KING’S LETTERS FROM FRANCE. 
_ his doom was fixed and negotiation was un- 
available.” 
Mr. Fox refused to visit Santerre. 
When we consider how that great and 
excellent man has been calumniated, we 
do not wonder at his refusal, yet we wish 
he had shown more courage in this in- 
stance, and more caution at the Thuil- 
leries. The master-key of the Bastile is 
in Santerre’s possession, he has likewise 
several species of fetters from the “king’s 
castle,” of which one pair had been 
found on the wrists of a man recently 
dead, who had been starved to death, 
either by design, or by a still more atro- 
cious neglect. 
The following anecdotes deserve se- 
lection :— 
« Nothing marks the inconsistency of 
the French temper, more than this fact: on 
a day when several victims were immolating 
to the fury of Roberspiere, a great concourse 
of people had assembled; on that very spot, 
at the foot of that very scaffold where they 
suffered, 2 mountebank had reared his mot- 
ley chair, and was exhibiting his monkey 
antics ; and while some were gazing at the 
strokes of the guillotine, others were laugh- 
ag the buffoon tricks of this unfeeling 
ool.” 
«© What a soul had the wife of the Mare- 
ehall de Monchy ; her husband being taken 
to the Luxembourg, she was there as quick 
as him; she was told that the act of arresta- 
tion did not mention her; ‘‘-if my husband 
is arrested I too am arrested ;” he was car- 
. ried to the revolutionary tribunal, and she 
accompanies him; the public accuser tells 
her she was not sent for : ‘‘if my husband is 
sent for I shall be with him ;” she is con- 
_ demned to death ; he is placed in the mur- 
derous car; the executioner tells her she is 
not condemned: ‘‘ if my husband, wretch, 
is condemned, [ too am condemned.” I 
come to the sequel; must I so often depre- 
ciate the revolution? these occurrences 
make us shudder, and induce us to believe 
that there are as many evils under a demo- 
eracy, as under any other government. 
This unparalleled woman suffered with her 
husband; she had committed no crime: 
she was testifying a conjugal loveand heroism 
beyond example, and yet she was beheaded ; 
the executioner, the judge, and every mon- 
ster accessary to her death, was guilty of a 
most atrocious murder.” 
*« There was a trial in England respecting 
some forged assignats; the person who 
coe them, confessed it in open court, and 
said it was done with the approbation of the 
secretary of state ; perhaps this was a false- 
hood, but it is on record, and no one from 
pean has condescended to deny it. 
Lord Kenyon, the moral, simple, blunt, in- 
89 
dependent chief judge of that day, in sum~ 
ming up, told the jury, that in war there 
were certain laws by which nations were 
bound, such as not using poisoned arms, 
quarters in war, &c. &c. ; but forging assig- 
nats did not seem an offence against the faith 
of nations, &c. &c. About that time a pro- 
jector presented himself to Roberspiere, and 
shewon soine curious plates for forging Eng- 
lish bank-notes ; Roberspiere rewarded his 
ingenuity with a commitment to the Con- 
ciergerie.” 
Bonaparte, it seems, wishes to efface 
all recollection of the fate of the royal 
family; no one is permitted to see the 
dungeons of the Conciergerie where they 
were confined : a cowardly and vain pre- 
caution, as if the people could be made. 
to forget their own power! Mr. King 
was in Paris on the day when the usur- 
per was chosen consul for life ; he heard 
some murmurs, and though, according 
to the continental custom, a fine was 
imposed on those who did not illumi- 
nate, he saw many a dark and gloomy 
window. Massena and Moreau, he says, 
have a distinct circle and no intercourse 
with any one out of it: if another change 
was to happen, it is from their integrity 
and moderation that the republic would 
expect to be freed from military servi- 
tude. They hada violent altercation 
with the first consul, and said to him, Sir, 
be more modest! you have not muchto 
presume upon: if each of us takes back 
the laurel of which you have robbed us, 
your brows will be naked! This is a sus- 
Picious anecdote, and Mr. King disco- 
vers a strange want of discrimination 
or of knowledge when he classes Moreau 
and Massena together for their integrity 
and moderation. In military talent 
they are perhaps equal, and each has 
rendered moreessential service to France 
than ever the Corsican performed: the 
campaign in Switzerland saved the re- 
public, and it was in Germany that the 
emperor was finally disabled. But as 
Massena has the genius of an Italian ad. 
venturer, so also has he all the unprinci- 
pled rapacity ofthecharacter. There were 
but two generals in the French army in 
Italy who left behind them a fair name, 
Joubert, and Baraguay D’Hilliers: it is 
an act of justice to mention them ; their 
bills were regularly paid, and they were 
remembered with gratitude when Mas- 
sena and Bonaparte were execrated. 
Where Mr. King repeats what he has 
heard and relates what he has seen, in 
common courtesy we are disposed, and 
