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Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajouties lors dune restauration apparaissent di:!' »■' :i- ., A TOUR THROUGH '\ ] u THE THEATRE OF WAR, IN THl MONTHS OF NOVEMBER and DECEMBER, 1792, . And JANUARr, ,793. 'NTEKSPERSEB WITH " \ . \ A VARIETY OF CURIOUS, ENTERTAINING, AND MILITARY ANECDOTES. TO WHICH ARE SUBJOINED INTERESTING PARTICULARS OF THE DEATH ' or- r LOUJSXVf. BY AN EYE-WITNESS OF THE FACT. ' LONDON: MINTED ro« J. OWEN, NO. l68, Plcc ADXr.LYi ANDJ.BEW, NO, 28, PATEHNOSTIR-ROW. '793- .' ^ <.! TOUR THtOUOK »v THE THEATRE OF WAR *. tv i I m ^n HE rapid faccellion of iiiterefting fcened- a£ted in France within three or four months preceding this Tour, a period the moil critical, and mofl decidve of the Revo- lution, had been exhibited with fuch a ftrange contrail of colour ; there was fomething fo dif- fonant from common-fenfe, and the common courfe of events in the opinions vulgarly en* tertained concerning the flate of that coun- try ; I had heard fo much of a petty fadion^ lording it over a mighty nation ; I had heard ^ * Part of the fubftance of this Tour has appeared in ktters publiflied in the Diary. ' •-.'»»■• ^ B fo [ 1 ] . ■ . I fo much of a band of ragamuffins driving before them the moft powerful, and bcft dif- ciplined armies in Europe ; X had heard fo much of all religion being deflroyed, becaufe all religions were tolerated, that I could not help feeling a wilh to vifit the feat of thefe ^ fuppofed wonders, and to fee if fuch things really were. • No ftranger to the manners, the language, and the cuftomsof the French, and not tctatly deftitute of acquaintance in ihe provinces that have been fo lately the , theatre of war, I thought I might be as good a Judge of the fjjint, and refources of the f«*fench nation, as many who undertake to decide «pdn the fubje<9:, without having ever fct afoot in Trance. My means of writing are certaiiily not equal to my means of obfer- vation ; but ftill I hope, that while ** I ex- fen\Kite nothirig, nor fet down aught in ma- lice,** the honeft truth will in fome degree atone for poverty of di£lion, and the want of a polifhed %le. So much by way of prefaoe. . ; i I leave er- ex- ma- ree of QCw VC [ 3 ] ■ I leave to fafhionable travellers, who ride and write pod, to relate the trifling occur* rences of the road, the merits of the inns they put up at, and the quality of their fare. Nothing worth mine or my reader*s pojtico happened on the way to Dover ; and 1 ihould have left Dover alike unnoticed, had it been pnly what it ufualiy is, the refidence of in- quidtorial cuftom-hoqfe officers, andimpofing mariners. But there was a colony of French emigrants there^ Their wan faces, and me- lancholy looks, befpoke the cares that preyed upon their minds, and their fqualid drefs be« t rayed their poverty. " Sharp ipifery had wore them to the bone.*' 1 faw them ftand upon the beach, eying wifhfuUy the dear na- *tal land, to which they dared not to return. All confideration of their deferts laid aHde, my heart bled for them ; and my imagination looking into pofterity, I thought I faw them Eere, as on the other borders of their coun- try, pining in fufpenfe and doubt for many B 2 a tedious C 4 ] ■». , ft tedious day ; uncertain whether they (houtd ftay to flarve abroad, or dare the vengeace of the laws at home ; waiting in hopes of fome relaxation" in the feverity of the decrees, or of fome fmall afliftance from the friends they might have left behind, till cxpedation, and their means of exiftence, worn out together, they (hould be driven to defpair. Then re- verting to times paft, I compared them to the exiles in the factions that diftra£ted Italy fbme centuries ago, who, left without any other refource, gave, by their depredations, to the term bantjhed men * the fignification of robbers. Is it not to be feared, that, from the fame caufe, the word emigrant may fufFer the fame perverfion f ? t. - • - ^f 9 \ * •l*-' Luckily for me, and for my readers, the mafter of the packet-boat came to flop the * Bandhtl. ; ■"' . ' . .. t This fpeculatloiT was not vain, for fince this was writ- ten, fome of the eintgrants in Germany have been driven to theje defpcrate c juries. .,, , ■' courfc rfe . C J 3 courfe of thefe gloomy ideas, by telling me that the wind was fair. It was ilrong alfo, and our paflage was proportionably rough and fpeedy. I had ftepped on (hore at Calais, ftill ftaggcring with the effect of the fea-ficknefs, but pleafed at the fame time to find, that, like Anteas, I gained frefh ftrength from touching my mother earth, when I perceived a bayonet at my bread. Arretez^ faid a boy about fifteen years of age, who, a§ Mr. Shandy would have faid, was no higher than vay leg. I flopped ; and immediately fome more of the fame fmall infantry furroundcd the whole of the living cargo unloaded from the packet-boat. Thus made prifoners, as foon as we got footing on the land of liberty, we were condu£led fir ft to ^ fmalj office, where we gave in our names, and from thence tp the municipality. The examination of my- felf, and compagnon de voyage, was fhort. The mayor, indeed, on fipding himfelf ant fwerpd in better French than l>e expe£led, :n: ,-. ^3 afked \ |i M afked me what proofs I had about mc of my being an Englifliman. None, faid I, but a ' few guineas, The mayor readily conceive4 the implication, tha^ no emigrant would re- , turn with a guinea in his pocket, fmiled, faid our faces fufficicntly alitefted our country, an^ told us we might go. ;l m Some of our fellow-travellers were not fo fortunate : three of them, reckoning nxjsthout their hojl^ had added to their names that of the inn at which they were going to lodge. Unluckily, being real or fuppofed emig^^nta, their lodgings proved to be the gaol, where they found feven and twenty companions of both fexes, crowded indifcriminately into the fame room, and lying on ftraw in a iituatioii truly pitiable. To confinement, to fevere treatment, and to fcanty fare, was joined the hourly dread of falling vidims to popular fury. The very evening before we landed, 1 regiment of voJ|untcers, lately levied on the coafts [73 coafts of Picardy, having received the or3er to march, fwore they would not leave the Arijiocrats behind them, but would carry, their hieads to the frontiers. Like true Frenchmen, fuddcn in their refolves, and flill more fudden in putting them into execution, they aflembled, howling like favages, around the prifon, and with taunting threats began to affail the doors. But on the firfl notice being given, the drums beat to arms, all the citizens of Calais affembled, and with great- difficulty withdraw the ruffians from their prey. In the mean time, the wretches within were in the moft fearful trepidation. The poor women, in particular, mindful of the maflacres of Paris and Verfailles, thought their fate was certain, and were io much af- fected, that their fright had nearly occafioned. what they feared. Bleeding and other medin cal affiftance were hardly fufficient to reftortf two of them to their vital fun^Stions. B4. We \ •! :i ^iii;; in II- i I ! 11 If! .; * i1; !> !l t a ] . Wc came to Calais in time to fee one bat-r talion of this regiment march away, ai>d to fay truth, their appearance accorded well with the bloody purpofe they had manifefled th^ evening betore. There was no uniformity in their uniforms, nor any thing like equality in their fize. Their arms were rufty, their accoutrements dirty, and fome of them in the common drefs of peafants. But in their looks was much determination, and though only embodied a month before, they marched and performed a few military motions with tolerable precifion. The native allegrejfe of the French was here exhibited in lively co- lours. Some were laughing ; fome were {inging in the ranks ; fome had their ammu- nition bread fluck upon their bayonets, and fome had fiddles tied to their knapfacks— Vive regalite — No regard to rank and dignity is here a check to the freedom of focial in- tercourfe. While the firfl company was; waiting on the fquare for the reft, the cap- tain, I 9 1 tain, who was mounted on one of the verieft jades I ever faw, amufed his men, by fhowing ofFthe paces of his ftced, and his own horfe^ manihip. They were worthy of one an- other. He was, however, the admiration of his foldiers. Parbleu^ faid one, mats il monte bien—'Sacre^bleu^ comme il y va^ faid another. This difplay might have lafted till his horfe would have been incapable of the march ; but luckily the reft of the battalion foon came up, and the whole marched away with moft charadleriftic chearfulnefs, and unconcern. Many of them chaunted the Marfeilles hymn, and many of them bad the inhabitants of Ca- lais farewel \ jidieu, faid they, bons choyem de Calais ; nous aJkns voir s*ily a des ennemis. At this moment an officer ftepped up to us, who, by the eafc and familiarity of his ad- drefs, feemed a true Frenchman of former times. Ces mejfteurs font Anglais ? faid he, ;i»d without waiting for our anfwcr, conti- nued : M. lined : ** I have much eftccm for the En-» glilh ; they arc a generous nation ; they fend us mulkets and knapfacks.*' The Englifh, faid I, have little claim to generodty on that account : they fend you muikets for your money ; a Jew or a Dutchman would do the iame, Ceji egaly faid he. I thought, how- ever, that one compliment deferved another, and fo I began to praife the apparent confi- dence of the foldiers who had jufl marched away. 'Tis true, faid he, the poor fellows have but jufl- put on the military harnefs, and yet they are abfolutely carelefs of life. All our vok^nteers are the fame. Formerly a village was a fcene of defolation, when the Jubdelegue wanted a man or two for the mili- tia. But now myriads of men fpring up armed out of the earth. Infpired by the word liberty, they fight with an ardour un- heard of before. *Tis a perfe6l rage. They go foaming at the mouth to the attack of a battery, with as much contempt of the enc- •Vi my's t n ] tny*s Hre, as if they had been fed all their lives upon bullets. But I am forry to fay, that a lamentable fplrit of infubordinatioti and cruelty prevails among them. Jt is a dif* grace to the nation. *^ At dinner I thought I had difcovered one of the caufes of the latter propendty. Somo itinerant muticians came in, and played us Ca Ira and the Marfeilles hymn. After thefe they gave us a tune, which had at the con- cluiion a pafTage of fuch peculiar ^xpreflion, that I could not help aiking its name. It is, faid a pretty little Savoyard girl, with the foftefl: fmile imaginable, it is the favourite air Coufiez lui k cou (off with his head.) The French officer's remark recurred to my mind. ^Tis a difgrace to the nation, faid I. Luckily^ however, the French mufic has little influ- ence over the paffions. If it were as power- ful as that of the Greeks is faid to have been, jt would be dangerous to come into a coun- .;. .../ ■; • V trjr. \ try, where the national tunCs iiiggeil: no ideas, but thofc of hanging * aud cutting of throats. ::.-.. T, -■•1 . 1 ' Here I cannot help recolle«Sling, that at the moment I was preparing to fct otf for the con- tinent, one of my friends took me by the arm. But, faid he, you run a rilk of ftarving in the country you are going to. There is no fear of that, faid I, for if the French find they have too many mouths, they have no- thing to do but to cut off a few more heads. True, faid he, fhaking^ /jis ; I did not think of that ; you are fure of not wanting breac) any way. I thought, however, that it was worth while to enquire, whether this pro- phecy of famine was likely to be realized. Queflions of this kind I never a(k of the richer ranks. They arc a barometer that af- fords yery fallacious indications of national * The air ca Ira recommends the taking of the Ariflo- crr.ts to the lanthoni. ' <•♦>)=.- -.- *, ; ; v .^ profperity. 'I » no ifto- tr- [ 13 ] : profpcrity. They are tb'^ top of the tree, that flourifhcs while the trunk is Hollow and decayed. I therefore addreiTed myfelf to a poor woman, and alked her the price of bread. I do not know, faid fhe, I bake my own. My wheat cofts me 40 livres the razlere * ; 'tis an unheard-of price ; but yet it is of eafy purchafe. Unriddle me this, ma henne^ faid I. It is, anfwered (he, becaufe every kind of labour is well paid. One blef- (ing, at leaft, faid I to myfelf, has then re- (ulted from the revolution. J; Nor is this the only one, for, unlefs I am much deceived, it has already effaced a parjt of the prejudices, which, like our Engliih channel, formed a barrier between the two nations. The name of Englishman com- mands refped. Every body we met with at their publi; tables were eager to treat us with ^.v^'W ... ;..•:,': ■«., ..;■■•?• ni 1-4].; 'v.^'ivi , , , * A meafure containing 240 French pounds. ,; ^ diflinguiHied C '4 1 it didinguifhed attention. It leemed as If our fellow claitn to freedom, and our honour- Able neutrality, had made us brothers. And, indeed, I Toon Found myl f dubbed a citi* zen. Calais having nothing to detain our attention, I went to the municipality for a pafli^rt, and finding myfelf in a public office with many other pcrfons whofc heads were covered, 1 kept mine covered alfo. Pieafc to take off your hat, faid the Greffier, I did I'o. He then led me to a (landard, and mcafured me with the greateft care and precifion* From thence returning to his deik, he began to furvcy my face, as if drawing my portrait. Take off your hat, faid the Gr^ifr again. I thought this rather too much ; but I com- plied. It was to examine the height of my forehead. But my nofe was the featur that gave the Greffier the greateft trouble. Par ious ies diablesj faid the Greffier^ I do not know what to make of this nofe. Mon ca- marade^ added he, addreffnig himfelf to a Frenchman t «5 J trait. L I my that Par not ca- to a laii Frenchman who was (landing by, what d0 you call that nofe ? It is not aquiline ? Ma foi^ nQji^ anfwcred he, it is not aquiline* This curious dafcufllon continued Tome time longer, and I bagan to think it ridiculoufly tirefome ; but my lofs of patience was com* peufated by the gratification of my vanity^ when I found, that for want of an appropriate epithet for my nofe, it was ftyled in geiieral terms bien-falt. At lafl I obtained my pafT- port, containing a very pariicular defcription of my perfon, with the title cUoyen prefixed to my name. r' ,. - it J., fil^nui' ■I .■.'.w >,li "^i,* This title cttoyen is the only one now in ufe, and is interchanged between people of every degree. It is the touchftone, xhtjhib- boletb as it were of the enemies of the revo- lution. They feem to be choaking when they pronounce it ; nor does it ever fail to be accompanied by fome infidious obfervation* At the table d'hote at Calais there was a gen- tleman^ (! •« 3 It tleniait^ who had been pohited out to me a§ one of thofc Anfiocrats^ that wander about the country, to avoid the ill-will and molcf- tation to which they might be cxpofcd by the publicity of their principles at home. Finding the eyes of the company drawn upon him by his addrclTmg every boily in the old difcrimi- nating ftyle, he determined that if he (hould make ufe of the new one, he would at leaft have hisjcft, and (aid to the waiter, whether would you wiih me to call you citoyeH-garfoitf Qt gar^QH'citoytfu Such petulant imprudence, and fuch ufclefs fcofFs, have brought ruin upon many friends of the old government. It was fuch condud that occafioned the death of him who is called the innocent prifonef^ murdered on the id of September. When his barbarous felf-created judges had abfolved him from all blame, and ordered him to be conducted home, the crowd, as was their cuftom, dcfircd him to cry, Five la natioH, .- ■ ^ ■« •^.■:7 Vi. r ' -• '- ■ A fig t -/ 1 A fig* for the nutiim, cxclainicJ lie, aiKlw'ar> ji»i)in<'di;itcly torn to pirccs. I'hc illligtiicc vvltli wlilcli wc (iiw llicm working at fiicli part"? of the fortifications of Calais as flood in ncfd of repairs, convinced VIS that they iirc determined to be prepared for an attack from any quarter whatever ; and that the patriotic gifts of individ'ials do not tranqiiilizc them as to the intentions of our government, and the fpirit of the nation at large. 7imcut Danaos & donafcrentes. be leir The next morning, Nov. 23, wc hired a carriage, and fct off for Dunkirk. The En- glilh newfpapcrs had foretold a famine in France with ftill more aflurance than my friend had done : they faid that one crop had fpoiled upon the ground, and that the want of * Tlic cxprcflion made ufe of was too grofs for an cxaft tranflation. hand$ C >3 3 hands had denied the culture that could alone infure a future one. Our eyes contradicted the latter part of this information, and the inhabitants univerfally concurred in dcftroy- ing the credit of the former. The harveft they faid, had been abundant, and the corn well houfed. How hard that the French na- tion fhould be thus doomed to flarve, that a few needy garret teers may live ! The high ftate of tillage that we had ob- ferved near Calais foon difappeared ; for we foon reached a country that does not admit of cultivation. A barren fandy wafte extends, I was going to fay, all along the reft of the road ; but road there is none. When one track over the common is too much worn, the driver is obliged to feek another, at the rilk of overturning the carriage, or of being obliged to turn back. No fuch accident how- ever happened to us. We paffed through Gravelincs, and reached Dunkirk in fafety. The . 1 [ '9 ] ob- we Imit d$y the one rn, the ing w- .gh ^hc The fortifications of both thefe towns are in excellent order, and rbund the whole of the latter two rows of palifadoes, one in the covered way, the other on the iades or flope into the ditch, have been lately fet up, to prevent the poiribility of infult. Within the ramparts, two cavaliers have alfo been ereft- cd, that pverlook and command the country towards the Aullrian Netherlands, to a con- fiderable diiiance. In the gaol at Dunkirk were eighty-nine emigrants, who were no better lodged than the poor wretches at Calais, and among whom Tvas the Duchefs of Choifeul-Stain* ville. Being ftrongly fufpedled of having contributed large fums to the common flock at Coblentz, fhe was treated with great feve- rity ; nor was it till after fome time, and much folicitation, that fhe obtained rather better accommodations in a kind of Magdalen Hofpital, called the Filles PenitenUs, When C 2 Lewis !lii li m [ 20 ] Lewis the Fourteenth's Queen propofed fcndmg the celebrated Ninon de TEnclos to the fame place, ^he was told by the French Avit, Malherbe, that Ninon was neither ^//roper ^c pre- laws C ^9 ] laws of fucccfrioii and other cqiiitahlc means. If they do not, they may, hkc vampires, feed for a time upon the blood of the [)co[)lc ; but the day will come when their own will be fpilt. This, faid the Frenchman again, has been wofully exemplified by my country, and by many a one before. . .- After this monopoly of landed property, the grand fource of human vices and misfor- tunes, the greateft fcourge that can afflict a people is an extenlive foreign commerce. If by the nation be underftood a few merchants, (liip-owncrs, Ihip's hulLands, brokers, ban- kers, manufa- folence to tell me, that as foon as exchanged, he would go and fight again for hir, King. C^cjl un brave bomme^ faid anothen Yes, an* fwered my Dunkirk friend, but one of thofb brave mtw qu'il faudroit affc^ner. Such lis the difpbfition of many patriots, in other rcj* ^pedls hurtaanc and eharitabte men. They tleem their caufe fo facred, «hd are fo exafpc*" rated at feeing it unprbvokedly attacked, tfeat they think it bught to be (lipported per fas & iiefas. This error is no doubt lamentable^ but it admits of fome excufe. >.'i' V t:^'Uii\ ':./?>H-, - The officers in whofe company we >vcre flipping were very different from thole I had been ufed to live with in France. Oh ! what a faUin^ ^fF was there ! When I heard how profanely vulgar was their converfation, and • • faw c 37 ] ;■. faw the coarfenefs of their manners, I could not help regretting, for a moment, with Mr. Burke, that the days of chivalry were over, that the unbought grace of life was gone. But when L rcfledled that they had been chofen by their comrades for their good con- cir pofts, the French army will not want ciiefs of equal politenefs and bra- very. I faid iji afew years, and in a few days I found my expedation anticipated ; for I foon perceived that fome of the battalions were office 'd by men of excellent education, and refined mAnaers, though fome, as may be gathered from what I have faid above, wer« P 3 ^ ^ quite fr •V quite the rcvcrfe. Nor was it unworthy of remark, that the fame leaven fcemed almoft always to run through a whole regiment. As we were ^?erly defirous qf feeing the havock done by ficgc, or rather by the bombardment of Lifle, we rofe the next morning no later than the fun. It ihoiie' upon a difmal fcene indeed : bcfides a great part of the Fauxbourg de Fives ^ behind which the enemy had mafked themfelves, and their batteries, and which was confequently de- ftroyed by the fire of the place, fcven hun-? dred houfes were levelled with the ground. They were all in the quarter of St. Sauveur. Nor was it without meaning that the attack was directed againft that part of the town; for being almoft entirely inhabited by poor people, the affailants hoped that, to fave the little all they poflefled, they would infift upon the Governor's giving up the iown. Beddes, by thpfe means the Ariftocrats without fpared the [ 39 ] the Ariftocrats within, and did little injury to any but the ci'devant canaille y whofe lives and properties arc naturally held in cheap efti- mation by perfonagcs of fuch elevated rank, as thofe that directed the attack. This cha- * ritable experiment, made according to the old maxim, in animal vile, did not however fucceed. The poor people, although four hundred of them were killed, were neither difcouragcd nor terrified into fedition. For nine whole days the (hower of fhot and (hells was inceflant, no lefs than thirty thoufand red-hot balls, and feven thoufand bombs, being thrown into the city within that pe- riod. Nothing could equal the terror of the women : fome who fought fafety in their cel- lars, could hardly be kept alive by the admi- niftration of cordials ; and feveral others af- fured me, that they paffed eight nights and days without clofing their eyes, and yet with- put feeling any other inconvenience than laf- ' :•' P 4 fitude. ¥ ■i r *, ■ r 4» 3 /ituiic. I thiuK I Imvc often heard mtdical mQi\ adirip, that huiYinn nature could h«irdjy fuppoit fucli a long iiblliiicc of th^ kind r^? • nrfn ,;i fs I i . * J^ ^\\h timidity of the women was not with*- out exceptions ; and as to the hardier fcx, ihcy began at lad to hold the fire of the cue* my jn perfc«?c contempt. On the ninth morn? ing, a (bell falling in the iXtf called La Ruei (/fi vieux MurcbC* aux Moufy^St a large frag- ITicnt ot the globular mafs was picked up by a barber. He filled it with water, and t^^kiug his waih-ball, aiked who would be fhaved I Though the French arc feldom fcrupuloufly attentive to the cleanlincfs of their faces, their beards were now more than ufually long, their endeavours to prevent the mifr chief the red balls might do, having giveu them full occupation for the eight preceding days. A number of them therefore fubmit* •..■i.. 1 V.L ted C 4. ] ted to the operntioti in the middle^ of the Arect, though the ftre wjis at that momenl uucgmmunly fevcroy This was the lafl effort of the Audrkns, Immediately aftpr they began to prepare for a retreat, the more fhamcful as they had ex* peeled it the lefs. When the ofHcer that brought the fummons to furrender was con^ du6led to the council of war, and the ban- dage was removed from his eyes, he cafi them around him with a look moA Arongly exprelHve of contempt and compafTion ; fo much was he convinced that the town and its defenders were either devoted to capturo or deArudion *. This confidence muft, no ^ Thif, and moil of tlic preceding particulars, wete connnunicated tp us by a veteran o^gcr, who lias cpia- (nanded the wliole body of the national guards of Liflc, fince its firft formation, and to whom we had letters of in- trodu^ion. He vfu himfi^lf a ipoml^cr of thp coungit (< war. it doubty mm 1 [ ♦» ] doubt, have arifen as much from the cafy conquefl of Longwy and Verdun, as from their opinion of their own ftrength. Formi- dable as was the Duke of Saxe-Tefchen*s ar- tillery, his array did not exceed eighteen thoufand men. '-- .. ' While I was viewing the quarter of St, Saveur, that I had formerly feen fo well inha- bited, and that ^vas now reduced to a fcene of defolation and ruin, and reflecting that thefe heavy calamities were often brought upon a people by the caprice, or for the in- tcrefts of a fingle man, I could notreprefs my indignation. Thefe defpotic kings of the continent, faid I, would fain be thought God*s vicegerents ; but, furely, they rather bring with them blafts from hell, to undo the work of creation. At a diftance from the wars they ordain, or if there, either hid among the reft of the baggage, or herding with the futtlers, they lit as it were in an- " ' ' Pthey Ii > ,■- ' \ ■ t 43 ] Other atmofphere, contemplating the mifchlef they occafion. Will no avenging fiend rife from out of the bowels of the earth ? I had hardly formed the wiih, when I thought it was realized. From the midft of a heap of bricks on which my eyes were fixed, I faw a black head, and then a ghaftly face flowly- afcending. The fpedre continued to rife, . and I at lafl perceived that it was a ^oor man, who for want of better fhelter, had buried himfelf in the cellar of the houfe he had for- merly inhabited. A little trap-door afforded an entrance to his fubterraneous abode, of which the unhealthy humidity, joined. to his feclufion from the air, and to his flate of mi- fery, had, no doubt, given him the corple^ like look that had at firft furprized me. On exploring more of the ruins, I found that fe- yeral other inhabitants had been reduced to take up with iimilar lodgings. We If ■\n^i<:. C 44 ] We (hould have been glad to Ice what mifchief had been done to the ramparts ; but the fentinels forbad all approach to the part that was oppofite the point of attack. As far, however, as we could judge from a diflant view, the damage was fmall, as mud indeed have uecefTarily been the cafe ; for it not bc-» ;hg the intention of the AuArians to make a breach, their approaches were never brought within point-blank fliot of the place. The ground occupied by their entrenchments we were free to vidt, and there we found fuffi^ Cient proof of the lofa they muft have fuf-p tained, and of the Ikill of the French gun-p ncf s, all the holes made by the bombs of the befleged in their fall, being confined within a few paces of the trenches. Nor was their zeal inferior to their (kill. Some of the mofl able among them, who could ill be fpared, flood by their pieces of ordnance for eight and forty fucccflive hours. ' ^ Belides ,* ' leir iofl red, lud Ides Befides thehoufes kvelled with the ground, about fifteen hundred were mora or lefs dd^^ maged, the random ihot flying to the further | extremity of the town. Only one reached the citadeU but that was an unltrcky onte in^ •deod^ It carried away both the lbg6 of an officer, who, deeming hrmfetf ih perfeft ft^ curity, was talking witjh his wife alt the 4ci6t of his banacki He died two hO'urs art«i'^^''^'* /■■ . >: ! was hardly more (Iruck by the ravages 6f war, than by the abfcnc« of the dronliK monks, with which the ^neets df LHle Wtt6 formerly fo much infefted. The •* blacky white, and grey, with all their trumpeiy,^ had totally disappeared. This change rejoiced me the more, as I had been witnefs at that place to a cruel abufe of monadic inflitutions* Though not perfed^ly in its place here, I can* not forbear relating it, left any of my readers ihould chance to regret the abolition of reli* gious orders. v * ' "id i ir [ 46 ] ' in the fcverc froft with which the year 1 783 ended) and 1 784 began, the younger monks at the convent of Carmelite Friars^ (JesGiamls Qarmes) who had long noticed the myfterious vifits of their elders to a parti* cularroom, whither they were forbid to go thpii^fplves i \ thtic younger monks, I fay, felt their fufpicipns, and their jealou fy flill more cxcit^t), by overhearing a nightly conveyance from the fame apartment to the infirmary, %vhich happened at that time to be empty. Enraged at not being thought worthy to par* take of the fecret, they determined it fhould no longer be one, and went to tell their tale , to the King's attorney. He repaired imme- diately to the convent, and defircd to be con-^ dudted to the room ia queftion ; but when there he was affured by the Superior^ that it had long been uninhabited, and that the key was loft. His threats of breaking open the door, however, brought forth the key ; he went in, and finding that the room was in- deed t 47 ] ! deed pcrfe£lly empty, he was beginning td ' regret his trouble and his credulity, when he perceived a fecond door. The key was again obftinatcly with-held, and produced with ftiU more reluctance than before. At length he • obtained admiiTidn, and faw in a cage of wood fomething of human (hape. It w?.s a ' poor old man, covered with rags and vermin, and overgrown with hair. His beard r.:ached down to his middle, and his whole perfon ex- . hibitcd a complete pidure of longfufferings and inyeterate defpair. Who are youy faiJ' the King*s attorney. I am a father of this order, anfwered the miferable man. And how long have you been here ? I do not know^ exaiftly ; but I am fure it cannot be lefs than a century fince T was firft confined. A man lefs wretched might eafily mifcount time, and fo did he ; for upon invedigation it ap- peared that he had been in that fituation only thirty-five years. During that period he had never feen an human face, unlefs that appel- f . lation ■'!:« ■I Mill' ;ij: I i m % ,v!' f 4M la^tiQtl ttiaj* be giveti to thofe of his inhii'* Mil gaolers 5 tior has he dVeSr beefi reiWcW*^ ed from his cage, but in that tviiiter, whien ^e xinddtnmefri coMi and (otnt fmall remrams' of pity, induced the monks to ^ifry him now* and then to thaw his blood before the fire of Ae infirmarjr* iThey accufed hiitt^ as it wii iifttural to cxpeft, of a number of crimes^ kit his olvii report j and probabljr the truths ivas, that he had been overtaken in his W^ to Holland with a woman, whom his vow^ Sad^ not prevented him from loving. ^M JCing*3 attorney ordered him to be removed to another convent, whither every one that IHiuld get an introduminable rights cf man Vf:fi% invented, and fuch vas the reciprocal flippoft th^y af* forded to each other* Many kiiUnctil 6f thia kind have occurred^ bUt as they gi^ little vent abroad^ the re|>ort being; generally lliflc^ in the filence of tlie cloiftei't few hav0 Ibe^n fo well authenticated as the above one* * I :'S i 5» *] ^ ^ AV^ anvAo tvdl-'wi(li rh -■ On the 30th ^ in Oiir way from Liflc t iii [ 50 ds in the fuburbs of the former place, i^t heard nothing but complaints of the fpirit of plunder that animated the Auflrians ; and if feith may be placed in the concurrence of a variety of reports, there was not a woman that had not reafon to blame or to praife them, according to the way in which (he re- ceived their careifes or their infults. This, however, We remarked, that the fair fex was tinivertally (hy of giving us any information of the latter kind, in which their own chaf- tity might fuf&r by implication. The old women faid that the foldierc^ had laid violent court to the yicpng ; and the young la- mented the exceflfes that had been committed in every village but their own. At Orchies, where we dined, we were waited upon by the landlady's daughter, a girl whofe beauty and delicate appearance made her as likely as (he was unfit to be the prey of fome rude German grenadier. Were yo\* ! :: you not alarmed « Mademoifelle, l^id my com- panion, at the vifit of the enemy? I was gene out. Sir, faid flie. This anfwcrt of the truth of which I had my doubts, mad« us fipply for information to her mother* Alas ! faid (he, they plundered every thing they could lay their h^pds on, andf to com* plete my misfbrtunej they murdere4 my fon. He was an ipn-k^eper, as well as myfelf* They went to hi^ houfe, and as they aiked him for wine ^nd mopi^y, he gave them the former, and rofe to reach a key, that he might be able to comply with the latter part of their demand, when ppe of the villains bafely (hot him fron[> behind. They kiUec) thr*e Other citizens wjth as little provocation. And your daughter, faid I, was (he not terribly frightened and aiflided ? Alas ! poor girl, fa^d the mother, I felt more for ber tb^n 1 did (or myfein ...-,,/ m 3 That Ill C .54 3 h Thcit their officers, however, did not aU ways tolerate thcfe atrocious exccffes, wa? proved by the (hooting of a ioldier, who committed a rape on a child of ten or twclvQ years old in the hpighhaurhpod of Orchies. ^ ; ! Hi !• All along the road from Calais to Dun- kirk, from Dunkirk to Lifle, and from Liflo to Valenciennes, we hardly favv a man, that had not amimcd fomcthing of a military garb and appearance. Some had a fvvord and bellj thrown over their fhoulders, fome had a fea- ther in their hats, and fome were fully ac- coutred. In a word, or rather ip \he words of Shakefpeare, we found thcni *».;uti AH fiirniniM, all in arms, All pIumM like eftridges. .i .» \a The diligence with which they were prat:* tifing the military excrcife in many pjaces, and the heartinefs in the caufc that they ex- all, would have fufEced preffed convmce us '.> t * C Si 3 US, that the idea many people in England afFed to entertain, of a fmall fa£lion domi* noering it over the whole nation, was totally deftitutc of foundation, had any proof l?eei> wanting to overthrow an opinion fp indcfen- fible. How is it poHible for a fmall part to opprcfs the whole, when all arc armed ?-» Yes : but the party avcrfe to the revolu- tionifls, though the moft numerous, are afraid to (how themfelves.— Why, then, what a wretched opinion muft they have pf their caufe, or what forry daftards muft they be I However, to " make affurance dP>*We fure/' J converfed with numbers pf pecyle, of all ranks, on my way, and foynd th4?m» \yith very few exceptions, agreed upon the great prin- ciples of liberty. They frequently lamented that many unwife fteps had been tajcen by* their reprefentatiyes, and reprobated the iufai» mous crimes of particular factions ; but they confidered them, at the fame time, as partial g^d ficcideiital abufes of a fyftei sener ally and mM and efTentially good. Here and there I met with a man, who openly regretted the old government ; nor was it a little remarkable, that the greatcft Anftocrats I heard fpeak of politics were employed by the new govern- ment in the civil and military line. Let it however be remembered, that the department of the North is one of thofe the mofl; fuf- pcdtcd of Ariftocracy. 4 As I had (pme acquaintance at Valen- eicnii^y I wa$ in hop^s of gathering ufeful informatioii ^ere^ and of obtaining additional letters to thearoiy; but I wa; difappointed in both refpe^s. Finding nothing there to detain my reader^s attention, any more that^ my own, I ihall proceed to Mons with wha^ fpeed I may* I would not indeed flop an iii- ihmt on the road ; but when accidents hap- pen there is no help for delay. m Poft. i>i:i . ' t 57 3 . Poft-horfes are not to be got at Valen-r ciennes, nor any other cattle, nor any other conveyance, except the moft wretched onu- horfe-chaife, drawn by the veriefl bead in Chriflendom ; for which we paid double the fum that travelling pod would have cod us. Our vehicle was fo crazy, that we thought it neceflary to fend off the heavieft part of our baggage ; but even this precaution was not fuflicient ; for fcarcely were we out of ^he town when it broke down. Wc left the man who attended us for the purpofe of driv- ing it back, to get it mended, :nd to follow us to Quievrain, where we made a dinner al- mod as bad, and as dear as our conveyance. We got into it again, and drove off as fuc- cefsfully as before. It had broke dowa HrA: on the left fide, and now it broke down on the right. Our vexation was great ; but it was nothing in comparifon of that of our condu£tor. There is not an obfcene word in the French language that he did not utter. More i -V^! - [ 58 ] More than twenty times he called the chnife r? It is (Grange that a nation fo famed Tdi its politcncfs, and (o proud of its rcfnicmentt (lioidd go to that place for every oath, every term of ahiifc, and every angry exclamation* VVc walked on agnin, and left him to fwcar, and to follow us to Mons, having paid rather dearly for going fcvcn long Flcmifli leagues on foot. . , : f • "•^ Mons, as the name denotes, is fituatcd on a hill of unufual elevation, in the Nether- lands, and till its fortifications were difman- tlcd, was n place of confidcrable ftrengtli* The plough now paflcs over the ground M here the outworks flood ; but the rampart and ditch that furround the body of the place remain tolerably entire ; and palifadoes, and other hally works of defence, have been added to the ilrcngth of the gates. General Clairfayt, F-^ li. , C 59 ] • • Clairfayt, however, did not clioofe to (hut himfelf up in a town, from whence his retreat might have been cut off*, rather preferring to remove the cannon from tho walls to a chain of fmall forti thrown up upon thp heights >vithout, r Such of the French ofRccrs as had been at the battle of Gcmappe, and indulged the lead in the figures of amplification, had reprefcnt- cd them to us, as rifing in three rows above pne another, like the (cats of an amphi- theatre. When we came to the ground, wc could difcovcr no fuch regularity. Some of them were, indeed, more advanced towards the plain than the reft, ai»d were commanded by thofe behind. The former confided of two fides of a triangle, while the latter were cither conftru£ted Hkc the faces and flanks of ft badion, with the ^orge left open behind, or fclfe in a fquare form, that if the flank of the army (hould be turned, it might have a ^ '- defence defence for Its rear. The heavy rain whilo we were on the ground, and the occupation given to our minds, hy rcfle^ing that it was the fcene of fuch a bloody and well contefle4 action, prevented us from numbering thefe redoubts. The French ofRcers faid they were upwards of thirty ; but this I believe was a little exaggeration. Be it as it may, art and nature had confpired to make the polition un- commonly ftrong, and fo it was efleemed by General Glairfayt himfelf. When the emi- grants in Mons expreffed their fears of his be- ing obliged to retreat, he bad them be under no apprehenfions. '* If the French enter Mons," ftid he, ** I vyiU fsat n^y hoyfe.** This confidence of thp Auftn^n Chief ic a fufficient anfwer to thofe detractors from the glory of General Dumou^ier ancl his ar^iy, who afcribe his victory to th<5 fupenority of numbers alone* When other circumftance^ are nearly equal, Marfhal Saxe*s obfervation, that ■ ; t 6i ] that * le bon Dieu ejl toujour s du c$ti driving a number of them, with loads upon their backs, as in EngLuid we fep a ^andjptiai^ dfivc his afTes, ' . . Qa ^m the m t 7« ] . . On December 6 we (ct off for Bniflde^ Dcfiroqs of not meeting with the fame diffi- culties in our way that we had experieiacc4 in coming from Valenciennes, we hired aft excellent carriage, with four liorfes, Thi^ was the more neceffary, as we did not leave Mons till the morning was far advanced. Wc found the road entirely covered with convoy* going to the Jjr^y, with detachments of troops, and with {draggling foldiers trudging oil to join their refpe^liive regin^ents, -;:,,> •M^'^nt !■;':• y\ I'TTh- >. :, A thaw had lately taken piace^ the carriages deprived them of the benefit of thie pavemejit, ;and they were obliged to wade through the mud half w^y up their legs. Yet fHU tlieir native gaiety fupported them, and on they wept) finging fa ira, and other patriotic tunes. We took lap behind us two of thofc that fecmed the moft tired. It is only giving a florin or two more to the coachman, faid my companion, and deeping in the fuburbs F 4 . infte-^d 1 4 T 7^ ] iflftead of the town. A little further on, a? we were going flovvly up a hill, I faw a young lad walking very lame, and lofing his (hoe at every montient in the mud. As ho did not call upon peftilence, and the devil to run away them, and the road into the bar^ gain, I was fure he could not be a French- man, although he had the national uniform on his back. We afked him if he Ifo would get up behind, and he joyfully accepted mir offer. But as the weather was cold, and he feemed weakly, we foon after found means to make room for him in our carriage. I then afked him if he had been wounded.—^D/Vw merci, he had only been cut down at the battle of Gemappe, and then wounded in the foot while lying on the ground, which was the reafon of his walking fo lame. I told him he was too young to run fuch hazards, and tear the fatigues of a military life. Too young ! faid he, with a proud fmile, that ill concealed a littlp indignation, too young ! whj', [ 73 ]' why, I am now nineteen, and near thrco years ago was (hot through the body in the Belgic war. He added, that at the beginning of the prefent campaign he had been iU of a fever ; that he had been fent to the hofpital at Maubeuge ; that in the time of his conva- lefcence, he had walked out with fume of his comrades j that they had fallen in with t party of French, who were engaged with the enemy at Grifoclle ; that he had taken up a dead man*s muiket to have his (hot, tout eomme un atttre and that a ball from the rifle gun of a Tyrolian chaflcur had hit him in the neck. r > ! ;. >'\ ■ ).»..;, When I enquired into the motives of his taking up arms, he faid he had been on the iide of the patriots before, and had heard that they were up again, and fo he had left his home at Namur, where he had a father, a mother, and a little fifter ajfe%-aitnable^ and he would leave them again as fbon as it fhould ' ^ pleafe ?# [ 74 3 pleaft God and the blefTed Virgin to cure thp lamenefs of his foot ; for a patriot ihould al^ ways fight for his country, and fhould not fnind a wound or t^^'o, or a littlq pain in a good caufe. I ann now going to BruITels, faid he, to fee fome relation* I have there. Go where thou wilt, faid I to myfelf, thoq art a brave youth, and not only a patriot, but a philofophcr, although I verily believe thou doft not know the meaning of the word. ;. But for fome devaflation among the trees, the great number of dead horles on the fidet)f the road, and the moving picture of men and carriages that covered it, we ihould have had np reafon to think we were in the theatre of war. The farmers were as quietly and dili- gently engaged in their rural occupations, as in a time of profound peace ; the rifing crop was uninjured by military contention, and the peafantry were dancing in their guingettes mvith the famp grotefque gaiety as whep they werp • C n 3 'I were the fubjefts of Teiiiers ^eTigus, Nor had the prefence of fb many armies a,ppa» vcntXy leflened the abundance that fprings from the fertile foil of the Netherlands, or enhanced the price of the |iecefl*ariip§ of life. 1^ The face of the country, the perfons of the inhabitants, their neat and convenient buildhigs, their coal fires, and the unvarnifh* ed fimplicity of their fpanners, reminded us of mir own, This refemblance, no doubt, Aruck \x& the more forcibly* as we had fo lately left the territory of France, The lower clafTes feemed well clothed and well fed, arid wore a look of content upon their faces, which feemed to prove, that if their old government was not a good one, it was )iot at any rate intolerably opprei^ve. This is an obfervatioa that can hardly be fallacious, as on the other hand it may be inferred, that when a country is fufEciently fruitful in pro- portion to i^s population, and the body of the . \ i the people are condtmned to hard labour for' a fcanty pittance of food ; when in fuch a country, the work-houfes, the hofpitals, artd' the prifons are full, it may be inferred, t fay, that there is a radical vice in its political iiu ftitutions ; nor can all the cant of ftatc quacks, or the equivocation of falfe patriots, leiTen the force of this eternal truth. Kl> '-■•iff *,"'-*! *;i ,r.»., ^ ■ r I ..[ ' By what I have faid above, I do not mean to infer, that there are no beggars in the Bel- gic States. Beggars there are, but they are few in number, and lefs miferable in appear- ance than in moft other countries. While our horfes were drinking in an inn-yard, two full-grown girls, of plealingperfon, and very decent drefs, furprized us by alking alms. Prom uur carriage they went to that of fome French officers wives, who were on their way to join their hufbauds. What, faid one of the laughing dames, f jch pretty girls as you obliged to afk charity, when there is an army of £ 77 1 s of a hundred thouland men in the country ! This is truly a great reflection on the gallan- try of our countrymen. True, faid another, but it fpeaks much in favour of the fidelity of our hufbands. Th^ girls repeated their prayer, and were beginning to rehearfe a Pater nojier. Allans ! faid the French lady, virtue ought to be recompenfed. Then taking out. her pocket-book, turned over a number oi ajjignats^ and at laft finding a fmall one, offered it to the ^irls. Though this bill was not current, it was of a ready value, much greater than that of ufual benefadlioo, and one of the girls accordingly held out her hand with eagernefs to recei'^c it, when at the very moment fhe thought it her own, the French lady drew back her's. But no, faid fhe, with an arch look, and feeming to recollect herfelf, nobody takes paper in this country. The beggar girls, who perceived that this long and ceremonious fhow of cha- rity was only meant to convey a refufal, coupled X, ill ?'• [ 78 j coupled with a reproach of their conrttry- teen's want of fliith in the French mortey, were tickled by the fancy, went laughing arway, and left me laughing too ; for I had ntvcf heard a denial fo whimfically given, i.''^-^ ■;'•'•,■:..'• Jn 17 , when an Emperor, an Emprefs^ and a King, confpired to opprefs the people of Poland, divided their dominions, and drove off the inhabitants like herds of cattle, Du- mourier refs, le of rove ha- irier C w ] " ttioiirie'r was there in the fervicc of the M* public, at the head of four hundred French volunteers. Judging it iti his pOvVcr to ftrikc an advantageous ftroke, h6 called together his {>rincipal officers, and fubmitted his plan to their confideration. It appeared defpcratc to all, and all, as with one voice, expr^iTed their diffent. / :>'i i So, gcrttlcnlen, faid Dumourier, you Will not fight ? Well, I fay you fllall.--~Then af- fembliilg his men, he told them, that thblfe Who were hot ready to go to hell with him immediately might retire. Nor was this ad- vertifement fuperfluous ; for leading them to the attack of the enemy at CracoW, near two hundred of them were killed upon the fpot, and fixty more difabled for life. Succef^, jhowever, crowned his enterprize. ayxtt i.. Equally fit for the cabinet and the field, the verfatility of his talents recommended H 2 him »»'.i !«'' C 100 ] him to the notice of Louis XV. According- ingly, in the year 1772, when that Monarch, wilhing for good information refpe£ting the revolution in Sweden, fent thither, without the knowledge of his Miniflers, four perfons in whom he could confide. Dumourier was one of the number. The diligence of him- felf and his colleagues was feconded by the difpatch of thei'" couriers. The King alked his Minifters, if they had any news from Sweden, and was told they had none. Why then, faid he, I have, and communicated to them the contents of his difpatches. The Miniflers, provoked at finding that men not immediately under their command had inter- fered in the affairs of flate, prevailed upon the weak Monarch to facrifice the emifTaries that had ferved him too well ; and both Dumou- rier and a M. Favier were put into the Ba- ftille on their return. ' -' li-iLi^ .m^iicl'^:)! '^■^:^'kA&\ sii-lcv ■4}}\bk:iri ^^ t % No [ lOI ] No man knows better than the commander of the Belgic army how to infpire his troops with confidence and courage. His liberal praife, often bellowed before it has been de- fervcd, makes them eager to earn the reputa- tion they have received in advance ; and that he may teach them not to fpare their perfons, he is ever at their head, and in the hotteft of the fire. His adtivity is equal to his courage : he defpifes a foft bed and a luxurious table, and can content himfelf upon occafion with the fcanty fare of a foot foldier. In the moft xargent prefTure of fhe moft multiplied affairs, he gives his orders with the quieknefs of in-? tuition, and with mathematical precifion. Above the affectation of gravity, that is gene- rally the mark of a (hallow mind, he difcovers infinite hilmour in the midft of the n^oft fe- rious occupation, ftill finds time for his jeu ; and always greater than the occafion that calls for his care, he (Jeems to make bufinefs his fport, and fport his bufinefs : poflcfTed at the H ^ fanjtC w « ■ ^ ^ 4 [ 102 ] fame time of a comprehenHve underflanding^ a forefight altnod more than human, and im- meafurable ambition, he appears born to vp? hold, or to overturn an empire. ^ To thefe qualifications of a foldier ana a general, he joins the liberal endowments of a fcholar. The Latin, the Spanifli, the Italian, and the EngliOi languages, are familiar tok bim ; nor is he a Granger to ancient, or m'^* dern literature. The temper of his foul entitles him to flill higher praife. He unites the mildeft and inoft fbciable difppfition to the firmnefa of a floic ; and fuch is the inflexibility of his prin^ copies, that his word is better than the bond of prdinary, i?iQn« ,," r ,r;- .,',•:',• ''"i;;:'".', '■'■'., . ' ' ' " . "' -■ '''■ -' ■ His perfon is uncommonly diminutive and emaciated, and little anfworable to fuch mag- nitude of mind; l;>ut his fallow vifage is brightened C 103 3 brightened by a look highly cxpreffive of vi- vacity and intelligence. In a word, it may be faidy that the moil extraordinary events this age has feen have been brought about by the moft extraordinary man of the age* From Liege it was our intention to turo our fleps to the eaflward, and vifit the army of General Cuiliiie ; but a rumour reaching our ears of an impending war between Eng- land and France, we thought it mod advife* able to repair to Paris, to be ready to return home, in cafe an eveni fo deplorable for both countries ihould really take place^ md is led -:'■■ When wc were about three leagues on our way^ our horfes flopping to reft and int, we thought we could not do better than tvi eat ilkewife.— You are in the right, Gentle^ prien, faid a man, who pulled off his night- cap as he came in, and whom, from the hu« ?nility of his addrefs, I took at firft for the P 4 landlord, M [ >«>4 ] Undlord, you are in the riglit, gentlemen, fail! he, to make a repaft here, for you will not find fb much as a glafs of water on the road. How fo, faid I ?-^Thrcc leagues fur-' jther on, anfwered he, you will meet with the army of Valence, which has been in that part of the country thefe five or fix days, and has abfolutely eaten it up. In what flato is the army ? faid I. — In high health and fpi- rits i they are like fo many enrages * ; and if Beaulieu had not got out of their way with his troops, I verily believe not a man of them would have efcaped. My brother, conti- nued he, is Burgomafter of Pai, a fmall place at four or five leagues diftanpc from hence ; and as he is gone to Liege on bufjnefs, I am obliged to a£l as his fubflitute. I have quar- tered the foldiers in every corner of every houfe ; there are forty-feven in our own, though it confifls only of three rooms. More, however, arc continually arriving, and no * Madmen. longer m * » longer ago than yeftcrday, fome officers of the national volunteers, when I tokl tlicm I had no lodgings to g'.vc them, threatened to hang me. I obfcrved to them, that they would get very little room by pitting me out of the way, as I only occupied a corner of^ the floor in the fame clofet with my mother and Cidci'. You (hould complain, faid I, in- terrupting him, of this intolerable infolencc to the General, ^e vou/ez vous, faid he, after a long day's march in fuch cold wea- ther ? It is no wonder they fhould be vexed, when they find no fire to warm tbcir frozen hands, or room to reft their wcarv limbs. I am, however, fo tired of all this, that I was going to put my mother and liflcr on the horfc, to walk myfelf to Liege by their fiJc, and *"o abandon the hpufe to the difcretlon of ourvifitors ; but General dc la Marchc, who commands the vanguard, hearing of my in- tention, fent me a polite mcffage, requefling me not to ftir, under pai^i of military execu- tion. [ '°6 ] 11 Wr tion. It is hard, indeed, faid I, after being forced to give up your hpufe, that you (hould be fhot for wiihing to leave it. Confider, re«^ plied he, that the exigencies of the war oblige them to be fevere, and that ordinary rules 'will not apply to thef'e extraordinary cafes. I am now ordered to fuperintpnd a convoy of bombs and cannon-balls, and am colle£bing waggons for that purpofe-- — Yes. — Here h© fuddenly paufed, tpok off his night-cap, laid it on the table, put up his hand again, and began to rub his head, which I now perceived to be topfured. Then, as iffatisfied of his own identity, he refumed with a Sardonic fmilc : Yes : I, a minifler of the gofpel, and a preacher of peace and univerfal benevo- lence, am fent upon this murderous miifion. It relieves me, however, from their importu-f nity. — ^They muft have ten thoufand weight of ftraw, and we have not a trufs in the vil- lage. — They muft have more bread iu one day than we hgve flour remaining. Firft w^ had .. i ' the &?*:!. Hi ^ -s # [ «o7 3 the emigrants with us, then the Auftrians, and now we have the French. The French are a brave nation ; I was once in the fervice pf the Fjench, and 1 am a friend tq their caufe. I admire their noble fyflem of hberty and equaHty, and I make no doubt but we (hall all be perfe£lly happy, by the time that, be- tween them and their enemies, we arc all en- tirely undone. I exhorted him to patience^—- You are an {Inglifhman, faid he, your kingdom pafTed through fix centuries of revolutions ; you are in your element ; but our little country has been whole ages without any political con- yulHon, and thefe are diflreiling novelties to Uf, I am determined not to flay — I will go to England, where every thing at prefcnt is quiet. Tq England ! faid I, why the King's Minifters thcmfelves have exprefled their fears pf an infurrcdion. — I will go to Holland then.: — As foofi as £nglaii4 declares war, faid I, to I, to fcrvethc Dutch, Holland will be over- run by the French troops, and the patriots ^vill take up arms again. — I will go to Swit- zerland then : I have ,. fmall cftate in the canton of Berne. — The worlhipful Senate of Berne, faid I, are obliged already to have re- courfe to means of extraordinary fcverity to keep the profane vulgar in order, and may very foon meet with the fate of his Moft High Highnefs the Prince Bifhop of Liege*. I declare to heaven, exclaimed the charitable prieft, that I believe a univerfal phrenzy has feized upon all mankind. There will foon be no corner of the work! for a peaceable man to hide his head in. What can be the caufe of all this contention between the people and their governors ! — 1*11 tell you, faid my com- panion : — When a man has got, .0 matter how, a fnug, warm, and comfortable houfe over his head, has been long in pofieflion of * Son Alteffe Celiffime. .fw '>» u. [ 109 ] it, and has fitted it up to fuit his own con- venience, he will not turn himfelf out, nor will the right owner get in again without a law-fuit. Our converfation lafted as long as our flay. The honeft fimplicity of his mind, joined to many marks of (hrewdnefs, and of folid fenfe, his univerfal philanthropy, and the charitable conflrudlion he put upon affronts and offences offered to himfelf, endeared ;the man to me ; and I could perceive, that the attention which I paid to his lamentations, and my feeming to feel for his embarraffments, Jiad procured me his good will. We parted like old friends; he (hook me affedionately by the hand, gave me his benedi(£l:ion, wifhed me fafe out of the war that threatened my country, and faid he hoped on fome future day to fee me there; for in fpite of the revolutionary rumours I objected, he feemed flill to have a flrong de- ilre to pay England a vifit. We J ■ i We had not gone far, when we found the villages full of foldiers, and when we hadad- ^vanced a little further ftill, we met with hoo- dies of horfe and foot, with their cannon and ammunition, proceeding towards Liege. Valence*s army, without •;...., I ,..w their 'U J'";! their colours, which bore right honourable marks of fervice. We had made a large allowance f(ir the prieA*8 prediction of bad fare upon the road« We fhould have done better, if in this cafe we had placed greater faith in the church ; for we found all he had told us almoft lite* rally verified. - At a place where our horfes were eating their corn, we aiked the landlord, if he could give us a bottle of wine ?— Wine ! (aid he, there is not a bottle of wine left in the coun« try. Had he aiiy room where we could warm ourielves ? — My houie, faid be, is full of huT* fars ; but I make no doubt that they will af* ford you a place near the fire. We went ia; the appearance of £ngli(hmen, as ufual, oc- cafioned a difplay of French urbanity, and we were forced to accept the moft comfort- able feats. Next to mine was an officer, whofc I Uii I W: [ 112 ] vvhofe opinion I alkcd of the Auftrian troops* They fland fire very well, faid he ; but wd can never perfuade them to meet us hand to hand. At Malliens*, no fooner did they hear our Comofianders give the word, ^ /a bayon* nciic, ^ rarme blanche j than they ran from their entrenchments ; while the men of thte main-guard, finding they could not efcape, fell upon their knees, and begged for quarter. i When we went to pay for the only refrefh- ment we could procure, a glafs of bad fmall beer, we found the whole family huddled to* gether in a little fmoky hole, hardly more than fix feet fquare. In this unpleafaut {itu* ation, I was furprized at their good humour^ and at the content pictured in their counte-» nances, which was much at variance with •ii; \ * Having no map fufficiently minute to refer to, I am not fure of this orthography being the right. I can only follow the Frenchman's pronunciation. It is a place near Namur. , ^:,h: i!^.i^i .. _ : .i rtor^U'^SliJ ' 'Ivii, the u [ "3 3 the tears drawn from their eyes by the fnnoka of the wood fire. We are very well fatisficdy faid the woman, with our guefts, the htif- fars ; they are hoheft, civil, and orderly ; but the little footmen in blue (meaning the na* tional volunteers) pilfier every thing that Qomes id their way. Sinet Was the place at which we had put* }>ofed ileepingk Our provident coachman, however, fearing it might not afford ef$ter<^ iainment fot man and ho^fe^ determiited to inifs no accommodations he might meet with qh the road. His wife intentions were of no ^ trail. At fome places there was room for* the horfes^ but none for us ; at others there were beds, but no {tabling % at Sinet there was neither one nor the other. We wer^ therefore obliged to drive to the next village, a league and a half further on. It was mid- night when we reached it, our cattle tired with the length of time they had been X . upon . (I > = It;.- [ 114 ] upon their legs, and we almoft frozen ftifF by our long cxpofure to the fevere nodurnal cold in an open carriage. ^ • « " -^ -* . This villaj_;e was one of the moft miferablc in Europe ; and the only inn, or rather pot- houfe, it contained, was worthy of fuch a village. We knocked firft at the door, and then at the window, and were at length an- fwered by the landlord, who did not find our being in the cold a fufficient reafon for his getting out of a warm bed. There was no contefting the propriety of this calculation,' of which his feelings were the fupreme judge. Ours, however, that were very pain- ful, fet us to calculating too, and we thought it demonftrabie, that the only way for us to get any reft, was to deprive every body in the houfe of theirs. ....-:. . ; ; .; At the end of about three quarters of an hour's rapping and roaring, we convinced the landlord an kndlord of the inverfe of our propofitioii : that the only way for him to get 'any, wias not to deny it to us. He rofc, and opened the door, with fomewhat of a fuUen demea- nour. By degrees he grew more civil, arid gave us every thing his houfe afforded ; that i9 to fay, a little dry bread, a glafs of cold water, and a fcanty bed of ftraw fpread upon the ftones of the apartment, that was at once the kitchen and the public room. '^^'~' '^^^i^i^^^^ ^- A ftiati mtft know what it is to be ftafv- ing with cold and hunger in the middle of the night, after a journey of fifteen hours, to conceive the pleafure we felt at obtaining fuch wretched accommodations, in fo wretch- ed a hovel. My cc^panion, indeed, was little the better for his bed. He did not clofe his eyes during the whole night ; but as in " eigbt years wandering, and e/g/jt ycats War," 7 had fometimes wanted even flrawj I la did rd , [ "6 1 did not, during the whole night, open mine. The next day brought us to Givet. :'■ ^-'iii '■'" >'•' Givet can boaft of nothing fufficiently re- markable to detain a traveller ; Jind the fortifica- tions of Charlemont adjoining to it, and render- ed almoft impregnable by its lofty iituationon a rock, overlooking the Maefe, might have been vifited in an hour. Thirty-fix, however, elapfed before we could get away ; fuch was the difficulty we met with in procuring horfes, or a carriage of any kind. Hopelefs of getting any thing better, we at laft agreed to give forty-five livres for a cart to carry us and our baggage to Rocroi, which was double what travelling poll: would have coft us, the diftance being only eight leagues. The greater part of the firft three, when our fpeed could match that of our vehicle, we walked on foot ; but as foon as we left Fumay, and en- tered the forefl of the Ardennes, the depth of the I) [ "7 :i the mud reconciled us to our humble convey ance. It is hardly poflible to imagine a wilder country. From the place laft mentioned to the poft-houfe without the gates of Rocroi, a fpace of five long leagues, there is not even the fhadow of a habitation. One dreary mountain follows another, and heath and wood, in alternate fucceffion, prefent a change of fcencry indeed, but give no relief to the difappointed vifion. In the dead feafon, the ruffet of the qaks add to the tedious gloom of the landscape, which ^he verdure of the fpring muft, no doubt render fomewhat more tolerable. Before the vigilance of the Mare-^ chaujfee *j and the feverity of the laws, had cleared the country of robbers, thefe roads were the theatre of many a murder. The ■ ■ ■' ■ f ' * A bofly of guards on horfeback, employed fokly }n UI^ prctei5tion of the highways, unlefs in time of wau", Xl*^/ yi^e no\y called tl^c Ocndarmcrk Natiomlt, I 3 po(lillion, W: [ liS 3 poftillicn and the horfes were involved in th? misfortune, and dragged into the foreft, which lent a cover to the crime, and often Jiid the fate of the haplefs traveller fropi the Jcnowledge of his anxious relations, >, : , ; .1 i Sometimes the banditti, either from a want of time, or of folicitude, left the bodies unr concealed, and here and there a crofs ereded on the fpot, ftill tells the tale of murdered pafiengers, > •• ,':;'•-';'; -m ./ ... •■..., At prefent nothing is to be apprehended ; and if our lives were in danger, it could only be from the overturning of our vehicle. Though the cart was hung fo low, that this feemed impoflible, the inconceivable badncfs of the roads, more than once very nearly proved the contrary. The fame caufe made our rate of traveUing fomething lefs than a league jl'\ hour, and gave the rain time to make its way through our great coats, while the yneven- nefs * C U9 ] I) nefs of the road confpired with the nature of the carriage to jolt us in a moft horrible man- ner. We might literally be faid to be broke upon the wheel, . , . ^ Coming in fuch a queftionable fhape to Rocroi, the better inns refufed to receive us. So relative, however, is human happinefs, that a bad bottle of wine, an indifferent fup- per, a fhabby room, and hard beds, made us two of the moft contented n^en in the uni- verfe, -■• -:-4- ..,,_,,. ..',.. JUX-J^j fn.'v :',.■> It is needlefs to fay, how we fet off the next morning from thence in a chaife with poft-horfes ; how at the next ftage we found carriage horfes without a carriage, and faddle horfes without a faddle ; how we were in confequence obliged to pay extravagantly dear for fuch an equipage as that of the preceding day to carry our baggage to Mezieres ; and how we walked three leagues with our boot-* [ 120 1 tops in the liiud. The new fyftcm of equar lity forbad us to complain ; for great numbers of foldlefs were travelling merriiy in both di- reftions, though as deep in the mire as our- felves. '^k Mezieres was the term of thefe petty mis- fortunes. There for three louis-d'ors we hired a tolerable chaife, with a pair of horfes, to convey us in two days to Rheims. The diftance is only eighteen leagues ; but the firft half of it, to Rhotel, is not a journey of cafy performance. I defy an Englilhman, who has never been out of his country, to conceive the poffible exiftence of fuch roads, or an Engliih carriage to advance a hundred yards along them without overturning. — Wanting a good foundation, and being com- pofed of materials of a very friable nature, they have not been able to rcfift the conftant paffage of heavy artillery and ftorcs to the army, an^ are become no better than one con- tinued tinued flough. The great flones that have lately been thrown in at random, have not rendered them more folid, but have made them more dangerous* We had not gone far before we difcovered that our driver was a wit. MeJ/ieurs, faid he, vous voila ii Verfatlles, How at Verfaiiles, faid we, feeing no appearance of a town, and wondering by what magic this might be.— Yes, gentlemen, replied he, pointing with his whip, you are at Verfaiiles. We looked a little onward, and faw a loaded waggon lying on its fide, which had given occaiion to this bad pun on the prcnch word verfer^ to over- turn. A little farther on, we met feveral others with teams of fourteen, fixteen, and nine* teen horfes, and were affured, heaven knows with what truth, that one very heavily laden had been dra\yn through the worft of the road [ ^2- 1 road by no Icfs than fifty ; and that the dili- gence with twelve had been nine hours tra- velling the five leagues between Mezieres and TAunoy, the village at which we flept. Arriving very early, and purpofing a very ^arly departure the nex. morning, we fold the landlord we fhould be glad to fup at half paft eight. At half paft eight ! faid he with aftonifhment. If, faid I, fo early an hour puts you to any inconvenience, let it be half paft nine. Is not half paft eight, anfwered he, a very late hour for fupper r — Why, at what hour do you generally fup yourfelves ? — About five, faid the landlord. ' ' * The appellation of la Chatnpagne Pouil- leufe * emphatically befpeaks the poverty of the country, which having preferved the in-f habitants from much intercourfe with ftran-; c ■ .; \ : ,-.i i\. X^ ',^..// •,.!: * I^ouly. : ... \ gprs. gers, has alfo preferved the regular hours, and fimpliclty of manners of ancient times. ; Of all the provinces we had travelled through, this was the only one that feemed in a bad ftate of cultivation, rather owing, I prefume, to the notorious fterility of the foil^ than to the want of hands, or to the ravages of war. Some were, no doubt, committed by the mercenaries of Pruflia, and fome by the outcafls of France. If credit may be given to the report of the inhabitants of the coun- try, the exploits of the latter may be reduced to the burning of Vaux, and feveral other villages, the ravilhing of children, the muti- lating of women, and the niurdering of de- fencelefs men. Yet thefe high and puiflant lords boafted, that they fhould ever be found /ur le chemln de rhonnettr *. Such was pof- ■ . ? • -ti ' • * On the road of honour. { f fibly V: ? m hi hi libly their intciitiort ; but fomchow or other they have certainly loft their way. > Wc continued ours, and arrived at Rheinis on the evening of the 23d of December. As the King \vas to go to the Convention to make his defence on the 36th, wc fent off our baggage by the diligence, and took faddle- horlcs at the poft-houfe. Owing to the con- liant palTagc of couriers, the iiifcfs were worfc than French i^Ucts generally are ; and mere than once we were difmounted by the filling of our ftecds, or by their being incapable of reachinsj the end of the 11a jrc. During the whole of the journey wc re- marked, that the appreheniion of a war with England was peculiarly painful to the French. Though fluihcd with their late fuccefTes, and " confident againft a world in arms," it was evident there was nothing they ' . • ' ' ■ " -that tliefc contending kingdoms. England and Fran^'c, vvhofe vei y fliores look pale With envy of each other's happinefs. May ceale their hatred——— — —that never war advance Iler bleeding fword 'tvvixt England and fair France— That Engliili may as French, French Engliflinien, Receive each other. We C '^7 ] We reached Pans the day before the Kuig's defence came on. The fad cataflrophe of the unfortunate Monarch was, no doubt, an event of mighty magnitude, and teeming with a multitude of otiiers. It was probably the laft groan of royalty in France, and the laft great convulfion of all thofe that have di- ftraded the country for four years paft. It cannot be juftified ; nor is it the fcafon for extenuation, now that the ftream of prejudice flows ftrong, and the phantafm of a murdered King ftalks before our frighted imagination, and makes ,,> ^ »jpo Wc fools of nature So horridly to fliakc our cllfpofition, '• With tliouglits beyond the reaches of our fouls. Mh\ Confident, however, in truth, and my good intentions, I fhall brave the extreme opinion of the times, the ready cenfure of either party, and the fmifter interpretations of illiberal minds ; and (hall hazard a few re- ' fledions [ 12^ ] fledions and remarks, that a verjr long i^cTi- dcnce in the country qualifies me, in fomtit degree to make* ' ) fi ,«j The King's confpiring ^Igainft Che new go-- vernment has been made a queflion in Eng^ gland, but if never was one in France, at lead with any perfbn of good faith or candour. A number of minute fa£ts, that were loft in the diftance, formed an aggregate fufHciently evi- ' dent on the fpct, and carried three-fold conviAion to every mind. The frontiers no m better guarded, after fourteen weeks declara- tion of war, than at the firft moment of ho* liilities, though I>ewis XVL was inverted with full powers to augment and difpofe of the military force, and though hundreds of thoulands ilood panting for the (ignal to fly to the defence of their country, might alone fuffice, and will alone juftify the fatal tenth of AUgUft. ^ : V , it. 4 Before Se/ore that period, there was- but one bpi-^ iiion oh the fubjed, atid the ilaunchefl i^y«^ aliO^sfiti Ffance, with their uAial imprtddetide^' ufed to difcharge the eihigrmit pfin(:e$ 0^ iiobks from all blame of rebellion, by aflfert-^ ing that the King was a£ting in concert with theip, and bjr appealing to the evidence of bis conduftk^ re It is often aiked if the king hdd not a right to defend himielf in his own hojfe ?^i— But had not the people a right to employ thd only means left to prefer ve the ibeity they had purchafed at the expense of fuch a Arug- gte ? And does not the Monarch Asind in tha culpable predicament of a man who, in hi§ O'vn defence, kills inother, while he himfelf is engaged in the commiilion of fome illegal ad? It is aiked, if the Aifembly had dot the power to declare the forfeiture of thd crown ?— Yes : but there was a ftrong party of members under the influence, or in th« K pay pay o^ the civil lift, and a ftill ftrongcr one of the faftion, called Feuillanti^ who dreaded the prevalence of the republicans more tha^ that of the King. Befides, allowing them all to have been unbiaffed, a grave aflcmbly could not have hurled him from hid throne in an inftant. Too prudent to be guilty of aiiy overt adl, a vis inertia was the only means he ufed to bring the nation again under the yoke ; and while the legiflative body, in pre- paration for judgment, would have been in-* veftigating fa£ts» invalidating excufes, and tearing away the pretexts with which he veiled his negledt, the Duke of Brunfwick would have executed judgment on them ac- cording to his threat. In fifteen days after the attack of the Thuil* leries, the executive council raifed a force lufficient to repel the enemy ; in fifteen days more it would have been too I.Ue* It ays It t «3« ] h, lis aiked again, whether ttie National Affembly, and the armed force, had not fworn to obferve the conftitution ? Yes : but as the cx3n{litution itfdlf declared^ that the nation had the imprefcriptible right of changing its government at pleafure, that Oath could only be binding as long as it was confiAent' with the interefl, or agreeable to the wiihes of the people. Now the adhelion of all the de- partments to the King^s depotition^ and num- berlefs fpontaneous addrefles of felicitation ^ have given i*oom to fay, that the Parifian in- furgents on that day fpoke the fenfe; of the nation. The good people of England, taking iT upon the credit of good men, who have r«or. been out of the ifland fince the revolu* ■jiii, fay it was the fenfe of a fadion. I ne- vci s^ontend with revelation, or with mea infpired ; and, indeed, my own obferVation inclines me alfo to fay, that the defenders of the new fyftem are a faction : the petty, def- perate, and defpicable faction of the eighty- K 2 four J I I C n^ } tovtx dcpaitrilcnts, fupportcd by fcvcral mil- lions of men in arms* :i\ -Lf'r '.U;j ii It haa been iaid in England, that the Na- tional Convention was iiot impowered to try Xibuis XVI. This is only true in part ; for 3 number of ^^e departments, I know not howirifcny, gavc vrittcn and exprefs direc- tiofta to their deputies to try the King, as well as to form a conflitution* As none of the reA dif&vowed the declared intention of their re- prefentatives, may they not be confidered as having given a tacit confent ? t^ it has^ been faid, that fome eiTential papers were kept back from the legal defenders of the Monarch* This afiertioti of a quondam French Minrfter, now in England, was pub- licly difcuffed, and plainly proved to be falfe, in the Convention ; nor did Meffieurs Malef- herbes, De Seze, and Tronchet, offer to avail thcmfelves of fuch a pretence. It has been , "i^i-i . :^^ . i^ echoed, ■•-'* [ 133 3 ' echoed, after the latter of thefe gentlemen, that the French penal code requires the con* currence of two-thirds of the judges or jurors to condemn a man accufed. It does fo, to give the verdi£t guilty, but not to pronounce the penalty incurred by the offence. Now, the Conrention was unanimous as to the cri- minality of the royal prifoner. Surely this opinion of more than three hundred of his judges, who wiHied to fave his life, muft re^ move all doubt from the mind of the mpft incredulous. If any had remained jn iniiie, they would have vanished, whep I heard a number of the icing's friends fay, iit the midft of their tears, that hjs attempts to recover his power were the natural efit<^ pf his preja- dices, and of his education : I believe fo too ; and I heartily lament that a fate fo fevere (hould have attended a mail, who was infc? rior in head and heart to few of the Princes of Europe. The genipral perfuafion pf his im- becility was cffedually done a^'ay hy th^ ',?/[ J^ 3 ' acutencfs [ '34 ] acutcncfs of his anfwcrs at the har of the Convention, and by the nnaftcrly diftion of that part of his laft will that did not relate to religion. m ■: i I The above accufations brought againft his judges, fcem then to admit of fome juftrfica- tion; but what apology can be offered for the putting of a man to death, when no law determined fuch a penalty for his offence ; when, on the contrary, iw only pre-exift- ing law pronounced a different punifhment ^ Was the conftitution then, that was tendered to the King by the nation, no more than a fnare held out for his life ? The laws of Na- ture condemned him fay fome. But are we living in the woods ? And does not every law of Nature forbid us to kill a captive in cold blood ? No plea then remains but the abufive plea of necefl::/, which gives a changeable colour to fo much injuftice in many countries befides France.. Nor [ J35 ] II Nor is it at all apparent that the death of Louis XVI. was neceflary to the fafcty of the French republic. It is true Indeed, that hi9 name was the watch-word of parties, the de- clared enemies of the new government, as was proved by the late filly infurredUon at Rouen, of prieils and nobles, afTembled there frp^ til quarters. This movement, perhaps, fealcd the death-warrant of the King ; for it is a faifl, that many members, who had before determined to vote for the appeal to the people, changed their intentions on hearing of it, led the de- ] lay fhould be the occafion of other intefline broils. It is curious that all the meafures taken, or pretended to be taken by thofe Who called themfelves his friends, with a view of preferving his authority and his life, fhould have uniformly tended to pull him from the throne, and place him on the fcafFold. t His behaviour on the day of execution dif- pelled the opinion that had been {o long en* ' K ^ tertaiqc^ m iki H fv. s C -36 1 3^Vl \ned of his want of f^rmnefs and courage. The difficult circumflances he w^s in at tl^e beginping of the revolution, when it was equally dapgerous to advance or to recede, and tho dpqble part hp a£led during the for- mation and cxiftence of the fliprt-lived con-? ^itution, gavQ to all his condudt an appear? . anoe of hesitation and timidity. When no longer King, Louis was himfelf again. Early on the fatal morning, the Queen exprcfled a defire of bidding her unfortunate hufband drer$ him, he re- r].*, • je«fled '=■5. [ «38 ] jcfkcd their help, with an apparent fcnfc of his pafl dignity, took off his coat himfclfy and meeting with fome difHculty in unbuckling his flock, he thanked the perfon who afHded him in getting it ofF, with the fame uncon- cern, as if he had been preparing for bed. A momentary agitation, however, feized his mind, and he evidently (huddered, when he perceived that the hangman \Yas cutting off his hair. ■'^ The delav that followed, and that was at- tributed to his relu£lance to meet his fate, was partly fpent in gazing upon the guillotine^ at the firft afpeft of which he drew back with horror, in talking to thofc about him, and in Ipeaking a few words to his confcflbr. In this he was indulged ; but when he afcended the fcaffold, not only the refped due to a dying King, but even the common charity that fhould attend {o unfortunate a fituation, was forgotten. In a white waiftcgat, and with i»- Ji4 ^ ( ) with his hands tied behind him, he made about half the circuit of the fatal theatre, with as firm a (lep, and with the fame rolling gait, as when he ufed to pafs between adm'iring crcywds in the gallery of Verfaillcs. The Mi- nifters of death hung all the time upon him,^ and being fternly ordered by General Santcrre to do their duty, prevented him from pro- ceeding further. Several times, a£luatcd by a natural movement of indignation at finding himfelf fo roughly handled, and availing him« himfclf of an uncommon (hare of flrength, he (hook them riT, and feveral times he at- tempted to fpeak to the people. But the con- tinual rolling of the drums hindered him from being heard, unlefs by thofe immedi'- ately about his perfon. 'Je pardonne ^ nus ennemis, faid he, & je fouhaite que ma moft faffe le bonhcur de la France^* He would X ■ have / iiC ii:ir ' f * " I forgive niy enemies ; and I wifli that my death may give happincfs to France.^* Thcfc wordi, and the latter ¥ f i< ■"fi [ 140 ] have added more, but the executioners, with barbarous brutality, fcized him by the ears, and tied him to the pillar that makes part of the fatal inflrument. . S'JIle faut (if it muft ts fo) faid the un- fortunate Monarch, fubmitting to their vio- lence, and feeming thereby to exprefs the hopes he had till then entertained of pardon : j'/V lefauty repeated he. A moment after he was lowered down, and ere he could well pronounce the words, Je tneurs innocent (I die innocent) the weighty machine feparated his head from his body. The executioner held it up, flreaming with blood, to the view of the furrounding multitude, who had looked upon the fcene in death-like filence. But as fpon as it was over, the body of horfe, called the cavalry of the refuhlk^ that was placed latter paitioil^irs^ are g?vcn upon the bcft authority — the concurrent teftimony of the executioner and his four affift- ants, taken d'^v^n feparately, and afterwards compared. next bJ [ HI ] next to the fcaffold, putting their helmets upon the points of their fwordsy and waving them aloft in the air, cried out, Vive la »Af> tiotty vive la republlque. At the moment the King fet his foot upon the fcafFold, fix or feven perfons, placed u(>on an elevated fpot, called out, Grace I grace \. This cry occalioneJ a fliort alarm among th ing filled with cannon and troops, and of the: fad ceremony's being hurried fo precipitately to its eiid. V At the very inftant of execution ^ 4be cor> feflbr exclaimed, Monte au ciel^ fls de Stk * The Place de Louis l^Vi Louis. ¥i i' C 142 I LoUss*, ^nd as footi as it was pad, a nunlber of perfonist gathered about the place of execu- tid», to pufchafe his hair, and dip their hand-^ kerchiefs in his blood. Some did fo out of devotion to his perfon, others with the view of pofleffing an dbjcd of curiofity, and others in the hope that it would prove a profitable fpeculation. Many of the national guards ilained the points of their bayonets, and the muzzles of their guns. This, faid they. We will fend to the enemy. Many of them danced round the fcaffbld, finging the popular air called La Carmagnole ; and a great majority of the fpeftators of all kinds (ho wed, on their return home, evident figns of joy. They looked upon Louis XVI. as z tyrant and a traitor, who had bronght a difaflrous war upon their country. Though a King, they coniidered him as no more than another * *' Afcend to Heaven, fon of Saint Louis; >f man. t H5 ] man. Aild let us Britoas, pemtus ah orbe di^ *yi/iy who have a fpecial privilege for judgiog better of what pafles all over the world, than all th2 world befide, pity this lamentable mif* take. Let us be the more indulgent, as the fupcrior beings expseffed no particular con- cern. The heavens did not ihed a tear ; no earthly convulfion rent the veil of the temple^ nor did the thunder, rolling on the left of the gu'l't/ city, reprobate .the atrocity of the action* Nay, irt proportion as our feelings are feri- iibly afFeded at the death of a King, we have fo few of us feen, let us make fome allowance for the feelings of otheto. The minds of the Parifians Were peciiliarly irritated. Thou- f?nds of them had loft their deareft friends, and their neareft relatives, in the bloydy fcenes of which the deceafed Monarch had been the wilful, or the occax^onal caufe ; and they all faw their country in efted by cruel and innu- m^^^ . merable C 144 1 merablc foes, who were come with the de» clared intention of reinflating him in his for- mer defpotifm, and who aflerted that he wa& the inlidious accomplice" of their hoflile at*' tack. m The fame deeds done in different circam- fiances may iland as wide afunder as the poles. The killing of a man from whom we have fecetved no ofi'ence, or upon ftrong pro- Vocation, conilitutes, in the firfl cafe, a hor* tible crime ; in the fecoad, a fault that may admit of excufe. Coniidered in this point of view, even the fanguinary fcenes of the be- ginning of September may allow fome little extenuation. Let no man imagine, that I Inean in any degree to juftify what I have ne- ver yet fuffered with patience a Frenchman to defend. My blood has ever been chilled by the hr *d recital ; nor have I a dearer wifh, than to fee the inftigators and perform- ers of thefe bafe and atrocious anions pu- : , nilhed r 1 i L L HS ] niftied as they deferve. But it is not the lei» true, that the Parifians were driven to dcfpair by the Duke of Brunfwick's approach to Pa-' ris, and by his infamous manifeftoes. Bouille's threat of not leaving ftone upon ftone in the capital, was backed by the menaces of the emigrants. Their cruel condudl on the fron- tiers plainly ihovved the inhabitants of Paris what they had to expeil. When the whole flrcngth of the city rofe to repeil the enemy, they feared that they fhould leave their aged fathers, and their defencelefs children, to the mercy of a band of confpirators, of which the part that was in the prifons was . > be fet at liberty by their accomplices without. Be this true or falfe, it is certain that fuch was their perfuafion ; and I have been afllired by a refpeftable French merchant, who mixed, without participating in thefe horrid fccnes, that all the prifoners had received a day or two before ftockings ftripcd blue and I^ white. [ 146 ] til white, to enable them to recognize each "* other. Their being in this uniform, he faid he could atteft from his own obfervation. The nobles and the priefts had alfo their di- ftindive marks. If I could doubt the afler- tions of numbers who pretend to have feen thefe marks, I could not eafily rcjeft the tef- timony of a youth, too ingenuous to deceive, and too young to invent, who was prefent at the maflacre in the convent of Carmelite Friars. He fays that he faw cards taken from the breafts of the murdered priefls, on which were depi that a pedpk treated like brutes for fo many' centu- ries, ihould become like brutes when they broke their chain. V ■• • * ■ ■ - •-^ It may, peihaps, be fafer in this Chriftian land, for the man who rejoiced that there ivere prifons for the libellers of a Queen, to libel a whole nation, and to advife the cutting of his fellow creatures throats from genera- tion to generation, than it is for another to inculcate charity to our neighbours, by a candid ftatement of fads, and demonftrable truth. But as my tcur induced me to relate the things I faw, and as thefe things led me naturally to the reflections that accompany the mention of them", I defy reproach, and truft that my readers will fhow feme indul- ^ gencc to the hafty prpdudlion of au unfkilfi4 pen. ilr% , .a .,, ; i}*^-^ .". ^iP» ^ Vf,' .. .' - V '-*i^ 5 ' *. THE END, •ti.h i f i\ IS i ■4 It^ ):/