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Fictional Account by Louis Sixteenth

I, Louis, sixteenth of that name, His Most Christian Majesty, annointed King of France, am writing these words upon the evening of January 20, 1793. Unless a miracle should intervene--a miracle which I by no means expect--this shall be my last night on Earth. For tomorrow I have an appointment with Mme. Guillotine, as some wits refer to the ingenious machine which Dr. Guillotin invented for the furtherance of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. It is well-suited to this goal, as M. de Robespierre and the other gentlemen of the Committee for Public Safety interpret it, for it frees all who encounter it of their troubles, renders them equal, and joins them in a great brotherhood (and, alas, sisterhood!) of the victims of this Revolution. And so, though tonight I fear for my children, my dear foolish Marie Antoinette, and for my dear foolish France, by this time tomorrow these worries shall no longer be mine.

But for now I feel I must reflect upon the circumstances which brought me to this place and tomorrow's appointment. As I am King--not "Citizen Bourbon," as I foolishly tried to be for a time--I accept the full responsibility for the sad fate of my kingdom, in which my own fate, and that of so many of my subjects, is but one small part. I mismanaged my marriage, I mismanaged the business in America, I mismanaged finance, and when it came I mismanaged the Revolution. For all of these errors I must pay the price, and regret only that so many others must pay as well.

Yet in some ways I believe that my troubles began long before I was born, and can be traced back to my revered great-grandfather, Louis XIV, the Sun King. He built the Prison of Versailles, and established the strict regime that governed its inmates. Yes! The Prison of Versailles! In the stifling formalities of that gilded cage, I was the least free man in France, and poor Marie Antoinette was the least free woman. I give this advice to the future Kings of F...

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Fictional Account by Louis Sixteenth. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 05:04, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1682073.html