-V
A NATIONAL PAPER, PUBLISHED WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS BY JOHN FENNO, No. 34, NOPTH FIFTH.STRBET, PHILADELPHIA
[No. 152 of Vol. IV.]
new go nstitution
F R A N C E.
DtcKUD i)the National ConV entioH.
fftCLARATION of the RIGHTS of MAN ani of
-4 the CITIZEJf.
PREAMBLE
THE French People, convinced that the neg
lect and contempt of the Natural Rightsof
Man are the sole causes of misery in the world,
have resolved to set forth in a solemn declara
tion thol'c sacred and unalienable rights, to ihe
end'that, it being in the power of every Citizen
to compare at all times the proceedings of go
vrrnment, with the end Of every focal com.
•past they may never fuller themselves to be op
prelfed and debased by tyranny ; that the people
m,y ever have before their eyes'thc bafts ol their
liberty and happiness ; the magistrate, the ex
lent Of his duty ; the legator, the object of
his aopointment. .
Wuh these vitws ihey proclaim in the pre.
fence of the Supreme Being, the following de.
elar'i'tion of the Rights of Man and ol the Cm
Art. I. Ybr'end of all [rtclfXv
...v,-., !s the public
haopm -isV Government is eftablilbed to secure
v to Man the enjoyment of his natural and impre
•fcrip'iblc rights.
11. These rights are equality, liberty, lecu
rity, property. , . ,
111. All men are equal by nature and in the
eye of the law.
IV The law isthefrefeand solemn expreflion
bf the general will ; it operates equally on all,
whether by piotedling or punishing; it can
command only what is jiift and ufelul to Tociety,
arid prohibit only what is hurtful.
V All Citizens aie equally admiflible to pub
lic employments. A free people know no other
motive of prclerence in their clefiions than vir
luc and talents. ' .
'VI. Libf.rty is the power which Man pol
felTe* of doiiig whatever is not hurtful to the
rights of others. It is founded in nature; its
bounds are marked bv justice; law forms its
proteflion, and its moral limits are dehned in
this m.axiin— Do not V> others, what you would
not wifti done to vourlelf.
VII. The light of exprefiing thoughts and
opinions either through the medium of the prers,
or a,ny other manner ; the right of quietly alicm
bllne ; the free exercise of relijnouf worlhip,
cannot be prohibited. The neccffity of making
mention of these rights, supposes the presence or
tbf recent remembrance ot despotism.
VIII. Security is the protc&ion afforded
' by society to'tach of its Members for the pre
fervatibn of his person, rights, and property.
IX.' The law (hould protcfl; public and indi
vidual liberty against the oppression of thole
Hvho govern- ,
X. No one can be accused, arretted or de
tained, but in the cases laid down in the law,
and agreeably to the forms prescribed. Every
Citizen fumtoon'dor arretted under the autho
rity of the law, (hould immediately obey, y
refinance he renders himfelf
XI. Every proceeding against a Citrzen out
of the reach or without the forms prefer 1 bed by
the law, is arbitrary and tyrannical ; the per on
against whom it {hould be attempted to be exe
cuted by force, has the right to repel it by force,
XII. Those who folic.it, dispatch, fig", exe
cute, orcaufe to be executed, arbitrary atts, are
; guHtv* and deftrve punilhment.
XIII. Everyman being presumed innocent
"until he has been declared guilty ; if it > s judged
nece(Taryfo arrt-ft him, all unnecessary rigour in
fccuHng Hitn, (hould be severely prohibited by
the law.
XIV. No one (hould be judged and punilh
ed until he ha 6 been heard, or legally *ppea e ,
unless he conges nnder a law made public
before the perpetration of the crime; the aw
"ptfjirih'rng actions* performed before its exilUnce
is tyrannical; the retrofpeftive effect of any law
is criminal.
XV. The law (hould only decree punish
ment's ftrittly and evidently necessary : -the pu
tiiftiment (hould be proportioned to the crime,
and ufeful to society.
XVI. The right of property belongs to every
citizen ; it is the right of enjoying Sua dilpol
ing at his will of his goods, revenues, or the
fruits of his labour and indoftry.
XVII. No species of labour, culture, or com
merce, can be prohibited*
XVIII. Every man may bargain for hit ler
vices and his lime; but he can neither fel lm
felf nor be fold. His person is not alienable
property. The law acknowledges no fetvitude;
there can be but an engagement to petform and
to 'pay an equivalent, between the man who
works and his employer.
XIX. No one can be deprived of the lealt
portion of his propeitv, without his consent,
W5 the public necessities legally afcertaincd
' require it, and under condition ot an adequite
and nrevious compeflfation. .
XX. No contribution can be required except
for the general benefit. All citizens have a
to concur in fixing the contributions; to
infpeft the expenditure of rhent, and to require
accounts of that expenditure.
XXI. Publit succours areafacred debt. The
. focicty owes relief to unfortunate etnzens, either
bv furni(hing them with work, or by securing
• the means df fubftflence to thole who art unable
to work.
Wednesday, September 4, 1793.
XXII. Iriftrnftion is necefTary to all: Society
should favour as much as poflible the progress
of public reason, and place tne means of inflec
tion within the teach of every citizen.
XXIII. The fpcial compact consists in the
endeavours of all to assure to each the enjoy
ment and preservation of his rights , this com.
pa£t rcftsUpon the National sovereignty.
XXIV. It cannot exist unless the powers of
pubiie functionaries are clearly defined by the
law. and their responsibility well iecurcd.
XXV. The sovereignty of the nation rcfides
in the people. It is indivisible, imptefcriptible
and unalienable.
XXVI. No portion of the people can exercise
the powers of the whole people ; but each sec
tion of the fovereigr. assembled shall enjoy the
right of expreffiiig its will with entire liberty.
XXVII. Let any individual who should at
tempt to sovereignty. be .immediately
put to death by freemen.
XXVIII. The people bave always the right
to revise, reform and etiange their constitution.
One generation cannot bind by ils laws future
generations.
XXIX. Every citizen has an equal right to
concui in making the law, and in appointing
his representatives and agents.
XXX. 'Public offices are essentially ternpo
rarv ; they cannot be considered either is con
ferring diftinftion, or as but as duties.
XXXI The crimes of the repiefentativcs of
the people, or their agents, should never go un
punidled. No one has.a right to assume an in
violability that does not belong to other cut
zens. _ . .
XXXII- The right of prehnhn* petitions to
the dcpofitaries of public authority, can In no
cafe be prohibited, fufper.ded or limited.
XXXIII. -Refinance to opprrflion is a con
sequence of the other righis of man.
XXXIV. The social body is oppreiled, when
one of its members is oppress d. Each indivi
dual of the social body is oppressed, when the
social body is oppressed. <.
XXXV When ihe gfrvemment violates the
rights of the people, inlurrcftton is to the peo.
pie and each portion of the people, the molt la
cted of rights and the moll indifpenfible ot du
ties.
CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC.
Art. 1. The Rroublic is one and indivisible.
Of the dijlrifottion of the People.
1.. The French people are divided, for the
exercise of their sovereignty, into pumary al
femblies of cantons. . .
o. They are dif.ded, for 'the admimftration
of justice, into departments, dtftrifts, municipa
lities. ' . , , . .
Of the political fitaatwn of citizens.
A • Every pe.fon born and fettled in France,
21 year, ago ; every ilrangef of ai years of age,
who fettled in France for one year, li*es by his
labour, or acquires a property ;■ or *
French woman, or adopts a child ; or supports
an infirm person ; every stranger in fine who
(hall be judged, by the legislative body, to have
defcrved well in the cause oIF humanity, is a -
mitted to the exercise of the rights of a French
; "r n Thc exercise of (he rights of i French, tj£
zen is forfeited by natur.laatmn .n fore'gn
countries ; by the acceptance of " '
or favors from a government not te P ubl ' can '
by the condemnation to ignominious, or corpo
ral punifhinent, until rehabilitation.
6. The exercise of the rights of cmMos »
firfpended, while under accusation ; by a Icn
tence of non-appearance, so long as the sentence
is not retraftcd. .
Of the Sovereignly of the People.
y. The /overeign people, is the whole mass
of French citizens. , •
8 They appoint immediately their d p •
q They delegate to ekftor.s the choice of ad
min,ftrato", of public atbi.ers, of criminal
judges and those of'final appeal.
10. They deliberate upon the laws.
Of firimar) ajjembhes.
Primary affemblics consist of citizens re
fidinc tor fix months in a canton.
it. They are composed of 200 citizens
lead and of 600 at most, entitled to vote.
.3 They arc constituted by the nommanon
of a president, secretaries, and inf.-eaorsot bal
lo'i4. They regulate Iheir internal police,
t' No one can appear at them, armed.
,6. The eleaions are either by ballot or viva
M ? 7 a A h pnmaryaffemblycanin no cafe pre
of cft'izTns who P , un able to write, with however
W ; g 0t The quXon. on the law, are decided by
yes and no primary assembly is pro
i " T^hul—-The citizens assembled >o pri
tTa Wof »number voter,,
vote Hor or against] by a majority of
Of the National Representation.
41 population is the only basis of'the Na
a deputy for every 4 o
tho usand y atTemblic,.
competing « *'°°°
"™oSoo r'quire." abfoluU ma
countdown »<*
525
fen&4 s commiflioner for the general colle&ion
of ,to the place fixed as most central.
26. If the firft trial does not give any one an
absolute majority, a second election takes place,
the votes being confined to the two .citizens
highest i,n ,
(To bt continued.)
[The fotlowing paper throws great light on
the revolution of the 31ft of May.]
Adirefs of the members of the National Convention,
ordered to be put undet arrejiy to the French na-
"WHEN the liberty of the national re
presentation is no more, and truth is ftifled,
the temple of the laws mutt be ftiut. Thus,
unable to execute the trust reposed in us, it is
our indifpepfable duty to inftrytt you. We
(hall entirely confine ourselves to evident
facts, and leave to you the care of drawing
the neceflary consequences from them.
w A law had been enacted, which prescrib
ed the formation of committees in {he dif
ferent fediions of Paris, destined to watch
over foreigners and suspicious people. This
law was eluded. Inllead of thpfe commit
tees, others were formed in the most illegal
manned contrary to the letter oifthe law as
well as its intention.
" Thtfe illegal revolutionary eonimitteea
have created a central commit tee ,
of one member from every committee of
each feiftion. This central committee, after
some clandestine deliberations, has suspended
the constituted, authorities : it has. affiimefj
the title of the revolutionary council of the
■departmtnt of Paris, and has inverted itfelf
with a power; or rather usurped
it.
ii An extraordiary committee had been de
creed within the bosom of the Convention, to
denounce the illegal and arbitrary a£fcs of the
different constituted authorities of the Re
public; to trace and discover the plots form
ed against the liberty and security of the na
tional representation, and to taufe all persons
to be arretted who fliall be denounced as
chiefs of conspiracies. Surrounded by an
armed force, those revolutionary committees
demanded, on the 27th of May, the suppres
sion of this commiflion. Their requelt was
decreed, but od the next,day, on a vote by
nances, it,, deferred till the committee
fhouW have made their report.—(They con
stantly refufed to attend the report.) On the
30th the revolutionary council intimated to
the Convention their order to suppress the
extraordinary commission. Amidst armed
petitioners, surrounded by cannon, under con
tinual hidings and hootings from the galle
ries, some members decreed the suppression
of the commission. On the 3 general
was again beat; and the tocsin founded,, and
the alarm-gun fired. At thefV signals the ci
tizens took \ip arms, and were ordered to as
semble around the convention. Some depu
tations demanded a decree of accusation a
gainst 55 members of the convenfion. The
afTembly, who had before unanimously reject -
ed this petition, as calumnious, when in the
month of April it was brought forward by
fom6 Sections, supported by the municipality,
now referred it to the committee of public
fafety, and enjoined the members of that
committee to give in their report within
three days. On the Ift of June, at three in
the afternoon, the revolutionary council
marched thejr armed force to invert: the Hall;
at night they appeared at the bar, and de
manded a decree of accusation, against rhe
denounced members. The convention paikd
to the girder of the day, and ordered the pe
titioners to deposit with the coQirmttee
public fafety the proofs of the crimes imput
ed to the accused deputies.
« Since the 30th of Mat, the barriers had
been shut, the adminiftratars of the polt im
pended, the journals flopped, the mails search
ed, the letters broken open and sealed again,
either with a leal bearirg this iifcnption
Revolution of the ft a y *793» / WI l
another, inferibed—The Committee of pub-
M Tba committee of public fafety were
waiting for the nectary proofs to make
their report, when 01 Sunday, June 2, the ft*-
volutionary council appeared again at the bar,
and demanded, for the I ast time, the decree
of accusation Against the denounced members.
The afTembly paffcd again to the order of the
day. The petitioners now gave a signal to
the fpertators to leave the Hall and run to
arms, for the purpose of obtaining that by
open force which justice would not grant.
About noon the general was beat, the
tocsin founded. The citizens were forced to
take up arms and obey the orders of a com
mander, whom the revolutionary council had
placed at their bead : more than 100 cannon
fu. rounded she National Hall ; grates to heat
red hot balls were placed in the Chainp Ely
fees.
" The guard of the Convention, as well as
all true citizens, were confined In different
guard houses ; cannon were pointed towards
the avenues; tlw gatei were shut, and the
entries ordered to flap all the deputies who
[Whole No. 454-]
might attempt to pa ft them, and to fire a*
every one who*'lhould attempt to peep acrois
the bars. DniTaulx the venerable Duflaulx,
was beaten in a most infamous manner »
Roifly d'Anglas had his shirt torn! a great
number of other deputies were insulted, by
the vile satellites of Marat. The battalions
which several days back ftaould have marched
to La Vendee, arrived on a sudden, and seized
upon the inner posts of the Hall. Ailignats
and wine were among them.
These troops were destined to aflaflinate jour
Reprefen-tatives, and would have done it, be
cause the National Guards were not able to
prevent this (laughter. The aflailants were
provided with the best arm?, while the
tions complained of the want of them. In
short, the National Hall was turned into a
prison, where the Representatives of the peo
ple were threated, disgraced, and insulted.
It was demanded that the committee of pub
lic fafety, to calm the rage of the seduced
people who invested the -Hall, should make
their Report.
Barrere mounted the tribune, and.speak
ing in the i}ame of the committee, proposed,
t-l*e denounced members against whom
no proof whatever of the crimes imputed to
them had been produced, Ibould be invited
to suspend tbemfelves from their functions.
Some of them submitted to this measure. A
detree pafled, that the commander ol the arm
ed force (hould be orcje-red to the bar, to ac*
count for his conduA, ai)d inform the Con
vention from whom he had received his or
ders. This decree was not executed. Two
of the fa&ious invaders infu'ted a deputy, and
were ordered to be taken to the bar. Vio
lence and open force opposed also the execu
tion of this fecopd decree. Then it was re
queued, that the fitting ftoukl be ended, and
the temple of the laws shut, jAn end was
put to tbe fitting, tile President walked out of
the hall at the head of the convention, and
ordered the centries to withdraw.
" The convention reached the middle of
the court without meeting any rtftftapce, but
being arrived there,; the copmiandcr ot the
armed force ordered them to return. The
President told him that the convention was not
to be coated to : that it held its authority in
dependent of any other power thato the French
people, and that they alone had a right to
commaud it. The:commander, Henriot,drew
hisfwoid, ranged his cavalry in order of bat
tle,and ordered the cannoneers to point their
cannon. His soldiers were ready to. fire—
The President turned back, the members fol
lowed him, snd attempted every outlet in or
der to escape, bnt every avenue was closed or
defended by cannon. At length, the copveti
tion, unable to retire, rt fumed their fitting.
What do we fay ? they returned into their
prison, and some members decreed, tha.6
Genfonne, Gander, Briflbt, Gorfas, Petion.
Vergniaud, Salles, Barbaroux, Chambon,
Buzot, Biroteau, Lidon, Rabaut, Lafource,
Languinais, Grargenenve, le Sage,. Kervele
gan, Gardien* Boileau, Bertrand, Vigee, Mo
levant, Lariviere, Gomajre, and Bergoin,
Ihould be put under arrest in their own houses.
And why? We mnft not forget to mention,
that on the proposal of Marat, Couthon de
manded, that Valaze and Louvet should be
added to that number, and that some mem
bers gave their consent, for the greater part
of them did not take any (hare in these hu
miliating deliberations. After the decree
was signed, a deputation made its appearance
to teftify its approbation of the decree, and
tendered an equal number of citizens toferve
as hostages for the arretted members.
« Frenchmen ! who would be free and
Republicans, these are facts, which no one
will dare to deny ; we represent them to you
only in a mass, and forbear to enter into de
tails still more attrocious. The National
Representation imprisoned, disgraced, de
liberating under the poignards of an audacious
faction, is no more. Do notfuflfbr any longer
the usurpation of your rights) do not leave
in such hands the exercise of the sovereignty
of the nation ; rescue the libei ty, the sacred
equality, the unity and indivifibiHty of the
Republic ; without them France it loft. Re
ject with horror all proportions tending to
any kind of federaliCm. Rally, unite, and be
firmi you may still save the public caufr.
This public cauTe resides in the whole of your
country | it is not confined nor concentrated
within the walls of Paris. Your deputies may
there perilh, but they will die worthy of you,
and worthy of themlelves too happy, if after
their death their country Ihould be saved.
When the moment of national revenge is
come, then Frenchmen, do not forget that
Paris is not guilty, that the citizens of Paris
were ignorant of the plot, of which tbey
have been made the blind tools. No ! it is
not upon Paris that the dreadful and all pow
eiful hand of the nation ought to bear down ;
but on that horde of robbers and criminals,
i who have made themselves matters of Paris,
who are devouring Paris and France, who
cannot, exist without crimes, an<| have »o
other refuge left but in del'pair, the oflsjring
of vice. Farewell."
O