Last will of the French king Louis XVI (25/12/1792)

Copy of the last will of Louis XVI.

In the name of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Amen.

I, Louis the XVI. king of France, having been for better than four months detained with my family in the tower of the temple of Paris, by those who were my subjects, and deprived of all communication, even with my family since the 11th instant, besides being involved in a process of which it is impossible to know the event, in consequence of the passions of men who can alledge no good pretext for their conduct, and who have no motive that can be supported by any existing law—thus circumstanced, without any person present but God to witness my sorrows, to whom I may have recourse, I DO DECLARE here in his presence, this to be my last will and determination.

I recommend my soul to God my Creator, whom I beseech to receive it in mercy and not to judge it as it deserves, but through the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, who offered himself a sacrifice to God his Father, for all men, however unworthy they may be, and I the unworthiest of them all.

I die in union with our Holy Mother, the Catholic Apostolic and Roman church, which holds its powers by uninterrupted succession from St. Peter to whom Jesus Christ had confided it.

I firmly believe and confess all that is contained in the creed, the commandments of God, and of the church, the sacraments and misteries, such as they are and always were taught by the Catholic church.

I never pretended to judge of the different modes of explaining the tenets which divide the church of Jesus Christ, but have conformed myself to them, and always will do so whilst God shall spare my life; to the decisions which ecclesiastic superiors give and may give according to the principles of Jesus Christ.

I pity, with all my heart, those of my brethren who may live in error, I do not pretend to judge them, but I love them all in Jesus Christ, according to the precepts of Christian charity.

I devoutly pray to God to forgive my sins having previously scrupulously confessed and repented of them, not having been able to avail myself of the assistance of a Catholic priest,

I pray to God that he may receive this confession which I have made, and especially my profound repentance which I feel for having signed, although contrary to my inclination, any acts which may have disagreed with the faith or discipline of the holy Catholic church to which I have ever adhered with all my heart.

I pray to God to receive my firm resolution, if he preserves my life, to avail myself of the first opportunity of the ministry of a Catholic priest, in order to accuse myself of all my sins, and to receive the sacrament of penance.

I beg pardon of all those whom I may inadvertently have injured, for I do not remember to have deliberately offended anyone, and also I beg pardon of all to whom I may have set any bad example, and I hope they will forgive me, if they think they have been injured thereby.

I beseech all charitable persons, that they unite their prayers with mine, in order to obtain a pardon from God for my sins. I forgive with all heart, all those who have acted as my enemies without my having given cause, and I pray to God to pardon them as well as those who by a false or misguided zeal have done me great injury.

I recommend to God my wife and children, my sister, my aunts, my brothers, and all those allied to me by blood, or in any other manner, every other possible connection. I particularly pray to God to look down in mercy on my wife my children and sister, who have suffered with me so long, and that he will support them with his grace, in case they should lose me, and that I should be taken from this transitory world.

I recommend my children to my wife, of whose maternal tenderness I never have doubted, and I recommend to her to educate them in the principles of Christianity and moral honesty, and that she may teach them to look upon the splendor of this world in case they should be condemned to it as upon dangerous and transient good, and I hope she may lay before their view only the principles of solid and everlasting glory.

I beseech my sister to preserve her attachment to my children, which she has always shewn, and that she will act the part of a mother in case they should be so unhappy as to lose their own.

I beseech my wife to pardon all that she has suffered in consequence of her attachment to me; as well as for any disgust I may have occasioned her since our union: likewise, I declare that I do not reproach her with any thing, though she herself might think that she has something to repent of.

I also earnestly request from my children, that after performing their duties to God, which ought always to be their first consideration, they will ever be united and obedient to their mother and grateful for all the carefulness and sorrows she way suffer for their sake, and remembrance of me. I request that they may look on my sister as their mother.

I recommend to my son, if ever he should be so unhappy as to be a king, that he must think it his duty to devote himself entirely to promote the happiness of his fellow citizens, and to bury in oblivion all rancour and resentment, and especially everything which respects the injuries and abuses inflicted on me. He cannot make the people happy, without conforming to the laws of the country; but at the same time to consider, that a king cannot make himself respected, nor do the good he would wish, unless he be inverted with sufficient authority, otherwise he will be obstructed in his operations, and not inspiring any respect, he will be more prejudicial than useful to his country.

I recommend to my son to take care of all those persons who have shewn affection for me, whenever his circumstances will permit, and he should consider it as a sacred debt, which I have contracted with the children and relations of those who died on account of their attachments to me, and consequently with those who are unhappy for my sake. I know that several persons who were attached to me, have not done by me as they ought to have done, and who have even shewn themselves ungrateful. I forgive them however: as, in times of trouble and effervescence, persons are not always masters of themselves, and I request of my son, in case opportunity serves, that he will remember that they are unhappy.

I could wish to testify at this moment my sincere gratitude to all those who have shewn me a true and disinterested attachment towards me: if on the one side I felt very sensibly the ingratitude and disloyalty of those men to whom I had never done any thing but loading them with benefits, as well as their friends; on the other side I have had the consolation to witness the affection and disinterested friendship which several persons have shown me. I beg they will receive my thanks, because in the present situation of things I would be afraid of exposing them should I speak more explicitly. I recommend them, however, especially to my son, that he may acknowledge them if ever it is in his power.

I should, notwithstanding, think that I am calumniating the sentiments of the nation, if I did not recommend expressly to my son Messieurs Chamilly and Hue, whom the sincere affection they bore me, has induced to shut themselves up in this melancholy abode, and who have run the risque of becoming the unhappy victims of their attachment; I also recommend Clery, my valet-de-chambre, to whom much praise is due for the trouble he has had with me, and as he has been with me to the last moment, I request the gentlemen of the municipality to give him my cloaths, my books, my watch, my purse, and the remainder of the effects that are deposited with the common council.

I also freely forgive all those who guarded me, for the ill-treatments and hardships which they have thought proper to put upon me.

I have found some feeling and compassionate minds, who, I wish may enjoy that tranquility to which their way of thinking entitles them.

I request Messrs. Malesherbes, Trouchet, and Deseze, to receive here, my most sincere thanks, and the expression of my sensibility for all the fatigues and labours which they have gone through for my sake.

I conclude with declaring in the presence of God, and on the point of appearing before him, that I am innocent of the crimes that are imputed to me.

Done by dupl〈8 letters〉 in the tower of the temple, the 25th December, 1792.

LOUIS.

NOTE: Louis XVI, the last king of France (1774–92) signed his Last Will on December 25, 1792, and was executed on January 21, 1793.