e from
Brussels that she hoped the royal family did not doubt the anxiety of
their friends: that the danger appeared indeed as pressing as it could
be represented; but that some prudence was necessary on the part of
those who were preparing help, and some patience on the part of those
who were awaiting it.--Alas! It was difficult for the poor queen to be
patient, expecting, as she did daily, the murder of the king. Though
this fear seems to have been unfounded, it caused her as much suffering
as if it had been just.--She had a breastplate made for the king, of
silk many times folded, and well wadded, so that it would resist the
blow of a dagger, and even a pistol-ball. This under-dress was made at
Madame Campan's house; and she brought it into the palace, wearing it as
an under-petticoat, that no one might see it. For three days, in the
beginning of July, did Madame Campan wear this heavy warm petticoat
before an opportunity could be found for the king to try it on. The
occasion for which it was wanted was the 14th of July, the anniversary
of the destruction of the Bastille, and the date of the Independence of
the Nation, as the nation chose to say: on which day the king was to
appear in public.

When he tried on the breastplate, he said in a low voice to Madame
Campan that he wore this to satisfy the queen, but that he was persuaded
he should not be assassinated, but left to be disposed of in another
way. The queen afterwards made Madame Campan repeat to her what the
king had said, and then observed that this was not new to her: she had
seen the king much occupied of late in studying the history of Charles
the First of England. The king declared that he studied this history in
order to learn how to avoid the errors of Charles in dealing with his
people. Alas! If he had done so twenty years before, it is doubtful
whether such study could have been of any use to a ruler who had neither
the knowledge nor the spirit necessary for the times. Now it was by
many years too late. No one believed in his sincerity: every one
despised his weakness; and he was so humbled that no act of his could
have the force or the grace of freedom. The history of Charles the
First is indeed a most instructive lesson to kings: but it is a lesson
which must be learned and used while kings are still sitting on an
honoured and unshaken throne.

There were people enough in Paris grieved and shocked at the proceedings
of the 20th of June