in judging the King, was in not separating him from the court. Those about him were tyrannical, without the least feeling for the lower orders. Louis himself was well disposed towards them. He had no desire to shed the blood of his people. Without decision of character, or confidence in himself, he was influenced by those about him. Indeed, his misfortune was, that he was born a king. By his abdication, he had fallen into the class of private citizens. His defence rested on the principle that his person was sacred and inviolable. Robespierre appeared in the Tribune, and delivered a long and powerful speech. He said :

"Louis was King, the Republic is founded. Louis has been dethroned for his crimes. Louis denounced the French people as rebels. To chastise them, he called together the armies of his tyrant brothers; but victory and the people have decided that it was he only who was the rebel. If Louis be innocent, the friends of Liberty are calumniators. It is with regret I pronounce the fatal truth-Louis must die, that the country may live." Other speakers harangued with much greater violence. St. Just said, "This decides the Republic. There is an end to it, if the tyrant lives. What trial, what witness, do you require of those crimes which are everywhere written with the blood of the people?"

The wounded on the 10th of August by the Swiss Guards, were then borne on litters through the hall. The King was taken from the Temple to the Con

vention by Santerre. As the carriage passed through the streets, it was surrounded by the Federès, singing the Marseilloise. The masses that filled the avenues to the Convention insulted the Deputies who were favourable to the King; but opened their ranks for the Jacobins to pass into the hall. Flourishes of pikes and swords indicated the violent determination of the populace. The votes of the Convention were taken seriatim, and the King's fate seemed to depend on the part the Girondists would take, as the numbers for death and exile were nearly balanced. Vergniaud was known to commiserate the monarch. No one doubted the orator's course. He slowly mounted the steps of the Tribune, with his eyelids lowered, like a man who reflects before he acts; then, in a gloomy tone, as if resisting the sensibility of his soul, he said -"Death!"-Silent astonishment repressed the breathing of the Assembly; and the life of the King was obviously conceded to the passion of the people. Brissot explained himself more at length. He said:

"I would that the punishment to be inflicted upon Louis had been pronounced by the whole nation; but since the Assembly rejects the appeal to the people, I am now of opinion, to avoid the dangers which threaten us, is to pronounce the sentence of death against Louis." The infamous Orleans Philippe Egalitè gave his voice against the King. Three hundred and nineteen were for imprisonment and chains; 366 for death; two for banishment-one of whom was

Thomas Paine, who proposed to let him go to America, or to his brother's in Germany, urging that Louis was beneath the consideration of the Republic.

On Sunday, June 20th, the massive doors of the Temple were suddenly thrown open to the minister of Justice, Le Brun, Santerre, &c. The King rose to receive them; they read the decree which condemned him to suffer death in twenty-four hours. He heard it without showing any emotion of fear. He petitioned for three days' delay, but it was denied him.

The severest trial was yet to come-the last meeting of his family. The agony of this dreadful scene cannot be conceived. They had been confined in separate apartments for some time.

PRISON SCENE.

The valet, Clery, says: "The Queen, the Princess Royal, and Madame Elizabeth, hung on the King, and bathed him with tears. The Dauphin stood between his knees. At ten, the King rose to leave them. The Queen held him by his right arm. Each had a hand of the Dauphin. The Princess had her arms round his body; and behind her clung Madame Elizabeth. These five persons grouped, with their faces hidden on the King's breast, as they moved to the door, broke out into agonizing lamentations. He was to have seen them again in the morning; but he saw them no more!"

THE KING'S DEATH.

The King slept soundly till five o'clock in the morning. At eight o'clock, the officers of death entered. Santerre, stamping his foot, said "The hour is come." Louis answered, "Partons"-let us go. How the rolling of a thousand drums penetrated the dark bastions and bulwarks, falling upon the heart of a queenly wife, soon to be a widow! She He is gone, then, and has not seen

weeps, us!"

66

The streets are silent as the grave; the windows closed, none looking through them; all the shops are shut; only one solitary carriage rolls through the streets; eighty thousand men are in arms; and loaded cannon surround the Place de la Revolution. Louis, the descendant of sixty kings, mounts the scaffold! He strips off his coat. The executioners now approach to bind him. He resists. The Abbé Edgeworth, an Irish priest, reminds him of Our Saviour. His hands are tied. He advances, bare-headed, to the edge of the scaffold. He says: -"People! I die innocent of all the crimes imputed to me." Santerre prances forth, with uplifted sword, crying out "Tambours." The drums drown every voice. Six desperadoes tie him to the board. The Abbé Edgeworth, stooping, cries, " Son of Louis, ascend to heaven." The last act of barbarity is perpetrated.