The Eagle, or, Dartmouth centinel — Hanover, N.H., 1795-10-05 00:00:00, page 1

i<> . z ^ / '
1% VOLUME \
, ft — . CTOBER 5, r 7 9,
I—
-1 the Committee chifen to report a form °f Popular 'P"^' l ' be called
government fir ' France, is replete nvitb
, if# just and excels nt sentiments—we have
.txtraaed largely from if—Many of the
American diforganizen bate been found
^"^^'"''''" f °"dua 0* the ground of
"its pmilarity to the proceedings ts toe
n French, who claimed their unbounded ad-
I, Nation till tbe fallof Robeffeiene—fince
1) ihat event,and ihe termination of the
IA 1"^" rf^ror,fome of them bavenot been
larti, reconciled to the majority of the
[/ Convention ; their adulation has dimin-
I' ijbrd with the dcoeafe of Jacobin influ
l, erce ; —but the period <wbicb has claimed
I their marmeft plaudits, isftilcd, by Boif
fy d'Anglat, a period in which occurred
" the concentration of all the elements of
f elborder, and the organization of anar-'
cW' It cannot be fappofed that the
clubs in this country will very readily re
lijb what d'Auglasfay, of popular socie
ties—" they become, (Jays be,) usurpers,
asfoon as they alt nipt to influence the pfo
litical odder." It is facerrly wiJhed,
bmevtr, that the lovers of diferder in
this country may regenerate with regen
erating FreuebmenQ
§ FRANCE,
j REPORT
1! Os the Committee of Eleven,
} * ONTHE
,NEW CONSTITUTION,
F^Meffidor —23 June.:
U •"r'HEhall and the galleries of the
1 Convention were crowded at a
very early hour. l
,;,Boiffy d'Anglas, in themame of the
Committee ofEteven, delivered the fdh
lowing Speech:
^ It is(he exclaimed) with a great
" nation at with a great man—the object
of all his labors as to obtain at last a
glorious repose. Thus it is with the
French people ; amidol the tempest and
, effervefftnee of all the p^ffions, they
have panted after the calm enjoyment
of the fruits of their sacrifices and tri
umphs. It belongs to the convention
to realize their hopes, by fixing with a
firm and steady hand, the period of their
I fuffetings and their agitations.<
_ + ''Combine allthe faculties of your
>1 fools—collect the energies of your mind
—and bid all the restless and felfifh pas
s fions be silent. Oh I recolleft that the
fate of twenty-five millions of men is in
'• : four hands 1 Remember that to tou is
; ^ entrusted the important charge of fubfti
1 luting tight for darknefi—laws for an
-1 arch,—and liberty for licentioufneft.
For ten years we have seen the labor of
man in France direded to destroy, ra
° ther than to build up—let us, however,
pursue a contrary system.
/^fr ^ We have confirmed fix centuries
lin fix years—let not the experience we
have acquired be thrown away upon u<.
Let the imbecility of the constituent as
sembly; the pufillanimjty and indeci^
Ifion of the legislative aihmbly ; the^ty-
' r^nny of the decemvirs, and the terrors,
iunhappily too numerous in which they
have involved the convention itfelf;
I fay, be a kffon as ufeful to us as it j,
lerri^e. \f
(" Wetouft declare to you, that the
f ennftitution, meditated amidit intrigue
and ambition, and accepted by terror,
is nothing more tty the concentration
^ of all the elements of disorder, and the
organisation of anarchy. It is from
'your wisdom, your patriotism, and
§/ your courage, we expea that, haying
Iwmihilated the tyrannic authors, you
I CT,^<will bury their work in the tomb that
^ Reltaftd from
§their ferocious and fearful yoke, you
j cannot prefrrve a, constitution concti
ved in bosom of vice. ft
E <''&eihere anyttho are yet milled
Iby its pretended advantages I Let them
,'' recoiled, ind by the firft days of the
month Prairial. What, indeed, must
1/ >we think of a coriftitQtftm which organ-I
; up the partial infaro,dion of powers.
—DEDICATED TO >o£/T/CS, AND b HF. BELLES-LETTRES.—-
Quid VIKUM, ATQUI DLCLNB, cuto.—leparaat Truth and Ufcfahejj wg Stud,.
"~ = —ill»»■ bib lnuwa—BM;wwu— ,-
independent of rhe constituted authori
ties, and legalizes the reign of plunder
and terror ? When it is Supported and
called for with fech eagerness, by the
friends of anarchy and disorder, we
mav fairly conclude tha± it favors
tyranny, and that it is a code of immor
ality..
" How can we conceive the idea of
6000 Primary Assemblies deliberating
upon the laws'? It would be tearing
millions from agriculture, commerce,
and the abodes of industry. Betides,
can we fuppofefuch an accordance of
will as th^t the fame laws can be pre
fent^d without danger for acceptencef
to all the affembJies^ That which dis
pleased one might receive the approba
tion of another, and hence would refuk/
perpetual discords and civil war.
" What must we think of a cenftiru
tion which bestows all the power upon
the turbulent and the idle : which estab
lishes a legislative body without digni
ty or liberty : which leaves the direc
tion of the armed force in the firft fac
tious man who may have the audacity
to seize it ; which affords no guarantee
to individual liberty, and in which no
principle of relation to foreign powers
is to be found ?
" Create a government that shall be
firm without being dangerous ; cpm
bi^lbc powers of it in,fucb a manno,,
that, united, they shall produce good,'
and feperated, they shall not produce
evil. Give to the executive power
that degree of force which shall make it
refpr&d within, and feared with-
Qut, ~
" Abfolnte equality is a chimera ;
civil equality is what every man may
claim : we ought rp. be governed by
the b^fl,and therefore ue must collect
either the most enlightened or
the most interested. If men with
out property were to enjoy the
rights of citizens witopt reserve, they
would soon attack property, and eflab
lifh fatal taxes, the effeds of whhich
they would neither feelnor have fore
fen.,
" A country governed by proprietors
is in a facial state; a nation governed
by persons not proprietors is in a state of
nature. We mean therefore to propose
tq declare that to be eligible to the leg
iflarive body, a man mutt possess a cer
tain degree ofprbperty.
" Thisis no injury to the freedom of
election ; it is rather a pledge of refpon-
Gbility which society requires, when she
inyefts one of her members with the
right of 11ipulating for her. We have
thought it right however, to restrain the
right of the citizens; all Frenchmen
having equally concurred in the restor
ing ot freedom to the facial body, eve
ry one ought to make a part of it ; the
condition of property is not the basis of
affociarion, and the poverty of the indi
gent has an efoal right to be protested
with the opulence of the rich.
'' Nevertheless, we propose to you an
exception for condition of a , fervaht :
the servant submits mmfelf to another
man, and exchanges his liberty sot a
portion of wealth ; he should therefore
be temporarily excluded from the exer
cise of his political rights,
" I\ ought aifo te be thefame in fu
ture with regard to those who connot
; re^d and write, and who ffiall not have
learnt fame mechanical art. T
" Who better than you can teftify to
the world all the dangers inherent in
a single legislative body 1 You know
well to whata point the audacity^ of
some wretches, ttie usurped popularity
of a demagogue; and the continual
fpart of factions may ©fcad an affiyn-
Hy without reiwa of Goumrppifc. I]
ctrexq CTCTraBBtQt, —
will nrt fatigue you with the hiftory of
your misfortunes. It is not a House
of ft# it is not a Senate for life, that
we n*an to propose to you. inftitu
lions so aristocratic will be proscribed
by your principles, as well as by our
own : Feudal pride is forever banished
from France. We shall prefeat to you
two ration of the legislative body,
composed of the fame elements, with
the d ffmnce of age. The one to have
the faculty of creating all the projects
of the laws; the other of fanftioning
them. The firft,s cotripofed of the
young citizens, will be the feat of the
imafyatlon, and thought of the repub
lic. The second will be the abode of
the rrffon of the Republic.
« the short spice of time which the
Se&iois will continue in power, does
not permit usto fear that they will make
any attack upon public liberty; they
will be renewed by h^es every two
yebrs.
" The tribunes have too often ex6r
cifed a fatal influence and a dangerous
tyranny over the Convention ; you
ought to declare that only half the
number of the perfuas composing each
feflion of the legislative body should
be permitted to enter them.
“ We have examined thia question,
™!^' "' Executive power ought
^ irtdiraed h,z the ^gizfa I W.
think that such a nomination would be
attended with many inconveniences.
We fear that, abating the power dele
gated to it direflly by the people, it
might be a dangerous rival to the Legis
lative Body. We think that it would
be more advisable for the legislative
body to appoint the executive council
according to certain eftablilhed forms.
This wilH)e the means of eftabliffiing
a friendly relation between them, with
out injuring their refpe&ive indepen
dence. We propose that the executive
power should be confided to a directo
ry of five members named directors.
We do not mean to propose the appoint
ment of a permament president, because
that would give to one man too great a
degree of power. We propose that
each member should be successively
president of the directory for three
months, during which time he should
poff^fi the feats of the republic. It
seems also proper that a degree offtate
should be attached to them, and that
they should always be attended in pub
lic with a guard of honor. ',
"The republic should always bestow
on thema palace, and an. allowance
proportioned to the functions. It is
,eceffary also that they should have a
degree of splendor, for the purpose of
receiving the ambassadors of foreign
/powers, and of displaying an imposing
aford to all the enemies of public or
der,
" The executive power in war and
peace ought to be initiated in the fame
manner, as that prescribed by the con
stitution of 1791. Those, who have
sworn to fuffer no authority capable of
making the laws refpe&d, may here
make use of the sophistry of the anarch
ists. To them you will reply from the
diftstes of exerience.
" We do not propose any Electoral
Bodies. We fear the influence of ora
tors upon large assemblies, which may
beepipe the point of corruption or of
intrigue.—the elections muff take
place immediately in the Primary As
semblies, and with a fecrer ferutiny,
for the purpose of affirming the great
est liberty of opinions.
No society can attach to itfelf the
appellation of popular, without making
an attack upon the; whole body of the
I people.-l t is 0.1, t PQ, As-
cieties onL,f,'' ™° rt of that, So
^^^^t"^° fpri " te
lch bec ° me usurpers as
litica o g%, em P c t 0 influence the po
^ife* f °% ke P < ^
£i^==:
fivi^ E ^ """ be bari ed in ob
livion, and will be covered with a be
nevohtamnefty. a oe
-1," °b> People of France, we
'"CT'aenothing fare; if fyfy
not second us yourselves! Better, far
™ ld . rt be to have a bad con
ftttution admißiftered by pood mm
tranV'Y^f''™"" dieted b,
tyrants. future prosperity de
pends upon your choice. Raed with
equal care the partita of
fry. Reflex ± to if ~)%^
c^Jidence to _&are «_ty%.
Qof^&hgftfyW^
^ /°R m raof thofe Q^%,
friends, Royalifin and terrorism will be
triumphant, and your happiness and
freedom will be loft forever/'
e d B 'n^s A °' a : being 4«ite exhaust.
ed Daunou, another of the members
declaration of rights. ' "
d- T |!, '''"''"", in the declaration of
Rights, are not important. The new
declaration states that the liberty of the
^'vaT r ^fo^ degree be
interdicted, limited, or suspended.-.
The principle ofa partial infurreftion
fr ° PP "F° d c "^ "^ 'elative to
the popular Societies.
, he following are the principal pro
°f "* CONSTITUTIONAL
ACI +
Ud French Republic is One
and Indivisible.
T ^ ¥"£% of the French
Citizens is the fovreign.
3. The republic so divided into de
partments, into Cantonsand Com mu
nes.
_4. Every man born and refideat in
France of the age of a; , ea rs, infcri- . £ ,
bed in the register of his Canton, and
paying a certain contribution, is a
French citizen.
T They are French citizens who
without any ofthofe conditions, have
°, e .or more campaigns, i a the "
nar of Liberty.
^ Foreigners become French citi-^
zens after having resided in France se
ven years, paying dired contributions, =
having landed property, or marrying a ,
French woman. ™
7° The French citizens can alone
vote in the Primary affemblieg.
8. After thenigth year of the Repub.
'°Lr C 'r" e & ^ a '' b ° a gradation in the ,
public functions.
9 . Noone fall be eleded to the fu-
£ u r?°! f^ions unleG he has exesci.
fed the inferior functions.
i. After the ninth year of the Re.
public no person shall be inferibed ia
the remitter of the citizens who shall not
know how to read or write, and who
shall not have learned a mechanical^
profeflioa. —— _ .
;The LEGISLATIVE BQDY^
The L W!! ariv e power so divi
ded into two fe&ons; one undv the
nameof the Council of coo,which shall
intimate all Laws; the Biber uhder
thename of ttecouncilof the Ancients^
computed of a s o members, , which>
shall fan&ion ,