my father was named administrator for the Corrèze and then a member
of the Legislative Assembly.

My mother's three brothers, and nearly all the nobility of the
county had hurriedly emigrated. War seemed to be imminent, so, to
persuade all citizens to take up arms, and also, perhaps, to find out
up to what point they could count on the populace, the government
arranged for the rumour to be spread throughout all the communes of
France, that the "Brigands" led by the émigrés, were coming to
destroy all the new institutions. The tocsin was rung by all the
churches; everyone armed themselves with whatever they could lay
hands upon; a National Guard was organised; the country turned into
an armed camp while it waited for these imaginary "Brigands" who, in
every commune, were said to be in the one next door. Nothing ever
appeared, but the effect remained: France found herself in arms and
had shown that she was prepared to defend herself.

We children were then alone in the country with our mother. This
alert, which was called "The day of fear" surprised me and would
probably have alarmed me, had I not seen my mother remain so calm. I
have always thought that my father had discreetly warned her of what
was about to happen.

All went well at first, without any excess on the part of the
peasants, who, in our part of the country, retained much respect for
the ancient families; but soon, stirred up by demagogues from the
towns, the country-dwellers invaded the houses of the nobles, under
the pretext of looking for hidden émigrés, but in fact to exact money
and to seize the title deeds of feudal rents, which they burned in a
big bonfire. From the height of our terrace, we saw these ruffians,