criminals? And do you perhaps fear the judgment of posterity? No doubt, posterity will marvel. But posterity will marvel at our weakness, at our prejudices, and at our indecision. …
Louis must die in order that the nation may live. In more peaceful times, once we have secured respect and have consolidated ourselves within and without, it might be possible for us to consider generous proposals. But to-day, when we are refused our freedom; to-day, when, after so many bloody struggles, the severity of the law as yet assails only the unhappy; to-day, when it is still possible for the crimes of tyranny to be made a subject of discussion; on such a day there can be no thought of mercy; at such a moment the people cries for vengeance. I request you to come to a decision at once concerning the fate of Louis. His wife will be handed over to the courts, together with all persons in any way connected with her. His son will remain under surveillance in the Temple until foreign and domestic peace has been assured. Louis XVI must at once be proclaimed by the National Assembly a traitor to the nation, a criminal against mankind, and the judgment must be carried out on the same square on which the great martyrs of freedom died on August 10.
