4. Examination of Maldent.

Thursday, July 7, 1791, in the morning.

Had brought from his prison M. Maldent, who said he was called Jean Francois Maldent, thirty-seven years of age, former body guard, born at Etain in Limousin, dwelling in the said Limousin, electing domicile in the clerk’s office of the prison. . . .

What day, how, and by whom had he been instructed of the departure of the king, the queen, and the royal family?

He said by nobody. Observes that being in the court, Monday, June 21st last, at nine o’clock, or thereabout, as he had received orders to do from M. Dumoustier, a person he did not know came to tell him to go upstairs in the château. He followed this person. They shut him up in a cabinet or between two doors, where he remained until the departure of the king. He came himself to open the door and to tell him to follow him, which he did as far as a carriage. The king told him to get up behind. He followed his orders as far as the Porte Saint-Martin, where the king changed to another carriage, behind which he mounted [remaining there], according to the order of the king, as far as Bondy. He took the post with the king. . . .

What hour was it when he left the chateau with the king?

Replied he could not tell the precise hour; that he knew only that it was after the coucher of the king. . . . There were sentinels at all the posts, as usual, and there were national guards walking about in the court when the king passed there with him. . . . The king wore a round hat, a coat over a suit which he believed was brown, overcoat of a green mixture, as far as he could remember, and he had no outward marks of distinction, such as he ordinarily wore. Added that the king carried a cane in his hand. . . . They had gone out in the darkness, he following the king, who guided him. [On leaving the chateau] he had gone to the Little Carrousel, where the king’s carriage was. [In crossing the Court of the Princes] he said he had seen various national guards who were moving about without being able to say whether they were officers or not.

Was it he who opened the door when the king got into the carriage? He said no.

Who did open it? Said it was the coachman who was there.

Who was in the carriage? Said he did not see anybody in the carriage at that moment.

What kind of a carriage was it? Said he believed it was a very shabby, hired carriage.

Did they depart at once? He said yes, as soon as the king got into the carriage.

Did he know the people who accompanied the queen and Madame Elizabeth from the chateau? He said no.

Did they reach the carriage before the king? Said yes. Was he alone behind the carriage? He said yes. Were the dauphin, madame, the daughter of the king, and Madame de Tourzel in the carriage? He said yes.

How many horses were there to this carriage? Said there were two.

Who paid for this carriage when they took the one at the Porte Saint-Martin? Said nobody, and that they had left the carriage there, one of the horses having fallen into the ditch, and that the same coachman who had driven this carriage got upon the seat of the one the travelers had entered. Having made certain that everybody was in the carriage, he got up behind.

What is the name of the coachman? Said he did not know.

If from the Porte Saint-Martin they went directly to Bondy? Said yes.

Was it there they changed horses? Said yes. M. Valory had had the horses prepared to await the king.

Did they take post-horses there, and how many of them did they put to the king’s carriage? Said they put six post-horses to the carriage. There were two couriers, one before, who was M. Valory, and one behind, who was himself. M. Dumoustier was on the seat of the carriage.

Where did M. Dumoustier join the carriage? Said that he was at the Porte Saint-Martin with the carriage which awaited the king on the seat of which he had mounted to go to Bondy.

Was M. Dumoustier by the side of the coachman? Said yes. . . .

How far did they go from Bondy before changing horses? He said they changed at all the posts, without being able to tell the name of the next post after Bondy, as he was not acquainted with this route.

At the post after Bondy, was there a carriage waiting? Said he could not tell whether it was at the post after Bondy or at another that they had met a chaise or cabriolet, in which were two ladies of the chamber whose names he did not know. . . .

Did they hurry in making the changes at each post? Said that M. Valory, who went ahead, was charged with the care of having the horses ready.

Did they travel at a high rate of speed On the road? Said no.

Did he know there was a passport, when did he know it, and in what names it was [made out]? Said the one who had given him orders said there was need of nothing, and he had not known whether there was a passport.

Had anybody orders to protect the passage? Said he knew nothing of that.

Were they stopped upon the way, and did they encounter anybody? Said they had not been stopped upon the way, and that they saw no one. . . .

Was asked who had stopped the carriage of the king, in what place it took place, and at what time? Said it was the national guard of Varennes, and that it took place between half past nine and ten o’clock in the evening. . . .

Was there much difficulty when the king’s carriage was stopped, was there any resistance? Said there was no resistance at all; that a great noise had been made to stir the people up, and that the king said, showing his passport, that he did not intend to leave the kingdom, but was going to the place indicated by him. That he did not wish to remain in Paris at the present time for reasons known to himself; that he had made this remark when he was taken to the house of the procureur of the commune, and that, furthermore, they could take him where they pleased.

Did he know what the passport contained? Said he had not seen it. Was stated to him that hussars and dragoons had presented themselves at the time of the arrest to protect the passage [of the king]. They did not lay down their arms until they had seen deployed a force strong enough to hold them in check. Said he had seen neither hussars nor dragoons at the time of the king’s arrest; that after going up into the apartments of the procureur of the commune he had seen hussars, but a long time afterward.