Frédéric Barbey

“ In the maze of her plots and plans, necessarily mixed up with the enterprises of the émigrés and of the agents of the counter-revolution—up above the network of all these machinations within France and without—one luminous point shines forth always as the goal of every project: the tower of the Temple. All around the venerable building strain and struggle the would-be rescuers of its prisoners. Its name, now famous, instils into the Royalist world something of the terror that went forth of old from the Bastille. What went on exactly inside the dungeon from 1792 to 1795? ”

“ We, who bear the ensign of the General of Infantry, shall find all good Frenchmen and true patriots ... rallying round our colours. Believe me, when that happens, the Royalist party, which is very numerous, will declare itself, and when it sees that it can do so without endangering its sovereign’s life, will flaunt the white cockade. Let us, too, wear this as our symbol of France—not the colours of a regicide and factious prince, the scandal of his country and the author of all the evils which are now rending it. ”

“ The proximity of Lille enabled him to keep up unbroken relations, during the summer and winter of 1790, with the officers of the garrison he had just left. A plot had even been roughly sketched out with Lady Atkyns’ assistance; but a thousand obstacles retarded from day to day any attempt at carrying it out, and once more our poor young soldier was totally discouraged. Despairing of success, disgusted with everything, he began to meditate escape from an existence which yielded him nothing but vexations, and, little by little, he ceased to brood seriously over the thought of suicide. ”

“ I am received most cordially and flatteringly; it seems a kindly, quiet sort of set; every one is eager to be nice to me, and there are not too many people. Ease, without which there is no such thing as society, is the dominant note in this set. But, Charlotte dear, don’t imagine that I’m already devoted to these folk. I shall never care deeply for any one again, nor make any other close friendship. It was She who drew us together, Charlotte; my love for you shall be my last and dearest devotion, I promise you. ”

“ But in the autumn of 1794 a popular feeling in favour of the Revolution began to make itself felt, fanned by the hostility aroused against the undisciplined English troops, with their looting and pillaging, and intensified by an unlooked-for piece of news: the French, led by Pichegru, had crossed the frontier and were advancing by long marches, and seizing all the places they passed through on their way. In a few weeks the power of the Stadtholder would have gone! Though clothed in rags, the soldiers of the National Convention were welcomed with transports of delight. ”

“ Bent under the weight of his sufferings, Cormier enjoyed the most devoted care at the hands of his family. His younger son, Patrice, had returned to Paris after an existence not less adventurous than his father’s. He had thrown himself into the insurrection in La Vendée, and for three years had served in the Royalist army of the Maine. Benefiting, like his father, by the general amnesty, he found his way back to the paternal roof in Paris, and went into business, so as to throw a veil over his past, until the day should come when he might appear in uniform again. ”

“ For these gentry, mostly penniless and forced to beg their livelihood, no resource was too base by which they could get into favour with the Ministers. Besides scheming in a thousand different fashions against the common enemy, the Revolution, they stuck at nothing in their efforts to throw suspicion upon each other. The little court which had gathered round the Comte D’Artois on the Continent was also a hotbed of plots and schemes, the influence of which made itself felt in London. Every one spied on every one else. ”

“ But his restless, questioning turn of mind makes it difficult for him to reconcile himself to accomplished facts. He can feel no sympathy for this Revolution, which now strides over France as with seven-leagued boots; he has, indeed, an instinctive repulsion for it. Frotté is an indefatigable scribbler, and in the long idle hours of his soldier-life he confides to paper all his fears and discouragements, while keeping up, at the same time, a regular correspondence, especially with his friends Vallière and Lamberville. ”

“ But what difference is there between doing a thing one’s self and causing it to be done? The glory which one shares with others is glory none the less so long as the great purpose is attained.... How can I be sure if this plan does succeed, it will not be displeasing to the lady who would have liked to carry off her friends with her own hands, and then to lead them in triumph, etc., etc.?... But as we are concerned, not with an opera, but an operation, the best proof of affection will be to sacrifice that glory and that joy. ”

“ Lady Atkyns has been fretting for weeks over her inaction. A thousand thoughts disturb her, all converging towards the same idea: can she do anything to save the King and the Queen? Does she not possess a considerable fortune, and who is to prevent her from arranging to devote a part of it to the realization of her dream? And in truth this woman, who was a foreigner, who was bound by no real tie of any kind to the inmates of the Tuileries, was actually to attempt, through the strength alone of her love and her heroic devotion, what no one had yet succeeded in. A superhuman energy sustained her ”

“ If I have the good luck to fight, and die in the cause of honour, this, my dear Lamberville, will console you a little, for it will prove to you that death was a comfort to me. If disorder and dissolution are still reigning in France when August comes, if there has been no attempt to restore order—then I shall lose all hope, and all the reasons that I give you here will acquire full force. ”

“ In all these letters of the Breton magistrate there is a real ring of sincerity. The admiration he feels for this interesting woman resolves itself into a whole-hearted devotion to her cause, and if, later, her large fortune and her generosity seem to have too large a part in Cormier’s thoughts and too great an influence upon his actions, at least he must be credited with absolute frankness throughout. ”

“ In Paris political life is the only life; the effervescence grows and grows. The difficulty of provisioning the capital, the dearness of food, and the consequent great distress, bring about a state of instability and demoralization which is bound to express itself in action, and which will break out on the slightest pretext. Moreover, the people, already indignant, are exasperated by the flight of so many nobles from the kingdom—a flight which serves to reinforce the émigré contingent.
Cormier perceives the gravity of the situation. ”

“ One opinion alone is to be condemned as indubitably wrong: that of the historians who see nothing in all this worthy of investigation and of discussion, to whom the story of the Dauphin is all quite clear and intelligible, and who go floundering about over the whole ground with the calm serenity of the blind, assured of the freedom of their road from obstruction, and that they cannot see the obstacles in their way. ”

“ Her eyes give out a look of fierceness. Save for the thin hair partially covering her forehead, there is almost nothing feminine in her face. Seeing her for the first time, Lady Atkyns must have received an impression for which she was unprepared. They took to each other, however, very quickly, having a bond in common in their memories of the Queen. Both had come under the charm of Marie-Antoinette, their devotion to whom was ardent and sincere. The Queen was their one great topic of conversation. ”

“ What are we waiting for? Why do we not show all France that we are Citizens, that we are Patriots? Is it for the orders of our Commandant that we look? But has not the aristocrat of Orgères already shown us how unworthy he is of the place which we have blindly entrusted to him?... He commands us only that he may lead us into the abyss. Seconded by his sycophant, Carette, and by the traitors whom our cowardice leaves in command over us; leagued with the heads of all the aristocratic intrigues, he now seeks to alienate from us our brave comrades of the Crown, and of Royal-des-Vaisseaux. ”

“ Dalberg, the Ambassador, had already managed to convey to him some money, with which to defray the first expense of his visit to the Temple, and yonder, at Elgersweier, Madame d’Auerweck was in receipt of assistance from Carlsruhe; for, as a matter of fact, the mother, grandmother, and children, robbed as they were of the head of the family, had been suddenly plunged into the most terrible state of want.
The poor woman, in spite of her condition, desired only one thing: to obtain a passport so as to be able to get to Paris. ”

“ To tell you the truth, I wish they would do something worse to them than only make fun of them; but now, with the way Lord Nelson of the Nile has disposed of Bonaparte, one certainly can have a good laugh at him. He doesn’t carry the austerity of his principles as far as you do, my dear Charlotte.
“I shall have the inscription of the Queen’s portrait changed; her name is wrong. It ought to be ‘M. A. de Lorraine, Archduchess of Austria.’ The portrait is charming, but all the same it is not the Queen we knew; and I loved her so much better than when that portrait was done. Adorable lady! ”

“ There is no reason to be astonished at finding our “Général des Chouans” expressing himself thus, or at the changed attitude adopted by him, dictated by circumstances and the new situation in which he has now found himself. Here is how he seeks to disabuse Lady Atkyns of the hope to which she is still clinging:—
“No, dear lady, I shall not forget my devotion to you before I forget my allegiance to the blood of my kings. ”

“ You are not a Frenchman? If you had not intrigued against France, or even if you had ceased to intrigue, why did you leave your wife because our troops were about to arrive, since you were a German and settled in Germany on the territory of a Prince, who is on good terms with this same France? But we have reason to believe that you were still carrying on your intrigues. We have reason to think that you came secretly to Paris five or six months ago. ”

“ In vain we multiply our efforts to escape their snares; and now a society founded by foreigners and cranks for our ruin and the humiliation of France, and using ignorance and credulity for its pernicious ends, is inundating us with incendiary writings, and flaunting its emissaries in our very workshops. ”

“ Reassured by the calm that began to reign now in Paris, and by the fact that other émigrés who had returned to the capital were being left unmolested, Cormier made his way back furtively one day to the Rue Basse-du-Rempart, where the Citoyenne Butler still resided. The former president of the Massiac Club returned to his ancient haunts a broken-down old man. Like so many others, he found it difficult to recognize the Paris he now saw, transformed as it was, and turned inside out by the Revolution. Wherever he turned, his ears were met with the sound of one name—Bonaparte, the First Consul. ”

“ Then Lady Atkyns had an idea. Why should she not go in person to Paris and try her chance? Probably the surveillance which had been so rigorously kept over the King would be far less severe for the Queen. And one might profit by the relative tranquillity, and manage to get into the Temple, and then—who could tell what one might not devise in the way of carrying the Queen off, or of substituting some one else for her? She never thought of all the dangers around her, and of [Pg 60] the enormously increased difficulties in the path for a foreign lady who knew only a little French. ”

“ Our cause is that of all the American Colonies; our cause is that of French Commerce, which must inevitably be ruined if we are ruined; our cause is that of the creditors of the State, whom these events will bring to bankruptcy; our cause is that of six millions of men employed directly or indirectly in the navigation, the commerce, and the victualling of the Colonies; our cause is that of the monarchy, which will lose all splendour when we are no longer wealthy, which will lose all power on the sea if we are to perish. ”

“ You have voluntarily abandoned the position ensured you by your sex and great advantages in order to play the rôle of a great and high-minded statesman. There are discomforts and disadvantages attached to this new estate, and it is my misfortune to have to bring this home to you. I can but console myself with the thought of your goodness and of the great cause which we have embraced and which is the subject of all our anxieties. May God prosper it, and may it bring you glory and me happiness!”
In the mouth of any one but Cormier these protestations would arouse one’s distrust ”

“ The sight of it filled with vexation and fury those who, like Frotté, deplored the fallen Royalty, the lost privileges, the dispossessed nobility, of the old order. For the rest, our chevalier, during his stay at Dunkirk, had frequent news about his fair friend at Lille. One day it would be a brother officer who would write, “I played cards yesterday with your fair lady, who looked as pretty as an angel, if angels ever are so pretty as were told they are. She is going to have her portrait painted in oils by my favourite artist. ”

“ Upon Cormier’s decision to leave England the Baron expresses himself in downright language, and makes it a text for a disquisition upon his elder’s character.
“Cormier’s departure has disturbed me a good deal,” he writes to Lady Atkyns, “the more so that, with a little prudence, he could have spared himself this unpleasantness, and might have succeeded in getting what he wanted. A man who has passed his whole life in the magistracy ought, at the age of fifty-six, to know something about men, but Cormier has never got further than the A B C of such knowledge. ”

“ Meanwhile, renewed efforts were being made to bring about a good service of news to the Continent and Paris. As time passed, Lady Atkyns’ friends realized more and more that it would have been madness to proceed with a regular attempt at a sudden rescue in the actual conditions of things. In truth, the calm which had followed the 9th Thermidor, and which gave Paris time to take breath, was making itself felt within the Temple. Laurent’s nomination was evidence of this. Any attempt to act at once would have been sheer folly. ”

“ Archives of Lille.
[16] “After having loved and served the unhappy Marie-Antoinette with a love that was almost idolatry.”—Mémoires manuscrits de Frotté; La Sicotière, Louis de Frotté, etc., vol. i. p. 49. “O exquisite woman, let our Revolution end as it may, and even if you should have no part in it, you will still and for ever be to me the tender and devoted friend of Antoinette ... and she to whom I hope some day to owe all my happiness.”—Letter from de Frotté to Lady Atkyns, November, 1794. V. Delaporte, Centenaire de la mort de Marie-Antoinette. ”

“ Ah, how sad life is!”
In the summer of 1797 the Princess came to a momentous decision. The Emperor and Empress of Russia, whom she had known formerly at the French Court, having heard of her trials and of the not very enviable condition in which she was living, pressed her to come to Russia, where she would be cordially greeted. After long hesitation she decided to accept, but it was not without genuine heartburnings that she separated from her English friends, from her Charlotte most of all. She left London at the end of July, and arrived at St. Petersburg a fortnight later. ”