of the petitioner were unfounded. This resolution passed unanimously, and the report was ordered to be printed.

On the 13th of September, the minister, M, Ferrand, presented from the king to the chamber of deputies, the plan of an important law respecting emigrants, the object of which was, the restoration of all such emigrant property as was not already appropriated to the public service, or sold to individuals, to its owners, or their representatives. In his introductory speech, M. Fer rand observed, that the designation of emigrants, applied to a portion of his majesty's subjects, was as false in principle as it had been disastrous in its consequences. They were persons who, while thrown for a season into foreign lands, had lamented over that country which they hoped to revisit. Rigorous justice then demanded that those who, for twenty years, had submitted to so h many sacrifices, should be restored to that share of their property which had not been disposed of. In the preamble of the law the king repeats the engagement he had contracted of maintaining the sales which had already been made of national property; after which follow several articles relative to the retention or restitution of the property of emigrants, the claims to profits received, arrears, instalments of purchase-money due, &c. This law being referred to a committee, its discussion produced long debates at several sittings of the chamber, by which it appeared that great suspicions had been excited respecting the future security of the private purchases and public appropriations of emigrant property. An article, apparently for the purpose of obviating such apprehensions, being added by the committee, the object of which was to render the present measure of relief final, with regard to the emigrants, it was put to the vote and rejected.

The law for restoring the unsold estates of the emigrants passed the chamber of deputies by a large majority; it was then carried up to the Chamber of peers, where it passed by a majority of 100 votes out of 103 present. The Duke of Tarentum (Marshal Macdonald) pronounced, on his occasion, a discourse which had a great effect. At the close of his speech he announced his in Eention of proposing, on an early day, a projet of a law, to be submitted to the king, the object of which would be to grant life-annuities to those of the emigrants the sale of whose estates bad left them unprovided for. " According to the calculations which I shall have the honor to lay before the chamber, it will be seen that the funds necessary for these annuities will add but little to the burdens of the public; while this measure, so particularly just and politic, will have the vast advantage of affording at the same time a compensation to those who have lost their all, and dissipating the apprehensions of the fair purchasers of the estates sold as national property.".

rentum.

1814.

A curious and important circumstance was BOOK XIV. connected with this speech of the Duke of TaCHAP. I. One of the Paris journals totally misrepresented it; so totally and grossly, indeed, that it must have been intentional, and could have been done with no good motive. It represented him as saying that the military of all ranks were willing to contribute a portion of their pay to create a fund for the support of the emigrants. Now the evident effect of such a representation must have been to increase the ill-will of the soldiery, not only to the emigrants but also to the king and government; since, as they had given no authority to the duke for his statement, they would naturally suppose that a plan was in agitation to deprive them of part of their pay for the support of the emigrants. The nature of the liberty of the press enjoyed in France was abundantly proved on this occasion ;-for the journal thus offending was suppressed-though only for a very short time: but the suppression showed the power of government, and would be sufficient to terrify other journalists. Would it not have been much wiser to have obliged the offending journal to contradict its own statement, and thus give the same circulation to the antidote which it had given to the poison?

On the 10th of December the Duke of Tarentum presented to the chamber of peers a sketch of his system of indemnity for the emigrants, to which he bad before alluded; the substance of this system, together with some extracts from the speech by which it was introduced and recommended, as affording a favorable specimen of the eloquence of the chamber of pecrs, we shall lay before our readers.

The calculations are divided into two classes: those which concern the endowments for the military who have been deprived of them by the last events of the war are complete, and cannot be brought into doubt.

Those which relate to property sold in consequence of confiscation are all bypothetic, and cannot be established with precision until the minister shall have devoted himself, by the king's orders, to an examination, for which some months would be sufficient; but the orator would carry his hypotheses to an exaggeration demonstrated; and if the results which they shall offer have nothing that can intimidate the generosity of the nation, they will be so much the more proper to confirm it in the resolution to be passed.

There have been concluded directly with goment 1,055,889 sales of national domains.

In giving to each original purchaser a family of three persons, (a proposition much below the truth,) we obtain, as a result 3,167,667 individuals interested in the first sales of national domains.

And if we estimate the common proportion of changes and partitions, for twenty-five years, at number three, we have as a result 9,503,001 per

BOOK XIV. sons interested in the stability of these sales of national domains, without making mention of the persons indirectly interested by the effect of credits and inscriptions.

CHAP. I.

1814.

And it is against this colossus, whose height the eye cannot measure, that some impotent efforts would attempt to direct themselves!

The national sales ought to be divided into two classes-that of the property belonging to corporations, and that of private property.

France has groaned over the misfortunes of the ministers of her altars; but in giving them her tears she has confirmed the alienation of the property of the clergy: never will the age that has given us birth bestow upon corporations, with only a life-interest, that tribute of interest and affection which souls of sensibility delight to offer to the proprietor banished from the domain of his fathers. Public opinion has completely ratified the sale of property of the first origin.

It is not the same with that of property arising from confiscation.

The miracles of providence, which have raised up the empire of the lilies, have attached a particular character to a numerous class of citizens; they appear in the midst of us, protected by age and misfortune; they are a kind of crusaders, who have followed the standard of the cross into foreign countries; and they relate to us those long vicissitudes, those storms and tempests which had at length driven them into the port which they had lost all hope of reaching. Which of us could refuse to give them our hand in token of eternal alliance? Our hearts have been moved. If their's have remained colder, can we be astonished? The return of the king, the bearer of the olive of peace, exceeded all our hopes-one only of their's is realized. In truth, the first of their wishes is accomplished. The towers of St. Louis have seen again their heir. But what changes have been operated in France! what destruction consummated! what monuments overthrown! what others erected upon their ruins! what prosperous dreams vanished in one day, after having been for so many nights the consolations of the exile! Let us dive into our hearts to judge our fellow-men. Let us place ourselves, in thought, in the position I have described: let us add to the sentiments with which they inspire us, that pride, the companion of the unfortunate; and instead of sharing the common complaints upon the reception of our brethren restored to us, let us recognise Frenchmen in the calm of the disinterestedness of the greater part of them, and in the nobleness of their attitude.

The existence of the old proprietors in the presence of the acquirers of their property, is a fact which they cannot and ought not to attempt to prevent. The necessary consequence which the orator draws from it is, that we remove the difficulty, instead of vainly trying to conquer it;

change the present situation for a new one; in a word, dared to make known the abyss opened before us, to leap it; and, armed with all the generosity and force of the nation, to launch into a vast system of indemnity.

An opinion so general, that it approaches to demonstration, rates at four milliards the value of the national property of every class.

Another opinion, less universally adopted by the administration, comprises in this valuation the value of the property of second origin at a tenth only.

To remove every objection, the orator more than doubles the last calculation, and supposes that the mass of property confiscated, or sold, amounts to nearly a quarter of the whole property of four milliards, which gives 900,000,000. From this sum, evidently exaggerated, we must deduct

1st. For the numerous liquidations which have been made to the creditors of that property, at least the third of the whole, that is 300,000,000.

2d. For the removal of the sequestrations which have been pronounced for twenty-three years, and for those which have been just pronounced, at least 300,000,000 more.

It is therefore to 300,000,000 only that in the most forced supposition the sum of confiscations or sales made amounts, and of course of indemnities to be provided. This value, immeasurable for the victims, intolerable for the witnesses, would be almost unperceived in the calculations of a great nation, if its first want, in reviving to order, were not the sentiment of justice and generosity. This sentiment requires that the country should place itself, by an indemnity, between the ancient proprietors and the acquirers, and that, by its liberality towards the one, it put an end to the recollec tions of all.

In the plan of indemnity which he forms, the duke does not propose that the indemnity to be granted to the proprietors should be fixed precisely at the proportion determined by anterior laws for the creditors of the state, that is, one-third. In making the indemnity experience this reduction, 5,000,000 of annuities would in truth be sufficient to discharge it; but then the liquidation would seem to be founded upon rights which the charter condemns; and above all we should injure those who have credits those who have credits upon the property confis cated, for they could not exact from the propri etors indemnified other conditions than those which would have been imposed upon the same proprietors by the national power. He therefore proposes to replace the value of the sales of confiscated property by an annuity of two and a half per cent. this operation would be more simple and equitable, since it would preserve the rights. of non-liquidated creditors.

This indemnity, were it 12,000,000 or more yearly, comprising in it the endowments from 500

to 2,000 francs, need not be a new charge upon the treasury, nor upon the payers of taxes. Passing over in silence, or merely indicating several kinds of resources, the value of which he leaves to the statesmen who hear him, the Duke of Tarentum perceives in the infallible increase of the produce of registration the assured pledge of the indemnities.

This produce is valued at 90,000,000, a third of which consists of duties collected upon national property.

The discredit that had been thrown upon property of this kind, by spreading hopes or seditious apprehensions, would paralyse totally all changes in such property, and would deprive the treasury of that branch of the revenue. Hence, by restoring to the proprietors, and to those who would become so, the security they have lost, we should restore to the treasury 30,000,000, a great part of which would be for ever taken away if we' suffered their inquietudes to subsist by providing no indemnity for the ancient proprietors. By favour of this security, changes would multiply more than ever, and the property that is the object will increase to a height it had never yet reached. This movement, and this increase of immoveable property, will necessarily turn to the profit of the finances and of the state.

Yet the public happiness is not consummated. Tears still flow; regrets subsist. They are those of the brave men mutilated in a thousand battles, who were reduced to the most deplorable state from the moment the service of the small endowments ceased, that is, since the disastrous campaign of Moscow.

The titulars of 4,000 francs and under had been distributed into four classes; the first, 4000; the second, 2,000; the third, 1,000; and the fourth, 500.

The duke proposes to destroy this order of endowment, and to place the weakest part first. Those of 500 and 1,000, which were formed of anuuities, free from taxes, had not and ought not to undergo any reduction. United, they offer an aggregate of 3,604 titulars, and a sum of 1,802,000

francs.

The 3d class, which comprises 1,216 titulars, had its revenue established upon property, and suffered, by taxes, reparations, and the loss of exchange, a reduction of a fifth. This revenue, then, is but 2,017,000 francs.

France would need only 3,000,000 at most to discharge to the full towards her defenders the most sacred portion of such a debt.

A measure of legislature ought to result from the measures thus proposed. Happy he ministers and the administrators invited to assist in it. Formerly they liquidated to destroy-now they will liquidate to repair. Liquidation will not

CHAP. I.

war and discord, who will expect to become again BOOK XIV. what we were? Consoled already by return, the consolation of the exile will be completed by an indemnity which he dared not expect, and that of the army by a benefit which it thought to have lost with its author.

For the purpose of supplying the deficiences in the clerical establishment of the Gallican' church, which had so long been suffered to fall into neglect, the king, on the 5th of October, issued an ordinance, which permitted the archbishops and bishops of the kingdom to establish in each department an ecclesiastical school, the masters and tutors of which they might name, and in which they should educate young people intended for the great seminaries. When schools were situated in towns where there was a lyceum or commercial college, the scholars, after two years study, were to take the ecclesiastical habit, and thenceforth were to be excused from attending the lectures of the lyceum or college. When they had finished their course of study, they might present themselves to the examination of the university for the degree of bachelor of letters, which should be gratuitously conferred upon them. These ecclesiastical schools were allowed to receive legacies and donations.

Another ordinance of Louis related to the regulation of the prisons in such a manner as might correct the vicious habits of criminals condemned by the sentence of the tribunals, and prepare them, by order, labour, and moral and religious instruction, to return peaceful and useful members of society, when their periods of imprisonment were terminated; for the purpose of effecting this desirable end, all prisoners condemned for crimes, under twenty years of age, were directed to be collected together in one prison, to be called " The Prison of Experiment;" the director of which was, to be charged with the superintendance of its police, and of the labour and instruction deemed necessary for the reform of the criminals; an assistant and six inspectors to be placed under him these different offices to be gratuitous. The minister of the interior to make a report every month of the state of the prison; and besides that, a commission, composed of a counsellor of state, and two masters of request, and another composed of three members of the court of seɛsion, to visit it twice a year, and to give in the result of these observations on all the details of its management and effects; the director-general to furnish them with all the requisite aid and information; and also, at the end of each year, to give a moral and detailed account of the state of the prison, and an account of the receipts and expences: this account, after it has been verified and approved by the minister of the interior, to be laid before the king and the public.

1814.

BOOK XIV. ginated with one of the most enlightened and benevolent men in France, the Duke de la Rochefoucault, who was appointed Director-general of the Prison of Experiment.

CHAP. I. 1814.

In France, as well as in England, great difference of opinion prevailed respecting the laws for regulating the exportation and importation of corn; and soon after the peace, considerable disturbances took place at Dieppe, and some other sea-ports, when corn was sent out of the kingdom for England. In consequence of these disturbances, the subject of the corn-laws was brought before the two chambers; where it gave rise to long and elaborate discussions. The most important and enlightened speech was delivered in the chamber of deputies on the 10th of October, by M. Bequey, the director-general of agriculture: he stated several facts with regard to the price of corn in different parts of France-he had examined the returns of five districts in the south of that kingdom, prior to 1789, where the price had been constantly highest: from these returns it appeared that the medium price for twelve years, from 1778 to 1789, was eighteen francs fifty-three cents the hectolitre, when the average price throughout the kingdom was only fifteen franks eight cents during the same period: the difference, therefore, was three franks fortyfive cents. From the year 1802 to 1813 the medium price in the above districts was twentyseven franks fourteen cents, while the average price of the kingdom was twenty-one francs fortysix cents; the difference being five francs fortyeight cents.

Hence it appeared, that before the revolution the price of wheat was one-fifth higher in the southern departments of France than the general price, and for the last twelve years it was onefourth higher. He accounted for this by the want of importation in the southern districts, which could not be supplied as usual in time of war, from Barbary and Sicily.

The imposition of a duty when the price of grain approached the rate at which, by the law, exportation was to cease, had been objected to; but government thought this necessary, in order to slacken the activity of purchasers when the country had a very slight interest in the export of grain.

M. Bequey then proceeded to defend the principle of importing grain from foreign parts duty free: France was so very extensive, the harvests in different parts might vary so much in productiveness, that the more distant parts could not always relieve each other with the requisite promtitude and economy. Beside, the south of France exported its manufactures to the Levant, and the states of Barbary; and if France did not take their corn, they would cease to take their manufactures. "The example of England, which

imposed a duty on import, was not sufficient to rebut his argument: her financial and customhouse legislation was different from that of France: besides, she covered the seas with her ships, and could supply herself with pleasure. Bread could hardly be considered as the staple article of her subsistence; while in France it was the staff of life, and its dearness operated as a diminution of subsistence to the poor.'

After some further discussion, the whole of the law allowing exportation of corn when under a certain price, and free importation, was adopted by a majority of 120 to 20. This was the first plan of law which the chamber adopted without amendment.

In the chamber of deputies, a member made a motion relative to the personal debts of the king. The mover, after a reference to the long-rooted attachment of Frenchmen to their kings, and the circumstances which had compelled the present royal family to take refuge in a foreign country, and to contract debts for their support, divided their creditors into two classes, public and private. In the first rank of these he named England. "Could you wish (said he) that she should have it in her power to boast of having maintained, for so many years, the family of your kings, without an offer from France of the payment of her advances? In vain would proud England object that she had only followed the example of France by returning to the Bourbons what Louis XIV. had done for the Stuarts, whose posterity stills fills the British throne. Let us do our duty; the English will do theirs." In the second rank he placed those generous men who had sacrificed their fortunes and those of their children to these august personages; and he was persuaded that sooner or later the French people would do jus tice to such virtuous magnanimity and misfortune. After dwelling for some time upon their case, be ended with moving, "that the king be humbly requested to communicate to the chamber an account of the debts he contracted during his residence abroad, and to present a law for accelerating the payment of those debts, considered as the debts of the state!! This motion was warmly supported, and unanimously ordered to be taken into consideration by the committees. A resolution was framed upon it, which was afterwards unanimously acceded to by the chamber of peers.

Count Blacas, minister of the royal household, presented to the chamber of deputies, on October 26th, the plan of a law relative to the civil list and endowment of the crown, for which the two chambers had addressed the king. By the first article, the annual sum of 25,000,000 francs was appropriated to the civil list, to be paid in twelve equal monthly payments. Then followed a number of articles relative to the public domains or endowments of the crown, the conservation and admi