BOOK XI. the freedom and safety of all and of each, is strengthened by every occasion that puts it to CHAP. XI. the test.

1813.

1

"In fine, the war, with all its vicissitudes, is illustrating the capacity and the destiny of the United States, to be a great, a flourishing, and powerful nation, worthy of the friendship which it is disposed to cultivate with all others; and authorised by its own example, to require from all, an observance of the laws of justice and reciprocity. Beyond these, their claims have never extended; and in contending for these, we behold a subject for our congratulations, in the daily testimonies of increasing harmony throughout the nation, and may humbly repose our trust in the smiles of heaven on so righteous a cause. "JAMES MADISON."

In the statements and anticipations of some

parts of his message, Mr. Madison was justified by what had actually happened, or by what was likely to happen. But certainly, so far as he dwelt upon the military character of the United States, neither what had occurred, nor what in all probability would speedily occur, bore him out: almost every American general and army had fled with precipitation before an inferior force, composed almost entirely of Canadian troops. Wilkinson and Hampton, the last who had fought, had derived no more honour than their predecessors : Sir George Prevost, on the contrary, exhibited his usual activity and courage; and after the defeat of the American generals, he pursued them so closely, that they were forced to take up their winter-quarters in their own territory.

As we have now brought the war in America down to the close of the year 1813, we shall turn our attention to the affairs of Europe.

IN our tenth Book, Chap. XII. we brought down the affairs of Europe to the deposition of Napoleon, and the entrance into Paris of Monsieur, the brother of Louis XVIII. We shall now therefore resume our narrative of the transactions which took place in that city after its surrender to the allies.

After the allies were in possession of Paris, and the deposition of Bonaparte, there could remain little doubt of the restoration of the Bourbons: in fact, soon after these events, deputies, arrived in London to wait on Louis XVIII.; under these circumstances a constitution for the French people was soon formed, and immediately presented to the senate: it was read twice, and a commission appointed to consider it. On the evening of the 5th of April, the commission made its report, and the constitution was adopted unanimously. By this constitution Louis was restored, by a constitutional charter, of which the following are the principal and most important features:

1. The French government is monarchical, and hereditary from male to male in order of primogeniture.

2. The French call to the throne Louis, brother of the late king.

3. The ancient nobility resume their titles; the new ones preserve theirs hereditarily; the legion of honor shall retain its prerogatives.

4. The executive power belongs to the king. 5. The king, the senate, and the legislative body, concur in the making of laws: those relating to contributions can be proposed only in the legislative body: the sanction of the king is no cessary for the completion of a law.

ne

6. There are 150 senators at least, and 200 at

CHAP. I.

most: they are named by the king; their dignity is immoveable, and hereditary from male to male:: BOOK XII. the present senators are retained; the revenues for the support of the senate are divided equally between them, and pass to their successors: in cases of death without male posterity, the por tions return to the public treasure. The sena tors who shall be named in future cannot partake of this endowment.

7. The princes of the blood and of the royal family are, by right, members of the senate: the functions of a senator cannot be exercised under twenty-one years of age.

9. Each department shall send to the legislative body the same number of deputies it sent before: the duration of the function of the depu ties is fixed at five years.

10. The legislative body shall assemble each year on the 1st of October: the king may convoke it extraordinarily: he may adjourn it: he may also dissolve it: but, in the latter case, another legislative body must be formed, in three months at the latest, by the electoral colleges.

1. The legislative body has the right of dis eussion: the sittings are public.

13. No member of the senate or legislative body can be arrested without a previous autho rity from the body to which he belongs: the trial? of a member of the senate or legislative body be longs exclusively to the senate.

14. The ministers may be members either of the senate or legislative body.

15. Equality of proportion in the taxes is of right: no tax can be imposed or received, unless it has been first consented to by the legislative body and the senate. The land-tax can only be

1814:

BOOK XII. established for a year. The budget of the following year, and the accounts of the preceding CHAP. I. year, are presented annually to the legislative body and the senate, at the opening of the sitting of the legislative body.

1814.

16. The law shall fix the mode and the amount of the recruiting of the army.

the Prince of Benevento, who addressed his royal highness as follows:

18. The judges are for life, and irremovable: the commissions and extraordinary tribunals are repressed, and cannot be re-established.

21. The person of the king is sacred and inviolable: all the acts of the government are signed by a minister. The ministers are responsible for all which those acts may contain in violation of the laws, public and private property, and the rights of citizens.

22. The freedom of worship and of conscience is guaranteed: the ministers of worship are treated and protected alike.

23. The liberty of the press is entire, with the exception of the legal repression of offences which may result from the abuse of that liberty. 24. The public debt is guaranteed. The sales of the national domains are irrecoverably maintained.

25. No Frenchman can be prosecuted for opinions or votes which he has given.

26. Every person has a right to address individual petitions to every constituted authority. 27. All Frenchmen are equally admissible to all civil and military employments.

28. All the laws existing remain in vigour, until they shall be legally repealed. The code of civil laws shall be entitled the civil code of the French.

29. The present constitution shall be submitted to the acceptance of the French people, in the form which shall be regulated. Louis Stanislaus Xavier shall be proclaimed King of the French, as soon as he shall have signed and sworn, by an act stating, "I accept the constitution. I swear to observe it, and cause it to be observed." This oath shall be repeated in the solemnity, when he shall receive the oath of fidelity of the French.

On the 14th of April, the senate passed a decree, conveying the provisional government to Monsieur, under the title of lieutenant-general of the kingdom," until Louis Stanislaus Xavier, of France, called to the throne of the French, has accepted the constitutional charter." On occasion of presenting this decree to him, he was waited on by the senate and the legislative body. The senate was presented by M. Talleyrand,

"The senate, persuaded that the principles of the new constitution are in your heart, conveys to you, by the decree which I have the honor to present to you, the title of lieutenant-general of the kingdom, until the arrival of your august brother. Our respectful confidence cannot better honor the ancient loyalty which was transmitted to you by your ancestors.

"Monseigneur, the senate, in these moments of public joy, obliged to remain more calm in appearance relative to the limits of its duties, is not the less penetrated with the universal sentiment. Your royal highness will read our hearts through the reserve even of our language. Each of us, as Frenchmen, is associated to those touching and profound emotions which have accompanied you from the moment of your entrance to the capital of your forefathers, and which we feel still deeper under the dome of the palace to which hope and joy are at length returned with a descendant of St. Louis and of Henry IV.

"For myself, monseigneur, permit me to congratulate myself upon being the interpreter to your royal highness of the senate, which has done me the honor to choose me for its organ. The senate, which knows my attachment to its members, has wished to afford me one sweet_and happy moment more. The sweetest indeed are those in which one approaches your royal highness to renew to you the testimony of one's respect and love."

His royal highness replied,

"Gentlemen,-I have taken cognizance of the constitutional charter which recalls to the throne of France the king my august brother. I have not received from him the power to accept the constitution; but I know his sentiments and principles, and I do not fear being disavowed when I assure you in his name that he will admit the basis of it.

"The king, in declaring that he would maintain the existing form of the government, has thereby acknowledged that the monarchy ought to be balanced by a representative government, divided into two houses (these two houses are formed by the senate and the deputies of the departments ;) that taxes shall be freely assented to by the representatives of the nation; public and individual liberty assured; the liberty of the press

respected, with the exception of the restrictions necessary for order and public tranquillity; the liberty of worship guaranteed; property rendered sacred and inviolable; ministers responsible and liable to be accused and prosecuted by the representatives of the nation; that the judges shall be irremovable, and the judicial power independent, no one being subject to be withdrawn from his proper judges; that the public debt shall be guaranteed; the pensions, ranks, and military honors preserved, as well of the ancient as of the new nobility; the legion of honor maintained, of which the king shall determine the decoration; that all Frenchmen shall be admissible to civil and military employments, and that no individual shall be disturbed on account of his opinions or votes, and that the sale of the national property shall be irrevocable. Such, gentlemen, appear to me the bases which are necessary and essential for consecrating all rights, tracing all duties, assuring all existing things, and guaranteeing our future condition."

After this speech Monsieur added,

"I thank you, in the name of the king my brother, for the part which you have had in the restoration of our legitimate sovereign, and for having thereby secured the happiness of France, for which the king and all his family are ready to sacrifice their blood. There can no longer be among us but one sentiment; the past is no longer to be recollected. We must henceforth form only a people of brothers. During the period in which power shall be placed in my hands, a period which I hope will be very short, I shall exert all my endeavours to promote the public good."

One of the members of the senate having exclaimed, "This is a real son of Henry IV."

"His blood, indeed, flows in my veins," replied Monsieur; "I wish to have his talents, but I am certain I possess his heart and his love for the French."

After the senate and legislative body had been presented to Monsieur, he appointed nine persons to be the provisional council of state, the Prince of Benevento standing first. The Marshals Moncey and Oudinot were of the number. The Duke of Berri, son of Monsieur, made his entrance into Paris on the 21st. On the next day Monsieur issued a decree, by virtue of which an extraordinary commission of the king was deputed to each of the military divisions of the kingdom, for the purpose of disseminating an exact knowledge of the events which had produced the restoration of the legitimate sovereigns of France; of insuring the execution of all the acts of the provisional government; of taking the requisite measures for facilitating the establishment of the government; and of collecting information relative to all branches of the public

service. They were invested with powers to BOOK XII. command the assistance of all the civil and military authorities; to suspend those whose CHAP. I. conduct had been faulty, and appoint provisional successors; to set at liberty all persons under 1814. arbitrary arrests; to put a stop to all prosecutions and punishments consequent upon military conscription; and to suspend all requisitions, levies, works, &c. ordered by the late government, on account of the war.

In the mean time, every day was distin guished by the accession of different French marshals, generals, and of various public bodies, to the new order of things. Indeed, a degree of unanimity appeared to pervade the whole nation. On the 19th Marshals Berthier, Moncey, Mortier, Ney, Oudinot, Marmont, Macdonald, Kellerman, Lefebvre, Perignon, and Serruriér, Generals Dupont, Dessolles, Nausouty, Le Grand, and Delauloy, had the honor to dine with Monsieur at the Thuilleries.

The resolution of placing Louis XVIII. on the throne of his ancestors has been ascribed, by the best informed, to Talleyrand. This able politician, whose talents had made him necessary to Bonaparte, found no difficulty in transferring his allegiance from one who had slighted his counsels, and had brought on his own ruin, to a sovereign who would be indebted to him for his crown, and probably give him his entire confidence. Before the allies entered Paris, the Bourbons were unknown or forgotten by the mass of the nation, and the allied powers had hitherto cautiously avoided any open indications of intending to adopt their cause. The declaration in their favor at Bourdeaux was the work of a few: in Paris they had no party except some emigrants who had been permitted to return; and, it is said, that the Emperor of Russia, on his entrance into Paris, was undetermined how to act in this point.

On the 23d, Monsieur ratified, with the allied powers, a convention for the suspension of all powers? hostilities. In the preamble it is said, that "the allied powers, united in the determination to put a period to the calamities of Europe, and to found its repose on a just distribution of power among the states which compose it, wishing to give to France, replaced under a government whose principles offer the necessary securities for the maintainance of peace, proofs of their desire to resume amicable relations with her; wishing also to cause France to enjoy, as much as possible," the benefits of peace, even before all the terms thereof have been settled, have resolved to proceed conjointly with his royal highness Monsieur, lieutenant-general of the kingdom of France, to a suspension of hostilities between their respective forces, and to a re-establishment of the ancient relations of mutual friendship. The following. are the articles:

Art. I. "All bostilities by land and sea are and remain suspended between the allied powers and France, namely:-For the land-forces, as soon as the generals commanding the French armies and strong places shall have made known to the generals commanding the allied troops who are opposed to them, that they have acknowledged the authority of the lieutenant-general of the kingdom of France, and both by sea, and with regard to maritime places and stations, as soon as the fleets and ports of the kingdom of France, or those occupied by French troops, shall have made the same submission.

II. "To certify the re-establishment of amicable relations between the allied powers and France, and to enable the latter to enjoy as much as possible beforehand the advantages of peace, the allied powers shall cause their armies to evacuate the French territory, such as it was on the 1st of January, 1792, in proportion as the places beyond those limits, still occupied by French troops, shall be evacuated and given up to the allies.

III. "The lieutenant-general of the kingdom of France shall in consequence give orders to the commandants of those fortresses to deliver them up within the following periods, viz, the places situated on the Rhine, not comprehended within the limits of France, on the 1st of January, 1792, and those between the Rhine and the same limits, in the space of ten days, dating from the signature of the present act; the fortresses in Piedmont and the other parts of Italy which belonged to France, in the space of fifteen days, those of Spain within twenty days: and all other places, without exception, which are occupied by French troops, in such way that their complete surrender shall be effected by the 1st of next June. The garrisons of the fortresses shall march out with arms and baggage, and the soldiers and agents of all ranks shall retain their private property. They may carry with them field-artillery, in the proportion of three pieces for every thousand men, sick and wounded included.

Every thing belonging to the fortresses, not private property, shall be delivered up entire to the allies, without a single article being carried off. In these articles are included not only the depôts of artillery and ammunition, but all other stores of every kind, together with archives, inventories, plans, charts, &c.

"Immediately after the signature of the present convention, commissaries of the allied powers and of France shall be sent to the fortresses, to ascertain the state in which they are, and to regulate in common the execution of this article.

"The garrisons shall have routes assigned them in different lines, as shall be agreed upon, for their return to France.

"The blockade of fortresses in France shall be forthwith raised by the allied armies, The French

troops, forming part of the army of Italy, or occupying the strong places in that country, or on the Mediterranean, shall be immediately recalled by his royal highness.

IV. "The stipulation of the preceding article shall be equally applied to maritime places; the contracting powers always reserving to themselves the definitive regulation in the treaty of peace of the fate of the arsenals, vessels of war, armed and unarmed, which are in these places.

V. "The fleets and vessels of France shall remain in their respective situations, with the exception of the departure of ships charged with. missions; but the immediate effect of the present act, in regard to French ports, shall be the raising of all blockade by land or sea, the liberty of fishery, that of the coasting trade, particularly that which is requisite for the supply of Paris, and the restoration of commercial relations, conformably to the internal regulations of every country; and the immediate effect in respect to the interior shall be the free supply of towns, and the free passage of military or commercial transports.

VI. "To prevent all subject of complaint, and of dispute, which might arise in consequence of captures made at sea, after the signature of the present convention, it is reciprocally agreed, that ships and merchandize which may be taken on the coast of the channel and in the North Sea, twelve days after the exchange of the ratifications of the present act, shall be mutually restored; that the period shall be a month, from the Channel and the North Sea to the Canaries and the Equator; and, in fine, five months in all other parts of the globe, without exception, or any other distinction of time or place.

VII." On both sides all prisoners, officers and soldiers, by land and sea, of whatever nature they may be, and especially the hostages, shall be immediately sent back to their respective countries, without ransom or exchange.

VIII. “ The administration of the departments, and of the towns at present occupied by the forcesof the co-belligerents, shall, immediately after the signature of the present act, be given up to magistrates appointed by his royal highness the lieu tenant-general of the kingdom. The royal authorities shall provide for the subsistence and wants of the troops, till the moment when they shall have evacuated the French territory; the allied powers wishing, as an effect of their friendship for France, to cause military requisitions to cease as soon as the giving up of the towns, &c. to legitimate power should have been carried into effect.

"Every thing that concerns the execution of this article shall be regulated by a particular convention.

IX. "An understanding shall be come to, in terms of Art, II, with regard to the routes which