to hide from them the perils and
humiliations of the journey. Constrained, no doubt, by the presence of
his rough colleague, Petion, if he did not openly avow the feeling of
pity, admiration, and respect which had conquered him during the
journey, he showed it in his actions, and a tacit treaty was concluded
by looks. The royal family felt that amidst this wreck of all their
hopes they had yet gained Barnave. All his subsequent conduct justified
the confidence of the queen. Audacious, when opposed to tyranny, he was
powerless against weakness, beauty, and misfortune; and this lost him
his life, but rendered his memory glorious. Until then he had been only
eloquent; he now showed that he possessed sensibility. Petion, on the
contrary, remained cold as a sectarian, and rude as a _parvenu_; he
affected a brusque familiarity with the royal family, eating in the
queen's presence, and throwing the rind of fruit out of the window, at
the risk of striking the king's face. When Madame Elizabeth poured him
out some wine, he raised his glass without thanking her to show that he
had enough. Louis XVI. having asked him if he was in favour of the
system of the two chambers, or for the republic--"I should be in favour
of a republic," returned Petion, "if I thought my country sufficiently
ripe for this form of government." The king, offended, made no reply,
and did not once speak until they arrived at Paris.

The commissioners had written from Dormans to the Assembly, to inform
them what road the king would take, and at what day and hour he would
arrive. The approach to Paris offered increasing danger, owing to the
numbers and fury of the populace through which the king had to pass. The
Assembly redoubled its energy and precaution to assure the inviolability
of the king's person. The people, too, recovered the sentiment of their
own dignity before this great success fate granted them: they would not
dishonour their own triumph. Thousands of placards were stuck on the
walls--"_Whoever applauds the king shall be beaten; whoever insults him
shall be hung_." The king had slept at Meaux, and the commissioners
advised the Assembly to sit permanently, in order to be in readiness for
any unforeseen event that might take place on the king's arrival at
Paris; and the Assembly, consequently, did not dissolve. The hero of the
day, the author of the king's arrest, Drouet, son of the post-master of
Sainte Menehould, appeared before it, and gave the f