ADRIAN VERMEULE: The ‘Trial’ and Martyrdom of Louis XVI.

This is a previously published essay of mine in memoriam Louis XVI, which I plan to republish annually on January 21 — the day in 1793 when, as Pius VI put it, “[b]y a conspiracy of impious men, the most Christian king Louis XVI” was put to martyrdom. Americans have particular reason to hold his memory in reverence, as explained below.

On this day in 1793, Louis XVI was executed by guillotine in the Place de la Révolution, now the Place de la Concorde, in Paris. The United States might well never have come into existence without the massive aid, military and financial, provided by Louis’ government; and the budgetary strains incurred by that aid contributed rather directly to the calling of the Estates-General in 1789 and thus to the Revolution itself. Hence it is fitting for Americans to honor Louis’ end. What follows is a bibliographic essay in memoriam, presenting a set of sources, written in or translated into English, on the pseudo-trial of the King and his subsequent martyrdom.

Louis’ eloquent last will and testament is helpfully provided by Andrew Cusack. The King forgives his enemies (while rejecting the legitimacy of their actions), asks for the forgiveness of anyone he has offended, professes his Catholic faith, and exhorts his son that “should he have the misfortune of becoming king, to remember he owes himself wholly to the happiness of his fellow citizens.” It reveals a monarch sincerely devoted to his family, to the welfare of his realm, and to the Church.

That the trial of Louis was indeed a sham — a proceeding for which “one can find neither pretext nor means in any existing law,” as Louis put it in his testament — is not seriously contestable

Read the whole thing, and understand that the French Revolution is where modern leftism got its start.