Transcription of the testament of Louis XVI; the PDF is below. The Martyr King was born on August 28, 1724, and died on January 21, 1793.
In the Name of the Most Holy Trinity, of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Today, the twenty-fifth day of December 1792.
I, Louis XVI, King of France, having been confined for more than four months with my family in the tower of the Temple in Paris by those who were my subjects, and deprived of all communication whatsoever, even since the 10th of this month, with my family; furthermore, implicated in a trial whose outcome is impossible to foresee due to the passions of men, and for which no pretext or means can be found in any existing law, having only God as the witness of my thoughts, and to whom I can address myself. I declare, here in His presence, my last wishes and sentiments.
I leave my soul to God my Creator; I pray Him to receive it in His mercy, not to judge it according to its merits, but by those of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who offered Himself as a sacrifice to God His Father, for us men, unworthy as we are, and I the first.
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I die in the union of our holy Mother the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman Church, which holds its powers through an unbroken succession from Saint Peter, to whom Jesus Christ had entrusted them; I firmly believe, and I confess all that is contained in the Creed and the Commandments of God and of the Church, the Sacraments and the Mysteries, as the Catholic Church teaches and has always taught them; I have never claimed to be a judge of the different ways of explaining the dogmas that tear the Church of Jesus Christ apart; but I have referred and will always refer, if God grants me life, to the decisions that the ecclesiastical superiors, united to the holy Catholic Church, give and will give in accordance with the discipline of the Church, followed since Jesus Christ.
I pity with all my heart our brothers who may be in error, but I do not claim to judge them, and I love them all no less in Jesus Christ, following what Christian charity teaches us. I pray God to forgive me all my sins; I have sought to know them scrupulously, to detest them, and to humble myself in His presence: unable to avail myself of the ministry of a Catholic priest, I pray God to receive the confession I have made to Him, and above all the profound repentance I feel for having put my name (though this was against my will) to acts which may be contrary to the discipline and belief of the Catholic Church, to which I have always remained sincerely united in heart. I pray God to receive the firm resolution I have, if He grants me life, to avail myself as soon as I can of the ministry of a Catholic priest, to confess all my sins and receive the Sacrament of Penance.
I pray all those whom I may have offended inadvertently (for I do not recall having knowingly offended anyone) or those to whom I may have given bad examples or scandals, to forgive me the harm they believe I may have done them.
I pray all those who have charity, to unite their prayers with mine, to obtain from God the forgiveness of my sins.
I forgive with all my heart those who have made themselves my enemies, without my having given them any cause, and I pray God to forgive them, as well as those who, through a false zeal or a misunderstood zeal, have done me much harm.
I commend to God, my wife and my children, my sister, my aunts, my brothers, and all those who are attached to me by ties of blood or by any other manner whatsoever; I pray God particularly to cast eyes of mercy upon my wife, my children, and my sister, who have suffered for a long time with me, to sustain them by His grace if they come to lose me, and as long as they remain in this perishable world.
I commend my children to my wife; I have never doubted her maternal tenderness for them; I especially commend to her to make them good Christians and honest men, to make them regard the grandeurs of this world (if they are condemned to experience them) only as dangerous and perishable goods, and to turn their gaze toward the only solid and lasting glory of eternity. I pray my sister to be so kind as to continue her tenderness toward my children, and to take the place of a mother for them, should they have the misfortune to lose theirs.
I pray my wife to forgive me all the evils she suffers for me, the sorrows I may have caused her in the course of our union; as she can be sure that I hold nothing against her, if she believed she had anything to reproach herself with.
I earnestly commend to my children, after what they owe to God, who must come before all, to always remain united among themselves, submissive and obedient to their mother, and grateful for all the care and pains she takes for them and in memory of me. I pray them to regard my sister as a second mother.
I commend to my son, should he have the misfortune to become King, to remember that he owes himself entirely to the happiness of his fellow citizens; that he must forget all hatreds and all resentments, and notably all that relates to the misfortunes and sorrows I experience; that he can only make the people happy by reigning according to the laws; but at the same time, a King cannot make himself respected and do the good that is in his heart, unless he has the necessary authority, and otherwise, being constrained in his operations and inspiring no respect, he is more harmful than useful.
I commend to my son to take care of all the persons who were attached to me, as much as the circumstances in which he finds himself will give him the means; to remember that it is a sacred debt I have contracted toward the children or relatives of those who perished for me, and then of those who are unhappy for me. I know that there are several persons among those who were attached to me who have not conducted themselves toward me as they ought, and who have even shown ingratitude; but I forgive them (often in moments of trouble and effervescence one is not master of oneself), and I pray my son, if he finds the opportunity, to think only of their misfortune.
I would like to be able to testify here my gratitude to those who have shown me a true and disinterested attachment; on the one hand, if I was sensibly touched by the ingratitude and disloyalty of those to whom I had never shown anything but kindness, to them, their parents, or friends; on the other hand, I have found consolation in seeing the attachment and gratuitous interest that many persons have shown me. I pray them to receive my thanks; in the situation in which things still stand, I would fear compromising them if I spoke more explicitly; but I especially commend to my son to seek opportunities to be able to acknowledge them.
I would believe I was slandering the sentiments of the nation, however, if I did not openly commend to my son, Messieurs de Chamilly and Hue, whose true attachment for me led them to shut themselves up with me in this sad abode, and who thought they would be its unfortunate victims. I also commend to him Cléry, whose care I have had every reason to praise since he has been with me: as it is he who remained with me until the end, I pray Messieurs of the Commune to remit to him my clothes, my books, my watch, my purse, and the other small effects that were deposited with the Council of the Commune.
I also very willingly forgive those who guarded me, the ill-treatment and constraints they believed they had to use toward me. I found some sensitive and compassionate souls; may those enjoy in their hearts the tranquility that their way of thinking must give them.
I pray Messieurs de Malesherbes, Tronchet, and de Seze to receive here all my thanks and the expression of my sensibility for all the care and pains they took for me.
I conclude by declaring before God, and ready to appear before Him, that I do not reproach myself for any of the crimes that are alleged against me.
Done in duplicate, at the Tower of the Temple, the 25th of December 1792.
Signed LOUIS.
Last Words of Louis XVI
I die innocent of all the crimes imputed to me. I forgive the authors of my death, and I pray God that the blood you are about to shed may never fall upon France.