Page:Life of Louis Philippe, late king of the French.pdf/6

6 but my friend (Madame de Geulis) sent me away, reminding me that I was to be at the Hôtel-Dieu in the morning."

From this Journal it would appear that the Duke of Chartres was strongly attached to Madame de Genlis. Referring to that lady, of date 22nd May, he writes._" O, my mother, how I bless you for having preserved me from all those vices and misfortunes (too often incident to youth), by inspiring me with that sense of religion which has been my whole support."

Some time previous to this, the Duke was appointed to the office of Colonel in the 14th Regiment of Dragoons, and, as it became necessary to assume the command in person, he proceeded to Vendôme in June, 1791, at which period there was considerable commotion in many parts of France, on account of several of the clergy refusing to take an oath prescribed by the Constitution. In some places these individuals were ejected from their livings, and while the Duke was in Vendôme, a disturbance took place in which the lives of two of them would have been sacrificed but for his interference. He thus describes the occurrence:-

"June 27 [Referring to a procession led by one of the clergymen who had taken the oath].-At noon I had brought back the regiment, but with orders not to unboot or unsaddle. I asked Messrs. Dubois, d'Albis, Jacquemiu, and Philippe, to dinner. They brought us word that the people had collected in a mob, and were about to hang two priests. I ran immediately to the place, followed by Pieyre, Dubois, and d'Albis. I came to the door of a tavern, where I found ten or twelve national guards, the mayor, the town-clerk, and a considerable number of people, crying, 'They have broken the law; they must be