A Residence in France During the Years 1792, 1793, 1794 and 1795, by An English Lady

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"Adieu--I know not if the courier will be permitted to depart; but, as I
believe the streets are not more unsafe than the houses, I shall make an
attempt to send this. I will write again in a few days. If to-morrow
should prove calm, I shall be engaged in enquiring after the fate of my
friends.--I beg my respects to Mons. And Mad. de ____; and entreat you
all to be as tranquil as such circumstances will permit.--You may be
certain of hearing any news that can give you pleasure immediately. I
have the honour to be," &c. &c.

Arras, September, 1792.

You will in future, I believe, find me but a dull correspondent. The
natural timidity of my disposition, added to the dread which a native of
England has of any violation of domestic security, renders me unfit for
the scenes I am engaged in. I am become stupid and melancholy, and my
letters will partake of the oppression of my mind.

At Paris, the massacres at the prisons are now over, but those in the
streets and in private houses still continue. Scarcely a post arrives
that does not inform M. de ____ of some friend or acquaintance being
sacrificed. Heaven knows where this is to end!

We had, for two days, notice that, pursuant to a decree of the Assembly,
commissioners were expected here at night, and that the tocsin would be
rung for every body to deliver up their arms. We did not dare go to bed
on either of these nights, but merely lay down in our robes de chambre,
without attempting to sleep. This dreaded business is, however, past.
Parties of the Jacobins paraded the streets yesterday morning, and
disarmed all they thought proper. I observed they had lists in their
hands, and only went to such houses as have an external appearance of
property. Mr. de ____, who has been in the service thirty years,
delivered his arms to a boy, who behaved to him with the utmost
insolence, whilst we sat trembling and almost senseless with fear the
whole time they remained in the house; and could I give you an idea of
their appearance, you would think my terror very justifiable. It is,
indeed, strange and alarming, that all who have property should be
deprived of the means of defending either that or their lives, at a
moment when Paris is giving an example of tumult and assassination to
every other part of the kingdom. Knowing no good reason for such
procedure, it is very natural to suspect a bad one.--I think, on many
accounts, we are more exposed here than at ____, and as soon as we can
procure horses we shall depart.--The following is the translation of our
last letter from Mr. P____.

"I promised my kind friends to write as soon as I should have any thing
satisfactory to communicate: but, alas! I have no hope of being the
harbinger of any thing but circumstances of a very different tendency.
I can only give you details of the horrors I have already generally
described. Carnage has not yet ceased; and is only become more cool and
more discriminating. All the mild characteristics annihilated; and a
frantic cruelty, which is dignified with the name of patriotism, has
usurped ever faculty, and banished both reason and mercy.

"Mons. ____, whom I have hitherto known by reputation, as an upright, and
even humane man, had a brother shut up, with a number of other priests,
at the Carmes; and, by his situation and connections, he has such
influence as might, if exerted, have preserved the latter. The
unfortunate brother knowing this, found means, while hourly expecting his
fate, to convey a note to Mr. ____, begging he would immediately release,
and procure him an asylum. The messenger returned with an answer, that
Mons. ____ had no relations in the enemies of his country!

"A few hours after, the massacres at the Carmes took place.--One Panis,*
who is in the Comite de Surveillance, had, a few days previous to these
dreadful events, become, I know not on what occasion, the depositary of a
large sum of money belonging to a gentleman of his section.

* Panis has since figured on various occasions. He is a member of
the Convention, and was openly accused of having been an accomplice
in the robbery of the Garde Meuble.

"A secret and frivolous denunciation was made the pretext for throwing
the owner of the money into prison, where he remained till September,
when his friends, recollecting his danger, flew to the Committee and
applied for his discharge. Unfortunately, the only member of the
Committee present was Panis. He promised to take measures for an
immediate release.--Perhaps he kept his word, but the release was cruel
and final--the prison was attacked, and the victim heard of no more.--You
will not be surprized at such occurrences when I tell you that G____,*
whom you must remember to have heard of as a Jacobin at ____, is
President of the Committee above mentioned--yes, an assassin is now the
protector of the public safety, and the commune of Paris the patron of a
criminal who has merited the gibbet.

* G____ was afterwards elected (doubtless by a recommendation of the
Jacobins) Deputy for the department of Finisterre, to which he was
sent Commissioner by the Convention. On account of some
unwarrantable proceedings, and of some words that escaped him, which
gave rise to a suspicion that he was privy to the robbery of the
Garde Meuble, he was arrested by the municipality of Quimper
Corentin, of which place he is a native. The Jacobins applied for
his discharge, and for the punishment of the municipality; but the
Convention, who at that time rarely took any decisive measures,
ordered G____ to be liberated, but evaded the other part of the
petition which tended to revenge him. The affair of the Garde
Meuble, was, however, again brought forward; but, most probably,
many of the members had reasons for not discussing too nearly the
accusation against G____; and those who were not interested in
suppressing it, were too weak or too timid to pursue it farther.

"--I know not if we are yet arrived at the climax of woe and iniquity,
but Brissot, Condorcet, Rolland, &c. and all those whose principles you
have reprobated as violent and dangerous, will now form the moderate side
of the Assembly. Perhaps even those who are now the party most dreaded,
may one day give place to yet more desperate leaders, and become in their
turn our best alternative. What will then be the situation of France?
Who can reflect without trembling at the prospect?--It is not yet safe to
walk the streets decently dressed; and I have been obliged to supply
myself with trowsers, a jacket, coloured neckcloths, and coarse linen,
which I take care to soil before I venture out.

"The Agrarian law is now the moral of Paris, and I had nearly lost my
life yesterday by tearing a placard written in support of it. I did it
imprudently, not supposing I was observed; and had not some people, known
as Jacobins, come up and interfered in my behalf, the consequence might
have been fatal.--It would be difficult, and even impossible, to attempt
a description of the manners of the people of Paris at this moment: the
licentiousness common to great cities is decency compared with what
prevails in this; it has features of a peculiar and striking description,
and the general expression is that of a monstrous union of opposite
vices. Alternately dissolute and cruel, gay and vindictive, the Parisian
vaunts amidst debauchery the triumph of assassination, and enlivens his
midnight orgies by recounting the sufferings of the massacred
aristocrates: women, whose profession it is to please, assume the _bonnet
rouge_ [red cap], and affect, as a means of seduction, an intrepid and
ferocious courage.--I cannot yet learn if Mons. S____'s sister be alive;
her situation about the Queen makes it too doubtful; but endeavour to
give him hope--many may have escaped whose fears still detain them in
concealment. People of the first rank now inhabit garrets and cellars,
and those who appear are disguised beyond recollection; so that I do not
despair of the safety of some, who are now thought to have perished.--
I am, as you may suppose, in haste to leave this place, and I hope to
return to Montmorency tomorrow; but every body is soliciting passports.
The Hotel de Ville is besieged, and I have already attended two days
without success.--I beg my respectful homage to Monsieur and Madame de
____; and I have the honour to be, with esteem, the affectionate servant
of my friends in general.

"L____."

You will read M. L____'s letter with all the grief and indignation we
have already felt, and I will make no comment on it, but to give you a
slight sketch of the history of Guermeur, whom he mentions as being
President of the Committee of Surveillance.--In the absence of a man,
whom he called his friend, he seduced his wife, and eloped with her: the
husband overtook them, and fell in the dispute which insued; when
Guermeur, to avoid being taken by the officers of justice, abandoned his
companion to her fate, and escaped alone. After a variety of adventures,
he at length enlisted himself as a grenadier in the regiment of Dillon.
With much assurance, and talents cultivated above the situation in which
he appeared, he became popular amongst his fellow-soldiers, and the
military impunity, which is one effect of the revolution, cast a veil
over his former guilt, or rather indeed enabled him to defy the
punishment annexed to it. When the regiment was quartered at ____, he
frequented and harangued at the Jacobin club, perverted the minds of the
soldiers by seditious addresses, till at length he was deemed qualified
to quit the character of a subordinate incendiary, and figure amongst the
assassins at Paris. He had hitherto, I believe, acted without pay, for
he was deeply in debt, and without money or clothes; but a few days
previous to the tenth of August, a leader of the Jacobins supplied him
with both, paid his debts, procured his discharge, and sent him to Paris.
What intermediate gradations he may have passed through, I know not; but
it is not difficult to imagine the services that have advanced him to his
present situation.--It would be unsafe to risk this letter by the post,
and I close it hastily to avail myself of a present conveyance.--I
remain, Yours, &c.

Arras, September 14, 1792.

The camp of Maulde is broken up, and we deferred our journey, that we
might pass a day at Douay with M. de ____'s son. The road within some
miles of that place is covered with corn and forage, the immediate
environs are begun to be inundated, and every thing wears the appearance
of impending hostility. The town is so full of troops, that without the
interest of our military friends we should scarcely have procured a
lodging. All was bustle and confusion, the enemy are very near, and the
French are preparing to form a camp under the walls. Amidst all this, we
found it difficult to satisfy our curiosity in viewing the churches and
pictures: some of the former are shut, and the latter concealed; we
therefore contented ourselves with seeing the principal ones.

The town-house is a very handsome building, where the Parliament was
holden previous to the revolution, and where all the business of the
department of the North is now transacted.--In the council-chamber, which
is very elegantly carved, was also a picture of the present King. They
were, at the very moment of our entrance, in the act of displacing it.
We asked the reason, and were told it was to be cut in pieces, and
portions sent to the different popular societies.--I know not if our
features betrayed the indignation we feared to express, but the man who
seemed to have directed this disposal of the portrait, told us we were
not English if we saw it with regret. I was not much delighted with such
a compliment to our country, and was glad to escape without farther
comment.

The manners of the people seem every where much changed, and are becoming
gross and inhuman. While we were walking on the ramparts, I happened to
have occasion to take down an address, and with the paper and pencil in
my hand turned out of the direct path to observe a chapel on one side of
it. In a moment I was alarmed by the cries of my companions, and beheld
the musquet of the centinel pointed at me, and M. de ____ expostulating
with him. I am not certain if he supposed I was taking a plan of the
fortifications, and meant really more than a threat; but I was
sufficiently frightened, and shall not again approach a town wall with
pencils and paper.

M. de ____ is one of the only six officers of his regiment who have not
emigrated. With an indignation heated by the works of modern
philosophers into an enthusiastic love of republican governments, and
irritated by the contempt and opposition he has met with from those of
this own class who entertain different principles, he is now become
almost a fanatic. What at first was only a political opinion is now a
religious tenet; and the moderate sectary has acquired the obstinacy of a
martyr, and, perhaps, the spirit of persecution. At the beginning of the
revolution, the necessity of deciding, a youthful ardour for liberty, and
the desire of preserving his fortune, probably determined him to become a
patriot; and pride and resentment have given stability to notions which
might otherwise have fluctuated with circumstances, or yielded to time.
This is but too general the case: the friends of rational reform, and the
supporters of the ancient monarchy, have too deeply offended each other
for pardon or confidence; and the country perhaps will be sacrificed by
the mutual desertions of those most concerned in its preservation.
Actuated only by selfishness and revenge, each party willingly consents
to the ruin of its opponents. The Clergy, already divided among
themselves, are abandoned by the Noblesse--the Noblesse are persecuted by
the commercial interest--and, in short, the only union is amongst the
Jacobins; that is, amongst a few weak persons who are deceived, and a
banditti who betray and profit by their "patriotism."

I was led to these reflections by my conversation with Mr. de L____ and
his companions. I believe they do not approve of the present extremes,
yet they expressed themselves with the utmost virulence against the
aristocrates, and would hear neither of reconcilement nor palliation. On
the other hand, these dispositions were not altogether unprovoked--the
young men had been persecuted by their relations, and banished the
society of their acquaintance; and their political opinions had acted as
an universal proscription. There were even some against whom the doors
of the parental habitation were shut.--These party violences are
terrible; and I was happy to perceive that the reciprocal claims of duty
and affection were not diminished by them, either in M. de ____, or his
son. He, however, at first refused to come to A____, because he
suspected the patriotism of our society. I pleaded, as an inducement,
the beauty of Mad. G____, but he told me she was an aristocrate. It was
at length, however, determined, that he should dine with us last Sunday,
and that all visitors should be excluded. He was prevented coming by
being ordered out with a party the day we left him; and he has written to
us in high spirits, to say, that, besides fulfilling his object, he had
returned with fifty prisoners.

We had a very narrow escape in coming home--the Hulans were at the
village of ____, an hour after we passed through it, and treated the poor
inhabitants, as they usually do, with great inhumanity.--Nothing has
alienated the minds of the people so much as the cruelties of these
troops--they plunder and ill treat all they encounter; and their avarice
is even less insatiable than their barbarity. How hard is it, that the
ambition of the Chiefs, and the wickedness of faction, should thus fall
upon the innocent cottager, who perhaps is equally a stranger to the
names of the one, and the principles of the other!

The public papers will now inform you, that the French are at liberty to
obtain a divorce on almost any pretext, or even on no pretext at all,
except what many may think a very good one--mutual agreement. A lady of
our acquaintance here is become a republican in consequence of the
decree, and probably will very soon avail herself of it; but this
conduct, I conceive, will not be very general.

Much has been said of the gallantry of the French ladies, and not
entirely without reason; yet, though sometimes inconstant wives, they
are, for the most part, faithful friends--they sacrifice the husband
without forsaking him, and their common interest is always promoted with
as much zeal as the most inviolable attachment could inspire. Mad. de
C____, whom we often meet in company, is the wife of an emigrant, and is
said not to be absolutely disconsolate at his absence; yet she is
indefatigable in her efforts to supply him with money: she even risks her
safety by her solicitude, and has just now prevailed on her favourite
admirer to hasten his departure for the frontiers, in order to convey a
sum she has with much difficulty been raising. Such instances are, I
believe, not very rare; and as a Frenchman usually prefers his interest
to every thing else, and is not quite so unaccommodating as an
Englishman, an amicable arrangement takes place, and one seldom hears of
a separation.

The inhabitants of Arras, with all their patriotism, are extremely averse
from the assignats; and it is with great reluctance that they consent to
receive them at two-thirds of their nominal value. This discredit of the
paper money has been now two months at a stand, and its rise or fall will
be determined by the success of the campaign.--I bid you adieu for the
last time from hence. We have already exceeded the proposed length of
our visit, and shall set out for St. Omer to-morrow.--Yours.

St. Omer, September, 1792.

I am confined to my room by a slight indisposition, and, instead of
accompanying my friends, have taken up my pen to inform you that we are
thus far safe on our journey.--Do not, because you are surrounded by a
protecting element, smile at the idea of travelling forty or fifty miles
in safety. The light troops of the Austrian army penetrate so far, that
none of the roads on the frontier are entirely free from danger. My
female companions were alarmed the whole day--the young for their
baggage, and the old for themselves.

The country between this and Arras has the appearance of a garden
cultivated for the common use of its inhabitants, and has all the
fertility and beauty of which a flat surface is susceptible. Bethune and
Aire I should suppose strongly fortified. I did not fail, in passing
through the former, to recollect with veneration the faithful minister of
Henry the Fourth. The misfortunes of the descendant of Henry, whom
Sully* loved, and the state of the kingdom he so much cherished, made a
stronger impression on me than usual, and I mingled with the tribute of
respect a sentiment of indignation.

* Maximilien de Bethune, Duc de Sully.

What perverse and malignant influence can have excited the people either
to incur or to suffer their present situation? Were we not well
acquainted with the arts of factions, the activity of bad men, and the
effect of their union, I should be almost tempted to believe this change
in the French supernatural. Less than three years ago, the name of Henri
Quatre was not uttered without enthusiasm. The piece that transmitted
the slightest anecdotes of his life was certain of success--the air that
celebrated him was listened to with delight--and the decorations of
beauty, when associated with the idea of this gallant Monarch, became
more irresistible.*

* At this time it was the prevailing fashion to call any new
inventions of female dress after his name, and to decorate the
ornamental parts of furniture with his resemblance.

Yet Henry the Fourth is now a tyrant--his pictures and statues are
destroyed, and his memory is execrated!--Those who have reduced the
French to this are, doubtless, base and designing intriguers; yet I
cannot acquit the people, who are thus wrought on, of unfeelingness and
levity.--England has had its revolutions; but the names of Henry the
Fifth and Elizabeth were still revered: and the regal monuments, which
still exist, after all the vicissitudes of our political principles,
attest the mildness of the English republicans.

The last days of our stay at Arras were embittered by the distress of our
neighbour and acquaintance, Madame de B____. She has lost two sons under
circumstances so affecting, that I think you will be interested in the
relation.--The two young men were in the army, and quartered at
Perpignan, at a time when some effort of counter-revolution was said to
be intended. One of them was arrested as being concerned, and the other
surrendered himself prisoner to accompany his brother.--When the High
Court at Orleans was instituted for trying state-prisoners, those of
Perpignan were ordered to be conducted there, and the two B____'s,
chained together, were taken with the rest. On their arrival at Orleans,
their gaoler had mislaid the key that unlocked their fetters, and, not
finding it immediately, the young men produced one, which answered the
purpose, and released themselves. The gaoler looked at them with
surprize, and asked why, with such a means in their power, they had not
escaped in the night, or on the road. They replied, because they were
not culpable, and had no reason for avoiding a trial that would manifest
their innocence. Their heroism was fatal. They were brought, by a
decree of the Convention, from Orleans to Versailles, (on their way to
Paris,) where they were met by the mob, and massacred.

Their unfortunate mother is yet ignorant of their fate; but we left her
in a state little preferable to that which will be the effect of
certainty. She saw the decree for transporting the prisoners from
Orleans, and all accounts of the result have been carefully concealed
from her; yet her anxious and enquiring looks at all who approach her,
indicate but too well her suspicion of the truth.--Mons. de ____'s
situation is indescribable. Informed of the death of his sons, he is yet
obliged to conceal his sufferings, and wear an appearance of tranquillity
in the presence of his wife. Sometimes he escapes, when unable to
contain his emotions any longer, and remains at M. de ____'s till he
recovers himself. He takes no notice of the subject of his grief, and we
respect it too much to attempt to console him. The last time I asked him
after Madame de ____, he told me her spirits were something better, and,
added he, in a voice almost suffocated, "She is amusing herself with
working neckcloths for her sons!"--When you reflect that the massacres at
Paris took place on the second and third of September, and that the
decree was passed to bring the prisoners from Orleans (where they were in
safety) on the tenth, I can say nothing that will add to the horror of
this transaction, or to your detestation of its cause. Sixty-two, mostly
people of high rank, fell victims to this barbarous policy: they were
brought in a fort of covered waggons, and were murdered in heaps without
being taken out.*

* Perhaps the reader will be pleased at a discovery, which it would
have been unsafe to mention when made, or in the course of this
correspondence. The two young men here alluded to arrived at
Versailles, chained together, with their fellow-prisoners.
Surprize, perhaps admiration, had diverted the gaoler's attention
from demanding the key that opened their padlock, and it was still
in their possession. On entering Versailles, and observing the
crowd preparing to attack them, they divested themselves of their
fetters, and of every other incumbrance. In a few moments their
carriages were surrounded, their companions at one end were already
murdered, and themselves slightly wounded; but the confusion
increasing, they darted amidst the croud, and were in a moment
undistinguishable. They were afterwards taken under the protection
of an humane magistrate, who concealed them for some time, and they
are now in perfect security. They were the only two of the whole
number that escaped.

September, 1792.

We passed a country so barren and uninteresting yesterday, that even a
professional traveller could not have made a single page of it. It was,
in every thing, a perfect contrast to the rich plains of Artois--
unfertile, neglected vallies and hills, miserable farms, still more
miserable cottages, and scarcely any appearance of population. The only
place where we could refresh the horses was a small house, over the door
of which was the pompous designation of Hotel d'Angleterre. I know not
if this be intended as a ridicule on our country, or as an attraction to
our countrymen, but I, however, found something besides the appellation
which reminded me of England, and which one does not often find in houses
of a better outside; for though the rooms were small, and only two in
number, they were very clean, and the hostess was neat and civil. The
Hotel d'Angleterre, indeed, was not luxuriously supplied, and the whole
of our repast was eggs and tea, which we had brought with us.--In the
next room to that we occupied were two prisoners chained, whom the
officers were conveying to Arras, for the purpose of better security.
The secret history of this business is worth relating, as it marks the
character of the moment, and the ascendancy which the Jacobins are daily
acquiring.

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