accusation against the person who had signed
it, the author and their adherents; but such is the revolution of
events, that this paper is now received and brought forth for a very
opposite purpose--to remind the nation of the errors of that unfortunate
day, that fatal error of not having then banished Louis XVI. from its
bosom, and to plead this day in favour of his exile, preferable to his
death.

The paper in question, was conceived in the following terms:

[The address constitutes the first chapter of the present volume.]

Having thus explained the principles and the exertions of the
republicans at that fatal period, when Louis was rein-stated in
full possession of the executive power which by his flight had been
suspended, I return to the subject, and to the deplorable situation in
which the man is now actually involved.

What was neglected at the time of which I have been speaking, has been
since brought about by the force of necessity. The wilful, treacherous
defects in the former constitution have been brought to light; the
continual alarm of treason and conspiracy aroused the nation, and
produced eventually a second revolution. The people have beat down
royalty, never, never to rise again; they have brought Louis Capet to
the bar, and demonstrated in the face of the whole world, the intrigues,
the cabals, the falsehood, corruption, and rooted depravity, the
inevitable effects of monarchical government. There remains then only
one question to be considered, what is to be done with this man?

For myself I seriously confess, that when I reflect on the unaccountable
folly that restored the executive power to his hands, all covered as
he was with perjuries and treason, I am far more ready to condemn the
Constituent Assembly than the unfortunate prisoner Louis Capet.

But abstracted from every other consideration, there is one circumstance
in his life which ought to cover or at least to palliate a great number
of his transgressions, and this very circumstance affords to the French
nation a blessed occasion of extricating itself from the yoke of kings,
without defiling itself in the impurities of their blood.

It is to France alone, I know, that the United States of America owe
that support which enabled them to shake off the unjust and tyrannical
yoke of Britain. The ardour and zeal which she displayed to provide both
men and money, were the natural consequence of a thirst for liberty.
But as the nation at that