CHAPTER XXV.

Lafayette indignant at the outrages in Paris-Remonstrances of the army-Lafayette repairs to Paris-Appears before the AssemblyDenounces the Jacobins-Accused and defended-Received with coldness by the king and queen-Enthusiasm of the populaceLafayette returns to the army-Conciliation of factions in the Assembly-New outbreaks of the populace-Lafayette sees the approach of the tempest-His plan for the safety of the king and queen-Rejected by them-Opposing project and views of Governeur Morris-The dethronement of the king proposed by the Jacobins--Accusation against Lafayette-He is acquitted by the Assem. bly-Last gleam of justice-Fearful insurrection of the 10th August -Suspension of the royal authority-Final imprisonment of the king and family-Account of these events by Theirs and Dumas -Lafayette refuses to acknowledge the Jacobin authorities-Causes the imprisonment of their commissioners-The Assembly declare Lafayette a traitor-Jacobinism infects the armies-Luckner and Dumouriez submit-Lafayette leaves France-His arrest and imprisonment in Austria and Prussia.

LAFAYETTE received the account of these outrages with pain and indignation. The great majority of the army participated in his sentiments and feelings, and addresses expressive of their indignation were presented to him from several of his regiments. To these he put a stop in an order of the day, in which he promised to express in person the feelings of the whole army. With the concurrence of Gen. Luckner, his superiour in command, after taking precau. tions that his absence should not be detrimental to the mil. itary operations, he hastened to Paris, to confirm before the Legislative Assembly what he had written on the 16th, and to confront, for the sake of liberty and order, the greatest dangers. He arrived in Paris on the 28th of June, and the same day appeared before the Assembly. An immense concourse had repaired hither, learning his arrival, and anticipating his presence. Lafayette in the first place explained the motives of his coming. It had been asserted that his letter of the 16th was not written by himself: he came to avow it, and to repeat its sentiments, in his own name, and in behalf of his brave army, who were already asking them.

selves "if it is really the cause of liberty and the constitu tion that they are defending." He concluded his speech in the following terms: "I beseech the National Assembly to order that the instigators of the crimes and acts of violence committed in the Tuileries on the 20th of June, be prosecuted and punished as guilty of treason to the nation; to destroy a sect which usurps the sovereignty, tyrannizes over the citizens, and whose publick debates leave no doubt of the atrocity of the projects of those who direct them. Lastly, I venture to beseech you, in my name, and in the name of all honest people in the kingdom, to take effectual measures to ensure respect to the constituted authorities, especially your own and that of the king, and to give the army the assurance that the constitution shall not receive any injury in the interiour, while the brave French lavish their blood in defence of the frontiers."

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Lafayette was admitted to the honours of the sitting, amidst the applauses of a large portion of the Assembly. But his speech was immediately attacked by the leaders of the factions. Guadet, in his ironical manner, asked if the Austrian army was beaten. "No," said he, "our enemies are still the same-our external situation has not changed, and yet the general of our armies is at Paris." He accused Lafayette of coming to dictate to the Assembly, and moved an inquiry as to his culpability, and the propriety of prohibiting generals commanding an army from presenting petitions at the bar of the Assembly.

Raymond, a patriot delegate, answered. He referred to the armed multitude which had been permitted, on the 20th of the same month, to appear at the bar, and march through the hall of the Assembly. "Now, (said he) M. Lafayette, who has given to the nation as security his whole fortune, his whole life, a reputation of more value than life and fortune, appears at the bar, and suspicions and alarms are expressed, and passions are unchained." Raymond, after justifying the step taken by Lafayette, and the measures he had adopted to avert the publick danger, proposed that his petition should be referred to the extraordinary committee, which should deliberate on the matter, and report in as short a time as possible. Priority was given to this proposition over that of Guadet, and it was adopted by the As. sembly.

Lafayette left the Assembly, surrounded by a numerous train of deputies and soldiers of the national guards, his old companions in arms. He repaired to the palace, and was received with indifference, Thiers says with coldness, by the king and queen. But Lafayette was nevertheless desirous of making an effort to unite the old national guards, and to arrest at once the violent measures of the Jacobins. The king was next day to have reviewed four thousand men of the national guards. Lafayette asked permission to accompany him, apprising him at the same time of his intention, as soon as his majesty had retired, of addressing the troops. But the court did every thing in its power to thwart Lafayette, and Petion, the mayor, countermanded the review an hour before daylight. "On leaving the Tuileries (says Thiers) a numerous concourse escorted him to his residence, shouting "Long live Lafayette!" and even planted a May [liberty poll] before his gate. These demonstrations of old attachment touched the general and intimidated the Jacobins.' He was unable, however, from the duplicity of the court, and the distracted views of the constitutionalists, to turn these generous feelings to the advantage of his country. Lafayette, therefore, after remaining, to the great terrour of the Jacobins, one day longer in Paris, returned to his army.

Fickleness and change, frequent alternations of the better and baser passions, characterized the period. On the 7th of July, after a stormy session in the Assembly, the Bishop of Lyons closed an eloquent appeal in favour of harmony in the support of constitutional freedom, as follows: "Let us swear to have but one spirit, but one sentiment. Let us swear everlasting fraternity! Let the enemy know that what we will, we all will, and the country is saved!"

These generous sentiments of the Bishop were applauded by the Assembly. "Amidst universal acclamations (says Thiers) they devoted to publick execration any project for changing the constitution, either by two chambers or by a republick; and the members rushed from the opposite benches to embrace one another. Those who had attacked and those who had defended Lafayette, the veto, the civil list, the factions, and the traitors, were clasped in each other's arms. All distinctions ceased; there was no longer any right or left side, and all the members sat indiscriminately together."

"It was immediately decided, that they should inform the provinces, the army, and the king, of this happy event."

The king, on being apprised by the deputation, hastened to the Assembly, and expressed in person his satisfaction at this reconciliation. But, alas! for human instability! Scarcely a day passed before the old animosities returned; and mutual jealousies and denunciations were renewed. The insurrectionary spirit became more general and violent. The king considered himself in great personal danger, and took precaution to guard against poison and the dagger. But his dangers were of a more formidable nature-the weapons he had to encounter were more potent than insidious poison or the assassin's dagger: they were the whirlwind of popular fury, and the forms of law administered by judges predetermined upon conviction.

Lafayette saw the rapid approaches of the impending tempest. And notwithstanding the weakness of the king, the wickedness of the court, and the ingratitude with which he continued to be treated by both, he made one more effort to avert the fatal catastrophe which threatened, by removing the king for a time beyond the influence of the infuriated populace of Paris.

He proposed that the king should in open day repair to the Assembly, and announce his intention of spending some days at Compiegne. For this journey Lafayette was to provide a safe conduct; and when at Compiegne, the king was to be protected by the national guards of that place, and two regiments under Gen. Latour Maubourg. He was there, in perfect freedom and safety, to declare for the constitution and interpose his influence and authority against the emigrants and foreign invaders of the country. Though the king was strongly solicited by some of his friends, to place confidence in Lafayette, the sinister advice of the counter-revolutionists prevailed, and the proposal of Lafayette was rejected. When the queen was asked, by what strange infatuation she and the king had come to such a decision, she replied, that they were very grateful for Lafayette's intention, “but,” she added, "the best thing that could happen to us, would be, to be confined two months in a tower !" The queen is said also to have remarked: "It would be too much to owe our lives once more to Lafayette.'

It appears from the memoirs of Governeur Morris, then

minister of the United States to France, that a plan for the escape of the royal family, more congenial to the views and purposes of the royalists, was at the same time in progress. Mr. Morris himself, whose political views were adverse to those of Lafayette, and congenial with those of the court, was accessary to this plan; and the king's money was intrusted to his keeping. It is probable that Lafayette's proposition was discountenanced by Mr. Morris, and that he had no small influence in causing its rejection. His own, or that in which he bore a part, was exploded by the insurrectionary events of the 10th of August. Mr. Morris thus relates in his Diary a previous conversation (June 29) with Lafayette, in which their respective political views are indicated: "I observe to him, that he must soon return to his army, or go to Orleans; and that he must determine to fight for a good constitution, or for that wretched piece of paper which bears the name; that in six weeks it will be too late. He asks what I mean by a good constitution, whether it is an aristocratick one? I answer yes, and that I presume he has lived long enough in the present style to see, that a popular government is good for nothing in France. He says that he wishes for the American consti. tution, but a hereditary executive. I reply, that in that case the monarch must be too strong, and must be checked by a hereditary Senate. He says, it goes hard with him to give up that point. Here ends our colloquy." Mr. Morris had previously discountenanced the king's reliance upon Lafayette's project of appealing to the patriotism of the national guards. "I tell him (June 28) that Lafayette's visit can produce nothing, and that he must exert himself to bring forward the Picards." Mr. Morris enjoyed the confidence of the king and court. Lafayette did not. It was none to his discredit. But, between the intrigues of the royalists, and the madness of the anarchists, his patriotick designs were frustrated.

In the mean time the plans of the Jacobins were ripen. ing into insurrection; and the deposition of the king was openly advocated in the Assembly. On the 3d of August, Petion, the mayor of Paris, presented a petition, in behalf of the 48 sections, proposing in their name, the dethronement of the king. It was a preliminary, and a primary object with the factionists, to destroy the character and