was delighted with these indications of
gratitude and sensibility on the part of the unenlightened and lowly
peasantry. Her republican notions, which she had cherished so fondly
in her early years, but from which she had somewhat swerved when
seeking a patent of nobility for her husband, began now to revive in
her bosom with new ardor. She was regarded as peculiarly the friend of
the poor and the humble; and at all the hearth-fires in the cottages
of that retired valley, her name was pronounced in tones almost of
adoration. More and more Madame Roland and her husband began to
identify their interests with those of the poor around them, and to
plead with tongue and pen for popular rights. Her intercourse with the
poor led her to feel more deeply the oppression of laws, framed to
indulge the few in luxury, while the many were consigned to penury and
hopeless ignorance. She acquired boundless faith in the virtue of the
people, and thought that their disenthralment would usher in a
millennium of unalloyed happiness. She now saw the ocean of human
passions reposing in its perfect calm. She afterward saw that same
ocean when lashed by the tempest.

CHAPTER V.

THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY.

1791-1792

Portentous mutterings.--Welcomed as blessings.--Enthusiasm of Madame
Roland.--Louis XVI.--Maria Antoinette.--Character of Maria
Antoinette.--Character of Louis.--M. Roland elected to the
Assembly.--Ardor of his wife.--Popularity of the Rolands.--They
go to Paris.--Reception of the Rolands at Paris.--Sittings of
the Assembly.--Tastes and principles.--Conflict for power.--The
Girondists.--The Jacobins.--Meetings at Madame Roland's.--Appearance
of Robespierre.--His character.--Remains of the court party.--Influence
of Madame Roland.--Madame Roland's mode of action.--Her
delicacy.--Robespierre at Madame Roland's.--Horrors of the
Revolution.--Fears of the Girondists.--Violence of the
Jacobins.--Resolution of the Girondists.--Warning of Madame
Roland.--Danger of Robespierre.--He is concealed by Madame
Roland.--Baseness of Robespierre.--The Assembly dissolved.--The
Rolands again at La Platiere.--They return to Paris.--Plots
and counterplots.--Political maneuvering.--Massacres and
conflagrations.--The king insulted and a prisoner.--The king
surrenders.--M. Roland Minister of the Interior.--Madame Roland in
a palace.--M. Roland's first appearance at court.--Horror of the
courtiers.--M. Roland's opinion of the king.--Madame Roland's