had gone to the very verge of diplomatic
propriety in advising the ministers of the king in regard to the
policies to be pursued, and, as he foresaw what was coming, in urging
the king himself to leave France. All his efforts and all his advice,
like those of other intelligent men who kept their heads during the
whirl of the Revolution, were alike vain.

On August 10 the gathering storm broke with full force, and the populace
rose in arms to sweep away the tottering throne. Then it was that these
people, fleeing for their lives, came to the representative of the
country for which many of them had fought, and on both public and
private grounds besought the protection of the American minister. Let me
tell what happened in the words of an eye-witness, an American gentleman
who was in Paris at that time, and who published the following account
of his experiences:

On the ever memorable 10th of August, after viewing the destruction of
the Royal Swiss Guards and the dispersion of the Paris militia by a band
of foreign and native incendiaries, the writer thought it his duty
to visit the Minister, who had not been out of his hotel since the
insurrection began, and, as was to be expected, would be anxious to
learn what was passing without doors. He was surrounded by the old Count
d'Estaing, and about a dozen other persons of distinction, of different
sexes, who had, from their connection with the United States, been his
most intimate acquaintances at Paris, and who had taken refuge with
him for protection from the bloodhounds which, in the forms of men and
women, were prowling in the streets at the time. All was silence here,
except that silence was occasionally interrupted by the crying of
the women and children. As I retired, the Minister took me aside, and
observed: "I have no doubt, sir, but there are persons on the watch who
would find fault with my conduct as Minister in receiving and protecting
these people, but I call on you to witness the declaration which I now
make, and that is that they were not invited to my house, but came of
their own accord. Whether my house will be a protection to them or to
me, God only knows, but I will not turn them out of it, let what will
happen to me," to which he added, "you see, sir, they are all persons to
whom our country is more or less indebted, and it would be inhuman to
force them into the hands of the assassins, had they no such claim
upon me."

Nothing can be added to this si