stronger obligation always to surround bis august person, and defend it from the application of principles which we condemn; we place our sole honour, our most sacred duty in defending, with all our might with all our zeal for the blood of the Bourbons-with all our attachment to the principles which our constituents have transmitted to us, the interests of the king and the royal family, and their indefeasible rights.

That, in consequence, we shall continue, from the sole motive of not abandoning the interests of the person of the king and the royal family, to assist at the deliberations of the national assembly; but being neither able to avow their principles, or recognize the legality of their decrees, we will hence. forth take no part in deliberations which have not for their object the only interest which it now remains for us to defend.

Paris, June 29, 1791.

To the above are added the sig natures of two hundred and ninety members of the national assembly, the first being that of the Abbé Maury. Some of them insert additions or restrictions before their names, as is sometimes done to a protest in the House of Lords, and all the noblesse insert their titles.

Procés Verbal of the Declaration of the King of the French, with respect to the Motives of his Flight.

ON this present Sunday, June 26th, 1791, We, Francis Denis Tronchet, Andrian John Francis Duport, and Anthony Balthazar

Joseph Dandre, commissioners nominated by the national assembly for the execution of its decree of this day, the said decree providing, "That the national assembly shall nominate three commissioners, taken out of its own body, to receive in writing from the mouth of the king his declaration, which shall be signed by the king and the commissioners; the same ceremony be. ing also used in regard to the declaration of the queen, &c."

We, after having repaired to the military committee, set off at half an hour after six o'clock, for the palace of the Thuilleries, where having arrived, we were introduced into the king's cabinet, and being alone with him, the king made the following declaration :

I see, Gentlemen, by the object of the mission with which you are charged, that there is no intention of making use of interrogatories; but I shall most willingly comply with the wishes of the national afraid of making the public acassembly, and I shall never be quainted with the reasons of my conduct.

The motives which occasioned the menaces which took place on my departure, were the threats and the 18th of April against my family and myself. Since that time, several writings have been published. with an intention to provoke the public fury against the royal family and myself, and these insults still remain unpunished; from this circumstance, I perceived that it would not be safe, nor even decent for me to remain in Paris.

In consequence of this I resolved to quit the metropolis.-Not being able to get from Paris in the daytime, I determined to depart during

the

the night, without any attendants; it was not my intention, however, to leave the kingdom. I never did concert a plan of this kind, either with the neighbouring powers, or with my relations, nor with any other Frenchmen in foreign countries.

My plan was to retire to Montmedi, and I accordingly ordered apartments to be prepared for me there. As that town is well fortified, I thought it peculiarly convenient for the safety of myself and family; and being near the frontiers, I also imagined it well adapted to oppose every invasion that might be attempted by the enemies of France. Another powerful motive of my retreat was, to put an end to the assertion of my being a prisoner.

If my intention had been to have retired into a foreign country, I should never have published a memorial previous to my departure:-I should most assuredly in that case have suppressed it till I had passed the frontiers.

I continued constant in the wish of returning to Paris; for on look ing to this same memorial, it may be seen that I promise to the Parisians speedily to return to them: "Frenchmen, and you Parisians, what pleasure shall I not have in again appearing among you!" These are the very expressions I made use of.

I had in my carriage only 13,200 livres in gold, and 56,000 livres in assignats, which were contained in a port folio sent me by the depart

ment.

I never informed Monsieur of my departure, till a very short time before it took place; he passed into a foreign country, merely because

it was agreed between him and I that we should not travel the same road, and he was to return to me in France. I gave orders, a few days before my departure, to the three persons who accompanied me as couriers, to procure the clothes usually worn on these occasions, because they would be entrusted with dispatches.

The passport was necessary for facilitating my journey; the route of Frankfort was mentioned, merely because they never grant passports at the office of the secretary for foreign affairs to any part within the kingdom; and the route indicated was not even preserved by

us.

I have never made any protestation whatever but in the memorial left by me at my departure.

This protestation, as may be easily perceived, does not contain any objection to the principles of the constitution, but only with respect to the form of sanction, that is to say, in regard to the little liberty which I appeared to enjoy. As the decrees were not presented in a body, I could not judge of the whole design of the fabric of the constitution. The principal objection contained in this memorial regards the difficulties attendant on administration and execution.

I perceived in the course of my journey, that the public opinion was decidedly in favour of the constitution. I was not before able, during my stay in Paris, to make myself acquainted with this circumstance; but from the ideas I have been able to form personally in my route, I am convinced how much it is necessary to give the proper energy to the powers established for the maintenance of public order.

As

M. de Bouille's statement of the King's Journey from Chalons to Varennes, when his Majesty and the Royal Family left Paris to go to Montmidi.

IN consequence of the king and queen's order, M. de Bouille informed M. de Goguelas, an officer of rank, of their majesties' intention to go to Montmidi, and the arrangements he had made to receive them. That officer had been sent to Paris a little before the king left it, and brought his majesty's de finitive orders to the general; in obedience to which he had ordered M. de Goguelas to reconnoitre the

different posts on their route, and

to wait personally for their majesties at Pontsommeville, the first post after passing Chalons, and three leagues beyond that town. M. de Goguelas carried a written order from the king, for the commander of the detachment at Chalons to obey M. de N who was to arrive there twelve hours before the royal family. M. de N himself was authorised by his majesty to deliver the orders of M. de Bouille to each officer commanding a detachment on this service, and at the same time to give them particular orders conformable to any new circumstance which might have occurred since that general had formed his plan.

or M. de

M. de NGoguelas were to arrive at each post from Pontsommeville, at a proper time previous to the royal family, to give the commanding officers timely notice that the troops, and every thing else necessary for the speedy and safe passage of the carriages, should be in readiness all the way; M. de Bouille, in the mean time, being in a central position, that he might have it in his power to protect the royal family, in case of necessity.

Agrecable to this plan, M. de Goguelas had left Varennes to go

to

Pontsommeville on the 20th of

June, with forty hussars of the regiment of Lausun, on the pretext of escorting a large sum of money expected for the use of the troops. These hussars were under the command of M. Boudet, a lieutenant. They passed the night of the 20th at St. Menehoult, and arrived on the 21st at Pontsommeville. Forty dragoons of the regi ment royal, commanded by M.

d'Andouin

cured to the detachment at St. Menehoult a safe retreat to Montmidi.

As the cross road from Varennes to Dun was bad, M. de Bouille had the precaution to place a sufficient number of horses at the former, that the king, on his arrival, might find no difficulty or retardment to prevent his proceeding to Dun. Those horses belonged to M. de N, and were sent on the pretext of carrying his camp equipage to Mouson. When M. de Nwent to Paris to receive the king's orders, he had given directions to an officer of his regiment respecting those horses, which were to set out on the 17th of June, that they might be at Varennes on the, 20th, and there remain till farther orders. This arrangement had been settled, on the supposition that the king would leave Paris on the 19th, as was at first intended: but a woman in the service of the dauphin, and known to be a violent democrat, being to finish her weekly attend ance on the 20th, it was thought prudent to defer the departure of the royal family till she should be out of the palace; of course they did not set out till the 20th, at midnight. M. de Bouille was in formed of this alteration by a letter from the king, which, however, he did not receive before the 15th, in the evening, and immediately sent orders to the regiment royal and that of Monsieur, both dragoons, to begin their march a day later than had been formerly directed, on purpose that they might be at Clermont only one day previous to the arrival of the royal family: but unfortunately the officer, entrusted with the direction of the horses, which were said to trans

port M. de N's camp equípage, neglected to give fresh orders to those who conducted them to Varennes, and of course they arrived at that town one day sooner than was intended. The prolongation of their stay created those suspicions which afterwards proved so fatal. Those horses were not pla ced where it had been agreed upon they should; and when those who were charged with the placing them arrived at Varennes, the suspicions which had arisen on their account had excited such a fermentation, that it would not have been prudent to have attempted any alteration.

The Report of M. Boudet.

The detachment arrived in precise time at the place of their destination. The hussars of the regi ment of Lausun came to St. Menehoult on the 20th of June; the officer quartered them at the inn, but he neglected to give the usual information to the magistrates of the place relative to their route and quarters. This occasioned a good deal of surprise and speculation in the town, which were augmented by the arrival of a detachment of the king's regiment of dragoons in the morning of the 21st. The impression which the conduct of the officer commanding the hussars left on the minds of the inhabitants, made them watch the dragoons with jealous eyes. They even attempted to take their arms from them.

The king left the Thuilleries on the 20th, at midnight. His carriage broke down near Chalons. That accident detained him several hours. The royal family were expected at Sommeville about three

o'clock

1