68o 



The Review of Reviews. 



FRANCE PAST AND PRESENT. 



NEW LETTERS BY MARIE 

 ANTOINETTE. 



A \ EKY interesting contribution to the 

 November issues of the Revue de Paris is that 

 by M. O. G. de Heidenstam of a series of letters 

 \vhich passed between Marie Antoinette and 

 Barnave, and which are now published for the 

 first time. 



FERSEN AND BARNAVE. 



Written between July and December, 179T, 

 the collection contains forty-four letters un- 

 signed and in the handwriting of the Queen, 

 and a like number of letters, also without signa- 

 ture, in the handwriting of a man, being the 

 replies. The replies of Barnave were dictated 

 by an intermediary, who exposed himself to the 

 risk of having the communications discovered 

 and his handwriting recognised. 



It was the morrow of the return from 

 V'arcnnes. The Royal Family had returned to 

 Paris accompanied by Barnave and two other 

 niembersof the Assembly, who took it in turn 

 to ride in the carriage and guard the prisoners. 

 The Queen conversed with them, and especially 

 with Barnave, during the journey. The con- 

 \crsation with him took on an intimate and 

 almost familiar character, and he promised the 

 Queen his assistance and devotion, and she 

 assured the young Deputy that she would not 

 fail to have recourse to his aid in case of need. 

 Arrived at Paris on June 25, the Queen found 

 the Assembly agitated and furious, while public 

 opinion was accusing the King and Queen of 

 having desired to stir up foreign Powers against 

 France. The King was treated as a prisoner, 

 and the Queen, who was closely watched, re- 

 solved to seek the good ofTices of her travelling 

 companion. It was not the first time she had 

 tried to come to terms with the Revolution. On 

 the advice of Fersen she had had interviews with 

 Mirabeau and others. Now Fersen, " the 

 faithful knight without fear and without re- 

 proach," was out of France. After having 

 organised the flight of the sovereigns, he had 

 gone to the frontier to prepare a demonstration 

 for them. 



FRANK DEMANDS. 



Having found her intermediary, the Queen 

 entered into communication with Barnave, and 

 reckoned on being able later on to communicate 

 the correspondence to Fersen. Barnave and the 

 intermediary and others, when referred to in 

 the letters, are designated by numerals. Bar- 

 nave's first reply counsels the King and Queen 

 to recognise that the will of the people is in 

 favour of the new Constitution, and that the 



King, in order to maintain the throne with 

 dignity and win confidence and respect, must 

 procure great benefits for the nation — for in- 

 stance, the return of the emigres, or at least 

 the majority of them, and perform some act 

 by which to show his recognition of the new 

 Constitution, and explain in the clearest terms 

 his friendly and pacific intentions towards the 

 nation. The whole letter, indeed, is a most 

 frank and outspoken programme of conduct 

 and policy. But the demands were simply 

 impossible. 



On August 5 Barnave was still more candid. 

 He told the Queen not to forget that it was she 

 alone who could dispose of her destiny, that the 

 moments were decisive, and, above all, that she 

 must not place her conduct and her hopes in 

 two different systems, but that everything she 

 did must be clear and not give rise to different 

 interpretations. 



SECRET INTERVIEW'S. 



The Constitution having finally been accepted 

 by the King, the Assembly decreed the abolition 

 of all proceedings relating to the flight of the 

 King. On September 25 the Queen writes 

 asking the Assembly to say very definitely that 

 the King has all the rights which the Con- 

 stitution he has accepted and promised to 

 maintain owes to h-m. On many occasions the 

 Queen expressed to her advisers a desire to see 

 them and explain her ideas personally to them, 

 and they also had a similar desire. But they 

 were afraid of compromising themselves and 

 being discredited by the Assembly, should it be 

 discovered that they saw the Queen in secret 

 and directed the policy of the Court. Neverthe- 

 less, a meeting was planned, but somehow it 

 miscarried. The Queen waited in her room, 

 but there were too many people about. Soon, 

 however, a way was found, and several in- 

 terviews took place. 



THE SCAFFOLD. 



The last letter of the series is dated Decem- 

 ber 28. The Queen, seeing that Barnave was 

 leaving for Grenoble, recognised the motives 

 which prompted him to do it, and remarked 

 that he would not forget the end of their last 

 conversation. The departure put an end to the 

 correspondence. A month later Fersen returned 

 to Paris. He had been working at Brussels 

 and elsewhere to arrange a congress of the 

 Powers, and gave up his efforts at the request 

 of the Queen. To him the Queen now sent the 

 correspondence, begging him to take it away 

 and preserve it. No one could say in whose 

 hands it might fall, if she retained it. Fersen 



