M AD EM OI S EL LE D E CORD A ! M AD AM E R OLAN D THE P RI N CESS E D E L AM B ALLE M AD AM E D E GEN L IS A U S T I N D O B S O N fl N EW ! O R! P UBLISHE RS To M! FRIEND BRAN D ER MATTH EWS PREFATOR! N TE O . MON G re asons for re ri ntin these ers two p g pap , chiefl ma be me ntione d - one th at th e w ere y y , y origi nally plan ne d for publi cation i n b ook- form ; the th e r th at b t e - issuin the m now th e auth or h as o , y g , e en e na le d to ive th em th e revision of w ich b b g h , from a s e of time th e s to d i n ne e d . l p , y o It may b e obje cte d th at th e P ri nce s s de Lamb alle al a h marr a w as b i rth an It i n . B ut b e r i e b , y b , y g , y th e more i m ortant art of h er life and a ov all p p , b e b h e r tra i c d eath sh e e on s to th e c ountr of y g , b l g y ti n h e r adop o . S ome justifi c ation is pe rh aps re quire d for th e title w hi h i n this volume is u niforml ive n t o th fi rs c , , y g e t r h a of i ts h e roi ne s . It i s t ue t t by th e historian s h e i s k now n as Ch arlotte Corday ; b ut to h e r family an d h e r re l ati ve s s h e w as M ari e de Corda and th is y, s ign ature i s affi x ed t o th e l e tte r to Mlle . R os e Fou eron d u Fa ot uote d at . I as w e as to g y , q p 3 , ll P e ztor ote r fl y N . the as sh e e ve r w rote e n ne d w i e tua re l t , p h l ac lly p ari n f r h l p g o t e s caffo d . In th r f r n t Lad E ard Fi ald at e e e e ce s o y dw tz ger p . 1 8 M oor and th r auth oritie s are follow d . B u 9, e o e e t th e re ce n i nve sti ati ons of Mr. G . Al e r i n the t g J g , “ D iction ar of N ation a B i o ra h h ave e s ta y l g p y, b lish e d th e fa t th at a th ou h th e matte r is sti l n ot c , l g l w h oll fre e from dou t there i s more truth i n th e y b , “ c ircumstan tial fi cti on put forward by M adame de G en li s th an h as hith erto b e en suppos e d . C N T E N T S O . M AD EMOISE LLE D E CO R DA! MAD AM E ROLAN D T HE P R INCESS D E LAM B ALLE MADAME D E GENLIS INDE! MADEMOISELLE DE CORDA! . 6 - 1 7 8 1 79 3 . ’ ’ om r are c s ar on ne C p m , e t p d r . AD AM E D E S T A M E L. Ah ! ud e h e r e nt w h o s o ran d e rre d j g g l y, g ly , So s in s mote and s o s e re ne fe gly , ly ll ; ’ W h e re th e w i d An arc h s h urr i n d rums are he ard l y g , Th e fre nz y fi res th e fi ne r s o ul s as w e ll . FO U R F R E N CH W O M E N . AR IS streets have had their changes . If, - a- a now d ys , you want the Rue des Cor ’ de lie rs l Ec ole , you must ask for the Rue de é de M decine , and even between these two the place has been three times christened . In the room of the old Grey Friars church has sprung S u S up a pacio s college where once , in the ilent - flat - uffl convent garden , the foot fathers sh ed to fro and , crowds of students now swarm daily - P to the dissecting rooms . eaceful p rofessors dilate leisurely on the circulation of the blood of - where once , in the hall the erst famous club , D anton flashed suddenly into a furio us elo ue nce . e q , or Marat cried for heads The serg and three - knot girdle have yielded to the scalpel and the saw . r N early a centu y ago , there lived in the Rue des Cordeliers o ne who had made himself a 2 Four Frencbwomen . Z ‘ L f ow éi in Fra i p a ; . Airng be fore the tocsin first u n e in 1 88 man — so d d: 7 , this half dwarf, half ma i c f i d a i a st and savant man ué n a , o le pl g ri q , prurient romancer , rancorous libeller , envious , — infi revengeful , and despised had heaped up nite hatred of all things better than himself. “ Cain in the social scale , he took his stand upon the lowest grade, and struck at all above - him with dog like ferocity , with insatiable malig nit . canaille y Champion of the , he fought their of . battles , and the common cry curs was his D A enounced to the Constituent ssembly , hunted P by the aris Commune , besieged in his house by Lafayette ; shielded by D anton ; hidden by Legendre ; sheltered by the actress Fleury ; sheltered by the priest Bassal ; proscribed , pur on sued , and homeless , he still fought , and the ’ publication of L Ami da P euple was not de layed for a single hour . By the name that he P had conquered , all aris knew him . Woe to the noble who was recommended by the remorse ’ less P eople s Friend I Woe to the susp ect w ho fell into the clutches of that crafty P russian ” Spider ! D ay after day he might be seen at the Convention , cynical , injurious , venomous ; S dressed in a filthy shirt , a habby , patched - v surtout , and ink stained vel et smalls ; his hair k notted tightly with a thong , his shoes tied ademoiselle de orda M C y . 3 carelessly with string . M en knew the enormous S head and pallid , leaden face the loping , wild beast brows and piercing , tigerish eyes ; the - croaking , frog like mouth ; the thin lips , ’ - bulged like an adder s poison bag , men knew the convulsive gestures , the irrepressible arm with its fluttering proscription list , the strident voice that cried incessantly for heads , now for five hundred , now for five hundred thousand . All P aris knew the triumvir Marat , who , in concert with Robespierre and the Mountain , was slowly floating France in blood . It is easy , from the abundant records , to con o f . J 1 struct the story his death In uly , 79 3 , the F or citizen Marat was ill . three years he had struggled with a disorder , to which sooner or later he must have succumbed . His physician , although he sedulously attended him , had no hope of saving his life H e had ceased to appear at the meetings of the Convention ; Robespierre and D anton had refused him “ a ! . J head or two A acobin deputation , sent to t inquire into his health , repor ed that they had found their brother Marat occupied unweariedly for m the public good . It is not a alady , “ i said they, but an indispos tion which Mes sieurs of the Cote D roit will hardly catch . It is a superabundant patriotism pressed and repressed o c 4 F ur Fren hwomen . in too small a body . The violent efforts that it makes at escape are killing him . In a word , the citizen Marat was dying of disease aggravated by of envy , disappointment , and unquenched lust blood . D uring the whole of J une he had never ceased with a head frenzied by strong remedial n stimula ts , with a pen that pain caused to tremble in his hand t o cry feverishly for slaughter These were , in fact , those exhalations of a too active patriotism that were killing the ’ P eople s Friend . 1 J - On the 3th of uly , at about half past seven in the evening , the citizen Marat was sitting in n .