 done in the instance of Mdlle. de Leijel, he 
 allowed several schemes of marriage to be put 
 forward in a sketchy way ; but we may be 
 certain that he did nothing towards their 
 realisation, and that he was not altogether 
 innocent of the successive failure of every such 
 project. 
 
 At this period an heiress, who was already 
 almost famous by reason of her father's name, 
 fortune, and high position, and her own re- 
 markable intelligence, but who was not endowed 
 with beauty, was attracting numerous suitors. 
 Renowned personages from almost all countries 
 put themselves on the competitive list ; it 
 was a sort of cosmopolitan tournament. This 
 heiress was Mdlle. Necker. 
 
 Certain political personages are treated by 
 their contemporaries either with unlimited in- 
 dulgence or with unmitigated severity. In 
 the former case, everything is admired, even 
 their faults ; in the latter, nothing is for- 
 given, not even their greatest services. Many 
 politicians have owed much to, or suffered 
 severely from, these two currents of opinion. 
 M. Necker was just then deriving -great benefit 
 from the rush as blind as that of a torrent 
 in his direction. The extraordinary public 
 favour that had carried him into the Ministry, 
 accompanied him while there, and followed him 
 to his retreat, was as fervent as ever. 
 
 In reality, this public favour was no more 
 justified in his case than in a hundred others. 
 
 M. Necker, pretentious and self-sufficient as
 
 A STILTED CAGLIOSTRO 83 
 
 a parvenu, austere and tiresome as a devout 
 Calvinist, consoled himself for his fall by re- 
 ceiving assurances of regret from numerous 
 Frenchmen, and tokens of admiration from a 
 few foreigners. He lived at Saint-Ouen with 
 his wife and daughter. 
 
 Baroness Oberkirch, a clever woman, had an 
 opportunity of seeing the Necker family when 
 she accompanied the Kussian Grand-Duke and 
 Grand-Duchess Paul (travelling under the name 
 of Comte and Comtesse du Nord) to their house. 
 She wrote an account of her visit in which 
 the following remarks occur : " As for me, I 
 did not like M. Necker. I was struck by a 
 resemblance in him to Cagliostro, without his 
 brilliant glance and bewildering countenance. 
 He is a stilted Cagliostro, stiff and disagree- 
 able, a regular bourgeois of Geneva. There is 
 nothing amiable about him, although he tries 
 to make himself agreeable. Mme. Necker is 
 still worse. In spite of the great positions 
 she has occupied, she is a schoolmistress and 
 nothing more, pedantic and pretentious beyond 
 anything. She is the daughter of a country 
 pastor of the name of Churchod ; she has 
 received a good education, but profited by it 
 contrariwise. She is handsome and not agree- 
 able, she does good and is not liked, her 
 body, her mind, and her heart want grace. 
 The Creator, before giving her form, dipped 
 her in a tub full of starch. She will never 
 possess the art of pleasing. In a word, she 
 can neither weep nor laugh. Her father was 
 poor, she set up a school for girls at Geneva;
 
 84 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 she was taken to Paris by Mme. de Ver- 
 menoux, well known for her beauty and light 
 conduct. This Mme. de Vermenoux associated 
 with the Abbe Raynal, M. de Marmontel, and 
 other philosophers, also with M. Necker. She 
 soon tired of the latter I readily understand 
 that ; I should have tired of him quite as soon 
 and she got rid of him by marrying him to 
 Mdlle. Churchod. 
 
 " ' They will bore themselves so thoroughly 
 together,' she said, ' that it will be an occupa- 
 tion for them.' 
 
 "They did not bore themselves, but they 
 bored other people, having taken to adoring, 
 complimenting, and burning incense before each 
 other perpetually, especially Mme. Necker, who 
 is thurifer in permanence to her husband. 
 
 " The Grand-Duke wished to have some 
 private conversation with the great man. The 
 reputation of the ex-Minister justified such a 
 desire. 
 
 " ' I have come,' said His Imperial Highness, 
 ' to add my tribute of admiration to that of the 
 whole of Europe.' 
 
 " On leaving the great man, the Grand-Duke 
 seemed less satisfied. He asked us in the coach 
 whether we knew the fable of the sticks floating 
 on the water. This from the Grand-Duke was 
 quite sufficient comment. 
 
 " Mdlle. Necker seemed to me a totally diffe- 
 rent person from either of her parents, although 
 she too had a little of the Genevese about her 
 and a great deal of the thurifer. Her eyes 
 are fine, but otherwise she is ugly ; she has a
 
 STEDINGK 85 
 
 good figure, a clear skin, and something rarely 
 intelligent in her look it is a flame." 
 
 Many were the wooers who fluttered round 
 that flame ; the fine eyes of the young lady did 
 not prevent them from perceiving " les beaux 
 yeux de sa cassette." Pitt, the famous English 
 Minister, young Stael, and several others with 
 them, tried their luck. The number of suitors 
 enabled Fersen to put himself on the list with- 
 out too much danger that is to say, without 
 any great chance of success. 
 
 Presently another candidate was introduced, 
 and by the Queen herself. Human hearts are 
 difficult to read. Was Marie Antoinette dis- 
 pleased by Fersen' s seeking a tie which would 
 have imposed other duties upon him ; or had 
 she no other object than to secure a good match 
 for a gentleman who was worthy of it in every 
 respect ? 
 
 Stedingk and Fersen were friends, and had 
 been on intimate terms for years before the war 
 in America. Stedingk was one of the first to 
 go out to the scene of strife, and he returned 
 in advance of the others, having received a 
 wound which obliged him to use crutches. But 
 the wound being one of those which are cured 
 in time, this visible and temporary infirmity 
 offered an additional charm to a tender heart. 
 It seemed as though Stedingk must succeed. 
 Nothing of the sort ! The political greatness of 
 Pitt, the courage and the crutches of Stedingk, 
 were eclipsed by the merits of the young diplo- 
 matist ; marked preference was manifested for M. 
 de Stael. Fersen waited no longer to renounce
 
 86 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 a project which he had not seriously entertained. 
 He hastened to inform his father of his renuncia- 
 tion in very significant terms. 
 
 " You will have seen already that the idea 
 which I had concerning Mdlle. Necker could not 
 have come to anything, even if you would have 
 consented to it, on account of my friend Stae'l, 
 whom this (marriage) will suit perfectly, much 
 better than it would suit me. / never thought 
 of it except to please you, my dear father, and 
 I am not at all sorry that it cannot be." 
 
 He had his reasons for not regretting a failure 
 which indeed he ardently and secretly desired. 
 Whatever he had to endure for the sake of the 
 one love of his life, the future proved to him 
 that he had chosen the better part. 
 
 M. Necker, who had at first opposed his 
 daughter's choice, yielded at length to her 
 wishes, and authorised a marriage that did not 
 give him the son-in-law he had hoped for. 
 What was a diplomatist, even though he were 
 on the eve of becoming Swedish Ambassador, 
 in comparison with the " great Commoner " ? 
 He would have preferred Mr. Pitt infinitely, 
 but the young lady preferred M. de Stae'l, and 
 her wishes prevailed. 
 
 The marriage, one of inclination on the part of 
 the wife, but of interest on that of the husband, 
 did not make either of them happy. It was 
 conducive in the beginning to the establishment 
 of De StaeTs political fortunes, but it soon ceased 
 to be a real union, by reason of the quarrels of 
 the pair, and the scandalous conduct of the wife. 
 
 Madame de Stae'l equally failed to find happi-
 
 NECKER'S DAUGHTER 87 
 
 ness in illicit relations. Her intellectual gifts 
 did not atone for the defects of her person ; 
 she inspired esteem, she excited curiosity, but 
 she did not awaken love. She would not, how- 
 ever, abandon the hope of doing this, and more 
 than once she strove to win the happiness 
 she dreamed of; but if she captivated the 
 imagination, she never won a heart, although 
 she gave her own. As an eminent author, she 
 enjoyed the triumphs of vanity, but what were 
 they in comparison with the tribute which she 
 failed to win ? That fine and melancholy saying, 
 " A woman's fame is only showy mourning worn 
 for happiness," is hers. 
 
 While M. de Stael was rising to the high 
 position at which his ambition aimed, Count 
 Fersen was preparing to return to Sweden 
 and his home, after an absence of more than 
 five years. His departure was retarded by an 
 important event. 
 
 Gustavus III. resolved to resume the journey 
 that had been interrupted by the death of his 
 father, and at the end of the year 1783 he was 
 travelling in Germany. The King desired to 
 see Count Fersen, and summoned him. The 
 Count had only to obey, and did so, rejoining 
 his sovereign at Nuremberg. 
 
 The royal scheme of travel fitted in admir- 
 ably with Fersen's secret inclinations ; after an 
 excursion in Italy came a sojourn in France ; 
 and so he was brought back to his beloved 
 Paris, and his more beloved Versailles. 
 
 The King of Sweden adopted the name of 
 Count Haga, although he did not travel incog-
 
 88 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 nito. He alighted at the Swedish Embassy, Rue 
 du Bac, and made his first visit in the afternoon 
 of the same day (i7th June 1784) to the King 
 of France at Versailles. He was not expected. 
 Louis XVI. was engaged in his favourite occupa- 
 tion, hunting at Rambouillet. He was informed 
 of the arrival of the royal visitor, and returned 
 in haste to the chateau. That evening Count 
 Haga supped with the King and Queen. 
 
 Gustavus III. was more fortunate on the 
 second occasion of his visiting France. Marie 
 Antoinette, who did not like him at first, got 
 over all her prejudices against him. Perhaps 
 he owed this alteration in her mood less to 
 his better known and more justly appreciated 
 qualities, than to the favour with which the 
 Swedish nation was regarded in France, owing 
 to the three gentlemen whose names occur, 
 and are to recur so frequently, in this narra- 
 tive Fersen, Stedingk, and Stael. All three 
 deserved the general esteem in w r hich they were 
 held, although their merits were of different 
 kinds. The Queen purposed to give a fete in 
 honour of Gustavus III. ; it pleased her to 
 pay a compliment to Sweden in the person of 
 the chief representative of the nation, and she 
 would also have an opportunity of showing off 
 the embellishments of her favourite abode. In 
 her hands, and by her tasteful care, Trianon 
 had become a delightful retreat, whither, un- 
 happily for her, she was tempted to resort too 
 frequently, for the enjoyment of quiet and 
 liberty, while she neglected the wearisome but 
 imperative duties of a Queen.
 
 THE QUEEN'S FETE 89 
 
 Gustavus III. was astonished. " Surrounded 
 by these young Swedish officers, who were in 
 such favour at the French Court, he might 
 have fancied himself in his own country. He 
 has described this fete in one of his letters. 
 Le Dormeur Eveittd, by Marmontel and Gretry, 
 was acted with sumptuous scenery and a ballet ; 
 afterwards the company supped in the groves, 
 while the English garden was illuminated. 
 
 " A large number of persons were admitted to 
 the park by invitation ; all the ladies were dressed 
 in white. Gustavus describes it as ' fairy-land,' 
 a spectacle worthy of the Champs Elysees ! The 
 Queen would not sit at the table ; she was 
 entirely occupied in doing the honours. 
 
 " She' conversed of preference with the Swedes, 
 and gave them a marked welcome. With the 
 exception of the Princes (Monsieur and the 
 Count d'Artois), with whom the King was dis- 
 pleased, the whole of the royal family and all 
 the Court were present. The Princesse de 
 Lamballe was charming." 
 
 Up to that time, it was still possible to sup, 
 to dance, and to act plays. But the calm and 
 tranquillity of the reign of Louis XVI. were 
 passing away. It must be said that the royal 
 pair made the most of those last days, and 
 that their life was a happy one. An incapable 
 Minister, in the guise of the most supple and 
 insinuating of courtiers, was gaily leading the 
 monarchy to ruin, and France to bankruptcy, 
 along a flower-strewn path with a precipice at 
 the end of it. 
 
 1 Gustave III. et la Cour de France, par M. Geoffrey.
 
 90 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 Count Haga left Versailles and France, de- 
 lighted with all he had seen, having renewed 
 at its source his admiration for that royalty 
 which to him was still the royalty of Louis 
 XIV., and went back to his own cold and 
 melancholy kingdom to endeavour to imitate 
 it in a measure. 
 
 Fersen returned to Sweden at the same time. 
 Koyal favour had once more been extended to 
 him : Gustavus III. had obtained a pension of 
 20,000 livres payable by the French treasury 
 for the Count. 
 
 The time was approaching, however, when 
 the accumulated errors of the preceding reigns, 
 and the incapacity of the successive Ministers 
 of Louis XVI., were to bring the situation to 
 a point at which it would be impossible for it 
 to remain. The nation, tired of paying dearly 
 for mere suffering, wanted to have something 
 else for its money ; and the moment was not 
 distant when the peasant and the working-man, 
 aweary of their prolonged subjection, were to 
 shake off their apathy. 
 
 The old social edifice, worm-eaten, under- 
 mined, and worn-out, was cracking on all sides, 
 and the defenders who still stuck to it were 
 not remarkable for either worth, courage, or 
 intelligence. Did it deserve any other sort of 
 champions ? 
 
 Reforms were of imperative necessity. To 
 perceive and acknowledge all that was just in 
 the demands of the nation, a superior mind 
 would have been required ; to cause all that 
 was just and good in those demands to pass
 
 THE QUEEN NO POLITICIAN 91 
 
 into the laws of the country, a strong will 
 would have been needed. And there was no- 
 body but Louis XVI. ! 
 
 Marie Antoinette was her husband's superior 
 in courage, and in intellectual and moral worth ; 
 but she was not a woman of political ability, 
 who, failing the King, would be capable of 
 taking the management of affairs into her own 
 hands. For a long time past the queens of 
 France had been satisfied to be nobodies in the 
 state. What place does either Marie Therese (the 
 wife of Louis XIV.) or Marie Leczinska (the wife 
 of Louis XV.) occupy in history ? If Anne of 
 Austria played a more active part, it was because 
 her queenship and her womanhood had the same 
 animating motive, and in defending Mazarin, her 
 Minister, she defended her lover. 
 
 But Marie Antoinette, had she possessed 
 the ability requisite to make up for her hus- 
 band's incapacity, would have found it difficult 
 to put herself forward. The few attempts of 
 the kind which she made, on the suggestion 
 of injudicious friends, served only to expose 
 her to a fierce attack from Mirabeau : " There 
 is but one Majesty in the kingdom, and I regard 
 it as disrespectful to pronounce the word 
 ' Queen ' in a monarchy where queens can never 
 be kings. Our King, whose intentions are 
 good, whose ill-fortune is interesting, person- 
 ally possesses the public confidence, and needs 
 neither bail nor surety ; the place of Queen, 
 his august consort, is to give him relaxation 
 from the cares of his throne, and not to be 
 implicated in the affairs of the State. When
 
 92 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 she was pleased to permit the fairest of the 
 arts to represent her, crowned with all her 
 graces, all her rights, it was with her chil- 
 dren about her that she was painted, not with 
 the globe in her hand, or the map of France 
 under her eyes." 
 
 The happy days of Marie Antoinette were 
 nearing their close. As a matter of fact, the 
 Queen had not been very popular at any time ; 
 it seemed as though an evil fate pursued her, 
 and superstitious persons did not fail to attri- 
 bute this mischance to the unhappy hazard of 
 her birth upon a day of mourning through- 
 out the whole of Christendom, the 2nd of 
 November, " the Day of the Dead," a day that 
 brought frightful calamity upon one of the most 
 beautiful cities of the world by the earthquake 
 of Lisbon. 
 
 It would be foolish to attach importance to 
 such notions, but the historian ought to make 
 mention of them, not in order to give them 
 importance which they could not possess, but 
 because they illustrate the state of the times 
 and reveal certain tendencies of the public 
 mind. 
 
 In fact, everything had more or less militated 
 against her ; her nationality, her family, her 
 tastes, her beauty, her friendships. 
 
 Her nationality she was Austrian. Choiseul, 
 in making her Queen of France, flattered him- 
 self that he was forming a bond of union 
 between those two hereditary enemies, the 
 House of Austria and the House of France : 
 his hopes were disappointed, the old distrust
 
 THE QUEEN'S BROTHERS 93 
 
 still subsisted, and the Queen passed for a spy 
 in the interests of her race. 
 
 Her family she had two brothers; one, 
 Archbishop and Grand-Elector of Cologne, was 
 named Maximilian, and he was stupid. On 
 his visit to the Jardin des Plantes, BufFon 
 offered him a copy of his works, and the prince 
 replied : 
 
 " Many thanks, sir ; I should be very sorry 
 to deprive you of it." 
 
 The other was Leopold ; he was Emperor of 
 Germany, and had plenty of brains. He, too, 
 visited the Jardin des Plantes, and said to 
 Buffon : 
 
 " I have come for the book my brother forgot 
 to take away." 
 
 By the same sort of fatality, the stupidity 
 of the one brother and the cleverness of the 
 other were equally ill- taken ; the former was 
 ridiculed, the latter was feared, and the most 
 preposterous ideas took possession of the people. 
 Even the poultry-women discussed the current 
 rumours. 
 
 Let us pause and think of just one incident, 
 that of Eenee Millot. Having met the Comte 
 de Coigny one day, the girl was emboldened 
 by his kindly familiarity to ask him gravely : 
 
 " Will the Emperor go on for ever making 
 war against the Turks ? Why, if so, France 
 will be ruined by the quantity of money the 
 Queen sends every month to her brother ; it 
 must be at least two hundred millions by this 
 time." 
 
 Coigny was amused by the question, and
 
 94 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 could not resist the pleasure of amusing himself 
 by answering it ; so he said seriously : 
 
 " You are quite right ! yes, it has already cost 
 more than two hundred millions, and we have 
 not come to the end of it yet ! " 
 
 This jest, retained in the silly brain of the 
 hearer, was repeated in the form of a solemn 
 deposition at the trial of the Queen before the 
 Kevolutionary Tribunal. 
 
 Her tastes and her beauty she was young, 
 and she was welcomed with fetes and rejoic- 
 ing. Was it surprising that she resorted to 
 amusement for relief from the troubles which 
 came to her through etiquette, politics, and 
 her husband, "that big ill-bred boy," as Mme. 
 du Barry called him ? No doubt, she was 
 not to blame for liking card-playing, but she 
 did wrong in abandoning herself to that pas- 
 time with an excessive passion, especially by 
 playing very high, and keeping up games at 
 lansquenet for an unreasonable time, as she 
 did one "All-Saints," when the party broke 
 up after thirty-six hours ! 
 
 That she should like to drive out in carriages 
 and sledges was quite reasonable, also that 
 she should care to attend the masked balls 
 at the opera ; but did she not go beyond the 
 limits of prudence by passing whole days in 
 driving about and showing herself everywhere, 
 and also by addressing strangers at the balls ? 
 Such were her pleasures, and she enjoyed them 
 most thoroughly when they were unshared 
 by the King a fact which did not escape 
 attention.
 
 A FATAL CHANCE 95 
 
 Bivarol lias described in one striking sentence 
 the impression which she produced : 
 
 " Always belonging more to her sex than 
 to her rank, she forgot that she was meant to 
 live and to die upon a real throne ; she longed 
 too much for the fictitious and fleeting empire 
 that beauty confers upon ordinary women, and 
 which makes them the queens of a moment." 
 
 Her friendships the mere word awakens 
 most painful recollections, for certainly the 
 sentiment which she entertained for one of the 
 most enigmatical creatures who ever gravitated 
 in the orbit of kings was among the greatest 
 misfortunes of her life. By what chance Marie 
 Antoinette first saw "the angelic face" of 
 Madame de Polignac, and became infatuated 
 with the woman to the point of summoning 
 her to Court, heaping benefits upon her, her 
 husband, her lover, and her sister-in-law, and ap- 
 pointing her to the great position of " Governess 
 of the children of France," is not known, but 
 only too surely that chance was fatal. 
 
 Was the Queen even repaid by devotion equal 
 to her affection, and gratitude in proportion to 
 her bounty ? Mme. de Polignac accepted her 
 benefits, devised some fresh pretext every day 
 for securing others, while affecting to evade 
 them, and, when the hour of peril came, when 
 the Queen, forgetting herself to save her friend, 
 urged her to fly from France, the favourite had 
 the courage to obey her, and the cowardice to go. 1 
 
 1 Mme. de Polignac was true to her base nature in all vicissi- 
 tudes. Mme. de Remusat, in her celebrated Memoires, gives some 
 interesting details of her falsehood and ingratitude to the restored 
 royal family and to the writer herself. Translator's Note.
 
 96 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 How different are the recollections attached 
 to the friend who loved more than she was 
 loved ; and yet, how can we regard her fide- 
 lity otherwise than as a misfortune, since it 
 was one of the Queen's keenest sorrows to learn 
 the awful and tragical fate of the unfortunate 
 Princesse de Lamballe ! 
 
 With regard to her men friends Fersen ex- 
 cepted was the Queen more fortunate ? 
 
 Among those who rank as her intimates, 
 Baron de Besenval holds a prominent place ; 
 he contrived to acquire real influence and to 
 maintain it for several years. The Due de 
 Levis has defined that influence very clearly in 
 the portrait he has drawn of the Baron. 
 
 " He was a Swiss officer who had served with 
 distinction during the Seven Years' War. To 
 the intrepidity which has been an invariable 
 characteristic of his nation, he united the fiery 
 valour that belongs to ours. He had a fine 
 figure, an agreeable face, intelligence, courage ; 
 what more was needed to ensure his success ? 
 Accordingly, he was very successful with women, 
 but his manners were too free, and his gal- 
 lantry was in bad taste ; even among men his 
 conversation was more remarkable for coarse- 
 ness than for piquancy, and his good-humour 
 was cynical rather than hearty. 
 
 'He soon succeeded in getting into the 
 Queen's own circle ; then, by mingling flattery 
 with the pernicious maxims that he set forth 
 with an air of assurance well calculated to 
 impose on an inexperienced princess, he ac- 
 quired a baneful ascendency over her ; this I,
 
 A DANGEROUS COUNSELLOR 97 
 
 and other persons who had the means of judg- 
 ing, regard as one of the principal causes of her 
 ruin. The Queen had a very good heart, but 
 also an unfortunate propensity for trifling. He 
 applauded this defect, which might almost be 
 called a vice in her rank. The consequence 
 was the alienation from her of all the really 
 estimable women at Court, whose experience 
 and good counsel would have been so valuable, 
 and were so much needed. 
 
 " The Queen, at the age of pleasure and 
 frivolity, and in the intoxication of supreme 
 power, could not endure constraint ; etiquette 
 and ceremonial bored and irritated her. She 
 was told it was ridiculous that her life should 
 not be made as pleasant as that of her chief 
 subjects, who also delighted in society ; that, 
 in so enlightened an age, when all prejudices 
 were set aside, sovereigns ought to release 
 themselves from the fetters of custom ; and, 
 finally, that it was absurd to suppose their 
 people's obedience depended upon the number 
 of hours more or less which the royal family 
 passed in a circle of weary and wearisome 
 courtiers." 
 
 Mine. Campan states that the hot-headed 
 Baron did not confine himself to merely giving 
 advice, but that one day he ventured, notwith- 
 standing his age he was then over fifty to 
 make a declaration of love to the Queen. There 
 was something in this to offend the Queen of 
 France, but not to hurt the woman ; certain 
 offences of a particular nature flatter more than 
 they anger those who receive them. Marie
 
 98 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 Antoinette, if we are to accept Mme. Campan's 
 version of the matter as authentic, did not 
 resent the conduct of Baron de Besenval for 
 any long period, and he remained on the same 
 terms of friendship and confidence with her. 
 If this be true, it would tend to prove that 
 the Queen was less strict upon the point than 
 most of her historians. 
 
 Besenval had more than one imitator ; among 
 others, the Due de Lauzun. We have seen how 
 highly Fersen praises him in his letters to 
 Count Frederick ; yet the Due de Lauzun did 
 not altogether deserve Fersen' s eulogium, if 
 we are to believe some of his contemporaries, 
 beginning with the Due de LeVis. 
 
 " The Due de Biron, known in his youth as 
 Due de Lauzun, had entered society with every 
 advantage : he was handsome, clever, affable, 
 brave, gallant, and his manners were as noble 
 as his birth. He was successful in every way ; 
 but unfortunately judgment and good sense 
 were not among his endowments. He began by 
 wanton extravagance in youth, and in middle 
 age grave faults and fatal errors led to his ruin. 
 According to the general belief, his gallantries 
 were inspired by his excessive vanity rather 
 than by inclination." 
 
 It is certain that on his return from America 
 he paraded " an insolent passion " for the Queen. 
 An adventure bearing on this subject, which 
 must have been very disagreeable to him, is 
 recorded. 
 
 " In order to attract the attention of the 
 Queen, he had the audacity to don her livery,
 
 LAUZUN AND THE QUEEN 99 
 
 to follow her about for a whole day wherever 
 she went, and to remain at night like a watch- 
 dog at the door of her apartment." 
 
 But this manoeuvre failed ; the Queen did 
 not observe him. 
 
 " He was about to give up the game, when, 
 at the moment of the Queen's alighting from 
 her coach on returning from a drive to Trianon, 
 it occurred to him to kneel on one knee, so 
 that she might put her foot on the other instead 
 of using the velvet carriage-step. Her Majesty, 
 much surprised, looked at him for the first time, 
 but, like the quick-witted and sensible woman 
 she was, she did not appear to recognise him. 
 She called a page : 
 
 " ' I beg, sir,' she said, ' you will have this 
 person dismissed ; he does not even know how 
 to open a carriage-door.' " 
 
 It must, however, be admitted that if Lauzun 
 displayed some vanity, even some insolence, in 
 regard to the Queen, the latter was not alto- 
 gether free from reproach. With the natural 
 coquetry of a pretty w T oman, she allowed him on 
 several occasions to perceive that she was not 
 insensible to his attentions, and he may have 
 considered that his boldness was authorised, or 
 at least excused, by her undeniable affability. 
 
 A masked-ball adventure was talked of, in 
 which " there was levity on one side and in- 
 discretion on the other." And there was the 
 story of the heron's plume. One day the Due 
 de Lauzun presented himself at a reception held 
 by Mme. de Guemenee, in uniform, " with a 
 helmet glittering with gems, and adorned with
 
 ioo A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 the most superb heron's plume that could 
 possibly be seen." 
 
 Marie Antoinette complimented Lauzun and 
 vehemently admired the plume. Lauzun im- 
 mediately resolved to give her the beautiful 
 feather, and begged Mme. de Guemenee to 
 convey it to her. The Queen might have re- 
 fused the gift of a subject, or, having accepted 
 it, left it in the bottom of a drawer ; but she 
 did neither ; she appeared one day with the 
 feather in her head-dress, and took care that 
 the Duke should remark it. In this there 
 was nothing wrong, but it was likely to be 
 misinterpreted, and certain not to pass un- 
 perceived. 
 
 The Queen, who had by degrees effectually 
 got rid of the formalities of etiquette, had no 
 notion of submitting to constraint with her 
 own friends. Before Fersen's return it was 
 not Lauzun who held the first place among 
 that favoured few ; it was not any of them 
 with whom public rumour was busy : it was 
 the Due de Coigny. 
 
 Count Tilly writes of him at the time of his 
 highest favour ; he was then forty-five years 
 old: 
 
 " Coigny was not a very handsome man, nor 
 was he very talented, but he was better than 
 either ; he had exquisite manner, perfect bear- 
 ing, a fine presence, a just and simple mind, 
 composure and politeness, a true heart which his 
 elevation had not corrupted or favour spoiled. 
 Coigny, who was beloved by all, had no enmity 
 towards any."
 
 THE NECKLACE 101 
 
 There is no doubt that at one time he had 
 great influence with the Queen. Lauzun gives 
 a proof of this in his Memoires. It was at 
 Choisy. He presented himself after an absence 
 to the Queen, who received him graciously, 
 manifested great pleasure on seeing him again, 
 and talked with him for a considerable time. 
 Afterwards he heard Coigny say to her she was 
 sitting near the door " You have not kept your 
 word ; you promised not to talk much with him, 
 and to treat him like everybody else." 
 
 Lauzun knew this applied to himself, and on 
 the Queen's approaching a few minutes later, 
 with the intention of speaking to him, he 
 said 
 
 " Take care ; you will get yourself scolded 
 again." 
 
 She seemed embarrassed, but recovered her- 
 self, and jested with him about the incident. 
 
 Was it surprising that the spite and jealousy 
 of the many found matter for comment in the 
 favour shown to a few by Marie Antoinette ? 
 And yet, all this was nothing in comparison 
 with " the affair of the necklace." 
 
 The story is w^ell known ; a brief recapitula- 
 tion of it is all that is necessary in this place. 
 Cardinal de Rohan was desperately anxious to 
 win the favour of the Queen, who had treated 
 him with marked coldness, and encouraged by 
 a scheming adventuress, Mme. de la Motte, who 
 was remotely and illegitimately connected with 
 the Valois family, he imagined that a princely 
 present, the gift of a necklace worth sixteen 
 hundred thousand livres, would soften the heart
 
 102 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 of Marie Antoinette. Mme. de la Motte, to 
 convince him of this, had got up the most 
 audacious comedy that ever was acted on any 
 stage, and, wonderful to consider, her audacity 
 succeeded fully. She had discovered among 
 women of a certain class one who was strikingly 
 like the Queen. A skilful disguise completed 
 the deception, and she took this woman one 
 evening into a grove in the park of Ver- 
 sailles. 
 
 The Cardinal came there by previous arrange- 
 ment with Mme. de la Motte, and he really 
 believed that it was Marie Antoinette herself 
 who let a rose fall from her hand at his feet, 
 and who murmured the words, " The past is 
 forgotten." 
 
 This scene filled the prelate with hope and 
 joy. He bought the famous necklace; but it 
 was easier for him to intrust it to Mme. de la 
 Motte to be handed over to the Queen, than 
 to pay the price of it to the Court jewellers. 
 The latter demanded their money, and Marie 
 Antoinette was involved in the scandal of this 
 dark intrigue, notwithstanding her innocence, 
 and indeed ignorance, of the matter. 
 
 For the moment it seemed that calumny was 
 to triumph, and the Queen to be overwhelmed 
 by the persistent statements of the wretch, La 
 Motte, who declared that she acted solely by 
 her Majesty's orders. The Cardinal, as much 
 through conviction of their truth as from pru- 
 dence, confirmed the woman's story, which was 
 fatal to the Queen. 
 
 Who was the woman, if not she, who had
 
 PERE LOTH 103 
 
 spoken in the nocturnal scene in the park of 
 Versailles ? 
 
 A strange chance upset Mme. de la Motte's 
 plan of defence, and happily disproved her state- 
 ments. 
 
 The trial had already begun, when one day 
 a friar-minor, Pere Loth, sought an interview 
 with the Procureur-General, and asked permis- 
 sion to make a full avowal, no matter what 
 disgrace it must involve to himself. Truth, and 
 the duty and fidelity he owed to the King and 
 Queen, constrained him to take this course. He 
 was received and heard, and his statement was 
 as follows : Being desirous to preach before 
 the Court, he had pondered how to secure the 
 permission of the Grand Almoner of France, 
 Cardinal de Rohan ; but as he was unknown to 
 His Eminence, he could not think of any means 
 of approaching him ; then he heard of Mme. 
 de la Motte and the great interest she possessed. 
 Access was more easy on this side ; he hastened 
 to make acquaintance with her, and was soon 
 on familiar terms. Thus it happened that he 
 had seen and heard many things which he did 
 not understand at first, but that might have 
 some bearing upon the case under investigation. 
 In particular he had one evening seen the 
 "demoiselle d'Oliva" (a name conferred for the 
 nonce on the woman d'Essigny) dressed, or 
 rather disguised, by Mme. de la Motte, and 
 had been so struck by her likeness to the Queen 
 that he had remarked upon it. He knew that 
 Oliva had been taken to Versailles the same 
 evening.
 
 104 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 He also named a certain Retaux de Villette 
 as the accomplice of Mine, de la Motte in the 
 affair. This person had taken flight, but Pere 
 Loth put the magistrates on his track, and he 
 was arrested in Switzerland. Oliva was also 
 brought out of her hiding-place, and the two 
 detected persons acknowledged their respec- 
 tive parts in the scheme. Oliva had personated 
 the Queen at Versailles, and Retaux had forged 
 the notes which the Queen was supposed to 
 have addressed to Cardinal de Rohan. Although 
 these notes were signed " Marie Antoinette de 
 France," the Cardinal, who certainly ought to 
 have had his suspicions aroused by so absurd 
 a signature, never doubted their authenticity. 
 
 The depositions of Pere Loth, Retaux, and 
 Oliva changed the aspect of things ; the trial 
 took place, and the truth was brought to light. 
 But the sentence acquitting the Cardinal on 
 the ground of " good faith " and condemning 
 Madame de la Motte, did not kill the scandal 
 or hinder its results. So hostile, it must be 
 admitted, was public opinion to the Queen, that 
 it caught at any opportunity of a demonstration 
 against that unfortunate woman. No one among 
 the masses would admit her innocence, although 
 it was real, and her culpability became a fixed 
 article of popular belief. 
 
 For several years past calumny against her 
 had taken various forms ; that of pamphlets and 
 newspapers, or gazettes, as they were then called, 
 in particular. Some time after the affair of the 
 necklace, a great number of louis-d'or on which 
 the King's head was represented with a horn
 
 "MADAME DEFICIT" 105 
 
 very skilfully and visibly stuck up in the hair, 
 were put in circulation. These coins, which 
 were called " Strasburg louis," because they were 
 struck in that town, excited the strongest indig- 
 nation at Versailles, all the more because the 
 Comte de Provence was believed to be the 
 author of this dastardly manoeuvre. 
 
 The thing was not at all impossible, and 
 seemed very like his ordinary conduct. Nay, 
 so mean an infamy was not even unlikely on the 
 part of the King's younger brother. He had 
 not forgiven his sister-in-law for becoming a 
 mother, and he had actually cast a doubt, on 
 the occasion of the baptism of Marie Therese 
 (Madame Eoyale), upon the parentage of the 
 children who were to bar him from, the throne. 
 He vehemently denied the allegation, and per- 
 haps he was not guilty. In this single instance 
 it is possible that he was wrongfully accused of 
 a crime against his own kin. 
 
 On the other hand, it was he who gave to 
 his brother's wife, to the Queen of France, the 
 nickname of Madame Deficit. This terrible nick- 
 name spread rapidly, and was eagerly adopted 
 by the populace, who hated her, so that in 
 the affair of the deficit, as in so many other 
 matters, she bore the responsibility of acts in 
 which she had taken only the very slightest 
 part. 
 
 No doubt, the Queen had incurred great 
 expense in the embellishment of the Petit- 
 Trianon ; no doubt she had been unwise in 
 her generosity in several cases, heaping money 
 and lucrative posts upon her creatures, the
 
 io6 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 Polignacs and others ; but the deficit, which had 
 long existed in the finances of the kingdom, and 
 had survived the first Necker Ministry, was in 
 no wise of her making. To clear her from that 
 accusation it needs only to mention the name 
 of Calonne. 
 
 M. de Calonne was chosen for the post of 
 Comptroller-General in 1783, for one of those 
 strong reasons which Figaro put so neatly 
 
 " II f allait un calculatettr." 
 
 We know the rest. Calonne himself was quite 
 frank on the point. 
 
 " The finances of France are in a deplorable 
 condition," he said to M. de Machault ; " you 
 may be sure that I should never have taken 
 charge of them but for the bad state of my own." 
 M. de Machault, in recording this speech, adds, 
 with his usual gravity and finesse " And yet I 
 had done nothing to merit so extraordinary a 
 confidence." 
 
 At his first interview with the new Comptroller- 
 General, Louis XVI. received a similar avowal. 
 
 " Sire," said Calonne, " I have just debts to the 
 amount of two hundred and twenty thousand 
 livres. A Comptroller-General might readily 
 find means to pay that sum, but I prefer to 
 confess the whole truth to your Majesty, and 
 to owe everything to your goodness." 
 
 The King, taken by surprise, had nothing to 
 say, and all he could do was to take out of his 
 cash-box shares in the Compagnie des Eaux to 
 the value of two hundred and thirty thousand 
 livres, and hand them to Calonne.
 
 KING AND MINISTER 107 
 
 This incident supplies the measure of the 
 audacity of the one man, and the stupid good- 
 nature of the other. We can judge what that 
 administration was bound to be. Calonne, who 
 had the generosity of a ruined man, and the 
 prodigality of a Minister who desires to secure 
 partisans, held by the axiom that one can only 
 get money if one is rich, and that one can only 
 pass for being rich by a lavish expenditure. 
 The worst of it was that this axiom verified 
 itself practically, at least for a certain time. 
 Calonne passed for a great Minister, a model 
 Comptroller-General. 
 
 " When I see everybody holding out their 
 hands," said a certain prince, who suited the 
 action to the word, " I hold out my hat." 
 
 Louis XVI. continued to admire his Minister. 
 It would have been interesting for an observer 
 to have been present at the interviews between 
 the two, when we think that in one single year 
 Calonne made cash payments to the amount of 
 one hundred and thirty-six millions, twenty-one 
 millions being paid on orders to bearer, while 
 the King, true to habits of petty economy, con- 
 tinued to note his expenses, without omitting 
 the smallest item, just as, when he was Dauphin, 
 he put down in the account-books which still 
 exist 
 
 " At Epinay, for a basin, six sous ; 
 
 " For six sheets of paper, four sous ; 
 
 " For some cotton, six sous ; 
 
 " At Epinay, for expense, four sous three deniers. . . . * 
 
 1 An obsolete coin, the twelfth part of a sou.
 
 io8 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 The wonder was that the bringing forth of coin 
 out of empty coffers lasted for three whole 
 years. But the hour came at last when the 
 model Comptroller had to acknowledge the state 
 of the Treasury (as it was still called by force of 
 habit) to the King. His usual adroitness did 
 not fail him on this occasion ; while admitting 
 the deficit, he took care to put forward a plan 
 for supplying it, and restoring order to the 
 finances of the kingdom. 
 
 " But it is Necker that you are giving me, 
 nothing but Necker ! " exclaimed the poor King, 
 who was equally embarrassed and distressed by 
 the position of affairs. 
 
 " Sire, in the actual state of things," replied 
 Calonne with imperturbable coolness, " nobody 
 can offer you anything better." 
 
 There was but one thing for Louis to do : 
 to dismiss the incapable Minister who had de- 
 ceived and led him to the brink of the precipice. 
 He did not do this ; he had been blind for three 
 years, he now allowed himself to be blinded 
 afresh by the promises of Calonne, and consented 
 to inaugurate the execution of his plan by con- 
 voking an Assembly of the Notables. 
 
 This had an ill sound in the ears of the nobles. 
 What ! royalty, which was absolute, to have 
 recourse to the advice of any Assembly whatso- 
 ever ! What was happening ? The effect was 
 deplorable, as d'Allonville testifies. 
 
 " I supped with Count Berchini," he says, 
 "towards the end of December 1786. The 
 Vicomte de Segur arrived from Versailles, and 
 was immediately surrounded and asked for news.
 
 A SENSATION 109 
 
 He put on an air of mystery, and said in a half- 
 whisper 
 
 " ' The news is very great and very important ; 
 you will hardly believe it.' 
 
 " ' What is it, then ? ' 
 
 " ' The Bang has just sent in his resignation/ 
 Everybody laughed, and wanted to know the 
 meaning of this joke. 
 
 " ' It is not a joke,' said Se*gur, and then told 
 them of the decree of the Council convoking an 
 Assembly of the Notables." 
 
 The people were too wise to rejoice. What 
 could " Notables," that is to say, persons privi- 
 leged by birth or by fortune do to meet so 
 enormous a deficit ? They could make sacrifices. 
 The small fry knew that it would be proposed 
 to the Notables to do this, but that they them- 
 selves would have to pay in the end. 
 
 Calonne's new plans excited ridicule instead 
 of inspiring confidence. Here is a specimen of 
 the criticism they received, in the form of a 
 theatrical announcement : 
 
 " Notice is hereby given, that the Comptroller-General has 
 formed a new Company of Actors, whose first performance will 
 take place before the Court on Monday, the 2Qth of this month ; 
 the chief piece will be Les Fausses Confidences, to be followed 
 by Le Consentement Forcd ; after which an allegorical ballet- 
 pantomime, composed by M. de Calonne, entitled Le Tonneau 
 des Dana'ides, will be given." 
 
 This arrow hit the blot ; the programme was 
 carried out from point to point. But although 
 the Notables were unable to find any remedy 
 for the state of affairs, their meeting was so 
 far useful that it revived the remembrance of 
 the States-General in the minds of the people. 
 
 6
 
 no A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 Certain tilings which made an impression were 
 said during the sittings, especially the follow- 
 ing weighty sentence : 
 
 " The States-General only have power to 
 decree the land-tax, such as is proposed." 
 
 Count Fersen, whose double service obliged 
 him to divide his time between Sweden and 
 France, had returned about this time, and was 
 then at Versailles. He was present at the last 
 sitting of the Assembly of Notables, and he 
 writes on the 25th of May 1787 "I am very 
 glad to have witnessed this ceremony ; it is 
 very imposing, and probably will not take place 
 again in our time. 
 
 " The results of the Assembly of Notables are 
 great reforms in the households of the princes ; 
 but the most of these apply only to old customs, 
 whose pompous ostentation escaped notice, and 
 which served no purpose except that of absorb- 
 ing an enormous sum of money. The Comte 
 d'Artois has already returned 400,000 livres to 
 the King out of the allowance for his household. 
 The reduction in the Queen's stables amounts to 
 100,000 crowns; in short, it seems that a firm 
 resolution to correct abuses so far as possible has 
 been taken. 
 
 " The King has already reformed his hunting 
 establishment the wild-boar and wolf-hounds, 
 the hawks, all that is called le vol, and the salary 
 of the Grand Falconer are to be suppressed, it is 
 said. There are other reductions that I do not 
 remember. A diminution by two-fifths of all 
 pensions above 10,000 livres is much talked of, 
 but this is not certain."
 
 FROM BAD TO WORSE in 
 
 No, that was not certain, any more than other 
 reforms, demanded not so much by the Notables 
 as by necessity, were certain. 
 
 In a few cases only reductions were carried 
 out, to the displeasure of all those who feared 
 that their own turn for revision might come. 
 Baron de Besenval promptly made himself the 
 mouthpiece of the malcontents. 
 
 " It is really dreadful," said he to the Queen, 
 who could do nothing at all in the matter, " to 
 live in a country where one is not sure of having 
 to-morrow what is one's own to-day. Formerly 
 it was only in Turkey that such a thing could 
 happen." 
 
 That a man who was not devoid of intelli- 
 gence and good sense should utter such words, 
 is an indication of an intellectual condition 
 in revolt against the lessons which events were 
 already indicating. When we recognise this we 
 are less surprised that Louis XVI. , being forced 
 to dismiss Calonne, because it was impossible 
 to hold out any longer against the attacks 
 made upon him, should have replaced him 
 by M. Lomenie de Brienne, Archbishop of 
 Toulouse, an ambitious prelate, who hid his 
 insignificance under his dignity, just as he 
 concealed a skin disease beneath his purple robe. 
 Everything went from bad to worse. 
 
 While these events, big with consequences and 
 danger for the future, were occurring in France, 
 things were becoming complicated in the North. 
 His sojourn in France had completely intoxi- 
 cated Gustavus III., who no longer thought of 
 anything but grandeur of every description,
 
 ii2 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 palaces, theatres, singers, and actors. In order 
 to realise his visions he had taken to spending 
 money which he did not possess, and, being 
 obliged to face the problem of ever-growing 
 debts, he resorted to deplorable measures. He 
 displeased the clergy by selling benefices, the 
 nobility by curtailing some of their privileges, 
 the middle classes by rescinding a portion of 
 their liberties, and the people by raising the 
 price of brandy. 
 
 The manifestation of opposition to his Gov- 
 ernment was too strong for the King to disregard 
 it ; he had to endeavour either to disarm or 
 to satisfy the general feeling. Yielding to his 
 adventurous nature, he endeavoured to get rid 
 of his difficulties by engaging in a war with 
 Russia. The least of the defects of this war 
 was its uselessness, and so convinced of the 
 fact were his troops, both the chiefs and the 
 soldiers, that they refused to obey his orders. 
 Gustavus was obliged to fly from his mutinous 
 army, and hastily returned to his kingdom, 
 where his position was seriously compromised, 
 when an invasion by the Danes, who threatened 
 Gothenburg, gave him an opportunity of recover- 
 ing his prestige and his authority. 
 
 Without loss of time he mustered six thousand 
 of his faithful Dalecarlians, marched upon the 
 Danes, and forced them to retreat. The inter- 
 vention of Prussia and England did the rest, 
 and Gustavus III., more lucky than wise, got 
 happily out of the scrape which he had created 
 for himself. Count Fersen, who shortly before 
 had been made captain-lieutenant of the body-
 
 M. 3>E STAEL 113 
 
 guard, followed him in this double campaign, 
 but the services he rendered the King were 
 insignificant in comparison with those expected 
 of him. 
 
 The position of Gustavus III. respecting the 
 Court of France was very difficult. The chi- 
 valrous and arbitrary King of Sweden did not 
 favour the new ideas which were dawning on 
 Europe at the end of the eighteenth century, 
 and he considered the maintenance of the cause 
 of the monarchs always and everywhere one of 
 his most imperative duties. Now, it was easy 
 to perceive, from symptoms only too signifi- 
 cant, that the throne of Louis XVI. was already 
 tottering ; and Gustavus, who was more than 
 ever desirous of obtaining exact information 
 upon the state of things in Paris, felt that it 
 was essential to have a man placed there on 
 whose fidelity, zeal, and discretion he might 
 absolutely reckon. 
 
 He might have employed his own ambassador, 
 M. de Stael, for this purpose ; but M. de Stael, 
 the first victim of his new family relations, had 
 been won over to liberal if not revolutionary 
 ideas ; he leant towards the parties who were 
 hostile to the royal family. To remove the 
 ambassador was out of the question. On the 
 occasion of his marriage, M. de Stael had 
 obtained a promise from the King that his 
 ambassadorship should last for six years at 
 least, and that, in case unforeseen circumstances 
 should lead to his being deprived of it, he 
 was to receive an equivalent place, or an annual 
 pension of 20,000 livres. This was certainly
 
 ii 4 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 paying very dearly for the honour of having 
 Mdlle. Necker's husband for his ambassador, 
 but Gustavus had committed the imprudence, 
 and he had only indirect means of repairing 
 its unpleasant or harmful results. 
 
 He therefore directed Baron Taube to form 
 a sort of secret Ministry of Foreign Affairs for 
 things appertaining to France, and he consti- 
 tuted Count John Fersen his secret representa- 
 tive at Paris, a sort of ambassador in partibus. 
 
 This organisation began its work in 1788, and 
 the two Swedes did their best to annihilate the 
 influence of Mme. de Chicogne (their nickname 
 for Mme. de Stae'l). The curious situation led 
 to a double and necessarily contradictory corre- 
 spondence, and the King and Queen of France 
 were apprised of this, so that the documents 
 might not become a source of endless confusion. 
 
 " The King commands me also to inform 
 you," wrote Baron Taube to Count Fersen, 
 " that all the despatches to Stae'l are written in 
 the sense of the Revolution ; he means to feign 
 that he pays attention to what he (Stae'l) says, 
 but this is only to ascertain their real projects 
 and their views. The King commands you to 
 inform the King and Queen, so that they may 
 make no mistakes. You will assure them that 
 the King will never vary in his sentiments and 
 in his attachment to them, and this he will 
 endeavour to prove to them under all circum- 
 stances." 
 
 Gustavus III. could not have chosen a more 
 safe ambassador, or one more agreeable to 
 those to whom he was accredited. Louis was
 
 A SECEET AMBASSADOR 115 
 
 charmed to see the Swedish gentleman, who 
 was famous for his military exploits, and faith- 
 ful to the old ideas and the old races. As for 
 Marie Antoinette, the hour of danger had come ; 
 many wavering friendships had forced her to 
 see that the powerful err by ceasing to be or to 
 appear powerful, and she could not fail to rejoice 
 in knowing that a man was near her whose 
 heart she possessed, and who so different from 
 many others would be all the more devoted 
 with her increasing need of his devotion, as the 
 moment for putting it to the proof approached. 
 
 The presence of Count Fersen was naturally 
 explained by the functions which he had accepted. 
 Was he not colonel of the Royal Sue'dois ? His 
 regiment was in garrison at Maubeuge, Valen- 
 ciennes, and neighbouring towns ; he visited these 
 from time to time, returning frequently to Paris, 
 according to custom at that period. 
 
 Paris was not so far from Versailles but that he 
 also found his way to Trianon. Those were happy 
 days for him, passed in that sweet and already 
 old companionship ; and Marie Antoinette also 
 was happy in the society of her faithful friend. 
 
 It was during one of his visits to Trianon 
 that she gave him her portrait, a miniature by 
 Roquet, and a pocket-book, with the following 
 lines written on the first leaf : 
 
 " Qu'ecrirez-vous sur ces tablettes ? 
 Quels secrets leur confierez-vous ? 
 Ah ! sans derate elles furent faites 
 Pour les souvenirs les plus doux ! 
 En attendant qu'a cet usage 
 Le souvenir soit employe, 
 Qu'il soit permis a 1'amite 
 D'en remplir la premiere page."
 
 n6 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 Although Lafont d'Aussonne remarks that 
 " French poetry had a thousand charms for the 
 heart of Marie Antoinette, and she cultivated it 
 with success," the question whether these lines 
 are really the Queen's has not been settled. But 
 what does it matter? By the care with which she 
 wrote them out herself, she made them hers, and 
 the evidence of her affection was equally precious 
 to him who was honoured by it. 
 
 Count Fersen passed in France the year that 
 preceded the outbreak of the greatest events 
 which have yet taken place in the internal his- 
 tory of a nation. His intellect, thoughtful and 
 sagacious as it was in the ordinary course of life, 
 was not sufficiently lofty to forecast, however 
 imperfectly, the great work that was about to 
 be accomplished ; but the agitation of men's 
 minds did not escape him, and it made him 
 fear another, and far more dangerous, kind of 
 agitation that of appetites let loose, and an 
 era of violence opening upon France. 
 
 " All men's minds are in a ferment; nothing is 
 talked of but a ' constitution ; ' the women especi- 
 ally are joining in the hubbub, and you know as 
 well as I what influence they have in this country. 
 It is a mania, everybody is an administrator and 
 can talk only of progress ; the lackeys in the ante- 
 chambers are occupied in reading the pamphlets 
 that come out, ten or twelve in a day, and I do not 
 know how the printing-presses can do the work." 
 (Paris, loth December 1788.) 
 
 The secret ambassador of Gustavus III. found 
 it difficult to understand how the French people 
 could take so much pleasure in reading " those
 
 THE MISERY OF THE PEOPLE 117 
 
 pamphlets." He was imbued with all the ideas 
 of the past, with all the prejudices of the old 
 social order ; he was one of the privileged caste ; 
 he did not see what the philosophers of the age 
 had accomplished ; the destruction of the old 
 society, hunted down by the wit of Voltaire, 
 and the reconstruction of a new society elabo- 
 rated by the genius of Eousseau. 
 
 He felt nothing of what the people felt. 
 But the people like the blind who are conscious 
 of obstacles which they do not see, who scent 
 danger and find the right way by a marvellous 
 instinct the people felt that something great 
 was in preparation for them. 
 
 A man of genius might have given it to them ; 
 an intelligent prince might have helped them to 
 take it ; the weak and narrow-minded descen- 
 dant of the Bourbons tried to snatch it from 
 them ; and so he let loose the storm. 
 
 And no matter what has been or may be said, 
 the people were the chief victims of that awful 
 time. Everything seemed to combine to exas- 
 perate them. In the months prior to the assem- 
 bling of the States-General, the already serious 
 distress was increased, and a winter of unex- 
 ampled severity added to its gravity. The 
 cold was so intense that infants were frozen in 
 their cradles, the rivers were frozen, the roads 
 were frozen : how was wheat sufficient for the 
 food of millions to be provided ? Dearth set in, 
 and famine was impending. 
 
 Those dark days were but forerunners of darker 
 days to come.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The 5th of May at the door of the Menus-Plaisirs The States- 
 General The taking of the Bastille Count Fersen's im- 
 pressions October days The mob at Versailles The 
 Queen in danger The Royal Family returns to Paris 
 The Journal of Louis XVI. Count Fersen at Aix-la- 
 Chapelle Baron Taube The Fete of the Federation 
 Political news Incidents of the i8th of April 1791 
 Preparations for departure Uneasiness among the people 
 Vigilance of Citizens Busebi and Hucher The 2ist of 
 June M. Lemoine enters the King's bedchamber It is 
 empty Disappearance of the Royal Family Commotion 
 in Paris Au bceuf couronnd. 
 
 " WHAT more is wanted ? " replies Figaro in La 
 Folle Journee, when Count Almaviva bids him 
 arrange the salon for the public audience : 
 " The big arm-chair for you, a stool for the 
 clerk, good chairs for the plain honest people, 
 two benches for the lawyers, the floor for the fine 
 folk, and the riff-raff at the back. The floor- 
 polishers (frotteurs) may go now." Figaro's 
 sally raised a laugh, but that it had not cor- 
 rected anybody became only too evident in the 
 early days of the Revolution. 
 
 On the 5th of May 1789, a considerable 
 crowd- assembled before a small side-door of 
 the great hall known as the Salle des Menus- 
 Plaisirs at Versailles. Those who composed 
 this crowd were dressed in a sort of uniform, 
 or rather in a sort of livery, for their costume 
 was extremely simple, black coat, breeches, 
 
 118
 
 THE FIFTH OF MAY 17 9 119 
 
 and stockings, a short cloak of some woollen 
 stuff, a cambric collar, and a three-cornered 
 hat, such as the inferior clergy wore. They 
 talked in groups, some coolly, others with ani- 
 mation ; all were grave and stern. At length 
 the door was opened, and through that modest 
 portal they slowly passed into an immense hall, 
 magnificently decorated, and lighted from, the 
 roof which was supported on pillars by three 
 skylights, a very large one in the centre, and two 
 smaller ones at either end. White silk blinds 
 placed before these apertures rendered the light 
 soft and pleasant. Behind the pillars were 
 graduated rows of benches filled with spectators. 
 
 In the centre of the hall, within a space 
 twenty feet long and fifty feet wide, arrange- 
 ments had been made on a plan exactly corre- 
 sponding with that of Figaro. 
 
 At the far end was the throne, under a rich 
 gold-fringed canopy, beside it an arm-chair for 
 the Queen, court- stools (tabourets) for the prin- 
 cesses, and folding-seats (pliants) for the princes ; 
 on the right were the seats reserved for the 
 clergy ; on the left those for the representatives 
 of the nobility. 
 
 In the lower part of the hall were rows of 
 forms ; these were intended for the deputies of 
 the Third Estate. 
 
 The men dressed in black who had entered by 
 the small side-door were the six hundred deputies 
 of that order, and they had been purposely 
 snubbed beforehand by being obliged to don a 
 costume symbolical of their so-called inferior posi- 
 tion, according to an old and ridiculous usage.
 
 120 
 
 Thus did the people make their entry into the 
 Assembly of the States - General. Eelegated 
 to the lower end of the hall, they confronted 
 from thence the heir of all their kings, the 
 successors of those who, by their virtues and 
 their learning, had made the Church of France, 
 and the descendants of the warriors and states- 
 men who had served king and country. 
 
 The spectacle they contemplated was very 
 different from that which they presented ; the 
 bishops were arrayed in purple robes with lace 
 rochets, the curds in large cloaks and square 
 caps, the nobles wore cloth of gold and silken 
 mantles, Henri IV. hats, and had swords by 
 their side. 
 
 What effect could the sombre array of the 
 Third Estate produce in the presence of all this 
 brilliancy and magnificence of costume ? It 
 must surely be eclipsed by such a show. This 
 was not so, however. Already, in the procession 
 through the streets of Versailles the day before, 
 it was the men in black to whom the sympathy 
 and the acclamations of the crowd were given ; 
 and again the people were for the men in 
 black, with whom the hopes ' of all those who 
 toil, pay, and suffer, had entered through that 
 small side-door. Only a few years were to pass 
 before the men on whom it was intended to 
 play a good trick by forcing them to wear the 
 garb of mutes, would justify that expedient by 
 "conducting" the funeral of the monarchy, the 
 clergy, and the nobility. 
 
 Count Fersen, still in France, divided his 
 time between Paris and Valenciennes. He had
 
 A TIME OF UKREST 121 
 
 been affected by the course of events to the 
 extent of having his pension of 20,000 livres 
 reduced to 13,000, in consequence of the dimi- 
 nishing resources of the Treasury. 
 
 He augured nothing good from the state of 
 things. He did not comprehend the great 
 movement that was upheaving the French 
 nation ; he recognised only the disorder and 
 confusion accompanying the emission of ideas, 
 new and absurd to him and to those of his 
 caste. He wrote to his father (26th June 
 1789): 
 
 " The ferment is extreme ; you know what 
 French heads are, and you can easily picture to 
 yourself to what turbulence they may be roused, 
 but you could never have imagined the in- 
 decency of all this, and God knows how it 
 will end!" 
 
 He takes note of a few instances in which the 
 King was inclined to resist, but he is chiefly 
 anxious because "they are not sure of the 
 French soldiery, and are obliged to employ for- 
 eigners as much as possible." 
 
 Not all foreigners, however, for Louis XVI. 
 had just dismissed his Genevese Minister, Necker, 
 and replaced him by "men of his own." The 
 dismissal of Necker was not a bad move ; " the 
 great man infected with popularity " was no 
 better able to cope with events than another. 
 The misfortune was that the King should have 
 replaced Necker as President of the Council 
 by Baron de Breteuil, of whom the Marquise 
 de Fleury said, not without justice, " The 
 Baron is not merely stupid ; he is a fool."
 
 122 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 The old Marshal de Broglie was made Minister 
 of War. 
 
 The result of these appointments came with 
 promptitude. Fersen writes on the 22nd of 
 July : " The populace have seized upon the 
 Bastille and massacred M. de Launay, the 
 governor, in a horrible manner. They took 
 36,000 muskets from the Invalides ; all vehicles 
 were stopped in Paris ; every one had to go on 
 foot, and the mob reviled the nobility." 
 
 These violent acts of the populace led to a 
 fresh concession by the King, who had said, 
 " I will not have one single man perish in my 
 quarrel." Necker was recalled. 
 
 This was a good opportunity for the princes 
 to come forward and prove their courage and 
 resolution. Much was expected of the young 
 Comte d'Artois, who posed everywhere as a 
 defender of the rights of the monarchy, and 
 was the first to condemn his brother's weakness ; 
 but that expectation was soon dispelled. The 
 Comte d'Artois, more prudent than valiant, 
 bent upon taking care of himself rather than 
 the royal authority for which he professed so 
 much solicitude, thought proper to get away im- 
 mediately with his children, thus setting the 
 example of emigration and giving the signal for 
 the exodus. 
 
 The three princes, Conde', Conti, and Bourbon, 
 followed him, and Baron de Breteuil, that he 
 might not be taken for a fool this time, 
 promptly put the frontier between himself and 
 his fellow-countrymen. 
 
 These successive departures augmented the
 
 TUMULT AND DESERTION 123 
 
 evils of the time by increasing the popular 
 suspicion. What was it all those princes, all 
 those nobles, had gone abroad to seek ? Safe 
 shelter for themselves in the first place, but also 
 enemies for France. The effect of the emigra- 
 tion was, therefore, to diminish the number of 
 the champions of royalty, and to create fresh 
 enemies for it. 
 
 The popular fear grew apace, and found utter- 
 ance in violence. A disturbance that took place 
 at Valenciennes w r as easily put down, but 
 tumults arose constantly in Paris, and at the 
 same time desertion was largely increased. 
 Fersen writes on the I5th of August: "It is 
 said that, according to the reports made by 
 the regiments to the War Office, there have 
 been, since the i^th of July, twelve thousand 
 seven hundred and fifty deserters, not reckoning 
 the Gardes Frangaises. . . . There is no longer 
 law or order, justice, discipline, or religion in the 
 kingdom : all bonds are broken, and how are 
 they to be reconstituted ? I cannot tell ; but 
 such is the effect of the progress of learning, of 
 Anglo-mania, and philosophy. France is ruined 
 for a long time." 
 
 On the 3rd of September he writes : 
 
 " All bonds are broken, the authority of the 
 
 King is gone, and Paris is trembling before 
 
 forty or fifty thousand ruffians (bandits) or 
 
 vagabonds. In the provinces the people are 
 
 full of the notion that the philosophers have 
 
 been disseminating for so long, that all men 
 
 are equal ; and the abolition of feudal and 
 
 other rights, upon which the Assembly decided
 
 i2 4 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 in three hours, and after supper, has persuaded 
 them that they need not pay anything. . . . 
 The nobles are in despair, the clergy are like 
 men suddenly gone mad, and the Third Estate 
 is very ill-content. Several regiments have re- 
 volted ; some have even struck their superior 
 officers. In our garrison it has not yet come 
 to this, but the soldiers, having forced the gates 
 of the quarters and the town, and gone out to 
 drink in the country, committed terrible out- 
 rages there for three days together. The third 
 day they would have pillaged and set fire to 
 the town had not the drums beat to arms ; 
 then, with the assistance of the town militia, 
 we restored quiet and order. 
 
 " If I were writing from Paris, I could not 
 venture to tell you all this ; the epistolary 
 inquisition has been very active there ; even 
 the letters of the King and Queen have not 
 escaped it." 
 
 At this particular moment Count Fersen 
 left his garrison at Valenciennes and came to 
 Versailles, in obedience either to a suggestion of 
 his own heart or to a request. Events speedily 
 proved to him that his presence was likely to 
 be useful. 
 
 The ferment, which was increasing in Paris, 
 gave rise to well-founded fears for the safety 
 of the royal family, and also for that of the 
 National Assembly. At Versailles there was 
 no longer any force capable of resisting the 
 slightest popular movement : since the deser- 
 tions and the decomposition of the regular army, 
 the means of defence was reduced to a small body
 
 VERSAILLES IS THREATENED 125 
 
 of militia. Now Versailles was beginning to be 
 directly threatened by Paris. This was openly 
 stated ; the plans of the rioters were no secret 
 to any one, and the fact was known to Mira- 
 beau, who spoke freely of it to one Blaisot, a 
 bookseller at Versailles. 
 
 " My dear Blaisot," said he, " out of regard 
 for you I wish to give you notice that in a 
 few days you will see great troubles, and even 
 horrors : blood will be shed at Versailles. I 
 warn you of this, so as to keep you from any 
 personal uneasiness : good citizens like you 
 have nothing to fear." 
 
 Loustalot wrote in his Journal : " There must 
 be another fit of revolution; everything points 
 to this." 
 
 The Comte de Saint-Priest, the only brave 
 and active Minister, resolved to resist the pre- 
 announced attack, and summoned the Flandre 
 regiment, one of the few that could still be 
 trusted. 
 
 But even precautions became dangers in those 
 disastrous days. The arrival of the soldiers 
 aroused the anger of the patriots, and that 
 anger rose to fury when the events of the ist 
 and 2nd of October became known. 
 
 The body-guards had invited their comrades 
 of the Flandre regiment to a banquet, which 
 was given by permission of their Majesties in 
 the theatre of the chateau. The officers and 
 soldiers were excited by the generous wines, 
 and by the presence of all the distinguished 
 personages still remaining at the Court, by 
 whom the tiers of boxes were crowded ; their
 
 126 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 enthusiasm was fired by the entry of the King 
 followed by the Queen, carrying the Dauphin 
 in her arms, and when the orchestra greeted the 
 royal visitors with the well-known strains of " 
 Richard I 6 mon roi ! I'univers t'abandonne" 
 they were carried away beyond all restraint, and 
 madly cheered their Majesties. Then followed 
 an extraordinary scene. They tore off their 
 tri-coloured cockades, replaced them by white 
 ones hastily made up with ribbons which 
 the women who were present detached from 
 their dresses, and then, forming an escort to 
 the royal personages, they left the scene of 
 the banquet and went out into the great court- 
 yard, frantically renewing their expressions of 
 loyalty. 
 
 Louis XVI. had not sufficient firmness to 
 stop these dangerous manifestations at once ; 
 the Queen enjoyed the acclamations, to which 
 she was no longer accustomed ; everybody was 
 carried away by the enthusiasm of their faith- 
 ful champions, which they took for a forecast 
 of victory. 
 
 The awakening was terrible. Paris thrilled 
 with rage when these occurrences, amplified 
 and distorted by rumour, were related. " Was 
 patrouillotisme to get the better of patriotism ?" 
 according to a caricature of the day. What 
 disgrace for the conquerors of the Bastille ! 
 But no, no ! that should not be. Out of their 
 lairs came the frantic populace ; Maillart was 
 there ; the hags and shrews followed him ; the 
 Faubourgs rose in tumult : the starving mob 
 was roused to fury against the feasting soldiery.
 
 THE MOB AT THE CHATEAU 127 
 
 All the scoundrels and beggars of Paris marched 
 upon Versailles. 
 
 It was the 5th of October. The old capital 
 of the kings was quiet, and the royal family, 
 reassured by the joyous shouts that still echoed 
 in their ears, had dispersed to follow their 
 respective inclinations in the employment of 
 that peaceful day. Louis XVI. was stag-hunt- 
 ing in the neighbourhood of Rambouillet, 
 Marie Antoinette had sought the quiet of 
 Trianon, Madame Elizabeth had gone to Mon- 
 treuil, and Mesdames, the King's aunts, were 
 at Bellevue. 
 
 The news of the approach of the mob spread 
 quickly ; the King returned in haste to the 
 palace, and received a deputation of women, 
 who clamoured for bread. Then came parley- 
 ing, in the attempt to gain time. Marie 
 Antoinette had left Trianon ; the family, col- 
 lected together, were conjecturing whether she 
 would take advantage of the still - remaining 
 possibility of flight, and so escape from the 
 threatening populace, when Lafayette ap- 
 peared. Lafayette had endeavoured to stop, and 
 then to moderate, the tumult. Finding either 
 impossible, he assembled a few battalions of 
 the National Guard and followed the mob, in 
 the hope of preventing any great calamity. 
 His presence certainly moderated the popular 
 violence. 
 
 Night fell, and redoubled the fear, if not 
 the danger, of the unhappy persons shut up in 
 the chateau. Fersen was with the Queen, 
 and, if we are to believe a statement made by
 
 128 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 Mme. Campan, reported by Lord Holland to 
 Talleyrand, and embodied in the Memoires of 
 the latter, he did not leave her for a moment, 
 even following her into her bedroom, and when 
 the tumult was revived by one of the body- 
 guards firing a shot, he escaped in disguise from 
 that room, which anybody might invade. 
 
 He did not go away, however ; the danger 
 was too great and the defenders were too few. 
 The night passed in terror for the royal family, 
 their attendants, and the body-guard. At 
 length, the dawn came ; the crowd, with ever- 
 increasing numbers, was still there, howling 
 under the windows, and ever above the up- 
 roar rose the shout, "Down with the Austrian 
 woman ! " 
 
 Lafayette was in the chateau ; he was unable 
 to quell the tumult, and equally unable to in- 
 duce the King and Queen to submit to the will 
 of the crowd, who desired to bring them back 
 to Paris. The cries and threats were redoubled. 
 What was to be done ? 
 
 Time was passing, and the popular fury was 
 increasing with every moment. Lafayette had 
 an inspiration. 
 
 " Madame," he ventured to say to the Queen, 
 " what is your personal intention ? " 
 
 In the hour of peril the daughter of Maria 
 Theresa showed all the courage of her race. 
 
 " I know the fate that awaits me," she 
 replied firmly, "but my duty is to die at 
 the feet of the King, and in the arms of my 
 children." 
 
 " Then, Madame, come with me ! " said
 
 ON THE BALCONY 129 
 
 Lafayette ; and lie moved as though to lead 
 her to the balcony facing the crowd. 
 
 Brave as she was, Marie Antoinette hesi- 
 tated. 
 
 " What ! alone upon the balcony ? Have 
 you not seen the signs that have been made 
 to me ? " 
 
 In truth, those signs were equally terrible 
 and expressive. 
 
 "Yes, Madame, let us go there," insisted 
 Lafayette, who risked his own life by this 
 act. 
 
 Fersen was present. By a look the Swedish 
 gentleman gave fresh courage to the Queen of 
 France. She decided instantly, and valiantly 
 walked forward into the view of the people. 
 Lafayette could not speak ; his voice would 
 not have been heard. He resorted to a 
 " hazardous but decisive sign : " he took the 
 Queen's hand and kissed it. 
 
 This action worked an instantaneous change. 
 Courage, daring, produced their usual effect ; 
 the conquered crowd passed from rage to ad- 
 miration ; a great clamour arose, carrying to 
 the astonished ears of the actors in this scene, 
 cries of " Long live the General ! " " Long 
 live the Queen ! " 
 
 But, whether it found voice in shouts or in 
 howls, the will of the crowd had to be obeyed. 
 
 They intended to bring back " the baker, 
 the baker's wife, and the little baker's boy," to 
 Paris. They believed that they would be safe 
 from court-plots when they should have the 
 royal family in their possession. No resistance
 
 could be offered, and preparations were made 
 for the return. At half-past two the carriages 
 were ready, and the royal prisoners set out 
 for Paris. Count Fersen followed with the 
 members of the King's household. 
 
 Paris was not reached until evening ; it was 
 dark, and the long - disused Tuileries, sombre 
 and silent as a tomb, received the unfortunate 
 royal family. There were scarcely enough dis- 
 mantled beds and rickety chairs for their use. 
 Some articles of furniture were hastily procured ; 
 it seemed as though the new-comers were but 
 temporary lodgers in that ancient dwelling of 
 the kings. 
 
 Count Fersen settled himself in Paris, in 
 the Rue du Bac ; he would not leave those to 
 whom he was bound, not so much by his diplo- 
 matic mission, as by his affection for them. 
 
 On the Qth of October he informs his father 
 of these sad events. 
 
 " I witnessed everything, and I returned to 
 Paris in one of the King's carriages ; we were 
 six hours and a half on the road. May God 
 preserve me from again beholding so afflicting 
 a spectacle as that of those two days ! The 
 people seemed enchanted to see the King and 
 his family. The Queen was warmly applauded, 
 and she cannot fail to be when she is known, 
 and justice is done to her desire for good 
 and the kindness of her heart. The States- 
 General are about to come to Paris, and will 
 begin their sittings, but I do not yet know the 
 day." 
 
 After the storm came the calm that ensued
 
 THE KING'S JOUKNAL 131 
 
 on all the violent crises of the time. Louis 
 XVI. indicates this in his journal : 
 
 " October 5. Killed twenty-one head at the Chatillon 
 gate ; interrupted by events ; went and returned on horse- 
 back. 
 
 " 6. Departure for Paris at half-past two ; visit to the 
 Hotel de Ville ; supped and slept at the Tuileries. 
 
 " 7. Nothing. My aunts came to dinner. 
 
 " 8. Nothing." 
 
 The winter was a dismal time for the royal 
 family. The people of Paris, excited by the 
 increasing poverty and the stormy discussions of 
 the National Assembly, which reached them in 
 an exaggerated and envenomed form through 
 the gazettes or the speeches of the club orators, 
 had ceased to regard the King and Queen with 
 either affection or respect. The Queen con- 
 tinued to be the object of terrible threats. The 
 situation grew worse day by day, and it was 
 very difficult to hope for a revulsion in public 
 opinion. 
 
 Count Fersen was alive to the danger of pro- 
 longed inaction, although his ardent devotion 
 to Marie Antoinette and his great admiration 
 of her had led him into certain delusions. Thus, 
 although he writes to Gustavus III., on the yth 
 of January 1790, that "the King's party was 
 already much strengthened in the Assembly 
 and in the provinces," that " the courage, the 
 firmness, and the good conduct of the Queen 
 had brought many people back to her," he did 
 not persuade himself into false security. He 
 had gone to Valenciennes to meet Baron Taube, 
 and had passed a week with him there.
 
 132 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 Baron Evert Taube, lieutenant- general and 
 first gentleman of the King's chamber at the 
 Court of Sweden, possessed the entire confidence 
 of Gustavus III., and as he was a most intimate 
 friend of Fersen, the two had been chosen, as 
 we have seen, as the safest and most active 
 intermediaries for the secret negotiations to be 
 carried on between the Tuileries and Stockholm. 
 All the correspondence passed through their 
 hands, and never were more faithful agents 
 employed in the service of the royal prisoners. 
 After they had conferred together and agreed 
 upon the course to be taken, they parted ; Taube 
 went back to Sweden, and Fersen set out on 
 his return to France. He proceeded so far as 
 Aix-la-Chapelle, from whence he wrote a long 
 letter to his King, thanking him anew for 
 the mission he had confided to him. He did 
 not reach Paris until the i7th or i8th of 
 January. 
 
 From that moment he carried on an active 
 correspondence with Sweden. It was of two 
 sorts, the one, addressed to Gustavus III., being 
 entirely political, the other, addressed to his 
 father, containing the narrative of his impressions 
 according to the progress of events under his 
 observation. 
 
 His comments possess deep interest and are 
 very curious, for they are those of a witness 
 as impartial as it was possible for him with his 
 old monarchical creed to be. His severe judg- 
 ment of Necker is justified. 
 
 "M. Necker," he writes, "as ignorant in ad- 
 ministration as he is said to be learned in
 
 APPKECIATIONS 133 
 
 finance, and imbued with the philosophic ideas, 
 never bethought him that it was necessary to 
 make friends for the King. He regarded the 
 means of persuasion as hardly honest ; he 
 wanted to count as an honest man among rogues, 
 and he merely to be reckoned their dupe. His 
 unbounded self-esteem made him believe that 
 he could persuade them ; but English money 
 had stronger and more irresistible arguments to 
 oifer. M. Necker is not guilty of ignorance 
 only, he is also guilty of treason. He desired 
 to be the people's Minister, to reign through 
 the people, and to force the King into being 
 unable to do without him ; he has sacrificed 
 the King and the State to his ambition. It is 
 true that he has been punished for this, for his 
 influence is now gone ; but his punishment is no 
 remedy for anything, and the King has been 
 wrong in not reigning through him, seeing that 
 he cannot reign without him. 
 
 " Among the Ministers, only M. de la Luzerne 
 and M. de Saint-Priest mean well to the King ; 
 the others are all fools or rascals, in whom no 
 confidence can be placed. M. de Saint-Priest 
 combines character and firmness with ability, 
 and if occasion arise he is the only one on whom 
 the King can lean. I get on very well with 
 him ; his house is mine ; he showers kindness, 
 politeness, and confidence upon me. Through 
 him I know everything that takes place ; he even 
 consults me frequently. Notwithstanding all 
 this, I only tell him what I think fit ; prudence 
 is more than ever necessary" (ist February 
 
 1790). 
 
 7
 
 i 3 4 A FRIEXD OF THE QUEEN 
 
 "You will see by the public papers what a 
 state the army is in ; there is no longer either 
 order or discipline. Everything is turned up- 
 side down. The soldiers form committees, break, 
 try, and often execute their officers" (28th of 
 June 1790). 
 
 In the midst of this disorder a great fete 
 was organised. The idea of this feite was fine, 
 and its effect could not fail to be imposing. 
 The Constituante decreed that on the i/j-th of 
 July, in order to celebrate the taking of the 
 Bastille, an immense assembly, composed of 
 envoys from all the departments, should take 
 the oath of fidelity and obedience to the new 
 Constitution. The idea was novel as well as 
 patriotic, and it was admirably carried out. 
 The people were delighted with the place 
 selected ; it was the Champ -de - Mars, sur- 
 rounded by raised sod seats ; in the centre an 
 altar was erected. The people had not yet 
 learned to dispense with the forms of religion. 
 The ceremony began with a Mass. One indi- 
 vidual who had the honour to officiate would 
 have passed unnamed, had he not afterwards 
 won universal renown, although he ultimately 
 discarded his sacred calling. The celebrant was 
 the Bishop of Autun, M. de Talleyrand -Peri- 
 gord, who owed solely to his episcopal dignity 
 a favour from which the faults of his youth, 
 the scandals of his private life, and his well- 
 known unbelief ought to have debarred him. 
 His evil reputation had inspired Chenier with 
 the following epigram :
 
 A SILENT APPEAL 135 
 
 u Roquette clans son temps, Perigord dans le notre 
 Furent deux eveques d'Autun ; 
 Tartufe est le portrait de 1'xme, 
 Ah ! si Moliere eut connu 1'autre ! " 
 
 But individuals were effaced by the majesty 
 of the place and the grandeur of the idea in this 
 great manifestation of France as a whole : the 
 vast federated multitude marching past with 
 their banners before the King, the Assembly, 
 and the Municipality formed so impressive a 
 sight that all the spectators were enthralled by 
 it. The Queen herself, sharing the general 
 emotion, held up her son in her arms and 
 showed him to the people, as though she would 
 commend him to their love. 
 
 The people, enraptured in their turn, for- 
 got their wrath, their resentment, and their 
 suspicions for a brief space, and responded by 
 prolonged acclamations. 
 
 Count Fersen was present at this spectacle, 
 but the cool spirit of the North is not readily 
 inflamed, and the Swede was alive only to the 
 minor points of that federation, or at least he 
 dwelt upon these only. In the account which 
 he sends to his father, he describes the people 
 of the lower class who were present as making 
 the tour of the amphitheatre, singing and " danc- 
 ing as savages do before devouring a Christian." 
 
 It is evident that he shared the impressions 
 which these revolutionary festivals made upon 
 the partisans of the old regime, who con- 
 descended to mock at them, after the fashion 
 of the opposition in every country and at all 
 times. In a dossier of the Revolutionary Tri- 
 bunal there is a song which was seized at the
 
 136 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEIST 
 
 abode of Mme. Quatresols de Marolles ; it seems 
 amusing enough to be reproduced here. 
 
 SONG. 
 
 To the air : Ah I le bel oiseau, vraiment I 
 
 Oh ! queu superbe serment ! 
 Comm'ga t'on n'en verra guere. 
 Oh ! queu superbe serment, 
 S'il n'y cut ni pluie ni vent. 
 
 Figurez-vous le Champ-de-Mars, 
 Qu'est bien plus grand qu' not' cimetikre j 
 II dtait tout plein d'soudarts 
 Qu'avaient quasi 1'air de guerre. 
 Oh ! le superbe serment, &c. 
 
 Malgre c'te pluie et le vent, 
 On tit denier 1's armees. 
 Je m'disais en les regardant : 
 Ah ! bon Dieu ! que d'poules mouillees 1 
 Oh ! le superbe serment, &c. 
 
 Fallait voir nos deputes 
 Dont queuques-uns faisaient la moue, 
 C'etaient de vrais culs crottes 
 Qui se trainaient dans la boue. 
 Oh ! le superbe serment, &c. 
 
 II y a t'un' chos' sapendant 
 Qui m'aniige et qui m'oppresse. 
 
 ga fait du tort au serment : 
 'est 1'boiteux qu'a dit la messe. 
 Oh ! le superbe serment ! 
 Comme ca t'on n'en verra guere, 
 De ce superbe serment 
 Qu'etait si beau, qu'etait si grand i 
 
 Us disaient que ce jur'ment 
 N'etait pas de bonne trempe, 
 Ce s'rait dommage vraiment 
 Si c'netait que d'la detrempe. 
 
 Oh ! queu superbe serment ! 
 
 Comm' a s'ra biau en estampe I 
 
 Oh ! le superbe serment ! 
 
 La n'y aura ni pluie ni vent !
 
 COUNT FERSEN'S IMPRESSIONS 137 
 
 The harmless song quoted above caused 
 Mme. de Marolles to be sentenced to death and 
 executed. 
 
 Eeturning to the impressions of Count Fersen, 
 it is but fair to note that in his letter to Baron 
 Taube he does not omit what may pass for a 
 favourable symptom, but relates with satisfac- 
 tion that there was a good deal of " Long live 
 the King," " Long live the Queen," " Long live 
 the Dauphin," but no other " vivats." 
 
 He is careful to record the impression which 
 Marie Antoinette produced upon the deputies 
 from the provinces. " They were enchanted 
 with the Queen," he writes ; " she bestowed 
 upon them all the kindness and graciousness 
 of which she can be so lavish." 
 
 Is he not too partial when he sums up 
 his impressions in these words : " The cere- 
 mony was ridiculous, indecorous, and con- 
 sequently unimportant, notwithstanding the 
 stage on which it was performed, which was 
 superb " ? 
 
 The Fe"te of the Federation, by the happy 
 hazard of events, afforded an opportunity which 
 would have enabled a spirited and energetic 
 prince to regain his wavering rule over subjects 
 still inclined by ancient custom towards the 
 object of their former veneration. Paris, still 
 quiet enough and safe enough for individuals, 
 was not satisfied with the Assembly, which 
 was not fulfilling its promises to the city 
 quickly enough. Therefore, Count Fersen hopes 
 that " when once the discontent has risen to its 
 height, the new order of things will be over-
 
 138 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 turned as quickly as the old ; this will be 
 effected by the vivacity and the levity of the 
 French." The King got finally rid of Necker, 
 of whom it was said that " he gargled his throat 
 with all the virtues, but did not swallow one 
 drop of any of them." Mirabeau was making 
 approaches to the Court party, and thus it 
 was believed that M. de Lafayette, " that poor 
 rascal," whose sworn enemy the great orator 
 was, might be successfully opposed. 
 
 Unfortunately nothing availed to change the 
 character of Louis XVI. " He feels his posi- 
 tion keenly," writes Fersen to Baron Taube on 
 the 7th of March 1791, "but he has not the 
 gift of expressing himself, or saying pleasant 
 tilings." The Queen only was equal to the 
 occasion : " her courage never fails, and it is 
 impossible to admire her sufficiently." 
 
 Such was the state of things when fresh inci- 
 dents again altered the situation and precipi- 
 tated events. 
 
 The King, who never paltered with anything 
 that touched his religious principles, objected 
 to the ministrations of a priest who had taken 
 the oath to the Constitution. He had, there- 
 fore, decided upon fulfilling his Easter duties 
 at Saint-Cloud. On the 1 8th of April 1791 he 
 gave his orders accordingly. The carriages were 
 drawn up in the courtyard, the King, the Queen, 
 the Children of France, and Mme. de Tourzel 
 came down and took their places ; but they 
 were hardly seated before the National Guards 
 surrounded the carriages and refused to allow 
 them to start. In vain did Lafayette press
 
 THE BEGINNING OF CAPTIVITY 139 
 
 forward and try to speak to these madmen. 
 They would not listen to him, and declared 
 that they would prevent the departure of 
 the King, whom they called " an aristocrat, 
 and a fat pig." "He is paid twenty-Jive 
 millions" they cried ; " the least he can do is 
 our will" 
 
 The Queen ventured to interpose. 
 
 " There's a nice b to give orders ! " they 
 
 shouted. Lafayette, indignant at this disgraceful 
 and ridiculous scene, asked the King whether it 
 was his pleasure that force should be used to set 
 him free and to cause the law to be respected ; 
 but Louis would only repeat the same sentence, 
 " I will not have blood shed for me ; when I am 
 gone you may employ any means you please to 
 cause the law to be respected." 
 
 In the meantime, the postilion was threatened 
 with death if he stirred, and the outrider narrowly 
 escaped hanging. If the King had not decided 
 upon closing the discussion by re-entering the 
 chateau, blood would have been shed, and the 
 law would have been broken without waiting 
 for his departure. 
 
 It was impossible to prove more clearly to 
 the royal family that they were captives in 
 Paris, or to make a plainer suggestion of flight, 
 since a resolution to offer open resistance to 
 the rapid advance of the Eevolution could not 
 be put into the mind or the heart of the King. 
 
 The mass of the people understood this in- 
 stinctively, and a vague uneasiness got abroad. 
 Not that they cared for the King not that 
 they considered his presence useful to the
 
 i4o A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 working of the Constitution ; but they knew 
 very well that the King, free, in a frontier town 
 or in a foreign country, could not fail to unite 
 the enemies of France and inspire the adversaries 
 of the Revolution with ardour that would be 
 dangerous to the whole nation. 
 
 Thus every one dreaded to learn that Louis 
 XVI. had eluded the vigilance of his keepers, 
 and with the passage of time this fear grew. 
 Simple citizens turned themselves into spies 
 and sentinels. Camille Desmoulins relates an 
 incident which occurred on the night of the 
 2oth of June 1791, as follows : 
 
 "That night, one Busebi, a wigmaker in the 
 Rue de Bourbon, called on one Hucher, a 
 baker, and sapper in the battalion of the 
 Theatines, in order to impart to the latter his 
 fears founded on what he had just learned 
 concerning the King's arrangements for flight. 
 They hastened on the instant to arouse their 
 neighbours, and, some thirty persons being 
 assembled, they went immediately to the abode 
 of M. de Lafayette, and informed him that 
 the King was about to fly ; they then demanded 
 that he (Lafayette) should take immediate 
 measures to prevent this. M. de Lafayette 
 laughed, and advised them to return quietly 
 to their homes. They asked him for the pass- 
 word, so that they might not be stopped, and 
 he gave it to them. When they had procured 
 the password, they directed their steps towards 
 the Tuileries, where they could perceive no 
 movement ; a number of hackney - coachmen 
 were, however, drinking at the little moveable
 
 FLIGHT! 141 
 
 booths close by the gate of the Carrousel. 
 They then proceeded to inspect the -courts 
 up to the gate of the Riding-School, in which 
 the sittings of the Assembly were held, but 
 perceived nothing suspicious. On their return, 
 they were surprised to find only one hackney- 
 coach on the stand. All the others had dis- 
 appeared." 
 
 A few hours afterwards a rumour spread 
 through the city. It was said that at seven 
 o'clock in the morning, M. Lemoine, the King's 
 valet-de-chambre, having entered his master's 
 room according to custom, heard no sound, 
 and drew back the curtains of the bed. No 
 one was there ; the bed was empty ! 
 
 He gave the alarm, and a search for the 
 King was instituted. The attendants rushed 
 into the rooms occupied by the Queen, the chil- 
 dren, and Madame Elizabeth all were empty ! 
 There was no doubt about it ; the royal family 
 had fled ! The news spread from the Tuileries 
 to every quarter of the city. The department 
 of the municipality was informed of the event, 
 and upon their order three cannon-shots were 
 fired. 
 
 At this alarm-signal, the crowd flocked to 
 the Tuileries. Everybody inquired, all wanted 
 to know. The news was speedily confirmed ; 
 and the consternation was great at first, but 
 the people soon recovered themselves, and pro- 
 ceeded to the Assembly : " Our King is there," 
 they said : " Louis XVI. can go whither he 
 pleases." 
 
 They tried to make out how he had fled.
 
 1 42 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 False reports were already in circulation ; it 
 was said that the King had escaped by a 
 canal attainable from the Pavilion de Flore, 
 and that Bouilld had taken him and conveyed 
 him to Metz. 
 
 Then, according to the difference of tempera- 
 ment, the people were filled either with anger 
 or with fear. Some there were who rejoiced, 
 and as every event lends itself to comic treat- 
 ment, a facetious citizen pasted up the following 
 notice on a wall of the Tuileries : 
 
 " Notice is hereby given to the citizens, that 
 a fat pig has run away from the Tuileries : 
 those who may meet with him are requested 
 to bring him back to his sty ; they will receive 
 a moderate reward." 
 
 This was not all : the popular fury vented 
 itself in smashing things ; all the royal emblems 
 and memorials were attacked ; escutcheons and 
 fleur-de-lys were torn down. Insult was added 
 to injury, and some wags, inspired by a happy 
 thought which would have become the Comte 
 de Provence, actually forced a humble tavern- 
 keeper to take down his signboard, which bore 
 these words : " Au bauf couronne"
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Flight contemplated The plan of M. de Breteuil The Marquis 
 de Bouille Count Fersen is charged with the negotiations 
 Intervention of the Emperor of Germany Movements 
 of troops on the frontier Baron de Goguelat Forces at 
 the disposal of M. de Bouille Plan of journey Reims 
 to be avoided Stages so far as Montmedy Goguelat 
 reconnoitres the route The King's commands transmitted 
 to Bouille Preparations in Paris Baroness Korff The 
 berline Meeting of Count Fersen and the Due d'Orleans 
 at Vincennes The Tuileries watched Doors made in the 
 wood panelling Persons associated with the projected 
 flight : Count Fersen, Mme. Sullivan, Colonel Crawford 
 Lafayette Mesdames de Tourzel, Brunier, and de Neuville 
 The body-guards, Messieurs de Valory, du Moustier, and 
 de Maldent The 2oth of June in Paris The final pre- 
 parations Count Fersen at the Tuileries A chest of 
 pistols and bullet-casting Leaving the Tuileries Incidents 
 Count Fersen disguised as a hackney-coachman At 
 Bondy Separation First relay Pourboires too liberal 
 The royal family think they are out of danger A saying 
 of Louis XVI. His imprudence He is recognised by 
 various persons Pont Sommevesle Commotion caused 
 by the presence of the detachment commanded by Choiseul 
 and Goguelat Sainte - Menehould M. d'Andoins He 
 warns the King to hasten onward Drouet the postmaster 
 and Guillaume A quartermaster escapes and pursues, 
 but does not come up with them Clermont M. de 
 Damas Drouet arrives at Varennes at a quarter to twelve 
 o'clock The Procureur of the commune is warned The 
 bridge barred The berline arrives and cannot pass Arrest 
 of the travellers The alarm-bell The National Guard 
 in arms M. Destez The King makes himself known 
 The night at Varennes Goguelat attempts to deliver the 
 King Louis XVI. tries to gain time M. de Bouille does 
 not appear Arrival of Messieurs Romeuf, aide-de-camp 
 to Lafayette, and Baillon Departure from Varennes for 
 Paris Incidents Murder of M. de Dampierre Meeting
 
 144 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 at Epernay with the three commissaries sent by the 
 National Assembly Barnave, Latour - Maubourg, and 
 Petion Potion's narrative Paris re-entered The attitude 
 of the population The King's Journal. 
 
 SINCE the October "days" and the return to 
 Paris, no doubt could exist that the royal 
 family were in danger, not only from the 
 decisions of the National Assembly, but also 
 from the angry passions of the multitude. 
 Over these the representatives of the nation 
 had no influence, and the King could not con- 
 trol them by force, the army having in reality 
 ceased to exist. 
 
 Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette had looked 
 around them for the means of safety, or rather 
 for saviours. Those who presented themselves 
 were not inconsiderable persons. The greatest 
 in renown, and by right of his genius, was 
 Mirabeau. In his capacity of agitator, Mira- 
 beau could estimate the force of the storm, since 
 it was he who had let loose the winds ; but 
 since he had passed over to the side of the 
 Court he required a force to count upon, and 
 did not want the royal authority to be com- 
 pletely annihilated. Accordingly, ever since 
 October he had been advising the King to with- 
 draw himself from the demagogic influences of 
 Paris. By this he did not mean flight ; on 
 the contrary, it was his idea that Louis XVI. 
 ought to depart quite openly, in the noonday, 
 to the knowledge and in the sight of everybody, 
 as a constitutional monarch making use of his 
 prerogative, and to retire either to Fontaine- 
 bleau or to some other royal residence, near
 
 A TAEDY RESOLUTION 145 
 
 enough to Paris to keep up the feeling that 
 royalty was still present, far enough off to 
 afford protection against a surprise like that of 
 October, and where the nucleus of a faithful 
 army, capable of resisting the National Guards 
 of " Gilles Cesar" as he called Lafayette, might 
 be formed. 
 
 Marie Antoinette would readily have adopted 
 this course, but Louis XVI. , with his usual 
 indecision and apathy of mind, could not arrive 
 at a decision, but said Yes one day and No the 
 next. Precious time was lost by his indeci- 
 sion, and the project, which might have been 
 easily realised in 1789, and was still possible 
 in 1790, became utterly visionary in 1791; 
 this was proved by the incidents of the i8th 
 of April. 
 
 In fact, the King and Queen distrusted Mira- 
 beau ; what he proposed seemed suspicious as 
 emanating from him, and while the execution 
 of his plan was indefinitely postponed, they 
 lent an ear to more trustworthy friends (as it 
 was believed) of the monarchy. The Marquis 
 de Bouille, w^ho was in command at Metz, en- 
 treated the King to make a pretext of war- 
 threats for seeking refuge in his army. The 
 Emperor Leopold could easily be induced to 
 mass some troops upon the frontiers, so as to 
 frighten France and render the departure of the 
 King from Paris legitimate. A device of M. de 
 Breteuil, which was not very different from that 
 of M. de Bouille, was adopted. The idea was to 
 fly from Paris to a place on the frontier, from 
 whence the royal family might either reach a
 
 146 A FEIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 foreign country if their lives were in danger, or 
 return to Paris if events were favourable to the 
 King's cause. 
 
 This project was neither the bold expedient 
 proposed by Mirabeau, nor the plain and open 
 line of action proposed by Bouille ; it was 
 adopted, nevertheless, because Breteuil, more 
 than any other adviser, had the King's ear, 
 and also because the King was unlucky, and 
 always chose the wrong instead of the right 
 alternative. 
 
 From November 1790 the idea of flight be- 
 came rooted in his mind. Yet he could neither 
 face it without perturbation nor prepare to carry 
 it out with firmness. He read the history of 
 England assiduously, and particularly the reigns 
 that seemed to him to be most analogous to his 
 own, those of Charles the First and James the 
 Second. He was frequently heard to remark 
 that the sentence of death pronounced upon 
 Charles the First was due to the fact that he 
 had entered into a war with his subjects, and 
 that if James the Second lost his crown, it was 
 because he fled from his kingdom. These 
 examples, which were constantly in his mind, 
 shook his already faltering resolution. It re- 
 quired all the persistent efforts of those who 
 were about the King to drag him out of his 
 prolonged inaction. 
 
 Early in November 1790 the Marquis de 
 Bouilld had written a long letter to the King 
 in cipher, requesting that a decision to put the 
 plan of retiring to a frontier town into execu- 
 tion, should be arrived at without delay. In
 
 BOUILLE 147 
 
 taking this step, the Marquis de Bouille was 
 actuated by motives which it will be useful to 
 state. He was not one of those irreconcilable 
 royalists who hated the Kevolution by instinct, 
 and recognised only two courses to be taken 
 in regard to it either forcible resistance or 
 emigration. On the contrary, indeed, he had 
 received the new ideas with favour, in so far 
 as they remained compatible with the preserva- 
 tion of royalty. Constitutional monarchy was 
 his ideal, therefore a king was necessary to him, 
 and his staunch adherence to Louis XVI. was 
 more political than chivalrous. 
 
 When he found that the King was a prisoner 
 in Paris, he immediately resolved to oSer him 
 the means of safeguarding the prerogatives 
 which the Constitution granted him. 
 
 Bouille, commanding the troops in Alsace, 
 Lorraine, Champagne, and Franche-Comte, was 
 the only general who had preserved his authority 
 over his soldiers ; he alone had not yielded 
 before tumult. In the preceding summer, the 
 garrison of Nancy having mutinied, he forced 
 the troops to return to their duty by prompt 
 and stern repression ; this had procured him the 
 thanks of the National Assembly. 
 
 His firm conduct, added to the prestige 
 which he had acquired by his campaigns in 
 India, in the Colonies, and in America, had 
 preserved some remains of discipline among 
 his troops. He believed he could count upon 
 a few faithful battalions, and this conviction, 
 which was shared by the King and Queen, made 
 them accept his overtures. From the time they
 
 148 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 received his letter, the royal couple, agreed upon 
 the goal of the enterprise, began to prepare 
 the details of its execution. 
 
 They were so closely watched that it was out 
 of their power to take an active and personal 
 part in the arrangements ; it was for them now 
 to find a man who would become the soul of 
 the plot. This man must have full liberty to 
 communicate with the persons whose aid would 
 be necessary in preparing for the projected 
 escape, without arousing attention, without ex- 
 citing suspicion. 
 
 It would have been easy to find, among the 
 gentlemen loyal to the monarchical cause who 
 had remained in France, some who would have 
 welcomed such an appeal to their fidelity. The 
 King's choice, guided by the Queen, fell upon a 
 foreigner, if, indeed, under the circumstances, 
 the term can be applied to the friend whom 
 she selected. That friend was Count Fersen. 
 
 Although the Queen's selection gave rise 
 to dissatisfaction among the French when it 
 became known afterwards the Due de Levis 
 made himself the echo of this sentiment, de- 
 claring her choice to be " unbecoming in more 
 than one respect" it is no less true that it 
 was a foregone conclusion, and it is readily 
 explained now that we know the relations of 
 the Swedish gentleman with the Court of 
 France, and his passionate attachment to Marie 
 Antoinette. 
 
 Count Fersen, to whom the plan was im- 
 parted from the first, left nothing undone to 
 ensure its success, and although he may be
 
 "FESTINA LENTE" 149 
 
 accused of some mistakes, neither his activity 
 nor his zeal can be questioned. 
 
 In February 1791 he made an allusion to the 
 probable flight of the King in writing to Baron 
 Taube : "If the King of France left Paris, which 
 will probably happen" &c. . . . He was already 
 endeavouring to prepare the minds of the sove- 
 reigns for this event, so that he might have 
 recourse at need to their moral and material 
 support. 
 
 Although the project was in course of fulfil- 
 ment, " Festina lente" was the order of the day. 
 But the slow hastening was accelerated by the 
 death of Mirabeau, which occurred unexpectedly 
 on the 2nd of April 1791, and dispelled every 
 lingering hesitation by removing, if not the last 
 chance, at least the last illusion of safety. The 
 Marquis de Bouille was informed that the plan 
 of flight was finally adopted. Louis XVI. and 
 his family would escape from Paris, and would 
 place himself under the protection of the troops 
 at Montmedy, not far from the frontier of 
 Luxembourg. On receipt of this news the 
 General set to work at once. Convinced of the 
 necessity of accounting for the movements of 
 troops by the appearance of a danger from with- 
 out, he applied for the support and complicity 
 of " the foreigner." 
 
 " The movement of the Austrian troops on 
 the frontier is necessary," he wrote to Fersen. 
 "It is indispensable that a body of troops 
 should arrive from Luxembourg, and some 
 squadrons be placed at Verton and Arlon, and 
 that some other points should be garrisoned ;
 
 without this I might not be able to get out of 
 Metz, and to send out four German and Swiss 
 battalions, which form the only garrison at 
 present, and I could not make the mounted 
 troops distributed about the flat country march 
 on the frontier. If the Emperor sincerely desires 
 to serve the King, he must lend himself to this 
 plan and hasten the march of the troops upon 
 Luxembourg." 
 
 The Emperor w r as quite sincerely disposed 
 to serve the King, his brother-in-law, and the 
 negotiation with him, carried on by means of 
 Fersen and Mercy Argenteau, did not meet with 
 any difficulty. 
 
 In April, Bouille' had sent Baron de Goguelat, 
 a half -pay officer on the staff, and famous 
 for having grossly insulted the Due d'Orleans, 
 to Paris. Early in May Louis XVI. sent him 
 back to Bouille with a letter in cipher, announc- 
 ing that, in accordance with the wishes of the 
 latter, the Austrian troops would be sent back 
 to Arlon about the 1 2th of June, and that the 
 King himself would set out on the 1 5th. 
 
 The date seemed far off, but this could not be 
 helped, for two reasons. The first was that, as 
 we have seen, the Austrians would not be ready 
 sooner ; the second was that a large sum of 
 money was necessary, and the King desired, 
 before he set out, to get possession of the two 
 millions of his Civil List, which were paid to 
 him within the first fortnight of each month. 
 
 The forces of the Marquis de Bouille, suppos- 
 ing them to be faithful, were sufficiently strong 
 to secure the safety of the royal family. They
 
 THE KOUTE 151 
 
 were composed of twelve battalions, twenty- 
 three squadrons, and an artillery train of sixteen 
 guns. Bouille received 993,000 livres in assig- 
 nats, hidden in a white silk cover. This sum 
 was ample for the defraying of the necessary 
 expenses. The King kept four millions for him- 
 self, and, anticipating the case of his attempting 
 something after his escape, he had charged M. 
 de Bombelles to request the Emperor to give 
 him " his credit for a loan of fifteen millions," 
 in default of the loan itself. 
 
 The route adopted at first was " Meaux, Chalons, 
 Reims, He-Bethel, Pauvre," as Fersen informed 
 Bouille. The Marquis did not approve of this. 
 
 " On reflection," he wrote, " the shortest, 
 safest, and plainest route is by Meaux, Mont- 
 mirail bear in mind that the road to Mont- 
 mirail must be taken at La Ferte-sous-Jouarre 
 Chalons, Sainte-Menehould, Varennes, Dun, and 
 Stenay, not passing through Eeims." Then 
 he added, " Here is the route in detail : from 
 Paris to Meaux, ten posting-leagues ; from 
 Meaux to La Ferte'-sous-Jouarre, five ; from La 
 Forte* to Montmirail, nine ; from Montmirail to 
 Chalons-sur-Marne, fourteen ; from Chalons to 
 Sainte-Menehould, ten ; from Sainte-Menehould 
 to Varennes, five ; from Varennes to Dun, five ; 
 from Dun to Stenay, three; from Stenay to 
 Montmedy, two. You can see this route on the 
 map of the Departments. It comes altogether 
 to sixty-one posting leagues. 1 By setting out 
 at night and travelling the following, they will 
 arrive within the second day." 
 
 1 The figures are not correct : it comes to sixty-three leagues.
 
 152 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 The plan of avoiding Reims was readily 
 adopted, in that the town was larger, and 
 besides, Louis XVI. had been crowned there, 
 and would consequently run a greater risk of 
 being recognised. 
 
 The route being fixed, there remained the 
 question of the precautions to be observed. 
 From Paris to Chalons, it was impossible to 
 think of taking a single officer of a military 
 post into confidence not one was safe. Even 
 to Chalons body-guards could not be sent : " the 
 town had demanded to have no more of them; " 
 but after Pont-Sommevesle, a little village situ- 
 ated between Chalons and Sainte-Menehould, the 
 route lay within Bouille's command ; it was pos- 
 sible to place detachments here and there. 
 
 A certain incoherence in the mind of the 
 organisers of the enterprise makes itself mani- 
 fest on this point. Count Fersen wrote at first : 
 " The most essential point of all is the security 
 of the flight ; an escort dispersed along the route 
 must be had ; one shudders to think of the 
 horrors that might occur if they were betrayed 
 and arrested " (gth May). 
 
 A few days later his view is somewhat 
 changed. He writes : " There will be no need 
 of precautions from here to Chalons ; the best 
 of all is to take none ; everything must depend 
 upon celerity and secrecy, and if you are not 
 sure of your detachments, it would be better not 
 to place any, or at least not to place them until 
 after Varennes, so as not to excite attention in 
 the country. The King will then pass quite 
 simply"
 
 PEOPHETIC FEAES 153 
 
 These almost prophetic fears were realised 
 only too fully, to the misfortune of the fugi- 
 tives. 
 
 Bouille took no account of them, thinking 
 himself " sure of his detachments." He kept the 
 Eoyal Allemand regiment at Stenay, and sent 
 a squadron of hussars to Dun ; two squadrons 
 of dragoons were to be at Clermont on the day 
 when the King should pass. These squadrons, 
 commanded by the Comte Charles de Damas, 
 would bring a detachment to Sainte-Menehould, 
 while fifty hussars of the Varennes troop were 
 to proceed to Pont-Sommevesle, under the con- 
 duct of young Choiseul and Goguelat. 
 
 A rumour was to be spread that these unusual 
 movements of troops were for the purpose of 
 escorting a treasure. 
 
 On the 27th of May the King writes to 
 Bouille that the departure is fixed for Sunday 
 evening, the iQth of June, that he will leave 
 Paris in a hackney-coach, and have himself con- 
 veyed to Bondy, where he will take the berline 
 prepared for the journey. A body-guard will 
 be at Bondy, and will go on alone to apprise 
 the General, in case of the failure of the attempt 
 to escape. 
 
 So that there might be no surprise, and that 
 the detachments should not be stationed too 
 long beforehand in localities fermenting with 
 revolutionary ideas and full of the disturbance 
 that was spreading all over the kingdom, 
 Bouille gave Goguelat a final charge to recon- 
 noitre the route stage by stage, ascertaining 
 precisely the number of leagues between the
 
 154 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEJS 1 " 
 
 different relays, and the number of hours neces- 
 sary to accomplish the distances. 
 
 Goguelat acquitted himself of this duty with 
 the greatest care, and returned to Bouille, from, 
 whom Fersen received the following little note, 
 dated the 7th of June : " Goguelat will have 
 told you all. Nothing is altered, the departure 
 is fixed for the 1 9th ; if this is changed, I will 
 inform you by the courier of the nth. If you 
 receive nothing by him, it will mean that there 
 is no change." A few days afterwards, Fersen, 
 still using his cipher, which, as he believed, 
 could not be detected, begged the General to 
 send Goguelat again to Paris, instead of the Due 
 de Choiseul, as the King wished to see him. 
 " No one is more staunch," wrote Fersen, " but 
 he is a young man and flighty ; I dread some 
 indiscretion ; he has too many friends, relations, 
 and perhaps a mistress, to save." 
 
 The letter arrived too late ; the Due de Choiseul 
 had already set out; He reached Paris at five 
 o'clock in the morning on the 1 1 th of June. 
 His conduct did not in any respect justify 
 Fersen's fears ; but the injunction which he 
 renewed at the close of his letter was only 
 too well justified. " Make yourself very sure 
 of the detachments, or place them from Var- 
 ennes only." 
 
 Everything was arranged, the Marquis de 
 Bouille' left Metz on the I3th of June, on 
 pretext of an inspection. On the i5th he was 
 at Longwy, where he received the following 
 communication from Fersen :
 
 A DAY'S DELAY 155 
 
 " i$th June 1791. 
 
 " The departure is positively fixed for the 
 2oth, at midnight. An ill-conditioned woman 
 in attendance on the Dauphin, who cannot be 
 got rid of, and whose turn of service lasts until 
 Monday, is the cause of the put-off until Monday 
 evening, but you may reckon upon that time. 
 .... The King will have a red coat, and will 
 make himself known according to Choiseul's 
 report of the spirit of the troops. ... I am 
 well content with the Due de Choiseul. If all 
 should fail, he will be at Metz on Friday morn- 
 ing, but if not, you may set out on Sunday 
 morning, and reckon upon the departure from 
 hence at midnight on Monday. There was no 
 means of getting rid of this woman without 
 risking discovery. If, by chance, your marching 
 orders for the detachments have been sent off 
 already, you might delay their departure for 
 one day on the pretext that the quarters are 
 not ready." 
 
 At the same time Bouille' received a letter 
 from the King confirming the delay of twenty- 
 four hours, and informing him that the Marquis 
 d'Agoust, whom he had been particularly recom- 
 mended to take with him, was not to be of the 
 party. There was, in fact, no room for the 
 Marquis, Mme. de Tourzel, as Governess of the 
 Children of France, having claimed her right 
 to be with them. Let us observe here respect- 
 ing this statement, which was contained in 
 the King's letter, and repeated by Bouille', 
 that it discredits the protestations of Mme.
 
 156 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 de Tourzel, who defended herself against the 
 charge of having made any such claim. It 
 was clearly the interest of Mme. de Tourzel to 
 deny that she had taken the place of a man 
 like the Marquis d'Agoust, who possessed both 
 head and heart ; and it is impossible to assign 
 a motive for the King's writing such a thing to 
 Bouilld, or for the Tatter's inventing it. On 
 behalf of Mme. de Tourzel, who was apparently 
 very glad to make her escape with the royal 
 family, it may be urged that she could not have 
 foreseen the incidents which caused the fugi- 
 tives to regret so bitterly, not her presence, 
 but the absence of the Marquis d'Agoust. 
 
 Louis XVI. had appended the following order 
 to his letter : 
 
 " By the King. 
 
 " My intention being to proceed to Montmedy 
 on the approaching 2Oth of June, the Sieur 
 Bouille', lieutenant-general of my armies, is 
 ordered to place troops, according as he shall 
 think proper for the safety of my person 
 and that of my family, along the route from 
 Chalons-sur-Marne to Montmedy ; it is my 
 will that the troops employed for this pur- 
 pose execute all that shall be prescribed by 
 the said Sieur Bouille, who is hereby rendered 
 responsible for the orders which he shall give 
 them. 
 
 "Given at Paris the i5th of June 1791. 
 
 " Louis." 
 Furnished with this paper, Bouilld proceeded
 
 THE KING'S ORDER 157 
 
 to Stenay oil the 2oth of June ; then on the 
 2 1 st he informed the general officers that the 
 King was about to pass, and remitted the King's 
 order to them, with the addition of the usual 
 formula : 
 
 " M. de Mandell, the officers, sub-officers and 
 troopers of Koyal Allemand are enjoined to 
 execute and cause to be executed the present 
 order. 
 
 " BOUILL& 
 
 " Stenay, 2 ist of June 1 791." 
 
 The Due de Choiseul, and Goguelat, were sent 
 to Pont Sommevesle, the most distant post from 
 Stenay, and consequently the nearest to Chalons. 
 Their instructions were to let the King pass 
 unnoticed if he were not recognised, and not 
 to mount until some hours afterwards ; but, if 
 he was recognised, to make every effort to 
 deliver him, taking care to inform the General 
 immediately. 
 
 M. de Choiseul had received 17,000 livres on 
 leaving Metz for Paris on the Qth of June ; a 
 second sum of 80,000 livres was now remitted 
 to him and to M. de Damas, for the purpose 
 of sustaining or stimulating the fidelity of 
 their men. 
 
 The day was wearing through on the 2ist, 
 and M. de Bouille, who was exceedingly anxious, 
 received no news. At last his impatience got 
 the better of him ; his fears grew with the 
 darkness. He mounted his horse, rode away 
 from Stenay accompanied by a few officers, 
 and advanced to the gates of Dun, but did not
 
 158 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 venture to enter, fearing to agitate the people 
 by his presence. There he waited, perplexed 
 and uneasy : the safety of the royal family 
 was not his only care ; he well knew all that he 
 was personally risking in an adventure which 
 must compromise him terribly if it should fail. 
 Every sound made him start ; was it the berline 
 arriving, and bringing, with the King, the cer- 
 tainty that he (Bouille) had really won the 
 marshal's baton which had been sent to him 
 some days previously by the hands of Leonard, 
 the Queen's hairdresser a singular messenger ? 
 Or was it Choiseul, or the body-guard who was 
 to be sent to announce to him that the flight 
 had failed, and that he would have barely time 
 to secure his personal safety ? 
 
 Meanwhile, the carriages which contained the 
 royal family and their suite were advancing 
 towards Varennes ; but the end of the journey 
 had yet to be reached, and although the dan- 
 ger seemed to lessen as the distance between the 
 fugitives and Paris was increased, it still existed. 
 
 It was a miracle that the carriages had ever 
 travelled so far, for it must be owned that 
 never had flight been arranged with more 
 devoted zeal and less judgment. Since the 
 details of these events have become known, our 
 wonder is how the fugitives were able to get 
 out of the Tuileries, to pass the gates of Paris, 
 and so nearly to gain the frontier. 
 
 The preparations made in Paris ought to 
 have attracted the attention of the Munici- 
 pality, the National Guard, and the police. It 
 was like an escape in a comic opera.
 
 THE BERLINS 159 
 
 In the first place, there was the singular idea 
 of having a special carriage, a huge berline, 
 built for the occasion. That such a vehicle 
 was in course of construction could not be kept 
 secret, and its imposing and uncommon bulk 
 could not fail to attract the attention of all 
 who saw it in motion. Bouille had proposed 
 that two small English post-chaises, of a light 
 and convenient kind, frequently used for post- 
 ing-journeys, should be employed; but his 
 advice was not taken, and a certain Mrs. Sulli- 
 van, who was friendly to the royal family, had 
 been employed to procure the desired vehicle. 
 Representing herself to be Baroness Korff, a 
 Russian lady of rank, she ordered a berline, 
 to accommodate nine persons easily, six inside 
 and three upon the box, from Jean Louis, a 
 coach-builder. It was no light matter to build 
 such a vehicle ; it took time, and as it was 
 important to have this unwieldy means of 
 flight always at hand, Baroness Korif was per- 
 petually at the coach-builder's yard, pressing 
 him with entreaties to hurry on his work- 
 men. 
 
 At last, the berline was ready for the 
 road on the I2th of March. On the 26th, 
 Jean Louis, who had been at heavy expense, 
 sent in his bill, which amounted to 5944 
 livres. The King immediately sent him 2600 
 livres on account, by the pretended Baroness 
 Korff. 
 
 The final touches were given, and the machine 
 was worth the price, if we are to believe the 
 description of it, compiled from the bill, by
 
 160 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 Eugene Bimbenefc, formerly Clerk of the Court 
 of Orleans : 
 
 "This must have been a handsome travel- 
 ling-carriage, for 5944 livres represented a 
 very important sum in 1791 ; it was a com- 
 bination of the solid and the rich. In the 
 interior, luxurious decorations and skilful de- 
 vices hid the provision made for the material 
 necessities of life. The net of the imperial 
 was adorned with silken cords and tassels ; 
 portable pockets were hung on the carriage 
 doors, to contain the articles usually required 
 in travelling ; small bolsters covered with taffety 
 and morocco leather supported the travellers 
 on either side ; the cushions on which they sat 
 covered the indispensable utensils, which were 
 made of varnished leather. A cooking appa- 
 ratus had been contrived ; lamps with reflectors 
 shone in front, although the nights were so 
 short that there was hardly any darkness at 
 all ; two stout tarpaulins covered the imperial ; 
 the carriage was also provided with a skid, 
 an axle-strap, and two iron-shod forks to steady 
 it on the hill-sides. 
 
 " At the back was a canteen, in leather, to 
 hold eight bottles of wine. Underneath the 
 coachman's seat, which had a knee-covering 
 and leathern pockets, there was a tool -bag 
 containing all the implements that might be 
 required in case of accidents." 
 
 The berline was delivered by the coach maker 
 early in June, and taken to Count Fersen's 
 private residence in the Kue du Bac. The 
 Count, thinking it well to make sure of the
 
 IMPRUDENCE 161 
 
 strength of the heavy machine, on which the 
 safety of so many persons was to depend, 
 had six strong horses harnessed to it, and 
 drove along the Vincennes road at their full 
 speed. As luck would have it, he met 
 the Due d' Orleans driving with Mme. de 
 Buffon ; he recognised Fersen, and called 
 out 
 
 " Are you mad, my dear Count ? You are 
 likely to break your neck at that game." 
 
 " I don't want my carriage to break down 
 on the road," answered Fersen, stopping his 
 horses. 
 
 " Why have you got such a big one ? Is it 
 to carry away a whole opera chorus ? " 
 
 " No, Monseigneur, I leave you the chorus." 
 
 "Adieu, a good journey to you." 
 
 And they parted. 
 
 Fersen was well aware of the Duke's enmity 
 to his cousin. At the first news of the depar- 
 ture of the royal family, the Duke would recall 
 his meeting with Fersen, and knowing the 
 relations between the Count and the Court, 
 he might instantly give a description of the 
 carriage in which the fugitives had escaped. 
 The Due d'Orleans did nothing of the kind, 
 but that fact did not palliate Fersen's im- 
 prudence in showing himself in public after 
 such a fashion. 
 
 Nor was this his only rash proceeding. The 
 berline remained in the courtyard of Count 
 Fersen's hotel, where every passer-by could 
 see it, although the coach-builder, who feared 
 that it would be injured, urged that it ought
 
 1 62 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 to be placed under shelter. Not until some 
 days later was it removed, ostensibly to the 
 abode of the persons about to start for Russia, 
 but in reality to the abode of Colonel Crawford, 
 an Englishman, who lived in the Rue de Clichy 
 at the other end of Paris. 
 
 Fersen kept the Queen informed of all that 
 he was doing ; he had found means of getting 
 into the Tuileries without being seen by the 
 National Guards. This was not an easy thing 
 to do, for the chateau was already strictly 
 watched. 
 
 In the daytime there was some disguise about 
 the precautions ; for instance, so soon as the 
 King, the Queen, or Madame Elizabeth came 
 out, the National Guards would surround them, 
 as though to form an escort and do them honour ; 
 but at night the escort was changed into a squad 
 of gaolers. The doors of the bed-chambers were 
 carefully secured, the soldiers placed their pallets 
 across the threshold and slept there. Most of 
 the persons attached to the King's household 
 were subjected to similar treatment, and it would 
 not do to make any effort to avoid it. 
 
 M. de Duras, first gentleman of the bed- 
 chamber to the King, having asked Lafayette 
 one day whether it was by his orders that ten or 
 twelve men were stationed before his (Duras') 
 door, received the following stern reply : 
 
 " Yes, sir, and if it were necessary I should 
 put one in your bed." 
 
 Measures had now to be taken for the out- 
 witting of this watch, so that the attempt to 
 escape might not be frustrated at the outset.
 
 LOCKSMITH LOUIS IS USEFUL 163 
 
 For the first time Louis XVI. found an oppor- 
 tunity of turning his mechanical skill to good 
 use. In the month of January, with the assist- 
 ance of trustworthy persons, he had constructed 
 " in the wood panelling of Madame Elizabeth's 
 apartment a door artistically made, so that it 
 was difficult to perceive its existence, unless a 
 close search were made for it. 
 
 " There was also another door, difficult to 
 discover, at one end of Madame Elizabeth's bed. 
 The first of these doors had been prepared for 
 secret interviews." 
 
 The means of getting out of the palace being 
 secured, and the berline being ready, the next 
 thing was to procure a passport. Here again 
 the pretended Baroness Korff, otherwise Mrs. 
 Sullivan, intervened. She solicited a passport 
 for herself, her two children, their governess, 
 and a confidential servant, and then, as she did 
 not intend to remain in Paris, where she would 
 not be safe if her share in the flight of the King 
 were discovered, she pretended that the pass- 
 port which she had procured had been burned 
 by accident, and M. de Montmorin, Minister 
 of Foreign Affairs, sent her a second, by order 
 of the King. Mrs. Sullivan left Paris on the 
 1 7th June with Colonel Crawford, whose mis- 
 tress she was. 
 
 This " sentimental Englishwoman " and the 
 foreign colonel, in addition to Count Fersen, 
 the ladies of the palace, and the body-guards 
 chosen to accompany the royal family, were 
 the only persons in the secret of the con- 
 templated flight ; at least they were the
 
 1 64 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 only persons concerning whom we can be 
 certain. The question was put, and is still 
 put, as to whether Lafayette did not know 
 of it. Various little incidents lead to the 
 belief that he did. Mrs. Elliott says in her 
 Memoirs : " Every one knows that in the 
 summer of 1791 the King and the royal family 
 made an attempt at flight. I do not doubt 
 that Lafayette was in the secret, but he be- 
 trayed it afterwards through fear." 
 
 This solution is not admissible. If Lafayette 
 had been "in the secret," the avowal of the 
 fact would probably have been found either 
 in Bouille's Memoir es or in Count Fersen's 
 papers, as those persons who were cognisant 
 of the project are named in both. Besides, 
 it is hard to believe that Bouilld, who did not 
 like his cousin, and Fersen, who detested the 
 Commandant of the National Guard, would have 
 consented to his being intrusted with so for- 
 midable a secret. 
 
 Without being an accomplice, Lafayette 
 might merely have discovered the secret and 
 "let it alone." That he did so is a second 
 theory, more plausible than the first, but also 
 very unlikely. What interest could Lafayette 
 have had in the departure of the King? The 
 presence of the unhappy sovereign confined in 
 the Tuileries did not interfere with his ambi- 
 tion. Did his pity for the royal family consti- 
 tute an interest? We must not forget that 
 the safe-keeping of that royal family was com- 
 mitted to him, that his life would have been 
 risked by such an act, and that the popular
 
 FINAL ARRANGEMENTS 165 
 
 fury took him quite unawares on the morning 
 of the 2ist of June. To accept either of these 
 hypotheses would be to do too much honour 
 to the person of whom the Comte d'Allonville 
 said, not unjustly, that he was " a great booby, 
 as white-livered as he was pale-faced." Lafay- 
 ette was not capable of either so much heroism 
 or so much subtlety. 
 
 Although he was in a way the soul of the 
 scheme, Count Fersen was not to have a place 
 in the famous berline. " I shall not accompany 
 the King, he does not wish it," he wrote to 
 Bouille on the 29th of May. Then Mme. de 
 Tourzel was substituted at the last moment for 
 the Marquis d'Agoust, a gentleman whom Bouille 
 had most particularly recommended to Louis 
 XVI. Mme. de Tourzel was to occupy a seat 
 in the berime with the King, the Queen, the 
 Children of France, and Madame Elizabeth. On 
 the box-seat were to be M. de Valory, M. du 
 Moustier, and M. de Maldent, all carrying arms, 
 which Count Fersen had actually had marked 
 with his initials. Two waiting-maids, Mme. 
 Brunier and Mme. de Neuville, were to follow 
 in a cabriolet. 
 
 The body-guards were not apprised of the 
 facts until the last moment ; not late enough, 
 however, to prevent them from talking. M. 
 du Moustier could not refrain from telling his 
 mistress, Mdlle. Preville, who talked about the 
 matter with her servant. The latter, proud of 
 the important news thus brought to her know- 
 ledge, carried it to the hall-porter of the Hotel 
 Poyen. Mdlle. Preville also apprised her sister,
 
 1 66 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 Mme. Thdogat. M. de Valory had been equally 
 indiscreet. After all tins, is it surprising that 
 rumours of the intended flight of the King 
 were in circulation? Fortunately they became 
 vague in travelling from mouth to mouth, and 
 had not time to go very far. 
 
 A more serious danger was the presence of 
 Mdlle. Rocherette, the Dauphin's waiting-woman, 
 at the chateau. She was suspected of being a 
 demagogue ; but was she really of the " de- 
 magogie " ? She was the mistress of Gouvion, 
 Lafayette's aide-de-camp, and " she told him 
 everything." This was quite enough to make 
 her an object of distrust, and as it was im- 
 possible to conceal anything from her while she 
 was on duty, the departure had to be postponed 
 for twenty-four hours. 
 
 During the last days, Count Fersen, availing 
 himself of the means he had discovered for 
 evading the vigilance of the patriots of the 
 National Guard, had a great number of inter- 
 views with the King or the Queen. 
 
 On Thursday, the i6th of June, at half-past 
 nine, he w T ent to the palace, and took to Marie 
 Antoinette the plain and humble garments which 
 were to form the disguise of the royal family. 
 This matter was effected in the greatest secrecy. 
 "They suspect nothing here or in town," he 
 writes in his journal. On the lyth he went so 
 far as Bondy, in order to reconnoitre the route, 
 and came back by Bourget. On Saturday, the 
 i8th, he returned, and was with Marie Antoi- 
 nette from two o'clock until half-past six. The 
 Queen informed him that she had received a
 
 THE LAST VISIT 167 
 
 letter from her brother, which confirmed all the 
 orders given for the manifestation on the fron- 
 tier. On the 1 9th, Sunday, Fersen went again 
 to the chateau, and remained from eleven o'clock 
 until midnight. The King handed over to him 
 eight hundred livres and the seals. 
 
 On the following day, at half-past seven in 
 the morning, he went to the coach-builder's to 
 see about the post-chaise which was to be occu- 
 pied by Mme. Brunier and Mme. de Neuville, 
 He returned to his hotel in that vehicle, and 
 dismissed the coachman who had driven it, with 
 instructions to return at noon precisely. At 
 that hour he had horses put to his carriage, 
 and drove to the Swedish Embassy. His visit, 
 of only a quarter of an hour's duration, was a 
 precaution taken against M. de Stae'l, to dispel 
 his suspicions, if he had any. 
 
 Having returned home, he waited a few hours, 
 then ordered his carriage to take him to the 
 sitting of the National Assembly. He had no 
 intention of going there, for he alighted at the 
 Pont-Royal, and entered the garden of the 
 Tuileries. Thus he had contrived the means of 
 seeing the King and Queen once more. 
 
 They were expecting him, and in that last 
 interview the respective characters of the three 
 personages were revealed. Marie Antoinette, 
 full of trouble and emotion at the approach of 
 the hour of departure, full of fear for her 
 children, her friends, herself, was in a state of 
 nervous excitement and wept profusely. Louis 
 XVI. , as passive as usual, listened to Count 
 Fersen, who was cool and resolute.
 
 1 68 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 The Count reminded the royal couple of the 
 dangers which they were about to incur ; but 
 the King and Queen with one accord answered 
 him that " there could be no hesitation, and 
 that they must go." 
 
 For the last time the place of meeting, the 
 hour, and the order of departure were discussed 
 and settled ; and as the success of the flight 
 still remained doubtful, notwithstanding the 
 precautions that had been taken, it was 
 decided that Count Fersen should proceed to 
 Brussels, and that should they be stopped, he 
 was at once to act for them with the other 
 sovereigns. 
 
 Time was flying. It was necessary that the 
 Queen should go to the promenade with her 
 children, according to custom, so that she 
 might be seen there. At about six o'clock 
 Fersen took leave and withdrew. 
 
 " Monsieur de Fersen," said the King earnestly, 
 " whatsoever may happen to me, I will not 
 forget what you are doing for me." 
 
 The Queen's tears spoke no less plainly to 
 Fersen's heart. He regained his carriage and 
 proceeded to the Kue de Clichy to inspect the 
 berime and make sure that it was in readi- 
 ness. 
 
 At eight he wrote a few words to the Queen 
 on the subject of an alteration in the place of 
 meeting first appointed for the waiting-women. 
 He took the note to the palace himself, and 
 remarked with satisfaction that everything was 
 quiet as usual. He then returned home. At 
 this same hour an incident had occurred at his
 
 ALL EEADY 169 
 
 hotel which might have had most serious conse- 
 quences. He had directed his valet-de-chambre 
 to take three cases to the Eue de Clichy, and 
 a hackney-coach was engaged for the purpose. 
 The driver witnessed a spectacle on entering the 
 courtyard of the hotel which naturally astonished 
 him. Two servants were engaged in loading 
 seven pairs of double-barrelled pistols, and w^ere 
 casting the bullets themselves. They asked 
 the driver to provide himself with a ladle, and 
 to come and help them. At that moment one of 
 the pistols unaccountably went off; the bullet 
 passed through a pane of glass, and narrowly 
 escaped killing a person in the street. The 
 hackney-coachman, wondering at these prepara- 
 tions, asked for what purpose so many pistols 
 were required. Count Fersen's footman ex- 
 plained that his master, who was in the service 
 of Russia, was about to return to that insecure 
 country, and the pistols would be necessary on 
 his journey. The man was satisfied with this 
 reply. 
 
 Meanwhile the valet-de-chambre brought 
 various parcels down from the upper rooms, 
 and among others an English saddle and bridle ; 
 all these things were placed in the hackney- 
 coach, and transferred to the berline by the 
 valet on arriving at the Rue de Clichy. He 
 requested the driver to open one of the cases, 
 which were made of sheet iron, and about ten 
 inches square. The case that was opened con- 
 tained plate ; a silver goblet was added to the 
 contents, and all three were placed in the huge 
 carriage. Another box was shaped like a dress-
 
 170 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 ing-case ; and as tlie smallest details of the 
 royal flight are interesting, it may be added 
 that it contained eatables, and especially a large 
 piece of bceuf a la mode. Count Fersen's fore- 
 thought extended to the smallest things. 
 
 Towards evening two body-guards, dressed 
 as couriers, went to his h6tel. He directed 
 them to proceed with his coachman, Balthazar 
 Sapel, to the Rue de Clichy, and to take 
 the berline from thence to the new Barriere 
 du Faubourg Saint - Martin. The coachman 
 being struck with the appearance of the car- 
 riage, remarked upon it, and taking his two 
 companions for persons of his own condition, 
 he said, " Who are your comrades, mates ? 
 They seem to be very rich ! " " Comrade, you 
 will learn that," they replied. This was all he 
 could get out of them. 
 
 The three arrived at the Porte Saint-Martin 
 a little after midnight. During this time Count 
 Fersen, who was not recognisable in the costume 
 of a hackney-coachman, placed the post-chaise 
 intended for the attendants on the quay, 
 opposite to the Poitevin Baths. At a quarter- 
 past ten he proceeded with another carriage to 
 the Cour des Princes, and there he waited for 
 the fugitives, who ought to have been leaving 
 the palace at that moment. 
 
 Nothing unusual had occurred at the chateau 
 during the evening. The children had been 
 put to bed at the customary hour. The King 
 and Queen had retired afterwards, but no 
 sooner had their personal attendants been dis- 
 missed than all arose. The King put on a
 
 THE FLIGHT 171 
 
 plain coat, so as to bear out the character of 
 a valet-de-chambre assigned to him in the 
 passport of Baroness KorfF. The Queen and 
 Madame Elizabeth also put on the attire of 
 waiting-women. Madame Royale was quickly 
 dressed, but the little Dauphin, being aroused 
 out of his first sleep, did not understand what 
 was happening, and why he should have to wear 
 a girl's frock. " Are we going to act a play ? " 
 he asked. Madame Brunier and Madame de 
 Neuville were there. All except the King and 
 Madame Elizabeth assembled in a dressing- 
 closet, where Madame de Tourzel joined them. 
 Then the Queen herself opened the door, and, 
 taking her two children by the hand, she pre- 
 ceded the three women down a staircase and 
 along a corridor which communicated with one 
 of the doors of the unoccupied apartment of 
 M. de Villequier, situated on the entresol. While 
 waiting for the opening of this door, Madame 
 de Neuville sat down on the ground and rested 
 the head of the poor little Dauphin, who was 
 sound asleep, on her knees. 
 
 It had been decided that the party should 
 enter the Cour des Princes in separate groups, 
 so as to avoid attention. The door being opened, 
 the children were sent on in front with Madame 
 de Tourzel. They reached the carriage without 
 any difficulty ; it was then a quarter - past 
 eleven. At that moment Lafayette passed twice 
 through the court, vehemently but unnecessarily 
 alarming the fugitives, for he saw nothing, and 
 so the flight was actually accomplished under 
 his eyes. At a quarter to twelve Madame
 
 1 72 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 Elizabeth arrived ; the King followed her 
 closely ; the Queen only lingered. The small 
 party began to get frightened time was pass- 
 ing. At length she appeared. She also had 
 met Lafayette's carriage, and had shrunk into a 
 recess to avoid being seen. This incident had 
 somewhat disturbed her ; and the body-guard 
 who accompanied her being unable to find his 
 way the quarter was at that time encum- 
 bered with houses and traversed by narrow 
 dark streets they had gone astray. Midnight 
 struck before Madame Brunier and Madame de 
 Neuville, who were on foot, reached the car- 
 riage intended for them. 
 
 The King, the Queen, Madame Elizabeth, 
 the children, Madame de Tourzel and the body- 
 guard got into the carriage, Fersen driving, 
 and they started at speed. They reached the 
 Pont-Saint-Martin just as day began to break. 
 The berline was there ; Fersen drew up so 
 that the doors of the two carriages were side 
 by side, and the travellers passed from one 
 to the other without alighting. He returned 
 to the first carriage, took the horses by their 
 bits and forced them back into the ditch, 
 throwing one of them down ; so that the aban- 
 donment of the vehicle might appear to 
 have been caused by an accident. He then 
 got up on the coach-box of the berline, while 
 M. de Maldent took his seat behind, said to 
 the coachman, Balthazar Sapel, who held the 
 reins, "Go on ! quick ! drive quick ! " and 
 taking the whip, he cracked it incessantly to 
 excite the horses.
 
 PAETING 
 
 173 
 
 The time that had been lost in waiting for 
 the Queen, and the increasing light, augmented 
 the danger ; they were still so near Paris. 
 Fersen was frantically anxious to get his 
 precious charge into safety. He reproached 
 his coachman, " Come, come, Balthazar, your 
 horses are no good ; get on, get on ; they will 
 have time to rest when we get to the regiment." 
 Balthazar Sapel, who believed that his master 
 was returning to Varennes to rejoin his regiment 
 (Royal Suedois), obeyed him as best he could, 
 and in less than half-an-hour they reached Bondy. 
 
 A relay of six horses was in readiness. Count 
 Fersen and his coachman alighted from the 
 carriage ; M. de Maldent took the front seat 
 with Valory and Du Moustier ; the postilions 
 started their horses and cracked their whips, 
 the berline rolled away, carrying the royal 
 family towards the unknown. 
 
 Count Fersen watched them out of sight. 
 The King did not wish that he should accom- 
 pany them, because he would not endanger a 
 foreigner in the service of France, and also 
 because the Count's presence might be compro- 
 mising to Louis himself. 
 
 At any rate, the separation was not to last 
 long. At that moment the chance of success 
 seemed great. In two days they would meet, 
 far from their enemies, far from the populace 
 of Paris, in safety. The Count desired this 
 too strongly to believe in it completely ; and 
 the compulsory ignorance in which he was left, 
 the mere absence of news, was extremely trying 
 to him.
 
 174 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 Immediately on his arrival at Mons, on the 
 Tuesday morning, he wrote a note to his father, 
 in which he betrays his anxiety : 
 
 "Moxs, June 22nd, 
 f six in the morning. 
 
 11 1 have this instant arrived here, my dear 
 father. The King and all the family got out 
 of Paris safely on the 2oth at midnight. I 
 drove them to the. first post : may God grant 
 that the rest of their journey may be equally 
 fortunate. I shall now continue my route along 
 the frontier to join the King at Montrnedy, if 
 he be happy enough to arrive there." 
 
 In these dubious words we read the pre- 
 sentiment of a loving heart for her he loved ; 
 for although his hand wrote "the King," his 
 heart named the Queen. Neither one nor the 
 other had been so happy as to arrive at the 
 goal of their journey, and at the very hour 
 when Count Fersen was still trying to hope, 
 all was lost. His next meeting with the victim 
 whom he had attempted to tear from the grasp 
 of the Kevolution was to take place under 
 terrible circumstances. 
 
 While he was advancing towards Mons by 
 the nearer route, the berline had taken that 
 of Chalons. At Claye the royal party was 
 joined by Madame Brunier and Madame de 
 Neuville, and the two carriages proceeded at 
 a fair pace. The zeal of the postilions was 
 stimulated by excessive gratuities. M. de 
 Valory, slipping his arm under the glass be-
 
 TOO LIBERAL 175 
 
 neath the box-seat, took handfuls of money 
 out of a bag which hung inside the vehicle. 
 This generosity had the desired effect, but 
 ifc also had a second, which was dangerous. 
 "Who can this great personage be, who pays 
 so well?" said the postilions.'* "They have 
 given us four livres and ten sous pour-boire ! " 
 It was dangerous to excite any kind of curi- 
 osity, but they did not think of this. The 
 travellers were so delighted that they had not 
 been stopped, and that they had escaped from 
 Paris, their dreadful prison, that they were 
 too confident. The King talked in what for 
 him was a jesting fashion. " You may be 
 very sure that once I get into the saddle, I 
 shall be very different from what you have 
 seen me up to the present ! Lafayette does 
 not know what to do with himself just now." 
 
 Nevertheless, a man driving a cart in a little 
 village through which they passed recognised 
 him. " That is the King," said he to the 
 body - guards, who were passing for couriers. 
 The latter denied the fact. " But it is the King 
 and the Queen," the man insisted ; "I have 
 seen them several times at Versailles," he 
 repeated. 
 
 They started again very quickly. This 
 incident ought to have convinced the King 
 that the greatest prudence was still necessary, 
 but it had no effect. When the road was 
 hilly, he got out and followed the berline. 
 At the posts he mixed with the people who 
 were standing about and looking at the fine 
 berline ; he talked to the peasants, convers-
 
 i 7 6 A FKIEKD OF THE QUEEN 
 
 ing with them on the state of the crops, 
 and was glad to keep out of the carriage, 
 giving way to his dislike of any kind of 
 physical restraint. 
 
 An accident to the carriage occurred ; the 
 travellers had to stay for more than an hour 
 at Montmirail, between Meaux and Chalons. 
 This circumstance, added to the King's obsti- 
 nacy in insisting on walking up the hills, 
 prolonged the journey for three hours more 
 than had been calculated, and it also led to 
 confusion in the instructions which had been 
 given to the officers in command of the de- 
 tachments, and left time for the presence of 
 the troops to create a ferment among the 
 people. 
 
 At Chalons the fugitives incurred a great 
 risk. The King was again recognised. His 
 persistence in showing himself, and in alight- 
 ing during the change of horses, exposed him 
 seriously, and on these occasions it was doubly 
 to be regretted that the Marquis d'Agoust did 
 not occupy the place of Madame de Tourzel. 
 He alone would have had sufficient authority 
 to restrain the imprudence of the unfortunate 
 monarch. 
 
 One of the members of the municipality of 
 Chalons, who was standing close to the carriage, 
 entertained no doubt whatever that its occupants 
 were the royal family, but, moved by respect 
 for such illustrious misfortune, he did not think 
 of betraying them ; on the contrary, he was help- 
 ing to harness the horses in order to abridge the 
 delay, when a workman approached him and
 
 THE KING EECOGNISED 177 
 
 said in a low voice, " But that is the King ; 
 I recognise him." He tried to deny the fact, 
 the other maintained it more emphatically. He 
 then risked all, for all. " Yes," he answered ; 
 "it is the King ; but if you say so, the greatest 
 misfortunes may occur, and upon you the respon- 
 sibility will fall." The tone in which these words 
 were pronounced so impressed the workman, that 
 he withdrew without having revealed his dis- 
 covery. This incident shows how slight was 
 the thread on which the safety of the travellers 
 depended ; and yet at that moment they had 
 almost ceased to fear ! 
 
 They were nearing that portion of their jour- 
 ney which was under the command of M. de 
 Bouille, and were soon to meet the detachment 
 at the place arranged. As they approached this 
 spot, the confidence of the royal family became 
 complete ; they felt that the sight of the first 
 dragoon would be the signal of their deliver- 
 ance. 
 
 Great was their delusion, and happy would it 
 have been for the fugitives if action had been 
 taken upon the wise and prudent counsel of 
 Count Fersen, that " the best protection was 
 to take none," and that " the King should pass 
 quite simply." 
 
 The occurrences at Pont-Sommevesle were a 
 warning, but it came too late. Bouille had sent 
 fifty hussars, under the joint command of the 
 young Due de Choiseul and Baron de Goguelat, 
 a brave and daring Nivernois, who was devoted 
 to their Majesties, and fully informed of the 
 details of the contemplated flight.
 
 178 A FEIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 The presence of these soldiers would at any 
 time have caused some commotion among the 
 inhabitants, but it was most unfortunate under 
 the particular circumstances. The people in the 
 villages had refused to pay taxes, and were 
 threatened with compulsory measures. They 
 thought that the hussars had been sent for this 
 purpose, and immediately assembled and rung 
 the alarm-bell to apprise their neighbours and 
 call them to their help. Curiosity also being 
 roused, the little troop was surrounded ; the men 
 and their officers were placed in a difficult posi- 
 tion. In vain did they say that they were sent 
 to Pont-Sommevesle to wait for and escort a 
 treasure ; they were only half-believed or not 
 believed at all. In these troublous times, when 
 suspicion was sown broadcast in the ignorant 
 masses by demagogues, and the hardly emanci- 
 pated population dreaded everything at the 
 hands of their former masters, the slightest 
 event produced a tumult. 
 
 What could the little troop do against the 
 hundreds of peasants swarming round them, 
 tome armed with muskets, others with stones, 
 and others with sticks, and becoming more 
 inimical every moment ? It was useless to think 
 of dispersing the crowd by force. This could 
 not have been done even supposing the fifty 
 hussars would have implicitly obeyed their 
 officers. On the other hand, the latter were 
 extremely anxious ; they had been told that 
 the berline would pass at about two o'clock ; 
 it was now half-past five, and there was no 
 appearance of the carriage. No doubt there
 
 PEKPLEXITY. 179 
 
 had been a counter-order on the part of the 
 King, or else the fugitives had been stopped 
 on their way. What was occurring at Pont- 
 Sommevesle rendered the latter conjecture 
 very probable. The Due de Choiseul and 
 Goguelat consulted together. If they remained, 
 they could not be useful in any way to the 
 security of the royal family in case they should 
 arrive at this place. But would they arrive ? 
 The thing was becoming more and more doubt- 
 ful. The officers resolved to withdraw, and 
 as they had been very ill received at Saint- 
 Menehould, they decided upon returning to 
 Varennes, and proceeding to Stenay by the 
 cross-roads. 
 
 They have been much blamed for this de- 
 cision, and the majority of those who had 
 reason to reproach themselves for some negli- 
 gence or some fault in the course of the 
 adventure were the first to condemn them ; 
 but in this they were WTong ; from every point 
 of view, the conduct of Choiseul and Goguelat 
 was correct. In the first place, as for disregard 
 of the orders they had received, the officers 
 were exculpated by the fact that after three 
 hours and a half of waiting the royal carriage 
 did not appear. In the second place, being 
 incapable, on account of their small number, of 
 resisting the opposition which was evidently 
 intended, they constituted a danger to the fugi- 
 tives, and not a resource. Finally, they may 
 claim in their justification that events proved 
 them in the right. No sooner had the little 
 troop disappeared than the tumult subsided.
 
 i8o A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 The peasants, content with having intimidated 
 the soldiers who had come to molest them, 
 dispersed, and quiet was so completely re- 
 established, that when the berline arrived, an 
 hour later, only a few curious loiterers noticed 
 it, and, to use Fersen's phrase, " the King 
 passed quite simply." 
 
 Although this point had been happily cleared, 
 the travellers were exceedingly puzzled by 
 not seeing either Choiseul or Goguelat, and 
 by receiving no explanation of their absence. 
 At the following relay at Orbeval, all passed 
 off quietly, and they recovered a little of 
 the serenity and confidence which had been 
 temporarily disturbed. At last they were ap- 
 proaching Saint-Menehould ; there they hoped 
 they should see the detachment sent by 
 Bouille. They saw nobody. The King was 
 very uneasy, put his head several times out 
 of the window, without reflecting that the 
 movement might attract attention, and that 
 some eyes in the crowd might be too sharp- 
 sighted. 
 
 At that moment, the son of the post- 
 master, who had not lost sight of the travellers, 
 although he was superintending the harnessing 
 of the horses, whispered a few words in the 
 ear of a soldierly-looking man, who was there 
 as a spectator ; then taking his postilions apart, 
 he desired them, assigning various reasons, "not 
 to hurry themselves." After this he quickly 
 disappeared. 
 
 During this time an officer drew near the 
 carriage, and managing so as not to be heard
 
 TUMULT AT SAINT-MENEHOULD 181 
 
 by the crowd, he rapidly uttered a few words tc 
 Mme. de Tourzel. " Your measures are ill taken. 
 Set out, hurry ; you are lost if you do not 
 hasten. I am going away to avoid arousing 
 suspicion." This was M. d'Andoins, who com- 
 manded the thirty dragoons sent by Count 
 Damas. 
 
 The incidents of Pont-Sommevesle were to 
 some extent repeated at Saint-Menehould. No 
 sooner did the people see the soldiers coming 
 than they rose in arms to meet them, and, 
 amidst increasing tumult, insisted that each 
 dragoon should place the six cartridges with 
 which he was supplied in the hands of the 
 municipal officers. This was immediately done, 
 and the people being emboldened by the con- 
 cession, then proceeded to demand the disarma- 
 ment of the little troop. M. d'Andoins was 
 indignant at this fresh exaction, which, how- 
 ever, was a strictly logical one, since he had 
 yielded to the first, and he resolutely refused 
 to submit to it. The crowd, now in its turn 
 illogical, did not insist, but actually applauded 
 the refusal of the commandant. They sur- 
 rounded the soldiers, however, and finally suc- 
 ceeded in making them dismount and retire 
 into a sort of barrack, where they were shut up 
 without protest on their part. 
 
 Notwithstanding these unfavourable circum- 
 stances, the horses were changed and the 
 carriage started without any difficulty. The 
 royal family was already far on the road to 
 Varennes, when at about eleven o'clock official 
 information of the flight of the King arrived. 
 
 9
 
 1 82 A FEIEND OF THE QUEEN" 
 
 The auger of the people of Saint-Menehould at 
 finding themselves thus tricked broke out with 
 violence ; the patriots were indignant ; every- 
 body wanted to rush after the fugitives and 
 arrest them. 
 
 Unnecessary zeal ! Two of their compatriots 
 had undertaken that task. These were Drouet, 
 the son of the postmaster, and his companion, 
 Guillaume, formerly a soldier in the Queen's 
 Dragoons. While the postilions, mindful of 
 their master's orders, were proceeding leisurely, 
 Drouet and Guillaume were riding at full speed 
 to Varennes through the fields and the woods, 
 and by short cuts well known to them, with 
 the intention of outstripping the travellers and 
 arriving before them. 
 
 And, as though all things were to combine 
 against the royal family on that fatal day, and 
 to neutralise the fidelity and devotion that had 
 been lavished upon them, Drouet and Guillaume 
 escaped a death which would have secured the 
 safety of their illustrious prey. Among the 
 imprisoned dragoons was a quartermaster who 
 was still loyal to the King. Finding that some- 
 thing of a grave nature was happening, he had 
 jumped over the wall, mixed with the crowd, 
 arrived at a vague notion of the state of the 
 case, found his horse, and galloped off upon 
 the Varennes road. He soon perceived two 
 horsemen ahead of him and pursued them. 
 "Who were they ? He did not know. If these 
 men should be enemies of the King ! At that 
 thought he drew his pistols out of the holsters, 
 but a doubt checked his hand. Suppose these
 
 UNCERTAINTY 183 
 
 men were faithful servants like himself, and 
 were pushing on to warn the King ! He re- 
 placed his pistols. Ten times over he did the 
 same thing. At length, at a turn of the road, 
 he lost sight of the two men, and his courageous 
 action was of no avail. 
 
 The travellers had been made very uneasy 
 by the warning given to Madame de Tourzel. 
 It was, however, too late to recede ; besides, 
 M. de Bouille must be now r approaching with 
 a strong force ; let them but join him and they 
 would be in safety. At half-past nine the 
 berline passed through Clermont. M. de Damas, 
 who was in command there, had not been more 
 fortunate than the other officers and their 
 detachments, and the hostile attitude of the 
 population had been too much for the courage 
 or the fidelity of his soldiers. He passed along- 
 side the carriage and carelessly asked one of 
 the body-guard to whom it belonged, then rode 
 away, having hardly heard the answer. Mont- 
 rnedy was from thirteen to fourteen leagues off; 
 this thought revived the hopes of the travellers, 
 the more so that, after all, notwithstanding 
 delays and perils, the most difficult part had 
 been cleared. The three leagues which divided 
 Clermont from Varennes were got over slowly, 
 and it was nearly a quarter to twelve when the 
 travellers arrived at the latter place. 
 
 The town of Varennes, on the little river Aire, 
 is divided into two distinct quarters, one on 
 each bank, united by a bridge. At the entry 
 to the bridge is a tower built over an archway, 
 which forms a dark narrow passage. Baron de
 
 1 84 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 Goguelat, knowing the configuration of the 
 place, had taken care to establish his relay at 
 the far end of the town, on the other side of 
 the Aire. By this arrangement the carriage 
 would go at once through this dangerous passage, 
 and not be obliged to stop for a change of 
 horses until it had reached the far end of 
 the town. This was a very prudent measure ; 
 but either the travellers had not been informed 
 of it, or they had forgotten it, for they stopped 
 at the entrance to the town. No relays ; every- 
 thing was silent and quiet. The travellers 
 alighted, endeavoured to make inquiry, roused 
 some of the inhabitants, who naturally could 
 give them no information, got into the berline 
 again and ordered the postilions to start ; but 
 the latter obeyed reluctantly. They drew near 
 to the river, the carriage was about to pass 
 under the archway, when all of a sudden the 
 horses were stopped. An overturned cart barred 
 the way, and several men sprang out of the 
 darkness and surrounded the carriage. One of 
 them, coming forward and announcing himself 
 as the Procureur of the Commune, demanded 
 their passports. The body-guards stood up on 
 their seats and took up their arms, but the 
 King ordered his defenders not to defend him. 
 Madame de Tourzel exhibited the false passport 
 of " Baroness Korff, proceeding to Frankfort with 
 her two children, one woman, a valet-de-chambre, 
 and three men-servants." 
 
 The demand was only a pretext ; the Pro- 
 cureur took the passport, but said it could not 
 be vise at that hour ; in the morning he would
 
 ARRESTED 185 
 
 see. The travellers, who knew the danger 
 of this delay, urged that they should be 
 allowed to pursue their journey. They were 
 not listened to, but were forced to alight, and 
 taken into the house of the Procureur of the 
 Commune, one Sauce, a grocer. Everything 
 had turned against them ; the chances were 
 all on the side of their enemies. Drouet and 
 Guillaume had arrived at Varennes at a quarter 
 past eleven, long before the fugitives ; they 
 had gone immediately to Sauce and informed 
 him that two carriages were about to pass 
 containing the King, his family, and some 
 persons of his suite. It concerned the safety 
 of France to prevent them from reaching a 
 foreign country, from whence they would imme- 
 diately raise monarchical Europe against her. 
 Sauce, who was a man of the new ideas, roused 
 his children and desired them to dress them- 
 selves promptly and give an alarm by running 
 through the town shouting " Fire ! " He himself 
 lighted a lantern, and, followed by a neigh- 
 bour, one Eegnier, a lawyer, also by Drouet 
 and Guillaume, he proceeded to the bridge. 
 Finding a laden cart there, he placed it across 
 the archway. The four men were joined by 
 some of the National Guards, whose names 
 have been preserved the two brothers Le 
 Blanc, Coquillard, Justin George, Ponsin, and 
 two travellers named Thenevin des Islettes and 
 Delion de Montfaucon, who lodged at the 
 Auberge du Bras-d'or, and they all posted them- 
 selves in the darkness. We have seen how 
 their plan succeeded.
 
 1 86 A FEIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 Meanwhile the Sauce children, the accomplices 
 of Drouet, reached the town ; the alarm-bell 
 was rung, and the suddenly-awakened inhabi- 
 tants flocked to the house of the Procureur, 
 whither the travellers had been taken. The 
 latter, to their great astonishment, saw no 
 military force except the National Guard, which 
 was hostile to them. What had become of 
 the squadron sent to Varennes ? There, as 
 all along the route, fatality had been active. 
 The younger Bouille, who commanded the de- 
 tachment, finding that no carriage came at 
 the appointed hour, waited for some time, then 
 went off to bed ; his men were disbanded ; some 
 of them returned to their quarters, where they 
 were sleeping soundly ; the others repaired to 
 the taverns in the town, where they got help- 
 lessly drunk. 
 
 At the sound of the alarm-bell Bouille awoke, 
 hastily dressed himself, and ran to collect the 
 hussars ; but so great was the disorder that 
 his efforts were vain, and it was impossible 
 for him to muster even the semblance of a 
 troop. 
 
 Meanwhile the travellers were taken by Sauce 
 into a top room at the back of the house, 
 which was already surrounded. It was midnight. 
 Sauce entreated Louis to make himself known, 
 but the King continued to maintain, in a tone 
 which gave the lie to his words, that he was only 
 a valet-de-chambre. This contradiction irritated 
 the patriots, and they replied to him angrily., 
 " If you think that he is your King," said 
 Marie Antoinette, whose pride revolted from
 
 THE KING'S WEAKNESS 187 
 
 this ridiculous scene, " speak to him with more 
 respect." 
 
 Sauce had gone to seek a certain M. Destez, 
 a judge, who had several times seen the King 
 at Paris and at Versailles, and brought him to 
 the house. Immediately on his arrival Destez 
 recognised him. Louis then saw that it was 
 time to put an end to an undignified scene, 
 and suddenly giving way to emotion as puerile 
 as it was untimely, he threw himself into the 
 arms of the Procureur. " Yes," he cried, " I 
 am your King. In the capital I was in the 
 midst of daggers and bayonets, so I have come 
 to the country to seek among my faithful sub- 
 jects the liberty and the peace which you all 
 enjoy ; " and then he began to embrace the 
 bystanders, the very men who had just arrested 
 him. 
 
 Marie Antoinette, broken down by prolonged 
 suspense, by the fatigue of the journey, and by 
 her consciousness of their danger, made a last 
 effort. She addressed herself to Madame Sauce, 
 invoked her compassion, and entreated her to 
 induce her husband to let them depart. " Save 
 the King," said she. " Bon Dieu, Madame," 
 replied the grocer's wife, " they would kill 
 M. Sauce. True, I love my King, but then I 
 love my husband also ; he is responsible, you 
 see." 
 
 There is something to be said for the poor 
 woman. Other persons who were witnesses 
 of the scene were strongly moved ; some shed 
 tears, but nothing could shake the resolution 
 of all to detain the King. It seemed as though
 
 1 88 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 they obeyed a superior will, invoked by none, 
 but imposed on all. 
 
 At this moment Goguelat and Choiseul 
 arrived ; with them was M. de Damas ; he 
 had endeavoured to carry off his dragoons from 
 Clermont and to bring them to the aid of 
 the King, but he was abandoned by them and 
 had escaped with only two sub-officers. They 
 were taken into the house, where they saw 
 the Queen, Madame Elizabeth, Madame Royale, 
 and Madame de Tourzel seated on forms. The 
 Dauphin was asleep in his clothes on an un- 
 made bed. The King only was standing. On 
 perceiving Goguelat he came to him and said, 
 "Well, Goguelat, when do we start?" "Sire, 
 when it shall please your Majesty ; I wait your 
 orders." But the King was not either morally 
 or physically in a state to give orders. Sur- 
 rounded by the members of the municipality 
 and the officers of the National Guard, he 
 repeated to them that he wished to go to 
 Montmedy, and that he had never entertained 
 any intention of quitting France. 
 
 During this time numerous emissaries were 
 scouring the country. The National Guards 
 from the neighbouring villages were coming 
 in on all sides. The excitement was rising to 
 a dangerous pitch ; every moment of delay 
 increased the risk and rendered the possi- 
 bility of departure more and more uncertain. 
 Goguelat, who was the only, or almost the 
 only, one who had preserved coolness, and who 
 comprehended the full peril of the circumstances, 
 was out of patience. He was a man of action,
 
 BAKON DE GOGUELAT 189 
 
 and he could not bear to witness the King's 
 apathy. He approached Marie Antoinette, put 
 her in possession in a few words of what was 
 happening on the outside, and entreated her 
 to use all her influence to induce the King to 
 set out at once. But the Queen herself yielded 
 to despondency ; perhaps she did not believe in 
 the efficacy of the intervention which Goguelat 
 expected from her. " I will not take anything 
 upon myself," she said. " It is the King who 
 decided upon this step ; it is for him to com- 
 mand, and my duty is to follow him. Besides, 
 M. de Bouille must soon be here." 
 
 But M. de Bouille did not arrive. Would 
 it be too late when he came ? and would he 
 be firm enough to overcome the opposition 
 that had been allowed to gain such strength ? 
 Goguelat thought not , he made up his mind 
 to dispense with orders which nobody was in 
 a state to give him, and listening only to the 
 promptings of his courage and zeal, he left 
 the house, and mounting his horse, rode into 
 the town in order to procure the berline, and 
 also to muster the hussars. 
 
 He encountered Drouet, the postmaster, who 
 came up to him in a threatening manner. " I 
 see that you want to take away the King," 
 he cried, " but you can only have him dead." 
 The Baron made no reply, so fearful was he of 
 provoking a rising, but continued on his way. 
 He was coming up to the place where the 
 berline stood surrounded by a curious crowd, 
 when one Roland, major of the National Guard 
 of Varennes, planted himself before him and
 
 1 9 o A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 exclaimed, " If you make one step forward I 
 will kill you." Goguelat rode at him sword in 
 hand ; the major fired his pistol point-blank at 
 Goguelat, hitting him in the chest. A second 
 bullet grazed his head. He fell from his horse, 
 and was immediately seized and carried to a 
 neighbouring house, where his wounds, which 
 were fortunately slight, were dressed. But he 
 was a prisoner. With him vanished the last 
 chance of resistance. The hussars whom he 
 had collected, being deprived of their officer, 
 obeyed the orders of the populace, shouted 
 " Long live the nation," and again dispersed. 
 
 The royal captives passed the night in terrible 
 suspense. Extreme fatigue alone brought slum- 
 ber to the unhappy travellers, and the three 
 body-guards, whose courage and fidelity had 
 been unavailing, slept with their hats on, while 
 the King, always irresolute, went up and down 
 the narrow wooden stairs leading to the two 
 little rooms in which the Queen had installed 
 herself with her children, her sister-in-law, and 
 the ladies of her suite. 
 
 Fatigue, anxiety, and humiliation had sub- 
 dued her physical strength, if not her great 
 heart. She fell down exhausted by the side 
 of the two poor little partakers of her misery, 
 and it was in that night of terrible anguish 
 that her " locks of the red red gold," once so 
 much admired, turned white like the hair of a 
 woman of seventy ! 
 
 The dawn came. The position was unchanged. 
 M. de Bouille had not arrived. 
 
 Great was the perplexity of the patriots;
 
 AERIVAL OF THE PURSUERS 191 
 
 they did not know what to do with their 
 prisoners. They would willingly have sent 
 them back to Paris, but they dared not, and 
 their dilemma encouraged the hopes of the 
 King and Queen. They resorted to every pre- 
 text for delay they could imagine. Mme. de 
 Neuville pretended to faint, and Marie Antoinette 
 declared that she would not go without her. 
 
 Suddenly, between five and six o'clock in 
 the morning, a stir was observed among the 
 crowd around the house. Had Bouille come 
 at last ? No ; but M. Eomeuf, aide-de-camp 
 to Lafayette, and M. Baillon, an officer of 
 the Parisian National Guard, sent in pursuit 
 of the King, had arrived. This event was a 
 last blow to the hopes of the fugitives, and a 
 fresh incentive to their enemies. 
 
 M. Baillon entered the room where the 
 travellers were assembled, and there, using 
 exaggerated language, he described the horrors 
 to which the capital was given over, the 
 murders which were being committed an 
 imaginary detail, since nothing of the sort 
 had occurred and declared that the one only 
 means of putting an end to fratricidal strife 
 was the King's return to Paris. 
 
 M. Eomeuf, who was more sincerely affected 
 and better behaved, was satisfied with reading 
 a former decree of the National Assembly, by 
 which the King was prohibited from removing 
 himself to a distance exceeding twenty leagues 
 from the National Assembly. 
 
 Louis XVI., confused by this reminder, stam- 
 mered out
 
 192 
 
 " I never sanctioned that." 
 
 He placed the paper on the bed where the 
 Dauphin and Madame Eoyale lay. 
 
 Marie Antoinette snatched it up and threw it 
 on the ground, exclaiming 
 
 " It would soil my children's bed ! " 
 
 M. Komeuf endeavoured to soothe her anger, 
 but she responded only by reproaching him 
 severely for having accepted an odious mission, 
 in which she plainly recognised the hand of 
 Lafayette. 
 
 The King, clinging to his delusive hope to 
 the last, took M. Baillon aside and strove 
 to move him to pity. " Yet an instant," he 
 urged. "Is it not possible to wait until 
 eleven o'clock ? " 
 
 "Eleven o'clock" meant succour, meant the 
 Royal Allemand led by the General, and this 
 was just what Romeuf and Baillon did not mean 
 to wait for. Every effort was ineffectual ; it 
 was impossible to bend those inflexible func- 
 tionaries, backed by the clamour of the multi- 
 tude who now filled Varennes. The prisoners 
 were reduced to despair ; how could they con- 
 tend with the adverse fortune which had 
 betrayed them and delivered them over to their 
 enemies ? 
 
 And yet one more chance, a last chance, 
 was afforded them but in vain ; they were in- 
 capable of profiting by it. M. Deslon, a brave 
 officer, who had commanded the squadron posted 
 at Dun, being surprised and uneasy at the 
 non-arrival of the royal family, had marched 
 to Varennes during the night, and obtained
 
 UTTEE ROUT 193 
 
 admittance to the city, though only for him- 
 self. He gained access to the King, ex- 
 plained that he had been obliged to leave his 
 men at the gates of Varennes by order of 
 the municipal authorities, but that he could 
 go and inform his general ; in short, he, like 
 Goguelat, asked the King for orders. 
 
 "You may tell M. de Bouille that I am a 
 prisoner, that I am much afraid he can do 
 nothing for me, but that I beg him to do 
 what he can." 
 
 On hearing these desponding words, M. 
 Deslon turned to the Queen, and, as he was 
 an Alsatian, he muttered a few words in Ger- 
 man. Marie Antoinette stopped him abruptly. 
 " They are listening ; do not speak to me," 
 said she. M. Deslon withdrew in despair. 
 What could he attempt on behalf of princes 
 who gave up their own cause ? It was finished. 
 They had to go. At any rate, his emotions did 
 not act upon the physical wants of the King ; 
 he ate his breakfast and slept for a short time. 
 
 The carriages were soon brought up, the 
 travellers resumed their places, and at half- 
 past seven the big berline was once more put 
 in motion in the midst of a crowd of National 
 Guards, and the cortege set out on the return 
 to Paris. 
 
 An hour and a half later a cloud of dust, 
 visible from the town, announced the arrival 
 of a strong body of troops ; it was Bouille. 
 He had re-entered Stenay at three o'clock in 
 the morning, and being joined there by two 
 officers, learned from them that the King had
 
 i 9 4 A FEIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 been stopped at midnight. He had his horses 
 saddled immediately, called the Royal Alle- 
 mand together, distributed four hundred louis 
 among his troopers to stimulate their zeal and 
 strengthen their fidelity, and put them in 
 motion, riding down the few National Guards 
 who made an attempt to check his advance 
 here and there. But he met Deslon with his 
 squadron at the gates of the city, and was in- 
 formed by him that the travellers had started 
 an hour and a half previously. 
 
 Bouille states in his Memoires that he re- 
 solved on the instant to pass round Varennes 
 and pursue the cortege in order to deliver the 
 King by main force, and was about to give 
 orders accordingly, when it was announced to 
 him that the garrisons of Metz and Verdun 
 had just sided with the National Guards and 
 the excited populace. The attempt which he 
 was meditating lost its best chances of success, 
 especially as he could no longer reckon con- 
 fidently on his troops in the face of so much 
 opposition. And so Bouille " shook his bridle- 
 rein," abandoned the remains of his force, passed 
 the frontier into Luxemburg, and eluded the 
 warrant that was immediately issued for his 
 arrest. 
 
 The heavy berline, which had travelled slowly 
 enough on the first journey, went more slowly 
 still on the second ; it was forbidden to ad- 
 vance faster than the body of National Guards 
 which escorted it on foot. This was a terrible 
 ordeal for the travellers, and it was rendered 
 more painful by the burning rays of the dazzling
 
 M. DE DAMPIERRE 195 
 
 sun, for the jealous watchfulness of the people 
 forbade the lowering of the blinds. 
 
 Presently a dreadful spectacle struck the 
 unfortunate captives with terror, and showed 
 what cruelty and savagery there was in these 
 newly - emancipated citizens, who had such 
 strange notions of liberty. A gentleman, one 
 M. de Dampierre, conceived it his duty to 
 salute the fallen Majesties of France when they 
 passed before his chateau. He was allowed to 
 approach and pay his loyal homage to the 
 King and Queen ; but no sooner had he with- 
 drawn to about fifty paces than some wretches 
 shot him "like a rabbit." He fell, they flung 
 themselves upon his corpse, and greater wretches 
 still cut his head off and carried the bleeding 
 trophy to the doors of the berline. 
 
 A little farther on the Queen was grossly 
 insulted. She had observed that among the 
 people surrounding the carriage some looked 
 hungry, and in her pity she offered to the 
 nearest a slice of the piece of bceuf a la mode 
 which Fersen's valet had placed in the carriage. 
 
 " Don't eat it," exclaimed a furious voice. 
 " Do you not see that she wants to poison 
 you?" 
 
 Tears of indignation came into the Queen's 
 eyes. With a gesture both dignified and wrath- 
 ful she withdrew the slice of meat, and imme- 
 diately ate some of it herself; she also made her 
 son do the same. 
 
 At Chalons the route had been changed, 
 and they were returning by Epernay, when at 
 a league and a half above that town, near
 
 196 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 the little village of Pont-a-Binson, a great 
 clamour arose, as the crowd caught sight of 
 the three commissaries delegated by the Na- 
 tional Assembly Barnave, Latour - Maubourg, 
 and Petion. 
 
 The cortege halted. Petion came forward 
 to read the decree of the Assembly. But it 
 would be doing that illustrious personage a 
 wrong to tell a story which he has taken the 
 trouble to narrate. If Buffon be right, and 
 " the style is the man," we may judge w r hat 
 Petion was by reading him. 
 
 Petion's account of the return to Paris 
 was published for the first time by M. Mor- 
 timer- Ternaux in his Histoire de la Terreur. 
 It is long and rather diffuse ; some extracts 
 from it will suffice. 1 
 
 " On perceiving us, a cry of ' There are 
 the deputies of the National Assembly,' was 
 raised. They made way for us everywhere, 
 and gave signals for order and silence. The 
 cortege was superb : National Guards on horse- 
 back, on foot, in uniform, out of uniform, 
 arms of every kind ; the sun on its decline 
 reflected light on this fine scene, in the midst 
 of a peaceful landscape,_ the great circum- 
 stance, everything, I know not what, was im- 
 posing, and gave birth to ideas which cannot be 
 calculated, but how diversified and exaggerated 
 was the feeling! I cannot depict the respect 
 with which we were surrounded. 
 
 1 M. Paul Gatilot preserves the bad spelling and punctuation 
 of this remarkable document, which can only be appreciated 
 through a literal translation.
 
 PETION 197 
 
 " In tlie midst of the horses, the clash of 
 arms, the applause of the crowd, whose eager- 
 ness impelled them forward, while the fear 
 of pressing upon us held them back, we 
 reached the side of the carriage. The door 
 was instantly opened. Confused sounds issued 
 from within. The Queen and Madame Elizabeth 
 seemed strongly agitated, distressed. ' Oh, sirs ! ' 
 they said with precipitation, with oppression, 
 the tears in their eyes ' Oh, sirs ! Ah ! Monsieur 
 Maubourg,' appealingly taking his hand. ' Ah ! 
 Monsieur,' also taking Barnave's hand. ' Ah ! 
 Monsieur,' said Madame Elizabeth, placing her 
 hand on mine only, ' let no misfortune happen ; 
 let not the people who have accompanied us be 
 victims ; let not their lives be taken. The King 
 did not wish to leave France.' 
 
 " ' No, gentlemen/ said the King, speaking 
 with volubility, ' I was not going out of the 
 country, that is true.' This scene was rapid ; 
 it lasted only a minute, but how that minute 
 struck me ! Maubourg answered ; I answered 
 by Ahs I by insignificant words and some signs 
 of dignity without harshness, of mildness with- 
 out affectation, and, cutting this colloquy 
 short, assuming the character of our mission, 
 I announced it to the King in a few words, 
 and read to him. the decree of which I ' 
 w r as the bearer. The greatest silence reigned 
 at this moment. 
 
 " Passing to the other side of the carriage, 
 I called for silence. I obtained it, and I 
 read aloud the decree to the citizens ; it was 
 applauded.
 
 198 A FEIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 "We said to the King that it was fitting 
 we should take our places in his carriage. 
 Barnave and I stepped in, but we had hardly 
 done so when we said to the King 
 
 " ' But, Sire, we shall inconvenience, crowd 
 you. It is impossible for us to find room here.' 
 
 " The King replied 
 
 " ' I desire that none of the persons who 
 have accompanied me shall get out. I beg 
 you to seat yourselves. We can sit closer; 
 you will find room.' 
 
 " The King, the Queen, the Prince Royal, 
 were on the back seats ; Madame Elizabeth, 
 Mme. de Tourzel, and Madame Royale were on 
 the front. The Queen took the Prince on 
 her lap, Barnave placed himself between the 
 King and the Queen, Mme. de Tourzel put 
 Madame between her knees, and I sat between 
 Mme. Elizabeth and Mme. de Tourzel. After 
 the first small - talk was over, I perceived 
 a family air of simplicity which pleased me. 
 There was no longer any royal representa- 
 tion ; there existed an ease and a domestic 
 good-nature. The Queen called Madame Eliza- 
 beth my little sister ; Madame Elizabeth an- 
 swered her the same ; Madame Elizabeth called 
 the King my brother ; the Queen danced the 
 little Prince on her knees ; Madame, although 
 more reserved, played with her brother. The 
 King regarded all this with a pretty well- 
 satisfied air, although little moved and not 
 sensitive. 
 
 " I also examined the dress of the travel- 
 lers. It was impossible for it to be more
 
 MADAME ELIZABETH 199 
 
 mean. The King had a brown plush coat, 
 very dirty linen ; the women very common 
 morning-gowns. 
 
 "The Queen and Madame Elizabeth turned 
 again and again to the body-guards, who 
 were on the box - seat, and manifested the 
 greatest anxiety. 
 
 " The King spoke little, and the conversa- 
 tion became more particular ; the Queen spoke 
 to Barnave, and Madame Elizabeth to me, as 
 though they had distributed their roles, saying 
 to each other, ' Do you take charge of your 
 neighbour ; I will take charge of mine.' ' 
 
 Starting from this idea, Petion's narrative, 
 in which the matter is on a par with the 
 style, shows what havoc may be made of a 
 narrow intellect and a common mind by a 
 too sudden rise in position, and the ill-under- 
 stood teaching of Jean Jacques Eousseau. He 
 proceeds : 
 
 " Madame Elizabeth gazed at me with soft 
 eyes, with that air of languor which misfortune 
 gives, and which inspires a lively interest. Our 
 eyes met sometimes with a kind of intelligence 
 and attraction ; the night was closing in ; the 
 moon began to shed that gentle light. Madame 
 Elizabeth took Madame on her lap ; she then 
 placed her, half on her knee, half on mine ; 
 her head was supported by my hand, then by 
 hers. Madame fell asleep ; I stretched out 
 my arm. Madame Elizabeth stretched hers 
 upon mine. Our arms were entwined ; mine 
 passed under her armpit. 1 I felt quickened 
 
 1 Aisselle, spelled 'eselle by Petion.
 
 200 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 movements, heat which came through the 
 garments ; the glances of Madame Elizabeth 
 seemed to me more touching. I perceived a 
 certain unrestraint in her bearing, her eyes 
 were moist, a kind of pleasure was mingled 
 with melancholy. I may deceive myself it 
 is easy to confound the sensibility of mis- 
 fortune with the sensibility of pleasure but 
 / think if ive had been alone, if, as ~by en- 
 chantment, everybody had disappeared, she 
 would have fallen into my arms and yielded 
 to the impulses of nature" 
 
 His sagacious mind is, however, invaded by 
 a doubt. What if that sensibility which he 
 analyses so ably were neither " that of mis- 
 fortune nor that of pleasure " ? He knows what 
 abominations princesses are capable of, with the 
 object of doing harm to an honest man, and 
 he becomes suspicious. " May not Madame 
 Elizabeth have consented to sacrifice her own 
 honour in order to make me lose mine ? " 
 
 But no, this is unlikely. " Considering that 
 natural air, my self-esteem also insinuating to 
 me that I might please her ; that she was at 
 the age when the passions make themselves 
 felt, I persuaded myself, and found pleasure 
 in doing so, that she herself wished we could 
 have been without witnesses, so that I might 
 have made those soft advances to her, offered 
 those delicate caresses which vanquish modesty 
 without offending it, and, without alarming 
 delicacy, bring about defeat, in which only 
 confusion and nature are accomplices." 
 
 But they were not alone, and, moreover,
 
 AN EGREGIOUS ASS 201 
 
 Petion was not the man to take advantage of 
 such an opportunity. In vain, therefore, was 
 there " something flattering " in the voice of 
 the Princess. He answered " with a kind of 
 austerity in which there was nothing morose," 
 and he took good care " not to compromise 
 his character." 
 
 " I gave all that was necessary to the posi- 
 tion in which I believed her to be, without, 
 however, giving enough to enable her to think, 
 even to suspect, that anything could ever alter 
 my opinion." 
 
 The result of this noble reserve may be 
 foreseen, or rather, Petion's imagination, which 
 had provided his vanity with a very flattering 
 little romance, supplies the appropriate fitting 
 ending. Madame Elizabeth " saw that the 
 most enticing temptations would be unavailing." 
 He then observed in her bearing " a certain cool- 
 ness, a certain severity, which often arises in 
 women from mortified vanity." 
 
 The virtuous young lady to whom Petion 
 imputes such feelings would assuredly have 
 been astonished to learn what restraint he put 
 upon himself in abstaining from " those soft 
 advances and delicate caresses which van- 
 quish modesty without offending it," and she 
 would have pardoned the culprit in conside- 
 ration of his folly. History ought not to be 
 more severe. 
 
 At length they arrived at Dormans, and 
 alighted at a mean-looking tavern. " I own," 
 writes Petion, " that I was not sorry the 
 Court should know what an ordinary inn is."
 
 202 A FKIEKD OF THE QUEEN 
 
 There was, indeed, something in this to gratify 
 the representative of the people, the enemy 
 of the great, who notes with satisfaction that 
 there were occasional shouts of " Long live 
 Barnave ! Long live Petion ! " but that none 
 cried, " Long live the King." 
 
 The next day he seated himself in the 
 berline between the King and Queen. His 
 purpose was to test the intelligence of Louis, 
 and he proceeded to do this with great adroit- 
 ness, in his own opinion. 
 
 " I said to him from time to time, ' See how 
 beautiful the country is ! What a fine country 
 France is ! No kingdom in the world can be 
 compared with it ! ' 
 
 " I threw out these ideas with a purpose ; 
 I wanted to judge by the King's countenance 
 what impression they made ; but his face is 
 always cold, most provokingly inanimate ; to 
 tell the truth, that mass of flesh is without 
 feeling." 
 
 Louis XVI. certainly did not possess a 
 superior intellect, but his remaining un- 
 moved by the exclamations of Petion cannot 
 fairly be quoted against him as a grievance. 
 
 Marie Antoinette did not impress Petion 
 much more favourably, although she talked 
 with him "in an easy and familiar manner." 
 It did not take him long to perceive that all 
 she said was " extremely superficial," and 
 " that she did not give utterance to any 
 strong or marked idea ; she had not in any 
 sense either the air or the attitude of her 
 position.
 
 A CANDID CEITIC 203 
 
 At La Ferte-sous-Jouarre there was another 
 halt, and the King was entertained by the 
 Mayor, who owned a very handsome house on 
 the banks of the Marne. While waiting for 
 dinner, Petion took advantage of the oppor- 
 tunity to join Madame Elizabeth in a walk 
 on the terrace. 
 
 " There," says he, "I spoke to her with all 
 the frankness and veracity of my nature ; I 
 represented to her how ill - surrounded, ill- 
 advised the King was ; I spoke to her of all 
 the Court manoeuvres with the dignity of a 
 free man and the disdain of a wise man. . . . 
 She took pleasure in my conversation, and I 
 took pleasure in conversing with her. I should 
 be much surprised if she has not a good and 
 high mind, although much imbued with the 
 prejudices of birth, and spoiled by the vices 
 of a Court education." 
 
 The foregoing remark does not display any 
 great perspicacity ; but it appears singularly 
 intelligent in comparison with the following : 
 
 " Barnave talked for a while with the Queen, 
 but it appeared to me in rather an indifferent 
 manner." 
 
 He had already observed that their con- 
 versation in the carriage " did not seem mys- 
 terious." 
 
 Considering the change that took place from 
 that moment in the opinions and conduct of 
 Barnave, we may conclude that Petioii was 
 more ingenious in imputing to persons opinions 
 which they did not hold, than in discerning 
 those they did.
 
 204 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 The following morning at five o'clock the 
 journey was resumed. 
 
 " We jogged along quietly. I was seated 
 next to the Queen, and she addressed me 
 frequently. I had the opportunity of telling 
 her, with entire frankness, all that was thought 
 of the Court, and what was said of the 
 schemers who frequented the Chateau. . . . 
 I put no constraint of any kind upon my- 
 self." 
 
 His reflections had more sense in them 
 when he came to speak of the King's 
 flight. 
 
 " The Queen and Madame Elizabeth often 
 repeated that the King was free to travel 
 in his kingdom, and that he had never had 
 any intention of leaving it. 
 
 "Allow me," said I to the Queen, "not to 
 go into the matter of that intention. I will 
 suppose that the King had at first stopped 
 at the frontier ; he would have been in a 
 position to pass over into foreign territory at 
 any moment ; he might perhaps have found 
 himself forced to do so, and then, besides, the 
 King cannot have disguised from himself that 
 his absence might give rise to most serious dis- 
 order. The least evil caused by his departure 
 was the sudden stoppage of the business of the 
 National Assembly." 
 
 They reached Meaux early, and alighted at 
 the palace of the Bishop, a " Constitutionel "- 
 "this could not be very pleasing to the King; 
 but he gave no sign of annoyance." 
 
 At six o'clock in the morning they set out
 
 QUEEN AND MOTHER INSULTED 205 
 
 again, and Potion resumed his former place 
 between Madame Elizabeth and Madame de 
 Tourzel. " Never was there a longer and more 
 fatiguing day. The heat was extreme, and 
 we were wrapped in whirlwinds of dust. The 
 King offered me something to drink, and 
 poured it out for me several times. We re- 
 mained for twelve hours in the carriage, with- 
 out leaving it for a moment." 
 
 As they approached Paris, the popular spirit 
 became worse, or at least it was more openly 
 manifested. At Pantin there was a scuffle, 
 and in the tumult the vilest epithets were 
 applied to the Queen. 
 
 " The " cried some angry men. "It is 
 
 no use for her to show us her son ; we know 
 he is none of his ! " 
 
 " The King heard this very distinctly. The 
 young Prince, terrified by the noise and the 
 clash of arms, uttered cries of alarm ; the Queen 
 checked him ; the tears were rolling in her 
 eyes." 
 
 Poor woman ! poor mother ! how well we 
 understand the immense pity that seized upon 
 Barnave at the sight of such great misery : 
 it could not but touch a man with a heart. 
 Petion was safe from any such emotion. 
 
 Instead of passing through Saint -Denis, the 
 cortege went round Paris, and entered by the 
 Porte de la Conference, above the Champs- 
 Elysees. 
 
 Thousands of posters, put up by unknown 
 hands, and reflecting the general feeling, pre- 
 scribed the aspect which the people were to 
 10
 
 206 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 assume on the return of their sovereign : " Any 
 one who shall applaud the King will be beaten. 
 Any one who shall insult him will be 
 hanged." 
 
 Troops were stationed from the Barriere de 
 1'Etoile to the Tuileries, and formed a line, with 
 reversed arms. An immense crowd had assembled, 
 without noise or violence, and looked angrily 
 on as the cortege passed, but " were perfectly 
 orderly." " Every man had his hat on his head ; 
 the most majestic silence reigned." 
 
 The berline crossed the swing -bridge and 
 entered the gardens of the Tuileries. The 
 bridge was immediately shut ; but this pre- 
 caution was useless, for a crowd of National 
 Guards in arms had been allowed to invade 
 the garden, and these soldier-citizens were in 
 a state of vehement excitement. They loudly 
 threatened the three body - guards, who sat 
 impassive on the box-seat of the berline, over- 
 whelmed them with abuse, and at one moment 
 seemed about to proceed to violence. The 
 three brave fellows, powerless to defend them- 
 selves against such a number of assailants, 
 and thinking their last hour was come, sprang 
 off the carriage, with the chivalrous intention 
 of at least sparing the royal family the pain of 
 seeing them massacred before their eyes. 
 
 " Monsieur de Lafayette, save the body- 
 guards ! " cried the Queen wildly ; she still 
 retained sufficient self-command to enable her 
 to think of others besides herself, notwith- 
 standing the threats directed against all. 
 
 Several deputies interposed courageously, and
 
 VANQUISHED BUT NOT SUBDUED 207 
 
 took the three gentlemen under their protec- 
 tion ; thus were their lives saved. 
 
 M. de Lafayette, on horseback, presided at 
 the arrival. The carriage doors were opened ; 
 the King stepped out silence. The Queen 
 appeared murmurs arose. M. de Noailles, a 
 Liberal deputy, advanced to offer her his arm. 
 The haughty daughter of Maria Theresa, van- 
 quished but not subdued, declined it, and took 
 the arm of a deputy of the Right. The children 
 came next, then Madame Elizabeth, Madame 
 de Tourzel, and the two commissaries. A gro- 
 tesque little incident then occurred. Although 
 the crowd were shouting, "Long live Petion" 
 it is he who says so they evidently did not 
 recognise the object of their acclamations, for, 
 Petion being mixed up with the King's ser- 
 vants, was taken by the collar by a zealous 
 patriot, who was about to treat him to a good 
 kicking, when some of his colleagues came to 
 the spot, apprised the enthusiastic citizen of his 
 mistake, and Petion, being released, repaired to 
 the royal apartments. 
 
 The royal family were in the room preceding 
 the King's bed-chamber. Anybody might come 
 in who liked to do so. One Coroller, a deputy 
 from the province of Brittany, a good sort of 
 fellow, approached the King and began to ad- 
 dress him in a half-kindly, half-lecturing tone, 
 as if he were reprimanding a schoolboy. 
 
 " .Now, have you not made a nice mess of 
 it? This is what comes of having such bad 
 people about you ! You are good, you are 
 beloved ; just see what you have done ! "
 
 208 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEST 
 
 And then lie became quite tender. The 
 King did not know how to put an end to this 
 ridiculous scene, which was succeeded by a 
 more respectful but perhaps more painful one, 
 at least for Marie Antoinette, who had not the 
 inexhaustible resignation of her apathetic spouse. 
 
 General Lafayette presented himself and said 
 to the King 
 
 " Sire, your Majesty knows my attachment to 
 you ; but I have not concealed from you that if 
 you separated your cause from that of the people, 
 I should remain on the side of the people." 
 
 " That is true," replied the King ; " you have 
 acted on your principles ; it is an affair of 
 party. Now I am here, I will tell you frankly 
 that until lately I have believed that you sur- 
 rounded me with a crowd of people of your own 
 way of thinking, but who did not represent the 
 mind of France. This journey has plainly shown 
 me my mistake, and that such is the general 
 mind." 
 
 " Has your Majesty any commands to give 
 me?" 
 
 " It seems to me," said the King, laughing, 
 "that 'I am more at your command than you 
 at mine." 
 
 No one could be more good-natured, and he 
 took his hard lot as well as man could take it. 
 The Queen had not that virtue, or rather that 
 weakness. Treating Lafayette as a gaoler, she 
 wanted to force him to receive the keys of the 
 cash-boxes which had been left in the carriage, 
 and as he refused, she threw them upon his hat. 
 
 " Your Majesty will have the trouble of taking
 
 THE KING'S JOURNAL 209 
 
 them back again," lie said, " for I will not touch 
 them." 
 
 " Very well," she replied ; " I shall find per- 
 sons less scrupulous than you." 
 
 She did not find any such ; but although the 
 appearance of captivity was spared to the royal 
 couple, who had been brought back to Paris 
 for the second time, that captivity had begun 
 in earnest, and it was close and unremitting. 
 
 As for Louis XVI., he resumed the ordinary 
 course of his life, and his journal does not 
 indicate any recollection of very keen emotions. 
 We can judge, for here it is : 
 
 "June 1791, Monday 20. Nothing. 
 
 "Tuesday 21. Departure from Paris at midnight. 
 Arrived and stopped at Varennes in Argonne at eleven 
 o'clock at night. 
 
 " Wednesday 22. Departure from Yarennes at five or 
 six o'clock in the morning. Breakfast at Sainte-Menehould. 
 Arrived at Chalons at ten o'clock ; supped there, and slept 
 at the former Intendance. 
 
 "Thursday 23. At half-past eleven Mass was inter- 
 rupted to hasten the departure. Breakfast at Chalons. 
 Dined at Epernay. Found the Commissaries of the As- 
 sembly near the bridge at Binson. Arrived at Dormans at 
 eleven o'clock; supped there. Slept three hours in an 
 arm-chair. 
 
 "Friday 24. Left Dormans at half-past seven; dined 
 at La Ferte-sous-Jouarre. Arrived at Meaux at ten o'clock. 
 Supped and slept at the Bishop's palace. 
 
 "Saturday 25. Left Meaux at half -past six. Arrived 
 at Paris at eight o'clock without stopping. 
 
 "Sunday 26. Nothing at all. Mass in the gallery. 
 Meeting of the Commissaries of the Assembly. 
 
 "Monday 27. Nothing at all. 
 
 " Tuesday 28. Nothing at all. 
 
 " Wednesday 29. Nothing at all. 
 
 " Thursday 30. Nothing at all."
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Count Fersen at MODS False news " The King is saved ! "- 
 Count Fersen meets Bouille at Arlon " All is lost ! " M. 
 de Mercy -Argenteau at Brussels "He takes the gloomiest 
 view" Notes from Marie Antoinette The Princesse de 
 Lamballe Mine, de Polignac News from Paris Dejection 
 of the King The King and Queen are interrogated by 
 Tronchet, Duport, and d' Andre Indictment of the authors 
 of the "Abduction of the King" and their accomplices 
 Count Fersen's sojourn in France interdicted M. de Damas, 
 M. d'Audoins, M. de Choiseul, and M. de Goguelat Coura- 
 geous bearing of the three body-guards Letter from the 
 Marquis de Bouille to the National Assembly Displeasure 
 of the Hoyalists remaining in France The King of Sweden 
 at Spa Count Fersen at Coblentz The princes : Monsieur 
 and the Comte d'Artois M. de Calonue Count Fersen 
 at Vienna Interview with the Emperor Leopold "The 
 accursed Florentine" The political interest of the House 
 of Austria in the degradation of the House of France A 
 contemplated landing in Normandy Louis XVI. accepts 
 the Constitution The Queen accused of allowing herself 
 to be led by Barnave Her double game Letters to Fersen 
 Political and private communications. 
 
 COUNT FERSEN arrived at Mons on the 22nd 
 of June at six o'clock in the morning. He 
 did not yet venture to feel certain that 
 the attempted escape of the royal family had 
 succeeded. His anxiety was great, and many 
 things concurred to render it painful : his love 
 for the Queen, his own share in the flight, his 
 dread of the frightful evils which must inevit- 
 ably be the result of failure, and lastly, the 
 thought that possibly he might never see her 
 again.
 
 A MEETING AND A SHOCK 211 
 
 Up to the present, however, appearances had 
 been favourable. Mrs. Sullivan had arrived 
 safely at Mons, and also the Comte de Pro- 
 vence, who had left Paris at the same time 
 as the King, and had been fortunate enough 
 to rejoin his mistress, Mme. de Balbi, without 
 having encountered any obstacle. Several 
 French people who had recently emigrated 
 received the first announcement of the depar- 
 ture of the royal family with great pleasure, 
 and went about accosting one another, and 
 interchanging their impressions and hopes. 
 
 A monk had met Count Fersen in the 
 street, and asked him whether the King was 
 saved. The rumour soon got abroad, none 
 knew how, and the false intelligence, spread- 
 ing on the instant with extraordinary rapidity, 
 was hailed with joy by all the emigrants. 
 
 But the Count did not linger at Mons ; at 
 eleven o'clock he set out again for the Bel- 
 gian Luxemburg, being anxious to get near to 
 Montmedy. After a whole day's journey in 
 fine but rather cold weather, very different from 
 the sultry heat to which the captives were ex- 
 posed on their forced return to Paris, he arrived 
 at Arlon at eleven o'clock at night. 
 
 He was passing through the town on his 
 way to learn the news, when he accidentally 
 met the Marquis de Bouille face to face. The 
 mere sight of the General instantly revealed 
 the terrible truth. All was over then the 
 flight had failed. Bouille told him how the 
 King had been stopped, and related some of the 
 deplorable incidents which had ruined every-
 
 212 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 thing within a few leagues of the goal ; but 
 the General could not give him all the details 
 of the disaster ; he was ignorant of most of 
 them himself. However, he knew enough to 
 inform Count Fersen that the detachments had 
 not done their duty, as Count Fersen had 
 only too clearly foreseen, and that the King 
 had " failed in firmness and sense," as he might 
 easily have foretold. 
 
 Fersen, who was overwhelmed by the news, 
 sent a hasty despatch to the King of Sweden, 
 informing him of the fatal result of the enter- 
 prise, and immediately afterwards wrote to his 
 father in the following words, which reveal all 
 his grief : 
 
 " ARLON, 23^ of June 1791, at midnight. 
 
 " All is lost, my dear father, and I am in 
 despair. The King was stopped at Varennes, 
 within sixteen leagues of the frontier. Judge 
 what my grief is, and feel for me. M. de Bouille, 
 who is here, has told me this news. I am start- 
 ing at once for Brussels, to convey to Count 
 de Mercy the letters which the King intrusted 
 to me. I have time only to assure you of my 
 respect and my love. 
 
 " AXEL FERSEN." 
 
 By this we see that he bore in mind the 
 injunction of the King and Queen at his last 
 interview with them at the Tuileries, only three 
 days previously, that he should go to Brussels, 
 if they were stopped, and have action taken for 
 them. This was a formidable mission, for he
 
 BRUSSELS 213 
 
 would have to appeal to foreign sympathies, 
 and might find that where good-will existed 
 power did not, and that in some cases there was 
 neither good-will nor power. 
 
 But the Swede heeded nothing of that kind ; 
 difficulties, of whatever nature, could not deter 
 him. At half-past four in the morning of 
 the 24th he left Arlon. At Namur he met 
 Monsieur, who w r as more elated by his own 
 good-luck than troubled by his brother's ill- 
 fortune. On the following day, at two o'clock 
 in the afternoon, he re-entered Brussels, and 
 proceeded at once to the Bellevue Hotel, where 
 the Comte de Mercy- Argenteau had resided since 
 his departure from France. 
 
 He did not find the Comte de Mercy, but left 
 the King's letter for him, and made his escape 
 with difficulty from the eager questioning of 
 all the people who were in the hotel. In the 
 evening he succeeded in seeing the Austrian 
 Ambassador. The impression which he derived 
 from his conversation with him was not favour- 
 able. "He takes the gloomiest view" (il voit 
 noir) is the entry in the Count's journal. How 
 should it have been otherwise ? Mercy was an 
 old politician ; for two years he had been in close 
 contact with the European sovereigns and the 
 emigrants ; only a large amount of confidence 
 and self-delusion could have led him to hope 
 much from the former, and to expect much from 
 the latter. In spite of everything, the young 
 Swede was of a different mind. He was not 
 a politician, but a man with a heart, and his 
 determination to act had other and stronger
 
 2T 4 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 stimulants than those which would have affected 
 the old Ambassador. 
 
 If his zeal had required to be reanimated, 
 two little notes which reached him from Paris 
 would have stirred it up. But was there any 
 need ? What must have been his joy on receiv- 
 ing these few lines, written by Marie Antoinette 
 on the 28th of June : 
 
 " Be at ease about us ; we are alive. The 
 heads of the Assembly seem inclined to behave 
 with some kindness. Speak to my relations 
 about taking steps from the outside ; if they 
 are afraid, terms must be made with them." 
 
 The following day a second note, more touch- 
 ing and affectionate, brought him a repetition 
 of the assurances which made him happy. 
 
 " I exist .... how anxious I have been 
 about you, and how I grieve for all you are 
 suffering from having no news of us. May 
 Heaven permit this to reach you. Do not write 
 to me ; it would endanger you, and above all, 
 do not come back here under any pretext. 
 It is known that it was you who got us out 
 of this place ; all would be lost if you appeared. 
 We are closely watched night and day. I do 
 not mind that. ... Be tranquil ; nothing will 
 happen to me. The Assembly wishes to treat 
 us gently. Adieu ... I shall no longer be 
 able to write to you. ..." 
 
 This note was written in cipher like the 
 first, and was transcribed from the cipher by 
 Fersen, who wrote on the margin, "The 4th 
 of July 1791, probably the day of reception." 
 It is reproduced here exactly as it is given in
 
 COUNTESS GYLDENSTOLE 215 
 
 the work entitled Le Comte de Fersen et la 
 Cour de France. Were the suppressed pas- 
 sages, marked by dots, left out by Fersen him- 
 self that he did use suppression sometimes 
 we shall see hereafter or by those persons 
 who undertook the publication of his papers ? 
 The latter supposition seems in this instance 
 most likely, as we do not find the footnote 
 which the editors have been careful to attach 
 to another letter written by Marie Antoinette 
 to Count Fersen on the 26th of September 
 1791. 
 
 Why then are these passages suppressed ? 
 Here we are reminded of a note inserted by 
 Feuillet de Conches in the preface to the third 
 volume of his Louis XVI., Marie Antoinette 
 et Madame Elisabeth : " Nearly three years 
 ago I had the honour to meet Count Fersen's 
 grand-daughter, the Countess Gyldenstole, and 
 I inquired of her whether there were any 
 letters from Queen Marie Antoinette addressed 
 to Count Fersen, among her family papers. 
 She assured me that the collection did not 
 include even the merest note in the hand- 
 writing of the Queen, and also that all her 
 kin cherished a profound respect, indeed a 
 sort of traditional reverence, for that supreme 
 sufferer. 
 
 " Since then, a grand-nephew of the same Swedish 
 nobleman (Count Fersen), M. de Klinckowstrom, 
 recently secretary to the Swedish Legation in 
 Austria, and now settled at Stockholm, has had 
 the statement that neither in the Gyldenstole 
 branch of the family nor in his own did they
 
 216 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 possess any written memorial of the Queen con- 
 firmed to me by the French Minister to the Court 
 of Sweden, M. Fournier. A presumption stronger 
 than truth will have it that such memorials do 
 exist. Can it be that this presumption is sup- 
 ported by any exception ? " The above note was 
 written in 1865. Twelve years later, a grand- 
 nephew of Count Fersen, Baron Klinckow- 
 strom is he the same of whom Feuillet de 
 Conches speaks ? published in the extracts 
 from his grand-uncle's papers eleven unquestion- 
 ably authentic letters written by Count Fersen 
 in 1791, and seventeen written in 1792. 
 
 Were these letters known to the family in 
 1865 ? had it been agreed that they were to be 
 kept secret, and was the resolution rescinded 
 afterwards ? Is the discovery of them recent ? 
 These are idle questions, impossible of solu- 
 tion by us. What it imports us to observe 
 is that " presumption " is stronger in the case 
 than denial, and that it only outstripped the 
 truth. 
 
 All this would perhaps authorise us to supply 
 the missing passages, and would guide us in 
 our suppositions, but to what end ? Silence is 
 sometimes very eloquent ; let those understand 
 who will. 
 
 In the Queen's note as we have it, mutilated 
 though it be, we can discern a sentiment which 
 is not gratitude only, and how delicately is that 
 sentiment expressed ! That friend who grieves 
 " for all he suffers in having no news of them," 
 well knows the heart to which she speaks ! How 
 anxiously she assures him concerning her fate 1
 
 MADAME DE POLIGNAC 217 
 
 " Be tranquil ; nothing will happen to me." 
 And how sad is that " Adieu," and her inti- 
 mation that she " will no longer be able to 
 write " to him whose love consoles and sustains 
 her ! 
 
 Of a surety that friend " without reproach," 
 that confidant, and accomplice " without fear," 
 well deserved that she should treat him thus. 
 The comparison which the unfortunate Marie 
 Antoinette was forced to draw between him 
 and others can only have endeared the noble 
 Swedish gentleman to her. 
 
 A few weeks later Count Fersen met Mme. 
 de Polignac. " I felt both pleasure and pain 
 on seeing her," he says. It might be supposed 
 that her feelings would be similar on finding 
 herself once more with the friend of her friend, 
 talking of her whom she ought not to have 
 forgotten, her whose fate should have touched 
 her the more deeply in that the excessive 
 favours which Marie Antoinette had lavished 
 upon her had cost the unfortunate Queen her 
 popularity. 
 
 Mme. de Polignac did not even resort to a 
 pretence of gratitude. If she wept on seeing 
 Fersen, her tears were very transient. 
 
 " She talked more about affairs than of the 
 Queen," says Fersen ; " she said a thousand 
 things." And of those things some were not 
 favourable to the royal family. The situation, 
 between the King detained in Paris and the 
 Princes free in a foreign land, was naturally 
 strained ; the latter were glad to forget their 
 brother's peril in their own safety, and ready
 
 218 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 to put themselves forward while incurring no 
 risk, caring not at all how much they might 
 endanger the King. The ardour of the Comte 
 d'Artois was particularly formidable. Mme. 
 de Polignac was for the Princes, and " dis- 
 approved the suspicion with which they were 
 regarded by certain persons." His first inter- 
 view inspired Fersen with a poor opinion of the 
 favourite ; he met her again in the apartment 
 of the Comte d'Artois, where M. de Calonne 
 appeared in his nightcap, whereat they were 
 mightily amused. A third meeting failed to alter 
 his impression : " I have seen the Duchesse de 
 Polignac ; she constantly talks of affairs, but 
 seldom of her friend." 
 
 Very different was the sweet and noble 
 Princesse de Lamballe, whom Marie Antoinette 
 had sacrificed to the Polignac. While the latter 
 cheerfully consented to place herself and her 
 goods in safety, the former, who was travelling 
 abroad, conceived that the duty of a friend, 
 even though neglected, and even though for- 
 saken, was to adhere to those whom she had 
 loved in their evil fortune, and she returned 
 to France prepared to confront the perils from 
 which the other had fled. 
 
 Doubtless she had not a very bright intellect, 
 and her presence was not likely to be of much 
 use. Fersen saw her at Brussels, and met her 
 at a dinner given by Mrs. Sullivan. Her con- 
 versation did not please him ; he passes a rather 
 harsh judgment upon it, summing it up as " silly 
 gossip." But the woman had a heart, and, as 
 she obeyed its impulses, her conduct was noble
 
 MEAN AND BASE JEALOUSY 219 
 
 and generous ; she resumed that place with the 
 Queen which Mme. de Polignac had usurped, 
 only to suffer, to w r eep, and to die. 
 
 It would be a mistake to suppose that all 
 the emigrants were thinking only of a return 
 of good fortune for the King, the Queen, and 
 the cause of legitimate monarchy, to which they 
 were supposed to be devoted. It would appear 
 to us that in the face of the great events then 
 taking place, and the growing danger that 
 threatened the old social order, they should 
 all have united in order to secure a triumph. 
 This was surely imperative ! Nothing, however, 
 is more sad to record than the mean and 
 base jealousy of those expatriated Frenchmen. 
 Many of them openly desired that the Comte 
 d'Artois should assume the leadership of the 
 party, and for this reason the captivity of the 
 King and Queen, which left them a free hand, 
 was far from displeasing to them. They even 
 ventured to rejoice openly in it, as we learn 
 from Fersen, who writes, " There is an indecent 
 joy here among our party at the arrest of the 
 King." 
 
 He did not conceal his indignation, and 
 when certain persons, with the importunate 
 eagerness of mere curiosity, tried to elicit from 
 him the details of the event which had over- 
 whelmed him with grief, he describes himself 
 as " disgusted by the sight of them." 
 
 Sad news came to him from Paris ! "The 
 King and Queen of France are closely watched ; 
 all the doors are open ; guards are placed in 
 the room next to the bed-chamber. The
 
 220 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 doors are shut for a moment only while the 
 King's shirt is put on ; when she (the Queen) 
 is in bed, the guards come several times during 
 the night to make sure. Never alone. They 
 must not speak low. No one can enter the 
 chateau without tickets from Lafayette and the 
 Mayor." 
 
 It was not known at Brussels that the 
 King was in a state of physical prostration. 
 This had set in immediately upon his return 
 to Paris. The repeated entry in his journal, 
 "Nothing at all," during the last days of 
 June, was the exact definition of what the 
 King of France himself had become. He was 
 even more inert than indifferent ; he was 
 only the shadow of his former self, and 
 remained for days together without uttering 
 a word. 
 
 What a spectacle for the Queen ! What 
 were her sufferings as a mother ? As a wife, 
 her misery was aggravated by the conduct 
 of him who ought to have consoled, supported, 
 and protected her. But no ; her husband 
 was no longer a King ; he was no longer 
 even a man ; and an hour was drawing near 
 in which the Queen, in her indignation and 
 shame at his weakness, was to make one 
 supreme effort to rouse him out of his torpor, 
 throwing herself at his feet in an agonised 
 appeal to his affection and his courage, and 
 using those memorable words : "If we must 
 perish, at least let it be with honour; let 
 us not wait for them to come and strangle 
 us both on the floor of our room ! "
 
 UNAVAILING EQUIVOCATION 221 
 
 But although she succeeded in restoring a 
 temporary appearance of courage to the un- 
 fortunate King by her strength of will, 
 she was powerless to inspire him with the 
 dignity which their terrible position de- 
 manded. 
 
 The National Assembly had appointed three 
 of its members, Tronchet, Duport, and d' Andre, 
 to receive explanations concerning his abduc- 
 tion (enlevement] from Louis himself; for, by 
 a fiction which did not deceive anybody, but 
 still permitted Louis to preserve the character 
 and the place which he held under the Con- 
 stitution, it was pretended that he had only 
 yielded to the will of his enemies in leaving 
 Paris. His reply was as pitiful as it was 
 impolitic. 
 
 In this document he assigns the outrages 
 to which he and his family were subjected 
 on the 1 8th of April, and the impunity of 
 the various publications which had afterwards 
 led to the violence done to his person, as 
 the causes of his departure from Paris. He 
 had no intention of leaving France ; he had 
 not planned his journey with the foreign 
 Powers, or with his relations, or with any 
 of the French emigrants ; one of his chief 
 motives was to refute the statement that he 
 was not free ; he had never made any pro- 
 test except that which he had left for the 
 National Assembly on the day of his depar- 
 ture. . . . He had not thought it possible 
 to ascertain the public mind with certainty 
 in the middle of Paris ; but on his journey
 
 222 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 lie had ascertained that it was favourable to 
 the Constitution. ... So soon as he learned 
 what the public feeling really was, he had 
 sacrificed his personal interests without hesi- 
 tation to the welfare of the people, and he 
 would gladly forget all the annoyances (des- 
 agrements) that he had undergone if he could 
 secure the peace and happiness of the nation. 
 
 Marie Antoinette was also interrogated, and 
 she made the following declaration : 
 
 " The King being desirous to go away with 
 his children, nothing in nature could have 
 prevented me from accompanying him. I have 
 sufficiently proved for two years past that I 
 would never leave him. That which made 
 me still more determined was the positive 
 assurance that the King did not intend to 
 go out of the kingdom ; if he had desired to 
 do so, I would have done all in my power to 
 prevent him." 
 
 That these declarations did not carry convic- 
 tion of their truth to anybody was their least 
 defect. If the King had no intention of going 
 abroad, should need arise, why had he selected 
 a place so near the frontier as Montmedy ? 
 If he wanted to ascertain the public mind, why 
 a secret departure by night, and why the hur- 
 ried rate of travelling ? Objections very difficult 
 to refute cropped up in crowds. 
 
 The statements of the King and Queen were 
 not believed, and their declaration that all 
 of the persons who accompanied them were 
 unaware of the goal of the journey went for 
 nothing. This was inevitable ; when it was
 
 DECLARATIONS OF INNOCENCE 223 
 
 decided that the principals were not to be 
 brought to judgment, the subordinates had to 
 be arraigned as culprits. 
 
 Warrants were immediately issued against 
 MM. de Bouille', Heyman, Klinglin, Desoteux, 
 d'Andoins, Bouille the younger, Goguelat, 
 Choiseul-Stainville, Mandell, Fersen, " Colonel 
 of Royal-Sue'dois," de Valory, de Maldent, and 
 Du Moustier, body-guards. These persons were 
 sent to the prison at Orleans, and afterwards 
 brought before the tribunal of that city. 
 
 M. de Damas, and Mesdames de Tourzel, 
 Brunier, and de Neuville were simply ordered 
 to be arrested " as a provisional measure." 
 
 Not all the persons named in the indictment 
 fell into the hands of justice, and among those 
 who were arrested there was considerable diver- 
 sity of action. All the officers asserted their 
 innocence, declaring that " they knew nothing, 
 and had done nothing but obey." Goguelat, 
 who had displayed so much courage and daring 
 in the hour of danger, endeavoured, like the 
 others, to exculpate himself. " He pleaded the 
 orders of M. de Bouille ; he said that he had 
 no knowledge of what was taking place ; that 
 he had only heard the drum-call to arms and 
 the ringing of the alarm-bell, and heard tell 
 that the King had been stopped at Varennes. 
 He owned that being afraid lest he might be 
 assailed and maltreated by the people as an 
 officer, he had laid aside his uniform, and was 
 preparing to cross the frontier at the moment 
 of his arrest." 
 
 Only the three body-guards, who had shown
 
 224 A FKIEKD OF THE QUEEN" 
 
 such unflinching courage during the terrible 
 return from Varennes and the scene at the 
 Tuileries, still stood firm, preserving their lofty 
 and valiant bearing. Far from shielding them- 
 selves under the pretext of the King's com- 
 mands, they boldly laid claim to the peril and 
 the honour of their action. 
 
 The Marquis de Bouille, who had saved 
 nothing but himself in this fatal adventure, 
 conceived the unlucky idea of writing a furious 
 and ridiculous letter to the National Assembly 
 from Luxemburg, where he had found a safe 
 refuge. 
 
 He assumed the entire responsibility of the 
 King's flight, thinking to attract anger and 
 vengeance to himself, who was beyond the 
 reach of either, without taking into account 
 that by doing so he made Louis out a puppet, 
 without either mind or will of his own. 
 
 In vain did he assume the Bombastes vein 
 " I desired to save my country, I desired to 
 save my King, I desired to save his family : 
 such are my crimes. You will answer for their 
 lives I do not say to me, but to all the kings ! 
 I tell you that if a hair of their heads be hurt, 
 there will shortly be left not one stone of Paris 
 upon another ; you yourselves shall answer for 
 it with your heads ! 
 
 " I know the roads ; I will lead the foreign 
 armies ! . . ." 
 
 The Assembly laughed uproariously at threats 
 uttered by a general whose plans had been 
 easily frustrated by a postmaster and a few 
 willing citizens. Still, however, Bouille took a
 
 DISPLEASUKE OF THE EOYALISTS 225 
 
 correct view of the situation in appealing for 
 the rescue of the King to foreign armies and 
 to the community of interests of the European 
 sovereigns ; for royalty could only be saved 
 from the outside now. The most effective 
 of the monarchical powers had quitted France. 
 " The nobility and the clergy were on the 
 frontier." Those faithful adherents of the 
 monarchy who remained in the country were 
 profoundly depressed ; and worse than this, 
 they were seriously displeased with the feeble 
 King. 
 
 All those valiant and devoted men who had 
 declined to follow the prompt example of the 
 Comte d'Artois by flying from France, had been 
 deeply hurt by the withholding from them 
 of the royal confidence. They understood, of 
 course, that it was impossible to divulge the 
 plan to everybody, but each one thought an 
 exception might have been made in his own 
 favour. They had not forsaken the King, but 
 here was the King forsaking them ! The King 
 was among the emigrants ! 
 
 His action restored their liberty, and set them 
 free from the last tie that bound them to the 
 now dangerous soil of France. The bearing of 
 the King, when he was brought back foiled 
 and repentant, was not likely to efface these 
 painful impressions. 
 
 A similar feeling existed among the Constitu- 
 tionalists ; there was no mistake at all about it, 
 the King had broken his compact with the 
 nation. What power could they wield hence- 
 forth against the current which was driving
 
 226 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN" 
 
 the Assembly, even against its own will, into 
 the assumption of supreme authority ? A few 
 deputies of the Eight resigned their seats. 
 Three hundred and fifteen declared that they 
 would cease to take part in all deliberations 
 whose object was not " the interests of the 
 King's person and of the royal family." This 
 was a direct and unwise acknowledgment of 
 powerlessness, couched in a phrase which de- 
 ceived nobody. 
 
 Louis, who was incapable of the manly re- 
 soluteness of a Henri Quatre, and did not 
 dream of regaining his authority over his re- 
 bellious subjects, had but one resource abdi- 
 cation. He never thought of such a thing ! 
 He did not understand anything about the 
 great movement that was extending to the 
 entire people ; he thought he could fence with 
 it and trick it, and he condescended to assume 
 the appearance of acquiescence in that which 
 he meant to defeat to the utmost of his power 
 by underhand means. These were perilous and 
 disloyal tactics, which exposed him to the dis- 
 grace of receiving a humiliating pardon from 
 his worst enemies, and led to the loss of his 
 life after the loss of his dignity. 
 
 From the hour of his arrival at Brussels, 
 Count Fersen's mind was set upon obtaining 
 the support of all the united sovereigns for 
 the royal family of France, and he set to work 
 without delay. 
 
 " The dreadful misfortune that has hap- 
 pened must entirely change the progress of 
 affairs," he wrote to Marie Antoinette on the
 
 THE ZEAL OF GUSTAVUS HI. 227 
 
 2 7 tli of June ; " and if the resolution to 
 employ the agency of others, being no longer 
 able to act in person, still holds good, it is 
 necessary to recommence negotiations, and to 
 give a warrant (plein pouvoir) to that effect. 
 The bulk of the Powers who are to act must be 
 great enough to defy resistance, and thus to 
 save precious lives. Answers must be given to 
 the following questions : 
 
 " i. Is it desired that action should be taken, 
 notwithstanding all intimations forbidding it ? 
 
 "2. Will full powers be given to Monsieur 
 or to the Comte d'Artois ? 
 
 "3. Is it desired that Baron de Breteuil 
 should be employed under either prince, or 
 would consent be given to the employment 
 of M. de Calonne, or would the choice be 
 left to him?" 
 
 In a postscript, dated Aix-la-Chapelle, he 
 says that he has seen the King of Sweden, 
 who is entirely "well-disposed." He adds, 
 " I am well, and I live only to serve you. 
 Tell me whether you wish action to be taken 
 for you." 
 
 Of all the princes then reigning, Gustavus 
 III. was undeniably the warmest advocate of 
 this plan for the defence of the royal family 
 of France. He had embraced the cause of 
 monarchy with chivalrous zeal, and his great 
 project was to put himself at the head of a 
 crusade against the rebellious French, those 
 rash promoters of new ideas, and subversive 
 theories fraught with danger to the rights of 
 kings.
 
 228 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN" 
 
 Gustavus, being apprised of the projected 
 flight, had gone to Spa, in order to be nearer 
 to the news and also to the fugitives, if 
 happily they should succeed in crossing the 
 frontier ; but he had returned to Aix-la-Cha- 
 pelle when Fersen joined him, and had the 
 satisfaction of finding him warmly interested 
 in the project for the liberation of the pri- 
 soners of the Tuileries. The King, wishing to 
 make sure of the co-operation of the British 
 Government, proposed to send Fersen to Eng- 
 land, but the Count declined that mission, 
 and proposed Colonel Crawford in his stead. 
 It was then agreed that he was to be sent 
 to Vienna, and that he should endeavour to 
 induce the Emperor to enter into the coalition 
 for his sister's rescue. 
 
 Count Fersen set out on the 2ist of July, 
 and passed through Coblentz, where he saw 
 Monsieur and the Comte d'Artois. 
 
 Monsieur was reasonable, listening seriously 
 to what was said to him, making shrewd 
 remarks, without compromising himself, and 
 showing proper feeling for the misfortunes of 
 his kinsfolk. The Comte d'Artois, on the con- 
 trary, assumed the heroic tone, would not 
 hearken to diplomatic measures, insisted on the 
 rebels being put down by force, and displayed 
 a fine disdain of danger that was to be incurred 
 by others. Fersen disposes of him in a sen- 
 tence : " D'Artois talks incessantly, never listens, 
 is cocksure of everything, and will hear of 
 nothing but force. No negotiations for him." 
 The impetuous Prince found an auxiliary in
 
 CALONKE AGAIN 229 
 
 M. de Calonne, who arrived just then from 
 England. He was " all damp," says Fersen, 
 for his carriage had been overturned into the 
 Rhine, and he had swam ashore. " Why did 
 he not stay there ? " adds the Count. And, 
 indeed, what was there to be hoped from 
 this man, who had been so exasperated by 
 his dismissal that he had become the accom- 
 plice of Madame de la Motte, whose Memoires, 
 abounding in infamous accusations against the 
 Queen, were inspired, and probably dictated, 
 by him. 
 
 Like the Comte d'Artois, Calonne had seen 
 everything, knew everything, and spoke like 
 a man who was perfectly sure of himself 
 and other people. According to him, Eng- 
 land " would respond at once if the other 
 Powers took any steps." What was to be 
 expected from a man who perpetually inter- 
 rupted the other speakers by exclaiming, "Ah ! 
 I have a sublime idea," and then made some 
 absolutely preposterous proposal ? 
 
 Count Fersen left Coblentz for Vienna on 
 the 27th. On his arrival he learned that the 
 Emperor had caused it to be intimated to 
 the French Ambassador, M. de Noailles, that 
 he must not appear at Court, "his master 
 being a prisoner." The pretext was worthy 
 of the prohibition both were equally wise and 
 politic. 
 
 On the 4th of August he obtained audience 
 of Leopold II. He might have supposed him- 
 self with the Comte d'Artois. " The Emperor 
 speaks much and listens little," he writes in 
 11
 
 2 3 o A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 his journal. At first there was a profusion 
 of protestations, fervent assurances of the 
 Emperor's devotion to the cause of his unfor- 
 tunate sister ; no effort of his to come to her 
 aid should be wanting. Count Fersen was 
 enchanted, but he soon perceived that these 
 fine words were not followed by deeds to 
 match in fact, that nothing at all was done. 
 Nevertheless, he was not disheartened, and 
 on the removal of the Court to Prague, he 
 followed. There again he was received in 
 the most charming and gracious way, just 
 at first ; after a while there was a decided 
 change of tone. Leopold protested that his 
 feelings were still the. same, but he had to 
 contend with the views of his Council ; he was 
 only the echo of the objections which he was 
 obliged to urge. . . . Presently he avoided 
 receiving the envoy of Gustavus III., and 
 the latter had to acknowledge that Baron 
 Taube was right when he called Leopold " the 
 accursed Florentine," and to own that he had 
 been tricked by him. Some time afterwards 
 Taube wrote to him as follows : " I have told 
 you several times, my friend, that we were 
 duped by the Emperor. . . . He wants to 
 mediate betiveen the King, Queen, and the 
 Assembly, to rule France through the former 
 or the latter, to dismember it, and to keep 
 up anarchy in that unhappy country. His 
 oivn sister should be the first victim of this 
 accursed Florentine if he saw any advantage 
 to be gained by it." 
 
 Baron Taube put his finger boldly on the
 
 LEOPOLD'S INSLNdERITY 231 
 
 sore spot. It is only too true, and the course 
 of this narrative will afford convincing proof 
 of the fact, that the Emperor Leopold, like 
 most of the other European sovereigns, had 
 no clear vision of what was happening in 
 France. M. de Tocqueville has ably defined 
 the state of mind of the Princes and their 
 Ministers : "If by chance they tell the truth 
 about it (the French Revolution) it is uncon- 
 sciously. The principal sovereigns of Ger- 
 many, being met together at Pilnitz in 1791, 
 proclaim that the peril is common to all the 
 old Powers ; . . . but in reality they do not 
 believe this. The private documents of the 
 time make it evident that they meant it only 
 as a colourable pretext under which they hid 
 their own designs from the public. As for 
 them, they entirely believed that the French 
 Revolution was but a local and transient acci- 
 dent, and they had only to take all the advan- 
 tage they could out of it." 
 
 The struggle between the "House of France" 
 
 oo 
 
 and the " House of Austria " still subsisted, and 
 the latter regarded the events of the time as a 
 means of defeating the former, or at least of 
 humbling it for a long time. 
 
 The Emperor Leopold could not be a sincere 
 supporter of the famous plan of Gustavus III., 
 which consisted of getting together an army 
 and throwing it upon the coasts of Normandy. 
 The Emperor was quite willing to mass troops 
 upon the frontier for the purpose of assisting 
 Louis XVI. to get away from Paris, but not 
 to reinstate him there by a victory in arms.
 
 232 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 Too complete a success would have defeated 
 his own secret hopes. 
 
 Gustavus was, in fact, beating the air. In 
 vain did he address to Count Fersen a Memo- 
 randum for the inhabitants of Normandy, and 
 Instructive Notes upon the most commodious 
 and suitable point for the landing which it is 
 proposed to effect on the coast of Lower Nor- 
 mandy ; not a voice in Europe responded to 
 his appeal, and the mission of his envoys failed 
 everywhere. 
 
 Fersen sorrowfully admits the fact. " I beg 
 of you, my friend, to tell the King (of Sweden) 
 how much I grieve that I have succeeded so 
 ill," he wrote to Baron Taube on the 2oth 
 of September ; " the hope that I may be use- 
 ful to him at Brussels is a little consolation 
 to me." 
 
 His longing for news from France had much 
 to do with his readiness to return to the 
 frontier. Several weeks had elapsed since any 
 intelligence had reached him, and during that 
 time serious events had occurred. The Assembly 
 had completed the Constitution, and had pre- 
 sented it to the King. In order to allow him 
 to make a thorough examination of the docu- 
 ment, the restrictions under which he lived 
 were relaxed to a certain extent, and some 
 measure of liberty was granted him. 
 
 After a few days of reflection, Louis wrote 
 to the Assembly that he accepted the Consti- 
 tution, and undertook to have it carried out. 
 This was the result of advice which had been 
 given to him by Lafayette, Barnave, Duport
 
 REVOLUTIONARY EMIGRANTS 233 
 
 du Tertre, the Lameth brothers, and Prince 
 Kaunitz. The advice of the latter conveyed the 
 secret desire of both the Emperor and himself. 
 Count Fersen would probably have been more 
 indignant than surprised if he had known 
 this. 
 
 The news of the King's action raised a 
 chorus of protest, and caused great displeasure 
 abroad. Since Louis had sanctioned the Consti- 
 tution, some said there was nothing for it but 
 to let him try the experiment ; while the more 
 active partisans of the Princes asserted that he 
 was not entitled to renounce his rights, and 
 talked of nominating the Comte de Provence 
 Regent without further delay. Thus we see 
 that the emigrants went faster than the Revo- 
 lutionists ; they were the first to propose the 
 deposition of the King of France. 
 
 They were so glad to lay hold of any 
 plausible pretext for the justification of their 
 conduct in their own eyes, that they accumu- 
 lated grievances against the royal family, and 
 spread the report, which Fersen notes in his 
 journal, that the Queen " allowed herself to be 
 led by Barnave." 
 
 Appearances might indicate this, but it was 
 not the case. The Queen was, in fact, playing 
 a double game, which was not dangerous only 
 at that crisis of affairs. 
 
 It is well known that Barnave, formerly an 
 adversary of the Court, had been won over to 
 the side of royalty rather by the woman than 
 by the Queen. But whatever may have been 
 the motives of a conversion which had taken
 
 234 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN" 
 
 place during the return from Varennes under 
 the eyes of Pdtion (who had seen nothing of 
 it), Baniave was sincere in the counsel and the 
 support which he gave to Louis and Marie 
 Antoinette. The Queen accepted both his 
 counsel and his support with the private in- 
 tention of using them to divide her enemies, 
 but it was far from her mind to conform to the 
 policy he laid down. She did not disguise this 
 from her familiar friends. Speaking of Barnave 
 one day to Mme. Campan, she said : 
 
 " A feeling of pride, which I cannot blame in 
 a young man of the Third Estate, has led him 
 to approve of everything that smoothes the path 
 to honours and renown for the class to which 
 he belongs. If power ever comes back again to 
 us, Barnave's pardon is written beforehand in 
 our hearts" 
 
 Barnave's pardon ! That was all she pro- 
 mised to him who was sacrificing himself for 
 her sake ! It was apparently a sufficient reward 
 for the devoted service of " a young man of the 
 Third Estate." 
 
 The Queen's attitude with respect to Barnave 
 was consistent in every way with her previous 
 conduct. She was married to the Dauphin 
 when a child ; she could not love her new 
 country except through the husband who had 
 been given to her, and he was not capable of 
 making the little Austrian princess love either 
 himself or France. The sentiments with which 
 she was regarded by his nearest of kin as well 
 as by the majority of the Court were not cal- 
 culated to modify her first impressions.
 
 THE QUEEN" A TOOL 235 
 
 And so it was that the daughter of Maria 
 Theresa continued to be a docile instrument, 
 at first in the hands of the Empress of Ger- 
 many, and afterwards in those of her brother 
 Joseph. On two occasions she gave striking 
 proofs of this ; perhaps it may be well to 
 recall these incidents of political history in 
 this place. 
 
 In 1778, during the affair of the Bavarian 
 succession, which her brother had brought 
 about, and in which the army under his com- 
 mand had not been successful, Marie Antoinette 
 made several attempts to sound the King, or 
 his Ministers, Maurepas and Vergennes, so that 
 she might communicate the projects and the 
 despatches of the French Cabinet to her mother. 
 When Maria Theresa solicited the mediation 
 of France, Marie Antoinette wrote to her : 
 " I have every motive for acting, for I am 
 quite persuaded that the glory of the King 
 and the good of France are concerned in this, 
 without reckoning the welfare of my dear 
 country" (October 1778). 
 
 Her dear country ! Austria. 
 
 In 1784, when her brother Joseph laid claim 
 to the mouth of the Scheldt and the posses- 
 sion of Maastricht, she again put herself for- 
 ward and endeavoured to influence her husband 
 and the Ministers in his interests. She kept 
 him acquainted with what she was doing. On 
 the 22nd of September 1784 she wrote : "I will 
 not contradict you about the short-sightedness 
 of our Ministry. I have spoken of it more 
 than once to the King, but it would be neces-
 
 236 A FKIEKD OF THE QUEEN 
 
 sary to know him to understand how I am re- 
 stricted in means and resources by his character 
 and his prejudices. He is naturally taciturn ; 
 when I reproach him with not having spoken 
 to me about certain matters, he does not get 
 angry, but he seems embarrassed, and some- 
 times tells me simply that it did not occur to 
 him to do so. M. de la Vauguyon alarmed 
 him about the control his wife would try to 
 exert over him, and, moreover, his black soul 
 took pleasure in frightening him with all sorts 
 of phantoms conjured up against Austria. M. 
 de Maurepas thought it to his advantage to 
 keep up these ideas in the King's mind. M. de 
 Vergennes pursues the same plan, and probably 
 makes use of his Foreign Office correspondence 
 to employ treachery and lying. I have spoken 
 of this to the King plainly and more than 
 once. He has sometimes answered me with 
 displeasure, and, as he is incapable of discus- 
 sion, I have not been able to persuade him 
 that his Minister was either self-deceived or 
 deceiving him." 
 
 M. Geffroy makes the following remarks 
 upon this quotation : 
 
 " In concert with Mercy, she besets Louis 
 XVI., deceives the Ministers, does all she can 
 to get promises and agreements out of them 
 in the presence of the King, whom she had 
 previously persuaded, delays the couriers while 
 she informs her brother of the decisions 
 which they will bring, and so gives him time 
 to guard against them. And when Joseph II. 
 accepts our mediation, it is she who makes
 
 THE FIRST DAUPHIN 237 
 
 the conditions to be proposed to France more 
 onerous, and she does this in a quick, business- 
 like way, indicating the obstinacy of a rather 
 crafty mind. This sort of thing goes on unin- 
 terruptedly for eighteen months, and certainly 
 cannot be called a refusal to interfere in political 
 matters, an attitude of impartiality with respect 
 to the interests of the Austrian Court." (Marie 
 Antoinette et les documents authentiques.) 
 
 And yet, at this period, the Queen of France 
 was the mother of a Dauphin, a sweet child, 
 popularly known as Chou-d' Amour, so pretty 
 was he, and whose precocious intelligence was 
 remarked by all who approached him. Baroness 
 Oberkirch has related a pleasant anecdote of the 
 little Dauphin. On one occasion, he wanted to 
 buy some costly toys, but he was not allowed 
 to do so. In the evening, when he was sleepily 
 lisping his prayers, the old servant who had 
 charge of him thought proper to administer a 
 little lesson. 
 
 " Monseigneur," said he, alluding to the inci- 
 dent of the toys, " you must ask God for wisdom 
 rather than for wealth." 
 
 " My dear Joseph," replied the royal child 
 with a sly look, " now that I am about it, I 
 am going to ask Him for both." 
 
 His mother dearly loved the poor little boy, 
 who died of decline in 1789, just as the evil 
 days set in, leaving an inheritance of woe to his 
 younger brother, the Due de Normandie ; and 
 yet Marie Antoinette, as we see, seems to have 
 preferred the land of her birth to that over 
 which her own son was destined to reign.
 
 238 A FEIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 Her state of mind being such as we know 
 it was, is it surprising that she should have 
 welcomed the succour from abroad that was 
 offered to her, especially at a period when the 
 howls of the populace and their demonstra- 
 tions of hatred had transformed the French 
 nation, in her sight, into a formidable assem- 
 blage of rebels and ruffians ? She knew only what 
 she had been taught of the rights of kings, of the 
 rights of peoples she was wholly ignorant ; and 
 this being so, she might very naturally con- 
 sider herself in an attitude of legitimate de- 
 fence, and be unconscious that she was guilty 
 of high treason against the country in calling 
 the arms of foreign sovereigns to her aid. 
 
 Many excuses may, indeed, be made for her, 
 but that excuse which ought to absolve her 
 completely before impartial posterity is that 
 the King of France was her accomplice he, 
 who could not plead that he was of foreign 
 birth, and whose very title indicated the plain 
 path of his duty. 
 
 As for Count Fersen, he had no scruples 
 to overcome ; although he was colonel of a 
 French regiment, he had never regarded 
 himself as in the service of the nation, but 
 solely in the service of the King, and his na- 
 tionality entitled him to act against France 
 at his own risk and peril. Even though 
 his ever-living love for Marie Antoinette had 
 not induced him to make every effort to 
 save the Queen from the terrible fate which 
 threatened her, his high sense of honour 
 would have driven him into action. On the
 
 COUNT FERSEN'S FIDELITY 239 
 
 2oth August 1791 be wrote to his father from 
 Vienna as follows : " The confidence with 
 which I have been honoured by the King 
 and Queen of France makes it my duty not 
 to abandon them under the present circum- 
 stances, but still to serve them so long as 
 my services can avail. I should be condemned 
 by everybody were I to act otherwise. I 
 alone have been admitted to their confidence, 
 and I can still serve them, because I am in 
 full possession of their position, their inten- 
 tions, and the affairs of France. I should 
 everlastingly reproach myself with having con- 
 tributed to place them in their present unfor- 
 tunate situation, if I did not employ all the 
 resources I possess to rescue them from it. 
 Such conduct would be unworthy of your son." 
 
 For two years after this, Count Fersen, faith- 
 fully adhering to his intention, was the chief 
 secret agent between the Tuileries and foreign 
 Courts. He was the centre of correspondence ; 
 it was he who held all the threads of the 
 schemes, interventions, and negotiations in 
 which the captive royal family were concerned ; 
 and his action completely unknown at that 
 period, and hardly suspected twenty years ago 
 but now clearly revealed, through the publica- 
 tion of his papers, or at least such of them as 
 his descendants have thought proper to make 
 known throws an entirely new light upon this 
 period of our history. 
 
 When we recall the precautions that were 
 taken against the King and Queen and their 
 surroundings, it seems almost impossible that
 
 240 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 they could have corresponded with their friends 
 on the outside. The watch kept over them 
 was not limited to their persons ; it extended 
 to everything that came into the Tuileries, 
 and everything that went out of the Tuileries. 
 How then did they contrive to receive and 
 send out letters which escaped the eyes, the 
 search, the suspicion, and the inimical activity 
 of their guards ? 
 
 Human intelligence has wonderful resources, 
 and the prisoner is almost invariably more 
 clever and more cunning than his jailer. This 
 was proved in the case of the Queen. Before 
 she was separated from Count Fersen she had 
 arranged a cipher with him ; their letters would 
 have kept the secret of their contents, even 
 had they fallen into the hands of their enemies. 
 They also adopted the device of writing with 
 invisible ink between the lines of an insignifi- 
 cant correspondence. 
 
 The modes of despatch were of various sorts. 
 Sometimes the letters were confided to trust- 
 worthy persons, like Baron de Goguelat, who 
 had recovered his liberty under the terms of 
 an amnesty granted to the King in exchange 
 for his acceptation of the Constitution, the 
 Chevalier d'Eclans, a gentleman of Franc- 
 Comtois, and a Constitutional deputy, or his 
 friend Terrier-Monciel. Sometimes the papers 
 were hidden in a box of biscuits, in a packet 
 of tea or chocolate ; in the lining of a gar- 
 ment, or in the binding of revolutionary works. 
 The persons for whom they were ostensibly 
 destined were mostly foreigners. At Brussels
 
 IMPKUDENT DISCRETION 241 
 
 it was Colonel Crawford, or " his pretended 
 Madame Crawford " (Mrs. Sullivan). Some- 
 times they were addressed poste restante to 
 "M. 1'Abbe de Beauverin." It was the same 
 thing in Paris, but during the whole of this 
 correspondence, the safest messenger and the 
 most often employed was Goguelat. 
 
 We have read the notes that were exchanged 
 between Marie Antoinette and Count Fersen 
 a few days after the Varennes incident. 
 
 Two months elapsed, during which they had 
 no news of each other, then communication 
 was re-established, and the half-political, half- 
 private correspondence began. A great many 
 passages of this are missing. Some of these 
 were suppressed by Fersen himself, who was 
 imprudently discreet in this matter, for it 
 allows more than the truth to be suspected. 
 The following letter from Marie Antoinette, 
 written on the 26th September, is interesting 
 from more than one point of view : 
 
 "Your letter of the 28th has reached me. 
 For two months I have had no news of you ; 
 no one could tell me where you were. I 
 should have written, if I had known her ad- 
 dress, to Sophie (Sophie was Countess Piper, 
 Count Fersen's sister) ; she would have told 
 me where you were." (Here eight lines are 
 obliterated from the deciphered copy.) "Our 
 position is changed since the King's accept- 
 ance (of the Constitution). To refuse it would 
 have been more noble, but this was impossible 
 under our circumstances. I would have wished 
 the acceptance to be simpler and shorter,
 
 242 A FKIEKD OF THE QUEEN 
 
 but it is our misfortune to have only scoun- 
 drels about us. Yet I can assure you the 
 measure which has been passed is the least of 
 evils ; you will be able to judge of this one 
 day, for I keep for you all that has . . . 
 (here a passage is missing) been there. I am 
 happy to recover, since there are papers of 
 yours. 
 
 " The follies of the Princes and the emi- 
 grants have also forced our hand. It was 
 essential to remove all doubt of our good 
 faith by accepting. We think that the best 
 means to weary them out with all this is to 
 seem to enter fully into it; that will show 
 very soon that nothing can be done. And 
 then, notwithstanding the letter which my 
 brothers have written to the King, and which, 
 by -the -bye, has failed to produce the effect 
 which they hoped from it, I do not see, espe- 
 cially from the declaration of Pilnitz, that the 
 foreign succour is so very prompt. This is 
 perhaps as well, because the more we advance, 
 the more these wretches will feel their mis- 
 fortunes. I fear that the hot heads may 
 induce your King to do something which will 
 compromise him, and consequently us ; a great 
 deal of prudence is necessary. I am going to 
 write to M. de Mercy. 
 
 " So soon as you arrive at Brussels, let 
 me know. I will write to you quite simply, 
 for I have a sure means always, at my dis- 
 posal. You could not believe how much all 
 that I am doing just now costs me, and 
 besides, these wretched men who say they are
 
 FERSEN'S REPLY TO THE QUEEN 243 
 
 attached to us and have never done us any- 
 thing but harm, are quite mad at the present 
 time. At this moment they are furious. It 
 seems that one's mind ought to be base enough 
 to take pleasure in what one is obliged to 
 do ; ... it is their (obliterated line here) . . . 
 and their conduct which has dragged us into 
 our present position. I have only one happi- 
 ness ; it is seeing all those gentlemen who 
 were imprisoned for us, especially M. de Gogue- 
 lat, who is perfectly reasonable ; his head has 
 grown cool in prison. Adieu ! " 
 
 Count Fersen received this letter on the 
 8th October. Two days afterwards he re- 
 plied to it : 
 
 "I have at length come back. I am sorry 
 that you have been forced to sanction (the 
 Constitution) ; but I feel your position ; it is 
 dreadful, and there was nothing else to be 
 done. The Imp. (Empress of Russia), the 
 Kings of Prussia, Sardinia, Norway and Sweden 
 are all right, especially the three first. Sweden 
 will sacrifice herself for you ; England has 
 assured us of her neutrality. The Emperor 
 is the least willing ; he is weak and indis- 
 creet." Then he goes into the means to be 
 taken, and puts several questions to the Queen. 
 " i st. Do you intend to go sincerely into the 
 Revolution, and do you think there is no other 
 course open ? 2nd. Do you wish to be assisted, 
 or do you wish that all negotiations with the 
 Courts should be relinquished ? 3rd. Have 
 you a plan, and what is it? Pardon all these 
 questions. I flatter myself that you will re-
 
 244 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 cognise in them only my desire to serve you, 
 and a proof of my unbounded attachment and 
 devotion." 
 
 The accusation of allowing herself to be led 
 by Barnave and some of the Constitutionalists 
 is distinctly repelled by Marie Antoinette in 
 her letter of the 1 9th October. 
 
 " Make your mind easy ; I am not going 
 over to the extremists. If I see or have 
 relations with any of them, it is only to make 
 use of them. They inspire me with too much 
 horror for me ever to belong to their party. 
 You say nothing to me of your health ; mine 
 is good." (Here a passage is suppressed.) 
 Then the Queen resumes. " The French are 
 atrocious on every side; we must take care that 
 if those who are here get the advantage, and 
 that we have to live with them, they cannot re- 
 proach us with anything. We must also bear 
 in mind that if those from the outside become 
 masters, neither must we displease them." This 
 phrase is curious to quote, for Marie Antoi- 
 nette reveals her real thoughts in it. But what 
 skill it would have required to act up to this 
 view of things ! What marvellous dexterity 
 always to pursue a double line of conduct, so as 
 to puzzle everybody and enable her to prove 
 to the conqueror, whomsoever he might be, 
 that she had been for him, and had striven 
 for his success from the first ! This was a 
 miracle of astuteness and equilibrium far above 
 the power of Louis XVI. , and Marie Antoi- 
 nette, although she saw the necessity of it, was 
 incapable of carrying it out.
 
 BAEON DE STAEL 245 
 
 The danger, in fact, was great on the side 
 of France, but it was not less formidable 
 beyond the frontier. For the moment, in a 
 pause, during which his acceptance of the 
 Constitution had restored some power and an 
 appearance of popularity to the King, and had 
 given the people some confidence and tran- 
 quillity, the least thing happening outside 
 might react unfavourably on the interior, and 
 cause great embarrassment to the Princes and 
 the emigrants. 
 
 " I fear everything from their folly," writes 
 Fersen ; " they are greatly excited, for they 
 believe themselves forsaken. I can no longer 
 answer for anything on their part." 
 
 This complication was not his only cause for 
 anxiety. His sensitive mind had been pro- 
 foundly disturbed by the unpleasant rumours 
 which had reached him, and he could not refrain 
 from mention of these to Marie Antoinette. 
 " Stae'l says horrid things of me ; he has bribed 
 my coachman, and taken him into his service ; 
 this annoys me. He has turned many people 
 against me, who blame my conduct and say 
 that I have acted from ambition solely, and 
 that I have ruined you and the King. The 
 Spanish ambassador and others are of this 
 opinion they are right. My ambition was to 
 serve you, and I shall all my life regret that 
 I did not succeed. 1 desired to discharge a 
 part of the obligation which was so dear to 
 me, and I intended to prove that a man may 
 be attached to personages like yourself with- 
 out any interested motive. The rest of my
 
 246 A FKIEKD OF THE QUEEN" 
 
 conduct would have proved that this was my 
 only ambition, and that the glory of having 
 saved you was my best reward." Then he 
 relates that his horses have arrived, those horses 
 which drew the fugitives from the Port- Saint- 
 Martin to Bondy. This was a sad remembrance, 
 if it be true as Dante says : 
 
 " Non e maggior' dolore 
 Che ricordarsi dal tempo f el ice 
 Nella miseria." 
 
 "I know that you have seen the wife of my 
 valet-de-chambre," he adds. " How good you 
 are ! but I ought to be accustomed to that. 
 They say that you prefer remaining as you 
 are to making use of the Princes. You are 
 quite right ; but take care ; this must not be 
 said ; it would be dangerous to you." 
 
 Yes indeed, and it was dangerous. Marie 
 Antoinette knew this. At all times she had 
 found her worst enemies in her husband's 
 family : misfortune had not disarmed them, 
 and they continued to carry out their selfish 
 policy, needless of the harm which they did 
 her. They had allies almost everywhere, even 
 close to the Queen herself, for Madame Eliza- 
 beth was in the conspiracy. It would be 
 difficult to believe this if Marie Antoinette 
 had not confided the fact to Count Fersen. 
 She writes : 
 
 "M. de Breteuil's letter astonished and shocked 
 us, but we must have patience and not show any 
 anger at this moment. I am, however, going to 
 copy it, so as to show it to my sister. I am 
 curious to know how she will justify it in the
 
 EVILS OF THE EMIGRATION 247 
 
 midst of all that is happening. Our home-life 
 is a hell; it is impossible, with the best inten- 
 tions in the world, to say anything. My sister 
 is so indiscreet, so surrounded by schemers, and, 
 above all, so entirely ruled by her brothers from 
 the outside, that there is no use in talking it 
 would be nothing but quarrels all day. I see 
 that the ambition of the people about Monsieur 
 will entirely ruin him. At first he thought 
 that he was everything ; but no matter what 
 he does, he will never play any real part. His 
 brother will always have the confidence of all 
 parties and the advantage over him, because 
 of the consistency and the invariability of his 
 conduct.. It is most unfortunate that Monsieur 
 did not come back immediately on our being 
 stopped ; he might then have taken the course 
 which he always proclaimed he w r ould take, 
 that of never leaving us : he would have spared 
 us much pain and trouble, as we shall pro- 
 bably be forced to summon him to return. To 
 this we know he cannot consent, especially if 
 recalled in such a fashion. We have been 
 lamenting for a long time the number of 
 emigrants ; hoiv bad this is, no less for the 
 country than for the Princes themselves. It 
 is frightful the extent to which all these 
 good people have been deceived, and are being 
 deceived, so that they will soon have no 
 resource but that of rage and despair. Those 
 who have sufficient confidence in us to con- 
 sult us have been stopped, or at all events, 
 if they have thought it consistent with their 
 honour to go, we have told them the truth.
 
 24 8 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 But what would you have ? The system is to 
 say that we are not free in order not to do 
 what we advise. This is quite true ; but it 
 is also said that consequently we cannot say 
 what we think, and that action must be taken 
 in the contrary sense. This explains the fate 
 of the document sent to my brothers, and 
 which you saw and approved. ... It is as 
 much as to say, ' Do all we wish and then we 
 will serve you, but not otherwise ! ' ' She then 
 explains her view of the line of conduct that 
 ought to be taken, as follows : " We must show 
 what is our real situation, and what are our 
 desires, by proving to them that the only 
 course for us to follow is to gain the confidence 
 of the people here at this present time ; that, 
 in fact, it is necessary to do this, in view of 
 any plan whatsoever ; that in order to do this 
 we must all act together, and that, as the 
 Powers will not be able to come to the succour 
 of France in great strength during the winter, 
 the only resource is a Congress, which would 
 collect and unite all available resources for 
 the spring. But, in making this communica- 
 tion, their extreme indiscretion must be guarded 
 against. It is only from abroad that our salva- 
 tion can come, for nothing is to be done ivith 
 this Assembly ; it is a mob of scoundrels, 
 madmen, and fools." 
 
 A few days later she reverts to this idea, 
 and adds a memorandum from the King to 
 her private letter to Count Fersen. She is 
 careful to give her correspondent notice of this. 
 " There is not . . . for you inside, therefore
 
 A FOOL'S PAEADISE 249 
 
 leave the decipherment to B." (meaning Baron 
 de Breteuil). The King's note contains this 
 sentence : " The firm and uniform language of 
 all the European Powers, backed by a for- 
 midable army, would have the happiest con- 
 sequences ; it would temper the ardour of the 
 emigrants, whose part would henceforth be only 
 secondary, factions would be disconcerted, and 
 confidence would be restored among good citi- 
 zens, friends of order, and the monarchy." 
 
 How fallacious were such hopes ! How little 
 did the King know the " factions " on the one 
 side, or the " good citizens " on the other, if he 
 could believe that the assembling of a Congress 
 would disconcert the former and consolidate 
 the latter ! How little did he understand 
 the sentiments of the emigrants if he could 
 believe that such a prospect would cool them 
 down ! Perhaps he knew still less about the 
 state of mind of the sovereigns of Europe, 
 when he flattered himself that a sincere and 
 serious common understanding would ever unite 
 them in any task. 
 
 At the same moment innumerable schemers 
 were busy in the service of private interests, 
 and as diplomatists will apparently stop at 
 nothing to gain their ends, they spread a re- 
 port that Marie Antoinette was carrying on an 
 active correspondence with her brother, with 
 the purpose of inducing him to separate himself 
 from the common action of the other sovereigns. 
 
 The King of Sweden, without taking the 
 trouble to inquire into the truth of such an 
 accusation, wrote to Count Fersen on the nth
 
 250 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 November 1791, expressing his anger unreser- 
 vedly. " The equivocal conduct of the Prince," 
 he writes, alluding to Leopold, " with his fore- 
 seen continual tergiversation, was a presage of 
 the part which he has been taking for a long 
 time, and all that he did was for the purpose 
 of preventing the other Powers from acting, 
 by causing them to lose time. But it is true 
 that the shameful conduct of the Court of 
 France has marvellously favoured his pro- 
 jects. . . . The conduct of the Court of France 
 has surely surpassed in cowardice and in 
 ignominy all that one could have presumed 
 from it, and that the past has indicated. 
 
 " If the Queen prefers the subjection and the 
 peril in which she lives, to dependence on the 
 Princes her brothers, of which she seems to 
 entertain a greater dread, although very wrong- 
 fully, I ought to tell you that the Empress (of 
 Eussia) is very much displeased at this con- 
 duct, and especially that the Queen of France 
 writes letter upon letter to the Emperor to 
 prevent him from acting" 
 
 Great was Count Fersen's grief on receiving 
 such missives. Living at Brussels in the midst 
 of the emigrants, he knew better than anybody 
 whence these false rumours proceeded. Why, 
 indeed, should those gentlemen, who had fled 
 their country, restrain themselves ? They were 
 accustomed to hear the Comte de Provence speak 
 of his brother in cruel, contemptuous, mocking 
 terms. Had he not called him "King Log" 
 when railing against him and the Queen ? They 
 were merely following an illustrious example.
 
 TEEACHERY TO THE QUEEN 251 
 
 However painful it was for him to have to 
 apprise Marie Antoinette of the accusations 
 made against her, Count Fersen did not shrink 
 from that duty. His letters contain the proof 
 of his courageous fidelity in this respect. The 
 Queen, being informed of these calumnies, was 
 enabled to defend herself. 
 
 " What is said of my letters to the Emperor," 
 she writes, " is incomprehensible. For some 
 time past I have suspected that my hand is 
 imitated in communications to him. I must 
 clear up this fact." 
 
 Whether the letters existed or not, what did 
 it signify ? The mischief was done ; the Emperor 
 did not act. The other sovereigns acted with- 
 out any mutual agreement, and the Princes 
 kept up diplomatic correspondence with the 
 European Courts as if Monsieur had been 
 king. As for the emigrants, with the excep- 
 tion of a few short-sighted persons, whose 
 royalism, to quote the expression of Madame 
 Swetchine, was only patriotism simplified, they 
 were more furious against the King and Queen 
 because they had not rejected the Constitution, 
 than touched by their unhappy position in a 
 kingdom in revolt. 
 
 That they were not the stronger was resented 
 to the unfortunate King and Queen as a crime. 
 Marie Antoinette felt the desertion of their 
 former friends profoundly. Occasionally her in- 
 dignation breaks out in vehement words, and 
 in a letter to M. de Mercy she writes of the 
 emigrants as " cowards." What an existence 
 for the unfortunate woman ! Nevertheless she
 
 252 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 did not break down, her pride sustained her, 
 pride and hope, notwithstanding all, remained 
 intact in her heart. She was a mother, too, 
 and on that side she found some alleviation 
 of her pain. " As for myself, I keep up 
 better than I could have expected, considering 
 my prodigious fatigue of mind, and that I go 
 out very little. I have not a moment to my- 
 self, between the people that I must see, my 
 writing, and the time that I am with my 
 children. The latter occupation, which is not 
 the least, is my sole happiness, and when I 
 am very sorrowful, I take my little boy in my 
 arms, I kiss him with all my heart, and that 
 consoles me for a moment. Adieu, adieu once 
 more."
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Gustavus III. renews his efforts for the deliverance of the royal 
 family A scheme of flight Count Fersen is commissioned to 
 communicate with the King and Queen of France Obstacles 
 to his return to Paris The Queen consents Difficulties 
 concerning passports His journey, postponed at first, is 
 accomplished in February 1 792 Departure from Brussels 
 Disguise Arrival in Paris First visit to the Tuileries 
 Interview with the King Departure from Paris Incidents 
 of the return Fersen's report to the King of Sweden. 
 
 AT the end of the year (1791) three policies 
 were contending for adoption by the unfortu- 
 nate King, who was face to face with revo- 
 lution. 
 
 The first was the policy of the Constitutional- 
 ists, inspired by Barnave, the Lameth brothers, 
 Duport, and others. This policy consisted of 
 rejecting all connivance with foreigners or 
 emigrants, and giving a trial to the new 
 order of things which France had created for 
 herself. 
 
 The second was the Queen's policy ; this con- 
 sisted of inducing the sovereigns of Europe to 
 make an armed demonstration in order to strike 
 terror into the factious nation. 
 
 The third was the policy of the Emigrants. 
 
 The only means of salvation it recognised was 
 
 the active intervention of the foreign Powers, 
 
 and it contemplated, without scruple or regret, 
 
 12 2
 
 254 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 the idea of making war against France by a 
 European coalition. 
 
 Louis, who was always undecided, naturally 
 did not know which of the three policies to 
 adopt ; he inclined first to one, then to an- 
 other, and so came to the worst condition of 
 all, that of having no will of his own. 
 
 In the meantime, in spite of difficulties, in 
 spite of rebuffs, the King of Sweden was not 
 disheartened. He was proud of the part he felt 
 himself called upon to play ; his eyes were 
 always fixed upon France, and his mind was 
 constantly engaged upon schemes for the rescue 
 of the royal family. 
 
 The plan of a descent upon Normandy having 
 come to nothing in consequence of the down- 
 right refusal of the Emperor to take part in 
 it, Gustavus fell back upon the idea of assem- 
 bling an armed Congress at Frankfort ; this 
 had been suggested by Marie Antoinette. But 
 on giving full consideration to the difficulty 
 of realising this project, he relinquished it in 
 favour of a fresh attempt at flight. He was 
 afraid that the people of Paris might revenge 
 themselves upon the King and Queen for war- 
 like demonstrations from without ; and he 
 also desired that the royal persons should be 
 out of the reach of popular fury, in order 
 that the coalition which he contemplated might 
 have greater freedom of action. 
 
 He therefore advised Louis to " regard 
 himself as in the case of Henri IV. after the 
 death of Henri III., or Charles VII. after the 
 death of Charles VI., and, accordingly, to
 
 THE COUNSEL OF GUSTAVUS 255 
 
 occupy himself solely with the means of wrest- 
 ing his kingdom from the usurpers, also to 
 treat the latter as Henri IV. treated Mayenne 
 and the League, or as Charles VII. treated 
 the Duke of Burgundy and the partisans of 
 the English." 
 
 In writing these lines the King of Sweden 
 displayed a more profound knowledge of history 
 than of the character of Louis XVI., although 
 he had thought it well to enhance the effect 
 of his counsel by addressing himself equally 
 to the Queen. It was with good reason that 
 he wrote to her : " Your position is desperate ; 
 you must be got out of it by desperate means. 
 However great the danger that you will have 
 to confront, it will be less than that of 
 abandoning your fate to the course of events, 
 and leaving the opportunity and merit of saving 
 the kingdom to others. But I think it right 
 to speak of the danger that exists, and also 
 to endeavour to lessen it in the eyes of that 
 princess who, on the 8th of October, showed 
 herself with such intrepidity to a furious and 
 misled people, and who has ever since been, so 
 to speak, fed on peril only." 
 
 But Marie Antoinette, however ready she 
 might be to encounter necessary and useful 
 danger in her own person, was unable to influ- 
 ence her husband, and she might have answered 
 the King of Sweden in the melancholy and dis- 
 consolate words which she addressed to Mme. 
 Campan a few months afterwards words that 
 reveal her thoughts plainly, but in which she 
 tries to combine a stern judgment of her hus-
 
 256 A FEIEKD OF THE QUEEN 
 
 band with the external respect due to the King 
 of France. 
 
 " The King," she said, " is not a coward ; 
 he has great passive courage, but he is over- 
 powered by shyness and distrust of himself, and 
 this is due as much to his education as to his 
 character. He shrinks from commanding, and 
 dreads beyond everything having to speak to 
 
 an assemblage of men A Queen who 
 
 does not reign must, under these circumstances, 
 remain inactive and prepare to die." 
 
 There was then very little chance that 
 Louis XVI. would consent to repeat the 
 Varennes attempt, and the chances of suc- 
 cess in a second attempt to escape were still 
 less. 
 
 The scheme formed by Gustavus III. seemed 
 simple enough to his Majesty, but it was very 
 complicated. 
 
 Starting with the fact that all the roads 
 leading to the frontier were closely watched, 
 he advised that the sea-coast should be the 
 destination of the fugitives this time : an 
 English ship, stationed in a small port, was 
 to await them, and convey them to Ostend, or 
 else to England. The plan for getting out of 
 Paris was that the King, under the pretext 
 of hunting, should escape by the woods, and 
 be guided by an Englishman to the coast. An 
 Englishman was to be chosen for this confidential 
 mission, because it appears " these people are 
 bold in action and also generous." The Queen, 
 the Dauphin, and Madame Elizabeth were to 
 take another route.
 
 A DANGEKOUS MISSION 257 
 
 By travelling separately, the fugitives would 
 attract less attention, and their meeting could 
 be more easily effected at the selected sea- 
 port. 
 
 The conception of this scheme was obviously 
 absurd ; its practical execution was of course 
 impossible. 
 
 Neither the King of Sweden nor Baron 
 Taube, to whom he confided his idea, recog- 
 nised any difficulty, and ifc was decided that the 
 project should be laid before Count Fersen, who 
 was to be sent to Paris to communicate with 
 the persons concerned. 
 
 Count Fersen, who was usually more reason- 
 able and cautious, made no objection to this 
 chimerical plan. It may be that his longing 
 to be with the Queen, to pass a few days 
 with her whom he had feared he should see 
 no more, overrode every other consideration. 
 He accepted the mission intrusted to him 
 without hesitation, although it stretched his 
 fidelity to the full, and taxed all his tender 
 interest to induce him to brave the danger 
 to which such a mission must inevitably ex- 
 pose him. He had been indicted with the 
 accomplices of the flight to Varennes, but his 
 absence had saved him from arrest ; he was, 
 however, still " condemned as contumacious," 
 for he had not been included in the amnesty, 
 which affected actual prisoners only. His rela- 
 tions with the royal family, his participation 
 in the Varennes scheme, were well known ; he 
 had everything to fear if he were recognised. 
 On this venture he staked his head.
 
 258 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 Although he did not hesitate, Marie Antoi- 
 nette took a different view of his generous 
 imprudence, and at first opposed the dan- 
 gerous and foolish enterprise. However, she 
 longed to see her friend once more, and, trust- 
 ing in the precautions which he would take, 
 she yielded at last to his urgent pleading. On 
 the 2 ist of January Count Fersen writes in 
 his journal, "The Queen has consented to my 
 going to Paris." 
 
 He began immediately to prepare for his 
 mission, fixed his departure for the 3rd of 
 February, and announced it to Marie Antoi- 
 nette ; but a vexatious occurrence obliged him 
 to alter his intention. A report was spread 
 that the King intended to escape by way of 
 Calais, and Paris was in commotion. The Queen 
 wrote to Fersen to postpone his journey until 
 the decree respecting passports had been issued, 
 and tranquillity was restored. Then, a few 
 days later, she again wrote to him to the effect 
 that passports " for the individual " were re- 
 quired for everybody ; that the rumour of the 
 King's intended escape had caused the watch 
 kept upon the royal family to be much more 
 strict, and that he (Fersen) must relinquish a 
 journey which had now become impossible. 1 
 
 Count Fersen, however, thought otherwise. 
 He had resolved to brave all possible risks. 
 Could he not procure a passport from Sweden, 
 
 1 These letters, to which Count Fersen alludes in his journal, 
 are not to be found in the two large volumes of Extracts from 
 his papers. Did he destroy them with his own hand, or did the 
 editors object to publishing them ? The answer to this question 
 would evidently be of great interest.
 
 BARON DE SIMOLIff 259 
 
 and pass, under an assumed name, as a mes- 
 senger from Portugal ? Travellers had recently 
 passed the frontier without any difficulty ; he 
 had just seen M. de Simolin, who was newly ar- 
 rived from Paris, and had met with no obstacles. 
 
 It was not merely the sight of the former 
 Ambassador from Russia to the Court of France, 
 safe and sound at Brussels, that had redoubled 
 Count Fersen's anxiety to cross the frontier. 
 Baron de Simolin, who was devoted to the royal 
 family, had seen the Queen in secret during his 
 stay in Paris, and gave his friend terrible news 
 concerning her. The situation was dreadful ; 
 the danger was growing greater every day. He 
 repeated the Queen's own words 
 
 " I would rather submit to anything than 
 live longer in the state of degradation I am in, 
 for anything seems preferable to the horror of 
 our position." 
 
 Baron de Simolin added that he had been 
 moved to tears by hearing the unhappy woman 
 speak thus, and that he was then going to 
 Vienna to plead the cause of the Queen, and as 
 the bearer of letters from her to the Emperor, 
 the Empress, and Prince Kaunitz. In re- 
 lating all this to Count Fersen, he again gave 
 way to keen emotion, which was shared by his 
 friend. This scene confirmed his resolution ; he 
 must go he would go ! 
 
 He set about his final preparations at once, 
 and by the loth of February he was ready to 
 start. On the i ith, at half-past ten in the 
 morning, he took his place in a (literal) "post- 
 chaise."
 
 260 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 He did not take a servant, from the prudent 
 consideration that a valet-de-chambre, however 
 faithful he might be, might involuntarily betray 
 both himself and his master. He had, how- 
 ever, a travelling companion, one Eeutersvaerd, 
 a Swede, who was a trustworthy person, fre- 
 quently employed by Gustavus to carry secret 
 missives. 
 
 Fersen himself relates the precautions that 
 were taken to put the French police off the 
 scent, should they exhibit an indiscreet curiosity 
 concerning the travellers. He was provided 
 with a letter of credit as Minister of the Queen 
 of Portugal. Letters, and a memorandum from 
 the King of Sweden to the King of France 
 were placed under cover, and addressed to 
 him in that capacity ; a detailed report was 
 signed " Franc," and the whole was " sealed 
 with the arms of Sweden, made here" (in 
 Brussels). 
 
 They arrived at eight o'clock in the evening 
 at Tournay, where they slept. At half-past 
 three in the morning they set out again (this 
 was Sunday, the I2th of February), being only 
 moderately easy in their minds, for Reutersvaerd 
 had been talking with a M. d'Aponcourt, who 
 had told him " he could not reach Paris for 
 a full fortnight, as he would be stopped every- 
 where." 
 
 M. d'Aponcourt was WTong ; they crossed the 
 frontier unmolested. " At Orchies nothing was 
 said to them." They breakfasted at Bouchain 
 and dined at Bonavy, were detained four hours 
 at Peronne by an accident to their carriage, and
 
 A SUCCESSFUL DISGUISE 261 
 
 reached Gournay, where they remained until the 
 next day, at half-past one A.M. 
 
 Notwithstanding the facility of their journey, 
 the travellers were very prudent ; and Count 
 Fersen, who was effectually disguised by a big 
 wig, avoided the blunder that had betrayed 
 Louis XVI. ; he kept himself well hidden in the 
 carriage, and as much as possible avoided show- 
 ing himself on any occasion. 
 
 On Monday the 1 3th they stopped at Louvres 
 to dine, and at half-past five they entered Paris, 
 well pleased to have reached the end of their 
 journey. 
 
 They were now in that city on which the 
 attention of the world was fixed. What must 
 Fersen have felt on looking around him what 
 recollections of every sort must have crowded 
 upon him ! He had not seen those streets since 
 that eventful night of the 2oth of June, on 
 which he had played coachman to the royal 
 family when " they broke prison." 
 
 The times were changed, the position also 
 was changed. Marie Antoinette, whom he had 
 tried to liberate, and to save from the wrath of 
 the people, was still more closely imprisoned 
 in the palace of the monarchy, now her gaol, 
 and he himself stood in peril of his liberty 
 nay, more, of his life, as an accused and con- 
 tumacious person. 
 
 The travellers alighted in the Eue de Riche- 
 lieu at the Hotel des Princes, and Fersen leav- 
 ing Reutersvaerd without entering the hotel, 
 got into a hackney-coach, giving the driver the 
 address of Baron de Goguelat, Rue Pelletier.
 
 262 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 The driver did not know that street, and 
 said he was afraid he could not take his fare 
 to it ; fortunately, another driver gave him 
 instructions, and Fersen was deposited at 
 Goguelat's door. But the Baron was not at 
 home. Fersen waited" for him in the street; 
 time passed, and he became uneasy. Goguelat 
 had been told to expect him. What had 
 happened ? After an hour's waiting, he lost 
 patience, and returned to the E-ue de Riche- 
 lieu, to rejoin Keutersvaerd. At the Hotel des 
 Princes, no Reutersvaerd. There was no room in 
 the hotel. He inquired whither his friend had 
 gone, but nobody could tell. Fersen went back 
 to the Rue Pelletier ; no Goguelat. He sum- 
 moned up his patience once more, and resumed 
 his watch in the street. 
 
 At seven, Goguelat appeared, and explana- 
 tions ensued. The letter of advice had arrived 
 only at noon on that same day. Goguelat 
 was not at home, and there was no means of 
 finding him, so that the important missive had 
 to wait for his return. 
 
 The two gentlemen could not linger over 
 retrospective memories at that moment ; they 
 took their way to the Tuileries without delay. 
 They were expected ; they got into the palace, 
 and once more Fersen stood in the presence 
 of Marie Antoinette ! 
 
 We have no details of that first interview, 
 and are obliged to be content with two lines 
 in Fersen's journal, who again proves himself 
 " a hero of romance, but not of a French 
 romance," by his discreet reserve. Here is
 
 A SECEET INTERVIEW 263 
 
 the entry : " Went to the Queen ; passed by 
 my usual way; fear of the National Guards; not 
 seen the King." 
 
 On the morrow " the weather was very 
 fine and warm" he waited until it was dark 
 to return to the Tuileries. It was about six 
 o'clock when he saw the King and Queen. 
 " The King wore the red ribbon." 
 
 The situation was discussed, with its im- 
 minent danger and its possible developments. 
 Count Fersen communicated to their Majesties 
 the plan for their flight which the King of 
 Sweden had formed ; but the King stopped 
 him after he had said a few words, declaring 
 that he would not go away, and that were 
 he willing to attempt such a thing, it would be 
 folly, and could not have a chance of success, 
 so close was the watch kept upon them. The 
 Queen, although she acknowledged that to 
 escape would be an immense advantage to 
 them, and while she assured her distressed 
 hearer that the failure of the first attempt 
 should not deter her from a second, was of 
 the same opinion, and united with Louis in 
 absolutely refusing to adopt the views of the 
 King of Sweden on this point. 
 
 Count Fersen was, however, convinced that 
 the words of Louis were inspired by another 
 motive than the material impossibility of the 
 undertaking. "The truth is," he writes, "he 
 made a scruple of it, having so often promised 
 to remain, for he is an honest man." Fersen's 
 entreaties failed to obtain anything more than 
 the King's promise that he would betake him-
 
 264 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 self to the woods, on the approach of the 
 united armies, and allow himself to be guided 
 by smugglers to a place where he would be 
 met by troops detached for this purpose. 
 
 On the question of the Congress, the King 
 required that immediately upon its meetings 
 it should deal with his demands, and espe- 
 cially, in case of the Assembly's being disposed 
 to treat, should insist upon his being per- 
 mitted to leave Paris, and to proceed to some 
 place of abode, where he would have the 
 necessary freedom to follow the course of the 
 negotiations, and, if need, to ratify them, secure 
 from coercion. 
 
 If, on the contrary, the Assembly should 
 prove intractable and refuse all discussion, he 
 would no longer oppose the action of the 
 Powers, and he submitted himself beforehand 
 to the dangers which he must necessarily incur 
 in such a case. 
 
 Count Fersen entered fully into the nature 
 of those dangers, placing various cases which 
 might arise before the King and Queen. Had 
 it not been reported that the King was to be 
 taken to the Cevennes, and placed in the 
 midst of an army of Protestants ? To meet 
 this emergency, he proposed that a trustworthy 
 person should be employed " to write a 
 pamphlet, stuffed full of demagogic ideas, and 
 invectives against the King, and especially 
 against the Queen, in which the project of 
 taking them to the Cevennes should be repre- 
 sented as a device of the aristocrats to get them 
 out of Paris and conveyed to the foreign armies."
 
 THE KING'S SURRENDER 265 
 
 Then he added that the Powers who were 
 disposed to come to the aid of the King, ac- 
 cording to the belief of the King of Sweden 
 and the Empress of Russia, "would only do 
 so in order to re-establish the monarchy and 
 the royal authority in all its fulness, and not 
 to organise a mixed government in France." 
 
 The Queen took up this idea warmly, but 
 the King, while approving, declared it to be 
 impossible. Fersen still insisting, Louis an- 
 swered with unusual animation : 
 
 " Ah ! here we are by ourselves, and we 
 can speak. I know that I am taxed with 
 feebleness and irresolution ; but no one has ever 
 been in my position. I know I lost the oppor- 
 tune moment; it was the i/j-th of July. I 
 should have gone away then, and I wanted 
 to do so ; but what was I to do when Monsieur 
 himself begged me to remain, and Marshal de 
 Broglie, who was in command, answered me, 
 'Yes, we can go to Metz, but what shall we 
 do when we get there?' I missed the oppor- 
 tunity, and it has not come again. I have been 
 forsaken by everybody." 
 
 This outburst of feeling had made it easy 
 for the poor King to speak, and he continued 
 the confession of his weakness. Yes, he had 
 sanctioned the decree for the sequestration of 
 the emigrants' property, but it was to preserve 
 it ; if he had not done this, all would have 
 been pillaged and burned. Then he hoped 
 by that concession to secure the passing of his 
 " veto " upon the decree concerning passports. 
 Besides, he was not in a position to refuse
 
 266 A FKIEKD OF THE QUEEN 
 
 any of the demands of the rebels, and he 
 begged Count Fersen to warn the Powers that 
 they must not be astonished by anything, by 
 any concession, any weakness on his part. 
 
 " They must put me on one side altogether," 
 he said simply, " and let me alone." 
 
 The Queen did not take any such humble 
 attitude. Pride was more natural and easy 
 to her. She mentioned to Fersen the confi- 
 dants she had made among the former Kevolu- 
 tionists ; of course, she was only trifling with 
 them. These men themselves were beginning 
 to say " This cannot last," and they admitted 
 that they had gone farther than they intended, 
 but laid the fault upon the aristocrats who 
 had opposed them. She was not deceived by 
 these tardy protests, however, and she attri- 
 buted them to two sentiments which were 
 neither noble nor generous enmity against 
 an assembly in which they were nobodies and 
 totally without influence, and fear that things 
 were about to change. Their real motive was 
 the desire to escape punishment. Accordingly, 
 she did not trust them, and continued to see 
 them only because it was useful to do so. 
 
 She then described the political personnel; 
 with the exception of Bertrand de Molleville, 
 who was "good," but powerless to do any- 
 thing, all the Ministers were " traitors." The 
 worst was Cahier de Gerville, a " wretched little 
 lawyer at seven hundred francs a year ; " he was 
 always ready to denounce his colleagues. Lessart 
 and Narbonne thought solely of themselves, 
 not at all of the King. She had already
 
 CONFIDENCES 267 
 
 told Fersen in one of her letters about 
 Narbonne and his intrigues with Mme. de 
 Stae'l. What was to be expected from such 
 people ? 
 
 In the brief happiness of being once more 
 with the friend of her prosperity, she made 
 him the confidant of her evil days, and dwelt 
 upon certain details of the disastrous flight 
 which they had planned together. Mdlle. 
 Eocherette, the waiting- woman, whom they 
 had suspected, was really Gouvion's mistress, 
 and she told him everything. On the day 
 after their departure she was questioned, and 
 had said "horrors" of the Queen. When she 
 was asked whether she had heard a noise near 
 the door, she had the audacity to answer that 
 " she so often heard going and coming when 
 the King had gone to bed, that she paid no 
 attention to it." 
 
 M. de Valory had confided the plan to his 
 mistress, w r ho had another lover, "M. X., a 
 fanatical ' patriot.' " Including the three body- 
 guards in a sweeping censure, she declared 
 that they had been " good for nothing." 
 
 As for the return, it was awful. She re- 
 called every incident of it, the murder of M. 
 Dampierre, the man who accused her of wish- 
 ing to poison him, the cries, the insults, all, 
 all was told to her friend. Then she gave her 
 opinion of the Commissaries sent by the Assem- 
 bly : " Latour-Maubourg and Barnave were 'very 
 well,' Petion was indecent." 
 
 Petion boasted of knowing everything. He 
 told her that they took a hackney-coach close
 
 268 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 to the Tuileries, and that it was driven by a 
 
 Swede named ? pretending not to know 
 
 the name and then he asked if she could 
 tell him. She answered, " I am not in the 
 habit of asking the name of hackney-coach 
 drivers." 
 
 And the sufferings of that last day : thirteen 
 hours in the carriage in intense heat, without 
 daring to lower the blinds ! And the six 
 weeks that followed, what a watch was kept 
 over them ! And the spying ! The officers 
 of the National Guard always in the room 
 adjoining theirs, and wanting actually to sleep 
 in their room ! It was with difficulty that 
 they were made to remain between the double 
 doors. They even came in during the night, 
 to make sure that she was in her bed ; and 
 one night the officer finding she was not 
 asleep, took a seat by the side of her bed and 
 began to talk ! But this was not all ; a camp 
 was formed under their windows, and day and 
 night a constant racket and noise was kept up. 
 As the Queen recapitulated all these wrongs 
 and miseries, her thoughts turned to those 
 who had forsaken, and those who had served 
 her. She could not refrain from owning that 
 in general the former owed everything to her, 
 and the latter nothing. So much ingratitude 
 and so much fidelity aroused many and deep 
 emotions in her, and Count Fersen, sharing 
 all her feelings, was moved to tears. Among 
 those who were devoted to her she did not 
 forget the King of Sweden, and she charged 
 his ambassador with the expression of her
 
 THE FINAL PAETIXG 269 
 
 gratitude for his " friendship and interest." 
 Why could she not say the same of her own 
 brother, the Emperor Leopold ? 
 
 Thus ended an interview which did not lead, 
 and could not lead, to any practical result, but 
 which at least gave Marie Antoinette a brief 
 moment of happiness. She retained so vivid 
 an impression of it that she recalled it, as we 
 shall see hereafter, in one of the most bitter 
 hours of her existence. 
 
 Count Fersen might have returned direct to 
 Brussels, but he had announced himself as a 
 " messenger " from Portugal, and was there- 
 fore obliged to go to some distance from Paris, 
 if not so far as the Spanish frontier, in order 
 to avert suspicion. He set out for Tours, and 
 came back by Fontainebleau on the igth of 
 February. 
 
 He did not venture to go to the Tuileries, 
 but it was painful to him to abstain from 
 doing so. He wrote, asking whether there 
 were any commands for him. The answer was 
 an order to come and take leave of the King 
 and Queen. Accompanied by Goguelat, he 
 entered the chateau for the last time, while 
 his companion, Reutersvaerd, waited for him 
 below in the square. He supped with the King 
 and Queen, took tea with them, and did not 
 leave them until midnight. Fersen had beheld 
 Marie Antoinette for the last time. 
 
 On coming out of the chateau he failed to 
 find Eeutersvaerd, and this made him anxious, 
 for he could not postpone his departure. After 
 a while the Swede reappeared ; they quickly
 
 2 70 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 regained their hotel, which was at no great 
 distance, and at one o'clock in the morning they 
 were off. 
 
 Their carriage was a light one and drawn by 
 three good horses ; they went at a smart pace. 
 At half-past two they reached Senlis without 
 any difficulty ; at a place which Count Fersen 
 calls Pons in his journal, and which must be 
 Pont-Saint-Mazence, they saw some National 
 Guards, but the latter took no notice of them. 
 They stopped because snow was falling heavily ; 
 but the weather having cleared up, they went 
 on again, much more slowly on account of 
 the slipperiness of the roads, so that it was 
 seven o'clock in the evening before they reached 
 Bonavy. They supped badly, and slept worse, 
 for the only accommodation they could pro- 
 cure was a wretched bedroom which belonged 
 to a carter, and they lay down in their 
 clothes. 
 
 Hitherto they had experienced only some 
 ordinary inconveniences, but on the following 
 day, Thursday the 23rd, several exceptional in- 
 cidents marked their progress. The roads so 
 far as Cambrai were so bad that the postilions 
 refused to go on, and the postmaster backed 
 their refusal, saying they were within their right, 
 and he could not force them. 
 
 At last, by dint of persuasion, a postilion, 
 with more "pluck" than the others, con- 
 sented to take them on their W'ay, in con- 
 sideration of the lightness of the vehicle. The 
 travellers were overpowered by cold and fatigue, 
 and Fersen fell asleep. All of a sudden
 
 STOPPED 271 
 
 be was awakened ; the carriage had been 
 abruptly stopped, and a man was demanding 
 Reutersvaerd's passport. Fersen leaned back 
 in the carriage, and feigned profound sleep. 
 Reutersvaerd held out the passport ; the man 
 looked at it, read it, examined it for five 
 minutes, and then declared that it was worth- 
 less, inasmuch as it bore the words de par 
 le roi, and not de par la loi, and, more- 
 over, did not contain any personal description 
 (signalemeni). 
 
 Although this incident occurred in a little 
 village consisting of ten houses only, within half 
 a league of Marchiennes, it was important to 
 the safety of the travellers that they should 
 not be delayed, still more so that they should 
 not be stopped. Reutersvaerd tried the high- 
 handed method ; he waxed indignant, and said 
 angrily, " But it is the Minister's passport ; 
 he knows how it ought to be, and our Minis- 
 ter would not have given us a passport if it had 
 not been all right." 
 
 The man was not convinced. "It is not on 
 the pattern that we have ; it is no good," he 
 repeated. 
 
 Fortunately the postilion came to the aid 
 of the travellers by saying, " Sir, do you not 
 see that these gentlemen are messengers ? You 
 have no right to stop them." 
 
 " Certainly we are messengers," said Reuters- 
 vaerd, " and Swedish messengers ; that is in the 
 passport, and here is our Minister's." 
 
 " The fool," adds Fersen, " had not yet dis- 
 covered that ; " and as he saw Reutersvaerd
 
 272 A FEIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 growing polite, lie grew insolent. However, 
 after he had re-read the passport, he made 
 up his mind to let the travellers go on, but 
 not without warning them that they would 
 certainly be stopped at Marchiennes, a pre- 
 diction that was strictly fulfilled. The sen- 
 tinel " in a grey vest," and the officer "in a 
 brown coat," with whom they had to deal, 
 proved, however, very good-natured, and they 
 were allowed to proceed. 
 
 Before they reached Orchies they were stopped 
 once more " at a National barrier," set up for 
 the purpose of searching for money. This 
 was one of the measures inspired by popular 
 suspicion for preventing the enemies of the 
 people from taking the money of the country 
 out of France. The keepers of the " National 
 barrier " treated them with politeness ; they did 
 not even search them. 
 
 They passed through Orchies, crossed the 
 frontier, and arrived safely on Belgian terri- 
 tory. They might throw away their cockades, 
 as the postilion himself took care to tell 
 them. They were most fortunate in having 
 escaped the perils of their dangerous journey, 
 and they felt this keenly. Nevertheless Count 
 Fersen cannot refrain from reverting sadly to 
 the past, after his characteristic fashion, in one 
 sentence : "At four o'clock we were at Tournai ; 
 we dined there well, and in the room we slept 
 in on our way. What a difference ! " 
 
 At half-past five they started again. " The 
 evening and the night were excessively cold ; 
 the wheels creaked as they creak only in Sweden.
 
 FERSEN'S REPORT 273 
 
 We arrived at Brussels at three o'clock in the 
 morning." 
 
 Count Fersen went immediately to the King, 
 and gave him an account of his journey. He 
 left nothing undone that could fire the soul 
 of Gustavus and make him work hard for 
 the rescue of the prisoners. In dwelling on 
 the "touching feeling" with which Marie 
 Antoinette had spoken to him of the King's 
 efforts to liberate her, and having expressed 
 her gratitude towards him, he seems to have 
 had the future rather than the past in view. 
 Fate was about to put all these hopes to 
 rout ; by an unforeseen event the Queen was 
 destined to be deprived of her best and 
 bravest champion. At that snme moment a 
 band of conspirators were assembled to select 
 the assassin who was to slay their victim. In 
 the cold North also regicide was looming on 
 the horizon.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Sudden death of Leopold II. Rumours of poison The emi- 
 grants rejoice at the death of the Emperor Francis II. 
 News from Sweden Convocation of the Diet at Gefle 
 Dissatisfaction of the Swedish nobility Superstitious cre- 
 dulity of Gustavus III. The vision of Charles IX. In the 
 Haga Park on an evening in January 1792 Plot against 
 the life of the King The conspirators Ankarstroem 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Liliehorn The i6th of March At the 
 masked ball " Bonjour, beau masque " Gustavus is wounded 
 by a pistol-shot His last hours His death The doom of 
 Ankarstroem Count Fersen's grief. 
 
 "WHAT will the brother do if they kill the 
 sister?" asked the Comte d'Allonville of the 
 Prince de Conde. 
 
 " Perhaps he may venture to wear mourning 
 for her," was the reply. 
 
 Both question and answer testify to the 
 slight esteem that was generally professed for 
 Leopold II. , Marie Antoinette's brother, he 
 whom Baron Taube had called "that accursed 
 Florentine." It must be owned that the con- 
 duct of the Emperor Leopold had not realised 
 the very natural hopes of the Court of France. 
 Leopold was bound beyond any other of the 
 sovereigns to come to the aid of the royal 
 authority that was attacked and destroyed in 
 the person of Louis XVI. ; for that unhappy 
 monarch was his own brother-in-law, and his 
 own interests as Emperor and King were deeply 
 concerned in his family interests.
 
 LEOPOLD 275 
 
 In this fact we find the explanation of the 
 severity with which he was judged by some 
 of the French, and by those foreigners who 
 were more particularly anxious about the fate 
 of the King and Queen of France. Never- 
 theless, impartial history must not forget that 
 the action which was required of Leopold 
 was not truly politic. The real family of a 
 prince is the nation he reigns over, and for 
 the interests of that nation alone he is bound 
 to care. Perhaps Leopold II. was withheld 
 from entertaining the projects of Gustavus III. 
 by his desire to save his people from the 
 scourge of war ; in any case, it is meting out 
 too hard measure to him to make a crime of 
 his having considered first the greatness of 
 the House of Austria, and put the policy of 
 sentiment into the background. 
 
 Even though the validity of these excuses 
 be admitted, it is none the less true that the 
 friends of the royal family had some right to 
 reproach the Emperor with having deceived 
 them, by letting them hope for support which 
 always failed them, and succour which never 
 came. If it be true that hypocrisy is a 
 homage to virtue, Leopold's duplicity was a 
 homage to family feeling, and it must be 
 borne in mind that if it were politic for him 
 to assume a selfish attitude towards the Court 
 of France, it was really very difficult to do this 
 with complete frankness, which would have 
 been instantly transformed by public opinion 
 into odious cynicism. The great misfortune 
 of false positions is that they beget falsehood.
 
 276 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEK 
 
 Leopold could not escape from that fatal con- 
 sequence. 
 
 Meanwhile, however pacific his disposition 
 may have been, circumstances were beginning 
 to be too strong for him. France was growing 
 tired of the noise that the emigrants and their 
 foreign friends were making all about the 
 frontier, and began to want to silence this 
 vexatious buzzing. The nation was becoming 
 warlike. 
 
 "You are very lucky," said the Elector of 
 Mayence to the Marquis de Bouille, " that the 
 French are the aggressors, otherwise we should 
 never have had war." 
 
 At last Leopold was about to yield, and 
 although hoping to the last that he might 
 elude the necessity of throwing himself into 
 the fight, he signed the treaty of alliance 
 with Belgium ; but death came to relieve him 
 from the responsibility of a decision which 
 he dreaded. He was attacked suddenly by 
 an illness which the physicians could neither 
 diagnose nor check, and in a few hours he 
 was at the worst. He suffered from excru- 
 ciating pain in the bowels, accompanied by 
 vomiting. Some relief was afforded by bleed- 
 ing him, but the respite was brief; he was 
 soon seized with convulsions, and expired in 
 the arms of the Empress, who had just arrived. 
 Such a death, so sudden, and under the actual 
 circumstances, gave rise to sundry interpreta- 
 tions and to grave suspicion. Kumours of 
 poison were spread immediately, and the de- 
 claration of the doctor who made a post-
 
 DEATH OF LEOPOLD 277 
 
 mortem examination of the body confirmed 
 them. 
 
 The Emperor died on the 2nd of March ; 
 on the 8th the event was made known to the 
 public at Brussels in a singular way. It was 
 announced by an actor on the stage of a 
 theatre. The play was interrupted, and the 
 crowd dispersed about the city spreading the 
 news. The Bishop, who was promptly apprised 
 of the fact, called on Count Fersen at half-past 
 seven with the information. 
 
 The news not only failed to produce any 
 feeling of regret, or even the moderate emotion 
 generally excited by occurrences of public im- 
 portance, but it was received with a general 
 manifestation of satisfaction. At the theatre 
 some of the audience had actually applauded 
 the actor's announcement ! 
 
 " The Emperor is dead ; well, that is a good 
 thing," said one of Fersen's friends to him. 
 
 This was the feeling of all the generals. 
 The soldiers themselves rejoiced. It is on 
 record that in the evening a sentinel, seeing 
 some unusual stir, asked what it meant. When 
 he was told that the Emperor was dead, he 
 , exclaimed 
 
 "Ah! ah! Dead is he? Well, then, long 
 live Francois, the soldier's father ! " 
 
 The emigrants, as may be supposed, were of a 
 similar way of thinking. They might, however, 
 being persons of good- breeding, have been more 
 reserved in the expression of their sentiments. 
 Count Fersen, who witnessed their conduct, was 
 shocked. " The French," he writes to Gustavus, 
 
 13
 
 278 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 " display an indecent joy on this occasion, and 
 their remarks are unguarded for persons to 
 whom hospitality is being granted ; but misfor- 
 tune does not correct them." 
 
 Fersen himself was not inclined to waste senti- 
 ment upon the fate of a man whose " feeble and 
 uncertain conduct had alienated all from him." 
 He gave his opinion in the discussions which 
 arose upon the rumour of poison. Almost all 
 those who spoke of it held that tbe bolt was 
 shot from Paris, and generously attributed the 
 deed to the Jacobins, as though such a crime 
 were possible at that distance, even admit- 
 ting that the Jacobins, who were letting Louis 
 live, should think it to their interest to kill 
 Leopold. 
 
 It is, however, interesting to observe the 
 different conclusions which were drawn by the 
 disputants. While some of them eagerly argued 
 that the crime " was a proof of the danger of 
 meddling in the affairs of France," Fersen wrote 
 in his journal " So much the better ; this will 
 prove the necessity of exterminating the mon- 
 sters in France." 
 
 His eyes were fixed on France, therefore he 
 spoke thus. Before long, facts were to give him 
 a cruel contradiction, teaching him that in other 
 lands there were "monsters" preparing to prove 
 themselves bolder and more prompt of action 
 than the Jacobins of France, in their enmity, 
 if not to royalty, at least to kings. 
 
 Baron de Goguelat came to Brussels towards 
 the end of March 1792. He was explaining in 
 detail the position of Louis and Marie Antoinette,
 
 KEGICIDE 279 
 
 which was becoming more painful day by day, 
 when news arrived from Sweden that struck 
 terror to the hearts of the two friends. Gustavus 
 had been fired at by an assassin and severely 
 wounded. 
 
 Was the King to live or die ? None knew 
 that as yet ; all was confusion and uncertainty, 
 except the terror that the possible death of the 
 royal victim, coming so soon after the sudden 
 death of Leopold, inspired in the friends and 
 supporters of the monarchical system. Was 
 this crime also the work of the abominable 
 Jacobins ? How great must be the power of 
 that odious sect ! 
 
 By degrees the truth came out. The Jaco- 
 bins were entirely innocent of the murder of 
 Gustavus III. The assassins bore the greatest 
 names in the kingdom, and it was not certain 
 that the nearest kinsman of the victim one 
 standing on the very steps of the throne 
 would not have to be reckoned among the 
 accomplices. 
 
 This catastrophe astonished and horrified 
 everybody, and yet there were many things 
 to explain it, and it might even have been 
 foreseen. 
 
 Gustavus III., in his desire to play a great 
 part, in imitation of the object of his admiration, 
 fancied that he might equal Louis XIV. In 
 the first place, he imitated not only the splen- 
 dour, but the prodigality of the Sun - King. 
 Forgetting that Sweden was not France, and 
 would be much more rapidly ruined by a 
 reign of display, he expended money lavishly.
 
 2 8o A FKIEKD OF THE QUEEN 
 
 money that he did not possess, and had 
 to procure at any price. He resorted to 
 all sorts of vexatious measures to fill the 
 coffers of the Treasury ; but excessive taxa- 
 tion frequently defeats its purpose, and ex- 
 ceptional measures can only meet temporary 
 exigencies. 
 
 The expenditure was continued, the deficit 
 was increasing, and resources were diminishing. 
 Nevertheless, it was at this critical moment 
 that the King, full of his chivalrous ideas, 
 proposed to place himself at the head of a 
 European coalition against the French Revolu- 
 tion. It would take money to attack the 
 Jacobins ; Gustavus resolved once more to ask 
 his people for supplies, and made up his mind 
 to summon a Diet. 
 
 He did not disguise from himself that his 
 fresh demands would meet with formidable 
 obstacles. He found that universal discontent 
 prevailed among his subjects ; nevertheless he 
 was more afraid of the opposition of the nobles, 
 or a certain number of them, than of the objec- 
 tions of the other classes. He then bethought 
 him of a notable device for diminishing the 
 number of the members who would respond to 
 his tardy summons, and instead of fixing upon 
 Stockholm as the place of assembly, he named 
 the little town of Gefle, whither most of the 
 opposition could not, or dared not, come, and 
 where it would be easy for him to have them 
 watched, or to intimidate, and even, if necessary, 
 to " suppress " them for a time. 
 
 These measures availed nothing ; the Diet
 
 SUPERSTITIOUS TEEEORS 281 
 
 lasted hardly a month, and the King, not- 
 withstanding the precautions he had taken, 
 did not venture even to put forward his de- 
 signs against France. The only result obtained 
 was an increase of that smouldering enmity 
 against himself, which was ready to burst into 
 flame so soon as a head could be found suffi- 
 ciently daring to plan the assassination, and 
 an arm sufficiently firm to strike the blow. 
 
 Sweden seemed ripe for such events. Never 
 at any period had the extravagance of men's 
 imagination reached such a height. The cool 
 heads of this Northern people passed, so to 
 speak, at a bound, from apathetic calm to tran- 
 sports of madness. 
 
 At that period the majority of men's minds 
 were disturbed by strange dreams, by extra- 
 ordinary ideas. Illuminism had made great 
 ravages among them, and the King himself, 
 yielding to the current, was perhaps the most 
 ridiculously credulous person in the kingdom. 
 Every day he consulted a female soothsayer, 
 and the two passed whole hours in examining 
 coffee-grounds for rules of government and the 
 secrets of the future ! 
 
 The belief that space is peopled by mys- 
 terious and invisible beings, and that malig- 
 nant or benevolent genii have sovereign power 
 over the events of life, is calculated to in- 
 spire vague superstitious terrors in even the 
 strongest minds. Gustavus III. had not escaped 
 such fears. Various predictions were circulated 
 among the people one, stranger than all the 
 others, had attracted universal attention ; this
 
 282 A FKIEKD OF THE QUEEN 
 
 was a so-called vision attributed to Charles XL, 
 who had died nearly a century before. 
 
 The story had been current in Sweden for a 
 hundred years. It is now popular in France, 
 thanks to Merimee, who has told it after his own 
 inimitable fashion, arranging it, dramatising it, 
 and, above all, treating it with the certainty 
 of a prophet who speaks forty years after the 
 event. 
 
 Who is there that cannot recall the simple 
 and dismal beginning of the tale? Charles 
 XL, in dressing-gown and slippers, was seated 
 near the fire, in a wing of the old royal 
 palace overlooking Lake Moeler, on an autumn 
 evening. Count Brahe, his chamberlain, and 
 Baumgarten, his doctor, were with him. The 
 conversation was dull and monotonous. All 
 of a sudden a strange and surprising spectacle 
 presented itself. The great " Hall of the 
 Estates " in front of them, situated in another 
 wing of the palace, was shining brightly. 
 The windows seemed to be lighted up. It 
 was not a fire. What was the meaning of this 
 illumination ? 
 
 "I will go into the hall myself," said the 
 King. 
 
 He was pale, but composed. Brahe and Baum- 
 garten followed him, each carrying a candle. 
 
 They roused the porter, and entered the 
 gallery, which formed a sort of antechamber 
 to the " Hall of the Estates ; " the walls were 
 entirely hung with black. 
 
 " By whose orders was this gallery hung 
 with black ? " inquired the King.
 
 THE VISION 283 
 
 " By no one that I know of," replied the 
 bewildered porter, " and the last time I had 
 the gallery swept, it was panelled just as it 
 has always been." 
 
 The King went on. A confused noise came 
 from the great hall. 
 
 " Stop, stop, sire ! " exclaimed Brahe. 
 
 "Let me go and fetch twenty of your life- 
 guards," said Baumgarten, whose candle had 
 just been blown out by a gust of wind. 
 
 " Let us go in," said the King. 
 
 He took the keys from the shaking hands 
 of the porter, opened the door, and entered 
 the Hall of the Estates. 
 
 The bravest of men would have shrunk from 
 the sight that met his eyes. The hall was 
 entirely hung with black, and lighted by an 
 immense number of torches. A numerous 
 assembly occupied the benches. Every man 
 there was dressed in black. On the raised 
 throne where the King usually sat lay a bleed- 
 ing corpse, wearing the insignia of royalty. 
 On the right of the corpse stood a child, on 
 the left an old man. Below the throne was a 
 block, and beside it an axe. 
 
 " The individual who presided made a sign, 
 a door was opened, and several young men 
 appeared. Their hands were tied behind their 
 back. The executioner followed them. The 
 first of these young men stopped in the 
 middle of the hall in front of the block, at 
 which he looked with supreme scorn. At that 
 moment the corpse seemed to quiver convul- 
 sively, and fresh ruddy blood flowed from its
 
 284 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 wound. The young man knelt down and 
 stretched out his head ; the axe glittered in 
 the air, and fell with a dull thud. A jet 
 of blood spurted out upon the steps of the 
 throne and mingled with that of the corpse, 
 and the head, rebounding upon the blood- 
 stained pavement, rolled so far as the feet of 
 the King, and stained them with gore." 
 
 At this moment King Charles recovered 
 his speech, and, addressing the President, 
 said 
 
 " If you are of God, speak ; if you are of 
 the other, leave us in peace ! " 
 
 The phantom answered him slowly : 
 
 " Charles the King, this blood shall not 
 flow under your rule, but five reigns later. 
 Woe ! woe ! woe ! to the House of Vasa ! " 
 
 Then the forms became indistinct and slowly 
 vanished ; the torches went out, the black 
 draperies, the severed head, and the block all 
 disappeared. The King's slippers only retained 
 some stains of blood. 
 
 This sinister prediction had been near to 
 realisation in 1792. 
 
 One evening in January two men were walk- 
 ing in the Haga Park. The place was deserted, 
 and they were free to examine the lie of the 
 grounds, and to measure the distances at their 
 pleasure. The two men were, respectively, 
 Count Horn and Jean Jacques Ankarstroem, 
 a former sub-officer in the body-guard. They, 
 with some others, had formed a plan for 
 restoring its old liberties to Sweden by "sup- 
 pressing" the King. The first intention was
 
 A NARROW ESCAPE 285 
 
 only to carry him off, and to keep him out 
 of sight during the time that would be re- 
 quired for the establishment of a new Con- 
 stitution and a new government. 
 
 As they were approaching the chateau, a 
 lighted window attracted their attention. They 
 then saw Gustavus, who had just returned 
 from hunting, throw himself wearily into an 
 arm-chair. The King was alone ; the victim 
 actually presented himself to receive the deadly 
 stroke, and flight seemed easy. Perhaps the 
 temptation to deliver themselves from him 
 whom they regarded as their enemy may have 
 seized upon them ; at all events, they stealthily 
 advanced. 
 
 At that moment, by a strange coincidence, 
 Gustavus rose, opened the window, and showed 
 himself to the conspirators, whom he did not 
 see. The King's face was so expressive of 
 care and melancholy, his attitude was so full 
 of mournful self-abandonment, that the assassins 
 took pity on their victim, and, for a moment, 
 enmity was extinguished in their minds by 
 the unconscious fraternity of misfortune. They 
 withdrew softly. 
 
 A few days afterwards the King set out for 
 Gefle, from whence he returned at the end of 
 February. 
 
 Like Csesar, whom he resembled in the 
 breadth of his ideas and in his habits, and 
 whom he was destined to resemble in his 
 tragic fate, the Ides of March were formidable 
 to him. Dark rumours, forerunners of great 
 disasters, indicated that especial danger to him
 
 286 A FEIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 was threatened at this period, and these rumours 
 were not fallacious. A conspiracy against the 
 life of the sovereign was formed, and the time 
 was approaching when its fell purpose was to 
 be carried out. 
 
 A great number of the nobles were vaguely 
 initiated into the plot ; they were ignorant 
 of its details, but they approved of its object. 
 Certain personages of high station were the 
 soul of it. 
 
 Chief among these was Baron Pechlin, an 
 old man of seventy-two, who still cherished 
 in his heart the passions of the epoch of 
 the civil wars, which he had survived owing 
 to the clemency of the King. He had been 
 imprisoned after the first coup-d'etat in 1772, 
 but was amnestied five months afterwards, 
 although Gustavus was aware of his fierce 
 enmity, and called him the first Republican of 
 Sweden. Pechlin hated him with a savage 
 hatred, and he had inspired several young men 
 with a similar sentiment ; among these was 
 Count Horn. The latter was a handsome man, 
 not quite thirty years of age, and a distinguished 
 horseman ; a very unfit person, to all appear- 
 ance, for the deed of blood from which he 
 had recoiled in the Haga Park ; but his father 
 had been imprisoned and threatened with death, 
 and he had begged the favour of being allowed 
 to share his fate. This was not permitted, 
 and his father was not executed ; but the re- 
 collection of his filial fears had made him fierce 
 against "the tyrant." He had lent a ready 
 ear to the first proposals, and afterwards he
 
 THE CONSPIRATORS 287 
 
 had frequently given his country-house for the 
 meetings of the conspirators, to whose number 
 Ribbing belonged. 
 
 Count Ribbing had reason to complain of 
 the King, it was said. He had been in love 
 with a rich heiress, and was cut out by a 
 rival who was favoured by Gustavus. Dis- 
 appointed love was the cause of his enmity ; 
 he hardly attempted to hide it, but took 
 pleasure in heightening the King's supersti- 
 tious terrors. Gustavus, being a good-natured 
 " tyrant," put up with his insolence, and 
 dreaded Ribbing less as a man who might kill, 
 than as a " porte-malheur." 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Liliehorn, the captain of 
 the body-guard, was also a conspirator. It 
 would be impossible to account for the co- 
 operation of this man, whom the King loaded 
 with favours, if we did not know what havoc 
 ambition can make of the minds which it 
 rules. 
 
 Liliehorn aspired, not, like certain of his 
 accomplices, to high destinies for his country, 
 but to a high position for himself; and the 
 role of Lafayette seemed to him the most 
 enviable for a soldier a conception which can 
 only be explained in the actual case by the 
 axiom, Major e longinquo reverentia. 
 
 Among the active members of the conspiracy 
 Baron Bielke must be reckoned ; but however 
 active they were, the arm capable of striking 
 was not of their number : they were but the 
 heads that planned the deed. He to whom 
 the detestable honour of its achievement was
 
 2 88 A FEIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 to fall was Ankarstroem, one of the two who 
 had walked in the park. 
 
 Ankarstroem, who had been successively page, 
 sub-officer in the guard, and ensign in the body- 
 guard, had left the service in 1788, when he 
 was only twenty-two years old. 
 
 He was of a bold and resolute temper, both 
 morose and passionate, and strongly attached 
 to the prerogatives of his caste. From that 
 time he was a malcontent. He retired to 
 the country with his wife, and became more 
 and more embittered by solitude. Eegardless 
 of restraint, he spoke with reckless hostility 
 against royalty, brought prosecutions upon 
 himself, and, in fact, his whole life was a 
 battle. 
 
 This man was then in a state of mind which 
 rendered him singularly sensitive to the ills of 
 his country, which seemed greater and more 
 terrible to him when seen through the medium 
 of his own grievances. He was ready for ven- 
 geance, that is to say, for murder. 
 
 He himself has related before his judges 
 the reasons which impelled him to assassinate 
 the King. Confronting the block, he dared 
 to frame the indictment of his victim. The 
 grievances which he invoked were many. From 
 1789, pamphlets of a nature insulting to the 
 nobility were circulated without interference, 
 and the King "had attempted" the liberties 
 of members of the Diet. Then came the "Act 
 of Security," which destroyed the last barriers 
 that had been opposed to the royal " all-power." 
 With this were cited the insensate prodigality
 
 ANKAESTROEM'S AVOWAL 289 
 
 that was emptying the treasury and ruining the 
 nation. In order to extract further sums, the 
 King threatened the Diet ; the hall was sur- 
 rounded by soldiers, and almost invaded by 
 a mob incited by him. Notwithstanding this 
 terrible pressure, the majority rejected the 
 proposition of the King : the latter declared 
 it accepted. Nor was this all : had he not 
 declared war without having the assent of the 
 Estates, which was required by the Constitution? 
 
 " Kings," said he, " who are but poor sinners 
 like other men, have no. authority except 
 through the confidence of the nation, and 
 that confidence is theirs only so long as they 
 continue to deserve it by their respect for law 
 and liberty. 
 
 "These are the reflections that have de- 
 cided me. My heart was hardened when I saw 
 exile, and punishment, and all sorts of taxes 
 and subsidies multiplied, to supply the expense 
 of luxury and foreign travel. Nor was this 
 all ; a Diet was announced only three weeks 
 in advance, so that there was hardly time for 
 the necessary elections ; it was summoned in 
 a little town far from the capital, so that it 
 might be difficult to come to it, and to stay" 
 
 " In the presence of such facts, I asked 
 myself : ' Shall this man continue to be our 
 king this man, capable of violating the oath 
 which he took to the people, to observe, 
 maintain, and bequeath to his successors the 
 Constitution of 1772, a Constitution drawn up 
 1y himself, and accepted without amendment 
 by the Swedish nation?'
 
 2 90 A FEIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 "According to my conviction, this man has 
 become a perjurer ; he has ceased to be king. 
 The compact between the nation and himself 
 is broken. Moreover, it is written in the 
 law that he who shall endeavour to change 
 or to destroy that fundamental law shall be 
 regarded as an enemy of the kingdom. Now, 
 by his 'Act of Security,' King Gustavus has 
 become a public enemy, and as in an or- 
 ganised society there must be mutual defence 
 and protection, the hand that desires to arm 
 itself, in order by force to repel the force that 
 was threatening the community, ought to be 
 permitted to do so. I had then resolved, imme- 
 diately after Christmas, to kill the King ; the 
 shortest way appeared to me to give my life 
 for the public good. To live, unhappy, for ten 
 years more or ten years less, was nothing 
 to my mind in comparison with the hope of 
 restoring happiness to my country." 
 
 Ankarstroem, devoutly believing his cause to 
 be good, accepted the role of justiciary, which 
 his accomplices awarded to him, without hesita- 
 tion. It has been said that he received a sum 
 of money, and the thing is possible, but he was 
 not actuated by the greed of gain. He had 
 made the sacrifice of his life in anticipation, 
 for the chances of his escaping the penalty 
 of his deed were small. Resolved as he was, it 
 was not a few riksdalers that would have nerved 
 his arm ; the money, if he did receive it, was 
 a provision for his wife ; and if it was the price 
 of blood, it was the price of his own blood 
 rather than the King's.
 
 A WARNING 291 
 
 The arrangements being made, the murder 
 decided upon, the doer of the deed selected, it 
 remained to choose a propitious opportunity. 
 One presented itself very soon ; it became known 
 that the King would attend the masked ball 
 at the opera on the i6th of March 1792. In 
 the midst of the crowd the conspirators could 
 approach their victim, and their masks would 
 protect them from recognition. The complicity 
 of Liliehorn (the captain of the King's body- 
 guard) secured their means of escape. 
 
 In the meantime, a vague and uncertain 
 rumour warned the King of the danger that 
 threatened him. He would not pay any heed to 
 it ; the torment of perpetually trembling for fear 
 of a bullet, a dagger-stroke, or poison, seemed 
 to him worse than the attempt itself. He re- 
 solved to carry out his intention, and to go to 
 the ball. 
 
 A few hours previously, when he was supping 
 with his favourite, Baron Essen, a note which 
 had been mysteriously brought was handed to 
 him. The King opened it, read it twice atten- 
 tively, and, without saying anything, slipped it 
 into his pocket. The note, written in pencil 
 in French, warned him that a plot had been 
 formed against him, entreated the King not to 
 go to the ball, and advised him to govern in 
 another fashion thenceforth, and thereby disarm 
 the anger of his enemies. 
 
 This denunciation, whether true or false, de- 
 served attention. The King despised, not the 
 warning, but the danger. He was determined 
 to have done with the matter ; so he went to
 
 292 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 the opera, and passed into a little room, where 
 he put on a domino. Not until then did he 
 let Essen see the note. Essen, greatly alarmed, 
 besought the King not to go down on the stage, 
 but Gustavus would not listen to him. 
 
 " Let us see whether they will dare to kill 
 me," said he. 
 
 Essen followed him, keeping close upon his 
 footsteps ; he felt the full extent of the danger, 
 for, in spite of their masks, they had been re- 
 cognised. A general whispering had announced 
 the King. 
 
 Presently the crowd gathered around them ; a 
 group separated them and surrounded Gustavus. 
 A man tapped him on the shoulder, saying 
 
 " Bonjour, beau masque !" 
 
 This was the signal. At these words, uttered 
 by Count Horn, Ankarstroem drew a pistol from 
 his pocket and fired point-blank at the King. 
 
 " I am wounded ! Arrest him ! " exclaimed 
 the King. 
 
 But a cry was instantly raised on all sides 
 " Fire ! Fire ! Save yourselves ! " Utter con- 
 fusion prevailed. Nevertheless, Baron Armfeldt 
 had the presence of mind to have the doors shut. 
 None of those present could get out without 
 unmasking and giving his or her name. The 
 crowd therefore dispersed slowly, and after a 
 while only one person remained. He walked 
 in a leisurely manner towards the door, slowly 
 removed his mask, and said carelessly to the 
 officer on duty 
 
 " As for me, sir, I hope you will not sus- 
 pect me."
 
 A KANDOM SHOT 293 
 
 " You are mistaken ; I believe that it was 
 you," replied the police officer at hazard. 
 
 The individual showed some perturbation, 
 but he was allowed to pass. It was Ankar- 
 stroem. 
 
 Gustavus did not die on the spot, although 
 the whole charge had been lodged in his side. 
 He was carried into an adjoining room and 
 laid on a sofa ; there the wound was dressed. 
 The King retained complete presence of mind, 
 and issued his commands with perfect clear- 
 ness. He sent for his brother, the Duke of 
 Sudermania, although his conduct had been 
 most suspicious. It was said that the Duke, 
 who was extremely ambitious, and believed in 
 a prediction which had promised him the 
 throne, had been aware of the plot. The 
 page who was despatched to him found 
 him dressed, booted, and ready to mount his 
 horse. 
 
 Gustavus III. did not believe in his brother's 
 complicity. He did not know whose was the 
 hand that had struck him, or whom they were 
 that directed it ; but was fully occupied by 
 the main subject of his thoughts for a year 
 past, and solicitous above all about the effect 
 of the news upon Paris. 
 
 " This shot will rejoice your Paris Jacobins," 
 he said to the Due d'Escars, a French gentle- 
 man who was by his side ; " but write to 
 the Princes that, if I get over this, my feelings 
 and my zeal for their just cause will be in no 
 wise altered." 
 
 The murderer had thrown away the pistol,
 
 294 A FKIEKD OF THE QUEEN 
 
 but it was picked up, and the gunsmith who 
 had sold it shortly before was found imme- 
 diately. Ankarstroem was discovered by this 
 means, and arrested on the following day. 
 
 He was asked the names of his accomplices, 
 but refused to give them. The conspirators 
 betrayed themselves. Liliehorn, that singular 
 traitor who wrote the letter which Gustavus 
 received a few hours before the ball, was 
 taken the same day, and shortly afterwards 
 Horn, Bibbing, Bielke, and Pechlin were 
 arrested. 
 
 The King appeared to be recovering ; the 
 wound was doing well. As it happens in 
 such cases, the crime had simply reversed its 
 intention. The powerful sovereign was hated ; 
 when struck down, he regained the sympathy 
 of all. 
 
 Among his former adversaries were the re- 
 presentatives of the most illustrious families 
 in the kingdom, Count Brahe and Count 
 Frederick Fersen. These gentlemen, his loyal 
 opponents, did not choose to be supposed to be 
 instigators or accomplices, or even approvers, 
 of a murder ; and they made it a point of 
 honour to declare this loudly a proceeding 
 by which they regained the alienated regard 
 of their king. 
 
 "I do not regret this accident," said Gus- 
 tavus to them, " since it procures me the pleasure 
 of a reconciliation with the representatives of 
 the nobility." 
 
 The "instruction" preliminary to the trial 
 began. Each day new accomplices were dis-
 
 THE VISION VEKIFIED 295 
 
 covered. Did the danger of being unmasked 
 in which certain high personages stood in 
 their turn suggest a guilty resource to some of 
 them ? We do not know, but it is certain 
 that a sudden change in the state of the 
 wounded King took place on the 25th March. 
 His convalescence was checked, high fever set 
 in, and after four days of agony the unfortu- 
 nate monarch died, leaving a son thirteen years 
 old as his heir, and as Regent the Duke of 
 Sudermania, his brother. 
 
 Gustavus displayed admirable courage and 
 coolness during his last days. He requested 
 that the actual murderer only should be put 
 to death, and that mercy should be shown 
 to his accomplices. His injunctions were ob- 
 served. Count Horn, Ribbing, and the others 
 were banished ; only Ankarstroem paid for his 
 crime with his life. 
 
 He was as brave in the face of death as 
 his victim ; he refused to name those who 
 had aided or urged him to commit the deed ; 
 he proudly assumed the entire responsibility 
 of it, and no threats, no ill-treatment availed 
 to move him from his haughty attitude. 
 Without any apparent emotion he listened 
 to the sentence that condemned him to be 
 beaten with rods on three successive days, 
 conveyed to the scaffold in a common cart, 
 and beheaded after his right hand had been 
 cut off. 
 
 He endured these tortures, and met his death 
 with the same sombre courage. 
 
 Thus was the prediction realised to the letter ;
 
 296 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 the bleeding corpse was that of Gustavus III. ; 
 the boy standing on the right of the throne 
 was Gustavus IV. ; the middle-aged man on 
 the left was the Duke of Sudermania ; the 
 young man brought thither and beheaded was 
 Ankarstroem. 
 
 The Swedes were under no mistake con- 
 cerning the causes of their King's death ; but 
 a different impression prevailed in Europe, 
 where Gustavus, like Leopold, was regarded 
 as a victim of the Eevolution. This was not 
 the case ; as yet the Kevolution threatened 
 royalty only, and not kings. 
 
 Count Fersen had been kept informed of 
 all these tragic events, but the better news, 
 sent after the crime of the i6th of March, 
 had completely relieved him from any fear of 
 its consequences ; he believed in a speedy 
 cure, and continued to write long political 
 letters to his King, who was never to receive 
 them. At length, about the middle of April, 
 he learned the truth by a letter despatched 
 from Stockholm by Baron Taube on the 
 29th of March. In his answer (i8th of 
 April) he gave full expression to his grief : 
 " I cannot be consoled for the dreadful loss 
 that we have sustained. Every day my grief 
 is renewed by the remembrances of his kind- 
 ness that remembrance will never leave me, 
 and my gratitude will end only with my life. 
 Good God ! why can I not offer him the 
 homage of that life ? You will know what 
 pleasure it would give me to have his por- 
 trait, if that may be so. ..."
 
 WAR! 297 
 
 He had written immediately to Marie An- 
 toinette : " You will have already heard the 
 sad and overwhelming news of the King's 
 death. In him you lose a strong support, a 
 good ally, and I a friend and patron. This 
 is a cruel loss." 
 
 It might be thought that the death of 
 this chivalrous and disinterested King would 
 have had great weight in the decisions of 
 the sovereigns of Europe, and that the cause 
 of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette had lost 
 its best and most effective support in losing 
 him who was actively seeking champions for 
 the royal family of France. But human fears 
 as well as human previsions are constantly con- 
 tradicted by events which control men instead 
 of men controlling them. The proof of this 
 was not long delayed. Gustavus dead, his idea 
 was realised, and war, which he had vainly de- 
 sired to let loose in his lifetime, broke out of its 
 own accord.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The situation in France Isnard's words A summons to the 
 Electors of Treves and Mayence, and to the other Princes 
 of the Empire, to put an end to the massing of troops upon 
 the frontier The reply of Francis, King of Bohemia and 
 Hungary Declaration of the "State of War" Satisfaction 
 of the Queen and Count Fersen Correspondence in cipher 
 M. Rignon The 2oth of June The Queen's despatches 
 " It is said, but I do not believe it " Lafayette proposes 
 a plan of flight The arrival of the Marseillais A manifesto 
 by the Duke of Brunswick M. de Limon's text modified 
 by Count Fersen It is proposed to ask for a declaration 
 by the King of England in favour of the royal family of 
 France The loth of August The National Assembly and 
 the Temple Lafayette is made prisoner -The September 
 massacres The death of Mine, de Lamballe Manuel's 
 words M. de Mercy Dumouriez Valmy (2oth September 
 1792) Sufferings of the troops and the emigrants The 
 Duke of Brunswick's retreat Count Fersen leaves Brussels 
 Jemmapes (6th November 1792). 
 
 FOR some months War had been in the air 
 of France, troubling and agitating her. The 
 dwellers in fortunate countries which have en- 
 joyed a long era of peace and tranquillity 
 are enabled to devote themselves to labour, 
 commerce, and industry, and they ask no 
 better than the perpetuation of the benefits of 
 their condition ; but for those peoples who are 
 subjected to interior disturbances, and whose 
 existence is highly feverish, there is in the perils 
 and the hoped-for results of war a powerful 
 stimulant, which they long for and demand. 
 In 1792, the masses, who suffered, and who
 
 PAKTIES 299 
 
 attributed the excess of their ills to the Emi- 
 grants assembled upon the frontiers, and to 
 the foreign Governments their accomplices and 
 support, regarded war as the only possible solu- 
 tion of the situation. 
 
 It was a curious thing that the political 
 parties were not opposed to war, with the ex- 
 ception of the Jacobins, who probably dreaded 
 victory more than defeat. The Feuillants and 
 the Girondists willingly accepted the idea, and 
 in their hearts the faithful Koyalists, who 
 divined the secret wishes of the King and 
 Queen, ardently desired it, for they believed 
 in defeat, and reckoned upon the victorious 
 armies of the coalition to destroy the Revolution 
 and re-establish order in France. 
 
 Even the Humanitarians, those to whom 
 the shedding of blood was hateful, and whose 
 dreams were of universal brotherhood, did not 
 recoil from so grave an eventuality. Who 
 could say what might be the result of the 
 meeting of the armies, of the contact of the 
 poor soldiers, sent out by the sovereigns to kill 
 in their cause, with the free defenders of the 
 French nation ? Isnard, the deputy, speaking 
 from the tribune, had given utterance to that 
 hope in language worthy of it, full of the 
 pretentious naivete of the period. 
 
 " If," he said, " at the moment when the 
 enemies' armies shall meet ours in conflict, 
 philosophy reveals itself to them (frappe leurs 
 yeux), the peoples will embrace before the face 
 of the dethroned tyrants, the consoled earth, 
 and the glad heaven ! "
 
 300 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 The prospect of so fair a spectacle, due to 
 the triumph of philosophy, captivated the 
 Assembly, and urged it to a decisive step. 
 The " executive power " was charged to de- 
 mand that the Electors of Treves and other 
 Princes of the Empire should renounce their 
 culpable toleration of the Emigrants, and dis- 
 perse the assemblages of such persons upon 
 the frontiers. 
 
 The natural result of this summons was " to 
 set fire to the powder." Far from returning 
 a satisfactory reply, the Princes only increased 
 their " toleration " of the Emigrants, and 
 Francis, who had taken the title of King of 
 Bohemia and Hungary on the death of Leopold, 
 before being proclaimed Emperor of Austria, 
 replied by a note demanding " the re-establish- 
 ment of the French monarchy on the bases 
 fixed by the royal declaration of the 23rd of 
 June 1789;" that is to say, the re-estab- 
 lishment of the three Orders, the restitution 
 of the goods of the clergy, the retrocession 
 of the county of Venaissain to the Pope in 
 a word, the abolition of all the measures voted 
 by the Constituent Assembly. 
 
 This demand was sufficiently audacious. By 
 what right did the King of Bohemia and 
 Hungary meddle in the affairs of JFrance ? 
 He might have been answered at once by an 
 ultimatum requiring him to refrain from any 
 such domineering demands, and this would 
 have been equivalent to a declaration of war. 
 No such conclusive step was taken ; the parties 
 hostile to the Court were reluctant to rush
 
 THE QUEEN'S SENTIMENTS 301 
 
 into a war in which they saw that the King 
 wished to engage. 
 
 It was decided that the " state of war " 
 should be declared, with the idea that, by going 
 no farther than stating a fact, responsibility 
 for a rupture would be placed upon the foreign 
 Powers (2oth April 1792). 
 
 Since the return from Varennes, Marie Antoi- 
 nette was convinced that the only way of sal- 
 vation for the royal family lay in the armed 
 intervention of Europe. This alone would 
 have power to reduce the rebellious subjects 
 of the King to submission this alone could 
 restore its legitimate authority to the monarchy. 
 She was rejoiced at the declaration of the 
 "state of war." On the igth of April she 
 wrote to Count Fersen : 
 
 " The Ministers and the Jacobins make the 
 King declare war on the House of Austria to- 
 morrow, on the pretext that by the treaties of 
 last year the treaty of alliance made in 1756 
 has been broken, and that no categorical reply 
 to the last despatch has been made. The 
 Ministers hope this proceeding will create fear, 
 and that negotiations will be opened in three 
 weeks. May God grant it may not be so, 
 and that at last vengeance may be taken for 
 all the outrages of this country" 
 
 Count Fersen was no less pleased. Imme- 
 diately on receiving the news, he addressed a 
 letter containing his impression on the subject 
 to the Queen ; this letter was conveyed to her 
 in a box of biscuits. 
 
 " M. de Thugut has told the Baron (Breteuil) 
 
 14
 
 302 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 that the King of Hungary had stated that 
 he was weary of all that was going on in 
 France ; that he was resolved to put an end 
 to it, and to act ; that he was about to set 
 his troops in motion in concert with the King 
 of Prussia ; that if the French attacked, they 
 were to be amused for six weeks or two months 
 until the armies could arrive ; that if they 
 did not attack, he was resolved all the same 
 to attack them, and that they must be cajoled 
 by appearances of peace until the moment at 
 which he could act. 
 
 " I received the news of the declaration of 
 war yesterday, and I am very glad of it. It is 
 the best and the only means of bringing the 
 Powers to a decision at last." 
 
 The object was to make the ardently desired 
 intervention, now at length obtained, produce 
 the happy results that were expected from 
 it. The invading forces, if conquered, would 
 not only be unable to co-operate for the 
 deliverance of the royal family, but would in- 
 evitably ensure their destruction. Nobody was 
 under any mistake on this point ; accordingly, 
 we find Count Fersen setting to work with 
 indefatigable zeal and activity to avert such 
 a misfortune, and Marie Antoinette sparing 
 no pains on her part. Both were fully aware 
 that they were playing a very dangerous game, 
 and they took every possible precaution for the 
 safety of their mutual communications. We 
 already know, by a despatch addressed to M. 
 de Mercy on the 29th of March 1792, and 
 published in the Arneth collection, that the
 
 THE QUEEN'S COKKESPONDENCE 303 
 
 Queen did not hesitate to reveal the political 
 and military plans of the French Government ; 
 but it was not known until the papers left 
 by Count Fersen were brought to light how 
 active was the part she took in the events 
 of that particular period. Her correspondence 
 may be described as incessant. She usually 
 employed Goguelat's hand, and she arranged 
 a complete plan of correspondence with Fersen, 
 so contrived as to mislead suspicion, if by any 
 mishap one of her letters were to fall into 
 inimical hands. 
 
 The means she had hitherto employed 
 cipher, invisible ink, missives hidden in boxes 
 of tea or biscuits, or in the cover of the 
 Moniteur, no longer sufficed, and she resorted 
 to a very clever stratagem. She was to dic- 
 tate to Goguelat business letters, which a 
 friend was to be supposed to send to a M. 
 Kignon. A number of things were to be men- 
 tioned, but at a spot indicated by a sign, 
 the fictitious correspondence was to cease, 
 and important news was to be conveyed in 
 a manner previously arranged according to a 
 key in short, what we should now call a code. 
 
 On the 5th of June the Queen writes on 
 this plan. The letter is worth reproducing, 
 for it is a good example of the method. 
 
 " I received your letter No. 7, and pro- 
 ceeded immediately to withdraw your funds 
 from the Boscaris firm. There was no time 
 to lose, for the bankruptcy was declared yes- 
 terday, and this morning the matter was 
 made public at the Bourse. It is said that
 
 304 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 the creditors will lose heavily. Here is a 
 statement of the various matters which I have 
 in my hands." 
 
 Then follows the coded portion, written out 
 by Count Fersen : 
 
 " Orders are given that Luckner's forces 
 shall attack at once; he is opposed to this, 
 but the Ministry will have it. The troops are 
 in want of everything, and are in the greatest 
 disorder." 
 
 Then the letter is resumed : 
 
 " You will instruct me what I shall do 
 with these funds. If I had the decision, I 
 should invest them to advantage in some of 
 the fine domains of the clergy. This is, accord- 
 ing to what I hear, the best way of investing 
 money," &c., &c. 
 
 She skilfully contrives to convey the news 
 concerning herself even in the " padding " por- 
 tion of the missive. The allusions in the 
 passage which ends the letter are obvious, 
 and easy to be understood : " Your friends 
 are pretty well. The loss they have sustained 
 grieves them much. I do what I can to 
 console them. They think the re-establish- 
 ment of their fortune impossible, or at least 
 very far off. Give them, if you can, some 
 consolation in respect of this; they have 
 need of it; their position becomes more 
 dreadful every day. Adieu. Eeceive their 
 compliments, and the assurance of my entire 
 devotion." 
 
 The next day but one she sends him 
 the following : " My Constit. (Constitutionalists)
 
 CODED COMMUNICATIONS 305 
 
 are sending a man to Vienna ; he will pass 
 through Brussels. M. de Mercy must be in- 
 structed to treat him as if he were announced 
 and recommended by the Q. (Queen) to nego- 
 tiate with him in the sense of the memo- 
 randum which I have sent him. It is desired 
 that he write to Vienna to announce him 
 (the envoy), to urge that it be carefully con- 
 cealed from him that I have ever sent there, 
 and to say that we hold by the plan made 
 by the Courts of V. and B. (Vienna and 
 Berlin), but that it is necessary to appear 
 to enter into the views of the Const. ; and, 
 above all, to urge that it is according to the 
 desires and demands of the Q. : these measures 
 are very necessary. . . . 
 
 "Tell M. de Mercy that we (on) cannot 
 write to him, because we (on) are too closely 
 watched." 
 
 All this was wrapped up in details of the 
 Boscaris bankruptcy, advice to buy confiscated 
 church property, &c., &c. 
 
 At this point, and in order to meet a possible 
 objection, perhaps it may be well to prove 
 that these letters really did emanate from the 
 Queen, although they were not signed or 
 written by her own hand : the matter is of 
 importance, considering the gravity of the in- 
 formation which they contain. 
 
 Their authenticity might be taken as proved 
 by the simple fact that Count Fersen deci- 
 phered them, and classed them in the collection 
 of his correspondence with Marie Antoinette ; 
 but conclusive evidence is afforded (as the
 
 306 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 editors of M. de Fersen et la Cour de France 
 point out) by a passage in a letter of Fersen's 
 to Baron Stedingk, who was at that time 
 Swedish Ambassador at St. Petersburg. This 
 passage contains the clearest possible state- 
 ment : 
 
 " The Queen, in sending me the mandate of 
 this Constitutional Ambassador who was to 
 pass through here, says to me: ( Instruct M. 
 de Mercy,' &c" 
 
 The whole passage already given is re-copied 
 by him, and he adds : 
 
 " I have communicated all this to the Comte 
 de Mercy, who has promised me to write to 
 Vienna to the same effect." Beyond this, he 
 wrote in his journal: "Sunday the loth. . . . 
 Letter from the Queen of France. Orders to 
 Luckner to attack," &c. 
 
 It is therefore impossible to cast any doubt 
 upon the authenticity of the quoted documents. 
 
 Count Fersen employed a certain Madame 
 Toscani, who was a confidential person in the 
 service of Mrs. Sullivan, to convey the answers 
 to these letters. It will be seen that he 
 endeavoured to encourage the unfortunate 
 Queen. 
 
 " How deeply I grieve for your position ; 
 my mind is strongly and painfully impressed 
 by it. Try only to stay in Paris and they 
 (on) will come to your help. The King of 
 Prussia is resolved upon this, and you may 
 count upon it" (nth June). 
 
 But would the promised succour arrive in 
 time? The Revolution moved more quickly
 
 TUMULT AT THE TUILERIES 307 
 
 than did the monarchies, and only a few days 
 had elapsed after the interchange of these 
 letters when Count Fersen received distressing 
 and alarming news. 
 
 " Dreadful account of the attempt at the 
 Tuileries on the 2ist," he writes in his journal. 
 " Horrible ! it is appended to this ; the ensuing 
 events make one shudder. ..." 
 
 The narrative had been sent to him by 
 the Swedish Charge d'Affaires at Paris, M. 
 Bergstedt. It told that the Tuileries had been 
 invaded by a crowd of nearly 50,000 persons 
 armed with pikes, and shouting "Down with 
 Monsieur Veto ! Madame Veto, and all their 
 brood ! " The doors, either ill-guarded or not 
 guarded at all, had afforded free passage to 
 this mob, which spread itself tumultuously all 
 over the palace. The King had sought to 
 resist the torrent by taking refuge in the deep 
 bay of a window, and was surrounded by a few 
 faithful grenadiers. He had been exposed to 
 great dangers, and had confronted them with 
 cool courage. The details that were given 
 afford proof of this. An individual approached 
 him, brandishing his pike and shouting, 
 " Where is he, that I may kill him ? " but 
 the perfect composure of the King daunted 
 the ruffian. Louis, however, while steadfastly 
 refusing to withdraw his veto on certain decrees 
 of the Assembly, had thought proper to yield 
 to a popular whim, and consented to put a 
 red cap on his head. 
 
 The Queen was in the Dauphin's apartment. 
 Hearing the shouts, she ran to the spot, but
 
 3 o8 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 she was separated from the King, and had to 
 stand alone against vile abuse and threats. 
 " The Queen heard her head demanded several 
 times, and her face never changed." 
 
 We find among Count Fersen's papers a 
 note without a date and without a beginning, 
 which must bear reference to this period. It 
 had been brought to him by Leonard, the 
 Queen's hairdresser. 
 
 "Do not torment yourself too much on my 
 account. Believe me, courage will always make 
 itself felt. The line which we have just taken 
 will, I hope, give us time to wait, but six 
 weeks is a very long time. Adieu ! Hasten, if 
 you can, the succour which is promised us for 
 our deliverance." 
 
 ( Written in invisible ink.) 
 
 " I still exist, but it is a miracle. The 2oth 
 was an awful day. It was not I who was the 
 chief object; it was my husband's very life 
 they sought to take ; they no longer conceal 
 this. He showed firmness and strength, which 
 made an impression upon them for the moment, 
 but our danger may be renewed at any minute. 
 Adieu ! Take care of yourself for our sake, and 
 do not distress yourself about us." 
 
 In this repeated injunction " not to torment 
 himself on her account," we trace all the 
 refinement of friendship which grieves at the 
 thought of the friend's distress. Poor woman ! 
 she deserves praise for having kept up any 
 courage and composure under the terrible cir- 
 cumstances, for she was but feebly sustained 
 by her surroundings.
 
 THE "FKENCH PRINCES" 309 
 
 Louis XVI., who had borne himself nobly, 
 with passive resignation, in the face of the 
 howling crowd, had fallen back into his habitual 
 apathy. It is heart-sickening to read in his 
 journal what he says, in the fewest possible 
 words, about those terrible events : 
 
 " Wednesday, the 2oth of June. Affair of the 
 Tuileries." 
 
 On the following days he finds only one 
 word to write "Nothing" On the 25th he 
 merely notes : 
 
 " Walked after Mass in the courtyard and 
 the gardens with my son, to see the National 
 Guards." 
 
 Meanwhile, the King's brothers beyond the 
 frontier were losing no opportunity of augment- 
 ing his danger by their attitude and their 
 talk. They had already replied with charming 
 involuntary modesty to a letter from Louis XVI., 
 in which, according to the new Constitution, 
 they were styled "French princes," that "this 
 title did not belong to them." After the 2oth 
 of June they issued a manifesto, which Count 
 Fersen describes as "stupid, and insolent towards 
 the King." 
 
 They sent it "to all the Courts." A clever 
 thing to do by way of stimulating the zeal of 
 the sovereigns in favour of Louis XVI. ! But 
 it is very likely that they were well aware of 
 what they were doing. Their conduct under 
 other circumstances had been so egotistical, so 
 obviously selfish, that we may question, with- 
 out calumniating them, whether they were 
 not very glad to decrease the distance that
 
 310 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 lay between them and the throne by acting 
 thus. 
 
 Marie Antoinette, notwithstanding the perils 
 of the hour, and aware of the urgency of the 
 need for help, proved herself to be a woman 
 with brains, or rather the man of the family. 1 
 She misjudged the situation ; she was not a 
 politician, but believing that there was a 
 chance of safety in foreign support, she carried 
 out her idea on that point. She, at least, was 
 persevering, and she acted. It was otherwise 
 with her husband. 
 
 On the 23rd of June, she again sent secret 
 intelligence to Count Fersen : " Dumouriez 
 starts to-morrow for Luckner's army; he has 
 promised to raise Brabant. Saint - Huruge 
 is also setting out to accomplish the same 
 object" 
 
 The rest of the letter went on with the 
 pretended correspondence on the affairs of 
 M. Rignon ; but it comprised several easily 
 detected allusions. " Your friend is in the 
 greatest danger. Let his relations know of 
 his unhappy position." 
 
 On the 26th she wrote : " You will imme- 
 diately receive particulars relating to the pur- 
 chase I have made, on your account, of the 
 goods of the clergy. 
 
 " I am sorry that I cannot reassure you 
 concerning the position of your friend. During 
 the last three days the malady has not made 
 progress, but none the less the symptoms are 
 
 1 As Napoleon said afterwards of her daughter, the Duchesse 
 d'Angouleine.
 
 M. RIGNON 311 
 
 alarming ; the most skilful physicians give 
 him up. Only a speedy crisis can save him, 
 and of this there is no sign as yet ; so that 
 we despair. Inform the persons who have busi- 
 ness with him of his condition, so that they 
 may take precautions ; time presses. . . ." 
 
 Count Fersen understood this with his in- 
 telligence, but how keenly did he feel it with 
 his heart ! If the matter had depended upon him 
 only, Europe should have fallen upon France, 
 and taken her victim out of her clutches; but 
 he was not master, and he had to await events. 
 He exhorted and encouraged the unfortunate 
 Queen to patience. 
 
 " I received the letter of the 23rd yester- 
 day ; there is nothing to fear so long as the 
 Austrians are not beaten. A hundred thousand 
 Dumouriez will not make this country (Brabant) 
 revolt, although it is well enough disposed to 
 do so. 
 
 " Your position gives me incessant anxiety. 
 Your courage will be admired, and the firm 
 conduct of the King will have an excellent 
 effect. I have already sent the statement of 
 affairs everywhere." 
 
 He communicates the plan of the Duke of 
 Brunswick to her. 
 
 " He is marching straight upon Paris, leaving 
 the combined forces on the frontiers to mask 
 the forts, and to prevent the troops that are 
 there from acting elsewhere and opposing his 
 operations. 
 
 " The Austrians have done a foolish thing 
 in attacking Luckner on his entrance. . . .
 
 3 i2 A FKIEKD OF THE QUEEN 
 
 "You ought to make Gog. (Goguelat) write 
 me on Sundays and Wednesdays to give the 
 particulars of all that is taking place. When 
 he shall say to me : It is said, but I do not 
 believe a word of it, then I shall know that 
 the thing is certain. 
 
 " Our position is frightful ; but do not dis- 
 quiet yourself too much. I feel strong, and I 
 have in me something which tells me that we 
 shall soon be happy and safe. This idea only 
 consoles me. . . . 
 
 " Adieu ! When shall we see each other 
 again in tranquillity ? " 
 
 However impossible such a thing may seem 
 to us now, they actually did think that the 
 moment was approaching. Count Fersen wrote 
 on the loth of July: "They are hurrying the 
 operations as much as possible ; the arrival of 
 the Prussians is already a little accelerated, 
 and in the first days of August they . can 
 
 L ' 
 
 begin. . . . 
 
 The Queen sometimes yielded to hope, even 
 in those sad days ; this correspondence kept 
 her up. Mme. Campan gives a curious proof 
 that it did so. Speaking of Marie Antoinette, 
 she says : " She was always awake at dawn 
 of day, and desired that neither the outside 
 shutters nor the blinds should be closed, so 
 that her long sleepless nights might be less 
 wearisome. 
 
 "About the middle of one of these nights, 
 when her room was lighted by the moon, she 
 gazed at it and said to me that a month hence 
 she should look at that moon when she should be
 
 MME. CAMPAN'S STATEMENT 313 
 
 loosed from her chains and see the King at 
 liberty. Then she confided to me that all 
 was going on well for their deliverance, but 
 that the opinions of their close and trusted 
 advisers were alarmingly divided ; that some 
 guaranteed the most complete success, while 
 others pointed out insurmountable dangers. 
 She added that she knew the order of march 
 of the Princes and the King of Prussia ; that 
 on a certain day they would be at Verdun, 
 on another in such and such a place ; that 
 Lille would be besieged. . . ." 
 
 She was, however, very anxious about what 
 might happen in Paris before the entry of the 
 allies, especially as a plan had been formed for 
 removing the King from the capital. 
 
 "The Const., who have joined Lafayette and 
 Luckner," she writes on the nth July, "want 
 to take the King to Compiegne on the day 
 after the Federation. The two Generals are 
 coming here for that purpose. The King is 
 disposed to agree to the plan ; the Queen 
 opposes it. No one knows as yet what will 
 be the issue of this great enterprise, of which 
 I do not at all approve. Luckner takes the 
 army of the Ehine, Lafayette that of Flanders, 
 Biron and Dumouriez the army of the centre." 
 
 It was true that the Queen strongly opposed 
 the removal of the King, first, because she 
 did not wish to be replaced in the hands of 
 Lafayette, to whom she had not forgiven any 
 part of the past ; also, and above all, because 
 Count Fersen urgently begged of her to use 
 every effort to remain in Paris.
 
 3 i4 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 The project which was formed with the object 
 of saving the royal family was succeeded by 
 an analogous scheme, but the latter originated 
 in the enmity of the Jacobins, who wanted to 
 put the King out of the reach of the foreign 
 armies. The Queen communicated it to Fersen, 
 employing the formula that was to confirm the 
 authenticity of any statement to which it was 
 opposed. 
 
 " The rumour runs, and I forewarn you 
 that I do not believe a word of what I am 
 going to tell you, that the Jacobins are planning 
 more than ever to get out of Paris with the 
 King, and gain the southern provinces. . . . 
 
 "All in whom you are interested are well. 
 Adieu, my dear Rignon. I embrace you ten- 
 derly." 
 
 Time passed, and hostilities were not begun. 
 Marie Antoinette imagined that a strong de- 
 claration by the Duke of Brunswick would have 
 a great effect in frightening the excited patriots, 
 and would make up for the lack of action for 
 a time. 
 
 " The manifesto must be sent at once . . . 
 it is expected with extreme impatience; it will 
 necessarily bring over many to the King, and 
 will place him in safety." 
 
 The Queen draws a vivid picture of the 
 danger of the royal family. 
 
 " The life of the King has been threatened 
 for a long time past, as well as that of the 
 Queen. The arrival of nearly 600 men from 
 Marseilles, and a number of other deputies 
 from all the Jacobin clubs, greatly increases
 
 THE MARSEILLAIS 315 
 
 our anxieties, which are unfortunately too well 
 founded. Precautions of every kind are taken 
 for the safety of their Majesties, but assassins 
 skulk continually about the chateau, emissaries 
 excite the people, a part of the National Guard 
 is disaffected, and other parties are either weak 
 or cowardly. The only resistance to the enter- 
 prises of the ruffians would have to be offered 
 by a few persons resolved to make a rampart 
 of their bodies for the royal family, and by the 
 regiment of the Swiss Guards. The affair that 
 took place on the 3oth, between 180 picked 
 grenadiers of the National Guard and some Mar- 
 seilles Federals, after a dinner at the Champs- 
 Elysees, has clearly proved the cowardice of the 
 National Guard, and the little reliance that can 
 be placed upon that force, which is really im- 
 pressive only by its bulk. The 180 grenadiers 
 ran away. . . . 
 
 " For a long time past the factious party have 
 taken no pains to hide their intention of annihi- 
 lating the royal family. . . . If they (the foreign 
 forces) do not come, nothing but Providence can 
 save the King and his family." 
 
 At last, at the moment when she was writing 
 these almost despairing lines, the Queen received 
 the famous manifesto which she so ardently de- 
 sired. She might have rejoiced in it, if facts 
 had realised her fancies, and if the fear which 
 she imagined would be struck to the hearts of 
 the patriots on reading it had not given place 
 to fierce anger. Never had such threats been 
 addressed to a whole people. 
 
 " Any National Guard taken when carrying
 
 316 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 arms shall be treated as a rebel ; all inhabitants 
 who shall dare to defend themselves shall be 
 put to death and their houses burned ; all the 
 members of the National Assembly, of the de- 
 partment, of the district, of the municipality, 
 and of the National Guard of Paris, are rendered 
 responsible for all events, to be judged by 
 military process, without hope of pardon ; it 
 is declared that if the least outrage be done 
 to the royal family, and if their safety be 
 not immediately provided for, their Imperial 
 and Royal Majesties will hand Paris over to a 
 military execution and to total overthrow." 
 
 " To avoid this fate, the French nation must 
 submit on the spot to the King, its legitimate 
 sovereign." 
 
 This extravagant manifesto, published in the 
 name of the Duke of Brunswick, was not his ; we 
 now know who were the authors, or rather who 
 was the author. A draft of a manifesto had 
 been made in the first instance by M. de Limon, 
 a Frenchman who had formerly been in the 
 service of the Duke of Orleans and had gone 
 abroad ; this draft, which was firm but mode- 
 rate, was submitted to Count Fersen. It was 
 the latter who, moved by the piteous cries of 
 distress which reached him from Paris, and 
 agonised by his utter powerlessness to save 
 her whom he loved, poured out his wrath in 
 this document, and by his influence induced 
 the chief of the allied troops to adopt threats 
 which he, Fersen, had often longed to fulminate. 
 Such an exaggeration was excusable in him, 
 but stupid and ridiculous on the part of the
 
 AN EXTRAVAGANT MANIFESTO 317 
 
 General who had to accept the responsibility 
 of the manifesto before all Europe. 
 
 The effect quickly revealed the extent of 
 the error that had been committed. Shouts of 
 fury were the answer returned from all parts 
 to these intolerable pretensions ; the people, 
 threatened by common foes, rose up with one 
 common purpose of resistance, and as though 
 a secret instinct had apprised them that these 
 insensate declarations had found their inspira- 
 tion in the palace of the kings of France, 
 they rushed forth against the Tuileries. The 
 manifesto was intended to beat them down ; it 
 drove them mad instead. 
 
 The manifesto bore date the 28th of July; 
 on the 3rd of August the deposition of the King 
 was demanded. In vain did poor Louis deny 
 all complicity with the foreigner ; his word was 
 no longer believed. The people w r anted to have 
 done with royalty. On the gth of August the 
 city rose, and an outbreak was organised for 
 the morrow. 
 
 Stupefaction prevailed in the chateau. General 
 Viosmenil's measures of precaution were so 
 ridiculous, that M. de Jarjayes warned Madame 
 de Campan of the sure and certain issue of 
 the coming conflict. The King lost his head ; 
 he was incapable of forming a firm resolve, 
 and could not act. Nevertheless, being urged 
 by the Queen, he tried to arouse the zeal of 
 his defenders by appearing among them on 
 the morning of the loth. He was received 
 with acclamation by some gentlemen who had 
 remained faithful, and by the Swiss Guards;
 
 3i 8 A FEIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 then he went on to the battalions of National 
 Guards massed around the chateau. 
 
 A resolute king, on horseback, might perhaps 
 have rallied these waverers; but Louis XVI., 
 on foot, his wig awry, his face puffed and 
 weary, did not awaken even pity in their 
 ranks. They let him pass, silently at first, 
 then murmurs were heard which rose to shouts, 
 base insults were flung at him by patriot lips ; 
 he was hooted, and had to re-enter the chateau 
 hurriedly, pursued by abusive cries, amid which 
 "Down with the fab hog," was repeated several 
 times. 
 
 It was all over ; the monarchy was lost. Its 
 friends had quite as great a share in its ruin as 
 its enemies. 
 
 While the King and Queen of France, ac- 
 companied by the Dauphin, Madame Eoyale, 
 Madame Elizabeth, and a few devoted friends, 
 including the faithful Goguelat, abandoned the 
 royal palace for the dangerous hospitality of 
 the reporters' room, accorded by the National 
 Assembly, and afterwards for the captivity of 
 the Temple, Count Fersen, full of his fixed 
 idea, searching the world for saviours for the 
 Queen, bethought him of asking the King of 
 England to proclaim that " he would avenge 
 in a striking manner every attempt against 
 the royal persons;" and on this same loth of 
 August he notified this to Marie Antoinette. 
 
 His delusion still existed ; his journal con- 
 tains the following significant note : 
 
 " loth, Friday. The news from Paris is very 
 encouraging."
 
 A DEATH-BLOW TO HOPE 319 
 
 In three days news from Paris arrived, to 
 falsify his forecast utterly, and to destroy his 
 last hopes at a blow. 
 
 " 1 3th, Monday. Terrible news from Paris. 
 On Thursday morning the chateau was attacked ; 
 the King and Queen escaped to the Assembly ; 
 at one o'clock fighting was still going on in the 
 courtyards and the Carrousel. Blood was shed 
 profusely, many were killed and hanged, the 
 chateau was forced in every part, eight pieces 
 of cannon were turned upon it and fired. . . . 
 A thick smoke led to the belief that the chateau 
 had been set on fire. . . . What horror ! " 
 
 " 1 5th, Wednesday. News from Paris; the 
 royal family are at the H6tel de Noailles, closely 
 watched ; not allowed to see any one. ..." 
 
 " ijth, Friday. News from. Paris ; the King 
 and his family are confined in the tower of 
 the Temple ; Mme. de Lamballe and Mme. de 
 Tourzel are shut up with them. ..." 
 
 Events followed events with marvellous rapi- 
 dity. Every post brought most serious news. 
 One day it was the announcement that Lafay- 
 ette the hero of " the Independence," the 
 favourite of the National Guard of Paris, the 
 popular general Lafayette had left his army, 
 had left France, and had just been taken, 
 with his friends Latour-Maubourg, Lameth, 
 Bureau de Puzy, &c. Another day, the news 
 was still worse : the city was given over to 
 blood and fire. The passions of the populace 
 were let loose, and the mob proceeded to 
 massacre those whom they believed to be the 
 enemies of the people.
 
 320 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 At first there were only rumours. It was 
 said that "the people judged, and execution 
 was done on the spot." Presently the details 
 became known, and the alleged atrocities were 
 confirmed. Fersen learned with horror that 
 the gentle Princesse de Lamballe was among 
 the victims, that her corpse had been carried 
 under the windows of the Temple, that the 
 King had been forced to look upon it, and 
 that Manuel had said to him (using the tutoie- 
 ment] 
 
 " Look here ! There may be a counter- 
 revolution, but at any rate you shall not enjoy 
 it ; this is the fate that awaits you." 
 
 The terror which Fersen had hoped to see 
 let loose upon the French nation was now the 
 lot of its enemies, and he also trembled. " I 
 have never been so much afraid," he writes on 
 the 6th of September. 
 
 He had good reason to be afraid. Paris 
 was in the power of the mob, and, through 
 either weakness or complicity, the Government 
 carefully abstained from interference with their 
 acts. 
 
 What an answer to the famous manifesto ? 
 All the adversaries of the Revolution were 
 equally surprised and dismayed by it. The 
 facts went beyond their most gloomy fore- 
 bodings, and M. de Mercy, who "saw black," 
 used the language of a madman in his turn, 
 actually saying to Count Fersen that "much 
 severity was needed," and that " there was no 
 other means than this : fire must be set to the 
 four corners of Paris."
 
 A SPECTACLE OF DEVASTATION 321 
 
 To set fire to the four corners of Paris, 
 however, it was necessary to reach those four 
 corners ; now, the Prussians were a long way 
 off them. The French army, placed under the 
 command of General Dumouriez, an adventurer 
 of genius, did not seem disposed to yield the 
 ground so easily. The affair of Valmy (2oth 
 of September) had done more than arrest the 
 march of the enemy. 
 
 That check, although slight in itself, was 
 accompanied by other calamities which rendered 
 its results disastrous. The Duke of Brunswick's 
 troops, being badly victualled, fed on unripe fruit, 
 and were decimated by dysentery. And besides, 
 the weather was bad and the cold premature. 
 
 Letters sent by the emigrants gave dis- 
 heartening reports. While they stated that 
 Dumouriez was in an unassailable position, they 
 acknowledged that the troops were in want 
 of everything. " Houses are demolished to 
 warm them (the troops) ; it has been necessary 
 to take grain out of the barns, and this is 
 effected in so slovenly a fashion that a great 
 part has been lost and entire villages con- 
 sumed, to the great detriment of the harvests. 
 The country presents a spectacle of devasta- 
 tion and is like a desert. The Vicomte 
 de Caraman draws a terrible picture of the 
 misery of the inhabitants ; he relates that in 
 a burning village he saw an old man and his 
 wife sitting before their house, which was in 
 flames, and contemplating the destruction of all 
 they possessed. Their dog lay on the ground 
 close to them howling dismally.
 
 322 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 " Vauban's letter to his wife draws a terrible 
 picture of the plight of the emigrants. They 
 are in bivouac for the last ten days, without 
 tents, without means of conveyance, afflicted 
 with dysentery, without medical aid or means 
 of relief, absolutely without victuals ; he had 
 eaten his last pound of bread, and knew not 
 where to find another. 
 
 " These two letters throw doubt on the success 
 of the enterprise, and say, ' God only knows 
 what the end will be." (Fersen's Journal, 
 ist October.) 
 
 What everybody did know just then was 
 that the Duke of Brunswick was beating a 
 retreat, to the great displeasure of all the en- 
 thusiasts. Baron de Breteuil, who was generally 
 more reserved, severely condemned him : 
 
 " This astounding conduct reflects great 
 blame on the Duke of Brunswick ; he is a 
 man in the mud." 
 
 During this time the success of the French 
 was continuous. Dumouriez had got his plan 
 the conquering of Belgium adopted, and the 
 victory of Jemmapes proved that he was in the 
 right (6th of November). 
 
 And now the situation was becoming very 
 grave, the danger was drawing nigh to Brussels. 
 It was time for Count Fersen to leave that 
 city. With Colonel Crawford, M. de Simolin, 
 and Mrs. Sullivan, he started for Dlisseldorf at 
 noon on the pth of November. 
 
 What he saw on that journey filled him 
 with profound sadness. " A heartrending spec- 
 tacle," he writes, "was that of the unfortunate
 
 THE UNFORTUNATE EMIGRANTS 323 
 
 emigrants ; young men and old men of the 
 Bourbon corps lagged behind, being hardly 
 able to drag themselves along with their 
 muskets and knapsacks, carrying the little 
 that they had managed to take away. There 
 were even women of the upper class, with or 
 without their waiting -women, going on foot, 
 this one with a child on her back, the other 
 with a small bundle. I wish I could have 
 had carriages to pick up all these poor people ; 
 the sight of them inspired horror and pity." 
 
 The hopes of the month of July had re- 
 ceded into the far distance. France and the 
 Revolution did not seem disposed to lower their 
 crest before Europe and Royalty.
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 News from Paris The trial of the King The 2ist of January 
 The Will of Louis XVI. Attitude of the Princes and 
 emigrants Indifference of foreigners Attempts to escape 
 made at Paris Toulan and Jarjayes The Stamp Agree- 
 ment arrived at between Durnouriez and the Prince of 
 Coburg Hopes of Count Fersen, appointed Ambassador to 
 King Louis XVII. Note of the 8th of April 1793 The 
 defection of Dumouriez Interview of the General with 
 Count Fersen at Brussels Inaction of M. de Mercy 
 Hostility of M. de Tlmgut Drouet The Queen trans- 
 ferred to the Conciergerie The Chevalier de Rougeville 
 Details of the captivity of Marie Antoinette A last 
 effort in favour of the Queen Novere, the dancing-master, 
 and Eibbes, the banker The trial of the Queen Marie 
 Antoinette at the National Window Count Fersen's grief. 
 
 IT is regarded as an indisputable proof of the 
 courage of a general that he has slept well 
 the night before a battle. It is a pity that 
 no one has ever thought of ranking the fact 
 of having eaten largely in great crises, among 
 the proofs of intrepidity of soul, for, if this 
 were so, Louis XVI. would have left quite a 
 different mark upon the memory of mankind. 
 In that case, we should quote with admiration, 
 not mere curiosity, the bill of fare of his 
 Majesty's supper on a certain evening in Decem- 
 ber, as reported by Albertier, the commissary. 
 " Louis ate six cutlets, a large piece of fowl, 
 some eggs, drank two glasses of white wine, and 
 one of Alicante, and then he went to bed." 
 
 And yet that evening was an important one 
 324
 
 THE KING'S APPETITE 325 
 
 in his existence : the King had just returned 
 from the Convention, where his counsel, M. de 
 Seze, had pleaded for him courageously and in 
 vain. 
 
 The eagerness with which Louis satisfied the 
 demands of his formidable appetite was already 
 notorious. In the stenographer's gallery, dur- 
 ing the massacre of his Swiss Guards and 
 the loyal gentlemen who had remained with him 
 at the Tuileries, he had greedily torn a roast 
 fowl to pieces with his fingers, and devoured 
 it, under the indignant eyes of the Queen, and 
 amid the scornful glances of the deputies. 
 
 Why should he have restrained himself? 
 Louis XIVc had left him traditions of gluttony 
 which excused him. And besides, wherefore 
 should he trouble himself? Louis did not 
 believe in his danger, especially when he was 
 a prisoner in the Temple. 
 
 In the Tuileries, on the Champ de Mars, 
 whither he had been obliged to go for the 
 Fete of the Federation, he might have to dread 
 that an enthusiastic fanatic, passing from revolu- 
 tionary theory to practice, might aim a dagger- 
 thrust or a bullet at him ; but now, in shelter 
 behind the walls of the Temple, he might 
 indeed be exposed to insult and to oppressive 
 measures, but what appearance was there of 
 the Convention's going any farther? They 
 would never dare. Clery puts this false secu- 
 rity strongly. " I was far from fearing for the 
 King's life," he says. " The Queen was equally 
 inapprehensive, and her husband governed him- 
 self by her only." 
 
 15
 
 326 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 A similar delusion prevailed abroad. Count 
 Fersen wrote to the Duke of Sudermania about 
 the end of November : 
 
 " We have no fresh news from Paris. We 
 only know that the trial of the King is 
 imminent. The Abbe Fauchet thinks his 
 Majesty sufficiently punished by all that has 
 befallen him, and hopes they will let him 
 go ; others want to have him tried and 
 executed, and the penalty of death abolished 
 afterwards. There is reason to believe that 
 the intention is to try the King, to condemn 
 him, then to have him pardoned by the nation, 
 and a sum of money assigned for his support 
 and that of his family ; but it is not known 
 whether he is to be kept in prison or left at 
 liberty to go where he may please." 
 
 The result did not justify this optimistic 
 forecast. The cause of Louis XVI. was lost 
 by the discovery of papers in " the iron press," 
 after its existence had been uselessly denied by 
 him. He was unanimously found^ guilty by the 
 voters, and condemned to death by the majority 
 of the Assembly. 
 
 Count Fersen received the news of the 
 execution from the Archbishop of Toulouse, 
 on the 27th of January, with such details as 
 the latter had been able to procure. 
 
 "On the 2ist, at half-past nine in the 
 morning, the King was brought out of the 
 Temple, escorted by 400 cavalry and 1200 
 infantry. He was taken, in the midst of pro- 
 found silence, by the boulevards of the Temple, 
 St. Martin, and St. Honord, to the scaffold,
 
 THE KING'S LAST WORDS 327 
 
 which was erected on the place formerly called 
 Place Louis XV., now called Place de la 
 Revolution, between the spot where the statue 
 stood and the entrance of the Champs - 
 Elysees. 
 
 " At the back of the carriage, and by the 
 King's side, was his confessor, an Irish priest ; 
 on the front seat were two officers of the 
 gendarmerie. 
 
 " Having arrived at the foot of the scaffold, 
 he submitted to the binding of his hands with 
 the utmost composure, and mounted the steps 
 bravely. 
 
 " He wished to speak to the people, but the 
 roll of the drums overpowered his voice. Never- 
 theless, those who were close to the scaffold 
 heard these words, uttered in a firm tone 
 ' / pardon my enemies, and I desire that my 
 death may be the salvation of France. 1 
 
 " He breathed his last sigh at a quarter to 
 eleven o'clock ; his severed head was held up 
 to the people, and at the same moment the air 
 was rent with cries of ' Long live the Nation ! 
 Long live the French Republic ! ' 
 
 " Several volunteers steeped their pike-heads in 
 his blood, and others their handkerchiefs. His 
 head and body were carried to the Madeleine 
 (cemetery) and buried." 
 
 These sad details of the King's death affected 
 Count Fersen profoundly, " renewing all his 
 grief, and presenting the most heartrending 
 pictures to his imagination." 
 
 The reading of the Will drawn up by the 
 King "on Christmas Day, 1792," disturbed him
 
 328 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 to the extent of making him write in his journal : 
 " Will of Louis XVL superb." 
 
 Superb in resignation, perhaps ; and yet, could 
 it be admitted that a prince, placed at the head 
 of twenty-five millions of men, had nothing 
 better to do than to contemplate the evils by 
 which himself and his subjects were assailed, 
 then patiently to bear his own, and the sight of 
 theirs ? The merit of the King in refusing to 
 shed blood for the defence of the rights which 
 he held by tradition and from his ancestors, is 
 greatly diminished by the fact that he refrained 
 equally from defending the rights of the nobility 
 and the clergy, and even those of the simple 
 honest folk whose sole desire was to live peace- 
 fully under a protecting Government. As a 
 fact, never was there so much blood shed, and 
 the weakness and incapacity of Louis, ill-con- 
 cealed under merit of a certain kind, caused 
 greater, misfortunes, brought about more nume- 
 rous catastrophes, and gave greater opportunity 
 for crime than would have resulted from an 
 armed resistance. 
 
 As for the Will itself, it must have grieved 
 the true friends of legitimate monarchy. Did 
 it not contain the following sentences : " I 
 desire my son, if he should have the misfortune 
 to become king, to consider that he owes himself 
 altogether to the welfare of his fellow-citizens 
 . . . that he can make the people happy only by 
 reigning according to the laws ; but at the same 
 time that a King cannot ensure respect for those 
 laws, and do the good that he has at heart, except 
 in so far as he has the necessary authority, and
 
 VICTIS ! 329 
 
 that otherwise, being restricted in his opera- 
 tions and not inspiring respect, he is more 
 harmful than useful." 
 
 The subjects of former times, now called the 
 " fellow-citizens" of his son, who was no longer 
 king by birth, but only liable to " the misfor- 
 tune " of becoming king, was not this the theory 
 of the Revolution recognised by its victim ? 
 
 Louis XVI. was not mourned by his own. 
 The Comte de Provence, whose ambition was 
 gratified by the abridgment of the space between 
 himself and the throne, hastened to display the 
 outward sign of his power by proclaiming him- 
 self Regent until the majority of the little Louis 
 XVII. The consequences of his conduct speedily 
 ensued. 
 
 " There are already parties among the French," 
 writes Fersen, alluding to the French emigrants. 
 " One set approves of the regency of Monsieur, 
 the other bears in mind the rights of the Queen, 
 and it is much to be feared that their difference 
 of opinion will have evil results one day. 
 The Princes already are going to make a 
 thousand blunders. It is said they are about 
 to nominate a Chancellor, but Barentin was 
 appointed on the death of Maupeou by the late 
 King, and he will object." 
 
 The emigrants were but lightly impressed. 
 " The death of the King has not produced 
 any great effect upon them ; they console 
 themselves with the regency of Monsieur. 
 Some of them even went to the play and 
 the concert." 
 
 Count Fersen was indignant at the sight
 
 330 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 of such indifference, such apathy, so little care, 
 in a word, for the safety of the unhappy 
 Queen, who was still a captive, and on whom 
 the popular vengeance might wreak itself in 
 her prison by heaping outrage and suffering of 
 every kind upon, and even who could tell? 
 by killing her also, as her husband had been 
 killed. 
 
 They did not believe, however, that such a 
 fate could be in store for a woman. Louis XVI. 
 had paid the debt of royalty ; the life of Marie 
 Antoinette would be respected. Their confi- 
 dence excused the inaction of the oldest friends 
 of the Queen, but Count Fersen could not be 
 content with such barren attachment ; he was 
 not satisfied merely to condole with the royal 
 widow. 
 
 But what was he to do ? how was he to act ? 
 There was the difficulty, and his perplexity 
 was great. Incoherent, and sometimes contra- 
 dictory ideas were seething in his troubled 
 brain. His letters reflect his indecision and 
 embarrassment. He writes to M. de Mercy, 
 owning that " the more he considers all that 
 has taken place, the more he is confirmed in 
 his opinion that they can serve the Queen only 
 by doing nothing for her." He adds, "It is 
 dreadful to have to limit one's zeal to inaction." 
 
 Then he passes on to another idea : "A 
 simple step for the Emperor to take, and en- 
 tirely in conformity with his dignity, would 
 be to claim the Queen." Yes, but if this step 
 should be injurious to her? "Might it not 
 bring about a discussion upon the trial of the
 
 FERSEN'S PLANS 331 
 
 Queen, which had been decreed at the same 
 time as the King's, but had not yet been 
 mooted, and which one party probably desired 
 to have forgotten ? Might it not hasten the 
 condemnation of the Queen ? ... If the Em- 
 peror were to manifest interest in the cause of 
 his aunt, would not this furnish the factions 
 with a cry of which they would avail them- 
 selves, and be the means of working her destruc- 
 tion, by rekindling enmity against the Austrians, 
 and representing the Queen as a foreigner and 
 the accomplice of the King in the crimes imputed 
 to him?" 
 
 No, there was danger in this plan ; he must 
 think of another. " A more efficacious means 
 of saving the Queen would be, in my opinion, 
 to employ intelligent agents from England, 
 who should gain over the leaders of the Orleans 
 party, such as Laclos, Santerre, Dumouriez, by 
 money and promises. The Due d'Orleans him- 
 self must not be approached ; his dulness and 
 incapacity are on a par with his rascality and 
 poltroonery." 
 
 He might indeed be believed when he 
 affirmed, in conclusion, that " his zeal and 
 attachment for the Queen had solely dictated 
 these reflections." Unhappily for him and for 
 Marie Antoinette, there was nothing practically 
 possible in them ; all his efforts were neutral- 
 ised by the. reluctance of the foreign sovereigns 
 to see a monarchical government re-established 
 in France. The policy that schemes to enfeeble 
 France by condemning her to be republican is 
 not new.
 
 332 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 Princes were relied on to save the Queen : 
 men sufficed. 
 
 While there was a stir and agitation more 
 or less sincere on all sides, while troops were 
 being assembled and formidable preparations 
 were being made, two men, almost unknown, 
 without resources, without power, coolly made 
 up their minds to do what so many others 
 merely dreamed of vainly to save the royal 
 family. Toulan, the municipal, and the Cheva- 
 lier de Jarjayes conceived that heroic project, 
 arid it was not their fault that it failed on the 
 very brink of success. 
 
 I have related elsewhere in detail the story 
 of this marvellous attempt, which was inspired 
 by pity and sincere attachment. 1 That strange 
 personage, Toulan, deserves to be rescued from 
 oblivion, he was in his dry manner so bold 
 a conspirator, always good-humoured, a right 
 generous Gascon, who, contrary to the ways of 
 his compatriots, was much more ready with 
 deeds than with words. 
 
 When the plan laid by him, and adopted by M. 
 de Jarjayes, was on the point of being carried out, 
 the vacillation of a man whom they had been 
 forced to take into their confidence ruined every- 
 thing ; flight was rendered impossible, except for 
 Marie Antoinette only, and the Queen nobly 
 refused to separate herself from her children. 
 
 She then wrote a note which Toulan passed 
 on to Jarjayes. A copy of it exists among 
 Fersen's papers. It is truly touching : 
 
 1 See Un Complot sous la Terreur (Marie Antoinette, Toulan, 
 Jarjayes).
 
 THE "STAMP" 333 
 
 " Adieu ! I think, if you have decided upon 
 going away, it is best that it should be done 
 promptly. 
 
 " How happy I should be if we might soon 
 meet again . . . Never can I sufficiently acknow- 
 ledge all that you have done for me. 
 
 " Adieu ! That word is cruel ! " 
 
 If the word was cruel, the thing was still 
 more so. Notwithstanding her strength and her 
 resolution, Marie Antoinette suffered from the 
 anguish which is caused by every parting, 
 every breaking of relations with a faithful and 
 devoted friend. And yet there was an allevia- 
 tion of the bitterness of the separation : in 
 leaving France, M. de Jarjayes would be able 
 to convey the captive's tender remembrance to 
 Count Fersen. 
 
 This episode in the life of Marie Antoinette 
 was entirely unknown until a fortunate circum- 
 stance placed me in possession of the original 
 of another note addressed to the Chevalier 
 de Jarjayes in that terrible month of Feb- 
 ruary i 793, which had brought her consolation 
 and hope, too quickly followed by disappoint- 
 ment. 
 
 The note contains a sentence which we know, 
 from our information concerning Count Fersen, 
 can only bear reference to him. Here it is in 
 its eloquent simplicity : " The Stamp which I 
 send with this is quite another thing. I desire 
 that you remit it to the person who came from 
 Brussels to see me last winter, as you know, and 
 that you say to him at the same time that the 
 motto has never been more true."
 
 334 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 " The person who came from Brussels last 
 winter," that is to say in 1792, was Count 
 Fersen. We know all about that expedition ; no 
 doubt on the point is possible. Now, what was 
 that " Stamp " ? Only the inheritors of Count 
 Fersen's papers can now answer that question, if, 
 indeed, the Count himself did not destroy the 
 last token which had come to him from her 
 who seems to have been his only love. The 
 latter hypothesis is not likely to be correct, con- 
 sidering the care with which he had translated, 
 classed, and preserved the Queen's letters ; 
 unless, indeed, he may have thought that such 
 a token, brought to light one day, would be 
 too significant, and hoped by destroying "the 
 Stamp" to conceal the secret of two hearts 
 for ever. 
 
 He well deserved that Marie Antoinette 
 should think of him, for he never for an in- 
 stant ceased to think of her. 
 
 Even at that very moment hope entered into 
 his soul. Political news reached him by which 
 he learned that treason was coming to the aid 
 of the cause he was defending. The general 
 to whom the French Eepublic had intrusted 
 the command of its forces, the victor of Valmy 
 and Jemmapes, was meditating dark designs. 
 Bolder than Bouille, less of a patriot than 
 Lafayette, he did not intend to deprive France 
 of his own sword only ; with his troops he 
 meant to turn against the Convention, and, 
 aided by his late adversaries, to march upon 
 Paris, there to re-establish a King. 
 
 Such was the agreement formed between
 
 REASONABLE CONFIDENCE 335 
 
 Dumouriez and the Prince of Coburg. Count 
 Fersen did not doubt for a moment that the 
 French general who came forward in such 
 fashion was certain that his troops w T ould fol- 
 low him. He was overjoyed, and immediately 
 despatched " an express to carry the news to 
 Sweden." 
 
 His imagination set to work actively ; so 
 readily do we believe what we ardently de- 
 sire ! He "no longer has any fear for the 
 Queen." Nor was this all ; he pictures to 
 himself the remaining members of the royal 
 family set free, and takes the precaution of 
 inquiring of Baron Taube " whether he ought 
 still to abide by the instructions which he has, 
 in the event of the King's being at liberty 
 (he is speaking of Louis XVII. ), or wait for 
 others," and in the latter case, he begs that 
 these " may be sent to him as early as possible, 
 for this may go very fast" 
 
 How should Fersen have had any doubts ? 
 Marshal de Broglie announced that he had 
 received information that " Dumouriez was 
 marching alone on Paris with a force of 50,000 
 men, all wearing the white cockade, and that 
 the Prince of Coburg remained at the frontier, 
 quite ready to support him, if necessary." 
 
 Fersen's assurance was sufficient for the Duke 
 of Sudermania. The Regent of Sweden replied 
 to him by a letter overflowing with enthusiasm 
 and confidence : 
 
 " It has come, then," he wrote, " that much- 
 desired moment when the delirium of France 
 and her tragic and sanguinary triumphs are
 
 336 A FKIEKD OF THE QUEEN 
 
 about to cease ; when at last she will be placed 
 in subjection to her lawful masters, and the 
 unfortunate family of Bourbon, our old and 
 true friend, will enter into its ancient rights ; 
 when we shall see Louis XVII. re-established 
 upon his father's throne, and guided by a 
 tender and estimable mother, receiving the 
 homage of a guilty but misled people, and 
 at the same time punishing the enemies of 
 his father with a terrible hand, restoring the 
 tranquillity of Europe by avenging outraged 
 royalty, by crushing that impious sect whose 
 execrable principles threatened to infect the 
 world with universal barbarism. . . . 
 
 " You are a Swede, you love your country ; 
 I am your friend, and I have rights over you ; 
 I cannot better intrust the interests of my 
 country than to your hands, and / constitute 
 you ambassador from the King to Louis X VII. 
 You will be a better judge than I of the time 
 and the propitious moment for proceeding to 
 Paris, to your destination." 
 
 And Count Fersen, taking his role quite 
 seriously, prepared a " note " for the Queen 
 of France, in which he repeated the hopes that 
 he had built upon the treachery of Dumouriez, 
 but also gave his opinion of that personage with 
 the severity of a gentleman of ancient race 
 pronouncing upon an adventurer of plebeian 
 birth, thus revealing the aristocratic article 
 'of faith that gratitude is due between equals 
 only. 
 
 " The position in which you are about to 
 find yourself is going to be very embarrass-
 
 FEKSEN'S "NOTE" 337 
 
 ing ; you will have incurred great obligations 
 to a knave, who, as a matter of fact, has only 
 yielded to necessity, and did not want to 
 behave well until he saw the impossibility of 
 resisting any longer. This is the whole of his 
 merit as regards you ; but the man is useful ; 
 he must be used, and the past forgotten ; 
 you must even appear to believe what he will 
 say of his good intentions ; you must even deal 
 frankly with him respecting the things that 
 you may desire, and for the re-establishment 
 of the monarchy in its entirety as you would 
 have it, and as circumstances permit. With 
 regard to Dumouriez you have nothing to fear. 
 You must try not to pledge yourself too deeply 
 to him, and as far as possible to keep off all the 
 other schemers whom he will want to place 
 and recommend. . . . He is a vain and covetous 
 man." 
 
 It was on the 8th of April 1793 that Count 
 Fersen wrote this note. When we think of 
 what was going on in Paris, we are amazed 
 at the delusion to which it gives expression. 
 That delusion was not to last long, and even 
 at the very moment events were exposing its 
 vanity. France was not displaying a disposi- 
 tion to receive " her lawful masters " again, and 
 her army had no desire to resume the white 
 cockade. 
 
 The "note" had hardly been written before 
 the Bishop of Pamiers, who was mixed up in 
 these schemes, came to Fersen, and in a sentence 
 announced the overthrow of all his hopes. 
 The " knave " had indeed endeavoured to fulfil
 
 338 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 his agreement with the Prince of Coburg, but 
 his soldiers had refused to obey him. He had 
 fled before their threats they fired their 
 muskets after him and reached the frontier 
 with only a few officers of his staff. He had 
 time, however, to give up to the Prince of 
 Coburg the four commissaries who had been 
 sent by the Convention to watch him ; this 
 was the sole advantage his treachery had ob- 
 tained. 
 
 This news affected the emigrants, who so 
 little expected it, very painfully. "The con- 
 sternation among the French," wrote Count 
 Fersen in his journal, "was as great as their 
 joy had been ; they believed all to be lost." 
 His own " fears for the Queen were born again ; " 
 yet he was not entirely disheartened ; he cher- 
 ished the notion that the French army, being 
 deprived of its chief, was in a state of dis- 
 organisation, and he was still determined to 
 hope on. 
 
 In the meantime, General Dumouriez had 
 arrived at Aix - la - Chapelle. Count Fersen 
 wished to see the man who had missed the 
 playing of so great a part, and who could 
 give him information, and the details of the 
 position. On the i/th of April, he pro- 
 ceeded, with his friend Simolin, to the mili- 
 tary station, and there the General made his 
 appearance at half-past two in the afternoon. 
 Fersen describes their interview as follows : 
 
 " We made our way through a crowd, and 
 found him in a lower room. The windows were 
 besieged by people. Three aides-de-camp were
 
 THE "KNAVE'S" STOKY 339 
 
 with him. He recognised Simolin ; I intro- 
 duced myself, and he paid me a compliment, 
 saying that he ought to have known me by 
 my handsome face. 
 
 " I said that I was very glad to see him 
 here; he replied that he had intended to 
 come for a long time. He then told us 
 that . . . fear was abroad in Paris. . . . 
 
 " I said : ' Explain to me, Monsieur, what has 
 happened with regard to the Due d' Orleans.' 
 
 " ' I cannot give you an explanation, M. 
 le Comte, for I have never had any rela- 
 tions with the Due d'Orleans, whom I have 
 always despised and regarded as a scoundrel. 
 I know, however, that the contrary has been 
 stated ; but as this report is the only stain 
 with which my character can be blackened, 
 I am about to issue a proclamation which 
 will prove that I have never had any dealings 
 with him.' 
 
 " I asked him for particulars of the circum- 
 stances of his flight. He gave them just as 
 they are narrated in his proclamation, and 
 added that Baptiste, his aide-de-camp, who 
 was present, had had his horse killed under 
 him. 
 
 " He highly praised the Due de Chartres, 1 
 who did not resemble his father, he said, in 
 anything. 
 
 " He assured me that Biron and Custine 
 were behaving well, and said that he was 
 going to the neighbourhood of Mayence, in 
 order to consult with him (Custine), and 
 
 1 Louis Philippe.
 
 340 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 would probably go to Vienna ; and that he had 
 a plan in his head. He complained of the 
 slowness of the Austrians, said that with 
 greater activity in dealing with these people 
 they would be put down ; that there was 
 no longer an army, that all the troops of 
 the line would pass over as soon as they 
 could. . . . 
 
 " He complained greatly of Dampierre, who 
 had betrayed him, and in whom he had 
 placed confidence, because, as he said, he 
 was a man of quality, and ought to belong 
 to the right side ; that his plan was to seize 
 on Lille, Conde, Valenciennes, and Meubeuge, 
 making hostages of the commissaries who 
 were there ; that this plan had failed through 
 the imbecility of those whom he had in- 
 trusted with the execution of it ; that it had 
 already been proposed to exchange the four 
 commissaries for the royal family ; that in 
 his opinion, everything ought to have been 
 granted in order to secure possession of the 
 royal family, and no faith kept afterwards with 
 these knaves." 
 
 The epithet was ironically happy ; but if 
 Dumouriez thought to ingratiate himself with 
 .his present audience by such language, his 
 mistake was great, and proved his ignorance 
 of the law of human nature which ordains 
 that while men freely avail themselves of 
 treachery, they always despise the traitor, and 
 that the contempt which he inspires shall be 
 the greater in proportion to the non-success of 
 his treason.
 
 FEESKN" ON FRENCHMEN 341 
 
 In a few lines, Count Fersen tries and con- 
 demns Dumouriez, but while treating him fairly, 
 he contrives to be unjust to the French. 
 
 " In everything," he writes, " I consider 
 him a true Frenchman ; vain, confident, and 
 feather-headed ; clever, but possessing no judg- 
 ment. The whole of his plan failed through 
 excess of confidence in his troops and in his 
 own influence over the army. He had not 
 sufficiently organised the affair. 
 
 " He was very uneasy, and upset by every 
 sound from the crowd who surrounded the 
 door and windows ; he seemed to be afraid 
 of some mishap. His lackey came to com- 
 plain of having been insulted by an ' emigre. ' 
 He sent him away, and said to us 
 
 " ' If these gentlemen push matters too far, 
 I will show them that I can still make myself 
 respected.' 
 
 " On getting into his carriage, he received 
 some verbal insults." 
 
 Dumouriez did not remain long at Brussels ; 
 he went to England in search of a warmer 
 welcome, and a few hours after his arrival a 
 crowd assembled under his windows shouting, 
 " To the lamp-post with him ! " This manifesta- 
 tion probably reminded him of his own country, 
 where the same cry was in high favour. He had 
 to fly, and now we may dismiss this person- 
 age, merely mentioning that he was reduced 
 to wandering about from kingdom to kingdom, 
 always being turned out, and living like a beggar 
 on the meagre alms which his importunity ex- 
 tracted from various persons here and there.
 
 342 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 The French Revolution, which ought to have 
 been crushed out a hundred times over by the 
 armies which Europe could put in the field, 
 so superior in number and in discipline 
 were these, had on its side that marvellous 
 occult power which seems to w r atch over 
 the destinies of nations in reality an un- 
 known force, sometimes called chance, a force 
 which, in the present instance, it would be 
 rash and irreverent to describe as Provi- 
 dence. 
 
 Nothing that was devised against the Revo- 
 lution succeeded, and it marched on without 
 a stumble, notwithstanding that its feet were 
 bathed in blood. The reason was that its 
 real allies were those who professed to be its 
 enemies. Those who are faithful to the prin- 
 ciple of royalty cannot possibly have to make 
 a more painful admission than this. 
 
 Setting aside Monsieur and the Comte d' Artois 
 those French princes of whom even Fersen 
 said, "Their folly led them always to reject 
 useful people" we must acknowledge that 
 the oldest friends of the royal family, and 
 of the Queen herself, evinced very little soli- 
 citude for the interests of the prisoners of the 
 Temple. 
 
 The conduct of M. de Mercy affords more 
 than one example of this indifference, to use 
 a mild expression. 
 
 He had been sent as Ambassador to France, 
 honoured with the twofold confidence of Maria 
 Theresa as Empress and as mother, and for 
 years he had corresponded with his sovereign,
 
 M. DE MERCY 343 
 
 making a show of zeal and devotion which 
 were believed to be sincere. No sooner was 
 the muttering of the storm heard, no sooner 
 did the times change, than he left France and 
 retired to Brussels. Did he, from the safe 
 shelter of that city, ever use his influence to 
 secure allies against the persecution of the 
 Queen ? Did he imitate the conduct of Count 
 Fersen, who had forgotten nothing, and strove 
 with desperation to save Marie Antoinette ? 
 We should like to be able to believe that he 
 did, but the documents are there, and they 
 render any doubt of the pitiful part which 
 he acted impossible. We have only to consult 
 Count Fersen's journal. There we read, at the 
 date of the 2oth of April 1793 "There have 
 been proposals to exchange the royal family for 
 the four commissaries taken by Dumouriez, but 
 beyond this a demand is made for an unlimited 
 suspension of hostilities and the recognition 
 of the Republic. The Prince of Coburg has 
 called for a full explanation of the vague de- 
 claration of an undefined truce, and demands 
 that the royal family shall be brought to the 
 frontiers, that the four commissaries shall also 
 be brought thither, and that the parties shall 
 then treat." 
 
 Negotiations had been opened with the 
 Prince of Coburg, and at that very moment, 
 on the 3rd of May, Count Fersen records that 
 " the Comte de Mercy has been ordered to join 
 the Prince of Coburg, in order to guide his 
 political conduct. ..." This is not all. " M. 
 de Mercy said to Crawford that he should go
 
 344 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 once a week to see the Prince of Coburg ; that 
 he had full powers for the affairs of France in 
 the widest sense" 
 
 It is, then, quite certain that it depended 
 upon M. de Mercy to give a turn to the 
 negotiations, just begun, which would bring 
 about the exchange of the royal family for 
 the four commissaries. 
 
 But this was not M. de Mercy's purpose. 
 His advice was that no negotiations with the 
 French should be carried on, that no pro- 
 position should be listened to, for so he 
 declares beforehand he believed " it would 
 lead to nothing. Absolutely nothing but force 
 must be employed." 
 
 From such an attitude terrible consequences 
 might ensue, and certain persons regarded it 
 with just alarm. Baron de Breteuil endea- 
 voured on one occasion to bring M. de Mercy 
 to bay, and put the question to him plainly 
 
 " But if, by a possible chance, the King 
 and Queen of France were free, what would 
 you do ? Would you receive them ? " 
 
 One would think that an answer should 
 come spontaneously from the lips of the diplo- 
 matist. Not at all : he reflected a moment, 
 and said 
 
 " Well, that is a theme . . ." 
 
 He meant by this " a supposition." He 
 deigned, however, to consider it, and his con- 
 clusion was, that " if it were proposed to liberate 
 them outside the kingdom, it would be neces- 
 sary for their own safety to refuse ! " 
 
 It w r as impossible to be more cynically
 
 DE MERCY'S BASENESS 345 
 
 insensible to the fate of the victims whose 
 quarrel was ostensibly embraced. Baron de 
 Breteuil perfectly understood the motive which 
 led M. de Mercy to speak thus ; it was the 
 fear of the allies " having to confront a 
 power with which it would be necessary to 
 treat, and being hampered in the arrangements 
 they reckoned on making." 
 
 This mental reservation of the sovereigns 
 could not escape the faithful friends of the un- 
 happy captives, and Count Fersen himself was 
 obliged to recognise and own it. 
 
 In the note which he had drawn up for Marie 
 Antoinette on the 8th of May (a passage from 
 this has already been quoted) he wrote : 
 "Your will concerning the re-establishment of 
 the monarchy will still be hindered by the 
 influence of the coalised powers. There is 
 no longer any doubt that the partial dis- 
 memberment of the kingdom is decided upon. 
 . . . M. de Mercy cannot, and ought not, to 
 give you advice except on this basis." 
 
 Light was let in upon the selfish policy 
 of the sovereigns ; then came testimony more 
 overwhelming still, that if M. de Mercy was 
 indifferent, M. de Thugut, the Austrian Mini- 
 ster, was hostile to the idea of receiving the 
 royal family. 
 
 The Maret-Semonville mission was charged, 
 in July 1793, to negotiate an "understand- 
 ing" with the Governments of Venice, Flor- 
 ence, and Naples. (See, for a detailed narrative 
 of this episode, Un Complot sous la Terreur.) 
 " It was thought certain," says Maret, " that
 
 346 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 if the three States I have named made the 
 safety of the Queen and her family a condition 
 of the continuance of their alliance, it would 
 not be refused." 
 
 That was precisely what Thugut did not 
 wish, and accordingly he resorted to a very 
 simple expedient for cutting short the mis- 
 sion. This son of a Danube boatman gave 
 orders for the arrest of the two plenipoten- 
 tiaries at Novale, in violation of the law of 
 nations, and had them thrown into prison. 
 
 There is no doubt that the exchange of 
 prisoners was a genuine desire, and this was 
 afterwards confirmed by Drouet, the hero of 
 Varennes, who was made prisoner at Maubeuge. 
 Being questioned by Count Metternich, he stated 
 that " the Queen and her family would have 
 been given for the four commissaries delivered 
 up by Dumouriez ; that was decided." Drouet 
 was a member of the Convention ; it was not 
 surprising that he should be aware of the in- 
 tentions of the Government. 
 
 It is, then, evident that the responsibility 
 for the fate of the royal family ought not to 
 be thrown solely and entirely upon the Eevo- 
 lutionary party, and that, although the for- 
 eign sovereigns made a show of zeal in their 
 cause, this was mere hypocrisy on the part of 
 most of them. In reality, they desired an 
 event which they would regard as a triumph 
 for their own policy, and a means of gratifying 
 their greed. 
 
 What of the Queen in Paris ? how did the 
 days pass with her, while her false friends
 
 THE CONCIERGERIE 347 
 
 were making believe to bestir themselves 
 beyond the frontier? 
 
 Under strict and unremitting guard in the 
 Temple, she saw her true friends fail in each 
 successive effort to deliver her from her ter- 
 rible bondage ; after Toulan and Jarjayes came 
 Michonis, the municipal, Cortey, the grocer, 
 and the famous Baron de Batz, who all con- 
 spired to save her, but whose plans were 
 defeated at the last moment by the most ex- 
 traordinary and mysterious of chances. Yet 
 these cruel disappointments grieved her less 
 severely than the anguish that was inflicted 
 upon her through her son. About this time she 
 was separated from the little King, by an order 
 equally senseless and inhuman, and he was re- 
 moved to another floor of the Tour du Temple. 
 
 " What a dreadful grief for the Queen ! 
 Unhappy princess ! " exclaims Count Fersen on 
 learning this news (i2th July). 
 
 There was worse to come soon. The foreign 
 armies were victorious in a few fights, and the 
 Convention retaliated by voting on a motion 
 by Barere for a series of ultra -revolutionary 
 measures. Among these was the transfer of 
 Marie Antoinette from the Temple to the 
 Conciergerie. The decree was executed without 
 delay, and the Queen of France, parted from 
 all who were left to her, awaited her trial in 
 a prison cell ! 
 
 Every scrap of information that reached him 
 increased the misery of the unhappy Count. 
 What would his anguish have been had he then 
 known the details which he learned afterwards
 
 348 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 and recorded in his journal ! Some of these 
 are heartrending. 
 
 " They say that the hackney- coach which 
 brought the unfortunate Queen to the Concier- 
 gerie was filled with blood ; that the driver 
 did not know, but that he suspected whom 
 she was, having had to wait a long time ; that 
 on arriving at the Conciergerie, it was some 
 time before they alighted ; that the men got out 
 first, and the woman after ; that she supported 
 herself on his arm, and that he found his coach 
 all filled with blood." 
 
 In vain does he add, " But all this is not 
 very authentic." Perhaps he strove to deceive 
 himself. It was authentic ; these sad details 
 were only too true. 
 
 The Chevalier de Eougeville, who fortunately 
 eluded the warrant for his arrest which was 
 issued after his abortive attempt and his visit 
 to the Conciergerie, gave Count Fersen other 
 particulars of the Queen's captivity. He records 
 these in his notes with the reverential com- 
 passion of a faithful friend. 
 
 " Her room was the third door on entering 
 to the right, opposite Custine's ; it was on the 
 ground-floor, the window opening on the court- 
 yard, which was crowded all day with prisoners, 
 who looked in through the glass and insulted 
 the Queen. 
 
 " The room was small, damp, and ill-smelling ; 
 there was neither stove nor chimney ; there 
 were three beds : one for the Queen, the 
 other, by the side of hers, for the woman 
 who served her ; the third, for the two
 
 THE QUEEN'S LAST PKISON 349 
 
 gendarmes, who never left the room on any 
 occasion or under any circumstances what- 
 soever. 
 
 " The 'Queen's bedstead was, like the others, 
 of wood, the bedding consisted of a straw 
 mattress, a woollen mattress, and a worn 
 and dirty blanket, which had been used by 
 prisoners for a long time ; the sheets were of 
 coarse grey linen, the same as those on the 
 other beds ; there were no curtains, only an 
 old screen. 
 
 " The Queen was dressed in a black loose 
 jacket (caraco), her hair was cut short on her 
 forehead, and quite grey at the back ; she was 
 so thin that she could hardly be recognised, 
 and so weak that she could scarcely keep herself 
 upon her legs. She had three circlets on her 
 fingers, but no jewelled rings. 
 
 " The woman who served her was a sort 
 of fishwife, of whom she complained very 
 much. 
 
 " The gendarmes told Michonis that Madame 
 did not eat, and that if this went on she could 
 not live ; they said her food was very bad, 
 and one of them brought a small stale chicken, 
 and showed it to Michonis. 
 
 " ' There,' he said, ' is a chicken which 
 Madame has not eaten, and it has been served 
 to her these four days.' 
 
 " The gendarmes complained of their bed, 
 although it was exactly like the Queen's. 
 
 " The Queen always slept fully-dressed, in 
 black, expecting every moment to be massacred 
 or led to the scaffold, and wishing to go thither 
 
 16
 
 350 A FEIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 in mourning. Eougeville says that Michonis 
 wept while confirming the statement of the 
 haemorrhage from which the Queen suffered, 
 and told him that when it was necessary to 
 procure the black jacket and some indispen- 
 sable linen for the Queen from the Temple, 
 he could not go until after a ' deliberation ' 
 of the Council." 
 
 The announcement that Marie Antoinette 
 was about to be brought before the Revolu- 
 tionary Tribunal threw Fersen into a state of 
 acute distress ; but he was not one of those 
 friends who are to be beaten by failure. Not- 
 withstanding the defeat of all his previous efforts 
 for the deliverance of the Queen, he still con- 
 templated a fresh attempt. 
 
 Deep and powerful indeed must have been 
 the feeling that nerved him to such endeavour, 
 for he received but slender support from those 
 whom he would fain have made his accomplices. 
 
 He placed little reliance upon the zeal of 
 M. de Mercy, but was obliged to apply to him 
 in the first instance, because only Mercy had 
 sufficient influence to second his efforts. A 
 fresh disappointment awaited him. " The Count 
 received him like a man of ice. He saw only 
 impossibility in his ideas. He believed the 
 royal family to be lost, that nothing could be 
 done for them." 
 
 However, Count Fersen still persevered ; he 
 communicated his plan to Count de la Mark, 
 and succeeded in inspiring the Count with his 
 own ardour. They made a second joint-appeal 
 to the former Ambassador.
 
 A LAST KESOUKCE 35 1 
 
 There was nothing to be done, according 
 to their present view, in the way of political 
 action, of setting the incapable diplomatists 
 of the warring nations in motion, and intrust- 
 ing them to fresh negotiations destined to 
 pitiable failure. No, they must address them- 
 selves directly to one of the men who were 
 then leading France, and obtain help from him 
 to take the Queen out of prison and set her 
 at liberty, by promises, at need by money, 
 and even by the threat of future reprisals. 
 Finally, M. de Mercy accepted this idea, but 
 the way in which he carried it out permits 
 us to doubt his sincerity. The two men 
 he selected to fulfil this delicate mission 
 were not persons whom we should expect 
 to find engaged in such a matter. One was 
 Novere, a ballet-master, the other was Ribbes, a 
 financier, who having hitherto managed all 
 parties in the interests of his own particular 
 operations, was no more worthy of the con- 
 fidence of those who sent him, than of those to 
 whom he was sent. 
 
 Neither this selection nor the % mission 
 seemed very promising, especially to Baron 
 de Breteuil, who feared lest this proceeding 
 should excite rather than check the " scoun- 
 drelism " of the demagogues. But Fersen had 
 none of these scruples. He thought, rightly, 
 that although there might have been grounds 
 for such a fear while the Queen was still in 
 the Temple with her son, and not directly 
 threatened, the moment was now past. What 
 was the risk ? In the existing state of things,
 
 352 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 the position of the person for whom they were 
 interested could not be made worse, and there 
 was apparently some chance that it might be 
 improved. 
 
 At Fersen's urgent entreaties, Baron de 
 Breteuil consented to see Eibbes. They re- 
 garded Danton as the person whose influence 
 was at that time greatest in France, and 
 decided upon addressing themselves to him. 
 Eibbes was to have him asked by his (Kibbes') 
 brother for an interview near Paris, at which 
 he would treat for the ransom of the Queen. 
 Danton's reputation justified to a certain 
 extent their hopes of the possibility of 
 buying him ; they did not take so much 
 into account the chance of Danton's recom- 
 mencing the game he had already played with 
 the Court. That game was to take the money, 
 and always to put off the support he pro- 
 mised in return for it until a later day. 
 Moreover, supposing Danton to be bought, to 
 be willing, would he have the power to do 
 what they wanted ? 
 
 Before the project had reached this point, 
 other obstacles, always of M. de Mercy's making, 
 arose to hinder its execution. 
 
 The Count began by declaring that it was 
 not necessary to promise money ; that it would 
 be sufficient to offer " favours, security, pro- 
 tection, and pardon." This was childish. He 
 was made to see that it was so by such sound 
 reasoning that either he could not persist in 
 the idea, or he pretended to yield, at the 
 same time putting forward fresh objections.
 
 SUBTERFUGE 353 
 
 He formally opposed Eibbes's presenting him- 
 self to Danton as coming in the Emperor's 
 name to treat for the ransom of his aunt. 
 He said that the men to whom they would 
 have to apply would very likely be delighted 
 to divulge their overtures, and in that case the 
 Powers who had not been informed might take 
 umbrage, and thereby the already great diffi- 
 culties of the coalition would be complicated. 
 
 He advised that Eibbes should approach 
 Danton in the name of certain speculators inte- 
 rested in the political affairs of Europe. 
 
 " This was a miserable device," writes Count 
 Fersen, " and the change in M. de Mercy's ideas 
 surprised and grieved me. La Mark himself, 
 without saying so, seemed to disapprove. / 
 was so much the more pained because I thought 
 I could perceive that M. de Mercy s second 
 objection arose from his doubt as to how far 
 the Powers, and even Austria, truly desired 
 the freedom of the Queen ; for as the basis of 
 the negotiation was to be the laying aside of 
 every political idea, and demanding the Queen 
 as a simple individual, the aunt of her nephew, 
 that demand could not influence the political 
 operation, or embroil the coalition. M. de 
 Mercy had also added 
 
 " ' / am obliged to say it with regret, but 
 if the Queen were on the scaffold, that last 
 atrocity could not stop the Powers or change 
 their march.' ' 
 
 Such a sentence uttered by a diplomatist was 
 assuredly very significant. It made Baron de 
 Breteuil indignant, and Count Fersen also, but
 
 354 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 the latter, who was more anxious about the 
 fate of Marie Antoinette than hurt by the 
 cynical saying of Mercy, tried to profit by 
 that small amount of good- will which the 
 Count did not as yet venture formally to 
 withhold. 
 
 It was not easy to do this. Eibbes having 
 come to him, highly discontented with the 
 hindrances put in the way of his mission, 
 Fersen saw clearly that the prospect of figuring 
 as an important personage, and posing as a 
 plenipotentiary, had charmed the financier, who 
 was vexed at being prevented from playing a 
 part which flattered his very real vanity more 
 than it gratified his hypothetical ardour in the 
 cause. 
 
 Fersen begged him not to distress himself, 
 but to accept the mission, or rather the com- 
 mission, proposed to him. Eibbes ended by 
 accepting, and set out on the 4th of September. 
 But he did not go far, and a few days after- 
 wards he came back. " He had adopted the 
 plan of writing to Danton in a manner unin- 
 telligible to all but himself, and had sent him 
 the letter." 
 
 What could a letter do under the circum- 
 stances, and in the midst of the events that 
 were hurrying on ? 
 
 " I fear it will arrive too late," says Fersen, 
 " and how bitterly will M. de Mercy have to 
 reproach himself, he who has caused eight days 
 to be lost by staying away in the country, and 
 four more since his return by all the difficulties 
 he has made ! "
 
 FEKSEN MEETS DROUET 355 
 
 And in his pain he adds : " This is horrifying 
 to think of. May God preserve her, and give me 
 the satisfaction of seeing her again some day." 
 
 In God only did he hope at this dark hour : 
 the news from Paris was bad, very bad ! The 
 Queen's trial was imminent ; she had already 
 been subjected to a first examination before 
 the Committee of General Safety. What was 
 known of the sentences pronounced by the 
 Eevolutionary Tribunal was well calculated to 
 appal him. 
 
 The days passed with terrible rapidity. 
 The beginning of October had come, and at 
 that moment chance brought Fersen in contact 
 with a man who had had a tragic influence 
 upon the fate of the Queen a man who had 
 frustrated all the Count's former efforts : this 
 was Drouet, who had been made prisoner at 
 Maubeuge. 
 
 The sight of the man who had stopped the 
 berline at Varennes which he, Fersen, had 
 got safely out of Paris, enraged the Count : 
 " The sight of that infamous wretch put 
 me into a fury," he writes ; " and the effort 
 which I made not to say anything to him, 
 on account of the Abbe de Limon and the 
 Comte de Fitz-James, who were with us, made 
 me ill." 
 
 An officer, who was captured with Drouet, 
 declared that the Queen was in no danger, 
 and that she had all she wanted ! Fersen did 
 not believe a word of this. " The infamous 
 scoundrels," he says, " how they lie ! " 
 
 The terrible moment was approaching. Count
 
 356 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 Fersen felt it, although the news from Paris 
 was contradictory, and restored him to hope 
 or plunged him into despondency by turns. He 
 was no longer the cold and correct personage 
 whom some of his contemporaries have depicted. 
 His misgiving, or rather his misery, is appa- 
 rent in the brief notes he makes in the pages 
 of his journal. Now comes the moment of 
 supreme anguish. 
 
 The Queen had appeared before the Revo- 
 lutionary Tribunal on the i3th October, and, 
 as it was to be expected, she had been con- 
 demned to death. The execution was to follow 
 close upon the sentence. 
 
 Couched in terms of irony, hideous in its gross- 
 ness, came the awful news to the wretched man : 
 he was handed a letter which had been written 
 from Paris, and contained the following atrocious 
 sentence : " This morning Marie Antoinette is 
 to appear at the National Window." 
 
 " Although I was prepared for it," he says, 
 " and, since she was transferred to the Con- 
 ciergerie, have been expecting it, the certainty 
 overcame me ; / had not strength to feel any- 
 thing. I went out to speak of this misfor- 
 tune with my friends Mme. de Fitz-James and 
 Baron de Breteuil, whom I did not find. The 
 Gazette of the 1 7th speaks of it. It was on the 
 1 6th. at half-past eleven, that this execrable 
 crime was committed, and the Divine vengeance 
 has not yet fallen upon the monsters ! " 
 
 He no longer thinks of hiding his grief, and 
 he speaks in profoundly touching words of her 
 whom he loved so faithfully.
 
 THE END 357 
 
 " Monday, 2 ist. I can think only of my loss. 
 It is dreadful not to have any positive details. 
 That she should have been alone in her last 
 moments, without consolation, without any one 
 to speak to, to hear her last wishes ! That is 
 horrifying ! The monsters of hell ! No, without 
 vengeance my heart will never be content." 
 
 Until the end of his life he had to bear 
 in his heart the grief of that death ; it was 
 not granted to Fersen's love either to save Marie 
 Antoinette or to avenge her.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Consequences of the Queen's death -The Regent of Sweden 
 deprives Count Fersen of his diplomatic post Recognition 
 of the French Republic The son of Gustavus III. Re- 
 actionary policy The majority of Gustavus IV. is pro- 
 claimed (6th November 1796) Count Fersen at the 
 Congress of Rastadt General Bonaparte's speech to Fersen 
 Return to Sweden The strong protest of Gustavus IV. 
 against Napoleon is attributed to Count Fersen The fall 
 01 Gustavus IV. The Duke of Sudermania is proclaimed 
 King under the name of Charles XIII. Adoption of Prince 
 Christian of Holstein-Augustenburg Sudden death of the 
 Prince Rumours of poison Accusations against Count 
 Fersen, and against his sister, Countess Piper Popular 
 excitement Moral complicity of the King Funeral cere- 
 mony of the 2oth of June 1810 Popular feeling against 
 the Grand Marshal Count Fersen is massacrea in the 
 courtyard of the H6tel-de-Ville. 
 
 COUNT FERSEN, struck to the heart by this 
 frightful catastrophe, found his only solace in 
 talking incessantly of the dead Queen with 
 those who had known and loved her. The 
 arrival of Baron de Goguelat, who had fortu- 
 nately got out of France, where his life was 
 not safe, was a consolation to him ; they 
 could speak to each other of " the unhappy 
 princess " whose remembrance was ever living 
 in their hearts. These conversations, which re- 
 kindled their sorrow, also increased it, and the 
 hope of avenging that august victim of the 
 French Revolution excited their enmity against 
 both the Revolution and France. 
 
 The information received from Paris, the 
 358
 
 TWO ENEMIES OF FKANCE 359 
 
 accounts of the captivity of the royal chil- 
 dren and Madame Elizabeth, served to intensify 
 their purpose of conflict with "the abominable 
 Convention. 
 
 " How horrible ! " wrote Fersen, " and how 
 is it that Divine justice does not avenge such 
 deeds ? " 
 
 He appealed in his wrath to God more 
 than to men, for he began to see clearly 
 that the latter were powerless to execute 
 the task of justice. His delusion was all 
 over ; the whole truth had come home to 
 him now, and on this point his mind had 
 recovered its cool and complete lucidity. " It 
 is painfully plain, through all these intrigues, 
 how little the sovereigns know concerning the 
 affairs of France, and how little they feel the 
 danger that threatens them all if this jire be 
 not trampled out" 
 
 He draws a melancholy contrast between 
 the enemies in array : on one side, France, 
 without generals, destitute of all the neces- 
 saries of war, with troops hastily gathered 
 together, without resources, without money, 
 suffering from dearth, torn by civil war, 
 obliged to defend herself at almost every 
 point of her territory; on the other side, 
 the great Powers, provided with numerous 
 and well-disciplined troops, free to move as 
 they will ; and, in spite of all these ad- 
 vantages, he records that " after an eight 
 months' campaign by the Austrian, Prussian, 
 English, Spanish, Sardinian, Italian, and Im- 
 perial armies, the territory intact, except at
 
 3'6o A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 two points only, and for three or four leagues, 
 and winter quarters have not been established 
 in France." 
 
 What friend of the French nation, what 
 fervent adherent of the Kevolution, has ever 
 passed a more eloquent eulogium on either 
 or both ? Does not this testimony prove the 
 singular vitality and strength of the nation 
 that was hailing a new principle of existence ? 
 
 Fersen did not, indeed, understand, but he 
 instinctively hated, those hitherto unknown 
 elements which were forcing their blood-stained 
 way into the worm-eaten fabric of the old 
 social systems, and he could not tolerate their 
 formidable attacks upon the established order 
 of things. Still less could he forgive them the 
 victims the victim whom they had immolated. 
 
 The "Divine vengeance" which he invoked 
 was apparently no more disposed to punish 
 the death of Marie Antoinette than the assas- 
 sination of Gustavus III., and the French 
 Revolution, despite Fersen's invocation of the 
 lightnings of Heaven and the armies of the 
 kings, seemed to defy and defeat fortune. 
 It found friends where it was believed to 
 have enemies. Sweden was of this number, 
 and the Duke of Sudermania, who had for 
 some time pursued the policy of Gustavus III., 
 began to detach himself from it, and was evi- 
 dently about to come to an understanding with 
 the Government of the Republic. 
 , Count Fersen was becoming troublesome ; 
 for, his principles being immutable, like his 
 affection, he would not countenance any conces-
 
 FERSEN IN DISGRACE 361 
 
 sion. The first pretext that could be found 
 was eagerly used to get rid of a representa- 
 tive whose mission, formerly conferred upon 
 him in a moment of enthusiasm, had become 
 embarrassing and slightly ridiculous. He was 
 accused of having regarded a conspiracy formed 
 by Baron Armfeldt, one of his friends, to 
 proclaim the majority of Gustavus IV. prema- 
 turely, and deprive the Duke of Sudermania 
 of the regency, with a favourable eye, and 
 he was deprived of his diplomatic functions, 
 also of the title of " Ambassador to King 
 Louis XVII." 
 
 Fersen understood the full bearing of his 
 dismissal. That incident took place in March 
 1794. A year later, M. de Stael, who had 
 resumed his functions in Paris, recognised the 
 French Republic in the name of Sweden. 
 
 The "Friend of the Queen" was too devout 
 a worshipper at the shrine of memory, he 
 cherished in his heart too keen a longing for 
 vengeance, to own himself beaten and relin- 
 quish the strife. There still remained a good 
 chance that he might recover his influence, 
 and once more get his country governed ac- 
 cording to the political theories of the murdered 
 King. 
 
 The young Gustavus Adolphus would soon 
 attain his majority ; on him Fersen built his 
 hopes. He endeavoured to breathe his own 
 sentiments and ideas into the heart and mind 
 of the youthful prince, and he had the satis- 
 faction of succeeding in this. On the 6th of 
 November 1796, the majority of Gustavus IV.
 
 362 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 was proclaimed ; he assumed the reins of govern- 
 ment, and the Duke of Sudermania went into 
 retirement. 
 
 Count Fersen's restoration to favour was 
 promptly made manifest, and when the Con- 
 gress of Rastadt (1797) was opened, it was 
 he whom the young King sent as plenipoten- 
 tiary. His rdle in the Congress was likely to be 
 very subordinate, since the attitude of Sweden 
 towards France was again altered to such an 
 extent that all diplomatic relations between 
 the two countries were broken off ; but an inci- 
 dent occurred which brought him forward in an 
 equally unexpected and disagreeable manner. 
 
 General Bonaparte, travelling by Piedmont 
 and Switzerland, arrived at Rastadt. The 
 General, who had just made himself illustrious 
 by his campaign in Italy, the victor of Arcola 
 and Rivoli, the signatory of the Treaty of 
 Campo-Formio, had no notion of dealing with 
 the plenipotentiaries of the great Powers other- 
 wise than as he dealt with their generals ; 
 that is to say, he meant to talk to them as 
 their master. 
 
 Count Fersen appeared to be unaware of 
 this, and let it be openly known among his 
 colleagues that he intended to defend the 
 Treaty of Westphalia, although that treaty had 
 been torn up at Campo-Formio. 
 
 This was not all. Montgaillard had made over- 
 tures to General Bonaparte, immediately on his 
 arrival, in favour of a restoration of the Bourbons, 
 and, rightly or wrongly, a report was spread that 
 Count Fersen had instigated that proceeding.
 
 GENERAL BONAPARTE 363 
 
 General Bonaparte, who entertained a well- 
 founded antipathy to Louis XVIII. , and who 
 proposed to himself to do something very dif- 
 ferent from restoring the throne of France by 
 his own hands, and then placing that prince 
 upon it, was profoundly irritated by these over- 
 tures and pretensions, and he skilfully availed 
 himself of the first opportunity to give vent to 
 his anger. 
 
 When Count Fersen presented himself at 
 the General's hotel to pay his compliments, 
 Bonaparte asked him to have the goodness to 
 inform him what Minister from Sweden was 
 then in Paris. 
 
 There was none. Count Fersen made an 
 embarrassed answer. 
 
 Bonaparte replied sharply that it was sur- 
 prising the Court of Sweden should so conduct 
 itself towards a nation with which it had had 
 friendly relations for a long period ; then, 
 making a direct thrust at his adversary, he 
 added that the Court of Sweden seemed to 
 take pleasure in sending on all occasions agents, 
 ministers, and ambassadors who were person- 
 ally disagreeable to every French citizen; that 
 no doubt the King of Sweden would regard 
 a French Minister who had tried to raise the 
 people of Stockholm against him, with dis- 
 favour ; and that the French Eepublic like- 
 wise ought not to suffer men too well known 
 for their connection with the former Court of 
 France to be sent to mock the Minister of the 
 Jirst nation of the earth. . . e 
 
 Fersen could not fail to understand the
 
 364 A FKIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 personal allusions of this apostrophe ; but what 
 was he to say in reply ? He maintained his 
 apparent composure, and said only that "he 
 would make known to his Court what he had 
 just heard," thus saving his dignity by dint 
 of diplomatic reserve and coolness. He then 
 retired without another word. 
 
 Such an adventure was certainly not calcu- 
 lated to diminish his dislike to the political 
 doctrines whose triumph permitted a victorious 
 general to treat one of the representatives of 
 the oldest nobility in such high-handed fashion. 
 On his return to Sweden he advised the young 
 King to the most reactionary measures more 
 urgently than before, so that when Gustavus IV. 
 thought proper to put forth a strong protest 
 against Napoleon in 1805, the inspiration and 
 the composition of the document were alike 
 attributed to Count Fersen. 
 
 But what could proclamations or oppositions 
 do against the Emperor of the French? He 
 replied to them only by victories. Austerlitz 
 defeated all the hopes of the enemies of the 
 Empire. 
 
 In vain did Sweden, still impelled by Count 
 Fersen, give a kindly welcome to the French 
 refugees, in vain did she place herself in touch 
 with the secret agents of the House of Bourbon, 
 such as Fauche-Borel ; these petty plots came 
 to nothing. Other hands were needed to seize 
 and subdue the steed and the horseman who 
 were galloping about the world, trampling 
 under foot all that resisted them as they 
 passed.
 
 EMPTY HONOURS FOR FERSEN 365 
 
 By degrees, Fersen came to recognise the 
 uselessness of his efforts, and the despon- 
 dency that attended this conviction, added 
 to his successive bereavements, turned the 
 "handsome Fersen" of former days into a 
 moody and melancholy man. His eldest sister, 
 the Baroness Klinckowstrom, had died in 1792 ; 
 Count Frederick, his father, in 1794. In 1800 
 he lost his mother ; Baron Taube, his best 
 friend, the confidant of his political hopes, 
 had died a year previously. On that grieving 
 heart, which for ever mourned the beloved 
 Queen in faithful silence, each of these losses 
 inflicted a fresh wound. 
 
 Meanwhile the King loaded him with favours. 
 He made him Chancellor of the Academy of 
 Upsala, a peer of the realm, a Knight of the 
 Order of the Seraphim ; he gave him every proof 
 of the esteem in which he was held. These 
 were distinctions which might have satisfied 
 his vanity, if small passions could hold any 
 place in a heart laden with great sorrows. 
 
 Very soon a fresh revolution broke out in 
 his own country and once more overthrew the 
 plans of Count Fersen. King Gustavus IV., 
 an inept ruler, so seriously displeased his 
 subjects, both nobles and people, that he was 
 obliged to abdicate ( 1 3th March 1 809), and the 
 son of Gustavus III. had to' tread the path 
 of exile. His posterity were deprived of all 
 their rights, and the crown reverted to the 
 Duke of Sudermania, the former Eegent. 
 
 The King's fall deprived Count Fersen, who 
 was even more unpopular than his sovereign,
 
 366 A FKIEKD OF THE QUEEN 
 
 of his last stay. A numerous party had been 
 persistently inimical to him, and would not now 
 be satisfied by the overthrow of Gustavus IV. 
 unless an end were also made of his detested 
 favourite ; and an incident occurred very soon 
 which let loose the storm that had long been 
 gathering over his devoted head. 
 
 The Duke of Sudermania, proclaimed King 
 under the name of Charles XIII. , had no 
 child. In order to secure the succession to 
 the throne, and to render the exclusion of 
 the posterity of Gustavus IV. more certain, 
 the new monarch adopted Prince Christian of 
 Holstein-Augustenburg. A few months after- 
 wards Prince Christian had an apoplectic 
 stroke while reviewing some troops in Scania, 
 and died suddenly on the 28th of May 1810. 
 The very circumstances of his death for- 
 bade it to be attributed to anything but an 
 accidental cause ; but political passions are 
 beyond reason. A rumour was spread that 
 the Prince had been poisoned, that the 
 deed had been done by the partisans of 
 the fallen dynasty, and Count Fersen and his 
 youngest sister, Countess Piper, were frequently 
 mentioned in ominous connection with the 
 matter. 
 
 The leaders of the party which had over- 
 thrown the elder branch of the Vasas were 
 very desirous once for all to rid themselves 
 (while effectually frightening the last remain- 
 ing followers of that dynasty) of so highly 
 placed a personage as Count Fersen, whose 
 position, wealth, and great name made him a
 
 FINAL RUIN 367 
 
 rally ing-point for the nobility, and who might 
 again become dangerous to his adversaries. The 
 opportunity to " suppress " him was propitious ; 
 they did not allow it to escape. 
 
 The populace, which finds consolation for its 
 exclusion from the direction of affairs in a 
 ready belief in secret transactions of every 
 kind, has an innate taste for the mysterious, 
 and is ready to adopt all sorts of opinions, 
 provided only that people will take the trouble 
 of suggesting them. 
 
 After a few days' circulation of these in- 
 sinuations, no doubt was entertained of the 
 guilt of Count Fersen, his sister, and a few 
 other great personages, and the popular wrath 
 against those enemies of the people rose high. 
 This was kept up by distributions of money 
 and brandy, and, rapidly reaching its par- 
 oxysm, it threatened to vent itself in deeds of 
 violence. Count Fersen, who was warned of 
 the fact, did not dread, while the dastardly 
 King desired, such deeds. It is recorded that 
 Charles XIII. , being informed by the compe- 
 tent authorities that a disturbance was to 
 be expected on the day of Prince Christian's 
 funeral if the Grand Marshal should be pre- 
 sent, merely answered, " It would not be a 
 bad thing that this proud lord should receive 
 a lesson." 
 
 These imprudent and cruel words were re- 
 peated, and they contributed to bring about 
 a popular tumult, which did not stop short 
 at " a lesson," and was aggravated by the pre- 
 arranged omission of any military precautions.
 
 368 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 The date of the royal obsequies had been 
 fixed for the 2oth of June 1810. 
 
 What remembrances must that anniversary 
 have awakened in Count Fersen ! On the 
 same date, nineteen years before, the Queen's 
 friend had attempted to wrest the royal family 
 of France from their enemies, and from that 
 moment their misfortunes and his own had 
 begun. The coincidence might have daunted 
 a superstitious nature, a mind less finely 
 tempered, less utterly detached from the 
 things of life than his ; but since he had lost 
 all that he loved, since he had witnessed the 
 defeat and renunciation of the principles he 
 cherished, and the objects he revered, what did 
 life matter to him ? He had none of these 
 fears ; he despised insult, and of death he had 
 no dread. 
 
 Therefore, on the day when the body of the 
 deceased prince was brought back, with solemn 
 pomp, from Liljeholm to Stockholm, " Count 
 Fersen, in full ceremonial dress, entered the 
 gilded coach, drawn by six white horses, which 
 was to convey him to the place where he was 
 to meet the funeral procession, and from thence 
 to the city. The escort set out at eleven o'clock 
 in the morning, with the Grand Marshal and 
 some members of the Court in coaches, going 
 before the coffin. The Light Horse of the Guard 
 advanced at the head of the procession, which 
 was closed by the squadron of cavalry that had 
 accompanied the mortal remains of the Prince 
 from Scania. 
 
 " The procession was received, almost before
 
 COUNT FERSEN'S FATE 369 
 
 it entered the capital, with insulting . shouts 
 from the populace ; they even spat upon Count 
 Fersen's coach. In the Hornsgatan (Horn Street) 
 copper coins were flung at the coach ; the win- 
 dows were broken and Fersen's face was cut. 
 At the Kornhamn (Grain-Market) the populace 
 abused and threatened him, and tore up stones 
 from the pavement to fling at his carriage. 
 The coachman was hit so hard that he fell upon 
 his knees. In the Stora Nygatan (New High 
 Street) the shouts and stone-throwing were con- 
 tinuous, and at last, at the top of the square 
 in which the * House of the Nobles ' stands, 
 almost at the end of the Stora Nygatan, at 
 the moment when the escort was turning to 
 the right towards the chateau, an immense 
 crowd prevented Count Fersen's coach from 
 passing. 1 That moment was decisive ; if the 
 armed force allowed the furious crowd to begin 
 its work of death, who could stop it ? The 
 crowd encountered no obstacle. 
 
 The people flung themselves on the coach, 
 unharnessed the horses, and dragged out Count 
 Fersen. The Grand Marshal made an effort 
 to shake himself free, and escaped for an instant 
 from the hands of the ruffians who swarmed 
 about him ; he darted into the first door in 
 front of him it was that of a cafe and ran 
 upstairs to the first floor, where he took 
 refuge in a room. At that moment, General 
 Silfversparre, who had been informed of Count 
 Fersen's danger, came bravely to his aid; but 
 
 1 See the Introduction to Le Oomte de Fersen et la Cour do 
 France, by Baron R. M. von Klinckowstrom.
 
 370 A FRIEND OF THE QUEEN 
 
 he had only sixteen men and one officer with 
 him. What could that little troop do against 
 the howling and threatening crowd ? 
 
 The house was invaded ; the wretches, who 
 feared for a moment that their prey had escaped 
 them, avenged themselves by insulting the un- 
 fortunate man. Blows followed insults ; they 
 tore off his decorations, his cloak, his sword, and 
 flung them out of the window, to prove to the 
 populace that they still had possession of their 
 victim, and induce them to have patience. 
 
 General Silfversparre, being powerless to 
 repel the crowd by force, adopted a stratagem 
 in the face of the growing danger : he offered 
 to arrest Count Fersen, and to hold him prisoner 
 until his trial could take place. Much they 
 cared for a trial ! Sentence had already been 
 passed by popular fury, and was about to be 
 executed. They struck the Grand Marshal, 
 they tore his hair out, they wounded him in 
 the head, they dragged him from his pre- 
 carious refuge. He was now in the square. 
 A battalion of Guards was there, with Generals 
 Adlercreutz, and Vegesach. The crowd wavered 
 for a moment before this armed force ; that 
 moment was propitious for the rescue of the 
 prisoner. 
 
 The Generals turned back and rode off at 
 a trot, under pretext, as they afterwards pre- 
 tended, " of facilitating the deliverance of Count 
 Fersen from the hands of his tormentors ! " 
 
 Then the mob was at liberty to indulge its 
 cruel instincts, and it played with its victim. 
 The crowd passed before the soldiers, who looked
 
 FERSEN'S LAST MOMENTS 37 1 
 
 on stolidly, and drove the wretched Fersen before 
 them to the H6tel-de-Ville. 
 
 " There, although surrounded by the mass 
 of his tormentors, he had a moment's respite. 
 They seemed to grant him this breathing-space 
 from an impulse of pity. Seating himself upon a 
 bench, he asked for a mouthful of water ; it was 
 brought to him by a soldier of the City Guard. 
 But the mob began again to threaten him with 
 death, and to reproach him with having poisoned 
 the Crown Prince. They struck him with their 
 fists and their sticks, they tore out his hair, and 
 also his earrings, with pieces of the flesh. 
 
 " The people outside, closely packed in the 
 courtyard of the H6tel-de-Ville, shouted to 
 them to give up Count Fersen. ..." 
 
 Again they dragged him out ; they flung 
 him down on the staircase, and there, in the 
 courtyard, the ruffians completed their crime. 
 At length the victim, trampled under the feet of 
 these bloodthirsty brutes, uttered his last groan. 
 
 Their fury was not slaked by his death ; 
 they fell upon the corpse, stripped it, mutilated 
 it, and carried the fragments about the town. 
 
 Does not this story remind us of one of those 
 sanguinary scenes which made the early record 
 of the Revolution so horrible ? And yet the 
 deed was done between twelve and two o'clock 
 in broad day, in the city of Stockholm, under the 
 regular government of a legitimate King.
 
 .
 
 256;