diff options
Diffstat (limited to '3890.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 3890.txt | 3054 |
1 files changed, 3054 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/3890.txt b/3890.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..db9d248 --- /dev/null +++ b/3890.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3054 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Memoirs of Marie Antoinette, Queen Of +France, Volume 7, by Madame Campan + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Memoirs of Marie Antoinette, Queen Of France, Volume 7 + Being the Historic Memoirs of Madam Campan, First Lady in Waiting + to the Queen + + +Author: Madame Campan + +Release Date: December 4, 2004 [EBook #3890] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARIE ANTOINETTE *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF MARIE ANTOINETTE, QUEEN OF FRANCE + +Being the Historic Memoirs of Madam Campan, +First Lady in Waiting to the Queen + + + + +Volume 7 + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +The Queen having been robbed of her purse as she was passing from the +Tuileries to the Feuillans, requested my sister to lend her twenty-five +louis. + +[On being interrogated the Queen declared that these five and twenty louis +had been lent to her by my sister; this formed a pretence for arresting +her and me, and led to her death.--MADAME CAMPAN.] + +I spent part of the day at the Feuillans, and her Majesty told me she +would ask Potion to let me be with her in the place which the Assembly +should decree for her prison. I then returned home to prepare everything +that might be necessary for me to accompany her. + +On the same day (11th August), at nine in the evening, I returned to the +Feuillans. I found there were orders at all the gates forbidding my being +admitted. I claimed a right to enter by virtue of the first permission +which had been given to me; I was again refused. I was told that the +Queen had as many people as were requisite about her. My sister was with +her, as well as one of my companions, who came out of the prisons of the +Abbaye on the 11th. I renewed my solicitations on the 12th; my tears and +entreaties moved neither the keepers of the gates, nor even a deputy, to +whom I addressed myself. + +I soon heard of the removal of Louis XVI. and his family to the Temple. I +went to Potion accompanied by M. Valadon, for whom I had procured a place +in the post-office, and who was devoted to me. He determined to go up to +Potion alone; he told him that those who requested to be confined could +not be suspected of evil designs, and that no political opinion could +afford a ground of objection to these solicitations. Seeing that the +well-meaning man did not succeed, I thought to do more in person; but +Petion persisted in his refusal, and threatened to send me to La Force. +Thinking to give me a kind of consolation, he added I might be certain +that all those who were then with Louis XVI. and his family would not stay +with them long. And in fact, two or three days afterwards the Princesse +de Lamballe, Madame de Tourzel, her daughter, the Queen's first woman, the +first woman of the Dauphin and of Madame, M. de Chamilly, and M. de Hue +were carried off during the night and transferred to La Force. After the +departure of the King and Queen for the Temple, my sister was detained a +prisoner in the apartments their Majesties had quitted for twenty-four +hours. + +From this time I was reduced to the misery of having no further +intelligence of my august and unfortunate mistress but through the medium +of the newspapers or the National Guard, who did duty at the Temple. + +The King and Queen said nothing to me at the Feuillans about the portfolio +which had been deposited with me; no doubt they expected to see me again. +The minister Roland and the deputies composing the provisional government +were very intent on a search for papers belonging to their Majesties. +They had the whole of the Tuileries ransacked. The infamous Robespierre +bethought himself of M. Campan, the Queen's private secretary, and said +that his death was feigned; that he was living unknown in some obscure +part of France, and was doubtless the depositary of all the important +papers. In a great portfolio belonging to the King there had been found a +solitary letter from the Comte d'Artois, which, by its date, and the +subjects of which it treated, indicated the existence of a continued +correspondence. (This letter appeared among the documents used on the +trial of Louis XVI.) A former preceptor of my son's had studied with +Robespierre; the latter, meeting him in the street, and knowing the +connection which had subsisted between him and the family of M. Campan, +required him to say, upon his honour, whether he was certain of the death +of the latter. The man replied that M. Campan had died at La Briche in +1791, and that he had seen him interred in the cemetery of Epinay. "well, +then," resumed Robespierre, "bring me the certificate of his burial at +twelve to-morrow; it is a document for which I have pressing occasion." +Upon hearing the deputy's demand I instantly sent for a certificate of M. +Campan's burial, and Robespierre received it at nine o'clock the next +morning. But I considered that, in thinking of my father-in-law, they +were coming very near me, the real depositary of these important papers. +I passed days and nights in considering what I could do for the best under +such circumstances. + +I was thus situated when the order to inform against those who had been +denounced as suspected on the 10th of August led to domiciliary visits. My +servants were told that the people of the quarter in which I lived were +talking much of the search that would be made in my house, and came to +apprise me of it. I heard that fifty armed men would make themselves +masters of M. Auguies house, where I then was. I had just received this +intelligence when M. Gougenot, the King's maitre d'hotel and +receiver-general of the taxes, a man much attached to his sovereign, came +into my room wrapped in a ridingcloak, under which, with great difficulty, +he carried the King's portfolio, which I had entrusted to him. He threw +it down at my feet, and said to me, "There is your deposit; I did not +receive it from our unfortunate King's own hands; in delivering it to you +I have executed my trust." After saying this he was about to withdraw. I +stopped him, praying him to consult with me what I ought to do in such a +trying emergency. He would not listen to my entreaties, or even hear me +describe the course I intended to pursue. I told him my abode was about +to be surrounded; I imparted to him what the Queen had said to me about +the contents of the portfolio. To all this he answered, "There it is; +decide for yourself; I will have no hand in it." Upon that I remained a +few seconds thinking, and my conduct was founded upon the following +reasons. I spoke aloud, although to myself; I walked about the room with +agitated steps; M. Gougenot was thunderstruck. "Yes," said I, "when we +can no longer communicate with our King and receive his orders, however +attached we may be to him, we can only serve him according to the best of +our own judgment. The Queen said to me, 'This portfolio contains scarcely +anything but documents of a most dangerous description in the event of a +trial taking place, if it should fall into the hands of revolutionary +persons.' She mentioned, too, a single document which would, under the +same circumstances, be useful. It is my duty to interpret her words, and +consider them as orders. She meant to say, 'You will save such a paper, +you will destroy the rest if they are likely to be taken from you.' If it +were not so, was there any occasion for her to enter into any detail as to +what the portfolio contained? The order to keep it was sufficient. +Probably it contains, moreover, the letters of that part of the family +which has emigrated; there is nothing which may have been foreseen or +decided upon that can be useful now; and there can be no political thread +which has not been cut by the events of the 10th of August and the +imprisonment of the King. My house is about to be surrounded; I cannot +conceal anything of such bulk; I might, then, through want of foresight, +give up that which would cause the condemnation of the King. Let us open +the portfolio, save the document alluded to, and destroy the rest." I +took a knife and cut open one side of the portfolio. I saw a great number +of envelopes endorsed by the King's own hand. M. Gougenot found there the +former seals of the King, + +[No doubt it was in order to have the ancient seals ready at a moment's +notice, in case of a counter-revolution, that the Queen desired me not to +quit the Tuileries. M. Gougenot threw the seals into the river, one from +above the Pont Neuf, and the other from near the Pont Royal.--MADAME +CAMPAN.] + +such as they were before the Assembly had changed the inscription. At +this moment we heard a great noise; he agreed to tie up the portfolio, +take it again under his cloak, and go to a safe place to execute what I +had taken upon me to determine. He made me swear, by all I held most +sacred, that I would affirm, under every possible emergency, that the +course I was pursuing had not been dictated to me by anybody; and that, +whatever might be the result, I would take all the credit or all the blame +upon myself. I lifted up my hand and took the oath he required; he went +out. Half an hour afterwards a great number of armed men came to my +house; they placed sentinels at all the outlets; they broke open +secretaires and closets of which they had not the keys; they 'searched the +flower-pots and boxes; they examined the cellars; and the commandant +repeatedly said, "Look particularly for papers." In the afternoon M. +Gougenot returned. He had still the seals of France about him, and he +brought me a statement of all that he had burnt. + +The portfolio contained twenty letters from Monsieur, eighteen or nineteen +from the Comte d'Artois, seventeen from Madame Adelaide, eighteen from +Madame Victoire, a great many letters from Comte Alexandre de Lameth, and +many from M. de Malesherbes, with documents annexed to them. There were +also some from M. de Montmorin and other ex-ministers or ambassadors. +Each correspondence had its title written in the King's own hand upon the +blank paper which contained it. The most voluminous was that from +Mirabeau. It was tied up with a scheme for an escape, which he thought +necessary. M. Gougenot, who had skimmed over these letters with more +attention than the rest, told me they were of so interesting a nature that +the King had no doubt kept them as documents exceedingly valuable for a +history of his reign, and that the correspondence with the Princes, which +was entirely relative to what was going forward abroad, in concert with +the King, would have been fatal to him if it had been seized. After he +had finished he placed in my hands the proces-verbal, signed by all the +ministers, to which the King attached so much importance, because he had +given his opinion against the declaration of war; a copy of the letter +written by the King to the Princes, his brothers, inviting them to return +to France; an account of the diamonds which the Queen had sent to Brussels +(these two documents were in my handwriting); and a receipt for four +hundred thousand francs, under the hand of a celebrated banker. This sum +was part of the eight hundred thousand francs which the Queen had +gradually saved during her reign, out of her pension of three hundred +thousand francs per annum, and out of the one hundred thousand francs +given by way of present on the birth of the Dauphin. + +This receipt, written on a very small piece of paper, was in the cover of +an almanac. I agreed with M. Gougenot, who was obliged by his office to +reside in Paris, that he should retain the proces-verbal of the Council +and the receipt for the four hundred thousand francs, and that we should +wait either for orders or for the means of transmitting these documents to +the King or Queen; and I set out for Versailles. + +The strictness of the precautions taken to guard the illustrious prisoners +was daily increased. The idea that I could not inform the King of the +course I had adopted of burning his papers, and the fear that I should not +be able to transmit to him that which he had pointed out as necessary, +tormented me to such a degree that it is wonderful my health endured the +strain. + +The dreadful trial drew near. Official advocates were granted to the +King; the heroic virtue of M. de Malesherbes induced him to brave the most +imminent dangers, either to save his master or to perish with him. I hoped +also to be able to find some means of informing his Majesty of what I had +thought it right to do. I sent a man, on whom I could rely, to Paris, to +request M. Gougenot to come to me at Versailles he came immediately. We +agreed that he should see M. de Malesherbes without availing himself of +any intermediate person for that purpose. + +M. Gougenot awaited his return from the Temple at the door of his hotel, +and made a sign that he wished to speak to him. A moment afterwards a +servant came to introduce him into the magistrates' room. He imparted to +M. de Malesherbes what I had thought it right to do with respect to the +King's papers, and placed in his hands the proces-verbal of the Council, +which his Majesty had preserved in order to serve, if occasion required +it, for a ground of his defence. However, that paper is not mentioned in +either of the speeches of his advocate; probably it was determined not to +make use of it. + +I stop at that terrible period which is marked by the assassination of a +King whose virtues are well known; but I cannot refrain from relating what +he deigned to say in my favour to M. de Malesherbes: + +"Let Madame Campan know that she did what I should myself have ordered her +to do; I thank her for it; she is one of those whom I regret I have it not +in my power to recompense for their fidelity to my person, and for their +good services." I did not hear of this until the morning after he had +suffered, and I think I should have sunk under my despair if this +honourable testimony had not given me some consolation. + + + + +SUPPLEMENT TO CHAPTER IX. + + +MADAME CAMPAN'S narrative breaking off abruptly at the time of the painful +end met with by her sister, we have supplemented it by abridged accounts +of the chief incidents in the tragedy which overwhelmed the royal house +she so faithfully served, taken from contemporary records and the best +historical authorities. + + +The Royal Family in the Temple. + +The Assembly having, at the instance of the Commune of Paris, decreed that +the royal family should be immured in the Temple, they were removed +thither from the Feuillans on the 13th of August, 1792, in the charge of +Potion, Mayor of Paris, and Santerre, the commandant-general. Twelve +Commissioners of the general council were to keep constant watch at the +Temple, which had been fortified by earthworks and garrisoned by +detachments of the National Guard, no person being allowed to enter +without permission from the municipality. + +The Temple, formerly the headquarters of the Knights Templars in Paris, +consisted of two buildings,--the Palace, facing the Rue de Temple, usually +occupied by one of the Princes of the blood; and the Tower, standing +behind the Palace. + +[Clery gives a more minute description of this singular building: "The +small tower of the Temple in which the King was then confined stood with +its back against the great tower, without any interior communication, and +formed a long square, flanked by two turrets. In one of these turrets +there was a narrow staircase that led from the first floor to a gallery on +the platform; in the other were small rooms, answering to each story of +the tower. The body of the building was four stories high. The first +consisted of an antechamber, a dining-room, and a small room in the +turret, where there was a library containing from twelve to fifteen +hundred volumes. The second story was divided nearly in the same manner. +The largest room was the Queen's bedchamber, in which the Dauphin also +slept; the second, which was separated from the Queen's by a small +antechamber almost without light, was occupied by Madame Royale and Madame +Elisabeth. The King's apartments were on the third story. He slept in +the great room, and made a study of the turret closet. There was a +kitchen separated from the King's chamber by a small dark room, which had +been successively occupied by M. de Chamilly and M. de Hue. The fourth +story was shut up; and on the ground floor there were kitchens of which no +use was made." --"Journal," p. 96.] + +The Tower was a square building, with a round tower at each corner and a +small turret on one side, usually called the Tourelle. In the narrative +of the Duchesse d'Angouleme she says that the soldiers who escorted the +royal prisoners wished to take the King alone to the Tower, and his family +to the Palace of the Temple, but that on the way Manuel received an order +to imprison them all in the Tower, where so little provision had been made +for their reception that Madame Elisabeth slept in the kitchen. The royal +family were accompanied by the Princesse de Lamballe, Madame de Tourzel +and her daughter Pauline, Mesdames de Navarre, de Saint-Brice, Thibaut, +and Bazire, MM. de Hug and de Chamilly, and three men-servants--An order +from the Commune soon removed these devoted attendants, and M. de Hue +alone was permitted to return. "We all passed the day together," says +Madame Royale. "My father taught my brother geography; my mother history, +and to learn verses by heart; and my aunt gave him lessons in arithmetic. +My father fortunately found a library which amused him, and my mother +worked tapestry . . . . We went every day to walk in the garden, for +the sake of my brother's health, though the King was always insulted by +the guard. On the Feast of Saint Louis 'Ca Ira' was sung under the walls +of the Temple. Manuel that evening brought my aunt a letter from her +aunts at Rome. It was the last the family received from without. My +father was no longer called King. He was treated with no kind of respect; +the officers always sat in his presence and never took off their hats. +They deprived him of his sword and searched his pockets . . . . Petion +sent as gaoler the horrible man--[Rocher, a saddler by trade] who had +broken open my father's door on the 20th June, 1792, and who had been near +assassinating him. This man never left the Tower, and was indefatigable +in endeavouring to torment him. One time he would sing the 'Caramgnole,' +and a thousand other horrors, before us; again, knowing that my mother +disliked the smoke of tobacco, he would puff it in her face, as well as in +that of my father, as they happened to pass him. He took care always to be +in bed before we went to supper, because he knew that we must pass through +his room. My father suffered it all with gentleness, forgiving the man +from the bottom of his heart. My mother bore it with a dignity that +frequently repressed his insolence." The only occasion, Madame Royale +adds, on which the Queen showed any impatience at the conduct of the +officials, was when a municipal officer woke the Dauphin suddenly in the +night to make certain that he was safe, as though the sight of the +peacefully sleeping child would not have been in itself the best +assurance. + +Clery, the valet de chambre of the Dauphin, having with difficulty +obtained permission to resume his duties, entered the Temple on the 24th +August, and for eight days shared with M. de Hue the personal attendance; +but on the 2d September De Hue was arrested, seals were placed on the +little room he had occupied, and Clery passed the night in that of the +King. On the following morning Manuel arrived, charged by the Commune to +inform the King that De Hue would not be permitted to return, and to offer +to send another person. "I thank you," answered the King. "I will manage +with the valet de chambre of my son; and if the Council refuse I will +serve myself. I am determined to do it." On the 3d September Manual +visited the Temple and assured the King that Madame de Lamballe and all +the other prisoners who had been removed to La Force were well, and safely +guarded. "But at three o'clock," says Madame Royale, "just after dinner, +and as the King was sitting down to 'tric trac' with my mother (which he +played for the purpose of having an opportunity of saying a few words to +her unheard by the keepers), the most horrid shouts were heard. The +officer who happened to be on guard in the room behaved well. He shut the +door and the window, and even drew the curtains to prevent their seeing +anything; but outside the workmen and the gaoler Rocher joined the +assassins and increased the tumult. Several officers of the guard and the +municipality now arrived, and on my father's asking what was the matter, a +young officer replied, 'Well, since you will know, it is the head of +Madame de Lamballe that they want to show you.' At these words my mother +was overcome with horror; it was the only occasion on which her firmness +abandoned her. The municipal officers were very angry with the young man; +but the King, with his usual goodness, excused him, saying that it was his +own fault, since he had questioned the officer. The noise lasted till +five o'clock. We learned that the people had wished to force the door, +and that the municipal officers had been enabled to prevent it only by +putting a tricoloured scarf across it, and allowing six of the murderers +to march round our prison with the head of the Princess, leaving at the +door her body, which they would have dragged in also." + +Clery was not so fortunate as to escape the frightful spectacle. He had +gone down to dine with Tison and his wife, employed as servants in the +Temple, and says: "We were hardly seated when a head, on the end of a +pike, was presented at the window. Tison's wife gave a great cry; the +assassins fancied they recognised the Queen's voice, and responded by +savage laughter. Under the idea that his Majesty was still at table, they +placed their dreadful trophy where it must be seen. It was the head of +the Princesse de Lamballe; although bleeding, it was not disfigured, and +her light hair, still in curls, hung about the pike." + +At length the immense mob that surrounded the Temple gradually withdrew, +"to follow the head of the Princess de Lamballe to the Palais Royal." + +[The pike that bore the head was fixed before the Duc d'Orleans's window +as he was going to dinner. It is said that he looked at this horrid sight +without horror, went into the dining-room, sat down to table, and helped +his guests without saying a word. His silence and coolness left it +doubtful whether the assassins, in presenting him this bloody trophy, +intended to offer him an insult or to pay him homage.--DE MOLLEVILLE'S +"Annals of the French Revolution," vol. vii., p. 398.] + +Meanwhile the royal family could scarcely believe that for the time their +lives were saved. "My aunt and I heard the drums beating to arms all +night," says Madame Royale; "my unhappy mother did not even attempt to +sleep. We heard her sobs." + +In the comparative tranquillity which followed the September massacres, +the royal family resumed the regular habits they had adopted on entering +the Temple. "The King usually rose at six in the morning," says Clery. +"He shaved himself, and I dressed his hair; he then went to his +reading-room, which, being very small, the municipal officer on duty +remained in the bedchamber with the door open, that he might always keep +the King in sight. His Majesty continued praying on his knees for some +time, and then read till nine. During that interval, after putting his +chamber to rights and preparing the breakfast, I went down to the Queen, +who never opened her door till I arrived, in order to prevent the +municipal officer from going into her apartment. At nine o'clock the +Queen, the children, and Madame Elisabeth went up to the King's chamber to +breakfast. At ten the King and his family went down to the Queen's +chamber, and there passed the day. He employed himself in educating his +son, made him recite passages from Corneille and Racine, gave him lessons +in geography, and exercised him in colouring the maps. The Queen, on her +part, was employed in the education of her daughter, and these different +lessons lasted till eleven o'clock. The remaining time till noon was +passed in needlework, knitting, or making tapestry. At one o'clock, when +the weather was fine, the royal family were conducted to the garden by +four municipal officers and the commander of a legion of the National +Guard. As there were a number of workmen in the Temple employed in pulling +down houses and building new walls, they only allowed a part of the +chestnut-tree walk for the promenade, in which I was allowed to share, and +where I also played with the young Prince at ball, quoits, or races. At +two we returned to the Tower, where I served the dinner, at which time +Santerre regularly came to the Temple, attended by two aides-de-camp. The +King sometimes spoke to him,--the Queen never. + +"After the meal the royal family came down into the Queen's room, and +their Majesties generally played a game of piquet or tric-trac. At four +o'clock the King took a little repose, the Princesses round him, each with +a book . . . . When the King woke the conversation was resumed, and I +gave writing lessons to his son, taking the copies, according to his +instructions, from the works of, Montesquieu and other celebrated authors. +After the lesson I took the young Prince into Madame Elisabeth's room, +where we played at ball, and battledore and shuttlecock. In the evening +the family sat round a table, while the Queen read to them from books of +history, or other works proper to instruct and amuse the children. Madame +Elisabeth took the book in her turn, and in this manner they read till +eight o'clock. After that I served the supper of the young Prince, in +which the royal family shared, and the King amused the children with +charades out of a collection of French papers which he found in the +library. After the Dauphin had supped, I undressed him, and the Queen +heard him say his prayers. At nine the King went to supper, and +afterwards went for a moment to the Queen's chamber, shook hands with her +and his sister for the night, kissed his children, and then retired to the +turret-room, where he sat reading till midnight. The Queen and the +Princesses locked themselves in, and one of the municipal officers +remained in the little room which parted their chamber, where he passed +the night; the other followed his Majesty. In this manner was the time +passed as long as the King remained in the small tower." + +But even these harmless pursuits were too often made the means of further +insulting and thwarting the unfortunate family. Commissary Le Clerc +interrupted the Prince's writing lessons, proposing to substitute +Republican works for those from which the King selected his copies. A +smith, who was present when the Queen was reading the history of France to +her children, denounced her to the Commune for choosing the period when +the Connstable de Bourbon took arms against France, and said she wished to +inspire her son with unpatriotic feelings; a municipal officer asserted +that the multiplication table the Prince was studying would afford a means +of "speaking in cipher," so arithmetic had to be abandoned. Much the same +occurred even with the needlework, the Queen and Princess finished some +chairbacks, which they wished to send to the Duchesse de Tarente; but the +officials considered that the patterns were hieroglyphics, intended for +carrying on a correspondence, and ordered that none of the Princesses work +should leave the Temple. The short daily walk in the garden was also +embittered by the rude behaviour of the military and municipal gaolers; +sometimes, however, it afforded an opportunity for marks of sympathy to be +shown. People would station themselves at the windows of houses +overlooking the Temple gardens, and evince by gestures their loyal +affection, and some of the sentinels showed, even by tears, that their +duty was painful to them. + +On the 21st September the National Convention was constituted, Petion +being made president and Collot d'Herbois moving the "abolition of +royalty" amidst transports of applause. That afternoon a municipal +officer attended by gendarmes a cheval, and followed by a crowd of people, +arrived at the Temple, and, after a flourish of trumpets, proclaimed the +establishment of the French Republic. The man, says Clery, "had the voice +of a Stentor." The royal family could distinctly hear the announcement of +the King's deposition. "Hebert, so well known under the title of Pere +Duchesne, and Destournelles were on guard. They were sitting near the +door, and turned to the King with meaning smiles. He had a book in his +hand, and went on reading without changing countenance. The Queen showed +the same firmness. The proclamation finished, the trumpets sounded +afresh. I went to the window; the people took me for Louis XVI. and I was +overwhelmed with insults." + +After the new decree the prisoners were treated with increased harshness. +Pens, paper, ink, and pencils were taken from them. The King and Madame +Elisabeth gave up all, but the Queen and her daughter each concealed a +pencil. "In the beginning of October," says Madame Royale, "after my +father had supped, he was told to stop, that he was not to return to his +former apartments, and that he was to be separated from his family. At +this dreadful sentence the Queen lost her usual courage. We parted from +him with abundance of tears, though we expected to see him again in the +morning. + +[At nine o'clock, says Clery, the King asked to be taken to his family, +but the municipal officers replied that they had "no orders for that." +Shortly afterwards a boy brought the King some bread and a decanter of +lemonade for his breakfast. The King gave half the bread to Clery, +saying, "It seems they have forgotten your breakfast; take this, the rest +is enough for me." Clery refused, but the King insisted. "I could not +contain my tears," he adds; "the King perceived them, and his own fell +also."] + +They brought in our breakfast separately from his, however. My mother +would take nothing. The officers, alarmed at her silent and concentrated +sorrow, allowed us to see the King, but at meal-times only, and on +condition that we should not speak low, nor in any foreign language, but +loud and in 'good French.' We went down, therefore, with the greatest joy +to dine with my father. In the evening, when my brother was in bed, my +mother and my aunt alternately sat with him or went with me to sup with my +father. In the morning, after breakfast, we remained in the King's +apartments while Clery dressed our hair, as he was no longer allowed to +come to my mother's room, and this arrangement gave us the pleasure of +spending a few moments more with my father." + +[When the first deputation from the Council of the Commune visited the +Temple, and formally inquired whether the King had any complaint to make, +he replied, "No; while he was permitted to remain with his family he was +happy."] + +The royal prisoners had no comfort except their affection for each other. +At that time even common necessaries were denied them. Their small stock +of linen had been lent them; by persons of the Court during the time they +spent at the Feuillans. The Princesses mended their clothes every day, +and after the King had gone to bed Madame Elisabeth mended his. "With +much trouble," says Clrry, "I procured some fresh linen for them. But the +workwomen having marked it with crowned letters, the Princesses were +ordered to pick them out." The room in the great tower to which the King +had been removed contained only one bed, and no other article of +furniture. A chair was brought on which Clery spent the first night; +painters were still at work on the room, and the smell of the paint, he +says, was almost unbearable. This room was afterwards furnished by +collecting from various parts of the Temple a chest of drawers, a small +bureau, a few odd chairs, a chimney-glass, and a bed hung with green +damask, which had been used by the captain of the guard to the Comte +d'Artois. A room for the Queen was being prepared over that of the King, +and she implored the workmen to finish it quickly, but it was not ready +for her occupation for some time, and when she was allowed to remove to it +the Dauphin was taken from her and placed with his father. When their +Majesties met again in the great Tower, says Clery, there was little +change in the hours fixed for meals, reading, walking and the education of +their children. They were not allowed to have mass said in the Temple, +and therefore commissioned Clery to get them the breviary in use in the +diocese of Paris. Among the books read by the King while in the Tower +were Hume's "History of England" (in the original), Tasso, and the "De +Imitatione Christi." The jealous suspicions of the municipal officers led +to the most absurd investigations; a draught-board was taken to pieces +lest the squares should hide treasonable papers; macaroons were broken in +half to see that they did not contain letters; peaches were cut open and +the stones cracked; and Clery was compelled to drink the essence of soap +prepared for shaving the King, under the pretence that it might contain +poison. + +In November the King and all the family had feverish colds, and Clery had +an attack of rheumatic fever. On the first day of his illness he got up +and tried to dress his master, but the King, seeing how ill he was, +ordered him to lie down, and himself dressed the Dauphin. The little +Prince waited on Clery all day, and in the evening the King contrived to +approach his bed, and said, in a low voice, "I should like to take care of +you myself, but you know how we are watched. Take courage; tomorrow you +shall see my doctor." Madame Elisabeth brought the valet cooling +draughts, of which she deprived herself; and after Clery was able to get +up, the young Prince one night with great difficulty kept awake till +eleven o'clock in order to give him a box of lozenges when he went to make +the King's bed. + +On 7th December a deputation from the Commune brought an order that the +royal family should be deprived of "knives, razors, scissors, penknives, +and all other cutting instruments." The King gave up a knife, and took +from a morocco case a pair of scissors and a penknife; and the officials +then searched the room, taking away the little toilet implements of gold +and silver, and afterwards removing the Princesses' working materials. +Returning to the King's room, they insisted upon seeing what remained in +his pocket-case. "Are these toys which I have in my hand also cutting +instruments?" asked the King, showing them a cork-screw, a turn-screw, +and a steel for lighting. These also were taken from him. Shortly +afterwards Madame Elisabeth was mending the King's coat, and, having no +scissors, was compelled to break the thread with her teeth. + +"What a contrast!" he exclaimed, looking at her tenderly. "You wanted +nothing in your pretty house at Montreuil." + +"Ah, brother," she answered, "how can I have any regret when I partake +your misfortunes?" + +The Queen had frequently to take on herself some of the humble duties of a +servant. This was especially painful to Louis XVI. when the anniversary +of some State festival brought the contrast between past and present with +unusual keenness before him. + +"Ah, Madame," he once exclaimed, "what an employment for a Queen of +France! Could they see that at Vienna! Who would have foreseen that, in +uniting your lot to mine, you would have descended so low?" + +"And do you esteem as nothing," she replied, "the glory of being the wife +of one of the best and most persecuted of men? Are not such misfortunes +the noblest honours?"--[Alison's "History of Europe," vol. ii., p. 299.] + +Meanwhile the Assembly had decided that the King should be brought to +trial. Nearly all parties, except the Girondists, no matter how bitterly +opposed to each other, could agree in making him the scapegoat; and the +first rumour of the approaching ordeal was conveyed to the Temple by +Clery's wife, who, with a friend, had permission occasionally to visit +him. "I did not know how to announce this terrible news to the King," he +says; "but time was pressing, and he had forbidden my concealing anything +from him. In the evening, while undressing him, I gave him an account of +all I had learnt, and added that there were only four days to concert some +plan of corresponding with the Queen. The arrival of the municipal +officer would not allow me to say more. Next morning, when the King rose, +I could not get a moment for speaking with him. He went up with his son +to breakfast with the Princesses, and I followed. After breakfast he +talked long with the Queen, who, by a look full of trouble, made me +understand that they were discussing what I had told the King. During the +day I found an opportunity of describing to Madame Elisabeth how much it +had cost me to augment the King's distresses by informing him of his +approaching trial. She reassured me, saying that the King felt this as a +mark of attachment on my part, and added, 'That which most troubles him is +the fear of being separated from us.' In the evening the King told me how +satisfied he was at having had warning that he was to appear before the +Convention. 'Continue,' he said, 'to endeavour to find out something as +to what they want to do with me. Never fear distressing me. I have +agreed with my family not to seem pre-informed, in order not to compromise +you.'" + +On the 11th December, at five o'clock in the morning, the prisoners heard +the generale beaten throughout Paris, and cavalry and cannon entered the +Temple gardens. At nine the King and the Dauphin went as usual to +breakfast with the Queen. They were allowed to remain together for an +hour, but constantly under the eyes of their republican guardians. At +last they were obliged to part, doubtful whether they would ever see each +other again. The little Prince, who remained with his father, and was +ignorant of the new cause for anxiety, begged hard that the King would +play at ninepins with him as usual. Twice the Dauphin could not get +beyond a certain number. "Each time that I get up to sixteen," he said, +with some vexation, "I lose the game." The King did not reply, but Clery +fancied the words made a painful impression on him. + +At eleven, while the King was giving the Dauphin a reading lesson, two +municipal officers entered and said they had come "to take young Louis to +his mother." The King inquired why, but was only told that such were the +orders of the Council. At one o'clock the Mayor of Paris, Chambon, +accompanied by Chaumette, Procureur de la Commune, Santerre, commandant of +the National Guard, and others, arrived at the Temple and read a decree to +the King, which ordered that "Louis Capet" should be brought before the +Convention. "Capet is not my name," he replied, "but that of one of my +ancestors. I could have wished," he added, "that you had left my son with +me during the last two hours. But this treatment is consistent with all I +have experienced here. I follow you, not because I recognise the +authority of the Convention, but because I can be compelled to obey it." +He then followed the Mayor to a carriage which waited, with a numerous +escort, at the gate of the Temple. The family left behind were +overwhelmed with grief and apprehension. "It is impossible to describe +the anxiety we suffered," says Madame Royale. "My mother used every +endeavour with the officer who guarded her to discover what was passing; +it was the first time she had condescended to question any of these men. +He would tell her nothing." + + + + +Trial of the King.--Parting of the Royal Family.--Execution. + + +The crowd was immense as, on the morning of the 11th December, 1792, Louis +XVI. was driven slowly from the Temple to the Convention, escorted by +cavalry, infantry, and artillery. Paris looked like an armed camp: all +the posts were doubled; the muster-roll of the National Guard was called +over every hour; a picket of two hundred men watched in the court of each +of the right sections; a reserve with cannon was stationed at the +Tuileries, and strong detachments patroled the streets and cleared the +road of all loiterers. The trees that lined the boulevards, the doors and +windows of the houses, were alive with gazers, and all eyes were fixed on +the King. He was much changed since his people last beheld him. The beard +he had been compelled to grow after his razors were taken from him covered +cheeks, lips, and chin with light-coloured hair, which concealed the +melancholy expression of his mouth; he had become thin, and his garments +hung loosely on him; but his manner was perfectly collected and calm, and +he recognised and named to the Mayor the various quarters through which he +passed. On arriving at the Feuillans he was taken to a room to await the +orders of the Assembly. + +It was about half-past two when the King appeared at the bar. The Mayor +and Generaux Santerre and Wittengoff were at his side. Profound silence +pervaded the Assembly. All were touched by the King's dignity and the +composure of his looks under so great a reverse of fortune. By nature he +had been formed rather to endure calamity with patience than to contend +against it with energy. The approach of death could not disturb his +serenity. + +"Louis, you may be seated," said Barere. "Answer the questions that shall +be put to you." The King seated himself and listened to the reading of +the 'acte enonciatif', article by article. All the faults of the Court +were there enumerated and imputed to Louis XVI. personally. He was charged +with the interruption of the sittings of the 20th of June, 1789, with the +Bed of Justice held on the 23d of the same month, the aristocratic +conspiracy thwarted by the insurrection of the 14th of July, the +entertainment of the Life Guards, the insults offered to the national +cockade, the refusal to sanction the Declaration of Rights, as well as +several constitutional articles; lastly, all the facts which indicated a +new conspiracy in October, and which were followed by the scenes of the +5th and 6th; the speeches of reconciliation which had succeeded all these +scenes, and which promised a change that was not sincere; the false oath +taken at the Federation of the 14th of July; the secret practices of Talon +and Mirabeau to effect a counter-revolution; the money spent in bribing a +great number of deputies; the assemblage of the "knights of the dagger" on +the 28th of February, 1791; the flight to Varennes; the fusilade of the +Champ de Mars; the silence observed respecting the Treaty of Pilnitz; the +delay in the promulgation of the decree which incorporated Avignon with +France; the commotions at Nimes, Montauban, Mende, and Jales; the +continuance of their pay to the emigrant Life Guards and to the disbanded +Constitutional Guard; the insufficiency of the armies assembled on the +frontiers; the refusal to sanction the decree for the camp of twenty +thousand men; the disarming of the fortresses; the organisation of secret +societies in the interior of Paris; the review of the Swiss and the +garrison of the palace on the 10th August; the summoning the Mayor to the +Tuileries; and lastly, the effusion of blood which had resulted from these +military dispositions. After each article the President paused, and said, +"What have you to answer?" The King, in a firm voice, denied some of the +facts, imputed others to his ministers, and always appealed to the +constitution, from which he declared he had never deviated. His answers +were very temperate, but on the charge, "You spilt the blood of the people +on the 10th of August," he exclaimed, with emphasis, "No, monsieur, no; it +was not I." + +All the papers on which the act of accusation was founded were then shown +to the King, and he disavowed some of them and disputed the existence of +the iron chest; this produced a bad impression, and was worse than +useless, as the fact had been proved. + +[A secret closet which the King had directed to be constructed in a wall +in the Tuileries. The door was of iron, whence it was afterwards known by +the name of the iron chest. See Thiers, and Scott.] + +Throughout the examination the King showed great presence of mind. He was +careful in his answers never to implicate any members of the constituent, +and legislative Assemblies; many who then sat as his judges trembled lest +he should betray them. The Jacobins beheld with dismay the profound +impression made on the Convention by the firm but mild demeanour of the +sovereign. The most violent of the party proposed that he should be +hanged that very night; a laugh as of demons followed the proposal from +the benches of the Mountain, but the majority, composed of the Girondists +and the neutrals, decided that he should be formally tried. + +After the examination Santerre took the King by the arm and led him back +to the waiting-room of the Convention, accompanied by Chambon and +Chaumette. Mental agitation and the length of the proceedings had +exhausted him, and he staggered from weakness. Chaumette inquired if he +wished for refreshment, but the King refused it. A moment after, seeing a +grenadier of the escort offer the Procureur de la Commune half a small +loaf, Louis XVI. approached and asked him, in a whisper, for a piece. + +"Ask aloud for what you want," said Chaumette, retreating as though he +feared being suspected of pity. + +"I asked for a piece of your bread," replied the King. + +"Divide it with me," said Chaumette. "It is a Spartan breakfast. If I +had a root I would give you half."--[Lamartine's "History of the +Girondists," edit. 1870, vol. ii., p. 313.] + +Soon after six in the evening the King returned to the Temple. "He seemed +tired," says Clery, simply, "and his first wish was to be led to his +family. The officers refused, on the plea that they had no orders. He +insisted that at least they should be informed of his return, and this was +promised him. The King ordered me to ask for his supper at half-past +eight. The intervening hours he employed in his usual reading, surrounded +by four municipals. When I announced that supper was served, the King +asked the commissaries if his family could not come down. They made no +reply. 'But at least,' the King said, 'my son will pass the night in my +room, his bed being here?' The same silence. After supper the King again +urged his wish to see his family. They answered that they must await the +decision of the Convention. While I was undressing him the King said, 'I +was far from expecting all the questions they put to me.' He lay down +with perfect calmness. The order for my removal during the night was not +executed." On the King's return to the Temple being known, "my mother +asked to see him instantly," writes Madame Royale. "She made the same +request even to Chambon, but received no answer. My brother passed the +night with her; and as he had no bed, she gave him hers, and sat up all +the night in such deep affliction that we were afraid to leave her; but +she compelled my aunt and me to go to bed. Next day she again asked to +see my father, and to read the newspapers, that she might learn the course +of the trial. She entreated that if she was to be denied this indulgence, +his children, at least, might see him. Her requests were referred to the +Commune. The newspapers were refused; but my brother and I were to be +allowed to see my father on condition of being entirely separated from my +mother. My father replied that, great as his happiness was in seeing his +children, the important business which then occupied him would not allow +of his attending altogether to his son, and that his daughter could not +leave her mother." + +[During their last interview Madame Elisabeth had given Clery one of her +handkerchiefs, saying, "You shall keep it so long as my brother continues +well; if he becomes ill, send it to me among my nephew's things."] + +The Assembly having, after a violent debate, resolved that Louis XVI. +should have the aid of counsel, a deputation was sent to the Temple to ask +whom he would choose. The King named Messieurs Target and Tronchet. The +former refused his services on the ground that he had discontinued +practice since 1785; the latter complied at once with the King's request; +and while the Assembly was considering whom to, nominate in Target's +place, the President received a letter from the venerable Malesherbes, + +[Christian Guillaume de Lamoignon de Malesherbes, an eminent French +statesman, son of the Chancellor of France, was born at Paris in 1721. In +1750 he succeeded his father as President of the Court of Aids, and was +also made superintendent of the press. On the banishment of the +Parliaments and the suppression of the Court of Aids, Malesherbes was +exiled to his country-seat. In 1775 he was appointed Minister of State. +On the decree of the Convention for the King's trial, he emerged from his +retreat to become the voluntary advocate of his sovereign. Malesherbes +was guillotined in 1794, and almost his whole family were extirpated by +their merciless persecutors.] + +then seventy years old, and "the most respected magistrate in France," in +the course of which he said: "I have been twice called to be counsel for +him who was my master, in times when that duty was coveted by every one. I +owe him the same service now that it is a duty which many people deem +dangerous. If I knew any possible means of acquainting him with my +desires, I should not take the liberty of addressing myself to you." Other +citizens made similar proposals, but the King, being made acquainted with +them by a deputation from the Commune, while expressing his gratitude for +all the offers, accepted only that of Malesherbes. + +[The Citoyenne Olympia Degonges, calling herself a free and loyal +Republican without spot or blame, and declaring that the cold and selfish +cruelty of Target had inflamed her heroism and roused her sensibility, +asked permission to assist M, de Malesherbes in defending the King. The +Assembly passed to the order of the day on this request.--BERTRAND DE +MOLLEVILLE, "Annals," edit. 1802, vol, viii., p. 254.] + +On 14th December M. Tronchet was allowed to confer with the King, and +later in the same day M. de Malesherbes was admitted to the Tower. "The +King ran up to this worthy old man, whom he clasped in his arms," said +Clery, "and the former minister melted into tears at the sight of his +master." + +[According to M. de Hue, "The first time M. de Malesherbes entered the +Temple, the King clasped him in his arms and said, 'Ah, is it you, my +friend? You fear not to endanger your own life to save mine; but all will +be useless. They will bring me to the scaffold. No matter; I shall gain +my cause if I leave an unspotted memory behind me.'"] + +Another deputation brought the King the Act of Accusation and the +documents relating to it, numbering more than a hundred, and taking from +four o'clock till midnight to read. During this long process the King had +refreshments served to the deputies, taking nothing himself till they had +left, but considerately reproving Clery for not having supped. From the +14th to the 26th December the King saw his counsel and their colleague M. +de Size every day. At this time a means of communication between the +royal family and the King was devised: a man named Turgi, who had been in +the royal kitchen, and who contrived to obtain employment in the Temple, +when conveying the meals of the royal family to their apartments, or +articles he had purchased for them, managed to give Madame Elisabeth news +of the King. Next day, the Princess, when Turgi was removing the dinner, +slipped into his hand a bit of paper on which she had pricked with a pin a +request for a word from her brother's own hand. Turgi gave this paper to +Clery, who conveyed it to the King the same evening; and he, being allowed +writing materials while preparing his defence, wrote Madame Elisabeth a +short note. An answer was conveyed in a ball of cotton, which Turgi threw +under Clery's bed while passing the door of his room. Letters were also +passed between the Princess's room and that of Clery, who lodged beneath +her, by means of a string let down and drawn up at night. This +communication with his family was a great comfort to the King, who, +nevertheless, constantly cautioned his faithful servant. "Take care," he +would say kindly, "you expose yourself too much." + +[The King's natural benevolence was constantly shown while in the Temple. +His own dreadful position never prevented him from sympathy with the +smaller troubles of others. A servant in the Temple named Marchand, the +father of a family, was robbed of two hundred francs, --his wages for two +months. The King observed his distress, asked its cause, and gave Clery +the amount to be handed to Marchand, with a caution not to speak of it to +any one, and, above all, not to thank the King, lest it should injure him +with his employers.] + +During his separation from his family the King refused to go into the +garden. When it was proposed to him he said, "I cannot make up my mind to +go out alone; the walk was agreeable to me only when I shared it with my +family." But he did not allow himself to dwell on painful reflections. +He talked freely to the municipals on guard, and surprised them by his +varied and practical knowledge of their trades, and his interest in their +domestic affairs. On the 19th December the King's breakfast was served as +usual; but, being a fast-day, he refused to take anything. At dinner-time +the King said to Clery, "Fourteen years ago you were up earlier than you +were to-day; it is the day my daughter was born--today, her birthday," he +repeated, with tears, "and to be prevented from seeing her!" Madame +Royale had wished for a calendar; the King ordered Clery to buy her the +"Almanac of the Republic," which had replaced the "Court Almanac," and ran +through it, marking with a pencil many names. + +"On Christmas Day," Says Clery, "the King wrote his will." + +[Madame Royale says: "On the 26th December, St. Stephen's Day, my father +made his will, because he expected to be assassinated that day on his way +to the bar of the Convention. He went thither, nevertheless, with his +usual calmness."--"Royal Memoirs," p. 196.] + +On the 26th December, 1792, the King appeared a second time before the +Convention. M. de Seze, labouring night and day, had completed his +defence. The King insisted on excluding from it all that was too +rhetorical, and confining it to the mere discussion of essential points. + +[When the pathetic peroration of M, de Seze was read to the King, the +evening before it was delivered to the Assembly, "I have to request of +you," he said, "to make a painful sacrifice; strike out of your pleading +the peroration. It is enough for me to appear before such judges, and +show my entire innocence; I will not move their feelings.--"LACRETELLE.] + +At half-past nine in the morning the whole armed force was in motion to +conduct him from the Temple to the Feuillans, with the same precautions +and in the same order as had been observed on the former occasion. Riding +in the carriage of the Mayor, he conversed, on the way, with the same +composure as usual, and talked of Seneca, of Livy, of the hospitals. +Arrived at the Feuillans, he showed great anxiety for his defenders; he +seated himself beside them in the Assembly, surveyed with great composure +the benches where his accusers and his judges sat, seemed to examine their +faces with the view of discovering the impression produced by the pleading +of M. de Seze, and more than once conversed smilingly with Tronchet and +Malesherbes. The Assembly received his defence in sullen silence, but +without any tokens of disapprobation. + +Being afterwards conducted to an adjoining room with his counsel, the King +showed great anxiety about M. de Seze, who seemed fatigued by the long +defence. While riding back to the Temple he conversed with his companions +with the same serenity as he had shown on leaving it. + +No sooner had the King left the hall of the Convention than a violent +tumult arose there. Some were for opening the discussion. Others, +complaining of the delays which postponed the decision of this process, +demanded the vote immediately, remarking that in every court, after the +accused had been heard, the judges proceed to give their opinion. +Lanjuinais had from the commencement of the proceedings felt an +indignation which his impetuous disposition no longer suffered him to +repress. He darted to the tribune, and, amidst the cries excited by his +presence, demanded the annulling of the proceedings altogether. He +exclaimed that the days of ferocious men were gone by, that the Assembly +ought not to be so dishonoured as to be made to sit in judgment on Louis +XVI., that no authority in France had that right, and the Assembly in +particular had no claim to it; that if it resolved to act as a political +body, it could do no more than take measures of safety against the +ci-devant King; but that if it was acting as a court of justice it was +overstepping all principles, for it was subjecting the vanquished to be +tried by the conquerors, since most of the present members had declared +themselves the conspirators of the 10th of August. At the word +"conspirators" a tremendous uproar arose on all aides. Cries of +"Order!"--"To the Abbaye!"--"Down with the Tribune!" were heard. +Lanjuinais strove in vain to justify the word "conspirators," saying that +he meant it to be taken in a favourable sense, and that the 10th of August +was a glorious conspiracy. He concluded by declaring that he would rather +die a thousand deaths than condemn, contrary to all laws, even the most +execrable of tyrants. + +A great number of speakers followed, and the confusion continually +increased. The members, determined not to hear any more, mingled +together, formed groups, abused and threatened one another. After a +tempest of an hour's duration, tranquillity was at last restored; and the +Assembly, adopting the opinion of those who demanded the discussion on the +trial of Louis XVI., declared that it was opened, and that it should be +continued, to the exclusion of all other business, till sentence should be +passed. + +The discussion was accordingly resumed on the 27th, and there was a +constant succession of speakers from the 28th to the 31st. Vergniaud at +length ascended the tribune for the first time, and an extraordinary +eagerness was manifested to hear the Girondists express their sentiments +by the lips of their greatest orator. + +The speech of Vergniaud produced a deep impression on all his hearers. +Robespierre was thunderstruck by his earnest and, persuasive eloquence. +Vergniaud, however, had but shaken, not convinced, the Assembly, which +wavered between the two parties. Several members were successively heard, +for and against the appeal to the people. Brissot, Gensonne, Petion, +supported it in their turn. One speaker at length had a decisive +influence on the question. Barere, by his suppleness, and his cold and +evasive eloquence, was the model and oracle of the centre. He spoke at +great length on the trial, reviewed it in all its bearings--of facts, of +laws, and of policy--and furnished all those weak minds, who only wanted +specious reasons for yielding, with motives for the condemnation of the +King. From that moment the unfortunate King was condemned. The +discussion lasted till the 7th, and nobody would listen any longer to the +continual repetition of the same facts and arguments. It was therefore +declared to be closed without opposition, but the proposal of a fresh +adjournment excited a commotion among the most violent, and ended in a +decree which fixed the 14th of January for putting the questions to the +vote. + +Meantime the King did not allow the torturing suspense to disturb his +outward composure, or lessen his kindness to those around him. On the +morning after his second appearance at the bar of the Convention, the +commissary Vincent, who had undertaken secretly to convey to the Queen a +copy of the King's printed defence, asked for something which had belonged +to him, to treasure as a relic; the King took off his neck handkerchief +and gave it him; his gloves he bestowed on another municipal, who had made +the same request. "On January 1st," says Clery, "I approached the King's +bed and asked permission to offer him my warmest prayers for the end of +his misfortunes. 'I accept your good wishes with affection,' he replied, +extending his hand to me. As soon as he had risen, he requested a +municipal to go and inquire for his family, and present them his good +wishes for the new year. The officers were moved by the tone in which +these words, so heartrending considering the position of the King, were +pronounced . . . . The correspondence between their Majesties went on +constantly. The King being informed that Madame Royale was ill, was very +uneasy for some days. The Queen, after begging earnestly, obtained +permission for M. Brunnier, the medical attendant of the royal children, +to come to the Temple. This seemed to quiet him." + +The nearer the moment which was to decide the King's fate approached, the +greater became the agitation in, Paris. "A report was circulated that the +atrocities of September were to be repeated there, and the prisoners and +their relatives beset the deputies with supplications that they would +snatch them from destruction. The Jacobins, on their part, alleged that +conspiracies were hatching in all quarters to save Louis XVI. from +punishment, and to restore royalty. Their anger, excited by delays and +obstacles, assumed a more threatening aspect; and the two parties thus +alarmed one another by supposing that each harboured sinister designs." + +On the 14th of January the Convention called for the order of the day, +being the final judgment of Louis XVI. + +"The sitting of the Convention which concluded the trial," says Hazlitt, +"lasted seventy-two hours. It might naturally be supposed that silence, +restraint, a sort of religious awe, would have pervaded the scene. On the +contrary, everything bore the marks of gaiety, dissipation, and the most +grotesque confusion. The farther end of the hall was converted into +boxes, where ladies, in a studied deshabille, swallowed ices, oranges, +liqueurs, and received the salutations of the members who went and came, +as on ordinary occasions. Here the doorkeepers on the Mountain side +opened and shut the boxes reserved for the mistresses of the Duc +d'Orleans; and there, though every sound of approbation or disapprobation +was strictly forbidden, you heard the long and indignant 'Ha, ha's!' of +the mother-duchess, the patroness of the bands of female Jacobins, +whenever her ears were not loudly greeted with the welcome sounds of +death. The upper gallery, reserved for the people, was during the whole +trial constantly full of strangers of every description, drinking wine as +in a tavern. + +"Bets were made as to the issue of the trial in all the neighbouring +coffee-houses. Ennui, impatience, disgust sat on almost every +countenance. The figures passing and repassing, rendered more ghastly by +the pallid lights, and who in a slow, sepulchral voice pronounced only the +word--Death; others calculating if they should have time to go to dinner +before they gave their verdict; women pricking cards with pins in order to +count the votes; some of the deputies fallen asleep, and only waking up to +give their sentence,--all this had the appearance rather of a hideous +dream than of a reality." + +The Duc d'Orleans, when called on to give his vote for the death of his +King and relation, walked with a faltering step, and a face paler than +death itself, to the appointed place, and there read these words: +"Exclusively governed by my duty, and convinced that all those who have +resisted the sovereignty of the people deserve death, my vote is for +death!" Important as the accession of the first Prince of the blood was +to the Terrorist faction, his conduct in this instance was too obviously +selfish and atrocious not to excite a general feeling of indignation; the +agitation of the Assembly became extreme; it seemed as if by this single +vote the fate of the monarch was irrevocably sealed. + +The President having examined the register, the result of the scrutiny was +proclaimed as follows + + + Against an appeal to the people........... 480 + For an appeal to the people............... 283 + + Majority for final judgment............... 197 + + +The President having announced that he was about to declare the result of +the scrutiny, a profound silence ensued, and he then gave in the following +declaration: that, out of 719 votes, 366 were for DEATH, 319 were for +imprisonment during the war, two for perpetual imprisonment, eight for a +suspension of the execution of the sentence of death until after the +expulsion of the family of the Bourbons, twenty-three were for not putting +him to death until the French territory was invaded by any foreign power, +and one was for a sentence of death, but with power of commutation of the +punishment. + +After this enumeration the President took off his hat, and, lowering his +voice, said: "In consequence of this expression of opinion I declare that +the punishment pronounced by the National Convention against Louis Capet +is DEATH!" + +Previous to the passing of the sentence the President announced on the +part of the Foreign Minister the receipt of a letter from the Spanish +Minister relative to that sentence. The Convention, however, refused to +hear it. [It will be remembered that a similar remonstrance was forwarded +by the English Government.] + +M. de Malesherbes, according to his promise to the King, went to the +Temple at nine o'clock on the morning of the 17th?. + +[Louis was fully prepared for his fate. During the calling of the votes +he asked M. de Malesherbes, "Have you not met near the Temple the White +Lady?"--" What do you mean?" replied he. "Do you not know," resumed the +King with a smile, "that when a prince of our house is about to die, a +female dressed in white is seen wandering about the palace? My friends," +added he to his defenders, "I am about to depart before you for the land +of the just, but there, at least, we shall be reunited." In fact, his +Majesty's only apprehension seemed to be for his family.--ALISON.] + +"All is lost," he said to Clery. "The King is condemned." The King, who +saw him arrive, rose to receive him. + +[When M. de Malesherbes went to the Temple to announce the result of the +vote, he found Louis with his forehead resting on his hands, and absorbed +in a deep reverie. Without inquiring concerning his fate, he said: "For +two hours I have been considering whether, during my whole reign, I have +voluntarily given any cause of complaint to my subjects; and with perfect +sincerity I declare that I deserve no reproach at their hands, and that I +have never formed a wish but for their happiness." LACRETELLE.] + +M. de Malesherbes, choked by sobs, threw himself at his feet. The King +raised him up and affectionately embraced him. When he could control his +voice, De Malesherbes informed the King of the decree sentencing him to +death; he made no movement of surprise or emotion, but seemed only +affected by the distress of his advocate, whom he tried to comfort. + +On the 20th of January, at two in the afternoon, Louis XVI. was awaiting +his advocates, when he heard the approach of a numerous party. He stopped +with dignity at the door of his apartment, apparently unmoved: Garat then +told him sorrowfully that he was commissioned to communicate to him the +decrees of the Convention. Grouvelle, secretary of the Executive Council, +read them to him. The first declared Louis XVI. guilty of treason against +the general safety of the State; the second condemned him to death; the +third rejected any appeal to the people; and the fourth and last ordered +his execution in twenty-four hours. Louis, looking calmly round, took the +paper from Grouvelle, and read Garat a letter, in which he demanded from +the Convention three days to prepare for death, a confessor to assist him +in his last moments, liberty to see his family, and permission for them to +leave France. Garat took the letter, promising to submit it immediately +to the Convention. + +Louis XVI. then went back into his room with great composure, ordered his +dinner, and ate as usual. There were no knives on the table, and his +attendants refused to let him have any. "Do they think me so cowardly," +he exclaimed, "as to lay violent hands on myself? I am innocent, and I am +not afraid to die." + +The Convention refused the delay, but granted some other demands which he +had made. Garat sent for Edgeworth de Firmont, the ecclesiastic whom +Louis XVI. had chosen, and took him in his own carriage to the Temple. M. +Edgeworth, on being ushered into the presence of the King, would have +thrown himself at his feet, but Louis instantly raised him, and both shed +tears of emotion. He then, with eager curiosity, asked various questions +concerning the clergy of France, several bishops, and particularly the +Archbishop of Paris, requesting him to assure the latter that he died +faithfully attached to his communion.--The clock having struck eight, he +rose, begged M. Edgeworth to wait, and retired with emotion, saying that +he was going to see his family. The municipal officers, unwilling to lose +sight of the King, even while with his family, had decided that he should +see them in the dining-room, which had a glass door, through which they +could watch all his motions without hearing what he said. At half-past +eight the door opened. The Queen, holding the Dauphin by the hand, Madame +Elisabeth, and Madame Royale rushed sobbing into the arms of Louis XVI. +The door was closed, and the municipal officers, Clery, and M. Edgeworth +placed themselves behind it. During the first moments, it was but a scene +of confusion and despair. Cries and lamentations prevented those who were +on the watch from distinguishing anything. At length the conversation +became more calm, and the Princesses, still holding the King clasped in +their arms, spoke with him in a low tone. "He related his trial to my +mother," says Madame Royale, "apologising for the wretches who had +condemned him. He told her that he would not consent to any attempt to +save him, which might excite disturbance in the country. He then gave my +brother some religious advice, and desired him, above all, to forgive +those who caused his death; and he gave us his blessing. My mother was +very desirous that the whole family should pass the night with my father, +but he opposed this, observing to her that he much needed some hours of +repose and quiet." After a long conversation, interrupted by silence and +grief, the King put an end to the painful meeting, agreeing to see his +family again at eight the next morning. "Do you promise that you will?" +earnestly inquired the Princesses. "Yes, yes," sorrowfully replied the +King. + +["But when we were gone," says his daughter, "he requested that we might +not be permitted to return, as our presence afflicted him too much."] + +At this moment the Queen held him by one arm, Madame Elisabeth by the +other, while Madame Royale clasped him round the waist, and the Dauphin +stood before him, with one hand in that of his mother. At the moment of +retiring Madame Royale fainted; she was carried away, and the King +returned to M. Edgeworth deeply depressed by this painful interview. The +King retired to rest about midnight; M. Edgeworth threw himself upon a +bed, and Clery took his place near the pillow of his master. + +Next morning, the 21st of January, at five, the King awoke, called Clery, +and dressed with great calmness. He congratulated himself on having +recovered his strength by sleep. Clery kindled a fire,, and moved a chest +of drawers, out of which he formed an altar. M. Edgeworth put on his +pontifical robes, and began to celebrate mass. Clery waited on him, and +the King listened, kneeling with the greatest devotion. He then received +the communion from the hands of M. Edgeworth, and after mass rose with new +vigour, and awaited with composure the moment for going to the scaffold. +He asked for scissors that Clery might cut his hair; but the Commune +refused to trust him with a pair. + +At this moment the drums were beating in the capital. All who belonged to +the armed sections repaired to their company with complete submission. It +was reported that four or five hundred devoted men, were to make a dash +upon the carriage, and rescue the King. The Convention, the Commune, the +Executive Council, and the Jacobins were sitting. At eight. in the +morning, Santerre, with a deputation from the Commune, the department, and +the criminal tribunal, repaired to the Temple. Louis XVI., on hearing +them arrive, rose and prepared to depart. He desired Clery to transmit +his last farewell to his wife, his sister, and his children; he gave him a +sealed packet, hair, and various trinkets, with directions to deliver +these articles to them. + +[In the course of the morning the King said to me: "You will give this +seal to my son and this ring to the Queen, and assure her that it is with +pain I part with it. This little packet contains the hair of all my +family; you will give her that, too. Tell the Queen, my dear sister, and +my children, that, although I promised to see them again this morning, I +have resolved to spare them the pang of so cruel a separation. Tell them +how much it costs me to go away without receiving their embraces once +more!" He wiped away some tears, and then added, in the most mournful +accents, "I charge you to bear them my last farewell."--CLERY.] + +He then clasped his hand and thanked him for his services. After this he +addressed himself to one of the municipal officers, requesting him to +transmit his last will to the Commune. This officer, who had formerly +been a priest, and was named Jacques Roux, brutally replied that his +business was to conduct him to execution, and not to perform his +commissions. Another person took charge of it, and Louis, turning towards +the party, gave with firmness the signal for starting. + +Officers of gendarmerie were placed on the front seat of the carriage. The +King and M. Edgeworth occupied the back. During the ride, which was +rather long, the King read in M. Edgeworth's breviary the prayers for +persons at the point of death; the two gendarmes were astonished at his +piety and tranquil resignation. The vehicle advanced slowly, and amidst +universal silence. At the Place de la Revolution an extensive space had +been left vacant about the scaffold. Around this space were planted +cannon; the most violent of the Federalists were stationed about the +scaffold; and the vile rabble, always ready to insult genius, virtue, and +misfortune, when a signal is given it to do so, crowded behind the ranks +of the Federalists, and alone manifested some outward tokens of +satisfaction. + +At ten minutes past ten the carriage stopped. Louis XVI., rising briskly, +stepped out into the Place. Three executioners came up; he refused their +assistance, and took off his clothes himself. But, perceiving that they +were going to bind his hands, he made a movement of indignation, and +seemed ready to resist. M. Edgeworth gave him a last look, and said, +"Suffer this outrage, as a last resemblance to that God who is about to be +your reward." At these words the King suffered himself to be bound and +conducted to the scaffold. All at once Louis hurriedly advanced to +address the people. "Frenchmen," said he, in a firm voice, "I die +innocent of the crimes which are imputed to me; I forgive the authors of +my death, and I pray that my blood may not fall upon France." He would +have continued, but the drums were instantly ordered to beat: their +rolling drowned his voice; the executioners laid hold of him, and M. +Edgeworth took his leave in these memorable words: "Son of Saint Louis, +ascend to heaven!" As soon as the blood flowed, furious wretches dipped +their pikes and handkerchiefs in it, then dispersed throughout Paris, +shouting "Vive la Republique! Vive la Nation!" and even went to the +gates of the Temple to display brutal and factious joy. + +[The body of Louis was, immediately after the execution, removed to the +ancient cemetery of the Madeleine. Large quantities of quicklime were +thrown into the grave, which occasioned so rapid a decomposition that, +when his remains were sought for in 1816, it was with difficulty any part +could be recovered. Over the spot where he was interred Napoleon +commenced the splendid Temple of Glory, after the battle of Jena; and the +superb edifice was completed by the Bourbons, and now forms the Church of +the Madeleine, the most beautiful structure in Paris. Louis was executed +on the same ground where the Queen, Madame Elisabeth, and so many other +noble victims of the Revolution perished; where Robespierre and Danton +afterwards suffered; and where the Emperor Alexander and the allied +sovereigns took their station, when their victorious troops entered Paris +in 1814! The history of modern Europe has not a scene fraught with +equally interesting recollections to exhibit. It is now marked by the +colossal obelisk of blood-red granite which was brought from Thebes, in +Upper Egypt, in 1833, by the French Government.--ALLISON.] + + + + +The Royal Prisoners.--Separation of the Dauphin from His Family. +--Removal of the Queen. + + +On the morning of the King's execution, according to the narrative of +Madame Royale, his family rose at six: "The night before, my mother had +scarcely strength enough to put my brother to bed; She threw herself, +dressed as she was, on her own bed, where we heard her shivering with cold +and grief all night long. At a quarter-past six the door opened; we +believed that we were sent for to the King, but it was only the officers +looking for a prayer-book for him. We did not, however, abandon the hope +of seeing him, till shouts of joy from the infuriated populace told us +that all was over. In the afternoon my mother asked to see Clery, who +probably had some message for her; we hoped that seeing him would occasion +a burst of grief which might relieve the state of silent and choking agony +in which we saw her." The request was refused, and the officers who +brought the refusal said Clery was in "a frightful state of despair" at +not being allowed to see the royal family; shortly afterwards he was +dismissed from the Temple. + +"We had now a little more freedom," continues the Princess; "our guards +even believed that we were about to be sent out of France; but nothing +could calm my mother's agony; no hope could touch her heart, and life or +death became indifferent to her. Fortunately my own affliction increased +my illness so seriously that it distracted her thoughts . . . . My +mother would go no more to the garden, because she must have passed the +door of what had been my father's room, and that she could not bear. But +fearing lest want of air should prove injurious to my brother and me, +about the end of February she asked permission to walk on the leads of the +Tower, and it was granted." + +The Council of the Commune, becoming aware of the interest which these sad +promenades excited, and the sympathy with which they were observed from +the neighbouring houses, ordered that the spaces between the battlements +should be filled up with shutters, which intercepted the view. But while +the rules for the Queen's captivity were again made more strict, some of +the municipal commissioners tried slightly to alleviate it, and by means +of M. de Hue, who was at liberty in Paris, and the faithful Turgi, who +remained in the Tower, some communications passed between the royal family +and their friends. The wife of Tison, who waited on the Queen, suspected +and finally denounced these more lenient guardians,--[Toulan, Lepitre, +Vincent, Bruno, and others.]--who were executed, the royal prisoners being +subjected to a close examination. + +"On the 20th of April," says Madame Royale, "my mother and I had just gone +to bed when Hebert arrived with several municipals. We got up hastily, +and these men read us a decree of the Commune directing that we should be +searched. My poor brother was asleep; they tore him from his bed under +the pretext of examining it. My mother took him up, shivering with cold. +All they took was a shopkeeper's card which my mother had happened to +keep, a stick of sealing-wax from my aunt, and from me 'une sacre coeur de +Jesus' and a prayer for the welfare of France. The search lasted from +half-past ten at night till four o'clock in the morning." + +The next visit of the officials was to Madame Elisabeth alone; they found +in her room a hat which the King had worn during his imprisonment, and +which she had begged him to give her as a souvenir. They took it from her +in spite of her entreaties. "It was suspicious," said the cruel and +contemptible tyrants. + +The Dauphin became ill with fever, and it was long before his mother, who +watched by him night and day, could obtain medicine or advice for him. +When Thierry was at last allowed to see him his treatment relieved the +most violent symptoms, but, says Madame Royale, "his health was never +reestablished. Want of air and exercise did him great mischief, as well +as the kind of life which this poor child led, who at eight years of age +passed his days amidst the tears of his friends, and in constant anxiety +and agony." + +While the Dauphin's health was causing his family such alarm, they were +deprived of the services of Tison's wife, who became ill, and finally +insane, and was removed to the Hotel Dieu, where her ravings were reported +to the Assembly and made the ground of accusations against the royal +prisoners. + +[This woman, troubled by remorse, lost her reason, threw herself at the +feet of the Queen, implored her pardon, and disturbed the Temple for many +days with the sight and the noise of her madness. The Princesses, +forgetting the denunciations of this unfortunate being, in consideration +of her repentance and insanity, watched over her by turns, and deprived +themselves of their own food to relieve her.--LAMARTINE, "History of the +Girondists," vol. iii., p.140.] + +No woman took her place, and the Princesses themselves made their beds, +swept their rooms, and waited upon the Queen. + +Far worse punishments than menial work were prepared for them. On 3d July +a decree of the Convention ordered that the Dauphin should be separated +from his family and "placed in the most secure apartment of the Tower." +As soon as he heard this decree pronounced, says his sister, "he threw +himself into my mother's arms, and with violent cries entreated not to be +parted from her. My mother would not let her son go, and she actually +defended against the efforts of the officers the bed in which she had +placed him. The men threatened to call up the guard and use violence. My +mother exclaimed that they had better kill her than tear her child from +her. At last they threatened our lives, and my mother's maternal +tenderness forced her to the sacrifice. My aunt and I dressed the child, +for my poor mother had no longer strength for anything. Nevertheless, when +he was dressed, she took him up in her arms and delivered him herself to +the officers, bathing him with her tears, foreseeing that she was never to +behold him again. The poor little fellow embraced us all tenderly, and +was carried away in a flood of tears. My mother's horror was extreme when +she heard that Simon, a shoemaker by trade, whom she had seen as a +municipal officer in the Temple, was the person to whom her child was +confided . . . . The officers now no longer remained in my mother's +apartment; they only came three times a day to bring our meals and examine +the bolts and bars of our windows; we were locked up together night and +day. We often went up to the Tower, because my brother went, too, from +the other side. The only pleasure my mother enjoyed was seeing him +through a crevice as he passed at a distance. She would watch for hours +together to see him as he passed. It was her only hope, her only +thought." + +The Queen was soon deprived even of this melancholy consolation. On 1st +August, 1793, it was resolved that she should be tried. Robespierre +opposed the measure, but Barere roused into action that deep-rooted hatred +of the Queen which not even the sacrifice of her life availed to +eradicate. "Why do the enemies of the Republic still hope for success?" +he asked. "Is it because we have too long forgotten the crimes of the +Austrian? The children of Louis the Conspirator are hostages for the +Republic . . .but behind them lurks a woman who has been the cause of +all the disasters of France." + +At two o'clock on the morning of the following day, the municipal officers +"awoke us," says Madame Royale, "to read to my mother the decree of the +Convention, which ordered her removal to the Conciergerie, + +[The Conciergerie was originally, as its name implies, the porter's lodge +of the ancient Palace of Justice, and became in time a prison, from the +custom of confining there persons who had committed trifling offences +about the Court.] + +preparatory to her trial. She heard it without visible emotion, and +without speaking a single word. My aunt and I immediately asked to be +allowed to accompany my mother, but this favour was refused us. All the +time my mother was making up a bundle of clothes to take with her, these +officers never left her. She was even obliged to dress herself before +them, and they asked for her pockets, taking away the trifles they +contained. She embraced me, charging me to keep up my spirits and my +courage, to take tender care of my aunt, and obey her as a second mother. +She then threw herself into my aunt's arms, and recommended her children +to her care; my aunt replied to her in a whisper, and she was then hurried +away. In leaving the Temple she struck her head against the wicket, not +having stooped low enough. + +[Mathieu, the gaoler, used to say, "I make Madame Veto and her sister and +daughter, proud though they are, salute me; for the door is so low they +cannot pass without bowing."] + +The officers asked whether she had hurt herself. 'No,' she replied, +'nothing can hurt me now." + + + + +The Last Moments of Marie Antoinette. + + +We have already seen what changes had been made in the Temple. Marie +Antoinette had been separated from her sister, her daughter, and her Son, +by virtue of a decree which ordered the trial and exile of the last +members of the family of the Bourbons. She had been removed to the +Conciergerie, and there, alone in a narrow prison, she was reduced to what +was strictly necessary, like the other prisoners. The imprudence of a +devoted friend had rendered her situation still more irksome. Michonnis, a +member of the municipality, in whom she had excited a warm interest, was +desirous of introducing to her a person who, he said, wished to see her +out of curiosity. This man, a courageous emigrant, threw to her a +carnation, in which was enclosed a slip of very fine paper with these +words: "Your friends are ready,"--false hope, and equally dangerous for +her who received it, and for him who gave it! Michonnis and the emigrant +were detected and forthwith apprehended; and the vigilance exercised in +regard to the unfortunate prisoner became from that day more rigorous than +ever. + +[The Queen was lodged in a room called the council chamber, which was +considered as the moat unwholesome apartment in the Conciergerie on +account of its dampness and the bad smells by which it was continually +affected. Under pretence of giving her a person to wait upon her they +placed near her a spy,--a man of a horrible countenance and hollow, +sepulchral voice. This wretch, whose name was Barassin, was a robber and +murderer by profession. Such was the chosen attendant on the Queen of +France! A few days before her trial this wretch was removed and a +gendarme placed in her chamber, who watched over her night and day, and +from whom she was not separated, even when in bed, but by a ragged +curtain. In this melancholy abode Marie Antoinette had no other dress +than an old black gown, stockings with holes, which she was forced to mend +every day; and she was entirely destitute of shoes.--DU BROCA.] + +Gendarmes were to mount guard incessantly at the door of her prison, and +they were expressly forbidden to answer anything that she might say to +them. + +That wretch Hebert, the deputy of Chaumette, and editor of the disgusting +paper Pere Duchesne, a writer of the party of which Vincent, Ronsin, +Varlet, and Leclerc were the leaders--Hebert had made it his particular +business to torment the unfortunate remnant of the dethroned family. He +asserted that the family of the tyrant ought not to be better treated than +any sans-culotte family; and he had caused a resolution to be passed by +which the sort of luxury in which the prisoners in the Temple were +maintained was to be suppressed. They were no longer to be allowed either +poultry or pastry; they were reduced to one sort of aliment for breakfast, +and to soup or broth and a single dish for dinner, to two dishes for +supper, and half a bottle of wine apiece. Tallow candles were to be +furnished instead of wag, pewter instead of silver plate, and delft ware +instead of porcelain. The wood and water carriers alone were permitted to +enter their room, and that only accompanied by two commissioners. Their +food was to be introduced to them by means of a turning box. The numerous +establishment was reduced to a cook and an assistant, two men-servants, +and a woman-servant to attend to the linen. + +As soon as this resolution was passed, Hebert had repaired to the Temple +and inhumanly taken away from the unfortunate prisoners even the most +trifling articles to which they attached a high value. Eighty Louis which +Madame Elisabeth had in reserve, and which she had received from Madame de +Lamballe, were also taken away. No one is more dangerous, more cruel, +than the man without acquirements, without education, clothed with a +recent authority. If, above all, he possess a base nature, if, like +Hebert, who was check-taker at the door of a theatre, and embezzled money +out of the receipts, he be destitute of natural morality, and if he leap +all at once from the mud of his condition into power, he is as mean as he +is atrocious. Such was Hebert in his conduct at the Temple. He did not +confine himself to the annoyances which we have mentioned. He and some +others conceived the idea of separating the young Prince from his aunt and +sister. A shoemaker named Simon and his wife were the instructors to whom +it was deemed right to consign him for the purpose of giving him a +sans-cullotte education. Simon and his wife were shut up in the Temple, +and, becoming prisoners with the unfortunate child, were directed to bring +him up in their own way. Their food was better than that of the +Princesses, and they shared the table of the municipal commissioners who +were on duty. Simon was permitted to go down, accompanied by two +commissioners, to the court of the Temple, for the purpose of giving the +Dauphin a little exercise. + +Hebert conceived the infamous idea of wringing from this boy revelations +to criminate his unhappy mother. Whether this wretch imputed to the child +false revelations, or abused his, tender age and his condition to extort +from him what admissions soever he pleased, he obtained a revolting +deposition; and as the youth of the Prince did not admit of his being +brought before the tribunal, Hebert appeared and detailed the infamous +particulars which he had himself either dictated or invented. + +It was on the 14th of October that Marie Antoinette appeared before her +judges. Dragged before the sanguinary tribunal by inexorable +revolutionary vengeance, she appeared there without any chance of +acquittal, for it was not to obtain her acquittal that the Jacobins had +brought her before it. It was necessary, however, to make some charges. +Fouquier therefore collected the rumours current among the populace ever +since the arrival of the Princess in France, and, in the act of +accusation, he charged her with having plundered the exchequer, first for +her pleasures, and afterwards in order to transmit money to her brother, +the Emperor. He insisted on the scenes of the 5th and 6th of October, and +on the dinners of the Life Guards, alleging that she had at that period +framed a plot, which obliged the people to go to Versailles to frustrate +it. He afterwards accused her of having governed her husband, interfered +in the choice of ministers, conducted the intrigues with the deputies +gained by the Court, prepared the journey to Varennes, provoked the war, +and transmitted to the enemy's generals all our plans of campaign. He +further accused her of having prepared a new conspiracy on the 10th of +August, of having on that day caused the people to be fired upon, having +induced her husband to defend himself by taxing him with cowardice; +lastly, of having never ceased to plot and correspond with foreigners +since her captivity in the Temple, and of having there treated her young +son as King. We here observe how, on the terrible day of long-deferred +vengeance, when subjects at length break forth and strike such of their +princes as have not deserved the blow, everything is distorted and +converted into crime. We see how the profusion and fondness for pleasure, +so natural to a young princess, how her attachment to her native country, +her influence over her husband, her regrets, always more indiscreet in a +woman than a man, nay, even her bolder courage, appeared to their inflamed +or malignant imaginations. + +It was necessary to produce witnesses. Lecointre, deputy of Versailles, +who had seen what had passed on the 5th and 6th of October, Hebert, who +had frequently visited the Temple, various clerks in the ministerial +offices, and several domestic servants of the old Court were summoned.. +Admiral d'Estaing, formerly commandant of the guard of Versailles; Manuel, +the ex-procureur of the Commune; Latour-du-Pin, minister of war in 1789; +the venerable Bailly, who, it was said, had been, with La Fayette, an +accomplice in the journey to Varennes; lastly, Valaze one of the +Girondists destined to the scaffold, were taken from their prisons and +compelled to give evidence. + +No precise fact was elicited. Some had seen the Queen in high spirits +when the Life Guards testified their attachment; others had seen her vexed +and dejected while being conducted to Paris, or brought back from +Varennes; these had been present at splendid festivities which must have +cost enormous sums; those had heard it said in the ministerial offices +that the Queen was adverse to the sanction of the decrees. An ancient +waiting-woman of the Queen had heard the Duc de Coigny say, in 1788, that +the Emperor had already received two hundred millions from France to make +war upon the Turks. + +The cynical Hebert, being brought before the unfortunate Queen, dared at +length to prefer the charges wrung from the young Prince. He said that +Charles Capet had given Simon an account of the journey to Varennes, and +mentioned La Fayette and Bailly as having cooperated in it. He then added +that this boy was addicted to odious and very premature vices for his age; +that he had been surprised by Simon, who, on questioning him, learned that +he derived from his mother the vices in which he indulged. Hebert said +that it was no doubt the intention of Marie Antoinette, by weakening thus, +early the physical constitution of her son, to secure to herself the means +of ruling him in case he should ever ascend the throne. The rumours which +had been whispered for twenty years by a malicious Court had given the +people a most unfavourable opinion of the morals of the Queen. That +audience, however, though wholly Jacobin, was disgusted at the accusations +of Hebert. + +[Can there be a more infernal invention than that made against the. Queen +by Hdbert,--namely, that she had had an improper intimacy with her own +son? He made use of this sublime idea of which he boasted in order to +prejudice the women against the Queen, and to prevent her execution from +exciting pity. It had, however, no other effect than that of disgusting +all parties.--PRUDHOMME.] + +He nevertheless persisted in supporting them. + +[Hebert did not long survive her in whose sufferings he had taken such an +infamous part. He was executed on 26th March, 1794.] + +The unhappy mother made no reply. Urged a new to explain herself, she +said, with extraordinary emotion, "I thought that human nature would +excuse me from answering such an imputation, but I appeal from it to the +heart of every mother here present." This noble and simple reply affected +all who heard it. + +In the depositions of the witnesses, however, all was not so bitter for +Marie Antoinette. The brave D'Estaing, whose enemy she had been, would +not say anything to inculpate her, and spoke only of the courage which she +had shown on the 5th and 6th of October, and of the noble resolution which +she had expressed, to die beside her husband rather than fly. Manuel, in +spite of his enmity to the Court during the time of the Legislative +Assembly, declared that he could not say anything against the accused. +When the venerable Bailly was brought forward, who formerly so often +predicted to the Court the calamities which its imprudence must produce, +he appeared painfully affected; and when he was asked if he knew the wife +of Capet, "Yes," said he, bowing respectfully, "I have known Madame." He +declared that he knew nothing, and maintained that the declarations +extorted from the young Prince relative to the journey to Varennes were +false. In recompense for his deposition he was assailed with outrageous +reproaches, from which he might judge what fate would soon be awarded to +himself. + +In all the evidence there appeared but two serious facts, attested by +Latour-du-Pin and Valaze, who deposed to them because they could not help +it. Latour-du-Pin declared that Marie Antoinette had applied to him for +an accurate statement of the armies while he was minister of war. Valaze, +always cold, but respectful towards misfortune, would not say anything to +criminate the accused; yet he could not help declaring that, as a member +of the commission of twenty-four, being charged with his colleagues to +examine the papers found at the house of Septeuil, treasurer of the civil +list, he had seen bonds for various sums signed Antoinette, which was very +natural; but he added that he had also seen a letter in which the minister +requested the King to transmit to the Queen the copy of the plan of +campaign which he had in his hands. The most unfavourable construction +was immediately put upon these two facts, the application for a statement +of the armies, and the communication of the plan of campaign; and it was +concluded that they could not be wanted for any other purpose than to be +sent to the enemy, for it was not supposed that a young princess should +turn her attention, merely for her own satisfaction, to matters of +administration and military, plans. After these depositions, several +others were received respecting the expenses of the Court, the influence +of the Queen in public affairs, the scene of the 10th of August, and what +had passed in the Temple; and the most vague rumours and most trivial +circumstances were eagerly caught at as proofs. + +Marie Antoinette frequently repeated, with presence of mind and firmness, +that there was no precise fact against her; + +[At first the Queen, consulting only her own sense of dignity, had +resolved on her trial to make no other reply to the questions of her +judges than "Assassinate me as you have already assassinated my husband!" +Afterwards, however, she determined to follow the example of the King, +exert herself in her defence, and leave her judges without any excuse or +pretest for putting her to death.--WEBER'S "Memoirs of Marie Antoinette."] + +that, besides, though the wife of Louis XVI., she was not answerable for +any of the acts of his reign. Fouquier nevertheless declared her to be +sufficiently convicted; Chaveau-Lagarde made unavailing efforts to defend +her; and the unfortunate Queen was condemned to suffer the same fate as +her husband. + +Conveyed back to the Conciergerie, she there passed in tolerable composure +the night preceding her execution, and, on the morning of the following +day, the 16th of October, + +[The Queen, after having written and prayed, slept soundly for some hours. +On her waking, Bault's daughter dressed her and adjusted her hair with +more neatness than on other days. Marie Antoinette wore a white gown, a +white handkerchief covered her shoulders, a white cap her hair; a black +ribbon bound this cap round her temples .... The cries, the looks, the +laughter, the jests of the people overwhelmed her with humiliation; her +colour, changing continually from purple to paleness, betrayed her +agitation .... On reaching the scaffold she inadvertently trod on the +executioner's foot. "Pardon me," she said, courteously. She knelt for an +instant and uttered a half-audible prayer; then rising and glancing +towards the towers of the Temple, "Adieu, once again, my children," she +said; "I go to rejoin your father."--LAMARTINE.] + +she was conducted, amidst a great concourse of the populace, to the fatal +spot where, ten months before, Louis XVI. had perished. She listened +with calmness to the exhortations of the ecclesiastic who accompanied her, +and cast an indifferent look at the people who had so often applauded her +beauty and her grace, and who now as warmly applauded her execution. On +reaching the foot of the scaffold she perceived the Tuileries, and +appeared to be moved; but she hastened to ascend the fatal ladder, and +gave herself up with courage to the executioner. + +[Sorrow had blanched the Queen's once beautiful hair; but her features and +air still commanded the admiration of all who beheld her; her cheeks, pale +and emaciated, were occasionally tinged with a vivid colour at the mention +of those she had lost. When led out to execution, she was dressed in +white; she had cut off her hair with her own hands. Placed in a tumbrel, +with her arms tied behind her, she was taken by a circuitous route to the +Place de la Revolution, and she ascended the scaffold with a firm and +dignified step, as if she had been about to take her place on a throne by +the side of her husband.-LACRETELLE.] + +The infamous wretch exhibited her head to the people, as he was accustomed +to do when he had sacrificed an illustrious victim. + + + + +The Last Separation.--Execution of Madame Elisabeth. +--Death of the Dauphin. + +The two Princesses left in the Temple were now almost inconsolable; they +spent days and nights in tears, whose only alleviation was that they were +shed together. "The company of my aunt, whom I loved so tenderly," said +Madame Royale, "was a great comfort to me. But alas! all that I loved +was perishing around me, and I was soon to lose her also . . . . In +the beginning of September I had an illness caused solely by my anxiety +about my mother; I never heard a drum beat that I did not expect another +3d of September."--[when the head of the Princesse de Lamballe was carried +to the Temple.] + +In the course of the month the rigour of their captivity was much +increased. The Commune ordered that they should only have one room; that +Tison (who had done the heaviest of the household work for them, and since +the kindness they showed to his insane wife had occasionally given them +tidings of the Dauphin) should be imprisoned in the turret; that they +should be supplied with only the barest necessaries; and that no one +should enter their room save to carry water and firewood. Their quantity +of firing was reduced, and they were not allowed candles. They were also +forbidden to go on the leads, and their large sheets were taken away, +"lest--notwithstanding the gratings!--they should escape from the +windows." + +On 8th October, 1793, Madame Royale was ordered to go downstairs, that she +might be interrogated by some municipal officers. "My aunt, who was +greatly affected, would have followed, but they stopped her. She asked +whether I should be permitted to come up again; Chaumette assured her that +I should. 'You may trust,' said he, 'the word of an honest republican. +She shall return.' I soon found myself in my brother's room, whom I +embraced tenderly; but we were torn asunder, and I was obliged to go into +another room.--[This was the last time the brother and sister met] . . . +Chaumette then questioned me about a thousand shocking things of which +they accused my mother and aunt; I was so indignant at hearing such +horrors that, terrified as I was, I could not help exclaiming that they +were infamous falsehoods. + +"But in spite of my tears they still pressed their questions. There were +some things which I did not comprehend, but of which I understood enough +to make me weep with indignation and horror . . . . They then asked me +about Varennes, and other things. I answered as well as I could without +implicating anybody. I had always heard my parents say that it were +better to die than to implicate anybody." When the examination was over +the Princess begged to be allowed to join her mother, but Chaumette said +he could not obtain permission for her to do so. She was then cautioned +to say nothing about her examination to her aunt, who was next to appear +before them. Madame Elisabeth, her niece declares, "replied with still +more contempt to their shocking questions." + +The only intimation of the Queen's fate which her daughter and her +sister-in-law were allowed to receive was through hearing her sentence +cried by the newsman. But "we could not persuade ourselves that she was +dead," writes Madame Royale. "A hope, so natural to the unfortunate, +persuaded us that she must have been saved. For eighteen months I +remained in this cruel suspense. We learnt also by the cries of the +newsman the death of the Duc d'Orleans. + +[The Duc d'Orleans, the early and interested propagator of the Revolution, +was its next victim. Billaud Varennes said in the Convention: "The time +has come when all the conspirators should be known and struck. I demand +that we no longer pass over in silence a man whom we seem to have +forgotten, despite the numerous facts against him. I demand that +D'ORLEANS be sent to the Revolutionary Tribunal." The Convention, once +his hireling adulators, unanimously supported the proposal. In vain he +alleged his having been accessory to the disorders of 5th October, his +support of the revolt on 10th August, 1792, his vote against the King on +17th January, 1793. His condemnation was pronounced. He then asked only +for a delay of twenty-four hours, and had a repast carefully prepared, on +which he feasted with avidity. When led out for execution he gazed with a +smile on the Palais Royal, the scene of his former orgies. He was detained +for a quarter of an hour before that palace by the order of Robespierre, +who had asked his daughter's hand, and promised in return to excite a +tumult in which the Duke's life should be saved. Depraved though he was, +he would not consent to such a sacrifice, and he met his fate with stoical +fortitude.--ALLISON, vol. iii., p. 172.] + +It was the only piece of news that reached us during the whole winter." + +The severity with which the prisoners were treated was carried into every +detail of their life. The officers who guarded them took away their +chessmen and cards because some of them were named kings and queens, and +all the books with coats of arms on them; they refused to get ointment for +a gathering on Madame Elisabeth's arm; they, would not allow her to make a +herb-tea which she thought would strengthen her niece; they declined to +supply fish or eggs on fast-days or during Lent, bringing only coarse fat +meat, and brutally replying to all remonstances, "None but fools believe +in that stuff nowadays." Madame Elisabeth never made the officials +another request, but reserved some of the bread and cafe-au-lait from her +breakfast for her second meal. The time during which she could be thus +tormented was growing short. + +On 9th May, 1794, as the Princesses were going to bed, the outside bolts +of the door were unfastened and a loud knocking was heard. "When my aunt +was dressed," says Madame Royale, "she opened the door, and they said to +her, 'Citoyenne, come down.'--'And my niece?'--'We shall take care of her +afterwards.' She embraced me, and to calm my agitation promised to return. +'No, citoyenne,' said the men, 'bring your bonnet; you shall not return.' +They overwhelmed her with abuse, but she bore it patiently, embracing me, +and exhorting me to trust in Heaven, and never to forget the last commands +of my father and mother." + +Madame Elisabeth was then taken to the Conciergerie, where she was +interrogated by the vice-president at midnight, and then allowed to take +some hours rest on the bed on which Marie Antoinette had slept for the +last time. In the morning she was brought before the tribunal, with +twenty-four other prisoners, of varying ages and both sexes, some of whom +had once been frequently seen at Court. + +"Of what has Elisabeth to complain?" Fouquier-Tinville satirically asked. +"At the foot of the guillotine, surrounded by faithful nobility, she may +imagine herself again at Versailles." + +"You call my brother a tyrant," the Princess replied to her accuser; "if +he had been what you say, you would not be where you are, nor I before +you!" + +She was sentenced to death, and showed neither surprise nor grief. "I am +ready to die," she said, "happy in the prospect of rejoining in a better +world those whom I loved on earth." + +On being taken to the room where those condemned to suffer at the same +time as herself were assembled, she spoke to them with so much piety and +resignation that they were encouraged by her example to show calmness and +courage like her own. The women, on leaving the cart, begged to embrace +her, and she said some words of comfort to each in turn as they mounted +the scaffold, which she was not allowed to ascend till all her companions +had been executed before her eyes. + +[Madame Elisabeth was one of those rare personages only seen at distant +intervals during the course of ages; she set an example of steadfast piety +in the palace of kings, she lived amid her family the favourite of all and +the admiration of the world .... When I went to Versailles Madame +Elisabeth was twenty-two years of age. Her plump figure and pretty pink +colour must have attracted notice, and her air of calmness and contentment +even more than her beauty. She was fond of billiards, and her elegance and +courage in riding were remarkable. But she never allowed these amusements +to interfere with her religious observances. At that time her wish to +take the veil at St. Cyr was much talked of, but the King was too fond of +his sister to endure the separation. There were also rumours of a +marriage between Madame Elisabeth and the Emperor Joseph. The Queen was +sincerely attached to her brother, and loved her sister-in-law most +tenderly; she ardently desired this marriage as a means of raising the +Princess to one of the first thrones in Europe, and as a possible means of +turning the Emperor from his innovations. She had been very carefully +educated, had talent in music and painting, spoke Italian and a little +Latin, and understood mathematics.... Her last moments were worthy of her +courage and virtue.--D'HEZECQUES's "Recollections," pp. 72-75.] + +"It is impossible to imagine my distress at finding myself separated from +my aunt," says Madame Royale. "Since I had been able to appreciate her +merits, I saw in her nothing but religion, gentleness, meekness, modesty, +and a devoted attachment to her family; she sacrificed her life for them, +since nothing could persuade her to leave the King and Queen. I never can +be sufficiently grateful to her for her goodness to me, which ended only +with her life. She looked on me as her child, and I honoured and loved +her as a second mother. I was thought to be very like her in countenance, +and I feel conscious that I have something of her character. Would to God +I might imitate her virtues, and hope that I may hereafter deserve to meet +her, as well as my dear parents, in the bosom of our Creator, where I +cannot doubt that they enjoy the reward of their virtuous lives and +meritorious deaths." + +Madame Royale vainly begged to be allowed to rejoin her mother or her +aunt, or at least to know their fate. The municipal officers would tell +her nothing, and rudely refused her request to have a woman placed with +her. "I asked nothing but what seemed indispensable, though it was often +harshly refused," she says. "But I at least could keep myself clean. I +had soap and water, and carefully swept out my room every day. I had no +light, but in the long days I did not feel this privation much . . . . +I had some religious works and travels, which I had read over and over. I +had also some knitting, 'qui m'ennuyait beaucoup'." Once, she believes, +Robespierre visited her prison: + +[It has been said that Robespierre vainly tried to obtain the hand of +Mademoiselle d'Orleans. It was also rumoured that Madame Royale herself +owed her life to his matrimonial ambition.] + +"The officers showed him great respect; the people in the Tower did not +know him, or at least would not tell me who he was. He stared insolently +at me, glanced at my books, and, after joining the municipal officers in a +search, retired." + +[On another occasion "three men in scarfs," who entered the Princess's +room, told her that they did not see why she should wish to be released, +as she seemed very comfortable! "It is dreadful,' I replied, 'to be +separated for more than a year from one's mother, without even hearing +what has become of her or of my aunt.'--'You are not ill?'--'No, monsieur, +but the cruellest illness is that of the heart'--' We can do nothing for +you. Be patient, and submit to the justice and goodness of the French +people: I had nothing more to say."--DUCHESSE D'ANGOULEME, "Royal +Memoirs," p. 273.] + +When Laurent was appointed by the Convention to the charge of the young +prisoners, Madame Royale was treated with more consideration. "He was +always courteous," she says; he restored her tinderbox, gave her fresh +books, and allowed her candles and as much firewood as she wanted, "which +pleased me greatly." This simple expression of relief gives a clearer +idea of what the delicate girl must have suffered than a volume of +complaints. + +But however hard Madame Royale's lot might be, that of the Dauphin was +infinitely harder. Though only eight years old when he entered the +Temple, he was by nature and education extremely precocious; "his memory +retained everything, and his sensitiveness comprehended everything." His +features "recalled the somewhat effeminate look of Louis XV., and the +Austrian hauteur of Maria Theresa; his blue eyes, aquiline nose, elevated +nostrils, well-defined mouth, pouting lips, chestnut hair parted in the +middle and falling in thick curls on his shoulders, resembled his mother +before her years of tears and torture. All the beauty of his race, by +both descents, seemed to reappear in him."--[Lamartine]--For some time the +care of his parents preserved his health and cheerfulness even in the +Temple; but his constitution was weakened by the fever recorded by his +sister, and his gaolers were determined that he should never regain +strength. + +"What does the Convention intend to do with him?" asked Simon, when the +innocent victim was placed in his clutches. "Transport him?" + +"No." + +"Kill him?" + +"No." + +"Poison him?" + +"No." + +"What, then?" + +"Why, get rid of him." + +For such a purpose they could not have chosen their instruments better. +"Simon and his wife, cut off all those fair locks that had been his +youthful glory and his mother's pride. This worthy pair stripped him of +the mourning he wore for his father; and as they did so, they called it +'playing at the game of the spoiled king.' They alternately induced him +to commit excesses, and then half starved him. They beat him mercilessly; +nor was the treatment by night less brutal than that by day. As soon as +the weary boy had sunk into his first profound sleep, they would loudly +call him by name, 'Capet! Capet!' Startled, nervous, bathed in +perspiration, or sometimes trembling with cold, he would spring up, rush +through the dark, and present himself at Simon's bedside, murmuring, +tremblingly, 'I am here, citizen.'--'Come nearer; let me feel you.' He +would approach the bed as he was ordered, although he knew the treatment +that awaited him. Simon would buffet him on the head, or kick him away, +adding the remark, 'Get to bed again, wolfs cub; I only wanted to know +that you were safe.' On one of these occasions, when the child had fallen +half stunned upon his own miserable couch, and lay there groaning and +faint with pain, Simon roared out with a laugh, 'Suppose you were king, +Capet, what would you do to me?' The child thought of his father's dying +words, and said, 'I would forgive you.'"--[THIERS] + +The change in the young Prince's mode of life, and the cruelties and +caprices to which he was subjected, soon made him fall ill, says his +sister. "Simon forced him to eat to excess, and to drink large quantities +of wine, which he detested . . . . He grew extremely fat without +increasing in height or strength." His aunt and sister, deprived of the +pleasure of tending him, had the pain of hearing his childish voice raised +in the abominable songs his gaolers taught him. The brutality of Simon +"depraved at once the body and soul of his pupil. He called him the young +wolf of the Temple. He treated him as the young of wild animals are +treated when taken from the mother and reduced to captivity,--at once +intimidated by blows and enervated by taming. He punished for +sensibility; he rewarded meanness; he encouraged vice; he made the child +wait on him at table, sometimes striking him on the face with a knotted +towel, sometimes raising the poker and threatening to strike him with it." + +[Simon left the Temple to become a municipal officer. He was involved in +the overthrow of Robespierre, and guillotined the day after him, 29th +July, 1794.] + +Yet when Simon was removed the poor young Prince's condition became even +worse. His horrible loneliness induced an apathetic stupor to which any +suffering would have been preferable. "He passed his days without any +kind of occupation; they did not allow him light in the evening. His +keepers never approached him but to give him food;" and on the rare +occasions when they took him to the platform of the Tower, he was unable +or unwilling to move about. When, in November, 1794, a commissary named +Gomin arrived at the Temple, disposed to treat the little prisoner with +kindness, it was too late. "He took extreme care of my brother," says +Madame Royale. "For a long time the unhappy child had been shut up in +darkness, and he was dying of fright. He was very grateful for the +attentions of Gomin, and became much attached to him." But his physical +condition was alarming, and, owing to Gomin's representations, a +commission was instituted to examine him. "The commissioners appointed +were Harmond, Mathieu, and Reverchon, who visited 'Louis Charles,' as he +was now called, in the month of February, 1795. They found the young +Prince seated at a square deal table, at which he was playing with some +dirty cards, making card houses and the like,--the materials having been +furnished him, probably, that they might figure in the report as evidences +of indulgence. He did not look up from the table as the commissioners +entered. He was in a slate-coloured dress, bareheaded; the room was +reported as clean, the bed in good condition, the linen fresh; his clothes +were also reported as new; but, in spite of all these assertions, it is +well known that his bed had not been made for months, that he had not left +his room, nor was permitted to leave it, for any purpose whatever, that it +was consequently uninhabitable, and that he was covered with vermin and +with sores. The swellings at his knees alone were sufficient to disable +him from walking. One of the commissioners approached the young Prince +respectfully. The latter did not raise his head. Harmond in a kind voice +begged him to speak to them. The eyes of the boy remained fixed on the +table before him. They told him of the kindly intentions of the +Government, of their hopes that he would yet be happy, and their desire +that he would speak unreservedly to the medical man that was to visit him. +He seemed to listen with profound attention, but not a single word passed +his lips. It was an heroic principle that impelled that poor young heart +to maintain the silence of a mute in presence of these men. He remembered +too well the days when three other commissaries waited on him, regaled him +with pastry and wine, and obtained from him that hellish accusation +against the mother that he loved. He had learnt by some means the import +of the act, so far as it was an injury to his mother. He now dreaded +seeing again three commissaries, hearing again kind words, and being +treated again with fine promises. Dumb as death itself he sat before +them, and remained motionless as stone, and as mute." [THIERS] + +His disease now made rapid progress, and Gomin and Lasne, superintendents +of the Temple, thinking it necessary to inform the Government of the +melancholy condition of their prisoner, wrote on the register: "Little +Capet is unwell." No notice was taken of this account, which was renewed +next day in more urgent terms: "Little Capet is dangerously ill." Still +there was no word from beyond the walls. "We must knock harder," said the +keepers to each other, and they added, "It is feared he will not live," to +the words "dangerously ill." At length, on Wednesday, 6th May, 1795, +three days after the first report, the authorities appointed M. Desault to +give the invalid the assistance of his art. After having written down his +name on the register he was admitted to see the Prince. He made a long and +very attentive examination of the unfortunate child, asked him many +questions without being able to obtain an answer, and contented himself +with prescribing a decoction of hops, to be taken by spoonfuls every +half-hour, from six o'clock in the morning till eight in the evening. On +the first day the Prince steadily refused to take it. In vain Gomin +several times drank off a glass of the potion in his presence; his example +proved as ineffectual as his words. Next day Lasne renewed his +solicitations. "Monsieur knows very well that I desire nothing but the +good of his health, and he distresses me deeply by thus refusing to take +what might contribute to it. I entreat him as a favour not to give me +this cause of grief." And as Lasne, while speaking, began to taste the +potion in a glass, the child took what he offered him out of his hands. +"You have, then, taken an oath that I should drink it," said he, firmly; +"well, give it me, I will drink it." From that moment he conformed with +docility to whatever was required of him, but the policy of the Commune +had attained its object; help had been withheld till it was almost a +mockery to supply it. + +The Prince's weakness was excessive; his keepers could scarcely drag him +to the, top of the Tower; walking hurt his tender feet, and at every step +he stopped to press the arm of Lasne with both hands upon his breast. At +last he suffered so much that it was no longer possible for him to walk, +and his keeper carried him about, sometimes on the platform, and sometimes +in the little tower, where the royal family had lived at first. But the +slight improvement to his health occasioned by the change of air scarcely +compensated for the pain which his fatigue gave him. On the battlement of +the platform nearest the left turret, the rain had, by perseverance +through ages, hollowed out a kind of basin. The water that fell remained +there for several days; and as, during the spring of 1795, storms were of +frequent occurrence, this little sheet of water was kept constantly +supplied. Whenever the child was brought out upon the platform, he saw a +little troop of sparrows, which used to come to drink and bathe in this +reservoir. At first they flew away at his approach, but from being +accustomed to see him walking quietly there every day, they at last grew +more familiar, and did not spread their wings for flight till he came up +close to them. They were always the same, he knew them by sight, and +perhaps like himself they were inhabitants of that ancient pile. He +called them his birds; and his first action, when the door into the +terrace was opened, was to look towards that side,--and the sparrows were +always there. He delighted in their chirping, and he must have envied +them their wings. + +Though so little could be done to alleviate his sufferings, a moral +improvement was taking place in him. He was touched by the lively +interest displayed by his physician, who never failed to visit him at nine +o'clock every morning. He seemed pleased with the attention paid him, and +ended by placing entire confidence in M. Desault. Gratitude loosened his +tongue; brutality and insult had failed to extort a murmur, but kind +treatment restored his speech he had no words for anger, but he found them +to express his thanks. M. Desault prolonged his visits as long as the +officers of the municipality would permit. When they announced the close +of the visit, the child, unwilling to beg them to allow a longer time, +held back M. Desault by the skirt of his coat. Suddenly M. Desault's +visits ceased. Several days passed and nothing was heard of him. The +keepers wondered at his absence, and the poor little invalid was much +distressed at it. The commissary on duty (M. Benoist) suggested that it +would be proper to send to the physician's house to make inquiries as to +the cause of so long an absence. Gomin and Larne had not yet ventured to +follow this advice, when next day M. Benoist was relieved by M. Bidault, +who, hearing M. Desault's name mentioned as he came in, immediately said, +"You must not expect to see him any more; he died yesterday." + +M. Pelletan, head surgeon of the Grand Hospice de l'Humanite, was next +directed to attend the prisoner, and in June he found him in so alarming a +state that he at once asked for a coadjutor, fearing to undertake the +responsibility alone. The physician--sent for form's sake to attend the +dying child, as an advocate is given by law to a criminal condemned +beforehand--blamed the officers of the municipality for not having removed +the blind, which obstructed the light, and the numerous bolts, the noise +of which never failed to remind the victim of his captivity. That sound, +which always caused him an involuntary shudder, disturbed him in the last +mournful scene of his unparalleled tortures. M. Pelletan said +authoritatively to the municipal on duty, "If you will not take these +bolts and casings away at once, at least you can make no objection to our +carrying the child into another room, for I suppose we are sent here to +take charge of him." The Prince, being disturbed by these words, spoken +as they were with great animation, made a sign to the physician to come +nearer. "Speak lower, I beg of you," said he; "I am afraid they will hear +you up-stairs, and I should be very sorry for them to know that I am ill, +as it would give them much uneasiness." + +At first the change to a cheerful and airy room revived the Prince and +gave him evident pleasure, but the improvement did not last. Next day M. +Pelletan learned that the Government had acceded to his request for a +colleague. M. Dumangin, head physician of the Hospice de l'Unite, made +his appearance at his house on the morning of Sunday, 7th June, with the +official despatch sent him by the committee of public safety. They +repaired together immediately to the Tower. On their arrival they heard +that the child, whose weakness was excessive, had had a fainting fit, +which had occasioned fears to be entertained that his end was approaching. +He had revived a little, however, when the physicians went up at about +nine o'clock. Unable to contend with increasing exhaustion, they +perceived there was no longer any hope of prolonging an existence worn out +by so much suffering, and that all their art could effect would be to +soften the last stage of this lamentable disease. While standing by the +Prince's bed, Gomin noticed that he was quietly crying, and asked him. +kindly what was the matter. "I am always alone," he said. "My dear +mother remains in the other tower." Night came,--his last night,--which +the regulations of the prison condemned him to pass once more in solitude, +with suffering, his old companion, only at his side. This time, however, +death, too, stood at his pillow. When Gomin went up to the child's room +on the morning of 8th June, he said, seeing him calm, motionless, and +mute: + +"I hope you are not in pain just now?" + +"Oh, yes, I am still in pain, but not nearly so much,--the music is so +beautiful!" + +Now there was no music to be heard, either in the Tower or anywhere near. + +Gomin, astonished, said to him, "From what direction do you hear this +music?" + +"From above!" + +"Have you heard it long?" + +"Since you knelt down. Do you not hear it? Listen! Listen!" And the +child, with a nervous motion, raised his faltering hand, as he opened his +large eyes illuminated by delight. His poor keeper, unwilling to destroy +this last sweet illusion, appeared to listen also. + +After a few minutes of attention the child again started, and cried out, +in intense rapture, "Amongst all the voices I have distinguished that of +my mother!" + +These were almost his last words. At a quarter past two he died, Lasne +only being in the room at the time. Lasne acquainted Gomin and Damont, +the commissary on duty, with the event, and they repaired to the chamber +of death. The poor little royal corpse was carried from the room into +that where he had suffered so long,--where for two years he had never +ceased to suffer. From this apartment the father had gone to the +scaffold, and thence the son must pass to the burial-ground. The remains +were laid out on the bed, and the doors of the apartment were set +open,--doors which had remained closed ever since the Revolution had +seized on a child, then full of vigour and grace and life and health! + +At eight o'clock next morning (9th June) four members of the committee of +general safety came to the Tower to make sure that the Prince was really +dead. When they were admitted to the death-chamber by Lasne and Damont +they affected the greatest indifference. "The event is not of the least +importance," they repeated, several times over; "the police commissary of +the section will come and receive the declaration of the decease; he will +acknowledge it, and proceed to the interment without any ceremony; and the +committee will give the necessary directions." As they withdrew, some +officers of the Temple guard asked to see the remains of little Capet. +Damont having observed that the guard would not permit the bier to pass +without its being opened, the deputies decided that the officers and +non-commissioned officers of the guard going off duty, together with those +coming on, should be all invited to assure themselves of the child's +death. All having assembled in the room where the body lay, he asked them +if they recognised it as that of the ex-Dauphin, son of the last King of +France. Those who had seen the young Prince at the Tuileries, or at the +Temple (and most of them had), bore witness to its being the body of Louis +XVII. When they were come down into the council-room, Darlot drew up the +minutes of this attestation, which was signed by a score of persons. +These minutes were inserted in the journal of the Temple tower, which was +afterwards deposited in the office of the Minister of the Interior. + +During this visit the surgeons entrusted with the autopsy arrived at the +outer gate of the Temple. These were Dumangin, head physician of the +Hospice de l'Unite; Pelletan, head surgeon of the Grand Hospice de +l'Humanite; Jeanroy, professor in the medical schools of Paris; and +Laasus, professor of legal medicine at the Ecole de Sante of Paris. The +last two were selected by Dumangin and Pelletan because of the former +connection of M. Lassus with Mesdames de France, and of M. Jeanroy with +the House of Lorraine, which gave a peculiar weight to their signatures. +Gomin received them in the council-room, and detained them until the +National Guard, descending from the second floor, entered to sign the +minutes prepared by Darlot. This done, Lasne, Darlot, and Bouquet went up +again with the surgeons, and introduced them into the apartment of Louis +XVII., whom they at first examined as he lay on his death-bed; but M. +Jeanroy observing that the dim light of this room was but little +favourable to the accomplishment of their mission, the commissaries +prepared a table in the first room, near the window, on which the corpse +was laid, and the surgeons began their melancholy operation. + +At seven o'clock the police commissary ordered the body to be taken up, +and that they should proceed to the cemetery. It was the season of the +longest days, and therefore the interment did not take place in secrecy +and at night, as some misinformed narrators have said or written; it took +place in broad daylight, and attracted a great concourse of people before +the gates of the Temple palace. One of the municipals wished to have the +coffin carried out secretly by the door opening into the chapel enclosure; +but M. Duaser, police commiasary, who was specially entrusted with the +arrangement of the ceremony, opposed this indecorous measure, and the +procession passed out through the great gate. The crowd that was pressing +round was kept back, and compelled to keep a line, by a tricoloured +ribbon, held at short distances by gendarmes. Compassion and sorrow were +impressed on every countenance. + +A small detachment of the troops of the line from the garrison of Paris, +sent by the authorities, was waiting to serve as an escort. The bier, +still covered with the pall, was carried on a litter on the shoulders of +four men, who relieved each other two at a time; it was preceded by six or +eight men, headed by a sergeant. The procession was accompanied a long +way by the crowd, and a great number of persona followed it even to the +cemetery. The name of "Little Capet," and the more popular title of +Dauphin, spread from lip to lip, with exclamations of pity and compassion. +The funeral entered the cemetery of Ste. Marguerite, not by the church, as +some accounts assert, but by the old gate of the cemetery. The interment +was made in the corner, on the left, at a distance of eight or nine feet +from the enclosure wall, and at an equal distance from a small house, +which subsequently served as a school. The grave was filled up,--no mound +marked its place, and not even a trace remained of the interment! Not +till then did the commissaries of police and the municipality withdraw, +and enter the house opposite the church to draw up the declaration of +interment. It was nearly nine o'clock, and still daylight. + + + + +Release of Madame Royale.--Her Marriage to the Duc d'Angouleme. +--Return to France.--Death. + + +The last person to hear of the sad events in the Temple was the one for +whom they had the deepest and most painful interest. After her brother's +death the captivity of Madame Royale was much lightened. She was allowed +to walk in the Temple gardens, and to receive visits from some ladies of +the old Court, and from Madame de Chantereine, who at last, after several +times evading her questions, ventured cautiously to tell her of the deaths +of her mother, aunt, and brother. Madame Royale wept bitterly, but had +much difficulty in expressing her feelings. "She spoke so confusedly," +says Madame de la Ramiere in a letter to Madame de Verneuil, "that it was +difficult to understand her. It took her more than a month's reading +aloud, with careful study of pronunciation, to make herself +intelligible,--so much had she lost the power of expression." She was +dressed with plainness amounting to poverty, and her hands were disfigured +by exposure to cold and by the menial work she had been so long accustomed +to do for herself, and which it was difficult to persuade her to leave +off. When urged to accept the services of an attendant, she replied, with +a sad prevision of the vicissitudes of her future life, that she did not +like to form a habit which she might have again to abandon. She suffered +herself, however, to be persuaded gradually to modify her recluse and +ascetic habits. It was well she did so, as a preparation for the great +changes about to follow. + +Nine days after the death of her brother, the city of Orleans interceded +for the daughter of Louis XVI., and sent deputies to the Convention to +pray for her deliverance and restoration to her family. Names followed +this example; and Charette, on the part of the Vendeans, demanded, as a +condition of the pacification of La Vendee, that the Princess should be +allowed to join her relations. At length the Convention decreed that +Madame Royale should be exchanged with Austria for the representatives and +ministers whom Dumouriez had given up to the Prince of Cobourg,--Drouet, +Semonville, Maret, and other prisoners of importance. At midnight on 19th +December, 1795, which was her birthday, the Princess was released from +prison, the Minister of the Interior, M. Benezech, to avoid attracting +public attention and possible disturbance, conducting her on foot from the +Temple to a neighbouring street, where his carriage awaited her. She made +it her particular request that Gomin, who had been so devoted to her +brother, should be the commissary appointed to accompany her to the +frontier; Madame de Soucy, formerly under-governess to the children of +France, was also in attendance; and the Princess took with her a dog named +Coco, which had belonged to Louis XVI. + +[The mention of the little dog taken from the Temple by Madame Royale +reminds me how fond all the family were of these creatures. Each Princess +kept a different kind. Mesdames had beautiful spaniels; little grayhounds +were preferred by Madame Elisabeth. Louis XVI. was the only one of all his +family who had no dogs in his room. I remember one day waiting in the +great gallery for the King's retiring, when he entered with all his family +and the whole pack, who were escorting him. All at once all the dogs +began to bark, one louder than another, and ran away, passing like ghosts +along those great dark rooms, which rang with their hoarse cries. The +Princesses shouting, calling them, running everywhere after them, +completed a ridiculous spectacle, which made those august persons very +merry.--D'HEZECQUES, p. 49.] + +She was frequently recognised on her way through France, and always with +marks of pleasure and respect. + +It might have been supposed that the Princess would rejoice to leave +behind her the country which had been the scene of so many horrors and +such bitter suffering. But it was her birthplace, and it held the graves +of all she loved; and as she crossed the frontier she said to those around +her, "I leave France with regret, for I shall never cease to consider it +my country." She arrived in Vienna on 9th January, 1796, and her first +care was to attend a memorial service for her murdered relatives. After +many weeks of close retirement she occasionally began to appear in public, +and people looked with interest at the pale, grave, slender girl of +seventeen, dressed in the deepest mourning, over whose young head such +terrible storms had swept. The Emperor wished her to marry the Archduke +Charles of Austria, but her father and mother had, even in the cradle, +destined her hand for her cousin, the Duc d'Angouleme, son of the Comte +d'Artois, and the memory of their lightest wish was law to her. + +Her quiet determination entailed anger and opposition amounting to +persecution. Every effort was made to alienate her from her French +relations. She was urged to claim Provence, which had become her own if +Louis XVIII. was to be considered King of France. A pressure of opinion +was brought to bear upon her which might well have overawed so young a +girl. "I was sent for to the Emperor's cabinet," she writes, "where I +found the imperial family assembled. The ministers and chief imperial +counsellors were also present . . . . When the Emperor invited me to +express my opinion, I answered that to be able to treat fittingly of such +interests I thought, I ought to be surrounded not only by my mother's +relatives, but also by those of my father . . . . Besides, I said, I +was above all things French, and in entire subjection to the laws of +France, which had rendered me alternately the subject of the King my +father, the King my brother, and the King my uncle, and that I would yield +obedience to the latter, whatever might be his commands. This declaration +appeared very much to dissatisfy all who were present, and when they +observed that I was not to be shaken, they declared that my right being +independent of my will, my resistance would not be the slightest obstacle +to the measures they might deem it necessary to adopt for the preservation +of my interests." + +In their anxiety to make a German princess of Marie Therese, her imperial +relations suppressed her French title as much as possible. When, with +some difficulty, the Duc de Grammont succeeded in obtaining an audience of +her, and used the familiar form of address, she smiled faintly, and bade +him beware. "Call me Madame de Bretagne, or de Bourgogne, or de +Lorraine," she said, "for here I am so identified with these +provinces--[which the Emperor wished her to claim from her uncle Louis +XVIII.]--that I shall end in believing in my own transformation." After +these discussions she was so closely watched, and so many restraints were +imposed upon her, that she was scarcely less a prisoner than in the old +days of the Temple, though her cage was this time gilded. Rescue, +however, was at hand. + +In 1798 Louis XVIII. accepted a refuge offered to him at Mittau by the +Czar Paul, who had promised that he would grant his guest's first request, +whatever it might be. Louis begged the Czar to use his influence with the +Court of Vienna to allow his niece to join him. "Monsieur, my brother," +was Paul's answer, "Madame Royale shall be restored to you, or I shall +cease to be Paul I." Next morning the Czar despatched a courier to Vienna +with a demand for the Princess, so energetically worded that refusal must +have been followed by war. Accordingly, in May, 1799, Madame Royale was +allowed to leave the capital which she had found so uncongenial an asylum. + +In the old ducal castle of Mittau, the capital of Courland, Louis XVIII. +and his wife, with their nephews, the Ducs d'Angouleme + +[The Duc d'Angonleme was quiet and reserved. He loved hunting as means of +killing time; was given to early hours and innocent pleasures. He was a +gentleman, and brave as became one. He had not the "gentlemanly vices" of +his brother, and was all the better for it. He was ill educated, but had +natural good sense, and would have passed for having more than that had he +cared to put forth pretensions. Of all his family he was the one most ill +spoken of, and least deserving of it.--DOCTOR DORAN.] + +and de Berri, were awaiting her, attended by the Abbe Edgeworth, as chief +ecclesiastic, and a little Court of refugee nobles and officers. With +them were two men of humbler position, who must have been even more +welcome to Madame Royale,--De Malden, who had acted as courier to Louis +XVI. during the flight to Varennes, and Turgi, who had waited on the +Princesses in the Temple. It was a sad meeting, though so long anxiously +desired, and it was followed on 10th June, 1799, by an equally sad +wedding,--exiles, pensioners on the bounty of the Russian monarch, +fulfilling an engagement founded, not on personal preference, but on +family policy and reverence for the wishes of the dead, the bride and +bridegroom had small cause for rejoicing. During the eighteen months of +tranquil seclusion which followed her marriage, the favourite occupation +of the Duchess was visiting and relieving the poor. In January, 1801, the +Czar Paul, in compliance with the demand of Napoleon, who was just then +the object of his capricious enthusiasm, ordered the French royal family +to leave Mittau. Their wanderings commenced on the 21st, a day of bitter +memories; and the young Duchess led the King to his carriage through a +crowd of men, women, and children, whose tears and blessings attended them +on their way. + +[The Queen was too ill to travel. The Duc d'Angouleme took another route +to join a body of French gentlemen in arms for the Legitimist cause.] + +The exiles asked permission from the King of Prussia to settle in his +dominions, and while awaiting his answer at Munich they were painfully +surprised by the entrance of five old soldiers of noble birth, part of the +body-guard they had left behind at Mittau, relying on the protection of +Paul. The "mad Czar" had decreed their immediate expulsion, and, +penniless and almost starving, they made their way to Louis XVIII. All +the money the royal family possessed was bestowed on these faithful +servants, who came to them in detachments for relief, and then the Duchess +offered her diamonds to the Danish consul for an advance of two thousand +ducats, saying she pledged her property "that in our common distress it +may be rendered of real use to my uncle, his faithful servants, and +myself." The Duchess's consistent and unselfish kindness procured her +from the King, and those about him who knew her best, the name of "our +angel." + +Warsaw was for a brief time the resting-place of the wanderers, but there +they were disturbed in 1803 by Napoleon's attempt to threaten and bribe +Louis XVIII. into abdication. It was suggested that refusal might bring +upon them expulsion from Prussia. "We are accustomed to suffering," was +the King's answer, "and we do not dread poverty. I would, trusting in +God, seek another asylum." In 1808, after many changes of scene, this +asylum was sought in England, Gosfield Hall, Essex, being placed at their +disposal by the Marquis of Buckingham. From Gosfield, the King moved to +Hartwell Hall, a fine old Elizabethan mansion rented from Sir George Lee +for L 500 a year. A yearly grant of L 24,000 was made to the exiled +family by the British Government, out of which a hundred and forty persons +were supported, the royal dinner-party generally numbering two dozen. + +At Hartwell, as in her other homes, the Duchess was most popular amongst +the poor. In general society she was cold and reserved, and she disliked +the notice of strangers. In March, 1814, the royalist successes at +Bordeaux paved the way for the restoration of royalty in France, and +amidst general sympathy and congratulation, with the Prince Regent himself +to wish them good fortune, the King, the Duchess, and their suite left +Hartwell in April, 1814. The return to France was as triumphant as a +somewhat half-hearted and doubtful enthusiasm could make it, and most of +such cordiality as there was fell to the share of the Duchess. As she +passed to Notre-Dame in May, 1814, on entering Paris, she was vociferously +greeted. The feeling of loyalty, however, was not much longer-lived than +the applause by which it was expressed; the Duchess had scarcely effected +one of the strongest wishes of her heart,--the identification of what +remained of her parents' bodies, and the magnificent ceremony with which +they were removed from the cemetery of the Madeleine to the Abbey of St. +Denis,--when the escape of Napoleon from Elba in February,1815, scattered +the royal family and their followers like chaff before the wind. The Duc +d'Angouleme, compelled to capitulate at Toulouse, sailed from Cette in a +Swedish vessel. The Comte d'Artois, the Duc de Berri, and the Prince de +Conde withdrew beyond the frontier. The King fled from the capital. The +Duchesse d'Angouleme, then at Bordeaux celebrating the anniversary of the +Proclamation of Louis XVIII., alone of all her family made any stand +against the general panic. Day after day she mounted her horse and +reviewed the National Guard. She made personal and even passionate +appeals to the officers and men, standing firm, and prevailing on a +handful of soldiers to remain by her, even when the imperialist troops +were on the other side of the river and their cannon were directed against +the square where the Duchess was reviewing her scanty followers. + +["It was the Duchesse d'Angouleme who saved you," said the gallant General +Clauzel, after these events, to a royalist volunteer; "I could not bring +myself to order such a woman to be fired upon, at the moment when she was +providing material for the noblest page in her history."--"Fillia +Dolorosa," vol. vii., p. 131.] + +With pain and difficulty she was convinced that resistance was vain; +Napoleon's banner soon floated over Bordeaux; the Duchess issued a +farewell proclamation to her "brave Bordelais," and on the 1st April, +1815, she started for Pouillac, whence she embarked for Spain. During a +brief visit to England she heard that the reign of a hundred days was +over, and the 27th of July, 1815, saw her second triumphal return to the +Tuileries. She did not take up her abode there with any wish for State +ceremonies or Court gaieties. Her life was as secluded as her position +would allow. Her favourite retreat was the Pavilion, which had been +inhabited by her mother, and in her little oratory she collected relics of +her family, over which on the anniversaries of their deaths she wept and +prayed. In her daily drives through Paris she scrupulously avoided the +spot on which they had suffered; and the memory of the past seemed to rule +all her sad and self-denying life, both in what she did and what she +refrained from doing. + +[She was so methodical and economical, though liberal in her charities, +that one of her regular evening occupations was to tear off the seals from +the letters she had received during the day, in order that the wax might +be melted down and sold; the produce made one poor family "passing rich +with forty pounds a year."--See "Filia Dolorosa," vol. ii., p. 239.] + +Her somewhat austere goodness was not of a nature to make her popular. The +few who really understood her loved her, but the majority of her +pleasure-seeking subjects regarded her either with ridicule or dread. She +is said to have taken no part in politics, and to have exerted no +influence in public affairs, but her sympathies were well known, and "the +very word liberty made her shudder;" like Madame Roland, she had seen "so +many crimes perpetrated under that name." + +The claims of three pretended Dauphins--Hervagault, the son of the tailor +of St. Lo; Bruneau, son of the shoemaker of Vergin; and Naundorf or +Norndorff, the watchmaker somewhat troubled her peace, but never for a +moment obtained her sanction. Of the many other pseudo-Dauphins (said to +number a dozen and a half) not even the names remain. In February,1820, a +fresh tragedy befell the royal family in the assassination of the Duc de +Berri, brother-in-law of the Duchesse d'Angouleme, as he was seeing his +wife into her carriage at the door of the Opera-house. He was carried +into the theatre, and there the dying Prince and his wife were joined by +the Duchess, who remained till he breathed his last, and was present when +he, too, was laid in the Abbey of St. Denis. She was present also when +his son, the Duc de Bordeaux, was born, and hoped that she saw in him a +guarantee for the stability of royalty in France. In September, 1824, she +stood by the death-bed of Louis XVIII., and thenceforward her chief +occupation was directing the education of the little Duc de Bordeaux, who +generally resided with her at Villeneuve l'Etang, her country house near +St. Cloud. Thence she went in July, 1830, to the Baths of Vichy, +stopping at Dijon on her way to Paris, and visiting the theatre on the +evening of the 27th. She was received with "a roar of execrations and +seditious cries," and knew only too well what they signified. She +instantly left the theatre and proceeded to Tonnere, where she received +news of the rising in Paris, and, quitting the town by night, was driven +to Joigny with three attendants. Soon after leaving that place it was +thought more prudent that the party should separate and proceed on foot, +and the Duchess and M. de Foucigny, disguised as peasants, entered +Versailles arm-in-arm, to obtain tidings of the King. The Duchess found +him at Rambouillet with her husband, the Dauphin, and the King met her +with a request for "pardon," being fully conscious, too late, that his +unwise decrees and his headlong flight had destroyed the last hopes of his +family. The act of abdication followed, by which the prospect of royalty +passed from the Dauphin and his wife, as well as from Charles X.--Henri V. +being proclaimed King, and the Duc d'Orleans (who refused to take the boy +monarch under his personal protection) lieutenant-general of the kingdom. + +Then began the Duchess's third expatriation. At Cherbourg the royal +family, accompanied by the little King without a kingdom, embarked in the +'Great Britain', which stood out to sea. The Duchess, remaining on deck +for a last look at the coast of France, noticed a brig which kept, she +thought, suspiciously near them. + +"Who commands that vessel?" she inquired. + +"Captain Thibault." + +And what are his orders?" + +"To fire into and sink the vessels in which we sail, should any attempt be +made to return to France." + +Such was the farewell of their subjects to the House of Bourbon. The +fugitives landed at Weymouth; the Duchesse d'Angouleme under the title of +Comtesse de Marne, the Duchesse de Berri as Comtesse de Rosny, and her +son, Henri de Bordeaux, as Comte de Chambord, the title he retained till +his death, originally taken from the estate presented to him in infancy by +his enthusiastic people. Holyrood, with its royal and gloomy +associations, was their appointed dwelling. The Duc and Duchesse +d'Angouleme, and the daughter of the Duc de Berri, travelled thither by +land, the King and the young Comte de Chambord by sea. "I prefer my route +to that of my sister," observed the latter, "because I shall see the coast +of France again, and she will not." + +The French Government soon complained that at Holyrood the exiles were +still too near their native land, and accordingly, in 1832, Charles X., +with his son and grandson, left Scotland for Hamburg, while the Duchesse +d'Angouleme and her niece repaired to Vienna. The family were reunited at +Prague in 1833, where the birthday of the Comte de Chambord was celebrated +with some pomp and rejoicing, many Legitimists flocking thither to +congratulate him on attaining the age of thirteen, which the old law of +monarchical France had fixed as the majority of her princes. Three years +later the wanderings of the unfortunate family recommenced; the Emperor +Francis II. was dead, and his successor, Ferdinand, must visit Prague to +be crowned, and Charles X. feared that the presence of a discrowned +monarch might be embarrassing on such an occasion. Illness and sorrow +attended the exiles on their new journey, and a few months after they were +established in the Chateau of Graffenburg at Goritz, Charles X. died of +cholera, in his eightieth year. At Goritz, also, on the 31st May, 1844, +the Duchesse d'Angouleme, who had sat beside so many death-beds, watched +over that of her husband. Theirs had not been a marriage of affection in +youth, but they respected each other's virtues, and to a great extent +shared each other's tastes; banishment and suffering had united them very +closely, and of late years they had been almost inseparable,--walking, +riding, and reading together. When the Duchesse d'Angouleme had seen her +husband laid by his father's side in the vault of the Franciscan convent, +she, accompanied by her nephew and niece, removed to Frohsdorf, where they +spent seven tranquil years. Here she was addressed as "Queen" by her +household for the first time in her life, but she herself always +recognised Henri, Comte de Chambord, as her sovereign. The Duchess lived +to see the overthrow of Louis Philippe, the usurper of the inheritance of +her family. Her last attempt to exert herself was a characteristic one. +She tried to rise from a sick-bed in order to attend the memorial service +held for her mother, Marie Antoinette, on the 16th October, the +anniversary of her execution. But her strength was not equal to the task; +on the 19th she expired, with her hand in that of the Comte de Chambord, +and on 28th October, 1851, Marie Therese Charlotte, Duchesse d'Angouleme, +was buried in the Franciscan convent. + + + + +The Ceremony of Expiation. + + +"In the spring of 1814 a ceremony took place in Paris at which I was +present because there was nothing in it that could be mortifying to a +French heart. The death of Louis XVI. had long been admitted to be one of +the most serious misfortunes of the Revolution. The Emperor Napoleon +never spoke of that sovereign but in terms of the highest respect, and +always prefixed the epithet unfortunate to his name. The ceremony to +which I allude was proposed by the Emperor of Russia and the King of +Prussia. It consisted of a kind of expiation and purification of the spot +on which Louis XVI. and his Queen were beheaded. I went to see the +ceremony, and I had a place at a window in the Hotel of Madame de Remusat, +next to the Hotel de Crillon, and what was termed the Hotel de Courlande. + +"The expiation took place on the 10th of April. The weather was extremely +fine and warm for the season. The Emperor of Russia and King of Prussia, +accompanied by Prince Schwartzenberg, took their station at the entrance +of the Rue Royale; the King of Prussia being on the right of the Emperor +Alexander, and Prince Schwartzenberg on his left. There was a long +parade, during which the Russian, Prussian and Austrian military bands +vied with each other in playing the air, 'Vive Henri IV.!' The cavalry +defiled past, and then withdrew into the Champs Elysees; but the infantry +ranged themselves round an altar which was raised in the middle of the +Place, and which was elevated on a platform having twelve or fifteen +steps. The Emperor of Russia alighted from his horse, and, followed by +the King of Prussia, the Grand Duke Constantine, Lord Cathcart, and Prince +Schwartzenberg, advanced to the altar. When the Emperor had nearly +reached the altar the "Te Deum" commenced. At the moment of the +benediction, the sovereigns and persons who accompanied them, as well as +the twenty-five thousand troops who covered the Place, all knelt down. +The Greek priest presented the cross to the Emperor Alexander, who kissed +it; his example was followed by the individuals who accompanied him, +though they were not of the Greek faith. On rising, the Grand Duke +Constantine took off his hat, and immediately salvoes of artillery were +heard." + + + + +NOTE. + +The following titles have the signification given below during the period +covered by this work: + +MONSEIGNEUR........... The Dauphin. + +MONSIEUR.............. The eldest brother of the King, Comte de Provence, +afterwards Louis XVIII. + +MONSIEUR LE PRINCE.... The Prince de Conde, head of the House of Conde. + +MONSIEUR LE DUC....... The Duc de Bourbon, the eldest son of the Prince de +Condo (and the father of the Duc d'Enghien shot by Napoleon). + +MONSIEUR LE GRAND..... The Grand Equerry under the ancien regime. + +MONSIEUR LE PREMIER... The First Equerry under the ancien regime. + +ENFANS DE FRANCE...... The royal children. + +MADAME & MESDAMES..... Sisters or daughters of the King, or Princesses +near the Throne (sometimes used also for the wife of Monsieur, the eldest +brother of the King, the Princesses Adelaide, Victoire, Sophie, Louise, +daughters of Louis XV., and aunts of Louis XVI.) + +MADAME ELISABETH...... The Princesse Elisabeth, sister of Louis XVI. + +MADAME ROYALE......... The Princesse Marie Therese, daughter of Louis +XVI., afterwards Duchesse d'Angouleme. + +MADEMOISELLE.......... The daughter of Monsieur, the brother of the King. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Allowed her candles and as much firewood as she wanted +Better to die than to implicate anybody +Duc d'Orleans, when called on to give his vote for death of King +Formed rather to endure calamity with patience than to contend +How can I have any regret when I partake your misfortunes +Louis Philippe, the usurper of the inheritance of her family +My father fortunately found a library which amused him +No one is more dangerous than a man clothed with recent authority +Rabble, always ready to insult genius, virtue, and misfortune +So many crimes perpetrated under that name (liberty) +Subjecting the vanquished to be tried by the conquerors + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Memoirs of Marie Antoinette, Queen +Of France, Volume 7, by Madame Campan + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARIE ANTOINETTE *** + +***** This file should be named 3890.txt or 3890.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/9/3890/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |