As liberty consists but in the power of doint; whatever neither
injures the rights of another, nor the public fafety, the law may
cltablifti penalties again {I fa&s, which, attacking either the rights
of others, or the public fafety, wouid be injurious to foofety.
The Constitution guarantees the inviolability ol property, or a
just and previqns indemnity for that, of which public neccflity,
legally proved, shall require the fucrilice.
that were formerly dcftir.ed to ferv'.cesof public utility
belong to the nation ; those which were appropriated to the ex
pencee of worfbip are at the disposal of the nation.
A general eftablilhmerit of public succours shall be created and
organized lor the relief of the infirm poor, and of the poor not
infirm who want work.
A public inftru&iou lhall be created and organised, common to
all citizens, gratuitous with regard to those parts of tuition indil
\>cn{ableior all men, and of which the eftablilhment lhall be gra
dually diilribuitd in a proportion combined with the divifiou of
the kingdom.
lIEAD II
Oj the Division oj the Kingdom, and the State cf citizens.
T. Fiance is divided into 8j depart department into
di ft rift s, each diftrift into cantons.
11. Those ore French citizens who are born in France, of a
l'rench father ; who, having been born in France ol a foreign fa
ther, have fixed their refidencc in the kingdom; who, having
lu en born in a foreign country, of a French lather, have returned
to fettle in France, and have taken the Civic Oath ; in fine, who,
hi ving been born in a foreign country, being delcended in what
ever degiee from a Frenchman, or Frenchwoman, who have left
their country from religious motives, come to refidc in trance
and take the Civic Oath.
111. Those who, being born out of the kingdom, of foreign
parents, reside in France, become French citizens alter fi v e years
of continued residence in the kingdom; if, besides, they have
acquired real property, or married a French woman, or formed a
commercial eftablifhmcnt, and if they have taken the Civic Oath.
IV. Thp legislative power may, from important conliderations,
naturalize a foreigner, upon no other condition, than that of re
ading in France, and taking the Civic Oath.
V. The Civic Oath is : " I fwcar to be faithful to the Nation,
the Law, and the King ; and to maintain, with all my power, the
confiitution decreed by the Constituent National Aflembly during
the years 1789, 1790, and 1791."
VI. The right ol French citizenship is loft,
i ft, By naturalization in a foreign country ;
adly, By being condemned to penalties which involve the Ci
vic degradation, provided the person condemned, be not rc
inftatcd :
3dly, By a sentence of contumacy, provided the sentence be
not annulled ;
4(hly by an initiation into any ioreign order or body, which
shall be supposed to require proofs of nobility.
VII. Fr nch citizens regarded in the light of those local rela
tions, which irife out of their afiociation in cities, and in certain
divisions of tcriitorv in the country, form the Communities.
The legislative power may fix the extent of boundary of each
communiiy.
VIII. The citizens who compose each community have the
right of choosing, according to the forms prescribed by the law,
those among them, who, under ihe name of Municipal Officer,
are charged with ihe management of -.he particular affairs of the
community. To the Municipal Officers may be delegated cer
tain lun&ions relative to the general intereftof the State.
IX. The rules which the Municipal Officers shall bound to
follow in the exercise, both of the municipal functions, and of
those which shall be delegated to them for the general imereft,
ihall be fixed by the laws.
HEAD 111.
Of the public powers.
I. The sovereignty is one, indivisible, and appertains to the
nation ; no fe&ion of the people can arrogate the exercise of it.
11. The nation, from which alone flow all the powers, cannot
exercise them but by delegation.
The French constitution is representative ; the representatives
are the legislative body and the King.
111. The legislative power is delegated to a National Aflembly,
composed of temporary representatives, freely cholen by the
people, to be exercise d by this Aflembly, with the fan£tion of
the King, in manner afterwards determined.
IV. The government is monarchical : the executive power is
delegated to the King, to be exercised under his authority, by
Mini (Vers and other rcfponfible agents, in manner afterwards de
termined.
V. The judicial power is delegated to judges, chofcn for a
time limited by the people.
Of the Legislative National AJfembly.
I. The National Aflembly, forming the legislative body, is
permanent, and confiftsof one chamber only.
11. It (hall be formed by new elections every two years.
Each period of two years lhall form one legislature.
111. The renewal of the legislative body shall be matter of full
right.
IV. The legislative body (hall not b« diflolved by the King.
Section I.
Number of Representatives.—Basis of Representation.
I. The numb r of representatives to the legislative body, shall
be 745, on account of the eighty-three departments of which the
kingdom is composed ; and independent of those that may be
granted to the colonies.
11. The representatives shall be distributed among the eighty
three departments, according to the three proportions of land,ol
population, and the contribution direst.
111- Of the 745 representatives, 247 are attached to the land
Of these each department (hall nominate three, except the depart
mentof Paris, which (hall nominate only one.
IV. Two hundred and forty-nine representatives are attributed
to the population. The total mass of the a&ive population of
the kingdom is divided into 249 parts, and each department no
minates as many ot the deputies as it contains parts of the popu-
lation.
V. Two hundred and forty-nine representatives are attached
to the contribution direst. The sum total of the dirett contribu
tion of the kingdom is likewise divided into 249 parts, and each
department nominates as many deputies as it pays parts of the
contribution.
Section 11.
Primary AJfemblies, Nomination nj Elcflorf.
I. In order to form a Legislative National Assembly, the a&ive
citizcns shall convcne in primary AflVmblies in the cities and can-
tons,
11. To be an adtivecitizen, it is necefTary
To be a Frenchman, or have become a Frenchman ;
To have attained 25 years complete ;
To have resided in the city or canton at least for the fnace oi
one year;
To pay in any part of the kingdom a direst contribution, at lead
equal to the value of three days labour, and to produce the ac
quittance ;
Not to be in a menial capacity, namely, that of a servant re
ceiving wages;
To be inferibed in the Municipality of the place of his resi
dence in the lift of the National Guards ;
To have taken the Civic Oath.
-111. Every fix years the Legiflatlve Body (hall fix the minimum
and the maximum of the value of a day's labour, and the Admi
uiftiators of the Departments shall determine the rate for everv
diftrift. 7
Chhapter I,
IV. None {hall exercise the rights of an active citizen in more
than one place, nor employ another as his substitute.
V. Those lhall be excluded from the rights of an a&ive citizen
who are in a ltaie of accusation. Those who, after having been in
a slate of failure or bankruptcy, shall not produce a geneial dil
charge from their creditors.
VI. The ptimary Assemblies shall name electors in the propor
tion of the number of adlive citizens residing in the ciiy or can-
ton ;
There (hall be named one elcdlor to the Assembly. or not, ac
cording as there lhall happen to be prefeut a hundred adlive ci
tizens ;
There shall be named two, when there shall be present irom 151
to 250, and so on in this proportion
VII. No man can be named elector, if along with the condi
tions necessary, in oidcr to be an a6tive citizen, he dots not join
that of paying a contribution direel of day's labour.
Section 111.
Eledoral Aflcmblies —Nomination of Representatives.
I. The elc&ors named in each department shall convene in or
der to chafe the number of Representatives, whose nomination
lhall belong to the department, and a number of substitutes equal
to the third of the Reprefentativcs.
11. The Reprefentativcs and substitutes shall be chosen by an
absolute majority of votes.
111. All a£live citizens, whatever be their (late, pro r eflion, or
contribution, may be chosen as Representatives of the Nation.
IV. Excepting nevertheless the Ministers and other agents of
the Executive power, revocable at pleasure, the Commiflioners of
the national treasury, the colle£lors and receivers of the dire£l con
tributions ; those who fuperinUnd the colledlion and manage
ment of the indirect contributions, and those who, under what
ever denomination, hold any employ in the Royal Houlehold.
V. The exercise of the municipal, administrative and judiciary
fun£tions, shall be incompatible with the fun£kions of a Represen
tative of the Nation, during every period of the Legiflaturc.
VI. The members of the legislative body may be re-ele&ed to
the next legislature, but not till after an interval of two years.
VII. The Representatives named in the departments, shall not
be Representatives of a particular department, but of the whole
nation ; and their freedom of opinion cannot be controlled by any
inftru&ions either of the primary assemblies, or of the ele&ors.
Section IV.
Se/fion and Regulation of the Primary arid Elefloral Assemblies.
I. The fun&ions of the Primary and Electoral Affenablies, lhall
be limited merely to the right of chufing ; as soon as the ele£tion
is over, they shall (eparate, and shall not meet again till they (hall
have been summoned.
11. No a&ive citizen can enter or vote in an Assembly, if he is
armed or dressed in an uniform, unless he be in the service, in
which cafe he may vote in uniform, but without arms.
111. No armed force can be introduced in the meeting, exrept
at the express desire of the AfTembly, unless in the cafe of a£lual
violence, when the order of the Piefident lhall be fufficieut to call
in the aid of the public force.
IV. Every two years there shall be drawn up in each diftri£l lifts
by cantons of the a£live citizens, and the lilt of each canton shall
be published, and polled up two months before the meeting of
the Primary Assembly.
The protells which shall be made either against the rights of ci
tizens, named in the lift, or on the part of those who shall affirm
that they are unjustly omitted, (hall be carried to the Tribunals, in
order to be there decided upon.
The lift, (hall fcrve to regulate the admission of citizens in the
next Primary Assembly, in every point that lhall have been ascer
tained by a sentence pronounced before the fitting of the Assembly.
y. The Electoral Assemblies have the right of verifying the
quality and powers of those who lhall present themselves there,
and their decifionsfhall be provifi>nally executed with a refervc for
the sentence of the Legislative Body at the time of the verification
of the powers of Deputies.
VI. In 110 cafe, and under no pretext, (hall the King, or any
agents named by him, interfere in quellions relative to the regula
rity of the Convocation, the fctting of Assemblies, the form of
elections, or the political rights of citizens.
Section V.
Meeting of the Representatives in the Legislative National Assembly.
I. The Representatives (hall convene on the firft Monday of
May, in order to supply the placeof the last Legislature.
11. They shall form themselves provisionally under the prefi
dence of the eldest of their number, in order to verify the powers
of the Repiefentatives present.
111. As soon as these (hall be verified, to the number of three
hundred and seventy-three members, they (hall constitute them
selves under the title of Legislative National Assembly ; they shall
name a President, Vice-Prelident, and Secretaries, and enter upon j
the exercise of their funflions.
IV. During the whole of the month of May, if the number of
Representatives present fall short of three hundred and feventy
three, the Assembly shall not perform any Legislative atl.
They may issue an arrete, enjoining abfeut members to attend
their functions within 15 days at fartheft, under a penalty of 3000
livres, if they do not produce an excuse which shall be deemed
lawful by the Legislative B6dy.
V. On the last day of May, whatever be the number of members
present, they shall constitute themselves a Legislative National
Assembly.
VI. The Representatives (ball pronounce in|a body,in the name
of the French people, the oath—" to live free, or die!"
They (hall then individually take the oath to maintain, with all
their power, the Constitution of the kingdom, decreed by the
Constituting National Assembly, during the years 1789, 1790, and
1791, to propose or assent to nothing in the coutfe of ihe Lcgifla
ture which may at all tend to infringe it, aud to be in every ie
fpe& faithful to the Nation, the Law, and the King.
VII. The Representatives of the Nation are inviolable. They
cannot be examined, accused, or judged at any time with refpedt
to what they m3y have said, written, or performed in the exercise
of their functions of Representatives.
VIII. They may, for a criminal ast, be seized as guilty of a
flagrant crime, or in virtue of an order of arrest, but notice shall
be given of it, without delay, to the Legislative Body, and the pro
fccution shall not be continued, till after the Legislative Bodv lhall
have decided that there is ground of accusation.
( To be continued.)
LONDON, August n.
IT is said, that Mr. Faulkner has.fully execut
ed the purposes of his embally ; that the good
understanding which long subsisted between our
court and that of Peterfbnrg is perfectly re-efta
blillieil ; and that the Empress has alTented to a
renewal of the commercial treaty, which expired
in 1786, and by which both countries were so
much benefited.
By a letter from Peterfburgh we are informed,
that the Empress of Ruifia is at the lad extremi
ty. From the (late in which she lay when the
poll away, it is more than probable, that (he is
no more.
There are different accounts refpefting the
Empress of Ruflia as to her health. The follow
190-
ing, as to her person, lier manners, and her ta
lents, cannot be unacceptable to th» reader
This very distinguished woman, though foinc
what corpulent, is not ungracefully formed, and
is above the middle ftze. She lias rather a fair
complexion, and uses paint : her eyes are ex
prellive, and her features in general notunpleaf
ing. In molt of the portraits given of her, her
features are too ltrong, and her "air too maCou
line ; for, with regard to her appearance alto
gether, though {lie be not one of the most deli
cate of the fair, yet (he is by no means one of
the most coai fe. 'Her demeanour is courteous •
and a prelence of mind, penetration and acute
obfervarion, are among her principal character
istics : her reason is practical reason, and this
has railed her to a knowledge superior to thai of
most of her sex. Her mind lias great sensibility,
and is very ful'ceptible of jealousy, ofdifguft, and
of vengeance. With refpeift to her diefs, it is
very superb when Ihe appears in public ; fte
sometimes wears a very coltly necklace of dia
monds, bracelets and ear-rings, with a blue rib
band of the highest order of knighthood.
A letter received on Thursday from Birming
ham mentions, that since the beginning of this
week, several persons who had attempted totake
Ihelter in the coalpits at Wednefbury had been
apprehended, and have proved to befome of the
mod active of the rioters. What is more extra
ordinary, a guard is put over the principal of
these subterraneous regions, to hinder the ad
miHion of any person except the workmen, tilt
the present troublesome investigation has subsided
Extratl of a letter from JVarfuw, July 16.
" A report having been circulated of an in
tended- plot to carry off the King from the palace
of Lazten, every neceflary precaution has been
taken against such a mejifure ; the guards about
the Royal person have been doubled, and addi
tional cannon placed round the palace ; a fufc
pected person has been apprehended,and brought
here under a strong guard ; but as no particulars
can be developed, it is supposed to be a falfe a
larm."
Sleep Walkers.—A gentleman who was troubled
for a length of time, with a visitation of this un
fortunate kind, discovered a very simple way of
preventing ir. He had all round his bed a large
mat of very itrong horse hair, with the ends of
them (ticking up about a quarter of an inch ; and
which, whenever he Hepped upon them, by
pricking his feet, always waked him.
An advertifemenc addrefled to Undertakers,
and the public in general, describes a newly con
fee-rated bury ing ground, in the environsof Welfc
miniler, as, " the mod choice, commodious,fafe,
quiet, and fnu% fit nation, that it is polfibJe to Us
in." It is emblazoned info lavifli and luxuriant
a style, that one would really think the person .
that announces it, intends to tempt people todie,
char they may get into a pleasant situation. it j
is i'oniewhat finiilar to the handbill of a Club,
where each member,for paying sixpence a week,
has tjjofl tmmenfe advantages as long as he lives,
and a fuin set apart for his funeral, when hecaa
live no longer. It concludes with these memo
rable words : "Jt is worth any gentleman's while
to belong to this Society, if it were only to rp
flecft on the handsome wanner in which he is sure
to be: carried to his grave, and the pleasant pro£
pe<ft there is from the place in which he is sure/
to be buried."
Peter Pindar, who now and then it seems can
write Loyal Odes, thus happily addrefles that
Son of Sedition, daring Pai ne—
" Say, didst thou fear that Br ita i n was too blefl,
Of peace thou mod delicious pest ?—
How sh /vMEFU l that this pin's-head of an Isle :
Whilst half the Globe's in grief, should wear a Imile,
How dares the Wr epi amidst his hedges ling,
Whilst Eagles droop the beak, and flag the wing ?"
Original Letter from the I\i"g of Fohnd /#
M. de Viß'tnghoff, at Paris,
M. DE VICTI NGHOFF,
I HAVE been very much flattered by receiving,
after an absence of thirty years, fnch an affedh
onate tettimony of your sentiments as that af
forded by your letter of the 4th of June last.
The active and honorable part which you have
taken in the revolution in France, is related in
a paper which has been, for some timepaft, COI 'T
ftantly brought to me. The fame humane and
civic motives, that have governed your condudfc
in the country, which you inhabit, induce you
to take a part so agreeable to me in the revolu
tion in Poland.
The success of the latter can never be more
pleasing to me, than when I find it approved by
thole whose merit has long commanded my P ar "
ticular elteeiH. My mod sincere thanks are due
to you for the fentimeuts you express upon an
event, that protnifes to Poland a more happy a n "
secure exigence for the future.
I am very happy, fir, to have found this op
portunity of alluring you of the conllancy of that
friendfhip which was formed, when I had the
happiness of knowing you.
Stanislaus Augustus, King.