His calling not being sufficient for the support of his family, he made translations, and wrote for several journals, among others for the _Mercure_, and _Journal des Savants_. His daughter assisted him to the best of her powers. At eighteen years of age, she wrote a novel, called “Adelaide;” then the “History of Elizabeth,” a long and serious work; afterwards she married Robert, a great friend of Camille Desmoulins, and an enemy of Lafayette, who had written a book, entitled, “Republicanism adapted to France.” Not less patriotic than her husband, Madame Robert had come with him to add her signature to the petition, declaring that France neither recognised Louis XVI nor any other King; and seeing that it had been withdrawn, she was the first to advise her husband to draw up another. I had no sooner arrived on the spot with my pens, ink, and paper, than she snatched them from my hands with such gracious vivacity, that I could really say nothing, but thank her. She then handed a pen to her husband, who was not very clever at composition. “Write, write,” said she, “what I dictate.” Then, amidst thunders of applause, and while consulting some with her eyes, and others with words and signs, she set to work to dictate, clearly, and with much eloquence, a petition for the dethronement of the King, which was at the same time a violent charge against royalty. The affair was done, and well done, in less than three-quarters of an hour. Robert, who had written the petition, signed it first and passed the pen to his neighbor. Every one wished for the pen. I had a packet, which I distributed; and as it would take too long for them to sign one after the other, so dense had the mass become, the idea struck me to distribute the three extra sheets of paper, each of which could contain two hundred signatures. No doubt, the assembly had heard from Weder what was going on on the Champ de Mars. The situation was grave; for if the people broke the decrees of the Assembly, it would cease being the first power of the State. There was not a moment to be lost. The meeting would have to be dissolved, and the petition destroyed at all risks; the more so, as every instant the mob was becoming more and more numerous; not from the side of Paris, where it was made known to all, that, by proceeding to the Champ de Mars, they would be guilty of an act of rebellion, but from the village of D’Yssy, Vaugirard, Sevres, St. Cloud, and Boulogne, where they were foretold of the reunion, and had not heard of any counter-petition. They flocked to it, as to a fête. The intentions were good, although nothing was easier than to accuse them of being bad. The Assembly—duped either by mistake, or profiting by the occasion—sent a message to the Mayor, announcing that a band of fifty thousand robbers were congregated in the Champ de Mars, and were about to march upon the Salle du Manège.