the people, and even the judges of the revolutionary tribunal, that the men who were determined on the death of the General, felt it necessary first to silence the most eloquent of his advocates, his daughter-in-law.
The government, however, at that time, had not thrown off all appearance of law; yet the men who hesitated to throw my mother into prison did not scruple to attempt her assassination. The
Between each sitting of the court she employed her time in privately soliciting the members of the committees and of the revolutionary tribunal. A friend of my father's, in costume
In one of the last sittings of the tribunal her looks
FAMILY MEMOIRS.
had drawn tears even from the women in the gallery, commonly called ' the furies of the guillotine,' and the
After the accused was re-conducted to prison, his daughter-in-law prepared to descend the steps of the palace, in order to regain, on foot and alone — for none dared openly to accompany her — the hackney coach, which waited for her in a distant street, My mother, naturally timid in a crowd, stood trembling at the head of this long flight of steps, pressed on all sides by an enraged and blood-thirsty populace. Her eyes involuntarily sought the spot where Madame de Lamballe had been murdered some time before. She felt her presence of mind departing, as from the ferocious mob the cry, ' It is the daughter of the traitor, it is La Custine,' mingled with horrid imprecations, reached her ears. How was she to pass through this crowd of infernal, rather than human beings ? Already some, with naked swords, had placed themselves before her; others, half clothed, had caused their women to draw back — a certain sign that murder was about to be enacted. My mother felt that the first symptom of weakness she might betray would be the signal for her death : she has often related to me that she bit her hands and tongue so as to bring blood, in her endeavour to preserve a cahn countenance at this juncture. At length she observed a fish-woman among the foremost of the crowd. This woman, who was revolting in appearance, had an infant in her arms. Moved by the God of mothers,
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FAMILY MEMOIRS.
something more than a woman,) and said to her, ' What a sweet babe you have in your arms!' ' Take it,' replied the parent, who understood her by one word and glance; ' you can return it to me at the foot of the steps.'
The electricity of maternal feeling had thrilled through these two hearts. It communicated itself also to the crowd. My mother took the child, pressed it to her bosom, and held it as an ?gis in her arms.
Man, as the child of nature, resumed lus superiority over man brutalised under the influence of social evils. The 'civilised' barbarians were vanquished by two mothers. She, who was mine, descended, thus rescued, into the court of the Palais de Justice, un-saluted by even an abusive word. She returned the infant to her who had lent it: they parted without interchanging a syllable : the place was not favourable to thanks or explanations, and they never saw each other afterwards; but assuredly the souls of these mothers will meet in another world.
The young woman thus miraculously saved, could not save her father. He died, and to crown the glory of his life, the veteran soldier had the courage to die a Christian. A letter to his son attests this humble sacrifice, the most difficult of all, in an age of practical crimes and philosophical virtues. In proceeding to the scaffold he embraced the crucifix. This religious courage ennobled his death, as much as his military courage ennobled his life; but it gave great offence to the Brutus's of Paris.
During the trial of General Custine, my father had published a sober but manly defence of the former's political and military conduct. This defence, which
Family memoirs.
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had been plaearded on the walls of Paris, only served to bring upon the author the hatred of Robespierre. He was imprisoned soon after the death of his father. At this period the Reign of Terror was making rapid progress : to suffer arrest was to receive sentence ; the process of trial had become a mere form.
My mother had obtained permission to see her husband daily. Ascertaining that his death was determined, she put in requisition every means that might enable him to escape. By aid of large bribes and larger promises, she Avon over even the daughter of the o`aoler to second her design.
My father was not tall. He was slightly and elegantly made. It was arranged therefore that he should put on the clothes of his wife in the prison, that she should dress herself in those of the gaoler's daughter, and while the latter was to reach the street by another stair, the prisoner and his wife were to pass out together by the ordinary passage, which the two women had been, purposely, in the habit of doing very frequently.
Every thing was duly arranged, and a day fixed, for the execution of this plan. On that day my mother, full of hope that it was her last visit, repaired to the prison, though only on the previous evening the convention had published a decree against all who should aid or connive at the escape of a political prisoner.
This monstrous law was purposely placed before the eyes of the prisoners. My mother, on arriving at the appointed hour, found Louise, the young woman whose good will as well as interested services she had enlisted, in tears, on the prison stairs. Upon
20FAMILY MEMOIRS.
enquiring the eause, she learnt, to her inexpressible surprise, that it was owing to her husband having peremptorily refused to entertain any farther the projected plan of escape. My mother, fearing they had been betrayed, turned, without reply, to gain her husband's apartment. Louise followed her, and apprised her, in a low voice, that he had read the law. She immediately guessed the rest. She knew his inflexible character, and his high and delicate sense of honour: despair almost deprived her of all physical power. ' Come with me,' she said to Louise,
They both entered together, and a scene commenced which may be better imagined than described. Never but on one single occasion did my mother summon sufficient fortitude to describe it to me. Suffice to say, that
