e king was
beheaded; no attempt was made to rescue him. Then Coursegol decided upon
a step which he had been contemplating for some little time.

It will be remembered that Philip on his first arrival in Paris, had
been attached to the household of the Duke de Penthieore, into which he
had been introduced by the efforts of the Chevalier de Florian. The duke
was the only member of the royal family who had remained in France
unmolested. He owed this fortunate exemption of which the history of
that epoch offers no similar example, to his many virtues and especially
to his well known benevolence. Since the death of his daughter-in-law,
the Princess de Lamballe, whom he had been unable to save from the hands
of the executioners, he had lived with his daughter, the Duchess of
Orleans at the Chateau de Bisy, in Vernon. He was living there, not as a
proscribed man but as a prince, ill, broken-hearted at the death of his
relatives, almost dying, surrounded by his friends and protected from
the fury of the Revolutionists by the veneration of the inhabitants of
Vernon, who had displayed their reverence by planting with great pomp,
in front of the good duke's chateau, a tree of liberty crowned with this
inscription: "A Tribute to Virtue;" and who evinced it still more
strongly a little later by sending a deputation to his death-bed to
implore him before his departure from earth, to bless the humble
village in which his last days had been spent.

One morning, Coursegol, having obtained a passport through Bridoul,
started for Vernon. This village is situated a few leagues from Paris on
the road to Normandy. Coursegol, who in his double role of peasant and
soldier was accustomed to walking, made the journey afoot, which enabled
him to see with his own eyes the misery that was then prevailing in the
provinces as well as in Paris. It was horrible. On every side he saw
only barren and devastated fields, and ragged, starving villagers,
trembling with fear. The revolution which had promised these poor
wretches deliverance and comfort, had as yet brought them only
misfortunes.

Coursegol reached Vernon that evening, spent the night at an inn, and
the next morning at sunrise, repaired to the duke's chateau. That good
old man had long been in the habit of receiving all who desired to speak
with him, so it was easy for Coursegol to obtain an interview. He was
ushered into a hall where several persons were already waiting, and
through which