Part 26 (1/2)

Had Mirabeau lived till the affair of Varennes, it is not iiven a different complexion to the result He had already treated with the Queen and the Princess for a reconciliation; and in the apart, audiences of the Queen

It is pretty certain, however, that the recantation of Mirabeau, froh the ina', made his friends prepare for him that just retribution, which ended in a 'de profundis' At a period when all his vices were called to aid one virtuous action, his thread of vicious life was shortened, and he; no doubt, became the victim of his insatiable avarice That he was poisoned is not to be disproved; though it was thought necessary to keep it froe of the people

I have often heard Her Highness say, ”When I reflect on the precautions which were taken to keep the intervieith Mirabeau profoundly secret that he never conversed but with the King, the Queen, and myself--his untimely deathconfidentially entrusted the success hich he flattered hiained over the Court, to some one who betrayed him His death, so very unexpectedly, and at that crisis, made a deep impression on the mind of the Queen She really believed hi the monarchy, and he certainly was the only one of the turncoat constitutionalists in whom she placed any confidence Would to Heaven that she had had more in Barnave, and that she had listened to Dumourier! These I would have trusted more, far more readily than the mercenary Mirabeau!”

I now return, once more, to the journal of the Princess

SECTION XI

”In thedebates upon the course ard to the Constitution after the unfortunate return frolish ah the means of another trusty person I had placed about the Queen, the earliest infor the situation of affairs On her return she brought raciously, condescended to send me, set with her own hair, which had whitened like that of a person of eighty, froht upon herthe inscription, 'Bleached by sorrow'

This ring was acco letter:

”'MY DEAREST FRIEND,--

”'The King has made up his mind to the acceptance of the Constitution, and it will ere long be proclaio I was secretly waited upon and closeted in your apartment with many of our faithful friends,--in particular, Alexandre de Lameth, Duport, Barnave, Montmorin, Bertrand de Moleville, et cetera The two latter opposed the King's Council, the Ministers, and the nu acceptance They were a small minority, and could not prevail with me to exercise my influence with His Majesty in support of their opinion, when all the rest seemed so confident that a contrary course must re-establish the tranquillity of the nation and our own happiness, weaken the party of the Jacobins against us, and greatly increase that of the nation in our favor

”'Your absence obliged oing of the deputies to and from the Pavilion of Flora, unperceived by the spies of our enee so adroitly, that the visitors were not seen by any of the household Poor Elizabeth! little did I look for such circuues of Court, or the dangers surrounding us, which they would now fain persuade us no longer exist God grant it may be so! and that I may once more freely embrace and open h this is my most ardent wish, yet, my dear, dearest Las dictate Many about us profess to see the future as clear as the sun at noon-day But, I confess, my vision is still dim I cannot look into events with the security of others--who confound logic with their wishes The King, Elizabeth, and all of us, are anxious for your return But it would grieve us sorely for you to coe and act from your own impressions If we do not see you, send me the result of your interview at the precipice--[The nalesina' will deliver youover the envelopes, you will either send her with them as soon as possible or forward them as addressed, as you may think most advisable at the time you receive them

”'Ever, ever, and forever,

”'Your affectionate,

”'MARIE ANTOINETTE!

”There was another hurried and abrupt note fro these papers, obviously written later than the first It lamented the cruel privations to which she was dooht, and declared that what the Royal Fa totally deprived of every individual of their for the equally oppressed and unhappy Princesse Elizabeth, was utterly insupportable

”On the receipt of these much esteemed epistles, I returned, as my duty directed, to the best of Queens, and h so much wished for, was totally unexpected

”At our first itated that she was utterly at a loss to explain the satisfaction she felt in beholding er, which she had doneme, she pointed to her hair, once so beautiful, but now, like that of an old woray, but deprived of all its softness, quite stiff and dried up

”Mada, and the rest of our little circle, lavished oncaresses The dear Dauphin said to ain, I hope, Princess? Oh, h before, but this dear little angel brought tears into the eyes of us all”

”When I mentioned to Her Majesty the affectionate syland in her sufferings, and their regret at the state of public affairs in France, 'It is most noble and praiseworthy in them to feel thus,' exclai the illiberal part ins in the rebellion of their ultraave nant would be s, and the pity of those I had so injured! No I was, perhaps, the only silent individual ast millions of infatuated enthusiasts at General La Fayette's return to Paris, nor did I sanction any of the fetes given to Dr Franklin, or the American Ambassadors at the time I could not conceive it prudent for the Queen of an absolute led philosophical experiments with my presence Now, I feel the reward in my own conscience I exult in ether insupportable under the kindness of which you speak'

”As soon as I was settled in my apartment, which was on the same floor with that of the Queen, she condescended to relate to me every particular of her unfortunate journey I saw the pain it gave her to retrace the scenes, and begged her to desist till tinancy of her feelings 'That,' cried she, e me, I can never be! Never, never will that horrid circumstance of ony, to have seen those faithful servants tied before us on the carriage, like co's goodness of heart, which produces want of courage, nay, even ti Charles the First, when he was betrayed in the Isle of Wight, would have saved himself, and perhaps thousands, had he perht Louis XVI have averted calah I distinctly foresee them, had he exerted his authority where he only called up his compassion'

”'For Heaven's sake,' replied I, 'do not torment yourself by these cruel recollections!'

”'These are gone by,' continued Her Majesty, and greater still than even these How can I describe rief at what I endured in the asse and the royal authority were there reduced in the face of the national representatives! frouish at the mortifications to which I was doon humbled! These events bespeak clouds, which, like the horrid waterspout at sea, nothing can dispel but cannon! The dignity of the Crown, the sovereignty itself, is threatened; and this I shall write this very night to the Emperor I see no hope of internal tranquillity without the powerful aid of foreign force

[The only difference of any moment which ever existed between the Queen and the Princesse de Lamballe as to their sentihness wished Marie Antoinette to rely on the many persons who had offered and promised to serve the cause of the monarchy with their internal resources, and not depend on the Princes and foreign armies This salutary advice she never could enforce on the Queen's h she had to that effect been importuned by upwards of two hundred persona, all zealous to show their penitence for former errors by their present devotedness

”Whenever,” observed Her Highness, ”we ca that these persons had been active instrues in the ave them fro Her Majesty definitely to believe the profferers to be sincere