1 - - 7 t ' ' ' " ' " 1 " ' 1 1 ' ' ' 1 ""' - y : .- . . 77 , . - v:-. . . . . . . i fasts ortta r ,, -An. PUBLISHEt) (weekly) VLt.ALLMAND .1. TUESDAY, AUGUST rt, 1804. 'vol, riit, o, SSr. Late foreign N;ws. -L t4ie Jddress, OF THE LEGISLATIVE BODY OF FRANCE, V TO TH j'FlRST COWSULcdrr-fr.. Cttizen Firft Conful, THE members of the legifUtive body arc no lboner affitnbled, than they reci procate a common zeal for their country; and at this important epoch they cannot feel indifferent' to the National will, fo loudly and generally expreffed. Scatter ed ovei the various departments of this great empire, they krow its- wants and Habits. .They know taat the energy and action of the power which governs, (houM . be comrnf nfurare with the extent of terru tory and population. Wberr this rela-' tion, eniblilhe 1 by mture, is neglected by thelegiOitor,..lus wotk mud perilb. The chief blefling-man is tranquil lity and peace ; .andthefc pciu .m ppi manent inititutions. The fjpreme pow er Which guarantees them, ought,, there fore, to be fecurefrom the caprice of elec- liins. Every elective government is irt couftant, violent, and"helplefs as the paflions of men ; whilft hereditary power gives to the focial fyilem the force, the continuance and conftancv, to the defies of nature. ,An uninterrupted fuccelfion of authority, in the fame family, will ' maintain the peace and evidence of all. It is neceffuy, for the perpetual fecurity of their rights, that the authority, which protects them Ihould be eternal. The peo-' p!e who unite the moft capricious levity, with the mod eminent qualities, mult fu prcmely prefer, a fyftcm, which confirms their virtues, by reprefcng their iacon itancy. Hillory, every where d'.feovers at the head of great nations, a Tingle heredi tary chJef. But this high Magiftracv is not inttltuted but for general good. If it is weak it falls, if violent it deltroys it felf ;'andln either cafe it merit? its fate, for it oppress the people, orails to pro teflthem. In one word this authority, which ought to be tutelar, ceafes to be lawfu', wnenit is not national. No! donbtlefs, thofe mighty beings were notGofs, whom general interctthas deihed, and affciated in brilliant and in acccfiible fphtrcs,that law proclaimed: from fuch authority might have the more fp'endor, contraul, arid influence. But if the grandeur of monarchy is hot founded on the exiravagint ficVions which delude the multitud-, it is htoported b alr-thbfe political maxims which, the litfans of ad. vrrfity.and the voice of fageshave elta blifhed. Ahdem i'.lufions r.ab ceafed-, bet do c need a mar of our choice i Scarcely lias he numbered thirty-four years, and theeventsof his life are more wonleiful than the fablei. with which hirtory has furrouwled the cradles of ancient oynaf tics. The triumph and will of the nal'dn can not be refilled. Such extraordinary chift- ve are not new. It (sat the noife and tumult cif thrones which fair, which rife, and Ihottld fall aiiain, that fucceiTWe agc$ meditate on the inconftancy of human af ' fairs Old empires are regenerated at fuch important etas, an I ihcchicf of a rTeWThonarchjr comuiunicitei :otnem the energy if JFiis fpirit, nd the vigor of his nterprlw. r . ' We doubt not, a career cf profperitjr ana1 glory again opens for our porterity. The tth century at its commencement, prcfents lo the univcrfe amort ma?nifi ni fpfftade, and inRrudTive lefTun. confecratcs the principle of here Utary pnwer, and opinion, for the hippinefsof J-'rance j whofe revolution it terminates suid for the trample ol Europe, whofe ctffi it prevents. The human mind, troubled wlih worft of difeafet the difeife cf ft'ftt tun, ruswifhedio create a new nceof men ; ti form new ficietiei and another wotlJ. But foon frinhtened at ill work, and wearird it its eff r'l, it has returned to the trick of experience, and fubmiis to 'the authority of ages."!' If l t the roomer t it recognises its limits, the hu man mind is truly enlarged it Is at the tnorcent that'll learns to check its weaE- nefs, that it juflly direcls the ciercifc of its nowcr the remembrance of its pad' cevtatijns will afford a ufeful forefiht ; and the fear of falling into its firft excef fc wi I itbt hurry it i the contrsry ex- ireme., We (hall not wiiftefs the deadly Hupor f flivfty fuccffding the mad tumuli f rfrrmxrscy. No I -Citizen firft Conful, jvm ifcajUnoicoraraaoJ bota fite fo pie ; we know it ; and will, therefore, b bey you alvVays. . The departtnents bf government will be balanced with vvif dom ; they will preferve every thing that wtl' fupport, nothing that can dellroy, liberty. The Imperial Government will confirm all the bleffiogs of the confulate; and will increafe them. The fecurity of hereditary power will temper all its mea fures. It s lefs rigorous, for it has fe v er.'obftaclestovanqui'fh, and' fmaller dan gers to encounter the greater its mole ration, the more controuling Us influence; and if it aims at cxtenfion, ir relaxes and deftroys rtfelf. Thus the preroga tive of the Emperor, "better defined, will be more limited than thofe of the iFifft Conful. The danger of a faclion com" pclled the eftablifhment 6f a ipmporary diclitbr thefe times are pail Monarchy is regenerated Liberty mult fee immortal the di&atorfhip expires- and natural auiliuiiiy cV nunc nets "., reign. ' (Signed) FONTANEL. This famous declaration in favour of Miinarchy, was preceded by the follow ing exprclfion of the wlil ot the leghlative body : They declare their will (voeu) as fol lows : That Napolean Buonaparte, Firft Gonful, (hall be declared Emperor ; that the Imperial dignity hoiild bo hereditary in his 'family1; that the reprefetitative fyftem fheuld b cftacbItflied on a' Wd ba lls ; and that the civil inftitutions fhould receive a characler.'cf great nefs due to the Majcfty of the'French "nation, guarantee ing at once the authority of the nation and the liberty of th' people. Similar requeils to the' great Napolean, 'that he would become Emperor .of the 'Gauls, have been made by feveral cities, and detachments bt the army. The most gracious answe of THE FIKS7 CZNSUL, TO THK AODRESi OK THE - SENATORS. YOUR addrefs of the 6th Germinal, has never ccafed to he prefent to my mind,' it has been the object of my mod conitant attention. . You have judged it nccelTary that the fupreme maillracy fhild be hereditary, J J n order to Iccurethe-French-People from - i the plots ot our enemies, and from the convulfions which would fprirg trom'hc ambition of rivals. Many bf our infti .tut ions mult hive appeared to you to be brought to perfection, and to be the molt 'perfect to fecure the tiiumphof Equality aim public Liberty, and to otter to the nation and to the government, the double guarantee, wmcn tncy i mucn want. We have cor.ltamly been guided by this great truth, that the fovereignty rtfiics in the French people ; on this bafm, eveiy thing, without ejeception, mull be done for iheir intetells, happin. fs, and glory ; jn order to obtain this end, the Supreme Majefty, the Senate, the Council of the State, the Lfgiflitive Body, theEUcliVe Colleagues, and the "various branches of the Adminirtration, ate and mult be infll tuted. When I have rfied my atten tion on thefe great objils he more I havebcm perluadcd ot the truth of the criiinentsjJiicJiLcXpteircd Ja yCujJ- i riaveieit me more motetha', uicir. cumflar.cci as new as important, the aid ofyourwifdom and experience Ira ve been neceflary to me in every flcp. I thcn inviie yoti lo male known to me frcclv your remanents. , The French people have nothing to add lo the honor and ih glory which they have conferred upon me ; but the duty, the molt Tacred to mr, and the mo ft dear to trty heart, it lo enfure lo their children the ad vantages acquired by the revolution, which las colt them fo much above all, the fieri fice of a million of brave men, who hive tiled lor the defence of their rights. I wifh we may fay to them on the 14th of July df this yearfifteen years hate e laplei lince by a fpontaneou movement, you ran to arms, you acquired liberty, e qmlity, and glory I Tim day thofe firft Vc flings of nations are firmly fixed and Inured agiinft all tern pert i ; they are n1"'1' 10 you ana your cnnarcn ; mm. lutions conceivcJ and commenced in the bobm of I he florms of war, interior and exttiior, ate about to terminate amidft the noife of wicked attempts and plots of our tn (t mortal enemies, in the adoption of eiry miifore which ihc experience of aei and the people have dcmonllrated proptr, io suarantaethe righis which the nation I a I judged neceffary to her digni- tyn:itty, ana rupptncii. LONDON, June:2, , By Paris papers of the?othuli. 'if appears, that on the i8;h, the Senatus Confultum; refpedting the Imperial dignity to be be ftowed on Buonaparte was finally adopted and prefentedto the Firft Conful by ths Senate in a body, This ait contains 3 article?, and is 'in (ubltince as follows : ' NaDOisoh RiiinWUti. ! A-.-rA Emperor of the French, and the Tmnriat . . -w-.? uignuy hereditary in the fegltimne de fcent.from male to male, in the onier of primogeniture, to the exclufioiv of fe rcuiesand their defcnt. -The firft conful. may adopt the children or the grand ehil 'dicn of his brothers, provided they have attained thVage of eighteen ' yeirs cm Ple,n heAimfelf have no chiWren. -Adoption is prohibited to his fucceflors. Indefiult of a natural heir of the Firft Conftrf, or of any 'adopted heir, the Km pire w'1' t ' J r t-''rt.. . 1 arte and'FiT dercendants, to Loiils and his defcendants. I n cafe,of. failure cf the j heirs of Jofeph and Lewis Buonaparte, a Senatus Conlultum propofed to the Sc- nate Dy tne lltulanes or the great cigut- lies of die Empire, and fubmitted to the people, (hall appoint an Emperor. The members of the Imperial Family lhallbear the title' cf French Princes. The eldelt fiinof the Emperor (hall bear the title of Imperial Prince. A French Prince who fhall marry without permiflion from the Emperor, (hall be deprived of all right to the inheritance,' unlefs he (hall have'no children by his marriage, and It .fhall be afterwards d'ffulvech " The brothers of Buonaparte are to be created French Piinces, Itriperiai Palr ces are to be .eftablifhed in four principal points of the Empire. Females are in all cafes excluded from the Regencies ; and ihc leigning Emperor may, previous to his death, appoint a Regent from amongft the French Princes," if this heir male is a mmor. " The titularies of the great dignities of the Emp'tre arc, the Great Eledir, the Arch Chancellor of the Emp re,.ihe Arch Cl anccllor of State, the Arch Treafurer, the Conftable, and the High Admiral. They ft) all be nominated by the Emperor, hd they fliall cnjoy the farfe honors as the French princes, and rank immediately after them j they-fhall-be Senators and Counfcllors'ot State ; they (kail form' the great Council of the Emperor. Tne other jreat officers are one Marfhal of the Empire, chofen .from a- tno.ig the mod dtdinguiflted Generals, tweuty-'ight Infpeftnrs, . Colone'i-gene. rais of Artillery, Cavalry ar.J the Marine; three g'rezt Civil OiRccrs of the Crown, fuch as (hall be inftituttd by the (tatutcs of the E.nperor.i The laws are to be tnus promulgated: V Npo'.coT by the Grace of God, and the Conitiiution of the Republic, Empe ror of the French, &c. The adoption of the Senatus Confultum has been announced by difchargesof Ar- pays to its own dignity, and to the-want it teels of dailr beltow ing on you thofo teftimonies of refpeel and aitachmenc Which every da'augmtn's. " How cani the Fien'ch people place -Bounds to their gratitude when you fet none to your cares and folicitude' for them ? HoW can they, Vfvilft preferring the recollection of the evils they nave fuf--. fered when they were delivered up to thcmfelvei, -think without enthufiafrn of tne happihefs they have experienced fince Providence infpired them with the wiflv of throwing themfelves ihto your arms ? ' Our armies were vanqifhed ; our fi nances vvere in diforder public credtc "was overturned ; Ta&ions difouted what was left of our ancient fplendouYy ihe i' deas of religion and even of morality were cbfciired; the habit-ibf girin and recalline n "rof( withnur pnw taeration, and even kind of authority. f Your Majelty appeared. You bro't Ividtory to Our ftandards1; you eltablilhed order and economy in public expences'; the nation tranquilfzed by the manner in which you made ufe f its rcfources, a gain placed confidence in them ; your wlfdowi his calmed the fury f parties'; you have retftablifhed the altars of reli gion, notions of juftice and injuflicc have awakened in the minds of the . citizens' (luce they have beheld crimes followed by their punifhment,' and virtues fignalired ana recompetilea oy nonourapio dtltloc lions. . r,' M ln fhort, and here beyond a doubt isr the, gteatcll miracle your 'genius ha "Vvrbught this people, whom civil effer Vefcence had rendered in'docial to every conFtraint, enemies to all authority, you have induced 10 cherilh and refpeel power, e'tercifed only for itj'g'ory and re ppfe.; . . .. " The French do not pretend to fet themfelves up as judges of the conftiiutiori of other States. 14 They have rib'criticifms to mate, ncV examples to follow ; experience hence forth forms their IcITori. They have during centuries enjoy-' ed the advantages attached 10 hereditary- power ; . TheSena'e preceded by the tonful Cambaceres decreed In its fitting thea8ih t luteal in which were prefent the Cnful .Lclojua,. aatUhMiniftetf 1 the Org'antc Senatus Confultum which confers the title oT Empeior upon the Firft Conful," and which cftablilhes the Imperial dignity in hisfimily, It was then propofed and adopted to repair to St. Cloud, in orJcr toprefent the Organic Senatus Confultum to the Emperor- The Senate. fet out immediately as the fitting broke up The cavalcade was accomplnied by nurnerous bodies of troopi, ' . The Senate on Its arrival was inflantly admitted to an audience of the Emperor. The Conful Cambacrrei, prefidem,ha. T'ng prefcuiedihe Organic Senatus Con. folium to the FitQ CohTuI thus aJdrr'iTo! Mm t Sire, the decree which the Seirte Ki jttfl paffrd, h which ithaflens lor.refe.ntio ytnjt ImpcrialMi)t(ly, is but th auincniic expreffionof a will already tnnife'.tcd by ihc nation. This decree, y. hich confer red upon you a new Title, md hich after you f ecu res the hereditary power to your racei adds nothing eichev to your (lory , nr 10 1 our rights. " The loveanJ ihe acV.nowledjment of the French people h.ve, for four years pall confided to your Vlije'dy, the feini of ihe government ; aryJihe, Conftliuiion of the Slate already tfjftei to tba for the choice of a fuctefTot . "The Tiry fpUndid title JecrtfJ f ou 11 then tt. ttiatt which the Nation 774 They have had a fhort but palnfulex ' pcrience or tne contrary lyltem ; " They return after having impartiallf confidered and reflected, to a path confor mable to their genius. " They freely make ufe of their rightr' in order to delegate to your Imperial Ma jelly a power which their interefts torbids tnem irom exerciune inemitivcs. They 'flrpulate for the generations to come, and ly a folem paci, they confide tho hipptneli ''t their pollcrtty to the branch, cs of your race. The latter will imitate your vir' tues i The former will inherit our love antf our fidelity. J M Happy the nation which affer fo ma"' ny troubles and uncertainties, fends inju felf a man capable of appeasing the tcrtiV oeftof the pafeoni, of conciliating every, intcrcft, and iinhiti al fuffragesl V Happy the Pii'.icc who holds his'poyr frcwthe-wilfnheomfi3cnce, and thei.U fea.ons of tho C jtiicns ; . ' If it er.ten into the principle of our conftituiio'.i, nd already many fim.ilar eHimple havt been givec, to fubm'.: to the fancioaof the people that pari tf thw decree which concerns ihe eftablifhment of ar. Hereditary Govei nmenf, the Senate is o'f opinion,' that-jt ought to fiipptieata Your imperial Majefty to allow the or ganic difpofitions immediately 10 receiva their execution t and for ihc tlory, as well a? tor me napptncis 01 me TcpuoiK 11 pro claims from this vtry ir.ftant Napelcoo; emperor 01 tne rrencrt, fTht Emperor tepP.ec! at follbws t ,' tvery thing w'hich can contribute fd the good of the Couniry, is cfTeniiall connrcted wKhmr happtntls. " I accept the title which you think ufe Jul 19 the ifloty of the Nation. I fubmit to the function of the reopV, Ihe law concerning lie hereditary power, hope that Frances ill never repent ot jne honours with which it has furroundeJ my family. At all events, my mind will no lon get remain with my pollciiiy, whencfec ihcy ceafe to merit the love and coo dence of the great Nailon." . , 1 he Senile was then admitted to an su ditnee of Her Mijelly the Emprefs. , The Co u Gil CambsccrcSfprcfidtntft "1 a; Vl

Page Text

This is the computer-generated OCR text representation of this newspaper page. It may be empty, if no text could be automatically recognized. This data is also available in Plain Text and XML formats.

Return to page view