Page:A general history for colleges and high schools (Myers, 1890).djvu/724

658 addressed simply as citizen. In the debates of the Convention, the king was alluded to as Citizen Capet, and on the street the shoeblack was called Citizen Shoeblack.

The day following the Proclamation of the republic (Sept. 22, 1792) was made the beginning of a new era, the first day of the Year I. That was to be regarded as the natal day of Liberty. A little later, excited by the success of the French armies,—the Austrians and Prussians had been beaten, and Belgium had been over-run and occupied,—the Convention called upon all nations to rise against despotism, and pledged the aid of France to any people wishing to secure freedom.

Trial and Execution of the King (Jan. 21, 1793).—The next work of the Convention was the trial and execution of the king. On the 11th of December, 1792, he was brought before the bar of that body, charged with having conspired with the enemies of France, of having opposed the will of the people, and of having caused the massacre of the 10th of August. The sentence of the Convention was immediate death. On Jan. 21, 1793, the unfortunate monarch was conducted to the scaffold.

Coalition against France.—The regicide awakened the most bitter hostility against the French revolutionists, among all the old monarchies of Europe. The act was interpreted as a threat against all kings. A grand coalition, embracing Prussia, Austria, England, Sweden, Holland, Spain, Portugal, Piedmont, Naples, the Holy See, and later, Russia, was formed to crush the republican movement. Armies aggregating more than a quarter of a million of men threatened France at once on every frontier.

While thus beset with foes without, the republic was threatened with even more dangerous enemies within. The people of La Vendue, in Western France, who still retained their simple reverence for Royalty, Nobility, and the Church, rose in revolt against the sweeping innovations of the revolutionists.

To meet all these dangers which threatened the life of the new-born republic, the Convention ordered a levy, which placed 300,000 men in the field. The stirring Marseillaise Hymn, sung by the marching bands, awakened everywhere a martial fervor.