d world, loved to do her
homage.

The spirit of the Revolution was still advancing with gigantic
strides, and the already shattered throne was reeling beneath the
redoubled blows of the insurgent people. Massacres were rife all over
the kingdom. The sky was nightly illumined by conflagrations. The
nobles were abandoning their estates, and escaping from perils and
death to take refuge in the bosom of the little army of emigrants at
Coblentz. The king, insulted and a prisoner, reigned but in name.
Under these circumstances, Louis was compelled to dismiss his ministry
and to call in another more acceptable to the people. The king hoped,
by the appointment of a Republican ministry, to pacify the democratic
spirit. There was no other resource left him but abdication. It was a
bitter cup for him to drink. His proud and spirited queen declared
that she would rather die than throw herself into the arms of
_Republicans_ for protection. He yielded to the pressure, dismissed
his ministers, and surrendered himself to the Girondists for the
appointment of a new ministry. The Girondists called upon M. Roland to
take the important post of Minister of the Interior. It was a perilous
position to fill, but what danger will not ambition face? In the
present posture of affairs, the Minister of the Interior was the
monarch of France. M. Roland, whose quiet and hidden ambition had been
feeding upon its success, smiled nervously at the power which, thus
unsolicited, was passing into his hands. Madame Roland, whose
all-absorbing passion it now was to elevate her husband to the highest
summits of greatness, was gratified in view of the honor and agitated
in view of the peril; but, to her exalted spirit, the greater the
danger, the more heroic the act. "The burden is heavy," she said; "but
Roland has a great consciousness of his own powers, and would derive
fresh strength from the feeling of being useful to liberty and his
country."

In March, 1792, he entered upon his arduous and exalted office. The
palace formerly occupied by the Controller General of Finance, most
gorgeously furnished by Madame Necker in the days of her glory, was
appropriated to their use. Madame Roland entered this splendid
establishment, and, elevated in social eminence above the most exalted
nobles of France, fulfilled all the complicated duties of her station
with a grace and dignity which have never been surpassed. Thus had
Jane risen from that humble position in whi