DIGITISED MANUSCRIPTS

a) that the queen was intriguing with her brother the emperor, she and the king encountered such hostile manifestations in public that they no longer dared to venture out-of-doors. In the palace they were rigorously guarded, and the king, driven to desperation, decided, at last, that he too would seek safety in flight. With the help of some devoted Royalists a plan of escape was matured. In face of the greatest diffi- culties, the king, his family, and attendants, dis- guised as the family and servants of the Baroness de Korff—a Russian lady—effected their exit from the Tuileries, and set off in a lumbering old coach for the frontier. But the fatality which had pur- sued Louis throughout his life also frustrated this design. The first portion of the journey was safely accomplished, but on the second day the king was recognised by an ardent revolutionist — young Drouet—the son of a post-master. He at once sent a message to the Assembly at Paris, then started after the ponderous vehicle which contained the fugitives, and caught it up, close to the frontier, at Varennes ; there he gave the alarm, and with the aid of some sympathisers barricaded the town. A detachment of soldiers had been provided at Varennes to escort the king to the fortress of Montmédy, which was held by Bouillé, a royalist general. Had the king at this critical moment