Part 44

Marshal Jourdan was on the Rhine.

Marshal Mortier had been seized with the gout at Beaumont.

Marshal Suchet had displayed irresolution and repugnance from the beginning.

In fine, Marshals Davoust and Grouchy no longer possessed the confidence of the army.

The committee, therefore, it is grating to the pride of a Frenchman to confess it, would not have known to whose hands the fate of France might be entrusted; and the part it took, that of waiting the issue of events in the capital, if not the most dignified, was at least the wisest and most prudent.

The representatives of the people, on their part, far from showing themselves docile to the advice of Wellington and of Blucher, displayed with more energy than ever the principles and sentiments that animated them. They collected round the tri-coloured flag; and, though the army had laid down its weapons, they were still resolved to contend in defence of liberty, and the independence of the nation.

On the very day when the convention of Paris was notified to them by the government, they exposed, in a new bill of rights, the fundamental principles of a constitution, which alone, in their opinion, could satisfy the wishes of the public: and declared, that the prince called to reign over them should not ascend the throne, till he had given his sanction to this bill and taken an oath to observe it, and cause it to be observed.

Informed almost immediately by sinister rumours, that soon they would be no longer allowed to deliberate, they resolved, on the motion of M. Dupont de l'Eure, solemnly to express their last will in a kind of political testament, drawn up in the following words.

"Declaration of the Chamber of Representatives.

"The troops of the allied powers are about to occupy the capital.

"The chamber of representatives will nevertheless continue to sit amid the inhabitants of Paris, to which place the express will of the people has sent its proxies.

"But, under the present serious circumstances, the chamber of representatives owes it to itself, owes it to France and to Europe, to make a declaration of its sentiments and principles.

"It declares, therefore, that it makes a solemn appeal to the fidelity and patriotism of the national guard of Paris, charged with the protection of the national representatives.

"It declares, that it reposes itself with the highest confidence on the moral principles, honour, and magnanimity, of the allied powers, and on their respect for the independence of the nation, positively expressed in their manifestoes.

"It declares, that the government of France, whoever may be its head, ought to unite in its favour the wishes of the nation, legally expressed; and form arrangements with the other governments, in order to become a common bond and guarantee of peace between France and Europe.

"It declares, that a monarch cannot offer any real guarantees, if he do not swear to the observance of a constitution, formed by the deliberations of the national representatives, and accepted by the people. Accordingly any government, that has no other title than the acclamations and will of a party, or is imposed on it by force; any government, that does not adopt the national colours, and does not guarantee,

"The liberties of the citizens;

"Equality of rights, civil and political;

"The liberty of the press;

"Freedom of religious worship;

"The representative system;

"Free assent to levies and taxes;

"The responsibility of ministers;

"The irrevocability of sales of national property, from whatever source originating;

"The inviolability of property;

"The abolition of titles, of the old and new hereditary nobility, and of feudal claims;

"The abolition of all confiscation of property, the complete oblivion of opinions and votes given up to the present day;

"The institution of the legion of honour;