the Luxembourg. I am assured, that at a very disastrous epoch, M. de Semonville was prudent enough to secure ; but really I will not deprive him of the merit of the disclosure, nor France of the pleasure of the surprise.

When these two illustrious Peers, MM. de Semonville and D'Argout, failed in persuading the Ministers and the Marshal, other gentlemen of distinction, and especially some very intimate friends, were ordered to tamper with the Marshal alone. No promises were spared; letters without end were written, and, in many instances, by the most influential personages; among these, was the Chief Magistrate and First President of the Royal Court, M. de Seguier, one who, on all occasions, has proved himself more than hostile to his royal Master. But the Duke was firm I should rather say honest. There is no ground to suspect him of treachery. His age, his domestic troubles, and his personal difficulties, will sufficiently account for all his military blunders.

About noon, the Ministers quitted the Tuilleries, and repaired to St. Cloud, being summoned by the King to a Council. The King busied himself, with energy, in organising the defence of the capital, and arresting the sedition.

The Dauphin was instantly named Generalissimo. But at the very moment that he was preparing to hasten to Paris, a General Officer arrived, to announce that, immediately after the departure of the Ministers, the troops of the line had gone over to the people; that the Louvre and Tuilleries had been abandoned; and that the Royal Guard were in full retreat. The officer was not in uniform: his getting to St. Cloud had been attended with some danger; and yet he was in disgrace with the Dauphin. I refrain, for particular reasons, from mentioning the name of this brave officer, who has, on more than one occasion, risked his life for the cause of honour and his country; but I cannot refrain from contrasting his conduct with those treacherous cowards, on whom the Bourbons had lavished wealth, and titles, and places, and decorations, and who were now hurrying from the royal antechambers, for the purpose of claiming at the Palais Royal a share of the new spoil.

Still many persons were introduced, either bringing news, or offering advice to the council, which was now sitting, although contrary to the usual etiquette; and, among others, MM. de Semonville, D'Argout, and De Vitrolles. They

came, according to their story, to propose themselves as negotiators of a treaty, and they declared that they were already in communication with the leaders at Paris. At the present day, we have no difficulty in judging of what stuff these negotiators were made, especially M. d'Argout, Minister at this very moment of LouisPhilippe; M. de Semonville the right hand of the House of Orleans, and deliverer of that delightful discourse to "le grand Poulot," on the inauguration of the embezzled flags of Ulm in the Chamber of Peers. Of M. de Vitrolles I shall say nothing at present; he will, perhaps, figure but too soon.

The object of the negotiation was to gain time, and ensure the defection of those troops that yet remained faithful, and principally to convince the people that the King was vanquished, since he was willing to treat. This negotiation advanced the ruin of the King; and the unauthorised and insane order of the day, in which Marmont notified this fact to the troops, completed it. The sudden inaction spread discouragement among his few friends; and in the mean time no efforts were spared to increase the distress of the troops, and of all who remained faithful.

We hear no more of these negotiators. They had accomplished the object of their mission. The Royal cause was admitted to be hopeless.

The soldiers of the line on Thursday deserted in great numbers, the moment they had received their new gratification in Paris. Lieutenant-General Bourdesoulle, who commanded the guard, and who had received every possible favour from the Bourbons, was accused this evening, by some who were well informed, of flagrant treason. treachery was then a doubt. It is no longer so.

His

In vain should I attempt to describe the scene of confusion that now took place at St. Cloud. It is a horrible picture of treachery and misfortune. Every little courtier, whose eyes, two days before, sparkled at the sound of the cannon, and chuckled over the good conduct of the troops, now pretended that he had always been against the Ordonnances. At the request of the leaders at Paris, the Duke de Mortemart had been authorised by the King to enter into a negotiation, and was invested with unlimited powers. On Thursday evening, the 29th, he was commanded by the King to depart for Paris with a list of the new Ministry, of which he was the chief, and of which M. Casimir Perier and General Gérard were

members. An extraordinary Moniteur was published at St. Cloud.

The King waited with impatient anxiety the return of M. de Mortemart. The whole night of the 29th, the whole day of the 30th, passed away, and M. de Mortemart gave no sign of life; neither to the King, nor to the Municipal Council, who awaited him as well as the Sovereign. All imagined that M. de Mortemart had instantly departed for Paris; and so impatient was the King to hear how the negotiation proceeded, that he sent Count de Girardin, the Master of the Stag-hounds, and others, to the capital to learn the progress. How will the world be astonished, when they are told that M. de Mortemart, with this high trust and urgent duty, at a crisis when the loss of an instant was the loss of a century, slept quietly, as he says now, at St. Cloud! I venture to suspect, rather, that, as the day was sultry, he refreshed himself by a cool walk to Neuilly, to see how the poor family of Orleans were prospering.

On the 30th, Mortemart succeeded in reaching Paris, extremely fatigued, wiping the perspiration from his forehead with a white handkerchief; exhausted by a walk of nearly two miles, and suffering, as he then averred, from a pain in his foot,