ce) a ne 
* 
| HIS ADMINISTRATION AS MAYOR. 195 
knowledge, I should be sorry not to see in it the answer 
made to Francis II. by one of the numerous officers who 
committed the fault, so honestly acknowledged after- 
wards,—a fault that no one would commit now,—that of 
joining foreigners in arms. ‘The Austrian prince, after 
his coronation, attempted, at a review, to induce our 
countrymen to admire the good bearing of his troops, and 
finally exclaimed, “There are materials wherewith to 
crush the Sans-culottes.” “That remains to be seen!” 
instantly answered the émigré officer. 1 
May these quotations lead some able writer to erect a 
monument still wanting to the glory of our country! 
There is in this subject, it seems to me, enough to inspire 
legitimate ambition. Did not Plutarch immortalize him- 
self by preserving noble actions and fine sentiments from 
oblivion ? 
EXAMINATION OF BAILLY’S ADMINISTRATION AS MAYOR. 
The illustrious Mayor of Paris had not the leisure to 
continue writing his reminiscences beyond the date of the 
2d of October, 1789. The analysisgand appreciation of 
the events subsequent to that epoch will remain deprived 
of that influential sanction, pure as virtue, concise and 
precise as truth, which I found in the handwriting of our 
colleague. Xenocrates, historians say, who was celebrated 
among the Greeks for his honesty, being called to bear 
witness before a tribunal, the judges with common con- 
sent stopped him as he was advancing towards the altar 
according to the usual custom, and said, “ These formal- 
ities are not required from you; an oath would add 
nothing to the authority of your words.” Such, Bailly 
presents himself to the reader of his Posthumous Me- 
moirs. None of his assertions leaye any room for in- 
