nizance of the crimes of high-treason and offences against the state. Peers only to be judged by their peers.

OF THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES of departMENTS.

Art. 33, this chamber to be composed of deputies chosen by the electoral colleges, whose organization shall be determined by law. Art. 36 and 37, every department to have the same number of deputies as at present; the deputies to be chosen for five years, and the chamber to be renewed annually, by a fifth. Art. 38, no deputy can be admitted into the chamber, unless he be forty years of age, and pay direct taxes to the amount of 1,000 francs. By Art. 40, the electors of the deputies must pay direct taxes to the amount of 300 francs, and be at least thirty years of age. By Art. 41, the presidents of the electoral colleges are to be nominated by the king. By Art. 43, the king appoints the president of the chamber of deputies from a list of five members presented by the chamber. Art. 44, the sittings of the chamber are public; but the demand of five members is sufficient for forming it into a secret committee. Art. 45, the chamber divides itself into bureaux to discuss the projets which have been presented to it on the part of the king. Art. 46, no amendment can be made in a law, unless proposed in committee by the king, and unless transmitted to and discussed in the bureaux. Art. 47 and 48, the chamber of deputies receives all propositions for taxes; and Ho tax can be imposed or levied unless assented to by the two chambers, and sanctioned by the king. Art. 49, the land-tax is voted only for a year; the indirect taxes may be voted for several years. Art. 50, the king every year convokes the two chambers; he prorogues them, and may dissolve that of the deputies; but, in this case, he must convoke a new one within the space of three months. Art. 51, no personal restraint shall be laid upon any member of the house during the session, or within six weeks before and after it. Art. 52, no member of the house can, during the session, be prosecuted or arrested, for criminal matters, till the house has permitted his prosecution. Art. 53, all petitions to either house must be presented in writing.

OF THE MINISTERS.

Art. 54, the ministers may be members of the chamber of peers or of that of deputies. They have, moreover, a right to admission in either house, and must be heard whenever they desire it. 55, the chamber of deputies has a right to impeach the ministers, before the peers, which alone are competent to try them. Art. 56, they cannot be accused, except for high-treason or peculation.

OF THE JUDICIAL ORDER.

Art. 57, all justice emanates from the king; it

1814.

is administered in his name by judges, whom he BOOK XII, nominates and appoints. Art. 58, the judges nominated by the king cannot be removed. CHAP. VII, Art. 59, the ordinary courts and tribunals actually existing are retained. Art. 60, the present institution of the judges of commerce is preserved. Art. 61, the office of justice of the peace is likewise retained. The justices of the peace, though nominated by the king, are removeable. Art. 62, no man can be taken out of the hands of his natural judges. Art. 63, there cannot, of course, be created any extraordinary commissions and tribunals. Art. 64, the pleadings in criminal matters may be published, unless morals; and, in this case, the tribunal shall declare their publicity be dangerous to good order and it by a judgment. Art. 65, the institution of juries is retained. Art. 66, the penalty of the confiscation of property is abolished, and cannot be re-established. Art. 67, the king has the right of pardon, and that of commuting punishments. Art. 68, the civil code and the laws actually existing, not contrary to the present charter, remain in force till they shall be legally abolished.

PARTICULAR RIGHTS GUARANTEED BY THE STATE.

Art. 69, the military in active service, the officers and soldiers who have retired, the widows, officers, and soldiers pensioned, shall retain their ranks, honors, and pensions. Art. 70, the public debt is guaranteed; all kinds of engagements contracted by the state with its creditors are inviolable. Art. 71, the ancient nobility resume their titles; the new retain theirs. The king creates nobles at pleasure, but he confers on them only ranks and honors, without any exemption from the charges and duties of society. Art. 72, the legion of honor is maintained. The king will fix its anterior regulations and decorations. Art. 73, the colonies shall be governed by particular laws and regulations. Art. 74, the king and his successors shall swear at the ceremony of their anointment to the faithful observance of the present constitutional charter.

TEMPORARY ARTICLES.

Art. 75, the deputies of the departments of France, who sat in the legislative body at the time of the last adjournment, shall continue to sit in the house of deputies till they are replaced. Art. 76, the first renewal of one-fifth of the house of deputies shall take place, at the latest, in the year 1816, according to the order fixed between the classes.

After these proceedings, his majesty rose amidst repeated acclamations, and returned to the Thuil, leries. The two houses then repaired to their respective chambers, and both of them voted addresses of thanks to his majesty.

A nomination of 154 persons was afterwards

The last Will and Testament of Louis XVI. "In the name of the Holy Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. This day, the 21st of December, 1792, I, Louis the Sixteenth, King of France, having been for more than four months shut up with my family in the tower of the Temple, by those who were my subjects, and deprived of every communication, even with my family, since the eleventh of this month; and being moreover involved in a trial, of which, from the passions of men, it is impossible to foresee the event, and for which neither pretext nor precedent can be found in any existing law; having no witness of my thoughts but God, and no one but him to whom I can address myself, I here declare, in his presence, my last will and senti

ments.

"I recommend my soul to God my Creator, beseeching him to receive it in his mercy, and not to judge me according to my merits, but according to the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord, who offered himself as a sacrifice to God his father for the human race, unworthy as we are, I myself in particular. I die in the communion of our holy mother, the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman church, which holds its power by an uninterrupted succession from St. Peter, to whom Jesus Christ entrusted it. I finally believe all that is contained in the apostles' creed, and in the commandments of God and the church; in the sacraments and mysteries, as the catholic church teaches and has always taught. I have never presumed to make myself a judge of the different manners of explaining the doctrines which divide the church of Jesus Christ, but I have always adhered to, and if it pleases God to prolong my life, shall always abide by, the decisions which the superior ecclesiastics, in union with the holy church, have given, according to the discipline observed since Jesus Christ. I lament, with my whole heart, those of my brethren of mankind who are in error, but do not presume to judge them; and I do not the less love them all in Jesus Christ, as christian charity enjoins. I implore God to pardon all my sins. I have endeavoured scrupulously to know them, to detest them, and to bumble myself in the presence of the Almighty. Not having it in my power to avail myself of the ministry of a catholic priest, pray God to receive the confession which I have

I

made to him; above all, my deep repentance for having signed my name (although against my will) to acts contrary to the discipline and belief of the catholic church, to which my heart has ever been sincerely united. I beseech God to accept my firm resolution of taking the first opportunity in my power of making a full confession of my sins to a catholic priest, and of receiving the sacrament of penitence. I beg all those whom I have offended, through inadvertency, (for I do not recollect having ever intentionally offended any one) and also those to whom I may have given a bad example, to forgive me for the evil which such conduct may have produced. I beseech all those who are endowed with charity, to join their prayers with mine, to obtain of God the pardon of my iniquities. I pardon, with my whole heart, those who have become my enemies without cause, and I pray God to pardon them; as also those who, from false or mistaken zeal, have done me the greatest injuries.

"I recommend to God my wife, my children, my sister, my aunts, my brothers, and all those who are attached to me by the ties of blood or in any manner whatsoever. I earnestly intreat of God to cast the eyes of mercy on my wife, my children, and my sister, who have for a long time suffered with me; and, in case of their losing me, that he may be their support and consolation, as long as they shall remain in this perishable world.

"I recommend my children to my wife. I never doubted her maternal tenderness; and I recommend, above all, that she will carefully endeavour to make them good christians; to teach them to consider worldly grandeur as dangerous and perishable, and to fix their minds on eternity, where alone solid and lasting glory is to be found. I entreat my sister to continue her tenderness to my children, and that she will be to them as a parent, if they should have the misfortune to lose their mother. I beseech my wife to forgive me all those hardships she has undergone on my account, and all the uneasiness I may have given her in the course of our union; and if she should think that she has any cause to reproach herself on account of any part of her conduct towards me, she may rest assured that I retain nothing on my mind unfavorable to her.

"I recommend, with the greatest earnestness, to my children, after what they owe to God, which must ever be considered as their first duty, to remain always united to each other, submissive and obedient to their mother, and grateful for the pains and care she takes of them; and I conjure them, for my sake, that they shall respect their aunt as a second mother.

"If my son should ever have the misfortune to be established on the throne, I anxiously re

commend that he should devote himself to the happiness of his countrymen; that he ought to divest himself of all resentment and animosities, particularly those which have a reference to my misfortunes and miseries. He can ensure the happiness of the people only by reigning according to the laws; although, at the same time, a king cannot make himself respected, and do all the good which is in the heart, without a neces sary degree of authority; without which he must be confined in his operations; and when he cannot inspire respect, he necessarily becomes more hurtful than useful.

"I recommend to my son, to take care of all those persons who have been attached to me, as far as the circumstances in which he may find himself shall afford him opportunity. He ought ever to regard this as a sacred debt which I have contracted towards the children or parents of those who perished for my sake, or have been rendered miserable on my account. I know there are several persons, amongst those who were attached to me, who have not behaved towards me as they ought to have done, and who have even shewn ingratitude: but I forgive them (for in times of trouble and effervescence, men are not always masters of their conduct); and I beseech my son, should he find an opportunity of serving them, to reflect only upon their misfortunės.

66

"I wish it were in my power openly to express my gratitude to all who have shewn me a truly disinterested attachment: but if I have been painfully affected by the ingratitude and disloyalty of those to whom I have always acted with kindness, I have likewise had the consolation of receiving services and strong marks of attachment from several of my subjects, on

CHAP. VII.

whom I never had bestowed any favor. I beg BOOK XII. that all those persons will accept my grateful acknowledgments. In the present situation of things, I fear that I should injure them by being more explicit on this subject: but I particularly exhort 1814. my son to seek opportunities of making them a suitable return. I think, however, that it would be calumniating the nation to express any fear of openly recommending to my son M. de Chamilly and M. Hue, whose sincere attachment to me has induced them to shut themselves up along with me in this melancholy abode, and who have been frequently in danger of becoming victims to their generosity. I also recommend to him, Clery, with whose attention I have had every reason to be satisfied since he has been with me; and as he has remained with me to the last, I beg of the commune to give to him my clothes, my books, my watch, my money, and all the other effects belonging to me, which have been deposited in the hands of the council of the com

mune.

"I most willingly pardon those who have guarded me, for the harshness of their conduct, and the constraint which they thought necessary to impose upon me. I have found in the temple some persons of feeling and humanity: may they long enjoy that serenity of mind which such dispositions naturally produce!

"I beseech Messrs. de Malesherbes, Tronchet, and Deseze, to receive my most grateful thanks and cordial acknowledgments for the pain and labour they have taken for me.

"I conclude by declaring, before God, being ready to appear in his presence, that I do not reproach myself with any of those crimes which have been charged against me. “Louis.”

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It is not our object to enter on a detailed account of all the topics which engaged the attention of the French chambers during their first session; but some it would be improper to pass over. The first in importance respected the liberty of the press, which had been stipulated for in the 8th article of the constitutional charter.

and the Count de Blacas were introduced into the chamber of deputies, being ordered by the king to present a law on the liberty of the press: this was prefaced by an explanatory speech from the former, of which the following is the outline:

"Gentlemen, the king charges me to present