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MEMOIRS

DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.

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MEMOIRS

OF THE

DUCHESS DE TOURZEL,
GOVERNESS TO THE CHILDREN OF FRANCE
DURING THE YEARS 1789, 1790, 1791, 1792,
1793, and 1795.

PUBLISHED BY THE DUKE DES CAES.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. I.

% o tt & o tt :
REMINGTON & CO., PUBLISHEES,
HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, W.C.

188 6.
[All Rights reserved.]

CONTENTS.

PAGE
INTRODUCTION,  1-21
CHAPTER I.
1789.
Sojourn at Versailles — The 5th and 6th of October — Estab
lishment of the King at Paris — Continuation of the ex
isting Excitement in the City — Conduct of the King in
regard to the Parliaments of Rouen and Metz  Arrest of
Beveral Persons, ...... 22-62
CHAPTER II.
the tear 1790.
New Year's Day — Proceedings of the Vacation Chamber of
the Parliament of Brittany — Trial of M. de Besenval —
Attempt to unite the Right and the Moderate Party of the
Assembly — Proceedings of the King in the Assembly on
the 4th of February, and Speech of his Majesty — Troubles
in the Provinces — Beginning of the Insurrection among
the Troops — Death of M. de Favras — Decree to assure the
Tranquillity of the Provinces — Deputation of Merchants
of the Kingdom — Beginning of the Insurrection in San
Domingo — Authority delegated to the Districts — The
Assembly usurps all Power, and leaves the King no Autho
rity — Death of the Emperor Joseph II. — Inquiry of the
Chatelet and the Commune in reference to the 5th and
6th of October — Happy replies of the Queen on this
subject, ....... 63-100

vi CONTENTS.
CHAPTER III.
THE TEAR 1790. PAGE
First Communion of Madame — Formation of several Federa
tions in various Provinces of the Kingdom — Disorder in
the Finances — Sale of the Property of the Clergy and their
Civil Constitution — Suppression of all the Tribunals of the
Kingdom — Repeated Denunciations, and Protection ac
corded to the Informers —Institution of Judges — Disturb
ances in the Kingdom — Debate on the Right of making
Peace and War, and the Decree passed on this Subject, . 101-119
CHAPTER IV.
the tear 1790.
Continuance of Disturbances in the Kingdom, and the Decree
passed on this Subject — Civil List decreed by the Assembly
— Removal to Saint Cloud — Suppression of the Nobility —
Disorganisation of the Army — Disturbances originated at
Avignon to bring about the Union of the Comtat with
^France — Inflammatory Petitions received by the Assembly
— Protection given to the Rebels in various Provinces of
the Kingdom, ...... 120-149
CHAPTER V.
The Year 1790— The Federation, .... 150-168
CHAPTER VI.
the tear 1790.
Arrests, Denunciations, and Disorganising Decrees — Con
tinuance of Measures for the Destruction of the Royal
Authority— Murders and Disturbances in various parts of
the Kingdom, ...... 169-189
CHAPTER VII.
The Nancy Affair— Resignation of M. Necker— Camp of .Tale's
— Fresh Issue of Assignats, .... 190-204

CONTENTS. Vll
CHAPTER VIII.
the year 1790 — (ootoeer). PAGE
Procedure in connection with the Events of the 5th and 6th of
October — Conduct of the Assembly in regard to this subject
— Insubordination in the Fleet at Brest — Resignation of
M. d' Albert de Rioms — Fresh Denunciation of Ministers
— Resignation of M. de la Luzerne — Energetic Protests of
various Parliaments against the Attacks made on the Royal
Authority — Troubles in Martinique — Uncertainty of the
King as to withdrawing from Paris — His Return to the
Capital — Resignation of Ministers and their Replacement
— Continuance of Disturbances , .... 205-232
CHAPTER IX.
the tear 1791.
Civil Constitution of the Clergy — Oath exacted on this Subject
— Refusal of the Majority of the Clergy — Persecutions in
consequence — Removal of several Bishops and Priests —
Formation of various Clubs in Paris and the Provinces —
Disturbances in the Southern Provinces — Attempt to form
a Monarchical Club — Its Establishment is not allowed by
the Demagogues, ...... 233-257
CHAPTER X.
the tear 1791.
Departure of Mesdames — Insurrection provoked by this — Fresh
methods adopted to inflame the People, and diminish the
respect due to the Royal Majesty — New suppressions by
the Assembly — The 28th of February — Death of Mirabeau, 258-282
CHAPTER XI.
THE YEAR 1791.
Decree in regard to the responsibility of Ministers — Violence
against the Catholics — Decree of the Department on this
subject — Insurrection against the Castle for the purpose of
placing obstacles in the way of the Journey to Saint Cloud
meditated by the King — His Majesty insulted — Forced

Vlll CONTENTS. PAGE
banishment of the Majority of his faithful Subjects — False
steps taken by the King on the advice of his Ministers —
Continuance of violent Measures on the part of the
Assembly, which abandons all restraint — Retractation of
the Abbe Raynal — The King thinks seriously of with
drawing from Paris, ..... 283-317
CHAPTER XII.
THE TEAR 1791.
The Journey to Varennes, ..... 318-366
CHAPTER XIII.
THE TEAR 1791.
Declarations required from the King and Queen relative to the
journey to Varennes — Ministers obtain a disavowal of his
protest on leaving Paris — Letter of M. de Bouille" to the
Assembly — Deliberation of the Committees relative to the
King and the Government to be established in France —
Protest of the Right against the acts attacking the royal
authority — Means adopted to inflame the people — Decree
to compel the Prince de Conde" and the other emigris to
return to France — Another decree relative to the persons
who accompanied the King, and suspension of the royal
functions until the acceptance of the Constitution  Pro
ceedings of the King of Spain and other European Princes 
Letter of M. Montmorin to the Ambassadors and Ministers
at the various Courts — Abolition of titles and decorations
— Proceedings of the two parties to induce the King to
accept or to refuse the Constitution — Letters of the
Princes in support of the refusal— The King accepts the
Constitution, and goes in person to declare it to the
Assembly— Decree winding up the Session, . . 367-415

MEMOIRS

OF THE

DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.

-? 

INTEODUCTION.
The Memoirs which we now give to the public have
not, up to this time, been published. For a very long
time the numerous descendants of the Duchess de
Tourzel, and the limited circle of friends to whom
the existence of this precious MS. was known, ear
nestly pleaded for its publication ; but neither the
Duchess des Cars, the grand-daughter of the Duchess
de Tourzel, into whose hands it came by will, nor
after her the Duke des Cars, her son, thought that
they ought to comply with this desire. The motives
for such a refusal may be easily understood if one
recalls in thought the troublous times described in
these Memoirs. The entire generation which lived
through the revolutionary period retained an impres
sion of the terrible scenes it witnessed, the sad
vividness of which not even old age could efface.
When, later on, the police of Napoleon I. surrounded
VOL. i. A

2 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
with a tenaciously odious vigilance those persons
whose position and well-known attachment to the
Eoyal family pointed them out for the secret dis
trust of the Emperor, the habits of circumspection
they had contracted during their youth became their
rule of conduct during their whole lives, and they
handed down these feelings to their children, the
sad witnesses of the anxieties, sometimes even the
dangers, to which their parents and themselves were
exposed. At the present time these reasons no longer exist,
and the moment seems propitious to restore to history
a document, unique of its kind, which, by reason of
its private nature, cannot be compared with any of
those comprised in the rich collection of Memoirs
relating to the French Eevolution. As a matter of
fact, all those who have written about thaTo!isastrous
eriod played a more or less direct part in the drama
hich they describe, and they have therefore a
atural and inevitable tendency to present facts
rom a preconceived point of view where their pas
sions, and frequently their interests, impel them to
place them. Even Madame Campan has not en
tirely freed herself from this reproach. In spite of
the charm inspired by her touching and respectful
attachment for the unfortunate Queen Marie Antoi
nette, there is here and there in her voice an echo,
as it were, of wounded susceptibilities, like the
anxious wail of her own personality, in painful con
trast with the emotion of her reader. This impres-

INTRODUCTION.

sion will be searched for in vain in the "Mdmoires
de Madame la Duchesse de Tourzel." Absolutely
devoted to the duties of her office, her life, affections,
and thoughts are exclusively concentrated on the
august children from whom the massive walls of the
Temple alone can separate her. During the mosti
menacing hours of popular passion, when, on the 5th
and 6th of October, the maddened mob invaded the
Castle of Versailles ; when, on the 20th of June 1792,
the rising extended to the interior of the Tuileries ;
when, on the 10th of August, it had established itself
triumphantly upon the ruins of the Monarchy, the
Governess of the Children of France drew from her
devotion to the Eoyal family strength enough to
stiffle the holiest outcry of nature. One scarcely feels'
even a shudder of anxiety at the danger incurred by
her beloved daughter, that charming Pauline de
Tourzel, whose courage disarmed the butchers of La
Force during the hideous massacres of September.
But if the personality of Madame de Tourzel
does not obtrude itself in any part of these Memoirs,
on every page there appears, as it were, a reflection of
the two most august victims of the Eevolutionary
tragedy — King Louis XVI. and Queen Mary Antoi
nette — and this constitutes one of the principal
attractions of these volumes.
The public, we hope, will take a lively interest
Tin following throughout this authentic narrative the
development of the terrible events and catastrophes
, which signalised the end of the last century ; in it
^ i f

4 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
they will see the origin of those convulsions which,.
after having disorganised and overthrown entire
society, still continue to trouble the age in which
,we live. The family of Madame de Tourzel will be
rejoiced to perceive under what circumstances were
revealed the courage, coolness, and devotion which
acquired for the authoress of these Memoirs such fame
among her contemporaries, and render her descend
ants so justly proud of their relationship to her.
Appointed Governess to the Children of France
on the day after the taking of the Bastille, Madame
de Tourzel — we may say it without fear — was the
last and only confidante of the unfortunate Princes
whom clanger, by quickly untying the bonds of eti
quette, allowed to indulge in their proclivities towards
the tender outpourings of the heart and of friendship.
During this period of cruel agony through which.
Eoyalty passed, while a designedly insulting watch
was established over the least movement and even
the impressions of the King and Queen, and when
La Fayette seemed to find a species of proud enjoy
ment in the humiliation which he inflicted on the
Eoyal family, the unhappy Princes sought a moment
ary peace and forgetfulness of their sufferings in the
apartments of Madame de Tourzel. There, far from
godless eyes, they shed those bitter tears of which
history, up to this time, has had a suspicion rather
than a conviction, for when the doors were once
more opened, the sublime duties of Eoyalty covered
these noble and holy faces with the mask of super-

INTRODUCTIONi 5
human resignation. Madame de Tourzel was the
only witness of their tears. Amid the painful out
pourings of sorrow in her presence she obtained
possession of the secret of that goodness which has
occasionally been stigmatised as weakness, but which
took its source in the most ardent love of France.
And when after the lapse of many years, in retire
ment dictated both by circumstances and her in
exhaustible sorrow, the Governess of the Children of
France made up her mind to leave us the narrative
of these direful events, she found her appreciation
of them in her reminiscences of the supreme and
painful confidence reposed in her. In this regard
the Memoirs of Madame de Tourzel stand alone,
and on this account we have no hesitation in looking
upon them as a historical document of absolutely
incomparable value.
Louise Elizabeth Felicite Armande Anne Marie
Jeanne Josephine de Croy-Havre was born in Paris
on the 11th of June 1749. She was the fifth child
and fourth daughter of Louis Ferdinand Joseph de
Croy,1 Duke d'Havre, Prince and Hereditary Marshal
of the Holy Empire, Marquis de Vailly, Count de
Fontenoy, Hereditary Chamberlain of Mons, Grandee
of Spain, etc., who was killed in the battle of Filing-
1 The Duke de Croy-Havre, the father of Madame de Tourzel, had
three sisters — (1) Marie Louise Josephe, born on the 22d of February
1714, who married the Count de Tanse, a Piedmontese gentleman ; (2)
Marie Anne Charlotte, born on the 12th of May 1717, who married,
on the 1st of April, 1737, Joachim Antoine Ximenes, Marquis
d'Arizza, a Grandee of Spain ; (3) Pauline Josephe, who became a nun.

6 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
hausen in 1761; and of Marie Louise Cunegonde de
Montmorency-Luxembourg. The other children of the same marriage were
Joseph Anne Auguste Maximilian de Croy, Duke
d'Havre, who diedin 1839, aged ninety-six; Marie Anne
Christine Josephine, Countess de Eouge, who died in
Paris in 1788 ; Emmanuelle Louise Gabrielle Jose
phine Cundgonde, a nun of the Visitation ; and Marie
Charlotte Josephine Sabine, Marchioness de Verac.
Louise Elizabeth Felicite, the youngest of this
numerous family, married, on the 8th of April, 1764,
Louis Francois du Bouchet de Sourches, first Mar
quis de Tourzel,1 Grand . Provost of France. Five
children were born of this union — viz., four
daughters : the Duchess de Charost,2 the Countess
Francoise de Sainte Aldegonde,3 the Countess Louise
de Sainte Aldegonde,4 and the Countess de Bearn,*
1 The Marquis de Tourzel was the son of Marguerite Henriette
Desmaretz, daughter of Marshal de Maillebois ; her father married as
his first wife Charlotte Antoinette de Gontaut, daughter of Marshal de
Biron ; she died in 1740, leaving four children — (1) Ursule, born in
1754, who married Louis Francois Rene, Count de Virieu ; (2) Judith,
who in 1755 married Anne Joachim Annibal, Count de Roehemore ;
(3) Gabrielle Louise Genevieve ; (4) Marie Louise.
The Marquis de Tourzel had a brother, the Count de Montsoreau
who had two daughters, one of whom married the Count de Blacas,
and the other Count Auguste de la Ferronnays.
2 Died without issue.
3 She had a son, Camille, and a daughter, Virginie, afterwards
Duchess de Mortemart.
4 She had two daughters— Philippine, Countess dTmecourt ; Antoin
ette, Countess de Cosse ; and a son, Charles de Sainte Aldegonde.
5 She had a daughter, the Countess de Villefranche ; and a son,
Count Hector de Bdarn.

INTRODUCTION. 7
the authoress of " Souvenirs de Quarante Ans,"
wherein she drew such a touching picture of the
massacres of September. This last-mentioned lady
was not married when her mother was appointed
Governess of the Children of France, and conse
quently accompanied her first of all to Versailles,
and then to the Tuileries. Her discretion was such
that the Queen, warned by Madame de Tourzel that
her conversations with the King could be heard in
the room occupied by her daughter, merely replied,
" What does it matter ? I have nothing to fear even
if my most secret thoughts should fall in the heart
of our dear Pauline." 1
The fifth child of Madame de Tourzel was Charles
Louis Yves du Bouchet de Sourches,2 second Marquis
de Tourzel and last Grand Provost of France.
1 " Souvenirs de Quarante Ans." 1st Edition, 1861, p. 32.
2 Charles Louis Yves du Bouchet de Sources had, by his marriage
¦with Mdlle. Augustine de Pons, the last of her name, whom he married
in 1796 (and who also left behind her some very interesting pages on
the Reign of Terror), five children — Auguste, Duchess de Cars ; Leonie,
Duchess de Lorges ; Helene, Countess d'Hunolstein ; Roger, who died
in infancy ; and Olivier, Duke de Tourzel. The last-mentioned married
Anastasia de Crussel d'Uzes, by whom he had a son who died at the age
of eight. His- father survived him only a short time, and at his death
the papers of the Tourzel family, as well as the valuable souvenirs of
the captivity of the royal family, passed into the bands of the Duchess
des Cars, who died in 1870. The original MS. of these Memoirs thus
became the property of the Duc des Cars, grandson of Madame de
Tourzel. He also possesses the very interesting portrait which faces
the title-page of this volume. This portrait, painted by the artist
Konarski, by order of Queen Marie Antoinette, for the Governess of
the Children of France, in token of gratitude for her devotion, was
interrupted by the day of the 10th of August, and remained in the
state in which the Revolution found it.

8 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
On the accession of King Louis XVI., it seemed
that a new era was about to shine on France ; many
families who had withdrawn from Versailles returned,
attracted by the virtues and charms of which the
young King and Queen Marie Antoinette were such
graceful examples. The Marquis de Tourzel fulfilled
his hereditary functions of Grand Provost with that
austere exactitude which seemed to be an appanage
of his race, and to which the " Memoirs of the Mar
quis de Sourches," now in course of publication, bear
witness during the reign of Louis XVI. The Grand
Provost of France accompanied the Court in all its
wanderings. He was thus with the King at Fon
tainebleau in the month of November 1786, when
his horse bolted under the trees while hunting, and
fractured his skull against one of the branches. The
emotion caused by this fatal accident was extreme.
The King at once had the wounded man taken to
a keeper's hut, where for a week he was attended
by the Court doctors, who would not hear of his
removal. Louis XVI., who, as Madame de Stael
narrates, was moved to tears when he was informed
of the catastrophe, and the Queen took care that
the wounded man should want for nothins, dis-
laying that affectionate and touching care with
?hich they never ceased to surround those attached
<to them. The efforts of science were unfortunately
of no avail, and after a week of dreadful agony M.
de Tourzel expired. His widow, overwhelmed with
grief, exclaimed, as she placed her son on the inani-

INTRODUCTION. 9
mate body of his father, " I have lost all ; I have
only one hope left in the world, and it is that you
may be as virtuous as the man whose corpse you are
embracing." Such words at such a moment tell us
more eloquently than any tradition could record, how
happy had been the union so cruelly dissolved.
The King wished to confer on the child at once
the post of Grand Provost of France. It was in vain
pointed out to him that the young Marquis de Tour
zel was not of age, an indispensable condition for the
performance of such duties. "The Sourches are never
minors," he replied, " and the death of M. de Tour
zel affects me deeply. A good father, prudent, re
ligious and faithful, he leaves behind him, though
quite a young man, a spotless reputation, and all
his affairs in good order ; a wholesome lesson for so
many others, wTho only leave evil behind them ! "
Such a funeral oration was at once an honour to him
who inspired it, and to the Prince who was capable
of thus appreciating the nobility of character of his
servants. The new Grand Provost of France showed him
self, however, worthy of the royal favour, and we
shall see in the course of these Memoirs with what
courageous devotion he fulfilled, amid the greatest
dangers, and to the very end, the duties which had
devolved upon him under such solemn circumstances.
Madame de Tourzel went into retirement after
this terrible accident. Entirely given up to her
grief and the tender care with which she surrounded

10 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS/DE TOURZEL.
the childhood of her daughter Pauline, it seemed as
if her life was at an end so far as this world was
concerned, and as if she would never appear again
in the brilliant circle where her virtues and noble
qualities had won so much admiration.
God disposed otherwise.
Events marched quickly during the fateful years
of 1787 and 1788. To the Court intrigues which
led the Duke d'Orleans to tarnish the brilliancy of
the royal majesty, had quickly succeeded the agita
tion of the Assembly of the Notables, to be followed
by the more formidable movement of the States
General. From one end of the kingdom to the other
all minds were in a state of excitement ; all the
foundations of the Monarchy were uprooted at once,
and the mob was already learning to repeat, now with
threats, now with affection, the names of the new
actors who were going to make their first appearance
on the political stage. The Orleans faction, not dar
ing to lay the blame directly on the King, and con
scious, moreover, that the energetic character of the
Queen would oppose the most serious obstacle to
revolution, incessantly attacked that Princess, and
calumniated in the most abominable manner all those
whom she honoured with her friendship. In the first
rank among those marked out for popular hatred was
the Duchess de Polignac; and when the taking of
the Bastille had shown the men of disorder that they
could indulge with impunity in the wildest excess,
this unhappy Queen perceived that she must separ-

INTRODUCTION. 1 1
ate herself from the devoted friend to whom she had
entrusted the care of her children. Madame de
Polignac was therefore one of the first to emigrate,
and she joined the Prince de Conde and the Count
d'Artois at Turin. The post of Governess of the
Children of France thus became vacant, but this post,
which in other days had been a coveted honour, was,
under present ^circumstances, merely a perilous post
of sacrifice and devotion.
To fill such a post a person was required of de
termined character, incapable of wavering between
danger and the performance of her duty, ready to
unhesitatingly sacrifice her dearest affections in re
turn for the royal confidence, and possessing a name
respected by all, and consequently not calculated to
arouse at the very outset the hateful prejudices of the
public mind. Such a degree of self-negation, and
such qualities altogether are invariably rare, but the
Queen at once made choice of Madame de Tourzel, so
indisputable and conspicuous were her merits.
There is no doubt but that she would have refused
the honour if circumstances had allowed her to regard
it as a favour. As it was, she hesitated considerably
before she made up her mind to accept it, for she
was fully conscious of the overwhelming responsi
bility of the duties to which she would henceforward
have to devote herself. In the " Souvenirs de Quar
ante Ans," her daughter, the Countess de Bearn, thus
describes this hesitation : " The struggle," she writes,
" between her private affections and the remem-

12 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
brance of the kindness shown to her by the King
and Queen at the death of my father lasted for sev
eral days. But sympathy with the misfortunes of the
Eoyal Family, and the sight of their abandonment by
so many of those who had surrounded them, carried the
day. She resigned herself to the sacrifice demanded
from her ; it was an expedient and a great good ;
some of the misfortunes hidden in the future could
already be foreseen."
Madame de Tourzel was therefore appointed
Governess of the Children of France, and the first
time she saw the Queen in that capacity, she was
greeted with one of those speeches in which the un
happy Marie Antoinnette knew so well how to express
all the graceful delicacy of her heart. " Madame,"
she said to her, "I had entrusted my children to
friendship ; I now confide them to virtue."
At this juncture the Memoirs begin.
We will not allow ourselves even by the most
modest analysis to encroach upon these moving
pages, which include the last years of the old French
Monarchy, the taking of the Bastille, and the end of
the Eeign of Terror.
After having been married eight years, the Queen
had given birth to a daughter, — Marie Therese Char
lotte, who was born at Versailles on the 19 th of De
cember 1778, and died in exile in 1854, after having
experienced every grief and deception that human
life can know. She was the heroic prisoner of the
Temple, and afterwards Madame la Dauphine.

INTRODUCTION. 1 3
Shortly after this event, which all France hailed
with enthusiastic acclamations, the Queen had a mis
carriage, and it was not until the 2 2d of October
1781 that the guns of the Invalides announced the
birth of Louis Joseph Xavier Frangois of France,
mentioned in history as the first Dauphin. This
young prince, whose robust health and precocious
intelligence warranted the most legitimate expecta
tions, suddenly became affected with rickets, and
died at Meudon in the month of June 1789.
In 1783 the Queen had another miscarriage, and
two years later she gave birth, on the 27th of March
1785, to Louis Charles of France, Duke of Nor
mandy, who, after becoming Dauphin on the death
of his brother, was the unfortunate Louis XVII.
Finally, on the 9th of July 1786, Sophie Helene
Beatrix was born, and she died on the 19th of the
following June.
Consequently, out of this numerous family, there
only remained two children — the Dauphin and
Madame of France — when Madame de Tourzel was
called upon to assume the charge of them imposed
on her by the confidence of the King and Queen.
After the death of Eobespierre, Madame de Tourzel,
who, with her son and daughters, Pauline and the
Duchess de Charost, had escaped the scaffold as if by
a miracle, retired to her estate of Abondant, near
Dreux. She remained there until the Eestoration,
lost in sad memories, dividing all her time between
her veneration of the august victims whose latest

14 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
confidante she had been, and the duties of. incessant
charity. There, under the secular shade of her lovely
park, she had erected a modest expiatory tomb, on
which may still be read the following touching in
scription, dictated by herself : —
" Quid sunt cineres ? Heu ! Cinis ipsa deest ! "
Alas ! of all the greatness she had known, of all
the noble martyrs whom she had loved, nothing re
mained ! Their remains, hidden indiscriminately in
the common ditch of Mousseaux and St Marguerite,
or burnt in the quicklime of the Madaleine Ceme
tery, were no longer even there to receive the pious
homage of a devotion which circumstances had
raised to the level of heroism.
Not only did the King, the Queen, and the un-
.ortunate Dauphin rest in these tombs which the
Eepublic believed to be doomed to everlasting
oblivion ! The greatness of France, developed during
so many centuries under the protection of the
tutelary institutions of royalty, had also succumbed
beneath the revolutionary tumult. The agony of
these unhappy princes was also the agony of France,
and every good Frenchman understood that these
terrible events were bringing about the ruin of their
country as well as the ruin of royalty. In fact, not
even a subtle distinction had yet been established be
tween France and the King; he who loved the one loved
the other, he who died for his country died for his king,
and he who died for his king died for his country.

INTRODUCTION. 15
From the moment when the Eevolution broke
these sacred forces, disaster succeeded to disaster,
catastrophe was heaped on catastrophe, and disorder
at last was freely developed with more and more
complete audacity ; and so it will be until the day
when disillusionised France shall understand that she
must repair the broken chain of her secular tradi
tions if she does not wish, after having been the first
among civilised peoples, to become a sad example of
the decay into which nations are dragged by reason
of their abandonment of all great political and reli- ,
gious principles.
Madame de Tourzel consequently spent the last
years of the eighteenth century at Abondant. The
inhabitants of this little district had learned to
respect her profound grief; they speedily came to
revere her whom a spirit of well-doing alone could
detach from her sad thoughts and the daily pilgrim
age she made, escorted by a faithful servant, to the
monument we have already mentioned. One day —
the revolutionary orgie was not yet over — one of
those bands of malefactors who were then ravaging
the provinces wanted to cut down the magnificent
trees in the park of Abondant, deeming them incom
patible with the principles of liberty. The inhabit
ants with one accord prevented the misdeed and
dispersed the scoundrels.
During the earliest days of the Eestoration,
King Louis XVIII., who had already attached
Mdlle. de Tourzel, now Countess de Bearn, to the

16 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
person of Madame la Dauphine, bethought him how
he could reward the devotion which had been dis
played by the Governess of the Children of France
towards his unhappy parents. In 1816 he conferred
on her the hereditary title of Duchess, which was
destined to be too quickly extinct in the person of
her grandson Oliver, Duke de Tourzel, whose son
died in 1815. Lastly, on the 15th of May 1832, the
Duchess de Tourzel in her turn ended that long
career which had been overshadowed by so much
grief; she was eighty-two years of age. Her body,
transported to Abondant, was there buried in the
church, and on the stone which covers her mortal
remains was graven this epitaph, composed by the
husband of her granddaughter, the Duke des Cars. In
it he has comprised, admirably and as completely as
possible, a life which was made up of tears, devotion,
and charity : — HIC JACET
L. E. F. F. A. M. J. de CROY
DUCISSA DE TOURZEL
EEGIAE SOBOLIS GUBEENATEIX
FOETIS IN ADVEESIS
DEO EEGIQUE FIDELIS
VEEE MATES PAUPERUM
PEETEANSIVIT BENEFACIENDO
OMNIBUS VENEEANDA
MAGNO PEOLIS AMOEE DILECTA
OBIIT ANNO AETATIS 82
EEQUIESCAT IN PACE.1
1 The body is laid under the exterior wall of the church, in the
cemetery by which it is surrounded, so that the good Duchess, as the

INTRODUCTION. 1 7
The Memoirs wTe publish have been printed from
the original MS. in the possession of the Duc des
Cars. No alteration has been made in them, and a
pious respect has watched over the minutest details
of this publication, every note being in the hand
writing of the author.
It only now remains for us to fulfil a last duty,
and at one and the same time to satisfy truth and
the formal wish of the Duchess de Tourzel.
The Marquis de Bouille says, in his Memoirs, that
the obstinacy of Madame de Tourzel in insisting
on accompanying the Dauphin in his journey to
Varennes prevented the King from taking in his
carriage a distinguished military officer who, by his
intervention, might have proved of the greatest ser
vice. Madame de Tourzel declares that the Queen
alone informed her of the journey, and that nothing
was ever said to her to lead her to suppose that
there was any idea of replacing her by anybody.
She was simply asked if her health would be any
obstacle. "I should not have insisted," she says, in
inhabitants called her, rests in their midst. Here is the French,
inscription, as follows, the Latia one being in the church : —
ici REPOSE
L. E. F. F. A. M. de CROY
DUCHESSE DE TOURZEL
GOUVERNANTE DES ENFANTS DE FRANCE
COURAGEUSE DANS L'ADVERSITE
FIDELE A DIEU ET AU ROI
VERITABLE MERE DES PAUVRES
ELLE A PASSE EN FAISANT LE BIEN
VENERES DE TOCS
ARDEMMENT AIMEE DE SES ENFANTS
ELLE MOURUT A L'AGE DE 82 ANS
QU'ELLE REPOSE EN PAIX.
VOL. I. B

18 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
a note which she has left on this point, "if the
Queen had evinced any such wish. Moreover, I
could have taken the place of one of the maids who
accompanied the Eoyal Family in the following car
riage. In such a case attachment consults neither
etiquette nor right, and I should have reconciled my
duty of never leaving the Dauphin with the desire
their Majesties might have expressed of being ac
companied by a person whose services might have
been of more use to them than mine."
The upright and courageous character of Madame
de Tourzel would have enabled her to bear real
wrongs, but these suppositious ones were very pain
ful to her, and her family are at a loss to know how
other authors could have repeated so unjust an
attack. " It seems," said one of her daughters, the
Countess de Sainte Aldegonde, " that the testi
mony of so truthful a person, so conscientious, and
so greatly esteemed, should carry far more weight
than the Memoirs of M. de Bouille ; the latter,
indeed, was under the necessity of finding reasons
to soften the reproaches which were justly brought
against him, whether personally on account of his
own defective arrangements, or agamst his son, who
appears to have been wanting in presence of mind
and decision."
In regard, also, to another point, a constant pre
occupation haunted the mind of Madame de Tourzel
to the end of her life. It concerned her beloved

INTRODUCTION. 19
pupil, the unfortunate Dauphin. The adventurers
who on several occasions attempted to palm them
selves off as Louis XVII., with few exceptions
asserted that they had asked to be confronted with
the Governess of the Children of France, but that
ithe ill-will of the Eoyal Family had always caused
their requests to be refused. Such a step would
only have resulted in their imposture being un
masked. Madame de Tourzel was unwilling to lend
herself to a manoeuvre from which it might have
been assumed that she was not convinced of the
•death of the young Prince, for, as a matter of fact,
•she had not waited for the tardy epoch when these
¦claims were put forward to make inquiry of her own
accord about the tragic end of the young King.
Our readers will find her account of it at the end of
the second volume of these Memoirs, and the charac
ter of Madame de Tourzel would never have lent
itself to a fraud, whatever political considerations
might be invoked to justify it, if the least doubt had
existed in her mind as to the fate of the unhappy
Prince. On the contrary, she was absolutely con
vinced of his death ; the testimony of the doctors
who made a post-mortem examination, whom she
questioned immediately afterwards ; the circumstan
tial details she found in a register where the doings
of the Prince were entered day by day, which an
almost providential accident allowed her to read on
the occasion of a visit to Madame Eoyale, then a
prisoner in the Temple ; and, lastly, the precise

f:

20 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
information furnished to her by the venerable priest
of St Marguerite, the beadle of which had witnessed
the burial — all these united proofs left her no doubt
about the matter. All the arguments based on the
pretended silence of the Duchess de Tourzel are
valueless, because we now publish the most formal
declaration on this point, written by her own hand.
She begins the recital of her proceedings by saying,
" I break off my narrative concerning Madame for a
moment to mention what I heard at the Temple
concerning the young King, about whom I fre
quently spoke to Gomin and Lasne ; and I will add
to this account that of his death and of the precau
tions I took to assure myself of its reality, of which
J have not the least doubt. It appears to me to be
of use to furnish the proof of it to those who will
read these Memoirs."
After having read the moving pages, in which
the Duchess de Tourzel gives an account of her re
searches, it is evident that she has met the most.
rigorous objections of historical criticism. The death
of the real Louis XVII. had become an absolute cer
tainty in the mind of the noble woman who brought
him up, and this certainty, as we know now, was
equally shared by Madame la Dauphine, who for so
many years cherished the hope of meeting her
brother again. If, then, there survive any other
impostors who are inclined to shield themselves
under the evidence of the Duchess de Tourzel, they
will discover in these pages a most categorical denial..

INTRODUCTION. 21
The Duchess de Tourzel was careful to impart
her thoughts on this subject to all the members of
her family. " The young prince," she said, " was\
charming, and endowed with faculties which rendered \
him as lovable as possible. The Duchess d'Angou- I
l&me, his sister, was passionately fond of him, and
did everything, as I did, to discover if he could have /
escaped the long and infernal martyrdom to which
these monsters subjected him. It is only too certain I
that he did not survive the infamous treatment to/
which he was designedly exposed. Moreover, if he
had survived, his body would have been wasted and
his mind would have been unhinged." ,
LA FERROISrAYS.

CHAPTEE I.
178 9.
Sojourn at Versailles — The 5th and 6th of October — Establishment of
the King at Paris — Continuation of the existing Excitement in the
City — Conduct of the King in regard to the Parliaments of Rouen
and Metz — Arrest of several Persons.
Summoned by my Sovereign to the honourable
post of Governess of the Children of France, at the
juncture when the Eevolution was beginning to
assume its most terrible character, I received the
precious trust confided to me with the firm resolu
tion to consecrate my life to the justification of the
confidence reposed in me by their Majesties, and to
prove to them the respectful attachment which I
sincerely entertained for them.
Mgr. the Dauphin, who was four years old,
was charming in appearance, and was gifted with
astonishing intelligence, which developed year by
year in a manner to warrant the most sanguine
expectations, if the wickedness of men had not
buried in the tomb so much grace, hope, and other
qualities fitted for the worthy maintenance of the
station in which Heaven had placed him.
As every eye was on the watch for Mgr. the
Dauphin, the Queen requested me not to let him out

SOJOURN AT VERSAILLES. 23
of my sight for a moment, and to confine myself to
a general supervision of Madame, who, being ten
years of age, had to receive an education altogether
different from that of her brother.
The love of the Queen for her children made her
wish to be frequently with them ; I had therefore
the honour of being on very intimate terms with
that noble and courageous Princess, and of appre

ciating her great qualities. To me it is an absolute
necessity to narrate the virtues of my august and
unfortunate Sovereigns, in order that I may offer up
to their memory the homage of the- attachment which
I shall preserve for them to my latest breath. ___ 
So many sorrowful events have torn asunder my
heart and saddened my spirit, that my memory has
become enfeebled, and the frequent arrests to which I
have been subjected, and the dangers through which
I have passed having prevented me from preserving
the notes I made, I can only set down the facts
which come back most vividly to my recollection
among the very striking events which I have had
the misfortune to witness.
I took up my residence at Versailles in the begin
ning of August 1789. The King and Queen could
not witness without alarm the disorganising decrees
of the Assembly succeeding each other with frightful
rapidity. The majority of the domestics of the
Eoyal Family had been gained over by the factious
spirits; they had become their spies, and gave a
most exact account of everything that transpired, as

24 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
well as of the persons admitted to the Eoyal circle,
and the various impressions produced upon it.
Other persons, who desired to preserve their politi
cal influence, as well as their attachment for their
Majesties, infused continual anxiety into the minds
of the latter under pretence of giving them an
account of what was going on, thus hindering them
from taking any definite line by perpetually placing
before their eyes the inconvenience which would
result therefrom.
In the month of September of this year the
King, tired of his position, and unable to hide from
himself the advantage which the rebels derived from
his proximity to Paris, seriously thought of leaving
Versailles. He wished, by withdrawing himself from
the city, to remove all possibility of the realisation
of the projects which the incendiary proposals of the
Jacobins gave only too much reason to dread. (Their
JMajesties, ever full of goodness, were kind enough
[to warn me to be in readiness to depart without any
jreparation, if circumstances should so require. They
were not yet decided as to the place where they would
settle, and I never knew it ; but they soon changed
their minds, and resolved on remaining at Versailles.
Nevertheless, the number of the victims multi
plied, and crimes remained unpunished. The populace
ff Versailles meditated hanging an unfortunate baker,
,mose only crime in their eyes was that he made two
sorts qf bread. They pillaged his shop, and he was
with difficulty rescued from their hands. Advantage

SOJOURN AT VERSAILLES. 25
was taken of this circumstance to impress upon the
Municipality the necessity of increasing the repres
sive force, and Count d'Estaing, the commandant
of the National Guard of Versailles, was consequently
authorised to request a reinforcement of 1000 men
of the regular army, and the Flanders regiment was
ordered to Versailles.
The spirit of this regiment was at that time ex
cellent, and so was that of the Chasseurs of Lorraine,
who were then stationed at Meudon. These two
corps, together with the Body Guard, were more than
enough to enable the King to leave Versailles without
the slightest difficulty, and if he had taken that step
he might perhaps have avoided all the misfortunes
which led him to his ruin.
The Body Guard, attached at heart to the Eoyal
Family, and deeply regretting having allowed them
selves to be induced to make unbecoming demands on
the King, were ardently desirous of finding an oppor
tunity of repairing their fault, and of giving proofs
of the attachment which their heroic conduct so evi
dently proved. They resolved to employ every
possible means to prevent the corruption of the
Flanders regiment and to keep them faithful to the
King, and they flattered themselves that they would
succeed in this by inspiring them with esteem and
confidence. They began by proposing a regimental
dinner to them, to which they invited all the troops
then in Versailles ; and though the composition of
the National Guard of the place gave them some un-

26 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
easiness, it was none the less invited to the dinner,
which was given in the Salle de la Comedie.
It was a superb affair, and each one of the guests
testified such attachment to the King and the Eoyal
Family, that his Majesty was asked to complete their
wishes by honouring them with his presence. The
arrival of the King, accompanied by the Queen and
the Dauphin, had a wonderful effect^There was no
need to command the shouts of " Long live the King,
the Queen, the Dauphin, and the Eoyal Family ; " they
were heartfelt, and in them at that moment was
recognised the heart of the French people. The emo
tion experienced by all those faithful to the King
rendered the eyening as touching as it was interesting.
Heads and hearts were rendered so enthusiastic that his
Majesty would have been accompanied by all these
brave fellows whithersoever he might have wished to
betake himself. Unfortunately, no advantage was taken
of this state of mind, and the factious spirits, furious
and anxious by reason of the sentiment still inspired by
the person of the King, lost no time in gaining over the
Flanders regiment, and inciting them to revolt.
At first they feigned the greatest anxiety in regard
to the results of a banquet which, so they said, was
only the prelude to a counter-revolution. They then
succeeded in organising a movement sufficiently vio
lent to compel the King to go toParis and consummate
more easily the execution of their designs. Although
they still kept in the background, their project of
deposing the King, and replacing him by the Duke

THE 5TH AND 6TH OF OCTOBER. 27
d'Orleans, the violence of their abuse of their Sovereign,
and the conduct of the Left of the Assembly, made the
real wish of their hearts only too evident.

THE FIFTH AND SIXTH OF OCTOBER, AND THE
ARRIVAL IN PARIS.
When the leaders of the revolt had made the
populace acquainted with the part they wished them
to play, they assembled their auxiliary troops, com
posed of all the ruffians of the capital, and betook
themselves, armed, to the Hdtel de Ville to complain
of the scarcity of bread. It was, so they said, caused
by the speculative purchases made by order of the
Court, who wished by means of a famine to place them
once more under the yoke of despotism. They com
pelled the Members of Commune to order M. de la
Fayette to lead the National Guard to Versailles to
compel the King to come to Paris, and to restore plenty
to the capital by his presence. A troop of brigands^
among whom were many men in feminine attire, and
drunken fish women, who looked like veritable furies,
preceded the National Guard, compelling everybody
they met to follow them.
The King was out hunting, and had no idea of what
was going on in Paris, when M. de la Deveze, a
gentleman of Dauphiny, went and warned him of the
approach of these bandits. The horses of Mgr. the
Dauphin were harnessed to take him out, and it would
have been easy for the Queen to have" got into her

28 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.

carriage with Madame and have driven off to join the
King. This idea unfortunately did not strike any
body, and the King, in a state of anxiety, returned at
once to Versailles.
M. de Narbonne Fritzlard, who was at that mo
ment beside the King, begged his Majesty to give him
a few troops and some guns, assuring him that he
would soon rid him of this band of robbers. " It is
necessary," he said, " to hold the bridges of Sevres
and Saint Cloud. They will either abandon their
project or advance by Meudon. Stationed on the
heights, I will open fire on them, and I will pursue
them with the cavalry in their flight in such a way
that not one of them will reach Paris.J^The King,
who always hoped by kindness to recall the wandering
'spirits to himself, could not make up his mind to
adopt a plan which would cause bloodshed among
his subjects, and he placed no obstacle in the way of
this army of brigands, incapable of any other feeling
than those of rage and the hope of plunder.
' M. de Saint-Priest, minister of the King's house
hold, then advised his Majesty to leave Versailles,
and he seemed disposed to follow this advice ; but as
the minister left him for a short time in order to take
Madame de Saint-Priest, who was near her confinement,
to the Abbey of Saint Cyr( M. Neckerjtook advan
tage of his absence to infuse sV-much anxiety into the
mind of the King in regard to the consequences of such
a departure, and the impossibility of finding the money
necessary for the subsistence of the troops and the

THE 5TH AND 6TH OF OCTOBER. 29
household, that he made him alter his determina
tion. During this hesitation the brigands surrounded
the railings of the castle, andTEearing that orders had
been given that they were not to be fired upon, they
attacked the Body Guard, wounded very many of them,
killed several, and overran Versailles. The National
Guard of the place, who had joined them, com
menced firing upon the Body Guard, and from their
ranks came the bullet which broke the arm of M. de
Savonnieres, an officer of the Body Guard. The
latter, quivering with grief and rage at not being
able to defend themselves, nevertheless remained
motionless ; the fear of endangering the lives of
the King and the Eoyal Family tied their hands, and
it is impossible to find any record of devotion more
heroic than theirs.
The King, deeply grieved by what was going on,
seemed still to be thinking of leaving Versailles, and
gave orders for his carriages to be brought round ;
but^he^^were stopped by the very groom of his
Majesty and the National Guard of Versailles, and there"
,--"was an end to all question~of~Tret>arture. The"King had
ordered a portion of the Body Uuard into the court
yard of the Castle, and subsequently on to the terrace
of the Orangery, whence he sent them to Eambouillet
under the command of the Duke de Guiche,only retain
ing those who were on duty within the Castle.
While the Castle was invested and the brigands
were scouring the town, the Assembly occupied itself

30 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
in procuring the sanction to its decree of the 30th of
September, the acceptation of the first articles of the
Constitution, and especially the declaration of the
rights of man. It first of all resolved that the Pre
sident should go at the head of a deputation to demand
from the King the acceptance, pure and simple, of the
decree. It would not listen to the representations of
the King iu regard to the inconvenience of giving his
sanction to isolated decrees without having seen the
entire Constitution ; and although, in order to remove
all distrust as to his intentions, he consented to give
this sanction, his reservation of keeping the executive
power entirely in his own hands and not expressing
any opinion about the declaration of the rights of man
until the Constitution should be completed, displeased
the Assembly extremely. The latter, more intent on
gaining its own ends than on the dangers incurred by
the King and the Eoyal Family, insisted afresh on the
acceptance, pure and simple, of the decree, and re
quested his Majesty to name the hour for his reception
of the deputation which it would send to him on the
subject. The King consented 'to receive it at nine
o'clock in the evening. M. Mounier, President of
the Assembly, was at its head, and believing that the
safety of the King was inseparable from the sanction,
he pressed him so earnestly to give it that the Prince
could not refuse him. Full of hope in regard to the
success of this proceeding, the President returned to
the Assembly, and when he got there he perceived
•only too clearly the spirit by which it was animated,

THE 5TH AND 6TH OF OCTOBER. 31
and he saw that its support could not be relied upon
in the then critical state of things.
The King, whose position became more and more
alarming every moment, having manifested his wish
to consult the Assembly as to the line of conduct he
should adopt amid so many dangers, M. Mounier,
accompanied by several deputies, betook himself once
more to the Prince just as the latter was informed of
the arrival of M. de la Fayette at the head of the
National Guard of Paris. The General went at once
into the King's presence, and told him that as he had
not been able to prevent the arrival of the Parisians
at Versailles, he had come to defend him with his
National Guard, and he begged his Majesty to be
good enough to entrust to him the guard of the out
side posts of the castle. The King consented, and
the National Guard relieved the Body Guard, who
remained in their rooms inside the castle.
The fishwomen loudly demanded audience of the
King in order to convey to him the wish of the inhabi
tants of Paris, and they were only quieted by admis
sion being granted to a dozen of them. The kindness
of the King disarmed them, and their opinions had
undergone such a change by the time they returned
to their companions that they well-nigh fell victims
to the fury of the latter. —
The King then said to M. Mounier that, taking
into consideration the actual state of things, he had
no further advice to ask, but that he would never
separate from the National Assembly. M. Mounier

32 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
returned thither at once, and found the hall occu
pied by a multitude of drunken women and bandits.
There was such a disturbance that he was compelled to
suspend the sitting.
f The Queen during this day gave evidence of that
grandeur of soul and courage which had always
characterised her. Her countenance was noble and
dignified ; her face was calm ; and though she could
jnot deceive herself in regard to all she had to fear,
nobody could perceive the slightest trace of anxiety.
She reassured everybody, thought of everything, and
occupied herself much more with those who were
dear to her than with her own personal safety.
This Princess had agreed with me that on the
least noise I was to bring her children to her ; but at
eleven o'clock at night she sent word to me that if
there should be any cause for anxiety, I should, on
the contrary, take them at once to the King. She
had just been warned of the personal danger she
might run in her own suite of rooms, and had been
entreated to spend the night in those of the King,
but she refused positively. " I would rather," she
said, " expose myself to danger, if any has to be
incurred, and remove it from the person of the King
and my children." This was the motive of the
alteration in the order which had in the first
instance been given to me.
Quiet succeeded to tumult, and M. de la Fayette,
who had returned to the town, relied so entirely on
this apparent tranquillity that he came to the Castle

THE 5TH AND 6TH OF OCTOBER. 33
again to assure the King and Queen that there was
nothing to fear, various persons despatched to the
town having confirmed the accounts of the tran
quillity prevailing there. At two a.m. the Queen
sent word to me that she was going to bed, and
would advise me to do the same. The alarm
that had been experienced was dissipated. The
illusion was complete, and everybody retired in
peace. The brigands did not sleep, but, being sure of
the National Guard of Versailles, they were engaged
in carrying out their own designs. A tinge of
superstition intermingled with their barbarity, which
one could scarcely credit, led them, at six o'clock in
the morning, to visit the priest of Saint Louis, in
whose parish they had passed the night, to request
him to say mass for them. Scarcely was it over than
one portion of the horde spread themselves through
the town, forced their way into the barracks of the
Body Guard, and massacred everybody they found
there, except a few whom they took to the Castle
gates in order to deliberate as to the punishment
they should inflict on them. The other portion
forced the gates, and rushed through the courtyards
and terraces on the side of the garden with the idea
of gaining an entrance into the Castle. These
ruffians, who encountered no obstacle, killed two of
the Body Guard who were on guard over the apart
ments of the King's aunts, and had their heads cut
off by a monster in the gang, who called himself
vol. I. c

34 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
Coupe-tete.1 They then went up the grand staircase
direct to the apartments of the King. The Body
Guard, though few in number, defended the entrance
with the greatest bravery ; several of them were
dangerously wounded, among others MM. de Beau
repaire and de Sainte Marie, but they had fortunately
time enough to shout, " Save the Queen." 2 Madame
Thibaut, her first lady-in-waiting, who luckily had
not gone to bed, had only time to give her a dress,
and make her take refuge with the King. Hardly
had her Majesty left the room than these wretches
forced their way in, and, furious at not finding her
there, they stabbed the bed with their pikes, so as
to leave no room for doubt as to the crime they
intended to commit.
While this horrible scene was taking place, M. de
Sainte Aulaire, Brigadier of the Body Guard, and on
duty near the person of the Dauphin, entered the
young Prince's room, and warned me that the Castle
was invested. I rose in haste and immediately took
1 This wretch was called Jourdan, and figured in the various scenes
of carnage during the Revolution, and especially in the massacres of
Avignon, as we shall recount in their proper place.
3 M. Miomendre de Saint Marie died in exile, and I never saw him
after that horrible day. M. de Beaurepaire came to pay his respects to
the King and Queen us often as he could without danger. The Dauphin
wished to see him in my rooms, and sent to ask him to come there as
soon as he knew he was in Paris. He threw himself in his arms, em
braced him, and said to him, "How grateful I am to you for hav
ing saved mamma." Then, turning to me, the amiable child said,
" Aladame, I beg of you to give him some dinner ; I am coming down
soon, and shall see him for a longer time."

THE 5TH AND 6TH OF OCTOBER. 35
the Dauphin to the King, who was then with the_^
¦Queen. The danger she had just run had not
diminished her courage ; her face was sad but calm.
As she did not see Madame with me — for I had not
had time to warn her — she went down to her room
bv a small interior staircase which communicated
with it through my rooms, and seeing my daughters,
who had spent the night there, she tranquillised
them, told them to go to the King, and led Madame
there with a firmness and dignity truly remarkable
at such a moment.
The apartments of the King had not yet been
broken into. The men of the Body Guard arranged
between themselves to defend, one after the other,
each room of the suite where a single one of them
might be, the others falling back room by room to
that where the Eoyal Family were ; and with the
greatest courage they awaited the death which they
believed to be inevitable. M. de la Fayette, whom
his own neglect had placed in the most fearful posi
tion, at this juncture made the greatest efforts to
induce the National Guard to defend the King and
rescue the Body Guard. The Grenadiers undertook
to do so, and therefore knocked at the door of the
room occupied by the Body Guard, calling out that
they had come as friends to defend them and save
the King.
M. de Chavannes, Brigadier of the Body Guard,
then said to his comrades, " My friends, one of us
must go to them to ascertain if they are speaking the

36 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
truth, and that one shall be myself. All of you
withdraw to defend the other rooms, in case we have
nothing good to expect." He was a very tall man,
with a splendid figure. He opened the door to
them, putting his hat proudly on his head, and say
ing, " Are you come to assassinate us or to defend
the King 1 " They shouted in reply, " Long live
the King ! We are come to defend him and you
too." The King, deeply grieved at seeing his Guards
butchered by the multitude of ruffians who were
thronging the courtyards of the Castle, showed him
self at his window to ask the people to save their
lives. The Body Guard, who at that moment were
close to the King, threw out their cross-belts to
appease the fury, and shouted, " Long live the
nation ! " This proceeding on the part of the King
^ touched the hearts of these^human tigers 1 they
embraced the men they were\going to butcher, and
invited those who were near his Majesty to come
down also to be embraced.
The Eoyal Family, as well as all who were living
in the Castle, betook themselves to the apartments
of the King. Each one was a prey to consternation
in regard to what was going on, and in a state of the
greatest uneasiness as to the consequences of the
catastrophe.] The Queen, invariably great in misfor-
ftuiieT^oTIght to reassure the terrified members of the
/household. During this time the Assembly, instead of pay-

THE 5TH AND 6TH OF OCTOBER. 37
ing attention to the danger incurred by the King
and his family, contented itself with decreeing that
it would not withdraw from them pending the whole
of the actual sitting.
The people, however, never lost sight of the
object of their undertaking. They demanded aloud
that the King should take up his abode in Paris, and
M. de la Fayette sent message after message to
induce him to do so. The King, alarmed by what
was transpiring, pressed and entreated on all sides,
at last gave way ; and in spite of his repugnance to
take up his residence in the city, he gave his word/
that he would set out at noon. This promise won*
for him the cheers of the crowd, and the thunder of
cannon and the rattle of musketry were speedily
heard in response. The King appeared a second
time on the balcony to confirm his promise, and the
enthusiasm of the mob rose to its greatest height.
The Body Guard who had been destined to slaughter
were seized upon and compelled to wear the head
gear of Grenadiers. The brave fellows consented to
join with the latter in order to escort the unhappy
Eoyal Family, and I noticed several of them follow
ing the carriage of the King on foot, far more con
cerned for the misfortunes of their Sovereign than
for their own position.
The fishwomen still thronged the courtyards of
the Castle in large numbers, singing, dancing, and
indulging in the most boisterous and indecent trans-
ports of rejoicing. The marble court, on to which

38 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
the windows of the King's rooms opened, was filled
with these women, who, intoxicated with their suc
cess, demanded to see the Queen. The Princess
appeared on the balcony, holding the Dauphin and
Madame by the hand. The whole multitude, regard
ing her with furious looks, shouted, " Send away
the children." The Queen sent them in and returned
alone. Her air of grandeur and heroic courage in the
presence of danger which made everybody quail, had
such an effect on the mob that they at once aban
doned their sinister designs, and, struck with
I admiration, exclaimed, " Long live the Queen ! " It
was noticed, as a singular circumstance, that all these
women had clear complexions and white teeth, and
wore finer linen than such women are accustomed to
wear — an evident proof that among them there were
very many who were paid to play their part in this-
horrible day.
The King got into his carriage at half-past one,
regretfully leading the Palace he was destined never
to see again. He sat on the back seat of the carriage
Jueen. I occupied the front seat, with
jMgr. the Dauphin on my knees and Madame beside
'us. Monsieur and Madame Elizabeth were near the
door ; M. de la Fayette, Commandant of the National
Guard of Paris, and M. d'Estaing, Commandant of
the Guard of Versailles (the same who, instead of
defending the King, had given him up in so cowardly
a manner to the ruffians who came to attack him),
rode by the doors near their Majesties. What a

THE 5TH AND 6TH OF OCTOBER. 39
contrast between their conduct and that of their
ancestors ! What would have been the grief and
indignation of the latter could they have foreseen f
that their descendants, instead of imitating them,]
would one day so demean themselves as to hand/
over their King to a mob in revolt, who would com-j
pel them slavishly to obey its will and caprice ! /
A large number of the inhabitants of the town of
Versailles, worked upon by the leaders of the Eevo
lution, had adopted its principles ; and although
they had everything to lose by the establishment of
the King in Paris, they evinced the greatest joy
at his departure. The populace assembled in the
avenue ; one portion followed the Eoyal carriages,
and another swarmed on the roofs of the houses, all
of them clapping their hands, and shouting, " Long
live the nation ! " thereby applauding what ought to
have covered them with shame and confusion.
Mirabeau, who had opposed the motion to
despatch deputies to be near the King in the hour
of danger, decreed that a hundred of them should
accompan)7 his Majesty to Paris, and he had the
audacity to emerge from their midst in order to look
fixedly at him as he passed in front of the National
Assembly. The cortege of the unfortunate King was worthy
of this frightful day. f At the head of it marched the
bulk of the Parisian troops, each soldier carrying a
loaf of bread on the end of his bayonet. They were
escorted by a rabid mob, who carried on their pikes

40 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
the heads of the unfortunate members of the Body
Guard who had been massacred by them.1 Follow
ing them came wagons filled with sacks of corn, and
fishwomen decorated with garlands of leaves, each
one carrying a loaf in her hand. The entire multitude
incessantly repeated the mournful cry, " Long live
the nation ! " the prelude to all the horrors that were
perpetrated during the Eevolution. The National
Guard, among whom were mingled the faithful Body
Guard, escorted the King's carriage, which went at
a walk. The King and Queen spoke with their customary
kindness to those who surrounded their carriage ;
they represented to them how mistaken they were
in regard to their real sentiments. "The King,"
said the Princess to them, " has ever been desirous
only of the happiness of his people. Much evil has
been spoken of us by those who would injure you.
We love the entire French nation, and it is our
glory to share the sentiments of our good King.'-'
^Several of them appeared touched by so much good-
1 ness, and said simply, " We do not know you ; we
lhave been greatly deceived."
' At Sevres a small packet was thrown into the
King's carriage, and fell on my knees. "Put it in
1 The two members of the Body Guard who were killed at Versailles
on the morning of the 6th of October, and whose heads were carried on
pikes, were MM. des Huttes and Varicourt. The latter was a brother
of a priest of Gex, a deputy of the National Assembly, who behaved
very well, and of Madame de Vilette, whom Voltaire called pretty and
good.

THE KING IN PARIS. 41
your pocket," said the King to me, " and open it when
we arrive." It fell in the carriage ; 1 never heard what
it contained, but I imagined, and not without good
reason, that it was something horrible, and calculated
to wound the hearts of the unhappy Eoyal Family.
The Flanders Eegiment formed line along the
road from Auteuil to Paris ; it then shared in the
sentiments of the mob, and all the soldiers shouted
with them, " Long live the nation ! Down with
the shavelings ! " — the everlasting refrain of all the
multitude who thronged the roads. All of them,
one - half being drunk, were incessantly firing off
their guns. By great good luck no accident hap
pened. The Duke d'Orleans was on the Passy road, and*~N
his childreii7with Maflanie de Genlis, on the balcony I
of the house which he had hired. He had stationed /
them there so that they might enjoy at their ease /
the spectacle of the abasement of the royal family, /
a proceeding which was the subject of much com- 1
ment. The Queen mentioned it as a matter of his- \
tory to the Duchess d'Orleans, who sighed, but could
make no reply. This excellent Princess was far from
sharing the sentiments of the Duke, her husband.
She shut her eyes to his proceedings, and she was
utterly unhappy when the illusion vanished and she
could not help perceiving the active part he was
taking in this frightful Eevolution.
On arriving at the Chaillot gate, M. Bailly,
Mayor of Paris, appeared to present the keys of the

42 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
city to the King, and to address his Majesty. He
commenced with his customary phrase, " What a
glorious day is this, Sire, on which the Parisians are
going to have your Majesty and your family in their
city ! " At the words a glorious day, the King sighed,
and replied to M. Bailly, " I hope and ardently
desire that my residence in it may bring peace, con
cord, and submission to the law." How could M.
Bailly have allowed himself to apply the term glorious
day to that on which it was intended that the mas
sacre of the Queen should take place, and on which
the King had seen the blood of his faithful servants
flow, while he himself had been overwhelmed with
insult ? Notwithstanding his advantages of mind
and education, M. Bailly had not the slightest idea
of the fitness of things, and of this he gave ample
proof on every occasion when he was brought into
actual relationship with the royal family. The
King had intended reaching the Tuileries in the
evening, but M. Bailly begged him to alight at the
H6tel de Ville, where all the Commune was assem
bled, and to honour it with his presence. The King
declined, saying, " that he and his family stood in
too great need of rest to prolong the fatigues of such
a day." The Mayor persisted, and M. de la Fayette
lade such a point of it, and was so urgent, that the
ling, in spite of his repugnance, was compelled to
/give way.
During the journey M. de la Fayette approached
the carriage of his Majesty several times, assuring

THE KING IN PARIS. 43
him that he would be satisfied with the manner in
which he would be received in the capital. The
streets were illuminated, and incessant shouts of
" Long live the King," accompanied his Majesty from
his appearance in the Eue Saint Honore as far as the
Hotel de Ville. They were more noisy than hearty,
and in them a certain amount of violence, painful to
hear, was perceptible.
When he reached the Place de Greve, the crowd
was so considerable that the King, to avoid accident,
got out of his carriage together with the royal family ;
and it was with great difficulty that a passage was
made for them through the mob to enable them to
reach the H6tel de Ville. M. Bailly made another
speech to the King, to which the latter replied with
his usual kindness. I was so occupied with Mgr. the
Dauphin, who was worn out with fatigue and was fast
asleep in my arms, that I heard neither the one nor
the other. The Duke de Liancourt, who accompanied
the King, begged him to renew his promise to declare
himself inseparable from the Nationale Assembly.
The unhappy Prince, who was in the sad position of
being unable to refuse anything, acquiesced in this
request, and repeated shouts of " Long live the King! "
at last brought the sitting to a close.
The King and the royal family returned sorrow
fully to the Tuileries, and found their faithful servants,
who were a prey to the greatest anxiety, awaiting
their return. No preparations had been made for their
reception. Mgr. the Dauphin passed the night with-

44 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
out a guard of any kind, in a room open on all sides,
« and with doors that could scarcely be shut. I bar-
I ricaded them with the scanty furniture at my disposal,
and spent the night seated by his bedside, plunged in
sorrow and sad reflections as I thought of what, after
all that had happened, might be expected of a people
capable of being carried away to such terrible excess.
The awakening of the royal family was frightful.
The courtyards and terraces of the Tuileries were
filled with an innumerable crowd of people, who loudly
demanded to see the King and the royal family, some
for the pleasure of enjoying the fruits of their victory,
the majority merely out of curiosity, and a few
from a feeling of interest and attachment. The royal
family, including even the Princesses, were obliged
to wear the national cockade and show themselves to
the people more than once in a room on the ground
floor, which opened on to the courtyard, and was occu
pied by Madame Elizabeth. Each time she appeared
there were shouts of "Long live the King and the
royal family ! "
So the day passed. The crowd, which was in
cessantly renewed, only left the Castle at night to
return in the morning. This was illuminated during
the first few days after the arrival of the King, in
order more easily to guard against the sinister designs
that were suspected.
The factious spirits, in the hope of rousing the
populace, sent to the Pont Eoyal, opposite the win
dows of Mgr. the Dauphin, wagons filled with flour,

EXCITEMENT IN PARIS. 45
said to be damaged, which the market porters and
fishwomen threw into the river. As this spectacle
did not produce the least impression, the wagons went
away and did not come back again.
Another device was invented to turn the people
against the Queen. Two days after her arrival,
measures were taken to instigate abandoned women
to go to her and demand the release from the
Mont-de-Piete of all the articles which poverty had
compelled them to pawn. The terrace of the Tuileries
was covered with women, who were thronged together
to the verge of suffocation, and who demanded speech
with the Queen. The persons who were with
her at that moment entreated her to accede to this
request. I dissuaded her from it, representing to her
the danger of compromising her dignity by lending
herself to the caprices of the multitude, and I advised
her merely to reply that she was considering the
best mode of being useful to them. Everybody
was in such a state of alarm, that nobody dared
undertake the commission. I offered to speak to
the women myself, together with the Princess de
Chimay, her lady-in-waiting.1 She consented, and
from the rooms of the Princess, whicli opened on to
the terrace of the Tuileries, we harangued the multi-
' The Princess de Chimay, daughter of Marshal de Fitz-James, was
a lady of genuine merit. Her distinguished conduct, her sweetness,
and her virtue caused her to be generally loved and esteemed; and
when she Jelt the Court, she was regretted not only by society, but
also by all those who had been brought into contact with her by
reason of the post she held.

46 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
tude. We told them that although all unfortunate
people had great claims on the heart of the Queen,
she could not enter into engagements without know
ing their extent, but that every reliance might be
placed on her benevolence and goodness. This
assurance satisfied them ; the meeting dispersed,
and everyone went away quietly. A few days
afterwards, the King authorised the Queen to
redeem from pawn all articles not exceeding a
louis in value.
The same crowd and the same eagerness to see
the royal family continued for several days. This
indiscretion was carried so far that several fish-
women invaded the apartments of Madame Eliza
beth. She begged the King to assign other rooms
to her, and she even afterwards had an invincible
dislike to her former abode. The people were at
last sent away, and the King and Queen were
enabled to remain in their apartments in peace.
Prisoners in Paris, and surrounded by the sus
picious and defiant National Guard, in whom this
attitude was fostered by those who so cleverly
made use of them for the carrying out of their
designs, the King and Queen saw with the greatest
sorrow the necessity of sending away the Body
Guard, who would have been in danger had they
been retained in personal attendance on the royal
family. Wandering about in the Tuileries, and
watched by the National Guard, who looked with
distrust on all wTho spoke to them, their position

EXCITEMENT IN PARIS. 47
was dreadful. The King thanked them for their
services, and, sent word to them that he hoped for
happier days, which would allow him once more to
surround himself with such faithful servants, whose
courage and devotion he should never forget. The
National Guard, who replaced them in attendance
on the King and the royal family, did not know
what they ought to do. The good men and true,
who had joined their ranks out of attachment to
the King, groaned over their enforced silence ; and
the rebels, and those who had been led astray,
triumphed over the abasement of the royal family
and the grief of those who had preserved for it
that fidelity which is the right of Sovereigns.
The King, who wished to have his children with
him, shared his room with Mgr. the Dauphin, and
took for him the small rooms communicating with
the apartments of the Queen. This Princess occu
pied the ground floor opening on to the terrace
of the Tuileries, and having given Madame, her
daughter, the room on the entresol above the King's
chamber, which were her own private apartments,
she made use of others above his offices, and the
apartments of the first gentleman of the bedchamber.
In addition to this arrangement, small private stair
cases were constructed, so that the King and Queen
could communicate freely between their own rooms
and those of the Dauphin and Madame.
Madame Elizabeth occupied the Pavilion of Flora,
and Monsieur and Madame went to take up their

48 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
abode in the Luxembourg. They came every day to
sup with the King, who no longer dined in public,
but in private with the royal family, with the
exception of Mgr. the Dauphin, who, being very
young, dined in his own room in the middle of
the day.
Subsequently the organisation of the National
Guard was completed. Besides a Commandant, it had
a Major, two assistant Majors, six Chiefs of Division,
and sixty battalions, one for each district, each of
which had a commander called the Commandant de
Bataillon, and under him captains, lieutenants, etc.
There were two guns to each battalion, and gunners
to serve them.
M. de Gouvion, the Major of the Guard, who was
in the confidence of M. de la Fayette, was a good
officer, and although imbued with the new opinions,
he was still at heart attached to the person of the
King. He was possessed of courage and firmness,
and I have always been convinced that much good
might have resulted, had more confidence been
reposed in him, and had efforts been made to recall
him to his duty.
The six Chiefs of Division, who were taken from
another class than that of the people, were MM.
d'Ormesson, Pinon, de Courtomer, de Saint-Christot,
Maudac, and Charton.
M. d'Ormesson, once Controller-General of the
Finances, was too well known to need anything
being said about him. And I may say the same

EXCITEMENT IN PARIS. 49
of M. Pinon, President of a Court of Justice, and of
the Marquis de Courtomer.
M. de Saint-Christot, formerly a fermier-general,
was an excellent man, and entirely attached to the
King. So, also, was M. Maudac, a rich financier,
but his character was weak, and he had but little
capacity. M. Charton, formerly a man of business, whose
principles were constitutional, enjoyed a good repu
tation and had an excellent address. From being so
constantly with the King he conceived a genuine
affection for him, and he never ceased to give proof
of it. These three last mentioned perished during the
Eevolution, victims to their devotion to his Majesty.
The King, when he went out, even to hear mass
in the chapel, was invariably attended by a Chief of
Division. The Queen and Mgr. the Dauphin had
only Commandants de Bataillon, and the rest of the
family had captains.
The Commandants de Bataillon were, as a rule,
tolerable, although among them there were some bad
ones, such as Santerre and several others as worth
less as he. A certain number had only accepted the
post through attachment to the King and in the
hope of being useful — such as M. d'Ogny, Post
master-General ; M. Gauthier, Administrator-Gene
ral ; MM. de Tourceval, formerly fermiers-generaux ;
and several others. Among them also were some
good citizens, large merchants, such as the good
Acloque, the brewer of the Faubourg Saint Marceau,
VOL. I. D

50 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
the very opposite in honesty and fidelity to the
wretch Santerre, the brewer of the Faubourg Saint
Antoine, whose name will never be uttered except
with horror and indignation.
Each battalion was on guard in the Castle for
twenty-four hours, and was relieved by another at
the expiration of that time. Each Commandant on
duty with the King, the Queen, and Mgr. the
Dauphin, presented himself on his arrival for orders,
in case they wished to go out, and the captains did
the same in regard to the other members of the
Eoyal Family. The majority were respectful ; but
some of them, forgetful of the respect they owed
their Sovereigns, and intoxicated by their rank,
assumed a tone of familiarity which was anything
but a pleasant sight. Among others, there was one
1 named Gerdret, lace merchant to the Queen, who
had the audacity to propose to her on her arrival in
Paris that he should bring some of the band of the
National Guard to give her a concert. " I am
astonished," said the Queen to him, "that you,
Gerdret, should think of making such a proposition
to me at such a moment." The matter was never
mentioned again.
The King still retained some of his faithful ser
vants, who occupied responsible posts near his per
son, such as the four chief gentlemen of the bed
chamber, the captain of the Cent-Suisses of his
Guard, the Grand Provost of France, and the Grand
¦Quartermaster of Cavalry.

EXCITEMENT IN PARIS. 51
The Duke de Eichelieu, father of the present
Duke, first gentleman of the bedchamber, was
anxious to perform the duties of his office on the
arrival of the King in Paris ; but as he was in a
dying state, he was compelled to allow himself to
be replaced by the Duke de Villequier, who per
formed, in addition to these duties, those of the
Duke de Fleury, who was still too young to perform
his own. The Duke de Villequier never varied
cither in his conduct or his attachment to the King.
He gave him excellent advice, full of wisdom and
firmness, and he would never have abandoned him
if the rebels had not compelled the King to send
him away.
The young Marquis de Duras, afterwards Duke
de Duras, who had just been appointed a first gen
tleman of the bedchamber on the death of Marshal
de Duras, his grandfather, influenced by a sense of
duty and gratitude for the goodness of the King,
did not leave him until 1791, when he received the
express order of the King to quit the Tuileries and
France, where he could no longer reside in safety.
The Duke de Brissac, Commandant of the Cent-
Suisses of the King's Guard, was brave, loyal, and
a true French knight. He gave evidence of the
utmost attachment to the King ; he was constantly
by his side up to the moment when, after the sup
pression of the Constitutional Guard of the King,
the Legislative Assembly formally accused him and
sent him to the prison of Orleans, whence he was

52 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
brought to Paris after the days of the 2d and 3d of
September. He was massacred when he reached
Versailles, a victim of his own zeal and attachment
to the King.1
The Marquis de Tourzel, my son, the Grand
Provost of France, never left the King for a moment.
Always by his side when the danger was greatest,
he never ceased to give him proofs of unalterable
fidelity, and he did not leave him until the too'
good and unfortunate Prince was taken to the
Temple. He employed every possible means to
obtain permission to stay near him, but in spite of
his reiterated efforts, supported even by the personal
request of the King, he could not succeed in being
imprisoned with him.
The Marquis de la Suze, Grand Quartermaster
of Cavalry, continued to perform his duties for a
considerable time. His devotion never wavered for
an instant. The Marquis de Breze, Grand Master of the-
Ceremonies, was ever faithful to his duties and pro-
1 It was not at Paris, but on reaching the streets of Versailles, and
in a place called the Quatre Boines, that the Duke de Brissac and the-
other prisoners from Orleans were massacred. This town, which be
haved well, more than once gave M. de Brissac the means of escaping
from his prison ; but he invariably refused lest he should compromise-
our unhappy Sovereign. These offers were renewed when the impri
sonment of the King in the Temple deprived his escape of all possibility
of complication. But, imbued with the fe:ir of increasing the rage of
the enemies of his Majesty, he preferred to expose himself to dangers
to which be was fully alive, and he died with courage worthy of his-
name and with firmness only too uncommon.

EXCITEMENT IN PARIS. 53
foundly attached to the King. Although deprived
of the duties of his office, he remained near the
King, followed him to Feuillants, where he passed
the night of the 10th of August, and only left him
when those who accompanied him were violently
separated from him.
The King had also retained near him some faith
ful servants, whose services he thoroughly appre
ciated, among others MM. Thierry and Chamilli,
two of his chief valets-de-chambre, who on every
occasion gave him proofs of a devotion which
resulted in both of them falling victims to it.
The corps of Ushers of the Bedchamber also
remained unalterably faithful. Several others imi
tated their example, and the good Prince said to me
one day, in speaking of those on whom he could
rely, " I need look at those which have remained
faithful to me, by way of consoling my afflicted
heart." I. hope this digression may not be considered out
of place. After the recital of so many horrors, I had
need of resting my mind for a moment on more
consolatory reminiscences, and of showing to those
who may read these Memoirs, that there were still
French hearts which would have risked their lives
a thousand times for the preservation of their
Sovereign. M. de la Fayette would have liked the King to
go out, but as he could only be attended by the
National Guard, he preferred to deprive himself of

54 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
fresh air and all exercise, rather than allow it to be
supposed that he had voluntarily given up his
faithful Body Guard, and he remained for a long
time without leaving his apartments. The walks of
the Queen and her children were confined to the
garden of the Tuileries, where a little path, surrounded
by trellis work, had been made as a private walk for
Mgr. the Dauphin, who went there, accompanied by
a Commandant de Bataillon and four soldiers of the
National Guard.
/''This young Prince, extremely forward for his age,
frequently asked me the reason of his change of
locality, and said to me, " I see quite well that there
are wicked people who trouble papa, and I regret our
good Body Guard, whom I loved much better than
these Guards, for whom I do not care in the least."
J_^told him that the King and Queen would be
very angry if he did not behave well to the National
Guard, and if he spoke before them of his desire
to see the Body Guard again ; that he must always
love the latter, but never talk of them except
privately ; and that he must hope for happier times,
which would allow the King to summon them once
more to his side. " You are right," he said ; and
from that moment he never mentioned them openly.
His memory was remarkable. And he had such a
mind, so singularly penetrative, that from the time
he was four years old, he made the most correct
reflections on all that he saw and heard.
He had, as tutor, the Abbd Davauz, who had held

EXCITEMENT IN PARIS. 55
the same post in regard to the first Dauphin and
Madame. He was a man of great merit, and was so
skilful in placing himself on a level with children,
that the hours of study were recreation to them.
Mgr. the Dauphin was very fond of him, and he had
brought him forward in an incredible manner, always
finding means to teach him, even in his play, some
thing useful and pleasant. The young Prince was
extremely curious, and asked questions about every
thing he saw. He was quite quick enough to per
ceive if the replies made to him were correct or not,
and could even indulge in very apt repartee. One
day when I was reproving him for something wrong
which he had said, a person who was visiting me
said to him jokingly, " I would bet that Madame
de Tourzel is wrong, and that Monsieur le Dauphin
is always right." "Monsieur," he replied, with a
laugh, " you are a flatterer, for I got in a rage this
morning." He wished to try what he had to expect from
me, and to see if I should be able to resist him.
He consequently refused to do something I asked
him to do, and said to me, with the utmost cool
ness, " If you do not do as I wish, I shall cry ;
they will hear me on the terrace, and then what will
they say ? " " That you are a naughty boy." " But
if my crying makes me ill ? " "I shall put you to
bed, and treat you as an invalid." Then he began
to cry, stamp his feet, and make a horrid noise. I
did not say a word ; I had his bed made, and

56 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
ordered some broth for his supper. Then he looked
at me fixedly, stopped his crying, and said to me,
" I wanted to see what I could do with you. I see
now that there is nothing for it but to obey you.
Forgive me ; it shall never happen again." On the
following day, he said to the Queen, " Do you
\know who you have given me as governess ? It is
[Madame Severe."
^*~As I never bothered him unnecessarily, and as he
liked to come to my rooms and see people, he soon
was really fond of me and my daughter Pauline.
He often said to us in the most amiable manner,
" Mon Dieu ! how happy I am with you ! " He
was so fond of my Pauline that he was jealous of
her, and it was very pleasant to see his petty dis
pleasure, if he thought she liked anybody better
than him.
The Flanders Eegiment called on me on their
arrival at Versailles. This visit was mentioned
before Mgr. the Dauphin, who expressed to the
Queen his great wish to be present at the inter
view. " But you would not know what to say to
these gentlemen," said the Queen to him. " Do not
trouble yourself, mamma, I shall not be embar
rassed." Scarcely had the officers entered the room
than the young Prince said to the foremost of
them, "I am delighted to see you, gentlemen ;
but very sorry that I am too small to see all
of you." Then seeing a very tall officer, he said
to him, "Take me up in your arms, sir, so that

EXCITEMENT IN PARIS. 57
I can see all these gentlemen." And then he said
with charming gaiety, " I am very glad, gentle
men, to be in the midst of you." All the officers
were delighted, and were touched to see so young a
child so amiable and interesting on the eve, perhaps,
of experiencing dire misfortune.
Although he learned everything he wanted to
learn with the greatest facility, he found it so
tiresome to learn to read that he took no pains to
succeed, and when the Queen told him that it was
disgraceful not to be able to read at four years of
age, he replied, " Very well, mamma, I will learn
as a New Year's gift to you." At the end of
November he said to the Abbe Davauz, " I must
know how much time I have between this and New
Year's day, because I have promised mamma to be
able to read by then." On hearing that he had
only a month, he looked at the Abbe" and said to
him, with inconceivable coolness, " Please, my good
Abbd, give me two lessons a day, and I will pay
the greatest attention." He kept his word and
went triumphantly to the Queen with a book in
his hand, and throwing his arms round her neck
the dear child said, " Here is your New Year's
gift ; I have kept my promise, and I know how to
read now." His gaiety and graceful ways were the
sole amusement of the Queen, who had no other
distraction than that furnished by her children.
The lives of the King and Queen were very sad ;
the latter breakfasted alone every day, and then saw

58 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
her children, during which the King visited her.
She went to Mass, and then shut herself up in her
private room. She dined at one o'clock with the
King, Madame her daughter, and Madame Elizabeth.
After dinner she played billiards with the King, so
as to give him some exercise, worked at her tapestry,
and then retired to her room until half-past eight,
the hour when Monsieur and Madame came to supper,
and at eleven o'clock she went to bed.
There was a Court on Sunday, play in the even
ing, and a Court again on Thursday morning only.
The Queen was too much troubled to think of going
to the theatre, and her heart was too sad to allow
her to indulge in any dissipation out of doors.
The excitement in Paris continued to be fostered,
and the National Guard, with M. de la Fayette at
its head, was so afraid of compromising itself with
the people, that repressive measures were only re
sorted to in the last extremity. An unfortunate
baker was hanged during a popular tumult, and the
National Guard arrived too late to save the life of
the poor wretch. This weakness emboldened those
to whom crime was nothing, and was the cause of
many evils, which greater firmness might have obvi
ated. The King, who was unable to find any remedy
for this continuance of anarchy, was reduced to
groaning over this fresh crime, and could only send
help to the family of the poor man, whose wife' died
of grief soon after the death of her husband.
Under these circumstances, the Parliaments of

THE PARLIAMENTS OF METZ AND ROUEN. 59
Metz and Eouen declared, each one in a resolution full
of firmness and determination, that they would only
consent to suspend their functions and allow them
selves to be replaced by the Vacation Chamber in
order to avoid increasing the misfortunes of the
King, and to give him a further proof of their re
spect and submission. The King, to whom these
resolutions were presented, fearing that this cour
ageous act would bring some great misfortune upon
those who had drawn them up and given their ad
hesion to them, determined, on the advice of his
ministers, to denounce them to the Assembly, in
order to leave himself the power of requesting it not
to deal rigorously with the authors. The good
Prince was so afraid of jeopardising those who gave
him marks of attachment, that this motive was fre
quently the cause of acts of weakness for which he
was reproached.
The Assembly was very violent against the new
Parliaments, and wished to deal harshly with them ;
but, flattered at seeing the King humble himself so
far as to request their clemency, it contented itself
by ordering their attendance at the bar, and declar
ing them incapable of exercising any public function.
When it was installed in the Tuileries it thought
itself obliged to show the King some mark of respect,
and it came in a body to present its homage to him
and also to the Queen. The Princess received it
with an amount of grace and dignity which aston
ished it, and impressed it in a manner totally unex-

60 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
pected. This feeling was not of long duration. The
foundations of the royal authority continued to be
sapped. Several members of the Assembly, the Duke de
LeVis among them, suggested to the Queen that
Mirabeau should be won over, and each one was
anxious to be the bearer of the proposals to be made
to him. M. de Levis did everything in his power io
obtain an audience of the Queen, and came to me
several times to beg me to procure one for him. The
Queen, who had no faith in his ideas, did not care
about seeing him, continually made some excuse, but
was unwilling to refuse him in so many words, lest
she should make an enemy of him ; and at last other
matters made M. de Levis give up his project.
The King was advised to confer with the mem
bers of the Commune who were charged with the
provisioning of Paris, such as MM. Vauvilliers,
Moreau de Saint Merry, and several others. His
Majesty astonished them by the extent of his know
ledge of administrative business, and by his extreme
goodness and his love for his people. He convinced
the greater number of the falsity of the ideas which
had been spread abroad in regard to himself, and
this was especially so in the case of M. de Vauvilliers,
who promised him devotion which never varied.
The arrest of M. Augeard, Private Secretary to
the Queen, caused that Princess, as well as the King,
fresh grief ; fortunately it resulted only in temporary
imprisonment. He was set at liberty shortly after-

ARRESTS. 61
wards. It was otherwise in the case of M. de Favras.
He had formed several plans to extract the King
from his cruel position. They were discovered, and
the rebels, in order to intimidate those who might
have other plans with the same object, resolved to
compel the Chatelet to condemn him as guilty of
treason to the nation.
M. de la Fayette, who suspected the Duke d'Orldans,
and had successfully contrived to give him a so-called
mission to England, alarmed at the probability of
further intrigues, and especially at the particular one
of which M. de Favras was accused, which was sup
posed to be directed against him, irritated the National
Guard to such a degree that they left no stone un
turned to secure the condemnation of that gentleman.
A large number of the good men and true who were
in the Guard, were annoyed and distressed by this,
but unfortunately they could do nothing. The King
and Queen did all in their power to save M. de Favras,
but without success. Overwhelmed with grief, their
Majesties were compelled to conceal their real feelings
for fear of compromising those who were attached to
them and might have had relations with him.
The King took no part in the intrigues formed in
his favour. This good and excellent Prince was so
afraid of the misfortunes which a civil war would
bring about, that he preferred to prolong his suffer
ings rather than witness the employment of a means
which might occasion so many evils. He, unfor
tunately, judged the hearts of others by his own,

62 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
and he thought it impossible that so much patience
and goodness should fail to win back his misguided
subjects. This hope made him refuse the proposition
of M. de Virieu and several of his deputies, who
offered to set out for the Provinces, and rouse
them by the narrative of the atrocities of the 5th
and 6th of October, and his captivity in Paris. \The
disturbances in the Provinces distressed the King ex
ceedingly, and each piece of intelligence of this kind
which reached him, made him painfully sensible of
the misfortune of not being able to find any remedy.
Continual efforts were made to disturb the King and
Queen, and the most sinister rumours were spread of a
plot which was to be put in operation during midnight
Mass. Several persons attempted to dissuade their
Majesties from going to it, although it was to be said
in the chapel ; but they refused to listen, thinking that
kany show of anxiety would only have a bad effect.
Not being able to divest myself of the impression
imparted to me I declined to go, and I spent the
whole time by the side of Mgr. the Dauphin, resolved
not to go to bed until I knew that their Majesties
had retired in peace to their rooms. The Queen,
who knew this, was good enough to come to the
Dauphin's room when she came back from Mass, and
she bantered me on my cowardice, adding many
amiable things about my attachjmeirkj lit was im
possible not to feel the most sincere devotion for a
Princess who united so much grace and goodness to
qualities so worthy of her rank and name.

CHAPTEE II.
THE YEAR 1790.
New Year's Day — Proceedings of the Vacation Chamber of the Parlia
ment of Brittany — Trial of M. de Besenval — Attempt to unite
the Right and the Moderate Party of the Assembly — Proceedings
of the King in the Assembly on the 4th of February, and Speech
of His Majesty — Troubles in the Provinces — Beginning of the
Insurrection among" the Troops — Death of M. de Favras — Decree to
assure the tranquillity of the Provinces — Deputation of Merchants
of the, Kingdom — Beginning of the Insurrection in San Domingo
— Authority delegated to the Districts — The Assembly usurps all
Power, and leaves the KiDg no Authority — Death of the Emperor
Joseph II. — Inquiry of the Chiltelet and the Commune in refer
ence to the 5th and 6th of October — Happy replies of the Queen
on this subject.
A deputation of the Assembly, with the President,
M. Desmeunier, at their head, came to pay their
homage to the King and Queen on New Year's Day.
The President having wished the King happier days,
the latter replied quickly, " I shall belong to the
happiness of my people, which will always be the
object of my desire." The President then went to
the Queen, who received him, accompanied by her
two children, and reminded him, with so much
nobility and feeling, of his good wishes for the happi-

64 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
ness of the King, that M. Desmeunier could not
conceal the emotion he felt.
There could, indeed, be no more touching sight
than to see this Princess with her two charming
children. The one, still too young to be sensible of
the misfortunes which threatened him, bore on his
countenance the stamp of happiness and gaiety ; the
young Princess, at an age when she, too, ought to
have had no other feelings than these, was already
beginning that career of sorrows which she traversed
with so much courage, sweetness, and sensibility.
For her the King had a particular predilection ; and
though he was not demonstrative, he never let an
opportunity escape him of letting her see the tender
affection he bore her. The Queen, who was equally fond
of her, thought herself bound to be severe towards
her. False impressions had been given her of the
character of Madame, whom she believed to be proud
and so dissipated in mind as to render all intercourse
with young ladies of her own age inconvenient.
I have never been able to imagine what could
have given rise to this opinion. The young Princess,
on the contrary, was good, affable, timid, and ever
in need of being inspired with confidence. It would
have been far more useful to her to have seen more
people than to be for ever alone in her rooms with
her women and the young person who was permitted
by the Queen to share her studies and amusements.
Deprived when so young of all support, left to her
self in cruel captivity, she alone finished her own

THE PARLIAMENT OF BRITTANY. 65
education ; unhappiness was her tutor, and, fortu
nately, it did not alter those great qualities which
circumstances developed to their greatest extent
during the whole of her life.
Shortly afterwards the Assembly despatched
another deputation, with the President at its head,
to the King to ask his Majesty to fix the total of his
Civil List, to take into consideration the brilliancy
that ought to surround the throne of a great king,
and to turn a deaf ear to that rigid economy which
took its source from his love for his people, and also
from the patriarchal morals which made him the best
and most virtuous of kings. " I am deeply moved,"
said the King, " by this proceeding on the part of
the Assembly ; but before entering into the question,
I will wait until there are funds available for the
payment of the creditors of the State, and for the
expenditure necessary for the maintenanee of public
order ; my personal needs are the least of my
anxieties." How could an Assembly, which cWf
such an act of homage to the virtues of its King,
continue to pass decrees, the tendency of which was-
neither more nor less than to hurl him from hiss
throne, and so to accumulate so many misfortune!
on our unhappy country ?
The Vacation Chamber of the Parliament of Brit
tany having refused to take notice of the decree
suspending the Parliament and constituting the
Vacation Chamber, was ordered to appear at the
bar of the Assembly. It was composed of twelve
VOL. I. E

66 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
magistrates, at the head of whom was De la Houssaye,
the President. This virtuous magistrate, in his own
name, as well as in .those of his colleagues, repre
sented with all possible energy the incapacity of the
Chamber to take notice of this law, and the impos
sibility of its taking upon itself the right of re
nouncing anyone of the privileges of Brittany,
which were only given to France under conditions
that it alone would revoke ; and that he and his
virtuous colleagues were honoured by the faithful dis
charge of those duties which were imposed upon
them in their capacity as magistrates. In declaring
to the King and the Assembly that they were not
competent to acquiesce in a decree absolutely at
variance with the privileges of the Province, they
could only respectfully explain the motives of their
refusal. Mirabeau and the other demagogue deputies re
plied violently and passionately. They were for a
rigorous punishment of the magistrates who refused
to obey their decrees, and wished to treat them as
guilty of high treason. MM. de Fronde ville, de
Cazales, d'Eprdmenil, and several others pointed out
the inconvenience of such a course, and the Assembly
confined itself to decreeing that their resistance to
the law rendered them incapable of exercising any
function as active citizens until, on their own re
quest presented to the Corps Ldgislatif, they should
be allowed to take the oath of fidelity to the Consti
tution decreed by the Assembly and sanctioned by

TRIAL OF M. DE BESENVAL. 67
the King. His Majesty, in spite of the esteem and
appreciation he felt for the courageous fidelity of
these magistrates, was compelled to keep silence, and
was unable to give them any public mark of the
satisfaction inspired in him by a line of conduct as
firm as it was courageous.
The Baron de Besenval, who was arrested after the
taking of the Bastille, on the pretence that he had
intended to attack Paris and put its inhabitants to
the sword, had been transferred to the prisons of the
¦Chatelet, where his trial was energetically carried on.
MM. Ogier and Garaud de Coulon, members of the
Committee of Inquiry, brought forward fresh accusa
tions every day, each one more absurd than its pre
decessor, and the latter person especially, who was
reporter to the Committee, allowed his desire to
secure a verdict of ^guilty to be seen in the most
revolting manner. ((People were even suborned to
incite the multitude and intimidate the judgesy
-, M. Boucher d'Argis, President of the Chatelet,
conducted himself throughout the proceedings with
an amount of firmness that did him infinite honour.
He gave orders to repress the disturbers of order,
and, addressing the members of the Committee, he
said, " Gentlemen, out of the seventy witnesses
heard against M. de Besenval, not one has been
furnished by the Chatelet ; the Committee has fur
nished them all. If anybody has any more serious
testimony to bear against him, let it be brought
forward." This remark being received with pro-

68 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
found silence, it was thought that the trial was on
the eve of being concluded, but the Committee
declared that it should be prolonged.
Some days before the closing, a riot was stirred up
in Versailles in connection with the price of bread.
The news of the release of M. de Besenval and the
rising in the Faubourgs was published simultaneously
in Paris. A crowd of rioters assembled outside the
Chatelet, demanding the heads of M. de Besenval and
de Favras.
Four-and-twenty soldiers of the paid troops assem
bled on the same day in the Champs Elysdes with
seditious news, and rumours calculated to rouse the
populace were at the same time spread of a counter
revolution. By these means it was hoped that the
members of the Chatelet might be intimidated, but
the attempt failed. They maintained absolute calm
amid all this agitation, and the zeal of the National
Guard prevented this insurrection having any
result. MM. de Seze and de Bruges, who appeared for M.
de Besenval, defended him with equal zeal and firm
ness, and expressed their astonishment at seeing a
Committee of Inquiry uniting the functions of public
prosecutor, plaintiff, and public minister, and being
themselves accused of having sought far and wide
for witnesses. The firmness and coolness of M. de Besenval never
failed him for one instant throughout the trial. At
last, after a hundred and seventy-eight witnesses had

TRIAL OF M. DE BESENVAL. 69
given evidence, the tribunal, in conformity with the
conclusion of M. de Brunville, the Procureur du Roi,
declared, by the mouth of M. Boucher d'Argis, that
M. de Besenval was not guilty of the crimes im
puted to him, and he at length recovered his liberty,
after an imprisonment which lasted seven months.
M. de Besenval on the following day visited the
King and Queen, who showed him in a very touch
ing manner the joy they felt at seeing him again,
and the anxiety he had caused them, adding a thou
sand questions about his captivity and the way he
had been treated. He had been placed under the
guard of a Commandant de Bataillon of the National
Guard of Paris, called Bourdon de l'Oise. This
man was orignally a Procureur, and was clever ; but
he was a revolutionary — violent, restless, and gloomy.
The inequality of his disposition rendered M. de
Besenval dependent on the state of his mind. When
he was out of temper he threatened him with the
dangers he incurred ; at other times he was very
good to him. In giving an account to their Majes
ties of his conduct in the Champ de Mars, on the
occasion of the taking of the Bastille, M de Besenval
was enthusiastic in his praise of the Duke de Choiseul,
whom he had under his orders, representing him as a
man of resource in danger, and unreservedly attached
to their Majesties. This testimony, given at a time
when the King and Queen were so moved by all that
M. de Besenval had suffered, made a very strong im
pression upon them ; and from that moment they

70 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
evinced remarkable confidence in M. de Choiseul.
M. de Besenval, though a clever man, was too shallow
to be a good judge of men, and on this occasion he
gave a proof of his lack of judgment which had dire
ful consequences for the King and France.
Several deputies of the Eight, who, although be
longing to the Constitutional party, were attached to
the King, such as MM. Malouet, Eedon, etc., con
vinced of the necessity of giving him the means of
compelling his authority to be respected, proposed a
coalition with the Eoyalist party, hoping by this
means to attract a goodly number of deputies of the
Left to their party, and then to form a majority
capable of dominating the factious section. MM. de
la Cheze, the Chevalier de Boufllers, and the Bishop
of Nancy (M. de la Fare) went with them to the Duke
de Eochefoucauld. MM. de la Fayette, de Mau-
bourg, and de la Coste, and the Duke de Liancourt
met there also, and the following points were pro
posed as the bases of the coalition : —
1 . To maintain the Constitution until time and
experience should have made manifest the changes
that ought to be made in it ; to preserve the union
of the three orders in one, and to hasten to restore
to the King the power necessary to him to govern in
conformity with Monarchical principles and the will
of vthe nation as recognised by the Assembly.
2. To defend with all their might the rights of
man and citizen which had been violated in their
most essential points ; and if the Constitution re-

THE ROYALISTS AND CONSTITUTIONALISTS. 71
quired any further innovation in carrying it out, to
avoid violent measures, which could only embitter
the public mind and multiply misfortunes ; to use
every effort to establish order and security, the only
resource for the re-establishment of confidence, credit,
and the collection of taxes.
3. Not to interfere with anybody on account of
religion, and to allow only the Catholic religion to
enjoy the solemnity of public worship as the national
religion. 4. To preserve to the churches a territorial
endowment ; to oppose any other alienation than
that made in the month of December 1789, as
extraordinary relief ; and under no pretext to allow
of alienation or better distribution of the property of
the Church, except under the instructions and super
intendence of the Provinces concerned.
5. To limit the tribunals to the solitary faculty/
of judging, and, while consulting necessity and justice/
not to forget the regard due to the old magistrates./
6. To protect the liberty of the press, at the
same time repressing licence by a wise and prudently
conceived law.
7. To restrain the armed forces by severe laws,
and to subordinate them entirely to the King, to
whom the army and the National Guard ought to
be in submission, as the Monarch himself was to the
law. 8. Finally, to use every effort to hasten the
conclusion of the labours of the Assembly, and to

72 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
maintain union throughout the Kingdom under the
protection of the law and the King.
The King, whose sole aim was the happiness of
France, and who considered the above plan to be
calculated to restore peace and concord, decided, on
the advice of his Ministers, to adopt a proceeding in
regard to the Assembly which he thought would
accomplish his object. He appeared before it in
person on the 4th of February, and stated that the
force of circumstances led him to their midst in order
to point out to them the existing imminent danger
of allowing order and subordination to grow daily
less respected, a state of things brought about by
the suspension and inactivity of justice, the critical
state of the finances, and the uncertainty in regard
to public welfare. He added that, as there was a
general tendency to disturb the friends of order and
the prosperity of the kingdom, it was high time to
put an end to so many evils.
The speech of the King was such an accurate
reflex of his goodness and his love for his people,
that I cannot refrain from giving an extract from it.
"Gentlemen," said this good King, "we have a
great end before us, but we must reach it without
any increase of trouble or convulsion. I have made
every endeavour to give you the means of attaining
it, and in spite of the difficult and afflicting cir
cumstances in which I have found myself, I have
neglected nothing which could contribute to the
happiness of my people. I shall make, as I have

THE KING IN THE ASSEMBLY. 73
already made, every sacrifice necessary to gain that
end, but it is imperatively necessary that we should
mutually assist each other. A common interest
ought to-day to unite all citizens, so that no obstacle
may be thrown in the way of finishing the Constitu
tion ; time will reform whatever is defective in it,
but any enterprise tending to overthrow it can only
have disastrous results.
" Put an end to the anxieties which keep awa3T
from France so many citizens, and are in direct con
trast to the liberty you wish to establish.
" I love to think that the French will one day
recognise the advantage of the suppression of orders
and estates, whenever the question shall arise of
working in common for the public good ; but I
think, at the same time, that nothing can destroy
whatever tends to recall to a nation the antiquity
and continuity of the services of an honoured race,
or the respect due to the ministers of a religion
which all citizens have an equal interest in maintain
ing and defending.
" I cannot conceal from you the losses sustained
by those who have given up their pecuniary privi
leges, and who have no longer any political order
in the State ; but they are generous enough to con
sider themselves compensated if the nation benefits
by these sacrifices. I should have enough to do
were I to occupy myself with my personal losses, but
for them I shall receive ample compensation when I
can witness the happiness of the people.

74 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
"I will maintain that Constitutional liberty
whose general principles have been consecrated by
the general wish, and in concert with the Queen I
will in good time prepare the heart and mind of my
son for the new order of things which is established,
and I will accustom him from his earliest years to be
happy in the happiness of the French.
"I do not doubt but that you will occupy your
selves in strengthening the executive power, without
jch there can be no safety either within or with-
lout, and that you will remember that confusion of
jowers speedily degenerates into the most danger
ous of tyrannies.
" You will consider all that a kingdom like
France requires by reason of its extent, population,
and foreign relations, and you will not neglect to
fix your attention on the character and habits of the
French people, so that there may be no alteration,
but, on the contrary, an increase, in the sentiments
of amiability, confidence, and goodness which have
gained for them so much renown and consideration.
Give them an example of the justice which is a safe
guard to property, and so necessary to social order.
" Join with me in preventing the criminal vio
lence and excesses which are being; committed in the
Provinces ; and you, gentlemen, who can in so many
ways bring your influence to bear on the public con
fidence, instruct this people, so dear to me, and by
whom, so I am told, I am so beloved, if you wish to
console me in my trouble. Ah ! if they knew how

THE KING IN THE ASSEMBLY. 75
unhappy I am when I hear of any attack committed
against either person or property, they would spare
me this painful bitterness. It is time to put an end
to all this uneasiness, and to restore to the kingdom
all the strength and credit which it is able to acquire.
" May this day, on which your Monarch comes to
meet you in the frankest and most intimate manner,
be a signal of peace and reunion ; may those who
hold aloof from this spirit of peace and concord make
a sacrifice to me of all that afflicts them, and I
repay them with the profoundest gratitude. ^Begin
ning from to-day, let us all have but one feeling-
attachment to the Constitution, and an ardent desire^
for the peace and prosperity of France."

M. Bureau de Puzi, the President, who shared
the sentiments expressed by the King, testified, in
the name of the Assembly, the respect, gratitude,
and love due from France to the patriotism of a
King who, without ceremony, and adorned by his
virtue alone, had just entered into an engagement to
love and maintain the Constitution and obey the law.
The applause, which had more than once inter
rupted the speech of the King, was renewed as he
left. The President accompanied him to the door,
and a deputation escorted him back to the Castle.
This deputation found the Queen walking on the
terrace with Mgr. the Dauphin. " Gentlemen," said
this Princess to them, " I share all the sentiments of
the King. Here is my son. I will often speak to
him of the virtues of the best of fathers, and of the

76 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
love of public liberty, of which I hope he will be the
firmest support."
f M. Goupil de Prefel moved, as soon as the King
had left, that all the deputies should take the civil
oath in these terms : — " I swear to be faithful to the
nation, the law, and the King, and to maintain by
all means in my power the Constitution decreed by
the Assembly and sanctioned by the King." Nearly
all the deputies, with the President at their head,
took this oath ; the Keeper of the Privy Seal (M. de
Cicd, Archbishop of Bordeaux) likewise took it as a
deputy, and the spectators in the galleries united in
it by holding up their hands.
The first wish of the Assembly, expressed by the
Count de Clermont-Tonnerre, was to express to his
Majesty the gratitude of the Corps Ldgislatif by an
address of thanks, to be accompanied by a similar
one to the Queen. They were passed, and the same
evening a deputation of sixty members, with the
President at their head, presented themselves at
the Castle.
After an expression of gratitude, the President
promised the King forgetfulness of all discussions,
unanimity of will, and the merging of all private
interests into the one public interest as the neces
sary fruit of the patriotism and virtues of the King ;
and he concluded his speech by asking the King to
enjoy the love and confidence of his people, assuring
him that posterity itself would never cease to bless
his memory. The King thanked him for the senti-

THE KING IN THE ASSEMBLY. 77
ments to which he had given utterance, and ex
pressed the hope he had of seeing the true friends
of the people rally round him to assure their happi
ness — public liberty.
The deputation then went to the Queen, and
after having informed her of the appreciation the
Assembly had of the noble and touching words that
had reached them from her, they added, in regard to
Mgr. the Dauphin :• — ¦" Watch, Madame, over this
precious scion ; may he have the sensibility, affa
bility, and courage which characterise you ; your
care will ensure his glory, and France, whose happi
ness you will have procured, will know its value
in remembering that it owes it to the virtues of your
Majesty." The Keeper of the Privy Seal had brought the
Queen a draft of the speech she was to make in reply
to that which the President had shown him, but the
latter having subsequently made an alteration in his,
the Queen, who was quite capable of expressing her
self without assistance, replied to the deputation in
her own words : — " I fully appreciate, gentlemen, the
evidences of your affection ; you received this morn
ing the expression of my sentiments. They never
vary in regard to the nation which it is my glory to
have adopted when I united my life to that of the
King ; my title of mother assures me of these ties
for ever."
u The visit and speech of the King to the Assembly
[produced general enthusiasm. M. Bailly proposed to

78 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
send to the King sixty members of the Commune in
order to present to him assurances of their respect
and attachment, and to pay similar homage to the
Queen. This resolution was adopted unanimously^
and the deputation presented itself on the following
day at the Castle. The city was illuminated in the
evening, and it was resolved that a Te Deum should
be sung on the following- Sunday in the Church of
Notre Dame.
On the evening of the 4th M. Bailly proposed
that the civic oath should be taken by the General
Assembly of the Commune. Each member took it
individually ; the spectators did likewise, and a
proposal was made for the admission of the crowd
who had assembled in the Place de l'H6tel de Ville.
M. Bailly went outside on to the steps and swore,
as the deputies had done, to be faithful to the nation,
the law, and the King, and to maintain by every
means in his power the Constitution decreed by the
Assembly and sanctioned by the King. The people
listened to him in profound silence, and afterwards
gave their adhesion to the oath by repeated cheers
and shouts of " Long live the King ! "
The Abbd Faucher used all his eloquence to induce
the Assembly at this sitting to decree to M. Bailly
the title of Municipe Gdndral of all the Munici
palities of the Kingdom, and to M. de la Fayette
that of brother-in-arms of all the National Guards
of the Kingdom, but this proposition was unfavour
ably received and rejected in the most decisive fashion.

THE KING IN THE ASSEMBLY. 79
Several persons and some of the members of the
Assembly thought the clause somewhat vague which
obliged them to swear to maintain by every means
in their power a Constitution which was still incom
plete, and they refused to take the oath ; but on the
explanation of the President that the oath could not
prevail over the national right to reform the Consti
tution, the greater number consented to swear.
This proceeding on the part of the King was far
from producing the effect which he anticipated from
it. M. Malouet, wishing to profit by the sensation
produced by the speech of the King, proposed, on the
following day, that the Assembly should take into
consideration the requests of his Majesty, and moved
that a sitting should be devoted to examine the prin
cipal points involved in them and the observations to
which they had given rise. But this motion en
countered such opposition that the Assembly passed
to the order of the day. g M. Malouet declared that
he would make it public, and proposed that at least
a resolution should be passed requesting the King to
take the most efficacious measures and to give orders
for the protection of property and the safety of citi
zens ; that all the military and administrative bodies
should be enjoined to punctually comply with orders
from the King signed by a Secretary of State ; that
all resistance, not founded on stated violation of
Constitutional decrees, should be punished as for
feiture ; that all insubordination in the military and
naval force should be punished in conformity with

80 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
military law ; that the same decree should suppress
the Committees of Inquiry in Paris, as well as those
which might have been established in the various
towns in the kingdom, and should order the Finance
Committee to render continuous accounts to the
Assembly of the deficit of the last six months of
the year 1789.
The refusal to take into consideration so reason
able a motion plainly showed the spirit of the
Assembly, and the proposed fusion under the title
of " The Impartials " had not the success which its
authors vainly flattered themselves it would have.
The Duke de la Eochefoucauld and those of his party
asserted that they had no idea of creating any schism
in the Assembly. The Eoyalists, who always dis
trusted the Constitutionalists, only showed themselves
more disinclined to approach them, and the Society
of " The Impartials " from that time fell into a kind
of contempt ; the name of Monarchiens, which was
given to its members, turned it into such ridicule
that it was powerless to do any good.
The King had clearly foreseen the effect which his
appearance in the Assembly would have on the
Eoyalists. He never anticipated making any im
pression on the factious spirits, but he wished to
try this last resource in regard to those who were
only misguided. His scant success increased still
more the regret at the sight of this Prince under
taking to maintain a yet incomplete Constitution,
whose authors, so far from repressing the excesses-

DISTURBANCES IN THE PROVINCES. 8 1
which were of daily occurrence in the Provinces,
were only bent upon the ruin of the kingdom and
the downfall of the Monarch and the Monarchy.
Insurrections continued to multiply in the interior
of the kingdom, and brigands took advantage of
their impunity to rob and burn castles and commit
every species of disorder. The Assembly, whTSfT
never lost sight of its projects of destruction, was
far more occupied with the overthrow of the Monastic
orders and the sale of the property of the clergyT
than with the repression of all these excesses. A
sitting was, however, devoted to the subject, but
the outcome of it was merely to request the King
to give orders for the execution of the decree of
the 6th of August concerning public liberty, and to
charge the President of the Assembly to write to
the Municipalities in which the disturbances had
taken place, requesting them to state the extent
to which they were affected by the existing disorders,
which would compel the executive power to employ
forces that would be placed at their disposal for
the restoration of order. It should be here remarked
that for some time past the Assembly had avoided
all mention of the name of King, and made use of
that of the executive power, in order to get the
people out of the habit of thex respect they had
felt for so long a time for that honoured name.
The Abbd Maury and M. de Cazales declared that
recourse to the executive power, which had been de
prived of all force and authority, was plainly illusory,
VOL. I. F

82 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
and that strong and vigorous measures should be
taken, the want of public force being the sole cause
of all the atrocities.
MM. Voidel and Lanjuinais replied to the Abbd
Maury; and the latter traced the cause of all the
crimes that had been committed to the rigour with
which the aristocracy maintained their authority.
M. Cazeles stoutly denied this assertion ; but no
attention was paid to the proofs he adduced in sup
port of his speech, and the agreement was quite as
general to employ gentle measures against the good
people who were burning the castles. " Do not pro
stitute the word people, but call them brigands ! "
said M. d'Eprdmdnil. " I will say, if you like,"
replied Eobespierre, " the citizens who are burning
the castles ; for the love of tranquillity might place
liberty in danger." The result of this consoling ex
planation was the adoption of the proposed decree.
The King was deeply moved by the renewal of
such excesses, and had besides the pain of
seeing the denunciation of citizens who conducted
themselves firmly and courageously. He was much
grieved at the outrageous charges brought against
M. d' Albert de Eioms, Commandant of the Navy at
Toulon, -and M. de Bournissac, Provost General of
Provence, in the report made to the Assembly about
the affairs of Toulon and Marseilles.
M. d 'Albert de Eioms, having manifested his
intention of punishing the disobedience of two work
men of the port of Toulon, roused a disturbance

M. D' ALBERT DE RIOMS. 83
against himself among a certain number of naval
volunteers, who demanded justice for the people of
Toulon. M. d' Albert de Eioms, afraid of the danger
to the Arsenal in the event of a rising among the
workmen of the port, allowed himself to be im
prisoned rather than make a resistance which might
have a disastrous result ; he therefore merely de
manded that justice should be done to him. The
affair was taken before the Assembly, which was
undecided as to whether or not the conduct of M.
d' Albert de Eioms amounted to an attempt against
the liberty of the subject.
M. de Mirabeau and several other deputies, among
them one named Eicard, a deputy of Provence, were
vexy violent against M. d' Albert de Eioms, and were
anxious to send the matter to the Chatelet. But all
the sensible members of the Assembly united to do
this officer the justice which his wise and moderate
conduct deserved. After several sittings it was re
solved that there was no ground of complaint against
M. d' Albert de Eioms or any of the officers accused ;
that a copy of the resolution should be sent to him
by the President ; and that to this copy should be
added an expression of the esteem of the Assembly for
a warrior who had so gloriously upheld the honour of
the nation. It was generally remarked as a singular
incident that the deputies who had been the most
bitter against M. d' Albert de Eioms not only ap
plauded the resolution, but requested in addition
that the same expressions of esteem should be ex-

84 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
tended to all the naval officers at Toulon who were
implicated in the affair.
The matter concerning M. de Bournissac occupied
a greater number of sittings. He had by his firm and
courageous conduct repressed the disturbances origi
nated in Marseilles by three persons, whom he had
caused to be arrested and handed over to the police.
They complained to the Assembly, and the protectors
of licence defended the authors of those insurrections.
The Count de Mirabeau spoke in their favour with
his usual vehemence ; and being anxious to revenge-
himself upon M. de Bournissac, who had condemned
him in connection with an affair anterior to the
Eevolution, he employed every means in his power
to have him found guilty ; but he was unsuccessful,
and the Assembly remitted the affair to the proper
tribunal. The Vivarais Eegiment, in garrison at Bdthune,
also revolted. It refused to accept the Chevalier de
Maillier as its Lieutenant- Colonel, although it had no
ground of complaint against him. The King, after
having given it time to repent, and being anxious to-
put an end to so dangerous an example, ordered the
regiment away from Bdthune, at the same time-
directing that the loyal soldiers should be separated
from those in revolt, and that only those should be-
kept with the colours who would recognise the
authority of the Chevalier de Maillier. This order
was read out to the regiment on its arrival at Lens ;
but the majority of the men, with several non-com-

REVOLT AMONG THE TROOPS. 85
missioned officers at their head, refused to obey,
seized the colours, chest, and equipment of the regi
ment, conveyed everything to Bdthune, and handed
it over to the Commandant of the National Guard.
The Marquis de Courtarvel, and the officers, non
commissioned officers, and men who remained faith
ful, made desperate efforts to save the colours ; but
failing in their attempt, M. de Courtarvel set out at
once to demand their restoration by the Mayor of
Bdthune, who refused to give them up.
The King, who was informed of the progress of
this revolt, cashiered all the non-commissioned officers
and men who had refused to obey his orders, declared
that he would only recognise them as rebels who
ought to be handed over to the rigour of military
law, and sent new colours to the regiment, looking
xipon the old ones as soiled. In addition to this,
having been informed that the town of Lens had
come to the assistance of the regiment, and had
advanced money to it, he directed that it should be
reimbursed as quickly as possible, and he charged
the Count de Sommievre, who commanded in the
Province, to convey to it his satisfaction at the
genuine patriotism it had displayed on this occasion.
There was also an insurrection at Lyons, directed
against M. Imbert Colonia, senior Alderman and
Commandant of the Volunteers of that town. He
was a man of distinguished merit. The services he
had rendered at the head of the Volunteers in the
maintenance of public tranquillity in Lyons and its

86 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
suburbs, could not hold him harmless against the fury
of the rebels. The people were roused against him,
and in spite of the prudence and firmness he dis
played under the circumstances, he was in the end
compelled to take refuge in Bourg en Bresse, where
the Municipality took him under its protection ; but
before leaving Lyons he sent in his resignation to the
Consulate. At the same time there were bloody struggles in
Bdziers in defence of the smugglers. Limousin,
Quercy, and Perigord also were subject to robbery and
incendiarism, and the spirit of revolt manifested itself
on all sides.
The Assembly, fearing that these continual dis
sensions would disturb the confidence of the nation,
decreed an address to the Provinces, and empowered
M. de Talleyrand to draw it up. It enumerated the
labours of the Assembly, the so-called innumerable
benefits it had already procured for the nation, as
well as those which the completion of the Constitu
tion would confer upon them ; it entreated them not
to allow themselves to be discouraged by the insinua
tions of the malevolent, but to continue to place
their confidence in an Assembly which would put
under the protection of the nation the Constitution
best adapted to render France free and happy.
When the report of the division of the kingdom
was finished, M. de Cazales represented to the Assem
bly that it was necessary that, on the assembly of
the Provinces, they should be in a position to judge

REVOLT AMONG THE TROOPS. 87
of the conduct of their representatives ; that, as the
existing dissensions between the various parties in
the Assembly placed continual obstacles in the way
of the success of its labours, he moved for a new
election of deputies to the Assembly so soon as the
Departments should be formed ; for the exclusion of
the members of the existing Legislature from that
which would replace it ; and for an address to the
King to convoke it in a town at least thirty leagues
distant from Paris. He added that this was the
only way to prove to the nation that the Assembly
had not misunderstood its authority ; to obviate the
suspicions of the Provinces in regard to the enforced
residence of the King in the capital, and the
umbrage they might take in consequence of the
National Assembly holding its sittings in a city
whose interests were so often opposed to their own.
This motion produced the greatest indignation
among the members of the Left of the Assembly,
and without even allowing any discussion, it passed
to the order of the day.
No opportunity was lost of creating public excite
ment, and atrocious calumnies were permitted against
the most respectable persons. 'Several newspapers
went so far as to state in their columns that the
Condd Eegiment, in garrison in the town of that
name, had just destroyed the arms of that Prince,
and had requested that its name might be changed.
The regiment requested the Count de Sesmaisons, its
Colonel, to contradict this statement in the name of

88 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
the whole of the corps so outrageously calumniated.
The Count consequently wrote a most noble letter, in
which he made known that the regiment gloried in
bearing a name so illustrious in the annals of the
nation, and maintained with fresh brilliancy in the
last war by the Prince whose name it then bore ;
and he had this letter inserted in every newspaper.
Such was the general madness, that the members
of the battalion of the Saint Honore district, in order
to render homage to the recently-promulgated decree,
by virtue of which any misdeeds, rendered personal,
could not fall upon the families of those guilty of
them, solemnly paid the last honours to the bodies of
MM. Agasse, the nephews of the President of that
district, who had been executed for the crime of for
gery ; bestowed promotion on all their relations ; and
then went to do homage for this conduct to the
Assembly, which gave them high praise and accorded
to them the honours of the sitting.
The death of M. de Favras was a source of deep
regret to all thinking and honourable people, who
could not witness without indignation the deter
mination displayed by the Committee of Enquiry
to secure his condemnation. It was shared byM. de
la Fayette, and the majority of -the National Guard,
and was carried to such a pitch that several of its
members, albeit attached to the Constitution, were
ashamed to wear a uniform under which such excess
was allowed.
None of the witnesses examined in the trial of

M. DE FAVRAS. 89
M. de Favras had borne testimony against him.
There was no real proof of conspiracy ; the strongest
presumption in that direction was based on the
evidence of two witnesses only, named Turcatti and
Morel, both of them recruiters, the one an avowed
informer, the other accused by M. de Favras and
for that reason ineligible as a witness. Nevertheless,
on evidence such as this, after a sitting which lasted
until six o'clock in the evening, M. de Favras was
found guilty of having attempted to set on foot a
counter revolution, having for its object the dissolu
tion of the National Assembly, the removal of the
King to Pdronne, and the deaths of MM. Necker, de
la Fayette, and Bailly ; and in consequence of his
conduct he was condemned to be hanged, and to do
public penance at Notre Dame.
M. Thilorier, his counsel, and the Baron de Cor-
merd, his brother, defended him with all possible
warmth and feeling eloquence ; but they had the grief
of seeing, by the efforts which were made to influence
the judges, that these efforts were futile. All the
sittings of this trial were accompanied by tumultuous
disorder, which could not fail to alarm all weak and
pusillanimous minds, and the atrocity was carried to
the length of general applause when the sentence of
death was pronounced.
M. Quatremer read out the sentence to M. de
Favras, who heard it with firmness, interrupting
him on several occasions in order to protest his in
nocence. M. Quatremer, in exhorting him to profit

90 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
by the consolations of religion, the only ones he
could offer him, added, it is said, these words,
" Your life is a sacrifice you owe to public tran
quillity." " My consolations," said M. de Favras,
" are in my innocence. Ah, howT I pity the French,
since the information of two perjured men suffices to
secure their condemnation." He requested that the
cure of Saint Paul might be with him in his last
moments, and he spent an hour and a half alone
with him. He then mounted the tumbril firmly,
looking with disdain on the applause of a drunken
and excited mob. When he reached Notre Dame
he took his sentence, read it with a firm, clear voice,
and then said, "Listen, you pfeople, to what I am
about to say to you. As surely as I am going to
appear before God, I die innocent. I obey the justice
of man which, as 3^0 u know, is not infallible." He
then got into the tumbrel as firmly as before, and
requested to be taken to the H6tel de Ville.
He there found M. de Quatremer and two other
judges, whom he saluted in the most imposing
manner. He then explained his conduct in a speech
as cogent as it was touching, forgave the authors of
his death, and declared that the refusal to listen to
the witnesses he wished to produce, was the cause
of the iniquitous judgment which had soiled the lips
which had pronounced it, and the hand which had
signed it. " My conduct," he added, " is honour
able ; I loved my King, and I wished to save him
from the dangers which he might incur. I die with

DEATH OF M. DE FAVRAS. 91
the calmness that comes from a tranquil conscience,
and I commend my memory to the esteem of all
virtuous citizens, as well as my wife and children,
to whom I was so necessary. I ask for pardon for
the false witnesses if they are recognised as such,
and I beg that nobody may dread the consequences
of an imaginary plot." He left the H6tel de Ville,
and ascended the scaffold with the same firmness,
giving an example of a death as heroic as it was
Christianlike. The King and Queen were deeply moved by the
condemnation of M. de Favras. I was a witness of
their grief, and even now I shrink from thinking
of the condition in which I saw the Queen when she
was informed that M. de Favras no longer existed.
On the 20th of February, a discussion again took
place on the necessity of taking steps to re-establish
public tranquillity. The Abbd Maury and MM.
Malouet and Cazales considered it indispensable to
commence by re-establishing the authority of the
King ; but Mig^aeau. and those of his party spoke witE~
such warmth of theoaTtger which the Constitution
would run if, before it was completed, what was
reserved for it should be bestowed upon the execu
tive power, that the Assembly contented itself with
decreeing that nobody could avail himself of any
act emanating from the King and the Assembly,
unless it was drawn up in the form prescribed by
law, under pain of being considered a disturber of
the public peace ; that the speech of the King, the

92 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
address of the Assembly, and the decrees sanctioned
by the King, should be sent to all the Municipalities
of the kingdom, with orders to placard them, and to
the priests to publish them from the pulpit; and
Municipal officers were enjoined to employ every
means in their power to maintain the security of
persons and property ; and in cases where seditious
gatherings placed these in danger, martial law was to
be proclaimed. It rendered it obligatory on all Muni
cipalities to lend assistance mutually on requisition,
and held them responsible for the consequences in case
they refused. The Communes in their turn were held
responsible for all damage which might be caused by
seditious gatherings, but they were not to take pro
ceedings against the authors of them ; their responsi
bility was to be decided by the tribunal of the place,
on the requisition of the tribunal of the district.
A deputation from the commerce of the whole
kingdom, and especially from the commercial com
munity of Bordeaux, came to point out that its de
cline heralded total annihilation, unless the Assembly
would apply a prompt remedy to the spirit of insur
rection which was manifesting itself in the colonies.
" The establishments which France has formed," said
the members of these two deputations, " produce
a revenue of 240,000,000 francs, of which a balance
of 80,000,000 is in our favour. The existence of
6,000,000 Frenchmen is bound up in their fate. It
is recognised that the negroes alone can cultivate the
Colonies ; they cannot exist without the preservation

INSURRECTION IN SAN DOMINGO. 93
of the treaty and the slavery of the negroes, and
for the 400,000,000 due to the mother-country by
the Colonies there is no other security than the
property of the latter."
The insurrection in San Domingo had been in
preparation for two or three months. The deputies
of that island warned the Assembly of this, but no
notice was taken by it, and the Government alone-
was uneasy about the fate of the colonies. The In
tendant had been obliged to fly ; the senior Com
missioner and the Solicitor-General had been severely
ill-treated ; and to complete the tale of disaster, M-
Ferrand des Grandieres, the Seneschal, accused with
out reason of having attempted to rouse the mulattoes
at the Cape and in the Northern Provinces, was
hanged ; arms were taken from the Arsenal ; addi
tional militia was called into existence, and the Cape
regiment was incorporated under the orders of M. de
la Chevalerie, who was appointed Captain-General.
The plan of the Convocation of the Assemblies, sent
by the Minister of Marine, was intercepted, as well
as two letters addressed to M. de Peinieres, Com
mandant in San Domingo; indicating to him the
mode of convocation and the line of conduct he was
to pursue. The Provincial Assembly of the Cape constituted
itself, and named M. de la Chevalier its President. It
declared that all power was vested in it ; that every
Other Assembly was illegal and seditious ; that it
would no longer recognise M. de Peinieres as Com-

94 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
mandant so long as he would not take the oath. It
dismissed the Superior Council, re-established that
of the Cape, and opened the ports to foreigners. M.
-de Peinieres continued to wait for orders from the
King in regard to taking the oath ; but as he did
not receive any — his letters having been either sup
pressed or intercepted — he determined at length to
take it in order to maintain peace in those portions
of the Colonies which had not up to that time
participated in the insurrection.
All tMs intelligence caused the greatest uneasi-
ness^^rtThe Assembly, instead of finding a remedy,
jroCcupied itself, on the contrary, with the emancipa
tion of the negroes. The representations of the com
mercial classes at length became so pressing that it
was resolved to appoint a commission of twelve mem
bers to report on the Colonies. The King, who was
fully sensible of the importance of the question, was
very much agitated in regard to the result. For
tunately Barnave, who was entrusted with the report,
was made to understand the importance of preserv
ing property so essential to France ; and he promised
to do all in his power to draw up a report which
should put an end to all anxiety, and to secure its
adoption by the Assembly. He kept his word, and
the decree, which was drawn up in accordance with
the terms of the report, was so wise and moderate
Tihat it saved the Colony for the moment. It was
passed almost unanimously, despite the efforts of
'Pethion, Mirabeau, and the friends of the negroes,

THE DISTRICTS. 95
who were quite willing to sacrifice to their principles/
a colony so precious to France, and on which de-|
pended the existence of so large a number of French-|
men. The King and Queen rejoiced exceedingly
over this decree. They were both more taken up
with the misfortunes of France than with their own
position, and it would be impossible to find a Sove
reign more attached to his people than was our
unhappy King.
A few days afterwards, their Majesties had the
additional satisfaction of seeing M. Augeard, Private
Secretary to the Queen, set at liberty. He had been
in prison for four months, and had been transferred
to the Court of the Chatelet, which, as we know, was
established by the Assembly for the trial of cases of
treason against the nation. MM. Ogier and Garaud
de Coulon, Members of the Committee of Inquiry, did
everything in their power to obtain his conviction on
a pretended change of having formed a plan for the
removal of the King ; but as the evidence was ab
solutely at variance with any such charge, he re
covered his liberty.
Several districts, sure of being supported by the
Assembly, arrogated to themselves arbitrary power,
and indulged in the most inflammatory resolutions.
That, of the Cordeliers was one of the most remark
able of this class. It was composed of all the most
turbulent and seditious elements of the capital.
Danton, one of its members, once a barrister before
the Council, and who afterwards figured in so cruel

96 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
a manner in the Eevolution, having been accused of
inflammatory resolutions, was ordered to the Chatelet
to be heard in his own defence, and as he took no
notice of this he was arrested. The district took
his part, and sent a deputation to the Assembly to
obtain his liberty. In his favour, they fell back
upon a decree, under which a Procureur du Eoi,
accused of having had similar designs, was acquitted.
The Abbd Fauchet spoke in favour of Danton and of
a resolution from the same district, which demanded
the institution of a Grand Jury for the trial of offences
of treason against the nation. M. Godard explained
the inconvenience of this measure so forcibly to the
Assembly, that it passed to the order of the day.
Nothing was so alarming as the facility with
which the liberty of the citizen was attacked. The
Chevalier de Laizer had been arrested a few days
previously by an emissary from the Chatelet,
assisted by ten members of the National Guard, on
the simple information of somebody unknown, and
he was put in prison ; but the remonstrance of the
district of the Minimes, to which he belonged,
restored him to liberty. This district sent a deputa
tion to the Commune to complain of the arbitrary
arrests, and to demand the suppression of the Com
mittee of Enquiry. The Abbd Fauchet, President of
the Commune, declared that this Committee was not
responsible for the arrest of M. de Laizer, and that its
preservation was necessary, it having done more for
the Eevolution than any other institution.

THE MILITARY CONSTITUTION. 97
There were lengthy debates in the Assembly
about the military constitution. The Abbd Maury pro
posed that the army should be under the orders of the
King, the responsibility of the agents being alone
excepted. Such authority in the hands of the King
alarmed the Assembly. Barnave, Alexandre de
Lameth, and Dubois de Craned protested and main
tained that, sovereignty being vested in the people,
nothing should be entrusted to the King but the
power of putting the law in execution. It was
decreed that the King should be the supreme head
of the army, but that he should not be empowered
to introduce foreign troops, except by virtue of a
resolution of the Corps Legislatif sanctioned by him ;
that every citizen should be eligible for military
employ ; that no soldier should be dismissed without
legal trial ; " that the venality of all military em
ployment should be suppressed ; that every soldier
should take the civic oath ; that each Parliament
should fix the amount to be voted for the mainte
nance of the army, the number of which it was to
be composed, the pay of each grade, and the rules of
admission and promotion; that the Committee of the
Constitution should be charged to propose, as quickly
as possible, a plan on the subject of the employment
of the forces in the interior of the kingdom, and
their relationship with the civil power and the
National Guard ; and on the mode of recruiting in
time of war, after the cessation of the system of
balloting for the militia ; and that the King should
vol. I. G

98 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
be requested to present a plan of organisation, so
that the Assembly might be in a position to de
liberate upon the jurisdiction of the executive
power. The Vacation Chamber of the Parliament of
Bordeaux having ordered a prosecution of the
brigands, who were infesting the Provinces under its
jurisdiction, on the requisition of M. Dudon,
Solicitor-General of that Court, it was denounced to
the Assembly by the patriotic army of Bordeaux,
and so was the charge made by M. Dudon. The
latter was bold enough to throw the blame on the
results of the Eevolution, and compared the mis
fortunes it had occasioned, with the happiness it
would have produced if it had been better con
ducted. The Assembly ordered a report on this
affair, and, on the advice of the Committee, ordered
the President of the Vacation Chamber and M.
Dudon to appear at the bar of the House. The
latter was, however, by reason of his eighty-three
years, permitted to give in writing the motives of
his conduct ; and the Assembly thanked the patrio
tic army of Bordeaux for the zeal it had never ceased
to display since the Eevolution.
M. Augeard, President of the Vacation Chamber,
betook himself at once to Paris, appeared at the
bar, and justified his colleagues in a speech full of
cogency and wisdom. The Assembly were so irri
tated by it that M. de Menou, who presided over
it, comported himself against M. Augeard in the most

DEATH OF THE EMPEROR JOSEPH II. 99
indecent manner. Very stormy debates took place
on this subject. M. Augeard was in the end allowed
to retire with the admonition that the Assembly
would reserve to itself the right of examining the
motives of the conduct of the Chamber.
To the troubles of the Queen was now added her
most heartfelt loss. The Emperor Joseph II. died at
Vienna on the 20th of February. He had always
ibeen tenderly attached to the Queen, the youngest
¦of his sisters. He looked upon her as his daughter,
and was deeply grieved by her misfortunes. During
the last days of his life he wrote her a most tender
and touching letter. He told her that one of his
greatest regrets in dying was leaving her in so cruel
a position, and his inability to give her some real
tokens of the affection he had always had for her.
The Queen, after having given way to her grief for a
few days, courageously hid it within her own bosom,
and received the condolences usual on such occa
sions. The Assembly sent her a deputation, with
the Abbd de Montesquiou, its President, at its head.
'The latter took advantage of the occasion to render
to the character of the Queen the homage due to it,
and he concluded his speech with this remarkable
sentence, " The Assembly bases its hope, Madame,
on that force of character which raises your Majesty
above all reverses."
Ever great and noble, this Princess compelled
respect even from those who were most disposed to
fail in it. The Commune of Paris, when inquiring

100 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
into the occurrences of the 5th and 6th of October,
their instigators, and adherents, sent a deputation to
the Queen to beg her to throw some light upon those
fearful days. " No," she replied, " I will never be
^the accuser of the subjects of the King." Her reply
to the deputation from the Chatelet on the same
subject was no less noble. " / have seen all, known
all, and forgotten all." And she confined her reply
to these splendid words.
The activity displayed by the Chatelet in dis
covering those responsible for the days whose crimes-
dishonoured France, drew upon it many enemies.
The Committee of Inquiry, alarmed by their threats,
and composed of ardent revolutionaries, demanded
and received permission from the Commune to de
nounce only the day of the 6th of October, regard
ing the denunciation of the 5th as anti-revolutionary..
It was, nevertheless, on this day that the attack
against the Castle began, which they would have-
violated if the firm bearing of the Body Guard had
not stopped them ; that they assassinated two officers-
of that corps, and made known their sinister pro
jects by the remarks they let fall while seeking for
entrances by which they might penetrate into the
apartments of the Eoyal Family.

CHAPTEE III.
THE YEAR 1790.
First Communion of Madame — Formation of several Federations in
various Provinces of the Kingdom — Disorder in the Finances —
Sale of the Property of the Clergy and their Civil Constitution —
Suppression of all the Tribunals of the Kingdom— Repeated De
nunciations, and Protection accorded to the Informers — Institu
tion of Judges — Disturbances in the Kingdom — Debate on the
Right of making Peace and War, and the Decree passed on this
Subject.
Although Madame was only twelve years of age,
the King and Queen decided that she should make
her first communion at Easter. Her piety, which
seemed to be born with her, rendered this ceremony
very touching. Before starting for the Church of
Saint Germain l'Auxerrois, the parish church of the
Tuileries, Madame knelt at the feet of the King and
Queen and asked their blessing. The King, imbued
with those religious principles which alone could
have sustained him in his unparalleled misfortunes,
spoke to her in a very touching manner of the great
action she was about to perform, and added, as he
took her in his arms, " Pray, my daughter, for
France and for us ; the prayers of innocence can
appease the celestial anger." The young Princess

102 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
burst into tears, was unable to utter a word, and got
into the carriage with me, the Duchess de Charost,
my daughter, and the Baroness de Mackau, Assistant
Governess of the Children of France, who had the
charge of Madame. The young Princess reached the
church with a most composed mein, and approached
the holy table with marks of most sincere devotion.
The Queen was present incognita at this ceremony,
which was very simple, and went off as quietly as-
possible. Their Majesties on this occasion distri
buted abundant alms among the parishes of Paris.
Madame was instructed by the cure of Saint
Eustache, who was clever, well informed, and of
exemplary morals. But he was, unfortunately,
feeble and timid in disposition, and he had not
courage enough to expose himself to the persecution
whicli was to result from the sanction of the
civil Constitution of the Clergy. The sorrow he
felt for his own weakness materially affected his
health and shortened his days. He showed the
greatest regret for his fault during his last illness,
and he only deferred his retractation of it in the hope
of making it in person in the church ; but death sur
prised him before he was able to fulfil a duty which
the publicity of his fault had rendered so necessary.
In Dauphind, as well as in several other Pro
vinces of the kingdom, parliamentary federations
were formed. That of the town of Eomans, consist
ing of eight thousand persons, had at its head the
Baron de Gilliers, Commandant of the National

CRITICAL STATE OF THE FINANCES. 103
Guard of Dauphind and Vivarais. He was dele
gated to present to the King, in the name of these
two Provinces, an address expressing their submis
sion and their desire to see the restoration to the
King of the authority so necessary to the safety of
France and the happiness of his subjects. The Baron
de Gilliers had both talent and firmness. At the
beginning of the Eevolution, he, like so many other
Dauphinois, allowed himself to be carried away by
an exaggerated desire for liberty ; but, an honest
man and attached to the King, he saw with pain
that he was misunderstood, and he desired to repair,
by means of genuine services, the error into which
he had allowed himself to be drawn. He never
wavered for an instant in this resolution, and more
than once gave proofs of devotion which caused him
to be distinguished by Madame Elizabeth, who on
several occasions gave him tokens of her confidence
and esteem.
The Assembly, urged to apply a prompt remedy
to the critical state of the finances, directed the
Minister to render an account of their situation, and
of his views for their improvement. M. Necker con
sequently appeared before the ' Assembly. After
having demonstrated the necessity of taking prompt
and efficacious measures to arrest a deficit which was
daily increasing, he pointed out several methods of
remedy, and expressed himself as by no means in
despair as to the re-establishment of the finances of
a kingdom which had so many resources. The As-

104 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
sembly resolved that the report should be considered,
and that three sittings a week should be devoted to
the finances of the kingdom.
^- M. Necker was already paying the penalty of his
ingratitude and disloyalty. Distrusted by the As
sembly, detested by the faithful servants of the
King, and without the slightest possibility of being
able to satisfy his ambition, he saw, but too late,
that a man ends by being the victim of those whom
he raises at the expense of his duty.
As the moment appeared to be favourable to bring
about the destruction of the clergy by means of the
sale of their property, M. Bailly, in order to accomplish
it more speedily, proposed to the Assembly that a
decree should be passed granting to the Municipality
of Paris the power of buying Church property to the
extent of 400,000,000 francs, in exchange for which it
should subscribe an equal value in notes redeemable
in fifteen years, and that the same favour should be
extended to the other Municipalities of the kingdom
up to a similar amount. This proposition gave rise
to very warm discussions between the two parties in
the Assembly. A great number of deputies were
opposed to it. The Archbishop of Aix, the Bishop
of Nancy, and several others showed with as much
wisdom as moderation the inconveniences which
would arise from the creation of assignats and the
sale of clerical property before any provision had
been made for the tithes, which formed a large portion
of the property, for the regulation of the cost of public

SALE OF CHURCH PROPERTY. 105
worship and the payment of its ministers, and for
the mode of payment of the claims of private indivi
duals or the clergy. They represented that, in charg
ing the Municipalities with the sale of this property,
they would be running the risk of seeing it fall into
dilapidation, and of saddling the State with the cost
of public worship and with private liabilities.
The ardent desire of the Assembly for the dis
possession of the clergy would scarcely permit it to
, listen to any of the arguments brought against the
proposition of M. Bailly. It was converted into a
decree, with the addition of the nomination of twelve
Commissioners selected from the Assembly for the
purpose of estimating, in concert with the Munici
pality, the value of the property handed over to
the latter. It, as well as the other Municipalities,
was besides compelled to offer this property for sale
at once, and to knock it down to the highest bidder so
soon as any purchaser presented himself who would^
give the reserve fixed by the Commission, j The
Assembly did not care to accept the 400,000,000
francs offered by the clergy on condition that the
disposal of this property should be left to them. A
member of the Left naively gave a reason for this to
a friend of mine, who contended that such a sum
might free the State. " That may be," he replied,
"but the clergy would not be destroyed."
Dom Gerle, in order to shut the mouths"oT those
who asserted that the destruction of the clergy would
bring about that of religion, and would permit the

106 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
admission of every sect into France, proposed a
resolution that the Catholic, Apostolic, and Eoman
religion should always remain the religion of the
State, and that its worship alone should be author
ised. MM. de Menou, de Lameth, and de Mirahfiau
opposed this resolution, and wj;tli_jpompous derision
made their profession of attachment to the Catholic
religion, saying that it would be an insult to the
Assembly to doubt its sentiments towards a religion
whose worship appeared at the head of the public
expenditure. After a lively discussion between the
members of the Assembly, Dom Gerle withdrew his
motion, and the Assembly passed to the order of the
day. Not content with having despoiled the Church of
all its property, it wished also to change the form of
its Constitution, and to arrogate to itself the regula
tion of what concerned its ministers. It made a
\ new distribution of bishoprics, suppressed a great
number of them, declared that for the future the
priests, and even the bishops, should be appointed by
the people, and deprived the latter of all authority
over the priests, and all power in their dioceses.
This was the last blow it could strike against
religion ; and it was easy to see that in degrading
the clergy, and rendering them powerless to do any
good, it would cause them to lose all consideration
in the eyes of the people, who, from contempt of
its ministers, would speedily pass to contempt of
religion.

CIVIL CONSTITUTION OF THE CLERGY. 107
The Abbd Maury, and several other distin
guished members of the clergy, discussed all the
articles of the Constitution with wisdom and mode
ration, and they clearly proved that it was inadmis
sible in the Catholic religion, and that it would be
the cause of trouble by reason of the uneasiness it
would produce in consciences, generally. But it was
a foregone conclusion, and in spite of the protest of
the clergy, and a large number of members of the
Assembly, that they would take no part in the decree
to be pronounced with this object, the Civil Consti
tution of the clergy was voted by a majority of the
Assembly. Its result justified only too clearly the
fears it inspired. The people, after having passed
from contempt of the clergy to contempt of religion,
ended by having none, and we are now reaping the
sad harvest of that abuse of all restraint and every
principle. The Assembly then turned to the incomes of
the clergy themselves and other beneficiaries, and
decreed that in future the salary of bishops and arch
bishops should be fixed at 12,000 francs ; that of the
cures at 1200 francs, exclusive of their fees, which
were allowed to remain as they were ; that of the
country vicars at 700 francs, and the vicars in towns
were allowed to remain as they were.
As it was impossible to effect such a reduction in
the cases of bishops and cures who had up to that time
enjoyed such different incomes, it decided that the
bishops and archbishops whose revenues exceeded

108 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
12,000 francs should retain, in addition to this amount,
half their actual income, provided that it did not ex
ceed 30,000 francs, as well as their episcopal resi
dence and gardens attached. The pensioners, digni
taries, canons, and other holders of benefices were
treated in like manner, the Archbishop of Paris alone
retaining an income of 73,000 francs. The cures
whose income exceeded 1200 francs retained, in addi
tion to this amount, half their surplus income, pro
vided that it did not exceed 600 francs, and their
houses and gardens attached.
The Chevalier de BoufHers, and MM. Malouet,
Eewbell, Clermont-Tonnerre, and several others, made
futile representations against the injustice of depriv
ing prelates, who had enjoyed considerable incomes,
of the power to pay off debts, which the majority of
them had contracted for purposes of charity or public
utility, and of defrauding creditors who had dealt in
good faith and on the guarantee of property regarded
as inviolable. Insults and sarcasms were the replies
given to the arguments adduced in favour of the
clergy, and those who were beneficed were despoiled.
Bishops over seventy -five years of age were granted
a salary of 18,000 francs, and their maximum was,
moreover, increased by one-third ; the deposed
bishops had only one-third of the salary allotted
to those who were retained.
It must not be forgotten that the clergy took no
part in the discussion on these salaries ; they con
tented themselves with defending whatever con-

ALIENATION OF THE ROYAL DOMAINS. 109
cerned the groundwork of religion, and displayed
throughout the sittings of the Assembly, and espe
cially on this occasion, dignity and disinterestedness
above all praise.
The Assembly did not stop at the proposal of
M. Bailly ; it decreed in addition the sale of all the
national domains, other than the forests and
those which the King might think proper to
reserve to himself; and in order to accelerate the
sale of the church property, it decreed that every
private individual, without distinction, should be
entitled to purchase national property. The Abbd
Maury, M. Cazales, and many others, pointed out
cogently that the creditors of the clergy and the
holders of church property should have the prefer
ence, and that this measure would bring about the
dilapidation of that property, and would only
benefit speculators and capitalists. They were not
listened to, and the decree was passed.
The Assembly, in spite of the remonstrances of a
large number of its members, decreed in like manner
the alienation of the royal domains. In vain was it
proved that this was the patrimony of our Kings ; it
would listen to nothing, and even went so far as to
extend this measure to any inheritance which might
subsequently fall to them,- and which at their death
would come within the category of royal domains.
The same thing happened in regard to the free
dom of commerce with India, in spite of the obser
vations of a large number of business men who

110 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
represented, but in vain, that such a decree would
ruin our commerce and give the English an enormous
advantage, by which they would profit at our expense.
f But the most incredible circumstance was the
fact that, in a couple of hours, a decree was passed
suppressing all the existing tribunals throughout the
kingdom. The Assembly adopted the conclusions of
M. Thouret, the reporter of the Committee of the
Constitution, without allowing any discussion on
the danger of giving France over to anarchy by so
sudden a destruction, or on the immense debt
with which it would be saddled by the reimburse
ment of the finances of each office of the magistrature.
Denunciations multiplied, and the intriguers
found the part of informer so profitable that they
gave themselves up to it with pleasure. The secre
tary of the Count de Maillebois and his valet, hoping
to make some personal proriT^ultrof the various ideas
which their master had put on paper and given to
his secretary to copy, substituted the copy for the
original, and with the latter denounced him to the
¦Committee of Inquiry. " We do not ask for any
thing," they said, "and we merely wish to fulfil the
most sacrethof d-utiesJ^denouiicing_M.- de Maillebois
for the goocLof the country." They had just shame
enough left to notify to the Count that, having found
employment in Paris, they would not return to him.
He went to his writing desk, and finding only a copy
of his papers, he had his horses put to his carriage
and started at once for Holland, being unwilling to

THE PRESIDENCY OF THE ASSEMBLY. Ill
risk a long period of imprisonment before he could
prove his innocence.
The Assembly, not wishing to be presided over by
Members of the Eight, and discontented at seeing
the Count de Virieu succeed the Marquis de Bounai,
conceivjid_the_jdea^_b^^ him, of^Q
proposing that he should make an addition to the
ordinary oath in the form of an undertaking that he
would never protest against any of the decrees of the
Assembly. He consented, merely adding, " So long
as they shall have been sanctioned by the King."
This restriction was the cause of a great disturbance.
The Left contended that the decrees passed by the
Assembly were obligatory on all its members, even
previous to their sanction by the King ; the Eight
warmly advocated the opposite view. M. de Virieu,
being unable to make himself heard, requested M. de
Bounai to take his place until calm should be restored.
He therefore resumed the presidency in order to
assert his right, and raising his voice, he announced
his resignation of the post in the interests of peace.
The Assembly appointed the Abbd Goutte in his
place. The latter, in a hypocritical tone, solemnly
proclaimed that the object of the Assembly in mak
ing such a choice was to honour religion in the per
son of one of its ministers ; and by way of thoroughly
sustaining the character he was playing, when he
quitted the presidency, he devoted his expression of
gratitude to a disquisition on the incompatibility of
riches with religion.

112 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
The appointment of judges occasioned violent de
bates. A proposition was made that they should be
appointed by the King on the nomination of three
subjects. The Left opposed this, as well as a motion
that they should be irremovable. Still fearing lest too
much authority should be given to the King, the
Assembly decreed that the judges should be named
by the people for six years, and should be eligible
for re-election at the expiration of that term ; that
the King should be bound to accept them, and that
they should only receive their formal appointment
from him. The Court of Appeal, which, it was sug
gested, should move from place to place, was finally
declared to be sedentary, and the nomination of the
public ministry alone was reserved to the King.
Disturbances continued in the kingdom ; the
troops revolted against their officers, many of whom
lost their lives in endeavouring to uphold the authority
of the King. The massacre of M. de Voisins, Com
mandant at Valence, found supporters in the Assembly
under the pretext that the opinions of that officer were
a source of uneasiness to the people.
M. de Saint Priest wrote to the Assembly an
account of the excesses which were being committed
in Marseilles. The mob had taken possession of the
Fort de la Garde and the citadel of Saint Nicolas
through the incompetency of M. Calvit, the Com
mandant. M. de Beausset, commanding in Fort
Saint Jean, had, on the contrary, sturdily refused to
surrender it, and had courageously declared that he

DISTURBANCES IN MARSEILLES. 113
would die rather than fail in his duty. When
ordered to appear before the Municipality to give
an account of his conduct, he saw clearly that the
populace were only waiting for him to leave the fort
to put him to death ; but as he did not wish to give
his enemies any hold upon him, he consented to
appear, after having put his affairs in order and
written his farewell to his family. He had scarcely
left the fort before the populace fell upon him and
massacred him in the midst of the Municipal guards
sent to conduct him to the Municipality. M. de
Saint Priest concluded this sad account by request
ing that M. de Crillon should be appointed Com
mandant at Marseilles, in the room of the Marquis
de Miran, who had resigned. The Assembly refused,
on the ground that he was a deputy, although the
Duke de Biron occupied a similar position in Corsica,
on the occasion of the murder of the Count de Eeuilly
when the Viscount de Barrin resigned.
The right minded portion of the Assembly de
manded justice for this cruel outrage, so contrary to
every law, and in itself such a flagrant attack upon
the authority of the King. The Duke de la Eoche-
foucauld, M. d'Andrd, and several others spoke
strongly upon the necessity of punishing such heinous
crimes, and upon the danger of allowing Municipali
ties to shirk their duties under pretence of preserving
their popularity ; and they gave their opinion that the
Municipality should be summoned to the bar of the
Assembly to explain their conduct.
VOL. I. h

114 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.

M. de Mirabeau appeared for the defence. He
maintained that illegality was not a crime, and that
to order the Municipality to appear at the bar was
to prejudge it to be guilty. He likened the two
days' disturbances at Marseilles to those of the 5th
and 6th of October, and added that if Marseilles was
to be punished, the axe should fall on the heads of
the Parisians also. The Baron de Menou, in support
ing the conclusions of M. de Mirabeau, urged the
importance of changing all military commanders in
order to replace them by officers devoted to the
Eevolution, and he denounced M. de Saint Priest as
one of its enemies.
The Viscount de Mirabeau at once demanded that
the disturbance at Marseilles should be dealt with by
the judge ordered to take cognisance of the crimes of
the 5th and 6th of October. The Count de Mirabeau
exclaimed warmly that there was a desire to repre
sent him as the instigator of these disturbances. " I
gave," he said, " I am giving, and I will give peace
to Marseilles ; there is a desire to associate me with
crime ; let my accusers stand forth ; let them de
nounce me to the Committee of Inquiry and unfold
my crimes there." M. de Mirabeau must have been
quite sure of the feeling of the Assembly before he
dared to make use of such language ; but he was too
well aware of its indulgence in regard to crime to
have any fear. The Assembly contented itself with
expressing to the King its profound sorrow about the
disturbances in Marseilles ; with thanking him for the

DIFFERENCES WITH FOREIGN POWERS. 115
steps he had taken to remedy the excesses, and with
referring the matter to the Committee of Eeports.
There was also a riot at Toulon, having for its
object the delivery of arms to the people and the
release of imprisoned sailors. These demands
for arms extended throughout all the ports of the
kingdom, as did the risings of the populace to get
possession of them. M. de Glandeves, who was
forced to quit the H6tel de la Marine, was at first
detained at the Municipality, and the arsenal ran a
great risk of being sacked. The King, in informing
the Assembly of the Toulon revolt, demanded the
punishment of the guilty, and requested that
efficacious measures should be adopted to prevent
the demands for arms which, extending as they did
throughout the ports, might be productive of baneful
results in regard to the preservation of the French
navy. But the Assembly, having simultaneously
received a letter from the Municipality of Toulon
announcing that order had been restored and M. de
Glandeves set at liberty, did nothing but refer the
matter to the Committee of Eeports.
M. de Montmorin wrote, in the name of the
King, to the President of the Assembly, to announce
to him that the existing differences between Spain
and England compelled his Majesty, who was
watching over the safety of the State, to arm fourteen
ships of the line in the ports of the ocean and the
Mediterranean, and even to be in readiness to in
crease the military armaments should circumstances

116 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL .
so require ; that in spite of the hope entertained by
his Majesty that the differences between these two
powers might be amicably arranged, France could
not remain unarmed so long as England was armed ;
that the assistance we had received from Spain on
every occasion, and especially in the last war, would
not allow the King to doubt the eagerness of the
Assembly to maintain the honour of the nation, and
to vote the necessary supplies as soon as the actual
requirements should be laid before it.
" You cannot," said the members of the Left,
" vote supplies until after you have agreed as to
the right of -making peace or war, and especially
so long as the negotiations are in the hands of a
man so suspected by the nation as is the Duke de
Vauguyon." It was resolved that the King should be thanked
for the steps he had taken for the maintenance of
peace, and that, commencing from the following day,
they should consider whether the right of peace or
war belonged to the King or the nation.
Several members of the Eight, including the
Abbd Maury, MM. de Cazales, de Montlosier,
Malouet, the Abbd Montesquiou, and several others,
forcibly maintained the necessity of leaving it to the
King, and the advantage which would accrue to the
nation therefrom. M. de Mirabeau even joined them
on this occasion, but MM. de Lameth, Barnave,
Eewbell, Dupont, de Nemours, Bionzac, Chapellier,
de Custine, d'Aiguillon, and de Crillon advocated the

THE RIGHT OF MAKING PEACE OR WAR. 117
opposite view with equal warmth. After very
animated discussions, which lasted for a week, the
Assembly decreed that peace or war could only be
decided by a decree of the Assembly on the initiative
of the King and sanctioned by him ; that the care of
watching over the safety of the kingdom belonged to
the King alone ; that to him belonged the main
tenance of its rights and possessions, the maintenance
also of political relations, and the appointment of
representatives ; the preparations for war by land
and sea and the destination of operations ; that if
there should be any question of imminent hostilities,
or of preserving an ally, the King should so inform
the Corps Ldgislatif, who would meet as speedily as
possible if it was not sitting ; that if it should be
proved that war was brought about by any represen
tative of the executive power, he should be regarded
as guilty of treason to the nation, France solemnly
refusing to undertake any conquest or to employ its
forces against the liberty of any nation ; that every
declaration of war should be made in the name of the
King and the nation, and that, in case of a refusal
by the legislative power, he should be bound, the
moment the war ended, to place the troops on a
peace footing at a date to be fixed by the Corps
Ldgislatif, and that if the army remained on a war
footing, the Minister should be proceeded against for
treason to the nation ; that to the King should
appertain the power of signing all treaties of peace,
alliance, or commerce with foreign Powers, which

118 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
should only come into operation after sanction by
the Corps Ldgislatif.
The King was very much grieved by this decree.
He regarded it as essential to the good of the State
that the right of making peace or war should be
reserved to him. But those members of the Assembly
who only aspired to the destruction of the royal
authority were not content with opposing the dele
gation to the King of this sovereign prerogative ;
before the promulgation of the decree, they assembled
groups of their adherents .outside the Assembly and
the Tuileries in order to overawe the timid, and
bring them over to their side. M. de la Fayette had
promised to vote for the King on this occasion, but
fearing lest he should lose his popularity, he and his
partisans joined the opposing party, and he then
left the Assembly at the head of the mob, and went
along the terrace of the Tuileries at its head amid
reiterated shouts of "Long live the nation!" The
Queen, in order to avoid this continual noise outside
her windows, took refuge in the entresol occupied by
Madame, and there passed the afternoon. She had
need of all her courage to bear these frequently re
peated insults.
M. Bailly, who, as I have already said, had no
idea of tact, thought he would pay the King a mark
yof respect by presenting him with one of the medals
which the city had struck on the occasion of the
residence of his Majesty in the capital. It repre
sented the entry of the King into the Tuileries, and

M. BAILLY AND THE QUEEN. 119
had as a motto the following words: — "I shall in
future make this my habitual residence. October 6,
1789." "Sire," he said to the King, "these words,
graven on bronze, are inscribed on the hearts of our
citizens." The medal he handed to the King was made of
gold ; to the Queen he gave a silver one, and he
added, " That as the promise of the King assured the
residence of the Queen and Mgr. the Dauphin, she
was about to embellish by her presence a capital, the
sole wish of whose inhabitants was to retain its
Sovereigns within its walls." "And do you, Mon
seigneur," he said to the Dauphin, as he presented
him with a bronze medal, " always love the King as
we love him ; follow in his footsteps and fulfil his
promises." The Queen received with a blush a
medal which brought back a recollection of a day
which the city should have done its utmost to efface,
rather than perpetuate a recollection of it, and she
could not help saying to me, when M. Bailly had
left her presence, that the King might well complain
if the sentiments of his son should be based on those
which were suggested to him.

CHAP TEE IV.
THE YEAR 1790.
Continuance of Disturbances in the Kingdom, and the Decree passed
on this Subject — Civil List decreed by the Assembly — Removal to
Saint Cloud — Suppression of the Nobility — Disorganisation of the
Army — Disturbances originated at Avignon to bring about the
Union of the Comtat with France — Inflammatory Petitions re
ceived by the Assembly — Protection given to the Rebels in
various Provinces of the Kingdom.
M. de Saint Priest wrote again to the Assembly
to complain of the Municipality of Marseilles, which
was permitting the demolition of the Citadel. He
pointed out the importance of preventing such an
outrage, and drew attention to the fact that it would
cost millions to rebuild it. The 'Assembly ordered
the demolition to be stopped, and resolved that the
King should be requested to give orders for the
execution of the decree. The Municipality at once
sent deputies to demand merely the demolition of
the batteries which commanded the- town and ren
dered the people uneasy, and they denounced M. de
Saint Priest as the declared enemy of the town of
Marseilles. The matter was referred to the Com
mittee of Eeports.
The Assembly was not so indulgent in regard to

PROCLAMATION OF THE KING. 121
disturbances which took place at Nimes with refer
ence to the white cockades worn by citizens of the
National Guard, and seized upon by the soldiers of
the Guyenne regiment. Swords were being drawn on
both sides, when M. de Marguerite, Mayor of Nimes,
who was at that moment signing an order forbidding
the wearing of the white cockade, betook himself to
the field of battle, and' by his presence put an end to
the strife. Men armed with pikes promenaded the
town by torchlight throughout the night ; the
Guyenne regiment requested and obtained the pro
clamation of martial law, and the tumult ceased.
The Assembly decreed that M. de Marguerite,
although a deputy, should be ordered to appear at
the bar to give an account of the conduct of the
Municipality, and that the King should be asked not
to send the Guyenne regiment away from Nimes.
Faithful servants of the King were sure of being-
accused, but, on the contrary, excuses were always
forthcoming for the most blameworthy actions con
trary to his authority.
His Majesty, in order to obviate disturbances
which might arise owing to the various cockades
which were being worn throughout the country,
issued a proclamation forbidding the use of any
cockade other than the national one, which he him
self wore. He took advantage of this opportunity
to exhort the French once more to peace, union, and
the repression of the violence which was so deeply
distressing to his paternal heart. [No Prince ever

122 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
loved his people more sincerely, or desired more
ardently to remedy the calamities to which France
was a prey. But some of his Ministers, attentive to
their own safety and personal interests rather than
to those of the King, and to the nation, which they
always put in the foremost place, inspired in him
such a dread of the measures he could have put in
force for the preservation of his authority, that he
believed the public good required him to remain
absolutely inactiveT~7 He consequently refused to
listen to the advice of those who represented to him
the danger of adopting any such plan.
Those members of the Assembly who were hostile
to the Monarchy, seeing that M. de Saint Priest was
sincerely attached to the King, and suspecting him
of giving his Majesty advice that might be injurious
to their projects, set to work quietly to remove both
him and such of his Ministers as they believed were
capable of throwing obstacles in the way of their
designs. Paris was inundated with foreign beggars, who
flocked thither from all parts. The Assembly de
creed that they should leave the kingdom ; that such
as came from the Provinces should be sent back to
their own districts ; that all able-bodied beggars who
should be found in Paris a week after the publica
tion of the decree should be sent to the workhouses ;
that such as were ill or unable to work should be
taken to the hospitals or other similar institutions ;
and that funds should be provided from the public

DECREE IN REFERENCE TO THE DISTURBANCES. 123
treasury to meet the extraordinary expenses occa
sioned by the decree. It was a very necessary step,
for there was everything to fear from such people, in
regard to the safety both of the city and its inhabi
tants. The Assembly also passed a decree quite as useful
for the purpose of putting an end to the disturbances
which were on the increase throughout the kingdom.
They impressed on all good citizens the duty of
denouncing to the Municipalities and other admini
strative bodies, those who incited the populace to use
violence against persons or property, and sheltered
themselves under pretended decrees of the Assembly
which were not in proper form, and especially such
as had not been published by competent authority.
Priests who refused to announce from the pulpit the
decrees of the Assembly sanctioned by the King were
also to be denounced. Carrying arms was forbidden
in elementary assemblies, in churches, in markets, or
at public meetings.
This same decree placed all properties, artisans,
and husbandmen under the protection of the law ; it
directed that all leaders of disturbances, instigators of
riots, and generally all those who used violence
against either persons or property, should be made
prisoners and punished with the utmost rigour of
the law, martial law included, and the citizens of
each district were held responsible for all disturb
ances which they might be able to prevent.
Cognisance and judgment in regard to crimes com-

124 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
mitted in the departments of Cher, 1' Allier, la Nievre,
and la Correze, were remitted from the 1st of May
inclusive to the bailiwicks of Bourges, Moulins,
Saint Pierre le Moustier, and Limoges.
As the King was desirous of spending the summer
at Saint Cloud, he was advised, previously to depart
ing, to take a few rides in the suburbs of Paris. He
therefore consented to ride in the Bois de Boulogne.
He went there, attended by a few officers of the
Garde Nationale and of his own household. .The_
C Parisians^ were delighted at thjs^ hoping that_jthe
i appearance- of the "King would put an end to the
rumour of his captivity. The royal family also began
to make their appearance in the capital, and this
gave them some little distraction, very necessary to
enable them to endure the bitterness of their posi
tion. In one of the sittings devoted to the question of
the finances, the Assembly settled the salaries of the
Ministers and the expense of their departments;
those of the department of Foreign Affairs were fixed at
6,300,000 livres, exclusive of 148,000 francs, the salary
of the Minister. The salaries of the other Ministers
were fixed at 100,000, except those who, having no
department under them, were only Ministers of State,
each of whom was to receive 80,000 francs, and in
addition to this, 140,000 francs was proposed as the
salary of the individual whom the King might choose
to admit to his Council. Barnave moved that these
salaries should only be provisional, and Goupil de

THE CIVIL LIST. 125
Prdfeln succeeded in getting the last clause reduced
to 80,000 francs. It was resolved that the expenses
of the army and naval departments should stand over
until the Committees appointed to inquire into them
should make their reports.
The breeding establishment was suppressed as a
useless expense, and it was proposed that the expenses
of the household of the Princes should be reduced
from 8,240,000 francs to 4,700,000—2,000,000 for
Monsieur, a similar sum for the Count d'Artois, and
700,000 francs for the Princes, his children ; but this
last-mentioned proposition was adjourned for further
consideration, and the Assembly concluded by agree
ing that the King should be requested to fix his
Civil List himself.
The King finally decided to fix it at 25,000,000
francs, in addition to the revenues of the parks,
domains, and forests of the residences he reserved,
but out of this he undertook to pay the expenses of
his military household, and those of the Princesses
his aunts, and of Madame Elizabeth. He begged the
Assembly to secure to the Queen an income suitable
to her position, and such as the Empress had had a
right to expect when she gave her daughter to him
in marriage. He represented that she had just sacri
ficed her private household, which the Queen of
France had had from time immemorial, amounting to
four millions, and that he attached very much im
portance to fulfilling the engagements which he had
contracted with the family of the Queen. The

126 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
Assembly resolved that the letter of the King should
itself be a decree ; that an addition should be made
to it to the effect that it had been passed with
acclamation ; that the jointure of the Queen should
be fixed at 4,000,000 francs, and that the Assembly
should convey to the King, together with this re
solution, the assurances of its love and respect.
The Bishop of Autun made a report on the utility
of a general federation of the entire kingdom for
the purpose of taking an oath of solemn fidelity to
the nation, the King, and the Constitution decreed
by the National Assembly, and sanctioned by the
King, and he proposed to fix the 14th of July
as the date for this, which was agreed to on the
spot. On the 23d of May, the day of the Fete-Dieu,
the King and Queen on foot, according to custom,
followed the procession of the Holy Sacrament to
Saint Germain l'Auxerrois, the parish church of the
Tuileries. The Assembly, having received an invi
tation, also followed, the President walking on the
right of the King. Madame, who was too young
and too delicate to bear the fatigue, remained in the
Tuileries, and with Mgr. the Dauphin witnessed the
procession from the gallery of the Louvre.
On the following day the King, the Queen, Mgr.
the Dauphin, Madame, and Madame Elizabeth went
to Saint Cloud for the summer. fM. de la Fayette
and the Assembly were also very glad to see the King
'leave Paris, in order that the Provinces might be

ST CLOUD. 127
1 disabused of the idea of his captivity at the time
\of the Federation, f They were so conscious of the
necessity for this, that they themselves persuaded
the people of the utility of the establishment, and
the removal consequently passed off very quietly.
The Guard of the King was composed of the volunteers
of Saint Cloud and Sevres, 400 men of the National
Guard of Paris, and the ordinary companies of the
Swiss Guards.
The King and Queen came to Paris every fortnight,
and even more frequently if circumstances so required.
The only people who resided at Saint Cloud were
those on duty with the King and Queen, and the
grand officers whose service was continuous. The
ladies of the palace were only there during their
terms of waiting. Monsieur and Madame came to
supper every evening, and went back to Paris after
wards. The King, during their sojourn, declined to
receive any lady other than those on duty, in order
to avoid the requests which would have been made
and would have been disagreeable. The ladies of
Madame and the officers of the household of Monsieur,
who accompanied them, had supper with the King.
His Majesty dined and supped every day with the
members of his Court. After dinner and after supper
he played billiards. Both he and the Queen enjoyed
themselves at Saint Cloud far more than in Paris,
because they had more liberty, and could now easily
see those whom they liked. The Duchess de Fitz-
james and the Princess de Tarente, of whom the

128 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
Queen was very fond, came frequently, as did several
others. Mgr. the Dauphin, who was too young to have-
any troubles, amused himself there immensely. He
was continually in the garden, and went every
evening for a walk in the park at Meudon. The
Queen sometimes took him for a walk herself,
especially when Madame de Tarente was in waiting.
She knew her discretion, the nobility of her senti
ments, and her extreme attachment for herself. So
great was this, in fact, that she would have sacrificed
her life if she could, by that means, have extricated
the Queen from the cruel position in which she was
placed. Her Majesty often poured out her heart to
one of whom she was so sure. One day, when she
was walking with us and was surrounded by a party
of the National Guard, some of whom were Guards
men who had deserted their old colours, she said
to us with tears in her eyes, " How astonished my
mother would be if she could see her daughter,
the daughter, wife, and mother of kings, or at all.
events of a child destined to be one, surrounded by
such a guard ! My father would appear to have
had a prophetic spirit on the day when last I saw
him." And she told us that the Emperor Francis I.,
on leaving for Italy, whence he was not destined to-
return, called his children together to take farewell
of them. " I was the youngest of his daughters,"'
she added. " My father took me on his knee, kissed
me several times with tears in his eyes, and appeared

AT ST CLOUD. 129
to find it extremely hard to leave me. This seemed
odd to those who were present, and I myself should
perhaps not have remembered it if my present
position, reminding me of the circumstance, did not
give me a presentiment, for the rest of my life, of a
succession of misfortunes only too easily foreseen."
The impression made upon us by these last words
was so deep that we burst into tears. The Queen
then said to me with her accustomed grace and
goodness, " I reproach myself for having saddened
you ; calm yourselves before we reach the Castle ;
let us unite our courage. Providence will perhaps
not make us as unhappy as we think." —
It was impossible for the Queen to avoid comparing
the happy days she had spent at Saint Cloud with
those of her present stay. She frequently reflected
upon it ; and one day when we were together at the
end of the Gallery, from which Paris is one of the
principal sights, she said to me with a sigh, " That
Paris life was formerly my happiness ; I longed to
live there often. Who could have told me then that
my desire would only be accomplished by my there
being overwhelmed with bitterness, seeing the King
and his family the captives of a revolted people ? "

VOL. I.

130 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.

Destruction of the Nobility.
The King, when he was informed of the project of
the Assembly to destroy the nobility, thought he
might prevent such a measure, without wounding
the susceptibilities of the Corps Legislatif, by causing
a letter to be written to Chdrin, instructing him in
future not to receive any genealogical titles, which
it was customary to send to him in regard to pre
sentations at Court. In doing this he acted on advice
which had been given him, but the expedient had
not the anticipated success.
On the 23d of June the Assembly, taking advan
tage of a limited attendance at the evening sitting,
decreed the suppression of the nobility without
allowing any discussion on so important a subject.
M. de Lameth opened the proceedings by demanding
the removal, before the 14th of July, of the statues
in chains around that of Louis XIV, as being
monuments of slaves which disgraced the Place des
Victoires. The Aubusson family in vain laid claim
to them as family property, and the artists as
masterpieces. The latter, grieved at such destruction,
offered to remove the chains. " You cannot remove
the attitude of humiliation," said M. Bouche. And
M. de Saint Fargeau added, "We will equal the
monuments of the century of Louis XIV., and that

DESTRUCTION OF THE NOBILITY. 131
grand century will be effaced by the century of a
great nation."
M. Lambel, an advocate, the Viscount de
Noailles, and Mathieu de Montmorency, demanded
the suppression of the nobility, hereditary titles,
liveries, and coats of arms ; and Charles de Lameth
added, that all who continued to bear them should
be looked upon as enemies of the Constitution.
" No more highness, excellency, or eminence ! "
shouted Lanjuinais. "Let all territorial names be
suppressed," said M. de Saint Fargeau, " and let every
body be compelled to resume that of his family."
M. de la Fayette opposed every kind of excep
tion, even in the case of Princes of the blood.
According to him, in the system of equality whicli
was about to rule France, there ought only to be
active citizens. His revolutionary spirit blinded him
to such an extent that he could not perceive that, in
a hereditary Monarchy, in which females were ex
cluded, the dignity of the Crown required that those
who were called upon to support it should enjoy a
rank which would compel respect. An adjournment
was moved on account of the gravity of the question,
but it was obstinately opposed.
M. Landsberg, a deputy of Alsace, spoke with
wisdom and moderation, and declared that, as he
was certain to be disavowed by his constituents, he
would keep his sorrow to himself. " In submission,"
he said, " to the decrees of the Assembly, they will
know that they live with the blood with which they

132 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
were born, and that nothing can prevent them living
and dying as gentlemen." "If you destroy the
nobility," said M. de Fancigny, " you will have in
its place the distinctions of bankers, usurers, stock
jobbers, and proprietors of incomes of 300,000
francs, and the love of wealth will replace French
honour, the soul of the nobility."
In spite of the opposition of MM. d'Egmont,
d'Ambli, de Grosbois, de Digoine, and many others,.
all these motions were agreed to without discussion.
The only reservation was a prohibition against any
interference with monuments in churches, charts,
title-deeds, information concerning families and pro
perty, or the decorations of any public or private
place ; and it was added that the regulations rela
tive to liveries and carriages should not be put in
force in Paris before the 14th of July, or before
three months in the Provinces.
_J^»The army became more and more disorganised
day by day. The Eoyal Marine regiment, on leav
ing Marseilles for Lambesc, got rid of all its officers,
recommending them to the interest of the nation.
The Municipality vainly endeavoured to recall the
mutineers to their duty. The Assembly merely
testified its satisfaction to the Municipality of
Lambesc, and threatened the regiment, that if it
did not return to its duty it should be excluded
from the federation.
The Minister of War complained in vain of the
inconvenience which might result from crimes of so

INSUBORDINATION IN THE ARMY. 133
grave a character. Deeply hurt by the carelessness
•of the Assembly, he submitted to it a memorandum,
which forcibly represented that the army threatened
to fall into the most violent anarchy. Whole regi
ments were in revolt, and were violating their most
solemn oaths. " Eegulations," he said, " were with
out force, commanding officers without authority,
the military chests and the colours carried off, the
officers dishonoured, despised, and frequently pri
soners ; commanding officers murdered before the
eyes of their own men, and the orders of the King
openly defied. Such excesses," he added, "must
sooner or later menace the nation itself. An armed
force must necessarily be obedient and moved by one
person alone ; from the moment it becomes a de
liberative body it will act in accordance with its own
resolutions, and the Government will become a mili
tary democracy, a species of political monster, which
inevitably ends by devouring its own produce."
The Assembly cared but little about remedying
these disturbances ; it was afraid of seeing in the
hands of the King a faithful and obedient army,
which might be an obstacle in the way of its
designs; and it preferred to see the country over
whelmed by the evils which were threatening it,
rather than witness any restriction being placed on
authority which it so cruelly abused.
The narratives, even though anonymous, of the
instigators of the disturbances, were alone listened
to ; and before hearing the defence of the accused,

134 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
decrees were hastily passed in favour of the former,
M. Macage, entrusted with the report relative to the
disturbances at Nimes, attempted to mix them up
with the petitions previously presented by the town
of Uzes in favour of the preservation of the Catholic
religion, the repression of disturbances, and the dele
gation to the King of the authority necessary to
secure these objects.
This last request had irritated the Assembly, and
had been stigmatised by MM. de Lameth and Mira
beau as tending to produce a counter revolution.
They deemed it useful to couple this step with the
disturbances at Nimes, and they consequently pro
duced anonymous letters written to the Committee
of Inquiry, which, according to their view, should be
received as serving to throw some light upon the
plans of the so-called Catholics of Nimes, and to
put them on their track.
MM. Malouet, cl'Eprdmdnil, and others protested
against the term so-called Catholics, and pointed out,
but in vain, that there would be no liberty if no re
presentation could be made to the Assembly ; that
the disturbances were quelled at Nimes ; that the
elections there were passing off quietly ; and that it
would be dangerous to disturb, by reason of mere
suppositions, the tranquillity re-established in that
town. These wise remarks made no impression on
the Assembly, and it resolved that those who had
signed the petitions should be ordered to appear at
the bar to give an account of their conduct, and

DISTURBANCES IN AVIGNON. 135
should up to that time be deprived of their rights
as active citizens. It suspended the Municipality,
and begged the King to order an investigation into
the facts before the Court of Judicature at Nimes.
There were no means which the revolutionists
did not employ to bring about the reunion of the
Comtat of Avignon with France. But the General
Assembly of the States of Avignon, the mouthpiece
of the unanimous wish of the inhabitants of the
Comtat, persisted in its resolve to remain under the
dominion of the Holy See, protested against every
step tending to separate it, declared that its citizens
wished to live and die under a rule which rendered
them quiet and happy, and invoked the eternal right
of nations in order not to be compelled to change.
Nevertheless, the ardent and turbulent spirits,
who only desired the union in order to seize upon
the power, never ceased from instigating disturb
ances in Avignon. Within four months this '^un
happy town was delivered up to all the horrors of
anarchy. A certain Tournal, originally a schoolmaster — a
man without morals or money — placed himself at
the head of those who wished to rouse the mob, and
by their help he succeeded in getting himself ap
pointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the National Guard
and a member of the new Municipality, which for
the most part consisted of his creatures. This latter
body persecuted all the honest and virtuous people,
and held them responsible for the excesses of which

136 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
their own party were the authors. In order to
secure protection in the Assembly, they entered into
correspondence with MM. Bouche and Camus, and
in combination with them framed the demand they
intended making for the union of the Comtat with
France. After having provoked those in the town whom
they knew to be hostile to their projects, and com
pelled them to defend themselves, they accused them
of being the instigators of the disturbances com
mitted on the days of the 9th and 10th, and the
Municipality wrote to M. Bouche in these terms : —
" The aristocrats seized the guns, opened fire on the
people, and killed thirty citizens. The Communes
of Orange and the neighbourhood fortunately came
to our assistance. We killed four of the wretches,
aud brought four-and-twenty prisoners from Orange.
Our only hope of safety lies in our union with
France. The declarations of the districts are unani
mous in its favour, and we pray the Assembly to
comply with so pronounced a wish."
The Assembly, without further information, re
solved to acquaint the King with the declaration of
the districts of Avignon.
The wish of the Municipality alone had been
heard, and there was but little desire to fathom its
truth. The Marquis de Eochegude, one of the so-
called* wretches who fell victims to the popular fury,
had been ill for a week, and could not appear on the
10th. The patriots went and seized him at his own

DISTURBANCES IN AVIGNON. 137
house, conducted him to the gallows at the point of
the bayonet, and prolonged his punishment for the
space of an hour, in order to increase the enjoyment
of witnessing his sufferings. He, the Abbd d'Auffroi,
a silk worker, and the Marquis d'Aulan, who suc
cumbed to a similar fate, were all four virtuous men,
and generally esteemed in the town. The last men
tioned especially employed his fortune in succour
ing the unfortunate, and when his will was read, it
was found that he had left a legacy of 20,000 francs
for the poor of the town and seven louis for each of
its parishes. If it had not been for the generous
assistance of the Mayor of Orange, and the National
Guard of that place, Bagnols, and the neighbour
ing towns, more than three hundred respectable
citizens would have shared the same fate. In order
to put an end to these horrors, they were obliged to
treat with these wretches, and surrender their arms
to them. Avignon was plunged in consternation ;
four hundred of the best families of the town left, in
order to avoid being exposed to the consequences of
the calumnies which Sieur Tournal incessantly circu
lated in regard to them.
If it had been possible to smile amid so many
horrors, the scene which took place at an evening-
sitting of the Assembly might well have caused it.
Anacharsis Clootz, calling himself the orator of the
human race, arrived at the Assembly at the head of
a crowd of so-called representatives of all the nations
of the known world — Europeans, Asiatics, Africans,

138 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
and Americans. It was, in a word, a small sample of
all the nations of these various countries which had
come to unite itself to France, whose immortal labours
resounded throughout the world. " We ask," they
said, "to be placed in the Champ de Mars on the
day of the General Federation, to plant there the cap
of liberty as the earnest of the forthcoming deliver
ance of our fellow-citizens. Our letters of credit are
not written on parchment ; they are engraven on the
hearts of all men, and, thanks to the authors of the
declaration of the rights of man, our signs are not
accessible to tyrants."
M. de Menou, who was then President, made a
speech befitting the occasion, and bade them farewell
in these words : — " Go, gentlemen, and after this
august fete return to your countries, and tell your
leaders that, if their hearts are jealous of following
a great example, let them imitate Louis XVI., the
restorer of French liberty."
__/But the most amusing sight was that of one of
the organisers of this scene going, on the following
day, to claim from M. de Biancourt the sum of
twelve francs for the part of African which he had
played in the sitting of the previous evening. This
poor man had mistaken the name, and his blunder,
by displeasing the party who had employed him,
probably caused him to lose the paltry sum he
claimed. The faithful servants of the King continued to be
the objects of persecution by the malevolent, who,

IMMUNITY OF DEPUTIES. 139
sure of paternal indulgence in the bosom of the
Assembly, permitted continual arrests on the most
improbable information.
The Count de Lautrec, a deputy, stopped at the
Castle of Blegnac on his way to the waters of Bareges,
and was very much astonished to find himself arrested
by a warrant from the Municipality of Toulouse,
under the pretext of a denunciation by their soldiers,
who pretended that M. de Lautrec, after having
informed them of his projects of counter revolution,
had proposed to them that they should enlist in a
corps of 800 men, which he was secretly forming for
the purpose of dissolving the General Federation and
restoring authority to the King. M. d' Amble in
vain pointed out the absurdity of such a denuncia
tion, and the fact that the state of health of M. de
Lautrec, occasioned by fifteen honourable wounds,
rendered the waters necessary for him. Notwith
standing this, the Assembly ordered him to return
to give an account of his conduct, reserving to itself
the decision as to whether there was any ground of
accusation, and it passed a resolution thanking the
Municipality of Toulouse for its patriotic vigilance.
Eobespierre, supported by Pdthion, thought the
occasion opportune for a resolution that deputies
should not be brought before any tribunal before the
Assembly had decreed that they ought to be prose
cuted. The elder Garac observed that their immu
nity could not be extended outside the Assembly,
and that everywhere else their actions ought to be

140 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
subservient to the law. It was decreed that, until
the introduction of juries in criminal cases, deputies
taken in the act might be arrested, and that com
plaints could be lodged and inquiry instituted in
regard to them, but that they could not be con
demned by any judge until the Assembly had
decided that there was ground of accusation.
Viscount de Mirabeau had obtained leave of
absence to proceed to Perpignan for the purpose of
putting a stop to the insubordination which was rife
in his regiment. Having failed in his efforts, he
returned to Paris, bringing with him the tassels of
his colours in order to hand them to the King, to
beg him to restore them to the men who had
remained loyal, and to concentrate them in some
distant town, where they might form the nucleus of a
loyal regiment. The men, furious at this proceeding,
held the Mayor of Perpignan responsible for it, and
gave notice to the neighbouring Municipalities to
arrest the Viscount as guilty of the crime of treason
to the nation. He was actually arrested on that
charge at Castelnaudary, and several members of the
Municipality of Perpignan made a report to the
Assembly of the wrongs that were imputed to him.
But the Assembly, having on the following day
received a letter from M. Mirabeau, ordered him to
be set at liberty, in spite of the efforts of his enemies
to secure his conviction. It, however, ordered him
to present himself without delay and give an account
of his conduct, and it added that the King had been

THE VISCOUNT DE MIRABEAU. 141
requested to order the release of the Mayor of Per
pignan, who had been put in prison.
The libellers on this occasion published their
usual lies, and distributed a pamphlet, entitled,
" Great Conspiracy of the Viscount Mirabeau." MM.
Malouet and de Cazales took advantage of this oppor
tunity to demand that a stop should be put to the
circulation of these inflammatory libels, the object
of which was neither more nor less than the assassi
nation of the Viscount de Mirabeau. The Assembly
decreed that the King should be requested to take
the necessary steps for his safety, that his person
sliould be placed under the safeguard of the law, and
that the rest of the matter should be referred to the
Committee of Eeports.
Viscount de Mirabeau presented himself before
the Assembly the moment he arrived, and there read
a written account of the frightful insubordination of
his regiment, and the acts of violence perpetrated
against himself by the removal from his quarters of
the colours and the military chest, adding that he had
thought it his duty to hide the tassels for the pur
pose of handing them over to the King, and that he
would never have given them up if he had not feared
that his refusal might have cost the life of so re
spectable a man as the Mayor of Perpignan. He
demanded to be tried by court-martial, undertaking
to produce proofs of the manner in which his regi
ment had been gained over and bribed. " I will
give," he added, " a clue to the disturbances which

142 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
have been perpetrated from Antibes to Dunkerque,
and from Perpignan to Strasbourg." The Assembly,
instead of acceding to his request, remitted it to the
Committee of Eeports, combined with a military
committee. A deputation from Seine et Oise, which came to
congratulate the Assembly on its propitious labours,
went so far as to devote to execration and infamy all
who dared to remonstrate against its decrees. All
the Members of the Eight rose to demand justice for
this outrage, which was equally revolting to many
Members of the Left. " Where should we be," said
M. Malouet, "if such direct insults should determine
the Eight to leave the Assembly, and what misfor
tunes might not result ? " The Assembly dared not
receive such audacity with the honours of the sitting,
and simply thanked the deputation for its zeal and
patriotism. The Bishop of Nancy and the Marquis de Saint
Simon having requested leave of absence, M. Lucas
proposed that in future the roll should be called, so
that it might be ascertained who were absent, and
that a list of their names should be sent to the Pro
vinces. M. Eewbell went so far as to add that this
measure would be all the more useful because of the
public rumour that many of the deputies absented
themselves from motives of cowardice. The Duke de
Caylus, who had also requested leave of absence, asked
M. Eewbell to call upon him and tell him privately
if he thought him a coward. M. Eewbell, who had

' INSURRECTION IN TOBAGO. 143
no liking for a conversation of this kind, declared
that he did not allude to anybody in particular ;
that if he had had that misfortune he would main
tain the remark that he had made ; but as that was
not the case, he had no hesitation in denying it.
The motion of M. Lucas was also treated as inflam
matory by very many Members of the Assembly,
which passed to the order of the day without further
discussion. M. Arthur Dillon announced a very alarming
insurrection in the Island of Tobago. The second
batallion of the Guadeloupe regiment, after having
committed serious excesses, set fire to the town of
Port Louis, which was completely burnt, and then
embarked on board some foreign vessels for France.
He represented the cruel situation of this unfortu
nate colony, which begged France to come to its
rescue, and at once send to it men and money, of both
of which it stood in the most urgent need. Eobe-
spierre wished to discredit the news, but its truth
was so evident that no doubt about it could exist.
The Assembly merely asked the King to despatch the
assistance required by the unfortunate colony.
It listened with greater complacence to a motion
made by several Members of the Assembly, some of
whom asked for an amnesty for the deserters, as well
as for leave for them to rejoin their regiments, and
others for the release of the men arrested for military
insubordination. Some idea may be gained of the-
spirit of the Assembly when it is recorded that such

144 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
/motions, instead of being rejected with indignation,
were referred to the Committee of Eeports. That of
the incendiaries of the barriers of Paris in 1789 had
still more success. Condemned to arrest, they im
plored the clemency of the Assembly. Muguet de
Nautou, the reporter, decided to regard the crime as
an outburst of patriotism, similar to that which had
led to the destruction of the Bastille^and to throw
on this occasion a veil over the law. [The Assembly,
taking these motives into consideration, decreed that
the proceedings should be regarded as not having
occurred, and ordered the release of the prisoners^!
The citizens of Avignon, who were shut up in the
prisons of the town of Orange, and were absolutely
innocent of the imputations brought against them by
the Municipality of Avignon, demanded their release ;
but Eobespierre opposed it, on the ground of their
opposition to the principles of their fellow-citizens,
who prayed for the union of the Comtat with France ;
and M. Bouche inveighed violently against the in
habitants of the unhappy town, which he described, as
well as the Comtat Venaissin, as a den of aristocrats.
He pretended that the disturbances of Avignon co
incided with those of Montauban and Nimes, and
that the prisons of Orange were only the lazaretto of
the aristocracy. He asked that a regiment should be
sent to Orange and troops to Avignon to protect the
place, pending a decision on the great question of its
sovereignty. He concluded his speech by insisting
on the necessity of protecting the post horses and salt

THE DISTURBANCES AT AVIGNON. 145
and tobacco stores belonging to France. It may be
assumed, and not uncharitably, from his speech, that
he had reasonable grounds for fearing that his pro-
Uges would pillage the establishments in question.
The Abbd Maury stoutly pointed out the dis
crepancy between this request and the decree which
proclaimed that France, renouncing all idea of con
quest, assured her neighbours that she would protect
them in preference to making any attack on their
liberty ; adding that this apparent protection presaged
the decision on the sovereignty of Avignon. He
proved that there was no connection between the
disturbances of Avignon and those of Nimes and
Moutauban, seeing that there was not a single Pro
testant in Avignon ; and while urgently soliciting the
despatch of assistance to Orange, he opposed with all
his might that requested for Avignon. The Assembly
decreed that the King should be asked to send a
suitable number of troops to Orange, and that a com
mittee should be appointed to inquire into and
report upon the Avignon affair.
After a delay of two months, M. Troucher at last
furnished the report of the Committee on the events
at Avignon, the request for its union to France made
by the districts of that town, and that from the
prisoners at Orange. He showed that the union
could not be carried out without violating both
divine and human laws, and he recapitulated the
arguments of the Abbd Maury against the step.
MM. Malouet and de Clermont-Tonnerre also spoke
VOL. I. K

146 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
against the union so strongly that their adversaries
had no reply to make. They were equally successful in
representing the injustice of the continued imprison
ment of citizens against whom no charge had been
made. These arguments decided the Assembly to
adjourn the request for union with France, and to
decree the release of the prisoners of Orange, on con
dition that they should remain in the town under
the safeguard of the French nation, which undertook
to provide for the subsistence of such noblemen as
there might be among them.
Nevertheless, the authors of the Avignon disturb
ances did not sleep. They set on foot fresh measures
to bring the Comtat Venaissin over to their side. En
raged at their want of success in provoking a rising,
they managed to initiate a movement in the little
town of Thor, and if it had not been for the militia
of the district, much blood would have been shed.
The leaders of the militia took advantage of this
concentration to deliver Cavaillon from the frightful
yoke under which that town was groaning. A band
of miscreants had seized upon the reins of power
there, and had placed at their head a man named
Tournal, an old soldier, who was in correspondence
with the municipal authorities of Avignon. This
wretch, in order to terrify the town, had had an
enormous gallows erected in front of the Commune,
in which he had fastened eight iron hooks, at the
same time distributing lists of the proscribed in the
town. The whole of the militia of the neighbouring

DISTURBANCES IN THE PROVINCES. 147
districts — amounting in all to three thousand men —
entered Cavaillon, pulled down the gallows, re-estab
lished order in the village, and handed over the
author of all its misfortunes to justice. They then
were anxious to deliver Avignon from its oppression ;
but M. d'Aimar, the Mayor of the place, fearing that
still greater misfortunes might result, succeeded in
turning them from their project. The municipal
authorities continued to foster a continual fermenta
tion, and, under the pretext of watching over the
public safety, they imposed excessive taxes on all
citizens absent or present.
Complaints came from all parts of the kingdom
•of the refusal of the peasants to pay tithes and cham-
part, which they had no right to avoid until the mode
•of reimbursement should be fixed. The Assembly
decided that private individuals should be authorised
to enforce payment by legal means. But this decree
was really illusory ; not one Municipality dared to
put it in force, for fear of compromising itself and
"becoming in its turn a victim. (The taxes were no
longer paid ; disturbances multiplied, and there were
in several places in the kingdom, notably in Lyon,
seditious movements, which were with difficulty re
pressed. Power had been placed in the hands of the
Municipalities, but as it was exercised by men who
were terrified, and but little desirous of fulfilling
their duties, it became impossible to remedy all these
disorders^ Several Municipalities arrogated to them
selves the right of opening letters, even those of

148 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
foreign Powers, and stopped travellers who had the
misfortune to be suspected by them. Those of
Dauphind, neighbours of Savoy, even more ardent
and more restless than the others, showed their
patriotism by continual arrests. The conduct of
the Assembly in regard to the Municipality of
Montauban was not calculated to induce them to
behave well.
The agitators of that town could not forgive the
Municipality for having maintained order and tran
quillity. On the other hand, the National Guard,
furious on account of the keys of the Arsenal being
taken from M. Dupuis-Montbrun, its Commandant,
and an ardent patriot, instigated a movement in the
town, which, it is true, was promptly repressed, but
in which blood was shed. The National Gaurd sent
a denunciation against the Municipality to the As
sembly. This denunciation, although " anonymous,
with the exception of a letter from M. Dupuis-Mont
brun, was nevertheless received by the Assembly
eagerly. The Committee of Eeports, to whom the investi
gation of this affair was entrusted, began by putting-
aside the report of the Judge of Montauban. He,.
however, had taken the precaution, in order to avoid
all suspicion, to summon the Protestants to his assist
ance, and make them give their evidence alternately
with the Catholics ; but the Assembly could not for
give this Municipality for the affection it preserved for
the King, and its request for the maintenance of the-

THE MUNICIPALITY OF MONTAUBAN. 149
•Catholic religion, its bishop and its school. It was
with great difficulty that the Assembly was induced
to listen to the Mayor and the Procureur-syndic of
the Commune, who had come to Paris to justify
themselves. The charges brought against them,
thirty in number, had not even been communicated
to them, and an attempt was made to try them with
out hearing them.
The Abbd Maury and M. Cazales could not ob
tain a hearing for the proofs they brought forward in
¦opposition to the charges against the Municipality.
With great difficulty they obtained a delay of two
days, although it was palpably impossible to reply to
so large a number of imputations in so short a time.
¦" No delay," exclaimed Charles de Lameth ; " they
ought to have been judged long ago in the sense of
the Eevolution." This phrase so horrified the As
sembly that he was obliged to explain away the
meaning of the imprecation he was not ashamed to
utter. Judgment was pronounced in advance. The
proofs furnished by the Municipality were not lis
tened to ; the verdict was in favour of the National
Guard, and amid the utmost uproar the decree
was passed suspending the Municipality, and refer
ring the proceedings to the criminal tribunal of
Toulouse. The people in the galleries, who had
participated in the disorder which reigned through
out the Assembly, applauded the decree with hands
and voices.

CHAPTEE V.
THE YEAR 1790 — THE FEDERATION.
After the passing of the decree in regard to the
General Federation of the Kingdom on the 14th of
July, the Assembly devoted itself to arranging every
thing in connection with the ceremony.
It resolved that nobody could hold simultaneous
command of the National Guard of several Depart
ments, even reserving to itself the right of consider
ing whether it would not be better to restrict the
command to a single district. This clause resulted
from the alarm caused by officers who were popular
in their Departments, and whose presence in Paris
made the Assembly uneasy.
It resolved that each district of the kingdom
should send one per two hundred of its population,
chosen by deputies assembled for that purpose ; that
each regiment should depute an officer and a non
commissioned officer present with the corps and
chosen by seniority, as well as four men per infantry,
and two troopers per cavalry regiment ; that the
other corps should send in the same proportion.
The regiment of the King and the Swiss Guard were

the federation. 151
represented twice as strongly by reason of their
numbers. All the corps in the kingdom of every
description not embodied, and the Military House
hold of the King and the Princes, were to be repre
sented respectively by their senior officers.
The Engineers, Navy, Invalides, Commissariat,
and the Gendarmerie throughout France were to be
represented by deputies selected from each one of
these corps according to length of service, as well as
the Constable.
The Marshals of France, Lieutenant-Generals,
Major-Generals, and Naval officers of corresponding
rank, were to be represented by the senior officer in
each grade. M. de Champagny moved successfully,
in spite of the opposition of M. de Lameth, that M.
d' Albert de Eioms should be present at the Federa
tion as representing his squadron.
There were lengthy debates in the Assembly in
regard to the ceremonial of the Federation, and espe
cially to decide if the King should take the title of
King of the French, or that of first French citizen;
if he should be called Chief of the Army or of all
the National Guards of the Kingdom ; what should
be the nature of the oath he was to take ; and if
anybody besides the King should have a distinctive
place at the Federation.
The Abbd Maury and M. Cazales strongly urged
the inconvenience of such debates, and forcibly
pointed out that it was an insult to the royal
majesty to raise any question as to whether, in a here-

152 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
ditary monarchy, the King had need of a decree to
constitute him chief of the national forces, and that
it was inconceivable that there should be any doubt
as to whether a family called in succession to the
throne could be mixed up in a crowd of citizens.
"The King," they added, "ought not to take any
oath different from that taken by the nation." " It
is for him," exclaimed M. de Folle ville, " to dictate
the oath he ought to take." "And as our Kings,"
said M. Malouet, " derived their power from the
nation before the present laws were put in force, it
ought to be expressly stated that the power is delegated
to him by the nation and the Constitutional law."
This argument, which gave the nation and
the King rights anterior to the existence of
the Assembly, was exposed and opposed by Bar
nave. The Assembly consequently decreed that
the King should be requested to take command
of the National Guards and the other troops of the
kingdom, and to nominate the officers to take com-
land under his orders ; that at the Federation of
| the 14th of July the President should be placed on
the right of the King, with nobody between them,
and the deputies on the right and left of the King
without distinction ; that his Majesty should be
requested to give orders for suitable places to be
allotted to his family ; that as soon as the oath
should have been taken by the deputies of the
National Guard and the other troops of the kingdom,
the President should stand up, and in a loud voice

THE FEDERATION. 153
pronounce the oath of the 4th of February ; and that
the oath taken by the King should be in these
terms : — " I, King of the French, swear to employ
all the power delegated to me by the constitutional
laws of the State to the maintenance of the Consti-
tion decreed by the National Assembly and sanc
tioned by me."
During the debate on the Ceremonial of the
Federation, the Bishop of Clermont declared that he
expressly excepted from the oath he was about to
take, all things depending on the Supreme Power ;
that any dissimulation would be a crime in a man
whose calling was sacred, and that the exception he
made was the surest guarantee of his fidelity to what
he should have sworn. All the Bishops of the Eight,
and a great number of both clergy and laity, imme
diately rose to express their adhesion to the senti
ments of the Bishop of Clermont.
The Parisians thought themselves obliged to issue
an address to the French generally to invite them
to rally together round the law on the day of the
General Federation, in order to contribute to the
establishment of the Constitution. " We should
have been right glacl to swear this propitious alliance
with you," they said, "in which we are all joined
under the one name of Frenchmen, to the uttermost
boundaries of France, even if we did not possess
within our walls our legislators and the King. Let
us all rally round them on that auspicious 14th of
July, the day when we shall have conquered liberty.

154 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
Let us swear to uphold it, and let all France resound
with reiterated shouts of " Long live the Nation, the
Law, and the King ! " This address was signed by
MM. de la Fayette ; Bailly ; Charron, the President
of the Commune ; Lafitte and Pastoret, Secretaries ;
and by the assembled citizens of the districts of Paris.
It was very necessary that, under these circum
stances, the Assembly should honour the conduct of
the conquerors of the Bastille. It consequently
resolved that, full of esteem for their courage, they
would assign them an honourable place at the Fede
ration of July ; that each one of them should be
supplied with a complete uniform and arms ; that
on the blade of each sword and barrel of each musket
should be inscribed the words, Presented to  ,
Conqueror of the Bastille ; and that an honourable
certificate should be given to each of them and to
the widows of those who had fallen.
The Duke d'Orleans sent a letter to the Assembly
by M. de la Touche to inform it that his mission
was finished. He had written to the King to say
that he was preparing to return to Paris, but M. de
la Fayette sent word to him by M. de Boinville, his
aide-de-camp, that as his name might still conduce
to fresh disturbances, he thought it better that his
stay in England should be prolonged. The Prince
requested the Assembly to give him its orders in
the matter, and intimated that if he did not receive
a reply, he should regard the proceeding of M. de
Boinville as not having taken place.

THE FEDERATION. 155
M. de la Fayette replied that, as the same reasons
which had led to the absence of the Duke d'Orleans
still existed, he had thought it more prudent to
request him to defer his return, in order that every
possibility of anxiety might be removed on so auspi
cious a day as that of the Federation ; that he was
far from feeling -any, and that he could even say
that the more closely it approached, the more con
firmed was he in his opinion that it would pass off
with the most complete tranquillity. The Duke de
Biron then moved that, if no accuser stood forward,
the Duke d'Orleans should come and give an account
of his proceedings, and assist at the Federation. The
Assembly having passed to the order of the day,
the Duke d'Orleans returned to Paris.
On his arrival he went to the Tuileries to wait
upon the King and Queen. The latter, who had
not seen the Duke d'Orleans since his departure
from Versailles, was much moved. She was never
theless quite self-possessed, and even had the courage
to say a few words to him, to which he replied with
an amount of embarrassment he was unable to con
ceal. He then went to the Assembly and made a
speech, which was loudly applauded. He again pro
tested his love of liberty and his attachment to the
King and the Constitution ; expressed his happiness
at linking his name to an epoch which he looked
upon as the greatest and happiest of all the epochs
of the French Nation, and then took the oath of the
4th of February.

156 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
As soon as it was decided that the Federation
should take place in the Champ de Mars, all haste
was made to complete the preparations necessary
for so large an assemblage ; and as time pressed, the
citizens were asked to help the workmen, in order
that all the works might be finished before the day
fixed for the ceremony. Patriotic zeal seized upon
all the amateurs of the Eevolution. Everyone wanted
to take part in the work ; it was holy soil, and woe
to him who did not put his hand to it ! Even ladies
drove in their carriages to load the barrows ; and
everybody who passed quietly by the Champ de
Mars without stopping there ran a risk of being
insulted. No idea can be given of the excitement.
It was carried to such a pitch that the monks were
compelled to leave the monasteries and traverse Paris,
shovel on back, escorted by a multitude of people on
their way to work in the Champ de Mars. \Eyen the
nuns themselves were threatened and had to send
Hheir male attendants therej"
At one and the sametime there might be seen
at work labourers, citizens, Carthusian and other
monks of various orders, soldiers, pretty women,
men and women of every class and social status,
all working to the best of their ability. Some con
cealed the feelings aroused by the constraint to which
they were condemned ; others betook themselves to
their task with an outburst of patriotism, to which
was added the pleasure of insulting those whom they
believed to be far from sharing their sentiments.

THE FEDERATION. 157
From time to time were heard repeated shouts of
" Long live the Nation ! To the lamp-post with the
aristocrats ! " and the " Ca ira," and other songs,
which were called patriotic hymns, were sung by the
women, who were enthusiasts in the cause of the
Eevolution. L^Seyeral among them, even those of the
highest social status, fatigued themselves to such an
extent that they became ill, and ended by falling
victims to their patriotic zeal?
The Federates arrived in Paris in a frame of
mind far different from that anticipated by the
Assembly. The majority, sincerely attached to the
King, took no pains to conceal their sentiments, and
their behaviour from the moment of their arrival to
that of their departure was perfect. The Federation
of the Army shared the same sentiments, and pub
licly evinced their respect and attachment for the
King and all the Eoyal Family. The Assembly
began to be uneasy at this, and repented having sum
moned to Paris a crowd of men whose sentiments
were so opposed to those they had expected to find.
All the work relative to the Federation was exe
cuted with such rapidity that everything was ready
several days before the ceremony. Eound the -cir
cumference of the Champ de Mars thirty tiers of
benches were erected, on which the spectators could
sit comfortably, and there was still room behind for
those standing up. In the middle was the Altar of
the Country, the four sides of which were orna
mented with figures and inscriptions suitable to the

158 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
occasion. The Ecole Militaire was converted into
an amphitheatre, to be occupied by the civil depart
ments, persons attached to the Court, and the assist
ants of the Assembly. It was surmounted by the
seats of the King and the Assembly, and covered
with canvas ornamented with streamers and the
national colours. Above the King's throne, which
was raised a few inches above the President's chair,
floated the white flag. A platform was erected be
hind the King's throne and the seats of the deputies
for the Queen and the royal family. The Federates
were to be ranged in an elliptical line within the
enclosure, with the National Guard between them
and the tiers of seats at their side ; the soldiers, with
their officers at their head, occupied the centre of the
Champ de Mars.
On the eve of the Federation, the King held a
review of the Federates of the Departments. They
marched past him and the royal family at the foot
of the grand staircase of the Tuileries. The King
asked the name of each deputation, and spoke to each
one of its members with kindness, which redoubled
their attachment. The Queen presented her children
to them, and said a few words to them so gracefully
that fresh value was added to her remarks. Trans
ported with joy, they entered the Tuileries with
shouts of "Long live the King, the Queen, Mgr.
the Dauphin, and the Eoyal Family!" The King
walked about with his family without any guard,
followed by an immense crowd and surrounded by

THE FEDERATION. 159
the Federates, a sight which so restrained the
malevolent that not one of them dared misbehave
himself. Everybody wanted to witness the ceremony of
the Federation, and the fear of not finding room
induced a great number of people to spend the
night in the Champ de Mars, some moved by
patriotic zeal, and others by the curiosity aroused
by so unwonted a spectacle. The rain, which fell
in torrents, did not diminish the general zeal, and
every place was filled. An immense crowd thronged
behind, and the slopes of Passy and Chaillot were
likewise covered with spectators. The many-coloured
umbrellas rendered necessary by the unceasing rain
also produced a singular effect. It was a most extra
ordinary sight, and would have been magnificent had
it been illumined by the sunshine of a fine day.
The procession moved forward at six o'clock in
the morning, and traversed the central streets of the
capital on its way to the Champ de Mars by the
Cours la Eeine. In order to facilitate the arrival, a
bridge of boats had been built at its extremity.
Two companies of volunteers headed the procession,
and they were succeeded by the Municipal body,
the electors, and district presidents. Chasseurs and
veterans then came, preceding the first forty-two
departments, marching in alphabetical order, each
one headed by a banner, on which was inscribed the
name of the department, and its own oriflamme.
The officers marched with swords drawn. The regi-

160 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
ments of the line followed, among which one could
distinguish with pleasure the Body Guard, Car
bineers, Hussars, and Artillery. They had at their
head MM. de Segur and de Mailly, Marshals of
France, followed by the Lieutenant-Generals and
Major - Generals, the oriflamme being borne in
front of them. The sailors, commanded by Count
d'Estaing, also marched, and then came the last
forty-two departments, followed by Chasseurs and a
squadron of Cavalry bringing up the rear of the
procession. The skies were not propitious ; shower followed
shower without intermission ; torrents of water
deluged the streets, and the rain never ceased to
accompany the battalions throughout the whole of
their march. Although wet through to the skin, no
complaint escaped them, and the order of march was
not broken for a moment. It was made through a.
lane of spectators ; the windows were crowded, and
the remainder of the town, completely deserted, pre
sented a most extraordinary sight.
The column did not reach the Place Louis
XV. until noon. The Assembly had betaken itself
thither, with the President at its head, marching
between two lines of flags, which escorted it as far
as the Champ de Mars, where its arrival and that of
the King were proclaimed by artillery salutes.
The King, with the royal family, arrived last in
great state and surrounded by a brilliant staff, when
every one had taken his place ; the Bishop of Autun,.

THE FEDERATION. 161
who officiated, blessed the flags and celebrated mass
directly afterwards ; it was four o'clock by this time.
At the elevation of the Host, M. de la Fayette,
appointed by the King to be Major-Gen eral of the
Federation, gave the signal for the oath, ascended the
altar steps, and pronounced it. In a moment every
sword was drawn and every head raised. M. de la
Fayette then went to the King and informed him
that the moment had arrived for him to take the
oath. The rain was falling in torrents, and a great
number of the spectators, who were being inundated,
sought to diminish its effect by opening their
umbrellas. As this prevented the King from being
seen, the crowd shouted " Down, down with um
brellas ; " M. de la Fayette, who at first only heard
the words " down, down," thought that the shout
was probably meant for him ; he hesitated for a,
moment, and his ordinary pallor visibly increased,
but recovering himself quickly he resumed his pro
gress and reached the King, who pronounced tho,
formula of the oath. M. de Bonnai, President of the
Assembly, repeated it simultaneously with three
hundred thousand voices. The Queen lifted Mgr.
the Dauphin in her arms several times to let him
be seen by the people and the army, who burst out
into demonstrations of joy and love for the King and
the royal family.
Those persons who were sincerely attached to
religion saw with pain that, in a ceremony anything
but religious, where attention was solely directed to
VOL. I. L

162 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
the extraordinary spectacle, the New Testament was
used in administering the oath, and so the most
august mysteries of our religion were exposed to a
kind of profanation.
After the ceremony, part of the Federates went to
dine at the Chateau de la Muette, where tables had
been laid for them. Others returned to Paris, and
some went back the same evening to their respective
provinces. M. de la Fayette went to La Muette, where,
as in the Champ de Mars, he was the recipient of those
marks of popular idolatry of which M. Necker had
been the object in the preceding year. He was then
at the zenith of his glory ; it had the ordinary
duration of popular favour, and left behind it only
the regret of not having taken advantage of his
position to save his King and his country from the
danger which menaced them. Under the name of
liberty, which he uttered with so much complacence,
France was handed over to the most complete
anarchy, and every honest and virtuous person in it
groaned under the most tyrannical of yokes.
The King returned to the Tuileries amid repeated
shouts of "Long live the King and the Eoyal Family!"
The Duke de Villequier, and several other sensible
men, who carefully watched the public disposition,
thought that the King might make capital out of
this day, and were anxious that he should be on
horseback ; and that instead of taking the required
oath, he should declare in the centre of the Champ
de Mars that, being for the nonce at the head of the

THE FEDERATION. 163
chosen of the nation, he would represent to it that he
deemed it absolutely inconvenient to swear fidelity
to a Constitution which was not finally completed,
and of which the advantages or disadvantages could
only be realised when it should be completed ; and
that, after this remark, be was ready to take the
¦oath to observe the clauses which had been passed,
if the united nation would show him its wish that
he should doso. The King probably consulted his
¦Council. /The men of whom it was composed had]
not energy enough to dare the risk, of such a step,
and they must certainly have dissuaded him from
it, under the pretext of the danger it might
induce/^The course of events unfortunately gave
reasorr~xo repent that this opportunity was not
utilised. The King took up his residence in Paris several
days before the Federation, and remained there until
the departure of the Federates. Their Majesties, in
response to the desire expressed by these latter to
see all the royal family, dined every day in public
with them, with the exception of Mgr. the Dau
phin, who, by reason of his tender age, dined at
his own hour in his room. Joy was painted on the
countenance of the Federates, who lost no oppor
tunity of testifying their respect and attachment to
the King. The sympathy displayed for them by the
royal family, and the kindness with which they were
spoken to, made their attachment still stronger.
They were asked about their provinces, kind things

164 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
were said to them about each one, and their desire
to see the royal family in them increased day by day.
They took extreme pleasure in seeing Mgr. the
Dauphin. At three o'clock he came down to my
rooms. The windows of the room looking on to the
gallery were opened, and he frequently presented
himself on the little balcony at the top of the stair
case leading to it. He said a word to this or that
man as he passed, and then went back to play in the
room, where he could be seen with ease.
-^As he was amusing himself one day in pulling
off some leaves from a lilac tree on the balcony, a
Federate asked him to give them to him so that he
might throughout his life keep something that his
little hand had held. The request had the effect of
electricity. Each Federate wished to have one, and
in a moment the shrub was despoiled, amid shouts
of " Long live the King, the Queen, and Mgr. the
Dauphin ! " His gaiety, beauty, and grace, and his
^-sprightly and engaging manner won every heart.
Every day at five o'clock he went to his little garden
in the Tuileries. The Federates made an urgent
request that he would allow them to enter it. The
request was acceded to, on the condition that only a
certain number should enter at once, so that the
young Prince might not be overtired by too large a
crowd in so small a space, and that they should
enter in relays while his walk lasted. He spoke to
them frequently, and invariably with such winning
innocence that they left quite enchanted. (Tt would

THE FEDERATION. 165
be impossible to give any idea of their devotion to/
the person of the King, or of the prayers they uttered/
for the preservation of this amiable child. rEach ol
the deputations expressed the most ardent desire
that the King would visit the provinces. " Come,"
said the deputation from Dauphine to the young
Prince, " come to your Province of Dauphind ; your
name gives you possession of us, and we shall know
well how to defend you there against your enemies."
" Do not forget, Monseigneur," said the Normans to
him in their turn, " that you have borne the name of
our province, and that the Normans have always
been, and will always be, faithful to their King."
Each Federation warmly evinced its attachment, and
it was impossible not to be touched by the expres
sion of their sentiments, and by the tenderness of
their regard for the young Prince, at whom they
were never tired of looking.
There was a general desire to do honour to the
Federals. Eejoicings took place in their honour —
dances, spectacles, and jousts on the river. They
conducted themselves with perfect propriety, never
losing an opportunity of showing their respect and
attachment to the royal family. None of the means
used to withdraw them from their allegiance could
alter their sentiments. Several of them even pre
sented the most touching addresses to the royal
family, among others those of Poitou and Anjou,
Provinces whose conduct so amply justified the
sentiments they professed.

166 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
At the Etoile the King reviewed each deputation
of the Army. They also testified to the King their
most ardent attachment to his person ; and the
Federates, who attended this review in large num
bers, begged him to come and visit each one of his
Provinces, assuring him that he would there find
hearts which would warmly appreciate the benefit of
his presence. The Queen was in an open carriage
with Mgr. the Dauphin, Madame, and Madame Eliza
beth. She spoke to those who came up to it with a
kindness and affability which won every heart. This
day was notably one of happiness for the King, the
Queen, and all who were devoted to them. It was
an intoxication of feeling, and was the last auspi
cious clay for the Queen, for whom, from that time,
each day announced new misfortunes, and put her
courage and firmness to terrible proof.
/ If the King had taken advantage of this oppor
tunity to take a trip through his Provinces, and
had announced at this review that he was about
to respond to the wish expressed by the mouths of
their deputies ; if he had chosen to dispense with all
other fguard than the inhabitants of the places he
was about to visit ; and if he had elected to be
accompanied in his visits only by the good Federates
who evinced such attachment for him, he would have
disconcerted the Assembly, and would have placed it
in the position of being dependent on his goodwill.
But it was written in the book of Fate that we should
drain the cup to its very dregs. The King unfortu-

THE FEDERATION. 167
nately wTas far from having any idea of the effect
which his presence would produce in the Provinces ;
he feared that the zeal of his faithful servants would
carry them too far, and that the opposition of the
malcontents Avould bring about a civil war. {AR
these considerations prevented him frorn~fblrowing
the advice given to him that he should take advan
tage of so favourable an opportunity of absenting
himself from Paris. The lack of energy on the part
of the majority of his Ministers, a portion of whom
were always afraid of making any attack on that dire
ful liberty which existed only in name, and carefully
imbued him with ideas most hurtful to his interests ;
and this disastrous fear, produced by an excess of
goodness, was the cause of all our misfortunes. The
!ault of the King was that he had too little confidence I
n himself. Persuaded that others saw more clearly)
;han himself, he dared not take the line pointed out
;o him by the uprightness of his mind and the goodj
less of his heart. \ Discontented with the education
he had received, he judged himself unfavourably, and
he did not do himself the justice he deserved.
The Assembly was uneasy in regard to the line of
conduct which the King was going to adopt ; and
believing itself to be lost if the King quitted Paris,
there were no means which it did not employ to gain
over the Federates. I had no doubt whatever about
these fears after the remark made by Barnave in the
carriage of the King on his return from his unfortu
nate trip to Varennes. He was speaking to Madame

168 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
Elizabeth of the events of the Eevolution, and espe
cially of the Federation, and when the Princess
alluded to the views entertained by the Assembly in
decreeing it, he said, "Ah! Madame, do not com
plain of this epoch, for if the King had known how
to profit by it, we should all of us have been lost."
It is not difficult to form an idea of the impression
produced by so remarkable a confession upon hearts
as profoundly afflicted as were those of the royal
family in the situation in which they then were.

CHAPTER VI.
THE YEAR 1790.
Arrests, Denunciations, and Disorganising Decrees — Continuance of
Measures for the Destruction of the Royal Authority — Murders
and Disturbances in various parts of the Kingdom.
Two persons, named d'Hosier and Petit-Jean, both
of them visionaries, were arrested at Saint Cloud.
They seemed to be slightly crack-brained, and ren
dered themselves objects of suspicion by reason of
their persistent attempts to speak to the King. They
were searched, and on one of them was found a letter,
in which they recommended the King to put his
trust in God and the Holy Virgin, and so recover his
authority. Chance brought them in contact with
Madame de Jumilhac. They mentioned her name in
the course of the proceedings against them, and that
was all that was necessary for the issue of an order
to two captains of the National Guard of Paris to
proceed to Perigord, where she then was, and arrest
her. They took 300 men at Limoges, reached
Jumilhac, and brought her to Paris. Her replies
were so simple and natural that, as no ground of

170 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
accusation was discovered against her, she was re
stored to liberty, to the great joy of the inhabitants
of Jumilhac, who, having experienced her benefi
cence, and being grateful for it, expressed the
greatest joy at seeing her among them again.
M. de Clermont-Tonnerre seized upon this oppor
tunity to bring a complaint against a Committee of
Inquiry which, self-constituted and in defiance of
Wery law, permitted arrests antagonistic to liberty,
arrogated to itself rights even more odious than lettres
ie cachet, and harassed all classes of citizens with
jimpunityTT' All the sensible members of the Assem-
appTauded the speech, which had much to do
with the prompt release of Madame de Jumilhac ;
but none the less did the Committee continue its
wonted vexatious proceedings.
M. de Bonne-Savardin, the bearer of a letter from
the Count de Maillebois to M. the Count d'Artois,
was arrested on the frontier. Confined in the first
instance at Pierre en Cise, he was afterwards sent to
Paris by order of the Committee of Inquiry. He
had with him a small book, in which he noted down
all the incidents of his daily life, among other things
his having dined with M. de Saint Priest. The
Committee were anxious to find some trait of iden
tity between this latter gentleman and M. de Mail
lebois. In vain did M. de Bonne protest that there
was no connection between the two names, and
that he knew M. de Saint Priest to be too strongly
opposed to all idea of counter revolution for any

M. DE SAINT PRIEST. 171
proposition of the kind to be made to him. The
name of M. de Saint Priest was, nevertheless, added
in the indictment laid at the Chatelet to those of
MM. de Maillebois and de Bonne-Savardin. A charge
of contempt of the Assembly and its decrees was
also added^ although no proof whatever of any such
thing was forthcoming.
M. de Saint Priest having been informed that, in
support of this denunciation, Brissot de Warville, a
journalist and member of the Court of Inquiry,
promised to publish in his paper full details re
garding this assertion, felt himself compelled on this
occasion to complain to the Assembly of the calum
nies which were spread daily about him. He wrote
a most noble letter, representing that as his con
duct had been always irreproachable in the various
posts he had filled, and as he was actually honoured
with the confidence of the King, he believed it to be
his duty as a minister to repel the accusations of
which he was a victim ; that he did not know either
M. de Maillebois or M. de Bonne-Savardin personally ;
that he had never been in confidential communi
cation with them ; that he had nothing to reproach
himself with in regard to his oath to be faithful to
the Constitution ; and that the conduct of his whole
life was a proof that he knew how to be faithful to
his oath. The denunciation of the Commune against M. de
Maillebois was brought up again on this occasion.
It was based only on the recollection of his secre-

172 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
tary, according to which M. de Maillebois had
written that, with 2500 Piedmontese, 14,000 men
furnished by Spain, and the help of the Duke de
Deux Ponts, the Margrave of Baden, and the Land
grave of Hesse, he would undertake to blockade
Paris, to subjugate France, and to bring the nation
back to repentance. It is difficult to believe that a
shrewd and clever man like the Count de Maillebois
should have conceived such an idea, and should have
sent it to the King of Sardinia and the Count
d'Artois. In accordance with the denunciation of
the Commune and the Committee, the Procureur du
Roi at the Chatelet framed an indictment against
MM. de Maillebois, de Saint Priest, and de Bonne-
Savardin. The Assembly continued, by means of fresh decrees,
to deprive the King of his remaining authority. It
took upon itself the organisation of the army and
all decision as to pensions and retiring allowances,
and rendered his Majesty powerless to do any good,
or to remedy the disturbances which were of daily
occurrence. He was keenly alive to the manner in
whicK^rfe-authority was wounded, and he lived in
the persuasion that so much patience and resigna
tion, the direct opposite of the conduct of the
Assembly, would open the eyes of the nation ; and
that without any recourse being had to violent
measures, it would of itself return to the paternal
government of a King who desired only its happi
ness. Alas ! he was mistaken, and the malcontents

M. MALOUET. 173
who controlled the nation abused his kindness in
order to continue their seditious practices, _and_ to \
fosj^exiJie-Jalindn^ss-of^^ by greed
of gajn, and by the impunity with which crimes ,
were daily committed.
The Assembly could not forgive MM. de Saint
Priest, de la Luzerne, and de la Tour du Pin for the
attachment they showed the King, and the continual
representations they made to him in reference to the
excesses committed in the Provinces, the regiments,
and the forts. The daily denunciations levelled
against them were only intended to make them
declare to the King that they had lost the confidence
of the nation, and to compel him to replace them by
persons more submissive to the will of the Assembly,
and less attached to the person of his Majesty.
M. Malouet, indignant at the atrocious and inflam
matory libels of Camille Desmoulins, which were
hawked about even at the door of the Assembly,
thought it would be serviceable to the people's good
if he were to denounce one of them, in which the most
outrageous expressions against himself were used.
He represented, with his customary firmness, the
danger which every private individual might incur
so long as journalists were not afraid to preach
murder, pillage, and arson, thus compelling a re
presentative of the people to carry arms in defence
of his life ; adding that he would have treated these
insults with contempt if he had not hoped, by draw
ing attention to them, to secure the punishment of

174 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
a being so dangerous to society. The impertinent
fellow had gone so far as to threaten him that he
would brand him on the cheek with a hot iron as an
infamous convict from the hulks of Brest. As this
insult appeared to verge on insanity, M. Malouet
requested that if a medical examination established
his madness, he should be confined in a lunatic
asylum until cured ; and, if not, that he should be
compelled to retract both in the record office and in
his first issue ; that he should pay all costs, and a
fine of 20,000 francs, to be divided among the poor of
his maternal charity ; and that four thousand copies
of this sentence should be printed at his expense, and
placarded in Paris, Brest, Toulon, and other places if
need be, liberty being reserved to the Procureur du
Eoi to take such measures as he might deem fit for
the reparation due to public morality, the law, and
the dignity of a representative of the nation.
Shortly afterwards, he denounced a libel by Marat,
called, Cen est fait de nous, in which he proposed
to seize the King and Mgr. the Dauphin ; to confine
the Queen and Monseiur ; to get rid of all persons
in authority, and to cut off six hundred heads ;
stating that then only would the people be happy,
paying no taxes and enjoying a liberty they only
knew by name ; and that, without this action, their
enemies would swallow them all up, themselves, their
wives, and their children.
M. Malouet spoke most eloqently on the danger
of allowing currency to such libels, which tended,

CAMILLE DESMOULINS. 1 75
by the horror which such methods inspired, to
neither more nor less than a counter revolution.
He represented strongly that it was the interest of
everybody not to allow the public mind to go astray
on this point, seeing that it might pass from the
murder of a single individual, regarded as an enemy,
to the massacre of those who attempted to repress
excesses ; and would end by rendering France a
theatre of bloodshed and horror. He demanded a
decree that the Procureur du Eoi should be there,
and then ordered to appear at the bar to receive
his orders to prosecute, as guilty of treason to the
nation, the authors, printers, and vendors of publi
cations calculated to excite among the people an
insurrection against the laws as well as in favour of
the overthrow of the Constitution.
The speech of M. Malouet made such an impres
sion, that the decree passed without opposition.
But two days afterwards a proj eet of criminal legisla
tion, due to Marat, was brought before the Assembly.
Camille Desmoulins took advantage of this oppor
tunity to complain of the severity with which patrio
tic writings were treated, while those of the opposite
party, such as the Acts of the Apostles, the Gazette
de Paris, and the Passion de Louis X VI. , etc. , etc. ,
were allowed to circulate without any difficult}-.
According to him, it was an intolerable measure to
bring him before a tribunal because he was accused
of being a counter revolutionist.
"Would it be possible," exclaimed M. Malouet,

176 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
" to justify libels provocative of murder, bloodshed,
and the overthrow of all authority?" "I dare do
it," said a voice, which was recognised as that of
Camille Desmoulins. The President ordered him to
be arrested, but he contrived to get lost in the crowd,
and appeared the next moment in the hall. Eobe-
spierre excused his conduct, by attributing it to his
extreme irritation at seeing himself accused of a crime
against the nation of whose rights he was the daily
and incessant defender. Dubois de Craned joined
him, and thought it was a favourable opportunity to
represent to the Assembly that, as the Committee of
Inquiry had accused M. de Saint Priest of being
the accomplice of MM. de Maillebois and de Bonne-
Savardin, a representation should be made to the
King, through the President, that it could hold
no correspondence with a minister so grossly at
tacked. There was a general silence. M. Des
meunier alone proved courageously that no minister
could be dismissed without legal accusation and
trial, and that then only, if he should be found
guilty, would he undergo the punishment laid
down by the law. Nobody dared reply, and
the motion of M. Dubois de Craned fell to the
ground. Pethion, on his side, denounced the decree
against the libellers as having a restrospective
effect. "A revolution," he said, "is not a time
of calm ; you yourselves have favoured the insur
rection of a great nation ; you have approved of it by

THE ASSEMBLY. 177
your proceedings. I demand, therefore, that this
last decree shall be inoperative until you have de
fined the crime of treason to the nation, and have
established trial by jury."
In vain did M. Malouet reply that there was
then neither peace nor security in France ; that the
nation would one day call the Assembly to account
for the evils it had brought about, and of which
it would in the end be the victim. He was not
listened to, and the Assembly, without paying any
attention to an amendment to the decree which he
brought forward for the purpose of depriving it of
its arbitrary character, proclaimed that no action
could be brought, nor prosecution instituted, against
any writing published up to that date, except in the
case of the one called C'en est fait de nous ; but
that, indignant on account of the licence used by
authors, it charged the Committee of the Constitution
and that of Criminal Jurisprudence united to bring-
forward for its consideration a method of putting in
force the decree passed against libellers.
The noise was so great that it was impossible for
three-fourths of the Assembly to hear the terms of
the decree. It was expected that an addition would
be made, ordering this method of putting it in force
to be brought forward with the least possible delay.
MM. Malouet and Dupont de Nemours, having called
attention to this omission, demanded that it should
be repaired ; but the Assembly obstinately refused
to alter the decree in any way.
vol. I. M

178 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
The progress of emigration began to be clearly
perceived. Complaint was made to the Assembly,
which deliberated on the best means to remedy it.
|??s=The means is as simple as it is infallible," said M.
I de Murinais ; " give back peace to France ; restore
jj order and justice, and there 'will be no more emigra
tion." The malcontents, who ruled the Assembly,
were far from agreeing to this, knowing better than
anybody else that only in the midst of trouble and
| confusion could they realise the plans they had
j made for the destruction of religion and the
\vJjionarchy. M. de Bonne-Savardin caused great commotion
in the Assembly by his escape from the Abbaye
prison. Fearing, with reason, that he should not
escape being discovered, and being anxious to secure
his safety, he went to the Abbd de Barmond, a mem
ber of 'the Eight of the Assembly, who was well
known for his beneficence, and begged him to give
him an asylum in his house for a few days. The
Abbd de Barmond, afraid of compromising himself,
hesitated much before complying, but his good heart
prevailed in the end.
The Abbe de Barmond was on the point of start
ing for the waters. M. de Bonne, being informed of
this, begged him so earnestly to take him with him
that he could not refuse, although he already had in
his carriage a Federate on his way back to his own
district. Denounced by somebody, presumably his
own servant, the Abbd de Barmond was pursued by

THE ABBE DE BARMOND. 179
MM. Mestre and Julien, aides-de-camp to M. de la
Fayette, who, coming up with the carriage near
Chalons, rode on before it, warned tne Municipality,
and had the travellers arrested. The only papers
found on them were letters for the Cardinal de
Eohan, of which M. Egys was the bearer.
The Assembly, being informed of this occurrence,
decided that the travellers should be brought back
to Paris ; that MM. Egys and de Bonne-Savardin
should be taken to separate prisons in the city ; and
that the Abbd de Barmond should remain in his own
house until the Assembly had decided as to his
fate. The Abbd d'Aimar gave his assurance that M.
Egys had nothing to do with the affair ; that he did
not even know the Abbd de Barmond, who had only
promised to take him back to his own country at
his, the Abbd d'Aimar's, request ; that he might be
taken into custody, but that he did not deserve to
be treated as a criminal. No attention was paid to
these representations, and he was put in prison all
the same.
When the Abbd de Barmond reached Paris, he
was ordered to appear at the bar of the Assembly,
and he was conducted to it in a manner calculated
to make him an object of general observation. A
tumultuous crowd surrounded his carriage, and they
were with difficulty kept at a distance. He naturally
•confessed that he had been wanting in prudence on
this occasion, but that, having spent his life in sue-

180 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
couring the unhappy and oppressed, he could not
help feeling pity for a man who had been in prison
for three months by order of an illegal tribunal, with
out a single proof having been discovered against
him ; that he had never known either M. de Maille
bois or M. de Bonne-Savardin ; that his sympathy
had outstripped his prudence ; and that he had
nothing else to say in his justification.
MM. Duport du Tertre and de Frondeville
warmly defended the Abbd de Barmond. The
latter, after having insisted on the illegality of
the depositions of the Committee of Inquiry, the
terror of all good people, could not restrain his
indignation in comparing the severity of the treat
ment meted out to the Abbd de Barmond with the
indulgence shown to the assassins of the royal
family, several of whom were possibly sitting
among the members of .the Assembly. This sen
tence aroused a most tremendous tumult. The
two parties in the Assembly indulged in the most
violent personalities, and, in the midst of the din
created by everybody shouting at the same time,
M. de Frondeville was censured for having ex
pressed his opinion. A large number of members
of the Eight demanded to be included in his cen
sure, expressing their assent in mind and heart to
the speech he had made ; and amid all this tumult
the Assembly decreed that the Committee of Inquiry
should be charged with the examination of the evi
dence in the matter of the Abbd de Barmond • that

SCENE IN THE ASSEMBLY. 181
their report should be made within a week ; and
that he should remain in custody until further orders.
On the following day, M. de Frondeville had his
speech printed and circulated gratuitously, with a
preface and introduction, stating explicitly that he
felt himself honoured by the censure he had in
curred on the previous evening. M. Goupil de
Prdfeln denounced this speech as a dangerous libel,
and, supported by Barnave, insisted that such a
want of respect for the Assembly deserved at least
a week's imprisonment, a very slight punishment for
such an offence.
M. de Faucigny, unable to restrain his indigna
tion, exclaimed, " This is too much ! It is a war by
his Majesty against the minority, and we have no
other course to pursue but to fall sword in hand on
these fellows." The anger of the Left was at its
height, and Barnave requested the President to
arrest M. de Faucigny on the spot.
M. de Frondeville, distressed by such a disgraceful
scene, requested permission to speak. He acknow
ledged that he had given rise to it by his pamphlet,
expressed his regret to the Assembly, and earnestly
requested that the punishment should fall on him
alone, seeing that he was the cause of the excitement
of so quick and enthusiastic nature as that of M. de
Faucigny. The frank manner in which M. de
Frondeville acknowledged his mistake disarmed the
Assembly, and it contented itself with condemning
him to confinement to his own house for a week.

182 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
M. de Faucigny in his turn apologised for the
excitement to which he had given way. " I might,
however, place an interpretation," he said, " on the
incautious remark that escaped me, differing from the
one attributed to it, if I did not think it more pru
dent not to repeat it. I have now only to submit
beforehand to whatever punishment the Assembly
may deem proper to inflict on me." It resolved that,
having regard to the excuses and declaration of M.
de Faucigny, it remitted the punishment it would
have had a right to inflict.
A week afterwards M. Voidel, in the name of
the Committee of Inquiry, reported to the Assembly
that, on examination of the evidence submitted to it,
it had discovered no crime nor even proofs of
complicity in the matter of the escape of M. de
Bonne-Savardin, but that the Abbd de Barmond
had rendered himself guilty of one of the greatest
social crimes by endeavouring to withdraw from the
vengeance of the law, and shield with his own im
munity, a man in the hands of justice as indicted
for the crime of treason to the nation ; that it was
impossible to believe that he had gone so far without
intending to complete his work ; that he, conse
quently, requested that the Abbd de Barmond
should remain under arrest ; that the Chatelet
should prosecute' the authors and accomplices
of the escape of M. de Bonne ; that a Committee
of the Assembly should separately interrogate
the Abbd de Barmond and M. de Foucault, who

SCENE IN THE ASSEMBLY. ] 83
seemed to be compromised in the affair ; and that
M. Egys, who was not concerned in it, should be
set at liberty.
M. de Foucault, found guilty of having received
M. de Bonne-Savardin in his house, justified his con
duct and that of the Abbd de Barmond by the same
arguments that had been given in the sitting, when
the latter appeared in person. The Abbd Maury, in
a speech full of wisdom and moderation, invoked the
Constitution, which was being violated by such arbi
trary arrests ; protested against the suppositions
indulged in by M. Voidel as deserving public indig
nation ; contended that such conclusions tended to
render the imprisonment of the Abbe de Barmond
perpetual ; and concluded by demanding his provi
sional release, on condition that he should appear
whenever called upon, and recommending that orders
should be issued to the Chatelet to continue the
trial of M. de Bonne-Savardin, and to punish the
guilty in conformity with the law.
This speech made such an impression, that two-
thirds of the Assembly demanded that the sugges
tions of the Abbd Maury should be converted into a
decree. But Barnave, Pethion, Mirabeau, and those
who shared their opinions, protested violently against
a decree which they stigmatised as counter revolu
tionary ; and, aided by the approval of the gal
leries, who supported their arguments with shouts
and clapping of hands, they persuaded his Majesty
that there were grounds of accusation against the

184 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
Abbd de Barmond. In vain was a request made
that poor M. Egys, pronounced innocent by the
Committee of Inquiry, should at least be set at
liberty ; the Assembly passed to the order of the
day, and he still remained in prison.
The Assembly never turned aside from its plan
of leaving the King with no other authority than an
empty title. It resolved that public accusation
should no longer be in the hands of the Commissaries
of the King, it being too dangerous to leave the
exercise of such power with them. It revoked the
allowances of the Children of France, reduced them
to a pension, and decided that they could not inherit
either the real or personal estate belonging to the
King, the Queen, or the heir-presumptive to the
throne at the time of their decease, any more than
such property as might fall to them by succession,
and that everything should be included within the
property of the crown.
The King represented to the Assembly, through
M. Necker, that the abolition of all pensions from
the royal treasury except for twenty-five or thirty
years' service, would place in a very cruel position a
number of persons who had a right to count upon
the recompense which was their due. They had not
any employment, and would find themselves denuded
of every means of existence. " His Majesty," added
the Minister, " sees also with pain the prohibition
issued to pensioners of the State against their re
ceiving any pension or any assistance from the civil

DUEL BETWEEN MM. BARNAVE AND DE CAZALES. 185
list, and he hopes the Assembly will take into con
sideration subjects which are so near his heart."
M. Necker took advantage of this opportunity to
impress upon the Assembly that it placed the King
too much in the background in the distributions of
promotions and rewards, and instanced, by way of
contrast, the conduct of England, which neglected no
means of surrounding its King with every mark
of consideration. Barnave, Charles_de Lameth, and
Boutidoux protested veEemently against the audacity
^oi~M~. JN eckej^jhja-dara^^ advice
to the Assembly ; and without even listening to
the arguments adduced against their excitement, or
making any distinction between the requests of the
King and the observations of M. Necker, they induced
the majority of the Assembly to pass to the order of
the day.
M. Necker. deeply distressed by the result of his
proceeding, appreciated, but too late, the baneful
influence of his conduct at the beginning of the
Eevolution. He was very much affected by the
manner in which he was treated by the Assembly, and
his regret could not but increase when he reflected
upon what he was, and what he might have been if
he had adhered to the line of conduct imposed upon
him by the confidence which his Majesty displayed
when he selected him for office.
The warmth with which MM. Barnave and de
Cazales maintained their opinions having given rise to
some personalities, Barnave challenged M. de Cazales,

186 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
and they fought a duel with pistols. M. de Cazales
was wounded, and owed his life to his hat. The
populace displayed the utmost joy over the success
of Barnave, and declared that, if he had been killed,
they would have massacred his adversary. Their
ferocity increased from day to day, and the most
disastrous intelligence came to hand about what was
going on in the Provinces.
M. de Pont, Intendant of Metz, who was about
to undergo an operation for stone, was surrounded in
his official residence by a hundred and fifty militiamen,
who demanded their pay, which they asserted was
due to them since 1775, and for which they held him
responsible. The populace joined them, and after
having overwhelmed M. de Pont with insults, they
extorted from him a bank note for 1000 louis. M.
Louis de Bouille and several other officers ran the
greatest danger in attempting to defend M. de Pont.
The Municipality had the courage to hoist the red
flag, to plant guns in front of the H6tel de Ville,
and to declare null and void the bank note extorted
from the Intendant. On the following day, a report
was current that a band of brigands was devastating
the crops, and owing to these rumours there was an
almost universal arming of the inhabitants of the
neighbouring Provinces.
The spirit of revolt was rife in the various parts
of the Kingdom. M. de Castellat, the senior naval
officer at Toulon, was attacked by the dockyard
labourers, under the pretext that the want of funds

DISTURBANCES IN THE PROVINCES. 187
made them fear a suspension of payment. They were
making ready to hang him, wounded as he was, when
two grenadiers of the Baviors regiment rescued him,
all bleeding from their hands, and conveyed him to
the hospital. M. de Glendevez, in giving an account
of this occurrence, asked what could be done by a
Commandant without resources against men who, led
astray by the name of liberty, gave themselves up
to all sorts of atrocities. M. Malouet at once pro
posed a bill which, drawn up by the Committees of
Inquiry, Eeports, and Marine, would empower the
Seneschal's Court of Toulon to deal with the perpe
trators of this outrage, and would enjoin the President
of the Assembly to write an approving letter to the
Municipality and the National Guard, who had already
arrested several of the assassins of M. de Castellat,
and to the brave grenadiers who had saved his life
at the risk of their own. V
M. de Mirabeau spoke strongly in opposition to
such disturbances, and declared that he saw no other
remedy for so many evils than the disbanding of
the army. He proposed to decree it for the 20th
of September, to terminate the furlough from the-
moment when the decrees on the military organisa
tion should be passed, and to make every man com
posing the army take so precise and definite an oath
that all diversity of principles and opinions should
be excluded. He proposed, moreover, to issue at
the same time an address to the army, setting forth
the obligations imposed by this oath, which would

188 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
act as a preservative against such interpretations as
ignorant and enthusiastic persons had placed on the
Declaration of the Eights of Man. He concluded by
avowing that it was time that this declaration should
be followed by one setting forth individual obliga
tions. If this declaration, so urgently demanded by
the sensible members of the Assembly, and so obsti
nately refused, had been decreed at once after that
of the Eights of Man, many misfortunes would have
been avoided. The proposal of M. de Mirabeau was
unfortunately too late ; the evil might easily have
been prevented in its earliest stages, but it became
difficult to remedy it later on.
The disbanding of the army roused the anger of
Marat. He circulated a pamphlet declaring that, if
the disbanding of the army proposed by Mirabeau
should be decreed, he would erect eight hundred
gallows at the Tuileries on which to hang all the
traitors, with Mirabeau at their head. M. Malouet
denounced this pamphlet, and demanded that the
Mayor of Paris should be required to arrest Marat,
as well as the vendors of such atrocities. Mirabeau,
on the other hand, entreated the Assembly to treat
such extravagance with contempt, which he stigma
tised as intoxication on the part of Marat, and he
denounced as a libel the indictment of the Chatelet
in regard to the events of the 5th and 6th of
October. A letter was read to the Assembly from the con
querors of the Bastille and patriot authors, such as

THE PATRIOTS OF THE BASTILLE. 189
Carra, Marat, Camille Desmoulins, Brissot, Loustalot,
etc., asking all good citizens to be present at a ser
vice, to be celebrated in the Champ de Mars, in
memory of their comrades who fell at the taking of
the Bastille. Eobespierre wanted the Assembly to
send a deputation there, but on it being pointed out
that the Assembly could not sit side by side with
men whom it had condemned, M. Duport moved a
resolution that it belonged to the Assembly to order
such a service, and that it must be postponed until
that order should be given.

CHAPTEE VII.
The Nancy Affair — Resignation of M. Necker — Camp of Jalfe — Fresh
Issue of Assignats.
The Minister of War made a report to the Assembly
on the critical situation in which the town of Nancy
was placed owing to the revolt of the regiments of
the King, the Mestre de Camp, and the Suisses de
Chateauvieux. This latter regiment, which had been
led away, appeared at first disposed to repent; but,
spurred on once more by those who were fostering
all these disturbances, it persisted in its revolt.
Each of these regiments wished to make its officers
jointly and severally responsible for the sums it
pretended were due, and for unjust stoppages extend
ing over a considerable period, and they threatened
to take the law into their own hands if their de
mands were not acquiesced in.
M. de Malseigne, formerly Major-General of Car
bineers, a prudent and courageous officer, who was
sent to Nancy to restore order and subordination,
summoned a committee to sit in the barracks of the
Suisses for the examination of the accounts, and he
went there on the 24th of August. The unjust de-

THE NANCY AFFAIR. 191
mands of the soldiers were rejected, but those which
were just and reasonable were granted. But as there
was a considerable amount of excitement, M. de
Malseigne postponed the sitting until another day.
As he was leaving the barracks a grenadier, who was
on sentry at the gate, stopped him and pointed his
bayonet at his chest. M. de Malseinge drew his
sword, wounded him, and served a second grenadier,
who attacked him, after the same fashion. He cut
his way with his sword through the excited soldiery,
and went to the quarters of M. de Noue, second
Colonel of the King's Eegiment, and commanding in
the town, where all the officers were assembled.
The men of the Chateauvieux regiment wanted
to force the doors of M. de Noue's quarters ; but
they were barricaded, and able for the time to with
stand any attack. M. de Malseigne wished to make
a stand against their fury ; but, learning that the
excitement was hourly increasing, that the majority
of the men belonging to the King's and the Mestre
de Camp regiments, joined by the mob, sympa
thised with the Suisses, and that his life was in the
greatest danger, he resolved to yield to the entreaties
made to him that he should leave Nancy and return
to Lundville, where he was received by the Car
bineers with every mark of the esteem and con
fidence with which he had always inspired them.
As soon as it was known that he had left Nancy,
thirty soldiers of the Mestre de Camp regiment set
out in pursuit of him ; but he was safe in Lundville

192 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
when they approached the town. A detachment of
Carbineers mounted, went out to meet them, killed
two, and made the others prisoners. This intelligence,
exaggerated by malevolence, reached Nancy, and pro
duced alarm among the rebels. A report was circu
lated that foreigners had entered the kingdom, and
disorder reigned supreme. The soldiers shouted
" Treason," forced their way into M. de Noue's
quarters, dragged him to prison, imprisoned all the
officers who were with him, and even arrested M.
Percheloche, aide-de-camp to M. de la Fayette, and
put him under a guard of their Fusiliers.
The three regiments which had mutinied set out
at once to attack the Carbineers, and the National
Guards also moved. M. Percheloche then suggested
to those who were guarding him that they should go
and help their comrades, and they all marched to
Lundville. They found the Carbineers drawn up in
battle ; the two forces sent deputies to each other.
M. de Malseigne proposed to return to Nancy, ac
companied by two deputies, one a Carbineer and one
from the other regiments ; M. Percheloche was re
quested by the National Guard, and also by the
men of the King's regiment, to go to Paris and report
what had transpired. He consented, after having
obtained the release of M. de Noue and those who
were arrested with him.
M. de Bouilld, in recounting these facts, asked
the Assembly to appoint two Commissioners to act in
concert with him, and in that way to put an end to

THE NANCY AFFAIR. 193
the current rumours that troops were being con
centrated merely to bring about a counter-revolution.
He informed the Assembly that he had under his
orders, besides the Carbineers, the Swiss regiments
of Castella and Vigier, who were determined to
avenge the shame inflicted on their nation by the
defection of the Chateauvieux regiment.
Meanwhile the situation of Nancy was frightful.
The Arsenal had been pillaged ; the lower orders de
fended the soldiers, and the upper classes ran a daily
risk of being massacred. A large number of the
National Guard had left the town to march with the
three regiments against the Carbineers, and the
citizens were defenceless against the excitement of the
mob. The Assembly was urgently requested to main
tain the decree it had passed, authorising the forcible
repression of an insurrection whose results might be
so dangerous. But the National Guard of Nancy
sent two deputies to Paris, who in a speech made to
the Assembly,' excused the troops, and attributed the
disturbances to the commanding officers of the regi
ments, especially M. de Malseigne. They thus suc
ceeded in making the Assembly lukewarm about the
measures it had at first adopted. " All the mistakes
made by the soldiers," they said, " spring solely from
their attachment to the principles of the Eevolution.
They must be temporised with, and justice must be
done to the purity of their sentiments."
These arguments, supported by the demagogues
of the Assembly, secured for them the honours of the
VOL. I. N

194 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
sitting. Barnave, Eobespierre, and other deputies of
the same party, endeavoured to create distrust of the
opinions of M. de Bouilld. He was going, so they
said, to form a union of aristocrats and despots hired
to make an end of the soldiers. By means of these
lies they succeeded, though with difficulty, in per
suading the Assembly to issue a fresh proclamation,
in which it declared that it would look closely into
the conduct of each individual ; that soldiers and
citizens should be placed under the safeguard of the
nation ; but that to obtain j ustice order must first
of all be restored. It resolved that this proclama
tion should be taken to Nancy by the Commis
sioners, who were authorised to make use of military
force after having exhausted every means of peace
and justice.
The decrees and proclamation of the Assembly
made no impression on the rebels. They even suc
ceeded in gaining over to their side a large number
of Carbineers, who seized MM. de Noue and de Mal
seigne, and took them to prison, wThere they found
themselves at the mercy of these fanatics. M. de
Bouilld, after having in vain employed every possible
means of making the troops return to their allegiance.
was compelled to use force, and he determined to put
the decree in operation.
He summoned all the troops of the line, the
National Guards of Metz and Lundville, and the
loyal portion of that of Nancy, read to them the
decree of the Assembly, sanctioned by the King, and,

THE NANCY AFFAIR. 195
assured of their fidelity, he marched against the
insurgents. The latter sent a deputation to M. de
Bouilld, asking him to surrender. He replied that
he would make no terms with rebels ; that nothing
was left to them but submission, and that if within
two hours MM. de Noue and de Malseigne were not
given up to him, and the three regiments were not
drawn up outside the town with grounded arms, he
would put in force the decree. MM. de Noue and
de Malseigne were given up, and after sundry con
ferences, in which M. de Bouille held his ground, a
fresh deputation from the Municipality and the King's
regiment came to assure him that they were going to
leave the town, in obedience to his orders. M. de
Bouilld received the deputation in the midst of his
troops, whose ardour could hardly be restrained.
The soldiers left the town, but it was noticed that
•one of the gates was guarded by men of the three
regiments, who had also retained the artillery. They
were preparing to defend it when M. Ddsilles, a young
¦officer in the King's regiment, full of honour and
bravery, made a last effort to bring them to submis
sion. First of all he made use of persuasion and
ar<rument to induce them to abstain from bloodshed
in an impossible defence ; but not being able to make
any impression on their obstinate minds, he placed
himself at the mouth of the cannon, hoping by that
proceeding to stop them. It was all in vain ; they
replied to the last summons of M. de Bouille by a
shot from the gun and a round of musketry, which

196 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
mortally wounded the young and heroic Ddsilles.1
The volunteers replied by a very rapid fire, forced
the gate, and killed all they met. The insurgents
defended themselves desperately. They fired from
the windows on the troops of M. de Bouilld, and
killed many of his men. After a fight which lasted
for three hours, in which the soldiers of the Chateau
vieux regiment were partly killed or wounded ; and
the Mestre de Camp regiment having fled, the King's
regiment resolved to surrender. M. de Bouilld went
at once to its barracks, and ordered it to go to
Verdun ; the Mestre de Camp regiment, dispersed or
captured, was ordered to Toul, Moyenvic, and Marsal,
M. de Bouilld eulogised in the highest terms the
courage and bravery of the troops and the National
Guards. Thirty men of the National Guard of Metz
were killed, and many were wounded. Nancy owed
its safety to them, and order was completely re
established there.
M. de Bouilld held a Council of War on the follow
ing day to try the culprits, and the orders of the
Assembly were requested in regard to the men of the
Chateauvieux regiment. M. de Malseigne, on leav
ing Nancy, arranged for the rejoining of the Carbi
neers who had returned to their allegiance, and who,
when assuring him of their profound sorrow, gave up
1 He was a Breton, and imbibed from his family the courage and
generosity he displayed on tbis occasion. His father and the greater-
portion of his family fell victims to their attachment to royalty under
the Reign of Terror in 1795.

THE NANCY AFFAIR. 197
twenty of their comrades, the leading spirits of the
insurrection. The courage and firmness of M. de Bouilld were
generally applauded. He had only 3,000 men
against the insurgents, who numbered 10,000. The
modesty with which he reported his success added
still more to the esteem inspired by his conduct.
The King and Queen, who were in the most in
tense anxiety about what was going on at Nancy,
testified to M. de Bouilld the satisfaction they felt
in regard to his conduct, and paid the most flattering
and deserved public tribute to it. Not so with the
Assembly. Everyjjdng, which tended to sh°w_re;
spect to the King was a subject of displeasure with
it.. Consequently, in the decree of thanks to the
authorities, the -National Guards and M. Ddsilles for
their zeal, bravery, and patriotism, it limited itself
to a single line of approbation in respect of the
General and the troops of the line who had done
their duty, and it ordered the Commissioners whose
despatch had been ordered, to betake themselves
without delay to Nancy, in order to take the neces
sary evidence in connection with the authors of the
insurrection, to punish the guilty without distinction
of military rank, and to take all necessary measures
for the preservation of public order. It took upon
itself the task of providing for the widows and
children of the National Guards who had fallen at
Nancy. The King had named as Commissioners the two

198 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
Presidents of the nearest Departments to the town,
as being fully cognisant of all that had transpired
there ; but M. de la Fayette opposed this, and
succeeded in having M. Dumanoir, one of his
aides-de-camp, and M. Duport du Tertre ap
pointed. These two gentlemen, not being desirous
of being entrusted with this mission, were re
placed by MM. du Verrier and Cayer de Gerville,
advocates. If the King had wished to leave Paris at this
juncture, and to retire to Metz to put himself at the
head of the troops there, the popularity enjoyed by
M. de Bouilld would have enabled him to do so, and
his residence at Saint Cloud would have afforded
him every sort of facility to leave secretly. But he
could not make up his mind to a step the conse
quences of which he feared.
The malcontents, annoyed at seeing order re-estab
lished at Nancy by the heroic valour of the troops
and the National Guard, attempted to create a dis
turbance in Paris. They re-assembled the mob of
Palais Eoyal, and a band of people met round the
hall and spread over the garden of the Tuileries,
cursing M. de Bouilld and the Ministers, whose dis
missal they demanded. They bewailed the murders
at Nancy, and even pretended to want to force
their way into the hall. The excellent bearing of
the National Guard nipped this sedition in the bud.
M. Dupont de Nemours complained bitterly of
the audacity of the malcontents, who, apparently

RESIGNATION OF M. NECKER. 199
without an army, in reality had one in the mass of
their partisans, obedient to the word of command,
and concentrating at the first signal, for the purpose
of committing every excess they were commanded
to perpetrate. He urged that the Assembly should
give orders to indict the authors of this last disturb
ance, and that the Municipality of Paris should be
enjoined to see vigilantly to the execution of the
decrees relating to public tranquillity. In spite of a
speech from M. Andrd, who was not ashamed to
attribute to the minority the excesses of which they
complained, for the purpose of creating a feeling
against them, the proposed decree was passed un
animously. The riot of the 2d of September determined the
resignation of M. Necker. Alarmed at the dangers
he was incurring, he wrote to the Assembly to the
effect that, as his health would no longer allow him
to discharge the duties of his office, he tendered his
resignation. At the same time he stated that on the
2d of July he had handed in his account of receipts
and expenditure from the 1st of May 1789, to May
1790 ; that as a guarantee of his administration of
public funds, he left his houses in Paris and the
country, and 2,400,000 livres of his own money,
which he had paid into the public treasury, of which
he wished to withdraw only 400,000 livres. His
resignation was received with the most profound
indifference. The Assembly took upon itself the
administration of the public treasury, and added the

200 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
control of the finances to all the other powers it had
taken into its own hands.
The sudden arrival of M. Necker having caused a
certain amount of commotion in the village of Saint
Omer, he thought it prudent to leave, and he wan
dered throughout the night in the valley of Mont
morency. He returned to Paris early on the follow
ing day, and left shortly afterwards for Coppet. His
journey was not a fortunate one. He was arrested
at Arcis-sur-Aube by the Municipality, who refused
to allow him to continue on his way until they
were authorised to do so by the National Assembly.
M. Necker wrote to the President asking for this
authorisation, and his friends obtained for him the
necessary letters. Armed with these papers, he was
allowed to proceed as far as Vesoul, where he was
again arrested. But the Municipality set him at
liberty, and at last he left France never to return to
it again, carrying with him regret and anxiety which,
added to his grief at the loss of his wife, rendered his
life bitter to his latest breath.
The persecutions experienced by the inhabitants
of the southern Provinces attached to the King and
religion made them resolve to unite in self-defence.
They formed a federal camp at Jales in lower
Languedoc. They fixed the 18th of August as the
day for assembling. This camp already consisted of
45,000 men, when 10,000 mountaineers from Vivarais
arrived to increase the number. They formed a
square, in the midst of which an altar was erected

CAMP AT J ALES. 201
and mass was celebrated ; and as there was a certain
amount of excitement, a proposition was made to
sally forth to avenge the Catholics oppressed by the
Protestants. M. de Lazantides, a retired officer of
the Penthievre regiment, who perceived the danger
of this proposal, adroitly made use of an excuse of
want of provisions to induce them to retire.
The inhabitants of Vivarais were more difficult
to persuade than the others, and only consented on
condition that Commissioners should be sent for the
purpose of compelling the Protestants to send to
MontpeUier, or some other safe town, the imprisoned
Catholics, there to be tried and punished if found
guilty ; that they should sell arms to the Catholics,
or else disarm the Protestants ; that the guns should
be restored to the citadel of Nimes ; and that the
soldiers of the Guyenne regiment, who had sold
themselves to the Protestants, should be sent away
from that place.
The Assembly, rendered uneasy by this assem
bling, decreed its approval of the proclamation of the
Department of Ardeche opposing the proceedings of
the army of the Camp of Jales, and requested the
President to ask the King to order the tribunal of
Villeneuve-en-Berg to try the authors of the uncon
stitutional proceedings at the Camp ; to declare the
Military Committee of that army unconstitutional ;
to forbid it to assemble, and its Commissioners to go
to MontpeUier to inquire into the Nimes affair ; also
to forbid all the National Guards in the kingdom to

202 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
form any federal camp without authority from the
Executive Council of the Department; and to beg
His Majesty to give orders as promptly as possible
for the execution of the decree.
The decision arrived at by the "King on the
advice of his Ministers to sanction unreflectingly
all the decrees of the Assembly, often caused him
much annoyance. Compelled by this decision to
abandon those who sought to defend his authority,
he saw with grief that, far from its accomplishing
the end he had in view, its tendency was to further
the aim of the Assembly, whose sole object was to
extinguish in the hearts of the French all attach
ment to that Sovereign who only desired the happi
ness of his people.
The Left of the Assembly, who had sworn the
destruction of the clergy, finding that the sale of
their property was somewhat long in being carried
out, proposed to settle it more speedily by a fresh
issue of two milliards of assignats, including those
which had already been created. Mirabeau and the
Committee of Liquidation had estimated at this
amount the reimbursement of the public debt, which
consisted of the cost of the households of the King
and the Princes, military salaries, enfeoffed tithes,
and the Holland and Genoa loans. They said that
in exchanging these two milliards against estates of
equal value, the State would be relieved of as con
siderable a debt, and the people would only have to
pay 474,000,000 francs per annum. Mirabeau was in

ISSUE OF ASSIGNATS. 203
favour of reimbursing the public debt by assignats
without interest ; of selling the national domains at
once, and opening auctions in every district ; of re
ceiving assignats exclusively in payment of pur
chases ; of burning them as they were returned ; and
of charging the Committee of Finances with a bill
and an instruction for this purpose.
A great many sittings were devoted to the
discussion of this proposal. All the well-informed
and reasonable members of the Assembly protested
against the measure ; and a great number of the
deputies of the Left joined them, and enlarged on
the danger of the step in speeches full of force and
wisdom. They painted in warm colours the disturb
ances which could not fail to result from it, such as
the rise in the price of provisions, the dilapidation
of the Church property, and bankruptcy, which
would be the inevitable result of such an issue of
assignats. The representations of the large towns
of the kingdom on the . harm which would be done
to commerce had no more effect. The step was re
solved upon ; the fiery eloquence of Mirabeau, sup
ported by his party, won over the majority of the
Assembly, and it was resolved that the non-consti
tuted debt of the State and that of the so-called
clergy should be reimbursed in assignats-monnaie
without interest; that not more than 1,200,000,000
should be put in circulation, in addition to the
400,000,000 which had been decreed; that the
assignats should be burnt as they came into the

204 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
Treasury ; and that no new ones should be manufac
tured without the sanction of the Corps Ldgislatif,
and then under the condition that they should not
exceed in value the national domains, nor exceed in
circulation the amount of 1,200,000,000 francs.

CHAPTEE VIII.
THE YEAR 1790 (OCTOBER).
Procedure in connection with the Events of the 5th and 6th of October
• — Conduct of the Assembly in regard to this subject — Insubordi
nation in the Fleet at Brest — Resignation of M. d' Albert de
Rioms — Fresh Denunciation of Ministers — Resignation of M. de
la Luzerne — Energetic Protests of various Parliaments against the
Attacks made "on the Royal Authority — Troubles in Martinique
— Uncertainty of the King as to withdrawing from Paris — His
Return to the Capital — Resignation of Ministers and their Re
placement — Continuance of Disturbances.
The Chatelet, amply informed in regard to the dis
turbances of the 5th and 6th of October, before
indicting the persons implicated in them, sent a
deputation to the bar of the Assembly, with M.
Boucher d'Argis, President of the Tribunal, at its-
head. It declared that it was about to reveal
secrets full of horror, and that, in spite of threats-
against the Chatelet from all quarters, it would not
shrink from any danger in affirming liberty as dis
tinguished from licence ; that it had been grievously
distressed to recognise members of the Assembly
among the accused ; but that it was persuaded that
they themselves would hasten to request the pro-

206 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
secution of a trial, the full result of which might be
¦expected to prove their innocence.
It laid the proceedings under seal on the table,
declaring that the greater portion of the evidence
was due to the Committee of Inquiry of the Assem
bly, and complaining of the conduct of that of Paris,
which had over and over again refused to hand over
the evidence in its hands.
" The Assembly can neither be accuser nor
judge," said M. de Mirabeau ; " it can only take
cognisance of the charges affecting two of its mem
bers. I propose to decree that the proceedings shall
be sent to the Committee of Inquiry of the Assembly,
who will report on the charges affecting two of its
members, in order that it may take the necessary
steps, should there be any ground of accusation."
The Abbd Maury represented that the immunity
of deputies could not extend to every kind of crime,
•especially when there was any question of the crimes
-either of treason to the nation or of high treason ;
that a declaration ought to be made that, all men
being equal before the law, the proceedings were
sent back to the Chatelet, with instructions to
continue the prosecution, an order being sent at the
same time to the Committee of Inquiry of the city
of Paris to deliver up to that tribunal all the docu
ments that might be considered necessary.
Pdthion was astonished at the revival of an
affair which he thought had been set at rest, and
declared that he considered it would be more, in con-

THE 5TH AND 6TH OF OCTOBER. 207
formity with the immunity of deputies, if it were
left to the Assembly to say whether or not there
were grounds of accusation against two of its mem-
-bers who were implicated in the report of the
Chatelet. M. de Cazales indignantly insisted upon the
necessity of giving the greatest publicity to the
justification of those who were accused of a crime
which weighed on the whole nation, and which
would dishonour it for ever, so long as posterity
should say, " Infamous assassins placed in danger
the life of the Queen, the daughter of Marie Thdrese."
The murmurs increased his courage. " Yes," he
said, " the daughter of Marie Thdrese, whose name
will survive those of the conspirators of that accursed
day." The Assembly decreed that the sealed packet
should be opened by the Committee of Inquiry of
the Assembly, in the presence of the Commissioners of
the Chatelet, before whom an inventory should be
made of everything contained in it ; that the Com
mittee of Eeports should inform the Assembly of
any charges against representatives of the nation,
should such exist in the proceedings, in order that it
might be in a position to say whether or not there
was any ground of accusation ; that it would not
interfere to arrest the course of justice in regard to
the other accused persons ; and that the Committee
of Inquiry of Paris should be compelled to hand to the
Commissioners of the Chatelet all evidence and docu-

208 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
ments necessary for the prosecution ; and at the
instigation of MM. de Cazales, Malouet, and Du-
fraisse-Duchd, orders were given to put in force the
decrees issued against persons outside the Assembly,
before the opening of the packet.
The Committee of Inquiry of the city accused
the Chatelet of being desirous of bringing about a
counter-revolution, by giving to its proceedings the
title of the days of the 5th and 6th of October,
whereas the events of the latter day were alone in
question. The Chatelet replied to this accusation by
an address to the Assembly, in which it proved by
satisfactory evidence that the depositions of the wit
nesses showed such a connection between the two
days that it was impossible to separate them. Angry
voices opposed the continuance of the reading of the
address. M. Dufraisse-Duchd in vain pointed out
that such a refusal would lead to the belief that the
Assembly wished to leave unpunished crimes that
would sully the Eevolution, and that this impunity
would cover it and its authors with eternal oppro
brium ; his representations were not listened to.
The majority refused to hear any more of the
address, which was relegated to the Committee of
Eeports. This Committee requested, in order to enable it
to make its report, that the proceedings of the
Chatelet should be printed, and M. de Mirabeau
demanded that this should be done as quickly as
possible. " I am not ignorant that I shall play a

THE 5TH AND 6TH OF OCTOBER. 209
part in this trial of the Eevolution," he said impu
dently, " but there is more reason to fear the escape
of the witnesses than of the accused."
M. Chabroud, entrusted with the report of the
Committee of Inquiry, only sought to justify Mira
beau and the Duke d'Orleans. He constrained him
self to give to that frightful day the aspect of one of
those events in which fate is pleased to put to con
fusion all human foresight. " The judges," he said,
" converted into a certainty what was only a suspi
cion ; witnesses believed they saw what they swore
they did, and they were evidently mistaken. The
majority of them are not worthy of credence. The
Duke d'Orleans and M. de Mirabeau could not have
been guilty of what was imputed to them, seeing
that both of them were elsewhere than where they
were said to have been seen." In the whole of the
proceedings he only saw an attempt to put the Eevolu
tion on its trial, in order that the imprudence of its
enemies might be attributed to its real friends. The
dinner of the Body Guard, the well-founded fear of
a counter-revolution, the first shots fired upon the
people — these were the causes which led up to the
results complained of. He accused M. Malouet of
placing a sinister interpretation on mere remarks,
among others, on a chance exclamation of M. Coraller,
who, in a moment of excitement, was led into saying
that if M. Necker was not dismissed, the Palais Eoyal
would have been set on fire by way of beginning the
Eevolution. " As for the misfortunes that came to
vol. I. o

*
210 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
pass on the 6th of October, I leave them," he said, in
concluding his horrible speech, " for the instruction
of future races, and to furnish a lesson to kings,
courtiers, and the nation." He concluded by proposing,
in the name of the Committee, that it should be de
creed that there was no ground of accusation.
Copies were then read of two letters from M.
d'Estaing to the Queen, to prove how well-founded
was the prevalent fear that the King had been ad
vised to leave Versailles for Metz. M. d'Estaing
spoke in his second letter of the bad effect of the
dinner given by the Body Guard, and recommended
the Queen to follow the advice he had given her not
to surround herself with enemies of the Eevolution.
These two letters were so vapid and diffuse that the
Queen had not condescended to reply to them, and
there was considerable astonishment at their being
found in the hands of M. Chabroud, who thought fit
to make use of them in support of the contention he
was maintaining.
M. de Bonnai justified the Body Guard, whose
heroism was worthy of being handed down to pos
terity. The Abbd Maury pointed out, with the
eloquence that characterised all his speeches, the
falseness of the assertions of M. Chabroud, adding
that it was painful to him to hear excuses made for
crimes the recollection of which so profoundly
afflicted those who really loved their country, as
they reflected the dishonour with which she was
covering herself by allowing them to go unpunished.

THE DUKE OF ORLEANS. 211
MM. Malouet, de Montlosier, and Henri de
Longueve in vain attempted to discuss the proceed
ings, and spoke with equal force and wisdom on the
necessity for it. But all the reply they got was abuse
from M. de Mirabeau of the King, the Chatelet, and
the members of the Eight. He agreed with Chab-
roud that an attempt had been made to put the
Eevolution on its trial. " Without wishing to recall
the fact," he said, " that the Throne has wrongs to
expiate, and the national vengeance plots to forget,
I have a right to accuse the Chatelet of seeking to -
excite the Provinces against Paris by depicting the
King as a captive in his capital, and the Assembly as
a body of factious spirits."
M. de Biron justified the Duke d'Orleans, who
himself made a speech to the Assembly to prove that
the accusations levelled against him were dictated by
vengeance ; that he ratified the engagement made by
M. Biron to bring to light even the minutest details
of this obscure affair ; and that he would not refuse
any information to those whose interest it was to
contradict it, or to those who had a right to know all
about it. Barnave added that from the moment when
the proceedings were sent back to the Committee
they were condemned ; that they were their own
•condemnation ; that he demanded an expression of
the utmost contempt for the Chatelet, its pro
ceedings, and the witnesses ; and that whatever
the Duke d'Orleans might choose to print would
only strengthen the esteem felt for him by the

212 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
nation, on account of his patriotism and his attach
ment to liberty.
October 2d — The Assembly, in accordance with
the conclusions of the Committee of Inquiry, decreed
that there was no ground of accusation.
This decision threw all good people into a state
of consternation, for they saw with profound grief
the shame it would reflect upon the nation ; and it
must indeed have been very blind if it preserved
the least hope of any good that could be done by
an Assembly which degraded itself to the point of
shutting its eyes to such crimes, and of protecting
their authors. The hundred and forty-eight de
puties of the Assembly, exclusive of the witnesses,
not being able to bear the idea of associating their
names with such a decree, declared and put in print
their disapprobation of the Chabroud report in the
most energetic terms.
M. d'Albert de Eioms, who justly enjoyed the
most distinguished consideration, after having tried
every method of restoring subordination in the fleet
at Brest, finding himself the object of daily abuse,
and being powerless to do any good, sent in
his resignation, and was succeeded by M. de
Bongainville. The Assembly directed M. de Menou to report
upon the insurrection which had led to the resigna
tion of M. d'Albert de Eioms. Struck by the danger
which might result from it, the reporter insisted on
the necessity of putting in force, without loss of

THE TRICOLOR. 213
time, every measure calculated to prevent any
recurrence of such excesses. But this report having
been disapproved of by the demagogues of the
Assembly, he, three days afterwards, disavowed all
that he had stated, and shifted the blame of the
insurrection on to the severity of the officers towards
men led astray by excess of patriotism, who could be
brought back to the paths of order by mildness and
the sight of the tricolor flag, the adoption of which
by the French navy he recommended.
Many objections were made in regard to the
inconveniences that might result from this measure ;
but the Assembly declined to listen to any of them,
and the proposition to limit the national colours to
the tassels so roused the anger of M. de Mirabeau
that, not content with giving utterance to a most
inflammatory speech, he went to the length of
threatening the Eight with the popular fury.
M. de Guillermi, unable to listen coolly to such
a speech, exclaimed that it was the language of a
rebel. A demagogue then opened a window looking
on to the Terrasse des Feuillants, and repeated the
remark of M. Guillermi to the faithful adherents
who were always to be found there. Their hootings,
joined to the uproar made by the demagogues,
induced the Left of the Assembly, always in a
majority, to order M. Guillermi to be placed in arrest
for three days, and it was decreed (October 22d) that
the French flag should in future be tricolor.
M. de Menou and the demagogues of the

214 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
Assembly took advantage of this circumstance to
make a fresh denunciation of Ministers, adding that
the King ought to be informed that they had lost
the confidence of the nation. M. de Cazales, in
opposing this motion as unconstitutional, inveighed
violently against these same Ministers, whom he
accused of cowardly indifference, and a want of
firmness necessary for the repression of the excesses
which were of daily occurrence ; as if they were able,
any more than M. de Cazales, to resist the dis
organising decrees that paralysed every means of
repression. Nobody could imagine the motive of a
reproach so out of place under existing circumstances.
Several representatives having pointed out the
inconvenience of this denunciation, the Assembly
passed to the order of the day.
The sections, for their part, met for the purpose
of settling among themselves the resignation of
Ministers, as if the sections of Paris had a right
to govern Paris according to their will. In conse
quence of this decision, M. Bailly appeared at the
head of forty-eight sections, to announce to the
Assembly that they were engaged in drawing up an
address, in which they were expressing the desire
of the entire Commune of Paris for a change of
Ministers ; that they had come to lay their fears in
the lap of the fathers of the country ; that those fears
might be looked upon as shared in by the whole
nation, since Paris comprised in each section a large
number of citizens of every Department.

DENUNCIATIONS. 215
Danton, formerly an advocate before the Council,
who was a really wicked wretch, then made a speech
vvhich was a regular diatribe against the Ministers.
In it he depicted the Archbishop of Bordeaux as a
secret enemy of the Eevolution, who, not content
with delaying the promulgation of the most im
portant decrees, allowed himself sometimes to alter
the text. He reproached him, moreover, with hav
ing in his instructions to the Commissioners of the
King in the Provinces, commented on the decrees
relative to their duties in such a manner as to give
them an extension of power detrimental to the
Constitution. He accused M. de Saint Priest with having
borrowed from Constantinople the principles of
despotism, threatening French heads with his famous
Damascus blade ; of having been the very soul of
the counter-revolution projected by M. de Maillebois ;
and of having given the King the idea of a mili
tary household in order to oppress the patriots and
friends of the Eevolution.
He reproached M. de la Luzerne and de la Tour
du Pin with oppressing the patriotic officers and
soldiers, and the latter, in addition, with Weakness,
vanity, attachment to his parchments, and with
having stripped the frontiers for the purpose of
bringing troops into the interior of the kingdom.
M. de Montmorin was the only one excluded
from this denunciation. The demagogues regarded
him as a partisan of liberty, and they had nothing

216 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
essential, they said, wherewith to reproach him. He
was, however, profoundly attached to the King, and
only flattered the opposite party in the hope of being
useful to him. He was mistaken in his calculations,
and being compelled to take steps that were repug
nant to his heart, he found himself despised by both
parties, and he ended by falling a victim to the fury
of the Eevolution.
Danton concluded his speech by begging the
Assembly at once to appoint a supreme National
Court to try cases of treason to the nation, and
especially the Ministers, against whom there was no
need of further proof of guilt than was to be found
in their wish to retain office during the framing of
the indictment that was about to be brought against
them. The Assembly recognised in the proceedings of
the sections the right of petition, and promised to
examine any proofs they might bring forward, as
they could not be rejected by the King, who owed
his people justice and protection.
It could not conceal its uneasiness at the bare
idea of seeing the King forming a military house
hold, as it feared that more than anything else ; con
sequently Charles de Lameth protested with his
usual vehemence against a measure which was cal
culated, he said, to place liberty in danger ; and he
added that the same reason ought to induce a decree,
that the King should never command the army in
person.

RESIGNATION OF MINISTERS. 217
M. Malouet represented that the dignity of the
throne demanded that the King should have a guard
appointed by himself ; that the Assembly could only
consider the number of men to compose it ; and that
as to the proposition to deprive the King of the
command of the Army, it would be equivalent to
depriving him of all consideration and authority, to
leading the nation insensibly to do without the King,
and to perpetuating trouble and anarchy. He was
not listened to, nor were the other members of the
Assembly who were opposed to such a violation of the
Constitution. On the motion of M. de Lameth, the
discussion of these two items was remitted to the
united Military and Constitution Committees.
No principles were recognised by the Assembly*
except submission to the will of the demagogues.
To give an idea of the corruption into which it had
fallen, a deputy named Lavie had the audacity to
propose, at one of the sittings, that God should not
be mentioned to the people, that religion should be
comprised in the payment of taxes, and that the priests
should confine themselves to preaching taxes ! taxes !
from the pulpit. The Eight gave vent to its in
dignation, but this merely excited the ridicule of its
adversaries. Ministers, finding themselves incapable of doing
any good, tendered their resignations to the King.
But as his Majesty could not accept them, they'
retained their places, with the exception of M. de
la Luzerne, who reiterated his request, and sent the

218 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
King a detailed account of the Navy at the time of
his leaving that department. It consisted of seventy
ships of the line and sixty-five sailing frigates, ex
clusive of twelve ships and six frigates in course of
construction or ready to be launched. It was the
result of the labours of Louis XVI., who had worked
incessantly to create a respectable Navy. Was it
not frightful to see a National Assembly delighting
in rendering these efforts useless, and in paralysing
the zeal of experienced and competent officers by the
insubordination which it took a pleasure in foment
ing between subordinates and their superiors ? The
King witnessed with grief the destruction of the
object of his care ; but feeling that M. de la Luzerne
could do nothing against those who only wished its
destruction, he accepted his resignation, and at the
same time wrote to him that he should never forget
his services ; and that he felt it necessary to express
his satisfaction to him, and to join to it his regret as
to his thinking it necessary to leave the Ministry.
The King had reason to regret a Minister who had
talent and honesty, as well as extreme attachment to
his person. Indeed he would gladly have borne all
the disagreeableness of his position for the sake of
the King, if he had only seen any possibility of being
useful to him ; but, unable to flatter himself that
such would be the case, he preferred an honourable
retreat to a futile resistance to the will of an all-
powerful Assembly, which wished to make Ministers
entirely dependent on itself.

THE SUPPRESSION OF THE PARLIAMENTS. 219
The King wrote to the Assembly to inform it
that he had chosen M. de Fleurieu to be Minister of
Marine. The latter promised the Assembly that
he would distinguish himself by his zeal in the
execution of the law, and the maintenance of public
tranquillity. He announced at the same time that
the King had chosen M. de Bougainville to replace
M. d'Albert de Eioms.
The suppression of the Parliaments, decreed
without discussion on the 6th of December 1789,
was carried out in the kingdom in the month of
October in the following year, and the inferior
tribunals received an order to continue their functions
until they were replaced. The Parliaments of Bor
deaux, Eouen, Grenoble, and Aix, after having
protested against this decree, sent a transcript of it
to the inferior tribunals. The advocates of that of
Aix declared, by the mouth of Pascalis, one of their
body, that they were resolved to perish with the
Monarchy, and to die faithful servants of the King
and the Count de Provence, and they refused to
continue their ministry. The President of Cabre had
their protest and their names entered on the register
of the Court, as an honourable record of their un
shaken fidelity.1 The Parliament of Toulouse pro
tested against all attacks made against religion and
1 M. Pascalis fell a victim to bis courage in the horrors that were
committed in 1791 ; he was one of the first to be massacred by the
wretches who desolated those districts, and who reproached him with the
firmness and nobility of his conduct, on the occasion of the suppression
of the Parliaments.

220 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
the dignity of its ministers ; against the abolition of
the Orders of the Church ; the dismemberment of
Languedoc ; the annihilation of its privileges, and
the letters-patent for the suppression of the Court.
This protest carried alarm into the Assembly.
Eobespierre made use of it to impute blame to the
Executive power, for the name of King no longer
existed among the demagogues. MM. de Broglie
and Alexandre de Lameth talked of rebellion, and
demanded the immediate establishment of the
Supreme Court to try the guilty persons. But the
Magistrates made their escape into Spain, and so
withdrew from the vengeance which the Assembly
was prepared to inflict on them for their resistance
to its decrees.
The disturbances in Martinique attracted the
attention of the Assembly : they were the natural
consequence of the disorganising spirit that was
disseminated in the Colonies ; and all representations
about the dangers that might result from them passed
unheeded. The Viscount de Damas, commanding in Mar
tinique, a faithful and loyal servant of the King,
endeavoured to preserve for France so precious a
colony, while others were hard at work to establish
insubordination, and to renew the old quarrels be
tween the Colonial Assembly and the planters. M.
de Chabrol, Colonel of the Martinique regiment, took
the part of the coloured population, and put himself
at their head, followed by the soldiers who had

PROPOSED DEPARTURE OF THE KING FROM PARIS. 221
abandoned their colours. M. de Damas who, with
reason on his side, protected the landowners and the
Colonial Assembly, marched against him. M. de
Chabrol, having lost many of his men, called upon
the inhabitants of Guadaloupe, who were divided
equally into two parties, for help. M. de Damas,
perceiving the importance of putting an end to this
disturbance, made a report upon the state of affairs
in Martinique, which was sent to the Assembly, but
it, without listening to the arguments he adduced in
justification of the conduct he had pursued, and the
justice done him by the colonials, ordered his return,
simultaneously with the despatch of 6000 men to
Martinique and four men - of - war to the French
islands. The inflammatory speeches of Mirabeau and the
scandal arising out of the sittings of the Assembly,
whose decrees tended to the disorganisation of the
kingdom, determined M. de la Tour du Pin to
represent to the King that if he intended to with
draw from Paris, this was the opportune moment ;.
that he saw that he should be compelled to tender
his resignation, but that before doing so he could,
without giving umbrage to the Assembly, so arrange
the movements of several regiments as to protect
his Majesty's route ; that the residence of his Majesty
at Saint Cloud afforded great facilities for escape,
and that if this opportunity were lost it would be
difficult to find another like it ; that he did not
presume to anticipate the plans of his Majesty; but

222 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL
that, as a faithful and devoted subject, he thought
it his duty to submit these considerations to him.
It would have been a fortunate thing for France if
the King had adopted them. M. de Bouilld at that
time had the confidence of two or three Departments,
and the journey would in all probability have had
an issue far different from that which befell the one
we shall have to describe.
The result of the proceedings in regard to the
events of the 5th and 6th of October made the King
hesitate, and there was a belief that he was going
to decide in favour of the step recommended to him
by M. de la Tour du Pin. But the dread of a civil
war, which would cause bloodshed among his subjects,
was so deeply impressed on his mind that he could
not make up his mind to leave, and he still clung
to the hope that the nation would spontaneously
open its eyes to the misfortunes occasioned by the
decrees of the Assembly ; that the natural inconsist
ency of the latter would in the end discredit it ; that
its violence and despotism, compared with his own
goodness and moderation, would bring back all wise
and moderate men to him easily, and without re
course being had to violence, and that peace would
be re-established in the kingdom. This illusion, the
outcome of a heart full of honesty and goodness,
was destroyed in a very cruel manner.
The Eoyal Family sorrowfully anticipated the mo
ment of their return to Paris. At Saint Cloud they
lad the advantage of being removed from the populace,

THE DAUPHIN. 223
who, paid to create disturbances, daily thronged the
Tuileries and increased the unpleasantness of that
residence. Mgr. the Dauphin enjoyed Saint Cloud
extremely ; his health improved, and his mind devel
oped day by day in the most astonishing manner.
Already, though he was only five years of age, he
had a natural bent for study, a good memory, and
great delight in his lessons. He was accustomed to
reply of his own accord to the compliments addressed
to him, and it was preferred that his replies should
be short, rather than that ideas should be suggested
to him which were not his own. They were merely
rectified when they did not happen to be correct.
That occasionally made him angry, but in the end
he always found out what to say, and in this way
he grew accustomed by himself to utter kind and
gracious words. One day he made us laugh heartily
on the subject of the Dauphin-Dragon regiment.
When this regiment was passing through Paris, the
Count de Choiseul d'Aillecourt, who was its Colonel,
wrote to me to express his regret that he could not
present to Mgr. the Dauphin a regiment worthy of
his kindness by reason of its attachment and fidelity.
He begged me to convey to the Prince his own
feelings and those of the regiment. "Mon Dieu!"
said Mgr. the Dauphin, " how nice it is to have a
regiment at my age, and how I should like to see
it ! " " What answer shall I give from you, Mon
seigneur ? " "That is an awkward question. Answer
for me, please." " I shall say that Mgr. the Dauphin,

224 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
not knowing at his age what to say, will reply when
he is older." " How wicked you are," he said to me,
" and what will my regiment say of me 1 " He flew
into a violent rage, stamping his feet and clapping
his hands ; and when»he saw that we only laughed at
him, he said, looking very severely at me, — " Well, I
will reply myself, seeing that you will not help me.
Tell M. de Choiseul that I should have liked very
much to see my regiment, and to put myself at its
head, and that 1 beg him to say so on my behalf ;
and at the same time thank him with all my heart
for what he has said on behalf of himself and the
regiment." I kissed him, and he thanked me when
he saw that everybody approved of his reply. This
young Prince, whose every word was replete with
charming grace, already gave evidence of firmness,
combined with the kindness inherent in all the
Bourbons. He was consequently beloved by all who
were brought in contact with him and were in a
position to know him.
No sooner had the King returned to Paris than
the inflammatory motions and articles recommenced
more violently than ever. Eoyalty was bitterly
attacked, the nobility and priests daily calumniated ;
and as the violence and crimes of the wretches in
the various provinces still went on with impunity,
their perpetrators were encouraged to continue their
excesses. The King, seeing that his Ministers were hindered
in all their operations, and were exposed to incessant

THE NEW MINISTRY. 225
denunciations, determined, although with reluctance,
to call upon them to resign. M. de la Fayette in
trigued energetically to secure the appointment of a
Ministry of his own creatures ; and on his assuring
the King of support from his party, he was allowed
to form one.
The office of Chancellor and Keeper of the Privy
Seal was abolished, and M. Duport du Tertre, who
replaced the Archbishop of Bordeaux, merely had
the title of Minister of Justice and Keeper of the
Privy Seal. M. du Portail was appointed Minister
of War; and M. Valdec de Lessart, Controller of
Finance, in the room of M. Lambart. To this de
partment was afterwards added that of the Minister
of the Interior.1 The King informed the Assembly
of these various appointments, and the new Ministers
made profession of their devotion, and their deter
mination to insist on an observance of the law.
M. Duport du Tertre added in his letter to the
Assembly that he had reluctantly accepted office,
but that he had thought that it would have been
a bad example if a man honoured with the confidence
of the people had not thought himself worthy of
that of the King.
M. du Portail said that he could not but yield
to his desire to take an active part in so glorious a
1 M. Duport du Tertre, formerly a Parliamentary advocate, became
elector, Municipal Officer, and Administrator of Police. M. de Lessart
was formerly Master of Requests ; and M. du Portail, a soldier, had.
served under M. de la Fayette in the American War.
VOL. I. p

226 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
revolution, by securing, through the efforts of his
.zeal, the execution of the laws made by the august
representatives of the nation, and by reducing to
practice their sublime theory. He then went to
the Jacobin Club to give utterance to the same
sentiments, appeared in a red cap, and by this
•conduct allowed it to be seen what was to be
expected from such a Minister.
It was evident that the intention of the As
sembly was to entirely discredit the Ministry, and
to hand over to committees the various branches of
the Administration, so as eventually to arrive at the
abolition of Eoyalty. M. de la Fayette himself, for
fear of losing his popularity, took care to realise the
expectations he had aroused, and showed himself
always the same under all circumstances where he
might have been thought to be reliable.
The appointment of the new Ministry did not
diminish the violence of the Assembly. Far from
disapproving of the excesses committed at Avignon,
it appeared to authorise them, by sending there the
troops asked for by the insurgents, listening favour
ably to their repeated requests for the union of the
Comtat with France, and with the most marked
disfavour to the arguments adduced by the Abbd
Maury and M. de Clermont-Tonnerre on the danger
of such a union. If it did not accede at once to a
request so urgently made by MM. Bouche and
Camus, it was easy to see that it was only waiting
for a more opportune moment.

REVOLUTIONARY DECREES. 227
It contented itself with liberating the prisoners
confined at Orange, without disapproving of the in
justice of their imprisonment or of the excesses
committed at Avignon, and it left that unhappy
town in a state of continual dread of a renewal of
the scenes which had made it a scene of terror and
desolation. It pursued the same line of conduct in regard
to the report on the Nancy affair. M. de Sillery,
the reporter, took good care not to blame the regi
ments which mutinied. He permitted perfidious
insinuations against M. de Bouille and the officers who
had supported him. Excepting only the friends of
the Constitution, he blamed the Municipality, and
proposed that nothing further should be done in
the proceedings initiated by the bailiwick ; that all
the prisoners should be set at liberty ; and that the
King should be requested to demand from the Swiss
Cantons the pardon of the men of the Chateauvieux
regiment. He concluded by demanding the dis-
bandment of the regiments of the King and Mestre
de Camp. MM. de Cazales, de Clermont-Tonnerre, and de
Virieu spoke strongly against the decree proposed
by M. de Sillery, pointed out its danger, and de
monstrated that it would destroy the one that had
been passed ; that it tended only to favour dis
order and insurrection in the Army ; and that it
would deprive of the reward of their conduct all
those who had prevented the disasters consequent

228 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
on such an insurrection. They proposed to confine
the decree to the disbandment of the two regiments,
retaining the services, until retirement, of the officers
who had conducted themselves with so much wisdom
and moderation. They were not listened to. The
Assembly decreed the disbandment of the two regi
ments, the annulment of the proceedings already
commenced, and the release of the soldiers and other
prisoners implicated in the affair ; it revoked the
approval it had bestowed on the Municipality and
the Directory, and approved the courage displayed
by the Municipalities of Metz, Toul, and Pont-a-
Mousson, on the occasion of the putting in force of
the law.
The election of the judges of Paris was proceeded
with, and only zealous patriots were appointed, such
as MM. Ogier and Garaud de Coulon (who had
figured in such an iniquitous manner in the trial
of M. de Bezenval), M. Hdrault de Sdchelles, once
Advocate-General to the Parliament of Paris ; and
M. Bigot de Prdameneu. The six Presidents of the
Tribunals were : — MM. Freteau, Duport, Target, Treil
hard, Touret, and Mesleu, all Members of the As
sembly. Chabroud was also put in nomination, but
could not obtain the necessary plurality of votes.
The members of the Left, secure of the popular
favour, were most outspoken in their very indiscreet
remarks against their opponents. Charles de Lameth,
in an altercation he had with M. de Chauvigny, the
consequences of which he foresaw, went so far as to

M. DE MIRABEAU. 229
say publicly that the Duke de Castries had put M.
de Chauvigny at his heels. The latter, indignant at
such a remark, challenged M. de Lameth, and they
fought in the Bois de Boulogne. M. de Lameth,
fortunately, was only wounded, for the people, furi
ous at the mere wounding of a deputy whom they
looked upon as one of the warmest partisans of the
Eevolution, made a violent attack on the H6tel de
Castries, pillaged all the rooms, and would assuredly
have massacred M. de Castries if he had not been
prudent enough to leave France at once.
M. de la Fayette, although warned of the popular
fury against M. de Castries, arrived too late to pre
vent the disturbance. His commiseration for this
unworthy populace, whom he treated as friends and
children, and whom he essayed to bring back by
mild measures and the display of the white horse
they all knew, did not prevent them from continuing
their work of pillage in his presence, and he could
only succeed with his National Guard in hindering
the destruction of the house. M. de Castries,
being no longer safe in Paris, requested and ob
tained leave of absence from the Assembly, which
was despatched to him at Lausanne, where he had
taken refuge.
Posterity will find it difficult to believe that such
excesses found defenders }n the Assembly, and that
M. de Mirabeau, rendered furious by the indignation
displayed by the members of the Eight, went so far
as to say that the incessant accusations brought against

230 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
the people roused their anger, and that he was glad,
in regard to those who abused their patience, that a
few examples should, by frightening them, hinder
them from continuing their opposition to law and
reason. The Eight could not contain itself, and rose
to bear witness to the horror inspired in them by so
atrocious a remark. M. Eoy, deputy of Angouleme,
could not help adding that it was the remark of a
rebel. The Left protested violently, and the galleries
joined them ; shouts, insults, groans, and demands
for the imprisonment of M. Eoy, rendered this
sitting one of the most scandalous hitherto held. In
the midst of this tumult M. Eoy was condemned to
imprisonment for three days in the Abbaye.
Such scenes were of daily recurrence. There was
one of the same kind at the opera. The dema
gogues, who attached the greatest importance to the
speedy establishment of the new constitution of the
Clergy, sought by every means in their power to
strike terror into the people they thought were
opposed to them.
As entertainments and public places appeared to
them to be fitted to further their object, they pro
moted disturbances in them, in the hope of causing
the King and the Eoyal Family keen anxiety in
regard to the. veto His Majesty might put on the
decree which the Assembly proposed to pass on this
subject. A performance of Iphigenie was given at the
opera, and the chorus, Celebrons notre Reine, was

SITUATION OF THE KING AND QUEEN. 231
loudly applauded and encored by the Eoyalists.
There were a few hisses and murmurs from the
opposite party, but as they were not present in large
numbers they could not prevent the encore. The
discontent of the opposition increased when Lainez
was bold enough to say, " I think, gentlemen, that
every good Frenchman ought to love the King and
Queen," and when at the conclusion of this remark
a laurel wreath was thrown to him, the anger of
the demagogues knew no bounds. The uproar was
frightful. They, however, allowed the performance
to go on until the end, resolving to avenge the insult
they thought they had received.
Two days afterwards, when Lainez was playing
the part of Jephtha, the Eevolutionists, who had
secured nearly all the seats in the pit, hurled the
most bloodthirsty reproaches at him, made the most
outrageous remarks about the women and young-
people in the boxes, and would not allow Lainez
to continue acting until he had trampled under his
feet the crown he had received on the previous
evening. The pleasure of revenge was not the
only object of the uproar; it was a deliberate
attempt to rouse the public mind, to make a
disturbance, and to create a dread of some fresh
revolution. No more sad situation could be imagined than
that of the King and Queen. The daily and re
newed insults of which they were the recipients,
the disastrous news from the Provinces, the stagna-

232 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
tion in commerce, existing evils, and anxiety for
the future, filled them with profound sadness. But,
in the midst of such distress, the Queen ever main
tained the calmness and dignity suitable to the high
station to which Heaven had called her.

CHAPTEE IX.
THE YEAR 1791.
Civil Constitution of the Clergy — Oath exacted on this Subject — ¦
Refusal of the Majority of the Clergy — Persecutions in consequence
• — Removal of several Bishops and Priests — Formation of various
Clubs in Paris and the Provinces — Disturbances in the Southern
Provinces — Attempt to form a Monarchical Club — Its Establish
ment is not allowed by the Demagogues.
The Assembly this year still thought itself bound to
give the King a mark of consideration (one cannot
say respect), and the speeches to the King and the
Eoyal Family were far less measured than in the
preceding year. It was difficult for it to repress
sentiments too directly opposed to its acknowledged
object of depreciating the King, in order to be able
to do without him more easily by accustoming to
his loss a people which it had rendered submissive by
the hopes with which it daily deceived it.
Not content with having despoiled the clergy of
their property, it wished to take upon itself the
regulation of the spiritual duties of the Church ; to
suppress a large number of dioceses ; to unite them
to those it saw fit to retain ; to decide upon the mode

234 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
of election of bishops, priests, members of chapters
and of ecclesiastical councils ; in a word, to render
itself mistress of the spiritual as well as of the
temporal portion of the Church, and it did so in a
formal decree.
The bishops, after having defended the ecclesias
tical properties with remarkable moderation, when
once the decree was passed, uttered neither com
plaint nor personal recrimination against the injus
tice to which they were subject. This admirable
resignation displeased the Assembly, which had
flattered itself that they would incite their ad
herents to revolt, and so justify the iniquity of
its conduct. Deceived in this matter, it employed
every means that wickedness could suggest to lower
them in the public estimation, and it ended by
decreeing that each member of the clergy should
be compelled to give his adhesion to the decree
which had just been passed in regard to the civil
constitution of the clergy, on pain of losing his
position and emoluments. It flattered itself that, in
thus putting the clergy to the necessity of choosing
• between poverty and conscience, the majority would
(take the oath, and that so the project of Mirabeau
to de-catholicise France would be carried out.
This step not meeting with any more success, it
excited the populace against various members of the
clergy, thinking that the fear of being exposed to its
fury would render them less inflexible ; but, finding
them insensible to any other sentiments than those

THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION OF THE CLERGY. 235
of honour and duty, it decreed that each bishop,
priest, or other public functionary should individu
ally take the oath, hoping by this means to bring-
over some bishops to its party. The latter, ever
animated by a spirit of peace and concord, offered
to take a form of oath drawn up by the Bishop of
Clermont, who expressly stated that it referred
to temporal matters only, everything concerning
spiritual matters being excluded, and demanded
that they should be allowed to confer with the
Sovereign Pontiff, from whom they could not separ
ate themselves. MM. Malouet, de Cazales, and the
Abbd Maury spoke forcibly as to the difference
between true liberty and the violence brought to
bear on conscience. But they were not listened to.
A period of eight days was fixed for the acceptance
or refusal of the oath, and the King was strenu
ously urged to sign the decree. The position of his
Majesty, was frightful. Placed between his con
science and the misfortunes which were pointed out
to him as inevitable in the event of his refusal, he
requested time to confer with the Pope as to the
means of conciliation which could be adopted to
comply with the wish of the Assembly without
wounding the consciences of the bishops and clergy.
He sent word to say that he had written to the Pope
on the subject, and that he wished to wait for his
reply. The Assembly, far from seeing things in this
light, pressed M. Duport du Tertre, on the other

236 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
hand, to persuade the King to sanction the decree
promptly. M. du Tertre, who looked upon himself
as the Minister of the Assembly rather than of the
King, and who had no other fear than that of dis
pleasing it, harassed the unhappy Prince at all hours
of the day. He pointed out to him the fury of the
populace, which would inevitably fall on the eccle
siastics and the members of the Assembly who
shared their opinions, and the massacre consequent
on his refusal of the decree, a massacre which might
take place under the very eyes of the King. The
noise outside the Assembly increased, of course
by arrangement ; the most inflammatory pamphlets
were hawked about ; and cruelty was carried to such
a pitch that the King was made to fear for the lives
of his family and the inhabitants of the Tuileries,
for it was well known that his own personal safety
counted for nothing with him, nor did it influence
his decisions in the least.1
Everything in connection with religion was in a
state of consternation. Madame Elizabeth urged the
King not to allow himself to be intimidated by
the fears inspired by a Minister incapable of attach
ing the least value to anything concerning the
Monarchy, or to religion, its firmest support.
The King held out for a long time, but, overcome
1 1 have been assured, but I cannot vouch for it, that the Ministers
intercepted the reply of the Pope, and did not choose to give it to the
King, because by withholding it they were able more easily to obtain
his sanction to a decree to which they attached such value.

THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION OF THE CLERGY. 237
by the fear of bloodshed, he, on the 26th of Decem
ber, 1790, gave the sanction so longed for by the
rebels and so dreaded by the friends of the
Monarchy. He flattered himself that the violence used to
wards him, and the bondage in which he was held,
would render all these sanctions null and void, and
that in the end order would spring from the excess
of evil, a hope which he never abandoned.
On the day following the sanction of the King,
the Abbd Grdgoire, at the head of fifty-one ecclesias
tics of the Left of the Assembly, presented himself
to take the oath. He could not, he said, do violence
to his conscience, the Assembly never having pre
tended to attack the authority of the Head of the
Church, a fact amply proved by the title " civil
constitution of the clergy," which it had given to
the new organisation. He concluded with an as
surance that they would all of them honour the
priesthood by the purity of their morals and by
their strict fulfilment of the duties of their position.
The bishops, in order to enlighten the public
mind in regard to the civil constitution of the
clergy, had published a work called " Exposition
des Principes sur la Constitution Civile du Clerge,"
a work replete with wisdom and sense, and signed
by all the bishops, with the exception of MM. de
Talleyrand, Bishop of Autun ; de Jarente, Bishop
of Orleans ; de Savine, Bishop of Valence ; and de
Brienne, Archbishop of Sens. A complaint was

238 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
made about this pamphlet in the Assembly, which,
on the 4th of January 1791, the day on which the
eight days allowed to the" clergy expired, exacted the
oath from the bishops, priests, and other ecclesiastics
who were members of the Assembly, and decreed that
they should present themselves in alphabetical order
to take it.
The crowds which surrounded the hall made
the air resound with their shouts and menaces,
hoping by means of their horrid din to succeed in
frightening the clergy under such critical circum
stances. They failed in their attempt, and the day
will be for ever memorable in the annals of the
Church. The Bishop of Agen, who was the first to speak,
declared that he had no regret either for his position
or his fortune, but that as he was obliged to listen
to the voice of his conscience, he could only express
to the Assembly his regret at not being able to
take the oath. All the bishops, with the exception
of those above enumerated, refused each in his turn,
and many of them explained the motive of their re
fusal, in a simple and touching manner. " I am
seventy years of age," said the Bishop of Poitiers ;
' ' I have spent thirty -five of them in the episcopate,
in which I have done all the good in my power.
Overwhelmed with years and infirmities, I will not
dishonour my old age by taking an oath against my
conscience, and I will bear my fate in patience."
This touching speech was received with hooting from

THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION OF THE CLERGY. 239
the galleries and the Left of the Assembly. M.
Emery, the President, astonished at the firmness
of the clergy, and fearing lest their extreme
moderation, in such striking contrast with the in
sults of the Assembly, might in the end make some
impression, decided that the only answer to the
question should be in the words, "I accept," or "I
refuse." MM. Cazales and d'Eprdmdnil represented the
injustice of preventing the clergy from explaining
the motives of their refusal, and even quoted the
example of the martyrs, to whom this privilege had
never been denied by the pagan emperors. No
reply was vouchsafed to them. Never was more
complete tyranny exercised than on this day. Two
priests, MM. Fournes and Le Clerc, spoke in the
same strain as their bishops, and more than half the
priests declined to take the oath.
The Assembly was not more fortunate on the 5th
and 6th : more than twenty priests retracted the oaths
they had taken on the previous evening ; and M.
Barnave, alarmed at these retractations, decided that
no more should be received. An attempt was made
to intimidate those who had neither taken nor re
fused the oath by means of insults heaped on those
who had set the example of refusal. The Assembly
and the crowd were let loose upon them. They were
compared to tigers and wild beasts, who wished, so it
was said, to bring about a civil war in France, in
order to recover the property of which they had

240 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
been so justly deprived. A drama entitled, Le
Despotisme renversS, ou la Prise de la Bastille, was
distributed gratis, at the end of which the people
were represented as taking the civil oath, and the
orchestra played the air, " Ca ira, ca ira, les aristo-
crates a la lanterne," etc., etc.
On the following day lists were sold in the
streets of the bishops and priests who had not taken
the oath, and of those who, it was supposed, would
not take it. MM. Bailly, Duport du Tertre, and
Desmeuniers made use of every means of persuasion
jand terror to gain over such of the priests as had the
most influence over the faithful. They went to their
houses at night, woke them up, and urged them to
take the oath. They made special efforts to gain
over the Cure of Sainte Marguerite, a venerable priest
more than ninety years of age, into the idea that
they would thus make an impression on his mind.
But as they could not produce any effect on the firm
ness of these ecclesiastics, they caused notices to be
posted on the doors of the churches, bearing a warning
at the head of the decree on the civil constitution of
the clergy, to the effect that those who refused to
comply with it would be regarded as disturbers of
public order. M. Bailly and the two others above-
mentioned, who were looked upon as the secret
authors of these notices, only had them removed when
they had had the anticipated effect, and they then
excused the proceeding as an error committed in
their offices. Such malpractice, which deserved ex-

DISTURBANCE IN SAINT SULPICE. 241
emplary punishment, went for nothing, in spite of
the remonstrances of MM. Malouet and de Cazales
against the attrocity of such conduct.
The churches were filled with brigands of both
sexes on the day when the Municipal authorities
went to insist upon the oath, which was to be taken
at the conclusion of the sermon. Scarcely was it
ended than the tumult began. The brigands made
the air resound with repeated shouts of " The oath !
The oath ! To the lamp-post ! " No idea can be
given of the scandal, which was greater at Saint
Sulpice than anywhere else. The madmen forced
a passage through the clergy, the Municipal autho
rities, and the grenadiers who escorted the priest on
his way to the vestry after refusing to take the
oath. They one and all threatened to strike him ;.
one of them gave him a blow with his fist, a second
tore his hair, and a third presented a pistol at his
head. The Marshal de Mouchi, who was at mass,
never left the priest, and even parried several blows
that were aimed at him. M. Bailly arrived as usual
when the danger was over. This was not the first
experience of the kind undergone by this priest, in
spite of his extreme charity to the poor, among
whom he had distributed more than 60,000 francs
of his patrimony during the three years he had held
the living of Saint Sulpice.
In the course of the winter of 1790-91, he gave
notice of a service in his church, at the conclusion of
which he was to give an account of the sums he had
VOL. I. Q

242 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
received from the benefactors of the poor in his
parish. A band of brigands was despatched to Saint
Sulpice on that day, who filled the church and sur
rounded the parsonage, calling out loudly for the
priest. Everybody was in a state of consternation,
and thought his last hour was come. Flight was
impossible ; it would have had an appearance of
cowardice, which would have been disastrous under
the circumstances. Firmness alone could save him.
His clergy, after having declared that they would die
with him, went to fetch him in procession, put him
in his pulpit, and the young priests took up a posi
tion on the steps, thoroughly resolved to make a
rampart for him of their bodies. The brigands then
shouted, " Give us a sermon." He reflected for a
moment, and then improvised a sermon on the Last
Judgment, which made such an impression that
silence succeeded to tumult, and when the priest, leav
ing the pulpit, commenced the collection, each of these
brigands put in a silver piece, and the collection
amounted to 1500 francs, palpable evidence that
they had been paid to create the disturbance.
No stone was left unturned to impress the public
mind in favour of the new Civil Constitution of the
Clergy. A deputation of the electors of the city of
Paris was sent to the Assembly to congratulate it on
its talents, and the great virtues of which it furnished
an example to Europe. The actor Larrive was the
spokesman, and the speech was written by Cdrdti.
" You have," he said to them, " made the Throne, the

PERSECUTION OF THE CLERGY. 243
Legislature, the Monarchy, and Christianity eternal.
We look upon every priest who is opposed or unfaith
ful to the oath as a traitor to God and the people,
and we come to protest to you that in spite of all
stratagems employed to instil doubts of the purity
of our religious opinions, we will only choose ecclesi
astics worthy of the nation and the altar."
Alquier proposed to entrust the Ecclesiastical
Committees with the preparation of a pastoral in
struction to bring back the clergy to the institutions
of its divine founder.
The opposition to the oath was not general among
the ecclesiastics of the second rank. There were a
tolerable number of them among the members of the
Assembly who took it. The Abbd Mouchel, Eector
of the University, and always on the side of the
strongest, spoke in the name of this famous school,
although he was only recognised by a small number
of professors and fellows, and he congratulated the
Assembly on the virtues it had transplanted into a
kingdom where, before its sittings, only tyrants and
slaves had been known. Several ecclesiastics who,
like him, aspired to replace those who refused the oath,
outdid even him in eulogy. They were not mis
taken in their expectation. Nearly all of them were
made bishops, and the Abbd Mouchel, in particular,
was elected Bishop of Nantes.
Mirabeau, for his part, concocted an inflammatory
address to be sent to the Departments. In it he
inveighed against the clergy in the most truculent

244 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
terms, attributing to them all sorts of perfidious
sentiments. He accused them of persuading the
people that religion and the Eevolution could not
exist together, instead of, by their conduct, leading
them to recognise only God the creator of nature
and religion, and to sacrifice only on the altar of
their country.
The object of the oath was to eliminate from the
clergy, the bishops, the noble ecclesiastics, and all
those whose attachment to religion, honour, and the
Monarchy rendered them enemies to maxims contrary
to public morality, and who, by their speeches and
example, restrained the people within the limits of
submission to the law.
In order to excite the people still more against
the clergy and against those persons who were
able to place obstacles in the way of destructive
projects, Chapelier passed a decree, allowing the
performance at the theatres of any piece whatso
ever, without submitting it to the censor. Other
wise, he said, whoever spoke of liberty and tyrants
would be obliged to strike out sacred maxims if the
licensed companies refused to utter them.
Theatrical licence was then directed principally
against the clergy, and it redoubled its efforts to
make them odious. When one looks back upon the
productions of the century which modestly called
itself the century of light, one is astonished at the
bad taste and fanaticism of the pieces to which licence
gave birth.

PERSECUTION OF THE CLERGY. 245
To the administrative bodies was entrusted the
execution of the law of the 26th of December, which
provided for the replacing of the clerical public
functionaries who refused the oath, and the 16th of
January was the date fixed for this replacement.
On the previous day, Frdron, Marat, and other libel
lers, entrusted with the task of rousing the streets,
only spoke of conspiracies, the arrival of foreigners
in France who were subsidised by the Princes and
the Nobility, and indulged in the most atrocious
insults to the bishops and priests who had refused
the oath, whom they were going, they said, to replace
by ecclesiastics full of the holy spirit of citizenship.
The new pastors were chosen by the Jacobins.
These latter had rightly foreseen that there would be
a schism in the Church, and that the majority of the
faithful would not recognise them, and would cease to
go to church ; but they knew at the same time that the
people, without being animated by the same spirit,
would follow their example, and would by degrees
get out of the habit of going to divine service — a
change which would allow them to suppress public
worship, which they would cause to be performed
only by men devoted to themselves, in order to
accustom the people to do without it.
The constitutional priests had, as their leader, the
Bishop of Autun, who took upon himself the ordina
tion of his new colleagues. The Archbishop of Sens,
who had only accepted the Civil Constitution of the
Clergy through fear of having an inquiry made into

246 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
his administration during the period of his ministry,
wrote to the Pope to acquaint him with his motive
in taking the oath with his lips alone — an oath in
which his heart had no share. The Pope, in reply,
reproached him with the dishonour he had brought
upon the Eoman purple by accepting and putting in
force the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, by suppress
ing his Chapter, and by being elected to a foreign
See. " The excuse which you give," said the Pontiff,
" is not only unworthy of the, sanctity of the oath, but
also of the probity natural to an honest man." He
added that if he did not repair, by a prompt retrac
tation, the scandal he had occasioned, he should be
compelled to deprive him of his dignity. M. de
Brienne, by way of reply, sent him his cardinal's hat.
His cowardice did not exempt him from the persecu
tions he dreaded. The imprudence of his conduct
compelled him frequently to have recourse to lying.
He could not deceive the Jacobins, and the fear of
the scaffold made him put an end, with his own hand,
to his sad career, lest he should run the risk of falling
into their power.
The publication of the pontifical letter confirmed
in their principles those who had declared against
the oath, and shook the resolution of many of those
who had decided in favour of submission. The fury
of the Jacobins became still more fierce ; and in order
to have satellites always at hand to do their bidding,
they collected in Paris malefactors of every country,
aud every corner of France. This class of criminals,

PERSECUTION OF THE CLERGY. 247
who did not belong to any nation, led the populace
astray, and struck terror into all good citizens by
appearing in the streets, at the theatres, and other
public places.
The haunt of these brigands was an underground
cellar under the Jacobin Club, where workmen, arti
sans, water-carriers, and destitute and worthless men
and women congregated. They founded other clubs
in the suburbs and other quarters of the capital.
There was even one in the Rue Jacob, where only
people without house or home were received. There,
under the auspices of Prud'homme, the founder of
this club, the most violent diatribes were read against
religion, kings, the nobility, and the clergy ; and
those who frequented it were familiarised by every
possible means with maxims which would have made
them shudder in less corrupt times.
Another club, composed of persons of superior
station, was formed in the Cirque du Palais Eoyal,
under the name of Bouche de Per. It had Biau-
zac as president, and as its principal orator the
same Abbd Fauchet who, after having calumniated
the nobility and the clergy from the pulpit on two
occasions, and denounced kings as tyrants, preached
in this club in the name of nature against religion,
the throne, and the inequality of wealth.
The Departments also had their clubs, composed
of the worst classes, young and enthusiastic men,
and men of. mature age, but turbulent disposition.
They discussed the natural rights, condemned every

248 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
old custom, and undertook the duties of Committees
of Inquiry, Inspectors of Municipalities, and in
formers ; violating domiciles, and even opening let
ters. They had, moreover, informers' offices, and
a system of prosecution.
The ardour of their patriotism led them to
found clubs even in the villages, and France was
covered with them from one end to the other.
They corresponded with each other, and under the
direction of those in Paris, constituted a power all
the more formidable because it was raised on the
ruins of the Orders and Corporations which had
sprung into being under the Monarchy. It com
prised all classes of citizens, and exercised its des
potism over individual liberty and property. Achard
de Bon-Vouloir, a deputy, was courageous enough to
denounce to the Assembly the danger of allowing
such a power to establish itself. He was interrupted
with discordant shouts, and his motion was referred
to the Committee of Eeports, where it remained
buried with many others of the same kind.
These new clubs sent emissaries into the country
districts to instruct the people, and incite them
against the unsworn bishops and priests, to whom
they gave the name of deserters. The authorities
of the districts and Departments, and the Munici
palities, for their part, passed resolutions in which
they stigmatised these same ecclesiastics as rebels
and disturbers of the public peace. They also in
cited the people against their pastors, and led them

PERSECUTION OF THE CLERGY. 249
to despise religion, to which state of things their
demoralisation naturally succeeded. These insults
and calumnies, circulated throughout France, were
the prelude to the horrible persecution of the clergy,
and the massacres consequent on it.
The Jacobin Club in Paris sent to the Depart
ments a list of the persons selected by it for the
episcopate. They chose them first of all from
among the members of the Assembly, to whom
they allotted the best bishoprics. The remainder
they distributed among the most conspicuous eccle
siastics of the Eevolution. These new bishops,
aware of the value of the goodwill of the Assembly,
to which they owed their fortune, sent it professions
of faith worthy of its approbation. Violence was
employed to compel priests whose weakness was
known, to take the oath, and those who refused were
replaced in the same manner as the bishops.
These innovations encountered resistance in
several places, and especially in Brittany. The
National Guard and troops of the line were armed
against the recalcitrants, and similar violence was
resorted to in several Departments. This was the
result of the speech of M. de Lameth, who dared
to say before the Assembly that everything was
lawful for the purpose of assuring the Eevolution.
The philosophers, Protestants, and Jansenists, a
great number of whom had adopted its principles,
took upon themselves the task of animating the
people in the villages and country districts, by

250 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
telling them that the clergy had, in their resistance,
no other object than the re-imposition of the tithes
and other imposts which formerly weighed so
heavily on the people ; and by making use of such
representations they easily succeeded in effecting
their object.
The Assembly, on a simple denunciation without
formal proof, ordered the Bishops of Trdguier, Saint-
Malo, and Saint Paul de Ldon to appear at the bar of
the House ; suspended the Council of the Bas-Ehin,
which was accused of having dealt too leniently
with the unsworn priests ; and authorised the Com
missioners of the King to replace it, although by the
Constitution the people alone had the right of
choosing the members of it.
M. de Saint Priest, seeing no way of being useful
to the King, tendered his resignation, and his port
folio was given to M. de Lessart. M. de Mont
morin was the only one of the old Ministers who
remained in office, in the hope of being useful to the
King. He never ceased to pay great respect to the
Assembly, and to propitiate the demagogues, who con
sequently were pleased to see him remain at his post.
But this conduct, which was of no advantage to him
in their eyes, drew upon him the dislike of the
Eoyalists, who did not do justice to the motives by
which he was actuated, but looked upon him as an
ingrate who abandoned the party of the King, to
whose friendship he owed his entire fortune.
M. de Vauvilliers, a distinguished member of the

DISTURBANCES AT AIX. 251
Commune of Paris, being unwilling to be connected
with the violence used against the clergy, sent in his
resignation. He had strongly opposed the establish
ment of the Committee of Inquiry in Paris, and had
spoken with great energy about the danger of a
tribunal so contrary to liberty. Placed in and at the
head of the Commissariat Office, he there gave proof
of his talents. As soon as he knew Louis XVI. he
became profoundly attached to him, and was held in
high esteem by him. Exceedingly well educated, he
devoted himself entirely to the study of literature
and science. He might well have been thought to
be outside the pale of persecution, but he was not so.
Obliged to leave his country, he took refuge in
Eussia, where he was treated with the consideration
clue to his talents and virtues.
As the disturbances in the south spread in an
alarming manner, a considerable number of the
citizens of Aix resolved to form a club under the
title of the "Defenders of religion, law, and pro
perty." Its aim was to render assistance to the
Municipalities in case of disturbances, and they
informed the Municipality of Aix of the existence
of this association.
On the following day the Eevolutionists as
sembled at its place of meeting, and in the cafes
of the town where the Eoyalists were wont to con
gregate, provoked them to such an extent that their
resentment was aroused, and in spite of the wisdom
they displayed in avoiding violence, these brigands

252 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
accused them of having fired several shots. Under
this pretext, they pillaged several houses, and seized
MM. Pascalis and de la Eoquette, whom they took to
prison. The Municipality remained inactive, re
frained from calling out the military, and allowed
the prison to be broken open by the brigands, who
dragged MM. Pascalis and de la Eoquette out and
hanged them on the trees in the public promenade of
the town. M. de Guiramond, who fled into the
country, was pursued, seized, and dealt with in the
same way. M. Lieutaud, formerly a Commandant
in the National Guard, and in correspondence with
Mirabeau, was imprisoned by the rioters for having
tried to restore order in the town and to organise the
National Guard on a basis which would render it
useful in case of need. Consternation reigned at
Aix, and when peace was restored to it, more than
two thousand persons demanded their passports to
leave the unhappy town.
The murders and ravages committed from day to
day in Quercy, determined several gentlemen of that
district to form an association for mutual defence in
case of attack ; but as they were not strong enough,
they failed in the attempt. M. d'Esqueyrac, who was
one of the members, perceiving that he was without
any means of defence against the brigands who were
bent on attacking him, made up his mind to take
refuge in Languedoc, and on his way thither passed
by the residence of M. de Clarac, who suddenly
found himself besieged. Both endeavoured to defend

A MONARCHICAL CLUB. 253
themselves, but as the brigands set fire to the house,
they were compelled to seek safety in flight. M.
d'Esqueyrac was killed while endeavouring to make
his way through the flames, and M. de Clarac was
reduced to hide himself in a cellar, where he had a
narrow escape of being crushed to death by the fall
of his house. He and one of his friends remained for
twenty-four hours buried in the ruins. They were
rescued by the exertions of some people who were
able to save their lives, but could not help their
being dragged to prison by the frenzied populace.
The Public Prosecutor was not ashamed to pro
nounce M. de Clarac guilty of having fired a shot
with a pistol, though he stated on his honour that
such was not the case.
All public functionaries, however, were not rascals.
A large number of them were only led astray, or so
terrified that, while groaning over the crimes that
were committed, they had not the courage to oppose
them. Nearly all good people, fearful of being
associated with the vast number of ruthless black
guards who filled the public places, withdrew and
left the field clear for them.
A new club was formed under the title, " Friends
of the Monarchical Constitution," among the members
of which were MM. Malouet, de Clermont-Tonnerre,
de Virieu, and several others professing the same
opinions. They took the precaution of informing the
Mayor and the Commandant of Paris, and then
commenced their meetings. As many people ex-

254 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
pressed their intention of joining them, the Jacobins
in alarm resolved to attack the club by every
means in their power. They first of all called it
the " Impudent Monarchists." Then taking advan
tage of its having distributed bread to the poor
under the market price, they accused it of endeavour
ing to corrupt the people, and the club received an
order to suspend its meetings until it should please
M. Cayer de Gerville, Procureur of the Commune, to
institute proceedings in conformity with an order
given him by the Oratory Section. The club sub
mitted under protest, and demanding justice for such
a violation of the Constitution. Several clubs of
the same kind which were formed at Grdnoble and
other towns in the kingdom were similarly forced
to dissolve, as being contrary to liberty ! The
Jacobins alone had the right of forming such clubs,
and each crime or act of violence on their part was
always excused on the plea that it was with the
object of foiling an attempt at a counter revolution.
Permission was given some time afterwards for
the re-opening of the Monarchical Club, but the
Jacobins, in order to frighten the members, organised
a band of ruffians who threatened to set fire to the
house of M. Clermont-Tonnerre. He was warned
of it, left the Assembly at once, and by his firmness
succeeded in dispersing the gang. M. Bailly, who
always arrived at the conclusion of these disorders,
and who invariably smoothed over the violence of
the hirelings of the Jacobins, assured the Assemb

INSUBORDINATION IN THE NAVY. 255
that the gathering was of no importance, and was
already quite orderly when he arrived on the scene.
If the people had been as easily aroused as they
were at the beginning of the Eevolution, M. Malouet,
who was ominously threatened on going to the
assistance of M. Clermont - Tonnerre, would have
been torn in pieces ; but they were fortunately
beginning to be tired of insurrections, seeing that
they were no longer set on foot except by the
hirelings of the Jacobins. MM. Victor de Broglie,
Alexandre de Lameth, and de Beauharnais, who
were afraid of the establishment of the Monarchical
Club, uttered the most violent abuse of it at the
Jacobin meetings. Barnave, who lost no opportunity
of sapping the foundations of the Monarchy by
destroying its supports, seconded them, and they
intimidated the owners of the club room to such
an extent that they dared not receive the members,
and the society consequently could not be formed.
After the institution of juries selected from among
the sailors to try charges of insubordination, the
instances of it increased day by day ; and in order
to complete the disorganisation of the Navy, it was
proposed that officers of the Mercantile Marine should
be admitted into it. M. de la Coudraye, an officer
of the Navy, pointed out the inconvenience of this,
in a very sensible speech, in which he proved con
clusively that as profit was the soul of commerce,
and disinterestedness and the love of glory that of the
Navy, their alliance was incompatible. He pointed

256 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
out the danger of instilling commercial ideas into
the minds of the officers, who were frequently obliged
to sacrifice everything to honour ; that it was the
reason which prevented the ballasting of men-of-
war with merchandise ; and that the surest method
to undermine the French Navy was to discourage
its officers by retarding their promotion, their sole
recompense for continual sacrifices. He was not-
listened to, and the question was simply adjourned.
The retirement of the naval officers, compelled by
the insubordination of their subordinates, rendered
the question unnecessary.
Nothing could have affected the King more than
the destruction of a Navy which he had taken so
much trouble to create, composed as it was of officers
who were recognised as the most educated in Europe,
But he was destined to daily experience of fresh
annoyance. The disastrous decree in reference to
the replacement of the old clergy was the • cause of
persecutions which were a source of deep affliction
to him. The profanation of the churches was a
consequence of this. Under the pretext of paying
into the public Treasury the value of the silver
and ornaments belonging to the suppressed churches-
and communities, violent hands were most inde
cently laid on the latter, as well as on the
sacred vessels, which were no' longer considered
necessary to worship. The silver, intended to assist
the public Treasury, was of no great importance tp
it. The Commissioners entrusted with this business

PUBLIC SALE OF CHURCH ORNAMENTS. 257
converted a large portion of it to their own profit,
and the ornaments sacrilegiously offered at public
auction were more satisfactory to those who turned
them into ridicule, than if they had realised the
profit which it was expected that they would
produce.

VOL. I. R.

CHAPTEE X.
THE YEAR 1791.
Departure of Mesdames — Insurrection provoked by this — Fresh
methods adopted to inflame the People, and diminish the respect
due to the Royal Majesty — New suppressions by the Assembly —
The 28th of February — Death of Mirabeau.
Mesdames Adelaide and Victoire, aunts of the
King, seeing that there was neither safety nor
tranquillity to be expected in future, and foreseeing
also that circumstances would arise to compel the
King to withdraw from the capital, and from an
Assembly which daily insulted him, and respected
neither person nor property, decided to quit Paris
at once and take refuge in Eome. The preparations
for their departure caused much commotion among
the demagogues of the clubs and in the Assembly,
who wanted the King to prevent it. The Munici
pality having refused to give them passports, the
King ordered M. de Montmorin, Minister of Foreign
Affairs, to grant them, and he signed them himself.
M. Bailly, always a slave to his good people, repre
sented to the King the alarm occasioned by this
departure, and urged him to prevent it. But the

DEPARTURE OF MESDAMES. 259
King replied that, in spite of his regret at the de
parture of Mesdames, he could not deprive them of
the right which every individual had to travel at
will, a right guaranteed by the Constitution, which
he had no right to take away from them. An in
surrection on a small scale was arranged to take
place at Bellevue, their residence, but Mesdames,
warned in time, foresaw it and departed at midnight.
They were stopped at Moret by the Municipality of
that town, but the Hainaut Chasseurs secured a
passage for them, and escorted them for some dis
tance from the town. The account given by the
Municipality of Hainaut of what transpired on this
occasion, made a great noise in the Assembly, which
even desired to punish the officer commanding the
Chasseurs ; but M. de Cazales pointed out the in
convenience of this so strongly, that it -passed to the
order of the day.
The second stoppage of Mesdames at Arnay-le-
Duc, where the Municipality of that town would not
let them proceeed .without authority from the As
sembly, was the cause of fresh discussions. The
demagogues took advantage of this opportunity to
¦cause uneasiness among the people, and to insult the
King afresh in the person of the members of his
family. How is it possible, said Charles de Lameth,
that Princesses, supported for fifty years by the
nation, and who ought to recognise the benefit of the
Eevolution, can leave a country ' which offers them
such advantages ? Barnave and his party formally

260 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
opposed their departure. After the most extra
ordinary debates, the matter was referred to the
executive power, and Mesdames at last continued
their journey. In all the countries through which
they passed after leaving France, they received the
homage due to their virtues and their rank.
Men, taken from the dregs of the people, arrived
at Bellevue, but Mesdames had departed. They
committed a certain amount of havoc, and then
contented themselves with eating, drinking, and
sleeping in the suites of apartments.
They also went to the Luxembourg, to find out
if it were true that Monsieur and Madame also pro
posed to depart. Monsieur persuaded them that it
was not so. Madame, whom they had the audacity
to address a second time, treated them with the
lofty dignity becoming her rank ; and Monsieur and
Madame, who were going to the Tuileries, got into
their carriage in the presence of the mob, who,
after following them for a certain time, in the end
dispersed. In order to profit by this opportunity of rousing
the people, a rumour was set on foot that Mgr. the
Dauphin was to be sent away secretly. Under this
pretext the mob assembled on the 24th of February,
on the terrace of the Tuileries and in the Carrousel,
seeking to enter the Castle by force, in order to see
the Dauphin and obtain from the King the recall of
Mesdames. The gates were shut at once, and the
National Guard declared that they would not allow

INSULTS TO THE KING AND QUEEN. 261
the Castle to be forced, but would defend it from
every attack.
M. Bailly and the Municipal Officers appeared to
harangue the rioters, who replied by insults. Ever
indulgent to the populace, whom he called his good
people, he was in favour of opening the gates, but M.
de Mazeliere, formerly an officer in the Picardie Regi
ment, having pointed out the danger of such a course
to the National Guard, they formally protested
against it.
M. Bailly then went to the Castle to beg the
King to have recourse to mild measures only. The
King told him, in reply, that he, better than anybody
else, knew that his, the King's, heart was always in
clined to mildness, but that it was necessary to be
firm as well, and to teach the people to obey. On
hearing this reply M. de la Fayette put his troops
in motion, and cleared the Carrousel and its sur
roundings in an instant.
The Assembly left no stone unturned to diminish
the respect due to the King. As phrases go a long
way with the people, in the decree relative to the
regency they styled him merely premier fonctionnaire
public; Mgr. the Dauphin became premier suppleant ;
and the Prince summoned to the regency by right of
primogeniture, suppleant majeur. The Queen, who
was deprived of the regency, and was merely en
trusted with the guardianship of the King during
his minority, was called mere du premier suppleant.
The most indecent remarks were made in connection

262 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
with this. Barnave and Chapelier, as well as the
other factious ringleaders, allowed it to be clearly
seen that all they wanted was a Republic. The
majority of their accomplices understood this term
to mean anarchy, robbery, and the invasion of the
rights of property, which they well understood how
to turn to their own advantage.
The Committee of the Constitution proposed to
decree that public functionaries should be compelled
to reside where their duties were performed, and that
the King, the chief public functionary, being always
bound to be within reach of the Assembly, should
not be allowed to reside more than twenty leagues
away when it was in session, and should only he
permitted to take up his abode where he pleased in
the kingdom after its prorogation ; that the heir
presumptive should be compelled to reside close to
him, and should not travel without his permission
in the interior of the kingdom, from which he would
not be allowed to absent himself except by a decree
of the Assembly sanctioned by the King ; and that
during his minority his mother and the Prince next
in order in the succession to the crown should be
confined to the same residence, under pain, to the
King and to all of them, of being deposed from all
right to the throne, being held in such a case to
have renounced their functions. In this decree they
took great care to include, among the number of
public functionaries, the King and his family, in
order, by means of this appellation, to diminish the

EMIGRATION. 263
respect attaching to the name of King and the royal
family. M. de Cazales, the Abbd Maury, and several
other members of the Right spoke strongly of the
insult to the King and the royal family by the
imposition of such conditions, and the constant sub
stitution of the term " executive power " for the
name of the King. They urged the rejection of the-
decree, or at all events its adjournment, so that time
might be given to reflect upon the serious incon
veniences it would occasion. The Left expatiated
on the beauty of the title of chief public functionary
of a free nation, and on the justice of imposing con
ditions on a family on whom such an eminent dignity
was bestowed. "We will not permit," said M. de
Cazales, " the authority of the King to be annihil
ated, nor that he should receive from the Assembly a
title differing from that which he and his race have
possessed for more than eight hundred years. At
this moment I renew the oath which binds me to his
person, and from which nothing can release us ; long
live the King ! " All the members of the Right left
their places, rushed towards the President, and
uttered their cry of love and fidelity. But the pro
posal of the Committee was none the less converted
into a decree, and the rebels applauded this fresh
blow struck at the royal authority.
Chapelier, after having thundered away about
the wrong done by the emigration to the people,
commerce, and manufactories, proposed that all those

264 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
who had emigrated should be compelled to return
to France, on pain of confiscation of their goods and
property. " None of those who leave their country
in time of trouble," he said, " ought any longer to
have any claim on its benefits or to its protection
for their property." Being conscious, however, how
contrary to the Constitution such a decree would
be, he added, " When order is disturbed, ordinary
laws are no longer suitable, and exceptional legisla
tion is required." The Abbd Maury, M. de Cazales,
and many others, protested energetically against so
monstrous an assertion. " A tyrant," they replied,
" alone could compel residence in a country when
its laws are being changed, and especially when
so many excesses are committed with impunity,
and life and property are left at the mercy of
brigands." The project of Chapelier was in three
clauses :¦ — (1.) That this law shall be in force in
troublous times ; (2.) That a Council of three per
sons shall be constituted to exercise dictatorial
power over the right of leaving the kingdom, and
the obligation to return to it ; (3.) That resistance
to this obligation shall entail confiscation of pro
perty, and the loss of the rights of a French citizen.
There was a tremendous uproar at the conclusion
of the reading of this bill. "You can only," said
M. d' Andrd, " deprive the emigrSs of their pensions.
You cannot rob them." "The bill is so atrocious,"
said Mirabeau, " that a Busiris would be needed to
put it in force." And he spoke against the bill

M. MIRABEAU AND THE KING. 265
with such vehemence, in moving the previous ques
tion, that the malcontents accused him of wishing
to assume a dictatorship over the Assembly. He
replied to them in his turn, and as the tumult con
tinued, he exclaimed, " Silence the thirty voices,"
and the Chapelier bill would have been rejected,
if Vernier had not requested an adjournment, under
the pretext of drawing up a more reasonable one.
That proposed by Chapelier was limited to public
functionaries, a more opportune moment being
awaited to render it general'. By this discussion
the malcontents succeeded in turning the people,
and a large part of the nation, against the emigres,
and in tracing out for their successors the draft
of a bill at which they had only hinted.
Everybody was astonished at the speech of
Mirabeau. It was not known that he had joined
the party of the King, and had promised him
to re-establish the Monarchy, and restore his
authority. It is difficult for anybody to have any doubt
on the subject who heard, as I did, the King say
to the Queen on the day of his death, " Do not
rejoice, Madame, over the death of Mirabeau. We
are sustaining a heavier loss than you think." I
know nothing of the plans projected by Mirabeau,
nor of the terms he had made with the King ; but
one thing is certain — the malcontents were so
alarmed by the bare idea of his abandoning their
party, and of having so dangerous an opponent

266 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
(to reckon with, that it appears to be beyond a
doubt that they had him poisoned.
The Military Committee at last issued the result
of its labours : it reduced the number of Marshals
of France to eight, and fixed their pay at 30,000
francs. They only retained thirty Lieutenant-Gen-
erals on the active list, with pay at the rate of
20,000 francs, and reserved to the King the nomin
ation of four principal Commanders of troops, with
pay on a scale similar to that of the Lieutenant-
Generals. The Prince de Broglie, wishing to retain for his
father his pay as a Marshal of France, produced
before the Assembly a fictitious letter from the
latter, in formal opposition to the opinions which,
up to that time, he had professed. But the Marshal
repudiated it in a letter as noble as it was touching,
in which he expressed the regret he experienced at
having to disavow any proceeding taken by his
son. The Assembly still continued its work of de
struction. It destroyed all the customs which ren
dered partitions unequal. A large number of deputies
demonstrated in vain the utility of these customs in
agricultural districts. In vain did they prove that
they affected plebeian and noble properties alike :
the error of equality was doomed to prevail every
where. These principles meant the destruction of
wardenships, freedoms, and every kind of corpora
tion ; and to every representation made to the

RENEWED EXCESSES. 267
leaders of the Assembly, the invariable reply was,
" You may be right in principle, but in a revolu
tion everything must change and give way to the
interest of the moment."
They went as far as expressing a desire to do
away with the Invalides, but this was opposed by
the Abbd Maury with so much logic and eloquence,
that the Assembly dared not proceed with the ques
tion, and it was content to decree that, for the future,
nobody should be admitted to the Invalides except
wounded or aged soldiers, and that those actually
there should be free to remain or to leave with a
pension proportionate to their rank. The staff was
suppressed, and the administration reformed in ac
cordance with the views expressed by the Military
Committee. The Abbe Maury and M. de Cazales were less
fortunate in their support of the incontestable rights
of the Prince de Condd over the Province of Cler-
montois, rights founded on treaties and recognised
at various times by our sovereigns. It was declared
to belong to the nation ; and by this decree the
House of Conde was deprived of income to the
amount of 1,200,000 livres, the reward of the ser
vices of the great Condd, whose family have so
well maintained the honour of such a name.
The brigands devastated the two parks of Chan
tilly, and sold the game out of them publicly.
They killed two keepers in the employ of the Prince
de Condd, and wounded M. de Bonneval, an officer

268 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
in the Berry Regiment who came to their rescue,
so severely that his life was despaired of. All
these excesses remained unpunished, and France
was handed over to the most frightful brigandage,
while the Assembly, occupied solely with the so-
called crimes of treason to the nation, decreed the
provisional establishment of a National High Court
to try them. It was to be composed of fifteen
judges taken from the tribunals in the vicinity of
Orleans, where its sittings were to be held. The
President and Public Prosecutor were to be selected
from among them, and the Commissioner of the
King to the tribunal of Orleans was to perform the
same duties in respect of the National High Court.
The final touch was given to this law by a declara
tion that ten judges should suffice to pronounce a
judgment. This was the advantage gained by
France from its boasted liberty, and it was held
that no sacrifice was too great to make for it, in
view of the inestimable benefits that might be ex
pected from it.
The people were kept in a state of continual ex
citement. The fire-eaters persuaded the inhabitants
of the Faubourg Saint Antoine and the neighbour
hood that the Keep of Vincennes was being re
established with the sole object of converting it
into a fortress ; that powder and projectiles were
being transported there ; and that works were in
progress for the construction of an underground
passage to provide an escape for the King and the

EXPECTED ATTACK ON THE TUILERIES. 269
royal family. Acting on this simple suspicion,
which was destitute of any probability, numerous
bands assembled on the 28th of February for the
purpose of demolishing the keep. They were al
ready hard at work when M. de la, Fayette sent
an armed force which dispersed the wreckers and
took sixty of them into custody.
Just as the public mind was thus agitated in re
gard to what was transpiring, a Chevalier of Saint
Louis, whose name nobody knew, and who wore at
his side a small hunting knife, was discovered in the
room next to that occupied by Mgr. the Dauphin.
He was arrested and conducted to the neighbouring
section. He replied with much simplicity to the
questions put to him. He said his name was de
Coust, and he was much distressed at being sus
pected of any sinister intention.
The malevolent took advantage of this oppor
tunity to distribute all over Paris fly-sheets an
nouncing that an assassin, armed with a dagger
and pistol, had been discovered in the royal resi
dence, and under this pretext a considerable crowd
congregated round the Tuileries. Its composition
was by no means reassuring, and it was dispersed
with great difficulty. As its designs were sinister,
three hundred gentlemen who went daily to the
Tuileries, rendered Uneasy by the prevailing excite
ment, armed themselves with pistols and went to
the Castle to defend the King in case he should
be attacked. The National Guard, suspicious and

270 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
defiant, took such umbrage at this that they threat*
ened to disarm everybody in the King's apartments.
M. de Gouvion, who was informed of this, warned
his Majesty, and made him afraid of a disturbance.
He therefore left his room and ordered all the gentle
men in the Castle to deposit their arms there, assur
ing them that they should be given back to them
on the following day. They obeyed, but after their
departure, M. de la Fayette took possesion of these
arms, although they were in the King's private room,
and handed them over to the National Guard.
When the gentlemen who were in the Castle
left the King's apartments, they were searched by
the National Guard, although, in obedience to the
orders issued by his Majesty, not one of them had
kept his pistols. Several of them were maltreated.
MM. de la Bourdonnaye, Fontbelle, Dubois de la
Motte, de Lillen, de Champdon-Godard, de Dou-
ville, de Songi, and de Berthier, son of the In
tendant of Paris, were arrested because they re
fused to allow themselves to be searched. They
were taken to the Abbaye prison, where they re
mained for nearly a fortnight before they were set
at liberty. On the following day the streets were covered
with prints representing gentlemen and abbds,
armed with daggers and pistols, and running to
and fro through the royal apartments ; and for a
long time the friends of order and the Monarchy
were called the Knights of the Dagger.

SCENE IN THE TUILERIES. 271
1 saw nothing of the proceedings of this cruel
day, being confined to my room by an attack of
scarlet fever, which prevented my having any com
munication with Mgr. the Dauphin, but I knew all
that was going on, from the lips of those who were
continually in and out of my room, many of whom
deposited their arms there. I was distressed at be
ing separated from the young Prince at a moment
so critical and so liable to be pregnant with unfore
seen results. Several people thought that the King
•ought to make this disgraceful insult an excuse for
leaving Paris. All who were attached to him were
profoundly grieved, and bore on their countenances
the impress of the sorrow inspired by a scene so
insulting to the King as that which they had just
witnessed. M. de la Fayette was accused of having had
this deplorable day in preparation for a long time ;
Mirabeau said that it was a deep-laid scheme.
The order of the day issued by La Fayette on the
morrow, served to strengthen this impression. It
was as follows : — "That he had received orders from
the King that the National Guard was not to
allow the Castle to be filled by these armed men,
several of whom through a sincere zeal, but many
by very suspicious zeal, had dared to place them
selves between the King and the National Guard ;
that he had consequently conveyed the order of the
King to the senior officers of his household, in order
that such indecorum might be obviated in future,

272 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
as the King of the Constitution ought only to be
surrounded by the soldiers of liberty ! " He con
cluded by begging those who were in possession
of the arms taken from the persons who had crept
into the Castle, to hand them over to the Procureur
of the Commune of Paris. Such an order of the
day could only increase the hatred felt for him by
the nobility whom he had abandoned in so cowardly
a manner. On the following day the Journal de Paris
announced that M. de la Fayette had been appointed
Commandant of the household of the King, as well
as of the Castle of the Tuileries. The statement
was false, and was contradicted in a letter addressed
to M. de la Fayette by MM. de Villequier and de
Duras, first Gentlemen of the Bedchamber, which
they caused to be published in all the newspapers.
This letter is so noble, so rational, and answers the
accusations of M. de la Fayette so completely, that I
cannot refrain from giving a literal copy of it.

Letter of MM. de Villequier and de Duras, first Gentlemen of the
Bedchamber to the King, to M. de la Fayette, in reply to the
order of the day issued on the 29 th of February, and signed
La Fayette.
" A literal copy of the order which you, sir, issued to the
National Guard, under date the 1st of March, has just been
handed to us. "We owe it to ourselves, we owe it to the nation,
we owe it even to the King, to discuss those portions of it which
relate to the events that took place in the Castle on the 28th of
February.

LETTER OF MM. VILLEQUIER AND DE DURAS. 273
" We copy the exact terms of your order : —
" ' The Commandant-General thinks it bis duty to warn the
Parisian army that he has received orders from the King to the
effect that the apartments of the Castle are no longer to be filled
with armed men, of whom some moved by sincere zeal, but
others by zeal very properly open to suspicion, yesterday dared
to place themselves between the King and the National Guard.'
" ' Open to suspicion ' — did you carefully weigh the meaning,
and were you sensible of the odium attaching to such a phrase?
You cannot be ignorant of the fact that it is precisely by reason
of these vague accusations that the spirit of the people has for
some time past been led astray.
" Who are these suspected persons 1 We dare you to name
them. We will say more — it is your duty to name them, so that
there may be no danger of their being confounded with the
Marshals of France, the Generals, military men generally, the
officers of the household of the King, the Deputies, the Feder
ates, and all good citizens, whose sentiments were known, and
who only went to the Castle to share with the National Guard,
in whose eyes they have been traduced, the honour of defending
the King, and their dangers.
" Do you mean by the term open to suspicion, which you used
to M. de Villequier, those who are not of your way of thinking,
and in whom you can repose no confidence ? Suspected, because
they are not of your way of thinking ; suspected, because you
can have no confidence in them ! We stop here, we have no
longer any one to defend. Let us continue the examination of
your order.
" ' The Commandant-General, in accordance with the orders
of the King, has intimated to the chiefs of the domestic service
of the Castle that they must take measures to prevent such in
decorum.' " You have, you say, intimated to us the orders of the King.
This statement is inaccurate in every sense. You did, it is true,
speak to M. de Villequier in the King's private room, but the
King was not there then, and you had not seen him ; you could
VOL. I. S

274 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
-only give utterance to your own private opinions. You could
not intimate the orders of the King, because you had not up to
that time been in a position to receive them.
" Since when have we been uuder your orders 1 You cannot
be ignorant, sir, of the fact that in everything relating to our
-duties we neither can receive, nor have we ever received, any
orders but those conveyed to us directly by his Majesty.
" ' The King of the Constitution,' you add, ' neither ought
nor wishes to be surrounded by any but the soldiers of liberty !
Ah ! sir, would you deprive the Marshals of France, soldiers,
and citizens, whose duties withdraw them from Paris during a
portion of the year, of the happiness of flying to the defence of
their King 1 And would you take from his Majesty the sweet
-consolation of being surrounded by those who are devoted to
liim? " No, sir, it is our duty to declare publicly to you, with the
¦consent of the King, that he has never shared the distrust in
stilled into his National Guard against those who were in his
apartments, the greater number of whom were known to hiin,
and that he does not share the opinions which led you to stig
matise as indecent a proceeding which was only dictated by at
tachment to his person ; and here, sir, is a proof of this whicli
must be acknowledged.
" In order to put an end to the troubles occasioned by an
insinuated mistake, the King desired that the pistols carried for
his defence should be left in his apartments; his only wish was
that there should be one law for everybody, and these arms were
deposited in his Majesty's room. These, sir, are the persons
whom you dared to describe as open to suspicion ; these are the
persons who, on the authority of an order emanating from a Com
mandant-General of the Parisian army, would stand accused in
the eyes of the Provinces, if steps were not taken to put the
latter in possession of the real facts.
" We have the honour to inform you that we are going to
publish our letter, and we conclude it with the profession of faith
which we made to you as well as to M. d'Arblay, Major of the

REPLY OF M. DE LA FAYETTE. 275
2d Division, and M. Gondran, an officer in the 4th Battalion ;
we will renew it in the name of the Marshals of France, the
'Generals, soldiers of every grade, the officers of the household of
the King, the Federates, the Deputies, and, in a word, all those
¦who were in the Castle on the 28th of February.
"In their name we affirm that, animated with the same
spirit as that of the National Guard in the defence of the King,
if an insurrection could have caused any anxiety in regard to his
.safety, their design and ours would have been together to have
•displayed the zeal which they have displayed on several occa
sions, very recently on the 24th of February. The most exposed
position would have been the one chosen by their courage and
their love for the King.
"Alexandre d'Aumone,
formerly Duke de Villequier.
"Amedee Durfort,
formerly Marquis de Duras.
" P.S. — We consider that we should fail in our duty to all the
¦officers attached to his Majesty's service under our orders did we
not protest against the term Chiefs of the domestic service of
¦the Castle, by which you are pleased designate the first Gentle
men of the Bedchamber to the King."
In reply to this letter from MM. de Villequier
and de Duras the Journal de Paris published the
following article, signed La Fayette : —
" An article in the Journal de Paris, which has been copied
in several newspapers, has invested me with a supposititious
¦superintendence of the household of the King, absolutely foreign
to the duties of the National Guard. Whatever may have been
the intention of the author of this fable, I am bound, in con
tradicting it, to turn for a moment to the letter written by
persons who really belong to that service.
" MM. de Villequier and de Duras pretend to speak in the

276 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
name of the Marshals of France, officers of every grade, officers
of the household of the King, various Deputies, and Federates.
But may not I, in my turn, ask the Marshals of France, and the
others mentioned in the letter, who respect the Constitution
and value public order, what they would have thought had they
seen the crowd of armed men who threw themselves between
the King and those who have to answer to the nation for his
safety 1
" It is sufficient for me, in order to avoid any insidious
interpretation of my words, to declare that by the soldiers of
liberty I mean those who, belonging to any portion of the public
force, have taken an oath to the nation, the law, and the King
recognised by the Constitution, and who wish to live and die
for it. "That by men justly open to suspicion I meant those who,
carrying concealed weapons, made themselves conspicuous by
their anti-patriotic and inflammatory remarks, and who, so far
from seeking to be recognised by the sentries of the National
Guard, whom, so they say, they wished to join, took care to-
avoid them and to gain access to the Castle by a recently con
structed entrance.
" Assuredly a Commandant of the National Guard, entrusted
with the orders of the King for the safety of his palace, has,
under such circumstances, a right to take efficacious measures to
prevent a recurrence of such an event.
" In conclusion, if my conduct during the course of that day
was of some use, I am quite willing to give my enemies the
consolation of criticising a few details of it."
There can, however, be no doubt that it was
only natural that the real friends of the King should
fail to have unlimited confidence in M. de la Fayette,
and that the remembrance of the slumber of the 6th
of October should cause them some anxiety when
the defence of the King was in question.

THE DEPARTMENT OF PARIS. 277
The King was ill for some days with a severe
cold accompanied by fever, and he spat blood to a
certain extent. It was by no means extraordinary
that his health should suffer from the torture he
experienced in consequence of his inability to apply
any remedy to the evils which were overwhelming
France and distressing his own heart. The Assembly
sent every day for the bulletin of his health, and
decreed a Te Deum when he recovered. Its sole
object in doing this was to deceive the people, and
under this appearance of interest to hide the secret
intrigues it was carrying out for the destruction of
royalty. The new bishops, full of gratitude to the Assem
bly to which they owed their new dignity, paid
their homage daily, accompanied by protestations of
entire submission to its decrees, and of their devotion
to the maintenance of the Revolution. This new
body of clergy was so badly composed that, far
from inspiring respect, it aided to perfection the
project of discrediting religion in the minds of the
people ; of making it an object of contempt ; and,
by annihilating every principle in the lower orders,
of rendering them more easily swayed when the
opportunity should present itself of making them
useful. The members of the Department of Paris were
rearranged. The Duke de la Rochefoucauld was
appointed President; M. Pastoret, Procureur-Syndic ;
and MM. de Kersaint, de Talleyrand, d'Ormesson,

278 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
Briere de Surgi, Thouin, Dumont, Alexandre Lameth,
Veillard, Charton, etc., were Administrators. The
Directorate was composed of MM. Auzon, Mirabeau,
du Tremblay, Crdtd de Palluel, and the Abbd Sidyes-
Mirabeau, who perceived that the Monarchy could
not be re-established with the same maxims that
had brought about the Revolution, signed with them
a proclamation, of which he was said to be the
author, and by which a most positive condemnation
was given of the opinions which he had with so
much audacity maintained against the minority of
the Assembly, who had never ceased to invoke the
principles he was now anxious to re-establish. His
plan appeared to be to discredit the Assembly to
such an extent that the nation, tired out, would in
the end demand its abrogation.
All its sittings were marked by some fresh
injustice. The friends of order and Royalty were
imprisoned on simple informations unsupported by
any proof. To them were attributed the disturb
ances arranged by the originators of them. If a
Municipality did its duty under such circumstances,
it was sure to be dissolved and replaced by one in
harmony wTith the Revolution. The disturbances
at Nimes and Uzes, where the Catholics simply
defended themselves, were a proof of this. The
crimes committed at Aix and Avignon remained
unpunished, and the miscreants, always sure of being
justified, made all good people tremble. Such was
then the condition of our unhappy France. The

DEATH OF MIRABEAU. 279
evil, so easy of commission, became difficult to
remedy, especially after the passions of violent men
had been roused, seeing that they had no other
principle than self interest, and that these crimes,
while they cost them nothing, could be turned by
them to some advantage to themselves.
Mirabeau was a proof of this, if, as many people
said, he died of poison. He was only ill two days.
The suddenness of his end, and the embarrassment
of the doctor who made the post mortem examina
tion, confirmed this opinion. On the other hand,
it was asserted that his excessive debauchery rendered
fatal an illness which would have been easily cured
in anybody but himself. Vicq-d'Azir, principal
physician to the Queen, a very learned and clever
man, was summoned to assist at his examination,
and gave an account of it to her Majesty. I was
in her room at the time, and heard the following-
account : — "Mortification," said Vicq-d'Azir, "set
in so quickly that the body had to be placed in a
tent in the middle of his garden. An immense
crowd assembled round the house and in the ad
jacent streets, and we were afraid every moment
that the doors of the house would be forced open.
We were not at all comfortable ; the odour was
infectious, and if the house had been broken into,
we could not foresee what would happen. ' We
want to see our father once more,' said the crowd,
amid a frightful din. It was resolved that one of
us should go to them and explain to them the im-

280 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
possibility of allowing them all to come into the
house ; and by way of compromise they agreed to
send a deputation of market porters, who came into
the tent, and said, as they gazed fixedly on Mira
beau, £ That is all that is now left of our father.'
They then went out quietly, recounted what they
had seen, and the crowd dispersed quietly. We
concluded our operations as quickly as possible, for
we were anxious to leave so infected a place " " Do
you undertake to say," asked the Queen, " that he
was not poisoned ? " Vicq-d'Azir made an evasive
reply. Nothing in the world would have made him
or his colleagues answer in the affirmative, lest by
so doing they should draw upon themselves the
vengeance of the Jacobins.
jjf The death of Mirabeau made various impressions.
\ The Jacobins, delighted to be freed from him, affected
' great regret at his loss. Those of his own party
were sincerely affected by it, and the Royalists were
divided in opinion. The majority, who did not
really credit his conversion, fearing that his design
was to reign in the name of the King and dictate
to him conditions opposed to the true interests of
the Monarchy, could not regret him. Others, who
believed his conversion to be sincere, as being in
his own interests, and persuaded that he would have
used his talents to secure the triumph of the King's
party, looked upon his death as an unfortunate
occurrence, and for that reason were distressed
by it.

DEATH OF MIRABEAU. 281
His death was announced in the Assembly as a
public calamity, and he was held up as one of the
greatest men ever produced by liberty. The highest
honours were decreed to him, and it was resolved
that his body should be taken to Sainte Genevieve,
which from that moment should become the burial
place of the great men whom France might delight
to honour, with this inscription on the gateway, —
" A grateful country to its great men." The funeral
of Mirabeau was a species of triumph. The whole
of the National Assembly, the Ministers, the Admini
strative and Military bodies, all the Clubs of Paris
and the suburbs, all the Fraternity Societies, and
deputations from all classes of society, formed a
cortege such as had not hitherto been seen. The
finest bands played sombre and majestic music.
The procession, which began to move at five p.m.,
did not finish till midnight. The name of the church
of Sainte Genevieve was changed to the Panthdon,
and the beautiful bas-reliefs of the church were
removed, to give place to patriotic and irreligious
emblems. • The Assembly ordered all its members
to wear mourning for a week, an example which
was imitated by the Clubs and Directorates of the
district and Department, who, moreover, ordered
the bust of Mirabeau to be placed in the room
where their sittings were held.
No greater proof could be adduced of the de
moralisation of the French people than the sight of
such honours being paid to a man guilty of the

282 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
greatest crimes, who had dragged his country down
to an abyss of misfortune, a fact of which he himself
was so fully persuaded that when he v/as dying he
exclaimed, " I take with me the ruins of the mon
archy ! "

CHAPTER XI.
THE YEAR 1791.
Decree in regard to the responsibility of Ministers — Violence against
the Catholics^Decree of the Department on this subject — Insur
rection against the Castle for the purpose of placing obstacles in
the way of the Journey to Saint Cloud meditated by the King —
His Majesty insulted — Forced banishment of the Majority of his
faithful Subjects — False steps taken by the King on the advice of
his Ministers — Continuance of violent Measures on the part of the
Assembly, which abandons all restraint — Retractation of the Abbe
Raynal — The King thinks seriously of withdrawing from Paris.
The Assembly, prior to taking into serious consid
eration the responsibility of Ministers, decreed that
no deputy of it or its successors should accept any
Ministerial post, or any post dependent on the Minis
try, or any gift, pension, or reward, or any military
promotion, except for length of service, until four
years after they should cease to be deputies.
In accordance with the report of its Military
Committee, it settled the duties imposed on Min
isters by their responsibility, and the punishments
consequent on any infraction. It compelled them to
sign all orders emanating from their offices, without
power under any circumstances to avoid compliance

284 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
with this law, even under the pretext of having
carried out the orders of the King or the decisions of
the Council. It declared them responsible for every
offence against the national safety, for every attempt
against property and personal liberty, and for every
expenditure of funds, whether by themselves or their
subordinates, and obliged them to account for their
own conduct and the state of their business, whenever
the Corps Ldgislatif might require them to do so.
M. de Saint Fargeau brought forward a verj
detailed code of Ministerial offences, and the punish
ment to be awarded for them. Capital punishment
recurred frequently, that of the galleys still more
so, and the pillory but seldom. The punishments
of the pillory and the galleys were prescribed against
Ministers who placed any obstacle in the way of the
freedom of writing or of the press.
The Assembly regulated the number, division,
and demarcation of the Departments in such a way
that the King was left without any authority. Ever
preoccupied with the idea of establishing a Repub
lican Government, it prolonged anarchy with the
object of gaining its ends more easily. By the new
decree Ministers found themselves in such a state of
dependence, and the authority of the King was so
circumscribed by the law relating to their responsi
bility, that his Majesty was really the slave of a
Ministry whose movements and will he was unable to
control. It was evident that the sole object of the decree

THE KING S MINISTERS. 285
was to fill all Ministerial offices with creatures of the
Assembly (nobody daring to risk a responsibility
dependent on its caprices), and to discredit the King
by the annulment of his authority, so that in the end
he might be dispensed with, and the nation reduced
to such a state of servitude that it would be power
less to resist the yoke which the rebels intended to
place upon it.
MM. de Lessart and de Montmorin, who were really
attached to the King, strictly followed out the plan of
Mirabeau, and in order to avoid coming under the law
of responsibility, they frequently induced the King to
take steps which were both wrong and contrary to
his dignity. They thought them necessary for the
maintenance of the security of the Assembly, with
a view to extricating the King from his cruel situa
tion and placing him in a position to resume the
government of his kingdom. The other Ministers,
with the exception of M. de Fleurieu, were confessed
Jacobins, in whom no confidence could be placed ;
and even the latter, though an honest man, was too
weak to approve of any step calculated to involve
him in danger. To give an idea of the principles of
M. du Portail, the Minister of War, it is sufficient
to say that he had the audacity to propose to the
Assembly that permission should be given to officers,
non-commissioned officers, and men to affiliate them
selves to Jacobin societies, in order to imbibe from
them principles of public order and military and
patriotic regeneration, and so to find a remedy for

286 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
the insurrections which were on the increase in nearly
all the regiments of the army.
The replacement of the bishops and the clergy,
which took place at Easter, was a source of alarm
to all who possessed consciences ; and the few people
who frequented the churches, allowed it to be very
clearly seen that the majority in France disapproved
of the conduct of the Assembly in relation to the
clergy. This resistance to its will augmented the
intolerance of the authors of the Civil Constitution.
After indulging in the bitterest invectives against
the priests and the bishops, they proceeded to
persecution, hoping to wear out their firmness by
the fear of ill-treatment. As their fine speeches
about the regeneration of the Church, whose primi
tive state they wished to recall, no longer made
any impression, they insulted the women and the
various people who worshipped according to the
Catholic religioji without the intervention of the
intruders ; they outraged the nuns, and even the
sisters of charity, in the most indecent manner,
and nobody was free from the violence which was
"universally prevalent.
The Department issued an order in which, while
expressing its disapproval of such violence, it ex
pressly forbade the use of churches, other than
those which had been retained for national wor
ship. It even extended this prohibition to the
chapels of religious establishments, colleges, and
hospitals, which could only be frequented by

A CONGREGATION ATTACKED. 287
persons who were within their walls. It, however,
permitted the building or acquisition of any edifice
whatsover, for the purpose of any kind of wor
ship, provided that a declaration to that effect
was made to the Municipality, and that an in
scription was placed on it to indicate its use,
and to distinguish it from the National churches,
the services in which were paid for by the nation.
In conformity with this proclamation, a Society
of the Faubourg Saint Germain took a lease of
the Thdatins Church, complied with the necessary
formalities, and arranged to open it on the follow
ing Sunday, which was Palm Sunday. On the
Saturday, groups of people assembled, animated
by the most violent feelings, and they did not
disperse until midnight. On the Sunday they pro
ceeded from words to' blows. A young girl, going
to the church with her mother, was thrashed at
the door, just as she was going to enter. The
worshippers were compelled to turn back, and so
that all might know what to expect if they per
sisted in their intention to enter the church; a
broom handle and a birch rod were hung up at
the door, by way of preventing any plea of ignor
ance. The mob tore in pieces the Departmental
Notice which informed the public of the privilege
given by the declaration of the rights of man for
the exercise of any form of worship, so long as
the regulations prescribed by law were complied
with, and an orator declaimed that the best means

288 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
of preventing any schism among the so-called Catho
lics, was to thrash the worshippers and belabour
the priests.
The excitement spread to the Tuileries. Crowds
assembled in the neighbourhood, and having been
informed that the King intended to spend Holy
Week and Easter at Saint Cloud, they declared
themselves opposed to this journey, and indulged in
the most atrocious remarks on the subject. Frdron
and other orators like him went so far as to threaten
the lives of the King and the Royal Family, whom
they accused of having incited foreigners against
France. Their fury extended also to those who
were attached to the King, and who, according to
them, ought to be replaced by patriots attached to
the Revolution. They abused the nonjuror priests,
and a grenadier so roused them against the ecclesi
astics who followed the King on Sunday to mass,
that the National Guard threatened to quit the ser
vice, and M. de la Fayette had considerable trouble
in restoring order among them.
The King, who for some time past had perceived
the progress made by the malcontents, and feared
what might take place during Holy Week, induced
me to send my daughter to her sisters, who were
away from Paris at the time. In order to have
greater control over his own actions, he had decided
to spend the Easter fortnight at Saint Cloud, and
had arranged to start on the Monday before Easter.
The crowds of the previous day reassembled on the

INTENDED DEPARTURE OF THE KING. 289
following day, indulging in sinister remarks about
the departure of the King, and the necessity of
opposing it. There was no crowd at the Tuileries
at ten o'clock, when I went out for a short time
to make arrangements with one of my sisters,
a nun of Sainte Marie in the Rue du Bac, tO'
induce her to leave for Mons, where an asylum had
been offered to her in one of the houses of her
order ; and I was very much astonished, after an
absence of only half-an-hour, to find the Carrousel
filled with a countless mob, who surrounded the
railings of the Castle. I got out of my carriage
at once, sent it away, and determined to make my
way through the crowd to the Tuileries. At first they
refused to let me pass, and I was obliged to speak to
them, and tell them that as I was the Governess
of Mgr. the Dauphin, I was obliged to go back to-
him. "You would do much better," they said, "to
take care of him." " Would you like the nurse of
your children," I asked them, " to argue about your
actions, to refuse to obey you, and dictate to you
the conduct you ought to observe ? " This reply
calmed them down to a certain extent, and I con
tinued to make my way when, to my great satis
faction, the officer of the Guard contrived to get
me inside. I have always noticed that when one
has the misfortune to find oneself in the midst of
a riotous crowd, it is much more judicious to speak
to them with a firm and assured countenance, than
to allow them to perceive the slightest trace of alarm,
VOL. I. T

290 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
The King and Queen, whose packing had been
completed in the morning, at the conclusion of mass
got into their carriage with Mgr. the Dauphin,
Madame, and Madame Elizabeth. I was seated
with the latter Princess on the front seat of the
carriage, and witnessed the horrible scene that took
place on that cruel day. The Grenadiers of the
National Guard, among whom an alarm had been
spread in regard to the departure of the King,
seeing the horses ready to start, revolted, placed
themselves at the horses' heads, and declared that
they would not permit the King to depart. MM.
Bailly and de la Fayette in vain endeavoured to
overcome their resistance by pointing out to them
that, besides its being very reprehensible in itself,
it was moreover unconstitutional. " It would he
an astonishing thing," said the King to them, putting
his head out of the window, " if, after having given
liberty to the nation, I should myself not be free."
The people who thronged the Carrousel upheld them
in their determination, and nothing could stir them.
They were not content even with this. They grossly
insulted those who surrounded the carriage of the
King, compelled them to stand aside, and used such
violence towards M. de Duras, the first Gentleman
of the Bedchamber, that his Majesty was obliged
to order two loyal grenadiers to extricate him,
telling them that he would be responsible.
Mgr. the Dauphin, who up to this point had not ,
displayed the slightest alarm, began to cry when

THE DEPARTURE FRUSTRATED. 291
he saw M. de Duras so ill-treated, and shouted at the
top of his voice, "Save him, save him!" MM. Gouge
not and Missilier, officers of the King's Commissariat,
whose attachment induced them to approach the car
riage, were also ill-treated. The National Guard took
their Majesties aside, and would only allow their
•own men to approach the carriage. MM. Bailly and
de la Fayette again endeavoured to speak to the
crowd, but it was useless, and they went to the
Assembly, but without daring to open their mouths
there concerning what was going on at the Tuileries.
When they saw that all they did was futile, M. de la
Fayette offered to use force to secure the egress of
the carriage, and requested the King to give the
necessary orders. " It is for you, sir," replied the
King quickly, " to see to what is necessary for the
due fulfilment of your Constitution." After renewed
efforts, as futile as their predecessors, M. de la Fayette
went to the King and informed him that his de
parture would be attended with danger. " Then I
must go back," said his Majesty, and he got out
of his carriage to re-enter his apartments, alone,
without any of his suite, and profoundly affectedy
by what had taken place, and the small profit her
was deriving from all his concessions. j
Nothing could be more distressing than the
consequences of this day. The same evening, the
Department came to present an address to the King,
to represent to him the uneasiness of the people at
seeing him surrounded by refractory priests, and the

292 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
general apprehension that the protection he afforded
them represented the real sentiments of his heart ;
that it was necessary for him to reassure the people
by some open and definite step, such as dismissing
from their attendance on him all whom they regarded
as enemies of the Constitution ; that by such a
step he would show other nations that he had
adopted the Revolution in all sincerity, seeing that
he would no longer be surrounded by any but the
friends of liberty ; that this advice would certainly
be given to him by the other eighty-three Depart
ments, if they were only so situated that their
voices could be heard. M. de la Rochefoucauld,
President of the Department, who was the spokes
man, entreated him also to dismiss the persons who-
were in attendance on Mgr. the Dauphin, and were
equally objects of suspicion.
.*•- ' It is inconceivable that a Department, which
j prided itself on enforcing a strict observance of the
\ Constitution, could permit itself to violate it openly,
J and to fail so signally in every essential part of
\ its duty to the supreme head of the nation, as to
1 come and give him orders just when it should have
/ only testified its sorrow for the scandalous scene
( that had just taken place.
^- The King, fearing to endanger the lives of his
faithful servants, ordered MM. de Duras and de
Villequier to withdraw. The departure of the latter,
who had for so long a time so signally displayed his
attachment and fidelity, was a source of deep regret

M. DE TOURZEL. 293
to his Majesty, who, when he left, expressed a hope
that happier times would bring him back again.
He gave similar orders to the Cardinal de Mont
morency, his Grand Almoner, to MM. de Roquel
aure and de Sabran, Bishops of Meaux and Laon
{respectively Chief Almoner to the King and Queen),
to his other Almoners, and those of the Queen. The
services of the chapel were performed subsequently
by simple chaplains. M. de Brissac, who was suf
fering from gout at the time, was not included in
the general order.
Although the Provostship of the royal residence
was abolished, as my son lived with me in the
Tuileries, and was accustomed to be seen in attend
ance on the King, his presence gave rise to no alarm ;
and by taking every present precaution to avoid
being suspected by the National Guard, whose bad
conduct had rendered its members all the more
morose, he succeeded in continuing his attendance
on the King without any obstacle. He had never
varied in his opinions. When the Provostship was
abolished, M. de Beauharnais did everything in his
power to induce him to accept a post in the Army,
which would compensate him for the one he had
lost. My son, rendered indignant by this per
sistence, replied, — " The King has done me the
honour from my earliest youth to attach me to
his person ; not for the world would I leave him
at a time when I have nothing to hope for from
him ; and I will remain by him so long as I live."

294 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
And when he was reproached with having appeared
before the King in his uniform of Grand Provost,.
after the decree of abolition had been passed, he
said, — " I will take the orders of the King for the
disbanding of the company, and I will then return
to him the mark of command which he entrusted to
me." M. de Beauharnais, after having represented
to him that such conduct could not but be prejudi
cial to his interests, wound up by saying that he
could not help esteeming the motive of such folly.
The King, from whom he received final orders for
the disbanding of the company, expressed his satis
faction at the line of conduct he had pursued, and
never ceased to give him tokens of the confidence
he reposed in his fidelity and attachment.
The. sorrowful aspect presented by the Castle
on the morrow of this fatal day may easily be
pictured. The King was alone, and had near him
only my son and some officers of the National
Guard, and the countenances of all his faithful
servants bore the impress of their grief. Mesdames
de Chimay and de Duras, the former a Maid of
Honour, and the latter Lady in Waiting to the
Queen, fearing to be compelled to proceedings re
pugnant to their principles, tendered their resig
nations, and the whole day was spent in preparations
for the departure of somebody or other. My heart
was wrung by the position of the King, and the
departure of those I loved and esteemed, whose
society had been a source of great consolation to me.

THE KING AGAIN THINKS OF LEAVING. 295
The poor little Dauphin, sorrowful as the rest
of us, finding himself alone with myself and the
Abbd d' A vaux, said, with a sigh, — " How wicked all
those people are, to give papa so much trouble when
he is so good ! I only say so to you, my dearZ
Madame de Tourzel, whom I love with all my heartjf
because I know I ought to hold my tongue." Andj
putting his little arms round me, he kissed me
tenderly ; then, throwing himself on a sofa, he
asked, by way of relaxation, for the history of little
Berquin. The first anecdote he encountered was
that of the little prisoner. Springing to his feet
hastily, he took his book to the Abbd d' A vaux, and
said to him, with tears in his eyes, — " Look, my
dear Abbd, at the book that has chanced to fall
in my hands to-day." I could not keep back my
tears as I heard him, so young, make such a remark,
and as I thought of the misfortunes that might be
fall him, though I was far from foreseeing the extent
of those which were in store for him. He was the
most engaging child ; appreciating the care bestowed
upon him, he never lost an opportunity of saying
the kindest and most affectionate things to us.
The King, perceiving that he had nothing to
hope for from the Assembly, in spite of the way in
which he had met them at every turn, thought
seriously of the best means of getting away from
Paris, and of the steps to be taken for the re-estab
lishment of his authority. The plan proposed to
him by M. de Montmorin, which appeared to be

296 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
approved of by him, was to obtain an assurance
from the Great Powers that they would threaten
France if she persisted in her rebellion, and that
they would so alarm the nation by their preparations,
that it would find itself forced to have recourse to
the King, to prevent them from avenging the insults
paid to royalty ; that in that event the King would
enlighten the nation in regard to its real interests ;
would prove to it that his declaration of the 21st
of June was its genuine wish, freely expressed in
the instructions given to its deputies ; and would
demonstrate clearly that the majority of them had
only used the power with which they were invested
to violate their oaths and plunge France into an
abyss of misfortune from which they alone could
extricate her. The one thing which induced me to
believe in this project, was a circumstance which hap
pened in my presence, the day before the disastrous
journey to Varennes. I was with the Queen, receiving
her final orders, when M. de Montmorin brought her
a very long letter which she read very attentively.
When he had left her she said, — " There is no
longer any reason for hesitating about our departure ;
here is a letter from the Emperor, who entreats us not
to defer it, and tells us positively that nothing can be
done for us so long as we remain in Paris."
The majority of the Ministers, uneasy in regard
to the effect that might be produced in the Pro
vinces by the dreadful events of the Monday before
Easter, took it into their heads that if the King

THE KING AND THE ASSEMBLY. 297
were to present himself before the Assembly, and
demonstrate that any continuance of the opposition
to his departure for Saint Cloud might occasion
doubts about his liberty and that of his sanction
to its decrees, it would be the first to request him
to persevere in his original intention. They there
fore persuaded the King to take this step. He
went to the Assembly, spoke to it of the scandal
of that day, and impressed upon it the necessity
of persuading the people that their happiness de
pended upon their obedience to the lawT and to
constituted authority. The step which the King
was persuaded to take was all the more imprudent
because its want of success might easily have been
foreseen, Chabroud being at that moment President
of the Assembly. Its reply to his Majesty was
consequently only an excuse for the scene of the
previous day, based on the anxiety inseparable from
liberty, to which it added a warning to prevent a
well-known faction from placing itself between the
King and the nation, so that the will of the people
might be carried out.
The Right of the Assembly, deeply moved,
showed by its demeanour the distress it experienced
by reason of the step which the King had been in
duced to take ; and this gave Roederer an excuse
for this sarcasm which he levelled at the Right : —
" These gentlemen, who applaud whenever the name
of the King is mentioned, to-day did not indulge
in a single note of applause when he left the Assem-

298 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
bly." The Ministers, its vile slaves, were not con
tent with that. In concert with it, they brought
such pressure to bear on the King to write to "his
Ministers at foreign courts an official letter to ac
quaint each sovereign of his sentiments in regard
to the Revolution, that he dared not refuse. Per
suaded as he was that the violence displayed towards
him rendered all his proceedings null and void, and
that the more they were opposed to his interests,
the more strongly would they persuade the Powers
of his incapability to resist the faction which gov
erned France, he looked upon this letter as the
consequence of the line of conduct he had been
compelled to adopt. M. de Montmorin, far from
sharing this opinion, represented to the King that
such a letter was of a nature calculated to essentially
injure the steps he was at that moment meditating ;
that he would by it be contradicting himself; and
he added that as he could not make up his mind to
sign it, he begged the King to accept his resignation.
The King thought fit to do so, fearing that any
resistance might arouse suspicion in regard to his
plans. And M. de Montmorin, fearing that they
might vanish, signed this disastrous letter. It was
a protestation of the attachment of the King to the
Constitution, of his free adhesion to its decrees,
which had only reformed abuses while maintaining
his power in its entirety. He added that peace
reigned throughout his kingdom, and that he had
no other enemies than those who had withdrawn

M. DE LA FAYETTE. 299
from it, and who placed in doubt his attachment to
the Constitution ; that they made it necessary for
him to inform foreign Powers of his real sentiments,
by assuring them that they had nothing to fear from
a power which had renounced all idea of conquest,
and which desired to be at peace with its neighbours.
By this letter he enjoined these same Ministers to
protect all Frenchmen travelling in foreign countries
against the insults to which they were daily exposed.
The sole object of this letter, which was supposed
to be the work of M. de Lameth, was to discredit
the King in the eyes of foreign Powers. When it
was read to the Assembly, it was received with en
thusiastic applause. The rebels made no attempt to
conceal their joy at having achieved so signal a
success, and they resolved that a deputation should
proceed at once, with the President at its head, to
thank the King for the proof of patriotism he had
just given in making known to foreign Powers his
real sentiments, and to assure him at the same time
that the step he had taken, securing the welfare of
his people, could not fail to render them happy.
M. de la Fayette was the only one who acted up
to his duty in regard to the 18th of April, the
Monday before Easter. On the following day he
sent in his resignation as Commandant of the
National Guard ; and on urgent entreaties being-
made to him to withdraw it, he betook himself to
the Commune of Paris, openly censured the excesses
that had taken place on the previous day, and

300 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
declared positively that he would only withdraw his
resignation on condition that all the men who were
to blame should be disbanded. The paid company
of the Oratory was consequently disarmed. The
same thing happened to the promoters of the in
surrection, although the Cordeliers Club posted a
notice in the streets to the effect that their conduct
was a model of citizenship. These conditions having
been complied with, he resumed his post, exacting a
promise from his men that they would in future be
faithful to the law and the subordination which they
had so flagrantly violated, and compelling them to
take a fresh oath, by way of proving the sincerity of
their obedience.
It is impossible to give any idea of what we had
to suffer during Holy Week. Threatened with all
sorts of outrage by a mob which rejoiced over the
solitude of the Tuileries, and the sight of the King
deprived of his Grand Officers, and of ourselves on
the eve of being compelled to separate ourselves from
him ; the services of the Church, at which we assisted
regularly, and which were so strikingly analogous to
the situation ; the tomb of Holy Thursday, a species
of cenotaph surrounded with cypress and surmounted
by a crown of thorns, so correct an emblem of that
worn by the King — all this contributed to increase
the profound sorrow into which we were plunged,
and which we were obliged to keep to ourselves, in
order that the poor little Dauphin should not be
affected by it. The Princess de Tarente, who shared

M. DE LUIGNB. 301
all my sentiments, was then my only consolation.
Our hearts were as one, and we sorrowed over the
evils which were still only the prelude of those in
store for us.
The beginning of the happiness promised by the
Assembly to the King was the violence done to his
religious feelings. As a guarantee of his sanction to
the decrees of the Assembly, he was compelled on
Easter Sunday to go with the Queen to Saint Ger
main l'Auxerrois, the parish church of the Tuileries,
where the service was performed by Constitutional
priests. Monsieur and Madame did not accompany
their Majesties ; they remained at the Luxembourg,
where they heard mass ; and Madame Elizabeth,
under the plea of indisposition, spent the day in her
room. Mgr. the Dauphin remained in the Castle with
a very limited number of the National Guard, the
majority of them having accompanied the King to
Saint Germain l'Auxerrois. The young Prince on that
day had as Battalion Commandant an officer named
de Luignd, who, although a gentleman by birth,
and the possessor of an income of 80,000 francs,
had gone over bodily to the Revolution. He was a
worthless debauchee, whose only associates were
men who, like himself, had lost their reputations,
and with whom he dissipated his entire fortune. He
inspired such distrust that M. de Gouvion himself
came to me to assure me that he had taken every
precaution to prevent this rascal causing any un-

302 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
easiness. M. d'Arblay, an officer of the National
Guard, who was known to me as being very much
attached to the King, had orders not to lose sight
of him for a moment, and even to follow him into
the apartments of Mgr. the Dauphin, in case his
duties should oblige him to go there. Everything
was quite quiet during the absence of the King ;
the sky alone was lowering, for there had been a
great storm and loud claps of thunder while their
Majesties were in church. They returned in a state
of extreme depression. This state of mind indeed
was habitual with the Royal Family, whose only con-
' solation for what they had to suffer, was the hope
that the measures which were at that moment in
preparation to extricate them from their cruel cap
tivity, would be crowned with success.
The steps which the Ministers had compelled the
King to take rendered the Assembly more audacious
than ever. It received with satisfaction the denuncia
tion of Louis Baujour, Commissary of Marine, against
M. de Fleurieu, notwithstanding his well-known char
acter of infidelity and unscrupulousness, and it went
so far as to consider the question of calling upon the
King to account for his Civil List. M. de Fleurieu,
alarmed at the bare idea of a denunciation, and the
difficulty of reconciling the attachment he bore the
King with the servile submission exacted by the
Assembly, sent in his resignation, and was succeeded
by M. Thdvenard. M. Tarbd was at the same time
appointed Minister of Public Communications. He

SAN DOMINGO. 303
was a well-informed man, perfectly honest, and
strongly attached to the King. I had personal proof
of this. The King also honoured him with his con
fidence and esteem.
The unfortunate Colony of San Domingo ex
perienced fresh disasters. The promoters of disorder
•caused a report to be circulated that the decrees of
the 8th of March and the 12th of October were
going to be recalled ; that the result would be the
admission of coloured people into the Assemblies,
and consequently the emanicipation of the negroes.
'This expectation caused fresh excitement in a country
where every head was already sufficiently turned.
The troops on their arrival took sides against the
white population, revolted, and refused to obey M. de
Blanchelande, the Governor of San Domingo. They
massacred M. de Mauduit, their Colonel, who en
deavoured to bring them back to their allegiance,
and everything pointed to a very alarming insurrec
tion, which would necessarily involve the loss of the
Colony. These details were reported to the As
sembly by an officer who witnessed the massacre of
M. de Mauduit, and who escaped almost by a miracle
. from the hands of these maniacs. The Assembly, far
from displaying any indignation at them, simply re
ferred them to the Committee of Reports.
This Committee brought forward a bill for the
admission of coloured men, born of free parents,
into the colonial and parochial Assemblies. All
the reasonable members of the Assembly opposed

304 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
this bill, and pointed out that it would result in
the revolt of the negroes against the whites, fearful
massacres, and the loss of the Colonies. But the
demagogues having declared that they preferred
the loss of the Colonies to a loss of principle, and
Dupont de Nemours and several others, led away by
a mad love of liberty, having joined them, the bill
was converted into a decree, which speedily brought
about all the evils which had been predicted from it.
The excesses which increased in every part of
the kingdom caused a large number of members of
the Assembly to reflect seriously, and determined M.
de Pastoret to request it to decree a penal code to
put an end to the impunity and stop the disturb
ances, and at the same time to take into considera
tion the regulation of the form of the right of
petition. Fearing at the same time that such a
request might make him enemies, he made a point
of eulogising the submission of the city of Paris,
and the energy with which the National Guard/
momentarily led astray, had returned to their duty ;
and he concluded by stating that this same city of
Paris, which had been the first to acquit itself of
the sacred duty of insurrection, would be the firmest
support of the Constitution.
The Assembly was requested to issue minor
assignats for the convenience of the inhabitants of
Paris. This currency involves no loss, said the
promoters of the Revolution ; silver gains. I put
them on the same footing, said M. de Crillon, who

THE QUESTION OF AVIGNON. 305
would have been very sorry if anybody had asked
him to give a personal proof of it. M. de Montes
quiou, in voting for the issue, made a most pompous
harangue in praise of the prosperity of France. Folly
was pushed to its extreme point during this sitting,
and shortly afterwards the Assembly decreed the
issue of minor assignats, in spite of all the incon
veniences that might result.
Bouche, Robespierre, and M. de Menou, as well as
several others of the same party, once more demanded
the union of the Comtat of Avignon with France.
They took good care not to let it be known that the
numerous petitions which they presented on this
subject had been obtained in the midst of robbery
and bloodshed, and the devastation of the towns of
the Comtat. They expatiated at great length on
the rights of France over this unhappy country, and
employed violence to demonstrate the necessity for
the union.
MM. Malouet and de Clermont proved con
clusively that the greater part of the petitioners
were not of full age, and that the signatures had
only been given in fear of the brigands who infested
the country. They traced crimes of every kind to
the cut-throat Jourdan, so well-known in Paris for
his ferocity and cruelty. This wretch was associated
with two of the Municipality of Avignon, his worthy
rivals (Mainville and Tournal), who, aided by de
serters from the Penthievre and Soissonnais regi
ments, devastated the towns and country districts,
VOL. I. U

306 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
and carried their fury to such an extent that they
put to death those of their own comrades who re
tained some small residuum of humanity. MM.
Malouet and de Clermont pointed out the want
of force in the arguments of the advocates of the
union of the Comtat with France ; the danger which
might result from the anxiety caused to foreign
Powers by such a violation of the right of nations ;
and they concluded by complaining of the dishonesty
which had led to the abstraction of the documents
which would have demonstrated the truth about
the events which were to be brought to the notice
of the Assembly.
The demagogues, unable to reply to such argu
ments, took refuge in insult, and urged the Assembly
at least to pronounce a decree which would not en
tirely decide the question. In compliance with their
wishes, it confined itself to decreeing that the town
of Avignon and the Comtat should not form an integral
part of France.
M. de Clermont-Tonnerre, on leaving the Assembly,
was in great danger. Insulted, and threatened with
being thrown into the pond of the Tuileries, by a
crowd of blackguards who obstructed his passage, he
had only time to take refuge in the porter's lodo-e,
where several private individuals went to his assist
ance. Ten grenadiers of the Angouleme regiment
escorted him in a carriage to his house, whither
a riotous multitude had preceded him, and had
already broken open the doors. The grenadiers

THE QUESTION OF AVIGNON. 307
defended him, and so gave the Mayor and the National
Guard time to arrive, stop the disturbance, and dis
perse the crowd.
The wretches of Avignon, by way of revenge for
the check they had received, besieged the town of
Carpentras, but it defended itself so vigorously that
they were compelled to raise the siege, after having
lost a considerable number of their unworthy as
sociates. All these misfortunes were due to the
cowardice of M. du Portail, who, through fear of
displeasing the Jacobin Clubs, opposed the removal
of the Penthievre and de Soissonnais regiments,
whose men had revolted and were devastating the
Comtat. They were, moreover, the result of the
veto placed by the Minister against the Dauphinois
going to the assistance of the Comtadins, whom
they would have easily rescued from their perse
cutors. The fear lest the decree just passed by the
Assembly would injure the rigkts_oif_France over
the Comtat furnished thef demagogues) with the
opportunity of reopening thequestionTby suggest
ing that it was at least necessary to unite the
town of Avignon, in order to rescue it from the
calamities which had for so long been overwhelm
ing it. The Assembly, not daring to recur to a de
cree so formally discussed, endeavoured to weaken
it by passing a new one, in which it requested the
King to send mediators to interpose their good
offices between the Comtadins and the people of

308 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
Avignon ; to put a stop to the prevailing hostili
ties, a provision necessary before any ulterior step
could be taken in regard to the rights of France
over this unfortunate district ; to prevent any in
vasion of French territory by the troops of Avignon ;
to treat as deserters the Frenchmen of either army
who refused to enter France after the orders they
had received ; and to treat as suborners all those
who recruited in France for either party.
Disturbances still continued in all parts of the
kingdom. The disbanding of the paid company of
the Oratory battalion roused all the factious spirits.
The Clubs protested against the injustice of exacting
passive obedience from the troops ; the Sections were
divided among themselves on the question whether
or not it was lawful to insist on the fresh oath which
M. de la Fayette wished to administer ; and the mal
contents hastened to seize this opportunity of creat
ing dissension among the National Guard.
Distressing news, risings, massacres, and arson
were reported from every quarter, and the impunity
with which these crimes were committed augmented
their number. The populace of Versailles wished to
prevent the departure of the Flanders regiment, which
was under orders to leave that town for the Nord
Department. They succeeded in gaining over some
soldiers, who brought others with them, and there
was a momentary attempt at resistance. M. de
Montmorin, Governor of Fontainebleau, and second
in command of the regiment, was twice thrown from

THE ABBE RAYNAL. 309
his horse, but he stood his ground, and, assisted by
the Chasseurs of Lorraine and the National Guard of
Versailles, he brought them back to their duty, put
himself at their head, and made them set out for their
destination. M. de Montmorin was an excellent man,
full of honour and bravery, and conspicuous for his
attachment to the King. He never ceased to furnish
proofs of this, and was one of the earliest victims of
the Revolution, at the time when our misfortunes
were at their height.
After various discussions as to the form of the
elections for the forthcoming legislature, the As
sembly decreed that none of the members of the
National Assembly should be eligible for re-election
until after four complete years, dating from the day
of the dissolution ; that as soon as the elections
should be over, it would fix the date when its own
functions should cease and those of its successors
should begin ; the existence of the new legislature
was ordered to terminate on the 1st of May 1793.
Several members of the Right demanded that the
Assembly, prior to its dissolution, should determine
the extent of the power to be granted to the King,
in order to put an end to the anarchy which was
desolating the kingdom, but this demand was not
sufficiently in accordance with the views of the
Assembly for it to condescend to take it into con
sideration. The Abbd Raynal, deeply distressed by the abuse
which had been made of the principles of liberty set

310 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
forth in his Histoire philosophique du Commerce des
Europeens dans les deux Indes, thought it only
right, on his return to France, to testify his regret
to the Assembly, and in a letter addressed to it to
unfold the true views which he thought necessary
to induce it to repair the wrongs which its excessive
love of liberty had led it to commit. " It would be
well," he said, " for you yourselves to confess that
you have gone too far ; to restore to the King the
authority necessary to enable him to do good ; to
wisely balance the power of the various authorities ;
and not to give the multitude a power which they
can only abuse. These laws will cause you to be
blessed by the people, who, on the contrary, will one
day curse those who, by sanctioning anarchy, will
bring upon France misfortunes over which you will
groan when there is no longer time to repair them."
The Assembly was furious, and exclaimed against
audacity worthy, so they said, of Malouet and his
party ; and the Abbd Raynal, who had been praised
up to the skies so long as his principles were thought
to be the same as those of the Assembly, was looked
upon, even by the most moderate men of the Left,
as a madman, and his remorse, which it was so far
from sharing, was attributed to the weakness of old
age. MM. de Saint-Fargeau and Robespierre demanded
the abolition of capital punishment, and of all ig
nominious punishment for any crime whatsoever.
The former even advocated the idea that after a

VIOLENT DECREES OF THE ASSEMBLY. 311
long imprisonment a civic baptism should re-establish
the criminal in all his rights. Long speeches were
made for the purpose of demanding, in the name of
humanity, the infusion of a greater amount of
clemency in the Penal Code for the repression of
crime ; but the inconvenience of the abolition of
capital punishment and of condemnation to hard
labour, at a time when France was overrun with
wretches to whom crime cost nothing, was so strongly
pointed out that they were allowed to remain. The
necessity for building eighty -three houses of detention,
perhaps, made more impression than the motive of
inspiring public tranquillity.
The Assembly, finding that the right of pardon,
abusive in itself, gave the King too much authority,
decreed, without any regard for his Royal Majesty,
that it should be withheld from everybody. The
abolition of a right enjoyed by all, even the most
insignificant sovereigns of Europe, affected the King
deeply. But that was of small consequence to the
Assembly, which, by no means moved by his sub
mission to its slightest wish, overwhelmed him day
after day with fresh slights. Achard de Bouvouloir,
a deputy, having evinced a desire to point out to
the Assembly the inconvenience which would result
from the admission of soldiers and petty officers into
the Clubs, was interrupted, and compelled to send the
proofs which he was about to bring forward, to the
Committee of Reports.
The Assembly also decreed, but not until after

312 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
some stormy debates, that no bull, ordinance, or
letter from the Pope should be received in France
without the approval of the Corps Ldgislatif, sanc
tioned by the King, and forbade all such documents,
until that had taken place, to be posted up or to
have any legal authority ; and that any bishop,
priest, ecclesiastic, or public functionary who should
cause them to be printed, in contravention of the
decree, should be prosecuted as a disturber of public
order, and should undergo the punishment of civil
degradation. The demagogues made fresh attempts to secure
the disbanding of the army, or at least of all the
officers suspected of hatred of the Revolution, and
regret for the old regime ; and they spoke of them
with contempt, which was strongly deprecated by
M. de Cazales and other members of the Assembly.
Some of them, even on the Left, pointed out to the
Assembly the danger of such a measure, at a time
when hostile proceedings on the part of foreign
Powers were to be feared. It consequently merely
prayed the King promptly to sign the decree
placing the troops on the frontier on a war footing,
ordering the provisioning of their stations, and
summoning a levy of men from all the National
Guards of the Kingdom.
The king was, moreover, requested to send the
Prince de Condd an order, as soon as possible, to
re-enter France within a fortnight, or to withdraw
from the frontier, swearing at the same time not to

PALLOI AND THE DAUPHIN. 313
undertake anything against the Constitution sanc
tioned by the King, nor to disturb the tranquillity
of the State in any way ; in default whereof his
property would be confiscated, and all communication
with him forbidden, under pain of prosecution for
treason to the country. In this decree there was
an addition to the effect that, in case he should
present himself in arms on the frontier, an order
would be issued to all citizens to at once seize him
and his adherents ; and he was rendered responsible
for all hostile movements that might be directed
against France.
So many repeated insults contributed to confirm
the King in his resolution to withdraw himself from
a tyranny from which the most disastrous results
would accrue to the nation, as well as to himself.
Ways were found of even rendering homage in
sulting, of which the following fact is a proof. ¦=""
A man named Palloi, an architect of the dty,
who was a leader of the destroyers of the Bastille,
sent a request to the Queen to be allowed to present
to Mgr. the Dauphin a set of dominos made entirely
of stones from the Bastille. Nobody dare refuse, and
the Queen sent word to him that if he would come
and see Mgr. the Dauphin in his garden, he would
accept the present there. I was on that day confined
to my bed with so severe an attack of hepatic colic,
that I had been bled three times during the day, and
the only one to replace me was Madame de Soucy.
I was afraid lest the fear of compromising herself

314 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
might cause her to commit some piece of stupidity,
and I asked the Princess de Tarente, who frequently
went with me when I took the young Prince for a
walk, to be with him on this occasion without fail,
and to keep a watch on Madame de Soucy.
As it was necessary on all occasions to avoid the
malicious interpretation placed by the patriots on
everything said by the royal family, we arranged
that Mgr. the Dauphin should simply say to M.
Palloi, " I am very much obliged to you, sir, for
your idea that a set of dominos might amuse me,
and I thank you sincerely for those you have given
me." He was furious at receiving such a present,
and he was still more so when M. Palloi told him
that the present should be all the more agreeable to
him because, as it was made of the stones of the
Bastille, it would remind him of the generosity with
which the King, his father, had renounced all idea
of despotism, and had promised to inculcate in him
from an early age sentiments akin to his own.
Mgr. the Dauphin, with his face very red, made
the reply that had been arranged for him. He
requested to be allowed to go indoors as soon as M.
Palloi had gone, and he sent the set of dominos
away at once, asking that they might never be
mentioned again.
No greater promise could be given of nobility and
dignity of feeling than was given by the young
Prince, without the slightest approach to haughti
ness ; for he was full of goodness to all who were

THE DAUPHIN. 315
brought in contact with him, and perfectly amiable
both with the children who played with him and the,
people surrounding him. His amusements partook of
his lively and enthusiastic disposition. He had a pro
nounced predilection in favour of everything mili
tary, and one of his greatest pleasures was to fire off
little cannons in his garden, he himself, sword in
hand, giving the word of command. Then he
thought himself a little hero, and assumed a serious
air which was pleasant to see.
He had another kind of amusement which pleased
him greatly. It was to assume the costume of a
French knight of olden time, and to put on a
miniature suit of armour which M. Palloi had made
for him. With a helmet on his head, a cuirass on
his body, and a lance in his hand, he thought
himself a veritable knight. This game was only
allowed in private, and in his own rooms, in order
to prevent the malevolent from making any remarks
about this little amusement. He importuned the
Queen to allow him to go down to her room in his
favourite costume to such an extent that, in order
to get rid of the idea, she told him that she would
only consent if he would at once name the French
knight whom he would represent before her. " It
will be," he said, " the Chevalier Bayard, without
fear and without reproach."
He was very fond of reading historical anecdotes,
and the Abbd d'Avaux, his tutor, made him read all
those which were calculated to instruct as well as to

316 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
amuse him. He talked about them with us, im
pressed them on his memory, and made the most
apposite remarks without pedantry and with charm
ing simplicity. He one day considerably astonished
the Abbd Barthdlemy, of the Academy of Science.
Some fragments of the history of Scipio and Hanni
bal had been read to the young Prince, and com
parisons were drawn between them. " I like Scipio
much the best," he said : " he is my hero." " Would
you like to see his shield ? " said the Abbd d'Avaux
to him. " I should be delighted." The Abbd Bar
thdlemy, to whom this conversation was recounted,
was very pleased to bring it to him. Mgr. the
Dauphin examined it attentively and turned it over
and over ; then, darting away, he fetched his sword,
and rubbed it on the shield. "What are you doing,
Monsigneur ? " asked the Abbd Barthdlemy. " I am
rubbing my sword on the shield of a great man."
The Abbe Barthdlemy was astounded at the action,
and the readiness of the reply. But the Abbd
d'Auvax did not leave him long in suspense in
regard to the motive which had led to it. He told
him that it was merely a very happy application of
a tale he had told him about what was done by a
regiment of grenadiers when they saw at Strasbourg
the tomb of Marshal Saxe. The Abbd Barthdlemy,
much touched by the sight of this lovable child,
could not refrain from showing him his satisfaction
at the apt use he had made of his memory, which
indeed Was admirable.

THE DAUPHIN. 317
He was quick at repartee, and to our astonish
ment one day gave us a proof of this. He was
playing at a little game which obliged everybody to
tell an anecdote. " I have a very funny one," said
he. " At the door of the Assembly there was a
porter who sold the decrees as soon as they were
printed. To shorten his cry he called out, ' For two
sous, for two sous, the National Assembly ! ' A wag
who was passing said to him, ' My friend, you tell us
what they are worth, but not what they cost us.'
Now, confess," said the Prince, " that that was funny."
I had expressly forbidden him to speak of anything
concerning the Assembly. Looking at him rather
severely, therefore, I asked him who had told him
that little tale. Assuming the defensive, he said to
me, very smilingly,- — -" M. l'Abbd, who taught us the
game, told us, Madame, that everybody is obliged to
relate an anecdote, but it is not part of the game to
tell where it comes from." And so he got rid of a
question which embarrassed him, without naming the
person who had told him his little anecdote.

CHAPTER XII.
the year 1791.
The Journey to Varennes. ,
The annoyance I experienced in consequence of
the daily insults paid to the royal family, and my
anxiety in regard to the consequences that might
result from them, rendered my convalescence pro
tracted. The Queen, who had been good enough to
come and see me several times, came to me very
early one morning to persuade me to go to the
waters of Plombieres. " It is probable," she said to
me, " that we shall be compelled to leave Paris, and
you are too weak to accompany us." The idea of
leaving Mgr. the Dauphin and Madame in the midst
of the dangers to which they might be exposed,
distressed me exceedingly, and inspired me with
strength enough to hope in a few days to be able
to accompany them. Moreover, as I said to the
Queen, I could not go to the waters without letting
their departure be known, as I had publicly said to
one of my advisers that death alone could make me
abandon Mgr. the Dauphin. I said to the Queen,
in addition, that I hoped Heaven would give me the

THE JOURNEY TO VARENNES. 319
strength of which I had need, but that if such should
not be the case, I would not leave my room. " But
think of the dangers to which you will expose your
self," replied the Queen quickly. " If I were a man,"
I replied, " your Majesty would not have prevented
me from throwing myself in the breach. I know I
am worthy to be the daughter of a father who lost
his life in the service of his King and his country.
Your Majesty need not trouble about me ; if I
should be ill, I would stay at the first inn, at the
risk of whatever might happen to me ; but your
Majesty may rest assured that I shall remain in
Paris if I have not strength to bear the journey,
or if I should cause the slightest delay in the
journey." 1
The departure was fixed for the night of Sun
day, or early on Monday, the 20th of June, but

1 1 cannot- pass over in silence the reproach brought against me by
M. de Bouille in his Memoires, and by M. Royou in his Histoire de
France, when they assert that my obstinacy in accompanying Mgr. the
Dauphin in his journey to Varennes prevented the King from taking a
distinguished military officer with him in his carriage. The Queen,
who alone informed me of their journey, never said a word about this,
but merely spoke of my health as an obstacle. I certainly should not
have insisted, if she had expressed any such desire. Moreover, I would,
in case of need, have taken the place of one of the two women who
accompanied the Royal Family in the attendant carriage. In such a
case attachment consults neither fitness nor rights, and I should then
have reconciled the duty imposed upon me by my position — that of
never leaving Mgr. the Dauphin — with the desire their Majesties would
have expressed that they should be accompanied by somebody whose
services might have been more useful to them than mine could have
been.

320 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOUBZEL.
the fear lest the chambermaid on duty with Mgr.
the Dauphin, who was known to be attached to
M. de la Fayette, would reveal to him the depar
ture of the royal family, caused a postponement
till the following day, the 21st, when she would, as
a matter of course, be replaced by another one on
whom reliance could be placed. It was feared that
if the former were put out of her turn, some con
sistency would be given to the rumour which was
current, even in the Castle, of the approaching de
parture of the royal family. M. de Bouilld was
warned of it, and if the Duke de Choiseul had been
gifted with less carelessness and more self-possession,
this delay would not have been productive of any
inconvenience. In order to disarm all suspicion, the Queen her
self took her children for a walk at Tivoli, in the
garden belonging to M. Boutin, on the Monday
evening, and when she came back she gave the
battalion Commandant the necessary orders in regard
to her going out on the following day. I did the
same in regard to Mgr. the Dauphin ; and in order
to prevent my servants having any idea of depar
ture, I told them to have a bath ready for me on
the following day at the hour when I left the room
of Mgr. the Dauphin ; and I went up to his room
at ten o'clock, according to my custom, with my
maid, who slept in a room adjoining his.
A moment afterwards the Queen came into the
room, and roused the young Prince, who was sound

THE JOURNEY TO VARENNES. 321
asleep. Hardly did he understand that he was
going to a fortress, where he would command his
regiment, than he jumped out of bed, saying, —
" Quick, quick, make haste, give me my sword and
boots, and let us be off ! " The idea of being like
Henri IV., whom he had taken as his model, roused
him to such an extent that he never closed his eyes
during the journey. It was not until after we were
compelled to stop that nature asserted her rights,
and he slept a calm and tranquil sleep.
The Queen, in making her departure known,
told Madame de Neuville, first chambermaid to Mgr.
the Dauphin, to follow him in a post-chaise with
Madame Branyer, first chambermaid to Madame,
who had been warned, and was to betake herself to
the apartments of Mgr. the Dauphin. She told
Madame de Bar, the woman on whom, as I have
already said, perfect reliance could not be placed,
that she was sorry not to be able to take her with
her, that she would have her sent safely home, and
that she was sufficiently sure of her attachment to
be sure also of her discretion. This poor woman
was most touching in her behaviour ; she threw her
self at the feet of the Queen, kissed her hand, and
uttered prayers for the success of the journey, which
occupied her far more than the persecution she
might possibly experience, or the precautions that
were being taken for her safe removal to her own
home. We went down to the apartments of the Queen,
vol, I. x

322 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
where we found the King. Their Majesties told me
that they would be followed by three of the Body
Guard, one of whom would give his arm to the
Queen to conduct her on foot to the carriage ; and
that the two others would conduct the travelling
carriage which was to await the King at some dis
tance from the barrier : all the royal family went
on foot except Mgr. the Dauphin and Madame. The
King added that I should not be made acquainted
with the details of the journey until we were fairly
on the road, so that if I had the misfortune to be
stopped I should not be so embarrassed by any
questions that might be put to me ; and he gave
me a letter signed in his own hand to prove, in case
of accident, that I had taken away Mgr. the Dauphin
and Madame by his orders. He, moreover, gave
me permission to take with me M. de Gouvion if
we should meet him, on condition that he would
undertake to facilitate the departure of their Majes
ties. I had also marked two gold coins, one to give
to a National Guard, if chance brought me across
one, with the information that his fortune should be
made, and a large sum of money given to him when-
ever'he should bring me a coin similar to the one I
should keep to compare with his.
Some time previously I had taken the precaution
to get my daughter Pauline to make a little silk
dress, and a bonnet, wherewith to dress up Mgr.
the Dauphin as a little girl, should circumstances
render such a disguise necessary. We made use of

THE J0UENEY TO VARENNES. 323
it successfully. When the carriage arrived, the
Queen herself went to see if all was quiet in the
courtyard, and not seeing anybody, she embraced
me, and said, — " The King and I, Madame, place in
your hands with the utmost confidence all that we
hold dear in the world. Everything is ready ; go."
We went through the apartments of M. de Ville
quier, where there was no sentry ; we passed through
a small and little used doorway, and got into a worn
and old-fashioned carriage, like a, fiacre, which was
driven by the Count de Fersen.
In order to give the King time to arrive, we
took a drive along the quays, and returned by the
Rue Saint Honord, to wait for the royal family
opposite the house which was then called the Hotel
de Gaillarbois. I waited for three-quarters of an
hour without seeing any member of the royal family
arrive. M. de Fersen played the part of coachman
to perfection, whistling, chatting with a supposed
comrade who was there by chance, and taking snuff
out of his snuff-box. I was on thorns, although I
did not betray my anxiety, when Madame said to
me,—" There is M. de la Fayette." I hid Mgr. the
Dauphin under my petticoats, telling them both that
they might be quite easy in their minds. I, how
ever, was by no means so. M. Bailly followed him
at a little distance. They both passed on quite
unsuspectingly ; and after three-quarters of an hour's
anxiety I had the consolation of seeing Madame
Elizabeth arrive. It was just the beginning of hope.

324 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
It was half-past eleven, and not until after midnight
did we see the King arrive. MM. Bailly and de
la Fayette, who had gone to him to be in attendance
when he retired for the night, began a conversation,
and in order not to arouse any suspicion in their
minds, the King was unwilling to appear in a hurry
to go to bed. Then the King had to undress, go to
bed, dress again, put on a wig by way of disguise,
and leave the Tuileries on foot to get to the carriage.
The Queen could not leave until after the King ;
and the extreme attachment he bore her was strongly
proved on this occasion by the manner in which he
displayed his impatience. As soon as she was safely
in the carriage, he took her in his arms, kissed her,
and said over and over again, — " How glad I am to
see you here ! " They all kissed each other ; all the
royal family did me the same honour ; and convinced
that we had overcome the most difficult obstacle,
we began to hope that Heaven would favour our
journey. The King told us that after having got rid of
MM. Bailly and de la Fayette, he went out by him
self with the greatest ease through the large door of
the Tuileries ; that he was quite comfortable, because
of the precaution he had taken to make the Cheva
lier de Coigny go out of the same door, his figure
being so like that of the King, and those on duty at the
gate having been accustomed to let him go out every
evening for a fortnight past in all security ; that so
completely was he at his ease, that his shoe having

THE JOURNEY TO VARENNES. 325
become undone, he put it right without attracting
any attention ; and that he had not experienced the
slightest difficulty.
The Chevalier de Coigny was one of the most
faithful and affectionate servants of the King. To
him the King confided the secret of his journey, and
if he had followed his advice, there is every reason to
believe that the journey would have been successful.
" Nobody," he said to the King, " does more justice
than I do to the bravery and fidelity of the Body
Guard. But on so important an occasion people
must be employed who are in the habit of taking
journeys, and who have been placed in situations of
difficulty. Priol, a Commandant of the Gendarmerie,
a man with a cool and cautious head, would be of great
use to you, and so would a retired post-horse pioneer,
who has a perfect knowledge of all the roads in the
kingdom, and is full of intelligence and unlimited
attachment to the person of your Majesty." He
named a third, whose name and condition I have for
gotten. The King, who wished to show this mark of con
fidence in his Body Guard, unfortunately did not
follow this wise advice, but persisted in his first
resolve. He asked M. Dagout, acting Major of the
Body Guard, to give him three men to convey letters
to the Princes, his brothers ; and he, ignorant of their
real destination, gave him the first three that came
to his hand. They were called MM. de Montier, de
Maldan, and de Valori. One cannot, without doing

326 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
them injustice, doubt their courage and devotion ;
but accustomed by their rank to perfect obedience,
and never having exercised supreme command, such
an undertaking was above their strength. They did
not dare to take anything on themselves, but asked
for the King's orders, which they would have car
ried out, however dangerous they might have been,
even at the peril of their lives ; but they lacked the
audacity necessary under the circumstances in which
they were placed.
The Queen had taken into her confidence
Madame Thibault, her principal chambermaid, a
person of great merit, and attached beyond measure
to her Majesty. She made every arrangement neces
sary for the journey, and took a passport for Tournay,
whence she was to rejoin her Majesty as soon as she
received information of her arrival in the town where
she was to make a momentary halt. She was told
to take with her my chambermaid, whose terror and
innocence, although they made the royal family
laugh, rendered it absolutely necessary that she
should not be left to herself.
We had experience of several minor incidents,
which prove only too clearly that very little causes
frequently influence great events. M. de Fersen,
fearing lest the Body Guard should have taken an
other road than the one he had pointed out to them,
and that, as he had taken the shortest road, he should
be obliged to repass the barrier in order to rejoin
them, elected to take the longest road, to obviate this

THE JOURNEY TO VARENNES. 327
inconvenience, which made us lose half-an-hour, and
this added to the three-quarters of an hour's delay
suffered by the King, made us an hour and a half
late. We then found a marriage feast going on
among the employes at the barrier, with plenty of
people and light at the gates, but fortunately we
were not recognised, and we passed without diffi
culty. To crown our misfortunes, the horses in the
King's carriage fell twice between Nintrd and Cha
lons, all the harness broke, and we lost more than an
hour in making good this disaster.
It has been said, but wrongly, that the King
stopped to dine. He and the royal family only
ate in the carriage. There was no stoppage ; the
King only got out once during the entire journey,
when he went into a stable where there was not a
soul, nor did he speak to anybody, but got into his
carriage again directly. The children only got out
, twice, when the postillions were going up steep hills
.at a walking pace ; I took advantage of these oppor
tunities to let them have some fresh air, but these
short walks did not cause any delay.
At some distance from the Clichy barrier we
found the carriage which was awaiting us, and we left
the old one and its horses without troubling ourselves
as to what would become of them. M. de Fersen drove
the King as far as Laye, where we took post-horses.
The King, on leaving him, evinced his gratitude
in the most affectionate manner, hoping that
he should display it otherwise than in words,

328 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
and flattering himself that he should see him again
soon. We travelled in a large berlin, very comfortable,
but not at all extraordinary in appearance, as has
been so often stated since the disastrous issue of
this unhappy journey. I had to pass off as the
mistress, under the name of the Baroness de Korff;
the King was my valet, the Queen my maid, and
Madame Elizabeth the children's nurse. It was
known that the Baroness de Korff, whose name I
had assumed, had journeyed express from Paris to
Montmedy by the same route that we were taking,
in a carriage like ours, with the same number of
persons, and that she had nowhere been asked to
show her passport. We had been careful enough
even to calculate the number of hours which it had
taken her to reach Montmddy, and we shall see by-
and-by the sad result of this last precaution.
When the barrier was passed the King, beginning
to be hopeful about his journey, commenced to talk
about his plans. Montmddy was to be the first
halting-place, whence he would communicate with
whatsoever party he thought most fitting, as he
had thoroughly made up his mind only to leave
the kingdom in case circumstances should render
it necessary for him to pass through certain frontier
towns, in order to enable him more quickly to reach
that particular one in France which he wished to
make his headquarters ; he was unwilling to rest
even for a moment on foreign ground.

THE JOURNEY TO VARENNES. 329
" Here I am," said this good Prince, " outside
that town of Paris where I have experienced so^
much bitterness. You may be quite sure that when
1 am once firmly seated in the saddle, I shall be
very different from myself as you have seen me
up to now." He then read us the memorandum
he had left behind him at Paris for transmission
to the Assembly ; and he gladly anticipated the
happiness he hoped to confer upon France by the
return of the Princes, his brothers, and his faithful
servants, and by the possibility of re-establishing
religion and repairing the evils which his compulsory
sanctions might have caused. Then looking at his
watch, which marked eight o'clock, he said, " La
Fayette just now does not know what to do with
himself." It was difficult to share the anxiety of the
General, or to have any other feeling than one of
joy at having thrown off our dependence on him.
It was far otherwise with us when we thought
of the position of those whom we had left behind
in Paris. We were far from suspecting that stupor
and consternation would replace the audacity which
had been conspicuous in the Parisians through every
phase of the Revolution ; and not without good
grounds were we anxious in regard to the lengths
to which they might proceed with those of whose
attachment to the King and the royal family they
were fully aware. The further we went, the more
hopeful did we become. " When we have passed

330 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
Chalons we shall have nothing more to fear," said
the King.. " At Pont de Sommevel we shall find the
first detachment of troops, and we shall be safe."
We passed Chalons without being recognised. We
were then absolutely easy in our minds, and we
were far from thinking that our good fortune had
come to the end of its tether, and was to be
succeeded by a most frightful catastrophe.
When we reached Pont de Sommevel, what was
our grief and consternation when the couriers re
ported to us that they had not found any trace
of troops, nor of anybody who could give infor
mation about them ; that they dared not ask any
questions, for fear of arousing suspicion, and that
we could only hope that at Orbeval, which was the
next post, we should be more fortunate ! But our
good fortune was at an end. Heaven, which wished
to prove our august and unfortunate sovereign to
the bitter end, permitted the Duke de Choiseul to
lose his head altogether. The undertaking was
beyond his strength. His heart was pure, and he
would have allowed himself to be killed, in order
to save the King ; but he lacked that calm, quiet
courage which enables a man coolly to consider
events, and to adopt remedial measures in unfore
seen circumstances.
M. de Choiseul, when he took leave of the King,
gave him an itinerary of his route as far as Pont
de Sommevel, where he would find himself at the
head of the first detachment of troops ordered to

THE JOURNEY TO VARENNES. 331
escort his Majesty. Furnished with all the infor
mation necessary for our safe arrival at the end of
our journey, he had marked down where the King
was to take great precautions against being recog
nised ; had calculated, as I have already said, the
time he ought to start, and, consequently, the time
he ought to arrive at Pont de Sommevel. But,
unfortunately, in this calculation he had taken no
account of accidents ; and this was the reason why
we were lost.
In order to avoid all suspicion on the part of the
troops, who had been posted in detachments from
Pont de Sommevel as far as Clermont, they were told
that they were to escort some specie, the arrival of
which had been postponed until Monday, the 21st.
Some remarks made about the delay in the arrival
of the specie, rendered M. de Choiseul uneasy, and
he, perceiving that the King was two hours behind
the appointed time for his arrival, came to the con
clusion that his Majesty had changed his mind, and
that the project had miscarried. He then, as I have
been assured, sent Ldonard, hairdresser to the
Queen, whom he had brought with him from Paris
in his carriage, to warn the troops stationed along
the route that the journey had miscarried, and that
the King had not appeared, enjoining him moreover
to go as far as Montmddy with the same intelli
gence. He then got on horseback, telling the de
tachment at Pont de Sommevel that he had just
received news that the specie would not pass that

332 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
way, and that he was going to make for Montmddy
by the shortest road.
This proceeding was devoid of sense. By fol
lowing the main road the detachment might have
met the King, in case an accidental delay had
occurred on the journey, a contingency which M. de
Choiseul ought to have foreseen. The cross road
he ordered the troops to take, spread the alarm
throughout the neighbourhood of Pont de Sommevel.
It only needed that to create uneasiness in a district
as revolutionary as that through which we had
passed. All the towns in it were ill-disposed, and
the King came through Varennes simply in order to
avoid Verdun, though there were no post-horses in
the former wretched town. To obviate that incon
venience, a relay of horses had been sent to a house
at the entrance of the town, in order to convey the
King to Dun, where he was to find M. de Bouille
at the head of the troops. So little anxiety was
felt in regard to passing through Varennes, that no
troops had been posted there, the precaution being
limited to the despatch of the second son of M. de
Bouilld, and the younger brother of M. de Raige
court, for the purpose of seeing to the relay, and
immediately warning M. de Bouilld of the arrival
of the King at Varennes. This want of pre
caution was carried so far, that no information
was given as to the name of the inn where the
horses were.
We were no more fortunate at Orbeval than at

THE JOURNEY TO VARENNES. 333
Pont de Sommevel. There was the same silence, the
same anxiety. We reached Sainte Menehould in a
state of violent agitation, which was increased to a
still greater extent when M. Daudouins, a Captain in
M. de Choiseul's regiment, rode up to the carriage
for a moment, and said to me, in an undertone, —
"The arrangements have been badly made; I am
going away, in order not to arouse suspicion." These
few words pierced my heart, but there was nothing
for it but to continue our journey without the
slightest sign of hesitation.
By sheer ill-luck the wretch Drouet, son of the
post-master at Sainte Menehould, a furious patriot,
happened at that very moment to be at the door,
and having been led by curiosity to examine the
carriage, he thought he recognised the King, a sus
picion which was converted into certainty when he
compared his Majesty's face with an assignat which
he had in his pocket. The miscreant mounted on
horseback, followed the King's carriage as far as
Clermont, and having gathered that it was going to
Varennes, he thought it would be easy to intercept
it by riding on in advance, and warning the authori
ties and inhabitants on whom he could rely, that the
King was coming.
We therefore reached Clermont without incon
venience ; but on our arrival at that town, Count
Charles de Damas, Colonel of the Dragoons of
Monsieur, who had not left his post, in spite of the
order from the Duke de Choiseul, told us that there

334 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
was considerable excitement in the district, and that
it would be impossible for him to march his regiment
and escort his Majesty's carriage. He in fact made
the attempt, but unsuccessfully. The authorities
joined the inhabitants in preventing the regiment
from leaving the town, and the troops refused to
obey M. de Damas. He was tempted to induce
them by telling them they were going to escort the
King and his family ; but he dared not do it, fearing
to meet with a refusal which would have led to the
arrest of the King. He contented himself with send
ing off an officer at full speed to Varennes, to warn
MM. de Bouilld and de Raigecourt that the King
was coming ; but the fatality which dogged every
step taken by the King to extricate himself from his
cruel position, made that officer, who was not well
acquainted with the country, take the Verdun road
instead of that of Varennes, and he was consequently
too late to accomplish his mission. On the upper
ground of this last-mentioned town, we perceived
a man who appeared to be hiding himself. Our
anxiety increased. We thought we were betrayed,
and we pursued our way in a state of distress and
grief, more easily imagined than described.
The situation was frightful ; it became still more
so when, having reached Varennes, we found neither
a relay nor anybody who could give us the slightest
indication as to what was to become of us. We
knocked at a door ; we asked if anything was known
of a relay awaiting us. We could not glean any

THE JOURNEY TO VARENNES. 335
information on the subject so interesting to us, and
we tried the only expedient left to us — that of pro
posing to the postillions that they should do a second
stage, to be paid for proportionately. They refused,
saying that their horses were too tired. We then
told them to take us to the last inn in the town, so
that we might start again as soon as their horses
were rested. There was nothing else left for us to
do, and the wretch Drouet had had time to take
every precaution to prevent the progress of their
Majesties. He had barricaded the bridge, which
had to be crossed in order to get out of the town,
by overturning on it a waggon load of furniture that
chance had brought to his hand, and he had given
notice to the National Guard of the town, and to
Sauce, the Procureur of the Commune, of the arrival
of the King and the necessity of stopping him. He
had, moreover, secured the services of a man named
Mangin, an ardent patriot, who seconded him to
perfection. They treated the National Guard and
the soldiers in the town to drink, and sent word to
Clermont to the Dragoons of the regiment of Monsieur
to refuse to comply with the orders of their Colonel
to escort the King on his journey.
Nevertheless, the carriages still went onwards ;
but as soon as that with the attendants, which pre
ceded the one occupied by the King, reached Sauce's
house, it was stopped, and its occupants were com
pelled to get out, while it was ascertained whether
their passports were in order. It was half-past eleven

336 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
at night by this time. We were told by the Body
Guard of what was going on, but we had gone too
far into the town to be able to retreat, and we con
tinued our journey. A moment afterwards, just as
we were passing under an arcade leading to the
bridge of Variennes, two private individuals, named
Leblanc and Poucin, stopped the carriage, and
threatened to upset it if the slightest resistance
was made.1 I had no knowledge of this latter
circumstance until after I got back to Paris. All
I know is, that the Body Guard offered to force
a passage for the King, but his Majesty declined
the offer. Our passports were asked for, and
though they were perfectly in order, and the
Queen asked that no time might be lost, as we
were in a hurry to reach our destination, all sorts
of difficulties were made, in order to give time for
the assembly of the patriots of the town and neigh
bourhood. An officer came up to the King's carriage, told
him in an undertone that there was a ford, and
offered to try to lead him through it ; but the King,
who saw that the number of those surrounding the
carriage increased every moment, and also that they
were in a state of extreme exasperation, and being
moreover afraid that his force was not strong enough
1 Georges, a deputy of the town of Varennes, presented Leblanc and
Poucin to the Assembly. A most cordial reception was given to them,
nnd the Abbd Gregoire, who presided at the time, assured them that
Varennes would ever be famous, and that all grateful Frenchmen would
assemble round its walls if ever it should be attacked.

THE JOURNEY TO VARENNES. 337
and that he might therefore cause a massacre to no
purpose, dared not give the order. He simply told
the officer to press M. de Bouilld to use every effort
to extricate him from his cruel position.
The alarm was sounded in Varennes and the
entire neighbourhood, and it was impossible to con
ceal from ourselves that we were recognised. The
King was resolute for a long time in his refusal to
give his name or leave his carriage, but the questions
accompanied by a promise to let us proceed if the
examination of our passports was satisfactory, became
so pressing, that there was no longer any means
of resistance. The King went into the house of M.
Sauce, Procureur of the Commune, and he was shown
into a room, where the children lay down on a bed.
Worn out with fatigue, they went to sleep at ' once.
Their sleep was calm and tranquil, and the contrast
between their state and that of their parents was
absolutely harrowing.
They were not quite sure at Varennes if the
people in Sauce's house were really the King and
royal family ; but Mangin, who knew his Majesty,
went into the room to see, and he declared so posi
tively that they were the King and his family, that
there was no longer any room for doubt. This Man-
gin, a great patriot, went off with his fellow-patriots
to all the neighbouring villages, and in less than an
hour he had collected, partly from the town, and
partly from the neighbourhood, four thousand of the
National Guard.
VOL. I. Y

338 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
The King, seeing that further dissimulation would
be of no avail, confessed that he was the King ; that
he left Paris to avoid the daily insults with which
he had to put up ; that he had no intention of leav
ing the kingdom ; that he merely wished to go to
Montmddy to be in a better position to watch over
the proceedings of foreign powers ; and that if the
authorities of Varennes doubted the truth of his
words, he would consent to be accompanied by
such persons as they might select. The King and
Queen made every possible attempt to touch
their hearts, and to revive in them the old love
of the French for their King. But theirs were
hearts of brass, which fear alone could move.
From time to time fears assailed them of the
arrival of M. de Bouilld, and then they begged
the King to protect them, and hesitated as to
allowing him to continue his journey, but this
frame of mind altered as soon as he reassured
them on this point.
M. de Goguelas, whom M. de Bouilld had told
off to assist M. de Choiseul, and who appeared to be
in his confidence, arrived at Varennes, distressed
beyond measure on account of the disastrous issue
of the journey. He was anxious, with the assistance
of the Lauzun Hussars, to attempt to rescue the
King ; but as Leblanc and Mangin exclaimed like
madmen that the troops should only have his dead
body, he pressed the point with so little persistence
that the King refused to give the necessary order, and

THE JOURNEY TO VABENNES. 339
all he could do was to post the Hussars in front of the
house occupied by the King and the royal family.1
The King sent to Clermont to countermand the
dragoons who were there to serve as his escort. It
mattered little whether he was obeyed, for they had
already been won over, and their conduct in regard
to M. de Damas proved how little reliance could be
placed in them. All hope of the arrival of M. de
Bouilld was not lost. Time, however, went by :
nothing was heard of him, and hope in the end gave
way to anxiety. M. de Damas, no longer flattering
himself that he could make the detachment under his
command useful, made his escape from Clermont and
joined the King, whom he never left for an instant
so long as his Majesty was at Varennes, impatiently
awaiting the arrival of M. de Bouilld, and entreating
his Majesty to postpone his departure as long as
possible. M. de Choiseul also came to Varennes, deeply
distressed at the position of the King. But the
1The conduct of M. de Goguelas astonished everybody. He was a
tall, cold, self-possessed man, who might have been supposed to be
capable of moderating the impetuous and unreflecting spirit of the Duke
de Choiseul. Nobody could imagine the reasons that prevented him from
dissuading the Duke from a step as dangerous as that which he took at
Pont de Sommevel, or from, at all events, finding some way of letting
the King know of it, in the event of his journey being delayed by an
accident, such as unfortunately did actually happen. But the unpardon
able and inconceivable part of the business is that M. de Choiseul should
have taken upon himself, as was actually the case, to send word to the
officers who were in the secret of the journey, that it had failed, without
having taken the trouble to ascertain that this was really so.

340 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
feelings of his heart deceived him in regard to the
terrible mistake he had made. He came merely to
carry out the duty of every good Frenchman, and
to die at the feet of the King, should circumstances
so require, never dreaming that he had any error
to repair, and believing that anybody else in his
place would have done as he did.
MM. Baillon and de Romeuf — the former a bat
talion commander of the National Guard of Paris,
and the latter aide-de-camp to M. de la Fayette,
arrived at Varennes between three and four o'clock
in the morning. They were the bearers of a decree
of the Assembly directing that immediate and active
steps should be taken to protect the persons of the
King, Mgr. the Dauphin, the royal family, and the
persons who accompanied them, and to secure their
return to Paris with all the observances due to the
royal Majesty. This same decree appointed MM.
Pethion, Barnave, and de la Tour Maubourg, Com
missioners of the Assembly, to carry out these ar
rangements, giving them power to make use of the
National Guard, the troops of the line, and the ad
ministrative Corps in the execution of their task, and
ordering these troops to pay implicit obedience to
the Commissioners in regard to the carrying out of
the decree. It ordered, moreover, the arrest of M.
de Bouilld, and forbade in the most express terms
any soldier to obey his orders ; and it appointed
M. Dumas, Adjutant of the Army, to command the
troops who were to bring the King back to Paris,

THE JOURNEY TO VARENNES. 341
and to carry out all orders he might receive from the
Commissioners. When the Queen saw the two bearers of the
decree arrive, both of whom were supposed to be
entirely devoted to the royal family, she could not
restrain her indignation, but reproached them with
the contrast between their conduct and their daily
protestations, snatched the decree out of their hands
without allowing them to read it, and would even
have torn it in pieces if the King had not restrained
her. She contented herself with throwing it disdain
fully on the ground.
Romeuf, who had still some sense of shame which
made him blush for the part he was playing, remained
silent ; but Baillon, who thought of nothing but the
reward he hoped to obtain as the price of his mission,
only sought how best to deceive the King. "Take great
care," he said, "not to arouse anxiety by a too lengthy
stay in this town." And when the King said that,
as the children needed rest, he should remain there
some time, he replied, in a hypocritical tone, — "Al
though your Majesty does not do me the justice to
believe that I only accepted the mission entrusted to
me in the hope of being useful to you, I am going to
do my utmost to persuade the people to respect the
slumbers of Mgr. the Dauphin and Madame." But, so
far from doing this, he incited them to hasten the
departure of the King, by dwelling on his great alarm
in regard to the danger they would incur if M. de
Bouilld succeeded in carrying off the King.

342 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
The night passed very sadly, the King not daring
to employ force to extricate himself from his painful
situation, and the officers, who would have obeyed
him at the peril of their lives, not considering them
selves in a position to take any decisive step without
his authority. Such a step might have succeeded
when we were stopped, but every moment brought
with it new difficulties ; excitement increased in pro
portion as the crowd did, especially as the most im
probable rumours were circulated among the mob by
way of rousing their fear and fury.
The King was incessantly urged to depart ; his
horses were put to ; the clamour increased, and was
kept up by the general fear lest M. de Bouilld should
put in an appearance. In vain did the Queen show
her sleeping children, and point out the need they
had of rest ; no arguments were of any avail ; and from
the room occupied by the royal family could be heard
the horrid mob loudly demanding that they should
depart. After waiting at Varennes for eight mortal hours,
we had neither sign nor news of the arrival of M.
de Bouilld. The King, not perceiving any possible
means of getting out of the clutches of the mob,
which we could see was increasing, came to the con
clusion that he could no longer defer his departure,
and he made up his mind to return to Paris. Before
starting, he embraced the officers who had never left
him, and he commended them to the care of the
authorities of Varennes ; but we had scarcely got

THE JOURNEY TO VARENNES. 343
into the carriage when we heard a shout of "Arrest
Choiseul ! " He was seized, together with MM. de
Damas, de Florae, a captain in his regiment, and de
Remie, the quarter-master, and they were taken to
Verdun, where they were put in prison.
The carriage of his Majesty was escorted by the
members of all the clubs in the neighbourhood, the
National Guard, fifty sappers, and a hundred and
fifty dragoons of that same regiment of Monsieur
which had refused to obey the orders of its colonel,
who displayed their patriotism by shouts of " Long
live the Nation and the National Assembly!" These
shouts, repeated by the crowd, were soon lost to us,
owing to the rate at which the carriage sped on its
journey, in order as quickly as possible to get out
of the way of the troops who, so it was supposed,
were sure to speedily reach this wretched town of
Varennes. M. de Bouilld reached the high ground overhang
ing the town just as the King had left it ; and he
had the unhappiness of seeing the carriage drive
away, surrounded by its gruesome escort. The sin
ister disposition of the district and the troops, added
to the fury of the leaders of the mob, made him fear
for the lives of the King and the royal family, if
he attempted to rescue them. He therefore withdrew,
overcome with grief, and he left France at once, hav
ing no doubt in his own mind of the fate that was in
store for him if he remained.
It is impossible to give any idea of the sufferings

344 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOUZEL.
of the royal family during this unfortunate jour
ney — sufferings both moral and physical : they were
spared nothing. In places where we were obliged to
drive slowly, shouts of "Long live the Nation and the
National Assembly ! " resounded in our ears, and were
redoubled at every village through which we passed.
The mayors of the towns, in presenting the keys to
his Majesty, allowed themselves to reproach him bit
terly about his departure from Paris ; and the manner
in which they paid their homage was a fresh insult.
When the King was driving along a raised road
between Clermont and Sainte Menehould, we heard
firing, and saw a number of the National Guard run
ning in the fields. The King asked what was going
on. " Nothing," was the reply ; " they are only
killing a lunatic." And shortly afterwards we learnt
that the victim was M. de Dampierre, a gentleman
of Clermont, and brother of the actual Bishop of
Clermont, the eagerness of whose endeavour to get
near the carriage of his Majesty had rendered him
an object of suspicion to the National Guard. The
King and Queen, as may well be imagined, were
greatly shocked, and their sorrow was increased by
the thought of the dangers incurred by those whose
attachment to them and their family was notorious.1
1 A very noble motive induced M. de Dampierre to expose himself to
the dangers which cost him his life. He wished to prove to the King
that the nation was far from sharing the sentiments of the wretches who
Tsurrounded his carriage, and that his misfortunes made no difference ..in
Ithefeejjin^pf his iSthfarjubiectsr^vho were ever ready to sacrifice
themselves for him, and'so to prove to him their respect and attachment.

THE JOURNEY TO VARENNES. 345
The people who surrounded the carriage of the
King made remarks to their Majesties with insolent
familiarity whenever it pleased them, and replied to
their questions with revolting vulgarity. The kind
ness with which the royal family treated them,
and the patience with which they bore the heat and
the dust, which were excessive, but only appeared to
be felt by them in relation to the sufferings of the
young Prince and Princess, would have made an im
pression on less hardened hearts ; but they had only
one feeling — that of rejoicing over the abasement of
the royal family, and their own triumph. It was
happiness to them to overwhelm their unfortunate
Sovereign with chagrin.
We stopped at Sainte Menehould for dinner, and
the King was obliged to give ear to the remon
strances of the president of the district of that town,
who, at the head of its members, forgot himself so
far as to reproach the King bitterly because by leav
ing France he would be handing himself over to
foreigners. The King contradicted him mildly, as
suring them that the people had been misled as to
his real intentions, and that he had in view only the
welfare of his people, who had ever been the con
stant object of his care. The dinner was short, and
the King hastened to leave the place, so as to reach
Chalons, where he intended to sleep, and which he
knew to be very differently disposed towards him.
The town of Chalons was far from sharing the
sentiments of the places through which the King

346 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
had just passed ; the inhabitants saw with grief the
sad situation of the royal family. Their respectful
countenances, and the sorrow depicted on their faces,
clearly showed the feelings they dared not express.
The reception they gave the King, and the speeches
of the constituted authorities, gave evidence of their
sentiments. The royal family were housed in what was for
merly the Intendance, and were there received with
the honours due to royal Majesty. It was the very
same house in which the Queen had been received
on her arrival in France, with so much pomp, and
amid acclamations and repeated shouts of " Long live
the King and Madame la Dauphine." There were
still persons there who had seen her reception, and
who burst into tears as they contrasted it with the
present state of things. The Queen bore it with
her usual courage, and even derived some consola
tion from the sentiments which were expressed in
regard to her in the town. Young girls brought
her flowers, several of them were eager to wait on
her, and everybody around her showed her how deep
an interest was taken in her misfortunes. The
authorities of the town secretly informed the, King
of the sorrow they felt at not being able to rescue
him. Several persons even offered to save him dur
ing the night, but him alone, as few people would be
able to recognise him, and they showed him a secret
staircase in the room occupied by Mgr. the Dauphin,
which it was impossible for anybody to discover who

THE JOURNEY TO VARENNES. 347
did not know the secret. The King, frightened at
the dangers that might befall the Queen and the
royal family in the event of his escape, declined
this offer, which he acknowledged with profound
gratitude. The royal family would have preferred, under
the pretext of waiting at Chalons for the Commis
sioners, to rest awhile in that town, for they stood
in urgent need of repose ; but there was no way of
accomplishing this design. The miscreants who ac
companied the carriage, alarmed by the sentiments
they noticed among the inhabitants of Chalons, sent
that evening to Reims to recruit a band of ruffians
from among the clubs and in the town, for the pur
pose of forming a battalion to reinforce themselves,
and to awe the inhabitants. This dreadful detachment
arrived at Chalons at ten o'clock in the morning,
and announced its arrival by shouts and vocifera
tions. It was the feast of Corpus Christi, and the
King was at the time at mass. A considerable num
ber of them, entering the house, forced the priest to
leave off saying mass — he was at- the sanctus — to
prepare breakfast at once, and put the horses to the
carriage of his Majesty. The King, fearing that any
resistance would provoke a riot in the town, con
sented to leave at once. He secretly acknowledged
to those about him how touched he was by their feel
ings towards him, assuring them that his only rea
son for leaving Chalons so hurriedly was that they
might not run any risk of being exposed to a per-

348 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
secution which would be deeply distressing to his
paternal heart.
The soldiers of this terrifying battalion, who
followed the carriage of the King, compelled it to
go at a walking pace, and complained of the hunger
they felt. The Queen, with her usual kindness, took
some provisions out of her carriage and gave them
-to them. A voice from out the terrible band ex
claimed, " Do not touch it, for it must be poisoned
if it is offered to us." The King, indignant, ate
some, and so did the children. They then followed
his example, and this act of kindness mollified their
ferocity to a certain extent.
We then reached Epernay, where we were
awaited by a most excited and unbridled mob — the
authorities, inhabitants, and the National Guard
were all equally detestable. The mayor presented
the keys of the town to the King. The president
of the district, who accompanied him, allowed him
self to utter the bitterest remonstrances to his
Majesty, and he wound up his very insolent speech
by saying that he ought to be grateful to the town
for handing its keys to a fugitive King. The crowd,
which thronged the courtyard and the house where
the King was to dine, compelled him to alight at
the door. It indulged in the most fearful remarks,
and one of these monsters was heard to say to his
neighbour, — "Hide me, so that I may fire on the
Queen without anybody knowing where the shot
comes from."

THE JOURNEY TO VARENNES. 349
I do not know what would have happened had
it not been for the younger M. de Cazotte. He put
himself at the head of the National Guard, which on
the previous day had compelled its Commandant to
withdraw ; and he fortunately succeeded in moderat
ing its fury, and holding it in check. His father,
who lived in the neighbourhood of Epernay, knew
the bad disposition of its inhabitants, and sent his
son there with an injunction to do all in his power
to hinder them from carrying out their fell designs,
and to risk his life, if necessary, to save those of the
royal family. He had no trouble in persuading him,
these sentiments being deeply graven on his heart.
He never left the mob for a moment, and by dint
of tact and persuasion, he succeeded in keeping it
in hand.1
1 M. de Cazotte, the father of this youth, was an amiable man, a
graceful writer, and so well known for his attachment to the King and
the royal family that he was incarcerated in the Abbaye after the 10th
of August, and was destined to be one of the victims of the projected
massacre. The courage, presence of mind, and filial tenderness of
Elizabeth Cazotte, his daughter, who was imprisoned with him, made
such an impression on the assassins of the prison that they released
them both. But, arrested afresh, two days after they emerged from the
Abbaye, by order of the wretches who composed the tribunal of the
10th of August, they succumbed to the same fate that befel MM. de
Bachmann and de la Porte, who were put to death in the Place de
Carrousel, in front of the Tuileries. M. de Cazotte emigrated after the
death of his father, served with distinction in the regiment of loyal
emigre's, took part in the disastrous expedition of Quiberon and lie
Dieu, and after continuous service in the army, did not return to France
till 1802, after the disbanding of the regiment of artillery to which he
belonged. Full of high-mindedness and honesty, inheriting the senti
ments of his father, whose entire fortune had been confiscated, he had

350 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
Madame Elizabeth, who knew him, seeing him
at the head of all these miscreants, could not help
saying to him,— "And you, too, Cazotte !" "I am
only here," he replied, "to "serve you, and it is
essential that you should not appear to know me."
The dinner was painful. Nobody could eat amid
the frightful noise made by the ever-increasing mob,
M. de Cazotte, in spite of all his care, could not
prevent the King from being compelled to leave his
dinner to show himself to the mob, who shouted for
him furiously. They then were seized with a regular
panic, and insisted on the departure of the King,
who was as eager to leave this horrible town as it
was to get rid of him. In the midst of this din
they conducted him to his carriage, obstructing my
passage, and desirous of preventing me from getting
in. If it had not been for M. de Cazotte, I should
have remained in the clutches of these maniacs.
But, seeing my difficulty, he warded off the pressure
of the crowd, gave me his arm, and took me to the
carriage, which he stopped in order to let me get in
more easily.
Between Epernay and Dormans we- were afraid
we should witness the murder of a poor priest, tied
only a very modest income with which to bring up his numerous family.
But, occupied solely with his duties, he enjoyed the esteem of all who
were in a position to appreciate his good qualities and virtues. He told
me afterwards that the National Guard of Epernay was driven away by
the rioters, and that he was at the head of that of Pierry when he
arrived at Epernay, and that being sure of the men Tinder his command,
he hoped to make good use of them.

THE JOURNEY TO VARENNES. 351
to the horse of a gendarme, who threatened him
openly to such an extent that we dreaded lest he
would kill him under the very eyes of his Majesty.
At this moment the three Commissioners of the
National Assembly arrived, stopped the carriage of
the King, and presented their authority to him.
They were MM. de Maubourg, Barnave, and Pdthion.
They were accompanied by M. Mathieu Dumas,
entrusted by the Assembly with the command of
the troops who were to escort the King back to
Paris. The King entreated Barnave to save the
life of the poor priest. He promised to do so, and
kept his word, for he survived the Revolution, and
only died shortly before the return of the King.
Their Majesties slept at Dormans. The Com
missioners were polite. Barnave even consented to
take charge of a letter for my family, and appeared
touched by the trouble I was in about the anxiety
to which they would be a prey. The noise in the
town made it impossible to close one's eyes during
the night. The shouts of " Long live the Nation
and the National Assembly ! " which began at day
break, made such an impression on the mind of the
little Dauphin that he thought he was in a forest
with wolves, and that the Queen was in danger, and
he awoke crying and sobbing. He could only be
quieted by being taken to her Majesty ; and when
he saw that she was quite safe, he allowed himself
to be put to bed again, and slept quietly until the
moment of departure.

352 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOUBZEL.
M. de Maubourg behaved perfectly during the
journey. He was very respectful when in the pres
ence of the King, and told me to tell his Majesty
that, although it was arranged that the Commis
sioners should travel successively in his carriage,
he begged him to let MM. Pdthion and Barnave be
with him ; that the sight of the royal family might
make a favourable impression on them, from which
some advantage might accrue ; that this advice was
dictated by his attachment to the King ; and that
he himself would ride with the women in the suite
of the royal family, in order to protect their journey.
The remarks of M. de Maubourg determined the
King to confide to him that he was accompanied by
three of the Body Guard, and to commend them to
his good offices. He assured his Majesty that he
might rely upon his defending them even at the
peril of his life, and he fulfilled his promise. The
female attendants of Mgr. the Dauphin and Madame,
who, up to his arrival, had had much to put up with
from the people who accompanied the carriage,
finished their journey in peace, and were loud in
their praises of his proceedings.
Various subjects were broached on the journey,
and, among others, the departure of the King.
Madame Elizabeth took it upon herself to justify
the motives which led to it, and, addressing M.
Barnave, she sketched out for his benefit, with
admirable courage and wisdom, the conduct of the
King, whicli she contrasted with that of the Assembly

THE JOURNEY TO VARENNES. 353
at the various stages of the Revolution. I will set
clown what I remember of their conversation, which
lasted for an hour and a half. " I am very glad to
be in a position to open my heart to you, and speak
to you frankly about the Revolution. You are far
too clear-sighted, Monsieur Barnave, not to have
been at once aware of the love of the King for the
French, and his desire to make them happy. Led
astray by an excessive love of liberty, you only took
its advantages into consideration, without giving a
thought to the disadvantages that might accompany
it. Your first successes intoxicated you, and have
carried you far beyond the goal you originally pro
posed to reach. The opposition you encountered
made you brace yourself up against difficulties, and
caused you unreflectingly to break down every ob
stacle to your plans. You forgot that good works
slowly, and that when we are anxious to reach our
destination too quickly, we run the risk of losing our
way. You persuaded yourself that by destroying
everything that existed, good or bad, you would be
constructing a perfect work, and that you would
re-establish all that was worth preserving. Seduced
by that idea, you have attacked all the foundations
of royalty, and have overwhelmed with outrages
and vexations the best of kings. All his efforts
and sacrifices to bring you back to more healthy
ideas have been useless, and you have never
ceased to caluminate his intentions, and to vilify
him in the eyes of his people, by depriving roy-
VOL. I. z

354 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
alty of all the prerogatives which inspire respect
and love.
" Torn from his palace and taken to Paris in the
most unbecoming manner, his goodness has never
failed. He held out his arms to his wandering
children, and sought to come to some understanding
with them to work for the good of that France he
cherished, in spite of her mistakes. You forced him
to sign an incomplete Constitution, although he
pointed out to you that it would be much better
that he should not give his sanction to any but a
completed work, and you compelled him to present
it thus to the nation in a federation the object of
which was to attach the Departments to yourselves
by isolating the King from the nation."
" Ah, Madame," replied Barnave quickly, " do
not complain of that federation ; we should have
been lost, if you had known how to profit by it."
The royal family sighed, and Madame Elizabeth
resumed the conversation.
"The King," she added, "in spite of the fresh
insults to which he was subjected after this period,
was still unable to resolve upon taking the step he
has just taken. But, attacked in his principles, his
family, and himself, and deeply distressed by the
crime that was rife throughout France ; perceiving
general disorganisation in all parts of the Govern
ment ; and conscious of the evils that resulted from
all this, he determined to leave Paris and betake
himself to a kingdom where, master of his own

THE JOURNEY TO VARENNES. 355
actions, he could induce the Assembly to revise its
decrees and in concert with it could frame a Consti
tution which, by classifying the various powers and
putting them in their proper places, would secure
the happiness of France.
" I am not speaking of our private misfortunes ;
the King alone, who should be one with France,
claims our attention. I will never leave him unless
it be that, all liberty of worship having been taken
away by your decrees, I am compelled to abandon
him in order to betake myself to a country where
freedom of conscience enables me to practise my
religion, which to me is more than my life."
" Do not do that, Madame," replied Barnave ;
" your example and your presence are too useful to
our country."
" I shall never think of it, except as I have
already said : it would cost me too much to leave
my brother when he is so unhappy. But such a
motive cannot make any impression on you, Mon
sieur Barnave, seeing that you are reported to be
a Protestant, and in all probability have no
religion." Barnave defended himself, pretending that he
had been calumniated by having remarks attributed
to him which were very far from representing his
real feelings, especially, he said, that infamous re
mark supposed to have been made by him after the
deaths of MM. Foulon and Berthier, " Is this blood
then so pure ? "

356 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
I have only made a very brief analysis of this
conversation, in which Madame Elizabeth retraced
with admirable method each period of the Revolu
tion, and each decree contrary to religion, to the
essential prerogatives of royalty, to the order and
tranquillity of the kingdom. Barnave replied to
each count in the indictment slowly, and with
extreme deliberation, so as to prevent himself from
overstepping the limits imposed on him by the fear
of compromising himself ; but it was impossible for
him to reply in a satisfactory manner to the forcible
arguments of Madame Elizabeth, who spoke the
language of truth to him with engaging eloquence
and sorrow. Not a word nor a reflection escaped
her which could in any way wound him or his col
league Pdthion. Her speech made such an impres
sion on Barnave that from that moment his conduct
and his feelings changed. The Queen also spoke in
the same sense, but Madame Elizabeth had so
exhausted the subject that she could only fall back
on the same arguments, which necessarily lessened
the impression she might otherwise have produced.
Barnave was silent and respectful during the
entire journey. Pdthion, garrulous and insolent,
asked Madame for something to drink whenever he
was thirsty, with the most revolting familiarity. He
was always talking of America, and the happiness of
republics. " We well know," said the King to him,
" your desire to establish one in France." " France is
not yet ripe for that," he replied insolently, " and I

THE JOURNEY TO VARENNES. 357
shall not be fortunate enough to see one established
during my lifetime."
The heat was excessive. The King, the royal
family, and everybody in the carriage were covered
with perspiration and dust. The severity of our
sufferings made us experience some sort of con
solation in reaching Fertd-sous-Jouarre, where we
were to dine. Sieur Renard, mayor of this town, at
whose house the King alighted, had seen beforehand
to everything that might alleviate the position of
the royal family during the short time they were
to remain in his house. They found a neat room,
refreshments, a simple but properly served dinner,
and excellent people. The mayor's wife, not wishing,
from motives of delicacy, to sit down to dinner with
the royal family, dressed herself as a cook, and
served the repast with equal zeal and respect.
She and her husband were very much distressed by
the state in which they saw the royal family. Burnt
by the sun and covered with dust, they bore on their
faces the impress of all their sufferings ; for, in order
to complete the barbarity with which they were
treated, they were not allowed to pull down the
blinds of the carriage, into which the sun poured its
rays, so that the mob, which was renewed every
moment, might be allowed the pleasure of feasting
its eyes on the spectacle of the King and his unfor
tunate family in the power of his subjects. As for
the deputies, the mob overwhelmed them with
blessings, invariably coupled with the inevitable

358 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
refrain, "Long live the Nation and the National
Assembly !"
The mayor of Fertd-sous-Jouarre sent word to
the King that he dared not openly show him the
feelings by which he was actuated ; that he begged
him to interpret them ; that he was compelled to
pay attention to the Commissioners' of the Assembly,
but that his heart was entirely with his King. This
was the only spot along the entire route where the
royal family had a moment's rest and quiet. The
King asked the deputies to dine with him, but they
declined the invitation, and dined together in another
room. We got into the carriage again at three o'clock.
Barnave occupied the back seat of the carriage be
tween the King and the Queen, who had the Dauphin
on her knee. Madame Elizabeth, Pdthion, and I
occupied the front seat, the Princess and I taking it
in turns to have Madame on our knees. The heat
was still excessive. The dust raised by the people
who surrounded the carriage on horseback and on
foot, was as thick as the densest fog, and every
breath of air was intercepted by the horse and foot'
soldiers, and by the crowd of inquisitive beings who
pressed round the carriage.
In this way we reached Meaux. We slept at the
house of the constitutional bishop, who received us
as best he could. I can give no idea of the want
of dignity exhibited by this bishop and his clergy.
He was a good sort of man, and the King had

THE JOURNEY TO VARENNES. 359
nothing to complain of. As I was not well, I was
shown into the room of the porteress of the bishopric,
who took every care of me. "You see in me," she
said to me, "a most unhappy being. I was deeply
attached to Mgr. de Polignac, our old bishop ; I
remained here in order to try to save what belonged
to him, and I am obliged to serve the wretched con
stitutional, whom I detest. Fortunately, he is not a
bad man ; but how different from our good bishop !
Everybody respected him, but everybody makes fun
of this one ! Mon Dieu ! how I feel for the troubles
of my King ! Tell him so, I beg of you."
We left Meaux on the 25th of June for Paris,
where outrages of a fresh description awaited the
royal family. When we arrived at Claye, a band
of miscreants, who were supposed to entertain very
sinister designs, wished to assume the exclusive
conduct of the King. To avert the misfortunes
which might result from such a proceeding, and
which had been foreseen, two reliable battalions of
the National Guard had been despatched from Paris
to protect his return. They repulsed this horrible
band, and took forcible possession of the carriage
doors. For a moment we thought that a regular
battle would be waged around us ; but M. Dumas
and his Commissioners supported the Paris bat
talions, which escorted the King for the remainder
of the journey. They were on foot, and the car
riage was obliged to go at a walk, to enable them to
keep up with it. The heat was so great that several

360 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
grenadiers were taken ill, and we were obliged to
give them smelling-salts to revive them. During
the journey from Meaux to Claye, Pdthion, having
noticed a friend of his named Kervelequen, made the
carriage stop, while he wished him good-day. This
man made a point of turning his back on the King,
and keeping his hat on his head. Pdthion remon
strated with him for this. " We neither salute nor
look at a fugitive King," he replied insolently. Then
putting his mouth close to Pdthion's ear he said
something to him in a low voice, and afterwards
told the coachman to drive on.
At the barrier of Paris we found an immense
crowd assembled on the road along which our un
fortunate King had to pass. Everybody had his
head covered, by order of M. de la Fayette, who
had, moreover, enjoined the most absolute silence,
in order, he said, to show the King the sentiments
aroused by his journey. His orders were so strictly
attended to that several hatless scullions covered
their heads with their foul and dirty napkins.
When we reached the Place Louis XV, we were
made to enter the Tuileries by the revolving bridge,
in order to pass under the archway, where the
officers of his Majesty awaited him. The National
Guards surrounded him at once, and one of them
took hold of Mgr. the Dauphin to carry him to his
room. But as the child began to cry, on finding
himself in strange hands, he was handed over to M.
Hue, who took him to the King's apartments. An

the journey to Varennes. 361
attempt was then made to seize the three members
of the Body Guard who had accompanied the King ;
and in order to save them from the fury of the
riotous mob round the Tuileries they were taken to
the Abbaye, together with Mesdames de Neuville
and Branger, who were in the carriage following
their Majesties.
For its part, the Assembly had forgotten nothing
which could conduce to the loss of the respect due to
the King ; and in this it was admirably seconded by
the Commune of Paris. The latter had awarded
civic crowns to Blanc and Mangin, who had stopped
the carriage of their Majesties ; and the Assembly,
before which they appeared, made honourable men
tion of their behaviour as citizens and patriots.
Thouret proposed to dispense with the sanction
of the King, and to confer the functions of the ex
ecutive power on the Ministers, and under their
responsibility. Roederer asserted that the inviola
bility of the King did not differ from that of the
deputies, and that the only question for the time
being was his being placed in temporary arrest.
Malouet pointed out forcibly that to transfer all
power to the Assembly would be to change the
nature of the Government, and he declared that he
would never vote that the King should be made a
prisoner. The proposition was converted into a
decree, and the executive power in the hands of the
King was suspended. It was, moreover, decided that
a guard should be allotted to him, as well as to the

362 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
Queen and the heir presumptive to the crown — a
title which had long since been substituted for that
of Dauphin ; and that this guard should be under
the orders of the Commandant-General of the
National Guard, who should watch over the safety
of the royal family, and answer for their persons.
After lengthy debates relative to the evidence to
be taken in regard to this disastrous journey, it was
decided that three members of the Assembly should
be appointed Commissioners to receive the declara
tions of the King and Queen, and that the persons
who had accompanied their Majesties should be ex
amined by the members of the tribunal of the first
arrondissement. Goupil took advantage of this circumstance to
demand the disbanding of the four companies of
the Body Guard, who were stated by M. Voidel to
be far more attached to the King than to the nation ;
and in proof of this he mentioned the absence of
M. de Bonnay on the day of the King's departure.
M. de Bonnay protested courageously against the
abuse levelled at these faithful Body Guards, and
he added : — " I shall always look upon the King and
the country as indivisible, and whithersoever I may
be called in their service, I will go. If the King
had consulted me in reference to his journey, I
should have advised him against it ; but if he had
ordered me to follow him, I would have died by his
side, and I should be honoured by dying in his
defence." The Right of the Assembly applauded,

THE JOURNEY TO VARENNES. -363
the Left murmured, and the motion for the dis
banding was converted into a decree.
The King and Queen, on reaching Paris, found
in their apartments the officers chosen by M. de la
Fayette to guard them and answer for their persons.
Those of the King and Queen were MM. Guingerlot
and Collot, chiefs of battalion ; M. de la Colombe,
aide-de-camp and particular friend of M. de la
Fayette, and several captains whose names I did
not know.
The two former, deeply attached to the King and
the royal family, behaved in a manner to merit their
confidence ; and their Majesties, with the goodness
that characterised them, showed how much they
appreciated this. The King indeed very speedily
gave them evidence of his good will, by placing
M. de Guingerlot in the financial department, and
M. Collot in his constitutional guard.
Mgr. the Dauphin had as his guardians MM. le
Hoc and du Vergier, chiefs of battalion, the same
M. de la Colombe, who was transferred from him to
the Queen, and Captains Coroller, Mathis, and a
third whose name I have forgotten. M. de la
Colombe had a pliable and insinuating disposition,
and he took great pleasure in making a parade of
the authority entrusted to him. M. le Hoc was
clever and well educated, but ambitious. Having
no fixed principles, he always sided with the
strongest party. Du Vergier, a jeweller by pro
fession, was gloomy and insincere, and a professed

364 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
Jacobin, as were also MM. Mathis, Coroller, and the
one whose name I have forgotten. This latter in
dividual was, moreover, garrulous, badly brought up,
and very ill-bred.
Madame Elizabeth and Madame were the only
ones who were not placed in arrest, and they con
sequently had no guard.
Among the captains in attendance on the Queen,
there was one whose conduct was so insolent as to
be almost past belief. One evening when her
Majesty was not well and had gone to bed early,
he entered her room, the doors of which remained
open, and told Madame Jarjage, her first Lady of
the Bedchamber, that she must retire. " You are
not aware, perhaps, Monsieur," she said to him,
" that the Queen is never left alone in her room at
night unless the King comes there ? " He paid no
attention to her, but approached her Majesty's bed,
put his elbow on her pillow, and ordered Madame
Jarjage to leave the room. " Violence alone will
turn me out," said she, " and even then I shall
shout for help." She spent the night by the side of
the Queen without going to bed, and on her making
a complaint about the conduct of this officer, he
was forbidden to enter the apartments of the Queen.
He was a great mesmerist and a professed illumine
affecting, like the rest of his sect, intense meditation
when he went to church. One day he wanted to
persuade me to increase the number of his sect,
assuring me that by so doing I should enjoy great

THE JOURNEY TO VARENNES. 365
happiness, and especially that of holding conversa
tion with the Holy Virgin. My reply to such an
invitation may easily be imagined.
I was afterwards informed of his misconduct, and
I was very much surprised to see him come into the
Castle again after so indecent a scene. But M. de
la Fayette dared not forbid him to return, for fear
of injuring his popularity, which he fostered by
the most ridiculous means. He caused all the rooms
occupied by the King, the Queen, and Mgr. the
Dauphin to be examined with much ceremony and
the minutest care, and he even sent the chimney
sweeps to see if the royal family could escape by the
chimney. All the doors leading out of the room
occupied by the Dauphin, even that which com
municated with the King's room, were double locked,
and the keys were in the pockets of his officers. A
sentry was placed on each staircase inside the Castle,
chairs being placed beside them to prevent them
from being tired ; he carried this attention so far as
to make provision for their slightest needs, even at
the expense of decency. This curious and singular
invention was put in practice even on the landing
of the staircase leading to Madame's rooms, which
was the one by which she went to the Queen, all
other modes of communication being forbidden.
I fully expected to share the fate of Mesdames de
Neuville and Branger, but the kindness of the Queen
saved me. She begged the Duchess de Luynes to
make use of every means with her friends in the

366 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
Assembly to allow me to remain in the Tuileries,
the state of my health being alleged as the reason.
For two days she was hopeless of success, after
which she told me I might make my mind easy,
as I was to remain secretly in the Dauphin's room,
guarded by the officers of the National Guard, who
would be relieved every twenty-four hours, and would
never leave me day or night. This precaution was
quite superfluous, as the room had no other exit
than through the bedroom of the young Prince,
where there were, day and night, two officers of the
National Guard ; but it suited M. de la Fayette,
who loved to make a parade of his extreme watch
fulness.

CHAPTER XIII.
THE YEAR 1791.
Declarations required from the King and Queen relative to the journey
to Varennes — Ministers obtain a disavowal of his protest on leaving
Paris — Letter of M. de Bouille' to the Assembly — Deliberation of
the Committees relative to the King and the Government to be
established in France — Protest of the Right against the acts
attacking the royal authority — Means adopted to inflame the
people — Decree to compel the Prince de Conde- and the other
emigris to return to France — Another decree relative to the
persons who accompanied the King, and suspension of the royal
functions until the acceptance of the Constitution — Proceedings of
the King of Spain and other European Princes — Letter of M.
Montmorin to the Ambassadors and Ministers at the various
Courts — Abolition of titles and decorations — Proceedings of the two
parties to induce the King to accept or to refuse the Constitution
— Letters of the Princes in support of the refusal — The King
accepts the Constitution, and goes in person to declare it to the
Assembly — Decree winding up the session.
MM. Trochet, Duport, and d'Andrd, appointed
Commissioners to receive the declarations of the King
and Queen, went to the King on Sunday, the 26th
of June, the day following his arrival, at eight
o'clock in the evening. His Majesty stated to them
positively that he had no intention of submitting
to any examination, and that he merely proposed
to make a declaration.

368 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
He gave as his motives for leaving Paris the
threats and outrages against himself and the royal
family on the 18th of April, the provocations in the
direction of the renewal of such violence, and his
want of personal safety in a city where he was
exposed to such cruel insults. He added that he
had never had any intention of leaving France.
As a proof of this, he pointed to the residence he
had caused to be prepared for himself and his family
at Montmddy, which he had chosen for the express
purpose of being in a position to oppose every kind
of invasion of France, and to betake himself whither
soever danger might threaten. Finally, he alleged
as another motive for his departure, the necessity of
putting an end to the assertion that he was deprived
of his personal liberty, which might have been a cause
of trouble, adding the assurance that he always
entertained the desire of returning to Paris, a desire
proved by the last sentence in his address to the
French people, wherein he expressed himself thus : —
"Frenchmen, and especially you Parisians, how pleased
I shall be to find myself once more among you ! "
His Majesty added that Monsieur had only been
informed shortly before the journey ; that he had
only left France because it was arranged that he
should not follow the same route for fear of falling
short of horses ; that he was to rejoin him at once
at whatever place he might select as his residence ;
and that in regard to the persons who had accom
panied him, they had only been informed of his

DECLARATION OF THE QUEEN. 369
departure at the last moment. He concluded his
declaration by saying that, having on his journey
perceived that public opinion was very decided in
favour of the Constitution, he was more and more
convinced of the necessity of strengthening the
powers established for the maintenance of public
tranquillity ; that in view of this general desire, he
had not hesitated to sacrifice every personal con
sideration to assure the happiness of the people, the
constant object of all his care ; that the reason
which had made him consent to return to Paris
was the fear of exposing the kingdom to the evils
which his resistance might have occasioned ; that he
would readily forget all the disagreeable experiences
through which he had passed, if by so doing he
could assure the peace and tranquillity of the nation ;
and that the Queen shared these sentiments.
Her Majesty, who was in her bath when the
Commissioners left the presence of the King, post
poned her reception of them until eleven o'clock on
the following morning.
She stated that as the King was bound to leave
Paris, no human power could have prevented her
from accompanying him ; that the assurance he had
given her that he would not leave France had only
strengthened her in this resolution ; but that if he
had shown her any desire to leave it, she would
have done her utmost to dissuade him from it.
She assured the Commissioners that, as I had
been ill for three weeks, I had only been made
vol, I. 2 a

370 ' MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
acquainted with the proposed journey a very short
time previous to its taking place, and that, as I had
not been able to take anything away with me, she
had lent me all I. needed ; and that the couriers
knew neither the object nor the destination of the
journey. She repeated the assurances of the King
relative to their residence at Montmddy, adding that
she went out through the door of the apartments
of M. de Villequier.
The moment selected by the King to leave Paris
was not a favourable one. France was beginning to
be tired of the National Assembly, which was daily
suffering in public opinion. The King had every
thing to gain in allowing this opinion to spread.
But once having made up his mind to leave Paris,
he ought to have stood his ground, and to have
refused to yield to the pressure of his Ministers
that he should disavow the protest he sent to the
Assembly when he left. These latter individuals,
alarmed by the state of the public mind, and the
manner in which the people were being excited, put
in the foreground the misfortunes by which France
was threatened in case the King persisted in stand
ing by his protest, and in this way they succeeded
in procuring his disavowal.
M. de Bouilld, who was deeply distressed by the
arrest of the King, and feared for the lives of his
Majesty and the royal family, endeavoured to
diminish the rage of the Assembly, and divert it
to himself, by writing a letter which was fully

DELIBERATIONS OF THE COMMITTEES. 371
calculated to make an impression on minds less ex
cited and more capable of listening to reason. In it
he declared that only in accordance with his repeated
requests had the King determined to leave Paris ;
that he alone had given the orders relative to the
journey, and for his escort to Montmddy ; and that it
was only in consequence of the outrages to which his
Majesty had been subject on the occasion of his jour
ney to Saint Cloud that he had decided upon taking
up his abode in a town where he could act as a medi
ator between the Assembly and foreign Powers who
were alarmed by the proceedings of the Revolution.
He depicted in the strongest colours the situation
in which the Assembly had placed France, which
would have been saved if the journey of the King
had succeeded, and he threatened it with the ven
geance of foreign Powers, adding that he himself
would put himself at the head of the armies of
France, if a single hair of the heads of the King
and the royal family fell.
This letter did not produce any effect. The
Assembly, intoxicated with its success and all the
letters of congratulation it received from all the
clubs of the kingdom, continued none the less to
attack the person of the King in the most violent
speeches, the tendency of which was to provoke his
deposition, so that he might afterwards be placed on
his trial.
The Committees entrusted with the report of the
journey to Varennes, and the steps to be taken re-

372 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
lative to the King and the future form of govern
ment, hesitated for a long time before publishing
their conclusions. M. de Montesquiou, forgetting
all he owed to the King and the royal family,
joined the rebels, and demanded that the Assembly
should take possession of the functions of royalty.
" Seeing that the executive power inspires," he said,
" as much distrust as the Assembly inspires con
fidence, the public safety must not be sacrificed to
a superstitious respect for the distinction of powers ; "
and he supported all the arguments that Thouret,
Chapelier, and others had brought forward to prove
that the journey of the King was an infraction of
the Constitution.
M. de Liancourt, on the contrary, spoke very
forcibly on the danger of deposing the King, refuting
all the arguments adduced in justification of the
necessity for such a step, and on this occasion he
behaved admirably.
M. de la Fayette thought only of himself, and
worked secretly in favour of the views of the rebels.
He held several conferences at his own house, at
which he advocated the trial of the King, hoping in
that way to hasten the establishment of a Republic,
jfche constant object of his every wish. He aspired
rto play the part of Washington, not taking into con
sideration the difference between France and America,
^nor the very slight resemblance between himself and
the man he had the pretention to imitate. Barnave
stoutly opposed the proposal to put the King on his

PROTEST OF THE RIGHT. 373
trial, and M. de Gilliers threatened and frightened
M. de la Fayette to such an extent in regard to the
risks he would run if he succeeded in his project,
that he became, although with difficulty, a supporter
of the preservation of royalty in the person of the
King, and subsequently even upheld this opinion
with a tolerable show of firmness. I received this
account from M. de Virieu, a deputy, who had it from
M. de Gilliers himself, and who repeated it to me
more than once, both before and after the acceptance
of the Constitution in 1791.
Several members of the Assembly proposed to
appoint a governor for Mgr. the Dauphin, and to
order that a list of the persons considered suitable
for the office should be submitted to him. M.
Malouet and several others strongly opposed so
revolting a measure as that of depriving a father
of all power over his child ; but the Assembly paid
no attention to the arguments against such a pro
posal, and it was at once adopted.
Several days afterwards a list was sent to the
bureau of the Assembly of eighty persons of every
profession and condition who were proposed as gover
nors of Mgr. the Dauphin. It was so peculiarly
made up that the ridiculous nature of the proposal
was evident, and in the end it dropped through.
The deputies of the Right, indignant at the
conduct of the Assembly, protested in writing, all
of them attaching their signatures, against the
decrees attacking the royal authority, declaring that

374 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
they would limit themselves to being present at the
deliberations of the Assembly, without taking part
in any but those which had for their object the
defence of the interests of the royal family, a
defence confided to them by their constituents, and
which they would glory in maintaining to the utmost
of their power.
These two hundred and ninety deputies demanded
the reading of the declaration of their protest relative
to the decrees which had been passed ; but the
Assembly, dreading the impression that might be
produced, refused its assent, and they were compelled
to be content with laying it on the table, whence
the Assembly promptly withdrew it.
For a fortnight I was confined in .the private
room of Mgr. the Dauphin, and only after I had
been examined was I allowed to speak to a few
persons. The Queen and Madame Elizabeth, full
of goodness, always found means to say a word or
two to me, and to slip a note into my hands as
they passed through the room on their way to mass.
In that way I received information of the declara
tions of the King and Queen, and of everything that
it was interesting to me to know. Afterwards I was
allowed to read the Moniteur, which kept me in
formed of what went on in the Assembly. My
only consolation during this time was the permission
granted me to hear the King's mass, which was
said every day in the Diana gallery, where I saw,
with the royal family, my relatives and friends,

Attempts To rouse the populace. 375
who never failed to be present. The men had leave
to see the King at that hour, but he only admitted
a small number, in order to avoid giving offence to
his guard around him.
The Duke de Brissac was the only one who had
permission to accompany the King. Having taken
no part in the journey to Varennes, he was not
banished from his presence, and it was a great com
fort to his Majesty to have near him so faithful and
devoted a subject, whose noble and heroic conduct
was maintained to his latest breath.
Mass was no longer said in the chapel of the
Castle. The Abbd d'Avaux, as living in the Tuileries,
had permission to celebrate it on Sundays, and he
never failed to do so, nor did he ever leave off his
ecclesiastical dress. Several persons, alarmed at the
position in which he was, advised him to leave it off ;
but he replied that he should retain this exterior
sign of his attachment to his calling as long as
possible, and that he regarded it as a duty at a
time when so much indecent remark was indulged
in against ecclesiastics. Nobody ever said anything
against him. His conduct had won for him universal
esteem, and his politeness and kind manner in regard
to the National Guard secured their friendship, as
was proved on several critical occasions.
All sorts of methods were employed to excite
the people. The streets were placarded with the
most vulgar caricatures ; the ballad-singers sang
the most indecent songs against the Queen ; at

376 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
every corner the most bloodthirsty satires against
her and the King were sold, and in the public places
orators uttered the most atrocious lies. All these
horrors were allowed to go unpunished, and suited
the views of the rebels, as being calculated to deprive
the people of their remnant of respect for the King
and the royal family.
People were posted on the quay of the Tuileries
to shout out, " Long live our little King ! " when
ever Mgr. the Dauphin went on the terrace, and
his walks there had to be stopped. The poor little
Prince was amused by these cries, of whose import
he was ignorant ; for the people around him, half
dead with fear* dared not make any remark to him.
It was not until the Abbd d'Avaux and I were able
to see him that we made him see all the horror
which these shouts ought to have inspired in him,
and how great ought to be his distrust of everything
that might be said to him in opposition to the
respect and attachment he ought to feel for the
King and Queen.
Their Majesties, unwilling to expose themselves
as prisoners to the gaze of the National Guard, and
the insults of a misguided populace, never left their
rooms, and would not even walk in the little garden
allotted to Mgr. the Dauphin. The uncertainty of
their lot, the sinister disposition evinced by the
public, and the inconvenience caused by the oppres
sive heat, all united to augment the horror and
disagreeableness of their position. They had need

THE ROYAL FAMILY. 377
of all their courage to enable them to bear it with
the calmness and dignity which never left them for
a moment in these critical circumstances.
Madame Elizabeth also was unwilling, out of
respect for the situation of the King, to go outside
the Castle. This angelic Princess was their con
solation during their captivity, her attention to the
King, the Queen, and their children ever increasing
in proportion to their misfortunes. She and the
Queen made the King play billiards every day after
dinner, so that he might get some exercise. He
spent the rest of his time shut up in his private
office, reading and working ; for he was never idle for
a moment, and he was very deeply read. The Queen
occupied herself with her children ; at seven o'clock
in the evening saw her ladies, even those who had
resigned ; and she spent the remainder of the day in
reading, writing, and working.
The sole relaxation of the royal family was
their meeting together, and when they watched the
innocent amusements of the young Prince and
Madame. During the early days of their return
to Paris they gave themselves some degree of
pleasure in watching the passing and repassing
under their windows of the deputies of the Right,
who saluted them with an expression of grief and
respect which affected them sensibly. But the
Assembly took offence at this, and closed the
Tuileries even against the deputies, so as to de
prive the King even of this slight satisfaction.

378 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
In spite of the violence of its declamations, the
Assembly could not help being afraid of an invasion ;
and as this fear augmented its fury against the
emigres, a resolution was moved to compel them to
return within two months, under pain of having
their property sequestered. The injustice of such
a law was so strongly represented that action for
the moment was limited to the imposition of a triple
tax on those who should not have returned by the
end of that period, the right being reserved of in
flicting very severe penalties in case of invasion. M.
du Verrier, who had been despatched by the As
sembly to the Prince de Condd to notify to him the
sequestration of his property, unless he returned to
France by a certain day, reassured it on his return,
in regard to any fears it might have concerning
foreign Powers ; and he, as well as the other Com
missioners who had been sent to the frontiers, stated
that the energy of the French people, joined to the
measures that had been taken, were a guarantee
against all anxiety. M. du Verrier, an advocate by
profession, was the same whom the Assembly had
sent as Commissioner to Nancy during the revolt
of the troops, in order to make inquiry into the
line of conduct . that had been pursued there.
As his mission to the Prince de Condd coincided
exactly with the moment of the departure of the
King, there was a certain amount of uneasiness
as to what might have befallen him ; but he
was only delayed to a certain extent, and re-

EXAMINATION OF MADAME DE TOURZEL. 379
turned in peace to report the scant success of his
mission. I was not examined until three weeks after the
return of the King. An usher of the tribunal of the
first arrondissement came for me to the apartments
of Mgr. the Dauphin to conduct me to my own with
the officer on guard there. I found M. Carrouge,
president of the tribunal, accompanied by M. Ma-
bille, and a clerk to take down my deposition. It
was short, and in conformity with the declaration of
the King and Queen. I was questioned as to the
manner in which Mgr. the Dauphin and Madame
left the Tuileries, and also as to the disguise of the
young Prince.
I was asked who brought the King's carriage,
and who met him at Varennes. My replies were
simple and laconic. I was ill, I informed them, and
the state of weakness in which I was prevented me
from seeing anything. These gentlemen finished
their examination at the expiration of an hour, and
I was led back to the apartments of Mgr. the
Dauphin, which served as a prison for me.
M. Carrouge behaved with equal straightfor
wardness and delicacy throughout this examination,
and he thus concluded his questions : — " You cannot
possibly have known, Madame, what an examination
is. It is necessary that you should be aware of your
rights, and that you should know that you may
correct anything you have said, so long as you have
not signed your deposition." I took advantage of

380 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
this hint to change one little circumstance which,
although trivial in itself, might have been wrongly-
interpreted ; and when I left these gentlemen I could
not help telling them that, however painful my pre
sent position might be, I should never reproach my
self with the conduct which honour had prescribed
for me, and which gave me a right to their esteem,
even though they dare not say as much, in view of
the duties they were performing.
I expected, as I passed through the guard-room,
preceded by an usher, to hear some unpleasant
remarks. I assumed a more confident air than the
state of my feelings warranted, as I was far from
expecting either justice or consideration in connec
tion with this examination ; but I owe it to truth to
state that the most profound silence reigned both as
I went and as I returned through this room on
my way from and to the apartments of Mgr. the
Dauphin. On the 13th of July, the day when the Com
mittee was to make its report on the journey to
Varennes, an unknown individual presented a me
morial to the Assembly, which he also caused to
be circulated throughout Paris, in which he recapitu
lated all that the King had done since his accession
to the throne for the happiness of the nation and for
the city of Paris. He mentioned in it the guarantee
of the debt contracted under the reigns of his pre
decessors ; the emancipation of the serfs ; the estab
lishment of provincial Assemblies ; the abolition of

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEES. 381
statute labour, and of the rack ; the amelioration of
the laws against desertion, fraud, and violence ex
cluded from enlistment ; the civil status restored to
the Protestants ; the protection of arts and sciences ;
the draining of marshes ; the restoration of the
Navy, and the rights of fishing in Newfoundland ;
an honourable peace in 1782 ; the public works at
Dunkerque, Havre, La Rochelle, Toulon, and the
port of Vendres ; the canals in Burgundy, Picardy,
and Le Berry ; the double representation granted
to the third estate ; and he concluded by pointing
out the well-known goodness of the King in always
having exposed his person for the purpose of re
establishing peace, and preventing the shedding of
the blood of his subjects. .__.
It is impossible to help groaning over the per
versity of the human race when one sees so many
benefits requited by the blackest ingratitude, and
crowned by a heinous crime, not to be thought of
without a shudder, from which one seeks to turn
one's eyes for the honour of the nation. — ¦
In accordance with the report of the seven united
Committees, the Assembly decreed, on the 15th of
July, that there were grounds of accusation against
MM. de Bouilld, father and son, the authors of the plan
for the removal of the King, and that their trial should
be initiated and completed before the High National
Court sitting at Orleans ; and that there were also
grounds of accusation, as accomplices in the plan,
against MM. Heymann, Gliuglin, d'Offelyse, Disoteur,

382 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
Guogelas, Choiseul, Stainville, Maudelle, Fersen, du
Moutier, Valori, and Maldan, who were ordered to
be taken under sufficient escort to Orleans, there to
be judged by the High National Court ; that MM.
de Damas, d' Audouin, Valecourt, Marassin, Talon, de
Florae, Rdmy, and Lacour, as well as M. de Briges 1
and myself, should remain under arrest until after
the examinations had been held, so that a decision
might then be arrived at in regard to our fate ; and
that Mesdames Branger and de Neuville should be
set at liberty.
The debate relative to the person of the King
was continued. Pdthion, Vadier, Robespierre, Buzot,
and Rewbell indulged in the most frightful remarks
against his Majesty. They wished to put him on
his trial, and for that purpose proposed the establish
ment of a National Convention. Goupil and several
other deputies represented that such a measure would
involve a recommencement of the Revolution, would
bring about the most serious consequences, and
would mean the destruction of the Constitution.
Pragnan backed up their opinion with very weighty
arguments, insisting on the necessity of a Monarchi
cal Government for France ; and the Assembly on
1 M. de Briges left Paris as soon as he heard of the departure of
the King, and having received certain intimations which led him to
believe that his Majesty had taken the road to Chalons, he reached that
town just as M. de Romeuf entered it. He was arrested there, and only
left after the acceptance of the Constitution. He was one of the most
faithful servants of the King, and perished in the disastrous expedition
to Quiberon in 1795,

DEBATE IN THE ASSEMBLY. 383
the following day decreed that the suspension of the
executive power and the royal functions in the
hands of the King, decreed on the 25 th of June,
should remain in force until, the Constitution being
completed, the Constitutional Act should be pre
sented for the acceptance of his Majesty ; that if
the King, after having taken the oath to the Consti
tution, should retract it, he should be held to have
abdicated ; that he should also be so considered if
he should put himself at the head of an army against
the nation, or if he should give any such order to
one of his generals, or if he should not formally
oppose any .such step ; that a king who abdicated
should become a simple citizen, and should be liable
to prosecution for all offences subsequent to his
abdication. The Jacobins complained bitterly of this decree.
They wanted the deposition of the King and his
being placed on his trial ; and they pretended that
as the Assembly had not named Louis XVI. in the
decree, it had no value, so far as he was concerned.
They therefore proposed to send an address to all
the popular societies of the kingdom, in order to
ascertain the wish of the nation ; to secure ten million
signatures to it, and then to present it to the
Assembly, which would not in that case be left in
doubt. Robespierre, on the other hand, advised a
simple declaration that the King had lost the con
fidence of the nation. The contradictions inherent
in all these propositions prevented any resolution

384 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
being arrived at, but they exasperated the public
mind to such an extent that four thousand miscreants
started from the Palais Royal, and went to their
club, to announce their intention of going to the
Champ de Mars to swear never to recognise Louis
XVI. as their King, and to demand vengeance on
him for his crimes against society. Laclos took
charge of the framing of the petition which they
proposed to take with them for the purpose of having
it signed by all good citizens.
A portion of the members of the Jacobin Club,
who were in favour of the Monarchical Constitution
as decreed by the Assembly, were opposed to this
project, seceded from their comrades, withdrew to the
Feuillants, and founded a new club there, under the
name of the Club des Feuillants. The Jacobins
vowed implacable hatred against the members of this
club, and in the end brought about the destruction
of all those whom they were able to arrest.
The most inflammatory placards increased day
by day, and the Cordeliers Club carried its audacity
so far as to post up a notice that it had among
its members a secret society of tyrannicides who
had sworn to kill everybody who attacked French
liberty. D'Andrd, who had seceded from the Jaco
bins and joined the Feuillants, complained in un
measured terms of the conduct of the former, who
only wanted the destruction of the Constitution ; and
he proposed to send the Minister of Justice at once,
together with the six Public Prosecutors and the

DISTURBANCES IN PARIS. 385
Municipality, to intimate to them the existence of an
order for the arrest of all disturbers of the public peace,
and in case of resistance, to proclaim martial law.
There was no time to lose. On the following
day, the 17th of July, sixteen thousand men of the
dregs of the people, among whom several foreigners
were recognised, assembled riotously in the Champ
de Mars, and endeavoured to induce the people to
revolt. They massacred two men at Gros-Caillou,
accusing them of having wanted to blow up the
altar of the country ; and they were preparing to
carry their heads on the ends of pikes when the
Municipality, with M. Bailly at its head, arrived.
He employed every means of persuasion with the
crowd, read to them the decree of the Assembly, and
uttered so many regrets at being forced to take
rigorous measures, that he emboldened the rebels.
The Municipality pushed its complacence towards
the mob so far as to accuse the priests and nobility
of having provoked the rising, and it spent the
greater portion of the day in temporising. But
when the National Guard on its arrival was attacked
with stones, M. Bailly, after proclaiming martial law,
ordered the rebels to be fired upon, and some twelve
or fifteen of them were killed, and a like number
wounded. Fear then took the place of arrogance,
and they all ran away. Some of them were arrested,
and order was re-established for a short time.
Among those arrested was an Italian named Rotondo,
an execrable man, whose arrival always heralded
vol. I. 2 B

386 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
some catastrophe, and who was justly called an agent
of crime. They were all put in prison, and were not
released until the general amnesty which, confound
ing crime and innocence, let loose on society all the
miscreants who ought to have met with due punish
ment for their heinous offences. From this day the
Jacobins vowed implacable hatred against MM. de la
Fayette and Bailly ; and the latter had a sad experi
ence of what is to be gained by abandoning one's
Sovereign to throw oneself into the arms of the popular
party, whose victim in the end one is sure to be.
The idea of the rebels was to attack the Castle ;
but M. Gouvion, who was entrusted with its defence,
assured the royal family that they had nothing to
fear, he having taken all the necessary precautions
for the fulfilment of his promise. He had conceived
a very novel idea for the bloodless dispersion of the
crowds who sought to force an entrance into the
Tuileries ; it was to station firemen at the exterior
exits of the garden and the Castle, who would play
with their engines on the rebels, and he believed he
was safe in saying that such a measure would put
them to flight in a moment. He had no need to put
it into action. The fusillade at the Champ de Mars
had inspired such terror that nobody moved, and the
neighbourhood of the Castle was almost deserted.
Some days after my examination, M. de la Fayette
sent word to me that I could see my relations and
friends, and I made temperate use of this permission,
which was a great comfort to me. I received them

LIFE IN THE TUILERIES. 387
in the private room of Mgr. the Dauphin, which I
had not yet permission to leave. MM. Banks and
du Foe, my guardians, retired, as soon as they saw
them arrive, to the next room, the door of which
I left open, so as not to compromise them. I must
do them the justice to say that they behaved very
well to me, and that I never heard them make any
but the kindest remarks about the royal family,
to whom they piqued themselves on being very
much attached. M. Banks, who was sixty years
of age, detested the Revolution, and was deeply
grieved by its success ; but being by nature very-
pacific, he feared everything that might disturb his
tranquillity, and he attached great importance to the
observance of the Constitution, which he looked upon
as the anchor of the safety of France. M. du Foe,
who was young, lively, and brave, but very excitable,
was susceptible of every impression that might be
brought to bear upon him. He was continually
changing his party, and ended by conducting him
self in a manner about which I forbear to speak,
out of consideration to his behaviour to me.
The Abbd d'Avaux and Madame de Tarente,
summoned to the Castle by the duties of their posts,
spent whole hours with me in the course of the day.
Their society lessened the bitterness of my position,
and I shall never forget all the marks of attach
ment I received from them. The latter gave me
news of the royal family, and paid me every
possible attention. The similaritv of our sentiments

388 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
bound us together in very tender friendship. Death
alone had power to break it, but even it has not
been able to efface from my heart the sentiments
which that faithful friend inspired in it, any more
than the recollection of her noble and beautiful dis
position, which won for her the esteem of all who
knew her, and the most tender attachment of those
friends who were in a position to appreciate her.
By degrees the irksomeness of my position was
lessened. First of all, my guardians were relieved
from passing the night in my room, and I was
afterwards allowed to walk in the Tuileries. Nothing
could have been more melancholy than this pro
menade, during which, accompanied by one of my
guardians, I only met the men of the National
Guard. One must have had need, as I had, of
fresh air, to profit by this permission. What gave
me the greatest pleasure was the permission to go
to all the members of the royal family, and espe
cially Mgr. the Dauphin. My guardians conducted
me to the door of the royal apartments, and re
mained in the adjoining room. I then was allowed,
but never alone, to go to my own room, and have
some of my friends to dinner. As our guardians
behaved with delicacy and discretion, I asked those
on guard to dinner, and they greatly appreciated this
politeness. An attempt was made to keep Mgr. the Dauphin
away from me, as those who were with him were
afraid of being compromised if he had only attempted

THE DAUPHIN. 389
to look at me as he passed through the room I
occupied. When at length I was allowed to remain
with him in his room, for I was expressly forbidden
to accompany him out of it, I asked him why I
had been deprived of my liberty. " Because," he
said, in a very low voice, "you followed papa." " Is
it then in your eyes a very criminal action to have
given the King some token of my respect, my
attachment, and my personal devotion to him ?
Tell me, please, by what name am I to describe
your conduct, and what do you think your dear
Pauline, of whom you speak so frequently, will say
to it ? " He blushed, and threw himself into my
arms, saying, " Forgive me, I have been very wrong;
but do not tell my dear Pauline, or she will not
love me any more." I promised him, and from that
moment the amiable child was full of every kind
of care and attention for me, wishing, he said, to
make me forget the wrong he had done me, for
which he was so sorry. It is impossible to imagine
any child more winning, more replete with intelli
gence, or expressing himself more gracefully. He
grasped at every opportunity of saying something
agreeable to those about him. He was very fond of
the King ; but as his Majesty rather impressed him,
he was not so thoroughly at his ease with him as he
was with the Queen, whom he adored, and to whom
he gave vent to his feelings in a most touching man
ner, always finding something tender and loving to
say to her. His gaiety and amiability were the only

390 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCfiESS DE TOURZEL.
relaxation to the daily troubles by which the Queen
was overwhelmed. She brought him up perfectly ;
and "although she entertained the deepest affection
for him, I must do her the justice to say that she
never spoiled him, and that she always supported
all just remonstrances addressed to him. He was
fond of occupation, and even at his tender age
study was such a pleasure to him that we were
obliged to make him leave his lessons, in spite of
his entreaties to be allowed to continue, as soon as
we thought that any prolongation of them would
tire him. He was, nevertheless, both very lively
and very gay. He loved to run, jump, go down
difficult places, and especially to go perpendicularly
down somewhat deep ditches. He feared nothing,
and we were frequently compelled to stop him in
the little enterprises he wished to undertake by
way of proving his strength and activity. Nothing
inconvenienced him ; and though his external ap
pearance did not give any extraordinary idea of
strength, he bore all sorts of fatigue singularly
well. Alas ! this excellent health prolonged the
suffering inflicted upon him by the most atrocious
barbarity. It resisted for a long time, and it was
not until after much trial that it succumbed to the
results of the frightful regime under which this
illustrious and last victim of the most revolting
tyranny groaned.
The Count de Fernand Nunes, Ambassador of
Spain, received from M. de Florida de Bianca, prin-

THE SPANISH AMBASSADOR. 39 1
cipal Minister of that Court, an order to hand to
the Assembly the declaration of the King of Spain
on hearing of the departure of the King, and he
was forbidden to alter a word of it, notwithstanding
the failure of the journey. This Prince exhorted
the French nation to reflect upon the motives which
had led to this proceeding on the part of the King ;
to retrace those steps which had caused it ; to re
spect the august dignity of the King and the royal
family ; and to be persuaded that as long as the
French nation should fulfil its duties, it would have
no more faithful and constant ally than Spain.
The reading of this letter was followed by shouts
of laughter. There were calls for the order of the
day, and the majority of the Assembly declared that,
as it did not mix itself up with the affairs of foreign
Powers, it would not allow them to interfere in those
of France. To this M. Andrd added that as soon
as the Assembly came to any determination as to
the future government and the fate of the King, it
would communicate it to Europe ; that this deter
mination would be as firm as a rock, and that they
would all rather die than alter one tittle of it.
M. de Fernand Nun.es, whose disposition was
mild and pacific, had adopted certain ideas enter
tained by the Constitutional party ; and especially
the opinion that, by temporising, the King would,
without a struggle, recover a portion of the authority
necessary for a King of a great nation. He per
ceived only too clearly how entirely he was mistaken

392 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
in this, and events demonstrated in a very cruel
manner the impossibility of any alliance between
crime and virtue. Fear, the inseparable companion
of crime, when allied to great ambition, rarely per
mits any belief in the generosity inspired by real
virtue, and it prevents all return on the part of those
who have strayed too far from the right path.
M. de Stael, Ambassador of the King of Sweden,
received from that Prince a most energetic letter,
forbidding him to hold any communication with
anybody without the authorisation of the King ; to
hold any conference with the Minister of Foreign
Affairs ; or to reply in any way except verbally to
anything that might be communicated to him,
either by word of mouth or in writing ; and he was
instructed, even should matters turn out more for
tunately for the King, to take nothing upon himself,
but to wait for further orders. Pie, moreover, gave
him a most positive and strict order to give the
King every consolation in his power, by showing
him both respect and attention, and to display in
his household every sign of mourning and sorrow.
He felt, said his Majesty, that such orders might
cause him to incur a certain amount of danger, but
he held by the dignity of the crown, and it was not
possible for him to give any other instructions.
The other sovereigns appeared to be disturbed by
the conduct of the King of Sweden, and this rendered
the Assembly uneasy, and induced it to decree the
levy of an army of four hundred thousand men. Out

ABOLITION OF TITLES. 393
of the four commands to be given away, it only
allotted one to the King, reserving the three other
appointments to itself, a proceeding which naturally
placed the army in its power. The amnesty granted
by it to the soldiers and officers who had instigated
regiments to revolt, completed the destruction of all
idea of military discipline, and rendered the army
capable of fulfilling its every wish.
While the Assembly was engaged upon framing
the Constitution, it allowed the most seditious re
marks and writings against the royal family to go
unpunished. The decree for the suppression of the
silver mark as a qualification for future Assemblies,
opened the door to all those who, having nothing to
lose and everything to gain, were bound to make
capital out of the general exasperation, and to use
every effort to arrive at power, even at the risk of
covering France with blood and ruins.
The rage of the Assembly against everything
which could furnish the most trivial reminiscence of
the nobility, caused it to abolish all titles and
decorations. It only permitted the King and his
eldest son, as heir to the throne, to wear the blue
ribbon, the sole order of Saint Louis being retained
for the moment.
The King, in sanctioning this decree, left off wear
ing the blue ribbon ; being unable, he said, to derive
any pleasure from wearing a decoration which he
could not share with those who were attached to him.
This Constitution, which, in default of its accept-

394 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
ance by him, would reduce the King to the status
of a private citizen, was so democratic, and left all
authority so destitute of force and support, that it
was impossible for it to subsist without overthrowing
his throne from its very foundation. The Assembly,
in order to allow foreign powers to share in its
benefits, had the Declaration of the Rights of Man
translated into every language, and circulated through
out the Courts of Europe.
In order to close its sessions in a manner worthy
of their commencement, this disastrous Assembly
decreed rewards not only to those who stopped the
King, and compelled him to return to Paris, but
also to the two individuals who had threatened to
shoot him if he continued his journey.
To the town of Varennes was given the Fran
ciscan Convent, for the purpose of establishing in it
a district tribunal, and a detachment of cavalry with
two guns. A tricolor flag was also sent, with this in
scription : — " To the town of Varennes from a grateful
country ! " and a musket and a sword were presented
to each member of the National Guard of the town.
The town of Clermont received a piece of ordnance
and five hundred muskets for its National Guard ;
and Sainte Menehould was treated with similar liber
ality. Drouet, Sausse, and Baillon each received
30,000 francs. Everyone who had contributed to
the arrest of the King received 3000 francs ; others
received rewards of smaller amounts, and proportion
ate to the part they had played in the cruel event.

LETTER OF M. DE MONTMORIN. 395
M. de Montmorin, uneasy in regard to the effect
which the conduct of the Assembly might produce
on the Emperor, wrote to the Marquis de Noailles,
Ambassador at Vienna, directing him to make excuses
for the part it had played in its very difficult posi
tion, having to fight against a party desirous of
sapping the very foundation of the throne, and
having run more than one danger in opposing this
intention. He added that the Revolution was done,
and could not be undone ; that to expect the con
trary was a mistake which might have disastrous
results, and might drag Europe into dire misfortune ;
that the Constitution would be presented to the King
for his acceptance in a few days ; that his refusal
would bring about great danger ; that his Majesty
was fully persuaded of this, and that anybody who
sought to dissuade him would be giving him ques
tionable help ; that endeavours were being made to
convince the Princes and emigres of this truth ; and
that it was essential that the Emperor should not
place the malevolent in a position to imagine that
he entertained views opposed to the tranquillity of
France. M. de Montmorin allowed himself to be easily
persuaded, and he was at this time under the in
fluence of Thouret, Beaumetz, Chapelier, Barnave,
and Duport, who was supposed to be the author of
the letter. D' Andrd, who had gained his confidence,
and wanted to realise some profit for himself, what
ever might be the direction taken by events, per-

396 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
suaded him that, in order to be of real use to the
King, his conduct should be in accord with that of
the Assembly, and that on that account he ought
to support all the motions of the majority, however
unjust they might be. The conduct of M. Mont
morin had for its sole object to serve the King. I
never knew him to pay any attention to his personal
interests ; but, as he had but little energy and high-
mindedness, and as his disposition was feeble and
timid, loving ease and repose, he was invariably
deceived by the revolutionists, who made use of
him to drag the King into proceedings repugnant
to the rectitude of his character and the justice of
his mind. They terrified his Majesty with the
dangers to which his family and faithful servants
might be exposed, if he refused the measures pro
posed to him ; and, knowing the attachment of M.
de Montmorin, he regarded as a sign of a concilia
tory spirit that weakness of character which shrank
from the use of vigour and firmness by way of
opposition to the proceedings of his enemies.
The Assembly was so quick over its revision of
the Constitution that it had passed the principal
clauses. It mattered little to it that it possessed
the means of guaranteeing its stability against the
enterprises of the rebels. Occupied solely with the
abasement of the royal power, and the concentration
of every power within the legislature, it was content
to leave France with a mere shadow of royalty ;
and believing it to be essential that its work should

HESITATION OF THE KING. 397
be completed before the elections, it constantly
refused to listen to any objection whatever from
the rational portion of the Assembly, which, for its
part, abstained from contributing in any way to this
work of iniquity.
The demagogues were anxious that the King
should refuse, in order that they might proclaim
his deposition and the establishment of the Republic.
The other members of the Left, who, on the con
trary, wished for the acceptanee of the Constitution,
employed every possible means to induce the King
to accept. His Ministers alarmed him by dwelling
upon the dangers which his refusal might bring upon
France, his family, and those who had helped him
on his journey. Everybody knew that he did not
care in the least about his own personal safety.
The Right, alone truly attached to the King and
the Monarchy, on the contrary firmly pointed out
to him the actual risks which would result from
his acceptance of the Constitution ; risks which he
would merely retard if he deferred to the wishes of
those who only consulted their own interests in
the advances they made to him ; adding that he
might judge of their intentions by the conduct they
had pursued ever since the beginning of the As
sembly, and by their eagerness to deprive him of
the authority necessary to enable a king to secure
the welfare and happiness of his people.
The Abbd Maury submitted to the King two
lines of conduct; one, the absolute refusal of the

398 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
Constitution, and the other, its acceptance, with the
omission of its principal vices, which he pointed out,
and which rendered it very dangerous of acceptance
in the form in which it was presented. M. Malouet
was in favour of the latter view, and displayed great
energy before the Assembly, in spite of the unworthy
manner in which he was treated by the Left every
time he spoke. M. Bark, junr., who, like his father,
had always taken great interest in the position of the
King, wrote him a most touching and cogent letter
to prove to him that he ought not to hesitate to
refuse to accept. He entreated him to arm himself
with courage, and to expose himself to everything
rather than give his adhesion to decrees which con
secrated injustice and contempt for every duty. He
assured him that efficacious means of coming to his
rescue were being considered ; that his acceptance
would upset all the steps that were being taken to
re-establish him on his throne ; that his courage
would make itself felt, and would be appreciated by all
Europe ; and he concluded his letter with four lines
which his father had sent him as more likely to be
remembered by the King than a letter. The words
were few, — " Say little ; write nothing ; consent to
nothing ; keep up your courage to the end ; we are
working for you."
Meanwhile the Ministers redoubled their efforts
to alarm the King and make him look upon the loss
of those who were in prison on account of the Var
ennes journey as absolutely certain. I was told of

THE KING AND THE CONSTITUTION. 399
this, and also that, seeing that I was in a position
analogous to theirs, it was my duty to ask the King
to pay no attention to this consideration. I hesi
tated on account of those who were in prison at
Orleans ; but I was assured so confidently that they
would be the first to desire such a step, that I de
cided to go to the King on the following day. I
told his Majesty that though it was not in my pro
vince to mix myself up in matters of government or
to forecast his intentions in regard to the acceptance
of the Constitution, I thought it my duty to beg
him, in my own name and in those of all who had
helped him on his journey, to put out of his thoughts
the idea that he would cause them to incur any
danger by his refusal ; and that I could answer for
it that there was not one of us who would not will
ingly expose himself to any danger, in order to see
him adopt the most honourable course, and that which
would be most useful to his present and future
safety. v
" I am deeply touched," said his Majesty to me,
" by your very generous proceeding ; but I know
what I owe to those who have sacrificed themselves
for me." From that moment I had no longer any
doubt about the acceptance of the Constitution, and
I had to content myself with prayers that it might
not land his Majesty in the misfortunes which were
prophesied by those who advised him to refuse.
A few days afterwards, a deputation of the As
sembly came to bring the Constitution to his Majesty,

400 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
giving him ten days wherein to examine it, at the
end of which he was to give a definite answer. As it
would have been difficult to impart to this acceptance
any appearance of liberty if his Majesty was allowed
to remain in the state of captivity in which he had
been since his return from Varennes, the officers en
trusted with his custody were withdrawn, and the
customary honours were paid to him. Consequently,
on the following Sunday, he appeared at mass in the
chapel of the Tuileries with the royal family. The
people thronged to the spot, and evinced great joy at
seeing him again. From all sides came the shout,
" Long live the King ! " A solitary voice from out
the crowd added, " Yes, if he accepts the Constitu
tion." It was impossible to entertain any doubt on
that subject when he was seen to have the same con
fidence in his Ministers, of whom some through weak
ness, and others from more culpable motives, ardently
longed for the acceptance of a Constitution the re
sults of which were destined to be so disastrous.
The Princes, his Majesty's brothers, informed of
the pressure brought to bear upon him to accept
the Constitution, wrote him the strongest and most
cogent letter to dissuade him. They pointed out to
him that it fostered every crime, and attacked reli
gion, and the rights of his subjects and of his Mon
archy, of which it was destructive ; that it was, more
over, impracticable ; and that his Majesty would one
day experience the most vivid regret if he allowed
himself to be induced, at the suggestion of his Min-

LETTERS FROM THE PRINCES. 401
isters, to accept an act as opposed to the enlighten
ment of his mind as to the feelings of his heart.
They assured him that help would be forth
coming ; and in order to prove to him that these
were not mere words, they sent him a copy of the
declaration of the Emperor and the King of Prussia,
signed at Pilnitz, the original of which was in their
hands. They concluded this letter by pointing out
to him that as his Crown was hereditary to all the
Princes of his line, he had no right to surrender its
prerogatives ; and they, Monsieur and the Count
d'Artois, protested, both in their own names and
in those of the Princes their children, against an
acceptance dictated by violence, and diametrically
opposed to the wish of the nation freely expressed
in one of the Memoranda given to the various
deputations to the States General. At the end of
this protest they renewed the assurances of their
most profound respect for his Majesty, and their
very sincere, attachment to the person of their
Sovereign and brother, to whose arms they would
fly in all haste to renew the homage of their obedi
ence, and to furnish an example to his Majesty's
subjects. The Princes of the house of Condd also wrote
him a most submissive, but at the same time a very
noble letter, to remind him of their rights, and to
protest against any attack on those of the Monarchy,
which they would defend to the last drop of their
blood. vol. I. 2 c

402 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
Ministers represented to the King that the
Princes were not in a position to know the situa
tion of his Majesty ; he alone could estimate the
danger which he would cause France to incur if he
refused to accept the Constitution. The King, tired
of their importunities and his own position, alarmed
as to that in which he might be placed, and, above
all, fearing to bring about a civil war in France,
determined to follow their advice and to accept the
Constitution, the results of which were destined to
be so disastrous to them and to himself.
At the expiration of the prescribed period,
Duport du Tertre, Minister of Justice, brought to
the Assembly a letter from his Majesty, in which he
accepted the Constitution, adding that as he thought
it more suitable that he should swear fidelity to it
in the place where it was framed, he would present
himself on the following day, the 14th of September,
before the National Assembly. His Majesty's letter
had been dictated by Thouret, Braumets, etc.
Thouret, the President of the Assembly, under the
pretext that the writing was difficult to read, re
quested permission to look over it before reading it
aloud ; he wanted to assure himself that no altera
tion had been made in it. His principal object was
to diminish the declaration made by the King on
leaving for Montmddy, and the letter was, conse
quently, as astute as the authors of it.
(^ It began by a reminder that the conduct of his
Majjasiy., ever since his acr-.p.ssinn tr. tlm throneJiad

LETTER FROM THE KING. 403
been solely_ directed to secure the happiness-ofJiis
^subjects ; that the hope of seeing this realised more
speedily had determined him to sanction all the
decrees of the Assembly even before their embodi
ment in the Constitution as a whole ; that the hope
of seeing the law resume its force in the hands of
his newly-constituted authorities had sustained him
for a long time ; but that seeing, on the contrary,
that anarchy was taking the place of power, and
that licence was carried to extremes, he had been
unwilling to accept a Constitution decreed under
such circumstances, and had deemed it advisable to
isolate himself from all parties, in order to ascertain
the genuine wish of the nation ; that having seen
the Assembly since his return engaged in such
useful work as the organisation of the army and
the repression of the licence of the press, and being
unable to doubt the attachment of the nation to the
Monarchy, and its desire to see him accept the Con
stitution, he had decided, in obedience to considera
tions so pressing, to have it carried out by all the ,
means that might be in his power ; that he renounced
all idea of the share which he had at first claimed in
its formation ; and that as he was only responsible to
the nation, nobody could complain of his renuncia
tion of this share.
He agreed at the end of his letter that there
were several essential points to desire in the Consti
tution, but that in view of the existing differences of
opinion, time alone could judge, and nobody would

404 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
be able to reproach him with not having employed
all the means in his power to bring it into operation,
and to assist it in fulfilling the result that was ex
pected from it.
The Right preserved the most absolute silence
during this reading, which was interrupted by the
applause of the Left of the Assembly.
On the proposition of M. de la Fayette, a decree
was passed for the release of all persons imprisoned
on the occasion of the journey of the King, and
allowing free egress from the kingdom. The decree
relating to the emigres and the proceedings arising
out of the Revolution was revoked. An amnesty
was granted to those concerned in the Varennes
journey, and it was rendered general, in order to
include the assassins, robbers, and revolted soldiers,
who all went to increase the horde of brigands whom
the conspirators had in their pay. M. de Montmorin
was, moreover, charged by the Assembly to interpose
his good offices with the Swiss Cantons to obtain a
pardon for the soldiers of Chateauvieux, condemned
to the galleys by that nation.
A deputation of sixty members of the Assembly
was sent to bear these decrees to the King, and to
assure him of the rejoicing which his letter had
caused to the Assembly. The reply of his Majesty
was in the sense of his letter ; and to complete the
satisfaction of the deputies, the Queen presented her
self at the door of the private room of the King,
holding Mgr. the Dauphin and Madame by the hand,

AVIGNON. 405
and assured them that she shared the sentiments of
the King, and would impart them to her children.
The Assembly on the same day took into con
sideration the union of the Comtat of Avignon with
France. It had resolved upon carrying it out for
a long time, and it was proclaimed with the same
carelessness as the other decrees. The union was
agreed upon in accordance with the so-called wish
of the Comtadins — a wish expressed under the pres
sure of the terror which had seized upon the majority
of the signatories. The only sincere signatures were
those of the brigands in harmony with the rebels
of the Assembly.
The army under the orders of the latter, which
called itself the brave army of the brigands of Van-
cluse, with Jourdan at its head, seconded by Anton-
elle and other miscreants, made the country tremble.
The scenes of horror for which they were responsible,
and which they threatened to renew, compelled forty
thousand Avignonnais to emigrate, rather than expose
themselves to their fury. It was such that the
Abbd Mulot, despatched as a Commissioner of the
Assembly to this unhappy district, wrote to say that
the atrocities which had been committed were beyond
the power of words to describe. This, however, did
not prevent either him or Verninac and Lescene des
Maisons, his colleagues, from aiding and abetting
every manoeuvre employed to secure a demand for
the union, which was a source of distress to all those
who did not share the opinions of these wretches.

406 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
The Abbd Maury accused the Commission of an
abuse of power ; unmasked their conduct in regard
to this unhappy district ; and reproached them with
the protection they extended to the brigands who
laid' it waste. The Assembly refused to listen to
the proofs he adduced in support of his accusation,
or to obtain information in. respect to its correctness.
The union was decreed, and the King was requested
to enter into communication with the Court of Rome
in respect to the indemnity and interest due to it.
The next question was the ceremonial to be
observed on the occasion of the reception of the
King. The Assembly decided that he should be
saluted on his arrival, and that then every member
should resume his seat ; that there should be in
front of the bureau two armchairs covered with cloth
ornamented with Jleurs de lys, exactly alike, — one
for the King and the other for the President.
M. Malouet having observed that but little respect
would be shown to the King by such conduct, he
was saluted with a shout of, "Go on your knees
if you like."
The Right, in order to manifest its opposition to
such a Constitution, withdrew before the arrival of
the King, and afterwards made a protest, signed by
all its members, against the violence done to the
King, and the impossibility of his sacrificing any
of the rights of the Crown, which had to be handed
down to his successors as he had received it from
his predecessors.

THE KING AND THE ASSEMBLY. 407
As the amnesty decree had restored my
liberty, I resumed my duties in connection with
Mgr. the Dauphin and Madame, and I accompanied
them on the following day to the Assembly. We
went to a box prepared for the Queen, who was
compelled, to her great regret, to be present at a
sitting so painful to a Princess whose mind and
heart were on a par with her rank. What transpired
was not calculated to lessen her distress.
The King, upstanding and uncovered, pronounced
the oath prescribed by the Assembly ; but perceiving
that he alone was standing, he seated himself by
the side of Thouret, the President of the Assembly,
and, after having gone through the formality of
the oath, he expressed to him his ardent desire to
secure, as the result of the step he had just taken,
the return of peace and concord, and to look upon
it as a pledge of the happiness of the people and the
tranquillity of the empire.
Thouret, with his legs crossed and his arms
resting on those of his arm-chair, in order to assume
an air of complete freedom, replied to the King in
a very insolent tone, eulogising the Assembly and
its courage in the destruction of abuses. He then
added that his desire was fulfilled to the utmost
by the sight of the King crowning the most solemn
of engagements by his acceptance of the constitu
tional royalty,, which was bestowed upon him by the
attachment of the French people, and guaranteed
to him by the immortal Constitution and the need

408 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
of the nation for a hereditary monarchy. He con
cluded his speech by assuring the King that this
new regeneration would give a country to the
French, a fresh title of grandeur and glory to him
self as a king, and a fresh source of joy and happi
ness to him as a man.
It would have been difficult to have made sport
of his royal Majesty in a more insolent or more
indecent manner. The Queen suffered cruelly iu
having to listen to such a speech, and she left the
Assembly with death in her soul, foreseeing only too
clearly the misfortunes which might be expected
from such dispositions.
The King, who still flattered himself that he
kild be able, under the shadow of the Constitu
tion, and by dint of prudence and industry, to take
advantage of every circumstance to eventually open
the eyes of the nation to its real interests, declared
ito the Queen that he was going to do all in his power
to secure the progress of the Constitution. He asked
her and all about him to refrain from any reflections
in regard to the proceedings which circumstances
had just wrung from him ; to abstain from anything
opposed to the Constitution ; and, in conformity with
one of its clauses, to call Mgr. the Dauphin for the
future the Prince Royal.
A Te Deum and public rejoicings were ordered,
in token of gratitude for the acceptance of the
Constitution. Games were arranged for the people
in the streets and squares, with a distribution of

LAST ACTS OF THE ASSEMBLY. 409
food, and there was a general illumination through
out Paris. The illuminations in the Tuileries, the
Place Louis XV, and the Champs Elysdes were
superb. The King and Queen were so pressed to
go and see the latter that they could not refuse.
They went there in a chariot with Mgr. the Dauphin,
Madame, Madame Elizabeth, the Duke de Brissac,
and myself. There were frequent shouts of " Long
live the King ! " but they lacked heartiness, and
many voices shouted also, " Long live Fayette ! " It
is remarkable that there was an entire absence of
gaiety among the crowd who flocked to enjoy the
walk and the magnificent illumination of the Champs
Elysdes. " How sad it is," said the Queen to me,
" that so beautiful a sight should only arouse in
our hearts a feeling of sorrow and anxiety." She
made an effort to speak to the men of the National
Guard around the carriage, and to hide her melan
choly. Neither did the young Prince, nor Madame
either, take any pleasure in this drive, and they
seemed to foresee the misfortunes they had to expect
from such a Constitution.
The last acts of the Assembly were in no way
more respectful to the King than its preceding con
duct. It decreed the destruction of the royal seal
bearing the inscription " The King and the Law,"
and the substitution of " The Nation, the Law, and
the King." It abolished the royal notaries, and
made them national, and it would have amalgamated
the Suisses with the troops of the line if the previous

410 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
consent of the Swiss cantons had not been necessary,
a condition which made it necessary to refer the
proposal to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, so as
to give him time to make a convention with the
Swiss. They condemned those who in any deed men
tioned the formerly existing but now suppressed
titles, to pay the sixth of the land tax, declaring
them in addition incapable of holding any civil or
military post, and erased from the civic programme.
There were punishments even for those who retained
liveries, or crests, or coats-of-arms on their houses
or their carriages. The notaries and civil officers
who should receive such denominations, and should
have lent their official position to the establishment of
titles of nobility, were to be removed. Under similar
penalties it became obligatory on those charged with
the rights of registry to remit such acts to the Com
missioners of the King in the tribunals, in order
that the decreed penalty might be inscribed on
them. In the anger which carried the Assembly
away, M. Chabroud even demanded that the nobility
who were found contravening this decree should be
placed in the pillory for three hours ; but this was
looked upon as so ridiculous that it met with the
contempt it deserved.
M. d'Estournel proposed that the Order of Saint
Louis, the designation of which was altered to the
Military Order, should be exempt from the oath of
Catholicity, and should be open to Protestants as

M. MALOUET. 41 L
well as Catholics. It is hardly credible, but true,
that this motion was carried without difficulty. The
same fate did not await the remonstrances made by
the relatives of the founders of religious houses, who
claimed to enter into possession of property left in
reversion, in case of destruction. They were rejected,
under the pretext that the property, having been
left with a view to public utility, should remain at
the disposal of the nation, the right being reserved
to legalise, and do justice to individual demands in
accordance with the clauses of the act of foundation.
As the Assembly never thought of rendering any
debtor and creditor account of the funds whose em
ployment it had ordered, M. Malouet made a motion
that it should render such an account before the end
of the session, in order that positive information
might be obtained as to the product of all the sums
which had passed into its hands. M. Montesquiou
replied that these accounts were in the hands of the
Committee, and might be seen there. " We want
proofs in support of them," replied M. Malouet. At
these, words the members of the Left were devoured
with rage ; they insulted him, interrupted him, and
the Assembly passed to the order of the day.
The declaration subsequently made by this same
M. Malouet, confirming his refusal to vote for a
Constitution contrary in many instances not only to
his commission, but also to the principles of order,
liberty, and monarchical government, excited similar
fury. The deputy Lavie, a regular fanatic, after

412 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
having overwhelmed the Right with insults, con
cluded, in the excess of his rage, by calling them
brigands and assassins, adding that care would be
taken to recommend them to the tender mercies of
the Provinces. All this was going on at the moment
when M. de Lessart, the Minister of the Interior, was
bringing to the Assembly a proclamation from the
King, inviting it to cast aside all party spirit, and to
substitute for it a spirit of peace and harmony.
Nevertheless, the influence of the Clubs began to
render the Assembly uneasy. It forbade them to
oppose any act emanating from constituted authori
ties ; or to present petitions, or to form deputations
to assist at public ceremonials ; condemning all who
contravened this order to be erased for six months
from the civic roll, and to be declared incapable of
exercising any public function. But the terror they
j inspired caused all action to be taken against them
so mildly, that this weakness emboldened them to
riolate every law whenever their interest so required,
An usher who wanted to arrest Danton during
the sitting of the Electoral Assembly, after having
requested permission from M. Pastoret, the Presi
dent, was sent to prison by order of the latter, he
having been frightened into that course by the
threats of Danton, who had great influence in the
Cordeliers Club ; and this failure of justice remained
unpunished. The Assembly at last brought its session to a
close. The King closed it in person, and made a

END OF THE ASSEMBLY. 413
speech which breathed only love for his people, and
his desire to see peace and concord replace the dis
turbances by which France was agitated. He pro
mised to put in force all the means given him by
the Constitution to ensure that it should be observed,
and he entreated the deputies, on their return to
their Provinces, to make use of their influence to see
that the law was respected, by counselling submission
to constituted authorities. He charged them, more
over, to assure their fellow-citizens that the King
would always be the best friend of his people.
Thouret replied to his Majesty by an assurance of
the attachment he had inspired in the people, thanks
to his frank and thorough acceptance of the Consti
tution, adding that the energy of his sentiments
could not but increase by the maintenance of the
Constitution, which was a guarantee of royalty and
liberty alike ; that his acceptance had led to dis
couragement abroad and confidence at home ; and
that he could rely upon the care of the deputies to
fulfil the wish expressed by his Majesty.
The King left the Assembly amid clapping of
hands and shouts of " Long live the King ! " ac
companied by a simple deputation, who escorted him
to the Castle. After he had left, Target read the
minutes of the proceedings, and declared that as
the mission of the Assembly was accomplished, its
sittings were at an end.
Before leaving the hall it received once more the
homage of the Municipality of Paris, with M. Bailly

414 MEMOIRS OF THE DUCHESS DE TOURZEL.
at its head, who congratulated it on the immortal
work it had accomplished.
M. Pastoret, in the name of the Commune of
Paris, surpassed himself in eulogy, lauding it for
the advantage it had gained in having established
the finest Constitution of the universe, and for
having effaced the traces of despotism by that im
mortal declaration of the Rights of Man, which, by
establishing equality, had brought into prominence
this great truth — that all the strength of tyrants
lay in the patience of their people. He then wished
the Assembly to turn its serious attention to the
question of the finances, the embarrassment of which
might bring about the ruin of the Revolution.
On leaving the House, the galleries broke out
into loud applause for Pdthion and Robespierre, and
hooted several of those who had hitherto been the
objects of their admiration.
The choice of the deputies of the legislative
Assembly could not hold out to the King any
hope of reaping any fruit from so many sacrifices,
or of procuring for France the repose that was so
necessary for her. A large number of the most
violent demagogues were elected, such as Brissot,
Antonelle, the Abbd Mulot, Lacroix, Vergniaud,
Guadet, Gensonnd, Grangeneuve, the Abbd Fauchet,
Esnard, Hdrault de Sechelles, Le Quingo, Camille
Desmoulins, Basire, Merlin, Chabot, Cerotti, Le
Cointre de Versailles, Couthon, Andrdis, Guiton de
Morveau, Quinette, Cambon, Dubois de Craned,

THE NEW ASSEMBLY. 415
Garaud de Coulon, Lacdpede, Cuvillier, the author
of the Brest insurrection, etc., etc. These men,
wishing to enjoy in their turn the same advantages
as their predecessors, announced their intention of
reforming all that they still considered too aristo
cratic in the new Constitution. Less influenced by
the misfortunes they might bring upon their country
than by the hope of treading the path leading to
honours and fortune, the majority of them betrayed
a frenzied desire for liberty and equality, and aspired
to establish a form of government which should so
closely approach that of a Republic that royalty
would not be able to maintain itself against their
efforts to annihilate it.
The other deputies of the Assembly, such as
Ramond, Vaublanc, Pastoret, etc., etc., who be
longed to the Left of the previous Assembly, and
became the Right of this one, did not share their
sentiments, but they were not strong enough to
withstand their attacks. Everything pointed to a
fresh revolution, which would drag down with it
the ruin of the Monarchy and the Constitution,
and would establish a more popular Constitution, of
which the Republic would be the base.

END OF VOL. I,

'ALE UNIVERSITY

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