The Life of Marie Antoinette

by Charles Duke Yonge

  [12] 1789, see ante, p. 256.

  [13] Date February 18th, 1791, Feuillet de Conches, i., p. 465.

  [14] "Mirabeau et La Marck," ii., p., 216 date February 3d, 1791.

  CHAPTER XXX. [1] Feuillet de Conches, ii., p. 14, date March 7th.

  [2] Arneth, p. 146, letter of the queen to Leopold, February 27th, 1791.

  [3] Feuillet de Conches, ii., p. 20, date March 20th, 1791.

  [4] Letter of M. Simolin, the Russian embassador, April 4th, 1791, Feuillet de Conches, ii., p. 31.

  [5] "Souvenirs sur Mirabeau," par Etienne Dumont, p. 201.

  [6] In her letter to Mercy of August 16th, of which extracts are given in ch. xi., she takes credit for having encountered the dangers of the journey to Montmedy for the sake of "the public welfare."

  [7] Arneth, p. 155.

  [8] Letter of Leopold to Marie Antoinette, date May 2d, 1791, Arneth, p. 162.

  [9] "Cette demarche est le terme extreme de reussir ou perir. Les choses en sont-elles au point de rendre ce risque indispensable?"-Mercy to Marie Antoinette, May 11th, 1791, Arneth, p. 163.

  [10] The day on which the king and she had been prevented from going to St. Cloud.

  [11] The king.

  CHAPTER XXXI. [1] Chambrier, ii., p. 86-88.

  [2] Lamartine's "Histoire des Girondins," ii., p. 15.

  [3] Moore's "View," ii., p. 367.

  [4] The Palais Royal had been named the Palais National. All signs with the portraits of the king or queen, all emblems of royalty, had been torn down. A shop-keeper was even obliged to erase his name from his shop because it was Louis.-MOORE'S View, etc., ii., p. 356.

  CHAPTER XXXII. [1] A certain set of writers in this country at one time made La Fayette a subject for almost unmixed eulogy, with such earnestness that it may be worth while to reproduce the opinion expressed of him by the greatest of his contemporaries-a man as acute in his penetration into character as he was stainless in honor-the late Duke of Wellington. In the summer of 1815, he told Sir John Malcolm that "he had used La Fayette like a dog, as he merited. The old rascal," said he, "had made a false report of his mission to the Emperor of Russia, and I possessed complete evidence of his having done so. I told him, the moment he entered, of this fact; I did not even state it in the most delicate manner. I told him he must be sensible he had made a false report. He made no answer." And the duke bowed him out of the room with unconcealed scorn.-Kaye's Life of Sir J. Malcolm, ii., p. 109.

  [2] Lamartine calls the Cordeliers the Club of Coups-de-main, as he calls the Jacobins the Club of Radical Theories.-Histoire des Girondins, xvi., p. 4.

  [3] Dr. Moore, ii., p. 372; Chambrier, ii., p. 142.

  [4] Mercy to Marie Antoinette, May 16th, Feuillet de Conches, ii., p. 60.

  [5] Ibid., p. 140.

  [6] A resolution, that is, to recognize the Constitution.

  [7] Arneth, p. 188; Feuillet de Conches, ii, p. 186.

  [8] The letter took several days to write, and was so interrupted that portions of it have three different dates affixed, August 16th, 21st, 26th. Mercy's letter, which incloses Burke's memorial, is dated the 20th, from London, so that the first portion of the queen's letter can not be regarded as an intentional answer to Burke's arguments, though it is so, as embodying all the reasons which influenced the queen.

  [9] The manifesto which he left behind him when starting for Montmedy.

  [10] The king.

  [11] Feuillet de Conches, ii., p. 228; Arneth, p. 203.

  [12] The Emperor Leopold died March 1st, 1792.

  [13] The declaration of Pilnitz, drawn up by the emperor and the King of Prussia at a personal interview, August 21st, 1791, did not in express words denounce the new Constitution (which, in fact, they had not seen), but, after declaring "the situation of the King of France to be a matter of common interest to all European sovereigns," and expressing a hope that "the reality of that interest will be duly appreciated by the other powers whose assistance they invoke," they propose that those other powers "shall employ, in conjunction with their majesties, the most efficacious means, in order to enable the King of France to consolidate in the most perfect liberty the foundation of a monarchical government, conformable alike to the rights of sovereigns and the well-being of the French nation."- Alison, ch. ix., Section 90.

  [14] Arneth, p. 208.

  [15] Ibid, p. 210; Feuillet de Conches, ii., p. 325.

  [16] Letter, date December 3d, 1791. Feuillet de Conches, iv., p. 278.

  [17] Madame de Campan, ch xix.

  [18] "Leurs touffes de cheveux noirs volaient dans la salle, eux seuls a cette epoque avaient quitte l'usage de poudrer les cheveux."-Note on the Passage by Madame de Campan, ch xix.

  [19] This first Assembly, as having framed the Constitution, is often called the Constituent Assembly; the second, that which was about to meet, being distinguished as the Legislative Assembly.

  CHAPTER XXXIII. [1] "Memoires Particuliers," etc., par A.F. Bertrand de Moleville, i., p. 355. Brissot, Isnard, Vergniaud, Gaudet, and an infamous ecclesiastic, the Abbe Fauchet, are those whom he particularly mentions, adding: "Mais M. de Lessart trouva que c'etait les payer trop cher, et comme ils ne voulurent rien rabattre de leur demande, cette negociation n'eut aucune suite, et ne produisit d'autre effet que d'aigrir davantage ces cinq deputes contre ce ministre."

  [2] Feuillet de Conches, ii., p.414, date October 4th: "Je pense qu'au fond le bon bourgeois et le bon peuple ont toujours ete bien pour nous."

  [3] "Memoires Particuliers," etc., par A.F. Bertrand de Moleville, i., p. 10-12. It furnishes a striking proof of the general accuracy of Dr. Moore's information, that he, in his "View" (ii., p. 439), gives the name account of this conversation, his work being published above twenty years before that of M. Bertrand de Moleville.

  [4] "La reine lui repondit par un sourire de pitie, et lui demanda s'il etait fou.... C'est par la reine elle-meme que, le lendemain de cette etrange scene, je fus instruit de tous les details que je viens de rapporter."-BERTRAND DE MOLEVILLE, i., p. 126.

  [5] She herself called him so on this occasion, and he belonged to the Jacobin Club; but he was also one of the Girondin party, of which, indeed, he was one of the founders, and it was as a Girondin that he was afterward pursued to death by Robespierre.

  [6] Narrative of the Comte Valentin Esterhazy, Feuillet de Conches, iv., p. 40.

  [7] The queen spoke plainly to her confidants: "M. de La Fayette will only be the Mayor of Paris that he may the sooner become Mayor of the Palace. Petion is a Jacobin, a republican; but he is a fool, incapable of ever becoming the leader of a party. He would be a nullity as mayor, and, besides, the very interest which he knows we take in his nomination may bind him to the king."-Lamartine's Histoire des Girondins vi., p.22.

  [8] "Elle [Madame d'Ossun, dame d'atours de la reine] m'a dit, il y a trois semaines, que le roi et la reine avaiet ete neuf jours sans un sou." Letter of the Prince de Nassau-Siegen to the Russian Empress Catherine, Feuillet de Conches, iv., p. 316; of also Madame de Campan, ch. xxi.

  [9] Letter of the Princess to Madame de Bombelles, Feuillet de Conches, v., p.267.

  [10] "N'est-il pas bien gentil, mon enfant?"-Memoires Particuliers, p. 235.

  [11] See two most insolent letters from the Count de Provence and Count d'Artois to Louis XVI, Feuillet de Conches, v., pp. 260, 261.

  [12] Feuillet de Conches, iv., p. 291

  CHAPTER XXXIV. [1] Letter to Madame de Polignac, March 17th, Feuillet de Conches, v., p. 337.

  [2] The Monks of St. Bernard were known as Feuillants, from Feuillans, a village in Languedoc where their principal convent was situated.

  [3] Lamartine, "Histoire des Girondins," xiii., p.18.

  [4] The messenger was M. Goguelat: he took the name of M. Daumartin, and adhered to the cause of his sovereigns to the last moment of their lives.

  [5] Letter of the Count de Fersen, who was at Brussels, to Gustavus (who, however, was dead before it could reach him), dated March 24th, 1792. In many
respects the information De Fersen sends to his king tallies precisely with that sent by Breteuil to the emperor; he only adds a few circumstances which had not reached the baron.

  [6] Afterward Louis Philippe, King of the French, who was himself driven from the throne by insurrection above half a century afterward.

  [7] Madame de Campan, ch. xx.

  [8] Ibid., ch. XIX.

  [9] "Vie de Dumouriez," ii, p. 163, quoted by Marquis de Ferrieres, Feuillet de Conches, and several other writers.

  [10] Even Lamartine condemns the letter, the greater part of which he inserts in his history as one in which "the threat is no less evident than the treachery."-Histoire des Girondins, xiii., p. 16.

  CHAPTER XXXV. [1] "Gare la Lanterne," alluding to the use of the chains to which the street-lamps were suspended as gibbets.

  [2] Madame de Campan, ch. xxi.

  [3] Dumas, "Memoirs of his Own Time," i., p. 353.

  CHAPTER XXXVI. [1] To be issued by the foreign powers.

  [2] Feuillet de Conches, vi., p. 192, and Arneth, p. 265.

  [3] The day is not mentioned. "Lettres de la Reine Marie Antoinette a la Landgravine Louise," etc. p. 47.

  [4] The bearer was Prince George himself, but she does not venture to name him more explicitly.

  [5] Lamourette might correspond to the English name Lovekin.

  [6] Letter of the Princess Elizabeth, date July 16th, 1792, Feuillet de Conches, vi., p. 215.

  [7] It is remarkable, however, that, if we are to take Lamartine as a guide in any respect, and he certainly was not in intention unfavorable to La Fayette, the marquis was even now playing a double game. Speaking of this very proposal, he says: "La Fayette himself did not disguise his ambition for a protectorate under Louis XVI. At the very moment when he seemed devoted to the preservation of the king he wrote thus to his confidante, La Colombe: 'In the matter of liberty I do not trust myself either to the king or any other person, and if he were to assume the sovereign, I would fight against him as I did in 1789.'"-Histoire des Girondins, xvii., p.7 (English translation). It deserves remark, too, if his words are accurately reported, that the only occasion 1789 on which he "fought against" Louis must have been October 5th and 6th, when he professed to be using every exertion for his safety.

  [8] M. Bertrand expressly affirms the insurrection of August 10th to have been almost exclusively the work of the Girondin faction.-Memoires Particuliers, ii., p. 122.

  [9] Memoires Particuliers, ii., p. 132.

  [10] "Memoires Particuliers," p. 111.

  CHAPTER XXXVII. [1] See ante.

  [2] "Histoire de la Terreur," par Mortimer Ternaux, ii., p. 269. For the transactions of this day, and of the following months, he is by far the most trustworthy guide, as having had access to official documents of which earlier writers were ignorant. But he admits the extreme difficulty of ascertaining the precise details and time of each event. And it is not easy in every instance to reconcile his account with that of Madame de Campan, on whom for many particulars he greatly relies. He differs from her especially as to the hour at which the different occurrences of this day took place. For instance, he says (p. 268, note 2) that Mandat left the Tuileries a little after five, while Madame de Campan says it was four o'clock when the queen told her he had been murdered. Both, however, agree that it was soon after eight o'clock when the king left the palace.

  [3] "A quatre heures la reine sortit de la chambre du roi, et vint nous dire qu'elle n'esperait plus rien; que M. Mandat venait d'etre assassine."-MADAME DE CAMPAN, ch. xxi.

  [4] "La Terreur," viii., p. 4.

  [5] It is clear that this is the opinion formed by M Mortimer Ternaux. He sums up the fourth chapter of his eighth book with the conclusion that "le palais de la royaute ne fut pas enleve de vive force, mais abandonne par ordre de Louis XVI." And in a note he affirms that the entire number of killed and wounded on the part of the rioters did not exceed one hundred and sixty "en chiffres ronds."

  [6] Bertrand de Moleville, ch. xxvii.

  [7] Madame de Campan, ch. xxi.

  CHAPTER XXXVIII. [1] "Dernieres Annees du Regne et de la Vie de Louis XVI.," par Francois Hue, p. 336.

  [2] For about a fortnight they had two, both men-Hue, the valet to the dauphin, as well as Clery; but Hue was removed on the 2d of September. He, as well as Clery, has left an account of the imprisonment till the day of his dismissal.

  [3] "Journal de ce qui s'est passe a la tour du Temple," etc. p.28, seq.

  [4] "Memoires Particuliers," par Madame la Duchesse d'Angouleme, p. 21.

  [5] Decius was the hero whose example was especially invoked by Madame Roland. The historians of his own country had never accused him of murdering any one; but she, in the very first month of the Revolution, had called, with a very curious reading of history, for "some generous Decius to risk his life to take theirs" (the lives of the king and queen).

  [6] The princess told Clery, "La reine et moi nous nous attendons a tout, et nous ne nous faisons aucune illusion sur le sort qu'on prepare au roi," etc.-CLERY, p. 106.

  [7] "Memoires" de la Duchesse d'Angouleme, p. 53.

  CHAPTER XXXIX. [1] Clery's "Journal," p. 169.

  [2] In March, having an opportunity of communicating with the Count de Provence, she sent these precious memorials to him for safer custody, with a joint letter from herself and her three fellow-prisoners: "Having a faithful person on whom we can depend, I profit by the opportunity to send to my brother and friend this deposit, which may not be intrusted to any other hands. The bearer will tell you by what a miracle we were able to obtain these precious pledges. I reserve the name of him who is so useful to us, to tell it you some day myself. The impossibility which has hitherto existed of sending you any intelligence of us, and the excess of our misfortunes, make us feel more vividly our cruel separation. May it not lie long. Meanwhile I embrace you as I love you, and you know that that is with all my heart.-M.A." A line is added by the princess royal, and signed by her brother, as king, as well as by herself: "I am charged for my brother and myself to embrace you with all my heart.-M.T. [MARIA TERESA], LOUIS." And another by the Princess Elizabeth: "I enjoy beforehand the pleasure which you will feel in receiving this pledge of love and confidence. To be reunited to you and to see you happy is all that I desire. You know if I love you. I embrace you with all my heart.- E." The letters were shown by the Count de Provence to Clery, whom he allowed to take a copy of them.-CLERY'S Journal, p. 174.

  [3] "Memoires" de la Duchesse d'Angouleme, p. 56.

  [4] It was burned in 1871, in the time of the Commune.

  [5] Feuillet de Conches, vi., p. 499. The letter is neither dated nor signed.

  [6] Lanjuinais had subsequently the singular fortune of gaining the confidence of both Napoleon and Lounis XVIII. The decree against him was reversed in 1795, and he became a professor at Rennes. Though he had opposed the making of Napoleon consul for life, Napoleon gave him a place in his Senate; and at the first restoration, in 1814, Louis XVIII named him a peer of France. He died in 1827.

  [7] Some of the apologists of the Girondins-nearly all the oldest criminals of the Revolution have found defenders, except perhaps Marat and Robespierre-have affirmed that the Girondins, though they had not courage to give their votes to save the life of Louis, yet hoped to save him by voting for an appeal to the people; but the order in which the different questions were put to the Convention is a complete disproof of this plea. The first question put was, Was Louis guilty? They all voted "Oui" (Lacretelle, x., p. 403). But though on the second question, whether this verdict should be submitted to the people for ratification, many of them did vote for such an appeal being made, yet after the appeal had been rejected by a majority of one hundred and forty-two, and the third question, "What penalty shall be inflicted on Louis?" (Lacretelle, x., p. 441) was put to the Convention, they all except Lanjuinais voted for "death." The majorities were, on their question, 683 to 66; on the second, 423 to 281; on the third, 387 to 334; so that on this last, the fatal ques
tion, it would have been easy for the Girondins to have turned the scale. And Lamartine himself expressly affirms (xxxv., p.5) that the king's life depended on the Girondin vote, and that his death was chiefly owing to Vergniaud.

  [8] Goncourt, p. 370, quoting "Fragments de Turgy."

  [9] "S'en defaire."-Louis XVII., sa Vie, son Agonie, sa Mort, par M. de Beauchesne, quoting Senart. See Croker's "Essays on the Revolution," p. 266.

  [10] Duchesse d'Angouleme, p. 78.

  [11] See a letter from Miss Chowne to Lord Aukland, September 23d, 1793, Journal, etc., of Lord Aukland, ii., p. 517.

  [12] "Le peuple la recut non seulement comme une reine adoree, mais il semblait aussi qu'il lui savait gre d'etre charmante," p.5, ed. 1820.

  [13] Great interest was felt for her in England. In October Horace Walpole writes: "While assemblies of friends calling themselves men are from day to day meditating torment and torture for his [Louis XVI.'s] heroic widow, on whom, with all their power and malice, and with every page, footman, and chamber-maid of hers in their reach, and with the rack in their hands, they have not been able to fix a speck. Nay, do they not talk of the inutility of evidence? What other virtue ever sustained such an ordeal?" Walpole's testimony in such a matter is particularly valuable, because he had not only been intimately acquainted with all the gossip of the French capital for many years, but also because his principal friends in France did not belong to the party which might have been expected to be most favorable to the queen. Had there been the very slightest foundation for the calumnies which had been propagated against her, we may be sure that such a person as Madame du Deffand would not only have heard them, but would have been but too willing to believe them. His denunciation of them is a proof that she knew their falsehood.

  [14] Goncourt, p. 388, quoting La Quotidienne of October 17th, 18th.

  [15] The depositions which the little king had been compelled to sign contained accusations of his aunt as well as of his mother.

  [16] As we shall see in the close of the letter, she did not regard those priests who had taken the oath imposed by the Assembly, but which the Pope had condemned, as any longer priests.