380 LIFE OF HORACE BENEDICT DE SAUSSURE 



Naville had been murdered by the Revolutionaries. M. Necker 

 de Germagny, her daughter's father-in-law, was held a prisoner 

 for a few days, but ' his charity, his kindness, and his patriotism ' 

 led to his speedy release. She adds : ' Your father's courage, 

 his fine spirit have supported mine, and the tendency to resignation 

 which I am supposed to inherit from my grandfather Lullin has 

 been, he says, of use to him.' 



On the last day of July, a week after the massacre on the 

 bastion, de Saussure writes to his daughter : 



' I am remaining quietly at Conches. I went, however, once into 

 town, the day before this terrible trial ; it seemed to me that to remain 

 inactive at such a moment would have shown blameworthy indiffer- 

 ence or cowardice. I was well received by those I called on, and 

 returned full of hope and without having suffered any personal annoy- 

 ance, but I was strongly recommended not to come back before either 

 order was completely restored or I was summoned which has not 

 happened ! ' 



His wife, he adds, is wonderfully calm, and he is providing 

 her with occupation in copying his Voyages. The third volume 

 was already finished and the fourth in hand. Fauche of Neu- 

 chatel was to be the publisher. He has sent a memoir on the 

 Extinct Volcanoes of the Brisgau to the Journal de Physique at 

 Paris. 



' Thus between my work and the dear society of your mother 1 

 find some relief from the troubles and the anxieties which desolate 

 at this moment almost the whole world.' 



De Saussure's sons thought it better for the time to follow 

 their parents' earnest wish and not to return to Geneva. The 

 mob, now masters of the city and impatient of their leaders' 

 delays in confiscating and distributing the property of the well- 

 to-do, seized control and appointed fresh committees and tribunals. 

 Four hundred prisoners were held at their mercy. The aspect of 

 these tribunals is thus described in a popular history for school 

 use published in Geneva : 



' The tribunal presented a hideous aspect. The judges, for the 

 most part workmen, affected a sullen air and coarse manners, they 

 were in turned-up shirt-sleeves, bare -breasted, wearing red bonnets, 



