EXECUTION OF THE FRENCH KING.
At length Louis fell a prey to the fury of his subjects. In order to fortify the new-born republic it seemed necessary to the republicans that all institutions and usages that reminded them of royalty and the ancient order should be abolished. The convention applied itself to this work with fanatical zeal, but first of all the Jacobins demanded the blood of the fallen monarch. Fierce contests arose between them and the Girondists on this demand, but the Jacobins were sustained by the Parisian populace, and their opponents were compelled to yield: a resolution was carried that Louis had forfeited his inviolability, and that the convention was authorised to judge him. The unfortunate monarch was brought before the bar of his subjects on the 11th of December, and he was nobly defended by Tronchet, Malesherbes, and Deseze; but after having heard their defence, and after a stormy deliberation that lasted some days, the convention resolved that the yeas and nays should be taken upon the following questions: First, Is Louis Capet guilty of conspiracy against the liberty or safety of the state? Second; Shall the judgment to be pronounced upon him be submitted to the sanction of the people in the primary assemblies? Third: What punishment ought to be inflicted upon Louis? The first of these questions was decided in the affirmative; the second was negatived; and as to the third question, five votes over half demanded death unconditionally. And such a small majority was deemed sufficient for pronouncing the sentence of death. The monarch was executed on the 21st of January, 1793, under circumstances that augmented the horror of the deed, and no nation in Europe endeavoured to save him from his fate. The King of Spain pleaded for his life, but the plea of a crowned head was not likely to be heard by men who had sworn eternal war against royalty.