CHAPTER XVIII.
THE KING SENTENCED.
If there had ever existed any doubt as to the crimes of high treasoncharged against Louis XVI, the doubt vanished before the crushing proofsfurnished against him during his examination. Deseze, Tronchet andMalesherbes, charged with the defense made their main plea on the royalinviolability guaranteed by the Constitution of 1791.
According to the defense of Louis XVI, and, indeed, according to thetext of the Constitution itself, the King, even though he violated theConstitution, even though he betrayed the state, even though he led aninvasion upon France, and at the head of foreign troops put the countryto fire and sword, even then he incurred no penalty other than that ofdeposition. Such was the brief of the King's lawyers.
This theory, in which the absurd jostled the monstrous, was not judgedworthy of a refutation by the Convention. Capet's accusers placed thequestion on a higher plane, by affirming and demonstrating the nullityof the Constitutional pact of 1791. Such was the opinion held byRobespierre, St. Just, Condorcet, Carnot, Danton, several Girondins,and, in fact, the great majority of the house.
In the name of justice, of right, and of reason, Louis XVI richlymerited the verdict of guilty.
The sovereignty of the people being permanent, indivisible andinalienable, the Constitution of 1791 was radically null and void, inthat it provided for the hereditary alienation of a portion of thepeople's rights, in favor of the ex-royal family. The Conventionists of1793 were no more in love with the Constitution of 1791 than theConstituents of 1791 were with the monarchical, feudal and religiousinstitutions which had weighed like an incubus on France fourteencenturies long.
A nation has the power, but never the right, to alienate itssovereignty, either in whole or in part, by delegating it to ahereditary family. Such an alienation, imposed amid the violence ofconquest, borne out of habits of thought, or consented to in a moment ofpublic aberration, binds neither the present generation nor those tocome. Accordingly, the Constitution of 1791 being virtually null infact, Louis Capet could not invoke the protection of that Constitution,which guaranteed the inviolability of the royal person, and limited hispunishment to deposition in a few specified cases. Louis XVI was, then,legally brought to trial. By reconquering its full sovereignty on the10th of August, the nation invested the Convention with the powersnecessary for judging the one-time King. His crimes were notorious andflagrant; their penalty was written in the books of the law, equally forall citizens; he must, then, undergo the penalty for his misdeeds.
I, John Lebrenn, add here some further passages from my diary, relatingto the trial, judgment and execution of Louis Capet.
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JANUARY 15, 1793.--Having heard the defense submitted by Deseze, one ofthe attorneys for Louis XVI, the Convention put to a vote this firstquestion:
"Is Louis Capet guilty of conspiracy against liberty and the nation, andof assault on the general safety of the State?"
The Assembly contained seven hundred and forty-nine members.
Six hundred and eighty-three replied:
"Yes, the accused is guilty."
The roll-call being completed, the president of the Assembly announcedthe decision:
"In the name of the French people, the National Convention declaresLouis Capet guilty of conspiracy against liberty and the nation, and ofassault on the general safety of the State."
The second question was:
"Shall the decision of the National Convention be submitted toratification by the people?"
The members who voted for ratification by the people were two hundredand eighty-one; those against ratification, four hundred andtwenty-three.
The president announced the result of the vote:
"The National Convention declares the judgment rendered on Louis Capetshall not be sent for ratification to the people."
JANUARY 17, 1793.--To-day and yesterday the sessions of the Conventionwere permanent, due to the gravity of the situation. The debate turnedupon the third question:
"What shall be the penalty imposed on Louis XVI?"
I was present at the sessions wherein the elected Representatives of thepeople decided the fate of the Frankish monarchy, imposed on Gaul forfourteen centuries. It was not alone the man, the King, that theConvention decapitated--it was the most ancient monarchy in Europe. Itwas not only the head of Capet that the Republic wished defiantly tocast at the feet of allied Europe; it was the crown of the last of theKings.
It was eight in the evening. In response to their names as the roll wascalled the members of the Convention mounted the tribunal one by one,and in the midst of a solemn silence cast their vote.
This evening, Thursday, at eight o'clock, while throughout the spacioushall one might have heard a pin drop, Vergniaud announced the result:
"The Assembly consists of seven hundred and forty-nine members; 15 areabsent on committees, 7 because of illness, 1 without cause, censured;and 5 excused; number remaining, seven hundred and twenty-one.
"Required for an absolute majority, three hundred and sixty-one.
"Members voting for death unconditionally, three hundred andeighty-seven.
"Members voting for imprisonment, irons, or conditional death, threehundred and thirty-four.
"In the name of the people and the National Convention, I declare thepenalty of death pronounced against Louis Capet."
JANUARY 19, 1793.--The question put by Mailhe, "Shall there be anypostponement of Louis XVI's execution?" was discussed during thesessions of the 17th and 18th. At the end of to-day's session, thepresident put the question to a vote:
"Shall the execution of Louis Capet be postponed, yes or no?"
The vote resulted: for postponement, three hundred and ten; against,three hundred and eighty. The postponement was lost. Pale, and withgrief impressed upon his features, Vergniaud again ascended the tribunaland in a trembling voice announced:
"The National Convention declares:
"Article first.--Louis Capet, last King of France, is guilty ofconspiracy against the liberty of the nation and of assault upon thegeneral safety of the State.
"Article second.--The National Convention declares that Louis Capetshall suffer the penalty of death.
"Article third.--Notice of the decree which condemns Louis Capet todeath shall he sent to the Executive Council.
"The Executive Council is charged to notify Louis XVI of the decreeduring the day, and to have him executed within twenty-four hours.
"The mayors and municipal officers of Paris shall be enjoined to allowLouis Capet liberty to communicate with his family, and to call upon aminister of the denomination he may elect, to attend his last moments."
At three in the morning of Sunday, January 20, the meeting adjourned;and to cries of "Long live the Nation!" "Long live the Republic!" themultitude poured out of the galleries.