t cold and dreamy sleep which
ends in death. The light for this piece must be quite dim, and come
from the side of the stage that will reflect on the mother's face.
Music, of a low and mournful style, representing the moaning of the
winds.
LOUIS XVI. AND HIS FAMILY.
I hear thy whisper, and the warm tears gush
Into mine eyes; the quick pulse thrills my heart.
Thou bidd'st the peace, the reverential hush,
The still submission, from my thoughts depart.
Dear one, this must not be!
The past looks on me from thy mournful eye;
The beauty of our free and vernal days;
Our communings with sea, and hill, and sky--
O, take that bright world from my spirit-gaze.
Thou art all earth to me!
Shut out the sunshine from my dying room,
The jasmine's breath, the murmur of the bee;
Let not the joy of bird-notes pierce the gloom;
They speak of love, of summer, and of thee
Too much, and death is here!
ANON.
Three Female and Four Male Figures.
On the 20th of January, 1793, at three o'clock in the morning, the
second year of the French republic, the final vote was taken by the
Convention, that Louis XVI. should be executed. All the efforts to
save the king were now exhausted, and his fate sealed. The decree of
the Convention was sent to the king, declaring him to be guilty of
treason; that he was condemned to death; that the appeal to the people
was refused; and that he was to be executed within twenty-four hours.
The king listened to the reading unmoved; he conversed earnestly with
his spiritual adviser respecting his will, which he read, and inquired
earnestly for his friends, whose sufferings moved his heart deeply.
The hour of seven had now arrived, when the king was to hold his last
interview with his family. But even this could not be in private. He
was to be watched by his jailers, who were to hear every word and
witness every gesture. The door opened, and the queen, pallid and
woe-stricken, entered, leading her son by the hand. She threw herself
into the arms of her husband, and silently endeavored to draw him
towards her chamber. "No, no," whispered the king, clasping her to his
heart, "I can see you only here." Madame Elizabeth, with the king's
daughter, followed. A scene of anguish ensued which neither pen nor
pencil can portray. The king sat down, with the q
|