political factions here, and the terrible events of the 20th of June, have again made it necessary for the friends of the King, if they wish to save him, to exert themselves in his behalf.  When this was made plain, those gentlemen with whom I had formerly been associated in the effort to serve His Majesty again applied to me for assistance, so that I found myself in the cruel position of either betraying my official trust or of abandoning the monarch whom I sincerely pitied and whom I had pledged myself to aid.  The last and most moving appeal made to me was that of Monsieur Lafayette.  I met him at the Tuileries when he went to pay his respects to their Majesties before rejoining his army.  I know not what had passed between the King and himself at the levee, for I arrived just as he was going, but I saw by his countenance that he had the gloomiest forebodings.  He drew me into a small anteroom and spoke to me with his old familiarity and affection.  Indeed, he is greatly changed, and I could not help but be touched by the consternation and grief that weighed upon him.  He opened himself to me very freely and confessed that ’twas his opinion that the King was lost if brave and wise friends did not immediately offer their services in his behalf.  He knew of the scheme in which I had been before engaged to assist the King, and he besought me to renew those engagements and to prosecute them with the utmost diligence.  The King, he said, had let fall some expressions indicating his confidence in myself, ‘a confidence,’ said Lafayette, ’which he did not hesitate to show he did not feel in me.  The Queen is even more distrustful of me than the King, so that I think their safety lies in your hands.  But, believe me, though they do not trust me, they have no more devoted servant.  I am come, at length, to your belief that in the King alone is to be found the cure for the ills of the present time, and not the most ardent royalist is now more anxious to preserve His Majesty than myself.’  While Lafayette was speaking, a way out of my difficulties suddenly occurred to me.  I thought of you, my boy, and, knowing that I could rely on you as on myself, I determined to appeal to you to act in my stead, to take upon yourself those dangers and risks which, in my position of minister from a neutral power to this country, I have now no right to assume.  I know how great a thing I am asking, but I also know your generous nature, your steadfastness, your capability to carry through discreetly and swiftly any undertaking you engage in.  As an American, you will have the confidence of the King and Queen, and will act as a surety for Lafayette, whom ’tis only too true their Majesties distrust profoundly.  I reminded Lafayette of the unalterable obligation which prevented me from interesting myself personally in the political situation here and of the plan I had just formed of appealing to you.  He approved of it entirely, saying that there was no one in whose hands he would