Despair of the king.--Lovely character of Madame Elizabeth.--Return to Paris.--Insults of the mob.--Massacre of M. Dampierre.--Commissioners from Paris.--Noble character of Barnave.--Brutality of Pétion.--Approach to Paris.--Appalling violence.--Sufferings of the royal family.--Arrival at the Tuileries.--Exertions of La Fayette.--Roar of the multitude.--Spirit of the queen.--Embarrassing position of La Fayette.--The palace rigorously guarded.--The queen grossly insulted.--Despair of the king.--Supremacy of the mob.--A brutal assemblage.--Ferocious inscriptions.--Attack upon the palace.--The mob force an entrance.--Fearlessness of the king.--The mob awed.--Courage of Madame Elizabeth.--Cries of the mob.--The red bonnet.--First glimpse of Napoleon.--The queen's apartments invaded.--Insulted by abandoned women.--The queen's children.--The young girl.--Meeting of the National Assembly.--The king's friends derided.--The president of the Assembly.--The mob retires.--Deputies visit the royal family.--Unfeeling remark.--Hopeless condition of the royal family.--Breast-plate for the king.--Dagger-proof corset for the queen.--Fête in the Champ de Mars.--The last appearance of the royal family in public.
During all the long hours of the night, while the king was detained in the grocer's shop at Varennes, he was, with anxiety indescribable, looking every moment for soldiers to appear, sent by M. Bouillé for his rescue. But the National Guard, which was composed of those who were in favor of the Revolution, were soon assembled in such numbers as to render all idea of rescue hopeless. The sun rose upon Varennes but to show the king the utter desperation of his condition, and he resigned himself to despair. The streets were filled with an infuriated populace, and from every direction the people were flocking toward the focus of excitement. The children of the royal family, utterly exhausted, had fallen asleep. Madame Elizabeth, one of the most lovely and gentle of earthly beings, the sister of the king, who, through all these trials, and, indeed, through her whole life, manifested peculiarly the spirit of heaven, was, regardless of herself, earnestly praying for support for her brother and sister.