sance, cast a benevolent and smiling look upon the multitude, and that look seemed to say, I shall never conceive any suspicion, I shall never feel any uneasiness, so long as I am in the midst of you.""

The whole extent of the Champ-de-Mars was surrounded by steps of green turf, rising cne above another, occupied by four hundred thousand spectators. Within this circle, upon appropriate elevations, decorated with flowers, were the king, the national authorities, the ministers and deputies. In the rear of the king was an elevated balcony, occupied by the queen and the court. Sixty thousand fede. ralists performed their evolutions in the intermediate space; and in the centre, upon a base twenty feet high, was eleva. ted the altar of the country. Three hundred priests, with white surplices and tri-coloured scarfs, were arranged at the four corners of the altar, at which the celebrated Talleyrand, then Bishop of Autun, in his pontifical robes, celebrated mass, amidst vocal and instrumental musick, and the peals of cannon.

To this imposing ceremony, succeeded profound silence throughout the vast enclosure. Lafayette, dismounting from his horse, advanced as the first to take the civick oath. "He was carried (says Mignet) in the arms of grenadiers, to the altar of the country, in the midst of the acclamations of the people. He then, in an elevated voice, in his own name, in the name of the troops, and of the fede rates, spoke as follows: 'We swear to be faithful to the nation, to the law, and to the king; and to maintain with all our power the constitution decreed by the National Assembly and accepted by the king; and to remain united to all Frenchmen, by the indissoluble ties of fraternity.' Discharges of artillery, shouts of Long live the nation!' • Long live the king!' the clashing of arms, the sounds of musick, instantly mingled in one unanimous and prolonged cadence. The President of the Assembly took the same oath, and all the deputies repeated it at the same time. Louis XVI then rising, I,' said he, the King of France, swear to employ all the powers delegated to me by the constitutional act of the state, to maintain the constitu tion decreed by the National Assembly, and accepted by The queen being then led forward, and raising the Dauphin in her arms, and showing him to the people, said,

me."

'Here is my son; he unites with me in the same sentiments.' At the same instant the banners were lowered, the acclamations of the people were heard in one loud and prolonged shout. Subjects believed in the sincerity of the monarch, and the monarch in the attachment of his subjects; and this happy day was terminated by a solemn chant of thanksgiving.'

The next day Lafayette reviewed the national guards of the departments who were present, and a part of the army of the line. The king and queen attended. Sixty thousand men were under arms, and presented a magnificent and imposing spectacle, at once military and national. The enthusiasm manifested on that occasion, and the previous day, indicated that the wish that the command of the whole national guards of the kingdom should be conferred on Lafayette, had not been abandoned. This induced Lafayette, in his address to the confederates, to use the following admonitory language: "Let not ambition take possession of you love the friends of the people; but reserve blind submission for the law, and enthusiasm for liberty. Pardon this advice, gentlemen: you have given me the glorious right to offer it, when, by loading me with every spe cies of favour which one of your brothers could receive from you, my heart, amidst its delightful emotions, cannot repress a feeling of fear." On taking leave of Lafayette, the deputations, who had come with the design of conferring upon him the chief command, spoke as follows: "The deputies of the national guards of France retire, with the regret of not being able to nominate you their chief. They respect the constitutional law, though it checks at this moment the impulse of their hearts. A circumstance which must cover you with immortal glory, is, that you yourself promoted that law; that you yourself prescribed bounds to our gratitude."

CHAPTER XXIV.

Empty pageant and professions--The factions-Lafayette endeavours to reconcile them-Counter disturbances-Lafayette suppresses them-His true position-Death of Mirabeau-Danger and duplicity of the king-Royal family escape-Lafayette blamed by the populace-Vindication-Is offered and rejects the vacant throneThe king arrested at Varennes and brought back to Paris-Lafay ette receives and protects the royal family-The king suspendedLafayette responsible for his safe custody-The Jacobins demand a republick-Mob in the Champ-de-Mars-Lafayette fires upon and suppresses it-The constitution completed-The king restoredLafayette resigns his commission-Retires to Chavagnac-Is defeated as candidate for Mayor of Paris-Is appointed a general of the army-Accepts-Reception at Paris-Repairs to Mentz-Letter to Gen. Washington-War declared-Reign of Terrour approaches -Lafayette remonstrates to the Assembly-His appeal comes too late-Insurrection of the 20th June.

THE solemn festival was ended. The national pageant passed away. And how soon were the royal oaths, the patriotick protestations, sworn upon the altar of the country, forgotten! Of those high functionaries, who thus solemnly pledged themselves before heaven and in the face of the na tion, few besides Lafayette remained faithful. On the one hand, the club of the Jacobins, which afterwards established the Reign of Terrour, and deluged France in blood, began to exercise a political influence. On the other, the court and the nobles continued their intrigues, and aggravated and encouraged the popular excesses, for the purpose of effecting a counter-revolution. To neither of these extremes was the constitution satisfactory. Their respective opinions of it, may be expressed in the language of Mirabeau : "For a monarchy, it was too democratick, and for a republick, there was a king too much." The difficulties of the period, and of his position, are thus stated by Lafayette, in a letter to Gen. Washington, dated August 26th, 1790.

"We are disturbed with revolts among the regiments; and, as I am constantly attacked on both sides by the aris tocratick and the factious parties, I do not know to which of the two we owe these insurrections. Our safeguard

against them is the national guards. There are more than a million of armed citizens; among them, patriotick le. gions; and my influence with them is as great as if I had accepted the chief command. I have lately lost some of my favour with the mob, and displeased the frantick lovers of licentiousness, as I am bent on establishing a legal subordination. But the nation at large is very thankful to me for it. It is not out of the heads of aristocrats to make a counter-revolution. Nay, they do what they can, with all the crowned heads of Europe, who hate us. But I think their plans will be either abandoned or unsuccessful. I am rather more concerned at a division that rages in the popular party. The club of the Jacobins, and that of '89, [afterwards the Fleuillants] as it is called, have divided the friends of liberty, who accuse each other, the Jacobins be. ing taxed with a disorderly extravagance, and '89 with a tincture of ministerialism and ambition. I am endeavour. ing to bring about a reconciliation."

Mirabeau, the popular orator of the Assembly, had been gained over to the side of the court. The flight of the king was again resolved upon. The people were suspicious of the design, and ready for commotion. On the 28th of Feb. ruary, 1791, a movement of the populace, instigated, as was afterwards believed, for the purpose of favouring the flight of the king, took place, having for its object the destruction of the castle of Vincennes. That castle was regarded as a second Bastile, the tower of which, communicating with the Tuileries, was to serve for the escape of the king. Lafayette repaired promptly to the spot, and dispersed the populace. While he was thus engaged, several hundred persons, dependents of the court and palace, repaired to the Tuileries, for the purpose, as was supposed, of carrying the king off; but Lafayette arrived in time to disarm and dis. perse these royalist desperadoes, who, from daggers being found upon them, were called knights of the poignard, "This scene (says Thier) determined the real position of Lafayette. It was clearly shown on this occasion, that, placed between the most opposite parties, he was there to protect both the person of the king and the constitution. His double victory increased his popularity, his power, and the hatred of his enemies. Mirabeau, who wrongfully en. couraged the distrust of the court towards him, represented

his conduct as profoundly hypocritical." But Mirabeau, who seems to have been sincerely desirous of arresting the progress of anarchy, did not live long to enjoy the confidence of his new friends, or the unbounded popularity and influence he possessed in the Assembly. He died, after a short illness, on the 20th April.

So great was the distrust of the people, that the carriage of the king was stopped, on his way to St. Clouds, (April 18,) by a mob, under the supposition that he meditated flight. From this perilous situation he was rescued by Lafayette. The king repaired to the Assembly; complained of the indignity; and soon after (23d April) caused a letter to be written in his behalf to the foreign ambassadors, contradicting the intentions imputed to him of leaving the country, declaring his intention to keep the oath he had taken to the constitu tion, and proclaiming as his enemies all who should insinuate to the contrary.

And yet, in the face of these professions, a plan was secretly maturing, with the agents of the French emigrants and foreign powers, for the flight of the royal family. They were to proceed to Montmedy, where Gen. Bouillé, a rigid friend of the court, under the pretext of a movement of the enemy's troops on the frontier, had established a camp of such troops as he supposed could be relied upon. The queen made all the arrangements. She had secured a private door for leav ing the palace. The secret was intrusted only to such persons as were indispensable to its execution. În various disguises the royal family, one by one, quitted the palace, on the night of the 21st of June, and at the place of rendezvous took carriages, and proceeded rapidly on their way. They travelled under a foreign name and with a fictitious passport.

Lafayette knew nothing beforehand of these movements. Relying upon the royal professions, he had publickly pledged himself for the good faith of the king, and that he would not leave Paris. On his flight being known in the morning, Lafayette immediately sent his aids-de-camp in pursuit, assuming in the order, that the royal family had been carried off by enemies of the publick welfare. The people were soon in great commotion, assembled in immense crowds at the Hotel de Ville, and accused Lafayette of having favoured the king's escape. The prompt measures he adopted, his fearless and conciliatory deportment, silenced these accusa.