The reading
concluded, the king presented a paper to the deputies, which he first
read to them in the clear and commanding tones of a monarch upon his
throne, demanding a respite of three days, in order to prepare to appear
before God; also permission to see his family, and to converse with a
priest. The Convention, angry at these requests, informed the king that
he might see any priest he pleased, and that he might see his family,
but that the execution must take place in twenty-four hours from the
time of the sentence. Darkness had again fallen upon the city, when the
minister of religion, M. Edgeworth, was led through the gloomy streets,
to administer the consolations of piety to the condemned monarch. As he
entered the apartment of the king, he fell at his feet and burst into
tears. Louis for a moment wept, when, recovering himself, he said,
"Pardon me this momentary weakness. I have so long lived among enemies,
that habit has rendered me insensible to hatred. The sight of a faithful
friend restores my sensibility, and moves me to tears in spite of
myself." A long conversation ensued, in which the king inquired, with
the greatest interest, respecting the fate of his numerous friends. He
read his will with the utmost deliberation, his voice faltering only
when he alluded to his wife, children, and sister. At seven o'clock he
was to have his last agonizing interview with his beloved family, and
the thought of this agitated him far more than the prospect of the
scaffold.

The hour for the last sad meeting arrived. The king, having prepared his
heart by prayer for the occasion, descended into a small unfurnished
room, where he was to meet his family. The door opened. The queen,
leading his son, and Madame Elizabeth, leading his daughter, with
trembling, fainting steps, entered the room. Not a word was uttered. The
king threw himself upon a bench, drew the queen to his right side, his
sister to the left, and their arms encircled his neck, and their heads
hung upon his breast. The son climbed upon his father's knee, clinging
with his arms frantically to his bosom; and the daughter, throwing
herself at his feet, buried her head in his lap, her beautiful hair, in
disordered ringlets, falling over her shoulders. A long half hour thus
passed, in which not one single articulate word was spoken, but the
anguish of these united hearts was expressed in cries and lamentations
which pierced through the stone walls of their prison,