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"diers, the Emperor, you yourself, are in the "service of the nation."-The general continued to explain, and, when he sat down, was followed by M. Malleville, who proposed an adjournment until the reply of the allies should be known. M. Regnault, however, insisted upon the propriety of having some ostensible and positive name, "without which the army," said he, "will not know whom it obeys, under what "colours it fights, and for whom it sheds its "blood." Many voices exclaimed, “For the

nation." M. Regnault went on, but, coming to ask "in whose name shall our negotiators "speak?" re-heard the same voices reply, "in "the name of the nation." He continued, and proposed, "that all the public acts should be

promulgated in the name of Napoleon the "Second," which proposal was loudly applauded, but did not prevent M. Dupin from objecting firmly to the choice of an infant, (who could not be expected to do what his father had failed to accomplish,) or from declaring the nation to be paramount. He said, "What have we to oppose "to the efforts of our enemies? the nation. It is "in the name of the nation that we shall fight, "that we shall negotiate; from the nation we "must wait the choice of a sovereign: the na"tion precedes every government, and survives

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" it." Why do you not propose a republic?" exclaimed a voice: M. Dupin could not be heard in the tumult, but shewed by his action that he repelled this insinuation; and it is worth while to remark, that, during these days of distress and division, no one has proposed the establishment of a republic, or, indeed, has declared in favour of any other government than a constitutional monarchy. A Mr. Bigonnet told the assembly that the allies were in arms to secure the treaty of 1814, by which Napoleon and his family were excluded from the throne; he concluded with saying, "I offer this to your "deliberation." M. Duchesne moved the adjournment, upon the grounds that Napoleon the Second was absent from France, and that the allies should be persuaded that the capital was free from the influence of the abdicated monarch. "The great soul of Napoleon," added he, “must "consent to a second sacrifice." Another member declared, that, by the seventeenth article of the additional act, the negotiations must proceed in the name of the nation, and that the present' labours of the assembly should be the composition of the new constitution. Then M. Manuel, of the Lower Alps, examined the whole question in a long and eloquent speech, of which I present you with the following extract as a fair representa

tion of the state of things in France, or, at least,

in the capital.

"We have yesterday done an important deed, "we have taken an important step; but is it "sufficiently important, sufficiently sure, suffi"ciently complete, to obtain the expected re"sults? I think not. We have a government: "there was need of one, to give activity and speed to all our measures; but that being done, "it is necessary that the government should act, "and should act in the name of some certain

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power. In the name of the nation? Yes, " doubtless it is in the name of the nation that "we shall fight for the maintenance of our li

berty and independence; it is for the nation "that the fathers, and the sons, will redouble "their sacrifices and their courage; but in the "bosom of this great people, agitated by so

many different movements, a prey to so many " opposing interests, given up to so many re"collections, so many and various hopes, can it "be said that there is only one opinion, one

wish, one party? Certainly, if there were but "one opinion, the objection would be without

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reply, and the nation would fight for the na"tion. If no one dreamt of the return of the "Bourbons, or if all interests, all sentiments, were sacrificed to our country; if there were in

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VOL. II.

E

"existence no persons attached to vain dignities, "and jealous of preserving or recovering vain "titles; if a thousand different pretensions were "not advanced, and did not clash amongst us, "then would there be but one interest and one "wish but it is not so. Many there are, who, "in other circumstances, would have for ever "cherished a refined love of liberty, and the 66 purest patriotism, who have now imbibed the "poison of grandeur, of riches, and of power, "and are no longer accessible to the language "of truth. Assuredly there are, to this rule, "many honourable exceptions; many which I "could cite amongst yourselves. Gentlemen, "unfortunately these are but exceptions, and "the usage which prevails, and which I deplore, "is but too well justified by the precedents of "former ages. Not that I believe our parties

so numerous, nor so strong, as to be objects "of fear. As for the republican party, I see "no reason to think that it exists in the heads, "either of the inexperienced, or of those whose

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judgments are matured by practice and time. "The Orleans party? Is it to be supposed that they will unite the opinions of many, because "they seem to admit more chances for the liberty " and happiness of the people, under the gua"rantee of the principles and the men of the re

"volution? The discussion of this question, "to say the least of it, appears to me idle in "the extreme. Lastly, the Royalists; as for "what relates to them, I hasten to repel the con❝clusion, which may be drawn from what has "been said in this place; for although there

may be amongst us some shades of opinion, "there is but one wish, but one sentiment, with "regard to the end, and the means of this party, " and with respect to the lot which it would re"serve for France. However, it has numerous "followers, whom I am far from wishing to ca"lumniate: many Frenchmen have embraced "this opinion from ancient recollections, from "sentiment, from habit. The love of that peace " which was thought attached to the Bourbons, "the notion that the character of that family "offered a guarantee to the citizens for the pos"session of their tranquil enjoyments, have se"duced many minds incapable of being elevated "above the view of individual interests, preju"dices, and prospects; incapable of sacrificing "those considerations to the advantage of the "nation at large, whose primary want it is to be "free, powerful, and externally respectable ;"to be swayed by a government internally vigorous and strong.

After this honest exposure of their situation,

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