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34 - Marie Antoinette and the Downfall of Royalty by Imbert de Saint-Amand · Marie Antoinette and the Downfall of Royalty

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  Speaker 1: Chapter thirty four of Marie Antoinette and the Downfall of Royalty.
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  Speaker 1: This is the LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are of
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  Speaker 1: the public domain. For more information of a volunteer, please
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  Speaker 1: visit LibriVox dot org. Read for you by Chichito Crasto.
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  Speaker 1: Marie Antoinette and the Downfall of Royalty by Imbact de
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  Speaker 1: set armand translated by Elizabeth G. Martin, Chapter thirty four,
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  Speaker 1: The Princess de Lambay's Murder. The Princess de Lambai, after
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  Speaker 1: being taken from the temple in the night of August
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  Speaker 1: eighteenth to the nineteenth, had been examined by Biau Varenes
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  Speaker 1: at the Hotel de Vis and then sent at noon
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  Speaker 1: August nineteenth to the Force. This prison, divided into two
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  Speaker 1: distinct parts, the Great and the Little Force, was situated
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  Speaker 1: between the Ruse Rua de cecil Culture and Paveis. In
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  Speaker 1: seventeen ninety two, it supplemented the Abbey and Chatelais prisons,
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  Speaker 1: which were overcrowded. The Little Force had a separate entry
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  Speaker 1: on the Rue Paveis to the Mare, while the door
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  Speaker 1: of the large one opened on the Rue de Baillers,
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  Speaker 1: a few steps from the Rue Saint Antoine. The Register
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  Speaker 1: of the Little Force, which is preserved in the archives
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  Speaker 1: of the Prefecture of Police, records that at the time
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  Speaker 1: of the September massacres, this prison in which the Princess
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  Speaker 1: de Lambaye was immured, contained one hundred and ten women,
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  Speaker 1: most of them not concerned with political affairs, and in
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  Speaker 1: great part women of the town. Here from August nineteenth
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  Speaker 1: to September third, the princess suffered inexpressible anguish. She never
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  Speaker 1: heard a turnkey open the door of her cell without
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  Speaker 1: thinking that her last hour had come. The massacres began
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  Speaker 1: on September second. On that day, the Princess de Lambaye
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  Speaker 1: was spared. In the evening, she threw herself on her bed,
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  Speaker 1: a prey to the most cruel anxiety. Towards six o'clock
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  Speaker 1: the next morning, the turnkey entered with a fright air.
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  Speaker 1: They are coming here, he said to the prisoners. Six
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  Speaker 1: men armed with sabers, guns and pistols followed him, approached
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  Speaker 1: the beds and asked the names of the women, and
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  Speaker 1: went out again. Madame de Touzelle, who shared the Princess
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  Speaker 1: de Lambayi's captivity, said to her. This threatens to be
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  Speaker 1: a terrible day. Dear princess, we know not what Heaven
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  Speaker 1: intends for us. We must ask God to forgive our faults.
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  Speaker 1: Let us say the miseraire and the confitire as acts
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  Speaker 1: of contrition, and recommend ourselves to his goodness. The two
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  Speaker 1: women said their prayers aloud and incited each other to
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  Speaker 1: resignation and courage. There was a window which opened on
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  Speaker 1: the street, and from which, although it was very high,
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  Speaker 1: one could see what was passing by mounting on Madame
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  Speaker 1: de Lambay's bed and thence to the window ledge. The
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  Speaker 1: princess climbed up, and as soon as her head was
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  Speaker 1: noticed on the street, a pretense of firing on her
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  Speaker 1: was made. She saw a considerable crowd at the prison door.
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  Speaker 1: Very little doubt remained concerning her fate. Neither she nor
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  Speaker 1: Madame de Touzelle had eaten since the previous day, but
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  Speaker 1: they were too greatly moved to take any breakfast. They
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  Speaker 1: dared not speak to each other. They took their work
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  Speaker 1: and sat down to await the result of the fatal
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  Speaker 1: day in silence. Toward eleven o'clock the door opened. Armed
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  Speaker 1: men filled the room and demanded Madame de Lambie. The
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  Speaker 1: princess put on a gown, bade adieu to Madame de Touzelle,
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  Speaker 1: and was led to the Great Force, where some municipal officers,
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  Speaker 1: wearing their insignia, subjected the prisoners to a pretended trial.
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  Speaker 1: In front of this tribunal stood executioners with ferocious faces,
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  Speaker 1: who brandished bloody weapons. The atmosphere was sickening, full of
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  Speaker 1: the steam of carnage and the odors of wine and blood.
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  Speaker 1: Madame de Lambaye fainted. When she recovered consciousness, shevers interrogated,
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  Speaker 1: who are you, Marie Louise, Princess of Savoy. What is
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  Speaker 1: your rank? Superintendent of the Queen's household? Were you acquainted
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  Speaker 1: with the conspiracies of the Coat and August tenth? I
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  Speaker 1: do not know that there were any conspiracies in August tenth,
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  Speaker 1: but I know I had no knowledge of them. Swear liberty, equality,
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  Speaker 1: hatred to the King, the Queen and Royalty. I will
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  Speaker 1: swear the first two without difficulty. I cannot swear the last.
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  Speaker 1: It is not in my heart. Here, an assistant said
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  Speaker 1: in a whisper to Madame de lambay swear it. If
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  Speaker 1: you do not swear, you are a dead woman. The
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  Speaker 1: princess made no answer. She put her hands up to
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  Speaker 1: her eyes, covered her face with them, and made a
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  Speaker 1: step toward the wicket. The judge exclaimed, let someone release madame.
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  Speaker 1: This phrase was a dead signal. Two men took the
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  Speaker 1: victim roughly by the arms and made a walk over corpses.
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  Speaker 1: Hardly had she crossed the threshold when she received a
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  Speaker 1: blow from a saber on the back of her head,
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  Speaker 1: which made her blood flow in streams in the narrow
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  Speaker 1: passage leading from the Rue san Antoine to the force,
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  Speaker 1: and called the priests cool the sack. She was despatched
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  Speaker 1: with pikes on a heap of dead bodies. Then they
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  Speaker 1: stripped off her clothes and exposed her body to the
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  Speaker 1: insults of a hold of cannibals. When the blood had
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  Speaker 1: flowed from her wounds or that of the neighboring corpses
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  Speaker 1: had soiled the body too much, they washed it with
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  Speaker 1: a sponge so that the crowd might notice its whiteness better.
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  Speaker 1: They cut off her head and her breast. They tore
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  Speaker 1: her heart out, and of this head and this heart
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  Speaker 1: they made horrible trophies. The pikes which bow them were
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  Speaker 1: lifted high in air, and they went to carry around
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  Speaker 1: these excellent spoils of the revolution. At the very moment
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  Speaker 1: when the hideous procession began its march, Madame de la Belle,
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  Speaker 1: the wife of a painter who owed many benefits to
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  Speaker 1: Madame de Lambay, was trying to get near the prison,
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  Speaker 1: hoping to hear news of her. Seeing the great commotion
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  Speaker 1: in the crowd, she inquired the cause. When some one replied,
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  Speaker 1: it is Lambay's head that they are going to carry
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  Speaker 1: through Paris, she was seized with horror, and, turning back,
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  Speaker 1: took refuge in a head dresser's shop on the Place Bastille.
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  Speaker 1: Hardly had she done so, when the crowd entered the place.
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  Speaker 1: The murderers came into the shop and required the head
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  Speaker 1: dresser to arrange the head of the princess. They washed
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  Speaker 1: it and pouted the fair hair, all soiled with blood.
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  Speaker 1: Then one of the assassins cried joyfully, Now at any rate,
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  Speaker 1: Antoinette can recognize her. The procession resumed its march. From
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  Speaker 1: time to time they called a halt before a wine shop.
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  Speaker 1: Wishing to empty his glass, the scoundrel who had the
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  Speaker 1: princess's head in his hand, set it flat down on
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  Speaker 1: the lead counter. Then it was put back on the
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  Speaker 1: end of a pike. The heart was on another pike,
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  Speaker 1: and other individuals dragged along the headless scorpse. In this manner,
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  Speaker 1: they arrived in front of the temple. It was three
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  Speaker 1: o'clock in the afternoon on that day. The royal family
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  Speaker 1: had been refused permission to go into the garden. They
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  Speaker 1: were in the little tower when the cries of the
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  Speaker 1: multitude became audible. The workmen, who were then employed in
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  Speaker 1: tearing down the walls and buildings contiguous to the temple
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  Speaker 1: Dungeon mingled with the crowd, increased also by innumerable curious spectators,
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  Speaker 1: and uttered furious shouts. One of the municipal guards at
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  Speaker 1: the temple closed doors and windows and pulled down curtains
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  Speaker 1: so that the captives could see nothing. On the street
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  Speaker 1: in front of the enclosure, a tricolored ribbon had been
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  Speaker 1: fastened across with this inscription. Citizens, you who know how
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  Speaker 1: to ally the love of order with a just vengeance,
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  Speaker 1: respect this barrier. It is necessary to our surveyance and
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  Speaker 1: our responsibility. This was the sole dike they meant to
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  Speaker 1: oppose to the torrent At the side of this ribbons
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  Speaker 1: to the municipal officer named Danjou, formerly a priest who
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  Speaker 1: was called Abbe six feet on account of his height,
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  Speaker 1: He mounted on a chair and harangued the crowd. He
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  Speaker 1: felt his face touched by Madame de Lambay's head still
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  Speaker 1: on the end of a pike, which the bearer shook
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  Speaker 1: about and gesticulated with, and also by a rag of
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  Speaker 1: a chemise soaked with blood and mire, which another individual
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  Speaker 1: also carried on a pike. The naked body was there, likewise,
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  Speaker 1: with its back to the ground and the front cut
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  Speaker 1: open to the breast. Doanjou tried to make the crowd
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  Speaker 1: of assassins who wanted to invade the temple understand that
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  Speaker 1: at a moment when the enemy was master of the frontiers,
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  Speaker 1: it would be impolitic to deprive themselves of hostages so
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  Speaker 1: precious as Louis the sixteenth and his family. Moreover, he added,
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  Speaker 1: would it not demonstrate their innocence if you dare not
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  Speaker 1: try them? How much worthier it is of a great
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  Speaker 1: people to execute a king guilty of treason on the scaffold. Thus,
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  Speaker 1: while preventing an immediate massacre, he held his scaffold in
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  Speaker 1: reserve Doanjou said that the communal council, in order to
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  Speaker 1: show its confidence in the citizens composing the mob, had
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  Speaker 1: decided that six of them should be admitted to make
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  Speaker 1: the rounds of the temple garden, with the commissioners at
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  Speaker 1: their head. The ribbon was then raised, and several persons
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  Speaker 1: entered the enclosure. They were those who carried the remains
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  Speaker 1: of Madame de Lamby with These were the laborers who
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  Speaker 1: had been at work on the demolitions. Voices were heard
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  Speaker 1: demanding furiously that Marie Antoinette should show herself at a window,
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  Speaker 1: so that some might climb up and make her kiss
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  Speaker 1: her friend's head. As Danjou opposed its infernal scheme, he
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  Speaker 1: was accused of being on the side of the tyrant.
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  Speaker 1: Was the dungeon of the temple to be forced? Were
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  Speaker 1: the assassins about to seize the queen, tear her in pieces,
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  Speaker 1: and drag her like a friend through the streets and squares,
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  Speaker 1: to the rolling of drums and the chanting of the
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  Speaker 1: marseilliers and the shas Ira. The municipal officer entered the
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  Speaker 1: tower and began a mysterious parley with his colleagues. As
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  Speaker 1: Louis the sixteenth asked what was going on. Some one replied, well, sir,
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  Speaker 1: since you desire to know, they want to show you
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  Speaker 1: Madame de Lambay's head. Meanwhile, the cries outside were growing louder.
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  Speaker 1: Another municipal came in, followed by four delegates from the mob.
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  Speaker 1: One of them, who carried a heavy saber in his hand,
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  Speaker 1: insisted that the prisoners should present themselves at the window,
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  Speaker 1: but this was opposed by the municipal officers, who were
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  Speaker 1: less cruel. This man said to the Queen in an
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  Speaker 1: insulting tone, they want us to hide the Princess de
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  Speaker 1: Lambay's head from you when we brought it to let
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  Speaker 1: you see how the people arrange themselves on their tyrants.
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  Speaker 1: I advise you to show yourself if you don't want
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  Speaker 1: the people to come up. Marie Antoinette fainted on learning
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  Speaker 1: her friend's death in this manner. Her children burst into
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  Speaker 1: tears and tried by their caresses to bring her back
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  Speaker 1: to consciousness. The man did not go away, sir. The
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  Speaker 1: king said to him, we are prepared for the worst,
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  Speaker 1: but you might have dispensed yourself from informing the queen
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  Speaker 1: of this frightful calamity. Clarie the King's valet was looking
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  Speaker 1: through a corner of the window blinds and saw Madame
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  Speaker 1: de Lamby's head. The person carrying it had climbed up
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  Speaker 1: on a heap of rubbish from the buildings in process
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  Speaker 1: of demolition. Another who stood beside him held her bleeding heart.
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  Speaker 1: Clari heard Donjou expostulating the crowd in words like these
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  Speaker 1: Antoinette's head does not belong to you. The departments have
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  Speaker 1: their rights in it. Also, Franz has confided these great
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  Speaker 1: criminals to the care of Paris, and it is your
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  Speaker 1: business to assist us in guarding them until national justice
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  Speaker 1: shall avenge the people. Then, addressing himself to these cannibals
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  Speaker 1: as if they were heroes, whose courage and exploits he praised,
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  Speaker 1: he added, in speaking of the profound corpse of the
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  Speaker 1: Princess de Lambai, the remains you have there are the
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  Speaker 1: property of all. Do they not belong to all Paris?
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  Speaker 1: Have you the right to deprive others of the pleasure
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  Speaker 1: of sharing your triumph? Night will soon be here. Make haste, then,
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  Speaker 1: to quit this precinct, which is too narrow for your glory.
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  Speaker 1: You ought to place the strophe in the Palais Royal,
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  Speaker 1: or the Tuilerie garden, where the sovereignty of the people
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  Speaker 1: has been so often trampled under foot, as an eternal
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  Speaker 1: monument of the victory you have just won. Remarks like
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  Speaker 1: these were all that could prevent these tigers from entering
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  Speaker 1: the temple and destroying the prisoners. Shouts off to the
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  Speaker 1: Palais Royal proved to Danjou that his harangue had been appreciated.
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  Speaker 1: The assassins at last departed, after having covered his face
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  Speaker 1: with kisses that smelt of wine and blood. They wanted
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  Speaker 1: to show their victim's head at the hotel to lose
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  Speaker 1: the mansion of the Venerable Duke de Patiere, her father
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  Speaker 1: in law, but were deterred by the assurance that she
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  Speaker 1: did not ordinarily live there, but at the Tuilerie. Then
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  Speaker 1: they turned toward the Palais Royal. The Duke of Orleans
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  Speaker 1: was at a window with his mistress, Madame de Beaufont.
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  Speaker 1: He left it, but he may have seen the head
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  Speaker 1: of his sister in law. Some of the cannibals had
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  Speaker 1: remained in the neighborhood of the temple. Sitting down at
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  Speaker 1: table in a wine shop, they had the heart of
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  Speaker 1: the Princess de Lambay cooked and at it with avidity.
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  Speaker 1: Thus says Monsieur de Beaucherson in his excellent work on
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  Speaker 1: Louis the seventeenth this civilization, which had departed from God,
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  Speaker 1: surpassed at a single bound the fury of savages, and
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  Speaker 1: the eighteenth century, so proud of its learning and humanity,
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  Speaker 1: ended by Antlerpophagi. In the evening, when some one was
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  Speaker 1: giving the Colau de Bois an account of the day's performances,
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  Speaker 1: he expressed but one regret that they had not succeeded
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  Speaker 1: in showing Marie Antoinette the remains of the Princess de Lambai. What,
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  Speaker 1: he spitefully exclaimed, did they spare the queen that impression?
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  Speaker 1: They ought to have served up a best friend's head
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  Speaker 1: in a covered dish at her table. End of section
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  Speaker 1: thirty four. Read for You by Chiquito Crasto, Birmingham, Alabama,