superior to Vaublanc(38) and of very uncommon firmness and
integrity of character.

The account Mr. Batt gave of the National Assembly last summer
agrees perfectly with that of M. de Jaucourt, who had the
misfortune to be one of the deputies, and who, upon some great
occasion in support of the king and constitution, found only
twenty-four members who had courage to support him, though a far
more considerable number gave him secretly their good wishes and
prayers. It was on this that he regarded all hope of justice and
order as lost, and that he gave in sa d‚mission(39) from the
Assembly. In a few days he was seized, and sans forme de
proces(40) having lost his inviolability as a

Page 33

member, thrown into the prison of the Abbaye, where, had it not
been for the very extraordinary and admirable exertions of Madame
de Stael (M. Necker's daughter, and the Swedish ambassador's
wife), he would infallibly have been massacred.

I must here tell you that this lady, who was at that time seven
months gone with child, was indefatigable in her efforts to save
every one she knew from this dreadful massacre. She walked daily
(for carriages were not allowed to pass in the streets) to the
H6tel de Ville, and was frequently shut up for five hours
together with the horrible wretches that composed the Comit‚ de
Surveillance, by whom these murders were directed; and by her
eloquence, and the consideration demanded by her rank and her
talents, she obtained the deliverance of above twenty unfortunate