decree which fixed the 14th of January for putting the questions to the
vote.

Meantime the King did not allow the torturing suspense to disturb his
outward composure, or lessen his kindness to those around him. On the
morning after his second appearance at the bar of the Convention, the
commissary Vincent, who had undertaken secretly to convey to the Queen a
copy of the King's printed defence, asked for something which had belonged
to him, to treasure as a relic; the King took off his neck handkerchief
and gave it him; his gloves he bestowed on another municipal, who had made
the same request. "On January 1st," says Clery, "I approached the King's
bed and asked permission to offer him my warmest prayers for the end of
his misfortunes. 'I accept your good wishes with affection,' he replied,
extending his hand to me. As soon as he had risen, he requested a
municipal to go and inquire for his family, and present them his good
wishes for the new year. The officers were moved by the tone in which
these words, so heartrending considering the position of the King, were
pronounced . . . . The correspondence between their Majesties went on
constantly. The King being informed that Madame Royale was ill, was very
uneasy for some days. The Queen, after begging earnestly, obtained
permission for M. Brunnier, the medical attendant of the royal children,
to come to the Temple. This seemed to quiet him."

The nearer the moment which was to decide the King's fate approached, the
greater became the agitation in, Paris. "A report was circulated that the
atrocities of September were to be repeated there, and the prisoners and
their relatives beset the deputies with supplications that they would
snatch them from destruction. The Jacobins, on their part, alleged that
conspiracies were hatching in all quarters to save Louis XVI. from
punishment, and to restore royalty. Their anger, excited by delays and