The Newhampshire gazetteer — Exeter, N.H., 1791-12-10 00:00:00, page 1

THE then Marquis de la Fayette
was placed in the second com
mitee, of which Count D'Artois way
President : and as money matters was
the objed, it naturally brought into
view every circumstance connected with
it. M. de la Fayette made a verbal
charge against Callonne, for felling
Crown lands to the amount of two mil
lions of livres,in a manner that,ppear
ed to be unknown to the King. The
Count D'Artois (as if to intimidate, for
the Bastille was then in being) alked
the Marquis if he would render the
Charge in writing ? He replied, that he
would. Tne Count D'Artois did not
demand it, but brought a message from
the King to that purport. M, de la
Payette then delivered in his charge in
writing, to be given to the King, under
taking to fapport it. No farther pro-
Ceedie, were hfftf epos this affair ;
but M.Calonne 'was soon after difmi&d
by the King, and set off to Englands ;
As M. de k Fayette, from the expe
rience he had seen iri America, was
better acquainted with the feience of
civil government than: the; general
ity of the members who contpofed the
Assembly of theNotabies could then be,
the brunt of the buftnefs fell considera
bly to his Shire. ,The plan of those who
had a conditutfon in view, was to con
tend with the Court on the ground of
taxes, and some of them openly profef
fed their objed. Deputes frequently
hrofe between Count D' Artois and: M.
de la Fayette, upon various fubjeCts.
With refpeft to the arrears already in
curred, the latter proposed to remedy
them, by accommodating the expenses
to the revenue, intiead of the revenue
to the expenses; and,as obje&s of re.
form, he proposed to abolish the baf
tille,and all the state prisons throughout
the nation, (the keeping of which were
attended with great expense) and to
fopprefs Lettres de Cachet ; But those
matters were not then much attended
to ; and with, refped to Lettres de Ca
chet, a majorat, of the Nobles appeared to
be in favour of them. /
. On the fubje& of supplying the Trea
sury by new taxes, the Assembly decli
ned taking the matter on themselves,
concurring in the opinion that they had
hot authority. In a debate on this fub
je&, M. de la Fayette said, that raifiag
money by taxes could only be done by
a National Assembly, freely, elected by
the people, and ading as their repre
sentative. Do you mean, faid,,the
Count D'Artois, the Stafa General?
M. de la Fayette replied that he did.
Will yog, said the Count D'Artois,
sign what you fay to be given to the
King ? The other replied, that he hot
only would do this, but that he would
go farther, and fay that the effectual
mode would be, for the King to agree
to the establishment of a constitution.
As one of the plans had thus failed,
that of getting the Assembly to #lra.
Parliament, the other came into view,
that of recommending. On this fubjeft
the Assembly agreed to recommend
two new taxes th be enregiftered by the
Parliaments, the one a ftimp tir. and
the other a territorial tax, or forref
Newhampfhire
Secretary for Foreign Affairs to Congress
in the American War, and Author of
the Work entitled Common Sense.
Being an ANSWER to Mr.
Burke's ATTACK on the
FRENCH REVOLUTION-
RIGHTS or MAN:
SATURDAY, December io, 1791.]
By Thomas Paine,,
EXETER, (New-Hamp(hire) Printed and Published by HENRY 'RANLET, at Nine Shillings per annum.
[ln continuation.]
The Assembly of the Notables having
broke up, the new Minister sent the e
difts for the two new taxes recommend
ed by the Assembly to the Parliaments,
to be enregiltered.' They of coorfe came
fiift before the Parliament of Paris,
who returned for anfver,rfar <wiib fueb
a revenue as the Nation then Jupported,
the name of taxes ought not to be mention
ed, but for the purpose of reducing them ;
and threw horh the edicts out.*.
On this ryiufal, the Parliament was
ordered to Verfailles,where in the usual
form, the King held, what under the
old government was called a Bed of
Jaftice; and the two edifc were enre
giftered in prefeace of the Parliament,
by an order of State. •>
On this, the Parliament immediate
ly returned toParis, renewed their feffi
-04 iri form, and ordered the enregifter
ing to be ftrack out, declaring that e
very thing done at Versailles was ille
gal. All the members of Parliament
were then feryed with Lett,res de Cach
et, and exilled to. Trois,but as they
continuedas inflexible in exile as be
fore, and as vengeance did not supply
the places of taxes, they were after a
fhorc time recalled to Paris. ,
land tax. The two have been estima
ted at about five millions, sterling, per
annum. We have now to turn our at
tention to the Parliaments, on whom
the business was again devolving,
Archbishop of Thou/oufe (Since arch
bishop of Sens,and'now a Cardinal) was
appointed to the . administration of the
finances, soon after the difmiffion of
Calonne. He wad also made Prime
Minister, an office that did not always
exist in France. When the office did
not exist, the Chief of each of the prin
cipal departments traufafted bufincfs
immediately with the King; but when
a Prime Minister was appointed, they
did business only with him. The Arch
bishop arrived to more State authority
than any Minister Since the Duke de
Choifeuil, and the nation was strongly
disposed in his favour ; but by a line of
condud scarcely to be accounted, for,
he perverted every opportunity, turned
out a defect, and funk into disgrace,
and a Cardinal.
The edicts were again tendered to
them, and the Count D'Artois under
took to aft as representative for the
King. For this purpafe, he came from
Versailles to Paris, in a train of proces
sion ; and the Parliament were assembled
to receive him. Bat show and parade
had loft their influence in France ; and
whatever ideas of importance he might
set off with, he had to return with those
of mortification and : difappointuient.
On alighting from his carriage to as
cend the steps of the Parliament House,
the croud (which was numerously col
lefted) threw out trite expressions, fay
ing," this is Monsieur D'Artois, who
wants more ofour money to fpend<"
The marked disapprobation which he
saw, impressed him with apprehensions ;
and the word l# arms, (To arms') was
given out by the officer of the guard
who attended him. It was so loudly
/vociferated, that it echoed through the
avenues of the house, and produced a
Temporary confofion ; I was then Hand
ing in one of the apartments through
which het had to pass, and could not
avoid reflecting how wretched was the
condition of adifrefpeaed man.'
T He endeavoured to empress the Par
liament by great words, and opened his
authority by faying, " The King ou r
Lord and Master." The Parliament re
ceived him very coolly, and with thei,
.- —
• When th Englifo Minifier, Mr.Pitf,
mentions the Frenc^finances again in the
Pritifo farliameht, it vtyd^i tytl /bat
hffli&PifriY&hhmmfa'
THE
For this purpose, the Court feraboat
making a fort of Constitution itfelf: ft
was principally the work of M. Lamoig
non, Ke-per of the Seals who afterwards
shot himfelf. This „new arrangement
confided in eftabliftiing a body under
the name of aCsur pleniere, or full Court,
in which were invested all the powers
that the government might have occasi
on to make use of. The persons com
posing this Court were to be nominated
by the King ; the contended right of
taxation was given op on the part of
theKing,and new criminal code of laws,
and law proceedings, was substituted in
room of the former.. The thing in ma
ny points, contained better principles
than those upon which the government
had hitherto been administered: but
with refpe& to the Cour plenierl, it war
no other than a medium through which
defporifm was to pass, without appear
ing to aft dirediy from iifclf. 1
The Cabinet had high expectations from
their new contrivance. The p rfons
who were to compose the Cour pleniere,
were already nominated ; and as it was
necessary to carry a fair appearance,
many of the belt characters in the na
tion were appointed among the number.
It was to commence on the B.h of May,
1788 : But an opposition arose to it on
two grounds—the one as to principle,
and the other as to form.
On the ground of principle it v^as
contended, that government had not a
right to alter itfelf; and that if the prac
tice, was once admitted, it would grow
into a principle, and be made a prece
dent for any future alterations the go
vernment might wiih to eftablilh: that
the right of altering the government
was a national right, and not a right of
government. ^And on the ground of
form, it was contended, that the Cour
fleniere was nothing more than a larger
Cabinet. *v > 1s:
After this a new fubjeft took place:
In the various debates and contests that
arose between the Court and the Parli
aments on the fubjed of taxes, the Par
liam ent of Paris at left declared, that
although it had been Customary for
Parliaments to enregifter edi&for taxes
as a matter cf convenience, the right
belonged only to the States General ;
and that, therefore, the Parliament could
no longer with propriety continue to
debate on what it had not authority to
ad: The King after this came to Paris,
and held a meeting with the Parliament,
in which he continued from ten in the
morning till about fix in the evening ;
and in a manner that appeared to pio
ceed from him, as if unconfulted upon
with the Cabinet or the ministry, gave
his word to the Parliament that the
States General Should be convened.
But after this another feene arose, on
a ground different from all the former.
The minister and the cabinet were a
verse to caling the States General :
They well knew, that if the States Ge
neral were affembled,' that themfelve*
must fall . and as the King had not men
tioned any time, they hit on a projed
calculated to elude, without appearing
to oppose.
The then Duke de la Rouchefoucault,
Luxembourg, De Noailles, and- many
others, refused to accept the nominati
on, and strenuously opposed the whole
plan. When thqedi4 for establishing
this new Court was sent to the parlia
ment to be enregiftered, and put into
execution, they refilled also. The par
liament of Paris not only refufed, but
denied the authority ; and the contest
renewed itfelf between the Parliament &
the Cabinet more strongly than ever.—
While the Parliament were fitting in
debate on this fubfea, the Ministry or-
usual determination not to register the
taxes: and in this manner the interview
ended.
Gazetteer.
[Numb. 23 of Volume 6—
'The failure of this scheme renewed
the fubjeft of convening the Spates
General ; and this gave rife to a new
series of politics. There was no fet
tled form for convening theStatesGeae
raf: all that it pofrively meant, was a
deputation from what was then, called
the Clergy, the Noblefle, and the Com
mons ; but their numbers. Or their
proportions, had not been always the
fame; They had been convened only
on extraordinary occasions, the left of
which was in 1614 ; their numbers were
then in eqial proportions, and they
voted by orders^
-flt could not well escape the fagscity
of M. Neckar, that the mode of 1014
would answer neither the purpole of
the then governm nt, nor of the nation.
As matters were at hat time circum
stanced. it would have been too
contentious to agree upon any thing.
The debates would have been endlefa
upon privileges and exemptions, in
which neither the wants of the govern
ment, her the wishes of the nation for
a constitution, would have been atten
ded to. But as he did not chafe to take
the decision upon himfclf, he summon
ed again the Nimbly °f th' Notables,
and referred it to them. This body
was in general interefrd io the decifi
-00, being chiefly of the aristocracy and
the high paid clergy ; acd they decided
in favour of the mode of 1614. This
decifion* was against the sens: Os the
Nation, and also against the wishes of
the Court f for the aristocracy opposed
itfelf to both, and contended for privi
leges independent of either. The fub
jeft was then taken up by the Parlia
ment, who recommended that the num
ber of rhe Commons should be equal to
the other two ; and that they should all
fit in one house, and vote in one body.
The number finally determined on was
twelve hundred : fix hundred to be cho
sen by the Commons (and this was less
than their proportion ought to have
been when their worth and consequence
is considered on a national scale) three
hundred by the clergy, and three hun
dred by the aristocracy; but with refpea
to the mode of assembling themselves,
whether together or part, or the man
ner in which they should vote, thofc
matters were referred.*^
[ * Mr. Burke (sad J m*, keh th so
•The attempt to establish the Cour ple
mere had an tff a upon the Nation,
which itfelf did no, perceive. It was a
tort Os n- w form of government, that
mfcnfibly served to put the old one out
of Sigh-, and to unhinge it from the fa
peritmous authority of antiquity. It
was government , dethroning governs
ment ; and the old one, by attempting
to make a new one, made a chafin;
dered a regiment of soldiers to surround
the House and form a blockade.—
The Members fenc cut tor bees aid
provision, and lived as in ab, sieged
ci adel ; and as'this had no -ti-ct he
commanding officer wa ordered to en
ter the ParliamentHoufc ano le:ze hem,
which he did, and some of the principal
members were Shu: up in different
prisons About the fame time a aepu
tation cf persons arrived from the pro
vince of Brittany, to rt monftraie a
gainst the eftabhibmen of he Cour
pleniere ; ard those the Ajchbifop lent
o the B-.ltille, Bit 'he Spirit of the
Nation was to. ;o be overcome ; and it
was 10 fully sensible of he fticrg gound
it had taken, that of withholding taxes,
chat it contended itfelf with keeping
up a fort of qSet refifta-ce, which cf
gaudily oyerfirew all the p ans at that
time obe formed against it. The pro
ject of the Cour plsnierc wa> at lait obli
ged to be given up, and the Prune Mi
nister not long afterwards followed its
fate ; and M. flecker was recalled in
to office. ^ V