French Revolution 1789 Arrest of Thomas de Mahy marquis de Favras

French Revolution-Thomas de Mahy marquis de Favras (March 26 1744 - February 19 1790) was a French aristocrat and supporter of the House of Bourbon during the French Revolution. Returning to Paris in 1789 he became involved in Royalist plans initiated by his former employer the Comte de Provence to save the King and end the French Revolution. In order to finance this venture Provence (using one of his gentlemen the Comte de la Chàtre as an intermediary) commissioned Favras to negotiate a loan of two million francs from the bankers Schaumel and Sartorius. Favras took the unfortunate step of taking into his confidence certain officers by whom he was betrayed. It was stated in a leaflet circulated throughout Paris on December 23 1789 that Favras had been hired by the Comte de Provence to organize an elaborate plot against the people of France. In this plot the King Queen and their children were to be rescued from the Tuileries Palace and spirited out of the country. Although he had previously implicated others in the conspiracy (most notably the Comte d'Antraigues) Favras refused to give any further information to the authorities on the plot's details or participants and his sentence was carried out in the Place de Grève the next day-a measure which was received with enthusiasm by members of the Parisian population since it was the first instance when no distinction in the mode of execution was allowed between noble and commoner. Purportedly upon the reading of his death sentence he remarked 'I see that you have made three spelling mistakes.'