J"-^^ yfM.-P^.y / MEMOIRS ^^^ 0.^,2^.^.^:^ RELATING TO ^RE FRENCH REVOLUTION, BY THE MARQUIS DE BOUILLE. TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH MANUSCRIPT. " Nobilitas, opes, omiffi geftique honores, pro crimine, & ob " virtutes, certiilimum exitium." Tacitus, LONDON: PRINTED FOP. CADELL AND DAVIES IN THE STRAND. 1797. ft7éin CONTENTS. I NTRODUCTION. - - Page I CHAP. I. A View of the Caufes of the French Revolution. 9 CHAP. II. Voyage into England and Holland. — Obfervations on the fituation of thofe two countries at that time.— A journey into Pruflla and Bohemia. — Reflections on Frederic the Second, and the emperor Jofeph. — The former wifhes the king of France to enter into the Germanic confederation. — Projects of France and Holland againft tlie Englifli fettlements in the Eaft Indies. 24 CHAP. Hi. State of France at the beginning of the reign of Louis the Sixteenth. — M. de Maurepas, M. de Vergennes, M. de Calonhe. — Plans of the two latter minifters. —Convocation of the Notables. — Steps taken by that aflembiy, and the efl^eâs which they produced. —The archbifliop of Thouloufe, afterwards cardinal Loménie, placed at the head of the finances — Dif- folves the aflembiy of the Notables — Is appointed prims' minifter»— His errors and inconfiftencies. — I A 3 am n CONTENTS. , am appointed commandant of Metz, and of the province des Evêchés. — Beginning of the difturb- ances in France. — Meafures purfued by the parlia- ments.— Both they and the clergy demand a conyo* cation of the States General, which is earneftly defired by the whole nation.— What the eftates of the kingdom were formerly.— Obfervations upon the change in the manners and cuftoms of the French nation and government fince the year 1614, the peripd when the States General were laft aflemblcd. Page 44 CHAP. IV. Cardinal Loménie refigns. — He recommends to the king M. Neckar, who is appointed minifter of the finances. — Principles and projects of cardinal Loménie. — They are purfued by M. Neckar. — A, fécond aflembly of the Notables. — Their opinion concerning the compofition of the States General Arret of the parliament of Paris upon the fame fubjeO. — Convocation of the States General, and their compofition.— My converfation with M. Neckar. — I am fent to rcfume my command at Metz. — Want of grain. — The caufcs and effeds of this fcarcity, 66 CHAP. V. Situation of France in the month of 0£tober 1789. — Circumflances in which I found myfelf at Metz. Overtures made me by La Fayette.— Beginning of my correfpondence with him.— His projeds. ^6, CHAP. VI. Two parties formed among the revolutionifts.— La Fayette :\t the head of the conllitutionalifls.— The duke CONTENTS. vu duke of Orleans chief of the Jacobins, or anarchifts. — Charadters of the above leaders,— Their views and projets. — Their condudl vi'ith refpecl to the army. — The king goes to the national aflembly Fe- bruary 4, 1790. — EfFeûs of this Hep. — Excefles committed by the troops at Metz.— They return to their duty. - Page 1 25 CHAP. VII. The king, at the înftance of La Fayette, writes to me with his own hand, defiring me to come to Paris. — I demand permiflion to quit the kingdom. — He writes me a fécond letter, to difluade me from that refolution, and to engage me to remain in his fcr- vice. — Federation of the national guards of the pro- vince des Évêchés with the regular troops. — The former wifli to ele£t me their general, which offer I decline. — Judicious reflétions of the war minider, M. la Tour du Pin, upon that fubjeâ:. 14JJ CHAP. vm. I endeavour to found La Fayette, with a view of co- operating with him if I find his intentions pure and difinterefted. — Fail in my attempts. — General fede- ration at Paris of the national guards and the troops of the line. — EfFefls which this produced in the army. — General infurreftion of the troops.— Parti- culars of that of the garrifon of Metz, — I am ap- pointed commander in chief of the army of the weft. — My apprehenfions of a civil war, and difpo- fitions in confequence. - - 160 CHAP. IX. Affair of Nanci. — Particulars of that event, and its confequences. — I make the tour of the provinces of which Tiii eôNTENTS. which I am com mandant. — Difpofitionof the people and troops at that time. — IV] y proje6l for reftoring the king to liberty, and placing him at the head of his army.— Change in the miniftry, and bad efFefts . of that meafure. - Page 195 CHAP. X. The king makes propofals to me to facilitate his depart- ure from Paris, intending to retire to one of the frontier towns under my command. — My obfcrva- tions on the danger of fuch a flep. — I aflure his majefty of my fidelity and zeal for his fervice.— Means which I propofe for the execution of the king's projecl:. — I become the objefl of jealoufy and diftruft.— Give in my refignation of the command of Alface.-- Propofals made me by Mirabeau. — His plan for faving the king and monarchy.— Uneafinefs of La Fayette upon that fubjc£l. — Death of Mira- beau. — Change in the opinion and difpofition of the people.— The caufes of this change. 265 CHAP. XI. Anecdotes of the duke de Biron.— Difpofitions which I make to fecure the king's fafè retreat to Montmedi, —He is arrefted at Varennes. — 1 march to his ma- jefty's affiftance, but find him fet out on his return to Paris.— An order is ilTued for my arreft— I ar- rive at Luxembourg. — Decree of the national aflenl- bly againft all concerned in the king's flight. — Letter of M. Beauharnois. - - 321 CHAP. xn. General emigration. — I offer my fervices to the cmprefs of Ruflfia. — Letter of the king of Sweden.— I vifit that monarch at Aix la Chapelle. — His project in 9 favour CONTENTS. ix favour of the king of France. — Interview of the emperor and the king of Pruflia.— Declaration of « Pilnitz.— -Plans of the emperor and king of PrufTia for terminating the affairs of France. Page 382 CHAP. XIII. Letter of the king of Sweden. — Affairs in France take an unfavourable turn.— Pacific conduâ of the em- peror. — Defcent meditated on the coaft of France. .—Death of the emperor — The Fjrench declare war. 428 CHAP. XIV. Numerous army levied by the French..— How effe£led. — Affaflination of the king of Sweden. — Some ac- xrount of that monarch, and of the confpiracy by which he loft his life.— I quit the fervice of Sweden. — Fall, and imprifonment of La Fayette. — He is fucceeded in the command of the French army by Dumourier. — Longwy and Verdun taken by the Allies. — Conclufion. 4jp APPENDIX. No. L Lettre de Monf. le Marquis de Bouille à Monf. le Marquis du Chaftelet. - - 523 No. II. Lettre de Monf. de la Fayette â Monf. le Marquis de Bouille. - - - ^26 No. in. Lettre de Monf. de la Fayette à Monf, le Marquis de Bouille. - - r 528 No. CONTENTS. No. IV. Lettre du Roi à Monf. le Marquis de Bouille. Page 53X No. V. Lettre du Roi à Monf. le Marquis de Bouille. 532 No. VL Lettre de Monf. de la Fayette à Monf. le Marquis de Bouille. - - '533 No. VIL Lettre du Roi à Monf. le Marquis de Bouille. 535 No. VIIL Lettre de Monf. de la Fayette à Monf. le Marquis de Bouille. - - "53^ No. IX. Lettre du Roi à Monf, le Marquis de Bouille. 539 , No. X. Lettre du Préfident de rAflemblée Nationale à Monf. le Marquis de Bouille. - - 540 No. XL Lettre de Monf, de la Fayette à Monf. le Marquis de Bouille. - - - ^^-^ No. XII. Lettre du Roi à Monf. le Marquis de Bouille. 544 No. XtlI. Lettre du Roi à Monf. le Marquis de Bouille. 545 No. XlV. Lettre de Monf. de la Fayette à Monf. le Marquis de Bouille. - - . 546 No. CONTENTS. XI No. XV. Lettre de Monf. le Marquis de Bouille à Monf. de h Fayette. - - Page 550 No. XVI. Lettre du Roi de Suéde à Monf. le Marquis de Bouille. 554 No. XVIL Lettre du Roi de Suéde à Monf. le Marquis de Bouille. 5SS No. XVIII. Lettre du Roi de Suéde à Monf. le Marquis de Bouille. No. XIX. Lettre du Roi de Suéde à Monf. le Marquis de Bouille. S62 (^ The Marquis de Bouille having been ah- fent from London^ while his work was under the prefs^ feveral errors have crept into the following tranjlation. Thofe which merely a feat the Jiyle, and fome errors of dates ^ the indul- ^ence of the reader will excnfe; but there are others which alter the fenfe, and ought there* fore to be correâled» Page 3, line i of the note, yir Annual Regifîer read New Annual Regifter 4> — 7, for which comprifes all the hiftory of France recni which comprifes a flcetch of the hif- tory of France 13, — 4» ffOm the botrcm,yôr thofe employed in the colleftion of the public revenue read the financiers i6, — Z> ff a fceptre of iron 7-ead a firm and fevere government 18, — Wt for'thrf.t to four read foar to three ,24, — iç, fl/ivr commandât add in chief 28, — i2. for other people rf^^ another nation 5 ^ , — 20, after high rank add a great confideration 55» — ^f for fuggefted by the affembly of the notables read which the aflembling of the notables had fuggefled 58, — 16, for thirty r^^rt' eighty 66, — penult, yôr eight rMd' eighteen S4, — 5 of note, ye/- define read verify 92,— \-], for the principal part of whom read the mofl; dillinguiflied of whom 130, — 1 Ç, yir the people read moh 193, — 2, after infantry add devoted to the king 1 6, /6/- without inhabitants rf^d' containing few inhabitants 22, for the Bidiopricks read Les Evêchés— The fame corrertion in other parts 21 1,— !0, /or guards rf^^ regiment 291,— 16, /tr degradation r^«i/ comparative inferiority 2y2, — anttoenuit, for national read public 305,- — I ?, for di(bt(iers read indilcreticns 327, — 2, for Goguelas read]^ * * »* INTRO DUCT I O N. XT had ,been my intention not to make public what I had written, as well on the French revolution, as on whatever I found interefting under the reigns of the two laft fovereigns of France, relative to their courts, to the manners of the times, and the principal events to which I had been witnefs ; I propofed leaving it to thofe who fhould come into pofleflion of my Memoirs, either to publifh them or com- mit them to the flames according to the judgment they fhould pafs on them : but I have obferved that after having con- ftantly remained faithful to my fovereign and my duty, under circumftances the moft extraordinary, the moft trying, and the moft dangerous, after having like many VOL. I. B Others INTRODUCTION. Others fallen the vidim of my attachment to my king and country, and after being at laft obliged to fly, carrying with me nothing but the confcioufnefs of an ho- nourable conduit, attempts have been made to ravifh from me even that only confolation of my adverfe fortune. By the anarchifts and Jacobins I have been called a traitor, and branded as in- famous ; the conftitutionalifts accufe me of having violated the oath I had taken to their conftitution, a fabric whofe fandy founda- tion giving way of itfeif, it fell, and buried thofe who had raifed it under its ruins; even the royalifts whofe caufe I defended, have regarded me as an intriguer acting from no motives but thofe of felf-intereft, and acknowledging no guide but my ambition. The former I have defpifed as mifcreants or madmen ; the latter I have pitied, as under the irritation of misfortune, which often renders men unjuft; and I fhould have kept filence if this mifreprefentation of my principles and con(iu<^ had not at 6 the INTRODUCTION. the fame time fpread to foreign countrîes. Englifli writers juftly efteemed have thought proper to infert in their works, calumnies invented againft me by the moft furious Jacobins *. The more marks of efteem and good- will I have ^received from Jjhe SJtJgHlJi * The Annual Regifler for the year 1791, page 97, fpeaking of the affair of Nancy, has the following paflage : ** Such an arrangement however did not fuit *< the views of the perfidious and fanguinary Bouille. ** Without waiting the refult of the deputation from *< Nancy, he haftened with a fatal rafhnefs (as was " confefled even by his advocates) to enforce the <* decree of the i6th. He coUefted all the troops ** that he could aflemble from every part, and fuch of ** the national guard as preferred a patriotic fubordi- ** nation to the immediate dictates of their feelings " and their confciences. In fpite of their offers of *' fubmilTion, he fell upon the regiments of chateaux ** vieux and mejlre de campy and after putting an im- ** menfe number to the fword, he completely routed •* them and. took 400 prifoners." And again the fame publication, fpeaking of the king's flight, page 112, proceeds thus : '* The perfidious Bouille, who had <' fo wantonly embrued his hands in the blood of his •' fellow-foldiers in the affair of Nancy, was the prin- ** cipal agent on this occafion,'&c." The Monthly Magazine likewife, for 0£lober 1795, page 727, ac- cufes me of being the author of the king's flight. B 2 , nation, I57TRÔDUCTION. nation, the more I think it my duty to refute the attacks made upon my moral character, by writings deftined to ferve as materials for hiftory. It is ihen for the pur- pofe of vindicating myfelf that I publifli at this time, and in the Englifli language, that P9rL,Qf JPy Memoirs which comprifes ^ t]i?Jiïïto?y of France, from.- nw return from the colonies in 1783, to the egtry of the Pruffian and Auflrian armies into Champagne. Between thefe epochs are included the mofl: interefting circumftances of my life, connected with events of the greateft im- portance. Truth, which has ever direâ:ed my pen, will clear my condudt to a nation whofe good opinion I have always endea- voured to deferve, which I efteemed when its enemy, which has afforded me an afylum when baniflied my country, affifted me in my misfortunes, and received me with kindnefs and hofpitality. ^ay England long enjoy the fruits of her happy conftitution, and continue to remain INTRODUCTION. remain an înftance of a wife and mo- derate government, equally diftant frcim. defpotifm and anarchy. May fhe, amid the riches poured in upon her daily by her commerce and the induftry of her fubjeds, may fhe preferve that public fpirit to which fhe is indebted for her profperity, her greatnefs, and the advan- tage of being this day firfl in the fcalc of nations ! An empire like England, whofe fituation renders her independent, whofe riches enable her to maintain the beft and mofl po^werful armies in Europe, and which fupplies the wants of every nation ; fuch an empire may become the general ar- biter, and fecure the general tranquillity ; it would even find an advantage in pre- f^rving the peace of Europe, I mean the improvement of its commerce. But inftead of being ufeful, its power would become pernicious, unlefs accompanied by re<^i-. tude of conduâ: and fidelity to its engage- ments : thefe virtues belong to the powers B 3 fulj 6 INTRODUCTION. fui ; infincerlty, perfidy, and falfejiood jire only the refources of the weak. But fhould corruption ever introduce itfelf into the manners of the Englifh nation, Ihould the veneration for religion be diminifhed, public fpirit become extinâ:, and private intereft predominate ; fhould the thirft of riches deftroy the patriotic paffion, a fpirit of innovation prevail, and facrilegious hands be laid upon the fun- damental laws of the conftitution ; then may the fpeâ:acle of the diffolution of one of the moft flourifhing empires in the world offer itfelf to their eyes, and warn them of their temerity. I fee that a general error obtains with refpe^ to the caufes which have deftroyed France; confequences have been taken for principles : it is nei- , ther the worm that flowly confumes the body, nor the vulture which voracioufly de- vours it, that engenders its corruption : it is not the men whom we have feen at the head of the revolution that were the caufes of it j on the contrary, the natural confe- INTRODUCTION. confequence of a revolution was to pro- duce fuch men. Frequently an a£lor in the events which have taken place in France within thefe laft thirty years, always an attentive obferver of them, I have perhaps been able better than another man to trace the caufes which have brought on this great cataftrophe. May I here be permitted to relate them ? The picture, though rapidly executed, may prove a prefervative to thofe nations which Itill retain their vigour. The anatomy of the dead fometimes contributes to the fafety of the living, / B 4 MEMOIRS RELATING TO "THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. CHAP. I. A View of the Caiifes of the French Revolution, L ou IS the Fourteenth, having thrown down, the feeble barriers which had confined the power of his predecefTors, eftabhfhed an abfolute monarchy in France almofl at the fame time that the laft revo- lution in England fixed upon a folid bafis the liberty of the people and the power pf the fovereign. But the French mo- narch, though he acknowledged no limit- ation to his will, yet regulated his, con- dud by great maxims of flate, and by pria- lO MEMOIRS RELATING TO principles of government which he inva- riably obferved during a long and brilliant reign, in which he experienced alternately the fmiles and frowns of fortune. The laft thirty years of his life were fpent in repairing, by a condudl the moft exem- plary, the injury he had offered to religion ^nd morality during his youth. The regent, whom this prince ufed to call a braggart of vice, by his licentious behaviour fowed the firfl feeds of corrup- tion. Thefe took deep root, but were prevented from coming to maturity by the wife adminiflration» of Cardinal de Fleuri, who was at the head of affairs during the firft twenty years of the reign of Louis the Fifteenth. On the death of this minifter, the fovcreign he had ferved, a weak and effeminate prince, refigned his perfon and kingdom into the hands of his miftrcffes, who abandoned them to the guidance of minifters, frequently in- capable, and v/ho always owed their places to intrigue. Some, like the duke de Choi- fcuil. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. II feuil, by their imprudence, levity, and au- dacity, quickly overturned the whole fyf- ten of government, both moral and po- litical, which Louis the Fourteenth, aflifted by the ableft ftatefmen of his age, had founded. Thencefoich began to appear that revolutionary principle which threatened the kingdom. It was M. de Choifeuil who completed the corruption of the court by having re- courfe to bribery, the fame means he em- ployed to corrupt the nobility of the pro- vinces after having drawn them thither; he foon taught them to prefer intereft and intrigue to honour, that facred charge which they had fo long preferved. The • army, likewife, he infeûed with the fame fpirit, changing its conftitution, which, extraordinary as it was, rendered it one of the beft in Europe. Inftead of con- fining the parliaments within the limits prefcribed them by the fovereign autho- rity as eftabliilied by Louis the Fourteenth ; he was the firft minifter who endeavoured to J 2 MEMOIRS RELATING TO to pervert their fpirit, and he fucceeded : the magiftrates abandoned that feverity of manners, that gravity which had cha- raûerized their fathers, and for which the magiftracy of France had ever been remarkable. The fame rri^n changed the fpirit and character of the higher orders of the clergy, by difpofmg of the firft dig- nities of the church to the young nobility. He fhook the political fyftem of France, by cementing an alliance with its ancient enemy, the houfe of Auftria; he fomented the difturbances w^hich had arifen among the Englifh colonies in America : in fine, he proteâ:ed the dangerous fed of philo- fophers and men of letters ; permitting them to difleminate without control their deftrudlive principles. Such was the con- duit of this minifter during the twelve years that he governed France. However, Louis the Fifteenth, towards the conclufion of his reign, feemed to fhake off his lethargy, and to open his eyes to the misfortunes under which his kingdom , laboured, THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 1 3 laboured, and the ftill greater with which it was threatened. His miftrefs was at that time rnore engaged in the purfuit of plea- fure than in fchemes of ambition, and flie left the government of the kingdom to minifters more firm and more enHghtened: thefe endeavoured to flop the progrefs of the evil, but they did not ftrike at its root ; befides, it had already made too great pro- grefs to be eafily extirpated. The chan- cellor Maupeou, a man of a great cha- rader, unable to bring back to a fenfe of their duty the parliaments, who had already formed the project of eftablifhing an arif- tocracy in France by participating in the fovereign authority, adopted the violent but necefTary refolution of annihilating them. The Abbe Terray redtificd the diforder of the finances, by laying down a ftridt and vigorous plan, by w^hich he im- po^d' a check upon the rapacity of thofo rr . hi ( D i ii i Uottioi^ gjf ihu public. " ^wrettiie. The duke d'Aiguillon, educated in the principles of his. great uncle car- dinal H MEMOIRS RPXATING TO dinal Richelieu, feemed defirous of chang- ing the new fyftem of politics introduced by the preceding miniftry ; and of re- eftablifhing in the army its ancient infti- tutions, and recalling its former fpirit. Laftly, the government difplayed a wifh to reprcfs the licentioufnefs of authors, and again to infpire the public with that refpeû and obedience which is due to authority. Had the prince I am fpeaking of lived a few years longer, and continued to em- ploy the fame minifters, or had their fuc- cefTors adled upon the fapie principles, the exiftence of the monarchy might ftill have been prolonged to a diftant period ; for I am of opinion with Montefquieu, that a government can only be fupported by maxims and means analogous to the prin- cipjlç. on which it is founded, and that an abfoluta monsLLchy. tendâ...t.otoi"^* its iyj^ folution the moment the authority of th«> fovereign experiences any diminution. Louis THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 1 5 Louis the Fifteenth however died, and was fucceeded_,by a prince young and in- ekpcrTe4<4ai5!U^aaeM| all the virtues which are an ornament to private life, but none of thofe qualities which were , become neceflary in a fituation fo difficult. Inftead of retaining the minifters of his predecefTor, he difmifled them all without exception, choofing for his counfellor and guide a man above feventy, who having keen a minifter at the age of fifteen, had retired from his employment in the prime, and vigour of his life, and was now to direâ: a young monarch and govern a kingdom in the infancy of his old age. He was a man without refolution, without virtues, without abilities, but at the fame time mild, affable, and complying. He employed under him men by no means qualified for their office, remarkable rather for probity than talents; and fome of them, among whom may be reckoned M. Turgot, extremely dangerous from their fyftematic fpirit. The. l6 MEMOIRS RELATING TO The French nation, in the corrupt ftate to which it had arrived, ccgild no longer /^ be governed but h^ ^%^t/SfiuiS f%^ that of Louis the Fourteenth ; but this was too weighty for the hands of Louis the Sixteenth : his aged counfellor re- commended mildnefs inftead of feve- rity, and the king was eafily made to beUeve, that the love of his people ought to be preferred to their fear. This man forgot, without doubt, to convince hi» fovereign of the truth of that great maxim, that the beneficence of kings confifts in their juftice; and that this, if he had lif- tened to it, would have prefcribed the eflablilhment of order and regularity in the different parts of his dominions, and in re- lieving the moft numerous and mod ufeful clafs of his fubjeds, the labouring poor: thefe were at that time haralfed and rendered unhappy by the avarice and rapacity not only of the courtiers, but likewife of that immenfe crowd, fome of whom, by intrigue, divided amongft them the fpoils of the nation, whilft others, flieltering themfelves beneath THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. beneath the privileges of their order, of fituatioH, threw the whole weight of the public burden upon the inferior ranks of fociety. His majefty fuffered himfelf to be per- fuaded, and his minifters perfuaded them- felves, that the enlightened, but at the fame time reftlefs, jealous, infatiable, and corrupt defcription of men who in- baWted the court, the capital, and the great cities, compofed the mSi^ of iktc people ; thefe, however, in reality formed a very fmall part of the nation, and that the moft depraved in its morals, and the moil dangerous, from the turbulent fpirit with which it was agitated. Thenceforth the; opinion of this part of the public became the uncertain guide of government. The king by his gooduefs, the queen by her graces, and the miniftry by condefcenfion, now only ftudied to pleafe and captivate them. It was this defire w^hich led to - the re-eftablifhment of the parliaments, without even depriving them of the means VOL. I. C of 17 l8 MEMOIRS RELATING TO . of injuring the lawful authority in future; without guarding againft the deftrudive plan they had formerly concerted *, and which they might refume and complete at pleafure. For this fame purpofe the public treafury was exhaufted, and its riches dillributed among that voracious crowd which compofed or furrounded the court; thus producing diforder in the finances, though taxes within a very few years inc^alêd in the proportion of ^faa»» 4f^four. » IT was for this the king and queen divefted the throne of that majefty which furrounded it, and which had till then înfpired the people with fentiments of refpedt and veneration. It was to pleafe this public that doctrines were licenfed the moft adverfe to morality, religion, and authority; philofophers and writers were permitted to take poiTefnon of the public opinion, to regulate it as they pleafed, to ere6t it into a tribunal, and to * So far back as the year !7<^3, the parliaments had formeil an union among tliemfelves, ilyling each other 7i divifion of the national parliament. examine THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. I9 examine at its bar the adions and con- duâ: of the government. It was for this fame purpofe that afliftance was given to the American colonies when they re- voked from the Britilh nation ; that a ruinous war was engaged in to fecure their independence, and that to divert the public mind from the injuftice of the caufe they had efpoufed, the repub- lican dogma of the fovereignty of the people was tolerated, and fuffered to dif- fufe itfelf through the whole kingdom : in fine, fo totally was every principle of policy and morality difregarded, that the public mind was already democratical, whilft the monarchy ftill exifted, fo that when the difordered ftate of the finances compelled the king to afifemble the notables for the purpofe of applying a remedy, this aflembly could do no fervice ; nor could the ftates general, which were fub- ftituted to them, do any thing more ef- fedual. All the humours of this vaft political body were in a fermentation. The magiftracy was ambitious, the clergy jealous C 2 of 20 MEMOIRS RELATING TO of their privileges, a fpirit of infurredlion prevailed among the nobility, whilft there was a total want of fubordination in the army, particularly among the chiefs : licen- tioufnefs and infolence pervaded the middle ranks of fociety, whilft the lower clafs experienced the extreme of mifery, and 'the rich indulged themfelves in the moft unbounded luxury. The government was without energy, the court defpifed, and the great were funk into a ftatc of degra- dation ; irreligion and immorality were diffufed among the firft orders, reftleflhefs and difcontent among all : the treafury was exhaufted, the public credit ruined, and all the ordinary refources were worn out. The ftates general, foon become a popular affembly, brought things to a crifis, but it was not they who were the caufe of it ; it was the natural and unavoidable effedt of the corruption of the people, and the weaknefs of the monarch. It is difficult to imagine that France, like England after the revolution which fhe experienced in the laft century, and from the time of the refto- THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, 21 reftoration, will emerge with greater vi- gour than fhe poflefled before. The Englifh had preferved their morals and their religion, whilft the French have abandoned both. Without thefe necelTary reftraints men can never live in a ftate of fociety, much lefs can a great nation be governed or govern itfelf. , The fate of Europe is conneded with that of France, and I do not hefitate to give it as my opinion, that the only hope which remains is founded upon the return of thofe moral and religious ideas which already begin to refume their empire amid the moft frightful diforders : it is even probable, that the reafonable part of the French nation, inftrudted by the misfor- tunes they have experienced, is again dif- pofed to receive the falutary yoke of a good government : but if this be only an illufion, if the monfters which France contains within her bofom ftill preferve or are re- fuming a preponderance, then will that / c 3 devoted 22 MEMOIRS RELATING TO devoted countiy prefent a fcene of ruin and defolation ; its inhabitants will become a barbarous and favage people, dangerous to their neighbours, and will at laft fall a prey- to their own fury. But {hould Italy be formed into a republic, what is to become of all Europe ? Should Spain likewife, al* ready infeifled with the poifon of French Jacobinifm, which is only prevented from breaking forth by the moral and religious principles of the people, fhould Spain experience a revolution, what muft be the confaquence ? The nations of the north, entrenched behind their natural barriers, ought to attach themfelves more clofely than ever to their conftitution, re- ligion, laws, and even ancient cuftoms ; they fhould form among themfelves the ftriâeft union cemented by all the power of Great Britain. If this does not take place, Europe, like part of Afia and Africa formerly, will be plunged into a ftate of barbarifm which will dry up its foil, and deftroy its inhabitants. May THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. May England at leaft, miftrefs of the ocean, by which {he is feparated from the reft of the world, may (he efcape this de- luge of iniquity, and nourifli in her bo- fom every virtue, that fhe may afterwards difperfe them to mankind, and render the human race happier by making them better ! This is the laft wifli a man without con- nexion or country can form in favour of his fellow-creatures. 2^ C4 24 MEMOIRS RELATING T® CHAP. IL Voyage into England and Holland. — Oh- fervat'ions on the fituation of thofe two countries at -that time. — A journey into Pniffta and Bohemia. — Referions on Fre- deric the Second^ and the emperor Jo/eph» — ^he former iinfhes the king of France to enter into the Germanic confederation, — Projedls of France and Holland againfl the Fnglifd fettlements in the Eafl Indies» y ARRIVED in France fome time in the -■• month of May 1783, after having been during the whole of the American war in the French Weft India Iflands, of. 'vv^J£h his majefty had made me commandiftit. Loaded with marks of my fovereign's favour, who had created me lieutenant-general, and conferred on me the order of the Holy Ghoft J in the vigour of life, and pofleffed of an ample fortune ; after having palTed fix years of toil in a diftant and dangerous climatCj THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 25 climate, I revifited my country, which I 1783. found greatly changed, it is true, in its manners and even in its culloms : but at Paris I promifed myfelf the full enjoyment of all thofe charms and pleafures w^hich that capital afforded, till circumftances which I did not defire might again call me to ferve my king and country. Soon, how- ever, difgufted with fuch a round of fri- volity and diffipation, and impelled by cu- riofity, I formed the proje£l of quitting Paris, and travelling into the different coun- tries of Europe. I was particularly curious to vifit Britain; the excellence of its marine, the profperity and extent of its commerce, the public fpi- rit for which it is remarkable ; its inex- hauftible refources, and the energy of its government ; all thefe infpired me with an ardent defire of being acquainted with the principal fprings by which it moved : I wanted likewife to inform myfelf of the caufes which had for near a century ren- dered England the fuccefsful rival of France, and 25 MEMOIRS RELATING TO IM^'X, ^^^ ^^^ upwards of thirty years in fomc ^ - w — ^ manner the arbltrefs of Europe. I wifhed to fee Frederic before his death, to fee the relics of one of the greatefl men that ever flourifhed upon the theatre of the world. I wifhed at the fame time to ob- tain a knowledge of that PrufTian army, which had contributed fo much to his fuccefs and glory. Jofeph, too, I was anxious to fee, the rival of Frederic in power, the greatefl admirer of his talents, and the imitator of his conducfl. Such were the objedls of my firfl travels. I fet out for England in the beginning I 78a. ^^ ^^^ month of February 1784. I re- mained there about five months, during which I experienced a very favourable re- ception from his Britannic majefty, from the principal perfons of the nation, and from the public in general. From the planters and Weft India merchants I re- ceived a moft flattering teftimony of their gratitude. I had aded only with juftice towards THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. ^J towards the inhabitants of the Englifh 1784. colonies which had been under the pro- teâiion of my fovereign during the war, and they were pleafed to pafs on my con- dudt encomiums it by no means deferved, though they were highly gratifying to my feelings. In a(îling as I did towards the Britiih fet- tlemcnts, I only followed the example of many Englifli commanders, and particularly general Melville, who; ^lien' governor of Grenada, treated the inhabitants of the conquered French Weft India Iflands with the moft exemplary humanity, and they in return took every opportunity of ex- preiTmg their gratitude to him. Next to the approbation of our own confcience, that of an enemy we efteem is the moft pleafmg acknowledgment a worthy adtion can receive, and the only one which can be remembered with fatisfadtion at a time when the paflions have loft their force. I faw 28 MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1784. I faw the Englifh nation in one of thofe ^^ "^""^ moments of agitation which is the natural efFed: of liberty, but which the wifdom of a prudent and enlightened people moderates, and a firm and vigorous government knows how to reprefs. The majority of the Britifh parliament teemed to threaten the royal prerogative, which, as one of the principal foundations of the conftitution, was defended by the whole nation with as much lardour as we have fince feen ntjiar nirriïïir exert in the deflruc- tion 01 It. I faw this nation at the conclufion of a civil and foreign war, during which, for fevçral years, befides her revolted colonies, file had to contend with the united forces of France, Spain, and Holland : I faw her emerge from this extraordinary combat as rich, powerful, and formidable as flie was before, notwithftanding the lofs of America and three millions of her induf- trious fubjeûs, I faw TPE FRENCH REVOLUTION. ^g I faw religion refpeâ:ed, and its facred ^Jo^. myfteries fiiielded from the attacks of pre- fumptuoiis philofophers. I faw morality diifufed through the people, and fupported among the rich and great, by the influence of public opinion. I faw the wealth of individuals made the inftrument of the general happinefs, and employed to pro- mote the profperity of the community. I faw luxury indulged with moderation, and made fubfervient to the public utility, without infulting, as elfewhere, a ftate of wretchednefs here hardly known. I faw beneficence and philanthropy made a part of the national charaâ:er ; and the proudeft people in the world, at the fame time the moft generous and humane. If there ap- peared to me fome defedls in the fubordi- nate parts of the Britifh government, yet I judged that a nation happy in itfelf and powerful abroad muft undoubtedly have the beft of human inftitutions, and I pfFered up my beft wiflies for its maintenance in its original purity, regretting that its prin- ciples ^O MEMOIRS RELATINÔ TO 1784. ciples were not known to furrounding ~^ ' nations. On leaving England I pafTed through Holland in my way to Pruffia. The Dutch I found agitated in a contrary di- re(Stion. The defects and weaknefs of their government had obliged them in a time of imminent danger to increafe the hereditary power of the commander in chief of their army, who was become the principal ma- giflrate of that ariftocratical republic. The danger over, he ftill preferved the fame power: one part of the nation however wifhed to deprive the houfe of Orange of this enormous prerogative, and to change the form of government for one more popular. This party was fupported by France, which had given it fuffi- cient power and influence to engage the States-general in a war with Eng- land, in oppofition to the Stadtholder and the ariftocratical party. The United Provinces, in fhort, were then on the eve of THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 3 1 of experiencing . a revolution in their go- 1784. vernment, which, however corrupt or vicious, had hitherto been fufficient to fecure for them tranquilUty, riches, and happinefs : but thefe are blefTings which nations no more than individuals know how either to enjoy or to preferve. Holland was at this time too menaced by the emperor Jofeph, whofe pretenfions, con- trary to every exifting treaty, were fup- ported by an army already hovering on her borders. France, on the prefcnt occa- fion, protected her, but a few years after- wards (he bafely abandoned the democratic party which fhe had revived, encouraged, and armed. The Dutch, when I pafled through their country, ftill preferved the remains of their ancient fplendour ; plenty and riches every where met the eye ; the domeftic virtues were ftill pradlifed, but public fpirit no longer exifted : their government was corrupt; and this people, formerly fo ce- lebrated and fo induftrious, fcarcely . re- membered 22 MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1784. membered how great it had been. The fources of its power and profperity were drying up ; and Holland would of itfelf have dwindled into nothing, had not ex- traordinary events accelerated her ruin. Pruflia offered me quite a different fpedlacle ; a military government, where every man was a ioldier. Here an abfo- lute authority was lodged in the hands of the fovereign ; the whole nation was an army, the court a camp, and the monarch a general ; on his merit, virtues, and talents depended the glory and profperity of his people and the fafety of his domi- nions. This government refembled that of the ancient inhabitants of the country, the Goths and Vandals, who, after they had overthrown the Roman empire, had tranfported it from the banks of the Elbe, into Italy, Africa, and upon the borders of the Tagus. Frederic then was the principal objeft which PrufTia offered to the curiofity of 5 a tra- THE FRENCH REVOLUl'lON'. ^^ a traveller, if I except his formidable army, 1 7 84. the difcipline and military fkill of which, that great man had carried to a pitch till that time unheard of. In the hero who had aftonifhed all Europe by his ex- ploits, I found only a prince folicitous to promote the happinefs of his fubjed:s, and to preferve that fuperiority which his army had acquired ; to maintain tranquillity in his own dominions, and to preferve it throughout Europe by eftablifliing it on a more folid bafis than heretofore. At the time I am fpeaking of, his Pruffian majefty was endeavouring to accomplifh that Germanic confederation, which after his death was to oppofe a barrier to the ambition of the houfe of Auftria ; a power daily increafing in importance from, the military fyftem which it had lately adopted, and the immenfe refources for war afforded by its population. Received by Frederic in a manner which furpafled my expedations, I had oppor- tunities of approaching him, of feeing VOL. I. p him ■14 MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1784.. him frequently in his retired moments: here, divefted of his grandeur and ma- jefty, the hero of his age appeared only a man, as fuperior to others by the brilliancy of his underftanding and the vigour of his mind, as by his elevated rank and dation. His philofophy was improved by his experience in the art of governing men j and the fovereign who knew how to make every palTion con- tribute to the fafety and happinefs of the community over which he prefided, dif- played more true wifdom than thofe phi- lofophers who, pretending to fubjedl them to the dominion of reafon, have over- thrown that focial order, which could alone be preferved by the authority of the prince and the power of the laws. The more efTential virtues of this prince were likewife accompanied by the moft amiable qualities. No man who had frequented the beft company in Europe pofTefTed more politenefs, more affability, or more engaging manners. No philo- fopher THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. fopher or man of letters was better in- formed or poflefled more extenfive know- ledge. His converfation, inftrudive and interefting, was enlivened by brilliant Tallies, and frequently by pointed raillery. Eafe and freedom added new charms to a fociety in which every one was left at liberty to contribute to the general enter- tainment. Thofe who had for a few hours enjoyed the converfation of Fre- deric, went away with a much higher opinion of their own underftanding than they had before ; all their intelledlual fa- culties were unfolded, and they felt them- felves in a manner eledrified. This prince had undoubtedly faults, he is even reproached with vices : but where is the man exempt from them, particularly if he be deftined to aâ: a con- fpicuous part upon the theatre of life ? From Pruflia I fet out for Bohemia. At my departure the king was pleafed to invite me to return the following year. D^ 2 He J6 MEMOIRS RELATING tO 1784. He communicated this defire to me by means of the abbé Baftiani, his intimate friend : for this prince had friends, aiid he is perhaps one of the few fovereigns who ever had. This gentleman, who had given me many proofs of his confidence, imparted to me the projeâ: which the king had formed of eftablifhing a Germanic league ; he afTured me that his majefty earneftly defired France to take part in it, and engaged me to mention the fubjedt to M. de Vergennes, which I promifed to doi The emperor Jofeph was now aflembling a camp at Prague ; the king of Pruflia was likewife forming feveral in different parts of his dominions, both for the fame pur- pofe. I ihall not draw a companion between the armies of thefe two monarchs. Such was the perfedion of military difcipline in each, that their fuperiority folely depend* ed upon that of the chief who led them. On THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. -ty On my arrival at Prague I was prefented 1 784. to Jofeph. The virtues, qualities, defeds, and inconfiftencies of this monarch are well known. At the time I faw him he was engaged in deftroying the féodal fyftem, and the old monarchical forms in the greater part of his dominions. Under pretext of releafmg his people from fer^'i- tude, he fought to deprive th,e noblemen and great lords of thofe prerogatives which made them fovereigns, and rather his vaflals than his fubjeds. He was altering the ancient conftitution of thofe rich pro- vinces which ftill preferved their repre- fentative affemblies; and was attempting in all of them to eftablifh a military go- vernment, like that of Pruffia. Effedually to annihilate fuperftition, he attacked the eftabliflied religion of his dominions, and to correâ: the abufes of the clergy he feized upon their riches. At the fame time he projedled the ac- quifition of Bavaria, in exchange for the Low Countries, where a great fermentation D 3 had ^8 MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1784. had been excited by his innovations, and where he had razed all the fortreffes. He •was involving Holland in a war which was likely to intereft all the great powers of Europe ; and he extended his ambitious views even to the frontiers of Turkey. All thefe different projeâ:s the emperor undertook at once, and in all he failed. At his death, which happened a few years after, he faw his fineft provinces revolt, drive out his troops, and declare open war againft him, whilft the reft appeared ready to imitate their example. The only thing in which he fucceeded was in forming an excellent army and eftablifliing a formidable military power. Towards the end of the year I returned to France, and took the firft opportunity of reprefenting to M. de Vergennes the advantages that might be expeded, fhould France detach herfelf from her alliance with the houfe of Auftria, which had ever been more pernicious than ufeful, and enter into THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. ^p into the grand confederation projeded by 1784. the king of Pruflia. He coincided with me in opinion, but faid that it would always be time enough to make a treaty with Pruffia. I objeded to delay, repre- fenting the inconveniences which might refult from it, and particularly that it would furnifh an opportunity for the king of England to enter into the league ; I added, that I knew fteps had already been takers for that purpofe. He was ftruck with this remark, and faid with an air of convidion, " Believe me. Sir, it does not depend upon me." This was exadly the obfervation made to me whilft in PrùfTia, by the abbé Baftiani, who feared the weaknefs of our government and the intrigues of our court. I found an op- portunity however of mentioning the fame fubjed to the king, and had with him a long converfation iipon it. His majefty did not mak;e me the fame anfwer as his minifter, which he might have done; his difcourfe was full of prudence, goodfenfe, and knowledge of the ftate of D 4 ' politics. AO MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1784. politics. He feemed to me to diflike the emperor, and to fear the king of PrufFia, The following fummer I fet out on my return to Pruflia, intending afterwards to vifit Ruffia. M. de Vergennes defired me to afTure the abbé Baftiani of the favour- able difpofition of the king his mafter, which would appear whenever circum- ftances fhould require it j but he ftill fhewed the fame averfion to engaging himfelf by a treaty. I found the abbé at Sans Souci, where he had pafled the winter with the king. We had a long converfation to- gether before a private dinner, to which that prince had invited me. The abbe told me that the refufal, or rather the hefitation of the court of France, had determined his fovereign to accede to the propofitions of the court of London, and that lord Cornwallis was hourly ex- peded with full powers to conclude a de- finitive treaty. This was what I might have expecSted, of courfe I was not much furprifed. How- THE FRENCH REVQI.UTION. ij,! However, the king's behaviour towards 1784, me was not in the leaft altered either at din- ner or during the whole time that I pafled at his court : I experienced from him the fame affability and condefcenfion as for- merly, though he now and then indulged in pleafantries on our court, intermixing occafional compliments to the f rench na- tion. At the moment I was preparing to depart for Ruffia, I received an order from government immediately to return. On my arrival, I was acquainted by the minifters with à projeâ: relative to the Eaft Indies. The objeâ: of this was, to unite the French and Dutch forces in an attack upon the Englifh pofleflions, to reftore to the princes of the country the provinces conquered from them by the Englifh, and to obtain and fecure for the two nations, factories and commercial eftablifhments \yhich w^re to be free to the whole world. The means employed to infure fuccefs to this enterprife were an army ^2 MEMOIRS RELATING TO lyg^ army of eighteen thoufand men, indepen- dent of the garrifons already in that country, twenty millions of livres in fpecie, and a naval force able to oppofe that of the Englifh in the Eafl Indies. Trincomale in the ifland of Ceylon, was the place deflined for the rendezvous of the troops and the repofitory of the mili- tary magazines. One third of the forces as well as of the fums necefTary, , and flores and provifions of every kind were to be furnilhed by the Dutch, who had requefted that I might have the command of the expedition, which was in confe- quence offered me. I accepted it on con- dition that I fhould not be under the con- trol of the Dutch commercial companies, but that the States General fhould appoint a military committee to regulate and direcSt whatever concerned the war, which was agreed to. This plan, of which I have ^ivcn a fketch, was very extcnfive in its branches; but the time of its execution was yet at fonle diftance : as I faw no preparations for war, nor any reafons to 6 declare THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 4^ declare it, I therefore remained in France 1784. expedting that event to take place. In 1787 the revolution broke out in 1787. Holland, but was quickly fupprefled by the entry of a Pruflian army commanded by the duke of Brunfvvick. The French party was difheartened, the ariftocrats re- gained a fuperiority, the houfe of Orange its ancient influence, and the ftadtholderate its prerogative and its former power ; all the bonds which united France and Hol- land were diflblved, the former bafely abandoning her ally ; and thus the vaft project of the conqueft of the Indies vanilhed into air. 44 MEMOIRS RELATING TO CHAP. III. State of France at the beginning of the reign of Louis the Sixteenth, — M, dc Maurepas^ M, de Vergennes^ M, de Ca- lo7ine, — Plans of the two latter minijiers. — Convocation of the Notables. — Steps taken by that offembly^ and the ejfe5is which they produced, — TChe archbifjop of Thouloufe^ afterwards cardinal Lomenie^ placed at the head of the f nances — Diffolves the ajfembly of the Notables-^ Is appointed prime mi7iifte)r, — His errors and i?ico?ifJ}encies. — / a?Ji appointed com^ mandant of Met^, and of the province des Evêchés, — Beginning of the difurb- ances in France, — Meafures purfued by the parliaments, — Both they and th.£ clergy demand a convocation of the States General^ 'which is ear nef ly defired by the •whole nation, — What the efates of the kingdom were formerly, — Obfervations upon THE FRENCH REtOLUTlOK-. 45 npon the change in the manners and cujloms^ of the French nation and govern^ ment ftnce the year 1614, the period ivhen the States General were lajl af- fembled. npHis year the revolution which had 1787. already taken place in the mind and in the manners and cuftoms of the nation, began to fhew itfelf in the government, I have already explained the remote caufes of that revolution. I fhall now proceed to relate thofe which more immediately conduced to bring it about ; together with a part of the events to which it gave birth. M. de Maurepas, principal minifler, had governed the kingdom during the former part of the reign of Louis the Sixteenth, but inftead of remedying the diforders of the ftate, he rather augmented them. I have already defcribed the levity and ne- gligence of his charader; he was more attentive to the little intrigues of a court, than to the great concerns of a nation ; more ^S MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1787. more fludious of his own eafe and enjoy- ments than of the fafety of the ftate. It is eafy to conceive what muft be the lamentable eflfedts of fuch a charader upon the adminiftration of a great king- dom, and even upon the habits and deci- fions of a young prince, whofe good fenfe and purity of heart would have fecured the happinefg of his people, had the earlier part of his reign been under the guidance of a man of more virtue and capacity than this minifter. On the death of M. de Maurepas, the king transferred his confidence to M. de Vergennes, who rather influenced than direded his condud. This perfon, by nature timid, was fear- ful of giving offence to the court and great men : he wanted vigour and genius, but was in other refpeds a man of good fenfe and an enlightened underftanding. Alarmed THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. Alarmed at the critical fituation in which the kingdom flood, he explained its con- dition to his majefty : he obferved that in the prefent ftate of affairs, it was abfo- lutely neceflary to have recourfe to fome extraordinary means, and to eftablifh a new plan of adminiftration to avoid a vio- lent cataftrophe. The moft immediate, though not the greateft of ail the calamities with which France was afflicted, was the diforder in her finances, occafioned by a Jong courfe of extravagance, and increafed by the American war, which involved her in an expence of twelve hundred millions of livres tournois. To remedy this evil fome new refource was neceflary, the old being completely exhaufted. M. de Galonné, minifter of the finances, had imagined a vafl and bold plan which he had propofed to M. de Vergennes ; it was now fub- mitted to the king, who gave it his appro- bation, and promifed to fupport it with his whole power. This MEMOIRS RELATING TO This plan, without attacking the princi- ples of the French monarchy, without placing any reftraint upon the authority of the fovereign, changed entirely the old fyftem of adminiftration in the finances : it was calculated radically to remove all its defeats ; the greateft of which proceeded from the abufe of the privileges of the richeft clafs of contri- butors, including not only the grandees of the kingdom and perfons in power, but the firft orders of the ftate, the provinces and the cities, and which threw the great weight of taxes upon the moft numerous, but moft indigent part of the nation, who were overwhelmed by them. The plan of M. de Calonne was con- nected with that of the provincial admini- ftrations, which were meant to be fubfti- tuted to the arbitrary eftablifhment of the intendants. It w^as to be fupported by an aflembly of the notables of the kingdom, formed with a view to counterbalance the parliaments. Thefe meafures were the' more •the FRENCH REVOLUTION. 4^ more acceptable to the king, as they tended 1787. to fulfil the deareft wifh of his heart, that of relieving the moft numerous clafs of his fubjeds. The Notables of the kingdom were fummoned for the 29th of January 1787. Of this aflcmbly I was a member. It had not been held fmce the year 1626, under Louis the Thirteenth. At that time the prime minifter was cardinal Richelieu, and he diredled all its movements, making them fubfervient to his own views and projedts; this was not the cafe in the pre- fent inftance. The opening of the aflembly of the Notables had been put off till the 2 2d of February, during which interval M. de Vergennes died, and M. de Calonne loft his coadjutor and fupport. Another in- convenience attending this delay was, that it gave time to the Notables and to the public to recover from their firft furprife ; it likewife afforded intriguers an oppor- VOL. I. E tunity ft>^ MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1787. tunity of putting in practice thofe fchemes * '' ' which they had formed to fruftrate the plan of the government. The aflembly of the Notables was com- pofed of the moft diftinguifhed perfons among the clergy, the nobility, the magif- tracy, and the municipal bodies of the principal cities ; confequently it was na- tural to fuppofe that they would object to the abolition of abufes by which they were the gainers. Nothing but the firft impulfe of enthufiafm could determine them to make the important facrifices ex- peûed from them. However, the nobles, the deputies from the different cities, and the magiftrates who were members of the king's council, conftituted the majority of this aflembly, and were well difpofed to- wards the intended regulations ; they would certainly have brought over the whole had it not been for the intrigues of the clergy artfully conducted by the arch- bifhop of Thouloufe, afterwards cardinal de Loménie. This man was one of the Notables, THE FRENCH Rï VOLUTION. 5 1 Notables, and afpired to the office of prime 1787. minifter. Supported by the chief officers of ftate, and by the queen, who perfon- ally detefted M. de Calonne, and feconded by the members ' of the magiftracy, he found means to alter the good difpofition of the afTembly. That body now bent all its effiarts to the deftrudtion of the minifter who had convoked it ; and he, finding himfelf abandoned by the king, was dif- graced, and forced precipitately to leave the country, to avoid the vengeance' of thofe whom his projeâis were calculated to affeâ:* Cardinal de Loménie "Was now appoint- ed to the fuperintendence of the finances, and fhortly after he had the temerity to accept the reins of government, which the king imprudently confided to him, by creating him prime minifter. Jiis firft ftep was to difmifs the Notables, whom he might ufefully have employed, by mean$ of the influence that his intrigues had hitherto gained over their conduct. E 2 Oa MEMOIRS RELATING TO On the diflblution of this aflembly, being appointed commandant of the city of Metz and of the province of the bifhop- rics, I immediately fet off to enter on the functions of my office. The new minifter, deprived of the fupport of the Notables, was foon at the mercy of the parliaments. He colleded fome fragments of the plan of M. de Calonne, which contained many excellent things, and prefented the means of a temporary relief from the prefent embarraflments : thefe, however, he was prevented from putting in execution by an obftinate refiftance on the part of the parliaments. To punifh thefe, fome vigorous meafures of authority were em- ployed, but always followed by adts of weaknefs. Thefe bodies renewed their aflbciation, and eftablifhed by their de- crees the principles of a parliamentary ariftocracy to which they conftantly ad- hered. From this period we may date the commencement of the troubles in France. Bretagne was the place where they firft broke out. To this province govern- THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. government was obliged to march an army, commanded by maréchal de Stain- ville, which however could not be made ufe of, from the fpirit of difaffedtion which manifefted itfelf among the troops, and more particularly among the officers. At Paris, the difcontent among the people, encouraged and fomented by faûious members of the parliament, Ihewed itfelf in adts of infurredtion, which it was neceffary to fupprefs with military force. This momentary triumph however, on the part of government, did not difcon- cert the parliament. It cited to its bar both maréchal de Biron, commander of the French guards, and the commander of the guard at Paris, to give an account of their conducSt. The firft refufed to obey the fummons, and efcaoed in>:on'fequence of his high rank i/ tne leconowas removed from his employment by a weak conde- fcenfion on the part of government. - At the beginniag of the year 1788 the 17881 troubles ftill continued to increafe. In E 3 many ^4 MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1788. many provinces which before the reign of ^^^^""^ Louis the Fourteenth had their provincial Jîates^ the government had re-eftablifhed thofe inftitutions, in others they had cre- ated provincial affemblies. This meafure, though founded on good principles, yet rather ferved to increafe than allay the fermentation, which had rifen to a moft alarming height, particularly in Dauphiny. To this province, as to Bretagne, troops were marched, but the greater part refuf- îng to adl againft the people, inflead of being of any utility they only brought the authority of government into contempt, by giving this public proof of its weak^ nefs. Cardinal de Loménîe, wearied out vvith the refiftance which he experienced from the parliaments, perfuaded the king to adopt the romantic projetfl of a plenary court, which would have cut off thofe affemblies from all hope of obtaining that portion of the legiflative power which they wiflied to pofTefs. With THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. ^^ With a view of concealing their ambi- 1788. tious defigns, and to preferve their in- fluence over the people, the parliaments thinking it would never be granted, de- manded a convocation of the St^te^ General of the kingdom, an idea^ giiOnd Im)» the afle mbl^i^f the VÎ^tâ t The clergy, with the fame perfuafion, and from the fame motives, joined in the requeft ; and government committed the ftill greater fault of promifmg compliance. Near two centuries had now elapfed fmce the States General of the kingdom had been convoked, and fuch great changes had taken place in the manner of think- ing, in the cuftoms, character, and go- vernment of the French nation, that they could not fail of producing a general commotion. To the States General in former ages, none of the clergy were admitted but fuch as held benefices ; of the nobility but thofe who were proprietors of fiefs, and of the * E 4 third • ^6 MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1788. third eftate but deputies chofen by great cities from among their municipal officers, or principal notables. They were never alTembled but on extraordinary occafions, fuch as inteftine commotions or foreign wars : hardly ever did any good refait from the convocation wf them, and-^aoce-.in particular they occafioned great diforders. This happened, it is true, under Charles the Sixth, at the time that prince was infane. France was then diftracted by an inteftinc and foreign war, and the Englilh were mafters of a great part of the king- dom. Thefe ftates were held at Paris, The number of reprefentatives which compofed the States General was never precifely fixed ; it feldom exceeded five hundred, and fometimes did not exceed two hundred. It was not of importance that one order fent more deputies than another; for the votes were then taken by order, by bailiwick, or even by nation, which laft was at that time one of the nominal divifions of France, as govern- ment; •THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. ment has been fince. The members of the different parliiments fat individually among the third eftate when chofen. In the letters of convocation, the king announced the ob- jeÙ. for which the States General were af- fembled: he diflblved them at pleafure; he permitted the different orders, and the pro- vinces, which had almoft all their particular aflemblies, to prefent their grievances called doléances^ which he redrelfed as he thought proper: but at that time the clergy was held in great veneration, the nobility was ex- tremely powerful, and the third eftate, deftitute of force itfelf, obeyed the impulfe pf the two fuperior orders. Since the affembly of the States in 1614, their forms and principles had been adopted by the parliaments: but except this, every veftige of the old government had difap- peared, nor were even the elementary parts of the States General the fame. In the ordet of the clergy, the bifhops and abbots, for- merly elected by the members of that body, ♦ind then propofed for the approbation of tlic ç5 MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1788. the people; and, after the concordat MXiàtx *~'''^ -^ Francis the Firft, generally» chofen from among nien the moft remarkable for their morals, their piety, and erudition ; were held in the greateft veneration by the public: but thefe .dignities having been fince difpofed of to the young nobility of the court and provinces, that order had loft much of its cpnfideration, efpecially as the refpédl for religion itfelf was greatly weakened. The nobility had experienced ftill greater changes; it had loft, not only its ancient fplendour, but even its exiftence; and was entirely decAmpofed. There were in France nearly ^fr^ thoufand noble families; a number not to be wondered at, fmce four thoufand civil offices eitlier gave or tranfmitted nobility, and the king daily granted letters of noblefle, which had bten laviftied to fuch a degree in the fucceffion war, that they were fold at two thoufand crowns a-piece. Out of this great number there were about a thoufand families whofe origin tHÉ Fft.EKCH REVOLUTION* ^g Origin was loft in the remote periods of the ijSS, French monarchy: of thefe, fcarcely two Or three hundred had efcaped indigence and misfortune. There were ftill to be met with at court names which brought to mind the memory of thofe great characters who had once rendered them illuftrious, but the pofTeflbrs feldom recalled the idea of their virtues. In the provinces, likewife, there exifted families who ftill maintained their confequence, either by having preferved the pofTefTions of their anceftors, or by having repaired the lofs of fortune by plebeian alliances. The reft of this ancient nobility was languifhing in poverty. It refembled thofe venerable oaks which, mu- tilated by time, prefent no other relics than a naked trunk. No longer fummoned for military fervice, or convoked either to the provincial ftates, or to thofe of the nation, the ancient conftitution of this order was entirely loft. If honorary titles were bbrne by fome old and illuftrious families, they were likewife fhared by a multitude of new nobles, who, by their riches, had acquired 6 the 5o MEMOIRS RELATING TO 17S8. the right of affuming them arbitrarily. The greateft part of the large landed eftates was become the property of financiers and merchants, or their defcendants: the fiefs were principally in the hands of the bur- gefles of towns. In fliort, the nobility had nothing to dillinguifh them from the other clafs of citizens, but fuch favours as the court chofe to confer upon them, and exemptions from taxes, lefs advantageous to themfelves than burdenfome to the ftate, and ofFenfive to the people. Nothing of their ancient dignity and confequence re- mained, except the hatred and jealoufy to the commonalty. Such v^^as the fituation of the nobility of France at the epoch of which I am fpeaking; I muft, however, except that of Bretagne, which, by means of its particular government, ftill preferved its honorary prerogatives. But what the nobility and clergy had loft of their riches, powers, and import- ance, à THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 6l ance, had been gained by the third eftate. 1788. Since the reign of Henry the Fourth, and confequently fince the laft affembly of the States General in 1 61 4, France had formed fettlements in America, had eftablifhed a maritime commerce, created manufadures, and in a manner rendered all Europe and other parts of the world tributary to her induftry. The immenfe riches which by this means flowed in upon the kingdom fell entirely into the hands of the plebeian clafs, the prejudices of the nobility pre- venting them either from engaging in trade, ' or praderâtipn. During MEMOIRS RELATING TO During the firft part of my refidcnce at Metz, whllft the capital and provinces were agitated by troubles and diforders, I was entirely engaged in maintaining tranquillity within my own department, where, how- ever, all my efforts could not prevent fre- quent infurreâions. I likewife employed myfelf in preferving difcipline among the troops, and retaining them in their fidelity to their fovereign. I fucceeded in both. Whilft I commanded at Metz, not one perfon was aflaffmatcd ; property in the towns, as well as in the country, remained inviolate: not a feat was burnt, nor any nobleman, or land-holder, expofed to the fury of the people, which evaporated in empty threats. For the firft twelve months of the revolution, I was fo happy as to preferve among the twenty thoufand men I had under my command, the fame temper of mind as formerly. In the months of April and May 1789^ a fcarcity of provifions was experienced at Paris, THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. Paris, and in almoft all the provinces. Under the adminiftration of Cardinal Loménie, the exportation of corn out of the kingdom had been permitted, and the harveft had been bad the preceding year: no doubt, artful means were employed to prevent the different provinces from fup- plying each other with corn, and to fupport il^e monopoly of provifions. Of this, fome have accufed the duke of Orleans; others M. Neckar. himfelf, which, however, I do not believe, though this I muft'fay, that having at Metz, and in the province under my command, corn fuffi- cient to fubfift the troops, amounting to twenty thoufand men, for eighteen months, on being preffed 'by the people, whofe pro- vifions were almoft totally exhaufted, and ftill more by the adminiftrative bodies, who could not poffibly fupply them, I propofed to the government to diftribute the half of this grain among the towns and villages, on condidon of again receiving it the en- fiing harveft ; which might have been done 6 withcui h^ MEMOikS kELAflNG TO 1789. without any inconvenience, yet was re- jeded : notwithftanding this refufal of the miniftry, I refolved, however, to execute my projedt, arni for this I was afterwards thanked by M. Neckar himfelf, though he at firfl refufed his confent to the meafure. The fcarcity of corn, which threatened the people with famine, was the reafon given for the infurredlions which took place throughout the whole kingdom, from the time of the meeting of the States General, till the fourteenth of July, and the retreat of the troops afTembled under maréchal Broglio in the environs of Paris : from that time quite different motives were afligned; the fear of a coyntanjfc^^yohifion by the ariflocrats, the nriTiiîiinii rfmt of whom had already fled into other countries; appre- henfions left foreign armies (hould enter France : thefe were the pretexts made ufe of to alarm the people and keep them in continual agitation ; it was from this period that they took arms in every part of France, forming themfclves into companies, bat- talions, TIÎE TRENCH REVOLUTION. g^ talions, and regiments, under the name of j y^g^ national guards; nor did the government think it prudent to oppofe this popular torrent, but dlftribi|ted among the people mufquets from the arfenals, and even cannon, which they demanded in a manner that fhewed they would not bear a refufal. Finding myfelf in a ^.very critical fitua* tion, I wrote to the minifter for inftruc- tions relative to my future cdndudt, having hitherto conftantly refufed to diftribute the arms from thofe coniiderable arfenals which were at my difpofal. The new war minifter M. de la Tour du Pin (for a change had at this time taken place in the miniftry) wrote me the following letter; " Sir, Verfailles, Aug. 2^, 1789. " The letter you did me the honour to " write, I received the 12th of this month ; " and conceive myfelf obliged by the par- *' ticular account you give me of the ftate of " affairs in the prpvince of Les Évéchés; your conduct in every refpeiSt is worthy " ofthehigheft commendation; itiseafy to " perceive It MEMOIRS RELATING TO " pecceive that you have adted in every in- " fiance as circumftances difedted, and that " all your fteps have been guided by the *' ftridefl: rules of prudence. I can only " beg of you to continue the fame care and ** precautions, to preferve the public tran- " quillity, and maintain harmony between *' the military and the citizens. Be aflured, *' fir, that I carefuHy lay before his majefty *' whatever letters I receive from you; but, " in the prefent circumftances, it is impof- *' fible to give you any pofitive inftrudtions; " the king relies entirely on the difcretion " of the commandants of the different pro- ** vinces, to aâ: in the befl manner pofriblc ** for the benefit of his fcrvice: one thing " is eflential, and you will eafily feel the " importance of it, that is, to be extremely " cautious in the diftribution of arms. For " whatever tUe concerns this fubject, or the " fervice in general, it is impoffible to do " better, than to refer all to your zeal and " prudence. I am, fir, with fentiments " of great efteem, " Your very humble fervant, " La Tour du Pin." By THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, By this letter I was authorifed to diftri- bute arms to the people, but no rules were laid down for my conduâ: in general; I refolved then to be direded by circum- ftances, and to wait patiently till I had an opportunity of ading with energy and effea:. g6 MEMOIRS RELATING TO CHAP. V, Situation of France in the month of Ocîober 1789. — Circumjlances in 'which I found myfdf at Metz.-^Overtures made me by La Fayette. — Beginning of my corre/pon- dence with him. — His proje&s. 1780. TV/TEANTIME, the revolution advanced — '^ — ' •*- ^ with rapid fteps, bearing down every obftacle in its progrefs to fubv'ert the mo* narchy and diflblve all fecial order. The ancient feudal fyflem was deflroyed, every principle of the eftablilhed form of govern- ment was attacked: on the fifth of Oûober the king, affaulted in his palace by the people, at the inftigatlon of the leading members of the national reprefentation; after his guards had been difperfed and maffacred, was led prifoner to Paris and confined in the Thuilleries, where he daily fuffered the infults of the populace. All France THE FRENCH REVOLUTIO^^ q^ France was in arms. The nobility, purfued 1780. by their vaflals, were compelled to fly, abandoning their caftles and property,, which they faw a prey to the flames or to plunderers. The clergy, terrified and con- founded, awaited the fentence which (hould condemn them to death. The magiftrates, aftonifhed, faw themfelves depofed from their authority, the laws overturned and their power annihilated; every fpring of the adminiftration was broken, and the fans adottes governed, in the name of the nation, the conftitution and the aflembly, which was daily deftroying the ancient laws and enaâing new ones, did:ated by its factious members. Laftly, the dodlrine of the rights of man * was broached and pub- licly taught. This, by the manner in which , it was applied by the people, and^n which * The queftion concerning the rights bf man being taken into confideration by the thirty bureaux^ into which the aflembly was divided, twenty-eight -of them" rejefted it. Deputy Bouche then propofed, that the fubje6l fliould be difcufled by the whole aflembly united, when it was carried merely through the inter- ference of the galleries, VOL. I. H it o8 "MÏMOIRS RELATING TO 1780. ^^ "^^^ natural to fuppofe they would apply it, diflblved every tie of fecial order; and with the fame confequences will it be at- tended in every government where effeâiual means are not employed to counteract its baneful effeds. Neckar himfelf, having let flip the reins of government, was toffed about, the fport of the different parties. La Fayette, having taken advantage of the crimes of the duke of Orleans, was become mafter of the king's perfon, and in a manner fovereign of Paris, where he was at the head of a numerous militia, and might have difpofed of the aflembly who were confined within the walls of that city, as he pleafed; his authority, likewife, was great throughout all the ptovinces, and even over part of the army. Such was the fituation of France in the month of November 1789, fix months after the convocation of ths States General. During thefe tranfadions I refided con- ilantly at Metz, hated by the people, but having ■jTHE ^FRENCH REVOLUTION. having the moft perfeâ: reliance on my army, between which and the inhabitants of the to\ffi I maintained a confiant jealoufy, infpiring it at the fame time with contempt for the lower clafs of the people. I had no guide for my condud, the government being too feeble for fuch circumftances, and, as may eafily be imagined, giving me neither orders nor inftrudions. I was ig- norant of the king's intentions, though certain they muft be materially changed after what he had experienced. Having adopted no party, having no communication with any, an objed: of apprehenfion and diftruft to all, infulated in the midft of the revolution, I was regarded as an enemy to what was called the conftitution, having refufed to take the prefcribed oath, though I had by the king's defire tendered it to the troops; perceiving the impoffibility of re- medying the evil which had been occafioned, and defirous of adting in concert with thofe pofTelTed of the inclination, power, courage, and abilities to re-eftablifh a monarchy on a bafis conformable to the exifting circum- H 2 - ftances; XOO MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1789. fiances; I determined, if I could not effeoth him and M. de la Tour du Pin,, re- turned to give me an account of his miflion. This decree related to the organization of the ariny, I now received no more letters from La Fayette, who, it is eafy to perceive, wifhed to adl the fame part in France as Wafhing- ton had done in America: but he poflefTed neither the charaâter nor abilities of that great man; the two countries, likewife, would admit of no comparifon. However, it was perhaps not yet too late to fave France and the monarchy. The three orders of the ftate, though tottering to their foundation, were ftill eredt amid the ruins which fur- rounded them : and it would have been eafy, by ftrengthening them, to render M 3 them l66 MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1790. them ufeful in the formation of a 'monar- ' chical government; but the two parties I have mentioned, though divided between themfelves, were unanimous in a determi- nation to effeâ: the utter defl:ruO:ion of thefe bodies. The duke of Orleans was returned from England, and his faction, which had lain quiet during the abfence of its chief, now appeared with greater ftrength than before, and continued to increafe in power tiirit attained a height equal to that of Jacobinifm, which deflroyed France and threatened all Europe. A propofal was at this time made by La Fayette, that on the 14th of July, the anniv^rfary of the de- ftrudîion of the Baftille, a folemn league Ihould be entered into between the national guards and the troops of the line. This confederation was to take place at Paris, It was to be formed on the part of the national guards by detachments from each department; the troops of the line were to fend detachments from every regiment. The deputations which came from the pro- vinces, to aifift at this ceremony, Ihewed the THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 167 the king every mark of refpedt and attach»- i ygo. ment, and many people have thought that he might have availed himfelf of thefe fa- vourable fentiments, to efFedt a revolution in his favour at Paris. This, however, was not his character, nor in his heart did he entertain fuch an idea ; I even doubt whether, had he attempted it, he would have fucceeded. The confederation, in the mean time, poifoned the minds of the troops. On their return from the capital, they brought with them the feeds of corruption; thefe they inftilled into their comrades, and in a fort- night, or, at moft, a month, the whole army was in a ftate of the moft terrible in- furreûion. That the Orleanifts and Jaco- bins firft inftigated the troops to this vio- lence, I ani very well convinced, having myfelf obtained proofs of their treachery. At the time this confederation took place, all being quiet at Metz, I demanded leave of abfence for two months, intend- M 4 ing l68 MERÎblRS RELATING TO 1790. îng to go to Aix-la-chapelle for the pur- pofe of drinking the waters, which my health rendered abfolutely neceflary. This requeft was granted, but whilft preparing for my departure, I received a decree of the aflembly, ordering all the officers and generals of the army to give a writing under their hand, engaging upon their honour, faithfully to conform to the con- ftitution, and to execute no orders which fhould appear contrary to its principles. This decree I cenfured feverely, as preg- nant with many bad efîbâ;& It excited fufpicions of their officers in the minds of the foldiers, at a time when it was neceflary that the greateft harmony Ihould fubfift between them ; it greatly diminifhed the refpe£t due from a foldier to his officers, which ought on the con- trary rather to be increafed ; it was calcu- lated likewife to add to that difcontent, which the latter muft naturally experience from the recent abolition of all titles of nobility 5 and laflly, it was entirely ufelefs and THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, and fuperfluous, fince they had already feveral times taken the oath of fidelity ip the conftitution. Thefe oaths were afterwards fo fre- quently repeated, that they were treated by every body with derifion ; and here I m;Lift exprefs my admiration of the clergy, who firmly refufed to take that which was afterwards required of them. This muft have proceeded entirely from a motive of confcience, as they had previoufly, without any refiftance, fuffered themfelves to be ftripped of all their pofleflions. A me- morable inftance of virtue this, which coll many of them their lives, and brought their whole order under a general profcrip- tion. I imagined this decree to be one of thofe little artifices which La Fayette had before frequently employed to divide the foldiers from their officers, and difguft the latter, who were permitted to quit the fer- vice, if they were unwilling to enter into the ïyÔ MEMOIRS RELATING TO 179a the propofed engagement. I mentioned my difcontent to fome of the friends of La Fayette, and in confequence, a few days after, received from him the following letter. " Monday *. ** I am informed, my dear coufm, that " fome perfons 'have endeavoured to de-* " prive me of your good opinion : but " with a heart upright like yours, inte- ** grity cannot long be miftaken, and " friendfhip is equally fure of making " itfelf heard. " You have been told many abfurdities '* with regard to my views, my meafures,' " and my wiflies ; it is natural for ambi- " tious men to endeavour to find fome '* private motives for the condudt of a " man, who, though in poflelTion of ex- " tenfive power, feeks only the advance- " ment of the public good. Perfonal " enmity they have likewife endeavoured * It had no other date, " to THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. fjl ** to few between us; this too is natural, 1790. " for there are many who envy me, and *' others to whom I have given caufe of " diflatisfadion ; fo that in gaining the ap* " probation of my country, I have drawa " on myfelf the hatred of all parties. " Much cenfure has been pafled upon '* my actions, fometimes with reafon and " fometimes without. The acculations ** preferred againft me are contradictory, " and would furnifh me with the means " of defending myfelf ; but whilft I fe- *' verely blame my faults, I take credit for " my intentions, and though others might " have aded better, no one has followed " more clofely the dilates of confcience. *' Let me beg of you, my dear coufln, " whenever you think you have reafon to " be diflatisfied with mv condu6t, to ad- " drefs yourfelf immediately to me : our *' difpofitions are. not alike, and our politi- " cal principles differ ; but we are both " upright men, and as Tuch are not al- *' ways MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1700. '* ways to be met with, we fhall better " clear up by ourfelves any thing that " may want explaining, than by fufFering " others to interfere. ** I will frankly confefs that this new " engagement required of the officers is a " very exceptionable meafure. It was *' found neceflary firft, to check that fpirit " of licentioufnefs which pervaded the *' whole kingdom, next to reconcile the " people to the encampment of the troops, '* and then to render the engagement enter- " ed into by the officers of the army, com- " mon to all public functionaries ; when " this was effeded, there flill remained " this laft form of giving a promife, which " can have nothing in it particularly dif- " agreeable to the army, fmcc it extends " to all conditions, but it is derogatory to " the dignity of the French nation, already " weary of the repetition of thefe oaths ** of fidelity. " As the aflembly hovv'-ever, far from '* intending to offend the officers of the " army, THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. ** army, had no other objeft in view than " to furnifh them with the means of ef- " fedtiially filencing the voice of llander, " and deftroying all pretext for mutiny or " difobedicnce ; we rely on your patriot- " ifm, my dear coufm, to rejeâ: any bad " conftrudlion that may be put upon their *' conduct, and hope that your example " will be the means of uniting the officers " in that difpofition towards the conftitu- " tion, which is ardently defired by all " good citizens, whilft the faâiious and " difcontented of all parties defire no- " thing more than to infpire them with " fentiments of difaflection. " My friend Emeri w-rites to you; he wifhed me to requeft a favour of you in his behalf, but I am afraid it is now my turn to employ an interceffor ; however, I fhould fear nothing, were you but thoroughly fenfible of the fmcerity of my attachment to you. . " La Fayette. li. ji La Fay.- MEMOIRS RELATING TO La Fayette was at this time vigoroufly attacked by the party of the duke of Or- leans ; he was faft lofing his popularity at Paris, and in the provinces, and his influ- ence over the affembly was already much dimlnifhed. He derived his importance rather from the circumftance t)f having the perfon of the king in his pofTeffion, than from any force of which he himfelf was mafter ; indeed it had been in agitation to difband the army, and aflemble a new one modelled upon the principles of the revo- lution. This meafure was advifed by Mirabeau, and was in itfelf perfeâily rea- fonable, for the army of the kings of France commanded by the nobles, could not poflibly be the army of the new con- ftitution which had deftroyed nobility. To gain over the troops in favour of the new eftablifhment, it was neceflary to corrupt them, to alienate their affeâ:ions from their officers, diffufe through them a fpirit of difobedience, and perhaps even prompt them to mutiny and licentioi.fnjfs. This was the wifh of the duke of Orleans and 5 the THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. lyf the Jacobins; but the dangers attendant on 1790. fuch a ftep were fo evident, that they were perceived the moment it was mentioned. I now wrote to La Fayette, repeating my difapprobation of the falfe ftep recently taken, telling him, however, that I would fet the example to the army by conforming to it myfelf. Juft as I was on the point of fetting out for Aix-la- chapelle, the infurredion which broke out almoft at the fame time in all the garrifons of the kingdom, appeared like- wife in thofe under my command, parti- cularly in that of Metz, where it was attended with circumftances of the mofl alarming nature, threatening nothing lefs than the total diffolution of the army, and the plunder of the cities and provinces, nay, even the whole kingdom, the foldiers having united themfelves with the popu- lace. That thefe confequences were to be feared, the example of Nancy, tlie terror of the king, the aflembly, and Là Fayette, are a fufficient proof; the letters I received from MEMOIRS RELATING T(5 from his majefty, from the prefident, and from the laft mentioned perfon, after I had fupprefled the revolt, are filled with apprehenfions of this nature. Every where the foldiers formed committees, each regi- ment having its own, by which its condudl was diredled. From thefe they chofe a fmall number of deputies, who were ap** pointed to wait on their officers, for the purpofe of humbly demanding the ftoppages which had been made from their pay, under the late form of government, by iiifpeâors*. As this requeft was perfedlly reafonable, and made with refpeâ;, it was granted. In fome corps, thefe ftoppages amounted to a confiderable fum: in others, to little or nothing. Not contented with this firft fuccefs, the foldiers formed new and unrea- fonable pretenfions, which being rejeded, * So far back as the month of May 1789, I had propofed to the mînifler to augment the pay of tlic army, in order to attach it to the king. This he re- fufed, and a meafure fo popular was left to the aflera- bly, who, fhortly after, not only conGderably increafed the pay of the foldiers, but likewife fecured to the fubaltern officers the promotion they fo much defi.red. they The FRENCH REVOLUTION. they flew to arms, confined their officers to their apartments, carried the colours to their barracks, placed a guard over the treafurers of the regiments, opened the military chefts and diftributed the money among themfelves; if they were not fatisfied with what they found there, they levied contri- butions upon their officers, who, for the moft part, were obliged to borrow of the tradefmen and inhabitants of the towns to fatisfy their exorbitant demands. Yet, notwithftanding this, they regularly per- formed the military fervice as ufual, obey- ing their officers only in this one refpedt. They feemed animated by the fame mind, and to have but one will, and one leader. *' Vigilias, ftationes et fi qua alia prefens " ufus indixerat, ipfi partiebantur. Id " militares animos altius conjedlantibus *' praecipuum indicium magni atque im- *' placabilis motus quod neque disjedi vel " paucorum inftindu fed pariter ardefce- " rent, pariter filèrent ; tanta asqualitate " et conftantiA ut regi crederes." Tacit. Annal, VOL. I, N This MEMOIRS RELATING TO This is an exaû pidure of what pafled in the army, and in ahnoft all the garrifons of the kingdom. In fome of them, parti- cularly that of Nanci, much greater excefTes were committed. The foldiers difperfed themfelves ovet the town, and mixing with the populace, indulged themfelves in every fpecies of licentioufnefs. Immediately on perceiving the firft fymptoms of this infurredion, I deter- mined not to avail myfelf of the leave of abfence which I had obtained, but to ulè my beft endeavours to flop the evil before it proceeded any farther» I repaired to the firft regiment which had taken arms for the purpofe of feizing the military cheft and the colours; I proceeded to harangue the foldiers, who had ranged themfelves in order of battle with loaded arms, and had ordered their officers to take their ufual ftation in the ranks; but I could obtain nothing of them; to all my remonftrances they conftantly and unanimoufly anfwered that they would have money, demanding £l 5 very THE PRENCH REVOLUTION. veiy confiderable fum. The officers joined with me in haranguing them, but in vain. It was a German regiment which I expeâed would be more reafonable than the others, but I was much miftaken ; their meafures were marked with more order and method, but they were equally obftinate. The foldiers having cried out to each other, that it was neceffiiry to get poOefTion of the military cheft and colours, which were at the houfe of the commander of the regi- ment, at a fmall diftance, I called the offi- cers to me, and we ran thither, placing ourfelves before the door fword in hand; the grenadiers came and ranged themfelves before us in good order, whilft the reft of the regiment remained in the line which they had formed, before the barracks, having taken the precaution of fending de-- tachments to guard the entrance of the principal ftreets, for the purpofe of depriv- ing me of all communication with the reft of the town: I had, however, found means to fend orders to a regiment of dragoons, whofe barracks lay very near, ordering N 2 them l8o MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1 700. them to mount on horfeback and charge the German regiment. This order the officers obeyed, but the dragoons refufed to a man. In the fame manner, the commanders of the different corps which compofed the garrifon were unable to prevail on them to adl in the fuppreffion of this revolt; the foldiers refufing to take arms, openly de- claring, that they had promifed not to employ them againft this regiment, whofe derriands they faid were juft, and whofe conduû they approved. Thus deprived of all affillance, I remained in this pofition two hours, the grenadiers either not daring or not wifhing to force the door, and pre- fcrving the moft profound filence. Some of them, inftigated by the lower order of people, who called out to themi to have either money or blood, levelled at me feve- ral times, but their arms were conftantly raifed by the fubaltern officers; at laft, the municipality, being informed of my fitua- tion, came in a body to my relief. The mayor, a very worthy man, remonflrated with the foldiers, who quietly returned to 6 their THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. their barracks. However, the followîng day, they compelled their officers to dlftri- bute to them half the fum they had de- manded the preceding evening. In the beginning of the month of Au- guft, thefe fcenes were fucceffively repeated by every regiment of the garrifon, and all my efforts to prevent them were in vain. The magiftrates and inhabitants of Metz, alarmed at the confequences which might refult from the unreftrained licen- tioufnefs of ten thoufand men, who no longer acknowledged either chiefs, laws, difcipline, or authority, united themfelves to me, and feconded my endeavours to fup- prefs this diforder; even the national guards, who, fmce the federation which took place on the 4th of May, had remained firmly attached to me, offered to act againft thefe troops, and with their affiftance we fuc- ceeded in re-eftablifhing fome degree of order in the garrifon. The officers and commanders regained part of their former authority, but they loft their importance in N 3 the j^2 MEMOIRS RELATING TO. 1700. the eyes of the foldiers, and that they never recovered. A few days after thefe events had taken place, I received the following letter from La Fayette: "Paris, Aug. 18, 1790. *' You arc undoubtedly acquainted, my ** dear couiin, with the decree which has *' unanimoufly paffed the afTembly, relative " to the infurredtion at Nanci ; M. de la " Tour du Pin is preparing to tranfmit to *' you the king*s orders, and Des Mottes, " my aid-de-camp, who is charged with " them, will give you any information " you may wifli for, fo that I fhall not *' long intrude upon your patience. The " moment is now arrived, my dear coufm, ** when the anarchy attendant on the re-^ ** volution muft begin to give place to the " order eftabliflied by the conftitution. " The departments are entering on their " fundlions, and the courts of juftice, *' though ftill incomplete, will fhortly be " organized. I I THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. *' organized. The fubjed: of the national " guards will foon come before thé aflem- " bly, which, at the moment I am writing, " is determining the plan and amount of *^ the regular military eftablifliment : aU " ready has the king been able to choofe " his firft general, who is to command the *' moft confiderable of the four armies. *' Let us not be difcouraged then, my d^ar '* coufin; but hope, that by uniting ift " fupport of the conftitution, and by |a- " bouring to furmount whatever difficulties " we may happen to meet with, we fhall " at laft fucceed in eftablifhing liberty and " public order. *^ The decree relative to Nanci is very " proper, and ought to be fully and rigor- " oufly executed; as foon as it was pafTed " the king gave it his fan(Stion. M. de la '* Tour du Pin then announced to all the ^ members of the aflembly, that M, dc " Malfeigne would execute it. After " having declared this choice, which met \ N 4 " with u 1 8 J. MEMOIRS RILATINO TO 1790. " with univerfal approbation, he difcovered that M. de Malfeigne was at Befançon. I this evening received a note from his majefty, defiring me to concert meafures with you ; to wait on M. de la Tour du Pin, and to write to the national guards. C( « «« *' It appears to me that, except fending the decree, no other flep has been taken.' " A courier has been difpatched to M. de ** Malfeigne, with orders for him to wait " your inflrudions at Luneville. I have " written, not officially, but paternally, to " the national guards of the four depart- " ments, and fent my letter to Epinal by ** one of my aides-de-camp, who will re- ** pair likewife to Luneville to receive your ** orders, and give you an account at Metz **^ of his miffion. We have retained the " deputation of foldiers from the king's " regiment, and propofe writing to you ** to-morrow, evening by Gouvernet, who " is' coming to join you. cc It THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. iS^ " It is my opinion, my dear coufin, that 1790. *' fome blow fhould be ftruck*, which " may terrify the whole army, thus check- " ing, by one fignal example, that fpirit " of revolt which fo univerfally prevails: " fhould M. de Malfeigne not find the " tafk too difficult, the meafures they are " taking are fully fufficient; but in cafe of ** any great refinance on the part of the " infurgents, and particularly fhould they " be affifted by other garrifons, every effort " mufl be ufed to fave our country, and I '^ beg your permiffion to march thither " with the title of your aid-de-camp. It " is of the greatefl confequence that we " fhould not fail in our attempt; and our " difpofitions fhould be made with fuch " judgment, that nothing fhould be left to " chance. " Adieu, my dear coufm ; it is witli " fmgular fatisfadion I co-operate with * On this occafion we fee the conftltutionalifts a£ling in concert with the king, and confequently with all moderate royalifts. " you, MEMOIRS RliLATINO TO *' you, being aflured of your attachment " to our conftitution, and being equally ** defirous with you of the return of public *^ order. Whatever commiflions you may " have at Paris, addrefs them to me. I " imagine that circumftances may occur, '* in which two officers of the national •* guard of Paris may be of ferv.ice. *' Once more adieu. " La Fayette." Thefoldiers in the garrifon ofNanci, in conjunction with the populace, were in- deed in a moft terrible ftate of infurrec- tion : they had fent deputies to the dif- ferent garrifons, inviting the foldiers either to join them or to follow their example, and engaging them not to obey, if ordered to march againft them : they had likewife fent deputies to Paris, with orders to pre- fent an addrefs of a very infolent nature to the aflembly, and they were openly fupported by the Jacobin club at Paris : La Fayette however had caufed them to be arrciled, and the affembly had paiTcd a decree THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. decree ordering the foldiers to return to their duty, and the inhabitants of Nanci to their obedience to the laws, under paia of being treated as rebels. A general offi-.. cer, M. de Malfeigne, was charged with the execution of this decree, and I was ordered to render him every afliftance in my power, employing even arms if they perfifted in their rebellion. The day after I had received the decree of the aflembly, an order was fent me by the king, to take under my command the troops of Lorraine, Alface, Franche-Comté, and all Champagne. Thefe united to the garrifon of Metz, formed an army, of which I was appointed general, confiding of a hundred and ten battalions, and a hundred and four fquadrons ; it covered the whole frontier from Switzerland to the Sambre : the reft of the French army was divided into three parts : M. de Rocham- beau commanded that of the North, which comprifed all French Flanders, Picardy, and Normandy : that of the South was com- manded MEMOIRS RELATING TO manded by Maréchal de Mailly; the other, which included all the weftern coaft ex- cept Normandy, Picardy, and Flanders, was to be commanded by a fourth general who was not yet named. If ever I was averfe to extending my command, it was in the prefent inftance ; almoft all the troops had for fome time indulged themfelves in diforder and licen- tioufnefs, and, in fhort, the whole of the French infantry was in a ftate of infurrec- tion : there remained only the foreign in- fantry upon which any reliance could be placed, and even of thefe fome regiments wxre already corrupted. However, a great part of the cavalry ftill retained their obe- dience to their officers, and their fidelity to the king ; whether it was that they were compofed of a better defcription of men than the infantry, being ' gçnerally chofen from among the peafantry and ruf- tics, and were lefs inclined to licentlouf- nefs ; or that being diftributed in the little villages and towns, they were lefs expofed tQ THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. to feduâiion. Of the hundred and ten battalions then under my command, there were no more than twenty which I was certain would obey my orders, and thcfe were either German or Swifs ; but of the hundred and four fquadrons, there were at leaft fixty which preferved their fideUty to their fovereign, and of thefe, feven-and- twenty were HufTars or Germans. I de- manded of M. de la Tour du Pin, who, I have already faid, had the fame principles and views as myfelf, an ocder empowering me to march the troops wherever I thought proper. This was of the greateft import- ance in the prefent circumftances, and I might find it of great utility on fome future occafion. It was granted me by the following letter, which w^s accompanied by an order to the adminiftrative bodies : " Paris, Aug. 24, 1790. *' I haftened. Sir, to lay before the king *' your letter of the 15th. His majefty " is perfedly fenfible of this new facrifice ** you make him in relinquifliing your ** defign. MEMOIRS RELATmC TO " defign. From your zeal for his fervice, and your attachment to his perfon, he *' perfuades himfelf that you will continue *' in the dation to which he has been pleafed to appoint you, till it fhall appear that there is no longer any poffibility of maintaining you in it. I need not fay that you may rely on me to fécond, by every method in my power, your efforts. " Had it not been for reafons of the *' greateft moment, the confidence I have *' in you would have led me to fend you, " inflead of orders, the blank which you ** afk; my motives for not doing fo I have *' communicated to my fon, and I hope you will approve of them. With a view '* of facilitating as far as pofTible your •* projeds, I have written to the different *' departments, and have enclofed you a *' copy of the letter. By this time the •* troops are apprifed by the commandants *' of Alface, Lorraine, and even Hainault, *' that they are now at your difpofal; fo ** that I hope you will find no obflacle to " the <( i( THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. igf " the march of that part of them which 1 790. 1 • 1* w " you may judge it expedient to put in " motion; at leaft, none which I have been " able to remove. " But at the fame time, Sir, that I con- ceive the urgent neceflity of breaking the fpirit of infurreâiion, by frequent move- ments, other confiderations, of equal importance, oblige me to recommend to *' you the greateft circumfpeftion in the " employment of this means. Be aflured, " as far as poffible, that your orders '' will be obeyed, before you venture to " iflue them; the worft of confequences *' might refult from feeing them difputed: '* a fafe and advifable method appears to *' mé, to eftabliih a reciprocal confidence " between you and the conftitutional au- " thorlties of the different departments in '* which are the troops under your com- *' mand, and to aâ: in concert with them; *' this is, indeed, the only method left us, '* and Ihould it fail, I fee no other refource. « His ce ce MEMOIRS RE1>ATING TO " His majefty, Sir, approves your con- duâ: in fending M. de Malfeigne alone to Nanci ; it is his wifli, that force fhould not be employed till matters come " to fuch an extremity as to oblige the departments to have recourfe to it. " The information which my fon will give you renders it ufelefs for me to fpeak more particularly to the reft of your demands. I have the honour to be, Sir, &c. " De la Tour du Pin." cc (C As foon as I found myfelf at the head ciF this army, and faw the alarming ftate 6f the troops, and the dangerous condition of the kingdom, I had no difficulty in per- ceiving that, before long, things would come to a crifis, which would probably be the forerunner of a civil war. My firft thoughts were to fecure a fituation which might enable me to employ the refources of which I was mafter, in refifting whatever might happen, and even in dire(^ing events* Having THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. Having at my difpofal ay nmnerpu^cai^.y, and a fmall body of infantryT my plantas to colleâ: thofe troops upon which I could rely, and to place them in a fituation which offered' the means of refiftance, could fup-* ply their wants, and from whence they might adt with freedom and effedt upon the neighbouring provinces. The pofition I chofe then was the banks of the Seilie, which falls into the Mofelle. In this place are extenfive meadows proper for the fup- port of a large number of cavalry,' parti- cularly at that time, when they werç gathering in the hay. My fituation was defended by three little Pj^ces^^^cal] Marfal, Vic, and Moyenvic, ii)habitants, and requiring fmall garrifons. The hrft was furrounded by a marfh, and was ia itfelf very ftrong. I had before me -plains upon which my cavalry might a£t with advantage, and I W^g2k2j<^ between Alface, Lorraine, and tl - reTBitnopn g o , having an entrance into Franche-Comté and Bur- gundy; I likewife fecured Bifch and Phalf- ^ourg, two excellent little fortrefles, which VOL. I. onç MEMOIRS RELATING TO one battalion was fufficient to defend. Thefe places rendered me mafter of part of the mountains of Vofges, which feparate lower Alface from Lorraine and the Bifhop- rics; it was my intention, likewife, to take pofleffion of Montmedi, a fortrefs of the fame kind, which would have given me a communication with Luxembourg, and with foreigners. The fécond day after I had received or- ders to take upon me the command of this army, I gave diredions for affembling all the forage on the Seille and the upper MoftUe; the provifions I laid up atMarfal; I then 'commanded a train of artiller)'' to be brought here, and in this place difpofed my befl regiments. i THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. Xç^ CHAP. IX. Jffalr ofNancL — Particulars of that events and its confequences. — / make the tour of the provinces of which Jam commandant. •^Difpofition of the people and troops at that time. — My proje£i for rejloring the king to liberty y and placing him at the head of his army, — Change in the miniflry^ and had eJfeSis of that meafure, TN the mean time the infurre£tion at 1790. Nanci continued to increafe, becoming ^ ' ~ daily of a nature more alarming. The garrifon was compofed of four battalions of the king's regiment, accounted one of the beft in France ; of two battalions of Swifs, principally from Geneva, the Pays de Vaud and Neuchatel; and of the regiment of Meftre de Camp, which was cavalry: af- fifted by five or fix thoufand men, either of O 2 the MEMOIRS RELATING TO - the town or neighbourhood, who had joined them in hopes of pillaging, they had opened the arfenals, from whence they had taken five thoufand mufkets; they had feized upon the powder magazines, and loaded eighteen pieces of cannon *. The foldiers had phmdered the military chell, and had indulged themfelves in every fpecies of licentioufnefs and diforder; they had affaulted and ill-treated their officers, com- mitting many of them to prifon, and among others, the general officer who commanded them; in conjundion with the populace, they had exadted money of the conftituted authorities of the place, threat- ening to hang the municipal officers and commiffioners for the departmerit, in cafe they refufed to comply with their demands. They had avowed the moft fovereign con- tempt for the national affembly, and had burnt its decrees; in Ihort, they had ex- preffed their intention to plunder and fack * The town, it is true, was not fortified j it had a citadel, but the fortifications of it had been long fuf- fered to fall to luins. the THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. I97 the city, and had marked out the principal 1790. vidtims. Such was the fituation in which M. de Malfeigne found Nânci. On his arrival there he caufed the decree of the aflembly to be proclaimed, but the people and foldiers treated it with derifion ; on his haranguing the latter, for the pur- pofe of inducing them, by gentle means, to return to their duty, they threatened him, and even attempted to feize him : but having, by his courage and prefence of mind, efcaped out of their hands, he re- tired to Luneville, where was a body of carabineers confifting of eight fquadrons. Thefe had hitherto quietly conformed to military difciplihe. The garrifon of Nanci, and with them a party of the national guards, at that tinie, feeing that general Malfeigne had efcaped from them, obliged their officers to place themfelves at their head, and proceeded in martial order to Lu- . néville, for the purpofe of compelling the carabineers, who had refufed a demand to Ô 3 that /-— ' |a8 memoirs relating to 1700. t^*^ cffeâ:, to deliver up to them that general. As foon as I was informed of thefe events, I determined to aflemble fome troops and march againft Nanci; but I could neither employ thofe of the garrifon of Metz, nor thofe of the neighbouring towns : the infantry were deteftable ; and I was, befides, well afîured, that the foldiers had promifed not to a£l againft the king's regiment, if they fhould be ordered. I had no foreign infantry near me, and I was afraid of employing the national guards, as I could not place much dependence on them ; the plan I adopted then was to dif- patch orders for fome Swifs and German battalions, together with fome regiments of cavalry, to put themfelves in motion, and I happily fucceeded in getting out of Metz a fmall train of artillery, of eight pieces of cannon, I then quitted that town myfelf, but fecretly, for I was under fome appré- hendons that the foldiers of the garrifon would THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. would prevent me. I arrived at Toul the fame day, and found there 'a battalion of Swifs and a regiment of cavalry. I was informed at this place that the carabineers, after having refufed to deliver up M. de Malfeigne, after even a flight engagement with the garrifon of Nanci, which they had obliged to retire in diforder to that town, had themfelves proceeded to mutiny the following day, arrefted their general, fent him' under an efcort to Nanci, and de- livered him into the hands of the foldiers of the garrifon, who had thrown him into prifon. At the fame time, I was informed by the general officer who commanded at Metz during my abfence, that the troops and national guards were much diflatisfied that I would tiot employ them in this expe- dition; both had fent a deputation to him, requefting him to make a tender of their fervices to me, and exert his interefl in perfuading me to accept them. To make ufe of thefe troops on an occa- fion fo critical and fo dangerous, was a o 4 , meafure- loo Memoirs relating to 1790. meafure of great hazard. I was afraid left ^""^ ' the foldiers fhould join the rehels, and I was apprehenfi ve the national guards would not difplay that courage and energy fo ne- ceflary in an affair of this kind. To compromife matters then, and take away all caufe of umbrage from the troops and national guards of Metz, I refolved to accept fix hundred grenadiers and as many national guards, which on the 30th, at Fronard, about a league and a half from Nanci, I united to four battalions of Swifs or Germans, and fourteen fquadrons of cavalry ; but to adt agaiftft the town, the latter were of very little ufe to me. On the 30th and 31ft, the troops were aflembled there, confifting of three thou- fand infantry and fourteen hundred cavalry. Two thoufand national guards of the neigh- bouring departments, which had a few days before been colled:ed by the aid-de- camp of La Fayette, had yielded to the perfuafion of the people and garrifon of Nanci, THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 201 Nancî, and had joined them; fo that m 1790. town there were now ten thoufand men in arms: I was not even fure that the ten fquadrons of carabineers had not gone over to them. With means fo weak then, I iaid afide all thoughts of attacking Nanci, but I refolved to try once more what could be done by perfuafion ; I wilhed to intimi- date them, and reduce them rather by the appearance of force, than by force itfelf ; if I fhould not fucceed, it was my determi- nation to return immediately to Marfal with my troops, to aflemble a much greater number, and there wait for orders, or rather conduct myfelf as circumftances ihould diredt. The 30th, in the morning, I found means to introduce into the town a procla- mation, in which I again commanded the people and foldiers to conform to the de- crees of the affembly, to return to their duty, and to deliver up the moft fadious •of their chiefs. I gave them four-and- twenty hours to return an aufwer. At 202 MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1 790. At Fronard I learned, that the rebels had compelled the commanding oflScer at Nanci; whom they had confined in prifon, to fign an order, enjoining the troops which I had commanded to march againft that town to retire, and two regiments of cavalry had actually fufpendcd their march. At half paft eleven o'clock, I received a deputation from the town of Nanci, in anfwer to my proclamation; it was com- pofed cf members chofen by the people, or rather the lowed clafs of the people, and of foldiers from the different regiments; among the latter were fome of the cara- bineers. This deputation was accompanied by the principal members of the depart- ment and the municipality, whom they had compelled to follow them, threatening to mafTacre them if they refufed. I gave them audience in a very large court-yard belonging to the houfe which I occupied, and having ordered fome of my foldiers to be prefent, the place was foon filled wnth them, confifting principally of the grena- diers THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 203 diers of the garrifon of Metz and the na- 1700. tional guards of that town, whofe fury and indignation was fuch, that I with difficulty- prevented them from offering fotne violence to the deputies. To thefe I repeated what Ï had mentioned in my proclamation ; I told the foldiers, that I required the three rcgî^ ments to leave the town, and fubmit to the decree of the aflembly, by delivering up the ringleaders of the infurredion : to the members chofen by the people I faid, that I firft infifted on their delivering into my hands the two general officers whom they held in confinement ; that they fhould then permit my troops to enter the town, ihould put into their hands the cannon they were in pofTefîîon of, and fhould fubmit to the orders of the conftituted authorities: I al^ fured them all, at the fame time, that if they did not obey, I would execute the law with the greateft rigour, by employing the force which I had at my difpofal. When I had concluded, the municipal officers obferved the moft profound filence, and MEMOIRS RELATING TO and appeared terrified: but the deputies, with the moft infolent tone of voice, ex«* preffed their contempt of my orders, and propofed conditions themfelves, which again fo €xcited the indignation of my foldiers, but particularly the French grena- diers, that (forgetting, without doubt, what their own conduct had been, about a fort- night before) they cried out, " Hang them, they are rebels and rafcals;" and it was with the greateft difficulty I prevented them from laying hold of the men, and putting them to death on the fpot; it was only on condition that I fhould direâ:ly lead them againft the town and attack it, if the people and garrifon did not quietly fubmit. On my difmiffing the deputation, having acquainted them with my determination, and that of the foldiers, fome members of the adminiftrative bodies drew near me, and informed xne in a whifper, that th« rebels were fo enraged againft them, that their deftrudion was inevitable if I fufFered them to return to Nancij they at the fame THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. time aflured me, that the infurgents had obliged the municipality to fend a meflage to the carabineers, requiring them to join in the revolt, but that the latter had defired a pofitive order from the adminiftrative body of the department, wrhich had beea refufed. I then ordered the members of the municipality, and of the above aflem- bly who had accompanied the deputation, to remain with me : the deputies returned to Nanci; and immediately after, at half paft twelve o'clock, I began my march towards that town, determining to attack the rebels if they perfifted in their ob- ftinacy. However dangerous the Hep I was about to take, to avoid it was now impoflible; on engaging an enemy fo much fuperior in number, I had reafon to exped the moft difaftrous confequences to myfelf and little army ; yet, had I refufed to comply with the defire of my troops, and attempted to oppofe that fpecies of fury with which they were infpired, it is probable that I 6 myfelf MEMOIRS RELATING TO myfelf fhould become its vidiin ; they would then have confidered me as a traitor ; a light in which, a fhort time before, they had regarded all their generals, and me in particular. Such being my fituation then, I blindly committed myfelf to fortune for my fuccefs. At half pad two I was at the di fiance of half a league from the town of Nanci ; here I met another deputation, attended by their officers, whom the foldiers had com- pelled to accompany them ; to the propofals made by this deputation, I gave the fame anfwer as to the former; I repeated to them, that, as a preliminary ftep, I infifted on the liberation of the two general officers; that I then required the three regiments to leave the town, and await, in a place which I pointed out, the execution of the decree, and the orders confequent on it; I told them, that they muft deliver up to me four men from each regiment, whom I would fend, under an efcort, to be tried by the national affembly; and laftly, I enjoined the TMÊ FRENCH REVOLUTION. the people to return to their duty, and fub- mit to the laws. The officers, as well as deputies, demanded an hour to confider of my propofals, which I granted; this ex- piring about four o'clock, I ordered my ad- vanced guard to approach the gates of the town, which were defended by troops and armed inhabitants with feveral pieces of cannon. I was now met by a third de- putation, accompanied by feveral members of the adminiftrative bodies, and fome of the principal officers of the garrifon. Hav- ing again defired the troops to halt, though within about thirty paces of one of the gates, I went to fpeak to thç deputies who had quitted the town by another. Thefe affiired me, that my orders would be dir redly obeyed; that the regiments were leaving the town, for the purpofe of repair- ing to the place I had appointed; that the two general officers would be immediately delivered up to me; accordingly, a few minutes after, I faw the head of the co- lumn into which the king's regiment was formed file off from the town, and w^as 5 foon 2o8 MEMOIRS RELATING TO; 1700. foon joined by generals Malfeigne and De Noue. I had fufpended the march of my troops, concluding all finifhed after the af- furance I had received from the deputies, both of the town and of the foldiers; I had even fent fome of the national guards of Metz into the town, where they were re- ceived in a very frigidly manner, and I only waited the departure of the garrifon to enter myfelf and take pofTeflion of it. I thought myfelf then in the moft perfeâ: fe- curity, and applauded myfelf for having happily efcaped from a fituation fo extra-, ordinary and fo dangerous, I was converfing with the two general officers, and fome of the principal inhabit- ants of the town who had accompanied them, at a fhort diftance from the gate near which was the head of one of my columns, when the people and armed populace, and a great number of foldiers who had not followed their colours, began a quarrel 'with my advanced guard, compofed of Swifs, and were preparing to fire on them with tHE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 2og With feveral pieces of heavy ordnance loaded with grape-fhot, which they had phiced in the entrance of the gate. A young officer of the king's regiment, named De-* filles, however, prevented them for fome time; he placed himfelf before the mouth of a cannon, and when torn from thence, he leaped upon a four-and-twenty pounder, and feating himfelf upon the touch-hole, was in that pofition maflacred; the match was now applied to the cannon, and in an inftant, fifty or fixty men of my van- guard lay dead ; the reft, followed by the French grenadiers, advanced with fury to feize the cannon, took pofleffion of the gate called Stainville, and entering the town, were in an inftant aflaulted with a fhower of mufket-balls, proceeding from cellars, windows, and the roofs of the houfes, without any enemy appearing. What was my aftoniftiment, when I heard the fignal of a battle which I had endeavoured to avoid, and which I had no longer any reafon to €X|)e(^! I flew VOL. I, B to 2IO MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1790. to place myfelf at the head of my troops, which were mowed down in heaps, thrown into diforder, and. on the point of flying. Rallying them, however, I haftily made my difpofitions to penetrate in two columns, which advanced very flowly and with great difficulty along the principal flreets. In the mean time, the troops of the garrifon thinking themfelves betrayed, and that ad- vantage had been taken of their abfence to attack the people and their comrades, re- entered Nanci with precipitation to aflift them; happily, the officers of the king's regiment, who had been compelled by the foldiers to remain with them, fucceeded in perfuading their men to retire into the court-yard of their barracks, form them- felves in order of battle, and wait there till attacked. This prudent meafure faved all; there were now only about 600 men of this regiment, in conjundion with the reft of the garrifon and the people, who en- gaged our troops. Thefe latter too, think- ing that the troops who were in Nanci had fuffered them to advance ift fçcurity, for the THE FP.ENCH REVOLUTION. 211 the purpofe of drawing them into an am- i ^(^o. buQi and fighting them with advantage, were filled with fury and indignation. Such was the pofture of both parties • when this fingular engagement began, about half paft four in the afternoon. It was half paft feven before I reached the principal fquares, into which opened the barracks of the^ king's re.jment and the Swifs gwiw oof which were fituated at two extremities of the town. I had already loft forty officers, and nearly four hundred foldiers, either killed or wounded. One of the German battalions, as well as the na- tional guards of Metz, having loft a great number of men, had retired. My cavalry was not of any ufe to me. At the begin- ning of the affair, I had imprudently ordered two fquadrons of Huflars into the town, half of which had been cut to pieces ; I was even obliged to difpatch a great part of my cavalry on the road to Lune'ville, to oppofe the carabineers, by w^hom I ex- peûed every moment to fee myfelf attacked, P 2 It 2 12 MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1790. It is true, the rebels had Hkewife fuffercd confiderably. We had killed a great many of them, taken twelve pieces of cannon, and made upwards of five hundred pri- foners, including the foldiers of the garri- fon, and the people who affifted them. The revolted regiments had retired, ranging themfelves before their barracks, and the inhabitants had either entered their houfes or quitted the town; my efFedlive troops, however, ^^ere now reddced .itû. fifteen hundred men, who were divided into dif- ferent detachments. Being in la Place 7-oyale^ with about four hundred French grenadiers, at the diftance of two hundred paces from the barracks of the king's regiment, from whence there was no firing, the grenadiers prefled me earneftly to attack that regiment, though three times as numerous as themfelves» Night approaching, I was undetermined what plan to adopt, when oneof my aides- de-camp, M. de Rhodes, came to tell me, that he had penetrated as far as the barracks, and THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. and had held feme converfation with the foldiers, whom he found much alarmed and difpofed to fubmit; they already, he faid, began to liften to their officers, and if I appeared, he had no doubt of their fub- miffion. I haftened thither that moment alone. At the fight of me they appeared con- founded, and attempted to lay down their arms, but I prevented them, only deliring that they would quit the town within a quarter of an hour, to which they con- fented. I immediately fent them orders to go to a garrifon at the diftance of twenty leagues: they obeyed. The officers refumed their authority and command, and in half an hour after, this regiment had entirely evacuated Nanci, and was in full march towards the place of its deftination. What was very extraordinary, the foldiers de- manded of me an efcort, though each of them had thirty rounds of cartridge, which I had not thought it advifable to take from them, left it fliould occafion fome delay in P 3 their 21 A MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1790. their departure, at that time the object of ^ greateft importance. I gave them thirty HufTars, who Gon- dudled them to their garrifon. I now an- nounced to the Swifs regiment the departure of that of the king, fending them, at the fame time, orders to leave Nanci likewife, and proceed to a diftant town which I had pointed out to them. This order they obeyed, and their example was followed by the cavalry: by nine o'clock at night, the whole garrifon had left the town, and were on their march : the people of Nanci were difperfed, or had retired to their houfes; the ftrangers had departed, and every thing was quiet. The following day, I reinftated in their fuhûions and authority the department and the municipality, and order was perfedlly re-eftablifhed. In all this affair it was very fingular, and, at the fame time, very fortunate, that not one THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 21 C one houfe was either pillaged or burnt, nor 1790. was one of the inhabitants either killed or wounded, except thofe who had taken arms, the number of whom was very con- fiderable, though I never received any exadt account of them. On the firft of September, the three Swifs battalions demanded my permiflion to aflemble a council of war, for the pur- pofe of trying about eighty foldiers of the regiment of Chateau Vieux^ who had been taken the preceding evening with arms in their hands. The Swifs troops in the fervice of France, it was ftipulated by the treaty en- tered into between the two countries, fhould preferve their own form of admi- niftering juftice: this council condemned twenty foldiers to death, and between fifty and fixty to the galleys; which fentence was put in execution without my having a right to prevent it. About one hundred and eighty foldiers of the king's regiment, P 4 and Îl6 MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1790. and about three hundred of the common ' -' people, were likewife taken in arms; I could not have them tried, and they were all afterwards difcharged, not one being pu- nifhed *. This is what is flyled the majfacrs of Nanci. It will eafily be feen, that I was unavoidably hurried into circumftances which I both dreaded and had endeavoured to avoid; Fortune fnatched me, as it were by the hair, out of the danger into which ihe had plunged me, and this was the laft favour I received from her. Can it be faid then, that my condud: merit-ed the reproaches which have been * It may perhaps be thought that I have been too minute in my account of the infurre£lion at Nanci ; but when it is recoUedlieJ that my objedt in publifhing thefe Memoirs, is to exonerate myfelf from thofe un- founded afperfions which have been thrown on my condu£l in that affair, and to clear my reputation in the eyes of a people who I think entitled to fuch an explanation, I hope it will be found that I have dwelt no longer on this fubjedl than was abfolutely neccflary for that purpofe. 6 lavifhed THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 217 Javifhed on it, or was even in any refpe£t 1 790. reprehenfible? The king's letter on the oc- cafion, that of M. de la Fayette himfelf, and of the prefident of the afTembly, all filled wûth exaggerated eulogiums, will fhew that I aded in the name of the law, and ac- cording to the law ; and the account w^hich I have given of my condud: will evidently demonftrate, that I was hurried on by im- perious circumftances which I was con- ilrained to obey. The above letters I (hall infert, as w^ell as the decree of the national convention; and in the courfe of thefe Memoirs it will be feen, that the aflembly, at the infliga- tion of the Orleanifts, ordered a fécond examination into my condud, the report of which was made by Sillery, one of the moft zealous partifans of the duke of Or- leans, when it received again the general approbation. I think it neceflary to add, that, merely from motives of humanity, I on thisocca- fion MEMOIRS RELATING TO fion deviated from the political principles which I ought to have purfued, to fave France from the great calamities with which fhe was threatened, and which fhe has fmce experienced. In whatever horror I might hold a civil war, I at that time thought it neceffary, for the prefervation of the king, the monarchy, and France; the duke of Orleans* had lighted up the lirft fparks of it, which I extinguifhcd againft my own inclination, as I was very well prepared for fuch an event. I w^ould have aflembled an army compofed entirely of royal ills, which, being fooneft formed and fooneft in motion, would undoubtedly hav^ had the firft fuc- cefles, and this would have ferved to in- creafe my forces. The king, in the different parts of his kingdom, could command about forty battalions of Swifs, German, or other foreign troops, and about one hundred fquadrons, which flill remained faithful to him. He would have been * Tt has been proved, that the troops were incited to revolt by the agents of this prince, in conjunclioa with the Jacobins and other fatiions. joined "ix-.x. .^i:r^-CH REVOLUTION. joined by the nobility, and a part of the land-holders. The remainder of the army would have been divided between the con- ftitutional party and the duke of Orleans, who was at the head of the Jacobins and the lowed clafs of the people, known at that time by the name oï fa?is culottes. It was impoffible but that the conftitutional party would have fought to ftrengthen it- felf by uniting with the monarch, who, in that cafe, would have had the fupport of a party which, fmce the beginning of the revolution, had never appeared to favour his caufe. Thus aflifled by the fovereign, the conftitutional party, there is reafon to believe, would have cruilied the Jacobins, by whom the monarchy was deftroyed: for, again I repeat it, the misfortunes of France are to be attributed to the union formed between the Jacobins and the con- flitutionalifts, though La Fayette and the duke of Orleans, who were the apparent leaders of thefe parties, mutually detefted each other. Nothing then but a civil war, kindled by the latter, with the affiftance of the 220 MEMOIRS RELATIN© TO 1790. the Jacobins, could fhew the royalifts and the friends of the conftitution their real .intereft, and convince them of the neceffity of an union between themfelves. The king was then emerging from the degraded fituation to which he had been re- duced; he was regaining fome degree of con- fideration, which, had he been well advifed, might have led to a recovery of part of his former power; his minifters, at that time, were men of abilities, who fav/ things in their true light. The archbilhop of. Bourdeaux, keeper of the feals, was a man of great fenfe, and of that kind of fenfe which was wanted in thofe circumftances. M. de St. Prieft, minifter for the home de- partment, was poirefled of a vigorous and enlightened mind. M. de la Tour du Pin, minifter at war, was a virtuous man, and abfolutely at my difpofal. As for Neckar, afhamed, abafhed, and confounded by his errors, he had loft the efteem of the nation, and the confidence both of tlie aiïembly arjd his own party. Montmorin, minifter for THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 22l for foreign affairs, had loft the good opi- 1790. nion of his fovereigrié His majefty thought, that in fupprefling the inlurredlion at Nanci, (and it was with the greateft reludlance I did it,) I had rendered him an effential fervice ; whereas, by fo doing, I deprived him of ahnoft the only oppertunity of re- afcending his throne that had occurred fmce the beginning of the revolution. On the third of September, the king wrote me the following letter with his own hand, which I received at my return to Metz. It ftrongly paints the goodnefs and fenfibility of his heart. Unhappy prince ! formed to govern a virtuous people, not the moft vicious and corrupt nation upon the face of the earth. " St. Cloud, Sept. 4, 1790. *• I hope. Sir, you are fafficiently ac- quainted with my fentiments, to be aftlired that your conduâ: at Nanci has given me the moft fignal fatisfadion. (C «( " On MEMOIRS RELATING TO *' On the 31ft of Auguft you favcd " France, and your behaviour on that day " ought to be an objedt of imitation for " all well-wifhers to their country: indeed, *' the manner in which you have con- " dudted yourfelf for this year paft is " entitled to tlie higheft commendation, " and particularly fo when we refledt on " the oppofition you have experienced. ' " Continue, Sir, to be guided by the fame " maxims, and preferve your popularity, " which may be of the greateft utility both " to myfelf and the nation. It may be " the means of leading to the re-ell:ablifl:i- " ment of order and tranquillity. The " dangers to which you were expofed gave " ine great unealinefs till I heard from M. " dc Gouvernet, and I feel the moft fincere " concern for thofe brave men who pe- *' riflied in that dillreffing but unavoidable " affair. I requeft of you to point out to " me thofe v^^ith whofe condu our enemies. I have the fatisfadion to " inform you, that fince, by your conduâ: " at Nanci, you faved your country, you *' have been no longer troubled with the " friendfhip of the ariftocrats. Once " more adieu, my dear coufm; be aflured " of my eternal regard. ** La Fayette." The Jacobins, furious that their projedls had failed, particularly at Nanci, inflamed the rabble of Paris againft me, La Fayette, and the minifter at war. They demanded our heads, and it was with great diiSiculty M. de la Tour du Pin faved his. Si 2 The MEMOIRS RELATING TO The aflembly, whether through the irl* trigues of the duke of Orleans, or through fear of the multitude, who were guided by the partifans of that prince, ordered an inquiry into my conduâ:, and that of the minifter at war, with refpedt to the afiair at Nanci, though both had before received their approbation. The perfons appointed to make this examination were chofen from among the party of Orleans, and the report was made a few months after by Sillery; w^e were again cleared from any imputation, it appearing that we had adled in ftriâ: conformity to the laws, and agreeably to the decrees pf the aflembly. I wiflied to procure a decree for the pur- pofe of eftablifhing a more rigid difcipline in the army, either by again putting in force the old ordinances relative to that fubjedt, or by enaâiing new laws; I was defirous, likewife, of effedling a change in a penal code which had been recently com- pofed for the army by the military com- '' mittee THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. mlttce of the aflembly. Thefe laws oppofed the greateft obftacle to the maintenance of difcipline in the army, by eftablifliing a jury which was to take cognizance of all military offences, thus depriving the chiefs of their authority, and the laws of their cfFeâ:. I likewife recommended it to the aflembly to punifh the ringleaders of the infurreâion at Nanci, both among the foldiers and people; to pafs a decree for the organization of the national guards, deter- mining the principles upon which they were to be eftabliihed, fixing their number, and pointing out their fervice and funâ:ions ; at the fame time, difarming the reft of the people who threatened and even difturbed the public tranquillity. Thqfe were the fub- jedls of the laft letter I v/rote La Fayette, ^nd many others which I had fent him be- fore; however, my reprefentations pro- duced not the leaft efFeâ:. By La Fayette's anfwer to my letter it may be fcen, that the party of the duke of Orleans and the Jacobins were beginning to R 3 give MEMOIRS RELATING TO give him fome uneafinefs; among the chief of his enemies were Mirabeau, the Lameths, feveral of the principal democrats of the aflembly, and many others, dangerous from their boldnefs, intriguing fpirit, and abilities. Since the federation, on the 14th of July 1790, La Fayette's credit had been gradu- ally declining; his jealoufy and fufpicion of me had increafed; our correfpondence was afterwards much lefs intimate j and I fhall infert only two more of his letters. I have fometimes imagined that Des Mottes, his aide-de-camp, who accompa- Ijied me in my excurfion, had found means to difcover my real fentiments, and had communicated them to him. From the fituation of the provinces I Jiad vifited, from the difpofition of the people, of the conftituted authorities and the army, and from the unhappy condition of the king and his family, the little autho- rity which was left them being daily re- trenched 3 from all thefe circumftances, I fay. THE PRBNCH REVOLUTION. fay, I concluded that there remained but one way, not to re-eftablifli the old monarchy, (that was now totally impoffible,) but to preferve fome remnant of it ; to reftore to the king his liberty, part of his dignity, and a few fragments of his former power. This was, to engage the eniperor to march fôme troops to the frontiers, which he might very eafily have done, as he ha4 juft effedually reftored the fubmiflion of the Low Countries, where at that time he had an army. He might have reclaimed the rights of the German princes who had poffeffions in Alface, which had been vio- lated by the decrees of the national aflem- bly; and to obtain fatisfadtion for this, might have been urged as the objedl of his hoftile movements. In this cafe, I fhould have had an excufe for collecting an army compofed of the beft regiments of France, being well perfuaded, that on this occafion they would not have' dared to entruft the command of it to any other than myfelf, as at that time I enjoyed the confidence of the troops of the line, the national guards, R 4 an4 MEMOIRS RELATING TO and the inhabitants of the frontiers. Î would then have perfuaded the departments of thcfe provinces to prefent an addrefs to the alTembly, requefting that the king might . come to place himfelf at the head of hig army, for the purpofe of quelling, by his * prefence, that fpirit of mutiny and licen- tioufnefs which reigned among the foldiers : I myfelf, and the troops at my infligation, V70uld have demanded the fame thing : and to have refufed thefe united petitions would have been difficult, as they would have been fupportcd by the left fide of the affembly^ and by Mirabeau himfelf, who had already offered the king his fervkes on certain con- ditions: they were at that time rejeûed, but afterwards, when too late, as will be feen by thefe Memoirs, they were ac- cepted. The king once at the head of the army, h would have been an eafy thing for him to engage the affe<3:ions of the fcidiers; all the officers were already devoted to his fervice j and in the eyes of the nation, he would TH-E FRPNCII REVQ;pyTION. 240 would have appeared as the preferver of 1790. peace, the emperor being as averfç to war as himfelf. It would have been by no means difficult again to awaken the difcon- tent excited in a great part, of the people, by the rigour with which the clergy were treated, and particularly by the perfecution commenced againft the minifters of parifhesj a difcontent greater on the frontiers than in any other part of France. But if (which I could not believe) the king fhould not be permitted to repair to the army, although declared chief of it by the eonftitution, ftilj his fituation was not changed for the worfe, and his condu(f^ was not brought into queftion. I was revolving this projeâ: in my mind, and had already communicated it to the principal members of the departments, who had approved of it, afTured me of their attachment to their fovereign, and promifed me their afTiftance, when I was waited upon by a perfon of eminence from the king J who, byway of credentials, de- livered tso MEMOIRS RELATIKÔ TO 1790. livered to me the following letter, ^vrlttcn in his majefty's own hand: « St. Cloud, oa. 23, 179a. " I hope you are ftill fatibfied with your •* fituation, with refped to the troops. I ** feize with pleafure every opportunity •* of renewing to you the aflurances of my ** efteem and regard*. « LOXIIS." This perfon, who at the time I am writ-* ing is in London, gave me an account of the unhappy fituation of that prince and his family, with which I w^as already but too well acquainted; and he informed me, that it was rendered daily more infupport- able by the rigour and inflexibility of La Fayette, who was become their jailor; he aflured me, that the king had an entire confidence in me, of which his majefty was. going to give me a ftriking proof, by com- * It will eafily be perceived, that the king was pre- vented by circumftances from expreffing himfelf more fully in his letter, or even naming the bearer of it. municating THZ PRENCH. REVOLUTION. 2 r^ municating to me a defign he had formed 1790. of quitting Paris, where he was in a ftate ** '^"'"^ of confinement, and retiring to one of the frontier towns under my command, leaving it to me to fix the place : there he meant to colleâ round him the troops, and fuch of his fubje£ls as ftill retained their fidelity 5 to attempt to bring back to a fenfe of their duty the reft of his people, mifled by fac- tious men; and in cafe other means Ihould fail, to call in the affiftance of his allies for the reftoration of order and tranquillity to his kingdom. I begged this gentleman to afTure his majefty of my fidelity, and per- feâ: attachment to his perfon, which had hitherto led me, notwithft:anding my ex- treme reluctance, to remain in France amid the troubles, diforder, and anarchy with which it was overwhelmed; I, however, obferved, that this ftep was a meafure of great danger and hazard ; that (hould it ffiil, (and its fuccefs was very doubtful,) it would inevitably be attended with the ruin both of the fovereign and monarchy, and even endanger his majefty *s life : I repre- feated grj MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1790. fented to him, that I had lately acquired a degree of popularity, even in the army, which enabled me to render my fovereign eflential fervice, without having recourfe to means uncertain in their effed: : in fine, I opened to him the plan which I had formed, and which I have already ftated. He then aflured me, that the emperor, and all the other allies of the king, had infifted on his majefty's leaving Paris, and being at perfed: liberty, before they took any fteps in his favour. I had now nothing to do t)ut to obey. As this proje£l: was hot to be put into execution till the approaching fpring, the king left me all the intermediate time to ^lake the neceffary difpofitions, with which he defired to be acquainted. It was fettled, that from this time I fhould maintain a correfpondence with him in cypher, by means of a third perfon on whom we could rely. This correfpondence was very clofely carried on for eight months; not one letter mifcarried, or was intercepted, nor was the Icafl THE FREÎÎCH REVOLUTION. lead fufpicion entertained. It would un- doubtedly be very interefting, could I here infert that epiftolary correfpondence, which was very extenfive, but the importance of it obliged me, for the king's fafety, to burn every letter as fafl as I received it, trufting to my memory to retain the moft eflential objets they contained. In them, the king unbofomed himfelf to me, without referve, upon his fituation, misfortunes, and future projeds, which all breathed an ardent de- fire for the re-eftablifhment of peace and tranquillity; v/hich he would have pur- chafed with the facrifice of all his perfonal advantages, unwilling to have recourfe to arms, till all other means fhould have been tried and found inefreâ:ual. At the time I received this communica- tion on the part of his majefty, I had at my difpofal a very confiderable force. The national guards and troops of the line, not only at Metz, but in all the different pro- vinces under my command, had given me many proofs of their attachment and con- fidence; 2fA ïtfEWOÎRS REiAtmO TO lyga. fidcnce ; I was, befides, on very good term* with the conftituted authorities. I re- marked too a great change in the public opinion for the better; this, however, was but of fhort duration. It proceeded from feveral caufes, among which were the abo- lition of the three exifting orders, the civil conftitution irrpofed upon the clergy, and the oath exadted of the priefts, which had driven many of them from their parifhes, where they were replaced by the vileft members of their order; to thefe we may add, the little confidence which the people began to have in the national affembly, whofe labours v/ere found to produce nothing but anarchy and diforder, a cir- cumftance extremely alarming to all perfons of property, and pleafing to none but the very dregs of fociety. The power of La Fayette, as I have al- ready faid, was now on the decline ; his credit decreafed daily. The Jacobins of Paris, guided and dire henfions were to be entertained from the efforts of his defpair, which would rather be 70A MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1791. be directed againft the royalifts and arif-- tocrats, the leaft dangerous of his enemies, than againft the Jacobins his more power- ful adverfaries. A few days afterwards, I received a let- ter from the king in cypher; which in- formed me, that he had fixed on the latter end of April or the beginning of May for the time of his departure from Paris. Having determined to take the road of Varennes for Montmedi, he defired me to eftablifh a chain of pofts from Chalons to that place. He informed me that he pro- pofed travelling with his whole family in a fmgle coach, which he had ordered to be conftrudted exprefsly for that purpofe. In the anfwer which I returned his majefty, I took the liberty of reprefenting to him, that the road he had chofen would be attended with great inconvenience, from the circumftance of being obliged to place relays of horfes to fupply the defeâ: of poft-houfes ; this I obferved would either compel me to impart the fecret to fome perfon, THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. perfon, or would be the means of excit- ing fufpicions ; and the more particularly fo, as at that time myfelf and all the chiefs of the army were more than ever objeâis of diftruft, on account of the confpiracy of Lyons difcovered a few months before, in which they were all known to have been engaged : the refidence of the emi- grants likewife on the frontier was an- other reafon why we were watched with a jealous eye ; thefe frequently entered France, and advanced ^ up tojhe ^ates of Metz, committing oitomoro^ wifich were laid to my account, though I had not the . leaft correfpondence with them. I endea- voured then to. perfuade his majefty to go to Montmedi by the vvay of Rheims or Flanders, pafling through Chimay and croffing the, Ardennes : I reprefented to him the impropriety of travelling with the queen and his children in a carriage of peculiar conftrudion, which could not fail of attrading general obfervation; I advifed him, on the contrary, to make ufe of two Englifh diligences for himfelf and X family. MEMOIRS RELATING TO family, taking with him fome perfon of approved fidelity, who might if neceflary fliew himfelf, and at the fame time ferve as'a f ide, neither the queen nor himfelf being acquainted with the road. I pro- pofed for this purpofe, the marquis d'Agoult, major of the French guards, a man of good fenfe, courage, and firmnefs, and extremely proper for fuch an undertaking. I likewife objeâ:ed to his majefty, the great inconvenience which might refult from placing a chain of pofts upon the road : if they were weak, they would anfwer no other purpofe than exciting diftruft in the minds of the people, who already began to entertain fentiments of that kind, the Jaco- bins labouring with all their might to alienate their afFeâions as much as poflible from the king; if, on the contrary, thefe detachments were confiderable, they would give caufe to the moft violent fufpicions, and even, in fome manner, make known the project of his majefty: befides, it was not in my power to put in motion complete corps, but by an order from the king, counter- THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. ^07 counterfigned by the minlfter at war, a lygi. perfon not to be confided in, but, on the contrary, an objecfl of diftruft. I infifted on the neceflity of a movement on the part of the Auftrian troops, in the environs of Luxembourg and Montmedi; I wilhed them to encamp at Arlon, between thefe two places, obferving to his majefty, that fhould he decline making ufe of them, jflill they would ferve to keep the aflembly in awe, by fhewing them that he was not without refources. His majefty, in his anfwer, informed me, that he was firmly refolved to go by the way of Varennes, having, for the rea- fons I have affigned, a particular objeâ:ion to (hewing himfelf at Rheims, and a ftill greater averfion to croffing the teriitory of the emperor, in his way to Montmedi, being determined not to go beyond the confines of his dominions. He would not difpenfe with my placing detachments on the road, nor would he confent to difpofe of his family in two different carriages; he X 2 promifed, MEMOIRS RELATING TO promifed, however, to take with him M. d'Agoult, and to wait till the emperor had marched a body of troops to the frontier, near Luxembourg, before he took his de- parture. Being now informed of his majefty's final determination, I began to make the proper difpofitions for putting it in execu- tion. I demanded of him the fums necef- fary to defray the expences, and he tranf- mitted to me a million of livres in aflignats; feven hundred thoufand of which, after the melancholy conclufion of this affair, I delivered to Monfieur, the king's brother; the reft was either employed in the fecret purchafe of forage, ammunition, and pro- vifions, or was diftributed to the colonels of my beft regiments, for the purpofe of being converted into gold, in order to make occafiojial advances to the foldiers; they never, however, in the leaft fufpeded my real objed: in confiding thefe fums to them. ]t next raifed an alarm on the frontier, where I announced a great movement on the THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. the part of the Auftrians, which did not exift; but it gained fo much credit, that M. de Montmorin, minifter for foreign af- fairs, wrote to me to aflure me of fupport, which aflurance, however, did not prevent the patriotic club, and the municipality of Metz, from fending a deputation to the af- fembly, complaining that their frontier was not fecure, and that the neceffary precau- tions for their fafèty were not taken. This ftep facilitated my defign, by enabling me to colledl at Montmedi, provifions, w^arlike flores, artillery, and the materials neceffary to form an encampment; and furnifhing me with a pretext for placing fome good regiments in the neighbourhood of that town. The diftruft, however, of the aflembly, of La Fayette and his partifans, of the town of Metz, and almoft all thofe within the diftriâ: I commanded, daily augmented. The minifter at war took from me my beft regiments, particularly the foreigners, and gave me in return the worft in the whole X 3 armyj MEMOIRS RELATING TO army; if I ftill retained fome few regi- ments upon which I knew I could rely, it was only becaufe I in fome manner refufed to give them up, and engaged the intereft of the departments in my behalf. Since the affair of Nanci, the enraged Jacobins had put in practice every artifice to torment me; they united with the conftitutionalifts, folely in the perfecution of the royalifts; and the king, more than ever, became the objed of their infults. La Fayette wilhing to deftroy the opinion, that his majefty and the royal family were in a ftate of confinement, perftiaded them to pafs fome days at St. Cloud: but juft as they were on the point of departing, the populace, inftigated by the Jacobins, furrounded the carriages, and, notwithftanding the efforts of La Fayette and the national guard, compelled them to return to the Thuilleries, The Jacobins, finding it fomewhat diffi^ cult again to infufe a fpirit of mutiny into the troops, and perfuade them to renounce their obedienceto their chiefs,(aneffortparticularly direded THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. diredled againft me, and the general officers under my command, who almoftall pofTefled the confidence of the foldiers,) endeavoured to draw them to their clubs by fending them invitations, which, however, I forbid the foldiers to accept, and they obeyed. The ground on which I iflued this proclamation, was a decree of the aflTembly, by which it was enaâed, that no troops fhould be ad- mitted to thefe focieties: the members, likewife, were enjoined not to receive them. This decree had been pafled in the begin- ning of the September preceding, immedi- ately after the general infurredtion which took place in the army ; but the minifter at war, M. du Portail, who was influenced in all his actions by La Fayette, now wrote to the aflembly demanding its repeal; this was granted, and I was compelled to abandon the foldiers to all the arts employed to fe- duce them; fo rapid was their effeâ:, that in a very few months afterwards almoft all the French infantry expelled their officers, chofe others from among themfelves, and in a fhon time were entirely under the X 4 diredion ^12 MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1 79 1. dire£tion of Jacobin leaders, having for- faken La Fayette to follow Dumourier. Of the inconfiftency of the former of thefe, and his party, fome idea may be formed, on recolled:ing the apprehenfions exprefled both by him and the aflembly, at the time of the infurreâiion of Nanci ; and comparing the opinions contained in the letters he wrote me on that occafion, and in thofe which he had before written me, with his prefent conduct. Such a compari- fon muft produce a full convidtion of the weaknefs of his character, the verfatility of his principles, and the mediocrity of his un- derftanding; and will prove, that fo far from being a proper perfon to diredl a revolution like that of France, he was not even capa- ble of conducing one in a fmall Italian ftate, fuch as Lucca or Modena. I had now made all the difpofitions and preparations necelTary for the king's de- parture, which, as I have obferved, was to take place in the beginning of May; every thing THE FRENCH REVOLUTION» 313 thing at Montmedi was in a ftate of readi- 1 791. nefs to receive him, and meafures were ^-^/^-^ taken to colleâ: a fmall body of troops under the cannon of the fortrefs, one mile from the territory of Luxembourg. The am- munition and provifions of every kind were arrived, and nothing further remained to be done, when the troops again became fo vitiated, that out of all thofe which were in Lorraine, les Evéchés^ and Cham- pagne, there were not more than eight or ten battalions, and the Swifs or Germans, upon which I could depend; the whole of the French infantry were fo corrupted, that there was not one regiment which I could venture to place near the king. They had carefully withdrawn the beft troops from my command, and I could not now reckon more than thirty fquadrons which retained, or which I fuppofed to retain, their fidelity to their fovereign; the corps of artillery was fo bad, that I could not have found cannoneers fufficient to ferve a fmgle piece. The ^I/J. MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1 79 1. The fentiments of the people were not ' ^ much more favourable. In the provinces, and particularly on the frontier, as I have already faid, they appeared for a fhort time diffatisfied with the afi'embly and the confti- tution, but they were now become more firmly than ever attached to both. This change is principally to be attributed to the artifice of the Jacobins, who induf- trioufly circulated reports that the emigrants "were entering France, follov/ed by an army of foreign troops, which was to be joined by all the ariftocrats of the kingdom : plots were faid to have been formed by the latter, and all the chiefs of the army were accufed of having traitoroufly held a correfpond- ence withToreign powers, and engaged in a defign to betray the ftrong places, and even the army itfelf, into the hands of the enemy. Reports like thefe, which are always credited by the people in time of a revolu- tion, feemed now more particularly entitled to THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. to belief; the royalifts who remained in France were conftantly breathing out their juft vengeance in threats, which in fome manner juftified the alarm fo afTiduoufly propagated by the revolutionifts, whilft the emigrated royalifts, by their imprudence, appeared ftill more to confirm it. The po- pulace in all the principal towns, led on by faâiious men, indulged them^felves in all the licentioufnefs of Jacobinifm; the nobility, the priefts, and even all fober citizens who were not clamorous and violent in fupport of the conftitution, were daily expofed to the threats and infults of the mob, and the perfecutions of the Jacobins. The officers of the army, abufed and ill-treated by their foldiers, over whom they retained hardly' the fhadow of authority, were only re- ftrained by my intreaties from quitting an employ which afforded them neither honour nor refpeâ: ; nay, which could not even be held without perfonal danger. Contempt, indignity, threats, and even the profped: of an ignominious death, were the bitter fruits of their fidelity in the difcharge of their duty MEMOIRS RELATING TO duty and their attachment to their fove- reign ; yet very few apoftates were found among them, though both art and violence were put in pradice to feduce them ; un- moved by menaces, infuhs, and perfecu- tion, they remained faithful to that princi- ple of honour which had ever guided their condudt. I acquainted his majefty with the fituation and difpofitions of the people and army, and urged him more ftrenuoufly than ever (if he ftiil perfifledin his projeâ:) to folicit the fupport of a body of Auftrians; I fore- fiNv, that even fhould the king reach Mont- medi, ftill there w^ould be a terrible move- ment excited by the Jacobins, even though the aflembly and the conftitutional party fhould purfue moderate meafures, which fnice the death of Mirabeau, as the king had no longer any partifan of note on the left fide of the houfe, was hardly to be ex- peded: I confidered it as much more pro- bable, that in fuch a conjuncture the two parties would form an union; in w^hich 9 cafe, THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 3I7 <:afe, from the weaknefs of my refources, I I79i« could not have maintained myfelf at Mont- medi ; and the king, which next to a civil war was what he moft feared, would have been obliged to quit the kingdom. How- ever, to one of thefe he now inevitably expofed himfelf ; for in the prefent ftate of things, it was next to an impoffibility, though nothing could be more . defirable, that any amicable arrangemept could take place, men's minds being in fuch a ftate of fermentation. The principal fubje^t of my apprehen- fions were the nobility who had left the kingdom, and were now moftly upon the frontier, expeding a counter-revolution to be efFeâ;ed by force, with the afliftance of foreign powers: totally ignorant of the fituation of France, they took the revolu- tion for a momentary infurreO:ion, and relied on an internal party which no longer exifted, and on refources which were merely imaginary! I was afraid of again feeing the king furrounded with courtiers, and dreaded MEMOIRS RELATING Tô dreaded left the wrecks of thofe great bodies, the clergy, nobility, and magiftracy, juftly enraged at the barbarous treatment they had experienced, and animated by the fpirit of revenge, fhould be able to lead his majefty into dangerous meafures, contrary to that wifdom, prudence, and firmnefs which ought to regulate his condudt on the prefent occafion. In fhort, whichever way I looked, nothing but difficulties prefented themfelves, and every thing announced ftill greater misfortunes than thofe we had al- ready undergone: I faw the king and mo- narchy drawn with irrefiftible force towards their deftrudtion, and was myfelf obliged, in fpite of my repugnance, to be an inftru- ment in the dreadful cataftrophe ; for, un- happily, the king had by experience learned the bafenefs, treachery, and perfidy of men, which had rendered him diflruftful and fufpiçious: had I then ventured to exprefs my diiapprobation of his majefty's fcheme, had I reprefented .to him, in too ftrong terms, the dangers to which he was going to expofe himfelf, I might have excited in his 7 mind THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. mind doubts of my zeal and attachment to Jiis caufe. Frightful, indeed, was my fitu- ation ! I had fcarcely any hppes that his enterf)nfe would fucceed; and all my trull was, that his majefty, terrified at the dan- gers and difficulties attendant on it, would abandon his projeâ; at the moment of exe- cution, before he had betrayed himfelf. In the mean time, La Fayette, prefled by the chiefs of the Jacobins, thought himfelf obliged to give in the refignation of his office, as commander of the national guards of Paris; but being earnelUy folicited to retain it, by the municipality, the national guards themfelves, and the general voice of the Parifians, excepting the lower orders, and the fad:ious leaders who directed them, he consented to refume it, and held it a little while longer, after having loft his power, importance, and even his credit with the people ; but his weaknefs had for forne time being apparent, and his part was now drawing to a conclufion. Since the begin- ning of January, the king had reduced the fums ^20 MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1701. fums of money which he had till then given ^' ^ ■"-'. La Fayette, for the purpofe of preferving him a few partifans, and paying fome pub- lic writers, who, however, ferved the caufe of La Fayette himfelf rather than that of his fovereign: this reduâ:ion confiderably diminifhed both the credit of the former and his influence over the public. I now received no more letters from him, and our correfpondence had in a manner entirely ceafed. The Lameths, his enemies, made me fome propofals, inviting me to an union with them ; thefe I anfwered in civil, but vague terms. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 32 1 CHAP. XL Anecdotes of the duke de Biron» — Difpofttio?is which I make to fecure the kings fafe re- treat to Montmedi. — He is arrejled at Varennes, — / march to his majejlys ajpjî- ancCy but Jind him fet out on his retur?i to Paris, — An order is ijfued for my arref, —^I arrive at Luxembourg. — Decree of the national affembly againji all concerned in the king's fight. — Letter of M, Beau- harnois, A BOUT the beginning of April I re- I79i' ceived a vifit at Metz from the duke "^ "^ de Biron. This nobleman was a member of the conftituent aflembly, and an inti- mate friend to the duke of Orleans, whofe party he conftantly fupported, though, I believe, he never was either the accomplice or the confidant of that prince's crimes. Being employed under my command, I con- Y ceived MEMOIRS RELATING T(5 ceived a great friendfliip for him, not only on account of his amiable qualities, but his probity, fmcerity, and chivalrous fpirit. In our converfations, he exprefled himfelf with great juftnefs on the fituation of the kingdom, with feeling for that of the king, and with contempt of the affembly and the parties by which it was divided; he feemed earneftly defirous that the king fhould be reflored to his liberty, dignity, and autho- rity, and that the old conflitution fliould be again eftablifhed, either In its entire form, or with fuch alterations as circum- ftances rendered unavoidable. I could not help teftifying my furpnfe, to hear language like this from the friend of duke d'Orleans, who had deflroyed every veftige of the old government, and for two years unceafmgly perfecuted the king, keeping the nation in a continual ferment. I told him, that I did not fup- pofe him concerned in the criminal condudl of that prince, but I obferved, it was afto- nifhingi if fuch were his fentiments, that he THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 323 he ftill continued attached to him and his 1791. party. He excufed the duke of Orleans, by af- furing me, that he was at firfl actuated by motives of perfonal animofity to the king and queen, but more particularly the latter*; and had by artful and vricked men been carried further than he intended : that he had wifhed to ftop, and had applied to the king for pardon, purpofmg to throw himfelf at his majefty's feet; but that being refufed, he had become defperate, and fee- ing he had nothing to expert from his fovereign's clemency, he had no longer kept any meafures. The duke de Biron added, that, for himfelf, he did not approve fuch a * The caufes of the difFerence which exifted bctweett the duke of Orleans and the court were three : r . The refufal of his requeft, during the American war, of the reverfion of the office of high admiral of France, then filled by his father-in-law, the duke de Penthievre. 2. His banifhment in 1788, on account of hiscondu£l at the royal fitting held in the parliament at Paris. 3 . The ftop which, at the inftigation of the queen, was put to the marriage of his daughter with the duke d'An- gouleme. y 2 refolution; 324 MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1 79 1, refolution ; but as the friend of that prmce, and engaged in his party, he thought he could not confiftently with his honour * forfake him. " But how does it happen," replied I, " that you, a man of good fenfe and pure " principles, have not gained fuch an af- " cendancy over your friend, as fhould " enable you to direct his adtions to the " public good?" " The duke of Orleans," anfwered he, " is weak, and I am ftill more fo: but " though want of refoKition has laid him " at the difpofal of dangerous men, who " have milled him, yet of this be afTured, " that it is our party which will fave both ** the king and kingdom," The day following, Biron called on me, and delivered me in writing the fubftance * How do men mlfapply this facrcd word, which ought to engage them in the fupport of virtue, not of of THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. of what he had fald the preceding evening, which was the profeffion of faith of a de- termined ariflocrat. In giving it me, he faid, " Keep this writing, which I have ** figned with my name, and if I and my ** party do not fulfil all that I have pro- " mifed you, make what ufe of it you " think proper." This paper I kept by me for fome time, but have fince burned it : I faw that his profeffions were fmcere, but he was de- luded, and I pitied him. Soon after he returned to Paris, and with him general Heyman our common friend, who com- manded under me at Metz. This gentle- man demanded of the queen an audience, which was granted : its objedl was to pro- pofe a plan which he had concerted with the duke de Biron, for the efcape of the king and his family from Paris, and for fecuring their retreat, either to one of the places under my command, or into Alface. The queen replied that flie fhould refer it ^o his majefly ; accordingly M. Heyman Y 3 receive4 MEMOIRS JRELATING To received the king'jj thanks, with the afiur- ance that he was determined not to quit Paris, and that, befides, he was not fuffi- ciently aflured of my fentiments, to place fuch confidence in me. All this I was informed of by the king himfelf, who wrote me an account of this affair ; neither of them having ever fpoken to me on the fubjeâ:. This anecdote ap- peared to me fo extraordinary, that I thought it incumbent on me to infert it : we may from this circumftance conclude, that many men have been engaged in the :i:evolution, and the horrors which it has produced, rather through the facility of their difpofitions, or through the defire of ameliorating the Iqt of the people, an4 contributing to the general welfare, than from views of private ambition. This may particularly be afTerted of the conftitu- tional party, aimoft all of whom flopped fhort at fight of the crimes to which the revolution gave birth, and having been firft the dupes, were afterwards made the victims of the Jacobins» Some THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. ^IJ Some time in this month, which was 1791» April, I difpatched for Paris, M. de -G*- I gave him a letter in cypher for the king, and having communicated to him the difpofitions I had made, I defired him to explain them to his niajefty, to receive his orders, and to return about the latter end of the month, or the begin- ning of May, bringing with him his ma- jefty's final inflruâiions. His regiment, at that time in the neighbourhood of Nanci, was one of thofe which I deftined for Montmedi : he himfelf was to provide the firft relay of horfes, which it was intended to place at Varennes, and I was to furnifh the fécond, which was to be ftationed be- tween that town and Montmedi. I had acquainted the king, that as yet I faw no movement of the Auftrians upon the fron- tier, and I conjured him to wait till that circumftance took place, before he deter- mined on his departure. In the beginning of May, M. de Go« guilas returned. He brought me a letter Y 4 from MEMOIRS RELATING TO from the king, in which his majefly in- formed me that he had reafon to believe the, Auftrian troops would be at Arlon before the middle of June, and that he propofed leaving Paris on the fifteenth of the fame month ; he faid however, that he would acquaint me more particularly with the exaâ: day, defiring me in the mean time to complete my difpofitions, and make every preparation neceffary. In my anfwer to his majefty, I told him that by the beginning of June every arrange- ment would be made, when I would tranfmit an account of them for his ma- . jefty's approbation, by the hands of M, de N * * * and M. de Goguilas. The following was the plan which I had formed. I had given orders for af- fembling a fmall body of troops to cover Montmedi, and fecure the king's route from Chalons to that place. I had dif- pofed of eight foreign battalions, the only infantry I could colleu, at the diftance of one, two, and three days journey fron^ the THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. the latter place, and thcfe, with thhty fquadrons, compofed the whole of my force. At Montmedi I had a train of artillery, confifting of ftxteen pieces, in- dependent of the numerous cannon of the fortrefs, which might be made ufe of at a moment's warning; and whatever was neceflary for the fupport and fervice of an army of this force was already depofited in the town. The regiment of Royal Al- lemand was pofted at Stenay, a fquadron of huflars at Dun, and another at Va- rennes. Two fquadrons of dragoons were to be at Clermont the day the king fhould pafs ; thefe were commanded by count Charles de Damas, in whom I had the greateft confidence ; he was to place a detachment at St. Menehoud, and fifty huflars were in the fame manner to be ftationed at Pont de Somvele, between Chalons and St. Menehoud. The pretext of which I intended to make ufe for placing thefe two laft detachments, was, that they were intended to efcort a fum of money coming from Paris for the pay- ment MEMOIRS RELATING TO ment of the troops. Thus, conformably to the wifli exprefled by his majcfty, the whole road from Pont de Somvele to Montmedi was occupied by troops def- tined to fecure and protedt his retreat. On the 27th of May, the king wrote me word that he propofed fetting out the 19th of the following month, between twelve at night and one in the morning ; that he fhould proceed in a common coach as far as Bondi, which was one poft from Paris, and there take his own carriage ; at this place likewife was to be ftationed one of his gardes du corps^ intended to ferve as a courier ; with inftrudions, in cafe the king did not reach Bondi by two o'clock, (a certain proof that he had not been able to effed: his efcape,) to pro- ceed direûly to Pont de Somvele to an- nounce the circumftance, in order that I might be informed of it, and have time to provide both for my own fafety, and that of all thofe concerned with me. The king added, that if he ihould not be re- cognife4 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 33 1 cognlfed on the road, and there fhould be ^79^* no movement among the people, then he would pafs incognito^ and make no ule of the efcort, which might follow him a few hours after. He defired me to fend him M. de N * * * or M. de Goguilas, for the purpofe of giving fuch information as would be neceflary on the road. The day- after the receipt of this letter I difpatched thofe two gentlemen from Metz : the for- mer I ordered to repair to Paris, there to wait the king's commands. I defired him to quit that capital about twelve hours before his majefty, and to give orders to his people to be at Varennes on the 1 8th with his horfes, having pointed out to them the place where they were to remain till wanted. On his return from Paris he was to ftop at Pont de Somvele, take the command of the detachment of huflars he fhould find ftationed there, and condudt the king as far as St. Menehoud ; on his arrival at this place, he was there to leave the fifty hufiars who had efcorted the king, having given them orders to guard the I MEMOIRS RELATING TO the road leading from Paris to Varennçâ and Verdun during four-and-twenty hours, and to fuffer none to pafs or repafs. I de- livered into his hands orders figned by the king, which enjoined him and the officers under his command, as they fliould anfwer for their negle(5t, to employ the force at their 4ifpofal in defence and for the pro- teâ:ion of his majefty and the royal fa- mily. I likewife gave him in charge, that in cafe the king fhould be flopped at Cha- lons, or at any other place after that town, he fhould unite all the troops he could coiled: from Varennes, Clermont, and St. Menehoud, and ufe his utmoft efforts to liberate his majefly, afTuring him that I V/ould march to his afTiftance with all the forces I could alTemble. I gave him five or fix hundred louis in gold, to diftribute to the foldiers at the moment the king fhould appear. With thefe inflrudions he fet out for Paris. To count Charles de Damas I gave the order for the march of his regiment, 6 which THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. which was to be at St, Menehoud on the ïçth, and to remain there the 20th, on which day the king was to pafs through that town. I likewife put into his hands an order from the king, mentioning the condud to be purfued by the two fquadrons under his command, who were to ferve as an efcort to his majefty. I repeated to him the inftru6tions which I had before given to M. de N * * *, in cafe the king fhould be flopped at Chalons, or elfewhere. Two days afterwards, I difpatched M. de Goguilas to the king, at Paris, with the particulars of whatever could contribute to fecure his retreat ; I ordered this gentleman to make Stenay, Dun, Varennes, and St. Menehoud in his way, for the purpofe of again examining that road, in order that no precaution might be negled:ed ; and I di- rected him to join me either at Longwy, Montmedi, or Stenay, a few days before the king's departure, to communicate to me his majefty's final inflru<^ions. On Memoirs relating to On the 13th of June, I took my depar- ture from Metz, under pretext of vifiting the frontier places towards Luxembourg. I had fo thoroughly perfuaded the people, that the Auftrians were aflembling a body of troops in that part, (though, in fa6t, they had made no movement whatfoever,) that I was enabled to march into the envi- rons of Montmedi the few good regiments which ftill remained to me. I could only employ two Swifs battalions of the garrifon of Metz, and fome fquadrons drawn from the towns of Thionville, Longwy,Méziéres, and Sedan, ^hich all lay near Montmedi; the whole of the French infantry, as I have already obferved, was thoroughly bad. On the 15th, I received, at Longwy, a letter from the king, in which he informed me, that his departure was put off till the 20th, at the hour before mentioned; he told me, that he could not have the marquis d'Agoult in the fame carriage with himfelf, the governefs of the royal children, who was to accompany them, having refufed to abandon THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. abandon her privilege of conftantly remain- ing with her charge. This delay in the king's departure greatly difconcerted my meafures. I had already given orders for the departure of many of the troops, and particularly the two fquadrons who were to be at Clermont the day the king intended to pafs through that town: as I was obliged to double the time of their ftay in the place, fufpicions began to arife, which were ftill heightened by the negligence of M. de N * * *, in not apprifmg the officer charged to place the relay at Varennes, of the circumftance. M. de Goguilas was now returned from Paris; he told me that the king, to whom he had explained the moft minute cir- cumftance of his route, was perfectly fa- tisfied with the difpofitions made, and would conform to every thing agreed upon. On the 20th of June, I repaired to Stenay. On the 2 1 ft, I aifembled the ge- neral officers under my command, who were near MERfOrRS RELATING TO near this place; I acquainted them, that k was probable the king would, in the night, pal's through the gate of Stenay, and that by break of day he would arrive at Mont- medi; I charged general Klinglin to prepare a camp under the cannon of the laft-men- troned town, for eight battalions and thirty fquadrons, pointing out the fpot where I would have it placed. I ordered him, like- wife, to get every thing in readinefs for the reception of his majefty, for whofe refi- dence, and that of the royal family, I def- tîned a caftle fituated behind the camp; this was alfo to ferve as head- quarters, as I did not wifh to fhut the king up in a town, and thought him fafer with his army. I fent general Heyman to fetch two regiments of huflars who were on the Sarre, fearing left they fhould be prevented from reachifig Montmedi, by the movement which I fore- faw this event would occafion both among the troops of the different garrifons and among the people. I pointed out to him a crofs road, by which he might avoid Metz, Thionville, and Longwy, through which the THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. ^^y the common road lay. I left general 1791. d'HofFelize at Stenay, with the regiment of royal Allemand, ordering him to have the horfes of that regiment faddled at the be- ginning of the night, arul to hold himlelf in readinefs to march at break of day ; I likewife ordered him to detach fifty men, to take -their ftation at a place between Stenay and Dun by ten o'clock in the morning, there to await the arrival of his majefty. To M. de Goguiks, I gave the orders addrefled by the king to the commanders of the different detachments, inflrudling him to repair the fame day, June the 20th, with fifty hufTars, drawn from the fquadrons at Varennes, to Pont du Somvele; to remain there the 2ifl ; and as foon as the courier who was to precede the king fhould arrivç, to quit that place for the purpofe of diftri- buting to the different commanders of the troops flationed on the road, who as yet were ignorant of the real objed: for which they were employed, his majefly's orders. z The ^jS MEMOIRS RELATIKG TO 1701. The relay at Varennes he was ordered to ^ ' -' place without the town, on that fide where the king was expeded to approach. I de- fired him to give me notice of his majefty's arrival, by means of two officers whom I was to fend him, one of w^hom was my fécond fon, whofe inftrudions were to re- main quiet at the inn where the horfes in- tended for the king were, not to ftir our, nor be feen, and to wait for M. de Goguilas. With refpeâ: to myfelf, I was to take my ftation between Dun and Stenay, there to wait for the king with a relay of my own horfes, and a detachment from the regi- ment of royal Allemand, which was to efcort the king to Montmedi : the reft of the regiment was intended to follow after. I likewife gave it in cfiarge to M. de Go- guilas, to inform the commanders of the different detachments, that if his majefty ihould not be recognifed, and there fhould be no movement among the people, that then they were to fuffer him to pafs i?icog^ nito^ and not mount their horfes till a fev^ hour» THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. hours after, to follow him Ito Montmedi; but on the contrary, fliould the king be flopped, they were direâ:ed immediately to apprize me of the event, to unite their feveral forces, and under the command of M. de N * * *, ufe their utmoft eiForts to refcue the king from his fituation. All thefe difpofitions, to the moft minute particular, had been agreed upon with his majefty; he was likewife informed of the place . where I was to take my ftation, in order, with facility, to aflemble my troops, and march to his afliftance if circumftances fhould require it. Thus, then, every ar- rangement being completed, and happily, without exciting any fufpicion in the minds of the people of the neighbouring towns and villages, at nine o'clock in the evening I fet out from Stenay. On my arrival at Dun, knowing the difaffediion of the in- habitants, I would not enter the town, but remained on horfeback near the gate; I imagined that the king would reach this place between two and three in the morning, z 2 and ^Ao MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1 79 1 . and that the courier would arrive before him at leaft near two hours. Here, then, I waited till it was four o'clock, when day-light beginning to ap- pear, without having heard any news of the king, I hafted back to Stenay, that I might give my ordets to general Klinglin and the regiment of royal Allemand, in cafe any accident had happened to the king which it was in my power to remedy. In about half an hour I arrived at Stenay, when juft as I reached the gate, the two officers whom I had fent to Varennes, and (to my great aftonifhment) the commander of the fquadron of huffars ftationed in that town, came to inform me, that about half paft eleven the king had been arrefted there. If I was furprifed to fee the commander of the huflars come to announce this news, I was not lefs fo that it was brought fo late. On queftioning them relative to the caufes which had led to this event, all I could learn was, that the troops employed had been feduced, and had not done their duty: THE FRENCH" REVOLUTION, duty: they told me, that the people on hearing the alarm had flown to arms, and that the national guards were flocking from all parts to Varennes. Having received this information, I re- folved to put myfelf at the head of the re- giment of royal Allemand, which confti- tuted my principal force, and march to the king's deliverance, purpofmg to attend him to Montmedi, in order to proted: him from the town of Stenay, which was difafîeâ:ed, and that of Sedan, which wasfl;ill more dan- gerous on account of the difpofition of its numerous inhabitants and its garrifon. Ac- cordingly, I ordered the above regiment quickly to mount their horfes; general Kling- lin was direâ:ed to march to Stenay with two fquadrons, and to remain there; to fend SL battalion of the German regiment of Naflau, which was atMontmedi, toDun, for the pur- pofe of guarding the paflTage of the Meufe, which was an objedl of great importance : and to direâ: towards Stenay the Swifs regiment of Gaftella, then on its march to ' z 3 Montmedi: MEMOIRS RELATING TO Montmedi : laftly, I commanded part of a fquadron of hufTars which were' at Dun, and the detachment from the regiment of royal Allemand pofted between that town and Stenay, to march with all fpeed to Va- rennes, imagining that they might at leaft prevent the national guards of the en- virorfs from forming a junction with thofe of the town. The commander of this fquadron of hufTars, however, had not waited my orders, for he fet off the mo- ment he heard of the king's arreft. Having thus made my arrangements, I only waited for the regiment of royal Al- lemand, which was a long while in leaving the town, though the preceding evening I had ordered them to be ready to mount before break of day. In vain did I fend my fon five or fix feveral times to haften the commander : I could undertake no- thing without this regiment, and I confefs I confided in none but myfelf to lead it. As foon as it was clear of the town, I informed the men, that, the king was ar- retted THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. refted by the people at Varennes, and then I'ead them his majefty's orders which en- joined the miUtary to efcort him, and to ufe their utmoft exertions for the protec- tion of himfelf and the royal family. I found them all in the befl difpofition ima- ginable, and having diftributed among them four hundred louis d'ors, I placed myfelf at their head, and began my march. From Stenay to Varennes is about five-and-twenty miles, through a moun- tainous country where the roads are ex- tremely bad. I now regretted having been fo late informed of the king's detention. I might have been apprifed of the event two hours fooner, had a . meflenger been fent the inftant of his arrival at Varennes, confequently might have fet off at three o'clock inftead of five, the hour at which Ï adually began my march. I wag in defpair at the time toft, not that I was afraid of no longer finding the royal family at Varennes ; I did not conceive it pofTible that the municipality of that town would dare to compel the king to return to Paris; % 4 and V. 244. MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1 79 1, and I fuppofed regard had at leaft been paid to that part of my inftrudions which directed after the king fhould have pafled, that no couriers Ihould be per- mitted to go the road of Clermont or Va- rennes, confequently that no orders could have been tranfmitted from the national affembly. All my uneafinefs proceeded from the obftacles which, from the delay in the arrival of the aiïiitance I was bring- ing, might arife either to his majefty's de- liverance, or to his fafety in purfuing his rout ; difficulties and dangers which I knew were every moment increafing, and in confequence ufed all pofTible diligence. At a fhort diftance from Varennes, I overtook the detachment from the royal Allemand which I had fent on before ; they had been flopped at the entrance of a wood by the national guards, who were firing on them. Having difperfed thefe, I placed myfelf at the head of the detach- ment, and being clofely followed by the reft of the regiment, arrived about a quar- ter THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. Cei paft nine near Varennes. I was pro- ceeding to reconnoitre the place with a view of attacking it, when without the town I perceived a troop of huflars, which proved to be part of the fquadron pofted at Dun ; they had marched to the king's affiftance, but had not been able to gain admittance into the town. M. Deflongs, who commanded them, came to me, and acquainted me, that the king had been gone from Varennes full an hour and a half. It was then half paft nine : he told me that he had been into the town, and had fpoken to the king : that he had de- manded his majefty's orders, and had in- formed him, that I was on the way with fome troops, requefting him to wait my arrival : his majefty's reply was, " I am a " prifoner, I can now give no orders ; " only tell M. de Bouille', that I am afraid *' it is out of his power to render me any " effential affiftance, but that I hope he " will do all he can." M. Deflongs told me, that the people and municipality, on the arrival of one of M. de la Fayette's^ aides- MEMOIRS RELATmO TO aides-de-camp, had compelled the king to re-enter the carriage in which he had travelled, and return to Paris ; and that already he muft be at a great diftance. He added, that when he reached Va- rennts with his detachment, he found the bridge broken down, and fought fome place where the river was ford- able, but unfuccefsfully; upon which he had addrefled himfelf to the national guards ported behind the bridge, requeft- ing that his detachment might be fuflered to enter the town : this was refufed, and all he could obtain was permiffion to enter alone, for the purpofe* of fpeaking to his majefty, having firft received an afiurance from them, that they would fuffer him to return when he defired it, M. Deflongs confirmed what I had before been told, that the huOars ftationed in Varennes had» been corrupted, that the dragoons at Cler- mofit had refufed to march, and that the king had been arrefted about half paft eleven, whilft feeking the relay which he had not been able to find. All the cir- cumftances THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, oaj cumftances of this affair appeared to me a 1791, myftery, nor could I form any idea of the caiifes which had led to them. I afked him if he had feen M. de N * * *-, M. de Goguilas, and count Charles de Damas. He told m^e that all three of them had been put under arreft ; that the two former had arrived with their detach- ments about half an hour lifter the king, but that the huffars they commanded had joined thofe at Varennes ; he faid that M. de Damas came foon afterwards, accom- panied only by two or three commifTioned and a few non-commiffioned officers, his dragoons' having refufed to follow him. It now appeared to me, that the difpofl- tipns agreed upon had not been obferved, and that my orders had not been exe- cuted; though I could form no idea of the reafon of this negled:. Meantime the regiment of royal Alle- mand arrived, and I propofed to general d'Hoffelize and the other officers to crofs the river, and follow the king's carriage three MEMOIRS RELATING TO three or four leagues, to fee if we corld overtake it. I fent feme light horfe both above and below the town, to examiiie where the river was fordable, and though there certainly were places where it might be pafTed, yet they could not be found, I faw many national guards under arms in Varennes, and we were now informed that the garrifons of Metz and Verdun were in full march towards that town with their cannon : the troops which compofed the latter, indeed, were already at no great diftance ; the national guards throughout the whole country were in motion, and now all feemed loft : even the cavalry under my command exprelTed a reluctance to proceed any farther. I determined then to lead the regiment of royal Allemand back to Stenay, and hav- ing difpofcd of it in the town, the muni- cipality being aflcmbled for the purpofe of iffuing an order for my arreft, I fet out for Luxembourg accompanied by all the general and many of the inferior nfHcers. On the frontier, inftrudtions had b THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 349 had already been given to prevent us 1791. from pafling ; we however forced our way, though faluted with fome mufket ihot. The particulars of this event are fully detailed in a prods verbal which I caufed to be drawn up by the officers of the huflars who were at Varennes, when the king was difcovered : M. Bertrand de Moleville likewife, to whom I have com- municated it, has inferted \\i\% prods ver- bal m. his Private Memoirs lately publifhed, fo that to repeat it here would, I think, be ufelefs. Since my departure from France, I have learned from M. de Damas and other perfons worthy of credit, that the king left the Thuilleries about midnight in a common coach ; that madame Elizabeth and madame Royale, who arrived firfl, faw La Fayette pafs acrofs the Carouzel, where the carnage deRined for the king was waiting ; that at the moment the 5 queen MEMOIRS P.ELATING TO queen and dauphin, who followed the king, arrived, La Fayette was feen to pafs a fécond time ; he feems to have had fuf- picions, but not to have known any thing certain. I could never difcover the rea- fon why no couriers preceded the king's carriage, as he had three gardes du corps difguifed as domeftics, two of whom were conftantly feated on the coach-box. The harnefs of his majefty's coach breaking near Montmirel, occafioncd a delay of two hours. At feveral places on the road his majefty lliewed himfelf, particu- larly at Chalons, where he was recognifed by the poft-mafter, whî> being an honeft man kept filence. On his arrival at Pont du Somvele, the king found no detach- ment there, M. de N * * * and M. de Goguilas having withdraw^n it about half an hour before ; the reafon afligned for this conduct by the former (for I have never fmce ii^tn M. de Goguilas) was, that as there had a few days before been an infurredion of the people in this p4ace, the prcfencc of the huflars had given them 6 uneafmefs ; THE FRENCH REVOLUTION". uneafinefs ; and further, thinking the time elapfed at which the king fhould pafs, they had thought it prudent to retire and return to Varennes. But he never ex- plained to me his motives for informing the detachments at Clermont and St. Me- nehoud, that the king was no longer to be expedled, or for taking an indirect road with his detachment to Varennes, which was the occafion of his not reaching that place till after the king's arrival there. Why did he not leave part of his troops upon the road to flop any couriers v/ho might be paffing that way ? Why, on his arrival at Varennes, did he fufter himfelf to be known by the national guards, and deliver his detachment into their hands, inftead of attacking and difperfing both them and the people who detained the king, at that time few in number ? Laftly, why did he not inftantly apprife me of the event ? But to return to what perfonally con- cerns the king. At St. Menehoud he ex- pofed MEMOIRS RELATING Ta pofed himfelf much to view, and wa9 recognifed by the poft-mafter, who dared not take any meafures then to Hop him, the horfes being already put to the carriage and juft fetting off; but he difpatched his fon to Varennes for the purpofe of informing the municipality that the king w^as coming that way*, at St. Menehoud he was known too by the commander of the detachment placed there, who gave orders to his troop to mount their horfes ; but the national guards having likewife learned what wa» going forward, placed a detachment be- fore the door of the fiables, from whence they would not fuffer them to take their horfes. The only perfon who gained poffeffion of his horfe and efcap'ed, was a maréchal de Logis^ who difcovering the poft-mafler*s fon, the too famous Drouet, as he was fetting off for Varennes, fol- lowed him fome hours with the intention either to flop or kill him; but loft fight of him in a wood, and did not reach Va- rennes till long after him. At TrfÈ FRENCH REVOLUl'IOK. 553 At Clermont, count Charles de Damas 1791. knowing the king, ordered his two fqua- drons to mount; but this order was coun- termanded by one from the municipality, which' the foldiers obeyed, and M. de Damas with three others fet off for Va- rennes, where they arrived after the king's arreft. His majefty reached the I aft-men- tioned town about half paft eleven at night : aftonifhed at having never feen either M. de N * * * or M. de Goguilas, and at not finding the horfes of the for- mer, which were to ferve him as a relay, he flopped at the entrance of the town. The gardes du corps who were upon the box of the carriage, went from gate to gate inquiring after the relay, which M. de Goguilas had placed at the other ex- tremity of the town : the queen herfelf alighted to gain information concerning it : at laft, after many promifes and in- treaties, the poftillion was perfuaded to go onwards. The carriage was firft flopped under an arch only by eight or nine ruf- fians, whom the gardes du corps were A A going MEMOIRS RELATING TO going to oppofe, but were forbid by the king : his majefty was then conducted into a neighbouring houfe, where he was immediately known; the municipal offi- cers came to the fpot, the tocfm was founded, the national guards colledled, as well from the place, as from the whole country round. The king converfed with the mayor and municipal officers with great condefcenfion and fome firmnefs : he affiired them that he had no intention to leave the kingdom ; but only to go to Montmedi, there to be with his troops in hopes of enjoying quiet and liberty ; and concluded by requefting they would per- mit him to continue his journey: this they declined, though in a refpedlful manner, telling him they were obliged to wait the orders of the aflembly. The major part of them exprefled regard for him, and fome even fympathy, either real or pretended. In the meantime couriers were dif- patched to Metz, Verdun, and all the large THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 355 ^••""^■^i^ large garrifon towns, announcing the event 1791, of his majefty's flight, and informing them that I was marching with troops to his refcue. The commander of the fquadron of huflars at Varennes, a young man, being not yet acquainted by M. de Goguilas with the objeâ: fot which h€ was ftationed there, thought he was only intended to efcort a fum of money; in confequence, he had not aflembled his troop : his huflars were mingled with the people, and when he ordered them to form themfelves, they re- fufed to obey. The two officers whom I had fent to Varennes had, according to or- ders, remained clofe within the inn where the king's horfes were, w^aiting for M. de Goguilas, and ignorant of what was paffing in the town. About three quarters of an hour after the king's arrefi, M. de Goguilas and M. de N * * * reached Varennes, and were recognifed by the riational guards^, who ob- liged their detachment to difmount, beforc- they would permit them to enter the town. A A 2 They ■V-* ^■^6 MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1 79 1. They now demanded to be admitted to the king, which was granted. His majefty told them to remain quiet, and -make no at- tempt to refciie him from his fituation by force; he obferved, that I fhould have time to come to his affiflancc; befides, added he, from the manner in which the principal members of the municipality have fpoken to me, I have reafon to believe, that I fhall be fuffered to continue my journey. In- deed, for a few moments, thefe men feemed undetermined ; and the king ftill had his doubts, whether they would wait for inftrudtions from Paris. M. de Goguilas then went out, and addrefling himfelf to the huflars, afked them, " whom they *' were for?'* upon which, they cried out unanimoufly, " The nation; for that we ** are, and ever will be." Immediately, one of the national guards placed himfelf at the head of thefe huffars, and the com- mander of them having joined the two of- ficers whom I had fent to Varennes, came to inform me of what had happened. The Utter two gentlemen had never been able 14 to THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. ^j-y' to come near the perfon of the king, hav- 1791. ing been fired on in the attempt. About ' ^""^ feven in the morning, an aide-de-camp ar- rived from M. de la Fayette, bringing an order to the municipality, by which they were enjoined to fend the king back to Paris. On M. Deflong's again demanding his majefty's orders, he a fécond time re- plied, " I am a prifoner, confequently in- ** capable of giving any." Such are the circumftances I have been able to colleâ; of this melancholy affair, of the fuccefs of which, as may have been feen, I never entertained the leaft hopes. I think it neceflary to add, that at the time it was undertaken both people and troops were enraged even to madnefs againft the fovereign; at Metz, and Verdun in parti- cular, this difpofition Was evident. When marching from the former of thefe places for Varennes, the cannoneers told their of- ficers, whom they had compelled to follow them, that the firft difcharge fhould be at A A 3 the 2j8 MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1 79 1, the king's carriage, and the fécond at them, ^""^^ ' if they did not perform their duty. On my arrival at Luxembourg I was kindly received. Here I remained fome time, but was furprifed to find that the emperor had ordered no troops into this quarter. In Luxembourg itfelf, though a place of fuch importance, there were not more than three thoufand men, and thofe recruits and invalids, nor were there any other troops in the neighbourhood. I was, indeed, informed, that the government of the Lov^ Countries had received an order from the emperor, to fupply the king with whatever forces he fhould require, and to furnifh him with fuch fums as he Ihould want, from the Imperial military cheft. I now learned that Monfieur, the king's brother, and Madame, were arrived at Bruflels. This circumftance afforded me great fatisfadion, as I had been much alarnied on their account. They were to leave THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. leave the Thuilleries an hour after the king, and propofed taking the route of Flanders, without having adopted any extraordinary precautions to fecure their fafety on the road. When I reached Luxembourg, forcibly flruck with the perilous fituation of the king and royal family, and even apprehenfive for their lives, I thought it my duty to write a letter to the national aflembly, in which I accufed myfelf as the perfon who had perfuaded his majefty into the meafures he had adopted, telling them it was in com- pliance with my earneft felicitation that he had confented to quit Paris, and retire to his faithful troops upon the frontiers, t thought it right at the fame time to add, that {hpuld they offer any violence to his raajefty's perfon or liberty, or even fail in their duty and refpeâ: to him, tKey had every thing to fear from the vengeance of all the fovereigns in alliance with him. This letter, which has been fmce printed and diftributed throughout all Europe, was A A 4 intended MEMOIRS RELATING TO intended for no other purpofe than to turn upon myfelf that torrent of popular fiKy, which I feared might prove fatal to the king and royal family. I wilhed, likewife, to intimidate the numerous enemies of that prince and the monarchy. For this ftep, however, I have been feverely cenfured by all parties, who have imputed it to a fpirit of rhodomontade, whilft I was under the influence of the emotions of fury, and ven- geance : but how was it poffible my motives could be fo mifconftrued? Had I not been a(ftuated by a defire to fave the king, and had not that been my only objedt, fhould I have been fo abfurd as^to announce that foreign armies were upon the point of en- tering France, when I faw no difpofitions for fuch a purpofe? fhould I have uttered threats, w^hich I knew at that time it was impoffible to put in praâ:ice? fhould I have expofed myfelf not only to profcription and perfecution, which I knew would ex- tend to all that belonged to me, but likewife to the fury of my enemies ; thofe enemies who, I was certain, would purfue me with relentlefs THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 36X relentlefs rage, and who did, indeed, not I79^ long after, fix a price upon my head? But to return to my fubjeâ:. About the beginning of July I learned with great fa- tisfaâiion, that no apprehenfions need be entertained for the lives of his majefty and the royal family; and that the duke of Orleans, at the head of the Jacobins, had been ^nable either to engage the aflembly to pronounce the king's dcpofition, or to perfuade them to bring him to a trial. Indeed, if they adhered to the principles of their conftitution, they could neither do one nor the other. The king, it is true, was reftrided by the laws from going more than twenty leagues from Paris, but in cafe he exceeded thofe limits, it was enadled, that he fhould be firft cited to return within the prefcribed bounds, and it was only on his refufal that he could be declared to have forfeited the throne. However, he had in the prefent inftance been arretted and brought prifoner to Paris, which was a manifeft violation of their, own ftatutes; but MEMOIRS RELATING TO but their condudl had hitherto been one tiffue of inconfiftencies, being guided in every thing by a few fadious and defign- ing men. During my refidence at Luxembourg, I received the decree pronounced by the af- fembly againft me, and all thofe w'^ho v\rerc thought to have any way affifted in the king's flight. I fhall infert it here, as it tends to prove that the afTembly entered into my vîewé, and that the leading members of it, fuch as the I.ameths, Barnave, Du- port, Beauharnois, at that time prefident, by no means wifhed for the total abolition of the monarchy, but, touched with com- panion for their fovereign, refolved to fhield him from the fury of the Jacobins, by ac- cufmg me as the author of his attempt. Decree of the National Assembly. ** The national aflembly, having heard " the report of the diplomatic and mili- " tary committees, and of the committees « of THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. " of the coiiftitution, of refearch, of re- ** ports, of revifion, and of criminal ju- " rifprudence, and found the refult of " their inquiries to be, that the Sieur " Bouill-', general of the French army " upon the Meufe, the Sarre, and the Mo- " felle, has formed the defign of over- " turning the conftitution; that with this " view, he has endeavoured to form to " himfelf a party in the kingdom, and has " folicited and executed orders notcounter- " figned as direded by law; that he has in- " vited the king and royal family to one " of the towns under his command, has " difpofed of detachments, and marched " troops towards Montmedi, near which " town he had prepared a camp; has tried " to corrupt the foldiers, enticed them to " defert in order to join him, and has fo- " licited foreign powers to invade the " French territories : decrees, " I ft. That there Js ground of accufa- " tion againft the Sieur Bouille, his accom- " plices and adherents, and that his trial " fhall take place before the high national *' provifionary j64 MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1 79 1. " provifionary court, fitting at Orleans; '^^ ^ ' " that for this purpofe, the evidence pro- " duced to the national aflembly fhall be " tranfmitted to the officer adting as public *' accufer to that tribunal. *' 2d, That as it likewife appears from " the aforefaid evidence, that the Sieurs " Heyman, KUnglin, and d'Hoffelize, *' maréchaux de camp' in the army of M. *- de Bouille ; DeToteux, adjutant-general; " Bouille, junior, major of huifars; and ** Goguilas, aide-de-camp; Choifeuil Stain- *' ville, colonel of the firft regiment of " dragoons; Mandel, lieutenant-colonel of " the Royal Allemand ; de Ferfon, colonel " of the Royal Swedes; de Valory, de *' Maiden, and des Mouftier, formerly " gardes du corps ; are accufed of being " privy to the plot, and having favoured " thedefjgns of the Sieur Bouille; the *' national affembly decrees, that there is " ground for accufation againft them, and " that they fhall be arraigned before the " high national provifionary court. " 3d. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. " 3d, The national aflembly orders, that " the perfons mentioned in the preceding " articles, who are or may be hereafter " arrefted, be conveyed under a good and " fecure guard to the prifons of Orleans; " and that the proceedings begun before " the tribunal of the firft arrondifement of *' Paris, or before any other tribunal, be ** fent, together vdth the accufed, to the ** fame town, the tribunal of which is '* alone charged with the inveftigation of " this affair. " 4th, The national affembly decrees, " that the Sieurs Damas, Dandouin, Val- " court, Moraflin, Talon, ^loriac, and " Rémy; the Sieurs Larour, lieutenant in ** the firft regiment of dragoons ; Pahoudy, ** fub-lieutenant in the Swifs regiment of *' Caftella; Brige, equerry to the king; and " madame Tourzel ; remain in a ftate of " arreft till the informations be taken, *' on which their lot is to be deter- " mined. MEMOIRS RELATING TO •* 5th, The ladies Brunier and Neuville " are ordered to be fet at liberty." Together with this decree, I received a letter from M. le V" de Beauharnois. It was without any fignature: but I have fince received unequivocal proofs that it was written by that gentleman, who was a mem- ber of the national afTembly, and prefident at the time of the king's arreft, and who afterwards, in 1793, commanded the French army on the Upper Rhine, againft the duke of Brunfwick. This letter, which I think it incumbent on me to infert, will fhew that he clearly entered into the mo- tives which led me to write to the aflembly; and whilft it ferves to juftify my oondudt in that affair, it affords information of fomC very interefting particulars, which difplay the opinion entertained by the principal members of the majority of the affembly at the time of writing. " Paris, July 16, 179 1. " I am a Frenchman, Sir, known to " you, but of the oppofite party. Before 5 ** I enter THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. *' I enter on the fubjeâ: of this letter, I will " frankly tell you what I think of you, " that you may fee what kind of a man " you have to deal with. This is all you *•" fhall know of me. " I have ever efteemed you ; and your " conduâ: in a recent affair has made no " change in my fentiments. I know you " to poflefs great talents, great courage, " and, whatever your enemies may fay to " the contrary, great reditude and inte- " grity. You were no friend to a revolu- " tion fo extenfive. I am of a different " manner of thinking, and with the ex- " ception of three or four great changes, " which you may guefs, I love every part ** of our conflitution. " As long as you imagined, that from a " greater or lefs degree of connexion be- " tween the king and affembly, fome fettled " order of things might refult, you ferved " the conflitution, though you did not ad- ** mire it; but when you thought you faw " the MEMOIRS RELATING TO the aflembly under the dominion of a faction, and hurried beyond the limits of '* the conflitution itfelf had made ; when *' the very partifans of the aflembly refufed " to acknowledge the authorities it had " created, and the king and royal family " were infulted, and treated as prifoners by " the people^'; lallly, when La Fayette " was obliged to give in his refignation, '' becaufe at the peril of his life he had en- *' deavoured, without fuccefs, to enforce " obedience to the laws: when you were " witnefs to thefe enormities, you imagined " that we were operating our own ruin; *' that France was on the brink of deftruc- " lion, and that fome fignal blow muft be *' ftruck to fave her. You made the at- *' tempt, and have failed; and now, after " having taken a ftep with refpeâ: to the " aflembly, which I am far from approv- " ing, but which you thought neceflary " to the perfonal fafety of the king and " queen, you are endeavouring to form to * Alluding to the iSth of April, when the people by force prevented the king from going to St. Cloud. " yourfelf i THE FRENCH REVOJUJTIOK. " yourfelf a party, for the purpofe of mak- ** ing fome attempt upon France, which, " (hould you fucceed, might rally round " you a ftill greater number of malcontents j *' and with thefe, affifted perhaps by fome ** foreign powers, you propofe to efFè'"■ his affaffination were fufficient to calm the pubUc mind. The laft, and perhaps the mod important, fervice he rendered his country was, in eftablifhing a well-chofen council of regency, which might keep in awe the faâ:ious, and fuftain an unremitted adion in the government. In perfon, Guftavus the Third was of the middle fize, and extremely ill-fliaped. He was inclining to bx» corpulent, had large fhoulders and hips, a long face, and very high complexion; his eyes were large and very lively;- his forehead on the left fide was flattened in a very fmgular manner; his nofe pretty long and aquiline, and his teeth frightful: yet his countenance was open and animated, and taking the whole of his features collectively, he much refem- bled his uncle the great Frederick. Not- wi^hftanding the blemilhes of his figure, his politenefs and affability rendered him one of the moft pleafing men in his domi- 114 nions, ^88 MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1792. nions, though the Swedes are in general a ^•^"'"^ fenfible and engaging people. He poflefled a lively imagination, and a mind en- lightened and adorned by letters; he was mafter of a manly perfuafive eloquence, and fpoke readily, even in the French lan- guage; his acquirement's were both of the ufeful and the agreeable kind; his memory was remarkably retentive; a thing very common in princes, and which feems al- mofl; like a fixth fenfe bellowed upon theni by nature; his manners, which, as I have faid, were polite and affable, had fomething in them fmgular, but not difpleafing; his foul, ardent and vigorous, was inflamed by an immoderate love of glory, but under the dominion of the frank and generous fpirit of chivalry. The fenfibility of his heart rendered him merciful, when he ought, perhaps, to have been fevere He was ever fufceptible of fricndfhip, and I knew thofe who defervedly were honoured with the title cf friend by that prince. He was in his difpoGtion firm and determined, pof- feffing that refolution fo necelTary in ftatef- men, à THE FRENCH .REVOLUTION. men, without which, parts, prudence, ta- lents, and experience are not only ufelefs, but frequently perniciou?. It was to this quality, the moft necefTiry ingredient in the charaûer of a hero, that Gufcavus was indebted for his fafety under the great po- litical emergencies of his reign. This prince certainly had defe£ts, fome of them even of a ridiculous nature, not fo eafily pardoned in a fovereign as thofe vices which often unite with virtues in the compofition of a hero; like poifons (fays one of our moft celebrated moralifts) that make a part of medicines. Too much at- tached to pomp and pleafure, he did not always give that attention to his affairs which they required ; and his negligence led him into an indolent confidence, which became a fource of uneafmefs to himfelf, and of many abufes in the ftate. Yet the energy of his charaâ:er, andthefuperiority of his capacity, always fhone confpicuous on great occafions, and particularly in the diets, of which, to ufe his own expreffion, he knew perfectly well the tadtics. It is to thefe MEMOIRS RELATING TO thefe qualities, rather than to any military talents he or his generals' pofTeflcd, that he was indebted for his brilliant fuccefs in the war with the Ruffians* Had the king of Sweden known how to improve the advan- tages he gained in his firft campaign, and been lefs intimidated at the mutiny which broke out in the regiments of Finland, there is not a doubt but he would have entered Peterfburg; on this latter occafion, his ufual prefence of mind feemed to defert him, though he quickly repaired this error by the refolution with which he adled. Think- ing himfelf on the point of lofmg his crown, he quitted his arijiy with Armfeldt and Wreden, but he was unexpecStedly re- lieved by a declaration of war on the part of Denmark. The natural hatred of the Swedes for the Danes, joined to a fenfe of the common danger, roufed the courage of the people. The king proceeded to Dalecarlia, in which province he found the fame fidelity that had procured the crown for Guftavus Vafa, THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. Vafa. Here he left Armfeldt to enrol the inhabitants, whilft himfelf repaired to Got- tenburgh, as well to counteradt, by his prelence, the effeds produced by the treachery of the commandant of that town, as to profit of the inadlion of prince Charles of Hefle, general of the Danifh army, v/hofe operations were fufpended in Gonfequence of the intervention of the Eng- lifh minifter at the court of Denmark. By this romantic ftep, however, the Swedilh monarch preferved both his glory and his crown; it likewife furnifhed him with the means of continuing the war till he ob- tained an advantageous peace, by which Sweden was freed from the yoke impofed upon it by Ruflia, and the fenate, to whom all the misfortunes of this prince may be attributed, was completely deprived of ex- jilence. Guftavus poiTefled great courage and ac- tivity, of which the circumftance I have juft cited is a moft ftriking proof. The un- happy^ MEMOIRS RELATING TO happy fituation of France would have af- forded him frefh opportunities of difplaying thefe qualities, as well as the chivalrous caft of his charader. His own intereft, as well as his attachment to France, led him to wilh for a leading part in the troubles with which that country was agitated ; and there is no doubt, but in him the unhappy Louis would have found a powerful friend, and the adherents to his çaufe an adivç fupporter. The emprefs of Ruflia faw, with fatif^ faction, hisSwedilh majefty ftand forth the champion of the French monarchy ; and had even excited him to do fo; but it is much to be doubted, whether the other fovereigns of Europe v/ould have permitted him to take fo active a part in the affairs of France. Leopold, who wifhed to termi-, nate our revolution by a congrefs, of which himfelf was to be the head, would probably have prevented the Swedifli monarch from receiving thofe fupplies of money, without which *THZ FRENCH REVOLUTION. which he could undertake nothing: I even queftion, whether he was fo fure of the emprcfs herfelf as he afFeâied to appear. The extremes of courage and weaknels are frequently found united. Scipio had great faith in dreams: Csefar looked for- ward with terror to the ides of March ; it is faid, that even the great Frederic himfelf confulted the conjuring tribe; and Gufta- vus was not without this fpirit of fuperfti- tion. He had always dreaded the month of March, and the firft word he faid to Arm- feldt, on finding himfelf wounded, was to remind him of the circumftance. A few days before he fet out for the diet at Geflé, he went to confult a forcerefs named Har- viflbur This woman having warned him againft the month of March and red coats, added, " Beware of the firft perfon you *' fhall meet on leaving my houfe; from *' him you have every thing to dread.*' On going out, the firft objed that met his eye was baron de Ribbing, one of the chief confpiratorsj and this fingular circumftance caufed 494 MEMOIRS RELATING TO 1792. caufed him, when he received his wound, to name the baron» Notwithftanding the defeds of this prince, (and defers ever accompany diftin- guiflied qualities, to which, without ob* fcuring them, they ferve as a fhade,) had he been placed on a more extenfive theatre, I have no difficulty in afferting, that Gufta- vus would have been a great monarch, per- haps fuperior to Louis the Fourteenth, whofe manners and grandeur he affeded, and whofe pomp and ceremony he imitated; but what in France was Ufeful, and even neceflary, in Sweden was mifplaced and ri- diculous. Had the Swedifh monarch been born to the brilliant throne of France, he would inconteftably have been one of the greateft kings that ever filled it; he would have fecured his country from a revolution, and would have reigned with glory and fplendour ; he would have died peaceably, lamented and revered by his fubjeds, ef- teemed and admired by all Europe. On THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. /j.^^ On the contrary, had Louis the SIjc- 1792. teenth been born fovereign of the Swedilh nation, his moral and religious virtues would have fecured him the efteem and refpeâ: of that fimple people, while his economy, his juftice, and the philanthropy of his charadter, would have gained him their affedion. He would have conftituted their happinefs while living, and when dead they vsTOuld have wept over his tomb. But it was otherwife decreed, and both fell by the parricide hands of their own fub- jeds. Unfearchable are the ways of Provi- dence; and all that remains for man is to adore and to obey in filence ! As foon as I was informed of the death of the king of Sweden, I quitted the fer- vice of that power. I had, as it were, connedted my fate with that of two fove- reigns equally unhappy, and henceforward I refolved to form no new attachment, but to fecure myfelf from the frowns of Fortune by no longer troubling her; to fecure my independence, preferring tranquillity and 7 a moderate MEMOIRS RELATING TO a moderate competency, to all the alluring but uncertain hopes held out by the fickle goddefs. In the month of April, the French de- clared war againft the emperor, but not againft the empire, which, however, fhortly after imitated their example. The conduct of the French on this occafion was impo- litic. They might at that time have eafily invaded the eledorates of the Rhine, and the emperor's hereditary eftates fituated on that river ; they might have made them- felves maflers of feveral flrong places which were then defencelefs, and by this means, not only have kept the enemy at a diftance from their frontier, but likewife have pro- cured refources for carrying on the war. The French armies were then commanded by timid generals, the principal of whom were Rochambeau, La Fayette, and Luck- ner ; under thefe were otiiers at that time little known, nor have they fmce rifen to any degree of eminence. Dumourier was THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. was not then employed in the army: at this time, he was fecretary of ftate for foreign affairs; he came, however, fhortly after to fuperfede Rochambeau, whofe lieutenants, at the opening of the campaign, and when the French entered the Low Countries, had been beaten by a handful of Auftrians. La Fayette, who commanded on the Sambre, the Meufe, and the Mofelle, met with no check, it is true, but obtained no fuccefs; the confequence of his great cir- cumfpedtion, both as a general and a poli- tician. Wiihing, however, when too late, to ward off the laft blow aimed by the Jacobins againft royalty, he fell, abandoned by his army, and narrowly efcaped be- coming the vidtim of that fadion, whofe projects he had favoured by his imprudence, and whofe ftrength he had fuffered to in- creafe through the timidity of his policy. Accompanied by his ftaff, he came for re- fuge into a foreign country, but there, in- ftead of an afylum, he found a prifon. Thus, La Fayette,^ one of the principals in K K the MEMOIRS RELATING TO the revolution, the defender of liberty, and the man who had fucceeded me in the command of my army, like myfelf, and for the fame reafons, the fame exertions in favour of the king and monarchy, was ob- liged to defert and fly his country. Du- mourier, who was appointed general in his (lead, notwithflanding his fucceffes, his diftinguifhed abilities, and his fervices in the revolution, notwithflanding his attach- ment to the party of Orleans, and his con- fiant co-operation with the Jacobins, thô following year experienced a fnnilar for-» tune. Such is the lot of leaders of parties in almoll every revolutioh ; alternately per- fecutors, perfecuted, and profcribed. About this time I received a letter from the king of Pruflia, rcquefting me to be at Magdeburg by the 27th of May, in order to explain fome particulars relative to the plan of operations for the combined armies of Auftria, Pruflia, and the empire, def- tined to ad: againfl: France the fame fummer; thefe armies were to be commanded by the duke THE FRENCH REVOLUTION". 499 duke of Brunfwick, then efteemed the fiirfl: 1702, general in Europe. On my arrival at Magdeburg, I had feveral conferences with this commander, in prefence of his Pruflian majefty. I pointed out Champagne as the weakeft part of the French frontier, and recom- mended that the attack fhould be firft made upon Longwy, Sedan, and Verdun, from which little refiftance was to be appre- hended, as they were extremely weak, though the only places that covered that part of the kingdom. Having gained pof- feflion of thefe towns, the combined ar- mies might march ftraight to Paris by way of Rethel and.Rheims, acrofs fertile plains, which prefented no obftacles. Should they, however, fail in their projed of penetrat- ing to the capital, they would find no diffi- culty in gaining poffeffion of Montmedi and Meziéres, places fituated in the Meufe, between which river and the Chiers they might eftablifh their winter quarters; in this cafe, their front would be covered by K K 2 the MEMOIRS RELATING TO the Meufe and by the towns of Sedan and Mezie'res ; their left by the Chiers, Longwy, and Montmedi; while Luxem- bourg would have been their point of fup- port, and military repofitory. Upper Alface I likewife mentioned as one of the weakeft parts of the frontier. , The duke of Brunfwick was perfeâly of my opinion, obferving that an attack might be made in either of the directions I had pointed out, with probability of fuccefs. The plan he determined upon, was to enter Champagne with the greater part of his forces, and to a£t offenfively in that quarter, leaving corps of obferva- tion m Flanders, and on the Upper Rhine. It was agreed between the emperor and the king of Pruflia, that the emigrants fhould not accompany the army that en- tered France, but fhould be aflembled on the right bank of the Rhine. Comprifing fome regiments lately levied by the princes in Germany, they might compofe THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. compofe an army of twenty thoufand men. This I propored to the king of Pruflia, and the duke of Brunfwick, to divide into three bodies ; one of which, confifting of ten thoufand men under the command of the king's brothers, fhould be attached to the main army ; while the other two, of five thoufand men each, commanded by the prince de Condé and 'the duke de Bourbon, fhould be employed with the. corps of obfervation in Flanders, and on the Upper Rhine. The principal objeft of this difpofition was to draw French deferters from different parts of the frontier.; It was approved and adopted by the king of Prufîia, who took a lively interefl in the affairs of the princes, and even fent them a very confiderable fum of money : he exprefTed likewife an anxious defire to ferve the king of France. The mode by which he propofed re-efla- blifhing the monarchy and refloring tran- quillity to the kingdom, was by putting Louis the Sixteenth in a condition to treat, himfelf, with the party which flill wifhed for a monarchical government. K K 3 Dumourier MEMOIRS RELATING TO Dumourier having fent one of his friends, named Benoit, to Berlin for the purpofe of perfuading his Pruflian majefty either to renounce the coalition he had engaged in, or at leaft to defer his operations, this man was difmifled without hearing his propofals. Baron de BifchofFwerder, who then enjoyed the full confidence of the king of Pruflia, happening to mention this circumftance to me in prefence of that fovereign and the duke of Brunfwick, I obferved that it might not be unadvifable to renew this negotiation, as it might probably lead to an arrangement agreeable to all parties. I am incHned to think that it was renewed, and that Dumourier, in the courfe of the following campaign, fhewed hlmfelf as able a negotiator as he was a Ikilful general. At that time I was not acquainted with all the wickednefs of the ruling men in France, and I had equally mifcalculated its refources. Having remained fome days at Mag- deburg, I returned to Mayeiice, at which town, not long after, an interview took place I THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. place between the emperor and the king of Pruflia ; the latter monarch was de- clared chief of this Germanic confederacy, for feveral of the princes of Germany were engaged in the league againft France, and among others the ecclefiaftical electors, the landgrave of Hefle CafTel, and fome of the petty fbvereigns on the Rhine, The emperor now repaired to Frankfort for his coronation ; and in the month of July, the Prulîian army aflembled on the right bank of the Rhine, between Coblentz and Mayence. Soon after, his Pruffian majefty arrived in the former of thefe towns, and there eflablifhed his head quarters. Through the medium of the duke of Brunfwick he offered me the command of fix thoufand troops, furnifhed by the town of Mayence and the prince of Hefle Darmftadt his brother-in-law : pecuniary difficulties, however, prevented this ar- rangement from taking place ; the latter K K 4 troops MEMOIRS RELATING TO troops were not employed, nor was I, as a commander : I ferved as a volunteei under the prince de Gondé, who had in- fpired me with much efteèm and con- fiderfce. The campaign commencing about the beginning of Auguft, Longwy and Verdua fell almoft as foon as the combined army, which confifted 6f near eighty thouland men, appeared before them. Why Sedan was not attacked I have never been able to learn ; it certainly was a place of much . more importance than the laft of thofe two towns, nor was it capable of making any greater refiftance. Why did not the allied army take this road for the purpofe of crofTmg Champagne ? Why did it wafte fo much time before Thionville ? In this town the emigrants pretended to have friends, but if it was fo, they (hould at leaft have feconded their efforts by a re- gular and formidable attack. But I fhall proceed no farther in my remarks on this campaign ; nor fiiall I explain the caufes of THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 5O5 of its unfuccefsful termination ; they were Ï792. like many of thofe which have brought about the greateft events, very fmall in them- felves. It is not the firft time that the little intrigues of a court have deranged the moft important political plans. But if the truth were difplayed in its full light, it would offend the eyes of moft of thofe who (hould behold it. It is the bufmefs of time to foften its rays fo as to render them more tolerable. Here then I fhall clofe my Memoirs, which can no longer be very interefting, as I ceafed to take an adive part in the events which after- wards happened, and have fince remain- ed only one in the crowd of fpeftators. Whether what I have here related is of fufficient importance to intereft, I am igno- rant. I hope, at leaft, that I have juftified myfelf from the atrocious calumnies with which I have been loaded, and this was my only ohjedl in writing thefe pages. I by no means wifh to excufe my political condudt, in which certainly will be difcovered many errors, MEMOIRS RELATING TO errors, the efFeâ: of falfe calculations and imprudent fteps, and not unfrequently of a warm temper, and prepoflelTions not fufBciently reftrained. ** Nature expelled, returns full fpeed," "Was a faying of one of our poets, whofe name I have forgot, but I have fully expe- rienced the truth of the maxim. Were I again to find myfelf in fituations fo critical and extraordinary, I would prefer ve a conduit in many refpedls different, with- out however deviating from the moral principles by which I was governed, and which, I am perfuaded, will be found unexceptionable. Though I entertain the higheft refpecSt and veneration for the virtues of Louis the Sixteenth, and mod fincerely fympa- thife in his misfortunes, it was not, to his perfon alone that I devoted myfelf, but to the king of France, and the French mo- narchy. A monarchical form of govern- ment THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. ment I thought beft adapted to a great people ; and the character of the French, I was of opinion, required a great lati- tude of authority in the fovereign. I feared that the leaft alteration in the prin- ciples of this ancient' monarchy, cor- rupted as they might be, would endanger the whole fabric ; whatever vices and abufes had been introduced into the go- vernment, I wifhed might be correâ:ed by the royal authority alone. I hoped that fome minifter would at length arife, perhaps even the fovereign himfelf, who would undertake the talk of reformation, in which, if poflefled of the neceflary abilities, he would the more eafily fuc- ceed, as its neceffity was univerfally felt. Should a popular affembly take into their hands the fovereign power, I forefaw the moft melancholy confequences, as they could hardly fail to make an improper ufc of it. Laftly, I was apprehenflve that if the king for a moment fuffered his fceptre to efcape from his hands, bad men, ftrong by their crimes and audacity, would feize and MEMOIRS RELATING TO and employ it to the deflrudion of the monarch himfelf, and that it would after- wards be found very difficult to recover it from their grafp ; a fear, unhappily, too well verified by the event ! My attach- ment then to the king and the monarchy was the refult of reafoning, and was founded upon principles which I may venture to call rational ; and they formed the bafis of my conduâ: during the whole time that I took an adtive part jn the revolution. However, though juftified from the crimes which have been imputed to me, I have committed errors which I now recognife, with which 1 have not been reproached, yet which had a confiderable influence on events. For a fhort time I had at my difpofal a large military force ; in the provinces of which I was commandiuit in 1790, I pof- fefled real influence. Had I then followed my firft impulfe, had I felt lefs repug- nance for a civil war, I might perhaps have faved the monarchy. The fcruples, the facility, the humanity of the king fubdued TH» FRENCH REVOLUTION. fubdued me, even at the time when I was moft apprehenfive of his want of fjrmnefs. I ought to have oppofed it by decilive confiderations, perhaps even it was my duty to difobey his orders. Too great a deference to the ariftocratical party perhaps reftrained me from putting myfelf at the head of thofe who wifhed for a change in the conftitution, the only thing that could preferve in France a monarchical government. For, this ter- rible revolution once begun, I never was of the opinion of thofe who imagined that things might be re-eftablifhed on the for- mer footing ; or that any thing remained, except to modify and make a compromife with it. On this head at leaft I have always been confident. I was at firft an enemy to all innovation ; but when thefe innovations were actually made, and in compliance with the king's requeft I had fworn to obey the new laws, I then di- re£ted my efforts folely againft the fac- tions, and the Jacobins, who, not contented with the mifchief already occafioned by their MEMOIRS RELATING TO their conflitution, aimed at the total fub- verfion of the monarchy, and of all focial order. As then France was governed entirely by thefe men, from the year 1 792 till the death of Robefpierre, I defired nothing more than to be able to extirpate them. Since this period, however, the hope of ftill fucceeding by conciliatory means has come again to cheer my heart, and has influenced my conduct in the little connexion I have maintained with our princes, with foreign powers, their generals, and their minifters. Whatever faults I have committed, may they prove a ufeful leflbn to thdfe who, having preferved equal fidelity to their fovereign, and attachment to their country, fhall, in circumftances nearly fimilar, (and thefe may happen elfewhere than in France,) poflefs the fame inclination to ferve both ! May they, fuperior to me in fortune and abilities, fucceed in their generous under- taking ! Of the motives by which I have been actuated in giving my opinion of the 5 men THS FREVCH REVOLUTION. men who ruled in France immediately preceding the revolution, and thofe who had an adive part in that event, it is for the enlightened readers of thefe Memoirs to judge. I have endeavoured to avoid all perfonality, harbouring in my heart none of thofe emotions of hatred or jealoufy, which, foftered by ambition, become extinguifhed together with it» Many who were concerned in thefe great events are dead ; confequently the judg- ment of their political condudt belongs to pofterity ; and it muft be the more juft and impartial, as they can no longer either repair their faults, or deftroy the good they have done. With refpedl to thofe who are ftill living, the cafe is not the fame ; their conduct and principles may change. How many inftances ^ do we meet with in hiftory, of men truly great and virtuous at the commencement of their career, defpicable and abandoned at the clofe of it ! Others, on the contrary, who have begun their courfe with crimes, have concluded it with virtues. Sylla, returning, MEMOIRS HELATlVfG TO returning, at the head of his viâ:oriou9 army, to deliver Rome from the cruel yoke of Marius, is a great man ; Sylla, when dictator, is a tyrant ; the fame Sylla abdicating the fovereign power, and re- turning to a private condition, is a philo- fopher and a fage. Death alone puts the feal on all our actions, and determines the reputation of thofe men who have a£ted a confpicuous part on the theatre of the world. Thus, when I difplayed the con- duct of M. de Maurepas, cardinal de Loménie, and the duke d'Orleans, I thought myfelf at liberty likewife to draw their characters ; their features, now fixed in the public mind, are henceforth not to be effaced. May the hideous fpeclre of the latter prefent itfelf to the view of thofe men who, placed by their birth, dignities, and riches, in the firft rank of a ftate, inftead of being its fupporters, join in the faÛions by which it is dif- traded, hoping to make them the inftru- ments of their own ambitious defigns ! Let them imagine they fee the ghoft of the « THE fre:^ch revolution. the parricide Orleans, and hear the mon- fter thus announce himfelf : " I am that " duke d'Orleans who confpired againft " the life pf my fovereign and the head " of my family. I poffefTed by birth all " the blefïîngs nature and fortune could " beftow ; yet, blinded by ambition, and " impelled by a deiire of revenge, I " became the tool of pien, as bad, but " more artful than myfelf, and embrued my hands in the blood of him I ought " to have ferved and protedled. I then " wifhed to place the crown upon my " own head ; but after having overturned " the throne, after having deluged my " country with crimes .and blood, I fell ** myfelf ignominioufly, by the hands of *' thofe very wretches who had been the " inftruments, and now turned the avengers " of my mifdeeds : to my children I have " left nothing but a name they will be '' afhamed to bear; a name which will " be execrated by future generations, and " will ferve only to exprefs the combi- " nation of every vice. Such was my L L ** fate, MEMOIRS RELATING TO " fate, and fuch will be the fate of all ihoie " who, like me, fhall employ the malk of *' patriotifm to attempt the deflruction of " their fovereign and their countiy.*' If I am thus and fo juflly fevere in cenfuring the duke d'OrJeans, and if nearly a fimilar judgment may be paiTed on other inferior criminals, who, after having contributed to the misfortunes of France, were hurried off the flage by a premature death; ought we not to feparate La F,ayette from thefe abandoned chara<5ter« ? Brought up in the fchool of the American revolution, is he not to be excufed for having yielded to that enthufiaftic love of liberty with which his bofom was in- fluenced during fix years which he pa/Ted with the celebrated Wafhington ? Let us for a moment form to ourfelves the idea of a young man, to whom nature haç given a warm heart, an elevated and feeling foul, by which impreffions arc eafily received and long retained, a folid underftanding, forcned to refle^ft and cal- culate THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. tulate on what it receives ; with fuch qualities tranfport him into the midft of a people fighting for their Hberty : here let him remain feveral years fighting along with them, and in fome meafure fliaring their triumphs and fuccefs : the ftruggle over, loaded with the moft flattering praifes, he returns to his native country, to the centre of a corrupted court, at the moment when the germs of a great revo- lution are about to burft forth, the people feeming no longer difpofed to fuffer ab- folute authority in the monarch, but in- fifting on a form of government by which they fuppofed their condition would be ameliorated : muft not fuch a perfon feel a wifh to take an adlive part in this revo- lution, and be difpofed to regard it in the moft favourable point of view, as cal- culated to promote the general happinefs ? Should the people feled: him for one of their chiefs, will he not defend their caufe zealoufly and even enthufiaftically ? Milled by his opinions, we may certainly L L 2 blame MEMOIRS RELATING TO blame his political condudl: ; yet if he* violates no principle of morality, but though furrounded with crimes preferves himfelf free from guilt ; if, perceiving his error, he renounces it, facrifices his ambition, and fubmits to profcription and exile ; if, to repair his fault, he makes a laft effort in favour of the monarch and monarchy his fanaticifm had led him to attack ; and if, laftly, he expiates, by a long cap- tivity, thefe his faults and^ deviations, is he not entitled to our fympathy and com- paffion, at leaft to our indulgence ? Ought not every fentiment of hatred or revenge to be fuppreffed, particfularly if now, ar- rived at years of maturity, he has it in his power Hill to repair the errors of his youth ? Such, however, was La Fayette ; fuch was his fituation ; fuch his condudt ; and fuch, perhaps, one day, will be his deftiny. But what judgment are w^e to pro- nounce on M, Neckar ? How fhall we re- move THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. ^I^^ move the impreilion made on us by the 1792. difafters he was inftrumcntal in occafion- ing, fince they muft in a great meafare be attributed to the imprudence of his meafures, the weaknefs of his character, the infufficiency of his knowledge, and his falfe application of the principles of philofophy to the affairs of a ftate ? I fhall not join with thofe who accufe M. Neckar of fedition and confpiracy, and charge him with having betrayed the fo- vereign and the nation ; but I will fay, that to both he proved a very bad fervant. His moral and focial virtues I fhall not call in queflion, nor will I deny that he pofTelTed abilities fufficient to prefide at -the head of the finances in ordinary circumflances : but what a change had taken place, between the period of his firfl miniitry, and that when he afterwards ventured to take the reins of government ! If, as he acknowledges he did, he forelaw the revolution, what fleps did he take to prevent it, to modify it, or to dired it ? L L 3 If MEMOIRS RELATING TO If he placed fo much reliance on his owu powers, and on the public efleem, of whicH he fuppofed himfelf pofTeffed, why did not he combat with, greater vigour and addrefs the errors of public opinion? Why did he .even fubmit to them con- trary to the diâ:ates of his own confcience ? If in circumflances To difficult, deftitute either of courage or forefight, he could bring nothing to fuftain a tottering throne but empty fpeculations, founding periods^ and a lofty confident air, is he not culpable for having undertaken fuch an arduous- tafk ; thus contributing, at leaft paffively, to the demolition of the monarchy ; and then writing the hiftory of the event, and annexing to it his own panegyric ? Let. îlim then boaft no more of his talents and capacity ; were they much greater than they are, ftill they would be contemptible in the eyes of the truly wife, who efti- mate the merits of men by the fervices they render fociety, and prefer an expert artifan to a minifter of ftate who is un- 6 qualified THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. qualified for his office. Providence has difpenfed to mortals the talents, or rather the moral and phyfical powers requlfite to exercife thé different employments by which fecial order exifts, and the common happinefs is promoted. The lot of the multitude is to be guided by a few ; and experience has fliown that the lefs nu- merous their leadersy the better a people is governed-. Nature likev/ife feldom forms thofe grealt and fublime geniufes capable of prefiding over, of defending and en- lightening extenfive empires^ , We' fee very few great monarchs, very few great' generals, and perhaps ftill fe^ver great miniflers: diftinguilhed talents are diftri- buted' with a very fparing hand, and even then- require great occaficns to draw them into adHon. Th<5fé occafions were not wanting to Neckar, but he fhewed himfclf unequal to the emergency. His caft of underftanding, his financiering abilities, the moratity of his character, and his in^- dination Ibr hr^i'aturc, all fhew th-t NçeknT .T^'as dcftined to be . only a h?.ppy i- L 4 ir.' an MEMOIRS RELATING TO man in private life ; as I undoubtedly was intended for a foldier, and an indifferent general. Why then would he afpire to the character of a great ftatefman, when nature had refufed him the neceffary ta- lents ? Let him ceafe to think of govern- ing men, as I have abandoned the idea of again leading them to battle : and as I continually exclaim, O the vanity of martial glory ! let him accuftom himfelf to repeat, O the vanity of minifterial fway ! To conclude: — If I may ftill be permitted to caft a forrowing look on my native country, and to offer up one wifh in her favour, it is, that fhe may never be go- verned by pretended philofophers, but that in her rulers fhe may ever find a Titus, a Trajan, a Marcus Aurelius, a Louis the Twelfth, and a Henry the Fourth ; the philofophy and morality of whom con- fifted not in fpeculation but in pradice. Ye modern philofophers, or rather ye wretched fophifts, the dodrines you have propagated, by their falfe fplcndour have been THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. been the caufe of more crimes, and have occafioned the effufion of more blood, within an inconfiderable number of years, than the barbarous poUcy, the ignorance, and fanaticifm of our forefathers during feveral centuries. How will you repair the mifchief you have given birth to, unlefs by confefling your faults and acknow- ledging your errors, that they may remaia a terrible but falutary leflbn to future ge- nerations Î . • '^J^ i 5^3 ] APPENDIX, No. I. Lettre de Monf, îe Marquis de Bouille à Monf. le Marquis du Chastelet. - • Metz, ce ... . 1789. JE vous demande pardon, monfieûr, de n'avoir pas répondu plutôt à votre lettre 5 mais l'objet qu'elle renfermoit eft d'une telle importance qu'il exigeoit une mûre réflexion avant que d'y répondre. Je vous crois un homme honnête et loyal, ainfi je vous parlerai avec confiance. Il y a long tems que je gémis fur les maux qui affligent ma patrie, et il y a long tems que je les avois prévus i vous n'en douterez pas fi vous vous rappeliez quelques unes de nos converfdtions cet hyver, et quoique aufli ennemi du delpotifme que vous, que M. de k Fayette lui-même, je redoutais le délbrdre. et 5^4 APPENDIX, NO. I. et l'anarchie qui dévoient réfulter de la com- pofition des états généraux, parmi lefquels l'efprit public ne pouvoit régner. Mes craintes le font réalifées ; le royaume efl: entrainé vers fa ruines là réunion des gens honnéces, puiflans, et courageux, peut le fauver peuc-êcre encore j mais du moins ils doivent faire un dernier effort. Tel eft le principe qui guidera ma conduite dans cette malheureufe circonftance. Qu'il fe préfente donc des hommes qui, avec des intentions pures et droites, ayent la force et le courage néceffaire, je me joindrai à eux j s'ils fuccombent, je fuccombrai avec eux. . J'ai jugé dépuis quelque tems que M. le duc d'Orléans et M. de la " Fayette tenoient dans leurs mains la deftinée de la France j je croyois que le premier, par fon rang et par fa naiffance, devoit en défirer la confervation et le bonheur j fa conduite, éclairée par les derniers évènemens, m'a détrompé, et m'a convaincu, qu'il n'y avoit plus aucun bien à en attendre ; il rcfte donc M. de la Fayette, dont la puifiance eft encore accrue. Je ne connois pas fes principes ; mais qu'il me les fafie connoitre, et s'ils font tels que vous me les annoncez, et tels que je le défire, je me réunirai à lui pour fauver la patrie, et mettant à l'écart l'ambition, l'intérêt par- ticulier, l'amour propre même, il pourra compter^ APPENDIX, NO. r. 525 compter, ainfi que toutes les perfbnnes qui auront ce grand objet en vue, fur mon courage, fur mon dévouement à la chofc publique, ainfi que fur ma fidélité à remplir mes engagemens. Mais encore une fois, fi je ne veux pas le retour du pouvoir arbitraire fous lequel je fuis né, et fous lequel j'ai vécu jufqu'ici, je ne veux pas le défordre et l'anarchie qui régnent à prefenti je veux vivre fous un governement qui puilfe en même tems procurer la fureté au dehors et la tranquillité au dedans, dont la liberté foit conféquemment circonfcrite dans des bornes raifonnables j ce qui étoit pofTible, il y a quelques mois: ce qui l'eft peut-être encore. Voila, mon fie ur, ma profeffion de foîj vous pouvez la communiquer à M. de la Fayette; fi fa façon de penfer eft conforme à la mienne, s'il veut me l'expliquer avec cette franchife qui doit nous caradérifer l'un et l'autre, ^nous ferons bientôt réunis, et mettant à nos pieds tous les petits préjugés qui nous éloignoient, nous concourrons au même but, avec l'accord qui doit exifter entre deux hommes également animés du bien public, et dont la feule am- bition doit être de fauver la patrie en danger; ma conduite relativement à M. de la Fayette, fera donc calculée fur la fienne, je vous prie de l'en prévenir. Recevez, 526 APPENDIX, NO. ir* Recevez, mon fieur, les afîurances du tree inviolable attachement, avec lequel j'ai l'honneur d'être votre très humble et très obéiflant fer- viteur. Le Marquis de Bouille, No. IL Lettre de Monf. de la Fayette à Monf.. le Marquis de Bouille. Paris, ce 14 Novembre 1789. ♦ ** ********** Voila, mon cher coufin, pour les affaires par- ticulières ; mais il en eft une générale, qui intéreffe, qui doit réunir tous les bons citoyens, quelles qu'ayent été leurs opinions politiques; nous aimions l'un et l'autre la liberté, il m'en falloit une plus forte doze qu'à vous, et je la voulois pour le peuple et avec le peuple j cette révolution eft faite, et vous devez en être tii'autant moins fâché que vous n^avéz voulu y prendre aucune fart; - mais aujourdhui nous craignons les mêmes maux, l'anarchie, les dif- fentions civiles, la diflblution de toutes les forces publiques : nous fouhaitons les mêmes biens, le rétablifîement du crédit, l'affcrmiffement d'une liberté conftitutionelle, le retour de l'ordre, ec une APPENDIX, NO. II. 5^7 une forte mefure de pouvoir executif. Une contre révolution étant heurcufement im.pofTible, ec devenant d'ailleurs criminelle, puisqu'elle afliireroit la guerre _civile, et quoiqu'on put faire le mafTacre du parti foible ; les honnêtes gens, les citoyens purs ne peuvent chercher qu'à remonter la machine dans le fens de, la revolution: le roi eft pénétré de cette vérité ; il faut, ce me femble, que tous les hommes forts s'en pénétrent ; i'afTemblée nationale, après avoir détruit à Ver- failles, vient édifier à Paris, elle fera d'autant plus raifonnable qu'on aura difllpé tout prétexte de méfiance, et plus vous, mon cher coufin, ^ ferez rallié à la nouvelle conftitution, plus vous aurez de moyens de fervirla chofe publique. Quant à moi, que les circondances et la confiance du peuple ont placé dans un degré de refponfabilité fort fupérieur à mes talens, je crois avoir démontré que je hais la faction autant que j'aime la liberté, et j'attends impa- tiemment l'époque où je pourrai démontrer aufll que nulle viie d'intérêt perfonel n'a jamais approche de mon cœur ; je vous l'ai ouvert avec confiance, mon cher coufm ; il iâifit avec cmprelTement toutes les phraks de vos lettres qui le rapprochent de vous, et fouhaite bien favoir fi celle-ci a votre approbation. Bon jour, mon cher coufin. La Favetts. Mille 5^5 APPENDIX, NO. Ilf. Mille tendre complimens à votre fils. Je vous ai écrit un mot, que je crains avoir été égaré. No. III. Lettre de Monf. de la Fayette à Monf. le Marquis de Bouille. Paris, ce 9 Février 1790. "r)ARD0NNEZ, moH chcr coufin, à 'mon in- ■*• exaétitude, mais ne doutez pas du plaifir que j'ai eu en apprenant que vous approuvez ma conduite ; nous avons été divilés de principes et de fentimens pendant la révolution, mais aujourdhui nous devons tous nous rallier autour du roi, pour l'affermiflement d'une conftitution que vous aimez moins que moi, qui peut avoir quelques défauts, mais qui affure la liberté publique, et qui eft trop avancée dans l'efprit et le cœur des François pour que les ennemis pufTent l'attaquer fans difîbudre la monarchie; lorfqu'on en eft à ce point, tous les houiêtes gens ne forment plus qu'un parti, dont le roi s'cft déclaré le chef, et qui, déconcertant à la fois les anciens regrets et les efpérances fac- lieufes, doit reflerrer les liens de l'ordre public, et ramener par tout l'union et le calme, pour APPENDIX, NO. III. 5^9 pour nous faire mieux jouir de la liberté ; le cœur du roi doit fç repofèr délicieufement fur le bien qu'il a fait, et particulièrement fur les maux qu'il a évités, et dans lelquels un monarque ambitieux ou infenfibic auroit pu plonger la France j donnons lui la récompenfc de fes vertus, en nous unifiant tous pour ramener la tranquillité : celle de Metz à été troublée par quelques' difcufllons, dont on vouloit re- tarder les travaux de l'aflembiée nationale j il vaut bien mieux n'en pas parler, et je vous conjure d'arranger cette affaire à la fatisfaâ:ion générale ; il vous eft fi facile de contenter les citoyens de Metz, de communiquer aux ofiî- ciers ces difpofitions, que vous pourriez donner l'exemple de cette réunion cordiale fans indif- cipline tandis qu'ailleurs, ou n'a fouvent obtenu l'une qu'aux dépends de l'autre. Vous fentirez aufîi que la meilleure manière d'afi"urer au roi l'autorité conilitutionelle dont nous avons befoin, eft de fatisfaire les amis de la liberté fur la parfaite concordance de tous les agens du pouvoir exécutif avec les principes du roi. J'ai appris que vous aviez donné l'idée de quitter votre patrie, comme fi vos talens ne lui ap- partenoîent pas, comme fi même quelques torts particuliers auroient pu vous donner le défir de nous voler les battailles que vous gagnerez pour nous, et dans lefquelles j'èfpere que vous me permettrez de combattre fous M M vos 530 APPENDIX, NO. lïr. vos ordres. Je me flatte, mon cher coufin, que mon caradère vous eft aflez connu, pour- qu'il foit inutile de dire que la révolution me rcpofera juflement à la même place où elle m'a pris î quelque extraordinaires que foient mes aventures, il le feroit encore plus à mes yeux d'en profiter, et j'aime à prendre cet engage- ment à répoque où il ne peut plus avoir l'air d'un marché ; je fouhaite bien, mon cher coufin, que vous faififllez les occafions d'en prendre avec la conftiitution. Il eft impofllble que vos talens n'excitent pas la jaloufie; que vos an- ciennes idées ne fournifl!ent, foit des occafions, foit des prétextes à l'inquiétude ; il eft peut- être utile à la chofe publique de vous mani- fefter bien clairement fur ce point. La démarche du roi eft une occafion : je voudrois ' que lorfqu'on dit — M. de Bouille a les plus grands talens et la confiance des troupes, per- fonne n'ajoutât ; il eft l'ennemi de nos principes. Pardonnez ma franchifc, mon cher coufin : je ne fais que répeter ce qu'on m'a dit vingt , fois depuis trois jours, et j'ai befoin de ne plus entendre ce reproche contre vous. Bonjour, mon cher coufin, agréez mon tendre attachement. La Fayette. APPENDIX, NO. IV. ^31 No. IV. Lettre du Roi à Monf. le Marquis de Bouille. Parîs, ce 23 Avril 1 790. T L ni'a été rendu exaftement compte, mon- ■■• fieur, de vos efforts pour maintenir la garnifon importante de ma ville de Metz, et des fuccès que vos foins avoient obtenus jufqu'à ce moment ; ce * qui vient de fe pafler dans cette place n'a fait qu'augmenter la bonne opinion que j'ai de vous depuis long tems, et je me plais à vous en témoigner ma fatisfaflion ; continuez à me bien fervir dans votre commandement; M. de la Tour du Pin vous expliquera les motifs qui pourroient faire apperçevoir de la convenance à ce que vous vinfiez palfer quelques jours à Paris; mais je m'en rapporte abfolument à vous pour juger du moment où vous pourriez le faire fans que votre abfence put caufer aucuri inconvenient. LOUIS. M M 2 JJ2 APPEWDIX, NO. V* No. V. Lettre du Roi à Monf. le Marquis de Bouille, Paris, ce 2 Mai 1790. JE remarque dans votre lettre, monfieur, une phrafe qui me fait beaucoup de peine 5 je ne veux pas que vous quittiez ni ma per- fonne ni mon royaume, car je fais pas les ferviccs que vous m'avez rendus, tous ceux que vous pouvez rendre encore à l'état. Soyez fur de ma confiante reconnoiflance, etc'eft uniquementpour ménager la nobleflc çt la délicateffe de votre cara6lcre que je ne vous en entretiens pas plus particulièrement en cette occafion. Je fuis très fatisfait de vos difpofitions pour la journée du 4, et j'aime à vous voir partager les fentimens que la conftitution nouvelle doivent infpirer à tous les bons citoyens et à mes fidèles fer- viteurs, LOUIS, APPENPIX, NO. VI, $32 No. VI, LeUre de Monf. de la Fayette à Monf. U Marquis de Bouille. Ce Lundi (fans autre date). JE fais, mon cher coufin, qu'on a cherché à me nuire auprès de vous; mais avec un cœur pur et droit comme le vôtre, la loyauté n'eft pas long tems méconnue, et l'amitié eft égale* ment fure de fe faire entendre. On vous a dit beaucoup d'abfurdités fur mes vues, mes moyens, mes défirs ; il eft fimple que des ambitieux cherchent ce que cache un homme, qui en pouvant beaucoup n'a voulu que le bien public. On a fait des tracafleries perfonnelles entre nous j cela eft naturel aufli, parceque j'ai des envieux, que je me fuis fait des ennemis, et que j'ai méconté beaucoup de gens, de manière qu'en obtenant l'eftime dç la pation, j'ai mérité ]a haine des partis. On a beaucoup blâmé ma conduite, tantôt on a eu tort, et t^tôt raifon ; les reproches qu'on m'a faics fe contredifent, et je pourrois M M 3 en 534 APPENDIX, NO. Vr. en profiter pour ma defenfe : mais en jugeant féverement mes fautes, je m'honore de mes intentions, et fi d'autres euflent mieux fait, per- fonne n'eut agi plus en confcience, Au refte, mon cher coufin, quand vous croirez avoir à me gronder, adreflez-vous à moi i nos caraftères ne font pas les mêmes ; nos principes politiques diffèrent auffî ; mais nous fommes deux honnêtes gens, et comme ils font très rares, nous nous entendrons mieux feuis, que quand d'autres s'en mêlent. Je vous dirai avec la même franchife, que la nouvelle promefTe demandée aux officiers cft une aflez mauvailc mefure ; mais il a fallu parer dabord à la fureur du licentiement, qui fe répandoit d'un bout du royaume à l'autre i faire agréer le fiftême des camps, rendre l'engagement des ofRciers commun à tous les foncftionaires publics, et après tout cela, eft reftée une formule de promefle qui n'eft pas particulièrement déplaifante à l'armée, puifqu'elle s'étend à tous les états, mais qui en elle-même ne convient pas à la dignité du peuple François, ni à la laflitude où nous devrions être des fermcns. Mais comme l'afTemblée, bien-loin de •vouloir choquer les officiers, a furtout été con- 9 duite APPENDIX, NO. VI. $^i duite par Ic défir de leur offrir un moyen qui, une fois pour toutes, impofât filence à la ca^ lomnie, et détruîfit tout prétexte à l'infubor- dinâtion, nous comptons fur votre patriotifme, mon cher coufin, pour éviter les mauvaifes interprétations qu'on cherchera peut-être à donner, et fur votre example, pour réunir tous les officiers dans la difpofition que les bons citoyens fouhaitent ardemment, tandis que les brouillons de tous les partis ne demanderoient pas mieux que de leur donner de l'humeur. Mon ami Emeri vous écrit j il avoit befoin de moi auprès de vous. J'ai peur à préfent, d'avoir befoin de lui ; mais je ne craindrai rien, il vous rendez juftice à mon tendre attachement, La Fayette, No. VII. Lettre du Roi à Monf. le Marquis de Bouille. St. Cloud, ce 20 Août 1790. •T TOUS avez donné, monfieur, une nouvelle ^ preuve de votre zèle, et des fentimens qui vous animent, en ne profitant pas du congé que je vous avois envoyé, dans les circonftances M M 4 où ^^6 APPENDIX, NO. VU. OÙ VOUS l'avez reçu. J 'ai appris avec une véritable peine les dangers auxquels vous a expofé U prolongation de votre féjour à Mètz; je n'ai point été furpris de la fermeté dont vous avez donné de nouvelles preuves dans cette occafion, mais j'ai du plaifir à vous témoigner ma re- connoifîance, et ma fatisfadion de votre con- duite. LOUIS. No. VIII. Lettre de Monf. de la Fayette à Monf. /«? Marquis de Bouille. (Sans date.) •Trous avez appris, mon cher coufin, le ^ décret unanime" de l'aflemblée nationale fur rinfurredion de Nanci. M. de la Tour du pin vous adrefle les ordres du roi. De/mottes^ qui en eft porteur, vous donnera les détails qui pourroient vous intérefler i je ne vous dirai donc que quelques mots. Voici le moment, mon cher coufin, où nous pouvons commencer Tétablifle- ment de l'ordre conftitutionel, qui doit rem- placer l'arnarchie révolutionnaire : les dé- partemens entrent en fonélion j l'ordre judiciaire, quoique APPENDIX, NO. Vlir. ^27 quoique dcfedueux, va s'organifer: nous fommes au moment de faire le travail des gardes na- tionales j l'armée fe décrète à Tinftant où je vous écris, et déjà le roi a pu choifir Ton premier général pour commander la plus importante des quatre armées. Ne nous décourage ns donc pas, mon cher coufin ; et efperons q-i'en nous unifiant de toutes nos forces pour l'établifrement de la conftitution, en nous roidiflant contre toutes les difficultés intérieures et étrangères, nous affurerons à la fois la liberté et l'ordre public. " Le décret. fur Nanci eft bon, l'exécution doit être entière et rigoureufcj auflitôt que nous l'eûmes voté, le roi la fanâ:ionné. M. de la Tour du Pin a annoncé à tous les membres de l'afîemblée que M. de Malfcigne l'exécutcroir, et après avoir proclamé ce choix fort agréable à l'affemblée, il a découvert que M. de Mal- feigne étoit à Bcfançon. J'ai reçu cette nuit un billet du roi pour m'entendre avec vous, pour voir M. de la Tour du Pin, et écrire aux garde nationales; il m'a paru, qu'excepté l'envoi du décret, il n'y avoit rien de fait. Un courier à donné ordre à M. de Malfeigne d'aller at- tendre à Lunéville vos inftruclions ; j'écris, non pas officiellement, mais fraternellement, aux gardes nationales des quatre départmens, et ma lettre eft portée à Epinal par un de mes aides- de-camp, qui ira attendre vos ordres à Luné- ville. On vous rendra compte à Metz de ce qu'il ^3» APPENDIX, NO. VIII, qu'il aura faits nous avons arrêté ici la deputation du regiment du roi, et nous vous écrirons demain au foir par Gouvernet qui ira vous joindre. Il me femble, mon cher coufin, que nous devons frapper un coup impofant pour toute l'armée, et arrêter par un exemple févère le débandement général qui fe prépare. Si M. de Malfeigne ne trouve pas une befogne trop difficile, les difpofitions qu'on va faire font bien fuffifantes ; mais dans le cas d'une grande réfift- ance, et furtout d'un accord avec les garnifons, il faut que tous les moyens fe combinent pour fauver la patrie d'un tel danger j et je vous demande à y marcher avec le titre de votre aide-de-camp. Ce qui eft bien important, c'eft de ne pas man- quer fon coup, et de difpofcr nos mefures de manière à ce que le fuccès ne foit pas douteux. Bon jour, mon cher coufm j c'eft de tout mon cœur que je me joins à vous, parceque je fuis fur que vous fervirez notre conftitution, et que j'ai autant befoin que vous de l'établilTe- ment de l'ordre public. Donnez moi vos ordres et vos commiflions ; j'ai imaginé qu'il y auroit des cas où deux officiers de la garde nationale de Paris pourroient être utiles. Je vous embrafle de tout mon coçur. La Fayette, APPENDIX, NO. IX» 539 No. IX. T^etlredu Roi à Monf. le Marquis de Bouille, St. Cloud, ce 4 Novembre 1 790. J 'espère, mpnficur, que vous me connoiflez aflcz pour ne pas douter de l'extrême fatisfadlion que j'ai reflentie de votre conduite à Nanci; vous avez fauve la France le 31 Août, et vous avez par là montré aux autres le chemin et comme ils doivent fe conduire. C'eft le comble de la bonne conduite que vous tenez depuis un an, à laquelle vous avez eu bien du mérite, par toutes les tracafferies qu'on vous a fufcitées. Continuez fur la même route j foignez votre popularité ; elle peut m'être bien utile et au royaume ; je la regarde comme l'ancre de fàlut, et que ce fera elle qui pourra fervir un jour à rétablir l'ordre. J'ai été bien inquiet fur les dangers auxquels vous vous expofiez, jufqu'à ce que j'aie reçu les nouvelles de M. de Gou- vernetj et je regrette bien fmcèremcnt les braves gens qui ont péri dans cette affligeante, mais bien nécéfiaire affaire. Je vous prie de me marquer particulièrement ceux donc vous avez été content; je vous charge aufli de témoigner aux gardes nationales, ainfi qu'aux officiers et foldats qui vous ont fi bravement fécondé, combien je fuis touché de leur zçle et de leur fidélité i 540 APPENDIX, NO. IX, fidélité. Pour vous, monfieur, vous avez acquis des droits éternels à mon éftime et à mon amitié. LOUIS. P. S. J'ai fçu qu'un de vos chevaux que vous aimiez beaucoup a été tué fous M. de Gouvernet j je vous envoyé un des miens, que j'ai monté, et que je vous prie de garder pour l'amour de moi. No. X. t,ettre du Président de /'Assemblée Na-» TiONALE à Monf. le Marquis de Bouille. Paris, ce 5 Septembre 1 790. T 'assemblée nationale, monfieur, a ■*— ' comblé d'éloges la conduite remplie de courage et de patriotifine que vous avez tenue, en faifant rentrer dans le devoir la gar- nifon de Nanci, et les autres coupables. Vos fuc- cès, comme guerrier, ne peuvent étonner l'aflem- blée nationale ; mais elle fent qu'elle a du être votre douleur d'être forcé de déployer vos talens contre des foldats rebelles accoutumés à vaincre APPENDIX, NO. X. 54t Vaincre fous vos ordres ; et cette douleur elle la partage : la gloire d'avoir vengé les loix, et reprimé des féditieux qui les enfreignoient toutes, eft au-defTus de celle d'avoir été plufieurs fois vainqueur des ennemis de la France; il vous appartenoit de réunir l'une et l'autre. L'afTem* blée nationale me charge de vous témoigner fon approbation et fon éftime, et je m'applaudis d'être en ce moment l'interprète de fes fentimens. Je fuis, monfieur, votre très humble et très obéiflant ferviteur, Henri Jessé, Préfident. P. S. Je vous addrefTe, monfieur, une ex- pédition en forme du décret de l'afiembléc nationale, et je vous prie de faire parvenir fans délai aux gardes nationales, et aux troupes de ligne qui ont travaillé fous vos ordres au ré- tabliflement de la paix, les lettres ci jointes, que l'aflembiée m'a chargé de leur écrire ; vous voudrez bien veiller à ce que toutes en ayent communication. Décret de l'Assemblée Nationale du 3 Septembre 1790. L^aflemblée nationale à décrété, et décrète : Que le direétoire du département de la Meurthe, et les municipalités de Nanci et de Lunéville, font remerciés de leur zèle. 7 Q^ ^42 APPENDIX, NO. X. Que les gardes nationales qui ont marché fous les ordres de M. de Bouille, font remerciés du patriotifme, et de la bravoure civique qu'ils ont montrés pour le rétablilTcment de Tordre à Nanci. Que M. d'EfilIes eft remercié pour fon dévouement héroique. Qiic la nation fe charge de pourvoir au fort des femmes des gardes nationales qui ont péri. Que le général et les troupes de ligne font approuvés pour avoir glorieufement rempli leur devoir. Que les commilTaires dont l'envoi à été décrété, fe rendront fans délai à Nanci, pour y prendre les mefures nécéffaires à la confervation de la tranquillité, et l'information exaélc des faits qui doit amener la punition des coupables, de quelque grade, rang, et état qu'ils puiiTent être. Collationné à l'original, par nous préfident, et fécrétaires de l'alfemblée nationale à Paris, le 4 Septembre 1790. Henri Jessé, Préfident. Charles Claude de la Cour^ Secrétaire. Dauchyy Secrétaire. François Paul Nicolas Antoinej Secrétaire. DînocheaUy Secrétaire. APPENDIX, NO. Xï, 543 No. XI. Lettre de Monf. de la Fayette à Monf. le Marquis de Bouille. (Sans date.) "TTOUS êtes le fauveur de la chofe publique, mon cher coufin j j'en jouis doublement, et comme citoyen et comme votre ami^ j'ai partagé vos anxiétés fur la terrible fituation où nous étions prêts à tomber, et j'ai regardé l'exécution du décret à Nanci comme la crife de l'ordre, public. AulTi a-t-on bien cherché a égarer le peuple fur cet événement, je ne m'en étonne pas, puifqu'il déjoue les projets de trouble ; mais vous avez été fi fcrupuleux ob- fervateur de toutes les règles, que la malignité n'a trouvé à mordre nulle part, et que chaque doute produit un éclaircifTement à votre avan- tage. Je vous envoyé la copie du décret pafTé aujourdhui à la prefque unanimité ; il n'y a pas trente membres qui fe foient levés contre. Vous recevrez des commiflaires porteurs d'une proclamation dont une partie eft devenue biea inutile ; c'eft M. du Verdier, avocat et fecrétaîre des élefteurs l'année pafTée, et M. Cayer de Gerville, procureur fyndic fuppléant dans la commune de Paris ; ce font deux hommes fort honnêtes, et dont j'efpère que vous ferez con- tent; 544 • APPENDIX, UO. XI. tenrj je vous écrirai plus longuement demain^ mon cher coufin, après avoir caufé avec Gou- vernet, et je vous parlerai de ce que vous m'avez mandé fur l'état de nos frontières. Quant à l'intérieur, il y a bien encore des mouvemens, tt Paris fermente fingulièrcment depuis quelques jours ; mais il faudra bien que nous venions à bout de ces difficultés qui feules à prefent peuvent retarder l'établiflèment de l'ordre conftitutionel j notre union, mon cher coufin, eft un moyen de fervir la chofe publique, qui eft bien cher à mon cœur ; et ce fentiment eft fondé fur le plus tendre attachement, et une fenfibilité éternelle pour les témoignages d'amitié et de confiance que j'ai reçus de vous. Bon foir, mon cher coufin; je vous écrirai V demain, les commifîaires arriveront peu après cette lettre. La Fayette, No. XIT. Leitre du Roi à Monf. /^'Marquis de Bouille. St. Cloud, ce 23 Oâ:obre 1790. T'ESPÈRE, monfieur, que vous continuez à J être content de votre pofition avec les troupes dans ce moment ci. Je faifis avec plaifir les AppESrDix, NO. xrii. 545 tes occafions de vous renouveller l'afllirance de tous me vaife? têtes ne fervent que leurs ennemis. N N 3 ' 55^ APPENDIX, NO. XV» No. XV. Lettre de Monf. le Marquis de Bouille h Monf. DE LA Fayette. E' Metz, ce II Février 175)1. EFFECTIVEMENT, moQ chcr coufin, j'ai été privé long tems du plaifir de recevoir de vos lettres, et j'ai jugé que vos occupations vous avoient empêché de m'écrire. Le tableau que vous me faites de l'état de rafîemblée, de celui de Paris, des partis, et des fadions qui y régnent, ce que vous me dites de l'efprit qui les dirige, eft vrai, en même tems qu'il eft ef- frayant : quelques perfonnes que j'ai vues ici depuis peu, en qui j'ai de la confiance, et pour lefquelles j'ai de l'eflime, m'ont fait la même peinture \ M. Emeri eft de ce nombre. Toutes conviennent de l'excès du mal fans connoître le remède : vous me donneriez quelques con- folations, et vous feriez renaître mes efpérances, en m'affurant que vous vous occupez avec M. Emeri et plufieurs autres gens capables, d'un plan de conduite qui établifle une conftitution for des bafes ftables 3 mais il y a un an, ne m'avez vous pas exprimé le même defir et la même volonté ? ne m'avez vous pas affuré qu'on alloit des lors établir une force publique, fans l'exercice de laquelle les meilleures loix font nulles ? et cela ne vous étoit-il pas plus poflibk APPENDIX, NO. XV. 551 pofTible alors qu'à prefent ? Cependant, depuis cette époque, qu'eft- il arrivé ? Il, s*eft: formé plufieurs partis qui ont été en oppofitiôn : lès ja- cobins ont acquis une grande influence, et une telle fupériorité qu'il, eft prèfque inip::fijble de les détruire, et de calculer jufqu'où ira le mal quil's produifent en France. Le dé Tordre s 'eft accru à Paris et dans les provinces ; les troupes que l'on cherchoit d'abord à féduire par des moyens de perftiafion, plus que par ceux de corruption, ont été achetées, et one rompu tous - les liens de la difcipline ; et cet éfprit de vé- nalité eft tellement répandu dans l'armée, qiie le foldat, en général, fera à celui qui le payera le plus, tandis que les chefs et les officiers dégoûtés perfécutés, fans confidération et fims autorité, n'ont peut-être plus la pofllibilité de le faire rentrer dans le devoir. Le mécontentement a gagné parmi le peuple, et fe propage tous les jours ; les clubs de la ré- volution conduifent dans ce moment préfque toutes les villes, dont un très petit nombre eft encore contenu par la fageflé desadminiftrateurs. Dans plufieurs, le peuple témoigne fon mé- contentement i il eft plus grand encore dans les campagnes, furtout dans les provinces, où le reculement des barrières, ou le ferment des prêtres ont indifpofé le peuple qui n'a obéi au décret, fous ces deux rapports, que par l'appareil N N 4 de 55* APPENDIX, NO. XV-. de la force militaire, qu'on à déployé. Dcj^ , ipême on répand, et on entend dire que l'af- femblée n'a pas de pouvoir conflituant, et que le confentement tacite du peuple ne fuffit pas, pouvant le retirer d'un moment à l'autre ; que le roi n'eft pas libre, que i'afîemblée même ne l'eft pas, que l'opinion publique peut changer, qu'elle doit même changer ; que feroit-ce fi cela arrivoit, et fi la préfence des armées étrangères fur la frontière, (car c'eft dans l'ordre deschofes pôiïibles;) faifoit germer cet éfprit de mécontentement, en le dévellopoit, de manière à produire une infurrection, fi non générale, du moins partielle ? Je vous demande alors, fj votre édifice ne feroit pas renverfé, et; fi vous ne feriez pas écrafé fous fes ruines ? Voilà les malheurs que je prévois, et je fuis perfuadé que tout homme raifonnable, qui ne fera ni fanatique, ni ambitieux, ni intérefle, aura les mêmes craintes. Que faut- il faire pour les prévenir ? conftituer votre afiemblée na- tionale de manière que fes pouvoirs ne puifient plus être douteux ni révoqués ; qu'ils ne puifient être {vj'éts à des réclamations; donner au roi la force fulfifinte pour faire exécuter les ioix, et la liberté néceflaire pour que fon confentement ne puifiTe être fupp.ofé forcé, et pour ôter tout prétexte à des réclamations qui, tot ou tard, produifent un grand mal. Ainfi dong APPENDIX, NO. XV» £^J done un pouvoir légal à l'affemblée pour faire des loix, une puiflance executive fuffifante pour les faire exécuter, et l'entière liberté au mo- narque qui en eft le chef. Voilà ce qui peut çtablir folidemert une confticution libre, et vous faire éviter une férié d'anarcliie qui doit finir néceflairement par une cataurophe. Mais cela, eft-il pofTble ou non ? Je l'ignore. Puis-je, et dois-jc, mén.e m'en occuper s im- puiflant et incapable d'opérer un aufll grand bien, il ne m'eil permis que de developer mes idées à quelques hommes qui, comme vous, font dans une fituation qui leur donne les moyens d'y contribuer. Me taire avec les autres, relpeéler l'opinion publique, obéir aux loix çmanées des principales autorités, me renfermer dans l'exercice de mes devoirs ; fans fortir des bornes qu'ils me préfcrivept. Telle eft la règle que je me fuis impofée, mon cher coufin, et que je fuivrai pendant tout le tems que je vivrai fous le gouvernement François et que je le fer virai. Si le fervlce de votre patrie vous appelloit à- l'armée, vous y feriez employé et vous y fcr- viriez avec la diftinàlion qui eft due à vos taiens, et à votre rang, et votre émule de pa- çriotifme, je n'aurois d'autre ambition que de partager 554 APPiNDix, NO. xvr. partager avec vous l'honneur et la gloire qui en fcroicnt la récompence. Adieu, mon cher coufin, je voui renouvelle les afllirances de mon tendre attachement. Bouille. No. XVÎ. Lettre du Ror de Suéde à Monf. îc Marquis DE Bouille. Aîx-h-Chapelle, ce 3 Juillet 1791. ji /TONsiEUR le Marquis de Bouille, J'ai reçu ^^ avec bien de la gratitude la marque de confiance que vous m'avez tcnioignécj en m'en- Yoyant votre lettre à l'aircinblée nationale. Je l'ai trouvée remplie de ces ientimens d'attachement pour votre fouverain, et d'horreur pour l'anarchie, qui font fi dignes d'un guerrier tel que vous. La fortune eft aveugle dans les commotions civiles comme, à la guerre y mais les principes de fidélité et d'honneur font immuables, et la réputation y cft attachée plus qu'aux fuccès : depuis long tems la vôtre, fi bien établie, comme militaire, vient de l'être encore plus par votre conftance, APPENDIX, NO. XVI. ^^^ confiance, et votre inviolable attachement pour votre fouverain vertueux et infortuné : reçevez- en mes complimens. Il n'en eft pas en Europe qui ne mettent un grand prix à acquérir au nombre de leur fujèts, et de voir à la tête de leurs armées, un homme comme vous -, peut- être le plus ancien, et le plus fidèle allié de votre patrie, pourroit-il y avoir un droit préférable aux autres, d'autant plus que vous ne quitteriez pas le fervice de votre véritable patrie en entrant au fien. Mais dans quelque état que vous foyiez, vous devez toujours être certain de mon eftime, et de l'intérêt que je prendrai toujours à vous : c'efl avec ces léntimens, que je prie Dieu qu'il vous ait, Monfieur le Marquis de Bouille, dans fa fainte et digne garde. Votre très affçftionné, GUSTAVE. No. XVII. Let ire du Roi de Suéde ^ Monf. le Marquis DE KOUILLÉ. Dortingholm, ce 2 Septembre 1791. ly^ONsiEUR le Marquis de Bouille, Je viens ^^^ de recevoir prèfque à la fois vos deux lettres du n et 1 6 Août. Je vous fuis bien obligé des 55$ APPENDIX, NO. XVn. des nouvelles que vous m'y donner. L'entrevue; de Pilnitz décidera de bien des chofes, et il cft tems qu'on prenne un parti, car la faifon avance j et pour moi, je ne connois qu'un fcul obftacle infurmontable aux projets de la viej c'eft l'obftacle phifique, et fi on ne fe décide bientôt, cet obftacle fera l'allié le plus utile de l'afTcmblée nationale. Je vous parlerai du mé- moire dont il eft queftion dans votre lettre du 16 Août par le courier que je vais envoyer d'ici dans quelques jours, lorfque je faurai définitivement les réfolutions de l'impératrice de Ruflie : mais je dois vous avertir d'avance que tous les marins et les cartes maritimes que nous avons ici, preuvent qu'une flotte ne ' peut entrer dans le port d'Oftende, et il eft à remarquer que l'entrée de ce port n'eft prati- cable qu'en paftant devant Dunkerque. Cela n'empêchera cependant pas le projet, fi l'or^ trouve une fureté pour l'hyvernage 3 mais vous fentez bien ainfi que moi, que l'opération com- binée, ne peut avoir lieu, et que la flotte une fois partie des ports de Suède, doit fans s'arrêter exécuter fon entreprife. Cela me convicn- droit aufli mieux, car tous ces grands plans com- binés ne réuiïifl^ent prèfque pas : Je vous écrirai incéflamment fur tous cela avec plus de détail. Je fuis, au refte, bien aife de voir le bon accord qui règne entre vous et les princes. M. le Comte d'Artois eft bien fait pour rendre jufticc APPENDIX, NO. xvir. 557 juflice au mérite, et fcntir le prix de votre zèle. "Je fuis perfuadé que vous lui verrez déployer dans ces momens critiques, les vertus d'un petit fils d'Henry IV. Je lui en ai trouvé la loyauté, la franchife, et le germe de toutes les qualités faites pour infpirer l'enthoufiafme, et l'augmenter par l'intérêt que fes malheurs feuls ont droit d'infpirer. Ce feroit un grand point que la neutralité de l'Angleterre dont vous me parlez : pour la Hollande, je doute qu'on puilfe compter fur fes troupes ; c'eft une affaire très compli- quée que de remuer cette maffe. Pour moi, je fuis prêt, des que les moyens me feront pro- curés; et dans trois femaines du jour de l'ordre donné, l'armée fera réunie à l'endroit où il faudra l'embarquer. Je ferois curieux de favoir à qui on confiera le commandement de Tarmée combinée de l'Empire, d'Autriche, et de PrufTe. Cette befogne fera très difficile:, mais de l'opinion et des talens de celui à qui ile commandement fera confié, dépendront le fuccès et la célérité de l'entreprife : mais ce qui eft eflTentiel, c'eft le fecrèt fur l'opération qui m'a été propofée : dans tous les cas, je compta vous avoir avec moi, et cela me vaudra dix mille hommes. J'ai requis le plus parfait accord, le calme Je plus entier, et nous avons la plus heureufe récolte : tout cela ne contrariera pas mes vues j mais le tems de la faifon avap.ce, et c'eft le fcul inconvenient que je redoute. J'efpère qa« vous 558 APPENDIX, NO. XVIir. VOUS continuerez à me donner de vos nouvelles, et que vous êtes perfuadé de l'eftime avec laquelle je prie Dieu, Monfieur le Marquis de Bouille, qu'il vous ait dans fa fainte et digne garde. Votre très affectionné, GUSTAVE. No. XVIII. Lettre du Roi de Suide à Monf. le Marquis DE Bouille; ' Stokulm, ce 23 Décembre 1791. ■jyyroNSiEUR le Marquis de Bouille, J'ai reçu ^^ très exadlement toutes les lettres que vous m'avez écrites, et vous ne devez pas douter que je les ai lues avec l'attention que doit infpirer tout ce qui vient d'un homme de votre mérite, et qui roule fur des affaires aux- quelles je prends un intérêt aufTi vif et fincère. Je ne vous cacherai cependant pas qu'il y a une de vos lettres qui m'a furpris autant qu'elle m'a fait de peine j j'avois cru que nous avions fait nos conventions à Aix-la-Chapelle, et qu'en chevalier François, vous y relieriez j le zèle pour votre fouverain infortuné vous ayant fait quitter APPENDIX, NO. XVIir. '559 quitter votre patrie, et vous étant attaché à moi, fon plus ancien allié, et, vous le voyez main- tenant, fon unique et fidèle ami, je devois croire que ce ne feroit que pour lui que vous pouvies me quitter, et que la Suéde étoit devenue votre féconde patrie; mais j'aime à croire que votre attachement à votre fouverain, ce renciment ft noble et fi reTpeétable qui vous diflingue, vous