Mr. John Theodore Tussaud was born in Kensington on the 2nd of May, 1858, and at the age of six was sent to St. Charles’s College, London, where he came under the influence of Cardinal Manning, who took a keen personal interest in his welfare. Some six years later he was transferred to Ramsgate, where he benefited by the training he received from the Benedictine monks at St. Augustine’s. In the year 1889 he married Ruth Helena, daughter of Thomas Grew. There are seven sons and three daughters of the marriage. Mr. Tussaud, like his father, has exhibited at the Royal Academy. His occasional contributions to literature have been welcomed by thoughtful readers, and he is a recognised authority on historical matters relating to the French Revolution and the First Empire. Seventeen great-grandsons of Madame Tussaud took an active part in the war, all, without exception, serving in the British Army. Two were killed and most of the others wounded. WILLIAM E. HURT. MIDDLE TEMPLE, LONDON CONTENTS PAGE PREFACE BY WILLIAM E. HURT vii INTRODUCTION BY HILAIRE BELLOC 25 CHAPTER I MR. TUSSAUD FIRST ENTERS HIS FATHER’S STUDIO--_REVERIE_--MADAME TUSSAUD’S UNCLE FORSAKES THE MEDICAL PROFESSION FOR ART--MADAME’S BIRTH AND PARENTAGE--A PRINCE’S PROMISE 53 CHAPTER II CURTIUS LEAVES BERNE FOR PARIS--THE HÔTEL D’ALIGRE--THE COURT OF LOUIS XV--MADAME ARRIVES IN PARIS 59 CHAPTER III LIFE-SIZE FIGURES--MUSEUM AT THE PALAIS ROYAL--EXHIBITION ON THE _BOULEVARD DU TEMPLE_--BENJAMIN FRANKLIN--VOLTAIRE 65 CHAPTER IV MADAME ELIZABETH OF FRANCE--MADAME TUSSAUD GOES TO VERSAILLES--FOULON--THREE NOTABLE GROUPS--GALLERY OF NOTORIOUS CRIMINALS 70 CHAPTER V EVE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION--NECKER AND THE DUKE OF ORLÉANS--LOUIS XVI’S FATAL MISTAKES--HIS DISMISSAL OF THE PEOPLE’S FAVOURITES 77 CHAPTER VI MADAME TUSSAUD RECALLED FROM VERSAILLES--THE TWELFTH OF JULY, 1789--BUSTS TAKEN FROM CURTIUS’S EXHIBITION--A _GARDE FRANÇAISE_ SLAIN IN THE MÊLÉE 81 CHAPTER VII HEADS OF THE REVOLUTION--MADAME’S TERRIBLE EXPERIENCES--THE GUILLOTINE IN PAWN--MADAME ACQUIRES THE KNIFE, LUNETTE AND CHOPPER 87 CHAPTER VIII