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Number 11. From WEDNESDAY, Atril ij, to SATURDAY, Atk.il xB, 1789. trice six tence.
[The Revolution of Amcrica, it was very early predicted, would
have a great influence upon the publick affairs of the European
«y #r ld hut the moil fanguinc advocate for the Liberties of Man^-
kind could not have anticipated those fiTrprifmg Events, which
have already tranfpircd to distinguish the annals of the present
a<T(f Our generous, and magnanimous Allies, the French nation.
in their publications upon laws, government, and Freedom, dif- i
•cover a noble ardour in the bed of causes—and the following
communication will shew, that tinder the Auspices of the be ft of
Kings, they are on the eve of establishing a new, and a free Con
ilitution.]
FORE IGN INTELLIGENCE.
.LONDON", DEC. 20.
POLITICAL STMT: OF FRANCE.
[TRANSLATED FIOM THE FRENCH.]
THE warmth and zeal with which forae provin
ces have of late reclaimed their ancient pri
vileges, though hostile to the general welfare of
the kingdom, has readied the municipalities, and
even a great number of indi - . idaals, who have been
considerably alarmed ; but all at once, and a: a
most unexpected period, the eyes of all the good
citizens have been turned with affection and com
placency towards the Dauphinians, who by means
of a noble and steady conduit have obtained from
the government whatever tlicy have solicited ;
their neighbours, the States of Beam, filled with
admiration, and willing to follow their lteps, tho't
proper to consult them on this momentous fc.b
jei't; but the new States of Danphi«e, not having
as yet met, and their Syndics not being elected, a
Committee appointed for that purpofewns ordered
to feud them the following truly patriotic!. ans
wer, wliich has been much applmuled throughout
the kingdom, and has been read by all ranks of
people.
" ANSWER from tb ■ STATES of DAUPHINE
to the SYNDICS of the STATES e/fIV.ARN.
" G2.ESOBLE, 26th Sept. 1788.
" GENTLEMEN,
" We take 011 oui fclves to answer your letter,
though addrefied to our Syndic s v\ ho have not as
yet been chosen, as our new States arc not entirely
organized. The tli e - orders of this province pie
fented some time ago to his Majesty, a iuw jiro
viiicial Conlikution, free from the many errors oi
the obsolete one, which hasfince received his molt
gracious approbation and lanci ion.
" Youaikus, gentlemen, what were the motives
which formerly determined the inhabitants of tliis
province to fend deputies to the States General; as
you seem to fear left the right or g 'anting subsidies
in our provincial afiemblies, v. uich you hold in
common with us, should be infringed.
" The people of Dauphine represented in their
provincial ltates, it is true, have the right oi with
holding or granting subsidies to the monarch ; it is
equally true that we ssight find in ourancicrt char
ters some plausible pretence for not fending depu
ties to the States General, and perhaps tor exempt
ing ourfelvts from paying our ihareoffjch gener
al taxes as areimpofed by the majority of national
deputies; but fortunately the in habitants of this
province have never thought it would be advan
tageous not to afiiftthe nation with their councils,
whenever she is deliberating 0:1 her most impor
tant concerns. Whether the antient States of
Dauphine have ever recorded their real'ons For so
doing, is more than we can fay, the States having
never been called fincc the year 1628, and though
this period is not very distant, yet we have obser
ved nothing in their proceedin- ; rcl.Hiiig to those
deputies ; but v/e find in tliofc of the States Gener
al,heldin 1484,1588 and 1614 manifeft proofs that
we were then represented. Those who think they
held a fepcrate liieeing as deputies from an inde
pendent Stale, entertain a most palpable error ;
they voted with those of the other provinces in
1384, as well as in the three last ones.
" Dauphine is not the only province, wnichtho'
it enjoyed the rights of granting or withholding
subsidies in its particular States, yet fuinni te ! to
the national deliberations ; Pi ovence, Languedcc,
Bretagne, Normandy, &c. have formerly given the
fame example.
What advantage could this province reap from
"ot fending deputies to the States General ? Could
its inhabitants flatter themlelves with the idea of
pofleiling more wisdom and pursuing the steps of
a founder policy, than the whole nation aflemblcd ?
Are we not obliged to contribute our lhare of the
expenfeg neceflary to the preservation of order ant:
publick tranquility, as well as to the fafety oi the
Kingdom ? Become independent, could we find a
inong ourselves a greater decree of strength, with
which to oppose the ihares of intiigues, and repel
the encroachment of aiithoi ity ■
Whilst Jn individual may hold up his char
ters, and sometimes oppofethemfuccefsfully to the
rapacity of power, can he at the fame time dispense
with attending national aflemblies, met to deliber
ate on the remedies required by the calamities and
general diftrelles of the nation ?
(< Until now, gentlemen, France has not had a
pofifive,'nor a fixed Constitution, fufficiently de
fined to guarantee the refpe<ftive lights of the so
vereign and of the subjects ; hitherto the provin
ces, the different orders, nay the very individuals
have been too widely separated ; no bond of real
union has ever existed between the parts oftliisvaft
whole. Each, circumscribed within the narrow
circle of their own private concerns, have not re
flected how much their division led them to inabi
lity and weakness, and how much their exclulive
attention to their particular privileges, made them
neglect national and individual liberty, as well as
the rights of private property ; hence the strong
tide of power has progreifively (wallowed up every
thing.
" Provinces ought never to have fcparate inter
ests hut when they form federal republicks, each
poflfefling a so vereign power : In a monarchy,.we
never can be free, uiilefs impelled by the fame
views and closely united, in order to maintain in
its full vigour, the general Constitution.
" Let us forget what we have been, in order to
think more attentively on what we wi(h to be ;
Frenchmen enjoying under a King a proper lhare
of freedom; Avhen the lleprifentatives of this great
iiation are met to deliberate oil tlie best means of
healing her wounds, on those of preserving to the
throne, that neCellary lhare of splendour and dig
l? sry ; on those of paying the debts of the state ;
on those in short of leading France towards that
summit of power and glory 'to which nature has
called her ; we arc well allured, gentlemen, that
then both the Beamois and Dauphinians, will not
be the lall to appear and offer their honest tribute
of counsels and personal services.
" We are of opinion, gentlemen, tliatyou ought
not to conlider as an indefeafible privilege that of
granting in your particular States the neeelfary
lubfidies. There is no province in the kingdom,
nay no town or borough, hut what at some time
or other has enjoyed the fame rights, the welfare
of the great community to which we belong, and
the ncceffity of rendering the holding the States
f~ t ." .|1 frfqitfTi*- Tilt' nulifp l .iTTTTIc, mult hence
forth become our great and leading principle.
The only privilege which provincial States ought
to enjoy, is the laying and collecting fucli taxes as
may be granted by the great national aflembly, in
fpe(Tting their own publick works. How could
those inferiour provincial assemblies know the real
wants of the state ? How could they obtain fuffi
cient knowledge of the national finances ? How
cor Id they oppose fuflicient barriers to unjull pre
tensions ? If the Beamois and the Dauphinians,
really and sincerely mean to become free, let all
France become free alio, then the freedom of each
province will he under the fafeguard and guaran
tee of the whole. We inuft despair of ever ob
taining a complete system of national rights and
privileges, if we mean to retain any of our old
oncS,b.it those which may not be incompatible with
the c-encral welfare, and not detrimental to the
reft of onr fellow citizens ; henceforth this exten
sive kingdom rnuft be our country; the more wife
ly governed we shall be, the dearer it will become
to us. Let us therefore lay aside those obsolete
ideas ; let us give up what was merely partial and
local, and form but one wide extended family.—
Beamois, Dauphinians, Bretons, Normands, Pi
cards, Lorrains, let us all glory in becoming truly
Frenchmen, let us feel and fulfill the duties which
that name imposes on us, and fly without delay to
the afliftance . nd relief of our dear country.
Directed by the three orders of Dauphine, to be
written.
To the Syndics of the States of Beam.
SPEECHES of the KING, and the KEEPER of the
SE.4LS, at the opening of the Afcmbly of Notables,
held a: VsrfculL s, the (>th of Nov. 1788.
HIS MAJESTY'S SPEECH.
" GENTI.E.MEN,
" THE manifold proofs I have lately had of
your knowledge and abilities, as well as of your
zeel and publick Ipirit have delerminedme to meet
you again.
" 1 have appointed the beginning of the follow
ing year for holding the States General of my
kingdom, and you may reft allured that my heart
impatiently waits for the moment, when surround
ed by the representatives of my Faithful fubjeClr,
1 lhall have it in my power to devise and confuli
with them on the heft means of healing the wounds
of the State, and without weakening the authority
which I have received from my people's future
happinels ; as long as I Eve, such will be the priii
cipal aim of all my artions, and of my Left wifties.
" But before the Convocation of those States is
to take place, I wish to consult you, gentlemen, on
the molt eligible mode of rendering that impor
tant meeting as ufeful to my kiligdoin as pofhble.
For that purpose, I have ordered, that every infor
mation, and papers which may tend to elucidate
the principle object of your meeting, flyjuld be laid
before you. lam confident that your zeal, the
celerity of your debates and deliberations, V. ill
hasten the completion of this important talk, for
which I have called you together, and that your
labours will defcrve all my confidence, and answer
the expectations of the publick."
S*EECH ofrhc KEENER of the SEALS.
" GENTLEMEN,
" THE Notables of the kingdom have never
been called but on the molt urgent occurrences,
and in consequence of the molt important circum-
Itances, it is in tliofe momentous ones, that amo
liarch, whose firft v. ilh is the publick good, loves
to meet the wife councils of his people, and to sur
round himfelf with the light of their knowledge.
" Such has been the condurt of those of our 10-
vereigns whose names have been handed down,
and are exhibited to their fucceflors, as patterns
of good kings ; such w as the condurt of that mag
nanimous one, whose memory becomes dearer
every day, as we tracc his \ irtues in the heir of
his throne.
" The convocation of the States General will
become one of the molt memorable events of his
retgn ; what greater boon could the nation expert
from his goounefs and justice ? But the tender so
licitude of his Majesty is not limited to the meer
calling of this great aflembly ; he wiihes also to re
move every obstacle, to smooth eveVy difficulty
which can poflibly be forefeen. He wants to know
which is the inoft perfect mode of calling them,
and that which may become the most ufeful to the
people. Infteadof fruiting to his own wisdom, or
applying to the advice of his council for the in
vestigation of this question, rendered ltill more
momentous the great number of yeais elapsed
since the meeting of the lalt aflembly, as well as by
the increase which the kingdom has received since,
his Majesty requires that you should let him know
which are the surest means of accpmplifhing the
mcft arduous measure of his admirrillratioii, and
•at the fame time the one molt intevefting, as hav
ing for its object the publick felicity.
" The King comes in the m;dft of you gent le
men to hear the voice of the nation, henceforth to
be tile basis of publick opinion, to derive from your
collective wisdom, information and sentiments,
some part of his power and peculiar happiness ;
the fuccelsFul trial he has already made of it, en
courages and juftifies his confidence.
" That you may be enabled at one glance, to per
vade the whole extent of the business which you
have to run over, and adopt some precise ideas
concerning the various points of disquisition which
will be proposed, his Majesty has ordered his Mi
nister of the Finances to lay before you a fei ies of
questions to which he expects the molt explicit ans
wers. This measure, as plain as it is natural, will
greatly facilitate yourlabours and by circumscribing
them within proper bounds, will enable you with
out delay to meet the just impatience of the mon
arch to know your opinions.
" It will be a glorious ta(k, gentlemen, thus to
have prepared the way f»r the convening this great
and solemn aflembly, which will be truly conliitu
tional—an aflembly from whose wisdom, and salu
tary determinations, the people of this kingdom ex
pert to derive a degree of energy, strength and
lustre hitherto unknown.
Hasten therefore to undertake and fulfil those
honourable funrtions :—The eyes of the whole na
tion are already turned towards you, while she re
collerts with gratitude the proofs you gave in the
year i 787, of your zeal and ofyourlincere assertion
to the true interests of the state.
"Ye ministers of the altar, whose virtue and
learning France has long since refperted and ad
mired, you will diftinguifli yourselves no doubt,
by that aptitude to business which is due to your
ftudioushabits, by that spirit of love and concilia
tion which springs from the holy religion you teach.
" Andyou, generous nobility, whose hereditary
honours and military services have been so ufeful
to the monarch, as well as to the monarchy, shew
by the wisdom of your councils, that you are as fit
to watch over the internal regulations of the pub
lick weal, as t6 defend it by your valour and your
courage.
" First magistrates of the kingdom, you who
preside over those venerable and ancient corps,
learned expositors and refpertable depofiirories of
our laws, what may not the nation expert from
your consummate experience, your well known
zeal, and your attachment to those maxims on