in Rome, but refused: "There are certain positions in which one cannot dispose of oneself, and such is mine. The line I should follow is traced so clearly by Providence that I must remain faithful to it." Events of 1792 On 20 February 1792, Élisabeth accompanied the queen to the Italian Theatre, which was remembered as the last time the queen made such a visit and was applauded in public, and she also attended the official celebrations after the king signed the new constitution, and the Federation celebration of 14 July 1792. The new constitution prompted her exiled brothers to prepare a French exile regency, and Elisabeth informed her brother the count of Artois of the political changes in code. She unsuccessfully opposed the king's sanction of the Decree against the priests who refused to take the constitutional oath. Élisabeth as well as Marie Antoinette were also visited by the delegation of slave owners from Saint Domingue, who had come to petition the king for his protection against the slave rebellion, during which the image of her was alluded to: "in appearing before you, Madame, they can feel no other sentiment than that of veneration for your high virtues. The interest which you will deign to feel for their fate will sweeten its bitterness," upon which she replied: "Gentlemen, I have keenly felt the misfortunes which have visited the Colony. I very sincerely share the interest taken in it by the King and the Queen, and I beg you to assure all the Colonists of this." During the Demonstration of 20 June 1792 at the Tuileries Palace, Élisabeth made a great impression by her courage, in particular when she was famously temporarily mistaken for the queen. She was present in the chamber of the king during the event and remained by his side during most of the incident. When the demonstrators forced the king to put on the revolutionary red cap, Élisabeth was mistaken for the queen. She was warned: "You do not understand, they take you for the Austrian", upon which she famously replied: "Ah, would to God it were so, do not enlighten them, save them from a greater crime." She turned aside a bayonet which was pointed against her with the words: "Take care, monsieur. You might wound some one, and I am sure you would be sorry." When a male royalist attempting to protect the king