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SATURDAY, December 2*
THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE
. A N D 5
gazette or the state.
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FREE DO M of the PRESS, and TRIAL by JU R If, (hall remain inviolate* C onjitt ut it* of Getrgim*
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Intelligence, Advertifemerhs , &c. will btgratefully received, and every kind of Printing performed.
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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY of FRANCE;*
k September 13.
y
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THE Minister of Justice arrived in the
Afieinbiy, and having communicated
a paper to thd President, that gentleman arofe *
and observed, that it was a message from hi*
JVlajefty, notifying bit acceptance of tbk Con
fitution; which he read asfollows :
Gentlemen ,
I HAVE attentively examined the consti
tutional aft which you have'prefented for ms
acceptance. I accppt it, and I flulV
fte executed. This declaration alone might
have been thought fufficient at an/ 1 other pe
riod ; but'l owe it at the present moment to
the interefla of the nation, and I owe if to
• any (elf, to disclose my motives.
From the commencement of my reign; I
have been delirous to reform every kind of
abufc, and in all of my government,
I have been ambitious to take the public opi
nion as the rule of mfconduft. Divers abuses,
among the'number of which may be reckon
ed the situation of the finances on my coming
to the throne, < and theimmehfe expences at
tendee on an honorable wat T faflained with
out the increase of irnpofts, had occafionifed
a considerable difpropbrtion- between the re
venue and the expenditure of the date.
Struck with the magnitude of the I
aot only fought for the fneans of admiuiftcring
a remedy, but 1 also perceived’ the necefl&y
of preventing its return. I accordingly con
ceived the'projeft of placing the happineft;bf
the pcoplebn a constitutional and a (table basis,
and of fnbjefting to invariable rules that
authority of which I was the depositary. I
accordingly called all the nation around Rife to
execute this plan. During the course of ail
the events produced by the revolution, my
intentions have never varied. After having
reformed the ancient institutions, you began*
to replace them by the’firif effay* of your po
litical labors. I waited only for the comple
tion of the conflirution to give my entire as
sent to it; i even favored the component parte
before I-cvuld view them as one great whole;
and--if the disorders which have accompanied
almbft all the epochs of the revolution have
often afflifted mr heart, Lftill hoped that the
law (hould* regain it* proper impulse when
confided to newpowefra, aqd that, as the term
of your labdrs every day wbuld
add to that refpeft'&f if, ‘ without which the
people can neither enjoy liberty dor h-appinefs.
I per filled for a long tithe in t hat hope, and
sn*refolution never changed till the moment it
abandoned me. Whoever recollefts the pe
riod when Lleft Paris, mbft bow, although
the constitution was uearly achieved, that yet
the authority of the laws Was becoming every
day more feeble. The molt exaggerated opi
sions alone obtained a hearing; the licefn-i
--oufaefs of the pref* wasf at its height j no
power whatever'wss refpefted. * could no
longer recognize the chaiWfter of the general
will in those laws, whid> I beheld without
force and without execution. I then* began
to think tbic if ybu preferred the conditution
w me, I (hould not be eble to believs that
the inter** of- the people (the ennflant ..i«id t
•nly rule of my eonduft) would permit me
to aectpt it, 1 had but one fentimeu'i 1
formed but one projeft I * rtfolotd to with
diawiuyieif from alh *«<!«•» Wnd to make
GEORG lA
myfelf acquainted wiih the rett wilh of tlie' ;
-nation. ,
The motives which then direded me, no
longer exist at this moment} ever the
inconveniences and the evils I complained of,
have made on you the fame'imprefiron they
did,ou me."' You have maniMed your in
clination to order, you have given your at
tention to thf subordination of the army, and
you have felt the neceility of reprelfing.the
liberty of the press. The revision of your
labors has placer! among the number of re
gulating fevcral articles, which were at firft
prefentad to me as conftitutinnal laws; You
have eftablilhcd legal forms for the revision
of- those articles, which you have placed
among the conllitutional ones. In (hort, the
voice of the people is- to me no longer dubi
ous } I perceived it to shew itfelf at once, both
by its adhesion to your proceedings, and by its
attachment to the support of themouarchical
government.
I accept therefore the constitution.
I undertake the engagement to maintain it
within, to defend it from every attack from
without, and to hive it executed bjr every
means it has put jo my power. ,
I declard that, now informed of'the at
tachment which the great majority of the peo
ple has for it, I renounce the joint concur
rence I had claimed in that work } and being
only rcfponfible to the nation alone, no one
else, when I renounce it, has a right to com
plain. [The left fide of the ball and all the
_ galleries here refunded with appluufes •]
l I rtiould nevertheiefs be wanting to truth,
did 1 fay I Had difeovered in the means of ex
ecuting and admiijiftrating the constitution,
.that energy which is necelTary so impress the
motion and to pryfetve unity in all the parts
of so vast an empire ; but, since opinions are
at this day so divided in regardto these ob
jeds," I content that experience alone fii'aii be
come the foie arbiter.
i When f have made a faithful use of all the
means which have been entrusted to me, no
reproach can possibly be urged against me;
and the nation, whole interest alone ought to
serve as a v fule, will explain itfeif by those
means which the constitution has reserved for
“ |ts preservation. [Reiteratedplaudits."] '
But, Gentlemen, for the support of liber
ty, for the liability of the for
the individual hsppinefs of at!" the French,
thereare certain intereft* winch command us
to reunite all our efforts. T,hrie interclls are
X refped for the laws, the re-eifablilbment of
order, and the re-union of ail the crizeos.
Now that the* constitution is-definitively
fettled, Frenchmen living tiadef the fatne
laws ought to know no other'enemies than
those who infringe upon them; Hifc<*rd and
anarchy, these are our worst foes. I tliall com- g
bat them with all my porter; it is necessary
that you and your fuccetPjrs fliquld fecoud me
with energy, and tyrannizing
over the mind, the law Ihouid proted all those
who submit their action* to its diredion,
It is necelTary that all those who, from the
dread of troubles and of perfection!, have
absented themfelvei from their couuuy, ihou.d
be certiin of finding fafety and tranquility on
returning to ita bofom* ,
And for the e/muA* 00 ° r ,b< •oimormei,
and lefteniug the evila, thata gieat revolution
alwaya prvducta, and on furpoft that the .aw
tmu ibie day may date iu execuuou, let ua
[ Voi. VI. No. CCIXIX]
consent to f.irget what is pad. [The left band
fide of the bouje and tb galleries tefttfied their
fatist'adion at tbit paragraph. J Let the ac
dilations and prosecutions commenced iucou
fcqv.ence of the revolution, now drop and be
buried in a general reconciliation*
Ifjjfcak not of'thofe. who have been deter*
mined by their attachment to me; can you
yourselves think them guilty ?
*■ As for those who by excesses or by per*
foual injuries have wounded tne laws in
regard to me, I (hall prove to them, by my
clemency, that 1 am King of all the Frepph.
(Signed) . LOUte.
[ Loud plauditt for Jomt fKinuitt.']
t. S. I thiuky* Gentlemen, that it if in thf
place where the coaftitutiou has been formed
that I ought to pronounce my foie inn accepts*
tion of it; I (hall in confequence.repair to*
morrow to the National Afferably.
This being read amidst loud and repeated
plaudits, M. de la layette arose, and said,
-that it would be doing an injustice to the fen*
timcnts of the National Assembly and the
King, were he to delay the decree he waa
‘now about to submit to their determination..
* The National Assembly, after having heard
the King's meffagc, (jgnifyiug his acceptance
of the constitutional aft, in consequence of
his Majefty'a wi(h to quash all profecutiont
relative to the event* of the revolution, enafts ’
as follows:
lit. All persons accused or under arrest, *
in regard to the King's departure, (hall be im*
mediately set at liberty, and all further pro*
iecution (hall cease.
adly. The Committees of the Conftitu*'
lion and Jurtfprudcuce (ball to-morrow pre*
feat the plan of a decree refpeftlng the imme
diate abolition of all proceedings relative to'
the events of "the revolution.
3dly. To-morrow a plan of a decree (hall
also be piefented for abolishing the’ use of
patfports, and for annihilating all momentary
rettramts, in regard to that liberty which the
couflitution allows to all citizens of entering
into anddcpaiture out of the kingdom. [ Loud
plaudits .] *
Ou the motion of M. Goupil, resolved.
That a deputation of 60 Members ihall wait
upon »he King with the above decree.
The Minifler of Justice then left the hall,
in the midlt of unauimous and repeated plau
dits.
The Assembly rose at two o'clock.
September 14, four o'clock ift {be afternoon. ;
The King this day wcut to the National
Assembly at la* o'clock, and publicly avowed
bis acceptance of the constitution, in the pre*
fence of an iinmcnfe multitude of fpettat'Ts;
the ceremony, which wav grand and awful*
was accotupanicd by a general difebarge of
the aitiilery belonging to the bktioual guards.
His Majeity did not appear in the Cordon
Bleu, uotwitflaiiding the decree 0/ the Af
feiubly, and very graciously obfefved, * that
he wiflied not to be dirtingwifhed by any ex
ternal mark if diguny tium the rest cf the
ciuteos.*
Mr. 8 MIT H, ,
HE (trikiug difstence in (he fentimeote
of your two correspondents, Puiao*
thiipo- sod A Planter, hsve been
of cettjfrtwio# that »#• »• * cilltUt., aui