The Sword of Honor; or, The Foundation of the French Republic
Page 39
CHAPTER XIX.
EXECUTION.
Such were the memorable sessions of the National Assembly of the 15th,17th, 19th and 20th of January, 1793.
Glory to the men of energy, to the inexorable patriots!
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JANUARY 21, 1793.--The execution of Louis Capet took place to-day,Monday, the 21st of January, 1793!
My sister and I were present at the death of Louis. A vast throng filledthe Place of the Revolution. The scaffold faced the avenue of theElysian Fields, a short distance from the spot occupied by the statue ofLouis XV.
At ten minutes past ten in the morning, a dull rumor, drawing nearer andnearer, announced the arrival of the condemned. My sister and I were notfar from the scaffold, behind a line of Municipal Guards. We beheld atwo-horse carriage draw up, accompanied by General Santerre and severalofficers of his staff. Claude Bernard and James Roux, an ex-priest, themunicipal officers charged with guarding Capet, alighted first from thecarriage, where Louis remained for two minutes' space with hisconfessor. Then, with firm tread, and supported by the executioners, heascended the steps of the platform. He was clad in grey trousers and asoft white waistcoat; his purpled face betrayed intense excitement.Suddenly he stepped to the edge of the scaffold, and cried to thepeople:
"Frenchmen, I am innocent--"
At Santerre's command the roll of drums drowned the rest of the speech.Louis XVI cast a look of rage at the drummers, and cried to them angrilyto desist.
The drumming continued. Louis Capet was turned over to Sampson, theexecutioner-in-chief, and his aides. A few seconds later, thesixty-sixth of these foreign Kings of Gaul had paid the penalty of hiscrimes, had expiated the wrongs of the monarchy of which he was the lastincarnation.
The King's head, held up to the people by the headsman, was greeted withthe shouts of the multitude.
No. 155 of Marat's journal terminates its account of the execution ofCapet with the following reflections:
"The head of the tyrant has just fallen under the sword of the law; thatsame blow has overthrown the foundation of monarchy among us. I nowbelieve in the Republic.... Not a voice cried for grace during theexecution; a profound silence reigned about the scaffold. But when thehead of Capet was shown to the people, from all sides rose the cries,'Long live the Nation! Long live the Republic!' The execution of LouisXVI is one of those memorable events which mark epochs in the life ofnations. It will have an immense influence on the fate of the despots ofEurope and on those peoples who have as yet not broken their chains."
Robespierre, in a letter to one of his constituents (second trimester,page 3), penned the following appreciation of the consequences of thegreat political occurrence:
"Citizens, the tyrant is fallen under the sword of the law. This greatact of justice has struck consternation to the hearts of thearistocracy, annihilated the superstition of royalty, and created theRepublic. It imparts a character of grandeur to the Convention, andmakes it worthy the confidence of France. The imposing and majesticattitude of the people in this solemn hour will cause the tyrants ofearth more terror than even the death of their fellow. A profoundsilence surrounded the scaffold up to the moment the head of Louis XVIfell. That instant, the air shook with the unanimous shout of a hundredthousand citizens, 'Long live the Republic!' It was not the barbarouscuriosity of men who came to feast their eyes on the death of afellow-being; it was the powerful interest of a people, impassioned forliberty, and assuring itself of the fact that royalty had breathed itslast.... Formerly, when a King died at Versailles, the reign of hissuccessor was immediately ushered in to the tune of 'The King is dead,long live the King!' as if to make the nation understand that despotismwas immortal. This time, a whole people, with a sublime instinct,acclaimed: 'Long live the Republic,' to teach a universe that tyrannyhad died with the tyrant."
May the same lot be reserved for all the Kings.