he use of a razor
to remove his beard; and the luxury of a barber to perform that
essential part of his toilet was an expense which his foes could not
incur. It was the studied endeavor of those who now rode upon the
crested yet perilous billows of power, to degrade royalty to the lowest
depths of debasement and contempt--that the beheading of the king and
the queen might be regarded as merely the execution of a male and a
female felon dragged from the loathsome dungeons of crime.

CHAPTER X.

EXECUTION OF THE KING.

1792-1793

Ominous preparations.--The king summoned before the Convention.--The
king before the Convention.--Charges brought against him.--The king
begs for a morsel of bread.--He is taken back to prison.--Advance
of the allies.--Clamor for the king's life.--The king condemned
to death.--Emotion of Malesherbes.--The king's demands.--The
Abbe Edgeworth.--The last interview.--Anguish of the royal
family.--The last embrace.--The separation.--The king receives
the sacrament.--Mementoes to his family.--The king summoned to
execution.--Brutality of the officers.--The brutal jailer.--The
king conducted to execution.--A sad procession.--Admirable calmness
of the king.--Attempt to rescue the king.--Its failure.--The
guillotine.--Associations.--The king's thoughtfulness.--He undresses
himself.--The king ascends the scaffold.--His speech.--The last
act in the tragedy.--Burial of the king's body.--The blood-red
obelisk.--Character of Louis.

On the 11th of December, 1792, just four months after the royal family
had been consigned to the Temple, as the captives were taking their
breakfast, a great noise of the rolling of drums, the neighing of
horses, and the tramp of a numerous multitude was heard around the
prison walls; soon some one entered, and informed the king that these
were the preparations which were making to escort him to his trial. The
king knew perfectly well that this was the step which preceded his
execution, and, as he thought of the awful situation of his family, he
threw himself into his chair and buried his face in his hands, and for
two hours remained in that attitude immovable. He was roused from his
painful revery by the entrance of the officers to conduct him to the bar
of his judges, from whom he was aware he could expect no mercy. "I
follow you," said the king, "not in obedience to the orders of the
Convention, but because my enemies are the more powerful." He put on his
brown g