"What does it signify," replied Dumouriez, "whether the king be called Louis, or Jacques, or Philippe?"
"And what are your means to effect this revolution?" they inquired.
"My army," Dumouriez proudly replied. "From my camp or from the stronghold of some fortress they will express their resolve for a king."
"But your plan will peril the lives of the rest of the royal family in the Temple."
"If every member of that family in France or at Coblentz should perish," Dumouriez replied, "I can still find a chief. And if any farther barbarities are practiced upon the Bourbons in the Temple I will surround Paris with my army and starve the Parisians into subjection."
The deputation returned to Paris with their report, and four commissioners were immediately dispatched, accompanied by the Minister of War, to summon Dumouriez to the bar of the Convention. Dumouriez promptly arrested the commissioners and sent them off to the Austrians, to be retained by them as hostages.
DUMOURIEZ ARRESTING THE ENVOYS.