evening service. Night after night
this mournful dirge was heard gently issuing from the darkness of
their cell, in tones so melodious and plaintive that they never died
away from the memory of those who heard them. It is difficult to
conceive of any thing more affecting than this knell, so softly
uttered at midnight in those dark and dismal dungeons.

"Calm all the tumults that invade
Our souls, and lend thy powerful aid.
Oh! source of mercy! soothe our pains,
And break, O break our cruel chains!
To Thee the captive pours his cry,
To Thee the mourner loves to fly.
The incense of our tears receive--
'Tis all the incense we can give.

"Eternal Power! our cause defend,
O God! of innocence the friend.
Near Thee forever she resides,
In Thee forever she confides.
Thou know'st the secrets of the breast:
Thou know'st the oppressor and the oppress'd.
Do thou our wrongs with pity see,
Avert a doom offending thee.

"But should the murderer's arm prevail;
Should tyranny our lives assail;
Unmoved, triumphant, scorning death,
We'll bless Thee with our latest breath.
The hour, the glorious hour will come,
That consecrates the patriots' tomb;
And with the pang our memory claims,
Our country will avenge our names."

Summer had come and gone while these distinguished prisoners were
awaiting their doom. World-weary and sick at heart, they still
struggled to sustain each other, and to meet their dreadful fate with
heroic constancy. The day for their trial at length arrived. It was
the 20th of October, 1793. They had long been held up before the mob,
by placards and impassioned harangues, as traitors to their country,
and the populace of Paris were clamorous for their consignment to the
guillotine. They were led from the dungeons of the Conciergerie to the
misnamed Halls of Justice. A vast concourse of angry men surrounded
the tribunal, and filled the air with execrations. Paris that day
presented the aspect of a camp. The Jacobins, conscious that there
were still thousands of the most influential of the citizens who
regarded the Girondists with veneration as incorruptible patriots,
determined to prevent the possibility of a rescue. They had some cause
to apprehend a counter revolution. They therefore gathered around the
scene of trial all that imposing military array which they had at
their disposal. Cavalry