Déséze, to undertake the office. It was the latter who delivered the speech on the day of the defence, which consisted partly in the old arguments anent royal inviolability and partly in a statement of Louis’s services to the people. "The people," said Déséze, "desired that a disastrous impost should be abolished, and Louis abolished it; the people asked for the abolition of servitudes, and Louis abolished them; they demanded reforms, and he consented to them," etc., etc. The speech concluded with an eloquent peroration calling upon history to judge the decision of the Convention. The cowardly Girondins, although it was well-known they had previously been in favor of the King's life, did not have the courage at this moment to make a definite stand one way or the other. They contented themselves with proposing to declare Louis guilty, but to leave the question of punishment to the primary assemblies of the people. This proposition, which would probably have meant civil war, was vehemently opposed by the Mountain and rejected, and the Convention, after having unanimously voted Louis guilty, resolved on considering the question of punishment. The popular ferment outside the Convention was immense, and sentence of death was loudly demanded. After forty hours, the final vote was taken, and Louis condemned to "death without respite," i. e., within twenty-four hours, by a majority of 26 in an assembly of 721. In vain did the defenders urge the smallness of the majority; the Mountain, which now for the first time dominated the Convention, showed itself inexorable.
On Monday, the 21st of January, 1793, the execution took place. Louis, who had taken leave of his family the previous day, was awakened at five o'clock. Shortly after, Santerre arrived to announce that it was the hour to depart. At the same time the murmur of crowds and the rumbling of cannon were heard outside. The carriage took upwards of an hour to pass through the streets, which were lined with military. At length the Place de
