granted him an audience, and assured him of her esteem and confidence.  Barnave was partly correct in his judgment, but he overlooked one all-essential circumstance.  There is no doubt that he spoke truly when he declared that the nation in general was attached to the Constitution; but he failed to give sufficient weight to the consideration that the Jacobins and Girondins were agreed in seeking to overthrow it, and that for that object they were acting with a concert and an energy to which he and his party were strangers.

Dumouriez too was equally earnest in his desire to serve the king and her, with far greater power to be useful than Barnave.  He too was admitted to an audience, of which he has left us an account which, while it shows both his notions of the state of the country and of the rival parties, and also his own sincerity, is no less characteristic of the queen herself.  Admitted to her presence, he found her, as he describes the interview, looking very red, walking up and down the room with impetuous strides, in an agitation which presaged a stormy discussion.  The different events which had taken place since the king in the preceding autumn had ratified the Constitution, the furious language held in, and the violent measures carried by, the Assembly, had evidently changed her belief in the possibility of attempting, even for a short time, to carry on the Government under the conditions imposed by that act.  She came toward him with an air which was at once majestic and yet showed irritation, and said: 

“You, sir, are all-powerful at this moment; but it is only by the favor of the people, which soon breaks its idols to pieces.  Your existence depends on your conduct.  You are said to have great talents.  You must see that neither the king nor I can endure all these novelties nor the Constitution.  I tell you this frankly.  Now choose your side.”

To this fervid apostrophe Dumouriez replied in a tone which he intended to combine a sorrowful tenderness with loyal respect: 

“Madame,” said he, “I am overwhelmed with the painful confidence which your majesty has reposed in me.  I will not betray it; but I am placed between the king and the nation, and I belong to my country.  Permit me to represent to you that the safety of the king, of yourself, and of your august children is bound up with the Constitution, as well as is the re-establishment of the king’s legitimate authority.  You are both surrounded with enemies who are sacrificing you to their own interests.”  The unfortunate queen, shocked as well as surprised at this opposition to her views, replied, raising her voice, “That will not last; take care of yourself.”  “Madame,” replied he, in his turn, “I am more than fifty years old.  My life has been passed in countless dangers, and when I took office I reflected deeply that its responsibility was not the greatest of its perils.”  “This was alone wanting,” cried out the queen, with an accent of indignant grief, and as if astonished herself at her own vehemence.