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22 - Memoirs of the Court of Marie Antoinette by Henriette Campan · Memoirs of the Court of Marie Antoinette

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Speaker 1: Volume two, Chapter seven of Memoirs of the Court of
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Speaker 1: Marie Antoinette by Madame Coppin. This LibriVox recording is in
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Speaker 1: the public domain. Seven In the beginning of the spring
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Speaker 1: of seventeen ninety one, the King, tired of remaining at
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Speaker 1: the Tuillery, wished to return to Saint Loud. His whole
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Speaker 1: household was gone and his dinner was prepared there. He
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Speaker 1: got into his carriage at one the guard mutinied, shut
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Speaker 1: the gates and declared they would not let him pass.
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Speaker 1: This event certainly proceeded from some appearances of a plan
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Speaker 1: for an escape. Two persons who drew near the King's
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Speaker 1: carriage were very ill treated. My father in law was
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Speaker 1: violently laid hold of by the guard, who took his
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Speaker 1: sword from him. The King and his family were obliged
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Speaker 1: to alight and return to their apartments. They did not
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Speaker 1: much regret this outrage in their hearts. They saw in
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Speaker 1: it a justification, even in the eyes of the people,
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Speaker 1: of their intention to leave Paris. So early as the
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Speaker 1: money of March in the same year, the Queen began
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Speaker 1: to busy herself in preparing for her departure. I spent
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Speaker 1: that month with her and executed a great number of
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Speaker 1: secret orders which she gave me respecting the intended event.
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Speaker 1: It was with uneasiness that I saw her thus occupied
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Speaker 1: with cares which seemed to me useless and even dangerous,
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Speaker 1: and remarked to her that the Queen of France would
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Speaker 1: find linen and gowns everywhere My observations were made in vain.
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Speaker 1: She determined to have a complete wardrobe with her at Brussels,
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Speaker 1: as well as for her children as herself. I went
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Speaker 1: out alone and almost disguised, to purchase the articles necessary
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Speaker 1: and have them made up. I ordered six chemises at
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Speaker 1: the shop of one seamstress, six at that of another, gowns,
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Speaker 1: combing claws, et cetera. My sister had a complete set
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Speaker 1: of clothes made for Madame by the measure of her
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Speaker 1: eldest daughter, and I ordered clothes for the Dauphain from
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Speaker 1: those of my son. I filled a mail trunk with
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Speaker 1: these things, and addressed them, by the Queen's orders, to
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Speaker 1: one of her women, the widow of the Mayor of Arras,
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Speaker 1: where she lived, by virtue of an unlimited leave of absence,
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Speaker 1: in order that she might be ready to start for
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Speaker 1: Brussels or any other place as soon as she should
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Speaker 1: be directed to do so. This lady had landed property
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Speaker 1: in Austrian Flanders, and could at any time quitterras unobserved.
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Speaker 1: The Queen was to take only her first woman in
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Speaker 1: attendance with her from Paris. She apprised me that if
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Speaker 1: I should not be on duty at the moment of departure,
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Speaker 1: she would make arrangements for my joining her. She determined
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Speaker 1: also to take with her her traveling dressing case. She
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Speaker 1: consulted me upon her idea of sending it off under
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Speaker 1: pretense of making a present of it to the Archduchess Christina,
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Speaker 1: Governess of the Low Countries. I ventured to oppose this
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Speaker 1: plan strongly, and observed to her that amidst so many
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Speaker 1: people who watched her slightest actions, it might reasonably be
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Speaker 1: foreseen that there would be found a sufficient number sharp
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Speaker 1: sighted enough to discover that the word present was used
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Speaker 1: only as a pretense for sending away the property in question.
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Speaker 1: Before her departure, she persisted in her intention, and all
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Speaker 1: I could obtain was that the dressing case should not
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Speaker 1: be removed from her apartment, and a consent that Monsieur
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Speaker 1: de three Asterisks Charles da faire from the court of Vienna,
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Speaker 1: during the absence of the Count de Mercy, should come
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Speaker 1: and ask her at her toilette before all her people,
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Speaker 1: to order one exactly like her own for the governess
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Speaker 1: of the low countries. The Queen therefore commanded me before
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Speaker 1: the Charles d'a fare to order the article in question.
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Speaker 1: This way of putting her intention in execution occasioned only
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Speaker 1: the slight inconvenience of an expensive five hundred louis, and
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Speaker 1: appeared calculated to Lull's suspicion completely. If I omit no
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Speaker 1: circumstance concerning this dressing case, it is because these minute
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Speaker 1: details are important, since the early preparations for the journey
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Speaker 1: were discovered by a woman whose conduct I had long suspected,
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Speaker 1: and who I dreaded would give information of them. This
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Speaker 1: was a woman belonging to the wardrobe. Her duty continued
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Speaker 1: an interrupted throughout the year, as she had been placed
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Speaker 1: with the Queen at the time of her marriage. Her
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Speaker 1: Majesty was accustomed to see her and was pleased with
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Speaker 1: her address and intelligence. Her situation was above that to
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Speaker 1: which a woman of her class was entitled. Her salary
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Speaker 1: and emoluments had been gradually increased until they afforded her
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Speaker 1: an income of about twelve thousand francs. She was handsome.
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Speaker 1: She received in her apartments above the queens, in the
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Speaker 1: little rooms between the two floors, several deputies of the
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Speaker 1: tieres etain, and she had Monsieur de Gouvillan Andete du
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Speaker 1: comve Monsieur de la Fayette for her lover. We shall
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Speaker 1: soon see how far she carried her ingratitude. About the
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Speaker 1: middle of May seventeen ninety one, a month after the
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Speaker 1: Queen had ordered me to bespeak the dressing case, she
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Speaker 1: asked me whether it would soon be finished. I sent
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Speaker 1: for the ivory turner, who had it in hand. He
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Speaker 1: could not complete it until the end of six weeks.
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Speaker 1: I informed the Queen of this, and she told me
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Speaker 1: she should not be able to wait for it, as
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Speaker 1: she was to set out in the course of June.
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Speaker 1: She added that if she had ordered her sister's dressing
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Speaker 1: case in the presence of all her attendants, she had
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Speaker 1: taken a sufficient precaution, especially in saying that her sister
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Speaker 1: was out of patience at not receiving it, and that
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Speaker 1: therefore her own must be emptied and cleaned and taken
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Speaker 1: to the Chargis la Fere, who would send it off.
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Speaker 1: I executed this order without appearing to conceal it by
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Speaker 1: the slightest mystery. I desired the wardrobe woman to take
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Speaker 1: out of the dressing case all that it contained, because
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Speaker 1: that intended for the Archduchess could not be finished for
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Speaker 1: some time, and to take great care to leave no
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Speaker 1: remains of the perfumes which might not suit that princess.
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Speaker 1: I will anticipate the order of events to show that
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Speaker 1: all these precautions were no less useless than dangerous. After
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Speaker 1: the return from Erin, the Mayor of Paris put into
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Speaker 1: the Queen's hands an information by the wardrobe Woman, dated
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Speaker 1: the twenty first of May, in which she declared that
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Speaker 1: preparations were making at the Treli for departure. That was
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Speaker 1: supposed she would not guess the true reason for the
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Speaker 1: dressing case being sent from the Queen to Brussels, but
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Speaker 1: that the mention of a present made by her Majesty
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Speaker 1: to her sister was but a mere pretense. That her
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Speaker 1: Majesty liked the article in question too well to deprive
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Speaker 1: herself of it, and that she had often said it
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Speaker 1: would be highly useful to her in case she should
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Speaker 1: have a journey to perform. She declared also that I
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Speaker 1: was shut up a whole evening with the Queen, busied
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Speaker 1: in packing her diamonds, and that she had found them
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Speaker 1: separated with cotton upon the sofa and the Queen's closet
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Speaker 1: at the Twilleries. From this information, the Queen concluded that
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Speaker 1: this woman had, unknown to her, a double key to
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Speaker 1: the closet. Her Majesty did one evening, it is true,
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Speaker 1: break off the arranging of her diamonds at seven o'clock
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Speaker 1: to go to the card table, and took the key
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Speaker 1: of her closet, saying that she would come the next
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Speaker 1: day and finish packing with me. That there was a
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Speaker 1: sentinel under the window, that she had the key of
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Speaker 1: her closet in her pocket and therefore saw no danger
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Speaker 1: of her jewels being stolen. It must then have been
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Speaker 1: in the evening after we left the closet, or very
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Speaker 1: early the next morning, that the wretch discovered the secret preparations.
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Speaker 1: The box of diamonds was placed in the hands of Leonard,
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Speaker 1: the Queen's hair dresser, who went away with the Duke
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Speaker 1: de Choiselle, and the deposit was left at Brussels. Note
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Speaker 1: by the editor. This unfortunate man, after having emigrated for
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Speaker 1: some time, returned to France and perished upon the scaffold.
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Speaker 1: And note their majesties had already delivered up the crown
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Speaker 1: diamonds which they had in use to the commissioners of
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Speaker 1: the Assembly. Those which the Queen set out of France
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Speaker 1: belonged to her in her own right. It was during
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Speaker 1: these preparations for departure that the Queen told me she
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Speaker 1: had a very precious charge to entrust to me, and
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Speaker 1: that I must find out some persons who could be
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Speaker 1: relied upon in an independent situation of life and entirely
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Speaker 1: devoted to their sovereigns, to whom I should confide a
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Speaker 1: portfolio that she would place in my hands. I pitched
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Speaker 1: upon Madame Bellayico Stare, a member of the Academy of Painting,
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Speaker 1: who lodged in the galleries of the Louver, and in whom,
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Speaker 1: as well as in her husband, I knew that all
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Speaker 1: the qualifications required by the Queen were to be found.
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Speaker 1: They proved as faithful as I had foretold they would be.
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Speaker 1: It was not until September seventeen ninety one, after the
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Speaker 1: acceptance of the Constitution, that they returned to the portfolio
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Speaker 1: to me. The guilty woman of whom I have had
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Speaker 1: but too much to say, made her communications respecting this fact.
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Speaker 1: Also she said she had seen a portfolio upon a
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Speaker 1: chair where there was not usually one place, that the Queen,
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Speaker 1: pointing to it, spoke to me in a whisper, and
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Speaker 1: that it had disappeared from that time. Monsieur Belly, who
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Speaker 1: sent two old pages of these denunciations to the Queen,
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Speaker 1: made no use of them, which could possibly be injurious
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Speaker 1: to her majesty. Madame the Duchess don Joulem must have
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Speaker 1: come into possession of all the Queen's diamonds. Her Majesty
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Speaker 1: retained nothing but a suite of pearls and a pair
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Speaker 1: of ear rings composed of a ring and two drops,
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Speaker 1: each formed of a single diamond. These ear rings and
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Speaker 1: several fancy trinkets, which were not worth the trouble of
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Speaker 1: packing up, remained in her Majesty's commode at the Tsuilii,
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Speaker 1: and were of course seized by the committee which took
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Speaker 1: possession of the palace on the tenth of August, after
9:16
Speaker 1: having made the preparations of which I have spoken I
9:19
Speaker 1: had yet many private commissions, all relative to the departure
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Speaker 1: to fulfill. I was myself upon the eve of quitting
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Speaker 1: Paris with my father in law. The Queen, apprehensive of
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Speaker 1: the excesses in which the people might indulge at the
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Speaker 1: moment of her flight against those whose attachment to her
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Speaker 1: person was known, being unwilling that he should remain in
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Speaker 1: the capital, desired Monsieur vic Dazil to prescribe the waters
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Speaker 1: of Mordau for him. Her Majesty had also the goodness
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Speaker 1: to regret that my situation about her did not admit
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Speaker 1: of my going away with her, and she offered me
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Speaker 1: five hundred louis for the journey I had to take
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Speaker 1: until the time when I should rejoin her. I had
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Speaker 1: as much money as was necessary for myself, and I knew, besides,
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Speaker 1: of how much consequence it was to her to keep
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Speaker 1: as much as possible. I therefore did not accept them.
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Speaker 1: As for the rest. She assured me that the King
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Speaker 1: was only going to the frontiers there to treat with
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Speaker 1: the Assembly, and would quit France only in case his
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Speaker 1: plan and proposals did not produce the effect hoped for.
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Speaker 1: She relied upon a numerous party in the Assembly, many
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Speaker 1: of the members of which she said, were cured of
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Speaker 1: their first enthusiasm. I set off therefore on the first
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Speaker 1: of June, and on the sixth reached Modal daily, expecting
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Speaker 1: to hear of the departure at length. The news arrived.
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Speaker 1: I had already prepared what I thought would make my
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Speaker 1: escape certain, but the steps taken by the Assembly after
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Speaker 1: the departure of their majesties would have rendered that escape
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Speaker 1: more difficult than the Queen had thought. I was ready
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Speaker 1: to begin my journey when I heard a courier who
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Speaker 1: came from the little town of Bess shouting to the
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Speaker 1: inhabitants of Mordal with transports of joy, that the King
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Speaker 1: and Queen were stopped. That same evening, the intelligence was confirmed,
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Speaker 1: and two days afterwards we received a letter from the Queen,
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Speaker 1: written under her dictation by one of her gentleman ushers,
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Speaker 1: whose devotion and discretion were known to her. Note by
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Speaker 1: Madame Campent. This officer was massacred in the Queen's chamber
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Speaker 1: on the tenth of August seventeen ninety two. End. Note.
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Speaker 1: It contained these words, I dictate from my bath into
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Speaker 1: which I have just thrown myself to support at least
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Speaker 1: my physical strength. I can say nothing of the state
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Speaker 1: of my mind. We exist, that is all, do not
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Speaker 1: return here excepting upon the receipt of a letter from myself.
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Speaker 1: This is very important. This letter unsigned boor date the
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Speaker 1: day of the Queen's arrival at Paris. We recognized the
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Speaker 1: hand of him who wrote it, and were much affected
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Speaker 1: at seeing that at such a moment the unfortunate Princess
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Speaker 1: had deigned to think of us. After the receipt of
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Speaker 1: this letter, I returned to Clerment, where the Assemblies Committee
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Speaker 1: de Sylvallants would have had us arrested. But as it
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Speaker 1: was proved that Monsieur Campin was really ill at the
12:05
Speaker 1: moment of his departure from Paris, that rigorous course was waived.
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Speaker 1: In the early part of August, the Queen desired me
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Speaker 1: to return to Paris, writing word that she did not
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Speaker 1: see there was now any further danger in my going there,
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Speaker 1: and that my speedy return would be agreeable to her.
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Speaker 1: I therefore cannot give any other particulars of their Majesty's
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Speaker 1: flight than those which I have heard related by the
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Speaker 1: Queen and those persons who witnessed her return home. When
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Speaker 1: the Royal family was brought back from Varenes to the Tuderie.
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Speaker 1: The queen's attendants found the greatest difficulty in making their
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Speaker 1: way to her apartments. Everything had been arranged so that
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Speaker 1: the wardrobe woman who had acted as spy, should alone
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Speaker 1: have the duty, and she was to be assisted in
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Speaker 1: it by her sister and her sister's daughter. Monsieur de Gauvillon,
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Speaker 1: Monsieur de la Fayette de Comt, had this woman's portrait
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Speaker 1: placed at the foot of the staircase which led to
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Speaker 1: the Queen's apartments, in order that the sentach not permit
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Speaker 1: any other women to make their way in. As soon
13:04
Speaker 1: as the Queen was informed of this pitiful precaution, she
13:07
Speaker 1: informed the King of it, who, not being able to
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Speaker 1: credit it, sent to the bottom of the staircase to
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Speaker 1: ascertain the fact. His Majesty then called for Monsieur de Lafayette,
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Speaker 1: claimed freedom in his household and particularly in that of
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Speaker 1: the Queen, and ordered him to send a woman in
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Speaker 1: whom no one but himself could confide out of the palace.
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Speaker 1: Monsieur de Lafayette was obliged to comply. Note by Madame
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Speaker 1: Campan the orders by which all the women attached to
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Speaker 1: the Queen's service, were kept out, were broken by the
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Speaker 1: people in a manner, which is an instance of those
13:39
Speaker 1: sudden changes which striking circumstances never failed to effect in mobs.
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Speaker 1: On the day when the return of the unfortunate travelers
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Speaker 1: was expected, there were no carriages in motion in the
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Speaker 1: streets of Paris. Five or six of the Queen's women,
13:53
Speaker 1: after being refused admittance at all the other gates, went
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Speaker 1: with one of my sisters, who had the honor to
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Speaker 1: be attached to her majesty, to that of the Fayon, earnestly,
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Speaker 1: insisting that the sentinel should admit them. The poissades attacked
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Speaker 1: them for their boldness in resisting the orders. One of
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Speaker 1: them seized my sister by the arm, calling her a
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Speaker 1: slave of the Austrian hear me, said my sister to her, firmly,
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Speaker 1: and in the true accent of the feeling which inspired her.
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Speaker 1: I have been attached to the Queen ever since I
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Speaker 1: was fifteen years of age. She portioned me and married me.
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Speaker 1: I served her when she was powerful and happy. She
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Speaker 1: is now unfortunate. Ought I to abandon her? She is right,
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Speaker 1: cried these furies. She ought not to abandon her mistress,
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Speaker 1: let us make a passage for them. They instantly surrounded
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Speaker 1: the sentinel, forced the passage, and introduced the queen's women,
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Speaker 1: accompanying them to the terrace of the Fayont one of
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Speaker 1: these furies whom the slightest impulse would have driven to
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Speaker 1: tear my sister to pieces. Then, taking her under her protection,
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Speaker 1: gave her some advice by which she might reach the
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Speaker 1: palace in safety. But of all things, my dear friend
15:02
Speaker 1: said she to her, pull off that green ribbon sash.
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Speaker 1: It is the sash of that deltois whom we will
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Speaker 1: never forgive. End Note. The measures adopted for guarding the
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Speaker 1: king were at the same time rigorous with respect to
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Speaker 1: the entrance into the palace and insulting as to his household.
15:21
Speaker 1: The commandants of battalion, stationed in the saloon called the
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Speaker 1: Grand Cabinet, and which preceded the Queen's bed chamber, were
15:28
Speaker 1: ordered to keep the door of it always open, in
15:30
Speaker 1: order that they might have their eyes upon the royal family.
15:34
Speaker 1: The king shut this door. One day, the officer of
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Speaker 1: the guard opened it and told him such were his orders,
15:40
Speaker 1: and that he would always open it, so that his
15:43
Speaker 1: majesty in shutting it gave himself useless trouble. It remained
15:47
Speaker 1: open even during the night when the Queen was in bed,
15:49
Speaker 1: and the officer placed himself in an arm chair between
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Speaker 1: the two doors, with his head turned towards her majesty.
15:56
Speaker 1: They only obtained permission to have the inner door shut
15:59
Speaker 1: when the Queen was rising and dressing. The Queen had
16:03
Speaker 1: the bed of her first van de Chambre placed very
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Speaker 1: near her own. This bed, which ran on castors and
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Speaker 1: was furnished with curtains, hid her from the officer's sight.
16:13
Speaker 1: Madame de Gerrais, my companion, who continued her functions during
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Speaker 1: the whole period of my absence, told me that one
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Speaker 1: night the commandant of battalion, who slept between the two doors,
16:23
Speaker 1: seeing that she was sleeping soundly and that the Queen
16:26
Speaker 1: was awake, quitted his post and went close to her
16:28
Speaker 1: Majesty to advise her as to the line of conduct
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Speaker 1: she was to pursue. Although she had the kindness to
16:34
Speaker 1: desire him to speak lower in order that he might
16:37
Speaker 1: not disturb Madame de Gergrais's rest. The latter awoke and
16:41
Speaker 1: was near dying with the shock of seeing a man
16:43
Speaker 1: in the uniform of the Parisian Guard, so near the
16:45
Speaker 1: Queen's bed. Her Majesty comforted her and told her not
16:49
Speaker 1: to rise, that the person she saw was a good
16:52
Speaker 1: Frenchman who was deceived, respecting the intentions and situation of
16:56
Speaker 1: his sovereign and herself, but whose conversation showed a sincere
16:59
Speaker 1: attach to the King. There was a sentinel in the
17:03
Speaker 1: black corridor, which runs behind the apartments in question, where
17:06
Speaker 1: there is a staircase, which was at that time a
17:09
Speaker 1: private one, and enabled the King and Queen to communicate freely.
17:14
Speaker 1: This post, which was very disagreeable because it was to
17:17
Speaker 1: be kept four and twenty hours, was often claimed by
17:20
Speaker 1: Saint Prix, an actor belonging to the French theater. He
17:24
Speaker 1: devoted himself to it, if I may use the expression,
17:27
Speaker 1: in order to facilitate short interviews between the King and
17:30
Speaker 1: Queen in this corridor, he used to leave them at
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Speaker 1: a distance and give them notice if he heard the
17:35
Speaker 1: slightest noise. Monsieur Corleeu, commandant of Battalion of the National Guard,
17:40
Speaker 1: who was charged with the military duty of the queen's household,
17:43
Speaker 1: in like manner, softened down as far as he could
17:46
Speaker 1: with prudence. All the harsh orders he received, for instance,
17:50
Speaker 1: one to follow the Queen to the very door of
17:52
Speaker 1: her wardrobe, was never executed. An officer of the Parisian
17:57
Speaker 1: Guard dared to speak insolently to the Queen in her
17:59
Speaker 1: own apartment. Monsieur Cadot wished to make a complaint to
18:02
Speaker 1: Monsieur de Lafayette against him and have him broken. The
18:05
Speaker 1: Queen opposed it and condescended to say a few words
18:08
Speaker 1: of explanation and kindness to the man. He instantly became
18:12
Speaker 1: one of her most devoted partisans. The first time I
18:16
Speaker 1: saw her Majesty, after the unfortunate catastrophe of the varin Journey,
18:20
Speaker 1: I found her getting out of bed. Her features were
18:23
Speaker 1: not very much altered. But after the first kind words
18:26
Speaker 1: she uttered to me, she took off her cap and
18:28
Speaker 1: desired me to observe the effect which grief had produced
18:31
Speaker 1: upon her hair. It became, in one single night, as
18:35
Speaker 1: white as that of a woman of seventy. I will
18:39
Speaker 1: not here describe the feelings which lacerated my heart. To
18:43
Speaker 1: speak of my own troubles would be very injudicious, when
18:46
Speaker 1: I am retracing those of so exalted and unfortunate Her
18:50
Speaker 1: Majesty showed me a ring she had just had mounted
18:53
Speaker 1: for the Princess de L'anvalles. It contained a lock of
18:56
Speaker 1: her whitened hair with the inscription bleached by sorrow. At
19:01
Speaker 1: the period of the acceptance of the Constitution, the princess
19:04
Speaker 1: wished to return to France. The Queen, who had no
19:08
Speaker 1: expectation that tranquility would be restored, opposed this, but the
19:12
Speaker 1: attachment which Madame de Lamval had bowed impelled her to
19:15
Speaker 1: come and tempt her own destruction. When I returned to Paris,
19:19
Speaker 1: most of the harsh precautions were abandoned, the doors were
19:23
Speaker 1: kept open, greater respect was paid to the sovereign. It
19:27
Speaker 1: was known that the Constitution, soon to be completed, would
19:30
Speaker 1: be accepted, and a better order of things was hoped for.
19:33
Speaker 1: On the day of my arrival, the Queen took me
19:36
Speaker 1: into her closet to tell me that she should have
19:38
Speaker 1: great need of me. In a communication she had established
19:41
Speaker 1: with Bernave du part and Alexandre Lemet, she informed me
19:45
Speaker 1: that Monsieur de Gie three asterisks was her negotiator with
19:49
Speaker 1: these remnants of the Constitutional Party, who had good intentions
19:53
Speaker 1: but unfortunately too late, and told me that Barnave was
19:56
Speaker 1: a man worthy of esteem. I was a stile honessh
20:00
Speaker 1: to hear Bernav's name pronounced with so much good will.
20:04
Speaker 1: When I quitted Paris, a great number of persons spoke
20:06
Speaker 1: of him only with horror. I observed this to her,
20:10
Speaker 1: and she was not surprised at it, but told me
20:12
Speaker 1: he was much altered that the young man, who was
20:15
Speaker 1: full of talent and noble feeling belonged to that class
20:18
Speaker 1: which is distinguished by education and merely misled by the
20:21
Speaker 1: ambition to which real merit gives birth a feeling of
20:25
Speaker 1: pride which I cannot much blame in a young man
20:28
Speaker 1: belonging to the Chiersta, said the Queen, speaking of Bernave,
20:32
Speaker 1: made him support everything which smoothed the road to rank
20:35
Speaker 1: and fame for that class in which he was born.
20:38
Speaker 1: And if we get the power into our own hands again,
20:41
Speaker 1: Bernave's pardon is beforehand written in our hearts. The Queen
20:46
Speaker 1: added that she had not the same feeling towards those
20:49
Speaker 1: nobles who had thrown themselves into the revolutionary party. They
20:52
Speaker 1: who obtained all the marks of favor, and that very
20:55
Speaker 1: often to the injury of those of an inferior order,
20:58
Speaker 1: among whom the greatest talent was to be found. In short,
21:02
Speaker 1: that the nobles who were born to the safeguard of
21:04
Speaker 1: the monarchy were too guilty in having betrayed its cause
21:07
Speaker 1: ever to deserve their pardon. The Queen astonished me more
21:12
Speaker 1: and more by the warmth with which she justified the
21:15
Speaker 1: favorable opinion she had formed of Barnave. She then told
21:19
Speaker 1: me that his conduct upon the road was perfectly correct,
21:22
Speaker 1: while Pition's republican rudeness was disgusting. That the latter ate
21:26
Speaker 1: and drank in the King's Berlin in a slovenly manner,
21:29
Speaker 1: throwing the bones of the fowls out through the window
21:32
Speaker 1: at the risk of sending them even into the King's face,
21:35
Speaker 1: lifting up his glass when Madame Elizabeth poured him out
21:38
Speaker 1: wine to show her that there was enough without saying
21:41
Speaker 1: a word, That this offensive behavior must have been by design,
21:45
Speaker 1: because the man was not without education, and that Bernave
21:49
Speaker 1: was hurt at it. On being pressed by the Queen
21:52
Speaker 1: to take something, Madame replied Barnave, on so solemn an occasion,
21:57
Speaker 1: the deputies of the National Assembly ought to en gage
22:00
Speaker 1: your Majesty's attention solely by their mission and by no
22:03
Speaker 1: means about their wants. In short, his respectful delicacy, his
22:08
Speaker 1: considerate attentions, and all that he uttered gained the esteem
22:12
Speaker 1: not only of the Queen, but of Madame Dezabet also.
22:16
Speaker 1: The King began to talk to Pition about the situation
22:19
Speaker 1: of France and the motives of his conduct, which were
22:23
Speaker 1: founded upon the necessity of giving to the executive power
22:26
Speaker 1: a strength necessary for its action for the good even
22:29
Speaker 1: of the Constitutional Act. Since France could not be a republic.
22:33
Speaker 1: Not yet tis true, replied Pition, because the French are
22:37
Speaker 1: not ripe enough for that. This audacious and cruel answer
22:42
Speaker 1: silenced the king, who said no more until his arrival
22:44
Speaker 1: at Paris. Pition held the little Dauphain on his knees
22:48
Speaker 1: and amused himself with curling the beautiful light hair of
22:51
Speaker 1: the interesting child round his fingers, And as he spoke
22:54
Speaker 1: with much gesticulation, he pulled his locks hard enough to
22:58
Speaker 1: make the Dauphin cry out, give me my son, said
23:01
Speaker 1: the queen to him. He is accustomed to tenderness and delicacy,
23:05
Speaker 1: which render him little fit for such familiarity. The Chevalier
23:10
Speaker 1: de d'ampierre was killed near the king's carriage upon leaving Varenes,
23:15
Speaker 1: a poor village, Curiie some leagues from the place where
23:18
Speaker 1: the crime was committed, was imprudent enough to draw nearer
23:20
Speaker 1: to speak to the king. The cannibals, who surrounded the
23:24
Speaker 1: carriage rushed upon him. Tigers exclaimed, Bernave, have you ceased
23:29
Speaker 1: to be frenchmen? Nation of brave men? Are you become
23:33
Speaker 1: a set of assassins? These words alone saved the Curie,
23:37
Speaker 1: who was already upon the ground from certain death. Barnave,
23:41
Speaker 1: as he spoke to them, threw himself almost out of
23:44
Speaker 1: the coach window, and Madame Elizabet, affected by this noble
23:48
Speaker 1: burst of feeling, held him by the skirt of his coat.
23:52
Speaker 1: The Queen, while speaking of this event, said that in
23:55
Speaker 1: the most important and momentous events, whimsical contrasts always struck her,
24:00
Speaker 1: and that on this occasion the pious Elizabeth holding Barnave
24:03
Speaker 1: by the flap of his coat was a surprising sight.
24:06
Speaker 1: The deputy was astonished in another way Madame Dizabet's comments
24:11
Speaker 1: upon the state of France, her mild and persuasive eloquence,
24:14
Speaker 1: and the noble simplicity with which she talked to him.
24:17
Speaker 1: At the same time without sacrificing her dignity. In the
24:20
Speaker 1: slightest degree, everything about that divine princess appeared to him celestial,
24:25
Speaker 1: and his heart, which was doubtless inclined to noble feelings
24:29
Speaker 1: if he had not followed the wrong path, was overcome
24:32
Speaker 1: by the most affecting admiration. The conduct of the two
24:36
Speaker 1: deputies convinced the Queen of the total separation between the
24:39
Speaker 1: Republican and constitutional parties. At the Inns, where she alighted,
24:44
Speaker 1: she had some private conversation with Barnave. The latter set
24:48
Speaker 1: a great deal about the errors committed by the Royalists
24:51
Speaker 1: during the revolution, and declared he had found the interests
24:54
Speaker 1: of the court so feeble and so badly defended, that
24:57
Speaker 1: he had been frequently tempted to go and offer in
25:00
Speaker 1: himself a courageous wrestler who knew the spirit of the
25:03
Speaker 1: agent nation, the Queen asked him what were the weapons
25:07
Speaker 1: he would have recommended her to use? Popularity, Madam? And
25:12
Speaker 1: how could I use that? Replied her, majesty, of which
25:16
Speaker 1: I had been deprived, Ah, Madame, it was much more
25:20
Speaker 1: easy for you to regain it than for me to
25:22
Speaker 1: acquire it. This assertion would furnish matter. For comment, I
25:28
Speaker 1: confine myself to the relation of this curious conversation. The
25:33
Speaker 1: Queen mainly attributed the arrested Varenes to Monsieur Gogolas. She
25:37
Speaker 1: said he calculated the time that would be spent in
25:39
Speaker 1: the journey erroneously. He performed that from Mommentdy to Paris
25:44
Speaker 1: before taking the king's last orders alone in a postchaise,
25:47
Speaker 1: and he founded all his calculations upon the time he
25:50
Speaker 1: spent in making that transit. The trial has been made since,
25:55
Speaker 1: and it was found that a light carriage without any
25:57
Speaker 1: courier was nearly three hours less than running the distance
26:00
Speaker 1: than a heavy carriage preceded by a courier. The Queen
26:04
Speaker 1: also blamed him for having quitted the high road at
26:07
Speaker 1: Pont de Sammevelle, where the carriage was to meet the
26:09
Speaker 1: forty hussars commanded by him. She thought that he ought
26:13
Speaker 1: to have dispersed the very small number of people at Varennes,
26:16
Speaker 1: and not to have asked the hussars whether they were
26:18
Speaker 1: for king or the nation. That particularly, he ought to
26:22
Speaker 1: have avoided taking the king's orders as he was aware
26:24
Speaker 1: of the reply Monsieur de Dini's dad had received when
26:27
Speaker 1: it was proposed to carry off the king, and that
26:31
Speaker 1: the King having said to Gogila, if force should be employed,
26:34
Speaker 1: will it be hot work? He answered, very hot, Sire,
26:38
Speaker 1: which was sufficient to drive the King to give twenty
26:41
Speaker 1: counter orders. Is it possible to conceive how such neglect
26:46
Speaker 1: could occur, as that of sending a courier to Monsieur
26:48
Speaker 1: de Bouille, who would have had time to reach Varin
26:51
Speaker 1: with an imposing force, Or how nobody even thought of
26:55
Speaker 1: stopping the courier who should follow the king. Their majesties
26:59
Speaker 1: alighted at the he of a grocer called Monsiu Sos,
27:01
Speaker 1: the mayor of Varennes. The King talked to him a
27:05
Speaker 1: long time, respecting his reasons for quitting Paris, and wanted
27:08
Speaker 1: to prove to him the expediency of the measure, which,
27:11
Speaker 1: far from being hostile, was suggested by his love for
27:14
Speaker 1: his subjects. This mayor could have saved the king. The
27:19
Speaker 1: Queen sat down in the shop between two piles of
27:21
Speaker 1: candles and conversed with Madame Sos, who seemed to be
27:24
Speaker 1: a woman of weight in her own household, and whom
27:26
Speaker 1: Monsius Sos ehed from time to time as if to
27:29
Speaker 1: consult her, but the only reply the Queen god was
27:33
Speaker 1: what would you have Madame? Your situation is very unfortunate,
27:37
Speaker 1: but you see that would expose mensu Sos. They would
27:40
Speaker 1: cut his head off. A wife ought to think of
27:43
Speaker 1: her husband well, replied the Queen. Mine is your king.
27:49
Speaker 1: He has long made you happy and wishes to do so. Still,
27:54
Speaker 1: Madame Sos went on again about the dangers of her husband.
27:57
Speaker 1: The aide de comt came up, and the return to
27:59
Speaker 1: Paris was decided. The Dupain's first Pam de Champre, calculating
28:04
Speaker 1: that delay might give Monsieur de Bouille time to bring
28:07
Speaker 1: up assistance, threw herself on a bed and began to
28:10
Speaker 1: cry out that she was dying of a dreadful colic.
28:13
Speaker 1: The Queen went up to her, and the lady squeezed
28:15
Speaker 1: her hand to give her to understand what she was
28:17
Speaker 1: aiming at. Her Majesty said she could not leave a
28:21
Speaker 1: woman who had sacrificed herself to attend her in a
28:23
Speaker 1: dangerous journey in such a condition, and that she owed
28:26
Speaker 1: her every attention. But this innocent stratagem was probably seen through,
28:31
Speaker 1: and not the slightest delay was granted. Note by Madame Campan.
28:37
Speaker 1: The Queen informed me, while summing up all the events
28:40
Speaker 1: of that ill omened journey, that of two leagues from Varin,
28:43
Speaker 1: a stranger passed close to the King's carriage full gallop,
28:46
Speaker 1: uttering aloud some words, which the noise of the wheels
28:49
Speaker 1: upon the pavement prevented their hearing, but that subsequently to
28:53
Speaker 1: their arrest. The King and herself, recalling the sound of
28:56
Speaker 1: the stranger's words, were almost certain that he had said
28:59
Speaker 1: to them, you are known, or you are discovered. And note,
29:05
Speaker 1: after all that the Queen had said to me, respecting
29:08
Speaker 1: the mistakes made by Monsieur Gogolas, I thought him, of
29:11
Speaker 1: course disgraced. What was my surprise when having been said
29:15
Speaker 1: at Liberty, after the amnesty which followed the acceptance of
29:19
Speaker 1: the Constitution, he presented himself to the Queen and was
29:22
Speaker 1: received with marks of the greatest kindness. She said he
29:26
Speaker 1: had done his best, and that the sincerity of his
29:28
Speaker 1: zeal ought to form an excuse for all the rest
29:33
Speaker 1: end of Chapter seven