Meanwhile the insurrection had been postponed until the ensuing month of March when the moment for taking up arms was to be indicated by the descent of a party of royal emigrants upon the coast. The revolutionary authorities at Paris acted upon this occasion with their accustomed energy. The Executive Council in concert with the Committee of General Safety dis-patched into Brittany Laligant-Morillon, an agent in whom they reposed the most unbounded confidence, and to whom they gave unlimited powers for the purpose of securing the chiefs of the league and crushing the whole conspiracy. La Rouërie, now a wanderer and a fugitive, closely pursued by the officials of the convention; signalized in the journals of Rennes; denounced by the popular societies; compelled to inactivity during the winter, was impatient for the month of March, the time proposed for the development of the great enterprise. Long continued exposure at an inclement season of the year at length impaired his health, and he found it necessary to seek some friendly mansion where he might repose in safety and prepare for the approaching struggle. He chose for these purposes the chateau de Laguyomarais, near Lamballe, but he had scarcely gained the protection of that hospitable roof, when he was overtaken by a mortal malady. While the result of his disease was yet doubtful, news came of the king's execution. This unexpected catastrophe troubled his reason and formed the crisis of his fate. On the morning of the 30th

32 THE McDONALD PAPERS