sink
under it, whilst History, though full of commiseration for you, will
accuse you of the misfortunes of your people."

The king was seated near a table where he had just signed the general's
accounts. Dumouriez was standing beside him with clasped hands. The king
took his hands in his own, and said to him, in a voice sorrowful but
resigned, "God is my witness, that I only think of the happiness of
France." "I never doubted it, sire," responded Dumouriez, deeply
affected. "You owe an account to God, not only for the purity, but also
for the enlightened use, of your intentions. You think to save religion:
you destroy it. The priests will be massacred: your crown will be taken
from you; perhaps even your queen and children--." He did not finish,
but pressed his lips to the king's hand, who shed tears.

"I await--expect death," replied the king, sorrowfully; "and I pardon my
enemies already. I am grateful to you for your sensibility. You have
served me well, and I esteem you. Adieu--be more happy than I am!" And
on saying these words Louis XVI. went to a recess in a window at the end
of the chamber, in order to conceal the trouble he felt. Dumouriez never
saw him again. He shut himself up for several days in retirement, in a
lonely quarter of Paris. Looking upon the army as the only refuge for a
citizen still capable of serving his country, he set out for Douai, the
head quarters of Luckner.

V.

The Girondists remained a moment overwhelmed by the humiliation of their
fall and the joy of their coming vengeance. "Here I am dismissed," was
Roland's exclamation to his wife, on his return home. "I have but one
regret, and that is, that our delays have prevented us from taking the
initiative." Madame Roland retired to a humble apartment, without losing
any of her influence and without regretting power, since she carried
with her into her retreat, her genius, her patriotism, and her friends.
With her the conspiracy only changed place; from the ministry of the
interior she passed at once into the small council which she gathered
about her, and inspired with her own earnest enthusiasm.

This circle daily increased. The admiration for the woman mingled in the
hearts of her friends with the attraction of liberty. They adored in her
the future Republic. The love which these young men did not avow for her
made, unknown to her, a portion of their politics. Ideas only become
active and powerful when vivified by sentiment. She