16] 
the 22d of January, for a declara- 
tion to the Emperor, in the name 
of the King, ‘* That he cannot any 
longer hold a political correspond- 
ence with any sovereign but in the 
name of the French nation, and 
according to the powers with which 
he was invested by its national as- 
sembly ;—that the King should be 
invited to intreat the Emperor, as 
head of the house of Austria, to live 
in peace with the French nation ; 
—that the King should he invited 
to declare to the Emperor, that if 
he should not give a satisfactory 
answer to the above decree before 
the first of March, it should be held 
equivaleut toa declaration of war.” 
He was conducted under a strong 
guard to Orleans, to take his trial 
before the high court, appointed 
for the trial of the state criminals. 
M. de Lessart, it was alledged, was 
a leading member of what was called 
the Austrian Committee: a junto, 
it was pretended, whose business 
it was to correspond with the court 
of Vienna, for the purpose of facili- 
tating the entrance of the Germans 
into France, and their march to 
Paris ; but which existed only, as 
clearly appeared on a public trial, 
in the suspicious imaginations of 
the Jacobins: nor is it thought by 
many that its existence was serious- 
ly believed, even by the leaders of 
that party, though it was deemed 
good policy to spread this fable; 
which was done by methods in which 
great subticty of contrivance was 
combined with extreme profligacy. 
The king was allowed by the 
constitution, besides the national 
guards of honour, eighteen hun- 
dred men for a guard, or household- 
troops, to be paid from the civil 
list, and wearing an uniform dif- 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1702. 
ferent from that of the national 
assembly. 
The necessity of making great 
sacrifices to popularity constrained 
the King to compose this body of 
officers and soldiers, taken half from 
the national guards and half from 
the line:—But instead of chusing 
that half which was to be taken 
from the national guards, out of 
the body of the national guards of 
Paris, among whom it was of great 
importance that he should be po- 
pular, and where the character of 
those chosen could be better known, 
his Majesty was prevailed on to al- 
low a certain number to be named 
by each department of France. 
Those departments in which men 
of character presided, sent very 
good men; but others sent a set of 
worthless fellows; who, soon after 
their arrival at Paris, were received 
in the Jacobin clubs; where they - 
were prompted to make daily ac- 
cusations, ridiculous indeed, but 
well adapted to excite the animo- 
sity of the people against their 
comrades of the King’s guards;— 
against whom a lively jealousy was 
excited among the whole of the 
national guards at Paris, Conti- 
nual disputes took place between 
the two corps; which would cer- 
tainly have occasioned bloodshed, 
had not the King ordained that 
they should do duty at the palace 
alternately; assuring them, at the 
same time, that the highest proof 
they could give him of their attach- 
ment, would be to live amicably 
together. The new guards did every 
thing in their power to cement an 
union: but it happened too often 
that some of the national guards, 
more envious or irritable than the 
rest, complained, that the King and 
. ~ Queen 
