Afternoon and evening, reading Gifford's History[of the] French Revolution. The fate of Louis xvi soffiiently points oot the instability of human greatness. In his first speach to his parliament he says 'I am resolved to retain my authority in all its plentitude[..]'See him in 1790 accepting a new constitution that abolishes nobility and all hereditary offices and distinctions. In 1792, his authority is laid aside and royalty abolished. In 1793, he is taken to a scaffold and beheaded. Let him that standeth take heed lest he fall.