em their duty as citizens,
the Baron de Breteuil, his confidential agent to the Foreign Powers,
transmitted to the king of Prussia letters that revealed the secret
thoughts of the king. The following letter to the king of Prussia, found
in the archives of the chancellorship of Berlin, dated December 3rd,
1790, leaves no doubt of this double diplomacy of the unfortunate
monarch. Louis XVI. wrote:--

"Monsieur mon Frere,

"I have learnt from M. de Moustier how great an interest your
majesty has displayed, not only for my person but for the welfare
of my kingdom, and your majesty's determination to prove this
interest, whenever it can be for the good of my people, has deeply
touched me; and I confidently claim the fulfilment of it, at this
moment, when, in spite of my having accepted the new constitution,
the factious portion of my subjects openly manifest their intention
of destroying the remainder of the monarchy. I have addressed the
emperor, the empress of Russia, and the kings of Spain and Sweden,
and I have suggested to them the idea of a congress of the
principal powers of Europe, _supported by an armed force_, as the
best measure to check the progress of faction here, to afford the
means of establishing a better order of things, and preventing the
evil that devours this country from seizing on the other states of
Europe. I trust that your majesty will approve my ideas, _and
maintain the strictest secrecy respecting the step I have taken in
this matter_, as you will feel that the critical position in which
I am placed at present compels me to use the greatest
circumspection. It is for this reason that the Baron de Breteuil is
alone acquainted with my secret, and through him your majesty can
transmit me whatever you may think fit."

XIII.

This letter, added to that addressed by Louis XVI. to M. de Bouille,
informing him that his brother-in-law the emperor Leopold was about to
march a body of troops on Longwi, in order to afford a pretext for the
concentration of the French troops on that frontier, and thus favour his
flight from Paris, are irrefragable proofs of the counter-revolutionary
understanding existing between the king and the foreign powers, no less
than between the king and the leaders of the emigres. The memoirs of the
emigres are full of proofs of this fact; and nature even attests them,
f