Star.
London, England, 1823-09-23 00:00:00

THE TUiLEitiES ON. THE 104 OF AUGUST.

All the late histories of the French Revolution, and
most of the memoirs of the time, contain a sufficiency'
of details on the horrible excesses of the 10th of Au-
gust, 1792, which overthrew the French "Monarchy.—
The attack of the ferocious mob on the Tuileries--:the
massacre of the Swiss Guards, and of all the male in-
mates of the Palace, and the dangers of the Royal Fa-
mily—have all been described with a minuteness and a
truth which make us shudder. But something still was
wanting to complete the appalling picture. None of
the memoirs of that period, with the exception of a
short passage in Madame Campan, describe the state of
the Tuileries on the night lifter the massacre. The fol-
lowing sketch, written by an eye-witness, and commu-
nicated to the author of the Esquisses Historiques de.la
Revolution Francoia, will supply the deficiency :
" I was one of the secretaries of the section of the
Marc Francoise. About 11 o'clock at night the mem-
hers of the Board feeling
.alarm respecting the state of
Pat is, ordered me to repair to the corps•de•garde of the
section, and to,request the Commandant of the station
to send out -a patrol, with instructions to examine prin-
cipally the quarter of the Tuileries, to range myself in
that patrol, and to return with a report of what I should
observe. I went accordingly to the corps-delarik. I
procured the, formation of a patrol of 50 men. I armed
myself with a pike, and away we proceeded. slaving
arrived at the extremity. of'the Pont.Neuf, we meta
anether patrol as numerqiisas our own; we joined it,
and then followed the quay as far as the arches called
Guichet de Martny, without meeting with aTiything re-
markable. On our reaching the Place de Carrousel, we
were struck with-a horrid spectacle. It was then nearly
midnight. On our tight- we perceived, on different
points of the place, four cir five mounds, each about" 20
feet high, composed of dead bodies entirely naked. In
the centre of the square(place) was an immense blazing
fire, round which we remarked, standing, three or four
Men, who appeared to be unmoved and insensible in,
the midst of the numerous and deplorable effects of
carnage. At our right a long building (occupying the
place where the railing now is), composed of a ground-
floor and an upper story, which served as a barrack to
the Swiss Guard, was a prey to the flames. Over this
scene of conflagration and dead bodies, there reigned a
profound silence, which was only disturbed by the noise
of our slow march and the crackling of the planks and
beams which, detaching themselves from the walls, fell
into the building, and at each fall caused torrents of
flames to issue from the windows. The two patrols
having united to proceed to the Court of the Tuileries,
passed by the door of this burning lodge with a rapi-
dity which the danger of the fire inspired. Having ar-
rived in the Court, we were obliged to make a long
halt, because some guards, recently placed in the Palace,
opposed the entrance of our double patrol. This halt,
gave us time to observe the frightful scenes which sur-
rounded us. The light of the great fire, blazing in the
midst of the Court, together with that of the burning
buildings, discovered to us an overwhelming picture.
On one side were dead bodies collected into masses ; on
the other, dead bodies scattered over the pavement,
mixed with human forms still animated,4but asleep
from inxtoxication. We could only distinguish the dead
from the living by the clothes with which the latter
were covered. In the fire we saw bodies half con-
sumed, and the stench which proceeded from this com-
bustion of human flesh added to the horror which the
other parts of the spectacle excited. In turning our eyes
towards the chateau, we saw through the vestibule in
the gardenalitting lightsl similar to those igneous meteors
which rise and dance at night above marshy ground
in the heats of the summer. While stationed in the
Court, our imagination busied itself in painful and fruit-
less efforts to discover the cause of this phenomenon.—
A superstitious mind placed in this abode of the dead,
and in the midst of the devouring flames, would have
taken thoseilltting gleams for spirits endeavouring to
re-unite themselves to the ladies from which they had
been lately separated. When we were allowed to pass,
into the veslibule, our impatient curiosity was gratified,
and to vague conjectures succeeded a frightful reality.
These wandering fires were lighted torches which we
perceived in the darkness, without seeing the persons'
who carried them. These persons, who were denied ad-
mission into the Palace by the guard, were still making
vain attempts to get into the vestibule. The double'
action of the parties produced the agitation of the lights.
The torches of these men were intended to enable them
to penetrate into obscure places for the purpose of pil-.
loge. In passing through the vestibule into the garden,,
we found that the space on both sides of the great stair.
caas was filled with dead bodies, entirely naked. We.
ascended to the rooms on the outer side of the chapel,
and entered the chapel, where we found an officer of
the guard. After some explanations on the difficulty
which we had experienced in penetrating to the Palace,
and on the object of the visit, we left the chateau, and
proceeded at half-past one in the morning to the place
where the corps kgukdif was sitting. Being admitted
to the bar, we described the situation of the building in
the Place de Carrousel, which was a prey to the flames
of the large fire in the Court of the Tuileries; we added,
that if haste was not Made to arrest the progress of the
devouring element, the fire might extend to the Palace
of the Tuileries, and the Gallery of the' Louvre. The
assembly immediately appointed a Commissioner (M.
,Thuriot), who proceeded with the patrol to examine the
fire, but who did not seem to be very much alarmed
with the dangers which it threatened. We reconducted
this deputy to the assembly, proceeding by the facade of,
the Tuileries, on the side of the garden.. It would ap-
pear that the officer who commanded us took this road
to put our sensibility to the proof. The ground along
this façade was entirely bordered with naked carcases.
In the obscurity of the night, notwithstanding all our
care, we could not help treading on some lifeless trunk,
or striking our feet against some naked limb._ While
marching through this scene of death, a
\young man.
M Mao was in the same line with me, whispered to me ini
a moment of emotion, " Ah, Monsieur, how dear doesi
liberty cost!" This good young man was mistaken.',
lAfter having traversed several streets in the neighbour-
4lood of the Palace, the patrol returned' to the Corps-
de garde, about three o'clock in the morning, when I
deposited my pike, and made my report."