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 https://archive.org/details/castleoftuilerie01 rous 
 
THE 
 
 CASTLE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 TUILE R IE S: 
 
 OR, 
 
 A NARRATIVE 
 
 OF ALL THE EVENTS WHICH HAVE TAKEN PLACE 
 IN THE INTERIOR OF THAT PALACE, 
 
 FROM THE TIME OF ITS CONSTRUCTION 
 TO THE EIGHTEENTH BRUMAIRE OF THE YEAR V1IL 
 
 I 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH, 
 
 By FRANCIS LATHOM. 
 
 J 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES, 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 L ON DO N: 
 
 PRINTED FOR T. N. LONGMAN AND O. REES, PATER- 
 
 NOSTER-ROW. 
 
 i 8 ot 
 
 tar 
 
« 
 
 
 v 
 
 
 
 
 {Printed by A. Strahan, ' 
 Printers-Street, London. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE AUTHOR’S PREFACE, 
 
 r-r-i 
 
 1 he hiftory of the French Revolution is 
 to authors like a great tree divided amongft 
 feveral workmen. One turns his lot into 
 figures, another into furniture. Thus one 
 author extracts from this hiftory memoirs, * 
 or tra&s, whilft another compofes from it 
 poems, or a collection of anecdotes. From 
 the lot which has fallen to my fhare I have 
 ventured to make this book. 
 
 As the greateft part of the faCts and 
 anecdotes related in it happened in the 
 caftie of the Tuileries, the name of this 
 edifice naturally ftruck me as being the beft 
 
 title for my work. I know, that after 
 having written a book, it is not fufficient 
 to give it a fingular and ftriking name, but 
 that this name ought to inform the reader 
 
 A 2 
 
 in 
 
I 
 
 iv THE AUTHOR^ PREFACE. 
 
 in fame meafure of the talk which the 
 author has undertaken to fulfil, and that 
 the author ought not to belie the title, by 
 the contents of his book. That I have at¬ 
 tained both thefe ends, I am bold enough 
 to believe. 
 
 The vifit of Lord Bedfort * to theTui- 
 leries, after the ioth of Auguft, is not the 
 work of imagination, as it may be thought. 
 It is the exa£t truth, which can be attefled 
 by the Citizen Chardin, a bookfeller who 
 correfponds with him, and by thofe per- 
 
 fons who at that time compofed the com- 
 miffion of the furniture of this palace, and 
 who are ftill alive. The greateft part of 
 them can vouch for my Lord having ex¬ 
 amined every thing with the molt fcrupu- 
 lous attention, alking many queftions, and 
 taking down notes of all. The only devia¬ 
 tion from the truth which I have allowed 
 myfelf, is, to have interrupted, by walks 
 about Paris, the Duke’s vifits to the palace, 
 which were fucceffive. I have made ufe of 
 
 * See a note upon the Contents of Chap. iv. 
 
 this 
 
 BBC 
 
 Net* 
 
THE AUTHOR’S PREFACE. V 
 
 this erration merely to avoid monotony, and 
 to throw fome variety into my narrative. 
 
 Whilft fitting at my defk, I have feen 
 Griticifm ftanding behind my chair, and 
 following with her eye every line I write; 
 £he muft have made a charming harveft. 
 
 I hear her reproaching me with want of 
 refpedft to fociety, in tearing the mafic from 
 the follies and conduct of certain indivi¬ 
 duals. My book is my excufe. Whoever 
 undertakes to write hiftorical fa£ts, with¬ 
 out the vanity of fuppofing that they will 
 defcend to pofteritv, muft, if they do, ap¬ 
 pear before that pofterity as an accufed 
 man before his judge. If he keeps back 
 the truth, a thoufand witneffes of it appear 
 againft him; and as an author owes 
 more regard to truth than to man, to 
 pofterity than to his cotemporaries, he 
 ought to have the courage to fpeak out. 
 Moreover, what is palled over in filence, 
 from fear, from delicacy, or from neceflity, 
 is generally what it is moft important to 
 divulge. If thofe whom I mention 
 
 here 
 
VI THE AUTHOR’S PREFACE. 
 
 here fhould raife their voice in complaints 
 againft me, I tell them my anfwer before-* 
 hand; “ In deviating from the high road 
 of virtue and honour, you have broken 
 through all focial bonds, and have thus re¬ 
 nounced all right to thofe confiderations 
 which they demand.” 
 
 Criticifm may with juftice attack the 
 ilyle of this work : and as I do not lay 
 claim to any literary elegance, it is at li¬ 
 berty fo to do ; I will not even call in as 
 an excufe for myfelf other works of a fi- 
 milar kind, amongft which I (hould hardly 
 
 know where to choofe ; but they are thofe 
 neverthelefs which have emboldened me* 
 Without their example, and without hav¬ 
 ing witnefTed the favourable reception they 
 have met with in the world, I fhould ne¬ 
 ver have felt bold enough to expofe myfelf 
 to public cenfure. 
 
 Provided I hear my reader fay, “ I have 
 found in this book, 4 which it is impojfiblc 
 to ready fome curious fadts, and amufing 
 
 paffage^ 
 
THE AUTHOR’S PREFACE. Vii 
 
 paflages, I fhall eafily con foie myfelf for 
 not being able to compofe books, 4 fo ex¬ 
 cellently written ,’ that you can find nothing 
 in them to be pleafed with, and fo mufi 
 fall afleep over them,” 
 
 r 
 
 CON- 
 
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 ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
.CONTENT S. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Its Origin.—By whom built.—Prom whence its Name was 
 derived.—Its Enlargement under Louis XIV. — The Style of 
 its Architecture.—Its Garden under Catherine of Medicis — 
 laid out differently to the prefent one.—“The firft Fete given in 
 this Palace, on the Marriage of the King of Navarre with 
 Catharine de Valois.—A pantomimic Engagement between. 
 Angels and Devils reprefenled at it.—A Defcription of that 
 Fete.—Its concealed Defgn .— Catherine of Medicis from 
 Superfition refufes any longer to inhabit the Fullerics. Page I 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 RefJence of Louis XlV. at the Palace of the Fuileries .— 
 Louis XV. inhabits it during his Minority.—Peter the Firf 
 vifits the Infant King there. — Fhe Regent caufes a Bed of 
 Jif ice to be held there.—Fhe Palace is left under the Care 
 of a Governor. — Under what Police it was governed. Ad¬ 
 ventures and Anecdotes which have paffed in its Gardens . l6 
 
 CHAP. in. 
 
 Lows the XVI. is forced away from his Palace at Verf allies 
 with his Family .— Fhey are conducted to the Fuileries.—State 
 oj this Palace on their Arrival there.—Difribution of the 
 Chambers to each Individual.—Defcription of thofe ajfgned 
 to the King and his Family .• -- Account of the Garden of the 
 Dauphin.—Fhe King makes a Change in his Habits. — His 
 new Occupations. — Anecdotes .— Upon the 2 Gth of June 1792, 
 and upon the Confederation in 1790.— Fhe King melts fame 
 Silver. — Fhe Ufe he makes of his Ingots —'Journey to Fa¬ 
 re tines . — The Vyteen goes to the Opera.—A Centinel prevents 
 the King leaving his Apartment. — Account, and Anecdotes of 
 the King y s Corf itutional Guard. 44. 
 
 YOL. J, a 
 
3C 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Lord Bedfort pays a Vijit to the Tuileries.—Similarity let ween, 
 the Misfortunes of Charles the Firjl, and thofe of Louis XI I. 
 
 •—State of the Interior of the Pavilion of Medicis.—Account 
 of the Robberies committed upon it. — Fate of the Sceptre , and 
 the Royal Crown.—The Republic proclaimed from the lurni - 
 ture of the Crown. — Search after fome Papers in a fpot 
 mentioned by Marat. — The platonic Amours of Eugene and 
 Adelaide. — Facts hitherto unknown about the Departure of the 
 King’s Aunts. Tage 87 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 yffhert View of the Character of all Clcffes of Society before the 
 Revolution.—Its Origin. — Caufs of its fo fallen D eve • ope- 
 ment. —Different Anecdotes about MAJherbes , Turgot, and 
 Keeker.—Keeker propofes to Louis XVI. to place a Roue 
 at the Head of the Finance. — Caufe of the Difcha ge of 
 Sertines, and the Nomination of Cajlries . - Quarrels between 
 Calonne and Keeker. — The different Means employed by the 
 latter to get into Place again.—his Letters to Louis XVI.— 
 Obfervations on the loth of Augujl.—Coup d’ceiloj the Palace 
 of the Tuileries after the Irruption into it. I 1 6 
 
 CHAP. VI, 
 
 Dflnruah.ee produced in the Coffcc-houfe of de Foe by an Agent, 
 of Orleans. — Portrait of this Man.—I if it to the Ground Iloor 
 of the Palace , on the Side of the Court. — Rencontre with the 
 MiniflerRolland; his Fears. — Private Anecdotes oj this Mini - 
 fer. ~ Amours oj' his Wife. — Means employed by her to keep him 
 out ofher WayThe Wine of the Emigrants drunhby the Mini-. 
 Jlers .— Pillage of the Palace by the Members oj the Commune. 
 —Manner oj emptying the Secretaries. — Dfcovery of the 
 gilt bervice of Plate ufed in the King’s Chapel ; — Place where 
 it was concealed .— Political and amorous Correfporulence be¬ 
 tween a Lady of the Court and a Bi/hop.—llijlurical .anec¬ 
 dotes. 
 
CHAP. VII. 
 
 A Fft to the Coffee-houfes .— 'Their Phyfognorny.—Perfdious 
 Invention of a A e wfpaper Adit or — An extraordinary Stra¬ 
 tagem ufed to avoid the Projection.—Republican Baptijm . 
 — The walking Orator . — Origin of the Word Sans Culotte .—■ 
 Tumultuous Sitting of the National Conversion —Origin of the 
 Word Infur recti on. -— Dinner, where they fabricate different 
 Motions .— Cabal at which the ffucflion was difcuffed of 
 eftablifhing a Republic in France.—Afhort Rev, if on of ancient 
 and modern Republics.—Anecdotes about the Theft of the 
 Jewels of the Crown—and of different Deputies.—Affembly 
 of Fes Cordeliers.- Affembly of the Jacobins.—Near Refem• 
 blance of the Cordeliers fupported by Orleans, and the Red- 
 brothers protected by Cromwell. Page 22 1 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 Fifd to the Ground Floor of the Palace of the. Tuileries on the 
 Side next the Garden. —Examination of the King's private 
 Cabinet.—His Lift of private Charities. —By whon) diflri- 
 buted. — His open Account with the fhicen. — Other Expences 
 entered in the fame Book. — A Regifler in which Louis NFL 
 wrote every 7 rarfaction of each Day of his L ife from the Age 
 of fourteen. — 7 he King's Boudoir, and what Ufe he made of 
 it. —His Books of Devotion in which he had written fame 
 Prayers of his own Compofition .— The King's Tools for 
 Smith's IVcrk. — His Labours in this IVay. — Pun foment of one 
 of the Pilferers of the Tuileries .— The King's Work Jhop — 
 Anecdotes of the Prefdcnt DAI tig re and Rouffeau. — Anecdotes 
 about the Mournings , the Ce emonies of the Court, the Nobility, 
 the Iron Muff, the Wife of Louis XF., the King of Poland her 
 Father, and the Marchionefs of Pompadour. — Louis XF Ids 
 Manner of Working.—Anecdote of CGlide, and Conti. - The 
 King accufes Monjieur of Impertinence ; upon what Account ; 
 Cauje of the Coolnefs between the brothers. Plans for Refo • 
 ration prefented to the King by Mqntmorin.—Anecdotes of that 
 Minfer. 277 
 
}* 
 
 311 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 Precautions talcn by the Court at the Time of regtflering the Edicts 
 of May 1788 .—The Spies privately fcm by it to the Parlia¬ 
 ments.—Who are the firjl that demand the double Reprefentation 
 of the Tiers-Etat .— Erection of a Bulletin for the King alone .— 
 It ceafes to be made at the Departure of Monlmorin. — Letter of 
 Barentin to the King , upon the Bills of Grievances , one of which 
 requires the Supprejfon of the Nobility.—The Advice given to 
 the King.—Nevfpapers commanded by the King to be ijfued .— 
 Who were the Editors of the Papers on both Sides.—Predictions 
 made to Louis XVI. of his Fall, and of that of the Throne .— 
 Defpotifm of the Minijler Roll and. — Dif covery of the Ihieen s 
 Diamonds. —Sale of the King*s Wardrobe . — Form of deliver¬ 
 ing out the Effects of the Tuileries after the 10 th of Augujl. 
 
 Page S 3 1 
 
 THE 
 
THE 
 
 CASTLE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 TUILERIES. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 its Origin.—By 'whom built. — From 'whence its Name was de¬ 
 rived.—Its Enlargement under Fouls XIV. — The Style of 
 its Architecture.—Its Garden under Catherine of Medicis — 
 laid out differently to the prefent one.—The ffrjl Fete given in 
 this Palace, on the Marriage of the King of Navarre with Ca¬ 
 therine de Valois.—A pantomimic Engagement between Angels 
 and Devils reprefented at it.—A Defcription of that Fete .— 
 Its concealed Dffgn.—Catherine of Medicis from Superjlition 
 refufes any longer to inhabit the Tuileries. 
 
 Charles the Ninth wore the crown* and Ca¬ 
 therine of Medicis, his mother, reigned, at the 
 time the palace of the Tuileries was built. Paris 
 did not then contain within its boundaries that 
 part of it which is at the prefent day fo much ad¬ 
 mired : it then confided only of fome woods and 
 a few fcattered habitations. On the very fpot, 
 vol, io e where 
 
2 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 where this palace, now fo celebrated, ftands, was 
 then a tile manufa&ory. Catherine, who wifhed 
 to enlarge Paris on that fide, vifited this place; the 
 fituation pleafed her, and fhe refolved to build 
 there what fhe herfelf called L’Hotellerie 
 Royale, and what is now known by the name of 
 the Tuileries *. 
 
 * 
 
 The two mofl able French architects, Phile- 
 bert de Lorme, and Jean Bulau, were employed 
 
 * In 1566, were begun the walls of this inclofure, which 
 \vas marked out under the name of La Porte veuve. On 
 the 12th of July in the fame year, the firlt Hone was laid in 
 the prefence of the king and his mother. Under the firft 
 Hone, fays Dubreul in his antiquities, are buried fome pieces 
 of filver gilt, weighing about three /(/Ions *, bearing on one 
 fide the profile of the king, with this infeription ; Carolus 
 tionus GaUiarum rex Chr\Jltantjffimus : and on the other, that 
 of the queen, his mother, with thefe words ; Catherina regina , 
 Henrici fecuvdi uxor, Francifct et Car oh regum mater. And 
 upon the Hone was cut ; 1). Catherine regina, R. R. mater, 
 anno Chrifti 1556. 
 
 Saint Foix has made a remark worth noticing upon the 
 name of this place. The moft beautiful garden of Athens, 
 fays he, was called the Tuileries, or the Ccramique, becaufe 
 it was planted, like ours, upon a fpot of ground, where tiles 
 had heretofore been made. Ceramiquc comes from Kerami - 
 ios, which means a tile-kiln. 
 
 * Teflon was a piece of money worth twenty-two (Tous. 7 here were 
 fome of lefs value, Thofe of Metz were worth twenty fous, and thofe of 
 Lorraine and Strafoourg palled only f or twelve gH>s, that is to fay, about 
 twelve fous of cur coin. 
 
 to 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 to draw out the plan, which they prefented in 
 1564. And about the end of May in the fame 
 year, the work was begun. 
 
 This palace confided then only of the lofty 
 pavillion in the centre, the two flat-roofed 
 ranges of apartments on the Tides; and the two 
 adjoining pavillions, which at the prefent day are 
 fcarcely noticed. The large pavillion, by no 
 means fo elevated as it now is, appears to have 
 been the only part of the building which exer- 
 cifed the genius of the fird archite&s. In the 
 columns which adorn it, they have united the 
 Ionian and Corinthian orders. The columns 
 of the fil'd order are ornamented with bands of 
 various fculpture cut in marble; on the fide 
 next to the garden only, thefe fame orders are of 
 done. 
 
 Such was at its origin the palace of the Tui- 
 leries. I will not put my readers out of humour 
 by unentertaining details of the changes, augmen¬ 
 tations, and embellifliments which were made 
 by Henry IV. * and Louis XIII. I fliall content 
 myfelf with remarking that in 1664, exactly one 
 
 * Henry IV. completed the grand front, upon which is en¬ 
 graved this inicription : Perennitati inviciljjhni principls dc 
 hello et pace triumph antis . 
 
 B 2 
 
 century 
 
4 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 century after its ere&ion, Louis the Fourteenth 
 employed the architect Louis Levau to enlarge 
 it to the fize of which we now fee it : at that 
 time were added the two pavillions which form 
 the wings, and they were joined to the former 
 ones by the fide apartments; which now renders 
 the whole a continued building. Levau was 
 obliged to raife the pavillioh in the centre 
 that it might correfpond with the reft of the 
 work. It was he who added the third order 
 of architecture, with an attic. Thefe alter¬ 
 ations neceffarily deftroyed thofe proportions 
 which the connoiffeurs fo rigidly demand; 
 but notwithftanding this defeft, which the 
 very minute examiners of this edifice re¬ 
 proach it with, they are neverthelefs agreed that 
 next to the Louvre, the palace of the Tuileries 
 is the moft beautiful ftruflure in Europe ; and 
 although there are different opinions about the 
 architecture, they are equally agreed in admiring 
 the grand coup cToetl which this building prefents. 
 If there is any thing that fhocks the eye, it is that 
 raifed building which the Convention have caufed 
 to be erected on the centre pavillion, under the 
 foolifh idea of eftablifhing a telegraph there; 
 and I cannot imagine, why, on renouncing their 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 5 
 
 defign, they did not caufe this ufelefs piece"of 
 wood-work to be pulled down* 
 
 The palate of the Tuileries prefents an edifice 
 of an hundred and fixty-eight toifes * and three 
 feet in length ; compofcd of four knots of apart¬ 
 ments, and five pavillions, the whole connected 
 together. The infide is not remarkable for any 
 particular archite&ure; moreover, every mo¬ 
 narch who has inhabited it, has made fo many 
 changes in it, that the diftribution of the building 
 is entirely different to that laid out by its fir ft: 
 archite&s. 
 
 Catherine of Medicis joined to this palace a 
 garden, which extended as far as the Louvre f ; 
 
 in 
 
 * Toife, fix feet ; a fathom. 
 
 f This requires fome explanation. This garden, as 
 Well as the palace of the Tuileries, was at that time out 
 of Paris. On this fide, the wall of the inclofure ran along 
 what is now la rue Saint Nicaife , having at one end, la porte 
 Saint Honor e, and at the other la parte Neuve, and placed 
 between the fir ft and fecond entrances to the gallery of the 
 Louvre. L y El 0 lie and Cay el agree in their account that in 
 1588, Henry III. being threatened in the Louvre by 
 the people, thefludents, and the monks, who w'ere affembled 
 in a body to feize his perfon, efcaped fectetly from Paris by 
 la porte A T euve, entered his palace of the Tuileries, had hit 
 horfe infUntly faddled for him, and, followed by fome faith¬ 
 ful fervants, departed, promifing not to re enter Paris ex¬ 
 cept by a breach. SauVal fays that Henry IV. built the 
 
 u 3 gallery 
 
6 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 in the middle of this was dug a pond, always 
 filled with fifh which fupplied the table of the 
 court. She herfeif, and Charles IX. her fon, 
 often amufed themfelves with fifhing in it. When 
 Louis XIV. enlarged the palace, he metamor- 
 phofed this garden to that immenfe plain on 
 which he gave the famous tournament, which 
 affembled together knights from every quarter of 
 Europe. Here I might take an opportunity to 
 give a defcription of this fumptuous fete, to tell 
 of the valour of the combatants, the fplendour of 
 the ladies, and the loves of both ; but I hear my 
 readers begging for mercy, and I am filent. 
 
 Louis XIV. employed the celebrated Le 
 Notre to plan him out this garden, which is fo 
 juftly admired by^ftrangers Notwithflanding 
 the uneVennefs of the ground, he laid out this 
 mader-piece which is beautifying every day. I 
 fhall not enter into any detail of the ingenious 
 difpofition of this garden, nor of the beauties 
 which it contains; they have been fufficiently de¬ 
 
 gallery of the Louvre, and the entrances, in order that he 
 might be at the fame time in, and out of, Paris. His delign 
 was to have continued it up to the Tuileries as we fee it 
 at the prefent day. 
 
 * The garden of the Tuileries, comprehends a fpace of 
 ground> of 3Co toifes in length, and 168 in breadth. 
 
 feribed 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. J 
 
 fcrihed already. Thofe who wlOi for an explana¬ 
 tion of the fculpture which it is adorned with, may 
 confuit the work of Millin which is entirely 
 dedicated to that fubject. I have only intended 
 to give a brief account of this fpot, fo fatal to 
 Frenchmen, before I enter upon the detail of 
 thofe intrigues and cabals, which are interwoven 
 with it. Moreover in the work which is going 
 to be offered to the reader, I (hall be fo drongly 
 compelled to point out particular fpots and 
 fituations, that he may in forne meafure learn 
 the mod minute account of the didribution 
 of the palace ; every apartment, every win¬ 
 dow, having been the witnefs of fome particular 
 event. 
 
 Scarcely was the palace of the Tuileries com¬ 
 pleted, before Catherine of Medicis clofeted her- 
 felf with the cardinal of Lorraine, and fome 
 other confpirators, to plot the horrible mafiacre 
 of that portion of Frenchmen, whole tenets of¬ 
 fended the mondrous power of the popes, and 
 
 whofe fpirit of independence alarmed the defpo- 
 tifm of the kings. Catherine and the prelate 
 conceived the dehgn of pointing out their 
 viclims to their murderers ; and that their plan 
 might fucceed, it was agreed to give a fete upon 
 
 3 4 the 
 
s 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 the marriage of Marguerite of Valois with the 
 king of Navarre, afterwards Henry IV. The 
 palace of the Tuilcries was chofen for the occa- 
 fion, and there was reprefented a fpeflacle de- 
 fcribing a combat between the inhabitants of 
 paradife and thofe of hell. The artifice was fo 
 coarfely woven, that they feledted for the inhabi¬ 
 tants of hell, all the Huguenots, at the head of 
 whom was placed the king of Navarre * ; and 
 to defend paradife, the papifts, commanded by 
 Charles IX. and his brothers. It appeared, 
 however, that notwithdanding this marked 
 uidindtion of men of different opinions, the 
 Huguenots had not a fufpicion of the 
 maffacre under which they fufTered four days 
 after. 
 
 If aimed all the authors who have written 
 upon this epoch of our hiftory, have fpoken but 
 fuperficially of this fete, which may be confidered 
 as the awful forerunner of the maffacre of St, 
 .Bartholemew, it ought not to excite furprife. 
 The invention of it was fo horrid a barbarity, 
 
 * It is well known that Henry IV. was marked out bv 
 Catherine of Medicis as one of the victims of St. Bartholo¬ 
 mew ; that his murderers were in purfuit of him, and that 
 he efcaped from them almolt by a miracle. 
 
 that 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 9 
 
 that in detailing its fads the hiftorian would find 
 himfelf under the neceility of making dreadful 
 reflections upon the inventor of it, and of devo¬ 
 ting her to the execration of poflerity. But as 
 this pantomime was entirely derived from the 
 imagination of Catherine of Medicis, an author 
 would have been expofing himfelf ufelefsly to 
 danger, fince he could not remedy the evil. It 
 fignifies little to fay that Catherine was dead, and 
 confequently he would have had nothing to 
 fear. If Catherine, Charles IX., and all thofe 
 who were parties concerned in this maflacrc, 
 were indeed no more at the time when a hifto¬ 
 rian might happen to take up his pen to defcribe 
 this mad event, they had left behind them rela¬ 
 tions, and above all a fucceflbr to the throne, 
 who would take good care that too flrong a re¬ 
 proach fhould not be laid upon their memory. 
 A king always wifhes, it is true, to be better 
 fpoken of, and better written of than his prede- 
 ceflor ; he has no objection to feeing the faults 
 of aforegoing reign animadverted upon, but at 
 the fame time he punifhes any one who ventures 
 to unfold without delicacy the crimes of the mo¬ 
 narch to whom he fucceeds. This conduct is a 
 great prop to the honour of the crown ; and from 
 
 the 
 
IO THE CASTLE 
 
 the advantages which crowned heads derive from 
 it, about a century generally elapfes before any 
 author dares to write the whole truth of a mo¬ 
 narch’s life. In the courfe of that century, 
 fome hired flatterer publifhes a falfe account; 
 thofe who had witnefled the truth are filent from 
 fear, (for few are the filent from choice,) they 
 die, and all proof fades under the withering hand 
 of time. The hiflorian of after date finds with 
 difficulty, and after many laborious refearches, 
 a few fhreds of matter from which he can collect 
 for publication only fome patch-work anecdotes 
 for his hiflory ; this was the cafe amongft many 
 others with Mezeray # and Pafquien. This is 
 without doubt the reafon of the filence of almoft 
 ■all hiftorians upon the particulars of the fete of 
 which we are fpeaking. We have, however, 
 met with one who has given us a full defcription 
 of it. Thefe are his words f : 
 
 * Mezeray fays fcarcely a word about this fete. “ A 
 grand ballet was given where it was impollible to miftake, 
 the prophecy, as it were, of the miferies which were about 
 to overwhelm the Huguenots ; in this fpedtacle the king and 
 his brothers defended paradife again It the king of Na¬ 
 varre and his party, who were repulfed, and driven into 
 hell.” 
 
 •j* See Memoirs of the State of France, under Charles IX. 
 torn. i. p. *62. 
 
 “ FirtV 
 
OF the tuileries. 
 
 1f 
 
 “ Fir0: of all, in the before-mentioned faloon, 
 on the right hand, was feen paradife, the en¬ 
 trance to which was guarded by three knights 
 armed cap a-pee ; thefe were Charles IX. and 
 his brothers. On the left hand was hell, in 
 which were a great number of devils, and little 
 devils, playing an infinity of monkey tricks, and 
 making a great noife, with turning round a 
 great wheel, which was placed in this hell, and 
 huno: about with bells. Paradife and hell were 
 feparated by a river, running between them, in 
 which was a little boat, rowed by Charon, the 
 ferrvman of hell. At one end of the faloon* 
 behind paradife, were the Elyfian fields de¬ 
 ferred by a garden, rich in verdure and every 
 
 kind of flower; over this appeared the empy¬ 
 rean, reprefented by a large circle bearing the 
 twelve figns of the zodiac, the feven planets, 
 and an infinite number of lefler flars, which be¬ 
 ing tranfparent, threw out a great brilliancy of 
 light, by means of lamps and torches, which 
 were artfully placed behind them. The circle was 
 in continual motion, caufing the garden alfo to 
 move round, in which were feen twelve nymphs, 
 mod richly habited. Wandering about the 
 faloon were feveral parties of knights, (men of 
 
 i i rank, 
 
12 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 rank, exprefsly chofen of the proteftant religion)' 
 they were armed cap-a-pee, dreffed in various 
 orders, and headed by their princes (the king 
 of Navarre and the prince of Condej, all of 
 whom endeavouring to arrive at paradife, in 
 order that they might afterwards be admitted to 
 the nymphs in the garden, were driven off by 
 the three knights who guarded the entrance; 
 thefe one after the other prefent'ed themfelves 
 at the lifts, and having broken a fpear with 
 their affailants, and fought a round of the broad 
 fword, fent them back towards hell, into which 
 the devils and little devils then dragged them. 
 This form of combat Lifted, till all the wander¬ 
 ing knights had been encountered, and dragged 
 one by one into hell, which was then {hut and 
 locked up. An inflant after, Mercury and 
 Cupid defcended from heaven upon a cock ; 
 the Mercury was that renowned finger, Etienne 
 Le Roi; and, having reached the ground, he came 
 and prefented himfelf to the three knights, and 
 after a melodious fong, he made them a fpeech, 
 and then returned to heaven upon his bird, Ting¬ 
 ing all the time. Then the three knights rofe 
 from their feats, croffed paradife, went into the 
 Elyfian fields, and brought out into the middle 
 
 of 
 
OF THE TUTLERIES. 
 
 *3 
 
 of the faloon the twelve nymphs, who there 
 danced a ballet of numerous changes, which 
 lafted full an hour. The dance being finifhed, 
 the knights who had been confined in hell were 
 let out, and a general combat, and the breaking 
 of lances began. The combat being ended, 
 fire was fet to fome trains of powder, which were 
 laid round a fountain erected in the middle of the 
 faloon, from whence arofe immediately fo great 
 a noife and fmoak, as obliged every body to 
 retire. Such were the amufements of that day, 
 from which it may be eafily conjedhired what 
 were the thoughts of the king, and of the 
 fecret council, during the performance of this 
 deludon.” 
 
 It was only three days before the maffacre of 
 St. Bartholemew, that this fete was given; the 
 knights confined in hell were all Huguenots, 
 while thofe three who guarded paradife were 
 Roman-Catholics. Catherine, the abominable 
 Catherine, fele&ed them herfelf. Who then can 
 now doubt that this fete was given by her in 
 order to inftrudl or at leaf! to prepare her fon 
 Charles IX. for taking a part in the maflacre, in 
 which he certainly did become an aclor ? Are 
 we not almoft compelled to believe that we fee 
 
 this 
 
14 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 this female monfler fmiling at the defeat of her 
 victims, and drinking, by anticipation, of their 
 blood ? 
 
 Notwithflanding all the horror which the foie 
 remembrance of this event infpires, there have 
 not only been found men who have wifhed to 
 frame excufes for it, but who have even ventured 
 to make apologies for it. It is true that in our days 
 we have feen beings fufficiently daring to maintain 
 the neceffity of a m a fiacre in the prifons \ we 
 can thence only conclude that fanaticifm is 
 the fame in every age. That monfler is the 
 only one which the torch of reafon cannot en- 
 lighten. 
 
 A fhort time after this fcene of horror Ca¬ 
 therine of Medicis left the palace of the 
 
 Tuileries becaufe it was in the parifh of Saint 
 
 \ 
 
 Germain L’Auxerrois; of which Hep this was 
 the motive : Catherine was very fuperflitious, 
 fhe believed in predictions, , and dabbled much 
 in that kind of aftrology which is fuppofed to lead 
 to the difclofure of human events. During her 
 life-time, all the conjurers and necromancers 
 were encouraged and entertained by her. One 
 of tbefe predicted to her that fhe would 
 die near Saint Germain. Struck by this 
 
 prey 
 
OF THE TU1LERIES. 
 
 1 5 
 
 prediction, fine immediately avoided every thing 
 that bore that name; and it was from that 
 time that Hie inhabited I’Hotel Soiffons, of 
 which there now remains only the high tower 
 from which fhe ufed to confult the flars. 
 Chance, however, accomplifhed the predic¬ 
 tion, and placed on the higheft pinnacle of 
 fame the reputation of him who had made it 
 The confelfor who attended her bedfide in her 
 dying moments was named Laurent de Saint 
 Germain : Thus, in fpite of her precautions, fhe 
 died near Saint Germain. 
 
 * His name was Cofme Ruggieri, and he was a native 
 of Florence. He was the molt famous altrologer of thofe 
 days. 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Ref dense of Louis XIV. at the Palaee of the Tuiltrics . —* 
 Louis XV. Inhabits it during his Minority. —Peter the Firjt 
 vi/its the Infant King there.— The Regent caufes a Bed of 
 ffnjlice to be held there.—The Palace is left under the Care 
 of a Governor .— Under what Police it was governed. — Ad~ 
 ventures and Anecdotes which have faffed in its Gardens , 
 
 The palace of the Tuilerles and that of the 
 Louvre ferved alternately as abodes to the kings 
 of France, till Louis XIV. built that of Verfailles. 
 This monarch, who had conquered all Europe 
 united againft him, wanted to conquer nature 
 herfelf. Of all other fituations in the environs 
 of Paris, that of Verfailles was without difpute 
 the moft wild and difagreeable. Its dry and flony 
 foil produced nothing in the vigour of perfe&ion ; 
 nothing was to be found upon its face but un- 
 wholefome marlhes, and trees Him and decrepid. 
 The proud and centuary oak vegetated there, 
 but its towering top never refrelhed itfelf in the 
 clouds. If a few miferable beings are excepted, 
 whofe hutsftood at a long diftance fromeach other. 
 
 not 
 
I 
 
 OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 *7 
 
 not a Tingle fign of population was to be feen on 
 this unfertile and wild trad of ground; and the 
 traveller who happened to wander into this uncul¬ 
 tivated fpot, in dead of thinking himfelf in the 
 neighbourhood of the firffc city of France, mull 
 have thought that he was in a land feveral hun- 
 dred leagues apart from the habitable globe. 
 
 This, however, was the fpot fixed upon by 
 Louis XIV. and which he preferred to the de¬ 
 lights of Paris. As fome men think that a king 
 never does any thing from caprice, but that all 
 his determinations have fome politic end in view, 
 much pains were taken to find out this 
 prince’s motive for this change of refidence. 
 iC It is that he may not always be compelled to 
 live in Hate and form,” faid one. 56 It is that 
 he may be more at liberty with his midreffes,” 
 remarked another, &c. At the prefent day we 
 are acquainted with one of thofe fcribblers of 
 paper, who calls himfelf an hidorian who mod 
 ferioufly affures us, that the real motive which 
 determined this prince to build and inhabit 
 Verfailles, was in order to withdraw himfelf from 
 the ferutinizing obfervation of foreign ambafia- 
 dors, and to render it more difficult to them to 
 vol. 1. c gain 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 gain a knowledge of his employments, and his 
 proje&s. 
 
 If it was any one of thefe motives which im¬ 
 pelled Louis XIV. to quit Paris, what occafion 
 had he to build at a great expence the fumptu- 
 ous palace of Verfailles ? Could not he have 
 retired to Vincennes, to Saint Germain, to 
 Marly, to Meudon, to Fontainbleau, &c. &c. ? 
 Certainly none of thofe views which the world 
 have affigned to his conduct were very great, 
 caufes of impatience to him fmce he waited all 
 the vears which it took him to build Verfailles, 
 to fulfil them. Louis XIV. in building Verfailles 
 appears to me nothing more than the proud mo¬ 
 narch labouring to render himfelf immortal in 
 more ways than one. Not content with that 
 place in hiflory which his warlike reign had 
 marked out for him, he wanted the arts to aflign 
 him another ; and to this end he built monu¬ 
 ments, palaces, &c. With the exception of Les 
 Invalides , every thing elfe which he ere&ed, 
 only gives the idea of an infatiable defire for 
 being talked of after his death. What confirms 
 me in this opinion is, that you muft feek in vain 
 to find any thing which he has done for the 
 healthinefs of Paris, for the accommodation of 
 
 its 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 *9 
 
 its Inhabitants, or for the comfort of the needy. 
 Did he complete the Louvre, which fo heavily 
 complains at this day of the forgetfulnefs of its 
 four lafl kings ? He added the colonade, and 
 left the building imperfect. For two centuries 
 it had been in agitation to remove the fick to a 
 more convenient hofpital $ and* (till he kept the 
 Hotel-Dieu always (hut up in the fame quarter of 
 the town. The filth which necefiarily comes 
 from the hofpital even now infefts the air which 
 the Parifians breath, and putrifies the water 
 which they drink; but if he had only improved, 
 he was undoubtedly afraid, that the founder 
 alone (hould be thought of, while in building he 
 was fure that he (hould be talked of himfelf. 
 
 lb 
 
 In all ages the chara&er of man has been the 
 fame ; whilft the fimple individual feeks honours 
 and riches, the prince hunts after glory and immor¬ 
 tality ; and while we fee the prince laughing at 
 the ambition of the fubjedt, the latter fneers at 
 the pride of the prince. 
 
 From the time that Louis XIV. appointed 
 Verfailles the abode of his fucceffors, the palace 
 of the Tuileries had no other oftenfible mafter 
 
 than a governor, and no other inhabitants than 
 a few artifls and fome individuals of the court, 
 
 to 
 
 C 2 
 
20 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 to whom the king granted a refidence there, 
 either from motives of remuneration or benevo¬ 
 lence. Louis XV., however, inhabited this 
 palace during his minority, on his return from 
 Vincennes, whither the phyficians of Paris had 
 fent him for his health. The regent chofe this 
 habitation for the fake of his pleafures; the 
 
 capital affording him a greater variety than 
 Verfailles. It is quite foreign to my fubjedt to 
 
 fpeak of the orgies of the Palais Royale, and 
 the bacchanalian revels of Luxembourg, at the 
 head of which were the duke of Orleans, and 
 the duchefs de Berry his daughter. For infor¬ 
 mation on this point the Memoires of Duclos 
 may be confulted. 
 
 It was alfo in the Tuileries, during the mino¬ 
 rity of Louis XV. that czar Peter vifited this 
 young king. Arriving in the court yard of the 
 palace, early in the morning on the eleventh of 
 May, the royal child went out into the veftibule 
 to receive him as he defcended from his carriage ; 
 Peter perceiving this, without troubling himfelf 
 about the ceremony of the bufinefs, fprang from, 
 his carriage, took up the king in his arms, 
 and thus went up the fteps. On arriving in the 
 
 apart- 
 
 4 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 21 
 
 apartments, he fet him on the ground, and held 
 hirn by the hand. 
 
 Some time after this, the regent held in this 
 palace, the famous bed of juftice, which crufhed 
 the ridiculous pretenfions of the duke of Maine, 
 and of all the princes who had been legitimated, 
 and which humbled the encroaching pride of the 
 parliament of Paris. In 1722, the court quitted 
 Paris to eftablifh itfelf at Verfailles; which it 
 did not leave till 17 89. The caufe of its leav¬ 
 ing the palace of the Tuileries was the altercation 
 about the choice of a confeiTor for the king. 
 Phillip V., feated on his throne, in Spain, afferted 
 that Louis XV. ought to be confefied by a 
 Jefuit; and he maintained through the vicious 
 cardinal Dubois, that it was one of the articles 
 of the laft treaty of peace between France and 
 Spain ; which was entirely a falfe affertion 
 In vain did Noailles, Vilieroi, and other men 
 of rank offer an oppofition ; the jefuit Linieres 
 was appointed to the office; and to cut fhort all 
 difficulties, the regent who only law with the 
 eyes of Dubois, removed the king and the court 
 to Verfailles, and from thence had the child car¬ 
 ried, crowned, to Saint-Cyr, to be conieffed. 
 
 * See the Memoires of Duclos, tom. II. p< 191. 
 
 c 3 ' He 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 22 
 
 Pie came back thither no more, except to hold 
 fome beds of juflice, merely for the fake of 
 form, and always entirely ufelefs ; or to pafs 
 ^ couple of days in returning from his cairn 
 paigns. 
 
 With the exception of certain apartments fet 
 afide to receive the king on his journey to Paris, 
 the whole palace was occupied promifcuoully 
 by perfons of all ranks, from the ftable-boy up 
 to the governor. The latter had the fuper- 
 intendance of the police, not only of the palace, 
 but alfo of |its boundaries, and of its gardens. 
 Whatever happened in them, it was to him to 
 whom reference was made. If any thieves, or 
 women of the town were taken up in them, 
 they were carried before him, and he palled 
 judgment upon them. Voluminous regifters 
 were filled with the names and adventures of 
 thofe who were taken up. We have had the 
 courageous patience to read with attention thefe 
 infipid folios ; and if we have yawned at the 
 wearying repetitions of thefts of pocket-handker¬ 
 chiefs, and watches; the indecent allurements 
 of females devoid of fhame ; and the no&urnal 
 and abominable pleafures of Parifian libertines; 
 we have been recompenfed by fome new and 
 
 pleafant 
 
OF THE TU1LERIES. 2 $ 
 
 pleafant adventures. One of them we (hall 
 relate. Three girls of the town had pitched 
 upon the gardens of the Tuileries, in the year 
 1769, as the theatre of their fedudive and 
 dangerous arts. In order the better to fucceed, 
 they agreed that each fliould offer a different 
 character to the libertines of whom they fought 
 favor. Rofe, naturally of a fimple difpofition, 
 undertook the character of an ignorant girl juft 
 arrived from the country. A plain, but clean 
 drefs, a timid walk, her eyes bafhfully foft and 
 modeft, and a faultering voice, were the allure¬ 
 ments that flie employed for fedudion. If fhe 
 had (hewn herfelf too frequently at the Tuil¬ 
 eries, her tricks would foon have been difco- 
 vered; accordingly fhe came thither only on a 
 Monday, a Wednefday, and a Saturday, accom¬ 
 panied by an old woman whofe countrified drefs 
 befpoke her merely a fervant. At thefe times 
 after taking a few turns, they would fit down 
 on a bench, flaring about them with a moll 
 ifupid curiofity, and drop their eyes the moment 
 they had caught the glance of any one’s face 
 whom they wifhed to attrad. Add to this the 
 happy age of nineteen, a complexion which the 
 cofmetics of Dulac had not injured, and other 
 
 c 4 charms 
 
24 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 charms covered with fufficient art to leave the 
 obferver a good opportunity to judge of their 
 beauty. Eugenia, a picquante brunette, and 
 dropping at lead a ludre of her age, which (he 
 called twenty, was exaftly the revetfe of the 
 blonde Rofe ; fne fuftained the char after of a 
 coquette. Her drefs elegant her walk hurried, 
 her head in coildant motion, her eye fu 41 of 
 witchery, her bofoni expofed, never a moment 
 ftationary in any place, running rather than 
 walking, always talking, laughing at every 
 thing ; fuel) did the lively Eugenia exhibit her- 
 felf in this celebrated garden on the fame days 
 that Rofe vifited it, but accompanied by an 
 ugly and tawdrily dreffed waiting woman. 
 
 Julia, the third of thefe females, about the age 
 of the lad, pofleffed one of thofe perfons, which 
 is ufually thought both graceful and handfome, 
 v/ithout being either the one or the other. Many 
 of thefe laughing faces pleafe men better in gene¬ 
 ral, and infpire them much fooner with paflion, 
 than would thofe of a Venus or a Juno. From this 
 {ketch no idea can be formed of what her drefs 
 was 5 principally, there was no regularity in it. 
 She always followed the falhions, and dill wore 
 her cloaths in fuch a manner as not to have the 
 
 appear- 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 2 5 
 
 appearance of adopting them. This negligent 
 air was well fuited to the charader (he had 
 chofen, wifhing to pafs for a woman of learn¬ 
 ing; (lie very well knew that a pretty young 
 woman wants only a good memory to fuftain 
 this charader with credit, becaufe nobody ever 
 attempts to enter into an argument with her, 
 A fingle word upon any art or fcience, introduced 
 
 with addrefs, makes her believed to be a woman 
 of education. Before file came out fhe fkimmed 
 the newfpapers, the almanack of the mufes, and 
 a book of anecdotes, and her memory always 
 furniflied her with fome of thefe to introduce 
 into her converfation at any apt opportunity. 
 A plainly dreffed, and ordinary fervant, not at 
 all calculated to betray the fecrets of the trade, 
 accompanied her; they appeared at the Tuileries 
 on the fame days as Eugenia and Rofe; and now 
 for the reafon. 
 
 As they lived in the fame houfe, they had 
 agreed, regularly to acknowledge each other, 
 and when opportunity offered to found each 
 other’s praifes. Rofe was to pafs for a young girl 
 from Provence, whofe mother was dead, and 
 whom her father had brought with him to Paris, 
 while feeking to procure himfelf fome fituation 
 
 for 
 
26 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 for gaining his fubfiflence. The father had 
 died about fix months ago, and (he was waiting 
 [ for the fettling of fome affairs, to return home. 
 This was innocence and virtue perfonified. She 
 had had many lovers whom (he had refufed to 
 liften to, on account of an attachment in her 
 native village; but about a month before fhe had 
 received intelligence of the infidelity of him on 
 whom her affeflions had been placed, and fhe 
 now dreaded to return, as fhe could not fupport 
 the fight of her inconftant and perjured lover : 
 
 add to this that Rofe was faid to be the daughter 
 of a man in the law, who had left very little to 
 his family, but that fhe had a very old and rich 
 uncle who was to leave her a great fortune. 
 
 Eugenia paffed for the wife of an officer who 
 had failed to the Eafl Indies, and of whom no 
 tidings had been received for two years. Her’s 
 had been a marriage of unequal ages, her hufband 
 being fixty-two years old ; and no children had 
 ever bleffed them. The mod amiable of women 
 had been facrificed to money ; and whilfi: awaiting 
 the return of a hufband whom fhe efleemed, but 
 could not love, fhe fubfifled on a very flender 
 patrimony which her mother had left to her 
 at her death. But notwithflanding her gaiety 
 
 which 
 
OF THE TUiLERIES. 2 *} 
 
 which extended only to her drefs and her words, 
 file was trembling at the idea of the diflrefs to 
 which (he (hould in all probability in a very fhort 
 time be expofed, and had made up her mind to 
 go and drag on an exigence with a relation in 
 the country whom (he detefted. Julia, laflly, 
 was a young widow, without children, amiable, 
 and of much knowledge, which (he was encrea- 
 fing every day by (tudy. A moderate income, 
 by means of the ceconomy which (he ufed, 
 ferved to maintain her with comfort. She cer¬ 
 tainly wifhed to be married again, but (he ufed 
 no arts to obtain her wifh. 
 
 As they lived in the fame houfe they frequent¬ 
 ly faw each other, and always fat together, in bad 
 weather, fometimesin the apartments of one,fome- 
 times in that of another. This acquaintance led 
 them on to hire a fmall houfe together in the coun¬ 
 try in which they might pafs the fummer months. 
 The truth was that for the lad month, they had 
 all three lodged in the fame houfe, as by chance ; 
 and about fifty louis which they had fcraped 
 together, ferved them to fupport the characters 
 which 1 have juft been drawing, without even 
 the porter having a fufpicion of the truth \ as 
 they did not admit a Angle man. 
 
 Our 
 
0 
 
 28 the castle 
 
 Our readers mud perceive that thefe women 
 could not be long without attracting notice. In 
 the firft place, tltey were women made to pleafe 
 even in an age when gallantry was little the 
 rage ; and in the fecond place, this trio made 
 their appearance towards the end of the reign 
 
 of Louis XV. at a. time when the monarch him- 
 felf fet the example not only of gallantry, but of 
 the moft unblufiling licentioufnefs \ for Madame 
 Dubary reigned, and fet the fafhions. 
 
 The French always imitate their fuperiors, 
 like monkeys; and breaking on the wheel, 
 amongd other amufements, was then in fafnion ; 
 and fo much having been faid for fafnion, it will 
 excite no furprife to learn which of our heroines 
 had the glory of the find conqued. Rofe was 
 the lad to find a dupe. Some young pages made 
 the attempt ; but thefe did not at all fuit her, 
 file wanted a mcnied man to pilfer ; for I ought 
 to have premifed that our three goddeifes had 
 refolved to take aim at the pocket. In fhort 
 they ought to be confidered rather as common 
 fharpers than female libertines ; for as they 
 themfelves afterwards confeffed, it was their pro- 
 je£i to collefl together a good fo; tune, which 
 they were to fhare equally, and to retire each 
 
 into 
 
OF THE TU1LERIES. 
 
 2 9 
 
 into a different province, where they would 
 have endeavoured by a decent conduct, to have 
 entrapped fome man of refpe&ability to marry 
 them. And this project would certainly have 
 been much more commendable, if it had not 
 been founded upon a vicious plan, and conduced 
 
 by criminal arts. 
 
 \ 
 
 The farmer general, Augeard, faw Eugenia, 
 and fought an opportunity of becoming ac¬ 
 quainted with her. In a converfation which he 
 obtained with her, fhe cunningly introduced the 
 fubjecl of her hufband, and her doubtful widow¬ 
 hood. Our Crcefus offered to procure her 
 fome tidings through the medium of the Eafi 
 India company ; but he muff have fome written 
 inftru&ions led his treacherous memory fhould 
 fail him : he accordingly requeued permiflion to 
 wait on her, in order to make fome memoran¬ 
 dums to the purpofe of his enquiries. From 
 fear of giving the neighbours an opportunity for 
 talking of her, fhe at fir ft refufed, and promifed 
 to meet him again in the Tuiieries, and to bring 
 with her the neceffary documents. On the day 
 appointed fhe came, but alas ! flic had loft her 
 memorandums out of her pocket. Augeard 
 
 again 
 
3 ° 
 
 'l 1 HE CASTLSi 
 
 again requeued permiffion to vifit her, and at 
 length his requefl was granted. 
 
 Every fineffe which the art of woman could 
 devife to feduce the fenfes of man was employed 
 by her for his reception. The thick-headed 
 financier came to his appointment, and received 
 inftru£tions for making enquiry after an imaginary 
 being, whom Eugenia reprefented to him as her 
 hufband of whole afliftance floe flood in great 
 need. 
 
 Offers of fervice had fcarcely been made, and 
 rejected, before her waiting woman brings her 
 in a letter, which (lie begs leave to read. She 
 takes care to let her gentleman fee that the papers 
 are marked with the feal of the law; a conve¬ 
 nient tear drops upon the papers. She com¬ 
 plains of the heat, and wipes it away with her 
 handkerchief, when fiie is convinced it has been 
 obferved ; her ccnverfation after this becomes 
 melancholy, and evidently befpeaks difirefs of 
 mind. 
 
 Our old dotard, for he was already violently 
 in love, feizes this moment which he thinks 
 favourable for obtaining a knowledge of her 
 fecret, which he at length with much difficulty, 
 
 and 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 3 1 
 
 and through many fighs, worms out. She is 
 called upon to difcharge a debt which her huf- 
 band had contracted before his departure, and 
 which (lie had been foolifh enough to become 
 bound for; it had now been due fix months; 
 fhe had obtained a fhort grace, but that period 
 was elapfed alfo; of two hundred louis fhe 
 flood in the moft prefling want; and Augeard 
 goes home to fend them to her. 
 
 The next day our financier returns. After a 
 inillion thanks, Eugenia prefents him with a bond 
 for the two hundred louis; which he in the 
 mod engaging manner pofiible tears to pieces. 
 Emboldened by this loan, or rather by this gift, 
 our good man ventures upon a declaration of 
 
 his paffion couched in the mod delicate terms, 
 
 * 
 
 which the lady receives as a joke. This is fol¬ 
 lowed by the mod ferious proteftations, which 
 are reje&ed, but not without betraying fome 
 reafon to hope that the lady’s virtue will not for 
 ever be found inflexible. This game lads a 
 week, during which time our old dotard becomes 
 more and more in love ; he is determined to 
 triumph ; it is his maxim that the pured virtue 
 will fmk under the weight of gold, and that if 
 any woman remains unfeduced, it mud be, that 
 
 fhe 
 
32 the castle 
 
 (he has not been bid high enough for. Confe- 
 quently he reafoned thus: Eugenia by accepting 
 the money which I have given to her, has fhown 
 me her weak fide ; if I befiege her with gold I 
 mtift conquer. He put into his pocket a rich cafe 
 of jewels; and lent her, as from one unknown, 
 a rouleau of an hundred double louis d ? ors. 
 If Hie takes this money, argued he, without 
 knowing who fends it to her, die is mine at once ; 
 in cafe of a repuliethis way, I mull complete her 
 defeat with the diamonds. 
 
 About two hours after the fending of the gold 
 he went to her houfe ; imagining that it could 
 be only he who had fent it, (he began to pretend 
 great difpleafure, and begged to return it; but 
 (he did not return it for all that. Our financier 
 made many apologies, and begged of her to keep 
 it, faying that die might find it of ufe to her du¬ 
 ring the abfence of her hufband. A few minutes 
 after he took courage, to fue for the reward of 
 her love; and the only contradi&ory argument 
 which he received to his fuit was the podibility of 
 her hufband foon returning. The old dotard, by 
 making fome calculations upon time, convinced 
 her that that period mud be very didant; drew 
 the lad argument from his pocket; and tri* 
 
 umphed. 
 
OF THE TU1LERIES. 33 
 
 umphed. After the gentleman had gained his 
 victory, and the lady had uttered many feigned 
 regrets; (he pointed out to him the fcandal that 
 mult attach to fuch a connection, and the difficul¬ 
 ty of keeping it fecret; propofingto the financier, 
 in order that they might not be talked of, not to 
 vifit her too frequently, but rather to come and 
 fee her at her houfe in the country ; which was 
 the one our three heroines had hired in common, 
 and whither fhe intended to go on fuch days as 
 they were abfent. As this houfe was quite re¬ 
 tired, fhe remarked, nobody could know any 
 thing of the matter, efpecially if the happy man 
 would come in a hackney coach ; this being 
 agreed to, fhe promifed in her turn, to go fome- 
 times, provided the greateft fecrecy was obferved, 
 and take half a bed with Augeard. 
 
 Whilfl this intrigue is going forward, let us 
 take a peep at Rofe and Julia. 
 
 A young man of family, a novice in the arts 
 of the world, but very rich, had begun to follow 
 the footfteps of Rofe. He knew nothing of the arts 
 of gallantry, and his maiden heart, loved for the 
 firfl time ; thus it may be fuppofed that he open¬ 
 ed his campaign of love with all the aukwardnefs 
 of one who is neither a man nor a boy. Srno- 
 
 vol. 1 . d thered 
 
5 * 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 thered fighs, and tender glances, conveyed to 
 our falfe Diana, that he was dying for her. How 
 was Hie to proceed ? How could fhe enter into 
 a converfation with him, without appearing to 
 make the firft advances ? Our young Cymon 
 was, however fo fhy, that there was no hope of 
 
 their being brought together by any other 
 means; for fix days he had always come and fat 
 down by her, but dill he had not fpoken $ all to 
 no purpofe had fhe dropped fir ft her glove, then 
 her fan; her gallant flew to pick them up, and 
 gave them to her, but that was all. 
 
 One day when they were fitting on a bench at 
 fome diftance from the croud, Rofe pretended 
 to be taken ill. The attentive Granval fup- 
 ported her in his arms, and gave her falts and 
 perfumes to fmell of. She recovered* and wifhed 
 to return home, but her faintnefs was fo great 
 that fhe was obliged to take his arm, which fhe 
 pretended only to accept from gratitude. On 
 reaching the iron rails, a coach was called, and 
 they all three got into it; for her waiting wo¬ 
 man was always with her. Giving her his hand 
 to help her out of the carriage, and leading her 
 up to her chamber followed of courfej and at 
 
 de* 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 « * 
 
 departing, Granval folicited, and obtained leave 
 to call and enquire after her health. 
 
 As all new impreffions of the heart are the fame, 
 we (hall not give an account of what all the 
 world underftands. Letters red hot with love, 
 and long unanfwered ; at length replied to: 
 declarations of paffion returned by confeffions 
 of love made with much (kill; in fliort a real 
 paffion on one fide, and an excellent {hew of 
 affeCtion on the other, brought on treats, engage¬ 
 ments, and a promife of marriage, (Lengthened 
 by a bond to forfeit 40,000 livres in cafe of fail¬ 
 ure, before the fmalleft favour was granted. 
 
 At the end of a few months Rofe pretended to 
 have increafed fo much in bulk, as to require a 
 private journey into the country; and Granval 
 was obliged to borrow money upon the mod ex¬ 
 travagant terms of ufury in order to fupport her 
 
 expences. 
 
 Julia, after having rivetted the admiration of 
 the loungers in the Tuileries by her wit, and re¬ 
 jected the homage of various admirers whom fhe 
 did not think fufficiently rich, built up for herfelf 
 a reputation of virtue, which one of our men of 
 the world refolved to blow down. 
 
 d 2 
 
 This 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 3 6 
 
 This man, was one Silly, a judge, who being 
 accuflomed to fee unhappy criminals fhrink be¬ 
 fore him, imagined their humility to be the eflfeCl 
 of his merit, and had upon this idea contracted a 
 mod ridiculous pride. Married to a woman who 
 had doubled for him his fortune, before very 
 confiderable, and from whom he was feparated 
 after having had one child by her, he now ruined 
 himfelf amongfl fuch women as flattered his 
 mania of believing that no one could refill his 
 merit. Julia by an artful refillance led him on. 
 In order to triumph over her, he made great fa- 
 crifices before any reward was obtained, and a 
 bond for 60,000 livres at length made him her 
 conqueror. 
 
 Down to the prefent moment all the plans of 
 our three ladies had fucceeded; and had they 
 been fatisfied with fifty thoufand crowns which 
 they had fcraped together, their romance would 
 never have been known; but it is with money 
 as it is with power, having once dipped our 
 hand into the ftrong box, we want to empty it ; 
 and having once drunk of the cup of power, vve 
 know not how to take our lips from it. 
 
 Thus they purpofed carrying on their plans. 
 
 A Utter was to be fent to the mother of Granval, 
 
 to 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 37 
 
 to inform her that Rofe had been feduced by her 
 fon, and borne him a child which he had acknow- 
 kdged, and that the young girl’s guardian was 
 going to profecute the feducer, in order to oblige 
 him to marry his w T ard. The letter contained 
 the addrefs of this guardian, who was no other 
 than one of thofe honourable gentlemen who 
 live by their wits, and who was to receive an 
 hundred louis for playing his part. 
 
 The mother of Granval who was projecting 
 an honourable and advantageous match for her 
 
 fon, went without delay to the pretended guar¬ 
 dian, and after many days of folicitation, pre¬ 
 vailed on him for the fum of 30,000 livres to 
 defift from all proceedings again!! her fon, and 
 to give up all thoughts of avenging his ward. 
 One of the conditions of this agreement was, that 
 Rofe fhould be fent back into the country, 
 where as her (lory was not known, file might 
 appear again with a certainty of being received 
 w ? ith credit to herfelf. 
 
 Julia not knowing how to make the moil of 
 her pedantic judge, was cracking her brain with 
 various ftratagems, when file received a vifit 
 from a man with whom fhe was unacquainted, 
 ft was a perfon who had a law fuit impending 
 
 d 3 which 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 33 
 
 which gave him but little hope of going in his 
 favour, and the lofs of which would plunge him 
 into abfolute poverty. He had found out that Julia 
 was the miftrefs of his judge, and he came to 
 propofe to her to fpeak in his favour. After 
 many difficulties darted on her fide, and many 
 offers of gratitude on his, Julia promifed to men¬ 
 tion the affair to Silly, and appointed a time for 
 the man to call upon her on the following day to 
 receive an anfwer. When the time came, fhe 
 told him that his judge found his caufe to be a 
 very doubtful one indeed, but that fhe thought 
 fhe knew a way to turn it in his favour. Silly, 
 die faid, wanted a thoufand louis, and that 
 for that fum fhe would undertake to fay the 
 fcale fhould turn in his behalf. The man 
 brought the money the next day, and two days 
 after that loft his caufe. Julia who had kept the 
 money without mentioning the affair, ordered 
 her door to befhut in the face of the ruined man, 
 and thence quarreled with her keeper. 
 
 Now for Eugenia. One morning fhe fhowed 
 her financier a forged letter from her hufband, 
 which contained the bills of lading of a fhip 
 freighted with fugar, coffee, and indigo. The 
 fhip was to arrive in a month, and what could 
 
 flje 
 
OF THE TU 1 LERIES. 39 
 
 do with the merchandife ? She imderftood no¬ 
 thing of trade, and was afraid of being dupedo 
 Laughing, fhe propofed to Augeard to buy the 
 cargo. He agreed, and according to the price 
 mentioned in the letter, the bargain was ftruck 
 and ligned for, at 36,000 livres, which Augeard 
 paid the next morning. 
 
 With 240,000 livres in their pockets, without 
 reckoning the jewels which were worth twenty 
 thoufand more, Eugenia and Julia, went to join 
 Rofe who was hid in the fuburbs, and to prepare 
 for their departure. One was to betake herfelf 
 to Nancy, a fecond to Befa^on, and the third to 
 Dijon. Within four days they were to fet out* 
 An upholfterer to whom they applied, bought 
 their furniture for 10,000 livres, on condition of 
 not removing it till the day of their departure* 
 This fum was to be divided, and was to pay the 
 expence of their journies, and of fettling them~ 
 felves. Each having received her {hare of the 
 money, in order to do away all fufpicion, Julia 
 and Eugenia went and {hewed themfelves as 
 ufual in the Tuileries, and this over-precaution 
 was the caufe of their ruin* 
 
 The man whofe lav/ fuit had been impending, 
 maddening with rage and difappointment went to 
 
 d 4 the 
 
40 THE castle 
 
 the judge to whom he made the moft cutting 
 reproaches. An explanation of the truth follow¬ 
 ed, and they agreed to go together to Julia; but 
 they found her not at her lodgings, for this was 
 the day that our three ladies had got together 
 again; and the fervant who had juft been dif- 
 charged, made a confefiion of all fhe knew from 
 motives of revenge; for notwithftanding they 
 had hid from her as much of their plans as they 
 were able, yet (he had heard enough to guefs at 
 the reft. The two dupes put a louis d’or into 
 the hand of the woman, in order to bind her to 
 their fide, and went down. At the foot of the 
 flairs they met the financier to whom they told 
 the whole ftory. A violent alarm feized the 
 good gentleman, and he ran to the marine office 
 of intelligence to make enquiries about the 
 hufband of Eugenia, when by chance he met 
 there a planter from the very town where fhe 
 had faid he refided, and from him he learnt that 
 there was not a man of that name in the whole 
 ifland ; and now let our readers figure to them¬ 
 selves the enviable fituation of our financier on 
 receiving this information. 
 
 On the following day Julia and Eugenia ap¬ 
 peared in the gardens, but very far were they 
 
 from 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 41 
 
 from having any idea of the cataftrophe which 
 was awaiting them. They were together, fur- 
 rounded by admirers, when the unhappy man 
 who had loft his fuit, appeared before them, and 
 loaded Julia with invectives. Several men of 
 galantry were growing very warm in her defence 
 at the moment when an infpeCtor of the police 
 came up, and gave orders to four fufiliers to lay 
 
 hold of Julia and Eugenia, and to carry them 
 before the governor of the Tuileries, where the 
 judge, and the financier were expecting their 
 coming. In the courfe of the queftions which 
 the governor put to them, they contradicted each 
 other, loft their affurance, and ended in making 
 a full confelhon.. 
 
 Rofe’s tricks alfo were difcovered, but fhe 
 made her efcape, and thus fhe effected it. Whilfl 
 thefe two women were kept in cuftody ; perfons 
 were fent to fix the feals of juftice in their 
 lodgings. Rofe’s waiting woman who was pre- 
 fent, ran and told her miftrefs, of whom fhe was 
 very fond, what was doing. Immediately Rofe, 
 making fure of her money, and jewels, fet out 
 poft under another name, and was fortunate 
 enough to arrive in England, where fhe ftill 
 
 lives 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 lives very quietly and very wifely with a jeweller 
 whom Ihe has married. 
 
 The other two were taken to the houfe 
 of correction; where Julia after fome time 
 died: Eugenia, by fome means or other, we 
 know not what they were, managed to get out, 
 and wears away her old age in begging her 
 • bread. 
 
 We have extracted this little hiftory, from the 
 regifter of which we fpoke, and in which 
 the truth may be read at this day in the civil 
 court, where it was placed in 1793. It con¬ 
 tains more than twelve pages folio, of interro¬ 
 gatories. 
 
 There it will be feen that Rofe was the 
 daughter of a manufacturer in the Fauxbourg 
 Saint Antoine, who left her father to go upon 
 the town; Julia was a baftard; and Eugenia 
 had been a fervant at Nancy. 
 
 1 
 
 We will not tire our readers with reciting the 
 hiftories of girls who have been feduced, robbed, 
 and abandoned; nor with the tales of young 
 creatures, who have ftolen out from home to come 
 and proftitute themfelves in thefe gardens, with¬ 
 out either their fathers or mothers having a fufpi- 
 cion of their condu&. I fhalt merely fay that the 
 laft governor of the Tuileries, before therefidence 
 
 of 
 
OF THE TUILERIES* 43 
 
 of Louis XVI. at this palace, has more than 
 once taken advantage of difcoveries he has 
 made, to procure for himfelf le droit du Seig - 
 neur ; and as every body knows that he was 
 both a rake, and a libertine, I (hall eafily gain 
 belief. 
 
44 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Louis the XVI. is forced away from his Palace at VerJaillej 
 with his Family.— 'They are conduced to the Tuileries.—State 
 of this Palace on their Arrival there.—Diflribution of the 
 Chambers to each Individual.—Defcription of thofe ojfgned 
 to the King and his Family. — Account of the Garden of the 
 Dauphin.—The King makes a Change in his Habits.—His 
 new Occupations. — Anecdotes. —Upon the loth of June 1792, 
 and upon the Confederation in 1790 .-—The King melts fome 
 Silver .— The Ufe he makes of his Ingots.—Journey to Va- 
 rernes.—The Spueen goes to the Opera.-—A Centinelprevents 
 the King having his Apartment. — Account , and Anecdotes of 
 the King 1 s Conf itutional Guard. 
 
 The torrent of people which poured in from 
 the capital upon Verfailles could not have been 
 hemmed by any means but by the king’s promife 
 of coming to live immediately in Paris with his 
 family. 
 
 Hiflory without doubt will relate how the 
 cries for blood, were changed in an inftant to 
 “ Let the king go to Paris,” and who it was 
 that raifed that cry. Orleans is mentioned as 
 being the perfon, and there is every reafon to 
 believe he was. The fa£l, however, is not yet 
 pofitively afeertained. The proceedings which 
 the Chatelet commenced in this affair can at the 
 
 beft 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 45 
 
 beft only ferve as one of the proofs con¬ 
 cerning this fuit, which was a difgrace to com¬ 
 mon fenfe. The depofitions made there were 
 twifted about into any form to ferve the purpofe 
 of the time ; the witneffes capable of giving juft 
 information were fome dying with fear, and 
 fome contradi&ing each other in their accounts. 
 Party fpirit was apparent throughout this volu¬ 
 minous and ridiculous fuit. Thofe who lived at 
 the time are pofitively certain that Uhomme do 
 crimes (the man of crimes) organized the in- 
 furreCtion of Verfailles, notwithftanding the 
 report made by Chabroud, who is a fcandal upon 
 
 But we fee by ourfelves, that pofterity requires 
 other proofs to judge from. Are there not every 
 day difficulties ftarting up amongft our learned 
 men upon different points in ancient hiftory ? and 
 is not there every day fome difcovery making 
 which obliges us to alter for the better many of 
 its parts ? If the Greek and Roman authors 
 ' who have written of the revolutions of their own 
 countries have fometimes been miftaken in their 
 accounts of tranfadlions which have paffed under 
 their eye, {hall we have the ridiculous pride to 
 pretend that we are inftructed ir.\ ours pad all 
 
 poffibility 
 
46 THE CASTLE 
 
 poflibility of error, becaufe we have lived in its 
 whirlwind ? The nearer a man gets to the fun, 
 the lefs able is he to didinguifh its rays: from 
 this caufe, that the too powerful light blinds 
 him. The fame is the cafe with him who lives 
 at the time of a revolution, for either being in 
 the midd of the buflle which it produces, he is 
 ftimulated by a fenle of danger; or, enflaved by 
 prejudice, he fees every thing, and didinguilhes 
 nothing. 
 
 Either fear or party blind him ; and when 
 tranquillity returns to his bread he has only a 
 confufed remembrance of the pad ; if he wants 
 to give an account of what has happened, he 
 either wanders in his detail, or falfifies it, accord¬ 
 ing to the fide he took, and the fentiments that 
 animated him at the time. Thus a dranger is 
 often much better acquainted with the truth 
 than an a&or in the fcene. 
 
 An hidorian is fo well convinced of this truth, 
 that he often fhuts himfelf up in his clofet to 
 pilfer events from the book of a foreigner to 
 fwell the pages of his hidory. 
 
 I fhall not enter into any detail of thofe 
 dreadful days which were fcandalized by all 
 
 Europe; of which the refult was,the king’s re- 
 
 2 fidence 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 47 
 
 fidence at Paris, and of which the defign was 
 quite different, according to the public voice, 
 and moreover what Orleans faid fome time 
 after. 
 
 * 
 
 Once when he was converfing with Ronfin 
 upon the efforts which the queen was making to 
 re-eftablifh the firmnefs of the throne, and of roy¬ 
 alty, thefe words efcaped him j <c We fhould have 
 had nothing to fear from her, if the days at 
 Verfailles had but fucceeded.” 
 
 One is afraid to venture an explanation of 
 thefe few words; what is molt remarkable in 
 the event is, that women were chofen to execute 
 it. At the head of this female army was a 
 woman called Reine Audu; bold and fanatick. 
 Arriving at Verfailles at the head of 800 foldiers 
 of her own fex, fhe went and fronted the dra¬ 
 goons who were ftationed before the national 
 affembly $ and having obliged them to take an 
 oath of fidelity to the nation, fhe placed 
 near them 400 women with three fmall pieces 
 of cannon. 
 
 With the reft of her troops fhe prefented her- 
 ielf before the Flemifh regiment, from whom 
 fhe obtained the fame promife ; fhe then fought 
 D’Eftaing, whom fhe requefted to procure her- 
 
 felf 
 
4 8 THE CASTLE 
 
 felf and a deputation of twelve women with her, 
 an audience of the king. D’Edaing promifed 
 
 i 
 
 every thing, but performed nothing. 
 
 Learning that four of the king’s carriages 
 were going to fet out, (he flopped them, and 
 immediately endeavoured to force an entrance 
 into the palace. The refinance of the body 
 guards produced a fkirmifh in which Reine Audit 
 received two flight wounds, one on her bread, 
 and one on her right hand. 
 
 A fhort time after fhe made her way to the 
 king, and every body knows what fhe and her 
 companions demanded of him. On leaving the 
 palace, triumphing in her fuccefs, fhe endea¬ 
 voured to drive from their polls the body guards, 
 and received a flafh of a fabre on her left arm ; 
 after this file paffed the night upon the carriage 
 of a gun. At the time the fuit was preparing 
 for the court, Reine Audu had a warrant iffued 
 againfl her by the Chatelet, upon which fhe was 
 taken up and thrown into prifon. She was de¬ 
 tained in prifon till all fuits were fet afide, in con- 
 fequence of the revolution. 
 
 Her brain became bewildered during her con¬ 
 finement, and die died crazy in prifon in 1793. 
 This is the only anecdote which I fhall allow' 
 
 my felf 
 
OF THE TUILERIES, 
 
 49 
 
 inyfelf to fpeak of concerning the infurrection at 
 Verfailles; and I only mention this becaufe I 
 have not feen it noticed any where elfe. 
 
 I fhall not minutely defcribe the hafly journey 
 of the royal family ; I fhall content myfelf with 
 faying* that after a march of eight hours* which 
 could only be compared to favages dragging away 
 from the field of battle fuch prifoners as they 
 had taken in the courfe of an engagement* 
 they arrived at the palace of the Tuileries where 
 they were to take up their refidence : but nothing 
 was prepared for their reception; beds* tables* 
 chairs* and even the mo ft neceffary articles of 
 life were wanting. Some flock beds were made 
 
 up for them* and on thofe they puffed the 
 wretched night. 
 
 This edifice* whofe exterior is called the moft 
 beautiful in all Europe, offered no one accom¬ 
 modation within. The two wings only were 
 habitable, the reft confided only of large rooms 
 dreffed out with fome antique furniture, which 
 was fcarcely ever feen, never moved out of its 
 place, and feemed deftined to moulder where 
 it flood. Thus it was highly neceffary that 
 fomething fliould be done to render it habit¬ 
 able. 
 
 von. i. £ On 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 5° 
 
 On the morning of the next day Louis and 
 Antoinette were defired to fix upon apart¬ 
 ments for themfelves, their family, and followers. 
 His fir ft anfwer was; u Let every one lodge 
 where he can; for myfelf, I am fatisfied where 
 1 am.” But his tone of feeling changed, 
 and he vifited every part of the palace with his 
 confort ; they then together marked out the 
 apartments of each individual, and ordered fome 
 changes and repairs to be made. In the mean 
 time the furniture was bringing away from Ver- 
 failies, by a convoy of waggons loaded with an 
 immenfe quantity of moveables which had been 
 collecting in that palace for the fpace of three 
 reigns. The queen had her library brought 
 after her ; but the king fent for no part of his 3 
 except fome books of devotion, an account of 
 the revolutions in different hates, and a particular 
 hiftory of the unhappy Charles the Firft, king 
 of England. During the period of nearly three 
 years which he refided at the Tuileries, whatever 
 books he wanted he fent for to the national 
 library *. 
 
 * After his death a volume of the Encyclopedia, which 
 he had borrowed fome months before, was fent back to this 
 library. 
 
 Let 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 Let us fay a few words about the diftribution 
 
 * 
 
 of the apartments. 
 
 The king made choice of three fuites of apart¬ 
 ments on the ground floor, next the garden,, by 
 the fide of the gallery which is on the left hand 
 at entering the garden. They were acceflible 
 both by the gallery, and by the veftibule. In a 
 little room in the middle ftory, he placed his 
 implements fot fludying geography ; and in the 
 full:, which was in the angle of the gallery, he 
 flept. On one fide of this fuite was the council 
 chamber. 
 
 The queen had her apartments near thofe of 
 the king. Below, her drefling-room, her fleeping 
 room, and next to this her drawing-room. In 
 a clofet in the middle Ilory her library; above 
 this library was the apartment of Madame, 
 which was divided from that where the king 
 flept by the Dauphin’s chamber. 
 
 Out of the drawing-room, was the billiard- 
 
 room. The reft were all anti-chambers. This 
 fide of the building next the garden was occu¬ 
 pied on the ground floor by the governante of 
 the children of France, Me ft. Chatelux, D’Her- 
 villy, Roquelaure, &c.; the middle (lory by the 
 valets de chambres and other attendants of the 
 
 ^ 2 royal 
 
52 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 royal family. In the firft were the guard¬ 
 room, the flate-bed, and fome apartments 
 which were dedicated to the gallery from Ver- 
 
 faill.es. 
 
 Madame de Lamballe occupied the ground 
 floor of the pavilion of Flora, and Madame 
 Elizabeth the firft: room in it. Above lodged 
 Mefdames Mackaw, Grammont, d’Offun, Meflf. 
 Lemonnier, Bonne-Foi, and an hundred and 
 thirty-two other perfons belonging to the court. 
 
 On the other fide of the centre pavilion, was, 
 firft:, the chapel, next the place where the theatre 
 had formerly flood. The king’s aunts with 
 their attendants occupied the pavilion Marfan. 
 This fide was not fo well furnifhed as the other, 
 on account of its having been found in a flate 
 of too great diforder. 
 
 The three courts, divided by frnall buildings, 
 ferved to lodge the troops in the fervice, the 
 horfes, and a few perfons befides. On the fide 
 of th q place de Carronfel the palace was defended 
 by a wall in which were three gates which open¬ 
 ed into each of the courts. The fide next the 
 garden was furrounded much in the fame 
 manner that it now is, if we except Le pont 
 
 Toarnant, 
 
OF THE TUI1 .EPn.IES* 53 
 
 Tournant, which no longer exifts, and the ex- 
 ienfion of the iron railings. 
 
 Within the palace and its walls, were, with* 
 out reckoning the troops, 677 inhabitants of 
 every age and fex. 
 
 The firfh humiliation which Louis XVI. re¬ 
 ceived on arriving in his capital, was offered him 
 by an impertinent mob, which furrounded the 
 palace of the Tuiieries for feveral days, under 
 the pretence of feeing their king. He had the 
 prudence to keep himfelf on the farther fide of 
 the apartments without venturing to approach 
 the windows ; the queen did the fame ; till at 
 length the curious mob infenfibly creeping away, 
 they were again permitted to breathe and to walk 
 about without reftraint. 
 
 The royal family obtained the liberty of walk¬ 
 ing by themfelves in the garden ; and they ufed 
 this licence for the amufement of their children. 
 At the bottom of the terrace by the fide of the 
 river was a garden, known from that time by the 
 name of the Dauphin’s garden, which ferved for 
 the play-ground of this child; as he was very 
 fond of birds, fome aviaries were built in the 
 middle of it; and above the terrace were fome 
 ducks, which he amufed himfelf with feeing 
 
 £ 3 fwim 
 
54 the castle 
 
 fwim and dive in a pond. Iiis fifter often par¬ 
 took of his amuCements; but fhe preferred a 
 young girl of her own age, whom the queen had 
 given her for a companion. 
 
 After the day on which the throne was level¬ 
 led, this young girl found herfelf without an 
 afyluin; but fhe was taken into the houfe of 
 a linen-draper in la rue St. Denis, where (he is 
 fiill living. 
 
 On arriving at the Tuileries the king was 
 obliged to change his habits, and to adopt new 
 modes of fpending his time. After having 
 given the find moments of his day to ads of de¬ 
 votion, he went down into his apartments on the 
 ground floor, vifited his thermometer, and wrote 
 down the date in which he found it. 
 
 He next received a vifit from his wife and 
 children. This moment which ought to have 
 been a balm to his heart was often difturbed by 
 the obfervations of the queen upon their fitua- 
 tion, and olten alfo by the gloomy reflections of 
 the king himfelf upon the future. Sometimes 
 a gleam of happiaefs, fometimes a fhower of 
 tears were the farewel of thefe vifits. Imme¬ 
 diately after the king breakfafted, and learned 
 from thofe who attended upon him, what was faid 
 
 abroad 
 
OF THE TU1LERIES. 55 
 
 abroad of the difpofition of the minds of the 
 people. And he often made ufe of the infor- 
 
 1 
 
 mation which he thus gained to contradict the 
 
 minifters even of the queen herfeif. I (hall 
 give an example of it. 
 
 In 1791, after the return of the king to Paris, 
 fome countrymen in the villages of La Tranche- 
 Comte who had caught the infection of giving 
 their opinion upon the prefent (late of affairs, 
 remarked that they no longer faw publifhed any 
 placards by order of the king. After having 
 read, and reflected upon the declaration of the 
 rights of men, they thought themfelves entirely 
 free, and chofe themfelves a king, giving him 
 three minifters, one of whom they called 
 Necker, for whom they had a great vene¬ 
 ration. 
 
 Now this new king, with whom it was out of 
 character to work, would have been at death’s 
 door for want of food, if he had not represented 
 to his fubje&s, that he muff have a revenue 
 granted to him, fufticiently large to make him 
 amends for the employment he had laid afide, 
 and to maintain his children and his wife, 
 who could not work now ihe was a queen. This 
 petition was decided to be very juft, and his 
 
 e 4 loyal 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 5 6 
 
 loyal fubje&s went upon an expedition into the 
 wood of a neighbouring diftridt, which was quite 
 unacquainted that it had in its vicinity fo newly 
 erected a king, and government. 
 
 The fuperior officer of the diftrict attempted 
 to interrupt the ardour with which the trees under 
 his jurifdiftion were cutting down; and his ma- 
 jefty had him taken up, tried, and condemned to 
 be hanged, which fentence was executed upon 
 him without delay. 
 
 This execution made a great noife ; and the 
 national guard, with a detachment of the regu¬ 
 lars, immediately went over from Befan^on, and, 
 after meeting with a very vigorous refinance, laid 
 hold of the king, and his royal family, whom 
 they threw into prifon in Befan9on. 
 
 Leffart, one of Louis the Sixteenth’s minifters, 
 in relating to him this anecdote, turned the tale 
 in fuch a manner as to give it the appearance of 
 the villagers having revolted from attachment to 
 the king, and thence drew a conclufion that the 
 country people were all enemies to the revo¬ 
 lution. 
 
 The king who was acquainted with the truth, 
 anfwered fharply; “ I think a minifter ought to 
 be more correct in his intelligence, and not make 
 
 any 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 57 
 
 any report to the council, which is not ftript of 
 all fable and then inftandy related what I 
 have juft written. The minifter felt afhamed, 
 and threw the fault upon his clerk. 
 
 This tragi-comedy brings to my mind another 
 
 adventure, which took place in la Haute-Lor- 
 raine, my own country. The dord of a certain 
 village had made himfelf fo extremely odious to 
 his vaffals by his oppreftions, that they refolved 
 to take advantage of the revolution to be re¬ 
 venged upon him. Twenty-nine law-fuits had 
 he carried on in the fpace of two years, and 
 although he had loft them all but one, they had 
 notwithftanding ruined the inhabitants of Gir- 
 mont. Being obliged to emigrate, he came to 
 his caftle to arrange fome affairs before his de¬ 
 parture ; his vaffals called a meeting, and refol¬ 
 ved to make him refund to them all the money 
 he had coft them : every one drew up his ac¬ 
 count, after which they went to him, fhewed 
 him their bill, and demanded a difcharge of it, 
 declaring that they would keep him prifoner till 
 it was paid. In vain did he endeavour to make 
 them acknowledge the illegality of their demand j 
 and for want of money, he was obliged to give 
 them all his notes of hand. 
 
 When 
 
53 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 When they left the cartle, thefe fame men, 
 violently difpleafed with one of their own party 
 who had attempted to fay fomething in defence 
 of his lordlhip, refolved alfo to punifh him. After 
 laying their heads together, they condemned him 
 by the voice of their community, which they wrote 
 out, and ported, to become a nobleman for a 
 month. During this time, every body called him 
 le Marquis Colas: and the poor devil was fo cut 
 to the heart, that he durrt not rtir out of his 
 own houfe, and fwore that he would never 
 fpeak in favour of a noble again as long as he 
 lived. 
 
 Thefe two anecdotes, which are only extracted 
 from a thoufand others which happened in the 
 country during the time of the revolution, ferve 
 to fhew the danger of innovations amongrt the 
 low and ignorant clafs of people. 
 
 How many inrtances have we not feen of 
 people from ignorance defpifing the moft ho¬ 
 nourable titles ) and thinking themfelves honour¬ 
 ed by fulfilling employments which infpire 
 horror and contempt ? Witnefs thofe honert 
 but ignorant farmers, whofe rtory has been dra¬ 
 matized, who, miftaking the name of les Sufpeffs 
 for an office, offered themfelves as candidates for 
 the fituation. 
 
 Thefe 
 
OF THE TUiLERIES. 
 
 59 
 
 Thefe dreadful errors would not have happen¬ 
 ed, if in each didrift had been placed a clever 
 and fenfible man, whofe bufmefs it fhould have 
 been to have explained to its inhabitants the 
 meaning of the new words and laws. 
 
 We call ourfelves one of the bed informed 
 nations; and yet, ye proud hiflorians, only 
 travel through the country, or vifit the fuburbs 
 of the towns, and you will fee that the veil of 
 ignorance hangs over the eyes of nineteen out 
 of twenty amongd the people. 
 
 After breakfad, the king filled up his time 
 till the hour of mafs with public affairs, writ¬ 
 ing letters, and filing # . As hunting was pro¬ 
 hibited him, and as exercife was neceffary to his 
 health, he took it by walking up and down his 
 apartments till a falutary perfpiration obliged 
 him to fit down. After mafs he ufed to fpend 
 fome time in talking with fome of his faithful 
 fubjedls, and then return into his apartments till 
 dinner time. He eat quickly, and with appetite j 
 he drank but little, notwithdanding he has been 
 fuppofed to have drank to excefs; mod com¬ 
 monly he did not empty one bottle, which he 
 mixed with a good deal of water. With his 
 
 * Louis X\ I. had a tafte for making padlocks. ‘Tranf- 
 lator’s note* 
 
 deffert 
 
6 o 
 
 the castle 
 
 defiert he took half a glafs of liqueur, and fo 
 ended his meal. 
 
 His afternoon was palled in reading, and play¬ 
 ing with his children, particularly the Dauphin. 
 In an evening he went into the drawing-room, 
 looked at thofe who were playing, vifited the 
 billiard-room, and played a few games, fometimes 
 with any indifferent perfon, but more frequently 
 with the queen. He was a bad player, and very 
 irritable when he loll. He has broken more than 
 one cue in his time. And this w^as the king's 
 common courfe of life whilft he refided at the 
 Tuileries. The events which were conflantly 
 taking place at that time, frequently diverted him 
 from his regular occupations; but he re¬ 
 turned to them again as foon as he became 
 compofed. 
 
 If the proceedings of the national alfembly 
 often gave him pain,he fometimes heard their laws 
 with pleafure ; one of which latter nature w^as 
 that which divided France into eighty-three de¬ 
 partments. I know not, whether this divifion, 
 (which was one of the crimes that Coligny was 
 reproached with two centuries before,) really 
 pleafed him in itfelf, or only fuited his tafle for 
 geography ; however in a very fhort time, he 
 
 drew 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 61 
 
 drew out a map of the new fyftem, in which he 
 noted all the parts which were taken from one 
 province, and added to another under the new 
 diftribution. This map, which I have feen, was 
 fo extremely correct, that you might at the fame 
 time learn from it the old and new geography 
 of France. Any one who pleafes may convince 
 himfelf of the truth of what I have been advan¬ 
 cing ; for this laborious work was in the courfe 
 of time inferted in an atlas, with a large and rare 
 collection of maps which were made by the king 
 himfelf. 
 
 The title of my book feems to exact from me 
 the talk of relating every thing which happened 
 in the palace of the Tuileries, during the whole 
 of the time that the king and his family lived in 
 it. I am fenfible of this; but then I know that I 
 fnould only be recounting events which have 
 been published in an hundred other books, and 
 in as many different fhapes, and this is not what 
 I intend. What I am aiming at is, to relate 
 fuch of the fads as have palled in this palace, 
 that are either not at ail, or very little known. 
 
 For this reafon I fhall fpeak neither of what 
 the revolution's call the day of daggers j nor 
 
 9. of 
 
Gz 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 of the fhameful 20th of June ; nor of that day on 
 which the throne fell, and the monarch fled. 
 
 For twelve years pafl every body has been 
 writing about the revolution ; and not one of 
 them tells abfolutely lies, nor yet the truth : he 
 who approaches the neareft to the truth, and 
 who has colle&ed together the mod: events, 
 either boldly ventured, or appearing mod pro¬ 
 bable, has the moft voices in his favour. It 
 
 really feems as if the more we read of thofe times 
 the lefs we know of them ; and the reafon is a 
 plain one *, thofe authors who did not know' all 
 the fecret fprings, and yet wifh to appear ac¬ 
 quainted with them, accounted for events ac¬ 
 cording to their own opinion; and as opinions 
 differ as much as the colours of the rainbow, fo 
 there mufl neceflarily have fprung up a variety 
 of details even amongft writers of the fame way 
 of thinking. 
 
 I fhall cite as an example the affair of the 
 20th of June. The Jacobins have faid, fome, 
 that it refulted from the combination of the 
 whole court, others that the queen alone was 
 the author of it. The Orleanifts were equally 
 divided, one party accufed the foreign powers 
 of having provoked it, another the minifters 5 
 
 while 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 63 
 
 while the royalift party accufed the Jacobins 
 and Orleanifls. As to myfelf, who am not in 
 the fecret, I fhall refer myfelf to the man who 
 was mod: concerned in the deflru&ion of the 
 royal family, I mean Orleans, and I fhall fay 
 with him ; I cannot fathom the my fiery, it is to 
 me a chaos. What he faid of it to his friend 
 Biron in one of his letters to him, is this: cc The 
 diflurbance made by the people on the twenti¬ 
 eth of June, has caufed me a great deal of un- 
 eafinefs, particularly from my not having known 
 any thing of it till a few hours before it took 
 place. I have endeavoured in vain to difcoverthe 
 authors of it; I am certain that it is not the work 
 of the Jacobins, nor of the Girondins. I fhould 
 be tempted to believe that it was a defign of our 
 great lady’s (the queen) ; if I could but find 
 out what could be her aim ; but here I lofe my¬ 
 felf, and can only fuppofe that it muft have 
 been the minifters who planned it. It is the 
 firft time that I have been ill ufed \ I hope how¬ 
 ever to know in a fliort time from whence the 
 blow came V* 
 
 * Secret correfpondence of people of rank, towards the 
 end of the eighteenth century, p, 215. 
 
 One 
 

 THE CASTLE 
 
 One of the mod remarkable epochs of the 
 refidence of Louis XVI. at the Tuileries is, with¬ 
 out doubt, the confederation of Frenchmen on 
 the fourteenth of July 1790. Had he been well 
 advifed, he might eafily have profited by this op¬ 
 portunity for getting into his own hands again 
 all thole prerogatives which the national affembly 
 
 had dripped him of, one at a time, whilfl they 
 were paying him the mod fulfome compliments. 
 Let us reded a moment upon this epoch. The 
 fentiments of the different departments were not 
 yet corrupted; the French dill loved their king. 
 This veneration animated in particular the fede¬ 
 rates (les Federes)> aifembled from all parts of 
 France with fcarcely a fingle exception. I 
 was of the number, and I can affure my readers 
 that the infmnations to which their attention was 
 endeavoured to be gained, had entirely a contrary 
 effect upon them to that intended to be pro¬ 
 duced in their minds by his calumniators. 
 Why did not the king, who ought to have been 
 pre-informed of their fentiments, throw himfelf 
 into the midd of the federates? Had he given a 
 mild explanation of what he had been made to 
 fuffer, had he fpoken a few words upon his love 
 
 for his people, had he propofed an oath, and 
 
 p:c cured 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 65 
 
 procured it to be fworn to at that propitious mo¬ 
 ment, had he taken the command, and put them 
 into action at that hour of enthufiafm ; this con¬ 
 duct would have enabled him both to diffolve, and 
 recreate the dates, to regain Verfailles, to feat 
 himfelf again upon his throne, and to defend it 
 by a guard chofen from the federates. But he 
 was fatisfied with having them file off before 
 him, with taking his oath where he could not be 
 feen, inftead of fhewing himfelf in the middle of 
 them, and reviewing them when half of them 
 were already gone home : and inftead of fhewing 
 himfelf at any of the fetes which were given, he 
 quietly differed La Fayette to run away with the 
 hearts of the citizen-foldiers, which they had 
 brought with them as a gift to their monarch, 
 and which at departing they left to this general. 
 
 The evening before the confederation of 
 Frenchmen, the federates were ordered to af~ 
 femble in the afternoon in the Champs-Elyfees to 
 pafs in review before the king. A very heavy 
 rain caufed the order to be changed, and they 
 were now to pafs in defile under the veftibule of 
 the Tuileries, before the king, his queen, and 
 family. The department to which I belonged, 
 inftead of the coat of dark blue, now wore a uni- 
 vol. 1. f form 
 
66 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 form of fky blue, with red lapells and cuffs, and 
 white lining and buttons, which gave us a novel 
 appearance that was remarked by the queen. I 
 was file-leader of the firft divifion of men ; and 
 whether it was in order to have a better op¬ 
 portunity of looking at us, or that the paffage 
 which was very narrow was blocked up with 
 lookers-on I know not, but we were flopped for 
 about two minutes exa&ly oppofite to the king. 
 The queen leaned forwards, and pulling me by 
 the Hap of my coat faid, Pray, Sir, of what 
 province are you ?” 66 Of that where your an- 
 ceftors reigned/’ was my anfwer, and I lowered 
 my fword as I fpoke. <c What are you”—fhe was 
 beginning— £c Your faithful Lorrains.”—I inter¬ 
 rupted her by faying ; and I fpoke the truth. 
 She thanked me by an inclination of her head, 
 and a look, which I fee flill; fo deeply did it 
 penetrate me at the moment; leaning towards 
 the king fhe faid to him, 61 Thefe are your faith¬ 
 ful Lorrains.” The king bowed his head to us, 
 and as we continued to file off, I faw no more. 
 But that was enough; thofe few words, that look, 
 had produced fuch an effect upon us all, that 
 we fhould at that moment have flown to the exe¬ 
 cution 
 
OF THE TUJLERIES. 6 f 
 
 cution of any command which thofe two unfor¬ 
 tunates had given us. 
 
 I do not relate this fa£t becaufe it happened to 
 myfelf; but merely to fliew how eafily the king 
 might jufl then have biafed the minds of about 
 60,000 men at that time affembled in Paris, and 
 who were beholding their king for the firft 
 time. 
 
 Had Louis XVI.’s character been the fame as 
 that of Antoinette, I have no doubt but that at 
 this very day he would dill have been king of 
 France. She never let dip a fingle opportunity 
 of begetting and preferving the love of her fub- 
 je£ts. In the Temple and the Conciergerie, 
 
 die was conftantly winning over to her fide her 
 ferocious keepers, and converting into faithful 
 fervants her mod mortal enemies. Turgan, 
 Michonis, and Manuel, are the vouchers for 
 what I advance. Did not Herbert himfelf cry 
 with rage, to think that die in fpite of him had 
 foftened his heart ? For rnyfelf who have never 
 been a frantic democrat, nor a blind royalid, I 
 never had but two opportunities of fpeaking to 
 the queen ; and from the fenfations which I 
 
 then experienced, I have no hefitation in faying, 
 that if I had more frequently been thrown 
 
 f 2 into 
 
68 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 into the way of fpeaking to her, I fhould have 
 become one of her mod furious partizans. Give 
 ine leave to relate the fecond circumftance ; its 
 date is the fame as the foregoing one. 
 
 After the federation in 1790, the federates 
 were allowed the honour of being upon fervice 
 at court. Curious to have a near view of the 
 royal family, I went; and the twenty-fifth of 
 July was the day that I mounted guard at the 
 
 palace. I was immediately put upon duty at 
 the inner door which was puffed through in go¬ 
 ing to the king or queen. The duty of a cen- 
 tinel, befides certain ceremonies and compli¬ 
 ments which I was obliged to pay, did not 
 permit any body to leave the palace with a 
 bundle. When the minifters came out of the 
 king’s apartment with their porte-folios, like at* 
 ignorant country fellow I would not let them 
 pafs till they had made themfelves known to 
 me. My uniform, as I have before faid, was' 
 different to the reft, which caufed me to be fo 
 much remarked, that many people afked me if I 
 was a German; for the joke’s fake, I anfwered 
 them in that language, and this puzzled them, 
 and made me appear a fufpicious kind of per- 
 fon to feme of the weak-headed ones. I had 
 
 been 
 
OF THE TU1LERIES. 69 
 
 been above an hour upon duty without feeing 
 any one of the royal family, when the queen 
 was announced. Proud of having already been 
 
 noticed by her, and in hopes of being fo again, 
 
 I placed myfelf in fuch a manner as to be feen 
 by her ; fhe appeared without any attendants, 
 with the Dauphin in her hand. . I prefented my 
 arms with all the grace of which I was matter, 
 and grounded my mulket with all the noife I 
 could. She turned her eye upon me, and 
 honoured me with an inclination of her head, and 
 an enchanting fmile. Her beautiful boy looked 
 only ftraight before him as he walked along with¬ 
 out feeing me •, his mother (topped him and faid; 
 
 Don’t be fo impolite, Sir, make a bow j” then 
 addrefling herfelf to me, (he added, “ Excufe 
 him, he is but a childj” and walked on. 
 
 In the evening, or, to fpeak with greater exad- 
 nefs, the night, for it was ten o’clock, I was put 
 upon a fecond, and lefs agreeable port ; I was 
 placed in a long and narrow corridor, which 
 feparates the fide building on the ground floor, 
 between a little door which was oppoflte to the 
 bed-chamber of ^the queen and a private flair- 
 cafe which lead to the apartments of Madame. 
 
 A faint light which proceeded from two fmoaky 
 
 f 3 lanthorns 
 
70 THE CASTLE 
 
 lanthorns ferved to fhew when any body was 
 coming, without giving fufficient light to diftin- 
 guifh their perfons by. I was particulary ordered 
 not to let any body in by thefe two entrances; 
 1 was alfo commanded not to blow my nofe or 
 to fneeze, if I could poflibly help it, for fear of 
 difturbing the queen's repofe, as her bed was on 
 the other fide of the wall by which I was polled. 
 That I might not make a noife by walking up 
 and down, I was allowed a chair to fit in. This 
 poll which would have been confidered a very 
 difagreeable one by almoft every body elfe, I 
 looked upon as quite a feather in my cap ; I 
 wifhed that they might come while I was there 
 to attack the queen, and folely from this motive, 
 that the courage with which I had determined to 
 defend her, might make me appear a hero in 
 her eyes. I was fo occupied with my own ideas, 
 that at midnight when they came to relieve 
 guard, inftead of the ufual, “ qui vive,” I placed 
 myfelf before the door, and called out, u Woe 
 be to him that firfh approaches, Pll lay him 
 dead at my feetand I a&ually took aim at 
 my comrades. One word from the corporal, 
 who flopped flort, explained to me my miflake; 
 and I pleaded as my excufe the darknefs of the 
 
 place 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 7 l 
 
 place which had prevented me from recognizing 
 them. When we arrived at the guard-room, 
 my cowardice, as they were pleafed to call it, 
 ferved for a good laugh. 
 
 The next day the queen gave notice that fhe 
 was going to walk with her children in the 
 garden of the Dauphin, which was fituate at the 
 bottom of that of the Tuileries. It was cuftomary 
 that fhe fhould have fome guards to accompany 
 her. I exprelfed a defire to be of the number, 
 and they appointed me. We waited for the 
 queen at the entrance of the veflibule, and 
 followed her. Madame Lamballe gave her 
 arm to the queen, and the queen held the 
 Dauphin by the hand. When they got into the 
 garden, the little boy, began to run away from 
 his mother, calling out ; * c Mamma, I am going 
 to fee my ducks.” His filler followed him. Du¬ 
 ring their walk the queen was in converfation 
 with Madame Lamballe. I Hopped to look at 
 fome plants, of which my comrades alked me 
 the name. The queen over-heard us and faid to 
 me *, cc It appears to me, Sir, that you are fond 
 
 of the country.” “ Very much fo.” M Perhaps 
 you live there.” u Not at prefent ; I live in a 
 little town where every houfe has a garden of its 
 
 r 4 own.” 
 
72 
 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 own.” “ Is it Luneville ?” <e No, Madame, 
 I live nine leagues diftant from it; but my 
 mother-in law was born there.” cc The army 
 does not feem to be your profeflion.” No, 
 Madame, I am a lawyer,” “ Are you acquain¬ 
 ted with Paris ?” “ This is the firft time of my 
 
 vifiting it.” “ You will then certainly foon leave 
 it ?” “ I think of flaying two or three months 
 
 in order to make myfelf acquainted with it.’* 
 u Do you like it ?” c< Hitherto not, its buftlq 
 diftra&s me.” <c A man of a quiet difpofition 
 can feldom like it; he mufl only vifit it from cu- 
 riofity; are they very quiet at Lorraine?” “They 
 are, Madame.” The Dauphin now came back 
 to his mother, and they went to reft themfelves 
 in one of the little buildings at the bottom of 
 
 the garden; in about half an hour they appeared 
 again. The Dauphin looked at us, and faid, 
 cc Gentlemen, we are going away.” We ac¬ 
 companied them to the entrance of the palace ; 
 the queen and her luite then bowed to us, anci 
 went in. 
 
 At the beginning of the year 1791, the king 
 who amufed himfelf with every thing in its turn, 
 undertook, with his confidant Durey, to melt 
 three old chefts of filver gilt, which had ferveft 
 
 to 
 
OF THE TU1LERIES. 73 
 
 \ 
 
 to lock up the feals of the (late, and which were 
 become ufelefs, having been replaced by others. 
 Durey bought a furnace, and an ingot mould ; 
 but he bought them with fo little fecrecy that a 
 report was immediately fpread that the king was 
 melting his plate in order to fend it in ingots to 
 his brother’s. 
 
 The king (hut himfelf up with Durey in a little 
 clofet which received its light only from a fafhed 
 door, which looked upon a back flair-cafe. 
 There, in danger of being fmothered with heat* 
 and fuffocated with the fmoke of the charcoal, 
 they blew away with all their might *. Pleafed 
 with his employment, the king pafled a long 
 time in examining his ingots; and then he wifhed 
 to feparate the filver from the gold ; but the want 
 of proper tools foon made him tire of the talk, 
 and he commiffioned Durey, to carry them to 
 the mint, and receive their value. The bufinefs 
 of carrying away the gold and filver took fome 
 days, during which the king departed for 
 Varennes. 
 
 Two days after his return, he alked Durey if 
 he had been paid for the ingots ; and Durey re- 
 
 * Two days proved fcarcely fufficient for the melting, 
 which operation was at length accompliflied. 
 
 mitted 
 
74 the castle 
 
 mitted to him four thoufand and fome odd 
 livres, which ferved him to pay his feivants who 
 had remained in the Tuileries; and to whom he 
 exprefled thanks for their conduct during his 
 abfence. 
 
 Thefe particulars, which I learnt from Durey, 
 mufl entirely exculpate the king from the accu- 
 fation of his having fecretly melted his plate. 
 This anecdote leads me to make fome reflexions 
 upon the cuftom of our kings fending their plate 
 to the mint in times of public diftrefs. The peo¬ 
 ple, whofe way it is never to refleX, have always 
 witnefled this royal privation with gratitude, and 
 thought themfelves much relieved by it. But 
 for my part I fee only on the contrary a frefh 
 expence incurred by it, as the plate was always 
 replaced by a new fet, the making of which had 
 to be paid for. A king who happens to fend his 
 plate only three times during his reign to the 
 mint, mufl draw at lead tw^o hundred thoufand 
 francs from the coffers of the (late to pay Amply 
 for the making. It is true, that almoft always 
 inftead of its being melted, it is returned home 
 with as much fecrecy as there was notoriety ufed 
 in its fending. 
 
 This 
 
/ 
 
 OF THE TUILERIES. 75 
 
 This anecdote leads me to fay a few words 
 
 about the journey to VarennesIt is very well 
 known that for a long time the friends of the 
 king, and particularly the queen, had been en¬ 
 deavouring to perfuade him to leave Paris. 
 <f You cannot,” fhe was conftantly repeating to 
 him, “ regain your kingdom without quitting it.’* 
 In 1790, Breteuil had given him a plan of flight, 
 telling him that the emperor would not a£t till 
 he had left Paris. Bouille on his part wanted to 
 induce the king to retire to a town upon the 
 frontiers. Preffed on all fides, he at length con- 
 fented ; but he put off as long as lay in his power 
 the moment of his departure. Doubts and fears na¬ 
 tural to an irrefolute mind like his, delayed the ex- 
 ecutionof this project for a whole year. The queen 
 at Iaft obtained from him his decifive confent f. 
 
 * Nobody has told us how the elder brother of the king, 
 Monfieur, and his wife, left Paris, It is well known, that 
 they and the royal family quitted the capital on the fame day. 
 In order to avoid all fufpicion, Monfieur and his lady went 
 each by a different way to the hOufe of one of their fervants, 
 named Corbillieres, who lived in la place des Quatre Nations, 
 No. 9 ; and at this houfe they got into their carriage. 
 Fearing that Luxembourg would be pillaged, Monfieur had 
 hid behind a wainfcot of that palace, feveral boxes full 
 of articles of value, which were difcovered* and confifcated. 
 
 y She had not informed the king of her plan, knowing 
 that he could frauffrate it, 
 
 All 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 76 
 
 All {he was telling him, and caufing to be 
 repeated to him by his confidential friends, was, 
 that it was not only requifite for him to gain a 
 fortified town upon the frontiers, but that he 
 ought to fix upon one in the neighbourhood of 
 
 the Empire, and of Pruflia likewife. Befan$on, 
 Valenciennes, and Metz were propofed ; but the 
 king preferred Montmedy. The projed of the 
 queen was to affemble at Luxemburg, which is 
 only twelve leagues diflant from Montmedy, the 
 principal members of the parliaments of France, 
 
 to condud the king thither furrounded by the 
 grandees of the kingdom, and hold there a bed 
 
 of juftice of vyhich the end may be eafily con¬ 
 ceived. The king, who had not been made ac¬ 
 quainted with this defign, only took pains to 
 point out that his fituation and that of his king¬ 
 dom obliged him to quit the capital, where he 
 could not enjoy his liberty. lie drew out in 
 private a protection againft many of the decrees 
 which he had fandioned before, put it fealed 
 into the hands of one of his minifters, and by 
 Health quitted Paris. 
 
 It need fcarcely be repeated that there were 
 many caufes which occafioned the flopping of 
 the royal family : the negligence of not having 
 
 fent 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. JJ 
 
 lent couriers before them; the delay incurred by 
 fomething breaking about the carriage; the 
 miftake of a detachment which quitted its pod 
 without orders; and laftly the fufpicions which 
 were raifed by the troops of Bouille, being put 
 into motion. But there is dill a more imme¬ 
 diate caufe affigned by the royal family them- 
 felves. They have always maintained, and their 
 partifans affert to this day, that La Fayette knew 
 of their departure, and would not have fufFered it 
 to have taken place at all, only that he might have 
 the merit of (topping the king. The cloud 
 which hangs over this affertion is darkened (till 
 more by the place where the arreft was made. 
 That they (hould have waited to execute their 
 defign, till the royal family were arrived in a 
 little town at the extremity of the frontiers, ap¬ 
 pears fo great an imprudence, that it ought to 
 weaken the charge againft La Fayette. But 
 then, after this I read a paper, as well as many 
 other perfons, which I mud fay does not leave me 
 entirely free from doubt *. This paper, which 
 
 * Thofe who read it are dill living, and can vouch for the 
 truth of what I fay. Amongft thefe I fliall name the depu¬ 
 ties Breard and Laloy, the exifting members of the com¬ 
 mittees of general fafety, and public furety, as well as all 
 thofe who compofed the comuiiffion of the furniture. 
 
J$ THE CASTLE 
 
 is written by the hand of Danton, fummarily 
 fays, that after a conference between himfeif* 
 Bailly, La Fayette and the members of the con- 
 ftituted authorities, it was refolved not to oppofe 
 the departure of the king ; as nearly as I can 
 remember, this paper was dated about the end of 
 April 1791, which may make it a doubt whether 
 it related to the journey undertaken two months 
 after. But as it was fufpe&ed before this time 
 
 that the king was meditating a flight, it leaves 
 a certainty that thefe great people had more than 
 a fufpicion of it. I mufl leave hiftorians to rea- 
 fon on this event. 
 
 During the whole of the time that the king re¬ 
 folded at theTuileries, although fonear the theatres, 
 he had the prudence to deny himfelf this amufe- 
 ment, and never appeared at any one of them. 
 The queen who was very fond of theatricals fuf- 
 ferred much more than he did from the priva¬ 
 tion ; file feized the moment at which the new 
 conftitution was accepted, to fhew herfelf at the 
 opera. The king who always trembled at the 
 idea of being even the indire£t caufe of any mur¬ 
 murs amongft the people, ufed many arguments 
 to diffuade her from this flep, on account of the 
 difagreeable confequences which might refult 
 
 from 
 
OF THE TU 1 LERIES. 
 
 79 
 
 from it; but {he made fo great a point of going, 
 that he gave her his per mi (lion, and (he appeared 
 at the opera, for the laft time , on the twenty- 
 eighth December 1791. 
 
 She was received with loud plaudits, lavilhed 
 on her, by the friends of the throne, who had been 
 engaged to attend, and who filled three-fourths 
 of the theatre. This reception ftrengthened her 
 hopes, and tranquillized the king. The queen now 
 intended to {hew herfelf there frequently; but 
 
 the daily newfpapers, which were called the patri¬ 
 otic papers, having fcandaloufly falfified their 
 account of her reception, changed entirely the 
 tone of the king’s mind, and he pofitively forbad 
 her vifiting the theatre *. 
 
 * At the revolution, the managers of the theatres were 
 under the neceflity of changing their catalogue. The 
 pieces which were obliged to be cut out were io numerous 
 that the amateurs abandoned the theatres. In a fhort time 
 they were befieged by fuch a variety of local novelties, that 
 the aCtors had fcarcely time allowed them to learn their 
 parts. I reckon of thofe which were played in the theatres 
 in Paris, from the 14th of July 1789, to the firft of January 
 1 Boo, 637 of all kinds collectively taken. In the number 
 we find amongll them thefe full pieces, Lereveil d’ Epimenide, 
 by Fit ns ; Marius a Minthurne, by Arnauld; yean Hennuyer , 
 by Mercier; L '‘ami des Lois, by Lay a; Charles IX., 
 Henry VIII., yean Calas, Cdius Gracchus , Fen el on, by 
 Chenier; Pamela, by Frangois de Neuf- Chateau; Epicuris 
 and Neron, by Legouvs ; Manlius Forquatus, by Lavailee. 
 
 Thefe 
 
 1 
 
So 
 
 THE CASTtE 
 
 Thefe fcandals in the newfpapers produced on 
 the following day an infult, which they durft 
 not attempt to puniffi. According to thefe 
 vapours of the public opinion, the tranfa&ions at 
 the opera had in view a plan formed by the 
 royalifts to raife an infurre&ion, during which 
 the king was to leave Paris. Struck by this 
 ridiculous lie, a frantic centinel who was placed 
 upon guard at the king’s apartment, had the in- 
 folence to prevent his leaving his room, about 
 feven o’clock in the evening, when he was going 
 to the queen. The officer of the guard was 
 obliged to be fent for, and he only ordered this 
 audacious centinel to be relieved. The next 
 day the newfpapers extolled this aflion, which 
 was never punifhed. The guard which was 
 given to the king in 1792, and which was fup- 
 preffed before it was entirely formed, engaged 
 the attention of the court very particularly *. 
 It was raifed with the mod fcrupulous care as to 
 thofe who were allowed to compofe it, and we 
 fhall give fome details concerning it which are 
 hitherto unknown. Briffiac and D’Hervilly who 
 
 * It was raifed on the fixteenth of February 1792, and 
 diibanded again on the thirtieth of the May following. Brif- 
 fac its commander was fent to the high national court. 
 
 were 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 8l 
 
 were appointed its commanders, were perfe&ly 
 of accord to raife it folely of fincere friends to 
 the king and crown. The pains which the na¬ 
 tional affembly were taking to mix the common 
 national guards with the regulars, gave them 
 no uneafinefs. 
 
 Scarcely was it known that a decree had been 
 pafied for its formation, before requefts poured in 
 from all quarters of France to the palace, for the 
 liberty of being of the chofen number. Every 
 pretender to the office refled upon fome fervices 
 which he had rendered to the court or the king, 
 upon his loyal fentiments, and all of them called 
 upon fome friends of the court to witnefs for 
 their truth. I {hall give fome chance examples 
 of what I have been advancing. 
 
 Gandolphe, captain of the Royal Liegeois 
 regiment, wrote to Briffac that he had ferved i.i 
 the campaign at Nancy under Bouille, that he 
 wiffied to be near the king to defend his perfon 
 with all really good Frenchmen, and men¬ 
 tioned his acquaintance with the minifler Mont- 
 inorin. 
 
 J. B. Tixier wrote alfo to Briffac, faying that 
 he was a faithful fubjeft, animated by the only 
 true principles, and added to his requefl, certi- 
 
 vol. i. a ficates 
 
$2 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 ficates from feveral gentlemen of his province 
 who attefted that he lived like a gentleman. 
 Turgis faid that he fhould prefer to be one of its 
 common men, rather than an officer in the eighty* 
 third regiment; that his attachment to his king 
 was the foie motive of his choice. I find it was 
 this fame Turgis who wrote fome time before the 
 tenth of Auguft to Durey, petitioning to have an 
 admiffion ticket into the Tuileries, that he might 
 defend the king againft the banditti, as he ex- 
 preffied himfelf. 
 
 Leon Bearner wrote to Daudoin, lieutenant- 
 colonel of the horfe guards, offering for his fer- 
 vice Villevigne, worthy of entering into the troop 
 fmce he had abjured democracy. 
 
 Vignolet, captain of the body guard, recom¬ 
 mended Vagnet, and trufled that his protege 
 would be thought worthy to enter, as having 
 ferved the court in 1789, in the chara&er of a 
 f P y. 
 
 Remy, fecond lieutenant in the horfe-guards, 
 was taken in becaufe he had ferved under Bouille, 
 in defence of the king on his journey to Va- 
 rennes. 
 
 Several offered themfelves without any pre¬ 
 tentions but that of folemn protections of fide¬ 
 lity. 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 lity. Several uninformed countrymen talked o 
 patriotifm in their requefls, and fo defeated the 
 end for which they were petitioning. 
 
 In order to know their men, in the margin 
 by the fide of each petition was written a word 
 which feemed to convey no meaning, and to 
 which they gave a quite different fenfe from what 
 it really bore. For example, the word bon , 
 denoted a friend to the throne ; a verifier , figni- 
 hed that fuch a one was not to be received. The 
 
 word refufc was not found at all in the margin, 
 In order that there might be no caufe for mur¬ 
 muring I £ha!l explain in a moment how I dif- 
 covered this enigma, which at prefent probably 
 appears to my readers only a chance ailertion, 
 and merely my own idea. 
 
 Such individuals as the queen, Madame Eliza¬ 
 beth, and other members of the court interefted 
 themfelves about, were immediately received. 
 Next came thofe fent from the regular regiments, 
 for whom their officers anfwered ; and then they 
 lelecled from the petitioners fuch as bore the high- 
 fc-R characters. And in order not to difcover the 
 plan upon which they were acting, they admit¬ 
 ted a certain number of men prefented by the 
 patriotic deputies, as for example one was re¬ 
 ceived, 
 
 o 2 
 
 *-n 
 
84 the castle 
 
 ceived, who was prefented by Jean Debrie. 
 The departments had each the right of fending 
 three whom they were obliged to receive ; and 
 of whom they dreaded what might be their fenti- 
 ments. They were very well fati fied about the 
 fentiments of fome of the adminiflrations of the 
 departments, but the majority were patriotic, 
 and they flood in awe of the revolutionary gan¬ 
 grene. How was it to be fought againft ? thus 
 only ; by diflributing the patriots in the different 
 barracks, in fuch a manner that they fhould 
 always have a minority ; by fatiguing them with 
 fervice ; by giving them caufe for being difguft- 
 ed with their employment, that they might be 
 compelled to throw it up ; by making them 
 conftantly be upon centry, and by punifhing 
 feverely in them the flighteft faults; and fuch 
 were the methods made ufe of. Each captain 
 was ordered to give in a weekly account of 
 his private opinion of the conduct of his 
 meri^ by which each individual would be well 
 known. 
 
 The following is an extract from fome of their 
 reports. 
 
 The captain Villeneuve wrote ; “ State of the 
 men with whom we are difcontented. Valette, 
 
 a clubifle ; 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 85 
 
 a clubifle * ; Cabcur, came from the troops of 
 the centre, and is of the fame fentiments. ,, 
 
 In that of the captain La Chappelle, there was 
 Daziniere, a man of dangerous principles ; 
 March ant, the fame, with fkill to propagate 
 them. 
 
 Laftly, the captain Coriales faid, Pitois was 
 prefent at the arrival of Chateaux-Vieux. 
 
 This was doubtlefs enough to prove the fpirit, 
 which fwayed the commanders of the king’s 
 guard, as well as that which was required from 
 every private ; and their end would certainly 
 have been anfwered, had it not been for fome 
 ill judging men who were of its number. Thofe, 
 in their barracks, turned into ridicule the pa¬ 
 triots, and the conflitution, and teized thofe who 
 w'ere its friends. One of them named Paris, 
 well known for having murdered the deputy Pelle¬ 
 tier Saint Fargeau, and of whom his captain faid 
 that he was an excellent foldier, but that he 
 durfl not promote him on account of his hot- 
 
 * A member of a club ; from the word club , borrowed 
 from the Englifh language, and adopted before the revolu¬ 
 tion the French have firmed the fubftantive clubifle, and 
 inftead of club now more commonly make life of fnciete 
 pr,pulaire to mean a popular aTembly, calling thofe Clubifle $ 
 who frequent fuch meetings. Lexi. Neo. Gal. Tranf- 
 lalor' s note, 
 
 G 3 
 
 headed- 
 
86 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 headednefs, made it his bufinefs to find out the 
 patriotic foldiers to infulfc them. 
 
 The reader without doubt will want to know 
 how I came by thefe facts. After the death 
 of the king, the deputy Merlin de Douay, 
 knowing that fome papers had been found rela¬ 
 ting to the king's guard, demanded that a cir- 
 cumftamial account of them fhould be made out, 
 and that all the writings ihould be figned by the 
 deputies. The clerk who was charged with this 
 bufinefs, flowed me the minutes of his work, 
 and pointed out to my notice a lift of the names 
 of the guards, with the quality of each margined 
 on the fide ; he who was marked bon , was called 
 in this regifter a royalift ; while they had written 
 
 renvoyer oppofite to the names of fuch as were 
 
 % 
 
 marked with the words a verifier . 
 
 o y J v J 
 
 We have fiid that there never appeared the 
 leak fign of the king having interfered about 
 his guard : we cannot fay exactly the fame of 
 the queen; there is every reafon to believe that 
 
 Briffac and DTIervilly adted in concert with her. 
 
 j 
 
 Their too great precipitation was the failure of 
 their defign, and the guard was fupprefied. 
 
or THE TUILERIES. 
 
 8 7 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 VISIT TO THE PALACE OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 FIRST DAY, 
 
 Lord Bedfort * pays a Vifit to the Tuileries.—Similarity between 
 the Misfortunes of Charles the Firjl , and ihofe of Louis XVL 
 —State of the Interior of the Pavilion of Medicis.—Account 
 of the Robberies committed up.n it.—Fate of the Sceptre , and 
 the Royal Crown. — The Republic proclaimedfrom the Furniture 
 of the Crown —Search after fame Papers in a [pot mentioned 
 by Marat.—The Platonic Amours of Eugene and Adelaide .— 
 Fads hitherto unknown abou the Departure of the King’s 
 Aunts. 
 
 In the month of December 1792, whilft the 
 commiflaries appointed by the minifter of the 
 interior, Rolland, were employed in reftoring a 
 certain order in the palace of the Tuileries, and 
 in making an inventory of the furniture, Lord 
 
 * It has been generally underflood in France, that the 
 late duke of Bedford was the peidon who paid this vifit to 
 the Tuileries ; but as it is well known that his grace was 
 not in Fiance at that time, and as the fiction is alfo 
 ftrongiy proved by the editor not being acquainted with 
 either his rank or his name (for he calls him Lord Bedfort'), 
 we have judged it belt, as we cannot afeertain who the per- 
 fon really was, to retain the exadt words of our author, and 
 leave it to each of our readers to form his own opinion upon a 
 point where we are incapable of giving him information. 
 
 TranflatoFs note. 
 
 g 4 Bedfort 
 
88 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 Bedfort prefented himfelf amongft them, intro¬ 
 duced by one of the commandants of the na¬ 
 tional guard of Paris. cc A philofophical curi- 
 ofity,” faid he, “ brings me hither; will it be 
 allowable for me to requeft permiffion to fee the 
 abode of the lad of your kings ?” The commif- 
 faries, after having debated a few moments toge¬ 
 ther, found no obje&ion to fatisfying the curi- 
 ofity of the Englittiman, and one of them was 
 appointed to carry in his name, and to condud 
 him into the interior of the building. Cf France/’ 
 faid this man to him, “ is juft now in the fame 
 fituation that your country was a century and a 
 half ago; with this difference, however, that 
 Charles I. was dethroned and imprifoned by an 
 audacious ufurper, whilft with us it is a reunion 
 of men which has depofedLouis XVI. Charles was 
 arretted without oppofition and without tumult, 
 whilft Louis has feen his palace taken byaffault,and 
 walked with the blo r d of his foldiers. I perceive 
 alfo another very remarkable difference, which 
 is that the reprefentatives of France have juft 
 convoked a national affembly to decide upon the 
 fate of their king, whilft in your country a fingle 
 man convoked the parliament to judge yours. 
 Charles was a weak man like Louis. May the 
 
 refem- 
 
OF THE TU1LERIES. 89 
 
 refemblance of their fates end here ! But I fear 
 left, carried away by their pafllons and enthuftafm, 
 
 the-but let us walk together over this 
 
 palace of diforder.” As I was prefent at this 
 converfation, I profited by this circumftance, 
 and followed them. They began by vifiting 
 the right wing of the palace, at the end of which 
 is the pavilion of Medicis. 
 
 In this part there are few curiofities. 
 
 They were at this moment taking the furniture 
 out of the apartments of the king’s aunts, and 
 of all thofe who had inhabited this wing, in 
 in order to work at the faloon which the conven¬ 
 tion had ordered to be built for the holding of 
 their aftemblies. All the furniture was heaped 
 up together in a large room at the top of the 
 building. Our Englifhman flopped a moment 
 to examine this pile of furniture. C( What a 
 beautiful lacker,” faid he, going up to a cheft 
 of drawers ; “ do you know what is intended to 
 be done with this piece of furniture ? If they 
 are determined upon felling it, I fhali like to 
 buy it.” 
 
 C£ I don’t know yet,” replied his conductor 
 the com miffary, “ what determination they 
 will come to ; but let your wifh to become a 
 
 buyer 
 
9° 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 a buyer be known, and perhaps”—“ That is 
 ufelefs,” replied brifkly a man, who they told me 
 was a member of the com million of Les Beaux 
 Arts *, “ I am going to fet this piece of furniture 
 cn one fide.” I know not what became of the 
 cheft of drawers ; mod likely it fhared the fame 
 fate as the piano-forte and two other fmall pieces 
 of furniture of Maria-Antoinette did, which 
 were coveted by this fame man. The anecdote 
 is curious enough for me to relate it. 
 
 C •. . . . (that is the man’s name) afked 
 the commiffaries of the Tuileries to lend him 
 a few pieces of furniture, and above all this 
 piano, in order that he might have his daugh¬ 
 ter taught mufic upon it. He was not then 
 fo rich as he is now, but he did not let any 
 means of becoming fo pafs by him unufed. 
 
 * Several commilTanes had been appointed to go over the 
 palace o r the Tuileries, the houfes or the civil lift, and thofe 
 of the emigrants, and to fet afide whatever rare or precious 
 articles they might find in them, with which it was intended 
 to lay the foundation of a Mufeum. I myfelf favv citizen 
 
 C., one of the appointed men, fetting down in Ills 
 
 catalogue chamber-pots of very ordinary china, tearing prints 
 out of a collection which the queen had had bound up, 
 and whilft he was thus fpoiling a fine fet by feparating them, 
 lie defpifed fome clocks made by Robin, which are efteemed 
 chef d* oeuvres. No furpvife will be excited by the nvifdom 
 of this commiffarv. when our readers learn that he had been 
 
 j 9 
 
 all his life a vender of faggots in a little town in the country. 
 
 11 tc You 
 
OF THE TUILERTES. 
 
 9 1 
 
 cc You know,” was replied to his requeft, cc that 
 nothing is allowed to be taken from hence ; but 
 there is a very eafy way for you to borrow them, 
 without owing an obligation to any body but 
 yourfelf; fet them down for Les Beaux Arts , 
 
 and have them taken away.” C.feized 
 
 this idea with rapture, put a- mark upon the 
 things, and had them carried to his own houfe. 
 
 Still too delicate to take them entirely to himfelf, 
 he gave one of the commilTaries a bond for the 
 things, and faid he Should return them when the 
 fale of the furniture took place. So palled on a 
 year : at the end of which the auctioneer came 
 to him one morning to take back the goods, 
 and put them in the auClion; and what arrfwer 
 
 do you think C.made ? “ During the 
 
 time of alarms, Robefpierre had marked me out 
 as one of his victims, on account of my friend¬ 
 ship for Danton ; and rather than leave my wife 
 and my children in indigence, I fold every thing I 
 had, even to my library, and gave the money 
 which they produced to my wife ; thofe pieces 
 of furniture which belonged to the Tuileries are 
 fold with the red.” The auctioneer brought this 
 anfwer to the commilTaries. “ Go back to him,” 
 faid they, tC and tell him to give you the money 
 
 they 
 
92 THE CASTLE 
 
 they fetched.” At this fecond demand C. 
 
 laughed in the face of the auctioneer, anfwered 
 that he had none to fend, and faid that if they 
 chofe to go to law about it, he would (hew them 
 that they could not attack a deputy like him 
 with impunity. He was indeed one of the prin¬ 
 cipal men of the time. 
 
 This anecdote is proved by a letter of fub- 
 
 miflion from C., by the witnefs of the 
 
 auctioneer, and the commiflaries (till living. 
 How many articles were made off with in the 
 fame way ! How many drawing-rooms, and 
 bondoirs which are admired at the prefent day, 
 have been furnifhed in the like impudent 
 manner! Will thefe robbers always enjoy in 
 peace the fruits of their rapine ? 
 
 After having examined this pile of furniture, 
 great part of which had been damaged by the 
 fury of the populace, my lord (topped in a large 
 faloon which was prepared for the holding 
 of an affembly. He inquired its ufe. cc None 
 now,” they told him : c< But it was in that faloon, 
 that on the firfb day of that autumn the deftiny 
 of France had been fixed. It was there, from 
 that place, that for the fir ft time the eftablilh- 
 vnent of the republic was demanded; md alfo 
 
 there 
 
OF THE TUIL L RIUS* 
 
 93 
 
 there that a general and fpontaneous voice put a 
 flop to its exiftence.”— u But one thing (hikes 
 and aftonifhes me ; the carpets, the chairs, are 
 all worked with lilies. How could they ufe 
 furniture fo expreflive of royalty at the proclaim¬ 
 ing of its dedrudion * ?” It is like the cock in 
 the fable ; after a battle he mounts upon the fpoil 
 of his enemy, to chaunt forth his vidory, and 
 eftablifh his own empire. 
 
 “ This brings me to another quedlon ; which 
 is, what became of thofe infignia of royalty the 
 fceptre and the crown ?”—“ The fccptre was 
 carried away on the tenth of Augutl by the fec- 
 tion of the Louvre, which dripped it of its em¬ 
 blems, and then fent it to the mint. The 
 crown (hared the fame fate.” cc I thank you, 
 
 * The following is a lid of fuch things, belonging hereto¬ 
 fore to the crown, as were ufed at this ceremony. The king^s 
 council table, and its carpet ; the table of the prefident with a 
 carpet of velvet worked in lilies ; an arm chair of green velvet 
 trimmed with gold lace for the prefident ; two arm chairs of 
 fluff for the fecretaries ; feven chairs of Utrecht velvet for 
 the miniflers ; three laced chairs for the bar; fixty.onc 
 fluffed chairs of velvet worked in lilies partly for the depu¬ 
 ties : two carpets brought from the chapel for their feet; 
 thirty-fix llools of fhag, and Utrecht velvet ; three lufires ; 
 one canopy ; five other fluffed chairs for the affitlants ; one 
 ink land of earthen-ware ; ten candlellicks, of which fix 
 were plated, and four yellow ; the whole taken from 
 among the furniture of the palace of the Tuileries. 
 
 and 
 
9'4 the castle 
 
 and beg of. you to let me take a note of this, for 
 my memory is very treacherous.'” 
 
 Whilft our Englifhman was employed in wri¬ 
 ting his notes with his pencil, a difpute broke out 
 at the end of the gallery, which drew my atten¬ 
 tion. I went up to the fpot the noife proceeded 
 from, and found two men quarrelling, one of 
 whom was calling the other a thief. I inquired 
 into the fubjed or complaint. lie who was ac- 
 cufing the other faid tome, ic Do you fee this 
 man ? By means of the minifies' of the interior, 
 who is his patron, he get a lodging in this pavi¬ 
 lion. When he came in, a great bafket ferved 
 
 to carry ail his furniture, and he was in fuch a 
 iniferable (late in the garret that he inhabited, 
 that the lad time his wife lav-in, the baker refufed 
 totruft him for a loaf of four livres. And now that 
 he muff turn out, he wants to carry with him a 
 great deal more than he brought, though every 
 body knows he has bought nothing. He has 
 feraped together a very handfome colledion of 
 furniture, and now thinks that by leaving feme 
 
 of that behind, he (hall be allowed to take away 
 the red j but I (hall not buffer it.” However, 
 the perfon accufed did nothing but fhrug up his 
 
 (boulders, and packed up fuch articles as he had 
 
 a mind. 
 
OF THE TUILERIES* 95 
 
 d mind to. I took the liberty of afking this 
 (tickler for juftice, who he might happen to be 
 himfelf, and who was the man that he was ac- 
 cufing.—“ Me, Sir! I am only a fimpie work¬ 
 man, but I am an honeft man ; as for him he is 
 only a deputy of one of the deputies of Paris, 
 who whiift he is wailing to procure a feat, is at 
 the head of the adminiftration of the horfes and 
 carriages of the republic. You will hear him 
 talked of one day ; he makes a fine beginning ; 
 for during the four days that he has been in 
 place, he has been changing fome fine horfes 
 of the emigrants for Rofmantes. As long as 
 there is the proper number, he thinks all is right 
 and well I left the difputants, and went 
 
 and rejoined the party which I had juft quitted. 
 
 They 
 
 * This man, whom I was once thrown into the way of 
 knowing, and whole name is an abufe, fince it means a robber, 
 made one of the molt rapid fortunes of them all. In the 
 month of January 1793, he faid in a party where I happened 
 to be ; “ I am a loll man, I am 150,000 livres in debt, and 
 I have not a fmgle foils ; I am hunted about by the proprie¬ 
 tors of my theatre ; and I am in momentary dread of being 
 arretted.’* Three months after, he was fufficiently impru¬ 
 dent to fay before the fame people; “ With me joy, my 
 boys, I have payed my debts, and am worth 20,000 livres 
 a year !” Every body turned his back upon him, and moved 
 from him faying ; §juifeft mat ditar l, nvn erit innocen s* This man, 
 
 who 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 96 
 
 They had flopped on a fpot mod offenfive to 
 the olfa&ory nerves, clofe by where a fmk had 
 juft been opened. Two unhappy nightmen, with 
 their nofes tied up in bandages, and their ears 
 flopped with lumps of greafe, appeared at bottom 
 employed in picking out the paper that had been 
 thrown down amongft the filth. As faft as 
 they found it, they hoifted it up on the ends of 
 their fingers, and the commiftaries and deputies, 
 who were awaiting its arrival laid hold of it with 
 , a pair of tongs, and plunged it into a tub full of 
 vinegar. When the poor nightmen declared 
 that they could find no more, the tub was carried 
 away, and thofe perfons who were appointed to 
 examine the paper, efcorted it on its way with 
 
 who was formerly an a£tor, and a very indifferent one too, 
 
 and wliofe name was B.t, had the adminiftration 
 
 of the horfes and carriages of the republic, managed to get 
 into the convention as a deputy’s deputy, and procured mif- 
 fions to be granted to him, which he turned to great advau- 
 tage. In order to re-eflablifh worfhip, in which he had him- 
 lelf no belief, he put on the facerdotal habit, and fai'd mafs j 
 he returned to Paris, bought a magnificent hotel in the fau¬ 
 bourg Saint Martin, made a great many purchafes, put out 
 his money to intereft in feveral houfes ; kept miflreffes, di¬ 
 vorced his wife, and lived if ole and defpifed by all the world. 
 But he cared little for that : during the* time he had been 
 feathering his neft, he had learnt the art of making his face 
 proof again!! blufhing. 
 
 all 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 97 
 
 all poflible gravity. For my part, I could not 
 help laughing till I cried, as I compared the grave 
 importance of the commiffaries, who were hold¬ 
 ing their handkerchiefs to their nofes, with the 
 difgufling treafure that they were following. 
 
 When they were out of fight, and the air had 
 difperfed the peflilential ftink, and rendered it no 
 longer perceptible, I enquired what had given 
 occafion to this filthy operation. <c Marat/’ I 
 was anfwered “ had given information to the 
 committee of general fafety, that in the night of 
 the ninth or tenth of Auguff, Maria-Antoinette, 
 was actuated, by the uncertainty of the event 
 which was preparing, to throw into one of the 
 neceffaries of the palace, forne papers and letters 
 which might have been brought in evidence 
 againft her. Fie had even defcribed,” my in¬ 
 former faid, cc what w^ere the nature of thefe 
 papers; and the committee had immediately ap¬ 
 pointed all thefe places of convenience to be 
 fearched, and had ordered fome of its members 
 to affift, and examine the paper which was taken 
 
 out.” tc If the committee had adted wifely/’ 
 
 •> * 
 
 faid I to myfelf, “ it would have obliged the in¬ 
 former Marat to have made the fearch and ex¬ 
 amination himfelf ; it would have been a 
 vol. i, H hapDv 
 
98 THE CASTLE 
 
 happy expedient for ridding the earth of this 
 monfter.” 
 
 Curious to know whether any effential difcovery 
 had been made through this paper, I enquired 
 about it the next day : I was told that there had 
 not; and that, drift orders had been given that this 
 operation fhould not be noifed about, as it would 
 caufe a laugh at the expence of the committee 
 and commidaries. “ They are in a terrible 
 rage,” added my informer,” efpecially Marat, at 
 having been tricked in this filthy way.” Since 
 at that moment it was as dangerous to laugh, as 
 to pity them, I held my tongue. 
 
 My lord having now been requeued to defer 
 purfuing his vifit till the next day, we parted \ 
 and I went home. 
 
 Having taken fome food, and refrefhed myfelf, 
 for a long fail and a violent perfpiration had 
 fatigued me very much, I fhut myfelf up care¬ 
 fully in my clofet. Alone, and certain that no 
 one could fee what I was doing, I drew from 
 my bread a packet of papers, which an indifcreet, 
 and without doubt criminal curiofity had impelled 
 me to take and fecrete that morning in my 
 vifit to the palace. In the univerfal diforder of 
 the place, many different articles were fcattered 
 
 about 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 99 
 
 about, and expofed to the gripe of any greedy 
 hand. Certain that I was alone and had nothing 
 to fear from my radmefs, I could not refill read¬ 
 ing fome of the papers which now prefented 
 themfelves before my eyes ; and I fhall give my 
 readers the fubdance of their contents : but as 
 they relate to a love intrigue between a married 
 man, at that time in the fuite of the king’s aunts, 
 and the mother of a family, who are both dill 
 
 living, I mud be allowed to fupprefs their real 
 names, led I Ihould be the caufe of promoting 
 uneafinefs in their two families. I fhall only 
 fpeak of them under thofe names which they 
 adorned in their correfpondence with each other ; 
 and Ihould this work by chance fall into the 
 hands of either of them, they will fee that I have 
 adhered mod dridlly to the truth. 
 
 AMOURS OF EUGENE AND ADELAIDE. 
 
 Eugene, held under Mefdames, a very lucra¬ 
 tive dtuation, which enabled him handfomely to 
 fupport his family, and to partake freely of 
 amufements. He was young, but being tired of 
 the monotonous pleafures of marriage, he en- 
 creafed his acquaintance, in the hope of meeting 
 in fociety with fome beauty who might have 
 
 h 2 power 
 
3 00 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 power to rekindle the tender fenfations in his 
 heart. He, however, took care, by his attentions 
 and refpeft, to conceal from his wife the defire 
 he felt to become untrue to her. I can allure 
 my readers that Eugene was by no means an ill- 
 difpofed man ; for the reanimating of that paf- 
 fion which he had once felt for his wife, he only 
 wanted to find at home lefs uniformity, and a 
 little more innocent playfulnefs on her part; 
 but fhe, fatisfied with poffefiing the hufband of 
 her choice, thought only of uniformly loving 
 him, and being faithful to him with a conltancy 
 that defied the very breath of fufpicion to taint 
 it. She law, however, that her dear Eugene was 
 uneafy ; he returned home every day melan¬ 
 choly, and left the nuptial couch every night, to 
 go and deep in a bed by himfelf. 
 
 Nothing more Itrongly denotes the indiffer¬ 
 ence of a hufband to his wife, and wives know it 
 well, than for him to keep away from her bed ; 
 and what they know almoft as well is, that in¬ 
 fidelity almofi: always follows indifference. If this 
 loving wife felt uneafy, fo as to utter any gentle 
 complaints, Eugene threw the blame upon the 
 times, which he faid coll; him much anxiety ; and 
 by this reply he brought himfelf off with his wife. 
 
 How 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 IOI 
 
 How many hufbands have hid under the fame 
 pretence, their infidelity and foolifh expenfes. 
 The revolution, however, gave Eugene no pain j 
 from its firft dawn he had adopted a line of con¬ 
 duct, which preferved him fafe from all its rocks; 
 he threw up his cap for liberty with the patriots, 
 and at the fame time aflured his protedlreffes 
 that he only adted thus in order to be the better 
 able to ferve them. It was by this equivocal 
 conduct that he managed to live in peace. 
 
 Eugene at length found fuch an object as he 
 had for a long time been looking for. It was at 
 the fetes which were given upon the federation, 
 of Frenchmen, that he firft faw Adelaide. That 
 kind of familiarity which was authorized by the 
 enthufiafm of the moment, allowed him to 
 follow her fteps without being fufpedted. He 
 paid her attentions, which fhe received; he told 
 her that fhe was handfome, and fhe liftened to 
 him ; he Hammered out the word c love/ and fire 
 was not offended. At firft Eugene did not know 
 the fituation of the objedt of his fighs, and when 
 he did difcover it, he was not difcouraged be- 
 caufe he found that fhe was married. 
 
 Adelaide’s age was twenty-five ; for fix years 
 fhe had been a wife; and twice already fhe had 
 
 h 3 been 
 
102 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 been a mother. Her parents without confulting 
 her inclination had united her to man of forty, 
 who made her happy, as it happened. A lucra¬ 
 tive trade enabled him to fupport her in afflu¬ 
 ence, and (lie had not even time given her to wifh 
 for any thing. Adelaide had not yet paid homage 
 to the god of love, and he refolved to be re¬ 
 venged on her. 
 
 I fflall quickly pafs over all preludes to this 
 intrigue. Thofe little nothings are only pre¬ 
 cious to hearts as yet novices in the bufi- 
 nefs. Let us go on to the firfl: rendezvous. 
 Adelaide did not grant one till the expiration of 
 eight days, from the firfl; interchange of glances, 
 nor till ten letters had been received by her, and 
 not one anfwered. My readers feeing me ufe 
 the word rendezvous, will think they perceive 
 the climax of the intrigue ; but I beg of them 
 not to be too precipitate in their judgement, left 
 they deceive themfelves: Eugene and Adelaide 
 are not every-day fort of lovers. 
 
 No fcandal can attach to them from the place 
 of meeting being named, for it was a church; 
 the time, at the end of the laft mafs: here is, 
 moreover, Adelaide’s letter. 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 IO3 
 
 “ Sir, I know that am doing wrong to write 
 to you, and (till more wrong to grant you an 
 interview ; but a certain fomething, I know not 
 what, prompts me to liften to you, in fpite of 
 
 myfelf. However, to guard me againft you 
 and againft myfelf, I fhall make choice of a place 
 which mu ft impofe on us the greateft referve; fo, 
 on Saturday I fhall be at the church of Les 
 Petits Peres between twelve and one o’clock/’ 
 
 On reading this billet, Eugene glowed with 
 triumph ; and it mu ft be faid, that any lefs pre- 
 
 fumptuous man would have done the fame in his 
 place. Adelaide confeffing in the fame fentence 
 her love, her weaknefs, and her fears of yielding ; 
 to allow (he had no furety againft herfelf but a 
 facred fpot of ground ! But wait a moment, my 
 friend Eugene, you do not yet know the idol of 
 your heart. Plan your fieges, multiply your at¬ 
 tacks, lavilh your vows ; you will ftand in need 
 of all love’s ftratagems. You have addreffed 
 yourfelf to a woman of a moft extraordinary cha¬ 
 racter ; file can love, and (till refift you. 
 
 Meanwhile, the day of appointment came ; — 
 perhaps our readers think that Eugene was not 
 true to his time ; from eleven o’clock glued to a 
 pillar of the church, he flood with his eyes fixed 
 
 w 4 upon 
 
104 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 upon the entrance. You might have counted 
 the people that came in, by the deep fighs that 
 proceeded from his bread every time the hinges 
 of the door grated upon one another. At lad, 
 a particularly violent beating of his heart, in- 
 
 s 
 
 formed him that it mud be his dearly-beloved 
 who was approaching ; die faw him out of the 
 corners of her eyes, and went and placed herfelf 
 at the top of the nave, but on the oppofite fide. 
 At length the folemn-faced devout retired, and 
 left in the church only the images of the gods, 
 Eugene, Adelaide, and love. Then Eugene 
 approached her, an explanation took place, and 
 they left the church after about an hour’s con- 
 verfation. I diould dill be ignorant of the re- 
 fult of that converfation without the letter that 
 follows. 
 
 Adelaide to Eugene. 
 
 <c It is in vain that you torment me with your 
 letters which I neverthelefs read with pleafure; 
 I will not depart from what I told you on Satur¬ 
 day at Les Petits Peres. If this kind of engage¬ 
 ment pleafes you, I am ready to enter into it. 
 Fix you the day in which we may unite ourfelves 
 by a common vow : but, before you take it, refledl 
 
 upon 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. IOJ 
 
 upon all I have told you ; and left you fhould 
 have forgotten it, I will repeat it to you. 
 
 cc We are both connected with perfons who are 
 not of our own choice ; our hearts confequently 
 are not united, our bodies only are engaged by the 
 oath which we pronounced on our marriage* 
 What fhould we gain by violating this oath, but 
 the enjoyment of carnal pleafures with ano¬ 
 ther ? but as it is in our own power to obtain 
 thofe of the heart, or, better to exprefs myfelf, of 
 the foul, why fhould we not unite ourfelves by 
 what is fo admirably named a platonic attach¬ 
 ment ? Every other connexion would be crimi¬ 
 nal in my eyes, particularly fo as my huf- 
 band leaves me no wifh ungratifted, and I 
 am inclined to think the fame of your conduX 
 towards your wife. Confider whether this con¬ 
 nexion of affeXion fuits you; and refleX well 
 before you form it, that there never will exift 
 between us any fenfual pleafure. 
 
 < c If, as you have affined me, your heart has 
 never loved folely for the pleafure of loving, and 
 that I am fhe who has railed in you divine fen- 
 fations ; on my part, I folemnly proteft that you 
 are the only man who has taught me that I have 
 a heart. Let us then interchange, and unite our 
 
 fouls. 
 
io6 The castle 
 
 fouls. One word more and I have done ; believe 
 that I await with fear and impatience an anfwer 
 which {hall tell me that I have judged rightly of 
 Eugene.” 
 
 The letter of this moll extraordinary woman 
 produced an anfwer which we have not feen, 
 but at the contents of which we may guefs from 
 the fequel of this intrigue. Eugene accepted 
 the propofal of our new fylph. Adelaide re¬ 
 quired that they fhould be united by a vow at 
 the altar ; and the church of Les Petits Peres 
 was chofen for the ceremony. To this church, 
 upon an appointed day, they both came about 
 an hour after noon, drefled as for a wedding. 
 
 Kneeling at the foot of the great altar, they each 
 drew blood from that part of the bread, where 
 the heart beats with the ftronged pulfations. 
 Eugene caught in a china faucer the blood of 
 Adelaide, and his own ; and after having mixed 
 them together, he dipped in them a pen, and 
 wrote down the following vow, to which they 
 each fwore in their turn. 
 
 “ If wear that my heart wifhes only to enjoy fuch 
 fenfations asfpring from the'foul. (Adelaide.) 
 
 (Eugene.) To which I promifie fidelity, re¬ 
 nouncing in our union everyfienfualenjoyment” 
 
 A dupli- 
 
Of THE TUILERIES. 
 
 107 
 
 A duplicate of this Singular vow was drawn out, 
 and figned by the contracting parties:—a kifs 
 fealed it. Eugene took charge of the pen with 
 which it was written ; and after the reft of the 
 blood was congealed, they each had a Share of 
 it, and then dined together. 
 
 This union was maintained in all its purity 
 for one year ; a difference of opinion upon the 
 revolution broke it off; and whether or not it is 
 renewed again, I am ignorant ;—all that I 
 know is, that they are both ffill alive. The 
 letter from which I have extracted this anecdote, 
 and which I have returned to Eugene, would 
 furnilh a much more curious correfpondence, 
 than any of our modern novels. Adelaide had 
 much more fenfe than Eugene ; her foul truly 
 platonic, frequently gave birth to ideas of the 
 moft novel, and often fublime nature. 
 
 I beg my readers will not confider this tale as 
 a child of my imagination, but, as it really is, a 
 moft undoubted truth. 
 
 In the evening, when I again met the English¬ 
 man, I made known to him my difcovery ; and 
 we enjoyed a hearty laugh together. “ I arn 
 very much vexed,” faid he, “ at the diforder 
 which prevails in this part of the palace; the 
 
 unfur- 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 10S 
 
 unfurnifhing of the apartments of the king’s 
 aunts, has prevented my making many obferva- 
 tions which I wifhed. Perhaps you may not 
 think as I do ; but I am of opinion myfelf, that 
 you may find as many figns to judge of any 
 one’s chara&er by, from feeing how a thoufand 
 little articles are arranged in their apartments, as 
 from the books which they read : they are the 
 little nothings that reveal our habits, and it is from 
 our habits that propenfities are difcovered. It is 
 impoflible to decide upon the chara&er of people 
 of rank from feeing them in public ; a fet man¬ 
 ner, a fmiling face, and a voice of foftnefs, en¬ 
 tirely mafk them from fcrutiny; fo true is this, 
 that all courtiers, all men feeking favour from the 
 great, all men of intrigue who know what they 
 are about, always addrefs themfelves to fervants, 
 whom they cajole, and buy from them a know¬ 
 ledge of the vices and virtues of their maflers, by 
 which they regulate their condufl towards them. 
 Thus they never addrefs the great without being 
 prepared to flatter their foibles; and it is the 
 only way of being upon a good footing in a 
 a court. Conciny made himfelf beloved by 
 Henry IV., by flattering his licentious tade; 
 father La Chaife by talking to Louis XIV. of 
 
 his 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 I09 
 
 his glory and military exploits, brought the 
 Jefuits into power ; the infamous Dubois com¬ 
 mitted a thoufand follies to pleafe the regent, 
 and obtained his end of governing in his name 
 by flattering his low debaucheries; Necker, laftly, 
 fhouldered all his faults upon Louis XVL by 
 talking to him of the good and happinefs of his 
 people, which were the ruling paflions of this 
 unhappy monarch.” 
 
 “ Without wifhing to difcufs this point,” L 
 replied, <c I fhall merely obferve to you that had 
 not the apartments of the king’s aunts been 
 ftripped of their furniture, you could not have 
 drawn from them any traits of char after ; they 
 have left France for more than a-year.” “ In¬ 
 deed, I did not know that.” tc Befides, the 
 apartments which they occupied in the Tuileries, 
 were, properly fpeaking, only a temporary abode \ 
 their conftant refidence was the palace of Belle- 
 Vue.” c< Can you tell me any particulars about 
 thefe unhappy women, and why they left the 
 king ?” “ Their religious ideas were the only 
 
 reafon. 
 
 iC There is very little to be faid ab«out thefe 
 ladies. 
 
 4 
 
 66 Their 
 
IIO 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 <c Their life was retired and tranquil, nor had 
 it been difturbed by any political interference ; 
 fometimes they were folicited to obtain favours 
 from the king, whom they loved extremely. 
 Madame Adelaide in particular was very much 
 attached to him ; fhe had, as I may fay, brought 
 him up. It gave them much anxiety to per¬ 
 ceive the afcendency which the queen gained 
 
 over her hufband, becaufe fhe abufed the 
 power fhe acquired. They fufpected that fhe 
 did not like the French : more than once they 
 were on the point of informing the king of cer¬ 
 tain intrigues, and proceedings inimical to 
 France; but they forbore from an apprenenfion 
 of embittering the future days of their nephew. 
 At the revolution, they predicted what would 
 happen*; and, what is extraordinary, they did 
 not flir up the king to ward off the blow, 
 
 <c At the time the organization of the clergy firfl 
 
 % 
 
 appeared, Mefdames, feemed as it were, to awake 
 from a long drowfinefs, and to ad againft its 
 effect with all their power, but fecretly. The 
 priefts who refufed to fubmit to it, were allured 
 
 * See the Secret Correfpondence of feveral People of 
 Rank towards the End of the eighteenth Century, p. 57. 
 ic8. 122. 
 
 cf 
 
OF THE TUILERTES. 
 
 1 I I 
 
 of aflidance and fupport from them. Merely 
 from the fear of being impofed upon, they al¬ 
 ways took care to gain fome information about 
 them before they relieved them. In the fame 
 manner, and with the fame precautions, were their 
 charities bellowed. If any one in diflrefs folicited 
 alms, they appointed a fervant -to get informa¬ 
 tion concerning him in his parilh, and from his 
 curate ; and upon this report, they gave or re- 
 fufed. By means of thefe precautions their 
 charities were always well bellowed. 
 
 In a fnort time thefe men (the priefls) began 
 to dillurb the confciences of Mefdames. c How 
 can you,’ faid they to them, c perform your 
 devotions, above all thofe relating to Ealler, in 
 France? You will expofeyourfelves to receive the 
 facrament from the hand of an orthodox pried ; 
 there is only one w r ay left you, which is to 
 leave France. Go to Spain/ Mefdames 
 agreed to leave France; but family reafons 
 caufed them to rejefl the idea of living at Mad¬ 
 rid, and they determined upon Rome. Still 
 they mud have the king’s leave ; and they feared 
 that on granting it, he would reproach them for 
 leaving him. In order to do away as much as 
 lay in their pow r er all obdacles to their wilh, 
 
 they 
 
112 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 they attacked him with the arms of religion, with 
 
 which they know they could conquer him. On the 
 
 eighteenth of January 1791, they wrote to him 
 a common letter which they both figned. In 
 
 this letter they told the king c that, their affeflion 
 for him rendering them afraid to fpeak to him 
 of their departure, they had taken the means of 
 of informing him of their intention by letter : 
 they recalled to his mind the want of attention he 
 had fhewn to the advice which they had given 
 him upon the revolution; they reproached him 
 
 with having given his fan&ion to the fchifm 
 which the national aflembly had juft introduced 
 into France, and which was cloaked as much as 
 poftible from him. This fchifm/ added the 
 aunts, 4 will bring on an entire fubverfion 
 and deftru&ion of religion ; and this is the reafon 
 which obliges us to leave you. Whilft w r e were 
 only called upon to facrifice to you our poflef- 
 fions and our peace of mind, we ftaid with you ; 
 jhut the facrifice of our religion is beyond our 
 power. This feeling, the ftrongeft in the heart 
 of a true chriftian, belongs to God and not to 
 man. We cannot enter into terms with our con¬ 
 fidences. 
 
 Pa fling 
 
OF THE TUJLER1ES. 
 
 IX 3 
 
 S( Faffing on immediately to the confent which 
 they vvifhed to obtain from him, they added 
 that they were deftitute of money to fupply them 
 on their journey to Rome, and afked his leave 
 to procure a loan in his name *. In order to 
 induce him the more freely to give his confent, 
 they added that they fhould Hop for fome time 
 at Bruffels; that if, during the ftay which they 
 intended to make there, things returned to their 
 former order in France, they would come back; 
 but that if at the end of fix months they faw no 
 
 change, they would go on to Rome. Two dif¬ 
 ferent motives lead me to believe that Mefdames 
 did not adhere ftriftly to the truth in writing to 
 
 * Their cafhier undoubtedly borrowed money for their 
 departure ; and, during their rehdence in Rome, fent them at 
 feveral different times fums which he had borrowed in his 
 own name, not being able to raile any in theirs. Truth obliges 
 us to fay that they died without paying him 40,000 livres, 
 which he fent them at different times, and which put him to 
 great inconvenience. He had no bond for thefe fums.' As 
 loon as they had received them they were fatisfied with 
 writing back ; “ You have executed your commilfion very 
 well, we have received your letter, &C.” And afterwards, 
 when they had received a very large fum of money, which a 
 Roman lady left them at her death, all to no avail was it that 
 he wrote to them explaining his diftrefs, and begging to be 
 repaid what he had lent them ; he did not even receive an 
 anfwer. Being obligedto pay the money which he had borrow¬ 
 ed for Mefdames, he was entirely ruined, and lived upon the 
 bounty of his fon who had a place that brought him in a fa- 
 lary of 1800 livres, 
 
 , vol. i. i the 
 
The castle 
 
 the king that they fhould (lay fome time atBruffels* 
 The firft is, that they do not like the archduchefs, 
 Chriflina, filter to the queen of France, and gover- 
 nefs of the Low Countries: the aunts were per- 
 fuaded that Chriftina was the enemy of the 
 Bourbons, and of their family ; they had more 
 than once held a conference with the king upon 
 the fubjeci. The fecond is, that they did not 
 flop at all at Bruflels, but proceeded without 
 delay to Rome, 
 
 The receipt of this letter chagrined the king 
 extremely, as he has hnce confeffed. Fie wifhed 
 to fee his aunts, to converfe with them, to turn 
 them if poffible from their defign. It was all to 
 no purpofe that he reprefented to them that if 
 they left him, he fhould be without relations, 
 and above all without a friend to whom he 
 could confide his griefs. In vain was his with¬ 
 holding as long as he was able the confent 
 which they required ; nothing could make them 
 change their refolution. Upon the king’s refufal 
 at firft of his confent, they faid that they fhould 
 be obliged to go without it; which deter¬ 
 mined their nephew to grant it, in order to avoid 
 thofe difagreements which neverthelefs took 
 
 place. 
 
 Thefe 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 J1 5 
 
 tc Thefe, Sir, are all the particulars that I am 
 acquainted with concerning the king’s aunts *. 
 I have read a correfpondence which treats of the 
 fubjedl, and which enables me to affure you that 
 you may trull to what I have faid. 
 
 “ You doubtlefs know they quitted their palace 
 
 at Belle-Vue fecretly on the nineteenth of Feb¬ 
 ruary 1791, at eleven o’clock in the evening.” 
 
 * I would recommend to fuch of my readers as are curi¬ 
 ous to learn the hiitory of the royal family, to read thofe of 
 the aunts, of Madame Lamballe, and of Madame Elizabeth, 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 I l6 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 VISIT TO THE PALACE OF THE TILLERIES. 
 
 SECOND DAY. 
 
 Afhort View of the Char cider of all clajfes of Society before the 
 Revolution.—Its Origin .— Caufes of its fo fuclden Develope- 
 ment.—Different Anecdotes about Maljlierbes , Turgot , and 
 Necher.—Necker propofes to Louis XII. to place a Roue *' 
 at the Head of the Finance.—Caufe of the Difcharge of 
 Sertines, and the Nomination of Cajlries.—Quarrels between 
 Calonne and Necher .— The different Means employed by the latter 
 to get into Place again.—His Letters to Louis XVI .— Obfer- 
 vations on the tenth of Augujl .— Coup dlceuil of the Palace of the 
 Tuileries after the Irruption into it. 
 
 1 he next day, I went to the palace at the hour 
 that had been mentioned to my lord. I thought 
 I fhould have arrived there firft, but I found him 
 talking with the commiflTary who was to accom¬ 
 pany him in his vifit. After the ufual civilities 
 at meeting, our Englifliman faid to me, “ We 
 are talking. Sir, about the caufes and effeds of 
 your revolution. s> It is impoflible to chufe a 
 
 place better fitted to the fubjeft,^ I replied. “ It 
 was upon the ruins of Carthage that Cato reflected 
 
 a 
 
 * I know no Englifh word which exa£tly corresponds 
 with Roue, the neared definition I am able to give of it is 
 what we call a blood, Tranflator’s note. 
 
 upon 
 
OF THE TUILERI.ES. 
 
 117 
 
 upon the vifciffitudes of human greatnefs; you 
 are imitating his example, feated amidft the ruins 
 of the throne — 15 I cut fhort my fentence ; 
 
 <c we are talking nonfenfe,” I went on, “ upon— 
 cc Sir, 5 ’ returned the Englhhman, “ that word is 
 very far from my thoughts. Let us leave joking 
 entirely out of the queftion; it* is unbecoming 
 to us both ;—to you, becaufe you are a French¬ 
 man, and that it is indecent for any Frenchman, 
 whichever party he may be of, to laugh over the 
 dead bodies of his countrymen, yet fcarcely 
 cold ; to me, becaufe I am an Englifhman, and it 
 would be thought that I was fmiling at the 
 
 diftrefs of a country in rivalry with my own. 55 
 A moment of filence enfued, during which a figh 
 efcaped us both. My lord fpoke hrft ; “ I was 
 telling you, Sir, that when you came in, we were 
 endeavouring to affign to the revolution its 
 true caufes ; the coinmiffary is of my opinion, 
 but I am curious to learn yours.” “ We have 
 (till. Sir, a quarter of an hour to be alone,” faid 
 the commKTary, looking at his watch, cc and we 
 fhall with pleafure dedicate it to libelling to you ; 
 the gentleman, to whom I have told your name, 
 
 is extremely impatient to hear what you fhali 
 fay.” I bowed \ hammered out a few words of 
 
 1 3 thanks } 
 
11 8 THE CASTLE 
 
 thanks; and then fpoke, as nearly as may be, 
 what follows : 
 
 <c The feed of our revolution, according to my 
 opinion, is found in every (late and in every clafs 
 of fociety ; but difficult would it be to name the 
 exaft time, and individual man, who nouriffied 
 it into Llcom ; in order to make this difcovery 
 we muft turn over the far diftant pages of the 
 hiflory of France. Behold on one fide the mo¬ 
 narch committing the firfl arbitrary a&ion, and 
 on the other the man who firft had the courage to 
 oppofe the language of liberty to the abufe of au¬ 
 thority. All the hiftorians who have treated of this 
 fubjeft, have flopped at recent dates, and have 
 rather fought to aifcover the caufe of its develope- 
 ment, than its primitive germ. This is alfo the 
 reafon that they appear fo little of accord amongft 
 themfelves. Each party accufes its oppofite of 
 the fubverfion of affairs which has taken place ; 
 and contradictory as are their affertions, each 
 party is equally in the right. For example, the 
 partizan of liberty affigns as the caufes of the re¬ 
 volution, the ill-adminifiration of the finances, 
 the great number of fpecial grants, the burden 
 of the taxes, the vices of thofe at the head of the 
 government, and the impunity which attended 
 
 their 
 
OF THE TUILER!ES. 
 
 U 9 
 
 their debaucheries, &c. &c. The hiftorian on 
 the fide of royalty, whilft he confefies that the 
 court, and the government were tainted with 
 abufes which required a reform, attributes the 
 revolution to the do&rines of a new philofophy, 
 to the fan&ion granted to various religions ini¬ 
 mical to the Roman catholick worfhip, to the 
 kind of education given to the youth, to the 
 American war, to the hatred of our neighbours, 
 to the ambition of the fir ft prince of the blood, 
 to the clubs eftablifhed in the capital before the 
 revolution *. 
 
 * We will here give a lift of the principal writers on both 
 Tides, whom the patriots and royalifls have taken for their 
 compafs in their difcuffions. On one fide are Bayle, Foil- 
 tenelle, Monteiquieu, Lametterie, Voltaire, Rouffeau, Ray- 
 nal, Diderot, Mably, Marmontel, Condorcet, D’Alembert; 
 on the other, Aubert, Luneau, Pompignan, Piron, Freron 
 fenior, Sabathier, Clemert, Linguet, Gilbert, Para, Soret, 
 Gerard, Pey, Auger, Berthier, Houbigant. We muft not 
 be furprifed that the former made more profelytes than the 
 others ; by their fyitem, they appear as it were to new-crcate 
 man, by recalling him to his dignity. What elfe fpeaks in 
 their favour, is the countenance they all received from crown¬ 
 ed heads. Catherine and Frederick called them to their 
 court, correfponded with them, gave peniions to many, and 
 entertainments to all. George Ill. offered a penfion to the 
 favage Rouffeau which he rejected. Jofeph, Leopard, and 
 Ferdinand put their ideas in practice, by abolifhing the monks 
 ip their territories. 
 
 1 4 
 
 “ Only 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 120 
 
 9 
 
 “ Only, Gentlemen, juft take a cur Tory view 
 of the contradictions of all forts which were to 
 be found in the adminiftration of our govern¬ 
 ment. In the colleges, for example, pains were 
 taken to inculcate into the minds of youth, de¬ 
 fined to live in fubmiftion to a king, the ideas 
 of Spartans. They heard only of the laws 
 of Solon, and Lycurgus, without having a word 
 faid to them by their iriftruCtors of the nature of 
 the monarchial government to which they were 
 in fubmiftion. Epaminondas, Cicero, Themifto- 
 cles, Cato, Curtius, the Horatii, Scmvola, and 
 even the two Brutus’s, were held up to them as 
 models ; and, what was very remarkable, they 
 were the ecclefiaftics, the Roman catholick 
 priefts in their fkull caps and caflocks, who 
 gave them thefe aftonifhing leftons of republican- 
 ifm, and idolatry. And what was the confe- 
 quence ? that the young heads began to hold 
 themfelves up; went to the theatre to applaud 
 the death of Caefar, to weep over thofe of Se¬ 
 neca, and Socrates, and to laugh at the droleries 
 of the Barber of Seville, and the Marriage of 
 Figaro. 
 
 66 When they were not in college, they read 
 with avidity Rondeau, Voltaire, Diderot, Mon- 
 
 tefquieu. 
 
OF THE TUILERIESp 
 
 121 
 
 jtefquieu, D’Alembert, Raynal, &c. &c.. Then 
 they reflected upon the means of putting into 
 pra&ice the fydems of all thefe writers; they 
 few it was poffible, and they hadened the ap¬ 
 proach of fuch an event by their words, and 
 their conduct. Now all this portion of the fuc- 
 ceeding generation who had fucked in thefe 
 principles, fcattered amongd the different claffes 
 of fociety from which they fprung, whatever 
 they had read and learnt in an exagerated 
 fhape ; creating thus new ideas, in all dations 
 and all families. Even in the very heart 
 of the country, the name of the Romans was 
 in vogue, and they talked of their republican 
 government. Every thing was thus fo ripe for 
 a revolution, that at the moment the air was 
 (truck with the name of Les Etats-Gcneraux, the 
 old word of liberty was immediately felt to vi¬ 
 brate throughout France. 
 
 “ Let us now pafs on to the different dates of 
 Society in France. The court had not for a length 
 of time reflected that fplendor,which had formerly 
 ferved as a delufion to impofe a reverence for it 
 upon the people. 
 
 The lad king had difgraced himfelf in the 
 eyes of his fubjefts, by having publicly feated 
 
 upon 
 
I 22 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 upon the right hand of the throne, a courtefan of 
 low extraction, and impure morals *• 
 
 <c The weaknefs of his fucceflbr, gave his queen 
 opportunity of doing away whatever of weight 
 there hill remained about the majefty of the 
 throne •, and the fuppreflion of etiquette, by cur¬ 
 tailing all pomp, by fliowing thofe who were at 
 the head of government, naked as it weie, made 
 the man be feen, and the monarch forgotten. 
 Add to this, the affair of the necklace, the free 
 pleafures of Antoinette, the parfimonious econo¬ 
 my of the king, the prodigalities of the courtiers, 
 the divifions between the grandees, and you will 
 
 * For a long time there were a great many diTputes about 
 the origin of Madame Dubarry. Some faid fhe was a natural 
 daughter, and this report was moil believed. I learnt from 
 M. Demange, a prieil and principal of the college of Epinal, 
 her god-father, that fhe was the legitimate daughter of a man 
 named Lange, clerk of the farms of Vaucouleurs. He told 
 me, in fpeaking of his god-daughter, that a little time after 
 Ihe was acknowledged the miilrefs of Louis XV. he received 
 from her a moil gracious letter, in which ihe promifed to 
 obtain for him whatever he might alk of her. “ I contented 
 xnyfelf,” added he, “with thanking her, for I ihould have blufh- 
 cd to have received an obligation from an unhappy woman of 
 her kind.” Few men doubtlefs would have argued thus : few 
 men alfo had fuch correCl principles as the ineilimable De- 
 inange. The Vofges owe in a great meafure to him, their ex¬ 
 emption from fuffering by the fanaticifm of the prieils. 
 
 have 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. I23 
 
 have a correft idea of the vices and follies of the 
 court. 
 
 “ The nobility in France had encreafed fo 
 rapidly in the courfe of a century, that it was no 
 longer an honour to belong to them: they 
 reckoned 80,000 families of the nobles ; 4000 
 
 civil offices which gave hereditary nobility. 
 The king was, befides, making grants of nobility 
 every day ; they were fold at 2000 crowns each 
 after the war of fucceffion. 
 
 ic Inferior alliances befides had made the 
 nobles the relations of the little tradefpeople; 
 and it was no uncommon thing to hear a cobler 
 talking of his coufm the chevalier. The ancient 
 nobility neverthelefs had preferved itfelf in its 
 original purity; like the German barons, they 
 chofe rather to live in ftrait circumhances, 
 than to tarniffi the honour of their name : the 
 greateft part of them lived on penfions, and lu¬ 
 crative places. This great abundance of nobles 
 overburthened the date by their numberlefs 
 privileges, and their exemptions from taxes. 
 It was this oppreffion, againft which fo great a 
 cry was raifed, that was one of the caufes of the 
 perfecutions they endured afterwards. Add to 
 this, the pride of the poor nobles $ the anger of 
 
 the 
 
124 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 the country at the didinflions granted to the 
 nobles of the court j and you will perceive the 
 reafon of the demarkation which prevailed 
 amongft the nobility at the beginning of the revo¬ 
 lution. 
 
 u The clergy, didinguifhed by the appellations 
 of the high, and the low clergy *, did not feem to 
 follow the fame do&rine. The low clergy, con¬ 
 fiding of the curates, fet as far as lay in their 
 power, a chafle example of the chridain virtues. 
 In the country they were befides the confolers 
 of the unhappy, and in the towns they were re¬ 
 markable for the propriety of their conduct, and 
 the regularity of their morals. The high clergy, 
 on the contrary, confiding of archbifhops, and 
 bifhops, were for the mod part, notorious for 
 excefs of free indulgence. Repofmg on their 
 vicars and their fecretaries the care of the faith, 
 they cloaked the opprobrioufnefs of their 
 conduft, under the appearance and fhow of great 
 dignity f. 
 
 c< Condantly 
 
 * Le haut Sc 1 c has. 
 
 f L’ * * * ., one of thefe prelates, rivalled in 
 diilolutenefs the debauchees of the court. In his epifco- 
 pal palace lie had collected together feveral handfome 
 young girls, in whofe fociety he bad defiance to the ennui 
 
 of 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 125 
 
 i: Conftantly at court, or in the capital, they 
 were never feen in their diocefe except when they 
 came to confirm, or toopprefs their curates, whom 
 they treated like fervants. They were the true 
 defcendents of the cardinal D’Auvergne, who 
 one day faid to Duclos the academician, I 
 found all my fervants ill, except the curate of 
 
 5 
 
 « • • • a • • 
 
 <c When by chance any one of thefe prelates ap¬ 
 peared at the altar, he was decked out like an 
 Adonis; and the perfumes with which he was cover¬ 
 ed fo ftrongly fcented the facred fpot on which he 
 Hood, that it was difficult to fmell the incenfe 
 that was burning in honour of the Eternal. 
 
 <c For a long time they had left off getting 
 into the pulpit; they had entirely given up to the 
 modefl: pallor the talk of preaching to the peo¬ 
 ple. Their periodical mandates impofed no 
 
 of feme months refidence in a fmall town in the country* 
 When he went his rounds in his diocefe in order to be¬ 
 llow the blelliag of confirmation, he was always accom¬ 
 panied by one of his ladies drelfed as a man. And it 
 was always a favourite joke with him in palling through his 
 villages to have her taken for him ; to this end, he ufed 
 to get upon horfeback himfelf, and leave her alone in the 
 mitred coach, to receive the homage of all the country 
 people, who mitlook her for my lord the bifhop. 
 
 6 
 
 longer 
 
12 6 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 longer upon the mod denfe of the people; and 
 without feme refpe&able curates in the country, 
 the people would of their own accord have fnap- 
 ped the curb of religion, fo necelfary to focial 
 order. 
 
 The words of Jean Jacques were become a 
 proverb ; when a mandate was iifued, he ufed to 
 aik, “ Has my lord read it himfelf?” Confef- 
 fion, that dangerous but precious weapon of the 
 faith, impofed no longer except on a very fmall 
 portion of the people. The man of education 
 and fenfe had thrown off this yoke; the eafy 
 tradefman Hill kept his neck in it for the fake of 
 appearances ; but he fatisfied himfelf with con- 
 feffing only things of no importance: women 
 alone entered the confeffional chair *. 
 
 fic In 
 
 * I {hall give an example of what I have been advan¬ 
 cing that fell under my own cognifance ; three married 
 mem friends in pleafure, made a party to enjoy themfelves 
 one holy Friday, and gave into every excefs which the 
 day proferibes. The next day they refle&ed that the fol¬ 
 lowing was Eafter-Sunday ; they knew a confeffior who 
 was not very fcrupulous, and to him they went : the two 
 firil came out of the confeffional obliged to own, to their 
 jffiame, that they had not received abfolution ; the third 
 went in, and to him it was granted. They met at the door 
 of the church, and the two who were excluded from the 
 communion table were making great lamentations; the third 
 
 laughed, 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 127 
 
 cc In the country, they fat and yawned at the 
 fermons which they went to hear merely from 
 cuftom y they murmured at the paying of tythes ; 
 and they (hut their doors upon the croud of 
 ufelefs monks whom they confidered only as a tax 
 upon the (late. In a word, thepriefts were now 
 only confidered in fociety in the fame light as phy- 
 ficians 3 every one put off as long of he was able 
 the evil moment of giving them employment. 
 
 “ Caft your eye back to the military, you 
 could fee no longer amongff them the fpirit of 
 emulation which once animated the French 
 knights. A ridiculous point of honour had taken 
 the place of true glory. Inflead of learning the 
 art of war, an officer thought only of difiribut- 
 ing in his garrifon the immorality that he had 
 picked up during his fix month’s refidence in 
 the capital; not being able to vaunt of his war¬ 
 like exploits, he prided himfelf upon having fe- 
 
 laughed, and faid that he was then going to partake of the 
 facrament. “ How can that be poffible alked his 
 companions, “ we have juft had it interdidled to us on ac¬ 
 count of the debauch we enjoyed together yefterday ; how 
 can you be abfolved when we are not ?” “ Becaufe I never 
 told of it at all,*’ anfwered he. There are three things 
 which I only confefs to God ; it is very dangerous to fpeak 
 of them to one who might abufe his knowledge.'” 
 
 duced 
 
nS 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 duced innocent young girls, and inftead of being 
 crowned with the laurels of Bellona, he was bou- 
 qued with the myrtle of love. 
 
 <c A long peace, it may be faid, had fuffered 
 their valour to ileepj and it was impoffible for 
 them to exercife their courage againfl the ene¬ 
 mies of the hate. Without doubt, confolatory 
 and beneficent peace had reigned for a long time 
 in France ; But was that a fufficient caufe for the 
 warrior to be chained down, as it were, to the 
 bed of voluptuous Humber ? How did the 
 ancient worthies a cl in fimilar circumftances ? 
 
 cc As war, that diftru&ive fcourge of humanity, 
 is always in fome quarter of the globe waving her 
 blood fpear, feeming only to abandon one part 
 of the earth in order to take her feat in another, 
 thofe brave men, from whom our gentlemen 
 pride themfelves upon being defcended, obtained 
 / the kave of their fovereign, to go and offer their 
 {words to fome power at war, and always re- 
 turned decked with laurels, and loaded with pre- 
 fents. Thus was eftablifhed the reputation of 
 French valour which will always be the envy of 
 
 every other nation. Similar opportunities have 
 * % 
 
 not been wanting fince the peace of 1763. The 
 theatre of war has always been open in fome 
 
 quarter 
 
OF THE TtJILF.RTESo 
 
 129 
 
 quarter of Europe; Turkey, Ruffia, Poland, 
 Germany, Sweden, and other Hates have 
 been alternately waging war ever fmce that pe¬ 
 riod, and have, to no purpofe, opened to French 
 valour a road to glory. It only revived in a few 
 hearts when the Americans fet up the dandard 
 of independence. 
 
 <c Then indeed we faw feveral gentlemen fet 
 out, with the permiflion of their king, to gather 
 laurels in the new world. Let us pay homage 
 to thefe young warriors, for in departing for 
 Philadelphia they had no other views, than fuch 
 as valour had raifed in their breads; and if they 
 brought from thence feeds of liberty, which 
 have fmce blown in Paris, the blame mud be laid 
 upon the phiiofophical tade of the age, rather 
 than upon any welLdigeded intention of repub- 
 licanifmg France. 
 
 “ The conduct of Louis XVI. at this juncture 
 may be confidered as the mod immediate caufe 
 of his ruin. If his political views directed him 
 to crufh the power of the Englilh, in prote&ing 
 by his wealth, and his Ihips, the independence 
 of the Anglo-Americans, prudence ordained that 
 he Ihould prevent his warriors from reading thofe 
 principles of liberty which hardy hiftorians have 
 'vol, i. k laboured 
 
IjO THE CASTLE 
 
 laboured to inculcate into the minds of their 
 countrymen. But the efFeCts fo contrary to his 
 expectation were fated to be the date of this un¬ 
 fortunate monarch’s fall. 
 
 “ Was it not laughable to fee iffued, as we 
 may fay at the fame moment, on one fide a 
 grant for our young warriors to go and fight for 
 the foundation of a republic, and on the other a 
 command to have the works of Raynal, le Con- 
 trat-Social of Rouffeau, and other fimilar works, 
 which fet forth the happinefs of a republican 
 government, feized and burnt by the hands of 
 the hangman ? 
 
 <c If you had payed a moment’s attention to 
 the difpofition of the foldier you would have feen 
 him murmuring whenever he was obliged to 
 attend to the duties of his profeflion; his exer- 
 cife, his (table duty, were to him a burden ; he 
 was always fighing for the moment that brought 
 him his discharge, and counting every day that he 
 had (till to pafs with his regiment. The bar¬ 
 racks were no longer the fchool of Mars \ they 
 talked there no longer of the military exploits 
 of former days. Veterans who had feen fervice 
 were very few; if there were any who would 
 have talked of Prague and Meuden, they were 
 
 5 called 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 13Z 
 
 called old dotards and left to themfelves, while 
 the young profligates who bragged of the num¬ 
 ber of their debts, and the conquefts they had 
 made in loVe, were furrounded with lifteners. 
 Almofl: all the army, .particularly the light troops, 
 were compofed of young fellows who had en- 
 lifted through idlenefs, and whom their relations 
 bought out again at the end of two or three 
 years. The young countryman, whom the cun¬ 
 ning of a recruiting ferjeant had enlifled, paflfed 
 his eight years quietly in the fervice, but never 
 entered upon a fecond engagement. Thus it 
 may be faid that every eighth year, nineteen- 
 twentieths of the army were new men. The 
 officers, improperly called the officers of fortune, 
 and the fubalterns, were all the ftationary mem¬ 
 bers of the army. 
 
 “ This was the adtual ftate of the military at 
 the revolution. But let us ftill confefs that this 
 ftate of the army was not of ancient date. Be¬ 
 fore the time of the minifter of St. Germain, the 
 warlike emulation and fpirit were conftantly 
 kept up ; but the German regimen which this 
 man introduced amongfl our troops, had difgufted 
 the foldiers, rendered their lives infupportable* 
 and divided the army between thofe who chofe 
 
 K 2 
 
 to 
 
I 
 
 232 THE CASTLE 
 
 to execute the orders of the minifter, and thofe 
 who refufed to obey him. 
 
 “ The parliament, that body which from the 
 moment of its creation, had fo conftantly varied 
 its conduct in alternately attacking and fupport- 
 ing the throne ; in protecting and trampling 
 upon the people by turns; no longer infpired 
 any clafs with confidence; it could now only 
 make the unhappy man who was engaged in a 
 fuit tremble, by the uncertainty of its jurifpru- 
 dence. The inferior tribunals no longer afforded 
 an afylum againft oppreflion and trouble, and 
 the venality of places had rendered the judges 
 interefted. From interefi: to feduCtion there is 
 but one ftep, and that ftep was taken j under the 
 flielter of a crowd of ill-explained laws, and con¬ 
 tradictory precedents, they always found means 
 to fupport any caufe, however weak, by a fhow 
 of juftice ; and it was almofl: always feen that 
 the man of power and the dull financier made 
 a vidim of any unhappy being who had the im¬ 
 prudence to wreftie with them. The advocates 
 were no longer the defenders of the widow and 
 orphan ; they were no longer that independent 
 fet of men, of whom a great king faid, 4 that he 
 
 could 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 1 33 
 
 could impofe filence on them, but that he had not 
 
 4 
 
 the power of making them fpeak.* 
 
 \ 
 
 <c For one Dupaty, and Lachelotais, how 
 many advocates did they reckon, who under¬ 
 taking the firft caufe that was offered to them, 
 without troubling themfelves whether it was a 
 juft or unjuft Fait, calculated upon it only, 
 like greedy lawyers, how much they might aug¬ 
 ment their profit by fpinning out the verdid. 
 Magiftracy, alfo, no longer drew that refped 
 which is the foie praife of its conduct and its 
 talents. 
 
 <c The oppofition which the parliament of 
 Paris, and in imitation of it thofe of the pro¬ 
 vinces of France, made to the regiftering of 
 ftamps and the land-tax, procured them for a 
 fhort time the public confidence: they even 
 called them the props of the people at the time 
 they demanded a convocation of les Etats Gcne- 
 raux : but the refiftance which they fhortly after 
 oppofed to the double reprefentation of the Tiers 
 Etat, and their ultimate condud, gave a complete 
 proof that in their oppofition they had confulred 
 only their own power and intereft ; fo from that 
 moment they were doubted and defpifed, and 
 
 k 3 their 
 
134 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 their deRruCtion was regarded not to fay with 
 indifference, but with joy. 
 
 ec All knowledge of the arts and fciences was 
 almoR exclufively found in the middling Ration 
 of the people in the towns; which gave them 
 that pride fo much cenfured by the firff claffes of 
 the Rate. The refpeCt which foreigners fhowed 
 for the well informed bourgeois, convinced him 
 of his own merit. Hence arofe the never ceafing 
 diffatisfaclion at the exclufive admiflion of the 
 
 i » .... 
 
 nobles to the RrR offices of the Rate \ hence alfo 
 fprung thofe continual attempts to remove the 
 obRacle, and deRroy its privileges. Befides 
 
 fcience, the arts and education, induRry was alfo 
 to be found in the middle rank of fociety. For a 
 long time they had all been poffeffed of property, 
 and had earned for the Rate at leaR the half of 
 its revenue. 
 
 <c So many advantages rendered the middle 
 rank jealous and diffatisfied; it faw itfelf tram¬ 
 pled upon, oppreffed, and deprived of the rights 
 and diRin&ions to which it juRly believed itfelf 
 to have a claim : it became irritated, united its 
 Rrength, and ended in collecting that formidable 
 body, from whence proceeded the doCtrine that 
 
 biaffed 
 
OF THE TUILER1ES. 
 
 135 
 
 biaffed the minds of the greater part of the na¬ 
 tion, and even of fome of the high clergy, and 
 nobles themfelves. 
 
 “ The inhabitant of the country bore impa¬ 
 tiently the yoke of fervitude, the furcharges of 
 the cuftoms, and the expences of the fait duties, 
 and of the taxes. He was no longer that heavy 
 flave, indifferent to the gifts of nature. Since he 
 had been enabled to lay up money, emulation 
 and the idea of making a fortune had in fome 
 meafure reftored to him a foul. A proper fenfe 
 
 of his own rights had long been felt by him, and 
 
 * 
 
 this main fpring of the a&ions of man had given 
 him courage to wreflle with his lord. The 
 farmer who had laid by any money, fent his fon 
 to college, intending to make him either a pried, 
 a lawyer, or a phyfician \ but three quarters of 
 thefe youths who filled the colleges, returned 
 home long before the expiration of the eight 
 years deflined for fludy, rather choofing to drive 
 the plough, than to dig after the dead languages. 
 But even the fmall portion of time which they 
 had beflowed on education, had given them fome 
 ideas of hiflory and the fciences. In an evening, 
 fairy tales gave place to the recital of fragments 
 of the Grecian and Roman hiftories. In fhort, 
 
 k 4 there 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 136 
 
 there was not a village where the names of 
 Vefta, Alcibiades, Auguilus, and Nero, were 
 not talked of, and confounded together. And 
 this confufion, which a traveller could not hear 
 without a fmile, was neverthelefs one of theprin® 
 cipal caufes of the little aftonifhment, and ready 
 fubmiflion which the inhabitants of the country 
 fhewed upon the revolution. You mull per® 
 ceive, that in that fituation of the fenfes, when 
 all the pores of intellect are, if I may fo exprefe 
 myfelf, wide open, and ready to fuck in any 
 new ideas, however gigantic they may be, no¬ 
 thing could be more eafy, than to win the con¬ 
 fidence and voices of this large portion of fociety; 
 and by thefe means to eftablilh a fecret chain 
 of communication between the moft refined in 
 fenfe, and thofe who had no fenfe at all. 
 
 “ It {till remains for us to confider that laft clafs 
 of fociety which is found in every fiate, without by 
 any means making a part of it. Without any fixed 
 abode, without any particular occupation, its mem¬ 
 bers are every where to be found, and to be em- 
 ployed upon any thing ; in fhort, it is to the order 
 of fociety what the foam is to the fea. In calm 
 weather, concealed beneath the weeds, and hid 
 in the crevices of the rocks which are found on 
 the margin of this refervoir of the world ; but 
 
 when 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 23 ? 
 
 when the winds and temped agitate its bofom, 
 and drive it out upon the fhores, then the 
 foam rides upon its furface, extends itfelf over 
 its face, and troubles its waters; or like the vo* 
 racious (hark which hides itfelf beneath the waves 
 while health reigns on boa d a veflel, but fwims 
 clofe upon her heels, when the pedilential fmell 
 which proceeds from her, informs its noflrils 
 that it {hall foon have foine prey to devour* 
 
 Such are the populace, always ripe for the fub- 
 verfion of order, always upon the watch for poli¬ 
 tical dorms, and always attaching themfelves to 
 him who raifes them, in the foie hope of co¬ 
 ming in for feme of the fpoil. Neither blood 9 
 nor fire can drive them off; on the contrary 
 they provoke thefe human fcourges, living only 
 in the heat of dedru&ion. This vagabond tribe 
 is always at the difpofai of him who employs 
 them to commit the greated number of crimes. 
 By them we have feen dedroyed the fuperb 
 buildings of Reveillion in 1783, by them we have 
 feen the barriers and the guard houfes fet on 
 fire in 1789, by them we have feen the magazines 
 pillaged and dedroyed in 1790, and *79*, and 
 the afylum of our monarch at Verfailles violated 
 and imbrued with blood j by them, finally, we 
 
 have 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 I 3 8 
 
 have feen thofe unhappy wretches, whom fear 
 and enthufialm had piled upon each other in 
 the prifons of Paris, murdered in cool blood. 
 
 This deftruftive mafs, inimical to all focial 
 order, which is found in every nation, and 
 againft which fufficient precautions have never 
 been ufed, to diminifh its number and put a Hop 
 to atrocities, had for many years been increafing 
 in the capital to an alarming height. If any 
 little fcuffle happened in the ftreets^ the difpu- 
 tarns were immediately furrounded by a crowd 
 who, infteadof making peace, provoked the quar¬ 
 rel, and endeavoured to foment a general tumult. 
 When les Etats-Generaux were in debate, no¬ 
 body talked louder than thefe vagabonds to 
 whom all government was indifferent. Covered 
 with rags they called themfelves a Tiers Etat ; 
 and with out-ftretched hands, they exclaimed 
 againft all privileges, and complained of the 
 burden of the taxes. The police, weak, and almoft 
 filent, durft not proceed roughly againft them, 
 
 or aim at purging the capital of them. It was 
 by the means of this portion of the populace 
 that our revolution was effected 5 but what 
 proves to me that they did not aft fox themfelves 
 
 is, that inftead of deftroying Bicetre, which was 
 
 always 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 1 39 
 
 always full of people like themfelves, they pulled 
 down the Badile, in which not one individual 
 of the lower rank of people had ever been con¬ 
 fined. 
 
 “ In order to omit nothing in my pitlure of 
 the date of France, I muft flill point out to you 
 fome ftat^s in fociety which, without being indi¬ 
 vidually reckoned, neverthelefs form didinft 
 bodies, and of great influence too at the moment 
 of the revolution. 
 
 “ The fird, and mod numerous, were hired 
 fervants, from the valet de chambre to the groom, 
 from the fcullion to the femme de chambre, 
 from the deward to the porter. It is well 
 known, and our revolution has proved it beyond 
 all doubt, that for one faithful fervant, attached 
 to his mader, there were thoufands who betrayed, 
 facrificed, and ruined their employers. And 
 with whom lay the blame ? with the mader, 
 who indead of keeping up the didance between 
 himfelf and his fervant, treated him with fami¬ 
 liarity, let him into a knowledge of his weak fide, 
 confefled to him his paflions, and obliged him 
 to humour his temper and caprices. And what 
 was the cGnfequence of this condufl ? why the 
 proving of the proverb, c that no one is a great 
 
 man 
 
140 the castle 
 
 man in the eyes of his valet de chambre/ The 
 fervant faw in his mafler only a man like himfelf, 
 fubjed: to the fame vices, and only different 
 from himfelf in po fie fling a little more know¬ 
 ledge, and having enjoyed a greater portion of 
 the fmiles of fortune. When the inafi er made the 
 fervant feel his real fituation, after having treated 
 him with the utmofl familiarity, the fervant was 
 chaffed, loft the little attachment he had once 
 entertained for his mafter, and looked forward 
 only to a moment of revenge. The revolution 
 furnifhed him with that moment ; and we have 
 feen how many mailers have been betrayed by 
 their fervants. 
 
 Thofe of the fecond dafs I am going to 
 defcribe were almofl all to be found in the 
 capital, and were by no means a final! wound in 
 the breafl of the flate. It was compofed of thefe 
 men who have call afide every feeling of nature. 
 I here refer to that fet of men who lived in idle, 
 
 purfe-proud independence. 
 
 <c Thefe ufelefs beings deprived the flate of 
 
 their induflry, by living upon a fum of money 
 which they had funk ; and may alfo be confi- 
 dered as wicked relations, becaufe by thefe means 
 of increafing their yearly income, they cut their 
 
 heirs 
 
OF THE TUlLERIESo 
 
 I4i 
 
 heirs out of a legacy to which they had a due 
 claim. Have we not even feen the fathers of 
 families fufficiently unnatural to buy life annu- 
 sties upon the whole of their property without 
 giving a thought to the future days of their wives 
 and children v/ho might furvive them ? Thefe 
 men are alfo bad citizens, for they care for the 
 profperity of their country only as far as it re- 
 lates to their fecuring the payment of their rents* 
 
 I wi(h that every man who fells his property for a 
 life annuity, if he is neither a baflard, nor a 
 foundling, was deprived of the rights of citizen. 
 
 “ Thefe however were the men who raifed the 
 firft cries of fedition. Their eyes always wide 
 open and fixed upon the operations of the 
 finances, they were heard in the public gardens, 
 and walks, thundering againfl Calonne and Lo- 
 menie. From what they faid, France funk 
 
 t 
 
 under both thefe minifters. They alone pro¬ 
 voked the recalling of the borrower Necker. 
 Without calculating that if taxes bring difficul¬ 
 ties, borrowing makes a deficiency in the end, 
 they faw only in the hardy Genevian, the man 
 who took care that their annuities were regularly 
 paid *, for all the addrefs of this minifler, was 
 that of a phyfician called in to a man lick paPc 
 
 hope 
 
*42 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 hope of recovery ; not being able to fave him by 
 remedies, he endeavours to comfort him by 
 palliatives. This was the ikill of Necker. 
 
 j * 
 
 “ There was ftiil another body of men in 
 France even more dangerous from the long per¬ 
 fections which they had undergone. Repref- 
 fed under Francis I., under Henry II., under 
 Charles IX.,under Louis XIII., they were entirely 
 crufhed under Louis XIV. This body of men 
 are they who during the reign of Louis XIII., 
 had the courage to ena£t that famous ftatute 
 which transformed the French monarchy into 
 feveral confederate republics; and declared 
 that the catholic religion ought to be made ex- 
 tin& in the kingdom ; you perceive that I am 
 fpeaking of the Calviniftes. Encouraged by their 
 anriroyalifl doflrines, the defcendants of the 
 vi&ims of St. Bartholomew, and the dragoon* 
 ades *, wore in their hearts an implacable hatred 
 to the throne of France f. From the time of 
 
 Louis 
 
 * After the revocation of the edid of Nantz fuch protcf- 
 tunts as could not get out of the kingdom, had dragoons 
 quartered upon them, who were encouraged to treat them 
 ill in order to weary them into changing their religion j 
 and thefe have ever fmce been called the dragoonades . 
 
 •f Thofe who with to know what Was the dodrine of 
 Calvin may learn fufficient of it from hearing what he 
 faid, when he was fpeaking of kings: “ Their infolence it 
 
 armed 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 H3 
 
 Louis XVI.’s afcending the throne, fupported by 
 the maxims of the new philofophy and the eafy 
 chara&er of the monarch, they contrived to get 
 him furrounded by their friends, who unceafingly 
 pleaded their caufe to him, until an edidt refiored 
 the civil privileges to their fedlaries. 
 
 “ In order to arrive at this climax, confider 
 with how much art they proceeded. Fearful, 
 if they abruptly made fuch a demand to fee their 
 hopes entirely deftroyed by it, they had the ad- 
 drefs to take advantage of the indolence of Mau- 
 repas, to place near Louis minifters of the new 
 philofophy. 
 
 By their means, the ceconomift Turgot* *, 
 
 the 
 
 armed with a bloody fcepter, and their power is only a ferocious 
 licence : let them lijlen , and tremble. ( Biblic. Frar^aiie, p. 173) 
 To which may be added a few words fpcken by Durofier 
 one of his minifters : “ It is allowable to put out of the way a 
 fovereign who will not obey the reformed religion ” Boefleius 
 aifertio. Scandalo. Refer befides toGrotius, in animadv. 
 Rivettii. Op. tom. v. Roberfton, tom* iii. The letter 
 of Bongars to M. de Thon. 
 
 * Turgot is one of the mod learned minifters that 
 France ever poftefted. At twenty-three years of age, in 
 a work called Tableau des progres de Pefprlt humain, he pre¬ 
 dicted the independence of the Englifh colonies. It is 
 to him we owe our knowledge of the Erie poetry; 
 he tranflated OIlian ; from the German he produced the 
 Meftiuh; from the Italian the Death of Abel, and Paftor 
 
 Fido $ 
 
144 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 the tolerating Malfherbes* *, the illuminated Saint 
 Germain f, and laftly the proteftant Necker were 
 got into the miniftry. 
 
 “It 
 
 Fido ; from the Greek the Iliad ; and from the Hebrew* 
 Solomon’s Song—His learned dilfertations enriched the 
 foreign journals ; when he became miniber, he wanted 
 to put in practice a fybem of univerfal perfedlability, and 
 here was his ruin. 
 
 * This man, whofe fate has been fo much pitied, be- 
 caufe he concluded fo tragically his career ; was one of 
 thofe who ufed the moft earned endeavours to throw into 
 the minds of the people, and even of the king himfelf, the 
 fybem of the new philofophy. His virtuous conduft, his 
 moral life, his benevolence, his fpirit of toleration, have all 
 ferved thofe addicted to the new philofophy as a fhield to 
 blunt the arrows of reproach fhot at their do&rine. Were 
 they upbraided with the pride and third of gold that 
 animated Voltaire ; with the denaturalifation and infocia- 
 bility of Roufleau ; the fanguinary principles of Diderot* 
 or the cries for fedition of Raynal; they all anfwered ; 
 “ look at Mallherbes, what can you reproach him with 
 We will venture to declare, that they were folely the par- 
 tizans of monarchy, thofe very people who never ceafed 
 to bear an implacable hatred againd this vi<d:m, who 
 have mod embittered the crime of the lacrifice ; and this 
 merely from the defign of throwing all the odium upon 
 the new philofophers ; whild it was lolely the a&ion of a 
 number who never knew any thing of new philofophy but 
 the latitude it allowed. 
 
 If Mallherbes had not peformed the generous a&ion 
 which will immortalize him, what would have been the 
 fate referved for him ? his name would have been loft 
 amidd a crowd of the victims of the day, and more than one 
 friend to the throne would have fmiled at his death. 
 
 Like 
 
OF THE TUILERIES, 1 45 
 
 f< It was in vain that fome attempted to make 
 the king fee the precipice up which they were 
 
 leading 
 
 Like all the philofophers of the age, Mallherbes loll 
 himfelf by endeavouring to put into practice his philofb- 
 phical fyltem. Inhead of amending, they all made things 
 worfe ; their failure arofe from their wanting to make a 
 wife people of one the moll inconfequential ; from their 
 attempts to graft virtue upon vice. It has been faid a 
 million times, that there mull be a new people, the chil¬ 
 dren of Cadmus, to ellablifh a new fyftem amongft. If 
 you attempt to repair the top of a houfe, whofe founda¬ 
 tions are rotten, you will pull down the whole fabric about 
 your cars by the weight of the new materials that you 
 load it with. The fame was the inftance in our revolu¬ 
 tion ; inllead of preparing the people to receive new ideas, 
 you have railed them up againll themfelves, you have 
 made them pull down the only prop that fupported them. 
 And what is the refult ? Their own mailers, they 
 give themfelves up to every kind of excefs, and take away 
 the lives of thofe who lead them into error. 
 
 Mallherbes then is neither more blameable, nor more 
 innocent than the rell of the propagandas. United with 
 them in faith, promulgating their do&rines, in fhort 
 working in concert with them to eflablifh their fyftem, he 
 ought only to be dillinguilhed from the new philofophers 
 as being the moll virtuous of them. 
 
 Thofe of the new fyftem are indebted to him for the 
 cafe with which their writings were publifhed, when he 
 was at the head of the prefs. In Ihort, Mallherbes be¬ 
 lieved in perfeftability, and talked only of producing 
 liberty through the channel of learning and the arts. 
 
 f M. de Saint Germain was of all the miniuers of 
 Louis XVI., the one who ftruck moll forcibly at the root 
 of the throne by his ridiculous, and dangerous innovations 
 vol. i. l and 
 
 L 
 
146 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 leading him, he paid no attention to them. I 
 have m^felf read many memorials which were 
 
 addrefTed 
 
 and reforms. So much has been written about this man, 
 that I think it is ufelefs for me here to draw his portrait; 1 
 fhall fatisfy myfelf with adding fome particulars to what has 
 already been faid. The wandering life of Saint Germain 
 caufed him when he fird appeared in France to be looked 
 upon as an extraordinary man, and the obfeurity of his 
 origin procured him the name of the new Melchifedeck ; 
 and he was faid to be of an extraordinarily great old age. 
 But it was foon difeovered in contradi&ion to thefe fables, 
 that he was born at Salins in Franche-Comte, of a poor 
 bourgeois family : at his outfet into life he was lieutenant 
 in a battalion of militia ; but a third of glory made him 
 pafs over into the fervice of the eledor Palatine, and next 
 into that of the emperor Charles VI. thence to that of the 
 elector of Bavaria, and ladly to that of France ; hence he 
 was charged with a fecret million into Poland, where he 
 changed his name, and caufed himfelf to be called Cata- 
 lagni, notwithdanding he wrote himfelf Silva Mendoza. 
 
 I have read in fome manufeript notes of the Abbe de la 
 Farre, that Saint Germain left Poland, high in the edi- 
 mation of the refpedable people there, in order to pafs 
 over into Holland, being commiffioned by the general, 
 York, to make propofals of peace ; but without the know¬ 
 ledge of the minider of foreign affairs, and contrary to 
 the wifh of the Queen of Hungary, who entirely difavowed 
 all knowledge of fuch a dep, in the papers of the day, from 
 the moment of her becoming acquainted with what was 
 pading. The Abbe de la Farre adds, that when he was 
 difeuding Saint Germain’s proje&of peace, on the twenty- 
 fifth of June, 1760, with the general Monnet, and Sinet, the 
 fird valet-de-chambre of the Dauphin, they all three found 
 themfelves quite at a Iofs to decide of what ufe it could be 
 
OF THE TUILERIE3. 
 
 *47 
 
 addreffed to him, from the year 1787 to the 
 opening of the dates ; the mod of which were 
 
 terrifying. 
 
 to make peace with England, without the concurrence of 
 Pruffia. It was leaving the Pruffians to the mercy of the 
 Emperor, fmce the intereh of England, which was not 
 bound down by any treaty, would lead her by no means 
 to fupport Pruffia; and that this power, foon finding her- 
 felf reduced for dependence only to her own forces, would 
 ally herfelf with the emprefs, in order to make war 
 upon France. 
 
 Saint Germain ferved in the war of 1756, under the 
 marffial D’E(tries and Richelieu. At the battle ofCorbacb, 
 at which the marffial de Broglie had the command, it was 
 pretended that Saint Germain, who commanded the corps- 
 de referve, had been negligent in the execution of fome 
 part of his duty ; and notwithftanding the French returned 
 victorious from the field, this accufation was laid upon him. 
 He felt himfelf hurt, and after having written the letter 
 which follows, and regardlefs of the fatisfaCtory anfwer of 
 de Broglie, he retired to Aix-la-Chapelle, fent in his refig- 
 nation, and red ribbon, and went over into the fervice of 
 Denmark. 
 
 Letter of M. le comte de Saint Germain, lieutenant-general 
 of the king’s army, to M- the duke de Broglie. 
 
 The firft of July, 1760. 
 
 “ I am going to do myfelf the honour of replying to 
 your letter of the 28th, which I received on the 30th, 
 about nine o’clock in the evening. I have hitherto done 
 everything that lay in my ability to execute with exactnefs 
 your orders, and to accuftom myfelf to the bitter, ironical, 
 and contemptuous ftyle which characterizes your letters. 
 As to the firft article it contains, I have nothing to re¬ 
 proach myfelf with, either on the part of my good-will, or 
 
 l 3 my 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 I48 
 
 terrifying, from the evils which they announced. 
 Upon fome of thefe Louis XVI. was fatisfied with 
 
 writing 
 
 my activity, and I am able to prove it to all the world. 
 As to the fecond, I muft labour in vain, it is too hard for 
 me, and I miift fall under it, particularly as I have for a 
 long time perceived your irony to be perfonal. 
 
 After this, fir, I think it would be difadvantageous to 
 the fervice to have a corps-de-referve that is under the 
 command of a mail who is odious to him who is general 
 of the whole army; I accordingly have written to court 
 to demand my difcharge. If you would give me leave to 
 retire, it would be a much quicker method, and things 
 would be the better lor it. Whilft I am waiting for the 
 orders of the court, or yours, I (hall a< 5 t to the belt of my 
 ability in my fituation, without requiring to be fpurred on 
 to my duty ; I (hall never have the power of performing 
 impofiibilities, whatever defire I may have profperoufly to 
 ferve my king, and to contribute to your fuecefs. ,> 
 
 iknfwer of M. the inarPaal de Broglie to the foregoing 
 
 letter. 
 
 ** I have received, fir, by the poll, the letters which 
 you did me the honour to write to me on the 26th, 27th, 
 and 28th of laft month ; and my courier put into my 
 hands, yefterday, that of the id of July, to which there is 
 a pollfcript of the 2d. As the circ urn fiances are entirely 
 changed fince the three firft letters v/ere written, it would 
 be totally ufelefs to enter into any detail upon their contents. 
 In regard to the laft, I was not lefs furprized, than hurt 
 upon its receipt ; I have read over with attention all my 
 correfpondcnce with you, particularly my letter of the 
 28th, to which this is the anfwer. 1 can find in it only 
 exprefiions marking out to you the efteem I feel for you, 
 and according with thofe fentiments of you, of which f 
 
 have 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 I49 
 
 writing in the margin, the name of thofe who 
 had prefented them to him, and put them on one 
 
 have always made public profeffion. I can cite a witnefs 
 of the firft refpe&ability, whom you will perceive I fhould 
 not dare to name, unlefs my ftatement was truly exa& ; 
 it is monfeigneur the Dauphin, who cannot have forgotten, 
 that in his cabinet, in the prefence of M. le due de 
 Choifeul, after I had for a long time refufed to accept the 
 command of the army, to which I felt myfelf unequal, I 
 named you to the prince, as one v of thofe whom I judged 
 adequate to the bearing of fuch a burden; I exprelfed myfelf 
 to the fame effect to M. le marechal de Belleifle, to M. the 
 duke of Choifeul, to M. the prince of Soubife, and to 
 Madame de Pompadour ; I have faid the fame to all the 
 world, and thus far I cannot be accufed of having belied 
 my feelings. All the letters which I have had the honour 
 of writing to you, are laid before the court ; and I am 
 not at all afraid that they fhould find in them any thing 
 fimijar to what you have imagined yourfelf to read in 
 them. My conduct towards you has always been fo open 
 and honourable, that I defy you not to do me juftice when 
 the clouds which are hanging over you are difperfed. I 
 am quite ignorant what anfvver the king and his council 
 will make to your demand of a difcharge ; but I certainly 
 fhall not give you my leave to foreftall the anfwer. I 
 fhould think myfelf to be ill-treating his majefty, were I 
 to deprive him of an officer, like yourfelf; and it will al¬ 
 ways be my aim to keep you, if poffible, in his fervice, 
 &c. &c. ,> 
 
 The reftlefs fpirit of Saint Germain caufed him to quit 
 Denmark ; and he came back into France, where he lived 
 retired and unknown, in a village near Befan^on. It is 
 faid that the marfhal de Muy, before his death, propofed 
 him to the king as his fuccefior. The red of his hillory is 
 well known. 
 
 l 3 
 
 fide 
 
the castle 
 
 *5° 
 
 fide without appearing to make any account of 
 them. 
 
 cc It is well known that many Calvinifts had 
 come back into France fince the time of their 
 expulfion, either by means of a particular leave 
 which was granted them, or by means of hiding 
 their faith. They were fcattered throughout the 
 kingdom, and particularly in the large towns, 
 where population was a great fafeguard to them ; 
 and while each appeared an unconnected indi¬ 
 vidual they all knew one another, and corre- 
 fponded together. The moment that the benevo¬ 
 lent edid reftored the civil privileges to them in 
 France, they [hewed themfelves publickly, and 
 their number occafioned furprize. I fhall not enter 
 into a detail of their conduct at the time of the 
 revolution ; it requires not to be faid that they 
 were its warmed partizans. 
 
 “ And now I muft afk you, after having taken 
 this rapid and imperfect view of the fituation of 
 men’s minds in the different dates of fociety, 
 whether the rapidity with which our revolution 
 was effected can produce any aftonifnment ? 
 
 u Like a chain of paralyticks, who feek a cure in 
 cledricity, impatiently waiting the rapid fpark, 
 and believing at the moment when they are [truck, 
 
 that 
 
OF THE TUILERIES* I 5 I 
 
 that they feel better, whilft they are only (tunned 
 by the violence of an improper conductor; thus 
 the French nation embraced with avidity the 
 change which prefented itfelf in the firm per- 
 fuafion that (he was about to enjoy a great good 
 which was offering to her under the mod en¬ 
 chanting colours. She placed her confidence in 
 a few ambitious men, who led her aftray, and 
 then abandoned her to the power of rafcals. May 
 one of thofe rare geniufes of whom nature is fo 
 covetous, foon (tart up to fave her from falling 
 down the precipice on which (lie ftands ! 
 
 iC Let us enter into fome few details. From the 
 time of Sully, the finances of France had been 
 in a tottering ftate. Louis XIV. gave them a 
 blow from which they never recovered. The 
 genius of Colbert even was inefficient to fupply 
 the expences of that monarch. It excites fur- 
 prize even at this day to think of the incalculable 
 fums which w ? ere required for the wars and 
 buildings which rendered that reign immortal: 
 Verlailles alone confumed the revenue of half a 
 century. Nothing can more (trongly prove th$ 
 embarrafled (late of the finances, than the num¬ 
 ber of men who were called to the helm to direct 
 them. Without giving a lift of their names, I 
 
 L 4 afk 
 
I $2 THE CASTLE 
 
 afk you only to remark that fince the time of 
 Colbert, not one man died in this office, but M. 
 Cluny. This proves to me, that in this bufinefs, 
 they only feledted men who had the ability of 
 finding ways and means for the moment, and 
 that for two reigns there had appeared no minifter 
 who really underftood the fyftem of finance. All 
 the men who filled this fituation were treated juft 
 like lemons which are thrown away after we have 
 nipped out the juice. And what have thofe done 
 who have filled this place at later dates ? IVJore 
 occupied with their ideas of the new philofophy, 
 than of the regulation of the finance, Turgot 
 attempted in vain to abolifh the farrednefs of 
 kings; Brienne gave civil rights to the protef- 
 tants ; Calonne attacked the privileges of the firft 
 ranks, and pointed out his nullity and that of the 
 monarch, by calling in the Notables to his aid *. 
 
 Taftly, 
 
 * The following is a letter from Miromenil to the king, 
 which proves what I fay of Calonne : 
 
 Miromenil to the king, the 5th April, 1787. 
 
 Extract : on the right fide of the fecond leaf you may read 
 
 this paflage. 
 
 < s I confefs to you, fire, that I am afraid, above all, after 
 what lias happened within the laid eight days, after my con- 
 verfation of laid Monday evening with M. de Calonne, of 
 which I gave you an account, that he will not allow you to 
 difmifs the amenably of Les Notables, without coming to any 
 „ conclufion, 
 
OF THE TU 1 LERIES. 
 
 *53 
 
 Laftly, Necker humbled the great by his reforms, 
 and, aiming drait forward at a climax, converted 
 the fydems of the new philofophers into a public 
 opinion. It is needlefs, after this fhort view, to 
 enter into any explanations O prove the ill-ad* 
 minidration of the finance. I fhall however give 
 one fingle indance. In 17So, during the Ameri¬ 
 can war, and during the firfl minidry of Necker, 
 the king was much didreffed to fupport the ex- 
 pences of the times ; the affidance which he gave 
 to the Americans, both in money, and ammuni¬ 
 tion, and the fupport of his fleet, had drained the 
 coffers of the date, and there was no vifible re- 
 fource for upholding them. At this junflure, to 
 preferve the honour of an individual, and in order 
 not to expofe the eldefl of his brothers, the king 
 commanded twenty millions of money to be paid 
 to M. de Saint James. Your are going to aft; 
 me what all this means ? I mud own to you. 
 
 conclufion, and perhaps without giving him time to lay before 
 you his lad obfervations. I fee that he is aiming at fctting 
 you againd the bidiops, the nobles, the magidrates, and your 
 minifters. He makes a kind of appeal to the people, which 
 may have the mod dangerous effect. In fhort, I forefee 
 confequences which alarm me for your happinefs, and the 
 fafety of your future reign. See ” 
 
 Note —Copied from the original, takea from a portfolio, 
 in tilled Letters !o Louis XVI. 
 
 that 
 
154 THE CASTLE 
 
 that I know very little about it; all that I am 
 able to tell you is, that Saint James was attached 
 to Monfieur, that he had been allowed to draw 
 upon the date for four millions in bills of ex¬ 
 change, and that abufing the liberty which was 
 granted him, he drew for twenty millions, which 
 the king ordered to be paid in the mofl fecret 
 manner poffible. This fadt appears fo extraordi¬ 
 nary, that it wants proofs to gain it belief. Read 
 a palfage of a letter of the king’s to Maurepas, 
 and you will find it. 5 ’ I then drew a copy of the 
 letter from my pocket, and read to the Englifh- 
 man and the commiffary what follows : 
 
 “ Extract from a letter of the king to M. de 
 Maurepas: 
 
 “ Choify , 3d Odober , 1780. 
 
 46 You have doubtlefs feen M. Necker fince I 
 have; he will have given you an account of our 
 converfation, but I wifh to tranfmit it to you 
 myfelf. He fpoke of the embarraflfnent into 
 which he was thrown by the twenty millions, 
 payable at fhort dates, to M. Saint-James ; that 
 it was with much difficulty he had procured the 
 payment of fix millions the week before.” 
 
 L. B.— <c And did not your king, fo great an 
 
 ceconomift, fo upright a man, caufe Saint Jame3 
 
 to 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 l SS 
 
 to be punifhed ?” iC Perhaps he was afraid of 
 expofmg Monfieur. But, as to that, had he 
 caufed every gentleman who was deficient in ho- 
 nefty to have been punifhed, the Baftile would 
 never have been fufficiently large to have held 
 the Baron D’Entrechaux, the count and vifcount 
 of Gamacher, and of Rochechouard ; withFren- 
 ville, Genlis, Fenelon, Palun, &c. &c. &c. and 
 the reft of the Notables who paid their credi¬ 
 tors with crabfticks. He was fatisfied with letting 
 the weight of his juftice fall upon the Guemenee, 
 upon them alfo he had mercy in a very fliort 
 time.”— cc When I firft heard of their difafter, 1 
 thought that they had experienced fome bad for¬ 
 tune in trade, fince they announced a bankruptcy, 
 which word only belongs to commerce.”—“ It 
 was ufed to conceal in fome meafure the atrocity 
 of their conduct.”—* 4 It was in fullering all thefe 
 crimes to go unpunished that Louis XVI. loft hior¬ 
 iel f.”—Very true ; indeed, on his firft mount¬ 
 ing the throne he difplayed a degree of firmnefs of 
 chara&er, which caufed good augurations to be 
 pronounced upon him. He began by declaring 
 himfelf an enemy to all reverfions of places. 
 When the duke of Fronfac alked him to let his 
 
 fon fucceed him in his office, he refufed it, faying 
 
 8 that 
 
» 5 « THE CASTLE 
 
 that his fon was a man of too bad a character * 
 He refufed in like manner to M. de Caftries, the 
 reverfion of the colonelfhip in the French guards, 
 filled by Biron. But he foon relaxed of his fe- 
 verity. His chara&er was known; they were 
 well aware that upon any unjuft or inconfiderate 
 requeft being made to him, his manner was at firft 
 repellant and forbidding : this was what Maurepas 
 merely called, an introductory growl *, which 
 loon became a phrafe at court; the way was 
 not to anfwer him ; and in a very fhort time any 
 requeft was granted, fometimes even the moll 
 unjuft grants, under the moft odious denomi¬ 
 nations ; of which the following is an example : 
 
 cc The fteady and well regulated life of Louis 
 XVI. had made him look with contempt upon 
 thofe libertines of the court, who honoured them- 
 felves with the infamous title of (les roues'), the 
 debauchees. Well, can you believe that a king, 
 whofe conduct was thus marked by propriety, 
 jfhould confult with Maurepas, whether or not he 
 fhould give the adminiftration of the finances to 
 one of thefe men ?”— fC That indeed appears to me 
 a ftrong inftance. ,, — cc Give me leave a moment; 
 —-the ftate of the finances could not be more em- 
 
 * Son premier coup de houtoir . 
 
 barrafled 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. I 57 
 
 barraffed than it was in 1780 ; Necker, who had 
 the adminiftration of it, faw no refource beyond 
 the fucceeding year. 
 
 44 The American war, into which a falfe policy 
 had drawn us, had drained off every fupply* 
 The fleet alone loff in 1779 a hundred and eighty 
 millions.”— 44 I muff interrupt you for a moment; 
 do you know what this war, which brought us fo 
 very low,flood usin?”—“No,I do not.”— 44 From 
 the year 1776 to 1782 England fpent two thou- 
 fand,two hundred and feventy millions and a half.” 
 
 44 That is more than we did ; it - coff us from 
 1778 to 1782, fix hundred and ninety-one mil¬ 
 lions, nine hundred and thirty-feven thoufand, 
 three hundred and forty livres, merely for the 
 maintenance of the fleet ; and for the army five 
 hundred and thirty-one millions, fix hundred 
 and fifty-one thoufand, five hundred and eighteen 
 livres.”— 44 That is nearly one half lefs, without 
 reckoning the lofs of fome of our moff valuable 
 poffeflions. ,, — 44 Your cabinet in St. James’s has 
 ample vengeance at this time!”— 44 Do not let us 
 talk upon that fubjeft, leaft our national charac¬ 
 ter fhould bring on a difcuflion between us, which 
 might end in a quarrel.”— 44 That would give me 
 great pain. 
 
 «c 
 
 Let 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 .58 
 
 cc Let me go on with telling you then that the 
 embarraffment of our finances made Necker 
 afraid of lofing his popularity. In order to 
 avoid this difgrace, he refolved to afk for his 
 
 difcharge. But before this, he requefted a pri¬ 
 vate audience of the king. After having painted 
 to him in the flrongeft colours, our critical fili¬ 
 ation, and having told him that he did not fee the 
 means of providing any further refources, he 
 added that perhaps, a new man in the fituation, 
 in fhort, one of Les Roues might hit upon fome 
 violent and hitherto unheard of means, for raifing 
 a fupply, which might for a fhort time give a 
 fictitious credit, and fupport the (late machine.” 
 — <c What ! did not the king, upon this propo¬ 
 rtion from Necker, order him to be thrown out 
 of the window, or at lead have him carried to 
 prifon ?”—“ Far the contrary, the king entered 
 into all the details of the minifter, and befought 
 him not to quit his place. The minifter even 
 ventured to afk the difcharge of Sartines, whom 
 he difliked, and for the fituation to be given to 
 Caftries, who was his friend ; and upon this con- 
 
 t 1 
 
 dition only, he promifed not to refign. Look 
 back to that epoch, and you will fee that thefe 
 conditions were alj fulfilled. The king difcharg- 
 
 ed 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 1 59 
 
 ed Sartines, whom he refpefted for his honefty, 
 and named as his fucceffor Carries, whom he did 
 not like, becaufe he faw him too much engaged 
 with women/’ 
 
 Cc Give me leave, fir, to mention to you, one 
 thing that (Irikes me: you have faid that all this 
 paded in a private conference between Louis XVI. 
 and Necker; how then did you learn what paffed? 
 If it came to you from the minifler himfelf, I 
 cannot believe it true, his bragging of it feems 
 to fay it is not.”—“ I will give you reafon to be¬ 
 lieve this curious anecdote; Louis XVI. never 
 came to any abfolute conclufion without con- 
 fulting Maurepas, whom flattery has fo improper¬ 
 ly named the Neftor of France. This old Mentor 
 was at that time laid up with the gout in the 
 country. The king wrote to him a full account 
 of his converfation with the Genevian ; and after 
 the death of Maurepas, his widow returned to the 
 king his correfpondence with her hufband, which 
 after the 10th of Auguft was found in the palace 
 of the Tuileries. If you have fill any doubts, I can 
 procure you a fight of the letter itfelf.”—“ I ac¬ 
 cept your offer ; this particular fa ft is fo principal 
 a colour in painting the charafter of the king and 
 
 the minifter, that nothing ought to be. neglefted 
 
 that 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 160 
 
 that can prove its authencity. But are you cer¬ 
 tain that the king himfelf wrote the word RoueV 9 
 cc Very certain.”—“ It is an incomprehenfible 
 
 piece of bufmefs.” 
 
 My two auditors feemed thunder-flruck; ab- 
 forbed in their refledions; I believe they would 
 not have broken filence the whole morning, had 
 not I addreffed them. 44 Well gentlemen,” 
 faid I, 44 what do you think of what you have 
 heard ?” The commiffary fpoke firff^ and faid, 
 cc I do not know whether I ought to be mod fur- 
 prized at the effrontery of the minifter’s pro- 
 pofals, or the paffivenefs with which the king 
 liflened to them, and afked advice, whether to 
 to acceptor rejed them ?”— 44 And for my part,” 
 faid my lord, 44 I can only wonder at the affurance 
 of the Genevian : as for the monarch, that let¬ 
 ter (hews me fo completely his inability to govern, 
 that I can no longer be furprized at the falfe 
 (heps that led to his ruin. Thus we muft only, 
 in my opinion, accufe deftiny, which fated him 
 to fill an office to which he was fo very unequal; 
 of all the fituations which form part of focial 
 order, that in which he flood became him the 
 leafl.” 46 Stop there, I beg of you ; in our pro- 
 grefs over this palace we lhali have many oppor¬ 
 tunities 
 
OF THE TUILEP.IES. 
 
 i6t 
 
 tunnies of knowing him better ; but/’ added I, 
 addreffing the commiffary, cc is it now time to 
 
 purfue our vifit ?”—“ I am at your difpofal/* 
 
 % « 
 
 replied the commiffary. 
 
 At this moment a perfon came in who 
 whifpered the commiffary, and he faid to us: “ I 
 beg your pardon, my duty calls me away for a 
 few minutes, I will very foon come back to you 
 and he went out hadily. Lord Bedfort then 
 turning to me faid, “ let us meanwhile talk of that 
 aftonifhing minider, who has fo often been run 
 down, and upheld in the [mod exaggerated 
 manner $ who enjoyed, as I may fay, rather the 
 favour of the people than a good fame ; who has 
 made fo great a noife in the world, and who will 
 conflitute an epoch in your hiftory.”— <c With all 
 my heart, for I can tell you feme particulars of 
 him, which are but little known, and which I 
 
 think will ferve you to form your efrimate of 
 
 • * 
 
 him by. 
 
 “ I fhall not enter into any detail, upon the 
 manner in which Necker rofe ; for you without 
 doubt know, that he v/as originally a clerk in the 
 banking-houfe of Teluffon, who ultimately gave 
 
 him a fhare in his bank. This was his fir ft ffep 
 towards fortune ; his enemies accufe him of hav¬ 
 ing ' 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 FT 
 
162 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 ing made his firft advances towards her fhrine, by 
 means of fome ufurious profits which he gained, 
 under the fatal adminiftration of Ferrai. The 
 iimplicity of his manners, his application to ftudy, 
 added to a modeft appearance, gained him the 
 friendfhip of Pezay, who was extremely intimate 
 with Maurepas. Pezay introduced him to this 
 pretended Neftor, who was charmed with his pro¬ 
 jects. What dazzled Maurepas was his propofal * 
 of re-eftablifhing the finance without having re- 
 courfe to taxes. 6 This is fuch a man as you 
 want/ faid this Mentor to the young monarch ; 
 and immediately Necker held a place in the 
 miniftry. 
 
 u In a fhort time Necker put away his cotem¬ 
 porary Taboureau, and was foie adminiflrator of 
 the finances. According to his promife he did 
 not impofe a fingle tax upon the ftate, but fup- 
 
 ported it by loans. The populace, little given 
 
 / _ 
 
 to reflefl, praifed him to the Ikies : had they but 
 coolly confidered this dangerous method, they 
 mu ft have feen, that though taxes bring with 
 them inconveniences, ftill loans produce an ulti¬ 
 mate deficiency, and that it is better to fufFer for 
 a while with the expectation of doing well in view, 
 than to be at eafe for the pre at moment, with 
 
 the 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 163 
 
 the certainty of being much worfe off in the ench 
 In order to render himfelf popular, he conduced 
 himfelf without the fmalleft degree of pride, af¬ 
 fected the greatefl difintereftednefs, talked of 
 bettering the ffate of the hofpitals, of entirely 
 doing away beggary, perfecuted the farmer 
 generals, took off the taxes, and made reforms in 
 the finance. 
 
 “ But if on one fide he heard his praife founded, 
 on the other he faw his projects and his conduct 
 called in queftion. The financiers and the clergy 
 were particularly troublefome to him 5 Caraccioli, 
 Laurajais, Panchet, and Bourgade publifhed 
 pamphlets about him, which tore the mafic from, 
 his ambitious character. Some pointed him out 
 as a fimple calculater entirely without ideas; others 
 as a vindictive proteftant, unworthy of the mu 
 niftry, and incapable, by our laws, of holding a 
 place, which was to be taken only by means of 
 an oath that could be adminiftered to a Roman- 
 catholic alone. After having been toffed about 
 for more than four years between praife and 
 blame, he quitted the miniftry, after having run 
 the kingdom 460 millions into debt, and left, 
 according to his own account, an apple of difcord 
 in the middle of the date. 
 
 »« It 
 
 M 2 
 
164 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 <c It was faid at the time that Louis XVI. was 
 fo convinced of his deceit, that he had fworn he 
 would never fuffer him to remain in France, and 
 had ordered him to quit the country. How 
 comes it then, that he not only lived in the 
 neighbourhood of Paris, but that he even was 
 re-admitted into the miniftry ? 
 
 cc This was one of the effects of the king’s 
 
 good, but unftable difpofition. All that I know 
 more about it, is this. You muff remember 
 that in the letter the contents of which I have juft 
 communicated to you, Necker propofed to 
 the king, to call M. de Caftries to the miniftry, 
 
 r 
 
 affu ring him that they were bound by the ftricteft 
 friendfhip to each other.”—“ How then ?”— 
 <c Why M. de Caftries returned the fame piece of 
 fervice to the difgraced minifter. He was conftant- 
 ly telling the king how much Necker fufFered from 
 having had the misfortune of difpleafing him. 
 Taking advantage of the declining health of the 
 minifter’s wife, he wrote to the king, faying that 
 the unfkilfulnefs of the phyficians in his country, 
 obliged M. Necker to bring his wife to the 
 neighbourhood of Paris for advice. And fo 
 well did he plead his caufe, that the king replied 
 to it exactly in the following words: “ I allow 
 
 M. Necker 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 1 65 
 
 M. Necker to come into the neighbourhood of 
 Paris, on account of the ill health of Madame 
 Necker, on condition that he does not come into 
 Paris, and fees but few vifitors. Farther, you 
 cannot but remember, that for two years pad: I 
 have pofitively declared to you, that neither M. 
 Necker, nor any of his friends need entertain any 
 idea of his again coming into place. He very 
 well knows that laft winter I felt myfelf extreme- • 
 ly difpleafed by the noife which was made by 
 his book upon his return home, and the change 
 of the miniftry. If any thing of the like nature 
 ftiould ever occur again, I (hall inftantly remand 
 
 A 
 
 him back to his own country, and he fhall never 
 fet his foot into France again. Finally, if he and 
 his friends do not fet the world talking about 
 him, he may depend upon living undiflurbed.” 
 
 - <c But by what means do you know this 
 
 anfwer of the king’s to M. de Cadries ?”— 
 cs From the king himfelf.”—“ You furprife me, 
 
 I did not know, that you had been a courtier!” 
 
 —“ Indeed I never was; and what will furprife 
 you much more, and appear to you a contradic¬ 
 tion is, that I fhall confefs to you I never had 
 the honour of fpeaking to Louis XVI.”—“ Ex¬ 
 plain yourfelf.”—“ I will ; either from a love of 
 
 m 3 ' order. 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 166 
 
 order, or a defective memory Louis XVI. never 
 omitted to make copies of all the letters he wrote, 
 even upon the mod indifferent fubje&s. If he 
 returned a verbal anfwer to any note, or letter 
 which he received, he put down on the margin 
 the anfwer he fent. What I have jud been re¬ 
 peating to you was written upon the top of the 
 letter which M. de Cadries had fent to him on the 
 nineteenth of May 1785. I faw the letter and 
 the anfwer; and this explains the enigma. I 
 have not repeated the letter to you becaufe it 
 contains nothing of confequence. Without tell¬ 
 ing him exactly the foot where M. Necker meant 
 to fix his abode, he only faid, that he had been to 
 look at two different places in the country, the 
 one ten leagues from Paris, the other fix. 51 
 
 46 Do you believe, Sir, that his wife's ill 
 health was the only motive which brought M» 
 Necker into the neighbourhood of Paris ? In 
 my opinion, he took advantage of this circum- 
 dance to fet a dep, to which his own ambition, 
 the hopes of his friends, and the weaknefs of the 
 monarch had long been prompting him. Re¬ 
 coiled the didreffed fituation of your finances 
 at that time, and the little confidence which 
 was placed in the man who had the adminiftra- 
 
 tion 
 
* 
 
 OF THE TUJLERIES# l6j 
 
 tion of them.”— tC I will carry my fuppofition 
 even farther than yours; it is not at all clear to 
 me that M. Necker did not forefee a change in 
 the government coming on; his intimacy with 
 many of the propagandas leads me into this 
 idea ; and were it not for his writings in favour 
 of Louis XVI. when he was on the point of 
 fuffering, I fhould readily believe him of the feci 
 
 of the Illuminees whofe principles you are 
 doubtiefs acquainted with.”—“ Indeed there 
 feem to be many circumftances in favour of the 
 fuppofition ; but what was his conduct fo near 
 the court ?”— u Whilfl: he appeared a tranquil 
 fpe&ator of the embarraffed (late of the finances, 
 he was fecretly endeavouring to awaken the en« 
 thufiafm which had followed him to his retreat, 
 and awaiting a favourable time to profit by it; 
 and he eagerly feized upon that moment, when 
 Calonne, exclaimed againfl his adminiftration, 
 whilfl laying before the chiefs of Les Notables, 
 the fituation of our finances. 
 
 “ He wrote to the minifler to complain, 4 that 
 lie had fpoken of him in a manner by which he 
 had endeavoured to make him iofe his reputation, 
 and the efteem of the people and the king; he 
 defied him to point out in his account returned 
 
 m 4 
 
 m 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 168 
 
 in the year 1781, the errors which he had faid 
 were to be found in it, particularly that he had 
 made a miftake of fifty or fixty millions Ca- 
 lonne replied in an evafive manner to this letter f. 
 and fome days after addreffed to him a copy 
 of his fpeech, and a note containing ainongft 
 others thefe words ; e that in regard to the de¬ 
 ficiency before his time, he had only faid what 
 he had been obliged to fay, and that he had made 
 no mention of the account he had returned 
 
 f » 
 
 Necker flung to the quick by this irony, only 
 
 replied verbally ; c that he thought it became 
 him not to make any reply to a note in which 
 M. de Calonne, amufed himfelf with the bitter 
 game of addreffing his fpeech to the very man 
 'whom he had fo deeply wounded, and where he 
 made an ironical merit of not having fpoken the 
 words, account returned , whilft throughout his 
 his fpeech he had taken every means in his power 
 of alluding to it.’ 
 
 “ At thevery fame time that Necker was carry¬ 
 ing on a paper war with Calonne, he was making 
 complaints to the king of the conduct of his rival, 
 
 * A letter of the 29th January 1787. 
 
 [ Idem of the 30th of the lame month. 
 
 J A note of the 28th of the following February, 
 
 In 
 
OF THE TUILERIES* 
 
 169 
 
 In his firft: letter to the king, after having re* 
 counted his grievances much to the fame efFeft 
 as you have already heard, he requefted per- 
 miffion to prove to Calonne, in the prefence of 
 the king, that his account of 1781, was exa& 
 Louis XVI, refufed this requeft, conjefluring 
 that its aim was as much to form himfelf a party 
 from the people, as to exculpate himfelf. The 
 ex-minifter was not difheartened by this refufal; 
 he wrote again to the monarch, and fent him a 
 copy of his correfpendence with Calonne f. But 
 fo far from gaining any thing by it, he only 
 received an order to keep himfelf quiet. I have 
 read all this correfpondence with great attention. 
 Necker {hews himfelf in it fometimes proud, 
 fometimes cringing, but never great. Calonne 
 on the contrary lets the venom of his difpofition 
 appear through all his finelfe, and {huffles off an 
 explanation. Thefe, Sir, are all the particulars 
 which I have gathered concerning this man ; you 
 are well acquainted with his conduct fince that 
 time/' 
 
 — ct As is all the world,—but here comes the 
 commifiary who is I dare fay going to make an 
 
 apology, 
 
 * Letter of the 6th of March 1787. 
 Letter of the 9th of April following. 
 
170 the castle 
 
 I 
 
 apology .”— u Pardon me, gentlemen, I am pre¬ 
 vented the pleafure of conducing you over the 
 ruins, fome particular bufinefs calls me away ; 
 have the goodnefs to put off your vifit till to¬ 
 morrow.”— cc Although it may be intruding 
 much on your complaifance, my curiofity will 
 not allow me to fuffer you to depart from your 
 word,” faid Lord Bed fort.— fC To-morrow then 
 at the fame hour, 1 will meet you,” replied the 
 commiffary. 
 
 I left the palace with the Englifhman ; cc let us 
 flop in this court,” faid he, “ although I have 
 already examined it, I am afraid of any thing 
 having efcaped me.” We walked along it; my 
 lord appeared as if he were counting fomething ; 
 at laft he flopped, and turning to me, faid, “ I 
 dare fay you do not know how many cannon 
 
 balls flruck the palace walls ?”- <c Very true, 
 
 indeed I do not .”— 6C Sixteen only were driven 
 back by the thicknefs of the walls; this obser¬ 
 vation will appear to you very minute upon the 
 fir ft confideration, but it carries with it a reflec¬ 
 tion.”—“ I cannot guefs it.”— lC It was faid that 
 the people who attacked the palace on the tenth 
 of Auguff, raifed a dreadful fire of mufketry, 
 and cannon. As to the number of mufket fliots 
 
 which 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 171 
 
 which were fired at it, I can fay nothing ; but 
 the cannon balls difcharged at it, could by no 
 means be fo many as were faid, otherwife we 
 fhould be able to count more of their indentures 
 upon the walls ; for your bourgeois carmoniers 
 muft have poffeffed very great (kill indeed to 
 have (truck all their blows at- the windows and 
 doors. For my part, I believe the irruption to 
 have been fo fudden, that they had but a very 
 
 fhort time for their cannonade.”-“ I faw this 
 
 event from a fufficiently near fituation to be well 
 acquainted with its particulars; at the firft af« 
 fembling of the people, I got upon the roof of 
 that houfe at the corner of the rue Carroufel , 
 where I happened to lodge, and fcreened by 
 thofe two chimnies which you fee from hence, 
 I had the refolution to flay there till four o’clock 
 
 in the afternoon ; I then came down, and went 
 into the field of combat, and this was the fcene 
 which prefented itfelf to my view : the quays, 
 the ftreets, prefented an immenfe concourfe of 
 victorious foldiers, armed with pikes from the 
 points of which waved in the air the bloody 
 pillage of the Swifs guards ; I came into the 
 Tuileries by the gate of the Pont Royal; I looked 
 round me, I faw the walls of the palace fhot 
 
 through 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 X 72 
 
 through and through with mufket balls; I heard 
 on all Tides the rattling of the windows that they 
 were breaking ; and the clattering of the pots 
 and pans which they were knocking into pieces 
 in the kitchen. The fire-irons, the jacks, the 
 
 baking pans, and the billets of wood were all 
 
 \ 
 
 thrown up into the air ; every body feized what¬ 
 ever he could lay hold of; from the end of a long 
 pole hung a carp almoft as fat as the coalman 
 who was running away with it 5 a barber had 
 got hold of a fpit full of chickens, and with 
 this trophy of victory on his fhoulder, he 
 marched away with all the pride of a conqueror. 
 Through the gratings of the cellar windows, 
 I faw a thoufand hands grubbing into the 
 faw duff, and pulling out bottles of fa¬ 
 mous wine, which corn-porters were for the firft: 
 time taffing. Every where they were drinking, 
 every where they were laughing ; the royal wine 
 was running about the pavement and floors of 
 the palace, and mixing itfelf with the blood of 
 the victims; their mutilated corpfes were lying 
 fcattered about the terrace, and the avenues of 
 the garden ; and in the mid if of the croud of 
 fpeflators, the women prefied forward to the Tight 
 
 with 
 
OF THE TUILEIUES. I73 
 
 with the greateft degree of curiofity, and went 
 away the la ft. 
 
 “ The veftibule was fwimming with blood; 
 (till it was fmoaking; its ftench fuffocated me $ 
 my hair ftood on end ; I haftily ran up the fteps s 
 and entered the chapel; what a fpedtacle did it 
 prefent! what an entire change ! Dead bodies 
 horridly disfigured, and already the prey of a 
 million of buzzing flies; the carpets torn to 
 pieces, the pictures run through with the blades 
 of pikes; the defks and violins of the muficians 
 overturned and thrown upon the altar; the 
 organ demounted ! my eyes refted a moment 
 on one of thofe men, who poftefs the art of 
 
 L • * ' 
 
 fhowing themfelves happy and jocofe in the 
 midft of the mod dreadful events. He was 
 (landing in the gallery, in the attitude of 
 the angel blowing the laft trump. Puffing at 
 the fame moment into pipes of unequal fizes, he 
 provoked the involuntary laugh of thofe who 
 had tears in their eyes. I ran away from this 
 dreadful fcene of carnage. The croud had 
 (lopped unwilling to walk in the blood which was 
 running down the ftairs; the walls on all Tides 
 were ftained with it. 
 
 u I ruffled 
 
174 the castle 
 
 46 I rufhed through the midd of fabres, pikes^ 
 and fcythes, into the flrd faioon that prefented 
 itfelf. A thick cioud of dud and the waving 
 plumes of the foldiery intercepted my view. 
 The people were running backwards and for¬ 
 wards on all Tides. Dreadful fhrieks and ex¬ 
 clamations, a vad and continual murmur were 
 heard by turns in every apartment. There were 
 matrafles enough fcattered about to lodge an 
 army upon. They were trodden under foot with 
 the flutters, the tables, the fcreens, and the gilt 
 fools. 
 
 44 In one place they were breaking open the 
 doors of ciofets, where they found treafures con¬ 
 cealed, and chefs in which things of dill greater 
 value had been dored 5 and thefe the ragged 
 citizens went and placed in the affembly. 
 
 46 The date-bed is dill in its place, defying as 
 it were by its richnefs the eye of the poor ; they 
 look at it with difdain, and there is not one of 
 them who does not turn from it faying, 4 I 
 deep more tranquil on my bed of draw.’ 
 
 44 They were walking over the fragments of 
 
 ♦ 
 
 thoufands of china vafes ; fets of tea-china 
 painted in bright and beautiful colours were 
 rolling about the floor, amongfl golden candle- 
 
 dicks. 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 1 75 
 
 flicks, &c. Ifawlarge mirrors broken to pieces, 
 and fome young girls dividing amongft; them the 
 mod perfect pieces. 
 
 The luftres, the paintings on the ceilings, 
 the pictures of Le Brun, and Paul Veroneze were 
 paid refped to. I obferved the glafs of the 
 dial plate of a beautiful clock which was run 
 through with a pike. 
 
 They fpared alfo the fumptuous curtains, 
 fhining with gold, which ornamented the win¬ 
 dows. The people fee with contempt the fad 
 and undeniable proofs of their mifery. 
 
 cc Every thing was turned into confufion in 
 the council-chamber ; in the billiard-room was 
 the fame diforder ; the gallery looked like a field 
 of plunder, there was nothing in it but fome 
 flraw couches, and fome ungirt flock beds. 
 
 “ In the leffer apartments the croud was 
 greater. Anxiety w r as depicted on every coun¬ 
 tenance. What a number of obfervers or rather 
 fcrutinizers were endeavouring to find fome 
 traces of the perfidy of the miniflers ! There 
 was nothing which was not examined; no fpot 
 but what was vifited. 
 
 “ What a fcene of pillage was the dining¬ 
 room ! one was eating the confedionary with 
 
 1 his 
 
the castle! 
 
 176 
 
 his miflrefs* another handing about napkins* and 
 pouring out wine. The table-cloths torn to 
 pieces, the drawers of the bufets throwing about 
 from one to another ; not a foot could be fet 
 
 without kicking againft a broken bottle, 
 
 “ The entrance to the queen’s apartments was 
 
 blocked up with dead bodies wrapped in blankets; 
 except the hangings, the chairs, the fophas, and 
 the bed, every thing had been made off with. 
 Every glafs was cracked, nay reduced to fand. 
 What a number of women were pulling about 
 her wardrobe ! what a number of caps, elegant 
 hats, red petticoats, white petticoats, and blue 
 petticoats were flying about the chamber ! Every 
 chord of the piano-forte was fnapped; and a 
 buft of the Prince Royal rolling about the room. 
 
 cc The chambers of the lacqueys, and the foot 
 boys, were fwiinming with lavender water ; they 
 were breaking their china ; playing tricks with 
 the fyringes of les maitres-d’hotel ; dealing their 
 wine, their wax candles, their linen, and their 
 laced cloaths. 
 
 “ It was near five o’clock when all thefe 
 things were happening ; I would not wait for 
 the night which without doubt was more fa¬ 
 vourable to pillage. I went down by the flairs 
 
 of 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 *77 
 
 of the pavilion of Flora, where I faw at every 
 dep drunken men fleeping by the fide of dead 
 bodies. 
 
 ie At this indant a cloud of waving plumes 
 darkened the air in the court du Carroufel. The 
 guard houfes at the four corners were on fire. 
 
 I ruihed through the midd of the populace, and 
 had the good fortune to arrive fife and found at 
 
 my own lodgings; but I could not forbear both 
 heaving a figh, and (bedding a tear to the victims 
 facrificed that day. 
 
 cc Such is the abridgment of the picture at 
 once fingular and repellant which this palace 
 prefented to the eye, immediately after the vic¬ 
 tory. For an account of the attack and ftorm- 
 ing, you mud have had fufficient information in 
 the newfpapers of the day. I (hall notwithdand- 
 ing have a true pieafure in communicating to 
 you fome particulars which are little known. 
 Will you do me the honour to go with me to 
 my lodgings, and take a batchelor’s dinner ? 
 there I will at lead feed your curiofity. 55 — cc With 
 all my heart. 5 ’——And fo ended our fecond 
 day. 
 
 VOL. I* 
 
 X 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 CHAP. VL 
 
 VISIT TO THE PALACE OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 * 
 
 TllIUP PAY. 
 
 Difiiifiance produced hi the Cojfee Houfe of de Foi by an Agent 
 () f Orleans.—Portrait of this Man. — V'fit to the Ground Floor 
 of the Palace , on the Side of the Court. — Rencontre with the 
 MinflcrRolland ; his Fears. —Private Anecdotes of this Mini - 
 jier. - Amours of his Wife. — Means employed by her to heep him 
 out of her Way • — The Wine of the Emigrants drunk by the Mini ~ 
 n e rs . — Pillage of the Palace by the Members of the Commune. 
 
 ’_ Manner of emptying the Secretaries. — Difcovery of the 
 
 „tft Service of Plate vfed in the King's Chapel;—Place where 
 it was concealed .— Political and amorous Correfpondence be* 
 - tween a Lady of the Court and a Bi/hop.— Hijlorical Anec• 
 dotes . 
 
 The place of meeting which we had fixed upon 
 at parting, was the coffee-houfe of deFoi. Upon 
 going in I found my lord in the midft of a circle who 
 appeared diflajisfied with what he had juft been 
 faying. I enquired. “ He is an Englifhman, a fpy 
 from Pitt,” laid they, “ who comes here to find 
 
 * 
 
 •fault with our revolution •, and we are refolved 
 as foon as he leaves this place to take him to the 
 committee of general fafety.”—“ I will be bound 
 for it/’ / replied I, “ that not one of you is fo 
 
 good 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 n 9 
 
 good a friend to liberty as he is; I know him.’ 9 
 This affertion drew every eye upon me, they 
 examined me from head to foot, and turned me 
 round and round. The Englifhman, from whom 
 the croud had now given way a little, faw me, 
 and came up to me. We managed to get to a 
 table, and to fit down. 
 
 Scarcely had we fpoken to each other, before 
 we heard one of the lookers-on exclaim with the 
 voice of a Stentor ; “ I have for a long time 
 been telling you that there were agents of Pitt’s 
 and Coburg’s in Paris, whofe end is to excite 
 counter-revolutionary motions; thefe tw T o men 
 are fome of them, one is an Englifhman the 
 other an Auflrian, I have known them, and 
 dodged them for a long time; let us carry them 
 before the committee.” A murmur of affent 
 followed thefe words, and I began to feel certain¬ 
 ly very uneafy; when I heard this fentence fpoken 
 at the other end of the room : 4t Do not lifters, 
 to that impoflor; I know thefe two men very 
 well, and I will anfwer for them. Has not M. le 
 Marquis de Saint-Huruge been fufHciently long 
 the bane of tranquillity not to be better known l 
 In order to make himfelf believed a patr iot, he 
 exclaims againft every body ; in order that he 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 1S0 
 
 may be talked of, his voice is always louder than 
 other people's ; and his uniform end in all this 
 is, to obtain feme place of importance ; but he is 
 too well known : as to thefe two gentlemen I will 
 anfwer for them. The one is a Frenchman, and 
 a Parifian ; the other an Englifhman, and one 
 of the firmeft members of the oppofit-ion; if 
 any one here doubts what I fay, let him follow 
 me with thefe two gentlemen.” “ No, no, 9 * 
 was the general cry ; “ as long as you anfwer 
 lor them we are fatisfied then turning towards 
 Saint-IIuruge, they all called out, “ Leave this 
 place you qtrarrelfome fool, and let us never fee 
 you here again. Go into the garden, and get 
 caned, or go and make ycurfelf even with thofc 
 who have already caned you.” The poor devil 
 did not wait -to have this fentence repeated, nt 
 left the room amid ft the flouts of thofe who had 
 been applauding him a minute before. 
 
 And who was the man who had fo fuddenly 
 changed the opinion of thefe coffee-houfe chat- 
 terers ? Why no other than our coinplaifant 
 commiffary, who came up to us, and fat down 
 
 at our table. The Englifhman was going to 
 thank him, but he interrupted him by afking him 
 if we had brcakfaflcd ? Underftanding that we 
 
 had 
 
OF THE TUILERTES. 
 
 181 
 
 had not, he gave orders to the waiter. WhiUt 
 we were at breakfaft he faid to the Engliftiman, 
 cc What has juft happened makes me blufh for 
 my country ; thefe are the abufes to which a 
 
 revolution gives birth. Fools and ill-difpofed 
 people, are on fuch occafions always very bufy, 
 cloaking up the licenfe which they unwarrantably 
 allow themfelves in the name of liberty, and thus 
 procure it to be defpifed by their very exceffes. 
 Would you attempt to reafon with them, they 
 will hear no contradi&ion, fly into a paflion, and 
 by their audacious representation of things make 
 you appear a bad citizen. This is one of the 
 evils of the revolution. I will now point out to 
 you another of a much more dangerous nature; 
 that is, the abufe which is made of equality. 
 Thofe kind of people whom you have juft heard 
 holding forth, are conftantly telling the very 
 lowed clafs of the populace, that they have juft 
 as much right to fill places of Science, as thofe 
 who have pafled two thirds of their lives in gain¬ 
 ing inftru&ion ; and thefe falfe leflbns have made 
 fo great a progrefs in the minds of the people, 
 that you will fee a cobler afpiring to the magis¬ 
 tracy, and maintaining that common fenfe only 
 is requifite for pafling judgment in any caufe.” 
 
 n 3 Per« 
 
'THE CASTLE 
 
 1 82 
 
 Perceiving that he was liftened to, he railed his 
 voice, and, added Believe me my friends, men 
 can never be equal, whilft the wife and the foolifh, 
 the learned and the unlettered, the defcendants of 
 Hercules, and thofe of Therfites, the ftrong and 
 the- weak, pigmies and giants are fcattered at 
 random over the face of the earth. T ou want 
 liberty and equality ; this is the moment to efta- 
 blifh it on a folid bafis; fecure it, and recoiled 
 that fuch an opportunity will not offer itfelf to 
 you twice in your lives.—Farewel till I fee you 
 again.” And we then all three left the coffee- 
 
 houfe. 
 
 « c Who is this Salnt-Huruge whom you call 
 
 marquis ?” faid the Englifhman to the commit 
 
 fary. “ A filly fellow,” he replied; “ the vidini 
 
 of an abufe of authority under the former govern- 
 « . 
 ment. He had a wife whom a minifter told that 
 
 {he was pretty ; Hie made no oppofition to his 
 
 defires, but the awe in which (lie flood of her 
 
 hufband. The minifter had the hufband taken 
 
 up, and thrown into prifon, and then lived 
 
 quietly with his wife. At the revolution, the 
 
 poor devil got of out prifon,and exclaimed with all 
 
 his might againft defpotifm. Orleans attached him 
 to him, and made him one of his trumpeters. 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. I 83 
 
 As his want of genius and courage, and princi¬ 
 pally his indifcretion rendered him unequal to 
 any place of eminence at the revolution, they 
 were content with making him one of the barkers 
 amonglt the people. Some time fmce, the mini- 
 fter Dumourier gave him a million into Belgia* 
 Saint Huruge thinking he might do at Lille as 
 he had done at Paris,fnewed himfelf in the public 
 places, and in the coffee-houfes, exclaimed again ft 
 the Belgian ariflocrats, received a few canings, 
 and was obliged to leave that city in the night. 
 At Peronne, whither he fled, he continued his 
 declamations, and wanted to raife up its inhabi¬ 
 tants againll the people of Lille. The military 
 commandant, without paying any regard to his 
 million, put him into prifon as a dangerous 
 perfon. From this imprifonment he has but 
 been releafed a few days, and is juft arrived here. 
 He has been to the committee of general fafety 
 denouncing the people of Peronne, and Lille, the 
 troops which are there in garrifon,the generals,and 
 all the Brabanters as ariftocrats. They laughed 
 at this denunciation and returned him to his trade 
 of orator of the croud and the coffee-houfes. 
 And thus I have given you in a few words the 
 hiftory of Saint Iluruge. 
 
 N 4 “ But 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 J84 
 
 <c Bat here we are at the palace. Let us lofe 
 no time in going in left we be interrupted again* 
 Where {hall we begin our vifit, gentlemen ?”— 
 <c Wherever you pleafe, we commit ourfelves to 
 your guidance.”—“ Let us go to the ground- 
 floor on the fide next the court ; we will then 
 vifit the fide next the garden.” 
 
 We went in by a room next to the veftibule, 
 which is in the middle of the palace. “ This” 
 faid the commiflary to us, “ was the apartment 
 of the governefs of the children of France. It 
 was here where the fury of the populace began 
 on the tenth of Auguft. And fee its dreadful 
 effects !”—In fhort every thing prefented to 
 our fight the figns of an incredible madnefs ; the 
 furniture was broken and thrown about at ran- 
 
 1 - . 1 ' • ; * 
 
 dom 5 the mirrors, I may almoft fay, were re¬ 
 duced to powder, for there was not a piece of 
 any one of them of the fize of a quarter of an 
 inch to be feen ; you would have fuppofed they 
 had been pounded in a mortar ; the foies of our 
 fhoes were rubbed rough with it when we left 
 the room. In the middle of this apartment was a 
 table covered with linen and cloaths, of which a 
 man was making an inventory under the direction 
 of two women.—“ What are thofe three people 
 
 doing ?” 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 185 
 
 doing V* afked the Englifhman. 44 One of 
 them,” replied the commiffary, 44 is Madame 
 Tourgel the femme-de-chambre to whom the 
 care of the linen and apparel of her miftrefs and 
 the family was given. As the king furnifhed a part 
 of their linen to every body in his houfehold, 
 whatever is marked with the crown is to be kept 
 back; and they are now forting it/ 5 — 44 What 
 a contrail do thefe two apartments only divided 
 by a lingle door exhibit! one is in the greateft 
 poffible diforder ; while the other is remarkable 
 for its neatnefs ; the people then did not make 
 their way into every room r”— 44 You are mif- 
 
 taken,” faid the commiffary, 44 four days ago 
 the face of this apartment difplayed as great dif¬ 
 order as the other; but the minifter of the interior, 
 RoIIand, having thought proper to hold a council 
 in the palace, pitched upon this room, and it 
 was dire&iy put into a fit date for receiving him. 
 Thofe workmen whom you fee on the other fide 
 are employed in cleaning the adjoining chambers, 
 in order to render the accefs to this lefs dis¬ 
 agreeable.” 
 
 Lord. Bedfort moved towards the apartment, 
 and was upon the point of going in, when he 
 heard fornebody within fay, 44 My enemies are 
 
 feeking 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 18 6 
 
 feeking to deflroy me, I know it, but I fear them 
 little ; if they caufe me to be aflaffinated, they 
 fhall- find me, although dead, fill poflefled of 
 this feal, from which I will never part, that it 
 may not be improperly iifed. 5 ’ At the fame 
 time this perfon thrufl fomething into his bread, 
 which he concealed under his waillcoat. We 
 Hepped back, and our conductor laughed. 
 
 Who is this man ?”—“ It is Rolland himfelf, 
 of whom I was juft now’ fpeaking to you. 1 ’— <c Do 
 you know what he means by what we heard 
 him fay, and what it is that he declares he will 
 never part from “ Come into the bow of this 
 window, and I will tell you all. Rolland is 
 one of thofe ambitious men, who are neverthe- 
 lefs timid, and without genius, and have no 
 character but what the world afligns to them, 
 Crcuded into the whirlpool of the revolution by 
 the Jacobins, he was furprifed to fnd himfelf in 
 office ; but he foon got accuftomed to it, and be¬ 
 lieved himfelf of great importance. Married to 
 a young woman who is very beautiful and pof- 
 feffied of a great deal of fenfe, he fees only with 
 the eyes of his rib, being quite blinded himfelf 
 by his defire of bringing her into notice, and 
 having her talked of. It is ffie who entirely di¬ 
 rects; 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 1 87 
 
 reds his adions, it is (lie who makes his fpeeches, 
 and proclamations/’— cs I cannot believe all this,” 
 faid Lord Bedfort.—'“ Rolland himfelf is my 
 authority,” replied the commiflary, cc the day after 
 the tenth of Auguft, he was running about Paris 
 to re-eftablifh order, accompanied by two men in 
 the employ of the committee, and a bofom friend 
 of his own The latter made fome remarks to 
 him upon the proclamation which was juft iftued, 
 and which was then flicking up about the city. 
 The minifter being very hard run by fome ob- 
 jedions which he could not reply to, let flip thefe 
 words, c It is my wife’s writing, and I only had 
 time to read it over very haftily.’ At the fame 
 time he drew from his pocket, the rough copy 
 entirely in the hand-writing of his wife, and 
 
 added, c This is not the firft folly fhe has made 
 me commit : I am accufed of having publifired 
 all over France,a lift of perfons to be named to the 
 national convention ; I allure you that was her 
 doing, and I knew nothing of it, any more than the 
 reft of the world, till it was printed.’ This is what 
 I heard from the three men who were in the car- 
 
 * Lanthenas, the minifler’s Secretary ; Bofque afterwards 
 the adminiftrator of the polls; and another man in the 
 employ of the office of the interior whofe name I have for¬ 
 gotten. 
 
 riage 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 i 88 
 
 riage with him, and who notwithilanding their at. 
 tachment to Holland, fhrugged up their fhoulders 
 as they told me. If you have any doubts you 
 fhall hear it from their own lips. 
 
 <c Thus you fee Holland blindly follows the 
 directions of his wife. And notwichftanding thefe 
 take up a good deal of her time, fhe dill finds a 
 leifure hour for her pleafures. A deputy, named 
 Barbaroux, has the art of pleading her. She 
 fees him at her own houfe ; and in order that 
 file may not be didurbed by her hufband, this is 
 the plan file purfues. Such nights as fhe wifiies 
 to pafs with her gallant, fhe takes care in the 
 courfe of the day to have the minifler warned 
 that there is a plot laid to break into his houfe, 
 and affaflinate him in the night, and advifed to 
 hide himfelf fomewhere. Sometimes he goes to 
 a friend’s houfe ; but more frequently he comes 
 hither, and pa fifes the night in one continual date 
 of alarm, always hiding the feal of the republic 
 under his waidcoat like a talifman, and repeating 
 without ceafing, c I will never part from it.’— 
 
 B.. of w hom I juft now fpoke, is made 
 
 ufe of by him as a fpy at the times he deeps from 
 home. He fends him to walk round his houfe, 
 and fee if there is any body going in ; and as no 
 
 ideas 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 189 
 
 ideas are entertained of affaflinatinghim, B. 
 
 comes back and tells him he has feen nobody. 
 Laugh as much as you pleafe, it is a true joke. 55 
 
 “ French women for ever !” exclaimed lord 
 B. “ our Englifh ladies are not capable of invent¬ 
 ing fuch tricks. 5 '—“You fee it is not at all fur- 
 prizing/ 5 faid the commilfary, cc that Rolland 
 thinks he has many enemies: no doubt but he 
 has fome/ 5 — cc Juft as it is with us, 55 faid lord B., 
 “ we refemble each other in that. Our parliament 
 
 * 
 
 and your national aflembly are of accord in 
 fwearing hatred againft all minifters * : but 
 hitherto we have gone farther than you have ; 
 for we think that he who cannot pleafe the peo¬ 
 ple muft be culpable. 55 —~ cc This adertion has 
 already been advanced in our journals, and I am 
 afraid it will foon become an article of faith. 55 — 
 “ Give me leave a moment, gentlemen, 55 faid 
 lord B., cc I muff note this in my tablets/ 5 —-The 
 commiffary then faid to me, “ Do you not know 
 why all thefe men out of place profefs fo violent 
 
 . * I fhall cite for example, what Charles Fox anfwered 
 in full parliament to' the proportion made by lord Nugent 
 for allying themfelves with the minifters. This chief of the 
 oppofition ended a very warm fpeech with thefe words, 1 To 
 ally ourfelves with fuch men, would be to ally ourfelves 
 with ruin, with difgrace, and infamy.’ 
 
 a hatred 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 T 9 <> 
 
 a hatred and fpirit of perfcution againft minifters 
 and kings r”— cc No.”— cc It is that if they did not.* 
 they would not be known to exift, they would 
 be nothing. The way to make them fiient is to 
 create them minifters themfelves.” 
 
 Whilft our Englifliman was making his 
 notes, a young man palled us carrying four 
 bottles, which by the care with which they were 
 fealed and corked, could not be miftaken to 
 contain wines of the find quality. The commif- 
 fary (lopped him, and afked him whence that 
 wine came, and whither he was going to carry 
 it. “To. the council, ’ he anfwered, “ for the 
 breakfafl of the minifters ; it is a difcovery that I 
 made myfelf three days ago ; you fee,” faid he, 
 “ the ruins of that houfe/ J pointing into the court; 
 cc as I was fweeping there, 1 difcovered a cellar 
 door ; I went in alone, and found it filled with 
 above two thoufand bottles of wine of all kinds, 
 packed away with great care. I enquired to 
 whom this cellar belonged, and I learnt to M. 
 Laborde. 1 mace my report to the committee, 
 who had it feized to be fold, in confederation of 
 the proprietor having emigrated. But the minift 
 ter, Holland, as foon as he heard of it, came to 
 another rofolution, and ordered that the wine 
 
 fhould 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 fliould be ferved up to the miniders at break fa ft. 
 If you wifh for any of it, M. Commiflary, you 
 have only to fpeak.”-— cc I am much obliged to 
 you,” was all the reply the commidary made. 
 
 “ Upon my word,” faid my lord rejoining us, 
 cc your virtuous minider Rolland is not very 
 fcrupulous; I did not think the nation was 
 bound to pay for his breakfafts, and thofe of his 
 colleagues. Methinks he is fetting a very 
 dangerous example of pillage.”— cc Give me 
 leave a moment,” replied the commidary, « with 
 a few words of explanation, you will fee that he 
 is only profiting by his right. It is a cuftom in 
 Paris, that the lawyers, when they are making out 
 inventories, fhali have the right of ufing what¬ 
 ever candle they find in the houfes where they 
 are employed, and of drinking the wine in the 
 cellar, whilft they are at work 3 and you will 
 allow that the minider ought to have the fame 
 indulgence here. As the notary is called upon 
 to take an inventory by the heirs of any indi¬ 
 vidual's property, fo Rolland has been appointed 
 by the convention to perform the fame office 
 here. Thus”-— cc Do not finifh your argu¬ 
 ment,” faid Lord Redfort,you muft yourfelf fee 
 that it wants weight 3 for you know that the 
 
 heirs 
 
I 
 
 
 I92 THE CASTLE 
 
 heirs are here the nation ; that fhe has, by means 
 of her representatives, given in charge to the 
 minifter of the interior to name proper perfons 
 to take inventories of the Tuileries and other 
 royal palaces, and that thefe perfons are the 
 commiflaries of whom you are one. The mi¬ 
 nifler then can only be confidered here as the 
 root of power, and has no right to the benefits 
 which your evil cuftom allows. The commiflfaries 
 alone have the right of claiming them. I can fee 
 in the order ifTued by Rolland, only an abufe of 
 authority, and a bad example which he is Setting 
 to his Subordinates.”—“ This is being too rigid, 
 particularly at the time of a revolution.”—“ That 
 is the very point upon which we difagree; if 
 under the excufe of your living juft now at the 
 time of a revolution, your men in power allow 
 themfelves to commit with impunity the flighted: 
 infra&ion upon the laws and honefly, how can 
 you punifh the Ample citizen when he commits 
 the fame fault ? If a man in place takes a crown, 
 does he not authorize the individual to take a 
 million ? The difference of the fum makes no 
 alteration in the nature of the crime. On the 
 contrary, if there were any degrees in punifh- 
 ments, I would more Severely punifii the former 
 
 than 
 
 9 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 I 93 
 
 than the latter. But I am dwelling too long 
 upon a point of which you fee the jufiice as well 
 as I do.” 
 
 On leaving this apartment our condu&ox 
 took us to the end of a long corridor, which re¬ 
 ceived its light folely from lamps with which it 
 was always illuminated. “ This corridor,” he 
 faid to us, <c exactly divides the ground floors of 
 the palace. On our right are the apartments 
 which look into the court, and upon our left 
 thofe which front the garden. It was made in 
 1789, after the royal family were conftrained to 
 take up their abode here. It facilitates the 
 interior communication, and private accefs to the 
 apartments. Several doors open into it as you fee. 
 This little (lair-cafe leads to the queen’s library, 
 which is in the middle (lory next the garden, 
 and continues up to the lad dory, where are the 
 rooms of her children. It was up that, that any 
 body whom (he wifhed to have vifit her privately 
 was taken. A little farther is the door, at which 
 the family went out when they fled from Paris 
 in 1791. It is pofitively faid that it was made 
 for that foie purpofe.” 
 
 He next opened a door into a room which 
 he told us had been occupied by the bilhop 
 
 VOL. 1. 
 
 o 
 
 Kf-> 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 of .... ., who was the moll gallant prelate in 
 all France. Seeing that the Englifhman and 
 myfelf were calling our eyes over fome papers 
 that were lying fcattered upon a table, “ Do not 
 conflrain yourfelves,” faid the commifiary ; “ if 
 you have any curiofity to examine thefe writings ; 
 I can give you full leave, for they have already 
 been vifited. They have picked out every thing 
 they thought of confequence, and the reft is left 
 here to be burnt. All that I enjoin you is, not 
 to mention the name of the bilhop, or of the lady 
 neareft his heart; they are both alive, and of 
 
 high refpe&ability, fetting afide this little in¬ 
 trigue.”— <c Since you give me leave I will take 
 this packet, I fhall find fome ufe for itand fo 
 faying I put into my pocket very nearly all the 
 correfpondence.” In a very few moments you 
 /hall have all that is interefting in it laid before 
 you. The Englifhman feeing a clofet partly open, 
 went up to it $ u Here is the gentleman's li¬ 
 brary,” he exclaimed; “ but I fee here only 
 profane works, Roufteau, Mablis, Voltaire, and 
 his antagonift Freron, not one holy father, not 
 one volume of controverfy ; you muft be miftaken 
 fir,” addrefting the commillary, “ this cannot be 
 the library of a prelate/ 5 —“ Indeed it is, and as 
 
 a proof* 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 1 95 
 
 a proof, fee here the works of the Cardinal de 
 Bernis.’’— <c A curious proof indeed £C You 
 are now convinced I hope ; here is the milfal of 
 Paris. ,, Oh, this fets all right indeed.”—“ This 
 book caufes me to make a flight remark ; fome- 
 time ago your priefts of all ranks, and we fee 
 fome good curates in the country do fo {fill, 
 ufed to carry under their arm the four parts of 
 the miflal in one thick quarto volume. Your 
 abbes of the court, thinking this too great an 
 incumbrance, had it reprinted in a more conveni¬ 
 ent fize; and now four little volumes of twelves, 
 holding each the prayers of three months, have 
 taken place of the thick and heavy o&avo. 
 With each feafon they change the volume with 
 their clothes; or indeed thus it is, the fir ft 
 volume is put into the pocket of the velvet fuit; 
 the fecond and fourth into the pocket of the 
 cloth coat; and in the coat of Pekin or Naples 
 
 7 a. 
 
 filk is placed the fummer volume. Hail inven¬ 
 tive genius of the church !” 
 
 A noife in the adjoining room interrupted 
 our laugh. Our complaiiant commifTary made 
 a fignal to us to follow him, and we all three 
 went in. What, are you here ftill, gentlemen V* 
 faid the com miliary to two men who were lay- 
 
 o 3 ing 
 
I 9 6 THE CASTLE 
 
 ing in rows fome bundles of linen in this apart¬ 
 ment. “ Neither locks, bolts, nor feals can flop 
 you ; as we go out at one door, you come in by 
 another; it is, however, time that a (top be put 
 to thefe proceedings. Either you or I, are here 
 without the right of being fo. You know the 
 authority that has been placed in my hands, I 
 have given you proof of it, and am willing to do 
 fo again before thefe gentlemen, if you defire it; 
 now have the goodnefs to fhow me yours.” 
 
 ‘‘It is of no ufe,” anfwered one of the men,” 
 your putting on this air of confequence. We 
 are both members of the commune, and nomi¬ 
 nated by it upon the 10th of Auguft, to anfwer 
 the claims of fuch perfons as had lived in this 
 palace, we have only been fulfilling our office, 
 and we have dill fome articles left to deliver—” 
 “Which you ffiall not deliver.”—“Will you 
 attempt to prevent us?”—“ Certainly I ffiall.”— 
 “ That would be curious, for a fimple clerk of 
 the traiterous minifter Rolland to attempt to im~ 
 pofe laws upon two municipal officers .”—“ I 
 ffiall not reply either to your fleers or your idle 
 remarks ; I fliall only explain myfelf. In the 
 evening of the ioth of Augufl, the municipality 
 appointed to watch over the Thuileries, Meffieurs 
 
 Dumonchette 
 
OF THE TUiLERIES. 
 
 I 9 7 
 
 Dumonchette and Egafte, who held the office in 
 junction with two members of the convention, 
 Bazire and Goupilleau. M. Dumonchette having 
 been appointed a member of the department, the 
 commune fent hither in his (lead M. Fichu. At the 
 fameinftant, you, Meffieurs Jacma, and Drynde, 
 appeared in the palace, averting that you are 
 fent by the fame commune to deliver the articles 
 that are laid claim to. In vain do I afk you for 
 your authority : You cannot (how me it. It is 
 in vain that I inquire how you came to be ap¬ 
 pointed : not one of your colleagues can anfwer 
 the queflion; and hill you keep going on. It 
 is nothing to me whether you have kept an exa£l 
 account of what you have done ; whether you 
 have given to one perfon, what belonged to 
 another ; whether you have delivered out articles 
 of all kinds to people who have come to you, 
 and faid that they had lived in the palace, whilft 
 on the other hand, you were pofitively told that 
 they were never known there ; but what is my 
 bufinefs as a member of the commiffion of the 
 
 moveables is not to let you touch another atom. 
 
 / 
 
 You know that fince the 15th of September a 
 decree has placed this palace as well as all the 
 houfes upon the civil lift under the government 
 
 O 3 of 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 I98 
 
 of the minifler of the interior; and is it not 
 aftonifhing that in fpite of this decree you fhould 
 have dared to thruit yourfelves in? This wilful- 
 nefs raifes in my mind certain fufpicions about 
 you, which I hope you do not deferve. I know 
 alfo that you have been at work at the hotel 
 Coigny, without any more authority than you 
 have to intermeddle here. I warn you, for the 
 lalt time, not to put your hands upon any Tingle 
 thing under this adminiftration, and advife you 
 to retire peaceably.” 
 
 cc Oh,’* cried they, “ we know very well that 
 you are only a Feuillant in your heart*. Yes, 
 we will retire, but you (hall fhortly hear of us 
 we fhall go and find information of what has 
 happened to the commune, and then you will 
 fee whether it will fulfer two of its members to 
 be thus attacked with impunity.” “ Au revoir 
 faid the commiflary, fhrugging up his fhoulders ; 
 and then conduced them to the door, which he 
 double locked upon them, and came back to us. 
 
 “ J admire your firmnefs,” faid I to the com- 
 miffary, 5 ’ but are you not afraid of bringing your- 
 
 * The moderes are like wife (tyled Feuillans, becaufe when 
 they were perfecuted by the Jacobins, and expelled that club, 
 they afiembled themfelves as a diltindt fociety in the refedtory 
 cf the convent of the Feuillans at Paris. FranJlatoFs note . 
 
 felf 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 x 99 
 
 felf into a fcrape ?” <c A man is not worth hanging 
 that will not expofe himfelf to fome danger in 
 the performance of his duty. All that I am 
 forry for is, that I have not authority to do more. 
 If at this moment of enthufiafm the mafs of the 
 people did not confider the members of the com- 
 mune as exclufive patriots, fome days ago thefe 
 men would never have gone to bed again. But 
 
 there exifts a chain of connection in this com- 
 
 * 
 
 mune, that they cannot punifh the moil iniquitous 
 of its members, without expofing themfelves to 
 an infurreClion.”—“ This appears to me one 
 reafon for being apprehenfive that the manner in 
 which you have treated thefe men may draw 
 trouble upon you,” faid Lord B.—Not at 
 all,” anfwered the commiflary, <c thefe gentle- 
 men do not take offence when you tell them the 
 truth to their face privately. I know them, and 
 will engage to fay that they will not fpeak of it; 
 and that they will be the firft to bow to me when 
 we meet.” 
 
 “ As it is getting late, let us quicken our fteps 
 in going over this part of the palace.”-- “ That 
 we {hall foon have done, there is little remarkable 
 to be found in it.”—“ This was the apartment 
 of M. Villequier, and from which it is faid the 
 
 o 4 royal 
 
200 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 royal family fet out on their journey to Varenpes. 
 This appears very probable, as the door in the 
 corridor which I pointed out to your obfervation, 
 opens into this apartment, where every thing is 
 {till in the greateft diforder. “ I fee no door 
 at all.”—Have a moment’s patience; help me 
 to move this fecretary which conceals it; there 
 it is.”—“ How this piece of furniture which we 
 
 have juft been moving is broken behind.”- 
 
 <c The fame remark is probably pafling in your 
 mind that I made on perceiving this myfelf/’ 
 faid the commiftary, c< I mean, how blind man is 
 in his paflion ; he wants to avenge himfelf on his 
 fellow men, and ftill lets his anger fall upon 
 looking-glaffes, pictures, chairs and tables ; in 
 fhort, no inanimate objeCt is an obftacle in his 
 way ; nothing can refift the force of his arm. 
 My reflection is ftill more melancholy. This 
 piece of furniture is perhaps the hundredth 
 which I have found in the fame ftate; its back 
 broken to pieces, and then fet up againft the 
 wall again. And can you think that the crowd 
 which broke into the palace on the ioth of 
 Auguft, would take all this pains about damaging 
 fuch articles as came within the reach of their 
 fury ? Certainly not; when they rufhed into an 
 
 apartment. 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 201 
 
 apartment, they (truck with their pikes or (words, 
 any object juft as it (tood. Thus they would 
 have damaged the front of any piece of furniture, 
 and not the back part which they did not fee.”—- 
 cc I underdand you; but is not it podible that 
 thefe men might have thrown down fuch articles 
 of furniture, which would fall upon their front, 
 and then have broken in their backs as they lay 
 —“ I made the fame reflection; and I was even 
 more fcrupulous in my examination. Look at¬ 
 tentively at this fecretary ; the front is very 
 perfect; although loaded with armaments, and 
 covered with veneering, it is not at all damaged. 
 Certainly, if it had been thrown down, you 
 would at lead fee fome part of it cracked. This 
 is the cafe with all the fecretaries about the 
 palace; and what is very remarkable, they are 
 the only pieces of furniture which have been thus 
 abufed.”— cC What can you think of this circum- 
 dance ?”—“ That it was not by the infurgents of 
 the ioth of Augud, by whom this damage was 
 done to them; but as I fufpeft by the very 
 people who were fent hither on the following 
 days to prevent the pillage of the place.”— 
 Were thefe pieces of furniture which were 
 thus damaged found open ?”—“ No ; and this 
 
 confirms 
 
202 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 confirms me in my fufpicions. When the fearch 
 after the papers was made in the palace, the 
 commiflfaries came attended by a lock-fmith. 
 He will tell you that almoft all the fecretaries 
 were found locked, and that they did not dif- 
 cover a fingle crown piece, nor an aflignat of five 
 livres value in any one of them.”—“ That is not 
 to be wondered ai ; as the infurredlion was ex¬ 
 pelled, every inhabitant of the palace had without 
 doubt put into his pocket all the money he 
 pofleffed.”—“ But they did not even find a fingle 
 trinket, not one of thofe little articles which 
 people commonly lock up in their fecretaries.—• 
 €i To that I make the fame reply.”—“ It may 
 be fo; and only proves that thofe who pryed 
 into them had their labour for their pains, and 
 the reward of their difhonefly ; but I muft never- 
 thelefs go on thinking that this piece of furniture, 
 and all thofe which lhared the fame fate, were 
 fecretly broken after the infurreclion/’—“ I fhall 
 note down your obfervation,” la.d Lord Bedfort. 
 
 We continued our progrefs through other 
 rooms which offered nothing curious to our 
 obfervation. In one of them was piled up all 
 the copper kitchen utenfils which had been 
 found fcattered about the palace; in another all 
 
 the 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 20 J 
 
 the fire-irons and copper candlefticks. Thefe 
 rooms were in the ufe of the king, and had fuf- 
 fered very little in the general pillage. In going 
 out of thofe, we found ourfelves in a room under 
 the ftaircafe leading to the prince’s apartments. 
 Several workmen were employed in picking out 
 trunks from a pile of about a hundred. They 
 made choice of thofe to which they found keys; 
 and as they were but few in number, they were 
 obliged to pull about the whole. One of thefe 
 men drew out one of which the weight aftonifhed 
 him. “ M. Commifiary,” he exclaimed, “ this 
 cheft is full of fomething, I’ll anfwer for it.” 
 We went up to it, and found that it was indeed 
 very heavy. As it was without a key, the com- 
 miliary ordered the lock to be burlf. What was 
 our furprize as foon as it was opened to find it 
 filled with fuch utenfils as were ufed in the king’s 
 chapel, in his campaigns. Every piece was pro¬ 
 perly enclofed in a cafe made purpofely to contain 
 it. The commifiary drew out a candlefiick, 
 which we were all convinced was of filver gilt. 
 Dire&ly all the trunks were fearched, and they 
 found a fecond full of the ornaments for the 
 priefts. The commifiary had them carried to 
 the committee. What negligence ! Why might 
 
 not 
 
204 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 not any one of thefe workmen have taken away 
 all thefe articles of value one at a time. For a 
 long time there had been a fearch making after 
 this fervice; fomebody muff have known where 
 it was hid* “ What will be done with it 
 
 afked Lord B. <c Sent to the mint,’* replied 
 the commifiary, cc where it will all be put to 
 the crucible.”— C£ How can they deflroy work- 
 manfhip which doubtlefs coft more than the 
 material is worth ?”—What can be done ? 
 fuch are the orders ; I grieve at it as well as 
 you, for they might certainly make much better 
 of it, by felling it to foreigners. They have 
 melted down in like manner things much more 
 curious and beautiful.'" 
 
 The clock now (hiking three warned us to 
 depart.—“The day after to-morrow, gentlemen/* 
 faid the commifiary bowing to us, “ I (hall be 
 glad to fee you here again ; but to-morrow my 
 bufmefs will not allow me the pleafure of attend¬ 
 ing upon you.” The Englilhman and I then 
 parted, promifing to meet each other again on 
 the day after the next. 
 
 % 
 
 Political and amorous correfpondence between 
 M. I. C. D. L. F., and M. D. B. E. d’A, 
 
 As upon the former occahon, I (hut myfelf 
 up after dinner in my room to read the papers 
 
 with 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 20 5 
 
 with which I had filled my pockets: remarks up¬ 
 on the times, fonnets, love-letters, and fongs com* 
 pofed the collection. I refolved to extract from 
 them what appeared molt intereding to lay before 
 my readers. 
 
 The gallant hero of this intrigue was a prelate 
 of threefcore years, while the lady of his affec¬ 
 tions had counted only twenty-two fprings. 
 Notwithstanding the disproportion of age, it ap¬ 
 pears that the young lady was really very fond 
 of the old dotard. The bifhop was not even a 
 fine man of his years, he had a faultering gait 
 from his infancy and the winter of age had 
 bleached his hair. But notwithltanding the out¬ 
 ward marks of old age, it appears that he had 
 (till a very warm heart in his old body. And he 
 in Some mealure made amends for the ravages 
 of time by a lively wit. At lead fo I have found 
 by his letters. 
 
 His Iphigenia was neither beautiful nor ele¬ 
 gant ; but a certain genteel air gave her at fir It 
 fight an appearance of pofTefling both thofe be¬ 
 witching qualities. Vain of a place which file 
 held under the queen, Ihe was in the habit of 
 fhowing off the moff affeCted airs, w hich fne did 
 not balance by a fmgle enchanting quality. 
 
 4 Proud 
 
20 6 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 Proud of her family and her rank, fhe was offend¬ 
 ed at the flighted difrefpeCt (hewn to her $ and 
 wifhing to irnpofe a fenfe of her dignity upon 
 ihofe whom birth or the caprice of fortune had 
 made her inferiors, fhe regularly conduced her- 
 felf towards them with the mod haughty de¬ 
 meanour ; from which it may be eafily conjectured 
 that fhe was by no means liked by thofe who 
 ferved her. 
 
 To fay how and when the intrigue fird began 
 between thefe two people is what I am not able, 
 having found no note of it arnongd my papers. 
 It feems to me from the tout enfemble of the 
 correfpondence that the bHhop had been in the 
 habit of flattering the vanity of the countefs | 
 and that this being her weak fide, he had won 
 her heart by it. All the art of which a man wants 
 to be poffeffed to enfure him fuccefs in an in¬ 
 trigue, is for him fird of all to have dudied the 
 charaQer of the woman into whole good graces 
 he wants to infinuate himfelf. When he once 
 knows that, he mud be a poor bungler indeed 
 if he cannot win her heart. Tell an elegant 
 woman that fhe is beautiful; a coquette that fhe 
 is pretty, an ugly woman that fhe is lovely, all 
 grace and fafcination \ point out defeCts in all 
 
 thofe 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 20 ] 
 
 thofe that are really handfomer than the woman 
 you are paying your court to; flatter her foibles 
 
 however ridiculous they may be ; and I will 
 anfwer for it that you fucceed with nineteen wo¬ 
 men out of the twenty. I dare fay it was the way 
 our hero went to work ; let us have a peep at his 
 ftyle of letter-writing. 
 
 Letter of B. to Madame D. 
 
 “ To live away from you, my dear countefs, is 
 to me to be exiled from the world itfelf You 
 know, charming woman, that I can only exifl: in 
 loving you, and, I mud whifper it in your ear, 
 fcarcely exifl: without you deign me a fmail re¬ 
 turn of affe&ion. What fignifies the diffe¬ 
 rence of our ages ? True love afks only for 
 the proof of a return of ten^ernefs, and as 
 long as it can give and receive that, it is al¬ 
 ways in the bloflom of life. It is a point 
 which you have conftantly been repeating to 
 me, and in which yo.i (hall nev r find me 
 remifs. But when will an opportunity—Oh, 
 filence ! that word redoubles my anguifh and my 
 love. I will now fay a few words about my 
 affairs. 
 
 “1 thought when I arrived here in Coblenfz, 
 to find a univerlal appearance of war, but I fee 
 
 nothing 
 
208 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 nothing but the fripperies of courtiers, and their 
 effeminate airs. Every body walks out fo fmart, 
 and people flop to talk only of the court; then 
 they go to the levee of Monfieur, and his 
 brother, as they went at Verfailles to that of 
 the king. I wanted to talk with fome of them 
 about the plans to be purfued in the enfuing 
 campaign, the good regulation of the army, in 
 fhort of the methods to be taken for re-eftablifh- 
 ing the throne in its ancient fplendour ; they 
 laughed in my face, and faid to me, ‘ Patience, 
 
 my dear abbe, all will be right in a little time* 
 The emperor, the king of Pruffia, and Guftavus 
 will foon make a vifit to Paris; we fhall have 
 the pleafure of conducting them.* I tell you 
 frankly that I think thefe powers will not inter¬ 
 fere for all thefe knights of the toilet. Under 
 thefe feelings I compofed a ballad which I have 
 fent you. 
 
 % 
 
 I fmg of days now long gone by. 
 
 The Chivalry of France, 
 
 When every youth was loyal born. 
 
 And bred to wield his lance. 
 
 A knight of promife then was he, 
 
 Belike to him I fmg, 
 
 Who kept his heart and holy faith. 
 
 For his miitrefs and his king. 
 
 His 
 
OF THE TUiLERIES. 
 
 2°9 
 
 u His fervice he his duty called, 
 
 His life was free from care, 
 
 Content was he to be beloved 
 By his king and his lady dear. 
 
 Honour alone was his reward, 
 
 ’Twas honour gave him laws ; 
 
 In former days, the Frenchman lived 
 And died in his country’s caufe. 
 
 “ H is vows of conftancy he oft 
 Would to his memory bring, 
 
 But hill more facred were his vows 
 Of fealty to his king. 
 
 A knight, with love and glory clad, 
 
 Full recompence would have, 
 
 When fame proclaimed his valiant deeds. 
 
 And beauty crowned the brave. 
 
 “ For love and loyalty renowned, 
 
 Full fatisfied was he ; 
 
 No leffer cares could ever fpoil 
 His mind’s ferenity. 
 
 The knight with grace redoubled fhone, 
 
 When in the fluidy grove. 
 
 His lady with the laurel wreath. 
 
 Mixed the mild fprigs of love. 
 
 % 
 
 Ye glorying in a monarch’s fall 
 Who would new laws proclaim, 
 
 Still will I cherifh in my heart 
 My king’s moft facred name ; 
 
 For though no powerful fan&ion now 
 Approves the deeds I fing, 
 i Yet a true Frenchman’s creed is mine,— 
 
 My mi ft refs and my king. 
 
 <c I confefs to you, adored countefs, that I 
 ihould this moment return to Paris, if I did not 
 v'ql. i. p dread 
 
210 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 dread that I might be running myfelf into 
 danger. But I have hitherto come off too well 
 to expofe myfelf again, and I dread the whip * 
 more than a child. I allure you that if Venus 
 was to (hake it at me in the fame way (lie did at 
 her foil, I (hould (hrink ; fo much am I alarmed 
 even at the name. 
 
 “ What news is there ? Here the reports are 
 as contradictory as numerous. I (hall only be¬ 
 lieve fuch intelligence as you fend me. 
 
 £f Farewel, my all adorable, give fometiines a 
 thought to him who neither lives nor breathes, 
 but after he has been refrefhed by one. of thofe 
 
 <- V. ' 
 
 • t,. 
 
 hides which place him amongft the gods.” 
 
 . ; ■ i ^ 
 
 Letter of Madame D . to M . B . 
 
 “ And fo the time you are abfent from me 
 appears an eternity, my dear bifhop ! I can be¬ 
 lieve it; for I tell you without flattery that it 
 hangs equally heavy upon me. For, notwith- 
 flanding your age, of which I beg of you to fay 
 no more, I prefer you to all thofe prematurely 
 
 * All thofe who are acquainted with the leflcr events of 
 the revolution, mud remember that in 179?, when M. B. 
 was pafling along a ftreet in Paris, he was recognized by a 
 body of the people, who goc round him, and were going 
 to horfc whip him ; which punifliment he would certainly 
 have fullered, if the guard had not come up and relcued 
 him. 
 
 old 
 
OF THE TUI LERI IS. 
 
 21 I 
 
 old courtiers, who can do nothing but talk 
 nonfenfe. If your hair is white, you heart has 
 the genial warmth of the fpring. With them it 
 
 is juft the contrary. Be.fides, white is the colour 
 of fenfe rather than the fign of old-age : which is 
 the reafon that the heads of thefe youths whom I 
 have juft been fpeaking of will never become white. 
 In a word, in fpite of your age, in fpite of all the 
 world, and even of you yourfelf, I do love you, 
 and will love you with ail my foul; and now 1 
 have faid it once for all. 
 
 <c You doubtlefs know that Mirabeau is no 
 more ; I do not know whether I ought to grieve 
 or rejoice at this circumftance; our partizans 
 fear that royalty will be entombed with him. 
 He was a great rafcal ; but Les Lameth are {till 
 greater. It is only upon this confideration that my 
 opinion is undecided. I am perfuaded, after 
 having heard all the different accounts of his 
 death, that he was pcifoned. Thus confidered, 
 I am forry for him. Here are fome verfes 
 which M. Lemonnier gave me. They fpeak, I 
 believe, exactly your ideas. Pray thank me 
 very prettily for them. 
 
 ‘ Get your chains,? cried out Minos, when Charon 
 brought o’er 
 
 O 
 
 Mirabeau's bloody fhade to the Stygian fbore, 
 
 r 2 * Bind 
 
•9 1 2 
 
 « I >1 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 , Bind Lius ghoft hand and limb, and that done let him 
 roll 
 
 Th rough the fulphurous flames into Phlegethon's pool. 
 Y\ r e have heard of his murdering fame upon earth. 
 
 Where his blood-thirfty rage made of victims a dearth. 
 
 If at liberty here lie might play the fame game, 
 
 Ev’n determin’d in Hell that he’d keep up his name ; 
 
 Fil'd throw Proferpine fhrieking upon her own fire, 
 
 Next hurl down Pluto’s felf from his throne in his ire. 
 And while on the neck of this monarch he treads, 
 Guillotine poor old Cerberus tho’ he’s three heads/ 
 
 6C They teaze the prlefls more and more every 
 clay. Even the refpedtable inhabitants of La 
 Trappe they compel to quit their facred afylum. 
 The decree with regard to the ecclefiaflics is 
 terrible. Upon that cue point only has the 
 king fhown any firmnefs; it may well be faid, 
 that he has only courage in the commiffion of 
 folly. Between ourfelves, he has drawn upon 
 himfelf his fate. The word of it is that it re¬ 
 bounds upon us. Indead of having the pru¬ 
 dence to keep filent, or the addrefs to appear 
 to yield, the pope has been iffuing a bull. The 
 confequence of which is that he has procured 
 himfelf to be made a laughing-dock. Some 
 riotous people have been burning him in effigy 
 at the Palais royal; and the enthufiads have 
 feized this opportunity for redoubling the op- 
 
 preffion of the prieds. 
 
 “ An 
 
OF THE TU1LERIES. 
 
 21 3 
 
 <c An event has taken place, which will doubt- 
 lefs be told to you in an hundred different fhapes; 
 but I (hall give you the truth. Our good man, 
 not choofing to perforin his Eafler devotions 
 here, in order that they might not be admi- 
 niflered to him by an apoffate, determined to go 
 to Saint-Cloud. Scarcely had he got into his 
 carriage before the mob furrounded him, abufed 
 him j and obliged him to return into the palace 
 again after having fuffered their infolence for an 
 hour. The guard came to reftore tranquillity ; 
 but in the ufual way, when the fray was over*, 
 fon commandant des Grenouilles , made a great 
 buftle, and talked of throwing up his place. 
 Nobody was duped by this parade, which was all 
 planned before hand ; and what was the refult ? 
 Mortification to the king and that was all. Here 
 he is again to blame. Why could not he 
 juft as well have performed his Eafter devotions 
 in the chapel of the Tuileries, as at Saint Cloud ? 
 
 * This fentence is conjectured to refer .to Fayette, but 
 why he was called the commandant des Grenouilles, except 
 Grenouilles was a nickname given to the national guards, 
 I cannot underhand ; I have therefore preferved the origi¬ 
 nal words. It is certain that a very fhort time after the 
 tranfaftion here alluded to, he talked of giving in hisrefig- 
 nation. 
 
 Indeed 
 
214 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 Indeed all that is palling is enough to make one 
 
 ficken with grief. When {hall we fee an end of 
 thefe dreadful times ? 
 
 “ Good night, my friend ; why are you not 
 here to confole me ? or rather why cannot I 
 come to you ! In the mean while receive this 
 kifs which you fo much value, and which I value 
 
 as much as you do.” 
 
 Letter of M . B. to Madame D. 
 
 cc You are in the right, my beloved friend ; 
 every part of this unhappy revolution is the re- 
 fult of injudicious heps. The want of a proper 
 underflanding is the caufe. At Paris, the queen 
 wants too much power and the king too little. 
 Here, Monfieur and the Count IT Artois his 
 brother wifti to delay matters, while the prince 
 de Conde is impatient to a£E This want of 
 plan and union amongft themfelves, makes me 
 augur ill of the future. At Coblentz the king 
 is looked upon as being of fo little weight, that 
 they do not even recruit in his name. In the 
 remilers of the enlihed, the name of the monarch 
 is entirely eclipfed by thofe of his brothers; 
 and where it is inferted, it is merely becaufe they 
 they dare not leave it out *. This obfervation 
 
 may 
 
 * Copy of an Engagement. 
 
 Regiment of the Prince’s Royal Eight Trooj s. 
 i the underwritten bindmylelf of my 
 
 own 
 
OF THE TUILE RIFS. 2IJ 
 
 may Teem trifling to you ; I fee it as the fpring 
 of many events. 
 
 <c The aflaffination of Guflavus, and the death of 
 the emperor will be great caufes of delay, if they 
 do not entirely change the intentions of thefe two 
 courts. Rufila and Sweden have afked of 
 Holland a loan of fome millions. This propor¬ 
 tion was difcufled upon the exchange at Amfier- 
 
 own free will and without conllraint to ferve the king in 
 the quality of a foldier, for the term of four or eight years ; 
 on condition of receiving a permanent difcharge at the 
 expiration of that time ; and am to receive for my pre- 
 fent engagement, the fum of after having 
 
 palTed the firft review of the general, or commilfary of 
 war. 
 
 I declare that I have no concealed infirmity which can 
 prevent my ferving the king, and the princes Monsieur 
 and Monfieur the count D’Artois, and that I do not 
 previoufiy belong to any of their land or naval forces ; ac¬ 
 cordingly I promife to ferve with fidelity and honour, 
 and to behave upon all occafions as an honeft and brave 
 foldier. 
 
 I declare that I am years old ; born at 
 
 in the parifh of diocefe of province of 
 
 diUriel of fon of and of made 
 
 out the 
 
 DESCRIPTION. 
 
 The perfon here above named, is in height 
 his hair and eye-brows are his eyes his nofe 
 
 his mouth his chin the fiiape of 
 
 his face 
 
 Signed 
 
 p 4 dam. 
 
216 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 dam. The merchants confent to furnifh the 
 loan, upon condition of a formal declaration 
 being made that the money is not to be em¬ 
 ployed in making war on France. And as this 
 was the defign, the loan is fet afide. This 
 retards their operations very much. For the 
 money and effefls which the queen fends through 
 this place to Calonne, are fcarcely fufficient to 
 maintain the emigrants, the greater part of-whom 
 have brought nothing away with them, but their 
 fword and their courage, 
 
 “ The turn which affairs appear to be taking 
 makes me defire to come back to France. And 
 in order that the year which I have paffed here 
 may not be an obje&ion in my way, as being 
 called an emigration, this is the plan I have laid, 
 and for the luccefs of which 1 look to you. Go to 
 my notary, whom you know ; tell him to draw 
 out two deeds in my name, one as of a borrower, 
 the other as of a lender, at fix months date from 
 each other. I will llgn them both at my return; 
 and thus I fhall always be able to give a proof of 
 my refidence. 
 
 6t I do not think at all of the death of Pdirabeau 
 as you do ; I cannot believe monarchy entombed 
 with him. lie was one of thofe men who are 
 
 capable 
 
OF THE TUJLERIES. 2 I 7 
 
 capable of doing much mifchief, but who can 
 never be ufeful, he was too much diffracted in 
 his ideas and his projects. 
 
 “ I hope, beautiful countefs, that in a fortnight 
 you will repofe in my arms, and there forget the 
 wounds of your country. Oh thou foft dew of 
 love ! mayeft thou foon cool the aridity of a 
 heart, which beats but for the refrefhment of 
 thy charms.” 
 
 Letter of Madame D. to M. B. 
 
 <c Notwithftanding the pleafure I fhould have 
 in embracing you, notwithftanding the bound of 
 
 joy which my heart would give at your return, 
 remain my dear friend, I conjure you remain 
 where you are. What fhould you come back to 
 this infernal city for? Whoever is great, who¬ 
 ever is honourable, in fhort whoever is virtuous, 
 experiences here only oppreftion and difguft. 
 Every day brings with it an aggravation of our 
 misfortunes. Till now, the herd from the riding 
 fchool * ufed to compliment the king every time 
 they took a gem from his crown ; now he is flript, 
 they begin to behave infolently to him. You 
 may be certain that all thofe who are attached 
 
 * So called becaufe the national convention firfl kept 
 their fittings there. 
 
 to 
 
 * • 
 
£ 1 8 THE CASTLE 
 
 to him feel this. For this reafon none of our 
 party dare (how themfelves. Take my advice 
 and fray where you are in fpite of all the decrees 
 about the emigrants. Recoiled that the king 
 differs all without uttering a word. After that 
 how is it pofiible to love him who is an abetter 
 in all thefe diffolutions and horrors ? The 
 Tuileries is expecting to be befieged, and is pre¬ 
 pared for the attack ; to this end, fome courage¬ 
 ous royalids are introduced into it fecretly every 
 night. In (hort we are furrounded ail day by 
 horrid figures, who are finging dill more horrid 
 fentiments. No honed man can live in Paris. 
 
 cc I have feen your notary; he promifes every 
 thing; and if he had been able to imitate your 
 fignature, he would have executed the deeds; but 
 on account of the regidering, the thing was in- 
 feadble. * 
 
 cc We have new miniders again. They con- 
 fid of clerks and advocates, men of intrigue and 
 ambition, and enemies to the king.” 
 
 This is all that I found worth extra&insx from 
 
 O 
 
 the correfpondence. Notwithdanding the advice 
 of his lady, the gallant prelate returned to France, 
 and continued his willing bondage. Rut what 
 
 is 
 
( 
 
 OF THE TUILERIES. 219 
 
 is the bed part of the ftory, is his having recover¬ 
 ed his property notwithftandjiig his emigration. 
 When I was in converfation with the com miliary 
 
 fome months after, I mentioned this biflrop to 
 to him ; he fmiled, and faid ; “ You have done 
 him a great fervice without knowing it, in taking 
 away his letters from the palace/’— ce Howfo?” 
 —We knew that he had emigrated, and confe- 
 quently fequeftered his eflecls. About fix 
 months ago he prefented himfelf at our committee 
 to reclaim them, bringing with him fome deeds 
 which proved his refidence in France. You laugh. 
 I know as much as you do about the invalidity of 
 the deeds, and what I told him will prove it to you. 
 After it was refolved that his property was to be 
 reftored to him, I conducted him to his apartment. 
 When he was going to call out at the ruinous 
 date in which he faw things, I filenced him by 
 faying, c Don’t fpeak fo loud, the perfon who 
 has your letters is here clofe by ; he is a warm 
 patriot, and might not only prevent your having 
 any thing reftored to you, but have you taken 
 up into the bargain in fpite of your deeds of 
 which he knows the fecret.’ 
 
 tc At thefe words the bilhop turned pale, and 
 trembled. I told him he had nothing to fear ; he 
 
 11 thanked 
 
2 20 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 thanked me, and had his effe&s taken away. " I 
 had feen thefe letters,” added the commifTary, 
 “ before you did ; and when I allowed you to 
 take them away, my motive was that they might 
 not fall into bad hands.” 
 
 / 
 
OF THE TUILLRIES* 
 
 221 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 A WALK IN PARIS. 
 
 FOURTH DAY. 
 
 A Vifit to the Coffee-houfes.—Their Phyfognomy .■—Perfidious 
 Invention of a Newfpaper Editor.—An extraordinary Stra¬ 
 tagem ufed to avoid the Profcription.—Republican Baptifm. 
 —The aua/king Orator.—Origin of the Word Sans - Culotte.— 
 "Tumultuous Sitting of the National Convention —Origin of the 
 Word InfurreBion. — Dinner, where they fabricate different 
 Motions.—Cabal at which the dhteflion was difcuffed of 
 effablifhing a Republic in France.—AJhort Rcviffon of ancient 
 and modern Republics.—Anecdotes about the Theft of the 
 few els of the Crown—and of different Deputies.—Affembly 
 of Les Cordeliers.—Affembly of the jfacobins.—Near Refeal ¬ 
 liance of the Cordeliers fupported by Orleans, and the Red- 
 brothers proteBed by Cromwell . 
 
 The bufinefs of our commiffary having left us 
 this day unemployed, Lord Bedfort made me 
 promife to fill it up by vifiting whatever in Paris 
 could gratify curiofity. The Valois coffee-houfe, 
 at the Palais Royal, was the fpot where we ap¬ 
 pointed to meet. cc Why,” faid he when we met, 
 “ have you chofen this coffee-houfe, where for the 
 half hour that I have been in it, I have feen nothing 
 but forrowful faces V 9 — u Becaufe this place is re¬ 
 nowned for being the central point of meeting 
 
 of 
 
222 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 of the royalifts. We will go from this to another 
 which will prefent you with an entirely oppofite 
 phyfiognomy. The forrowful countenances 
 which you fee here, are the very pictures of the 
 
 fouls of the friends to the throne: In a minute 
 
 / 
 
 you w ill hear them uttering complaints. Let us fit 
 down to breakfaft.”—“ With all my heart; but 
 let us fee what the papers fay to-day.”— a They 
 are not worth the trouble of reading.”—“ Why 
 they tell us the news ; inform us, what was done 
 yefterday at the convention, and the Jacobin af- 
 fembly.”—“ Their news is falfe, and their infor¬ 
 mation not to be depended upon; in order to 
 convince you of it, I will go with you to-day to 
 the afiembly and the club, and to-morrow you 
 fhall read the papers. I will bet any wager that 
 you don’t find in them what you have heard.”— 
 “ This is a deceit that ought to be punifhed.”— 
 u Who fhould punifh it ? The papers always 
 extol to the fkies the idol of the day, and trample 
 down all who oppofe him. Only pay attention 
 to their manner of giving an account of any dif- 
 cuffion ; they pick out the flrongeft arguments 
 ufed by the prevailing party, and the weakeft op- 
 pofed to them by the adverfary. The greater 
 number of people who now a-days read the 
 
 papers. 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 223 
 
 papers, and who have not the difcernment to 
 perceive the impofition, believe what they fay, 
 and rank themfelves under the ftandard of 'the 
 firfl party. 
 
 66 It is the fame thing with common news. The 
 portion of their papers which contains that, is 
 merely calculated to get them cuftoin. Their 
 conftant buyers, particularly thole in the country, 
 and indeed thofe alfo of the capital, hate the re¬ 
 flexions of the editors; they infinitely prefer a 
 little fcandal. That is the reafon why les Annales 
 of Mercier and Cara, and le Courier of Gorfus, 
 are fo much fought after. I will tell you what 
 Gauthier junior, editor of the Journal dc la Cour 
 et de la Vide faid to me on the fubjeX ; 6 The 
 only way to enfure the fale and fame of a newf- 
 
 paper, is to throw into it a great dealof tittle-tattle; 
 
 (> 
 
 and every now and rhen to whet the curiofity by 
 piquante anecdotes, no matter whether they be 
 true or not. Finding a few weeks ago that my 
 paper did not go off, it came into my head to give 
 information in it of a great maflacre which was 
 going to take place during the night, and to lay 
 that the aflaflins were to be direXed to the houfes 
 they were to enter, by feeing them chalked upon. 
 The evening before, I ran about feveral ftreets of 
 Paris, and flopping here and there, under pre¬ 
 
 tence 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 224 
 
 tence of neceffity, I marked the houfe I flopped 
 by with a piece of chalk I had in my hand. Well, 
 the feint produced the deft red effect; the day that 
 my paper came out, the people flocked to buy it, 
 and I was obliged to take it oft' three times. The 
 papers of the next day repeated my piece of 
 news; and two days after, all Paris felt convinced 
 that a general maflacre had been defigned. 5 ’ 
 
 “What a dreadful refource! without know¬ 
 ing him, and merely from hearing this of him, 
 it would give me pleafure to be told he w r as pro- 
 fcribed : do you know what is become of him V 9 
 — 66 I’ll (how you him this evening.”—“ Plow ! 
 dares he fhow himfelf?”—“ Oh yes, and on a 
 fpot where the boldeft tremble. On the 10th of 
 Auguft, they broke into his houfe, which they 
 plundered, deftroyed his prefs, and threw its 
 remnants into the ftreet. In order to conceal 
 himfelf in the fearch that was making after him, 
 
 he hid himfelf for two days in the houfe of a girl 
 with whom he was in the habit of living. During 
 this time, he fhaved his head, and put on a black 
 wig; he drefled himfelf in the garb of the Sans- 
 Culottes * } altered his card of fafety; changed 
 
 his 
 
 * Did not the hiftory c£ the Indies by Herera probably 
 introduce into France this word Suns-CuLotte, which has done 
 
 fo 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 t 
 
 225 
 
 his name, and thus difguifed got himfelf intro¬ 
 duced into the affembly of the jacobins by a 
 friend of his miftrefs who was a member of it. 
 By thefe means he has obtained the place of 
 clerk to the fecretary of the fociety, and is loud 
 in his praife of republicanifm, which he abhors.” 
 —“ This trait puts me in humour again with 
 him.” 
 
 * if 
 
 €C But to return to the editors of the newf- 
 papers ; how infamous a trade is theirs: in Eng¬ 
 land they do not proftitute themfelves thus; we 
 certainly have fome who are paid by government 
 to fpeak in its favour ; but the people know 
 them, and are not deceived by them; but the 
 newfpaper editor who is not in pay, fpeaks 
 without reftraint againfl: the minifters, againfl: the 
 parliament, againfl: the great people, whenever 
 
 fo much mifchief, before which every thing has bended the 
 knee, to which books, engravings, and the chefs-d’oeuvres of 
 every art have been decided; a name which has be£n given 
 to our armies, and which has been deified by having confe- 
 crated to it five days of our republican year. 
 
 Herera, in the tenth book of his fecond volume of the Hif- 
 tory of the Indies, fays that the Tepeaques have an idol which 
 bears the figure of a man, holding in one hand a Ihield, and 
 in the other an arrow, which thefe favages call Camaltzcque, 
 a word which fignifies a God Sans culotte. This is their 
 divinity, they pray to him with great refpedt, and return 
 him thanks when they have gained a victory. 
 
 VOL, 1 . foe 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 226 
 
 he fees any thing deferving reprehenfion,—and 
 this man is held in efieem.”— c< But cannot you 
 fee a reafon for this difference ? You are not 
 now in the heart of a revolution ; you have laws 
 which protect both your ideas and the prefs. 
 But let me afk you, whether during the pro¬ 
 tectorate of Cromwell you had any newfpapers 
 printed which durfl throw a 11 ur upon his 
 proceedings * ? As with us at the prefent moment, 
 you had nothing but decided flatteries, and a few 
 fecretly circulated pamphlets. In my opinion, 
 the newfpapers are good for nothing but to be 
 read by the idle and the parafite. The former 
 fills his empty brain with the news which he 
 finds in them, and the latter pays for his dinner 
 by retailing the anecdotes which he has extra&ed 
 from them in the morning. When the people 
 fhall become tolerably informed, and the morals 
 
 * During the tyranny of Cromwell, as well as during that 
 of Robefpierre, different publications were iffued which paint¬ 
 ed them in their true colours ; but the vigilance of both 
 thefe men rendered the publication of fuch writings very 
 difficult. One appeared in the time of Cromwell, intitled : 
 (i To hill is not to murder by which it was attempted to be 
 proved, that it was juft to kill the Protestor upon any terms 
 whatever. Cromwell read this nervous treatife, and was fo 
 alarmed by it, that lie took the moft ridiculous precautions 
 to avoid being affaffinated; and from the time of his reading 
 it, he fmikd no more to the day of his death. 
 
 purified. 
 
OF THE TUILERIES* 22 J 
 
 purified, then the newfpapers will be intereft- 
 ing” 
 
 Whihl we were chatting, the coffee-houfe 
 
 filled, and they were talking out aloud. “ Let 
 
 us Men,” faid I to the Englifhman.— cc How 
 
 damned ftupid thefe great revolutionifts are V 9 
 
 exclaimed a man furlily, who was looking at a 
 
 newfpaper which he held in his hand. Dire&ly 
 
 all the reft got round him, and afked him to 
 
 what he alluded :— cc Thefe rafcally jacobins/ 3 
 
 faid he, cc are planning to aggrandize France, 
 
 at the expence of the pope and the emperor. 
 
 # 
 
 Read what that fcoundrel Briffot faid yefterday 
 in their aftembly c Our armies are every 
 where victorious; let them march on, nor flop 
 till they have extended our boundaries on one 
 fide to the Rhine, and on the other to Pyrenees, 
 
 and the Alps. Thefe are the only boundaries 
 worthy of the French republic/—Now you 
 are angry at this propofal; let us rather thank 
 them that they are fo moderate. If they knew 
 that Pharamond had held the feat of his empire 
 at Treves, they would want to have Pruftia and 
 a part of Germany ; if they knew that France 
 
 once poHefted on the fide of Spain Pampeluna 
 
 «. 
 
 and Sarragofla, they would claim them ; if they 
 
 fufpected 
 
228 
 
 THE CASfLE 
 
 fufpe&ed that Saint-Louis had been mafter of 
 Acre, of Caifa, of Cefaria, of Jafa, and of Tyre, 
 they would fend their generals to invade Egypt: 
 as Charles, the fon of Saint-Louis, was mafter of 
 almoft all Italy, they would have the fame right 
 to demand back that beautiful country, as well 
 as Avignon. In fhort, as Spain was governed by 
 Bourbon, grandfon of Louis XIV. that ought 
 without doubt to be reftored to them.”—“ Cer- 
 tainly ; but then the Englifh would have the 
 right of claiming what they poffefled in France 
 under Henry V., and Germany what belonged 
 to Charles the Vth.” 
 
 Thefe ridiculous refleftions were interrupted 
 by about a dozen Sans culottes, who came in with 
 their pipes in their mouths. The mafter of the 
 houfe obferved to them that they muft not fmoak 
 there, that his was a coftee houfe, and not a 
 fmoaking-ftiop. “ We know that as well as you,” 
 replied one of them ; (t we only come fmoak- 
 ing to drive away the royalift caterpillars that 
 fwarm here and they then fat down and called 
 for fome brandy. Fear ftized all the oppofite 
 party, and they dole off one after another without 
 ipeaking a word. The Sans culottes laughed 
 and faid. 46 There are cowards; we fhould not 
 
 have 
 
OF THE TUILERIES* 229 
 
 have fuch an eafy game of it, if they had a little 
 more courage.” 
 
 When we left the coffee-houfe, we directed 
 our fteps towards the convention; it was eleven 
 o’clock, and the doors were not yet open. 
 Whilft we waited for their fitting, I took my 
 companion to another coffee-houfe. u This,” 
 
 faid I to him, <c is juft the oppofite of the one 
 we have quitted. 5 ’—They were talking here 
 
 quite a la Fran^aife ; that is to fay, they were 
 all talking at once, and we could diftinguifh only 
 the words traitors, and royalifts, jumbled with 
 thofeof Marat, Rplland, Briffot, Father Duchene, 
 &c. &c.—In fhort, we could underftand nothing. 
 A man came in, laughing fit to crack his fides; 
 every body turned towards him, and he faid: 
 “ I have juft been witnefs of a republican bap- 
 tifm. Thuriot was the child’s godfather, and 
 Calon’s daughter its god-mother: and I will 
 wager that not one of you can guefs the three 
 names that have been given to it. The Abbe 
 Fauchet who performed the bapti ftp was as much 
 furprized as any body Every body tried to 
 guefs, but to no purpofe ; at laft, tired of their 
 
 * I have only tranfpofed the date. The baptifm took 
 place on the 25th of March, 1792, at a fCte which they 
 then called a civic fete. 
 
 ^3 
 
 divinations, 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 divinations, be faid, “ The child was named 
 Petion , National , Pique P “ You are laughing at 
 us,” was the general anfwer. cc I fvvear to you it 
 is time,’ 5 he replied; “ I faw and heard the cere¬ 
 mony H^felf.” They all fhrugged up their 
 
 ihoulders, and called out, “ what a contemptible 
 piece of folly !’* 
 
 At this inftant a young man carrying a flag 
 paffed over the terrace of the Tuileries, followed 
 by a great crowd, and a man laden with a kind 
 of pulpit. <c Let us make hafte,” faid I to the 
 Englifhman.—“ Whither are you going to take 
 me ?”— cc To that young man ; he is a walking 
 orator, named Varlet; his brain is fo turned, 
 rhat notwithftanding he is in want, he has quitted 
 the ftation of clerk to the poft, to follow this 
 trade by which he gets nothing. On the ioth 
 of Auguft he appeared on the terrace, where we 
 now Hand, carrying a flag, on one fide of which 
 were thefe words, c Down with the executive 
 power, or fubmit to the vileft flavery •/ and on 
 
 i 
 
 the other, f La Fayette is a rafcal, and thofe 
 who defend him are his accomplices. 5 Whilfi he 
 was awaiting the general tumult, he was declaim¬ 
 ing with great violence, and ended every fentence 
 with c See what is written on my flag $ I will not 
 
 quit 
 
OF THE TUILERTES. 
 
 23I 
 
 quit it till thefe words are accomplifhedd At 
 length the cannonade put an end to his oratory.” 
 
 Having made our way up to the wandering 
 orator, we flood liflening to what he was faying ; 
 and the following words are part of what he faid : 
 
 It is to you, my brothers, to whom I addrefs 
 myfelf,—to you who have not the privilege of 
 going into the galleries of the convention, and of 
 hearing thofe horrid fpeeches which a hired orator 
 there ^delivers. Do not envy the lot of thofe 
 
 people, who there fuck in feduclion, and then 
 
 ✓ 
 
 come to inoculate it into you s but millrufh 
 them. At this moment they are engaged in the 
 trial of the dethroned tyrant: this affair, fimple 
 as it is in itfelf, i a mine of gold and of intrigues. 
 It is not in a fmall enclofed place like that in 
 which it is now agitating, that fuch a fuit ought 
 to be carried on : it fhould be in the open air, 
 either in the Champ-de-Mars, cr on La Place 
 Carroufel, in the fight of all the world. Dread 
 led they fhould take advantage of this fecret 
 manner of proceeding to fave him. Send and 
 block up all the entrances to the Convention with 
 thofe widows who lod their hufbands before the 
 Tuileries, with thofe children whofe fathers the 
 
 Swifs guards maffacred. Let thefe widows and 
 
 0^ 4 orphans 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 232 
 
 orphans demand vengeance, and let them be 
 joined in their demand by our noble brothers 
 from the fuburbs who were wounded on that day. 
 By thefe means we fhall obtain juflice through the 
 death of that monfter who has been the devourer 
 of his people; it is the only way by which we 
 
 can obtain fatisfa&ion and revenge. For myfelf, 
 I fwear to pafs the day and night in calling aloud 
 for his death ; and not to lay my flag out of my 
 hand, till he fhall exift no longer. Read the 
 motto it bears,— Vengeance and jujiice ! the death 
 of the tyrant! this is the cry to rally all true re¬ 
 publicans !” 
 
 Bravos and clapping of hands followed this 
 fpeech of Varlet’s, who left the crowd and moved 
 
 on to pour forth his horrid fentences in fome 
 
 \ • 
 
 frefh quarter. 
 
 The Englifhman caft at me a heavy eye ; and 
 we both heaved a deep figh, “ This,’’ faid he 
 to me, “ is the fruit of liberty ! ,? — u Rather fay 
 of its abufe, for if we really were enjoying liberty, 
 that young man would be in bedlam. But it is 
 time to enter the alfembly.” 
 
 I had procured tickets of adiniflion, fo we were 
 introduced into the gallery, direflly oppofite to 
 the prefident. A fecretary was employed in 
 
 reading 
 
OF THE TUILER.IES. 
 
 2 33 
 
 reading congratulations juft arrived from the 
 departments, in all of which was exprefied, with 
 more or lefs energy, their defire to have the king 
 and queen brought to trial. Honourable men¬ 
 tions, and infertions in the verbal procefs, were 
 the returns made by the aftembly to the thanks 
 which were begged for in thefe writings. As I 
 jfaw the members of the commiffioners of public 
 fafety and general furety coming in one after 
 another, and very haftily, I faid to the Englifh- 
 man, “ The fitting will be interefting, fince all 
 the deputies are prefent; and fee, the chief men 
 are taking their places 
 
 A petition from the federates who were placed 
 on duty at the convention, contained very lively 
 complaints of the threatenings they every day 
 received from the authors of the maflacres %f 
 (September to affaffinate them in their barncks. 
 
 The reading of this, which was interrupted by 
 murmurs and applaufe, was followed by a depu¬ 
 tation from the commune of Paris, which com¬ 
 plained that the city was filling with federate, to 
 whom the arms and cannon of the feciions were 
 
 * I have inferred under the fame article the refult of many 
 fittings, in ordq- to give iny readers at one view the phyfi- 
 «gnomy of the Convention, and of the parties who cauied 
 divifions in it, and mutually devoured each other. 
 
 given* 
 
-34 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 given. They demanded to have thefe men fent 
 to the army in Brabant, where they would be of 
 more ufe than in Paris, which was capable of 
 guarding itfelf. 
 
 Thefe petitions were from two entirely oppofite 
 parties, who had each their partizans in the af- 
 fembly. 
 
 A number of voices called for the prehdent to 
 fpeak, who anfwered that the minifter Rolland 
 had feme explanations to give; and every one 
 immediately took his place again. Rolland re¬ 
 queued that the federates might remain in Paris, 
 as it was thought that maflacres were in agitation 
 to which all the members of the commune were 
 not Grangers. 
 
 Diredtly about a third of the moft impetuous 
 ef the deputies rofe and exclaimed, fome againft 
 
 the federates and the minifter, and fome againft 
 the Commune. This indecent confufion lafled 
 nearly a quarter of an hour, during which the 
 fervants of the Convention were running about 
 calling out filence,and the prefident was ringinghis 
 bell, whofe fhrill and clattering tongue added not 
 a little to the noife. He broke two at this fitting. 
 During this fhameful quarter of an hour, the 
 deputies were abufing each other, threatening one 
 
 another 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 235 
 
 another with their fids, running confufedly into 
 the tribune* 1 where they crouded upon one 
 another, collared each other, and threw one 
 another down. One of them, Louvet, kept 
 himfelf fteady, and by his firmnefs at lead; ob¬ 
 tained filence, and a hearing. 
 
 In a fpeech full of gall and .truth, he accufed 
 the commune of wanting to ufurp all power, 
 and Robefpierre of aiming at the di&atorfliip. 
 Although he was interrupted in every fentence 
 by inveclives, he (hewed no emotion, but re¬ 
 proached Danton, Marat, and Robefpierre, of 
 having been intirely ufelefs on the days of the 
 10th of Augud, but very aftive on thofe of 
 September. “ And yet you now fee them,” 
 exclaimed he, <c wanting to fcreen under the 
 cloak of indulgence the maffacre in the prifons, 
 and to gather all the fruits of the overthrow of 
 the throne, by ufurping all the power. Has not 
 Marat himfelf written and publifhed to prove that 
 a diftatorfhip was necefiary ? and at the fame 
 time Marat talked of the virtues of Robefpierre.” 
 
 “ Yes it is true,” called out Marat, C6 that I 
 once recommended the dictatorfhip to be given 
 
 * Tribune —the place from which they fpoke. Tranjlator’s 
 Note, 
 
 to 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 256 
 
 to Robefpierre as a reward for his fervicesand 
 here he ran out into a long eulogium upon this 
 horrid tyrant; “ but the times are changed, 
 
 and I would now be the firft to r un a poniard 
 into the bread of the man who fhould aim at that 
 place : but I will alfo oppofe with all my might 
 the eflablifhment of that power in the depart¬ 
 ments, propofed by thefe ftatefmen, (pointing to 
 the right fide of the prefident,) in order to crufh 
 whomfoever are neither Girondins , nor BriJJotins , 
 nor Yederaliftes nor Rollandiftes 
 
 “ The time will come, 1 ’ faid Barbaroux, 
 u when you will know what confpiracies we wove 
 to overthrow the throne of Louis XVI, But 
 why not fpeak out now ? Were any of you, who 
 want to-day to govern this convention and the 
 people, with us at Charenton when our confpiracy 
 againfl the court, which was to have been put in 
 execution on the 29th of July, but which did not 
 take place till the iothof Auguft, was put a flop 
 to ? No ; fear kept you all locked in your own 
 houres.’' 
 
 The word confpirators having been heard, 
 Guadet ran into the tribune, and pronounced 
 with a menacing voice this fentence, ct I fhould 
 like to know what member there is here, who 
 
 would 
 
OF THE TUILERTES. 2 $J 
 
 would be offended at hearing himfelf called a con- 
 fpirator of the blefled ioth of Augufl. I myfelf 
 am a confpirator. It was I who propofed the 
 meafures by which the throne was hurled 
 down !” 
 
 Chabot, the ex-capuchin, fpeaking from his 
 feat, faid, “ Without doubt you organized the 
 ioth of Augufl ; I was of the number of the 
 confpirators againft the throne, and I glory in it. 
 Who fhowed himfelf more warmly dedicated to 
 the caufe than myfelf ? I offered my head in order 
 to level that of the crowned traitor*. But that is of 
 
 no 
 
 * The fact which. Chabot here refers to is not fufficient- 
 ly known but that it may be repeated again. The day of 
 the 20th of June had been in jultice found fo horrible, that 
 it re-eftablifhed a part of the authority of the king. If he 
 had known how to profit by the time, he might juft then 
 have re-eftablifhed his kingdom. Enraged at this confi¬ 
 dence which was granting to the king, three deputies. 
 Chabot, Merlin de Thionville, and Bafire, could invent no 
 means to undo him, but to blacken his chara&er with the 
 murder of a deputy. All three refolved upon lacrificing 
 thcmfelves, and drew lots to determine which of them 
 fhould be afTaflinatcd by the other two. The lot fell upon 
 Chabot; “ This evening,” faid he, “ I will be at the cor¬ 
 ner of La Place de Carroufel, and of the Rue de L’Echclle ; 
 you (hall blow my brains out and then raife a cry that the 
 king has had me aftafilnated. The people will rife ; and 
 when they fliall be fufficiently heated, put my head upon 
 the end of a pike to ferve them as a ftandard, and lead the 
 
 way 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 233 
 
 no import now. The queftion is whether we 
 are all adting towards the fame point, the efta- 
 blifhing of the republic on a firm bafts ; and I fay 
 it with heart-felt grief, there are ainongft us men 
 who are fufpedted of only having dethroned the 
 king in order to lay hold themfelves of his au¬ 
 thority ; and thefe men are BriiTot, and the depu¬ 
 tation of la Gironde. Let me beg of you to 
 put an end to your difagreement ; proceed to 
 judgment upon the tyrant; you have the right 
 and the power.” 
 
 Bourdon de L’Oife.— cs Nothing is more eafy, 
 —the cannon of the federates is the jury of accu* 
 fation ; the imprifonment of Louis is the jury of 
 judgment; the national convention is the tribu¬ 
 nal authorifed to put in force the law.” 
 
 Saint-juft.— cc I maintain that the king ought 
 to be treated as an enemy. Cmfar was affafli- 
 nated in full fenate without any form except 
 twenty-two poniards.” 
 
 Geoffroi.—“ This is the form I propofe; Let 
 the king know that the people wifh his death ; 
 
 way them to the palace, for to revenge my death upon the 
 kino- and his family.But the blow milled its aim, as 
 Merlin and Bafire did not come to the place of appoint¬ 
 ment. 
 
 and 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 239 
 
 and let this wifli be carried to him by three chil¬ 
 dren, and three old men.” 
 
 Legendre.— Cf This is my opinion ; That the 
 tyrant ought to be cut into eighty-three pieces, 
 one of which fliould be fent to each department 
 in order to make the royalifts tremble.” 
 
 Cambon.— <c It is my advice that Louis XVL 
 be hanged this night.” 
 
 All thefe horrid fentiments, for which France 
 
 blufhes, were delivered in the midft of the greated 
 
 / 
 
 tumult, vociferations and imprecations from the 
 tribunes. Many deputies wanted to fpeak; but 
 fcarcely a fentence they uttered could be heard. 
 Kerfaint and fome others maintained that it was 
 not the province of the convention to try the 
 king. Languinais faid, cc We cannot a <51 as his 
 judges fmce we give our opinion beforehand, 
 and fome amongft us even with a moft fcandal- 
 ous ferocity. We have by no means the ap¬ 
 pearance of deliberating in the bofom of a liberal 
 convention ; we appear to be difputing beneath 
 the poniards and cannons of mutineers.” 
 
 In fhort, after four hours not of debating, 
 but of difputing and threatening, feveral decrees 
 were ifliied. c( The penalty of death againft 
 whomfoever fhould dir up fedition or murder.” 
 
 “ The 
 
 1 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 24O 
 
 “ The inftituting of a procefs againfl: the affafiins 
 of the prifons.” Laflly a decree, which cc em¬ 
 powered the convention to try the king/* 
 
 After this laft decree, Marat (Marat! Who 
 xnufl have been poflefled of the devil) aftonifhed 
 every body by his moderation. He demanded 
 that no grievances anterior to the acceptation of 
 the new conflitution be placed in the aft. This 
 motion was neither attended to, nor produced any 
 effect. 
 
 A deputy, whofe name I do not know, com- 
 
 1 
 
 plained of the hardfhip with which Louis XVI. 
 was treated. <c You are going,” faid he, <c even 
 to feparate him from his family ; I demand that 
 he be permitted, by a decree, to have free com¬ 
 munication with it.” And the decree was paffed 
 with fcarcely any oppofition. 
 
 Tallien,one of the oppofition, faid that the'com- 
 rnune would not execute the decree. This auk- 
 ward declaration laid open to view the aim of 
 that authority, and provoked frefh and very vio¬ 
 lent debates. Tallien, difappointed, excufed 
 himfelf lamely ; which did not prevent his being 
 cenfured by the prefident in the name of the 
 
 convention : but he neverthelefs got his aim ; 
 for the decree was modified, and they retrained 
 
 the 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 24I 
 
 the liberty they had given the king to that of 
 folely feeing his children, who from that moment 
 were deprived all communication with their 
 mother. 
 
 The fitting then broke up, and we left the 
 place. 
 
 <c This then is the afiembly which makes kings 
 tremble on their thrones,” Lord Bedfort Laid to 
 me with a forrowful voice. Cc Without doubt 
 you mud call it a tumultuous fitting ! How I 
 pity the French nation ! For what good can fhe 
 expert from a body of legiflators whofe head is 
 a volcano, and whofe mouth is a furnace, which 
 eru&s fiery exhalations, capable of fetting the 
 whole globe in a blaze ? Not one of thefe whom 
 we have juft heard, has made fuch a fpeech, as 
 was no uncommon thing in your conflituent af~ 
 fembly ; and in which Mirabeau, Les Atauries, 
 and many more had the art of fetting before 
 their auditors a rapid fucceffion of ideas which, 
 notwithflanding they might be chimseras, dill 
 hung fo well upon each other, that they formed 
 a chain that proved a magic circle to divert 
 thofe minds which they cannot convince. If 
 your orators of the prefent day think that the 
 proof of their energy and ftrength of mind con- 
 
 vol. 1. r fids 
 
Tile CASTLE 
 
 2.%2 
 
 tills in brutal apoftrophes, menacing geftures, 
 and a million repetitions of words of the new 
 creation, and of which we are the inventors, fuch 
 as motions, injurretiionsj &c. &c. Certainly 
 they fucceeded admirably juft now.” 
 
 % 
 
 u I Ihould not have thought that an Englifti- 
 man, above all a member of the oppofition, 
 would have been furprifed at a tumult in an af- 
 lembly. I am fure the feflions of your parlia¬ 
 ment, particularly your houfe of commons, has 
 more than once prefented the fame feene we have 
 juft been witneffing.”— u I am forry to avow it, 
 but you are too much in the right; I have my- 
 felf given into excefies which I heartily repent at 
 
 * Lord Bedfort is miftaken ; the word infurreSton is not 
 of Englilh creation. Montefquieu fays in his Recherches dea 
 ancient Governemens that infurregion was confecrated by a 
 law in Crete. Jt appears that lince thofe remote times no 
 nation hadufed it till the revolution in England : it figni- 
 fies in Englilh a riling of the people, or of a part of the 
 people. In our time, the united hates of America ufed it 
 when they threw off the yoke, and molt likely it would 
 never have reached us, if La Fayette, whom the French 
 people call the hero of the new world, and of liberty, had 
 not faid that infurrecHon was the moft facred of duties. 
 This new maxim made rapid and dreadful ftrides in 
 France. It is through it that the ambitious have produced 
 mifery, and lb often can fed the fun of France to fet in 
 blood. Thofe who wifli it may refer to the dictionary of 
 words invented during the revolution, and collected by 
 Kivarol. The renowned Breon is one of thofe who cre¬ 
 ated the molt words. 
 
 this 
 
OF THE TUILERIES, 243 
 
 this moment.”— 44 What does all this prove, hut 
 that men who in private are podcded of the 
 greated fhare of reafon, are often the mod furi¬ 
 ous when in a public affembly ? As Mirabeau 
 faid, 4 You mud eat what conies out of the 
 kitchen, but not look at the kitchen.’ Now to¬ 
 day, notwithdanding the tumult of which we 
 have been witnefs, have not fome falutary decrees 
 iflued from thefe volcanifed heads ? One frights 
 him who has his eye upon the di&atorfhip ; ano¬ 
 ther puts a dop to the ambitious excefles of the 
 municipality of Paris. One benumbs thofe who 
 were meditating plunder and murder j another 
 exa&s that the murderers of the prifons be pu- 
 nifhed.”— 44 Well, well, we mud allow then that 
 it is a beneficial rain which falls from the bo- 
 fom of the temped; but what fay you to the 
 decree concerning the king?'’'— C4 Nothing yet; 
 we mud await its refult, and whatever it be, the 
 whole nation will not be refponfible for it. 
 Thefe grand events cannot be judged of with 
 coolnefs, except by poderity. Centuries mud 
 pafs away before all party warmth has lod its 
 heat. I refer you to your own hidory; the 
 catadrophe of Charles I. is dill feen with an eye 
 of prejudice. In fhort, he who would coolly and 
 
 R 2 philofo- 
 
-44 
 
 THE CAST IV 
 
 philofophicahy examine all the fteps of the revo¬ 
 lution, limit; act according to the advice of the 
 late marquis of Laffey, to 4 fwaliow a toad every 
 
 morning, that he may not be difgufied with any 
 tiling the reft of the day ”— 46 I’ll follow his 
 advice, though not exa&ly to the letter .” 
 
 Being dinner time, we went into an eating- 
 
 • \ 
 
 houfe in the garden of the Jacobins. At this 
 houfe patriots of all defcriptions affembled, and 
 amongft them fome very curious chara&ers. I 
 warned my companion of the party fpirit that pre¬ 
 vailed here, begging him not to attract notice by 
 any orders in the dinner way which might bring 
 upon us the fcandal of thefe foils of Sparta. In 
 order to be in the way of hearing whatever was 
 paffing, we placed ourfeives in the midfl of that 
 immenfe and gloomy room, which was hereto¬ 
 fore the refectory of the monks. 
 
 j 
 
 We had fcarcely fat down when a man at 
 the next table afked us if we came from the af- 
 fembly, and what had been done there ? Alarm 
 leil the Englifh accent of my companion 
 fhould ditfw fufpicion upon him, made me fpeak 
 myfeif and relate what had been faid there. I 
 had only fpoken a few words when another man 
 who was getting his dinner at a table a little way 
 
 off, 
 
OF THE TU LERIES. 245 
 
 off, interrupted me; cc We are all eager for an 
 
 account of that interefling fitting,” faid he. 
 
 Do us the favour of fpeaking a little louder that 
 we may all hear you. Silence, citizens, and at¬ 
 tention !” Though I was not much plea fed with 
 the talk impofed on me, I attempted to go 
 through it with a good grace, and above all to 
 fpeak in conformity to the patriotic fpirit which 
 ran through the affembly of my lifteners. After 
 I had talked for half an hour, I thought 1 had 
 done very handfomeiy and might now be at li¬ 
 berty to fatisfy my craving appetite ; but I had 
 fcarcely time to (wallow a draught, before they 
 afked me innumerable queftions relative to my 
 account, to which I was obliged to anfwer. 
 Happily for me a good humoured fellow at the 
 bottom of the room called out at lad, “ We are 
 abufing the citizen’s complaifance a great deal 
 too much ; don’t you fee he has not dined ?” and 
 directly I recognized the voice of our commhTary. 
 Every body called out, Very true, very right,” 
 and I was left in quiet to get my dinner. 
 
 Every one made reflcftions on the fitting. 
 £C See,” faid one, “ the coalition of all thefe 
 Girondins who pretend that they alone brought 
 about the revolution on the- tenth of Auguff. 
 
 R 3 Their 
 
24-6 THE CASTLE 
 
 Their aim I well knew was the eftablilhment 
 of a republic. After the flight of the king to 
 Verennes, they tried to bring it on. Petion, 
 Bugot, Briflot and Robefpierre, in a cabal held 
 at Holland’s, difcufled the means. There it was 
 refolved to found the minds of the people and to 
 prepare them for a republican government. To 
 this end they caufed to appear the paper called 
 The Republicain; Condorcet and Briflot v the 
 Genevian Dumont, and the officer Duchatel, 
 were appointed its editors. But the bad recep¬ 
 tion which it met with from the public obliged 
 it to be laid afide after the fecond paper. Payne 
 and Condorcet alfo propofed plans which were 
 difcufled by thofe who now want to ufurp all 
 power. 
 
 u The recollection of Miltiades* death, Arif- 
 
 tides’ baniffiment, and Socrates’ draught of hem¬ 
 lock, made fome ficken at the idea of an Athe¬ 
 nian republic; they wifhed for the patriciate of 
 Rome, which was oppofed by the others. They 
 refolved to take for their model the lateft formed 
 of the Republican dates, that of United America. 
 You perceive, citizens, that it is a federative 
 republic that the Girondins wifh to eftablifh, and 
 this we mull not allow.” 
 
 “ Without 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 247 
 
 € ‘ Without doubt,” called out another, “ and 
 I take upon me to make a motion this evening 
 at the jacobin afiembly to demand a decree from 
 the convention which (hall declare the French 
 republic One and Indivifible.” 
 
 Bravo, that’s right.—Add equal, thus we 
 {hall know no fuperiority.” 
 
 <c Take care,” faid a man, who had not ap¬ 
 peared to take any intereft in what was palling, 
 fC that this fydem of equality does not overturn 
 that of liberty. With equality how will you 
 
 balance power “ The balance of power is 
 aridocratic, and we will have none of that — 
 Befides, why turn over the leaves of hiflory to 
 feek for the form of a republic ? Why not create 
 one of our own liking, and fay with Brutus, 
 c We imitate none , but profit by the examples of 
 all: 
 
 ic In half a dozen words I will lay before you 
 the forms of the republican dates, ancient as well 
 as modern. Look fird at Greece ; Lacedemon 
 had a dynady, and a fenate compofed of nobles. 
 The people wanted to put a check upon their 
 power, and created the Epheri, to oppofe the 
 authority of the nobles. Their fird labour was to 
 revife the laws of Lycurgus, but they did it 
 
 R 4 with 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 248 
 
 with fo little (kill, that they caufed a univerftd 
 confufion, and ended by getting the dominion 
 into their own hands. This example ought to 
 caution you to be watchful over your reprefen- 
 tatives, left they imitate the Epheri. 
 
 “ At Carthage the government was monarch¬ 
 ical in its Suffetes ; ariftocratic in the fenate; its 
 affemblies of the people folely gave it the air of 
 democracy. It was upon this that the Englifh 
 government was grafted. 
 
 <c The Athenians, to whom the French are 
 faid to bear refemblance in their politenefs, their 
 activity, and their vivacity, lived under a govern* 
 ment which the unrefleding miftook for a demo- 
 cracv ; but its archons rendered it ariftocratic ; 
 moft of the laws of Solon gave a proof of it. 
 ci Rome which you fo much boaft of, and quote 
 
 at random upon all occafions, enjoyed a republi¬ 
 can government but 116 years, from the ruin of 
 Carthage to the battle of Adium. And what 
 kind of republic was that which diftinguiflied the 
 plebeians from the patricians, and had its ftaves ? 
 what kind of a republic was that, which con- 
 ftdered only the citizens of Rome, and treated 
 with defpotifm, by means of its proconfuls, the 
 inhabitants of the Roman provinces ? What kind 
 * of 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 249 
 
 of a republic in (hort was that, which allowed 
 the eftablifhment of a dictatorfiiip when the deli¬ 
 berations of the people no longer pleafed the 
 fenate ? 
 
 £c As for the republics now in being, there is 
 America, which has a federative government; 
 Switzerland, which is a mixture of imperfect 
 ariftocracy, and democracy ; England, which is 
 a monarchical republic ; Venice, Genoa, arifto- 
 cratically governed by their doges, and their 
 nobles ; Geneva, from whofe heart the people 
 cannot root out ariftocracy. There are ftill Ra- 
 jufa, Lucca, and Saint-Marino : thefe fmall re¬ 
 publics, particularly the laft, are the only ones 
 which approach at all to the one we wifh to 
 eftablifh. 
 
 1 . 
 
 “ Thus, as not of thefe eftates agrees in form 
 with our fyftem, it would be better to prevent 
 their being quoted to us as examples upon all 
 occafions. While the throne ftill exifted, it was 
 
 neceftary in order to form an oppofition ; but 
 now we ought only to talk of their heroes, and 
 their great a&ions, in order to infpire courage. 
 For example, at the moment they are debating 
 on the fentence of the tyrant, fet before their 
 eyes Scaevola, and Brutus with the poniard in 
 
 his 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 his hand. This I take upon myfelf to do this 
 evening at the aflembly of the Cordeliers.” 
 
 Our commiflary joined us at this moment, and 
 we left thefe chatterers. “ Well, my lord, you 
 have juft had a fample of the cunning ufed by 
 our leading men : is it poftible to reprefent hifto- 
 rical fads more artfully, and more fkilfully to 
 pervert the truth ?”—“ I allow that I am afto- 
 nifhed,” faid Lord B. “ this young man appears 
 to me the more blaineable as he feems to have 
 knowledge.”— cc Aye and good fenfe ; he is the 
 Molicre of pur age, the author of Philinte, and 
 many other charming comedies.”—“ I fhould 
 not have thought that his ideas would have been 
 fo extravagant.”—“ They are not in reality ; 
 it is ambition that aduates his condud. Were 
 you to hear him reafon in private, he would 
 prove to you that a republic cannot exift in a 
 country like France ; but he would add, 4 It is the 
 whim of the day ; one muft give into it, and 
 humour the conceits of the people ; this is the 
 only way to come to preferment.’ This 
 is what he wrote a few days ago to one of 
 his friends who communicated to me the contents 
 of his letter. 
 
 “ Of 
 
OF THE TUILERIES, 
 
 cc Of all the Rates according to my opinion 
 France is the lead adapted to democracy* I have 
 refleXed clofely, I have digeRed my reflexions; 
 the national charaXer, the lightnefs of their 
 minds, the licentioufnefs of their morals, in fhort 
 the entire Rate of France is ill fuited to the folid 
 eRablifhment of a republic. Only look at what 
 has happened fmce the beginning of our revolu¬ 
 tion, or to fpeak more plainly, according to the 
 words of Mirabeau, fmce the muzzle has been 
 taken off the people. Scarcely did they learn the 
 fecret of their own power, before they abufed it. 
 As foon as they heard of equality, they wanted 
 to be fovereign : and this fovereignty they would 
 change into defpotifm. In a fnort time defpotifm 
 would be changed into tyranny, and contempt of 
 the laws and then anarchy would infallibly 
 follow. To fay what might be the refult after 
 this, is no eafy matter ; it would either be the 
 entire fubverfion of focial order, or its effeXual 
 re-eRablifhment by a fuperior race.—Nature dis¬ 
 turbed brings forth miracles. 
 
 “ Only take a view of the different claffes of 
 fociety, now France is what they call regene¬ 
 rated—what do you obferve ? The nobles and 
 prieRs fled—the gold and filver partly in the 
 
 hands 
 
THF CASTLE 
 
 252 
 
 hands of foreign powers, partly hidden in the earth 
 —the artid without employment—the manufac¬ 
 tures fhut up—the ffiopkeeper without trade — 
 the bourgeois without an income—the labourer 
 without work—the fervant without a place - the 
 journeyman without hire—the creditor without 
 payment—the pried without refpefl:—the magif- 
 (rate defpifed—the honed man in tremor—the 
 good citizen without fafety*—ladly, the poor 
 without refource. If any complaints are made ; 
 the plaintiffs are filenced by an emphatic fpeech 
 telling them that they mud of neceffity differ in 
 order to procure good for poderity ; as if the 
 prefent was of lefs confequence than the future, 
 as if the good of the fucceeding generation could 
 be enfured by the rnifery of the one aclually 
 exifting. 
 
 “ You are going to reply to me without doubt, 
 that all the French prove their wealth by their 
 cxpences, and their love of the republic by their 
 enthufiafm. Do not deceive yourfelf; what 
 you take for wealth are the lad dregs of 
 each man’s coffer ; their expences are merely 
 confined to a continual putting forth of that 
 paper money, the abundance of which will 
 finally ruin the individual, and leave government 
 
 in 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 2 $y 
 
 in want. That conflant aeration which you 
 take for enthufiafm, is merely a tormenting red* 
 leilnefs to which the (late of the times gives 
 fciith, and a daily deceived hope of their becoming 
 better. 
 
 “ You are furprifed, I fee, to hear this language 
 held by a man who is preaching up the benefits 
 of the revolution, and a deputy appointed to ad 
 in its fupport. Poor blind mortals, only reded 
 one moment! What is the globe ? It has been 
 anfwered to this queflion till men are tired of it, 
 a vad theatre upon which every being is an ador. 
 The greater part of mankind live and die in per* 
 forming the part which has been cad to them. 
 But the man of genius, whom glory or ambition 
 animates, ought to know how to fudain every 
 part, and play every charader. The confufion 
 which has prevailed in France for the lad four 
 years has given fuch a man an opportunity of 
 raifing up his head. After having played in 
 a tribune the part of a frantic demagogue, 
 he may neverthelefs be a peaceful monarchian 
 in his family ; as an ador who had jud been play¬ 
 ing the charader of a tyrant may be a very good 
 kind of man off the dage. What is the real aim 
 of both? Why, to increafe their income, and 
 
 2 make 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 254 
 
 make a fortune. Sometimes, indeed, they make 
 a bad end of it, efpecially when they have not 
 fuited their character to their ability for fupport- 
 ing it. The actor then is hided, and obliged to 
 make his way with many hootings through the 
 crowd of byftanders. I hope this misfortune will 
 never happen to me # . I (hall not be too lavifli 
 of my powers, I (hall only ufe them in cafes of ne« 
 ceffity, or when I fhall deem it expedient to give 
 frefh fpirit to the popularity I have already 
 gained. Trufl to me. He who compofed the 
 Philinte of Moliere, after four million originals, 
 ought to know the human heart.” 
 
 “ What you tell me is almoft incredible,” faid 
 my lord, after having read the extract from 
 
 D’Eglantine’s letter. <c I hope this is the only 
 man of his kind in your adembly.”*—“ It is to be 
 wilhed indeed,” replied the commidary with a 
 figh ; “ but there are fome, very few indeed, who 
 confider the republic as a new worlhip, of which 
 they are appointed the miniders, who preach the 
 
 * Fabre d’Eglantine deceived himfelf in his reckoning, 
 and made his end, as he deferved, upon a fcaffold, not as a 
 vidtim of the revolution, but as a prevaricator and extortioner 
 In the affair of the India company he received an hundred 
 thoufand franks, for a forgery, in which he was difeovered, 
 and punifhed with death. 
 
 happinefs 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 255 
 
 happinefs of this government without believing 
 in it, and who take every poftible means of en¬ 
 riching themfelves with all fpeed, left a change 
 fhould take place, and deprive them of the 
 power. Danton, for example, is of this number. 
 According to him, the revolution is only a rich 
 mine from which every one muft dig what he can. 
 For his part he has worked at it with great ear- 
 neftnefs. Happening to be one of the adminif- 
 trators of juftice, he began by appropriating to 
 his own ufe, three beautiful horfes with their har- 
 nefs, and an elegant berlin. Deiboulets to whom 
 
 3 o 
 
 the whole belonged, reclaimed them in vain. 
 Danton faid that he ought to have emigrated, 
 and that in fuch cafe, his property belonged to 
 the nation. Dreading left worfe fhould befall 
 him, Defboulets held his tongue. Inftead of 
 putting thefe things in the charge of the republic, 
 when he quitted his miniftry, Danton kept them, 
 and fold them for his own profit, during a mif- 
 fion which he had into Belgia. 
 
 “ At the time of this million, he was accufed 
 with his colleague La Croix of having converted 
 a number of articles to his own profit. What 
 is certain is, that he had two chariots heavily 
 laden with furniture feized, and Cent them to his 
 
 country 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 256 
 
 country houfe. The letter of carriage which he 
 gave to thofe who had the care of them, men¬ 
 tioned only fome furniture ; but when they were 
 vifited, money, plate, and ingots were found hid 
 under them. Every thing was feized without his 
 venturing to make any oppofition, or accufe the 
 perfons who had them in charge. 
 
 u In order to give you more proofs of thefe 
 diffionefl: tranfa&ions, I fhall tell you two other 
 anecdotes. 
 
 <c The general L’Ecuyer had the command in 
 Belgia during the million of Danton and De la 
 Croix. This man was deprived of his office, 
 thrown into prifon, falfified before the revolution¬ 
 ary tribunal, tried, and condemned to die. 
 
 iC All the time that he was on his way to exe¬ 
 cution, he called out without ceafing to the peo¬ 
 ple, c Don’t trull Danton and De la Croix, they 
 are two rafcals; they faid to me when I had the 
 command, “ kill, pillage, and we will fhare it.” 
 I liltened to them, aud now they take away my 
 life/ 
 
 <c At the time when the offices of adminiftra- 
 
 tors of the national domains, prior to the nomi¬ 
 nation of the minifter of the public contributions, 
 were going to be bellowed by the convention, it 
 
 was 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 257 
 
 was hinted to Danton to propofe the famous Du¬ 
 bai! des Fontaines; a worthy, wife, and difin- 
 terefted man. He anfwered, ct What the devil 
 fnould that be for ? He would be fet in the 
 
 midft of a pile of gold where he would not 
 
 \ 
 
 know what to do. He may be a very proper 
 
 f 
 
 perfon twenty years hence \ but juft now we 
 want people that finifh things at a blow. (This _ 
 anecdote was found in the paper s of Brijfot.J 
 
 ic I ftiall difmifs Danton, with telling you that 
 he was fufpe&ed of having ftolen the jewels from 
 the wardrobe. I am far from accufing him my- 
 felf; but what is very particular is, that Rolland, 
 who was himfelf accufed of this theft, openly 
 charged him with it, faying that he paid for the 
 maflacres in the piifons with their produce: and 
 it is well known that Danton was concerned in 
 thefe cruel events. Farther, I will give you part 
 of a private converfation with the exminifter 
 Rolland, which may ferve as a public reply to the 
 calumny of his accufers. 
 
 “ If I may judge by the charaflers of my accu¬ 
 fers, and by the nature of their calumnies, fuch a 
 contrivance could have originated only in minds 
 already corrupt, and in the hearts of men who had 
 an intereft in propagating it. Every body knows 
 vol, 1. s that 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 258 
 
 that from the moment the wardrobe was put 
 under my care, as minifler of the interior, till that 
 of the difcovery of the theft of the diamonds, I 
 
 did not ceafe to complain both verbally and in 
 
 \ 
 
 writing, to the commandant of the national guard 
 of Paris, and to that of the fe&ion, of the care- 
 lefs manner in which this valuable trufl was 
 guarded, and to inform them that fometimes it 
 was not guarded at all; that I always added a 
 formal requeft for a watchful and permanent 
 armed force to be flationed near it, without my 
 complaints,or my demands, which werefrequently 
 during that interval laid before the legillative 
 body itfelf, producing any effect. 
 
 <c At length the theft took place; and Camus, 
 the keeper of the records, at the head of a patrol 
 was the nrft that difcovered it, and at the fame 
 time took up two men as the thieves, whom 
 it may be guefied from the event of their 
 trial, were but very fecondary agents in the bu« 
 finefs. 
 
 “ At that time I had never opened the wardrobe; 
 the feals were Hill every where unbroken, and 
 I was abfolutely ignorant of what the jewels 
 confided, and in what part of this immenfe pa¬ 
 lace they were depofited. 
 
 €c Thiery, 
 
 1 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 259 
 
 u Thiery, the ci-devant guard of this trufl was 
 thrown into prifon; it fell upon me to name a 
 new guardian; I well knew Pache j he had paffed 
 about three weeks under me in my firft mini- 
 ftry. 
 
 “ A modeft appearance, a foft manner, an air 
 of prudence, his love of juftice, .the civifm which 
 he on all occafions difplayed, and the difin- 
 tereftednefs which he teftified, in fhort the tout- 
 enfemble of this man, made me judge him fit for 
 the office; and I thought that this choice, from 
 which I doubted not would refult an aftive, pru¬ 
 dent, and faithful difcharge of the duty required, 
 mull be approved by every body ; I accordingly 
 named Pache ; and he accepted the office. Two 
 days after he told me how great was the difinte- 
 reftednefs of his feelings, and his love of indepen¬ 
 dence \ he fpoke to me as if alarmed at the refpon- 
 fibility he had undertaken, and that the guardian- 
 fhip of a depofit of fo great value made him un- 
 
 / 
 
 eafy. A more vague office feemed better to fuit 
 his difpofition, where he was not bound down by 
 any refponfibility of the nature of his prefent 
 
 *11 % 
 
 fun&ion. 
 
 . “ I was embarrafied, for I know nothing more 
 diflreffing to a man in place, than the having to 
 
 § 2 dioofe 
 
260 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 choofe his fubordinates, and I confided to 
 Pache the ele&ion of fome one to replace him in 
 the office he wifhed to quit; he pointed out to 
 me Reflout, whom I did not know ; he went in 
 fearch of him, and brought him to me ; and I 
 
 appointed Reflout. He poffeffed, according to 
 Pache, fenfe, courage, talents, and patriotifm. 
 
 cc I could not help thinking then, and I think 
 fo flill, that Pache’s friend did not appear, any 
 more than himfelf to have the activity neceffary 
 in all kinds of public bufinefs, nor that acutenefs 
 of mind, which knows how to profit by that 
 which fuits its purpofe, without walling its time 
 on that from which it can derive no benefit; and 
 which has the art of fupporting underlings with¬ 
 out offending any one. In time all would have 
 been properly arranged, and in' the immenfe 
 number of different plans which were forming, 
 this would not have been forgotten. But I mufl 
 avow that the foiicitude of Redout for the fafety of 
 the treafure committed to his care was unrelaxing; 
 and that I firmly believe him to have been of 
 the greateft honefly. Neverthelefs Redout is put 
 in a (late of arred, and fufpicion babbles againd 
 him ; and I am accufed of the theft of the jewels. 
 By whom?. By Collet, Fabre, and Marat. I 
 
 fliall 
 
 i 
 
OF THE TUILERIES, 
 
 26 l 
 
 {hall not name thofe vile beings, already too weli 
 known by their infamies, whofe names are a blot 
 in the lift of '■he members of the convention, and 
 whofe perfons are a foil in humanity! 
 
 <c Without doubt this hardy blow mu ft be a 
 link of fome long chain which binds a deep con- 
 fpiracy; and I fnall never doubt but that it was 
 connected with the bloody bufinefs of the fame 
 month, and that its produce has ferved the fecret 
 dire&ors of thefe crimes to pay their agents, to 
 enrich their accomplices, and afford themfelves 
 power to avoid the inveftigation and the punifh- 
 ment of their crimes. 
 
 “ In this tone of mind, and after thefe fteps, 
 what remained to be done ! To throw thefe 
 crimes upon thofe whofe penetration they feared ; 
 in fhort to facrifice their lives, as being men who 
 if they did not perfecute them, might at lead be 
 fufficiently courageous to point them out. 
 
 “ Pofterity may gather from this anecdote, the 
 extent to which may be carried the impudence 
 of lying, and the audacioufnefs of crimes 
 
 It was now the hour to go to the club of the 
 Cordeliers, whither Lord Bedfort had afked us 
 
 * Briflot wrote down this conversation, and this was 
 copied from the original. 
 
262 THE CASTLE 
 
 to take him. As we were going into the gallery, 
 Fabre d’Eglantine faw our commiffary, came up 
 to him, Ihook him by the hand, and took us ail 
 into the halL Do not expert that I fhould give 
 a minute account of this fitting, I fhall only give 
 you its heads; but firft of all I fhall prefent you 
 with a fketch of the fcene that met my eyes upon 
 going in. A tolerably large chapel ferved for the 
 meeting of this fociety, where, notwithflanding 
 the mutilations which had been made in it, were 
 ftill to be feen fome arched pavement, and traces 
 of its former devout ufe. The form of this place 
 was an oval cut off at the ends, and furrounded 
 with wooden benches in the manner of an amphi¬ 
 theatre, and furmounted with galleries; the 
 oval was divided in length on one fide by the defk 
 of the president, and on the other by the tribune 
 of the orators. About three hundred people of 
 every age and fex were affembled in this place, 
 and their drefs was fo negligent and fo dirty that 
 they muff have been miflaken for a troop of 
 
 beggars. Behind the prefident was nailed up 
 
 • • 
 
 againft the wall, a table containing a declaration 
 of the rights of man, furmounted by two croffed 
 daggers. On each fide of this were placed the bulls 
 of Brutus and William Tell, which appeared to 
 
 be 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 263 
 
 be fet there to guard the table. Oppofite to thefe, 
 behind the tribune, were placed to anfwer them 
 the heads of Mirabeau and Heivetius, with that of 
 J. J. Rouffeau in the centre ; and thefe were fur- 
 mounted with heavy rufty chains in feftoons ; I 
 was told that thefe chains were taken out of the 
 Raftile ; but I learnt fince that they were bought 
 on the quay de la Feraille, 
 
 A man in a wrapping coat of coarfe cloth was 
 in the tribune. We were informed that it was 
 Hebert, better known by the name of father 
 Duchene; the mild appearance of his counte¬ 
 nance belied the atrocity of his heart j “ For 
 four yours,” faid he, C( we have been aiming to 
 deftroy the edifice of ancient royalty, and the 
 
 bleffed tenth of Auguft has torn up for us the laft 
 
 » 
 
 {tone of its foundation ; but that is not enough, 
 we mufl annihilate the materials, left they be 
 again built up. This is the queftion at the pre« 
 fent moment. The crowned tyrant ftill exifts; a 
 party is forming in the bofom of the convention 
 to favehim j and a thoufand artifices are at this mo¬ 
 ment ufing to enfure its fuccefs. Let us tear off 
 the mafks from thefe traitors, and let us not reft 
 till they mount the fcaffold with him !”—“Name 
 them,” was exclaimed from all parts of the 
 
 $ 4 chapel. 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 26 4 
 
 chapel. cc Brifiot and Rolland are the principals,” 
 he returned. 
 
 <c Let them die,” was the general cry. 
 
 Montmoro.— <c You ought not to fufFer here 
 in your aflembly any individual who has been 
 attached to the ancient government, not even his 
 image. In the papers of the tyrant it has been 
 proved that Mirabeau was fold to him, and that 
 Helvetius had received prefents from his court; 
 in confequence of this I demand that their bulls 
 be no longer feen in this aflembly.” “ Bravo, 3 * 
 exclaimed the people, and without any further 
 debate many of them ran, and took down the 
 buds which they dafhed upon the floor, and broke 
 into a thoufand pieces. 
 
 After this curious performance, which took 
 place amidd the fhouts and applaufes of the gal¬ 
 leries, Chamutte appeared in the tribune. “ You 
 have jud dedroyed the images of two men whom 
 the land of liberty blulhes to have given birth to. 
 But in order that no trace of them may remain, l 
 demand that we fend immediately to our brothers 
 the Jacobins to require of them to banifh from the 
 bofomof their aflembly the buds of thefetwomen; 
 and that they fend deputies to the national con ¬ 
 vention to demand of them to give orders that 
 
 thefe 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 265 
 
 thefe bufts be removed from every public place 
 where they may now happen to be. I further 
 demand that all the Cordeliers change the names 
 which they received in baptifm to thofe of the 
 republicans of Greece or of Rome. I inyfelf was 
 named Pierre-Gafpard, becaufe my godfather 
 believed in the faints \ but fince the revolution, 
 I have taken the name of a man who was hanged 
 for his republican principles ; I now call myfelf 
 Anaxagoras/* 
 
 In an infant all the members, rebaptifed them- 
 felves. Thefe are they whofe names I remember, 
 ChauiTard took the name of Publicola; Val- 
 court, * 4 riftides; Brichet, Brutus; Danton, Ho- 
 ratius ; Lacombe, Scsevola ; Deftival, Decius. 
 
 Ronfin,— C4 Before we feparate, my friends 
 and brothers, forget not to take meafures for 
 bringing the tyrant to judgment. His crimes 
 are known, and they debate whether or not to 
 
 punilh him. There are now no more privileges, 
 nor privileged men ; equality has put all men 
 upon a level. The diftinclions which they wifli 
 to make in his favour are a crime which attacks 
 the rights of all citizens. Strike a grand blow 
 to make them feel it! I demand that the decla- 
 ration of the rights of man be covered with a fu¬ 
 neral 
 
266 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 neral veil till this tyrant fhall have received his 
 juft punifhment.” 
 
 This ridiculous motion was received with an 
 
 enthufiafin which approached almoft to madnefs. 
 We faw that it was a predetermined thing, for a 
 large black crape was in the place in readinefs ; 
 the table was covered with it, and fnnilar 
 pieces were hung over the biifts of Brutus and 
 of Tell. 
 
 <c This precaution is a good lefion to ftatef- 
 men/* faid Marat, but not a fufficient one. 
 Paris is full of ftrangers and royalifts who, dif- 
 guifed in the honourable drefs of the Sans- 
 Culottes, are only awaiting a favourable moment 
 to fave Capet and his family. I have been told 
 cf feveral, of whom I have given a defcription 
 which I have figned to the commune. A woman 
 named Lafalle, formerly the miftrefs of the Colo¬ 
 nel de Rieux, is everymonth going backwards and 
 forwards from Paris to Brufiels, the courtizan du 
 Barry has made many voyages to London ; a 
 man called Reda 5 a bully in the Swifs guards in 
 1760,1$ here as an emiffary from England Chaf- 
 tenai, an officer of Artois, is arrived here from 
 Coblentz as a fpy. The domiciliary vifits are not 
 fufficient for difcovering all counter-revolutionifts. 
 
 1 Everv 
 
OF THE TUILEHIES. 267 
 
 Every good citizen muft denounce fuch as he 
 knows. When our country is in danger de¬ 
 nunciation is a virtue; the love of liberty puri¬ 
 fies every adtion. When by thefe means we 
 fhall have laid hold upon, or put to flight our 
 enemies, we Ihall have no farther need for quar¬ 
 relling with the defpot. Then if they hill main¬ 
 tain that the caufe of their brother Louis is their 
 caufe, we will raife up the people of every country; 
 and by a coalition like this we fliall eaflly bring 
 them to reafon. I promife, in my firft paper, to 
 raife up for the people a fhield of defence againft 
 kings * !” 
 
 I cannot exprefs the wild delirium which was 
 produced by this fpeech of Marat, that man pof- 
 fefled of the devil. They all talked at once, each 
 denouncing fomebody ; every body had met 
 an enemy whom he had known by fome mark 
 or other \ and one man even faid that he had 
 the evening before, met in the ftreet the king of 
 Sweden, who had been dead a year. The fecre- 
 taries not being fufflcient to take note of all thefe 
 denunciations, each individual was told to come 
 to the delk and write down his denunciation him- 
 felf. This infamous lift caufed the death of 
 
 * Marat edited a newfpaper. 
 
 many 
 
s 63 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 many good citizens. We took the opportunity 
 of this tumult to leave the place, and to go to 
 the mother fociety. 
 
 ec What a den of antropophagi is this club of 
 Cordeliers,” faid to us Lord Bedfort. “ It ap¬ 
 pears as if all the rafcals of the earth were colleft- 
 ed here to meditate upon the deftru&ion of the 
 human race. Poor France ! how much do I 
 pity thy fate; in the power of fuch monffers, 
 thou wilt fhortly be only a pile of death. Who¬ 
 ever is not a vi&im will become an executioner. 
 Let us fly from it, let us fly from it with all pof- 
 fible fpeed. Ah, gentlemen, how I pity you for 
 being Frenchmen! why do you not leave your 
 country r” 
 
 “ Too many honefl: men have already left if,*' 
 I replied to the Englifhman’s queflion, “ if thofe 
 millions which have emigrated had remained, 
 you would not have heard what has to-day caufed 
 you fo much horror. If thieves were to come 
 into your houfe to pull it down after they had 
 pillaged it, and murdered all its inhabitants 
 would you leave it and fly ? No ; without doubt 
 you would call together all your people, to drive 
 out the invaders. This is exactly our cafe. When 
 all thofe, who have emigrated, faw ambitious 
 
 men 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 269 
 
 men guiding the helm of the revolution, and Tap¬ 
 ping not only the abufes of our government, but 
 the government itfelf, why did they not oppofe 
 them inftead of flying from them ? You would 
 not then have fighed over the prefent picture of 
 things. And had they not come off conquerors 
 even their defeat would have covered them with 
 glory. There are hill fufficient good citizens in 
 France, if they would but unite and exert them- 
 felves to extinguifh thefe flames of difcord whom 
 you have juh feen and heard. But I grieve to 
 fay that the honeft man wants courage, the 
 robber has it, and profits by it.’* 
 
 6i You think what you have juh heard very 
 extraordinary, but it is only a repetition of what 
 exihed with you. Our levelling Cordeliers, 
 created and fupported by Orleans, are only a re¬ 
 petition of your Red Brothers raifed by Crom¬ 
 well *. Thefe are merely machines which break 
 
 of 
 
 * The companion is not perfect; this is the diftin&ion. 
 The Cordeliers wanted equality founded in nature, whilft the 
 Red Brothers eftablifhed it upon the principles of Jefus 
 Chrift, whom they took for their guide. The Cordeliers in- 
 divifibly fupported Orleans, whilft the Red Brothers faw a 
 faction, called Levellers, proceed from them, who attempted 
 to deftroy Cromwell. But he prevented their plans. Having 
 heard that the Levellers held a fecret meeting, he appeared 
 there at the head of his red regiment ; and taking advantage 
 
the castle 
 
 2jO 
 
 of themfelves, when they aim at the deftru&ion 
 of their leaders. We are now going to the Jaco¬ 
 bins, and I mud warn you before hand that 
 there is a great difference in thefe two affemblies ; 
 
 their fentiments are not exactly the fame. It is 
 always to be dreaded that the Jacobins fhould 
 fuffer the Cordeliers to get the upper hand of 
 them ; that is the aim of him who united them. 
 I fee, however, with pleafure that hitherto no 
 Jacobin has had himfelf received a Cordelier.” 
 
 <c I do not underftand this diflin&ion $ will 
 you explain it to me ?” I begged the commif- 
 fary to do it for me; fo it is to him that I am 
 indebted for this account. 
 
 The commiffary.— cc The fociety of Jacobins, 
 which is alfo called the mother-fociety, as being 
 the firft formed, or friends of the conffitution, 
 was originally compcfed only of deputies. By 
 his intrigues Orleans procured the admiffion of 
 fome individuals well known for their patriotifm 
 and talents; and after this he introduced into it 
 many of his own creatures fuch as Sallery, 
 
 of a rough anfwer, and fome reproaches which were thrown 
 at him, he had the two principal leaders put to death, and by 
 this courageous blow put an end to a faction which had no¬ 
 thing to reproach itfelf with, but the having followed his 
 precepts and his example.* 
 
 Laclos, 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 271 
 
 Laclos, Voidel, Chepy, Camille Des Moulins, 
 and many others, not forgetting his elded fon. 
 From that moment many ambitious men and 
 fome true patriots canvaffed for the honour of 
 being admitted members. In a fhort time the 
 fociety confided of eighteen hundred, and be¬ 
 came the theatre of all the intrigues. At the 
 time that great difficulty attended the being ad¬ 
 mitted into it, feveral leffer clubs were edabliffied 
 in Paris, under different fe&ions s that of the 
 Cordeliers was one, and brought itfelf into 
 
 notices by its hardinefs. This quarter of the 
 
 / 
 
 town appears to have contained all the mod vio¬ 
 lent in the capital. Danton, Legendre, Freron ? 
 Marat, Fabre D’Eglantine, Hebert, Montmoro, 
 &c. &c., all lived in it, and were the very heart 
 of the club which was fird called, the Rights of 
 Man, and then the Cordeliers, from the place 
 where they met, as that of the Jacobins took its 
 name from the convent of thofe monks. I mud 
 remark to you by-the-by, that the motherffociety 
 held its fittings at fird in the upper dory of the 
 convent, exadily in the fame place, where the 
 council of fixteen held theirs at the time of the 
 League. 
 
 “ The 
 
272 THE CASTLE 
 
 I , 
 
 tc The principal members of the Cordeliers 
 made many vain efforts during fix months to be 
 admitted into the Jacobins 5 conflantly they put 
 them off under different pretences. The flight of 
 the king in 1791, was the time of their admiffion ; 
 the danger of the moment was the caufe. Since 
 that time they have always been feeking to gain 
 a dangerous afcendancy in the fociety, and they 
 have begun to carry the upper hand in it ever 
 fince the tenth of Auguft. Strongly united 
 amongfl themfelves, they prepare and agree in 
 their own affembly, what they (hall fay in the 
 mother-fociety ; and when any thing is propofed 
 you will fee them rife to the number of two or 
 three hundred either for or againft the motion. 
 
 “ I will fhew you the fide where they fit. In 
 order to dazzle the more, their orators are not 
 feated in the midft of them, they are fcattered all 
 about the place, and always, win over fome of 
 their neighbours to their fide. One effential re¬ 
 mark is, that not one member of the fociety of the 
 Jacobins has had himfelf received a member into 
 that of the Cordeliers.’* 
 
 We were now arrived at the entrance of the 
 Jacobin affembly, and our commiffary went to 
 procure us a permit for entering the meeting. 
 
 We 
 
I 
 
 OF THE TUTLERIES. 273 
 
 We followed him in, and he placed us nearly 
 oppofite to the prefident. fC In the fird place,” 
 faid he, cc I mud make you acquainted with the 
 didribution of the parties. That amphitheatre 
 which you fee on our right, is called La Montague . 
 There are feated the members who heartily de¬ 
 fire, and who warmly fupport the good of the 
 republic. There is Soileau, Verginaud, Ducos, 
 Lamarque, Quinette, Lindet, Bayle, and Condor- . 
 cet. On our left, in the amphitheatre which is 
 oppofite to the other, and which they call Le 
 Rocher , are the Cordeliers of whom I was fpeak- 
 ing to you. The principal amongfl them are 
 the two Bourdons, Chales, and Chabot; the 
 red are fcattered about. Danton is on our right 
 hand with Legendre and Eglantine. Oppofite to 
 us, by the fide of the defk, is Robefpierre, and 
 Conthon by his fide holding his dog upon his 
 knees. Orleans is in the defk in quality of fecre- 
 tary. On the other fide of the defk is the ufual 
 place of the party of Briffot and Holland; they 
 are not there themfelves, but I fee their par- 
 tizans, fuch as Lantenas, Borque, Maillie, and 
 Redout. The fpace where we are, as well as that 
 on the left of the tribune, is not fet afide to any 
 particular ufe; they are filled by members with- 
 
 vol. 1. 
 
 T 
 
 out 
 
274 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 out any decided character, who are fometimes 
 for, and fometimes againfl, without knowing 
 why. Thofe large galleries which you fee run¬ 
 ning quire round, hold above two thoufand fpec- 
 tators, and you will obferve that three quarters 
 of them are women: the ground-floor is capable 
 of holding about as many." 
 
 The commiflary was interrupted by a general 
 applaufe, which was caufed by the entrance of 
 Dumourier. This general mounted the tribune 
 with a woollen cap on his head. 66 I am come,” 
 laid he, cc to bid my farewel to this fociety, and 
 to renew in its bread its oath of fidelity to the 
 
 j 
 
 republic, and of dying in its defence. Let the 
 
 true republican be recognized by what he wears 
 
 \ 
 
 cn his head ; the cap of William Tell is the only 
 one which becomes him; I glory in being the 
 Ard to put it on ! }> 
 
 Bourbon (de L’Oife) fpoke next of the judice 
 which the Cordeliers had exercifed on the buds 
 of Mirabeau and Helvetius, as well as of their 
 falutary denunciations. He invited the fociety 
 of the Jacobins to adopt the fame meafures. He 
 entered into a long and lively difcuflion upon 
 thefe two points, of which the refult was two 
 refolutions; the Ard to veil the buds till they 
 
 had 
 
OF THE TUILERlES. 275 
 
 had taken a report of thefe two men ; the next 
 that the deputies of the fociety fhould propofe to 
 the convention to decree frefh domiciliary vifits, 
 and the puniffiment of death to all emigrants 
 who fhould be found in Paris, fifteen days after 
 the prohibition againfl returning into France, 
 which fhould be enabled againffthem. 
 
 He entered into a vigorous difcuffion upon the 
 propofal of expelling all the Bourbons from 
 France- The Cordeliers prefent, and the party 
 of Robefpierre united in oppofing this meafure. 
 The party of La Montague contended for a long 
 time and faid, that if Orleans, whom they called 
 Egalite, was really as good a republican as he 
 wifhed to appear, he ought to be the fir ft to 
 offer himfelf to the oftracifm. They concluded 
 by adjourning this queftion till after judgment 
 fhould have been paffed upon the king. 
 
 Nothing could be more pitiable than the coun¬ 
 tenance of the ambitious Orleans during the de¬ 
 bate ; it invariably changed with the different 
 opinions offered. After this refolution the 
 fitting broke up ; and thus ended our day. 
 
 At parting, the cornmiffary faid to us, “ To- 
 morrow the king appears at the bar of the con¬ 
 vention. All thofe in office, and ail their fubor- 
 
 t 2 dinates. 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 o n n 
 0 
 
 dinates, are commanded to be at their pods by 
 eight o’clock in the morning, and not to quit 
 them without frefh orders. If you will be at that 
 hour at the palace, you will find me there, and 
 
 we will purfue our vifit. 55 
 
 We readily accepted his invitation. 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 2 /7 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 VISIT TO THE PALACE OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 FIFTH DAY. 
 
 Vi/it to the Ground floor of the Palace of the T iiileries on the 
 Side next the Garden.—Examination of the King's private 
 Cabinet.—His Lift of private Charities.—By whom diflri- 
 luted.—His open Account with the Queen. - Other Expcnces 
 entered in the fame Book ,— A Regifler in which Louis XVI. 
 wrote every Tranfaction of each Day of his Life from the Age 
 of fourteen. — The King’s Boudoir, and what Ufe he made of 
 it.—His Books of Devotion in which he had written fame 
 Prayers of his own Compofltion. — The King’s Tools for 
 Smith’s Work.—His Labours in this Way. — Pun foment of 
 one of the Pilferers of the Tuileries .— The King’s Work jhop.— 
 Anecdotes of the Prefldent D’ Aligre and Roufleau.—Anecdotes 
 about the Mournings , the Ceremonies of the Court, the Nobility , 
 the Iron Majk, the Wife of Louis XV., the King of Poland her 
 Father, and the Ma chionefs of Pompadour .—Louis XVI.’s 
 Manner of working.—Anecdote of Cond'e, and Conti —The 
 King accufes Monfieur of Impertinence ; upon what Account ; 
 Caufe of the Coohiefs between the Brothers .— Plans for Rejlo - 
 ration prefented to the King by Montmorin.—Anecdotes of that 
 Minfer. 
 
 Scarcely had the clock ftruck nine before we 
 
 were aflembled at the Tuileries.—“ I was very 
 impatient for your coming,” faid the commiffary 
 to us with a bow, “we are going to vifit the 
 ground-floor on the fide next the garden ; let us 
 begin with the king’s cabinet; it is fituated in an 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 angle of the middle pavilion between that of the 
 centre and that of Flora. It hasonlyafmgle window 
 looking into the garden ; it was hither that the 
 
 unfortunate monarch came down every morning 
 
 \ 
 
 to breakfaft, to labour, and to reflect upon the 
 cares of his government. Only one of his fervants, 
 Durey, had leave to enter here. The queen often 
 feized the moment when he was at breakfaft to 
 come and talk with him upon the affairs of the 
 times. She entered by the door w ? hich opens 
 into her drefling-room which we fhall viflt pre- 
 fently. Sometimes the king, foured by his mif- 
 fortunes, received her very harflily ; if on the 
 clays that he was out of humour, fire fpoke to 
 him of politics, he drily anfwered her, “ My 
 affairs do not concern you, madam, do you only 
 look to the care of your children and then he 
 fpoke to her no more, which obliged her to re¬ 
 tire. When he did not choofe to receive her 
 vifit, he ordered Durey to lock the door on the 
 infide. When the queen came and found it thus, 
 flie turned back without daring to knock. 
 Durey, who is Rationed here by Rolland to give 
 inftru&ions to the commiffaries fhall repeat this 
 to you, if you pleafe; he is my authority for a 
 thoufand fimilar particulars.” 
 
 cc I have 
 
OF THE TU1LERIES. 2Jg 
 
 44 I have heard,” replied Lord Bedfort, 44 that 
 this Durey was in the confidence of the king; 
 how then can he have the meannefs to ferve thofe 
 who have dethroned his mader 44 It is not a 
 good trait certainly in his charadter ; indeed we 
 didrud and defpife him. The king placed fuch 
 great confidence in him, and was fo attached to 
 him, that notwithflanding he was called (imply a 
 page of the court, he was employed by the mo¬ 
 narch as a valet-de-chambre, a confident, a 
 fadlotum ; in fhort, it was to him that Louis 
 XVI. committed the diftribution of his fecret 
 charities, of which this is the lid ; and if any 
 body had folicited the honour of being lliut up in 
 prifon with him, it ought to have been Durey, 
 rather than Clery or Hue.”—Lord B. 44 Will you 
 give me leave to look into this book of his pri¬ 
 vate charities ?” The commiflary replied, 44 Wil¬ 
 lingly, upon condition that you do not mention 
 the names of thofe on whom his charities were 
 bedowed.” 
 
 Lord 44 But certainly he mud have per¬ 
 formed other benefits befides ; for thofe contain¬ 
 ed in this little lid are of very fmall value. The 
 larged of them is not more than three louls 
 
 t 4 d’or 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 2 So 
 
 d’or ; and here is one regiftered of only fix 
 francs. The whole of this difburfement is not 
 above 400 livres a month. No doubt, but there 
 are many private people who give away more 
 even to one objedt of their charity ; how could 
 he trouble hiinfelf to keep an account of fuch 
 trifles ?” 
 
 The commiflary—“ The fyftem of oeconomy 
 which the king marked out to himfelf on mount¬ 
 ing the throne, led him to keep an account of 
 the moft trifling expences; and as his memory 
 might have deceived him, he did not merely 
 note down, but kept a regiiter of what he laid 
 out: in a minute you (hall fee it;—by the fame 
 fyftem of oeconomy, he was very parfimonious 
 in his gifts. This is the only account of his 
 charities which we find here; it was begun the 
 1 ft of November 1789, and ended the ift of 
 Augufl 1792, as you may fee ; and during thofe 
 thirty*two months there is only an expenditure 
 of 11,572 livres. M 
 
 <c Here is another little book of his daily ex¬ 
 pences of all kinds.” C{ Let us fee ; why he 
 had an open account with the queen like a 
 manufacturer with the fhopkeepers. 
 
 The 
 
OF THE TU 1 LER.IES. 
 
 28l 
 
 The 21ft of January 1786 gave the Llvres. 
 
 queen three hundred iouis, thus: - 7,200 
 
 The iff of April 1786, gave the queen 3,000 
 The 13th of Augufl 1786, gave the 
 queen to balance the account of her 
 treafury - 18,696” 
 
 <c That is very laughable, for the expence of 
 her treafury ; can you explain to me what that 
 means ?”—“ You doubtlefs know that the pur- 
 chafe of the chateau de Saint Cloud, which the 
 queen made without confulting her hufband, 
 and the enormous expences of putting into 
 repair Trianon, opened the king’s eyes. From 
 that moment he forbad any payments to be made 
 on the queen’s drafts, and made her a competent 
 allowance, which he fixed as the limit of her 
 expenditure. This is the reafon that in this 
 account you find nothing relating to the queen 
 before 1786.”—“ But for all that fhe found 
 means of drawing upon his coffers without his 
 fufpedling it.”—“ Calonne could have let you 
 into fome fecrets upon that matter.”—“ Ah, 
 ha! the king dabbled in the lottery; look 
 at this article.”— <c The 13th of Augufl 1790, 
 
 gave Madame de Chimay four lottery tickets, 
 
 enclofmg 
 
282 
 
 THU CASTLE 
 
 enclofing a fum of 96 livres for a telefcope, 
 thus—96 livres.” 
 
 —“ This dear king forgot nothing, and I am 
 perfuaded that if he had had any love-freaks, he 
 would put down what they coft him.” 
 
 “ Will you fee an article that may do him injury 
 in the unhappy predicament in which he now 
 {lands ; and which fupports what was faid by his 
 minifler Bertrand, that he fpent much money in 
 buying over people to his interefl, who took the 
 
 bribe and were neverthelefs againft him. Read 
 this article.” 
 
 <c The 4th of January 1791, to M. Acqueloque 
 for his faubourg, 3000 livres.” 
 
 “ January 1792, a prefent to M. Acqueloque 
 for the faubourg, i,8co livres.” 
 
 What leads me however to believe that thefe 
 fums were not exactly given in order to gain over 
 to his fide the inhabitants of the Fauxbourg Saint- 
 Marceau, of whom Acqueloque was the com¬ 
 mandant, is, that we do not in the courfe of the 
 regifter find any other expenditure of the like na¬ 
 ture. There ought to be found in it a detail of 
 three millions expended to fill the galleries of the 
 National Affembly with partizans, and to pay the 
 
 orators 
 
I 
 
 OF THE TUILERIES. ^83 
 
 orators of the crowd. Thus I think this money was 
 given to the commandant to folace the peaceably 
 inclined neceffitous of the fauxbourg, whom want 
 would perhaps have driven to join themfelves to 
 the turbulent. And there is in my opinion a 
 great difference between buying partizans, and 
 paying people to prevent them from joining 
 either party. 15 
 
 “ Without doubt; but your Jacobins do not 
 reafon thus ; 6 He has folaced the unfortunate; 
 thus he has fought to gain them over to his fide: 5 
 this is the logic of thefe gentlemen. 55 
 
 cc Here is another regifter much more vo¬ 
 luminous than thefe you have juft feen. It 
 begins in 1768, and ends on the 9th of Auguft, 
 1792. There are in it 8,392 articles which I 
 have had the patience to read through. 55 —“ This 
 muft be curious; give it me.’ 5 — <c There it is. 55 
 — cc But you laugh. 55 —“ You will do the fame. 55 
 
 Whilft the Engliihman was reading, the com- 
 miflary faid to me; “ This account has nothing 
 curious in it but its title ; it is a regifter of every 
 thing that the king has done every day, from 
 the age of fourteen. It is commonly faid that 
 there are few men who would not like to retrench 
 at leaft a fourth part of their youth, and that 
 
 1 there 
 
284 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 there is nobody who does not want to tear a few 
 leaves out of the hiflory of his life. I declare 
 
 0 
 
 to you that in this regifter, there is not a fingle 
 line that wants to be effaced from the life of 
 Louis XVI.” 
 
 Lord Bedfort —“ What a pitiable employ¬ 
 ment ! I eagerly feized this book on account of 
 its title ; and if it was mine, I would throw it 
 into the fire for the honour of him who wrote 
 it. Read one article, and you have read the 
 eight thoufand three hundred and ninety-two 
 which it contains. It is a thermometer of the 
 king’s gettings up and goings to bed, and that is 
 all. Such a day rofe at eight o'clock , went to bed 
 at ten ; always the fame thing over again. Net 
 one of thofe traits, not one of thofe particularities 
 of which the lives of monarchs are fo full.” 
 
 The commiffary— <c Now you talk of a ther¬ 
 mometer, fhould you like to fee that of Louis 
 XVI. ? Go into that clofet, but one after the 
 other, for there is only room for one perfon. 
 This clofet, fituated in the right corner of the 
 room, was in good truth, only five feet long, and 
 one foot and a half broad. In a recefs at the 
 end was a little couch ; and in another recefs 
 which was made out of the wall of the window. 
 
 were 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 ^85 
 
 were two chairs which could not be moved out 
 of their places for want of room. Two little 
 latticed windows gave light to this little fpot, 
 which was ornamented with tafte. It was 
 hither that the king came after dinner to take an 
 hour’s nap, and moveover to obferve, unfeen, 
 what was going on in the garden, and to liften 
 what the people who palled under the windows 
 fakL The ill-difpofed, when they had learnt that 
 cnriolity drew the king into this retirement, fent 
 thither the mob, to talk of a thoufand horrors,, 
 and to ling infamous fongs. Louis heard them 
 with a figb, and always after fome time went 
 away from the fpot. On the frame of the win¬ 
 dow, oppofite to the door was faftened a circular 
 thermometer, which he vifited every day, and the 
 variations of which he wrote down.” The com- 
 miffary (bowed us the little book which had been 
 
 ufed for that purpofe. 
 
 Lord B.— Cc How much pains expended on 
 trifles! and how much time wafted ! The king 
 would have been an excellent keeper of the ac¬ 
 counts of a family or a counting-houfe. and this 
 appears to me to be all he was good for,”— 
 
 Wait a moment, do not form your judgment 
 
 of him yet ,”— 1u What books are thofe on that 
 
 fhelf?” 
 
2 86 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 flielf ?”— fC They were the king’s great ccnfolation; 
 they are all books of devotion. Here is a volume 
 with his arms upon it, bound in red Morocco, in- 
 titled, The Practice of Piety. It is a colledlion 
 of pious acts. What makes it remarkable, are 
 fome prayers which the king compofed and wrote 
 into it, wherever he found any blank paper. 
 Thofe pages which the bookbinders call the 
 blanks are filled with them. See, here are five 
 pages of very fmall and clofe writing, which con¬ 
 tain eleven diflinft prayers, of offering, of good 
 intent, of faith, of humility, of contrition, of hope, 
 of defire, of adoration, of love, of thankfgiving, 
 of petition/’—“ Take my advice, and take care 
 of that book; a day will come when it will be 
 very valuable.”— cs I certainly may put it into 
 my pocket without any danger ; for all books 
 of devotion are condemned to defiru&ion; and 
 more than one deputy has already torn feveral 
 to light his candles with, and for other ufes too. 
 One of thefe four volumes of the Miffal which 
 you fee, contains alfo feven pages of prayers 
 written by the king himfelf.”— cc It is the third 
 part, I think.”—It is.”— cc I would give fome- 
 thing handfome to be poffeffed of one of thefe 
 
 volumes. 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 28/ 
 
 volumes *. I repeat to you, lay them afide ; it 
 would be a pity that they fhould become the 
 prey of any of your political deftroyers.”— cc But 
 if it was known I fhould be accufed of having 
 committed a crime : envied as I am by more 
 than one of thofe men who call me a modere , they 
 would accufe me of having concealed thefe books, 
 in the intention of producing them at fome fu¬ 
 ture time as objects of veneration, in fhort as 
 relics. My conduct is alfo narrowly obferved 
 by another clafs who are jealous of my place, and 
 this being difcovered by them would ferve them 
 as an excufe for accufmg me of pilfering, and I 
 fhould fmk under this double denunciation; for 
 the fyftem of the day is to find out vidims. 
 And in order that the end may not be defeated, 
 they no longer fuffer the accufed to defend him- 
 felf. They call any Heps which he takes in his 
 own behalf the tricks of chicanery, and the proofs 
 he would bring, the machinations of the law.’* 
 cc Without doubt the honed man and the vir¬ 
 tuous citizen are at the prefent day the molt ex- 
 
 * At the time of the deltrudtion of every thing belonging 
 to religion, the commilfary followed the advice of the Englifh- 
 man, and laid them aiide. The commilfary is now dead, 
 and their prefent proprietor is difpofed to give them up 
 to any colle&or of curiofities. By applying to the printer oi 
 this work they may be feen. 
 
 pofed 
 
288 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 pofed to hardfhip. But you need not be afraid 
 of being treated as a pilferer becaufe you have 
 
 laid afide two little volumes profcribed by thefe 
 atheifts. They will not confider him, who might 
 
 have filled his pockets with gold, with jewels, and 
 
 with afiignats, and who has rendered the mod 
 
 fcrupulous account of them all, a thief, becaufe he 
 happens to have laid afide two obje&s of curiofity, 
 whofe value is ideal. Your other fear is childifh. 
 But however I’ll put you into a way to parry ail 
 thefe inconveniences. Hide thefe books at the 
 bottom of a bundle of papers of no value, and 
 lay them upon the higheft fhelf of this book-cafe 
 in fuch a manner as fliall not excite any body’s 
 curiofity ; and after the revolutionary rage is a 
 little fubfided, you may take them from theirhiding 
 place.”—*“ I am much obliged to you, and will 
 put your advice into pradlice.” 
 
 The commifiary had taken the regifters of 
 which I have juft been fpeaking, from a fecretary 
 placed in the king’s large cabinet, and to which 
 we had payed but little attention at firft; but in 
 palling it again, LordBedfort fixed his eyes upon it, 
 
 and made an exclamation at itsfize.— “This fecre¬ 
 tary,” faid the commifiary to us “ is that in which 
 the king kept all his articles of value ; the infur- 
 
 gents 
 
OF THE TUILERTES. 
 
 289 
 
 gents of the 10th of Augufl paid reTpeft to it; 
 but the deputies would look into it. It is, as 
 you fee, cylindrical, and has no key-hole vifible; 
 there is indeed none; this nail prelfed upon by 
 the finger, turns the cylinder and caufes it to 
 open. It is faid to be a chef d’oeuvre of me- 
 chanifm. The deputies, eager to find certain papers 
 which they had been allured were locked up in it, 
 broke it open in order the fooner to/atisfy their 
 curiofity, fo that it is now in a (late of ruin pad 
 repair. The fprings by having been forced are 
 entirely broken, and the lockfmith who made it 
 declares it out of his ability to mend it.”—“ Did 
 you afk him what it coil ?”—“ Yes j two hundred 
 Louis, the wood-work not included.”—“ Did the 
 deputies find in it-what they expended ?”—“ I do 
 not know; I only know that it enclofed a port¬ 
 folio full of papers. 5 ’ 
 
 On leaving the king’s cabinet, we paffed 
 through a kind of paffage which had a fmgle 
 window looking into the garden. On the other 
 fide was a partition of glafs, covered on the infide 
 with muflin curtains, which concealed a dark 
 chamber, of which the commiflary opened to us 
 the door. “ This,” faid the commiflary, cc is the 
 room where the king made his locks.” 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 U 
 
 We 
 
290 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 We examined it 5 a table upon which was a 
 vice, fome files, hammers, pincers, and other tools 
 proper for the work, were all that it contained. 
 No forges, no anvil, not even a furnace, nor a 
 chimney.— 66 He did not forge then,” faid 
 the Englifhman.—“ During his refidence in 
 Paris/’ replied the commiflary, €t he contented 
 himfelf with filing, and he did that but very 
 feldom/’— cc Can you fhew us any piece of lock- 
 work of his making ? Pie was faid to excel in 
 the art /’— cc Like your king George, in making 
 buttons/’— cc Pie made them very ill; but 
 flattery damped his work with the name of chef- 
 d’oeuvres/’ 
 
 “ It is juft the fame cafe with the fmith’s work 
 of Louis XVI. Durey told me at Verfailles, that 
 even with the ufe of the beft tools that could be 
 procured, he fpoilt all the locks, except a Angle 
 one, which he had taken off the doors and clofets,. 
 in order to alter their wards himfelf. The lock- 
 Ifnith Gamin who gave him leflons, he fays, 
 was obliged to mend them all. Plere is the 
 only piece of work, as Durey told me, that the 
 king has done ftnce his refidence in the Tuileries; 
 it is a key which is not fmifned, though it had 
 been begun more than a year: the lock lies by 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 291 
 
 its fide.”— <c It is a complex piece of bufinefs, 
 but it will not turn in the lock, and it is very ill 
 polifhed.”—“ It is however his mader-piece. I 
 will fhew vou in his bed-chamber a bolt which 
 
 j 
 
 he made and put up himfelf. Thefe two pieces 
 will be fufficient for you to form your judgment 
 upon his talents for fmith’s work.” 
 
 At this moment we were interrupted by feveral 
 perfons who came to fpeak to the commiffary. 
 They were his colleagues who came to tell him that 
 ancffencehad been committed by one of them,and 
 
 that juflice mud be done upon him immediately. 
 
 « 
 
 The Englifhman and myfelf were going to re- 
 
 / 
 
 tire, but the prefident of the committee faid, “No 
 gentlemen, pray day, we are glad that an Englifh- 
 man of fo worthy a chara&er as that borne by 
 Lord Bedfort is prefent at the dep we are going 
 to take!”—“ What is the matter in debate?” 
 
 “ On one fide of the apartment where we 
 meet is a cabinet in which is a clofet filled with 
 the king’s linen. The key was hanging by its 
 fide. This morning our colleague here, on foine 
 account or other was going in ; the door was 
 fufficiently wide open to let him fee one of the 
 members of our commiffion who was taking 
 linen out of this clofet, and putting it into his 
 
 u 2 pockets. 
 
2g2 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 pockets. He retired without being feen by the 
 offender, and came and told us what was going 
 forward. As this cabinet had no other door but 
 the one into our meeting room, we waited till he 
 fhould come out. A few minutes after he appear¬ 
 ed, and we all obferved that his pockets (luck out 
 very much. Ilefaidthat hehad forgottenfomething 
 he oimht to have done at home before he came 
 
 o 
 
 out, and that he would foon come back. He who 
 had feen what had been doing, flopped him, and 
 accufed him with the theft. His agitation firfl 
 betrayed him; he ilamme. d, and then had re- 
 courfe to infolence. But he was made to turn 
 out the contents of his pockets, which were fix 
 cambrick pocket-handkerchiefs, four Holland 
 fliirts, with lace frills and ruffles, and four pair of 
 [lockings of very fine cotton. After this humi¬ 
 liating operation, we fuffered him to go away; 
 and the queflion now is how we are to proceed 
 againfl him. 55 
 
 “ Without doubt you have already confulted 
 together,” faid the commiffary j cc as to myfelf, 
 this is my advice ; the offender is the father of 
 a family, and of a poor family ; if what he has 
 clone once gets abroad, he is a loft man. More¬ 
 over he is not a determined rafeal; for if he had 
 
 he 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 2 93 
 
 would not have been fatisfied with taking articles 
 of fo little value, when he might with as great 
 eafe have pocketed thofe of the mod precious 
 kind. But what he has done certainly takes 
 away all confidence in him, and not any one of 
 
 of us can now wifh to have him for a colleague. 
 
 / 
 
 Let the prefident go to his houfe this evening 
 and requed him to give in his refignation. If he 
 refufes to do it, which I cannot fuppofe he will, 
 we will all go to the minider, and tell him what 
 has happened. Above all make no notes of this 
 affair in writing ; there Ihould never be any 
 trace exiding which may one day injure a man 
 who has been fubjedt to one accidental weak- 
 nefs.” 
 
 Every one agreed to this advice; and the com- 
 miffary told us the next day that the offender had 
 fent in his refignation. 
 
 u If men always reafoned thus, 5 ’ faid I to the 
 Englifhman, cc the number of criminals would be 
 much diminifhed. To open the way to repen¬ 
 tance after the commiffion of a drd fault, is very 
 politic ; for afterwards men only dep on from a 
 
 fault to a crime becaufe they have received public 
 punifhment. A tarnifhed reputation rendering 
 them objects of contempt and didrud to their 
 
 u 3 fellow 
 
294 THE CASTLE 
 
 fellow citizens, defpair alone remains to them 5 
 which almoft always ultimately drives them to 
 decided criminality. After the revolutionary 
 
 1 
 
 {form fhall have fubfided, it is to be hoped that 
 the glorious eftablifhment of juries may grant us 
 this benefit. But let us follow our condu&or 
 who is beckoning to us.” 
 
 “ This apartment alfo makes part of thofe oc¬ 
 cupied by the king. Here are the papers relating to 
 the affairs of the flate. He ufed to meditate upon 
 them before he conferred with his minifters or his 
 council. Here they are placed in paper cafes, of 
 which the labels declarethecontents. You willfind 
 fomething here, I hope, to gratify your curiofity. 
 I need not tell you that it would be indifcreet for 
 an Englifhman to examine thefe fourteen folios 
 of politics. Thus, all that refers to negociations, 
 treaties of peace, the navy, the colonies, is prohi¬ 
 bited to you; and particularly this colle&ion, 
 entitled: Politics of England.” Lord B. cc You 
 
 might leave me here alone, I would give you my 
 word of honour not to open one of them.”—“ I 
 am fure you would not; but do not let us lofe 
 time, we have yet a great deal to fee.” 
 
 66 What relates to our finance is doubtlefs 
 indifferent to you 3 fo we will pafs by thefe three 
 
 folios 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 295 
 
 folios which treat of it. I muft however tell you 
 a couple of anecdotes, which will open your 
 eyes to a fpecies of fraud which you are I dare 
 fay quite unacquainted with. Rouffeau bought 
 the treafurerfhip of the city of Paris, for a million. 
 This fum ought to have been employed in the 
 paying of fome annuities with which the city 
 was charged. Rouffeau continued m the office 
 till his death, without paying the million of 
 which the intereft was neverthelefs paid to him 
 with exa&nefs. At his death an annuity of 4,000 
 livres was given to his wife. Calonne in looking 
 over the accounts of the treafurerfhip of the city 
 in 1785 dffcovered the fraud ; but he took par¬ 
 ticular care not to publifh it. Bretueil and the 
 mayor of Paris, would have been implicated in 
 the accufation, and he was wifer than to make 
 himfelf fuch powerful enemies. 
 
 The fecond anecdote, very nearly of the fame 
 kind, relates to the prehdent D’Aligre, an inti¬ 
 mate friend of Calonne. At the time of the 
 loans made by Necker, the prefident was very 
 warm in fubfcribing for a large quantity of ffiares. 
 But he contented himfelf with figning his name, 
 and paid none of the money ; notwithffanding 
 he received very punctually the intereft of the 
 
 u 4 fu ms 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 fums which he had not furnifhed. Add to this 
 that he bought a place for his fon, and that like 
 Roufleau, the fon held the office, and received 
 the intereft without having laid out a doit. It 
 was not Calonne this time who found out the 
 trick, but the minifter Miromenil, who informed 
 the king of it. Enraged at this deceit in the 
 chief of the magiftracy, Louis XVI. ordered his 
 minifter to demand of the Prefident his reftgna- 
 tion. As this happened in 1786, Miromenil 
 gave the king to underhand that the affair mud 
 not be too much haftened, left the Parliament 
 which was then united with Bretueii to 
 ruin Calonne, fhould take advantage of this 
 circumftance to enfure fuccefs to their plan. 
 It was agreed that he fhould have a private con¬ 
 ference with D’Aligre, in which he fhould 
 inform him that his refignation of his place could 
 alone prevent the king from rendering his con- 
 du£t public. The conference took place ; but the 
 event was not what the minifter had hoped from 
 it. D’Aligre, on finding the mafk torn off, only 
 fhewed more firmnefs. He faid that forgetful- 
 nefs was folely the caufe of the fault which 
 he had committed; he had only received the 
 intereft in the perfuafion that he felt of having 
 
 funded 
 
OF THE TUI LERIES. 
 
 "97 
 
 funded the principal, and that by returning the 
 interefl, which might amount to about 8o,ooo 
 livres, all would be right; but that he did not 
 underhand why he fhould on this account give 
 in his refignation. On hearing this infolent 
 anfwer the king was going to fly out into a paf- 
 fton, but Miromenil again hopped him. He 
 fpoke again to the president, telling him that if 
 he did not deliver in his refignation, the king 
 would have him taken up and proceed legally 
 againft him. D’Aligre was now feized with 
 great alarm, and confented to throw up his 
 place, only requeuing that he might be permitted 
 a few months to do it in, which were granted to 
 him. This was the true caufe of D’Aligre’s 
 retiring from office.’ 9 
 
 Lord B.—• <4 It does him no honour ; but thefe 
 two anecdotes announce a dreadful diforder in 
 the adminiftrative power of your finances; and 
 I am not furprized at their reduced flare. Thefe 
 Angle frauds were not the only ones committed, 
 I dare fay.”— 66 Unhappily not ; in the fearch 
 w'hich the parliament caufed to be fecretly made 
 
 i 
 
 at the fame time in the hope of finding flaws 
 again A Calonne, they difcovered at L’Hotel-de- 
 Ville many abufes fitnilar to that of D’Aligre 
 
 relative 
 
29 S the castle 
 
 relative to the loan.’'—“ Miromenil appears to 
 me faithfully to have ferved Louis XVI.; his 
 conduct towards the preiident of the parliament 
 proves that he was not afraid of drawing upon 
 himfelf the anger of men in place and power.”— 
 cc He cannot but be praifed ; whether it was from 
 a forefight of the events which afterwards took 
 place, or from political or religious principles is 
 uncertain, but he was almoft the only one who 
 offered an oppofition to the granting of the civil 
 privileges to the proteftants. When he faw he 
 could not fucceed in his oppofition, he laid before 
 the king a plan for keeping them under fo tight 
 a rein, that while they enjoyed this benefit, they 
 had not the power of abufmg it; but his plan 
 was not put into effect. 
 
 <c The next folio relates to the ceremonies of 
 the court, and the difputes concerning them. It 
 can interefl you little to know that the princes 
 of the blood, in confequence of their contingent 
 right to the crown, pretended in 1775, that the 
 archduke Maximilian ought to pay them the 
 fir ft vifit after his journey to Paris; and that in 
 1789, M. de la Luzerne ufed every effort in his 
 power to be admitted into the king’s carriages. 
 But what you will like to take note of perhaps 
 
 is. 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 299 
 
 is, that m the month of October, in the fame 
 year, by a mod dr iking change, the municipality 
 of Paris broke through the humiliating cudom of 
 falling on their knees, when they appeared before 
 the royal family. The king, ruffled as he was 
 by his tranilation to the capital, and notwith¬ 
 standing all the humiliations and vexations to 
 which he had for two years pall been fubjedt, 
 tedided great difpieafure at this innovation upon 
 eftabliihed cudom. I heard from the mayor, 
 Bailli, that fome days after the king faid to him 
 with evident dejection : c It could not certainly 
 be you, M. Bailli, who propofed the abolifliing 
 of this ceremony.’ The mayor anfwered him, 
 * It is a new resolution of the municipality. 
 Confefs, fire, that this bending of the knee was 
 a mark of flavery, and difgraced a body made to 
 be refpedled. It was a cudom which was edab- 
 lifhed by one of your predeceflors to punifli a 
 rebellious municipality. It has been kept up 
 doubtlefs from want of being refle&ed upon, but 
 it cannot fubfid in the reign of liberty.’ c At 
 lead,’ returned the king, 6 you ought to have 
 warned me before-hand of the changed— 6 Sire, 
 believe me that I had not the time to do it.’ 
 
 “ Here 
 
3 °° 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 <c Here is the regifler of the court mournings, 
 from 1757 to 1791.”—“ How thick it is !”— 
 cc The family of kings is fo large that they are 
 in mourning three fourths of the year.”—“ The 
 court mourned in black ; but the king mourned 
 in violet colour : pray what could that be for 
 “ This is the reafon ; the king mourns in 
 violet colour by the right of the crown, which 
 gives him the title of firft hereditary canon of the 
 churches of St. Hilaire de Poitiers, of St. Julian 
 du Mans, of St. Martin de Tours, of Angiers, 
 of Lyons, and of Chalons: when he goes into 
 thefe churches they prefent him with the amice 
 and the furplice. When the king wore a black 
 
 1 
 
 fuit for half mourning, it was contrary to the 
 eflablifhed cuftom, and from his own choice.” 
 
 “ What are thofe folios upon that flielf?” 
 “ A collection of the proofs of the nobility of 
 the pages, with the arms of each. See with what 
 ikill all this is done. The leaves are of vellum, 
 and the writing is almofl equal to copper-plate. 
 Thefe embellifhments, thefe arms, thefe tail 
 pieces, how beautifully are they painted ! And 
 now indead of thefe mader-pieces of art being 
 preferved in a mufeum, they are commanded by a 
 
 decree 
 
OF THE TUILERIES* 3OI 
 
 decree to be deftroyed, and will be converted into 
 cartridges for our cannon. 55 — cc How fo ?”— 
 An order has been iffued, for collecting from 
 all public places of depofit, all ufelefs parch¬ 
 ment ; and they have literally mentioned that 
 the titles of the nobility fhall be at the difpofal of 
 the war minifter. We have already delivered up 
 a waggon full; hitherto I have refcued this pre¬ 
 cious collection; but I fear it will not be longer 
 in my power to guard it from deftrudlion. 
 
 Ci In looking over this collection, I have laugh¬ 
 ed more than once at the origin of certain names. 
 Nothing is more common than to find a count 
 defcended from an apothecary, or a prince from 
 a courtezan; but to fee a name grafted upon, 
 that of an animal, or a herdfman, is not a 
 common thing. Such, however, is the origin of 
 Les Chalus; read this anecdote. 
 
 <c Jean de Chains, third o c the name, was of 
 the court in the year 1165. -^ e the mlf- 
 
 fortune to difpleafe Louis YIL who was then 
 
 r 
 
 king ; this king exiled him, and commanded him 
 not to appear before him again either on foot or 
 on horfeback. Jean de Chalus obeyed the man¬ 
 date, left the court, and at lad reached his coun¬ 
 try refidence. There, difireffed by being out of 
 
 place, 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 3°2 
 
 place, and tormented with a defire of returning 
 to the court, he conceived the idea of breaking 
 in a bull. Conftant in his undertaking *, he 
 now thought only of the good or ill reception he 
 might meet with from the king when he again 
 appeared before him. Encouraged by the good 
 and merciful difpofition of the king, who he 
 thought would have refpect for his flratagem in 
 confideration of the event wifhed to be produced 
 by it, he went to where the king was then holding 
 his court. Jean de Chfilus, appeared, mounted on 
 his bull, and paded with great confidence before all 
 the courtiers. The novelty of feeing a man ride 
 upon fuch a bead, drew a great crowd of fpecla- 
 tors; the king’s aflonifhment was alfo excited ; 
 he demanded what this meant, and received a full 
 account of what he faw. The king par¬ 
 doned him immediately, and reflored to him his 
 office. 
 
 It was in 1165, that Jean de Chalus was dif- 
 graced, and in 1167 that he was again received 
 into favour. From that time he took the name 
 of Le Bouvier (the neat-herd). The Chalus of 
 Auvergne are defcended Tom the family of Le 
 Bouvier; fince that time they are become di- 
 * He in two years accomplifhed it. 
 
 9 vided. 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 303 
 
 vided. They now form feveral branches; M. 
 the duchefs of Narbonne, is at the head of one ; 
 the Cnalus of Viallevelonx, of Saint Furgeol, and 
 thofe of Prondines reprefent the others.” 
 
 In a paper-cafe entitled, mifcellanies, we 
 expected to find fomething to gratify our curi- 
 ofity. A difcuflion upon machines for afcending 
 into the air, prefented us with a problem 
 proving that to carry up thirty men, with their 
 food for fixty days, would require a machine 
 of 2,300,688 cube feet, weighing 133,663 
 pounds, and which would cod 2,564,222 
 livres, 10 fols. Thefe particulars might be of 
 fervice to Ganerin or Blanchard. 
 
 A table of the overflowings of the Seine from 
 1711 to 1784, fhowed us that the greatefl inun¬ 
 dation in Paris was in 1711, when the waters rofe 
 25 feet and five inches. Then followed obfer- 
 vations made in different years upon the quan¬ 
 tity of rain which had fallen in each. From 
 1711 to *775, we found that the year which 
 had been the lead rainy was 1723, there having 
 fallen only feven inches and eight lines of rain: 
 and that 17 1 had been the mod rainy, twenty- 
 five inches, and two lines having fallen in that 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 A regider of the variations of the feafons kept 
 from 1740, fhowed by the following anecdote, 
 that the fpring of the year 1756 was the mod 
 forward. “ In the year 1756, Meflieurs de 
 Bongards and Nanteuil having gone out into 
 Les Bois Noirs, found on the 4th of the month 
 
 of March, in the village of L ? Etang, fome blades 
 of rye which were judged to have darted from 
 the feed fix days; the king wifhing to be affured 
 of the truth of this phenomenon, ordered M. de 
 Bongards to gather him thefe blades; which was 
 accordingly done the next day.” 
 
 Several other folios contained the papers of 
 different affairs relating to individuals, fuch as 
 Bellegarde, Guines, the fhamelefs Madame La- 
 granche who left her hufband to follow the Ruf¬ 
 fian prince Mewifki, whom (lie wifhed to marry, 
 and who left her after having ruined her ; of 
 Madame de Chaulnes who in 1773, married 
 Giac as a recompence for his having gained 
 her a law-fuit in the face of all judice, and at the 
 rilk of his reputation. The famous affair of the 
 necklace detained us fome time ; we turned over 
 every leaf relating to it, in the hope of coming at 
 the truth; which has been fo carefully concealed : 
 but we found nothing but what is already known, 
 
 and 
 
OP the tuileries. 305 
 
 and two private examinations of the intriguing 
 Lamotte, and the depraved cardinal, which gave 
 us no new information. Two letters, the one 
 from Vaudreuil, and the other from the abbe de 
 Vermond, ferved partly to remove the veil which 
 hangs over this dark affair, and to furnifh violent 
 fufpicion, if they do not entirely prove, that the 
 queen was not fo great a ftranger to this intrigue 
 as (lie would have it believed. Vaudreuil writes to 
 her “ It is time for your majefty to ftrike a grand 
 blow, and exert all your power. The public are 
 
 beginning to talk : it is by ftriking efforts that the 
 vulgar are impofed on. The cardinal haughtily 
 affirms that he returned the trinket to V. M. 
 I am pofuive that he gave his word to the jeweller 
 that you would pay him. The firff impreffions 
 are the mod durable. Be you the firff to ac¬ 
 quaint the king: do not hand in the way of his 
 firff anger. Nothing but an exemplary puniffoment 
 fah ling upon fome one can prevent fufpicion rejling 
 on you . Madame Jules de Polignac will give 
 you better advice than my letter ; I am your 
 majefty’s, &c. ,s 
 
 The abbe de Vermcnd wrote thus to the queen 
 in December 1785, 
 
 / 
 
 VOL. 1 . 
 
 X 
 
 “ All 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 306 
 
 cc All Paris is eager for the law-fuit, and 
 awaits with a degree of impatience its iffue. 
 Whifpers are abroad all the family of the car¬ 
 dinal fill up the avenues to the grand chambre; 
 
 they create much interefl, particularly the old 
 countefs whom thirty years of an exemplary life 
 have rendered highly refpe&able. 
 
 “ I am more and more convinced that it would 
 have been right in V. M. to have followed my 
 advice, and to have oppofed the procefs now 
 carrying on. 
 
 “ Whatever be the judgment of the public it 
 is very bad policy to make much noife, to 
 quell it. 
 
 <c The police fulfils the orders which I gave 
 them on the part of V. M. they impofe filence on 
 the pamphlet writers; but however great the vigi¬ 
 lance ufed, too many are circulated. 
 
 “ Keep away from the king the man who 
 would pafs for a fpeaker of the truth \ he will end 
 by ruining you in his opinion. The baron * is 
 your man : but he is not the friend of the fpeaker 
 of the truth, who loudly exclaims that he would 
 never have fuffered himfelf to have had the car¬ 
 dinal put under arreft, if he had incurred your 
 
 x 
 
 * Breteuil. 
 
 difgrace. 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 3 °7 
 
 difgrace. There are alfo other people whom it is 
 important to keep at a diftance from the king. 
 
 “ V. M. has too much confidence in your 
 power; you ought not to forget that your bro¬ 
 thers and lifters-in-law look upon you with envy, 
 and that they will let flip no opportunity of ruin¬ 
 ing you: I would have your majefty above all, 
 diftruft the philofophicai prince 
 
 6t Upon my word,’’ faid the Englifhman, cc an 
 acquaintance with thefe letters would have given 
 great pleafure to Madame Lamotte for her me¬ 
 moirs, of which the queen had the edition and the 
 manufcript bought up at a very great price in 
 London.”—“ And which (he had burnt laft year 
 at the manufa&ure of Seves by the renowned 
 Rifton.”— <c This precaution has not prevented 
 the publication of four different editions in Lon¬ 
 don. I have one, to which I will annex a copy 
 of thefe two letters which clear up manycircum- 
 ftances.” 
 
 Papers relating to the iron mafic. — Cf Without 
 doubt we (hall here find a key to this long exift- 
 ing eenigma.”—“ Not at all \ they will only 
 inform you, that the fecret was not known by 
 Louis XVI. any more than by any body elfe, 
 
 * Monfieur, the king’s brother. 
 
 X 2 
 
 not- 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 3°8 
 
 notwith(landing the pains which he took to dif* 
 cover it. He had the tomb of the count dc 
 Vermandois fearched. Here is the verbal procefs 
 dated the 19th of February, 1782, which dates 
 the removing of the body of the duke from 
 Courtray, where he died, to the town of Arrac. 
 On the 16th of December, 1786, a commiflary 
 of the king’s, fome municipal officers, and a 
 furgeon, drew out this other verbal procefs. 
 It contains an account of the opening of the 
 tomb, the examination of the body, the di- 
 menfions of the coffin, and the epitaph engraved 
 on the done. All this only ferves to prove that 
 the count de Vermandois was not the man in 
 the iron mafk.”— cc But at the taking of the 
 badile did they find no information in the 
 regiders ?”— cc The fury of the people dire&Iy 
 condemned the greated part of the regiders and 
 the papers to the flames; what could be faved 
 from the fire were examined by Manuel, who 
 had whatever in them was mod curious printed; 
 and in his Police unmajked , nothing is found 
 relative to this man.”—“ Then ail hope of 
 fathoming this fecret mud be given up.” 
 
 u Does this folio of letters of the reign of 
 Louis XV. contain any intereding particulars ?” 
 
 — Ci Not 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 309 
 
 — cc Not any ; it is almoft entirely filled by the 
 correfpondence between Staniflas and the queen 
 of France his daughter, who mounted the throne 
 by the intrigues of the marchionefs de Prie, 
 miftrefs of M. the duke */’ Two hundred and 
 ninety-five letters of that dethroned monarch 
 dated from 1732, to 1766, which I had the 
 curiofity to read, have not furnifhed me with one 
 anecdote worth relating. The firft, written from 
 Dantzick, partly in cyphers, partly in Polifli, and 
 partly in French, but all tranflated, and decypher- 
 ed, relate to his fears of the difpofition of France 
 relative to himfelf. After the treaty of peace, 
 which made him duke of Lorraine, he complains 
 of his lot, and fays that, he has been completely 
 duped ; an entirely different promife having been 
 made to him. He endeavoured to juftify the 
 Jefuits, whom pains were taken to leffen in his 
 
 * Maria of Poland was not at firfb the wife deftined for 
 Louis XV. The duke of Orleans, the regent, had caufed 
 to be alked in marriage for the king the princefs Charlotte 
 of Lorraine, who died abbefs of Remiremont. The duke 
 and duchefs having returned in anfwer that they had an 
 elder daughter, the regent was fo affronted, that he broke 
 off the treaty. It was laid at the time that France would 
 have been happier if the princefs had been its queen, as fhe 
 would have rivetted upon herfelf the king by her beauty, 
 and prevented his having millreffes, while the great piety 
 and virtue of Maria, only teafed him. 
 
 opinion. 
 
310 THE CASTLE 
 
 opinion. As a proof of this he acknowledged 
 himfelf to have been initiated into their order, 
 and to be a jefuit of the robe courts . I will give 
 you an anecdote of which I was witnefs, which 
 will fhew you how great his prejudice was in 
 favour of this order. The convent of the Jefuits 
 and that of the Capuchins were adjoining build¬ 
 ings at Nancy, and the gardens of each were 
 only divided by a wall of eight feet in height. 
 Along this wall ran on the fide of the Capuchins, 
 a cradle walk of elms. To covet, to afkfor, and 
 to obtain the grant of this was only a day’s work 
 to the Jefuits. The fuperior of the Capuchins re¬ 
 ceived orders one afternoon, from the king 
 Staniflas, to deliver up the elmc to the Jefuits. 
 He returned for anfwer, “ I obey ; to-morrow 
 the orders of S. M. fliall be followed.” While 
 the Jefuits were triumphing in their fuccefs, this 
 fuperior, a man of fenfe, far above the common 
 run of his order, difcovered an incorre&nefs in 
 the order he had received which prefented him 
 with the means of revenge. He was merely 
 ordered to deliver up the elms, and not the earth 
 in which they were planted. So what did the 
 Capuchin do ? he provided himfelf with a large 
 number of men, introduced them into the garden 
 
 while 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 3 I I 
 
 while the monks of both convents were afleep, 
 had them cut down the elms, put them upon 
 four waggons, and at the break of day they ar¬ 
 rived at the gate of the convent of the Jefuits with 
 this mefiage ; “In compliance with the orders oi 
 my fovtreign, I do not lofe a moment in deliver¬ 
 ing up to the reverend fathers of the Jefuit con¬ 
 vent, the elms which he has thought fit to grant 
 them. * The Jefuits enraged, fet off for Lune- 
 ville, five leagues diftant from Nancy, to make 
 a complaint to Staniflas, who could not help 
 laughing at this truly pleafant trick. 
 
 The uneafinefs and vexations which Staniflas 
 had endured had fo much affedhd iiis nerves, 
 that he was fcarcely become duke of Lorraine, 
 before he was feized with a trembling which hung 
 upon him to his death. His writing is not only 
 very difficult to be recognized, but almofl il¬ 
 legible. The queen was obliged to have his 
 letters copied that they might be read, and I am 
 
 furprifed that they could find any body clever 
 enough to decypher them. They only contain 
 expreffions of tendernefs, and chriftian advice. 
 The poftfcript was always almoli a compliment 
 from his dog ; “ Triftan,” he would fay, “ the 
 companion of my forrows, licks your feet.” 
 
 x 4 • “ What 
 
3 12 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 cc What letter is this ?” faid the Englifhman, 
 looking at a fignature which he could not make 
 out.—“ It is from Louis XVth’s miftrefs, the 
 marchionefs of Pompadour.”—Let me look at 
 it.”—“ There is nothing in it worth reading; 
 it merely contains a proof that it was folely 
 through her that the marriage of the duke of 
 Grammont with Madame de Choifeuil was 
 brought about. Here are the reports of this 
 duke, during the war in 1744, upon the regi¬ 
 ment of French guards which he commanded. 
 As you fee, they are written on one fide the leaf, 
 and on the other fide are the king’s anfwers to 
 to every article, written and figned by himfelf. 
 The value of all thefe papers is long gone by.” 
 
 Lord B.—“ This paper cafe muff contain fome 
 curious things, it is entitled. Copies of Letters 
 from the King to different Perfons.”—' cc Not 
 it indeed ; the only curiofity that I find in it is 
 to fee how much time Louis XVI. wafted 
 upon the moft un-important obje&s. In fhort, 
 he kept a copy, of all his letters in his own hand, 
 and thofe he fent away were alfo of his own writ¬ 
 ing. Any body elfe in his fituation would have 
 faid to a fecretary, ‘ Anfwer fo and fo to Mr. 
 Such-a-oneor would have fcrawled in the mar- 
 
 gin 
 
OF THE TIHLERIES. 313 
 
 gin of the letters which had been addreffied to 
 him, the fum of the anfwer to be returned. But 
 he was his own fecretary.” Lord B .—“ 1 his 
 gives me a clue to many puzzling circumftances. 
 Maurepas, after him Vergennes, and fo fucceffively 
 all the minifters in whom the king placed con¬ 
 fidence in order to divert him from affairs of 
 confequence, and to prevent his having the time 
 to ftudy and fearch into them, conflantly con¬ 
 tinued to occupy him with thefe trifles. From 
 habit, it grew into a duty with him, and mod 
 likely into a neceffity. This is the reafon that 
 he was never capable of any thing great. After 
 he had refufed the reverfion of a place or call 
 up a few accounts he felt perfedfly fatisfied with 
 himfelf, and thought he had done a great deal 
 for the happinefs of his people. 
 
 cc The following paper cafe, doubtle r s contains 
 the letters to which thefe are the anfwers. ’— 
 As you imagine ; here is one I have opened 
 upon, from a man, who I will anfwer for it, had 
 no followers of his example. It is from Lami- 
 liere refilling an office, becaufe he thinks himfelf 
 incapable of fulfilling it with the capacity re¬ 
 quired for it ”—“ I will take a note of this, it is 
 an extraordinary trait of chara&er. It is dated 
 
 the 
 
3* 4 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 the 7th of April, 1787.”—“ The next is a con* 
 trad to it however ; it is a petition for an heredi¬ 
 tary dukedom \ for a penfion of 60,coo livres, till 
 a valuable governorihip fhall fall, with the rever- 
 fion of 15,000 livres, fettled on each of his two 
 fons, and, an unnamed fum for the arrangement 
 of his affairs.”—“ Pray what is the name of the 
 gentleman who makes this modeft requed ?”— 
 “ Upon that point you mud allow me to be 
 filent. He is a man who has the addrefs and 
 fenfe to fupport his credit under all governments. 
 One of his fons is at this moment fecretly di¬ 
 recting the political negociations of our republic. 
 He has knowledge enough for the undertaking ^ 
 but he ought to have more gratitude to LouisXVI. 
 for the favours he has received from him.”— 
 46 Will you tell me then only the date of his 
 modedrequed ?”—“It is dated Augud 1787. 
 
 “The greedinefs of this courtier maybe com¬ 
 pared to that of the Marlhal de Belle-Ifle who was 
 fo loaded with wealth, honours and dignities, by 
 Louis XV, that it was laid the king was not a 
 man great enough to be able to do any thing 
 more for him. M. de Cadries to whom he left 
 his furniture, found at his death 800 beds, with 
 2oco inatrefles, fome in his hotel at Paris, fome 
 
 4 
 
 at 
 
OF THE TU 1 LERIES. 3 1 5 
 
 at Verfailles, fome at Metz, fome at Bifi, and 
 feme at Auvillers. 
 
 ic From the time that Louis had an income fet¬ 
 tled upon him by the civil lift, he took a parti¬ 
 cular account of all his domains, at the head of 
 each of which he placed a kind of fteward upon 
 wages, who was obliged not only to return him 
 the annual accounts, but to remit him conftantly 
 every particular. Let us take up any one of 
 thefe paper-cafes to w r hich chance directs us. 
 Thefe are the accounts of Rambouillet and of 
 L’lfle-Adam, under the ftewardfhip of Oge. 
 See here are the letters. 55 — u What, thirty feven 
 letters between the 9th of September 1791, and 
 the 4th of July 1792 !’ 5 —“Yes thirty-feven 
 letters to the fteward ; and then you muft reckon 
 thirty-feven anfvvers from the king. On the 
 margin of thefe letters, he has written the heads of 
 his anfwers. 55 —“ Oh ho ! and amongft the parti¬ 
 culars of cutting down wood, and mafonry work 
 done by Lanoue, Oge alfo gives an account of 
 the fenfe of the people in thefe cantons. 55 —“ That 
 
 is in compliance with the king’s requeft read 
 
 / 
 
 thefe w r ords in his own hand, upon the margin 
 of that letter. 6 What is the political opinion 
 of the canton ? What are the fentiments of the 
 
 muni- 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 316 
 
 municipal officers ?’ Should you like to fee 
 Oge’s replies to thefe queftions ?”— cc Oh no, 
 you would teach me to be as trifling as the king ; 
 who according to what I have feen of him, took 
 vaft pains about things of no importance, and left 
 the management of affairs of confequence to his 
 favourites.”— !C This only proves what I told you 
 juft now about what you had to expert from the 
 copies of his letters. 5 '—“ 1 fhall however, note 
 all thefe things down ; for it muft be from the 
 fum of all thefe particulars that I muft learn the 
 true character of Louis XVI.” 
 
 <c We are now come to the revolution. In 
 my opinion, it is very wrong to date it from the 
 taking of the Baftile. A revolution begins at the 
 time that every clafs of fociety begins to refift 
 the orders of the fovereign ; when the monarch 
 can no longer exercife his power but by force of 
 arms. And this was doubtlefs the king’s fitua- 
 tion in 1788. I might even, without the fear 
 of being caught in an error go back, to the 
 year before; but at this period I will fix the date 
 of our revolution. Only examine the papers 
 contained in this folio, entitled c Change of 
 1788/ You will find in them the proceedings 
 of Les Premiers Notables, with a bundle of 
 
 letters 
 
J 
 
 OF THE TUILERIES. jl/ 
 
 letters from the princes and peers to the king of 
 France. Only remark how thofe who ought 
 to have fupported the power of the throne, and 
 the royal authority, either flipt away or apolo¬ 
 gized for being of a contrary opinion. The 
 prince of Conde was the firit to take himfelf 
 away. c I am/ he fays, c going to travel with 
 my family, and I hope at my return to find 
 your majefly, the royal family, and France, in a 
 much more happy fituation/ Now I afk you; 
 
 ought he at that moment to have abandoned the 
 
 \ 
 
 king V *— cc I am far from blaming him ; his con¬ 
 duct, on the contrary, proves, that he was really 
 attached and devoted to royalty. So true is what 
 I advance, that your mod fiery revolutionifls 
 edeem him in their hearts. He fupported with 
 honour, the name to which he was heir.” 
 
 66 Conde had for a long time forefeen the over¬ 
 throw of France. The divisions which had for a 
 long time fubfifted in the royal family, he per¬ 
 ceived would be fo far from producing a union 
 to dem the tide of ruin that was pouring in upon 
 it, that they would even add vigour to its current. 
 The firft affembly of the notables proved to him 
 the truth of his idea. Seeing that in Louis XVI, 
 indecifion and weaknefs were alone to be found 
 
 indead 
 
JtS . THE CASTLE 
 
 indead of judgment and firmnefs, and convinced 
 that his advice would not be lidened to, he turned 
 his back upon the rulhing dream ; and I main¬ 
 tain that he a&ed rightly. Your king had al¬ 
 ready proved to all Europe, that of all men who 
 could have fucceeded to Louis XV. he was the 
 lead calculated to repair the errors of the lad 
 reign. For I am, between ourfelves of the opi¬ 
 nion of Machiavel on this point. His fyderri of 
 politics, of which the vulgar quote at random 
 
 thofe maxims which he difclaims, becaufe he ifo- 
 lates them, fays fomewhere that c It is very de- 
 firable to have an alternate fucceffion of princes 
 fome of a meek fpirit, others of an enterprifmg 
 chara&er; thus Numa fucceeded very properly 
 to Romulus; Bajazet to Mahomet; and Solo- 
 mon to David ; but after Numa there ought to 
 have been a Tullus; after Bajazet a Solyman, 
 and after Solomon any body but a Roboham. 
 According to this principle a prince of firmnefs, 
 and even fe verity was neceffary bet ween Louis XV. 
 and Louis XVI. Conde thus not being allowed 
 to be of any ufe to the fupport of the throne at 
 home, did right to endeavour to fupport it abroad. 
 That he did not fucceed, mud be placed to the 
 blame of the conduct of the French nobility who 
 
 went 
 
OF THE TUILERIES* 3 I 9 
 
 went and joined him; to the obftacles which 
 they threw in the way of the execution of all his 
 plans ; and more than all this, to fome policy of 
 the principal cabinets of Europe, of which the 
 fecret is ftill not above half known.” 
 
 — <c The prince of Conti did not exhibit fo 
 loyal a conduct; he was conftantly turning from 
 one fide to the other, in the hope of keeping well 
 with both. See his correfpondence with Brienne^ 
 and his letters to the king.”— 
 
 <c What a dullnefs runs throughout his ftile; 
 what a croud of lies heaped upon one another. 
 In the afiembly of Les Notables where he pre- 
 fided, he oppofed the plans of the minifters; and 
 in his letters he apologizes for having been 
 obliged to fpeak thus, making warm proteftations 
 of his faith to the king.”—“ It is only a natural 
 confequence of the line of conduct he had mark¬ 
 ed out to himfelf, ”— cc If an oath was decreed, 
 he would run and take it ; if gifts of cloaths 
 or money were afked, he would be the fir ft to 
 give them.”—“ Aye, and if you had offered him 
 the prefident’s chair in the Jacobin afiembly and 
 the red cap, he would have accepted them both. 
 In fhort there remains nothing more to be faid of 
 
 him 
 
320 THE CASTLE 
 
 # 
 
 him after the portrait which his father drew of 
 him.” 
 
 c< A letter from Monfieur to the king ; it is 
 
 without doubt a -■*-.”*— cc In reading it you 
 
 will fee that it was written in 1787.”-~ cc The 
 
 beginning: is fmgular, and the ftile is familiar. 
 The c my dear brother/ does not keep its proper 
 diftance, 6 The fear of feeing you tired of liftening 
 to me, and of what I have to fay to you; made 
 me determine to write to you.’—To judge by the 
 ftile and contents of this letter, it fhould feem that 
 the two brothers were not upon the bell of 
 terms. The king was difpleafed at feeing 
 Monfieur tainted with the ideas of the new philo- 
 fophy, and fupporring thofe which were given 
 birth to in his cabinet and in his palace. Some 
 fault which he one day found with a fpeech of 
 Calonne’s difpleafed the king ftill more, and he 
 told Monfieur that he was impertinent. In this 
 letter Monfieur gently touches upon the harfhnefs 
 of that expreffion. In fpeaking to the king upon 
 certain phrafes which Calonne had with too much 
 licence made ufe of in h's fpeech, and again ft. 
 which the Notables wilhed to teftify their dif- 
 pleafure and oblige him to refradt them, he 
 wrote to him telling him what he thought the 
 
 bed 
 
OF THE TU 1 LERIES. 32 I 
 
 befl way of fatisfying them, and begins his fen- 
 tencethus; ct If I durft be hill farther imperti¬ 
 nent, I would tell you/’ &c. Lower down he 
 again repeats this expreffion ; “ If the king calls 
 me impertinent I will appeal to my brother , who 
 knows he has not a better friend than myfelf.’* 
 This repetition (hows how much he was chaffed 
 by the word.” 
 
 “ One thing afionifhes me in monfieur’s letter ; 
 he writes to the king that it is the fir ft time 
 
 he has allowed himfelf the liberty of telling him 
 his opinion upon an affair of importance. What 
 then, was not the king in the habit of confulting 
 his brother upon affairs of confequence ?”— <c Do 
 not be furprifed at that; Louis could be very 
 eafily prejudiced in favour of or againfl any one. 
 The queen, who had his entire confidence, did 
 not like monfieur; fhe called him ironically the 
 philofophical prince; this title became a proverb 
 'at court; and if fhe did not abfolutely try to 
 make the two brothers quarrel, fhe however took 
 care to prevent her hufband from confulting his 
 brother upon any occafion. To tell you the 
 caufe, I will not fay of the queen’s hatred, but 
 of her coolnefs to her brother-in-law, would be 
 ufelefs.”—I am acquainted with the motive.” 
 
 vol. i. y “ Examine 
 
3*2 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 “ Examine this voluminous memorial. It is 
 without a fignature, but the king has put the 
 name at the top and proves to you that Mont- 
 morin is the author. It contains the advice of a 
 true friend. As an hour would fcarcely be fuf* 
 ficient for you to read it in, I will tell you the 
 heads of it. Montmorin, after having pointed 
 out to the king the abufes of the government in 
 every part of its adminiftration, and fhown him 
 the impoffibility of preventing a new order of 
 things, propofes to the king to put himfelf at the • 
 head of the change. c It is the only way,’ fays 
 he to him, c to preferve your authority, and to 
 retain the love which your fubje&s bear you. 
 You mu ft have no States-General at this mo¬ 
 ment ; their exaltation would render them much 
 too dangerous. Were they once to afiemble, 
 you would no longer have the command over 
 
 them. The molt difficult wound of the ft ate to 
 drefs is the finance. The loans have run us into 
 debt, the penfions have ruined us, and five hun¬ 
 dred millions are fcarcely fufficient for the exi¬ 
 gency of the time. With due regulation and 
 and her refources France may yet parry the blow, 
 but {he muft guard againft thofe abftraft and 
 
 metaphyfic theories which feduce at firft fight. 
 
 To 
 
OF THE TU1LERIES, 
 
 3 2 3 
 
 Fo make yourfelf well acquainted what refources 
 the wealth of the kingdom is capable of afford' 
 ing, and render it if poflible more produdive; 
 to calculate what it ought to produce, and mul¬ 
 tiply it by a reafonabie ufe ; thefe are the ele~ 
 ments of a fyftem of finance/—Amongfl many 
 other plans which he propofes this molt (trikes 
 me. 
 
 “ The middle rank is the mod rich and jealous 
 of honours; as much as it is able it raifes itfelf by 
 getting into place. Hold out to it fome 
 honorary bait, it will feize it with avidity. 
 Letters of nobleffe which carry with them no pe¬ 
 cuniary exemption may fatisfy its pride. Fix 
 them at a price fo moderate that four hundred 
 thoufand perfons may purchafe them without 
 hurting their fortunes, and the coffers of the 
 (late will foon be full. Affemble at the fame time 
 the ancient notables of your kingdom to confult 
 upon the means of making up the deficiency ; 
 lay before them your plan without differing 
 them to depart too far from it. Afk affiftance of 
 the clergy, and fome renunciations of privileges 
 of the nobility/ 
 
 “ Not content with giving the king thefe general 
 ideas, Montmorin prefents the king in this work 
 
 Y 2 with 
 
324 the castle 
 
 with his proje&s relative to every branch of the 
 adminiftration, and gives the king the outlines of 
 a difcuflion to make upon each. He begins with 
 the conflitution of the kingdom, which he fays c is 
 fo tarnifhed by laws and abufes, that it is difficult 
 to fay whether it exids or not. Sophidry has 
 taken the place of truth ; cuftom of ancient indi- 
 tution ; and right is fmothered by ufurpation. 
 As to the neceflary reforms,, he adds, c they 
 mud be founded upon the chara&er of the 
 nation; and as the goodnefs of the laws depends 
 upon the manner in which they are received, 
 we mud not conclude that becaufe a law is 
 abufed it is a bad one. It is neceflary that the 
 proje&s of reform fhould be laid before the pub¬ 
 lic with fo much art, that they may do away all 
 difference of opinion upon their ena&ion, by the 
 good confequences which t heir ufe feems to pro- 
 m ife. Legiflation bears no reference to the mo¬ 
 rals of the date. For a long time the civil code 
 has demanded a reform. The obfcurity and bar¬ 
 barity of many laws have obliged datute to be heap¬ 
 ed upon datute; and what is called jurifprudence, 
 is nothing but a farrago of inexplicable contra- 
 di&ions even in the eyes of the mod enlightened 
 men of the law. But as this reform neceflarily 
 
 requires 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 525 
 
 requires to be a long while in doing, it is fufH- 
 cient to begin with changing or modifying what¬ 
 ever appears mod urgent. It is in the carrying 
 on of fuits that chicanery fhews itfelf drefled in 
 all its arts j thefe then are what mud fird be at¬ 
 tacked. Condant complaints are made of the 
 judice of the fmali courts by the unhappy 
 wretches who fall into their power. Indead of 
 only lidening to them, as they would receive the 
 complaints of the hufbandman who is grieving at 
 the ravages made by the dorm, it is neceflary to 
 edablifh a fevere difcipline, which may fupport 
 the judges while they reduce thefe little judices. 
 All our criminal laws are barbarous; no propor¬ 
 tion between crimes and punifhments; no de¬ 
 fence for the accufed \ the penal code wants to 
 be entirely re-made. 
 
 <c The police in the large towns is im per feci and 
 vicious. Particularly in Paris it appears to be at 
 war with tranquillity and morals. The mod 
 exa£l calculations mention from twenty-eight to 
 thirty thoufand beggars, and about forty thou- 
 fand women of the town *. What has hitherto 
 
 ever 
 
 * Poverty, the fource of all crimes, did not fufficiently en¬ 
 gage the attention of the government; of the herd of beggars 
 which are fcattered about France, at lead; a fifth part may be 
 
 v 3 reckoned 
 
326 THE CASTLE 
 
 ever been done towards getting rid of thefe two 
 plagues ? Are there any better laws to put 
 afide beggars than beggary, or libertines than 
 libertinifm ? The fophifts will tell you that 
 beggary is an evil infeparable from civiliza¬ 
 tion, and that proflitutes are the fafeguards 
 of women of virtue. This definition carries 
 with it a contradi&ion; and I mud think 
 that a ftate may exifl without thefe two 
 fcourges. Without going farther from home, 
 Switzerland will furmfh my argument with an 
 example of its truth. Well-direded hofpitals, 
 part of which fhould be workfnops, would pro¬ 
 duce almoft enough to fupport the impotent and 
 incurable/ 
 
 reckoned capable of working. Why are they not employed 
 about a thoufand public works, in keeping up the roads., in 
 labouring, and repeopling the forefts, in draining the tno- 
 raffcs ? This iaft article alone would furnifh employment 
 tor all thefe now ufelefs beings. Twenty thoufand arpens 
 (arpent is 100 fquare perches) of ground covered by the 
 moraffes of Bourgoigne, in the Department of LTferes want 
 only working at to make them excellent paftures, and turf, 
 where wood is fo fc^rce as in that country, a molt necef- 
 fary article. The draining of thefe moraffes is fo much the 
 more eafy, as their elevation above the Rhone prefents a natu¬ 
 ral declivity for the water to run down. That excellent 
 work of M. Bercerf may be confulted upon the fubjedl. 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 3 2 7 
 
 This abridgment of fome of Montmorin s 
 plans will ferve you to judge of this minifter by. 
 He is one of that very fmall number who had the 
 courage to fpeak the truth to the king, and point 
 out to him the coming danger. Towards the 
 end of his miniftry he oppofed the plans of the 
 queen, while he pretended to be entirely ignorant 
 of them. He was the only man whofe influence 
 over her hufband fhe dreaded. c If the Count 
 difcovers my projedt,’ fhe faid in 1792, c he will 
 blow down in a moment the fabric I have been fo 
 many months in raffing.’ She concealed from 
 him that fhe talked of public affairs to the king; 
 above all, fmce in a private council he had opened 
 the eyes of the king to a dangerous ftep, which 
 fhe and Latour-du-Pin were advifmg him to 
 take.”—“ Do you know, Sir, what this ftep 
 was ?”—“ This is what I have been told it was; 
 when the conftitution was prefented to the king 
 for his acceptance, he confulted different perfons; 
 all of whom, although from different views, ad- 
 vifed him to fan&ion it. At a meeting held in 
 his cabinet, at which were prefent with him the 
 queen, Latour-du-Pin, and Montmorin, the queen 
 faid, c that he muff accept the conftitution to have 
 it the better in his power to deftroy it.’ Latour- 
 
 y 4 du-Pin 
 
328 THE CASTLE 
 
 du-Pin added, c that the accepting of it could 
 not bind down the king, and that it was the only 
 way of regaining his former authority.’ Mont- 
 morin held his tongue, and waited to hear what 
 the king fhould fay, who (baking his head every 
 now and then at the arguments of the two anti- 
 conftitutionifts, fuddenly interrupted them ; ‘ If 
 the new fyftem was the lefs vicious I would ac¬ 
 cept it with pleafure, notwithstanding it reduces 
 me almoft to an automaton, and I would give an 
 example of its molt ftridt execution. But it is 
 fo incoherent in its parts, and what it puts into 
 my power is fo unjuft, that I think myfelf obliged 
 in confcience not to (hut my eyes againfl its 
 vices.’ Montmorin acknowledged the blots 
 which fullied it, advifed the king to accept it, 
 not to make the ufeof it propofed by Latour-du- 
 Pin, but to make its faults be perceived by 
 executing it to the letter. He pointed out to 
 him the conftitution as the anchor of his fafety, 
 and the harbour of his peace. ‘ Do not be- 
 lieve,’ he faid to him, 6 that you will ever re¬ 
 mount to the point from whence you have fallen'; 
 notwithflanding the many opinions of the day, 
 there is one prevalent throughout all France, it 
 
 is that of deftroying royalty but not monarchy.’ 
 
 The 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 3 2 9 
 
 The queen and Latour-du-Pin argued fourly for 
 
 a long time. The king ended all debate by 
 
 following the advice of Montmorin. ” 
 
 <£ This minifter has been accufed of being a 
 
 revolutionid.”— (u Very true ; the partizans of 
 
 royalty taxed him with Jacobinifm, and the 
 
 Jacobins accufed him of royalty. This is the 
 
 fate of honed men who have as it were a mixed 
 
 opinion, and which the times call moderes. In 
 
 • 
 
 following their own fyftem they difpleafe the 
 violent of both parties, who ultimately facrifice 
 them to their fafety. Montmorin was the vidim 
 of the triumphing Jacobins on the i oth of 
 Augud ; if the royalids had had the upper hand, 
 they would without doubt have punifhed him, 
 but in a lefs cruel manner.”—“ Did he not 
 perifh in thofe dreadful days of September 
 
 • 7 , I 
 
 “ Yes, in the agonies of defpair ; when he faw 
 the fate that awaited him, he was feized with a 
 
 I 
 
 f 
 
 delirium ; and in a moment of phrenzy, when 
 the mod wife are not their own maders, he broke 
 a table of feveral inches in thicknefs with a blow 
 of his fid. It was the ferpent biting the file.”— 
 “ Why did he not fly when the throne fell 
 “ He thought that by hiding himfelf in the houfe 
 of a friend, he might avoid perfection, and then 
 
 fhew 
 
530 THE CASTLE 
 
 fhew himfelf or fly according to circumftances. 
 Bat yet he had forefeen the event of things; 
 fome days before that which changed the delliny 
 of France, he faid to Bertrand de Molleviile, 
 6 You laughed fix months ago when I foretold 
 the republic to you. You will fee whether or 
 not I was miflaken, 1 believe the epoch very near. 
 Its duration will be fliort; every thing depends 
 upon the fate of the king j if he is aifaffinated, 
 the republic will not laft a moment; but if he is 
 formally tried, and condemned , you will not long 
 have a monarchy.’—This man had a juft con¬ 
 ception of things, and deferved a better fate. 
 But four o’clock is ftriking : to detain you in 
 converfation any longer would be to abufe your 
 complaifance. Good day to you.”— cc To-mor¬ 
 row then we will purfue our examination of the 
 papers. Farewell,” 
 
Of THE TUIJLERIES. 
 
 33 1 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 SIXTH PAY. 
 
 precautions taken by the Court at the time of regiflering the edicts 
 ■of May 1788.— The fpies privately fem by it to the Parlia¬ 
 ments.—Who are the frjl that demand the double reprefentation 
 of the Tiers-Etat. — Erection of a bulletin for the King alone . 
 —It ceafes to be made at the departure of Montmorin.—Letter 
 of Barentin to the king , upon the bills of grievances, one of which 
 requires the fupprejfion of the nobility.—The advice given to 
 the King.—Newfpapers commanded by the King to be ijfued .— 
 Who were the editors of the papers on both fides.—Predictions 
 made to Louis XVI. of his fall , and of that of the throne .— 
 Defpotifm of the minifler Rollar.d. - Difcovery of the Queen's 
 diamonds.—Sale of the King's wardrobe. Form of delivering 
 cut the effects of the Vuileries after the \Qth of Augujl. 
 
 As foon as we met again, we continued our 
 examination of what hill remained to be viewed 
 in this apartment. A table which was lying in 
 the room drew the attention of my Lord, and he 
 faid to the Commiffary, “ You doubtlefs know 
 what this table is ?”— u Yes, it is a lift of the 
 commiflaries named by the king to go and regiher 
 the edicts in 1788 in the Parliaments.—He 
 has as you fee erafed fome names which did 
 not pleafe him, and fubhituted others in their 
 places with his own hand/’ “ Why do I fee only 
 
 one 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 232 
 
 one commiflary fent to fome parliaments, when 
 there are two fent to others ?”—“ This is the 
 reafon: when they wifhed to have regiftered in 
 the parliaments, befides thefe famous edicts, other 
 anterior ones, which had been rejefted, they 
 named two commiflaries. For example ; that of 
 Befan^on had rejected feveral money edicts; 
 they then fent thither the marechal de Vaud, and 
 the intendant of the province. Nancy, which 
 had refufed to regifter the twentieths, had for 
 its commiflaries the intendant and M. de Choifeul. 
 Farther, there is a note of their bufmefs, under 
 their names.”—’“ Very true.”—“ But what you 
 
 do not know is, that in every parliamentary town 
 the king had a fpy, who watched over the commif-x 
 faries and the magiftrates, rendered him an 
 account of his obfervations, and propofed to him 
 fuch meafures as he judged expedient. Every 
 where almofl they were counfellors or advocates: 
 at Nancy, which I have juft been mentioning, an 
 advocate* named Rifton, was the fpy from the 
 court; in the account which he gives of what is 
 pafling, he advifes the king to iflue lettres-de^ 
 cachet againft thofe whom he calls the leading 
 men of the parliaments and the bailiwicks.” 
 cc This is always an odious profeflion particu- 
 
 larly 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 333 
 
 iarly was it fo at that moment/’ “ If we are to 
 judge of them all by him, they were vile men 
 who undertook this bufinefs. Rifton was, be- 
 fides being a bad fubjeft who carried on a law- 
 fuit againft his father (an amiable and refpe&able 
 man), accufed of having forged titles or feals, I 
 ' do not exactly remember which of the two : he 
 was alfo alternately condemned and acquitted 
 upon it; but the revolution acled as a fponge 
 upon his conduct. This is the fame man whom 
 the queen employed to bum that pile of papers at 
 Seves” 
 
 <c Thefe folios infcribed, States General, doubt- 
 lefs contain fome curious papers .”—“ Yes for 
 hiflory. Firft you may find in them memorials 
 of all the parliaments, and of all the orders of 
 France, addrelTed to the king when the ftates- 
 general were firft promifed. Thefe papers may be 
 ufed as a compafs to learn the fpirit which at that 
 time animated each of thefe bodies, and ought to 
 have been the king’s guide in his conduct. You 
 will there find addreffes from the Tiers-Etat of 
 Brittany, of la Compte, and Dauphiny; which 
 firft demanded the double reprefentation. Se¬ 
 condly, the pretenfions of the firft orders of the 
 different provinces, upon the queftion whether it 
 
 was 
 
334 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 was the right of the dates or the bailiwicks to 
 name the deputies ; and rcquefts to have the 
 conlfitutional laws attended to, before the debt 
 of the (late was brought upon the carpet. I mud 
 tell you that this lad demand caufed the greated 
 alarm to the king and his council. Then follows 
 all that concerns the union of the three orders ; 
 this packet contains the letters from the deputies 
 to the king apologizing for having refolved them« 
 felves into a common meeting ; thefe men were 
 the duke of Liancourt, Lally Tolendal, &c. &c. 
 
 “ This file of papers contains the heads of the 
 fittings of the dates-general, and thofe of each 
 chamber. The king, who would know immedi¬ 
 ately what was paffing in each chamber, charged 
 the minider Montmorin to give him information 
 on the fubjedt. He contrived an ^enigmatical 
 kind of charadler ; and in this four of his clerks 
 were employed to write the heads of the debates 
 and deliberations. Many of thefe bulletins are 
 you fee written by different hands, which fhews 
 the king’s impatience to learn the debates.”—. 
 “ I can imagine that it mud have been eafy 
 enough to compofe this bulletin when the three 
 chambers were united in the manner you fpeak 
 of > but while there were three feparate meetings, 
 
 fome 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 335 
 
 \ . 
 
 feme other mode of digefting the whole into one 
 
 % 
 
 mo(t have been neceflary.”-—“ At that time 
 Montrnorin had a deputy in each chamber, who 
 fent to him immediately the heads which he had 
 taken down ; this is the caufe that the bulletins 
 could never be continued in a regular form. 
 Sometimes they begin with the nobles, fometimes 
 with the clergy, and fometimes with the tiers-etat. 
 Each head as it occurred was written out fair, 
 and thus the k’ng knew what had palled in each 
 chamber within an hour after the breaking up of 
 the affembly.” —“ It feems they got tired of thefe 
 bulletins, for the lad is dated the evening before 
 the taking of the baflille.”—“ The departure of 
 Montrnorin was the caufe of their conclufion; 
 this minifter, feeing that the king was courting 
 his own ruin by his invariable indecifion, re- 
 folved to remove himfelf from him, and fled to 
 his eflate called Maifoncelie, the name of which 
 he took on his journey ; and from thence he 
 wrote to the king to apologize for his hafty 
 departure.”— <c Thus the king was every day 
 lofing fome part of his fupport: how came this 
 defe&ion not to open his eyes— tc It was not 
 for want of warnings and advice that they were 
 kept (hut; this letter from his mafter of the 
 
 feals 
 
33 ^ the castle 
 
 feals is one of a thoufand other proofs to the 
 contrary. 
 
 tfi After Barentinhad, according to the order of 
 the king, looked over the bills of the grievances 
 of France, he was alarmed at the convi&ion it 
 had given him * ; in addrefling thefe to the 
 monarch in the courfe of April 17 89, he fays to 
 him, ‘ that if he had not yet allowed himfelf to 
 make any reflection, it was that he had only con- 
 fidered the convocation of the ftates-general as a 
 grand national council, whofe end of meeting was 
 the reftoration of the finance, and the relief of 
 the people ; that in this cafe he ought to have 
 truffed to the adminiftrator of the finance in 
 whom the public had placed confidence ; but that 
 that fince the repuifion of petitions he was con- 
 
 * If the minifter Barentin had read all the bills from the 
 little courts, which were moulded together that one only 
 might be prefented from each order through the grand baili¬ 
 wick, he would have feeu (till more alarming demands, which 
 were put afide as laughable. I (hall quote only one ; in one 
 of the petitions from the little bailiwick of Darney in Lor¬ 
 raine, they demanded in a formal article, not only the abo¬ 
 lition of hereditary nobility, but the inftant extinction of the 
 order. This demand, which at the prefent day appears 
 nothing, was very extraordinary, if we confider the time at 
 which it was made. What makes t dill more furprizing is, 
 that it was the proportion of a noble of that country. This 
 fmgular trait in his character induces me to give his name ; 
 lie was called Lepaige de Dammartin. 
 
 vinced 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 vinced that the finance was only a very fecondary 
 fubjedt of the national debates, fmce almoft every 
 lift ordered the deputies to refufe the king any 
 affiftance he might afk of them, to deprive him 
 even of the ancient revenues of the crown, if he 
 did not firft fubfcribe to a new conftitution. 
 
 £C Barentin next endeavours to fhew the king, 
 that this new conftitution called for with fo loud 
 a voice, will reduce him from a king into the 
 fimple mandatory of the nation, that (lie wifiles 
 to divide the legiflative power with her monarch, 
 and humble the king into becoming merely the 
 executor of her orders. He adds, that in order 
 to gain the public confidence, they have fent all 
 the bills of grievances to the prefs; that every 
 thing is ready for ftriking a blow at the royal 
 authority, and that there is no time to be loft in 
 parrying it. He makes this reflection, c In the 
 reign of your auguft grandfather, fire, the exciters 
 to fimilar fteps would have been tried, found 
 guilty, and puniflied as rebels by your parlia¬ 
 ment.’•—Without offence to the minifter, there 
 is an anfwer ready for him. Why punifh 
 thoufands of men for having made complaints 
 and petitions, which they had been allowed to 
 form ? This would have been great rafeality. 
 vol. i. z The 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 33 3 
 
 The king’s falfe flep in convoking the flates- 
 general arofe from his not having refie&ed upon 
 the new lights and philofophy of the age. He 
 ought to have known that the do&rine of our 
 fathers was verv different from ours ; and that 
 the dates-general would not fuffer themfelves to 
 be filenced or diffolved at the caprice of a fove- 
 reign. Befides I fliould like to know who was 
 to have punifhed thefe dirrers up of whom he 
 fpeaks ? It could not be the parliaments who were 
 all dirrers up themfelves. But I beg your par¬ 
 don for having interrupted you.’ 5 
 
 That thefe fears were not the creation of 
 Barentin’s mind, the event has but too plainly 
 proved. He advifes him to affemble round his 
 throne, thofe princes whofe interefls are inti¬ 
 mately connected with his own, to hold a kind 
 of family committee, to which he fhould add fuch 
 of his faithful adherents as are bed verfed in the 
 knowledge of the laws; and there, after having 
 debated upon the complaints which have been 
 ventured to be advanced, that he is not fuch a 
 king as his grand-father, to decide on a proper 
 plan for demining the torrent of general delirium, 
 and guarding the throne againd republican fanati¬ 
 cism He adds, that in quality of the mader of 
 
 the 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 339 
 
 the feals, it being his duty from the fituation he 
 alfo holds to addrefs the dates -general., he is 
 ready to tranfmit to them the orders of the king, 
 if they are worthy of the majefty of the throne ; 
 but that he will never be brought to put the feal 
 to the daring demands made: they may be 
 compared both in their title and effe&s to thofe 
 of the barons of England, when they formerly 
 defpoiled the mod weak and mod jud of their 
 kings. The minider concludes by making ap¬ 
 pear to the king, that he has not the right of 
 
 a 
 
 parting with the poffeflion of the crown which he 
 wears, that he is only its tenant, and that it is the 
 patrimony of his family, and a heritage which 
 the laws of the kingdom bind inviolate to his 
 poflerity.” 
 
 “ It does not appear that Louis XVI. paid any 
 attention to this fevere advice of his minider; 
 and this minider did not keep his word, as he 
 did not fly off on the fird found of the word 
 conditution.”—“ He cannot be blamed for not 
 having deferted the king; from that moment 
 on the contrary he fupported as much as lay in 
 his power the royal authority.”—'“ And in what 
 way did he do that ?”— 6( He never ceafed to 
 give the king advice, and negledled no oppor- 
 tunityof oppofing the operations of the innovators, 
 
 z 2 he 
 
340 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 he even propofed to the king to fight againft the 
 opinions which the patriotic journals were inftil- 
 ling into the public mind, with other journals in 
 the pay of government. He firft planned with 
 M. Maidenly to prevent the circulation of news¬ 
 papers, or to ruin them by a want of fubfcribers 
 But the grand fentence of the liberty of the prefs, 
 being mifunderftood, caufed the mifcarriage of 
 this defign. They then agreed with M. Degny, 
 the fuperintendant of the pofis, to fuffer no peri¬ 
 odical paper to go out from them without the 
 exprefs leave of the king. At length this pre-* 
 caution proving infufficient, they ended by ifiuing 
 royalifl journals. 
 
 The abbe Lahathien, author of Les trois Sieeles, 
 
 was firfl chofen to edit the political and na- 
 
 / / * ' 
 
 tional journal, of which the objeft was to defend 
 the monarchial principles. Such was the origin 
 of this literary war which engaged in it the pub¬ 
 lic opinion on both Sides, and (till continues fo to 
 
 do. Notwithfianding the little efteem in which 
 thefe newfpapers were in general held, they ferved 
 Several great perfons of the times as a pafTport 
 for being fiatefmen. Many of thefe men who 
 had never fiudied politics, or had a Single pla- 
 
 * A decree of the council was propofed. and digcfted to 
 that effect. 
 
 card. 
 
 4 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 341 
 
 card, you would neverthelefs hear talking boldly 
 upon all the points of adminiftration. The 
 gazettes are the only fources from which they 
 drain knowledge; the coffee-houfe is their cabi¬ 
 net, the bulletins their authority, and the newf- 
 mongers their oracles, only hear them arguing 
 and they would move your pity for them ; but 
 little do they care, fo long as they can impofe on 
 the mob. They are the very counterparts of the 
 orator fpeaking upon the art of war before Alex¬ 
 ander. But a truce to thefe melancholy reflec¬ 
 tions, let us purfue our examination. 5 ’ 
 
 “ Since we are difcourfmg upon this point, 
 give me leave to afk you if you know the editors 
 
 of the different journals on both fides.” “ I have 
 juft told you who was at the head of the manage¬ 
 ment of thofe of the court party. Mirabeau 
 was in a very fhort time after at the head of 
 thofe of the patriotic party ; as was Laclos of that 
 of the faction of Orleans. Descending one ftep 
 nearer to the prefent time, Briffot and Gorfas are 
 at the head of the newfpapers of the Girondins ; 
 Marat and Hebert of thofe of the Cordeliers, and 
 Robefpierre of thofe of Les Montagnards. 
 
 46 To return to Louis, I think nothing can be 
 more furprizing than, that after the truly pro- 
 
 z 3 phetic 
 
342 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 phetic advice of Barentin, which certainly was 
 not the only warning he received, he fhould 
 
 s . \ 
 
 have afted in a manner fo contrary to his own 
 intered.”—“ Not only as you fay, it was not the 
 only advice, but not even by any means the 
 firft he received. His fate had been for a long 
 time predicted. In 1775, Maurepas had received 
 a letter, which the king read, in which was this 
 fentence 5 c the monarchial government mud 
 become republican, when thofe entruded with 
 the royal authority abufe their trud, by making 
 themfelves be obeyed in the name of the laws, 
 and difobeying in their own perfcns the legifla- 
 tors V Maurepas only laughed at this prediction, 
 and the king did the fame. 
 
 “ When he exiled Meaupont, and recalled the 
 parliaments, the oppofite parties fang forth his 
 triumph, and his defeat ; for a Frenchman mull 
 fing whatever fituation he is in. Code, the 
 fecretary of the duke of Orleans, and father of 
 our deputy, made fome verfes upon the victory 
 of the parliaments. The almoner of the arch- 
 bifhop Beaumont anfwered thefe verfes in a fong. 
 The fixth verfe has never been out of my 
 memory $ this is it: 
 
 “ Oh 
 
OF THE TUJLERIES. 
 
 343 
 
 * Oh king in ft eking for juftice, 
 
 Thou’rt mounting up a precipice, 
 
 From which thou foon muft fall; 
 
 The reins are flipping from thy hand, 
 
 The parliament will get command, 
 
 Of thee., and France, and all.’ 
 
 When Turgot quitted the miniftry, he alfo drew 
 the horofeope of Louis XVI. Not fatisfied with 
 having boldly faid to him : c The fate of kings, 
 governed by their courtiers, is that of Charles I., 
 or of Charles IX.’-—he wrote to him, c I be- 
 feech your majefty to guard againft irrefolution ; 
 it is the principal caufe of mifery to the people, 
 and misfortune to kings. It was irrefolution, 
 
 fire, which led Charles I. to the fcaffbid.’ 
 
 ♦ 
 
 tc In 17Bo, in the remonftrances which the 
 clergy prefented to the king are thefe words: c If 
 a few years more of inactivity fhall be fullered to 
 roll on, the earthquake will become general, and 
 devaftation and ruin only will lurvive it; a 
 revolution, fire, which may be compared to that 
 
 of England, is hatching in this ftate.’ 
 
 <c Laftly, on the day that Louis gave his fanc- 
 tion to the double reprefentation, the count of 
 Artois his brother, hung up in the king’s 
 chamber the portrait of Charles I. in the place 
 where that of Louis XV. had been fituated j and 
 
 z 4 
 
 on 
 
344 THE CASTLE 
 
 on the day that he retained Necker in the Minify 
 try, this fame brother took away the portrait of 
 Charles I., and hyng in its place a print of that 
 king receiving the fatal blow from the hand of 
 the executioner, I could quote a great number 
 of other and fimilar warnings which were given 
 to him from the time of the opening of the ftates- 
 general to the period of his flight; but they 
 would appear lefs (hiking than thofe he received 
 at the time of his full power.” 
 
 66 I am not much furprized that the king paid 
 but little attention to thefe firfl warnings; but 
 what is inconceivable is, that after the firfl /parks 
 of liberty had begun to appear in 17 By he did 
 not call to mind all you have juft been telling 
 us, and a£f in confequence.”— 1cc It appears that 
 in recalling it to his mind he only refolved to 
 fubmit to his delliny, and prepared himfelf for it 
 by reading every year the life of Charles I.” 
 
 “ After the opening of the ftates-general was 
 finally determined upon, what greatly employed 
 his thoughts was the opening fpeech which he 
 was to make there. Always diflrufting his own 
 abilities in fimilar moments of difficulty, he re¬ 
 queued each individual of his council to draw 
 him out a model. Making ufe of ail thefe which 
 
 he. 
 
OF THE TUILEP.IE3. 
 
 345 
 
 he received, he framed a fpeech which he fhowed 
 to the queen, who found great fault with it. 
 
 4 Well then, make one yourfelf,’ faid the king 
 to her. The queen took him at his word, and 
 the next day put into his hands one of her own 
 compofition; which the king fo much approved 
 that he altered very few parts of it; and thus 
 was at length hammered out the fpeech which 
 gave him fo much uneafmefs: here are the 
 minutes of it. This is the writing of the queen. 5 ' 
 —“ This anecdote is worth remembering, I will 
 put it down with your leaved 5 —Certainly, if 
 you pleafe, it is no fecretd’ 
 
 Whilfl Lord Bedfort was taking his notes, the 
 minifler Rolland palfed by us, and bowed to us. 
 A boy belonging to his office was following him 
 with his hat in his hand, and addreffing him in a 
 very humble tone with, “ Citizen minifler, I beg 
 of you to hear me.” Rolland turned about, and 
 faid to him in an angry voice, c Don't put me in 
 a paffion ; you know that I have the right of 
 throwing you into prifon, and making you perifli 
 there and he then palfed on. We looked at 
 each other. 
 
 “ Are thefe threats charadleriflic of a re¬ 
 publican minifler ?”—“ It is one of the evil* 
 
 attendant 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 346 
 
 attendant on power, that it will always make it- 
 felf be felt. Befides, confider that he is in the 
 palace ot Kings; the place infpires him.”— 
 “ Jelling a part, what I have juft heard furprifes 
 me. A fimple minifter of a republic pretend¬ 
 ing to have a power which never belonged even 
 to the molt fiery defpot. What would he be 
 if he had the power all in his own hands ?”— 
 <c Sovereignty has fometimes exerted its power to 
 caufe individuals to perilh in prifon, but it never 
 pretended to make a right of it.” 
 
 A young man at that moment came run¬ 
 ning up to us, with an air of triumph painted 
 on his countenance. Addreffing himfelf to the 
 commiffary, he faid, “ What do you think I 
 have juft found ?”—“ Some valuable papers?” 
 
 “ No.”— ct Some gold ?”— <c Better than 
 that.”— 44 Explain yourfelf.”—Dire&ly he drew 
 from under his coat a chagrine cafe, of about 
 eight inches in length, four in breadth, and two 
 in depth. “ Here it is—it is the queen’s jewel 
 
 box.” He gave us the cafe and we opened it, and 
 found in it fix rings, and a necklace of dia¬ 
 monds ; a fnuff box, on the lid of which were 
 the portraits of the king, the queen, and their 
 two children, fet in the fame Hones ; in Ihort, in 
 
 this. 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 347 
 
 this box were the beffc diamonds remaining in 
 France fince the theft of the necklace and two 
 ear-rings in the fliape of pears, of which one 
 was a little fmaller than the other. After hav¬ 
 ing carefully examined them, Lord Bedfort efli- 
 mated the whole at a million. 
 
 The firft queftion was to learn where this box 
 could have been concealed to have efcaped the 
 fearch of the people who had rifled the palace. 
 The young man took us into the queen’s dref- 
 fing room, and thus addrefled us; “ I had jufi: 
 finifhed a piece of work upon which I had been 
 employed four days, without having refled above 
 an hour or two each night, fo much was I hur¬ 
 ried to conclude it, and I was refrefhing myfelf 
 with looking into this beautiful garden. I was 
 leaning upon this lattice work, which is, as you 
 fee, about two feet diftant from the glafs of the 
 window. As I was looking out fomebody pafied 
 quickly by ; and I leant out in order to fee who 
 it was. What was my furprife to feel this (heir, 
 which I thought fixed againft the wall, but 
 which proved to be only refled upon two groves, 
 give way under my feet. I thought no more of 
 the perfon pafling by, but I pulhed the fhelf, 
 which Aid without much exertion on my part, 
 
 into 
 
34$ THE CASTLE 
 
 into a cavity made for it in the wall. I looked 
 with aftonifhment upon this ingenious invention, 
 which concealed, without any fufpicion of its do¬ 
 ing fo, two arm chairs placed oppofite to each 
 other. I fat myfelf down in one of them, and, 
 notwithftanding the thicknefs of the cufliion, I 
 felt fomething hard underneath that 1 prefled 
 upon ; I got up, and took it oil', and found this 
 cafe which I examined at my leifure !” 
 
 Wbilft he was (hewing us the mechanifm of 
 ibis window, the Englifliman was (landing be¬ 
 hind us in deep thought. “ Look here my lord,” 
 I faid to him. “ I fee,” he replied, tc but I am 
 thinking of this young man ; fee how honour¬ 
 ably he has adled in this difcovery. He does 
 
 not think, I am certain, that this a&ion is an ad 
 of heroifm at this particular moment. He was 
 alone, and might without fear of difcovery, 
 without ever being fufpeded, have put this cafe 
 into his pocket, it would have been a fortune 
 to him.”— <c Yes, but how acquired ?”*— <c With 
 lefs criminality than many jufl: now. For how 
 many men in his (ituation would have reafoned 
 thus : c Fortune gives me an opportunity of en¬ 
 riching myfelf, without injuring any body ; thefe 
 jewels actually belong to the Aate, which knows 
 
 not 
 
OF THE TUILFR.IES. 
 
 349 
 
 not that it pofleffes them. Their value is too 
 fmali to do any benefit, to fingle citizens, if it 
 was divided amongfl individuals, while it is flili 
 capable of making the fortune of me and mine* 
 It is then allowable for me to keep thefe jewels; 
 for I am robbing nobody, not even the nation* 
 fince {he knows nothing of thefe riches/ This 
 is the falfe argument which many would hold 
 out, and which I fhould perhaps rnyfelf under 
 the fame circum^hnce3. ?, 
 
 At the end of thefe reflections we were rejoined 
 by the commiflary, who had been telling the 
 virtuous young man to carry the cafe to the 
 committee. I imparted to him the furprife and 
 reflections of my lord. cc You will flili more 
 admire this trait of the young man’s character, 
 he replied, cc when I fhall tell you his fituation 
 in life. Alexis is his name. His father* who 
 was formerly a counfeller in a bailiwick of Lor¬ 
 raine, had thrown away 15,000 crowns, which 
 was the all he had for his family, and was now 
 fupported as was his wife, by their fon, who 
 followed the profeflion of an advocate in the 
 fame town. The old man had another fon, but 
 he was a thoughdefs, wild young man, and eroded 
 the feas. The eftablifhment of juflices of the 
 
 3 
 
 peace 
 
350 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 peace having diminifhed the profits of the advo¬ 
 cates, Alexis could not now earn fufficient for the 
 maintenance of himfelf and his parents. He then 
 folicited for and obtained a clerk’s place in the 
 adminiflration of the lottery. He came to Paris 
 early in lafl October in order to enter into his 
 place, and met with a deputy of his own coun¬ 
 try. This man difl'uaded him from entering into 
 the employment of the lottery, on account of its 
 going to be fuppreffed, and offered him the 
 place of a fecretary to the commifiion employed 
 to examine and take an inventory of the papers 
 found in the Tuilleries, and other palaces, with 
 an appointment of a iooo crowns. Alexis 
 thanked him, and accepted his offer from two 
 motives, as he told me •, the firff, becaufe his 
 pay was better than he fhould have had in the 
 employment of the lottery $ the fecond, becaufe 
 his prefent office gave him an opportunity of be¬ 
 coming acquainted with the tranfa£lions of the 
 court and the revolution. 
 
 <c The only condition of his bargain which he 
 difliked was the being obliged to have himfelf 
 admitted into the fociety of the jacobins ; but 
 he muff fupport his parents, and fo he fubmitted 
 to any thing. He fends them exa&Iy the half 
 
 of 
 
OF THE TUI LURIES. ^ 5 * 
 
 of his pay. The deputies after having paid fome 
 attention to his manner of proceeding in his em¬ 
 ployment, left it entirely to him ; for a month 
 pad the bufinefs has all been in his own hands, 
 and he never fees them, only when they give 
 their fignatures and inflrudtions about the papers. 
 In order to accelerate the bufinefs, they propofed 
 to him to have an office and fome clerks; but 
 
 as at the fame time they demanded of him fe- 
 crecy upon the contents of the papers, and made 
 him refponfible for the flighted indifcretion con¬ 
 cerning them, he anfwered, c Whilft I am alone 
 I can enfure fecrecy, and be walling to fubmit to 
 puniffiment if I betray it; if I take any clerks 
 they may prove indifcreet, and you may accufe 
 •me of their faults ; fo take your choice, either 
 leave the work entirely to me, or receive my re- 
 fignation, if you infill on my having any col¬ 
 leagues. 5 They left him to himfelf, and I affure 
 you he has made good ufe of his time. He goes 
 to work by eight o’clock in the morning, and 
 does not leave off till ten at night, except one 
 hour at dinner time. Sometimes he paffes many 
 fucceffive nights without taking more than two 
 hours deep on the queen’s bed, upon which 
 he lies down with his cloaths on. They are fur- 
 
 prifed 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 IP 
 
 prifed at the expedition he ufes in his employ¬ 
 ment. Six weeks only he has been in office* 
 and he is ready to give an account of 400 paper 
 cafes, all filled, which he has put into order.— 
 He is gifted with a great quicknefs of appre- 
 henfion, with a ftrong and happy memory, and 
 a lingular facility at forwarding any employ¬ 
 ment.”— <c Add,” faid Lord Bedfort, “ with an 
 honefty which is proof againft all temptations ; 
 we have had a proof of it.”— 1cc I will give you an 
 infiance alfo of his firmnefs ; you will fee that 
 he is not afraid of expofmg himfelf to the re- 
 fentment of men in power in the difcharge of 
 
 his duty. 
 
 « About a fortnight ago the minifter Roiland 
 came into this room, which is the one where 
 Alexis works. c Are you at work upon the in¬ 
 ventory of papers ?* he afked.—— c cs I am, citi¬ 
 zen. c Have you round any of my letieiS to 
 the king?’— c Not one.’— c I know that there 
 are fome here.*—' c 1 hat may be, I have not 
 yet examined all the papers/—-(Alexis had al¬ 
 ready feen two, they were in the paper cafe 
 which you fee entitled, Letters from different 
 perfons to Louis XVI., but out of refpeft to the 
 
 minifter, and the fecrecy by which he was bound, 
 
 he 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 353 
 
 he believed it his duty to difown having feen 
 them.) c I have been told that you had al¬ 
 ready found fome of them. 5 — c You mud have 
 been told wrong; for had it even been the cafe, 
 I fhould not have mentioned it. 5 The minider, 
 whild fpeaking, examined the titles of the paper 
 cafes, and was going to take one from its dielf; 
 Alexis, who had hitherto been fitting at his 
 defk, ran up to him, faying, 6 I beg of you, 
 citizen, not to touch a fingle paper cafe ; I am 
 ordered not to let a fingle one be feen by 
 
 r 
 
 any body. 5 - c Don’t you know who I am ?’ 
 
 — c Yes I do, you are the citizen Rolland, 
 minider of the interior. 5 — c Well then, you 
 ought to know that every thing that is in this 
 palace is under my care. 5 —I know that the 
 building and the furniture are under the govern¬ 
 ment of your minidry; but I alfo know that 
 the commidion charged with the inventory of 
 the papers by the convention is independent of it. 5 
 — c I know nothing of that commidion.’ 
 
 Rolland was going to puli down a paper cafe. 
 Alexis got between the minider and the dielf, 
 and, repeating to him his requed not to touch any 
 thing, begged of him not to put him to the ne- 
 cedity of preventing him from fo doing. The 
 vol. i. a a pofition, 
 
354 
 
 THE CASTLE 
 
 pofition, and la ft fentence of Alexis, inflamed 
 the ire of the minifter, and he feized him by the 
 collar, in order to drive him away, exclaiming, 
 c It looks well indeed for a petty clerk to want 
 to impofe laws on the minifter Rolland V — c I 
 do not pretend to impofe laws, I am only a fentinel 
 who muft guard what is configned to his trull. 5 
 When Rolland caught Alexis by the collar, 
 Alexis laid hold of both his arms, and, being 
 ftronger than the minifter, he held him motion- 
 lefs whilft he added, c I beg your pardon, citi¬ 
 zen minifter, but fince arguments fail, I am re¬ 
 duced to calling in my phyfical powers for pre¬ 
 venting your touching any thing here/ 
 
 “ Alexis has told me fince, that he was refolved 
 on putting Rolland out of the room, if he had 
 been driven to it, in fpite of the danger which 
 he knew he was running. c I knew,’ faid he, 
 c that I was a loft man. Rolland, an all-power¬ 
 ful minifter, with the reputation of virtue, could 
 by a fmgle word crufh a poor clerk like myfelf, 
 without fupport or friends. I fhould have been 
 pitied, but I fhould have been facrifrced ; many 
 even might have blamed me. Happily for me, 
 at the moment of our ftruggle, came in two 
 deputies, and three other perfons, who flood 
 
 thunder- 
 
OP THE TUILERIES. 
 
 355 
 
 thunderftruck at what they beheld. I let go my 
 hold/ faid Alexis, c and the minifter did the 
 fame/ 4 What does ail this mean ?’ afked the 
 deputy L . . . . Rolland, naturally pale, was 
 crimfon with paffion. He repeated with great 
 exactnefs what had happened. When he had 
 done fpeaking, L . . . . . afked if the minifler 
 had fpoken the truth. Alexis replied that he had. 
 
 “ L in a tone of firmnefs, then faid, 
 
 c It is furprifmg that a minifler fhould forget 
 his dignity, and feek to take advantage of the 
 fuperiority of his fituation, to make a clerk fore¬ 
 go his duty. I praile Alexis as much as I blame 
 you ; and here in your prefence I charge him 
 at his peril to fuffer any perfon, particularly your- 
 felf, to fee a fmgle paper. You know better 
 than any body elfe that the inventory of the 
 papers does not in any fhape concern you ; and 
 that our having here eftablifhed our office, is 
 only from the neceffity we are under of making 
 a fearch for the papers which are fcattered about 
 this caflle. Think what would be the confe- 
 quence to yourfelf, if I were now to go to the 
 convention, and report what has juft happened ; 
 but do not be afraid I fhould ; I attribute what 
 you have done rather to a guff of temper, than 
 anv worfe motive/ Rolland left the room 
 
 v 
 
 A A 2 Without 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 35 6 
 
 without fpeaking, quite cad down by what had 
 been faid to him.” 
 
 Alexis came in a^ain at this moment with 
 
 O 
 
 the cafe, which he had been directed to place in 
 the treafury of precious articles which were 
 every day collecting. Lord Bedfort went up to 
 him, cs Rare young man,” he faid to him, cc I 
 am proud to become acquainted with you. What 
 I have juft feen and heard has won you my efteem. 
 It is not impoftible but that your ftriCt honeftv 
 may bring upon you forne perfecutions, and 
 oblige you to leave France. If this misfortune 
 happens to you, choofe England for your land 
 of refuge. The houfe of Bedfort fhall always 
 be open to you; my efteem and friendlhip are 
 already yours for ever.” Alexis in furprife 
 thanked my lord, whom he had never before 
 feen. We informed him of what had juft 
 patTed ; he then again thanked him, and added, 
 cc What I have done, my lord, was only na¬ 
 tural ; you would have done the fame in my 
 place.”’— cc With regard to thefe diamonds, I 
 don’t know what I fhould have done.” 
 
 “ Thefe diamonds, then, are all that are now 
 remaining of the immenfe quantity which the king 
 and his family poffeifed ?” 
 
 tc Very 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 357 
 
 44 Very nearly all,” replied the commiffary; 
 64 they difcovered yefterday that a jeweller had 
 a few belonging to madame. The jeweller 
 wifhed to have kept them in order to reflore 
 them to the king’s daughter ; but a law, which 
 orders all thofe who are in poffeffion of any ef- 
 fe£ts belonging to the royal family to come and 
 make declaration of the fame to us, made him 
 fo uneafy that he went to hold a confutation 
 with a lawyer haw to hide his negleft of the 
 decree. This is the turn which the affair took. 
 He went to a man in the law named Laroque, 
 who was alfo the firfl clerk of the commiffion 
 of refponfibility, and imparted to him his wifh, 
 and his fears upon it. 4 Do not be alarmed,’ 
 was the anfwer, 4 I’ll put you under the wind, 
 never fear; and dire&ly he wrote, 44 Such of 
 the council as are here underfigned, after having 
 read a cafe prefented by The cit. Loir, &c. ? ’ I 
 will tell you the excellent artifice ufed by this 
 counfellor, who gives you the refult of the opi¬ 
 nion of feveral men of law, and at the fame time 
 fjgns the opinion for them all. 
 
 44 It is an inconteflible truth that the king 
 is to the nation as king ; whence it follows, that 
 the moment he leaves the throne to have no more 
 
 a a 3 fucoeffors, 
 
35^ the castle 
 
 fucceflors, every poffeflor of any articles reputed 
 to belong to the king, ought to bring them to 
 the nation. But it is an equal truth, that Louis 
 XVI. in quitting the throne deprived his daughter 
 neither of the rank of citizen, nor of the ad¬ 
 vantages which that title binds to her ; of which 
 number is the right of pofleffing property. She 
 Is then the proprietrefs of the diamonds and jewels 
 belonging to an egret which was given to her 
 by her grandmother, and other jewels given to 
 her by her father and her mother. Confequently 
 the citizen Loir ought to look upon himfelf as 
 the holder in trufl of thefe articles, which he is 
 to give up only to the proprietrefs herfelf, or to 
 any one empowered by her to receive the fame. 
 Thus refolved at Paris this 6th of Nov. 1792.” 
 
 <c It was with fuch falfe reafoning as this that the 
 advocate Laroque wanted toperfuade the jeweller 
 of his fafety. But he had read fomewhere that 
 a girl under fourteen years of age has not the 
 right of appointing an agent ; becaufe a minor 
 cannot do any thing in law of herfelf, nor can 
 at that age poffefs what is called goods, meaning 
 the fruit of honeft induftry. This the advocate 
 fo clearly faw himfelf, that he himfelf warned 
 the minifter of it, who had the jewels brought to 
 
 the 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 359 
 
 the common (lock. They confifted principally 
 of a necklace of thirty-one diamonds, a ring of 
 one brilliant, a watch-chain ornamented with 
 brilliants, a pair of earrings a-la-Mirza , and 
 thirteen diamonds not let. All thefe diamonds 
 originally compofed the egret which the emprefs 
 her grandmother and godmother had given her 
 as a prefent at her birth.” 
 
 “ Since we are here in the queen’s drefTmg- 
 room, let us examine it,” faid the Englifhman. 
 ~ cc With all my heart, particularly as we have 
 nothing to fee in the room we have juft left.”— 
 cc See how this room is furrounded.”—“ Here 
 are all round a kind of clofets of a moft beautiful 
 wood, in which the queen’s clothes were locked 
 up. They are hill full of them.” The commif- 
 fary opened feveral, and the Englifhman examined 
 with the greatefl attention and exa&nefs all the 
 drefles they contained. A pair of dimity flays 
 feemed mofl to (trike him. He took them up, 
 and, after having turned them round and round, 
 he faid to us; “ You muft laugh at feeing the 
 attention I am paying to thefe trifles ; I wanted to 
 have ocular conviction of what has been told 
 me. I have laid a bet upon it.”-— cc Upon what ?” 
 —'“ I betted, before I left London, with a certain 
 
 A A 4 lord, 
 
360 THE CASTLE 
 
 lord, that the queen of France was deformed, 
 and I engaged to bring home a proof of it at my 
 return. And here I have the proof in this pair 
 of flays. Look at this fhoulder, how much fluff¬ 
 ing there is upon it, while there is none on the 
 other. So no doubt but the queen had one 
 Ihoulder higher than the other /’— 66 We certainly 
 have no doubt of it,” was our anfwer. “ Princes 
 have bodily defeats as well as cabinet fecrets ; 
 and they are much better known in foreign 
 countries, than in their own court.”—“ If you 
 wifi), in order to gain flill more certain in¬ 
 formation on the fubjeft, to have fome conver- 
 fation with the queen’s mantua-maker, I will 
 give you her addrefs.”—- u You will do me a 
 favour ; and now I want to all; of you how I 
 can make this pair of hays my own ?”— et No¬ 
 thing fo eafy ; to-morrow I will put it up to 
 auction with fome other articles of female drefs*. 
 
 The 
 
 * The fale of the furniture of the Tuileries was in the 
 fpring of 1793 > an ^ LILd f JX months. A new adminiitration 
 having taken the place of the commiffion put a itop to the 
 auction, which was not half over. What remained of furni- 
 ture, linen, and other effects, was referred for the wants of 
 the committees of the convention. Notwithftanding the 
 immenfe quantity of furniture remaining, all was put into 
 ufe ; it would be difficult to fay by what means. What 
 always furprized me was the low price at which the king’s 
 
 wardrobe 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 36l 
 
 The fale is public ; you will buy it, and the 
 auctioneer will give you an extract from his Nook 
 of fale, in which it fhali be mentioned that thefe 
 flays ufed to be worn by the queen. You muft 
 add to this the teftimony of the mantua-maker, 
 and your wager will be won.”— cc Your advice is 
 good, I will follow it.” 
 
 Two fmall paintings ornamented the queen’s 
 drefling-room ; one was a vafe of flowers by 
 madame Lebrun ; the other the portrait of a 
 little lap-dog, of which the queen was very fond. 
 They had both been run through with pikes. 
 “ What a pity,” faid Lord Bedfort ; “ to what 
 will not the fury of the people extend 1 There 
 are doubtlefs in this palace pictures of value. 
 
 wardrobe fold. Each cloth coat with a pair of breeches of 
 the fame fetched from about 80 to an ico livres ; his 
 embroidered coats fold Hill worfe : I faw ijo livres given 
 for that worked in peacock’s feathers, which coll i 5,000 
 livres ; and 1 20 for that embroidered in every kind of dower, 
 for which the king had paid 30,000 livres. It was the fame 
 perfon who bought all the embroidered coats. The ward¬ 
 robes of the queen and madame Elizabeth fold much better. 
 I had always thought that there would be a great concourfe 
 of people crouding to this auction, and that every thing 
 which had belonged to the royal family would fell very dear; 
 but I was furprized to fee at it only pawn-brokets, who 
 frequent all fales, and a few private people who bought 
 nothing. 
 
 which 
 
362 THE CASTLE 
 
 which ornament the apartments ; did they ttiare 
 the effe&s of the fame fury ?”—“ Happily not , 
 thefe are the only ones which are damaged. 
 What few mafter-pieces there were here of this 
 kind, are carried to the mufeum, where they are 
 put up. They are; the family of Darius at the 
 feet of Alexander, by Lebrun ; the pilgrims of 
 Ernmaus, by Paul Veronefe; the rape of De- 
 janira by the centaur Neflus, by Guido Rene ; 
 one of the labours of Hercules,—Hercules on the 
 funeral pile, by the fame matter; Vulcan forging 
 the arms of Achilles, by Vandyke; and iEneas 
 carrying his father Anchifes, by Carraccio.”—• 
 “ As there is nothing more worth notice in this 
 room, let us go on. 5 ’ 
 
 cc Stop a minute ; there is in this room a large 
 clofet, hid by a door, which I fhould like you to 
 look for/’-— cc I may look indeed on all Tides, 
 but I fee neither joints nor lock. 5 ’—“ Prefs upon 
 that nail. 5 '—The Englishman did as he had been 
 dire&ed ; and immediately part of the clofet 
 fpringing forward, and a pannel of the wood¬ 
 work opening of itfelf, prefented to our fight a 
 clofet of about feven feet in depth, and five in 
 width. No crevice, no crack blabbed that there 
 was a clofet of the kind concealed there. This 
 
 place 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 
 
 3 6 3 
 
 place was known by fcarcely any body except the 
 queen herfelf; and I am perfuaded that the 
 royal family might have hid themfelves in it 
 without any fear of a difcovery. The crowd of 
 infurgents, and the curious fearched the palace 
 all over; this bye-place alone efcaped their in- 
 quifitivenefs. It would have been Hill unknown, 
 if that valet of the king’s, whom I have already 
 mentioned to you, had not pointed it out to me. 
 We have transformed it into our magazine for 
 fuch valuable articles as we are every day finding. 
 As the honefty of Alexis is well known to us, 
 we have entrulled it to his guardianfhip. This 
 is the reafon of his writing in this room. The 
 box which he is now going to depofit there will 
 almoft double the value of what it already con¬ 
 tains. Come near, and you will fee that every 
 thing has not been flolen out of the Tuileries.” 
 
 I went in with the Englifhman. A pile of plate 
 half filled the place, and we looked into fome 
 cafes which contained jewels of all kinds. 
 
 “ Where is the place of depofit to which you 
 fend thefe things ?”— cc The gold and filver are 
 fent to the mint, after we have had them weighed 
 by Auguftus, the filverfmith to the crown. The 
 diamonds and jewels are carried to a fund re¬ 
 fer ved 
 
THE CASTLE 
 
 3 6 4 
 
 ferved for emergencies, whence part of them will 
 be drawn for exchanges.* 
 
 « I ought to obferve to you that all the arti¬ 
 cles of value which you fee do not turn to the 
 benefit of the nation : fome of them belong to 
 individuals who inhabited the caftle; that is 
 the reafon they have labels upon them to fay in 
 what apartments in the palace each was found. 
 When the proprietor of any of them brings us a 
 proof of its belonging to him, we give it up to 
 him. Yefterday, for example, we delivered up to 
 madame deMackaw two dozen table cloths with 
 her arms upon them.”—“ I think you mult of¬ 
 ten make miflakes in this bufmefs.”—< c Indeed 
 
 * Thofe two beautiful diamonds, which the queen wore as 
 car-rings, were given in exchange to a foreign power, in 1794, 
 for fome corn with which it furnifhed France. To the fame ufe 
 was put the harnefs of the eight horfes of the facred carriage. 
 Now we mention that immenfe carriage, I will tell you what 
 became of it ; after having been examined by the painter 
 David, to afcertain the value of the paintings on the pannels, 
 which were thought to be very valuable, and which he de¬ 
 cided to be very ordinary, he fcratched them out with the 
 point of a knife, and the coaeh was cut up, in order to pull 
 off all the gold with which it was ornamented. All the iron 
 about it which was gilt was fent to the mint, to have this 
 precious metal feparated from it, and tlie reft of its fragments 
 were fold for lefs than 2CO livres. I am not able to fay how 
 much they made in the whole of this carriage, which, with 
 the harnefs, originally coil above 150,000 livres. 
 
 we 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 365 
 
 we do: with regard to the linen there is no dif- 
 
 * 
 
 ficulty; but with regard to the furniture we are 
 often puzzled. When there is any doubt, for 
 fear of getting ourfelves blamed, we refer to the 
 minifter, and then refufe or grant, according to 
 his order.”—“ Pray why is there fo much diffi¬ 
 culty with regard to the furniture ?” 
 
 “ I’ll tell you.—All thofe who inhabit any of 
 the palaces have furniture found them by the king; 
 the perfon who has the care of the furniture being 
 ordered to fuppiy them with whatever is necef- 
 fary. Sometimes it happens that what is fur- 
 nifhed does not fatisfy the perfon it is for, and 
 that the perfon who has the care of the furni¬ 
 ture is unprovided with what is wanted; one of 
 thefe two cafes then takes place; either the perfon 
 who wants them has them made and buys them, 
 or they are made and put into the king’s bill. In 
 the fir ft cafe, they are his own property ; but in 
 
 the fecond, if he is in a hurry to ufe them, they 
 are immediately carried into his apartments in- 
 ftead of being firft fent to the perfon who has 
 the cafe of the furniture to be damped. Now 
 as alinoft all the new furniture has not the mark 
 of the crown upon it, and as we are neverthelefs 
 certain that very little of it belongs to the pri- 
 
 1 
 
 vate 
 
3 66 THE CASTLE 
 
 vate perfons who lived in the palace, we are 
 very much puzzled, becaufe many of thefe per¬ 
 fons lay claim to every thing that has no damp 
 upon it. Upon every demand, we are obliged 
 to make him who had the care -of the furniture 
 produce his inventory, which has for feveral 
 years been kept in the moft diforderly manner. 
 When it does not clear up the point, we alk 
 the claimant t j fliew us his bill from the maker 
 of the article, and on feeing this we deliver it up. 
 But that is of little ufe ; for he who is ill difpofed 
 enough to claim what does not belong to him, 
 eafily produces a falfe bill; and the honed man 
 who has perhaps neglected to take care of his 
 bills, lofes what really belongs to him. We have 
 in vain requeded leave to grant or refufe accord¬ 
 ing to the character of the claimant. The mi- 
 nider won’t liden to this expedient, and an- 
 fwers us that the chara&er of perfons belonging 
 to the court is the viled of all titles. This de- 
 cifion of the minider’s is not known, and we 
 are often obliged to fall under the hatred or 
 contempt of thofe whom we deprive of their pro¬ 
 perty. I adure you that with the very bed in¬ 
 tentions, the mod fcrupulous equity, and the 
 mod loyal candour, we gather many more thorns 
 
 than 
 
OF THE TUILERIES. 367 
 
 than rofes in our office, of which the annual 
 emolument amounts only to 3,600 livres. 
 
 “ I mud warn you that to-morrow my occu¬ 
 pations call me away from hence. I have bud- 
 nefs at Luxembourg, and at the fmall (tables in 
 the Fauxbourg Saint Dennis; if you fhould 
 like to fee the carriages and fledges of the court, 
 come and meet me at the latter of thofe two 
 places about noon.”— “ I fhall come with plea- 
 fure, provided our prefence is no interrup¬ 
 tion to you.”— <c To-morrow I fhall expert 
 to fee you.” 
 
 END OF THE FIRST VOLUME, 
 
 Printed by A Srralun, 
 Printers-Street. 
 

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RARE BOOK 
 COLLECTION 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 AT 
 
 CHAPEL HILL 
 LIBRARY 
 
 Hoyt 
 1759 
 v. 1 
 
iw A