“The next morning, my mother, somewhat rested, saw more clearly the doom which awaited her, showed great courage, spoke tenderly of her grandchildren, and begged of the prisoners who were present to take charge of her watch for them. ‘It is the last thing I can send them,’ she said. She took some chocolate with the Madames de Boufflers (relations of M. de La Fayette), and was afterwards summoned to the horrible tribunal. I have been told that my sister, whilst dressing my mother, seemed still to find happiness in attending upon her. She was heard to say, ‘Courage, mamma, it is only one hour more!’
“My sister, the Vicomtesse de Noailles, entreated the prisoners to send to her children an empty pocket-book, a portrait, and some hair. But she was told that such a mission would endanger the persons who occupied the room. The name of her sister, Madame de La Fayette, was pronounced in that fearful abode. She imposed silence for fear of putting me in danger. She made no attempt to seek repose. Her eyes remained opened to contemplate that heaven into which she was about to enter. Her face reflected the serenity of her soul. The idea of immortality supported her courage. Never was so much calm witnessed in such a place. But she would forget everything to be of use to her mother and grandmother.
“Nine o’clock struck. The Huissiers carried off their victims; tears were shed by those who had only known them for twelve hours. The mothers made some arrangements for the event of an acquittal. But my sister, who did not doubt of the doom which awaited them, thanked Madame Lavet (one of their fellow-prisoners), with that charming manner which was in her a gift of nature, expressed all her gratitude for her kind attentions, and added, ‘Votre figure est heureuse; vous ne périrez pas.’
“M. Grellet, who the day before had been confined in a cell for three hours on account of the interest he had evinced for the prisoners, having been released as by a miracle, repaired to M. Carrichon. This good priest, as well as M. Brun, obtained from Heaven strength enough to follow the prisoners on the way from the Conciergerie to the scaffold; there my sister recognized M. Carrichon, and, with a presence of mind sublime at such a moment, she pointed him out to my mother, who appeared agitated, but who collected all her courage, and received fresh strength by the grace of absolution. From that moment till the last, her thoughts were no longer on earthly things; and during the three-quarters of an hour she had to wait at the foot of the scaffold, she did not cease to pray with fervor and resignation. MM. Brun and Carrichon remained till all was over. I feel that the thought of following in footsteps so dear would have taken from the horror of so awful an end.
“Je renonce à rien exprimer, parce que ce que je sens est inexprimable.”
CHAPTER VIII.
Dreadful Scenes of the French Revolution—M. Carrichon’s Account of the Last Days of the Maréchale de Noailles, the Duchesse d’Ayen, and the Vicomtesse de Noailles—They are sent to the Luxembourg—Are taken before the Revolutionary Tribunal—Their Condemnation—Heroism of the Young Vicomtesse de Noailles—The Insulting Mob—The Protecting Thunder Storm—Their Last Prayers—Arrival at the Scaffold—Their Impressive Appearance—Their Unflinching Courage—Their Heavenly Resignation—The Last Farewell—Execution of the aged Maréchale de Noailles—The Duchesse d’Ayen upon the Scaffold—Angelic Appearance of the Vicomtesse de Noailles—The Last End—Virginie La Fayette’s Narrative—Her Brother, George Washington La Fayette, sent to America—Letter from Madame La Fayette to Washington—Madame La Fayette and her Daughters obtain Permission to share the Captivity of the General—Their Arrival at Olmütz—The Pathetic Meeting—Letter from Madame La Fayette—Virginie describes their Prison Life—Letter from Madame La Fayette to the Emperor—Her Illness—Ignominious Offer of Liberty—La Fayette declines to accept the Shameful Conditions—General Bonaparte opens their Prison Doors—La Fayette’s Letter to Napoleon—Letter from Madame de Staël—Efforts in Behalf of La Fayette in England and America—La Fayette’s Letter to Joseph Masclet—Madame La Fayette’s Letter to Washington—Washington’s Letter to the Emperor of Germany in Behalf of the Marquis—General Latour-Maubourg describes Prison Life at Olmütz—La Fayette’s Unconquered Spirit—Washington’s Letter to him at the Time of his Release—La Fayette’s Letter to Masclet.
“O Liberty! Liberty! how many crimes are committed in thy
name!”—Madame Roland.
THE dreadful scenes of the French Revolution send a chill of horror to our souls as we read of them, but we realize with more painful clearness the direful deeds of those bloody days when some eye-witness of those awful, heart-rending times pictures for us some individual doom and some particular scene. The following narrative of the death of Mesdames d’Ayen and de Noailles by M. Carrichon, priest of the congregation of the Oratory, will give a most vivid idea of the sufferings of these women, who, with Madame de La Fayette, must be classed amongst the most illustrious heroines of the French Revolution.