1 83 J.] Affairs in General. 67 



dictates of conscience, he would have refused to join in the criminal 

 measure, but then he must have resigned ; which seems to be an im- 

 possibility, so far as it depends on the individual. The French minis- 

 ters might have been turned out by their master ; but the idea of turn- 

 ing themselves out, merely because conscience remonstrated against their 

 staying in, was evidently a matter not to be thought of. Thus we find 

 Peyronnet, Chantelauze, and the rest, with the single exception of 

 Polignac, (and he refuses, apparently that he may not be obliged to 

 name the king as the criminal,) profuse in their declarations, that they 

 disapproved, foresaw, reprobated, regretted, and so forth ; which hav- 

 ing done, they set about bringing the criminal matter into shape ; and 

 put it into action : the alternative being, that if they did not share the 

 guilt, they must lose their places, a sacrifice totally out of the question. 



Marmont was exactly in the same condition. Arago, a member of the 

 Institute, gives us a curious view of Marmont's feelings. He says 

 " On Monday the 26th of July, the day on which the fatal ordinances 

 were published, the marshal came to the Institute, and seeing how 

 greatly I was affected by the perusal of the Moniteur, he said, ' Well ! 

 you see that the fools have pushed things on to extremities, just as I told 

 you. At least, you will only have to lament such measures as a citizen 

 and a good Frenchman ; but how much more am I to be pitied, I who, 

 as a soldier, shall be obliged to get my head broken in the support of 

 acts that I abhor, and of persons who have long seemed determined to 

 give me as much annoyance as possible ?' " The idea of giving up his 

 employments, was too horrid for his susceptibility. We are to recollect 

 that Marmont was not simply a marshal, but a peer of France, and 

 therefore entitled to a deliberative opinion. Though even as a marshal 

 he had a right to refuse a service which he knew to be that of crime and 

 massacre. For whatever may be the necessary submission of the private 

 soldier, it is not to be supposed with common sense, that the conduct of 

 a commander-in-chief is not to be regulated with reference to his per- 

 sonal sense of justice. But the marshal, so delicate towards his king, 

 plunged himself headlong into civil blood ; laid thousands dead for a 

 punctilio, and now expects commiseration. He has found his reward 

 in exile ; and can be now remembered only as a warning to men in his 

 rank, that conscience is not to be insulted, and that there is nothing more 

 short- sighted than a base love of power. 



The last accounts from Paris state the sentence of the ex-ministers, 

 Polignac, Peyronnet, Chantelauze, and Ranville. Omitting the mere 

 technicalities, it is as follows : 



" SENTENCE. ' The Court of Peers having heard the commissioners of the 

 Chamber of Deputies in their arguments and conclusions, and the accused in 

 their defence : 



" ' Condemns Prince de Polignac to perpetual imprisonment in the conti- 

 nental territory of the kingdom; declares him deprived of his title, dignities, 

 and orders ; declares him civilly dead. 



" ' Condemns Count de Peyronnet, Victor de Chantelauze, and Count 

 Guernon de Ranville, to perpetual imprisonment; and declares them also 

 deprived of their titles, dignities, and orders. 



" ( Condemns the Prince de Polignac, Count Peyronnet, Victor de Chan- 

 telauze, and Count Guernon de Ranville personally and jointly in the costs of 

 the proceedings.' " 



The populace received the account of this proceeding with great re- 

 sentment, and collected in multitudes demanding the blood of the 

 prisoners. But the national guard repelled them without violence, and 



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