Russia in 1839 -Empire of the Czar: A Journey Through Eternal Russia

FAMILY MEMOIRS.21

" All is lost," said my mother; " he will not save himself."

" I was sure he would not," replied M. de Quitry.

This answer, worthy of the friend of such a man, appears to me almost as sublime as the conduct to which it referred.

And of all this the world has hitherto known nothing. Supernatural virtue passed unobserved in a time when the sons of France were as lavish of their heroism as they had been of their genius fifty years before.

My mother saw her husband but once more after this scene. By means of money she procured permission to bid him the last adieu, when condemned, and in the Coneiergerie.

This solemn interview was disturbed by so singular a circumstance, that I have felt some hesitation before concluding to recount it. It will appear like an invention of the tragi-comic genius of Shakspeare, but it is strictly true. In all scenes and circumstances, reality is more strange than fiction.

My mother, Delphine de Sabran, was one of the most lovely women of those times. The devotion she displayed to her father-in-law, assures to her a glorious place in the annals of a revolution in which the heroism of the women has often atoned for the ferocity and fanaticism of the men.

She met my father for the last time, with composure, embraced him in silence, and sat with him for three hours. During this time not a word of reproach was spoken. The, perhaps, too elevated sentiment which had cost him his life was forgiven ; not a regret was breathed outwardly : it was felt that the