The sovereignty of the people being permanent, indivisible and inalienable, the Constitution of 1791 was radically null and void, in that it provided for the hereditary alienation of a portion of the people's rights, in favor of the ex-royal family. The Conventionists of 1793 were no more in love with the Constitution of 1791 than the Constituents of 1791 were with the monarchical, feudal and religious institutions which had weighed like an incubus on France fourteen centuries long. A nation has the power, but never the right, to alienate its sovereignty, either in whole or in part, by delegating it to a hereditary family. Such an alienation, imposed amid the violence of conquest, borne out of habits of thought, or consented to in a moment of public aberration, binds neither the present generation nor those to come. Accordingly, the Constitution of 1791 being virtually null in fact, Louis Capet could not invoke the protection of that Constitution, which guaranteed the inviolability of the royal person, and limited his punishment to deposition in a few specified cases. Louis XVI was, then, legally brought to trial. By reconquering its full sovereignty on the 10th of August, the nation invested the Convention with the powers necessary for judging the one-time King. His crimes were notorious and flagrant; their penalty was written in the books of the law, equally for all citizens; he must, then, undergo the penalty for his misdeeds. I, John Lebrenn, add here some further passages from my diary, relating to the trial, judgment and execution of Louis Capet. * * * * * JANUARY 15, 1793.--Having heard the defense submitted by Deseze, one of the attorneys for Louis XVI, the Convention put to a vote this first question: "Is Louis Capet guilty of conspiracy against liberty and the nation, and of assault on the general safety of the State?" The Assembly contained seven hundred and forty-nine members. Six hundred and eighty-three replied: "Yes, the accused is guilty." The roll-call being completed, the president of the Assembly announced the decision: "In the name of the French people, the National Convention declares Louis Capet guilty of conspiracy against liberty and the nation, and of assault on the general safety of the State." The second question was: "Shall the decision of the National Convention be submitted to ratification by the people?" The members who voted for ratification by the people were two hundred and eighty-one; those against ratification, four hundred and twenty-three. The president announced the result of the vote: "The National Convention declares the judgment rendered on Louis Capet shall not be sent for ratification to the people." JANUARY 17, 1793.--To-day and yesterday the sessions of the Convention were permanent, due to the gravity of the situation. The debate turned upon the third question: "What shall be the penalty imposed on Louis XVI?"