He signed the will “Louis,” as though he still reigned.
This will is sublime in its simplicity; its Christianity, pity, regret, and massive setting aside of his life as passed away, are all very beautiful points; while the belief that his death would compensate all, and that the country would not visit his faults upon the heads of his family, shows still an amount of faith in his people which is truly touching.
Upon the defence being read, the King found it opened with an appeal to the people, and a description of the wretched condition of the royal family. The two counsel and the King, who were the only people who heard this defence read, and which had been put into form by the reader, Desèze, were all moved at the beauty of the language.
But the King was inflexible.
“All that must be struck out,” he said.
And he insisted—for was he not a dying man? The wishes of the dying are obeyed.
After the reading of the defence, the King, being left alone with Malsherbes, he was tormented by the thought that he could not compensate his counsel for their labors.
“Desèze and Trouchet,” he said, “owe me nothing. They gave me their time, exertions, and, perhaps, their lives, and I cannot pay them. Even if I leave a legacy, it will not be paid. Again, what could pay such work as theirs?”
“Sire, you have the power of repaying them.”
“How?”