THE PRESS.
COMPACT BETWEEN THE PEOPLE AND KING OF FRANCE.
EDINBURGH WEEKLY JOURNAL.—It may not be uninteresting to tie public, if we take a brief review of the circumstances under which the Bourbon family were recalled by the French nation, and of the con- ditions under which they resumed their legal sway. On the 31st of March, 1814, whett France was a conquered country, and completely in the power of-the allies, whose armies encompassed its capital, a Pro- clamation was issued by Prince Schwartrenberg, the Commander-in... Chief of the allied armies, and a declaration Was 'at the same time made by Alexander of Russia. The former, addressing the inhabitants of Paris, said, " The wish of this city is looked for with that interest which a result of such importance must inspire ; let her declare herself, and from that moment the army before her walls becomes the support of her decisions ;" and Alexander declared that the allied Sovereigns " will recognize and guarantee the Constitution which France shall adopt.. They therefore invite the Senate to name immediately a Provisional Go- vernment which may provide for the wants of the administration, and prepare the constitution which shall suit the French people. The in- tentions which I have just expressed are common to all the allied Powers." Under the sanction of this authority from the only power which, at the time, could confer it—for at that time the claims of the' Bourbon family to the throne of France, as a matter of hereditary right, were not breathed, and they had no means of maintaining them—the Con- servative Senate on the Otis of April following, framed and promulgated a Constitution, the first articles of which are in these terms : " The French Government is monarchical, and hereditary from male to male, in the order of primogeniture ; the French people call freely to the throne of France, Louis Stanislaus Xavier de France, brother of the last King, and after him the other Members of the House of Bourbon in the an- dent order." The 5th article declares, that " the King, the Senate, and the Legislative body concur in the making of laws." The 9th provides that each department shall send a deputy, and that they should " in future be chosen by the Electoral Bodies, which are preserved with the exception of the changes that may be made by a Law in their organization.'' " The Legislative Body has the right of discussion." " The Liberty of the Press is entire (Art. 23), with the exception of the legal repression of offences which may result from the abuse of that liberty." " 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 lie shall have signed and sworn by an act stating, I accept the Constitution-1 swear to observe it, and cause it to Le observed." On the evening of the 14th of April, the Provisional Government being dissolved, and the Government of the kingdom conferred on Monsieur, (the present King,) until the arrival of his late brother, and his acceptance of the Constitution, the decree of the Senate was presented by them in a body to him, when he re- plied, " that though he had himself taken cogniziance of the Consti. Onion, he had not received from his brother the power to accept it, though, as he knew his sentiments and principles, he could assure them in his name, that his Majesty would admit the bases. His Royal Highness then dwelt upon the bases which the King recognized,. viz, the principle of a Representative Government divided into two Houses, liberty of worship, and of the press, &c., in fact, all the bases upon which the new Constitution is founded." Such was the part enacted by Charles X., when, by the free call of the French people, his family were recalled as Constitutional Monarchs of the country ; and on the 2nd of May, before he entered Paris as King of France, Louis XVIII. signed a declaration, that he was "recalled by the love of his people," and that he "recognized that the bases were good" of the Con- stitution which had been tendered for his acceptance, although they required revision on some points by the Senate and Legislative Body which were convoked for the 10th of June. He distinctly pledged him- self that "the Representative Government shall be maintained such as it exists at present, divided into two corps, viz. the Senate, and a House composed of the Deputies of Departments ; " that "the liberty of the press shall be respected with the precautions necessary to the pub- lic tranquillity ; " " and that no individual shall be disturbed for his epinions and votes." Such, then, were the terms of that solemn com- pact betwixt the People of France and the House of Bourbon, when the latter were called to the throne ; and it is needless to advert to the modi. fications which were subsequently introduced into the constitution, be- cause these were accomplished legally by the supreme legislature of the country. And, in judging of the late violation of the compact, we must recur to its fundamental basis, as laid in the constitution framed by a free people to their chosen Sovereign, who accepted of his sceptre as a gift, under the limitations with which it was accompanied. Charles X, has, in violation of the tenure by which alone he held his regal authority, arbitrarily extinguished the representative branch of the Legislature; he has, without legislative sanction, destroyed the liberty of the press ; and by these acts he has usurped the authority of an absolute despot, instead of exercising the functions of a limited monarch. His legitimate autho- rity is, therefore, at an end. Ile has forfeited his right to the throne of France ; and upon his head ought all the calamities which may ensue to fall, almost without forgiveness, and certainly without commisreation.
HOW WILL THE FRENCH PEOPLE ACT I Monsrixo CIIRON1CLE—The French Revolution is now terminated. The Coinmissioners have reported from Rambouillet to the Duke of Or- leans that they have succeeded in their mission with the King. The despatch, which encloses the official letter of the Commissioners, says that the King intends to embark for the United States of America. For all this we were prepared. The retreat of a Monarch, defeated in his own capital, must be speedily followed by his abdication or dethronement. The next great point is to arrange the terms on which the Duke of Or- leans shall be King. Believing that this Prince has the good of his country at heart, and knowing also that he is able and intelligent, we trust that all parties will agree in placing him on the throne. He can wish for no power which is not necessary for the defence and security of the nation, and he will be the first to subscribe to the measures which may be necessary for the security of the people. The Government of the Duke of Orleans is not indeed a Republic in name ; but if effect be given to the will of the nation, it is of no great consequence what the Government be called. Poland was called a Republic, and it was the worst Government in the world. Switzerland is called a confederation of Republics ; and yet most of the cantons are under the dominion of the proudest aristocracy in Europe. In France there is no aristocracy— the people will be represented, and the Government must be in accord- ance with the will of the genuine representatives of the people, Mr. Cobbett, in his Register of this day, observes—" I do not proceed upon. the supposition that the Republic, by name, will be restored ; but I am - quite sure that it will he in substance." The truth is, that in every country the Government must become, as a matter of course, more and more a Republic in substance. Republics, in the an- cient sense, in which the whole people deliberated in person on the common concerns, are unsuited to more than single cities. But Repre- sentation and the Press have enabled extensive countries to enjoy a de- gree of independence and security incompatible with the Mob Govern- ments of antiquity. Representation alone would be a very imperfect check on the depositaries of power, without the instrumentality of the Press, which enables every man to see whether the Representative does Ms- duty. Imperfect as the Representation is in England, from the in- stant the Press was allowed to communicate its proceedings to the na- tion, there has been a gradual improvement in the couduct of public men, who have appealed to the bar of public opinion, and given such reasons as they could muster for their conduct. A people accustomed to hear reasons from men in power, will in time be enabled to compel men in Power to act in such a manner as is consistent with reason. The Oh- garchy of England will not be long able to uphold abuses for which they can urge no better argument than Sic volo. The times are fast approach- ing, when no man will dare to insult the nation by assuming a right to choose Representatives for the people. In other countries, the progress of improvement is equally evident. The people sit in judgment on the measures of their Government, and have presented to them in a thousand shapes the various institutions which have been framed for giving effect tathe popular will. Even in Russia, the higher ranks are dissatisfied with the Government, and anxious that they should have more influ- ent.T ; and the fear of many persons acquainted with that part of Europe is, lest the masses of that Empire should be put in movement before the body of the people should be possessed of sufficient intelligence to render the movement safe.
TtmEs—It does not become any foreign nation to intrude its advice on such an occasion. But we may infer, from the deep admiration and
close imitation of the English constitutional precedents which the leaders
of the Liberal party in France have now for some time manifested, that the precedent of 1683 will be very earnestly appealed to, if not followed.
The cases are not altogether parallel, but the leading features are
similar. The immediate heir to the crown was in 1688 set aside, and the proximate heir to him adopted. James II. ran away without at- tempting to make a condition : in the present case the ex-King makes an express stipulation in favour of his grandson. But thought the circum- stances are different, the principle may perhaps be thought to be the same. A king, who by his crimes has forfeited his right, cannot have the power to transfer that right conditionally to another. A King in the plenitude of his power—like Charles V., resigning his sceptre to his son Philip—may have the right, as well as the power, of a conditional abdication; but if a King, after forfeiting his right by an open viola- tion of the constitution, is completely defeated in his appeal to arms, is it not clear that, in such a case, he loses both right and power ? The condition of his abdication may be good or bad in itself; but is it a question to which he can fairly be a party ? Is it not a ques- tion which the Legislature alone has the right as well as the means of deciding ? On what grounds will the Legislature decide. Will they adhere to the claims of strict title, or will they in the pecu- liar circumstances of the case, conceive the point of right to be sub- servient to that of political expediency or necessity ? This is the question which the French Chambers have to decide, and with which no other persons ought to interfere. We again say that we, as foreigners, have no right to quarrel with that decision, whether it be for the Duke of Orleans or the Duke of Bourdeaux. Should it be in favour of the former, the English people at least cannot quarrel with the adoption of a principle which •their own revolution has consecrated ; and even the Austrian Government, which has sanctioned the placing a Marshal of France on the throne of Sweden, cannot insist that the principle of here- ditary legitimacy is essential to the repose of Europe.
Monsamo Posy—We do not stop to inquire whether the abdication of Charles the Tenth and his Son is a valid and conclusive act—whether, if circumstances favourable to the pretensions of either should hereafter arise, he or his partizans might not plausibly allege that it was nuga- tory, because it was extorted by force or fear. We leave the dangers and convulsions of which this question may be the source altogether out of our statement, and suppose the claims of these Princes to the French Throne to be wholly and for ever extinct. Who then are the remaining parties upon whose moderation and mutual forbearance rests the slender hope of France, obtaining, by means of her revolution, any regular and stable Government for many years to come ; and, on the other hand, whose struggle for ascendancy—by far we fear the more probable case of the two—would eventually involve her in the horrors of a sanguinary, ferodious, and protracted civil war, from the evils of which the iron bondage of some military adventurer would again prove an acceptable refitge ? • Monism; HERALD—The mention of England, and of no other country, in the Speech of the Duke of Orleans to the French Chambers, has given rise to some observations and to opposite conjectures. By some it is looked upon as a hint to the British Government on the failure of its supposed attachment to the Polignac Administration; while by others it is taken in a flattering sense to the country at large, as that part of the civilised world whose principles and whose policy it will be the object of the new Government of France to adopt. This latter interpretation seems to be that which the plain meaning of the words used best bear out. The expressions are these—" It will show to England, that, wholly engaged with its commercial prosperity, it loves peace as well as liberty, and desires only the happiness and repose of its neighbours." Such sentiments as these are entitled to respect and admiration. They point to the only true rivalry which might to exist among States ; and are at this time doubly valuable, when contrasted with what was the first measure of those who headed the former French Revolution, which was to declare war against all other Governments, and an offer of assist- ance to the rebels and revolutionists of all foreign States. There can be surdoubt but that both the 'Government and the people of this country will respond to these sentiments in a manner worthy of themselves and Oiour free institutions.
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