The fearful shapes even than the coarsest indignities. The King took a new oath to be faithful to the constitution; he changed his ministry in obedience to the popular clamour. Every concession was a new triumph to his enemies; for the people had surrendered themselves to the most dishonourable and bloodthirsty rules of conduct, and were therefore incapable of being impressed with the generous confidence and the fearless liberality of the unfortunate King. The virtues of Louis hurried him to the scaffold. In the mean time an insurrection was planned, which was probably intended to accomplish the destruction of royalty by a general massacre. mob of Paris, through the treachery of the National Guards, effected an entrance into the palace; but on this occasion the humanity and courage of the King prevented the effusion of blood. He exposed himself to the infuriated multitude, and for three hours bore their insults with the greatest heroism. They at last evacuated the palace. It was not the policy of the National Assembly to repress these horrible exhibitions of popular fury;-they secretly encouraged them. From this time every appearance of the capital indicated that some dreadful event was approaching. The King was again and again entreated by his friends to fly; but he had determined not to abandon his country. He had the means of defeating some of the most violent of his enemies, by exposing their plots to their vindictive rivals ;-but his generosity presented an obstacle to this duty of selfpreservation. At length, in the month of August, an attack on the palace was determined on by the leaders of the several factions that governed the country. The King, learning their intentions, prepared for defence;-his means were very limited. The tumult commenced as had been expected. The King could only rely for protection on seven hundred of the Swiss guard, and about twelve hundred gentlemen, who were in the palace. As the tumult increased, the King was persuaded to abandon even his slight means of defence, and to throw himself and his family upon the protection of the National Assembly. They visited the Hall without injury. The president made professions of respect; but the real intentions of the Assembly were soon apparent. When the King quitted the palace, he gave strict charge to his guards not to fire upon the populace. The order was for some time obeyed;-but some of the mob being killed in forcing their way into the palace, five of the Swiss guard were immediately slaughtered before their comrades. This little band immediately prepared for a vigorous resistance. But all their bravery was unavailing. They were attacked by the National Guard as well as the populace; and that fatal day did not terminate till all the Swiss, even those who laid down their arms, and every living creature found in the palace, were butchered. The number slain exceeded four thousand. The Assembly now disclaimed all reserve; and in a sitting, where the members were mixed with the rabble of Paris, just reeking from their carnage, they received petitions for the deposition of the King, and finally decreed the suspension of the royal functions, and the summoning of a National Convention. While these infamous and appalling deliberations were carried on, the King and his family were compelled to be present. They were at last removed from the insults of the Assembly and the mob, by being conveyed to the gloomy prison of the Temple, which they never again quitted, but to meet an ignominious death. From the moment of the King's suspension, every art was exercised to prepare the people for the establishment of a perfectly democratic government. The names of every street of France that had a reference to the monarchy were altered ;-the statues of the Kings were pulled down ;-every heraldic emblem was effaced. The destruction of every ancient recollection was the object of this presumptuous and furious nation. When the Royal Family left the National Assembly, it was decreed, "that Louis and his family were confided to the care and to the virtues of the citizens of Paris, and should be treated with all the respect due to misfortune." This treatment was all that could be anticipated from a generation that had fine sentiments on their lips and murder in their hearts. The Royal Family were immured in a dungeon where the light and air were scarcely admitted. Their privations were severe; but they had the consolation of each other's society. -- The massacres of September gave a fresh example of Parisian ferocity. During three horrible days, when persons of every age and rank were indiscriminately sacrificed, the greatest fears were entertained for the safety of the Royal Family. Their persons were not injured; but their feelings were most atrociously wounded. The Princess de Lamballe, to whom the Roval Family were much attached, was amongst the number of the victims in this horrible massacre. a refinement of cruelty, her head was mounted upon a pole, and paraded before the windows of the Temple, where the Royal Family were confined. The effect of this dreadful exhibition upon their wounded spirits may be better conceived than described. By During the melancholy period of their imprisonment, exposed to the grossest insults, and naturally apprehensive of some new crimes towards themselves, the King and Queen never lost their presence of mind, their calmness, and their benevolence. A deep feeling of religion supported them through all their sufferings, and made them look forward, without dread, to their almost inevitable termination. The first public act of the Convention after the suspension of the King, was the abolition of royalty. This measure was announced to the King by a deputy, who received this patriotic answer:-" If the French people are really happier under a republican government than under a monarchy, their happiness will prove a sufficient compensation for all my sacrifices." When this point had been obtained, a virulent and clamourous party speedily arose in the Convention, who demanded the trial, or rather the execution of the King without a trial. His enemies seemed actuated by a constant dread lest his virtues should be acknowledged by the people, and occasion a return of affection; therefore, after the abolition of royalty, they incessantly laboured to take advantage of petty circumstances, to degrade and render him unpopular. His star and ribbands were successful topics of animadversion, and were deemed improper ornaments. A deputation attended the King, to order him to leave off wearing them. Even the misery and disgrace which the republicans themselves had occasioned, were imputed to the Monarch as crimes. On the 10th of August, the pillage of the palace was so complete, that the Royal Family had not even change of apparel. In order to supply their immediate wants, the King borrowed 110l. 10s. 3d. from Petion, one of his most virulent enemies. a After a severe and cruel imprisonment of several months, the trial of the King, if trial it could be called, was at length determined upon. During this painful interval, the leaders of the faction, who had been too successful in their arts to degrade the French nation below the character of every civilized country, openly avowed their intention, not to institute an inquiry into the charges of the King's misgovernment, but to bring him to the scaffold. On one occasion, when he demanded of the Convention some books to relieve the tediousness of his confinement, it was answered, by many, that his life would not be long enough to read them. At another time when the question of the King's trial was agitated in the same assembly, the infamous Robespierre declared, that Louis ought at once to have sentence pronounced upon him as a tyrant, condemned by the insurrection of the people. Such proceedings were meant to stimulate the soldiery and the populace into the most brutal ferocity; and they had their effect. As an example of the atrocious feelings which then prevailed in France, we may mention, that the Convention received a petition from an engineer, asking that the head of Louis might be given to him to load his cannon; and that another address prayed, that the two young wolves in the Temple, meaning the King's children, might be smothered. These illustrations of the horrible wickedness of the human mind, when it has cast off the restraints of religion, and the securities of law, were made public in the newspapers. The remorseless jailors of the Royal Family took care to direct their attention to such articles, to produce in them that terror, which is worse even than death-the terror of an undefined but inevitable misery. The day for the King's trial was at last fixed. The unfortunate Monarch had received no preparation for this important event; he was taken from his prison amidst the tears of his family, expecting that he was about to be led to death. With an immense escort of soldiery, he was carried to the Hall of the National Convention. The King, though bowed down by misfortune, did not forget the claims of his birth and character. He conducted himself respectfully towards his persecutors, but he showed no symptoms of fear; he maintained the dignity of his station, but he evinced no contempt for those who would degrade him. Louis XVI., surrounded by all the pomp and splendour of royalty, never appeared so truly glorious as in this contest against oppression, when, armed only with the consciousness of innocence, he made his enemies tremble and his assailants weep. The first proceeding on this remarkable occasion, was to read the act of accusation. It was of great length, and consisted of various charges, some referring to very remote periods. Without allowing the King a copy of this document, he was interrogated article by article, in a manner which was calculated to embarrass the strongest, and depress the most innocent, mind. But Louis never lost his composure; he answered with the utmost frankness, precision, and promptitude. At one part only of the examination was he overcome. He was accused of having distributed money to distressed labourers, for the purpose of acquiring popularity and enslaving the nation. The |