toinette on coming to the Tuileries.--Her Tact in
winning the Hearts of the Common People.--Mirabeau changes his Views.--
Quarrel between La Fayette and the Duc d'Orleans.--Mirabeau desires to
offer his Services to the Queen.--Riots in Paris.--Murder of Francois.--
The Assembly pass a Vote prohibiting any Member from taking Office.--The
Emigration.--Death of the Emperor Joseph II.--Investigation into the Riots
of October.--The Queen refuses to give Evidence.--Violent Proceedings in
the Assembly.--Execution of the Marquis de Favras.

The comment made by Marie Antoinette on quitting Versailles was that "they
were undone; they were being dragged off, perhaps to death, which was
never far removed from captive sovereigns;[1]" and such henceforward was
her prevailing feeling. She may occasionally, prompted by her own innate
courage and sanguineness of disposition, have cherished a short-lived
hope, founded on a consciousness of the king's and her own purity of
intention, or on a belief, which she never wholly discarded, in the
natural goodness of heart of the French people when not led astray by
demagogues; and of their impulsive levity of disposition, which seemed to
make no change of temper on their part impossible; but her general feeling
was one of humiliation for the past and despair for the future. Not only
did the example of Charles I., whose fate was ever before her eyes, fill
her with dread for her husband's life (to her own danger she never gave a
thought), but she felt also that the cause and principle of royalty had
been degraded by the shameful scenes through which she had lately passed;
and we shall fail to do justice to the patience, fortitude, and energy of
her conduct during the remainder of her life, if we allow ourselves to
forget that these high qualities were maintained and exerted in spite of
the most depressing circumstances and the most discouraging convictions;
that she was struggling because it was her duty to struggle for her
husband's honor and her child's inheritance; but that she was never long
sustained by that incentive which, with so many, is absolutely
indispensable to steady and useful exertion--the anticipation of eventual
success.

A letter which the very next morning she wrote to Mercy, who fortunately
still retained his old post as embassador, shows the courage with which
she still caught at every circumstance which seemed in the least hopeful;
and with what unfaltering tact she sought