CHAP. the King had retired to bed, he told him in a whisper, VIII. without the city officers being aware of the communi 1792. 76. They are separated from each 29th Sept. other. cation. But before long the magistrates of Paris envied the royal captives the simple consolation which they derived from sharing their misfortunes together. By a resolution of the municipality, on 29th September, it was determined that the King and the Dauphin should be separated from the Queen and the princesses. This decree, as unnecessary as it was barbarous, rent the hearts of the whole family. With anxious eyes they gazed in the faces of the municipal officers, to gather the object of this separation from the King, which they feared was his death. Their grief was so poignant that it even melted the hearts of the commissioners of the magistracy, who left the room that they might escape its influence. Cléry, the King's valet, who accompanied Louis to the large tower, where he was to be confined, was not even allowed to see the Dauphin, or assist him in dressing; and the King was not permitted for some time to behold his family at all. The allowance of food brought to Louis in his seclusion, was barely adequate to the sustenance of a human being. One morning, the piece of bread presented for his breakfast, and that of Cléry, was so palpably insufficient, that the latter refused to share it. The monarch insisted, and they eat together in silence and in tears their humble allotment. Shortly after, the sorrow of the royal family received some relief by their being permitted to dine together; their joy at meeting was so excessive, that even their stern jailers were moved to tears. The Queen, during their whole captivity, performed the duties of a common menial servant in the rooms; this, at all times a source of regret to the King, was especially so on the anniversary of their marriage, and the birth of their children or other joyous events. On one of these occasions he recalled to her recollection the days of their happiness, and asked her pardon for having implicated VIII. 1792. her in the fate of one who had so changed them into CHAP. mourning. "Ah! Madam!" said he one evening, on seeing Marie-Antoinette engaged in one of these humble pursuits, "what an employment for a Queen of France! Could they see it at Vienna! Who could have foreseen that, in uniting your lot to mine, you 1 Lac. x. would have descended so low!"-" And do you esteem 140, 142, it as nothing," replied the Queen with inexpressible Bert. de dignity, "the glory of being the wife of the best and Lam. Hist. the most persecuted of men? Are not such misfortunes 303, 328. the noblest honours ?"1 Cléry, 69. Moll.x. 107. des Gir. iv. told of He trial. Dec. 11. On the day on which it had been determined that Louis 77. should appear at the bar of the Convention, he was en- Conduct of the royal gaged teaching the Dauphin his lesson, when the commis- family when sioners entered, and informed the King that they were Louis's ordered to take the young Prince to his mother. tenderly embraced his son, and was profoundly afflicted at the separation. At one the Mayor of Paris, Chambon, entered, and read the decree, by which it was ordained that Louis Capet should attend at the bar of the Convention. "Capet is not my name," he replied, "but that of one of my ancestors. I could have wished, gentlemen, that you had left my son with me during the last two hours; but that deprivation is a part of the treatment which I have experienced ever since my confinement. I am ready to follow you, not because I recognise the authority of the Convention, but because they have the power to compel me." When Madame Elizabeth was informed of the measures adopted in regard to the King, she expressed herself fully prepared for the catastrophe which followed. "The Queen and I," she said, "are prepared for the worst we do not attempt to shut our eyes to his approaching fate-he will die the victim of his love for the people, for whose happiness he has never ceased to labour since his accession to the throne. How cruelly the country Lac. x. 171. has been deceived!2 The religion of the King, his firm ix. 228, 229. reliance on Providence, can support him in that cruel 2 Cléry, 117, 120. Th. iii. 329. Deux Amis, CHAP. extremity. Cléry, you will be left alone with my brother; VIII. redouble your attentions to him; we have now none to 1792. depend on but you." 78. brought to the Conven tion. Dec. 11. 66 The crowd was immense as the King passed through The King the streets. Amidst a thousand revolutionary cries, some the bar of countenances indicated the most profound grief. His own appearance differed in no respect from what it had been when he passed, in the days of his prosperity, from one palace to another. Six hundred infantry, and a large body of cavalry, with three pieces of loaded cannon, preceded and followed the carriage. The Convention, warned of the approach of the King, earnestly recommended tranquillity when he entered. Representatives," said Barère, the president, "you are about to exercise the right of national justice. You will answer to all the citizens of France for your conduct. Europe observes you: history will collect your thoughts-your actions; incorruptible posterity will judge you with inflexible severity. Let your attitude suit the dignity of your situation. Give, by your organs, a great lesson to kings-an example useful to the emancipation of nations. Remember the terrible silence which attended his appearance from Varennessilence prophetic of the judgment of kings by nations." Louis appeared. The President, Barère, immediately said, with a faltering voice,—“ Louis, the French nation accuses you you are about to hear the charges that are to be xxi. 286, preferred: Louis, be seated." The King sat down with an intrepid air: no signs of emotion appeared on his 229, 230. countenance. The dignity and mildness of his presence 176. Mig. were such that the Girondists were melted to tears; and iii. 329,331. the fanaticism of St Just, Robespierre, and Marat, for a moment yielded to the feelings of humanity.1 1 Hist. Parl. 287. Deux Amis, ix. Lac. x. 175, i. 235. Th. 79. Charges against him. The charges consisted of an enumeration of the whole crimes of the Revolution, from its commencement in 1789, all of which were laid to his account. They were, according to the custom in French courts, read to him by the clerk, and he was required to answer each charge separately. VIII. 1792. His answers, by the admission even of his enemies, were СНАР. brief and firm: he displayed a remarkable degree of presence of mind; and in most cases was victorious over his adversaries, or touched them by the simplicity of his replies. The affair of Nancy, the journey to Varennes, the suppression of the revolt in the Champ de Mars, were justified by the decrees of the Assembly; the catastrophe of the 10th August, by the power of self-defence conferred on him by the laws. To every question of the president he replied with clearness and precision; denying some of the alleged crimes, showing that others were the work of his ministers, justifying all by the powers conferred on him by the Constitution. When charged with shedding the blood of the people on the 10th August, he, for the first and last time, exclaimed with a loud voice-" No, sir, it was not I that did it." He was careful, in his answers, never to implicate any members of the Constituent and Legislative Assemblies: many who then sat as his judges trembled lest he should betray them. The Jacobins beheld, with dismay, the profound impression made on the Convention by the simple statement of truth, by the firm but temperate demeanour of the xxi. 287, sovereign. The most violent of the party proposed that Amis, ix. he should be hung that very night; a laugh as of demons 231, 253. followed the proposal from the benches of the Mountain. Moll. x. 270. But the majority, composed of the Girondists and the 178. Mig. i. neutrals, decided that he should be formally tried, and Th. iii. 383. defended by counsel.1 1 Hist. Parl. 302. Deux Bert. de Lac. x. 177, 235, 236. 80. When Louis returned to the Temple, the cruel resolution of the Commune was communicated to him, that he His return was no longer to be permitted to see his family. 66 to the Tem "My ple. son, at least!" he exclaimed with the most heart-rending accent" am I never again to see my son? What needless cruelty to deprive me of that sweet infant!"* At half-past VIII. 1792. CHAP. eight, the hour when the Dauphin usually went to bed, he earnestly entreated that he might see him for a moment to give him his blessing; but even this favour was refused by the relentless municipality. For some time after, he was in the deepest distress; but he soon recovered his composure-read for two hours a work on religion-and never again lost his serenity of mind. The Convention, less barbarous than the magistrates, the day after, at the petition of the King, decreed that he might enjoy the society of his children, provided they did not return to the Queen during his trial. "You need not give yourself the trouble to pass such a decree," said the Jacobins, "for Moll. x. 272, unless the municipality choose, they will not carry it into execution." The King, thinking the children more necessary to the Queen's comfort than his own, declined to take Cléry, 124. them from her, and submitted to the painful separation with a resignation which nothing could overcome.1 1 Bert de 273. Deux Amis, ix. 254. Th. iii. 336. Lac. x. 180. 81. devotion of chet. On the following day the deputies of the Convention Generous announced to him that he was to be permitted to choose Malesherbes his counsel. He selected M. Tronchet and M. Target. and Tron- The first accepted, and faithfully discharged his duty; the latter had the baseness to decline. The venerable Malesherbes, whose official career had been distinguished by so many sage and useful reforms, now came forward, and volunteered his services on behalf of his sovereign. In a Nunc, ô, nunc liceat crudelem abrumpere vitam ; * On the same day, the municipality passed a decree directing, “Ques les conseillers de Louis XVI. seraient scrupuleusement fouillés jusqu'aux endroits les plus secrets, et qu'après s'être déshabillés ils se revêtiraient de nouveaux habits sous la surveillance des commissaires, qu'ils ne pourraient renvoyer de la tour qu'après le jugement du Roi.”—BERTRAND DE MOLLEVILLE, X. 276, 277. Napoleon knew how to admire heroism, even when exerted in another cause; one of his first acts was to promote Tronchet, then an old man, to the important duty of aiding in the formation of the legal code which has given such durable lustre to the name of its author; and he was soon after appointed to the head of the Supreme Court of Cassation.-BOURRIENNE, iv. 68, and v. 122. |