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106.

Arrest of

ménil and

CHAP. dignified assertion of the principles of a constitutional III. monarchy; and, being resolute not to be defeated, they 1788. determined to put in practice the power of a military one. Lettres-de-cachet were issued against d'Espréménil and D'Espré- Montsabert, the leaders of the Opposition, who took Montsabert. refuge in the bosom of the parliament, which assembled May 3. in great strength on this momentous crisis. The parliament protested against their seizure, declared that it "put them under the protection of the king of the law," and ordered the preparation of a representation to the King, against the prosecution of measures which would "drag legitimate authority and public liberty into an abyss, from whence all the zeal of the magistrates would be unable to extricate it." Meanwhile an immense crowd assembled round their hall, in the deepest anxiety as to the issue of a contest which would apparently determine whether France was to become a constitutional or remain a despotic monarchy. The most violent cries were heard from the assembled multitude: "We will make a rampart for d'Espréménil with our bodies," resounded on all sides. Loud cheers followed the arrival of the peers, who repaired to the parliament to stand by the defenders of public liberty in this extremity; but all cries ceased, and a deathlike silence prevailed, when the 1 Droz, ii. Marquis D'Agoust, aide-major of the Gardes Françaises, arrived at the head of a battalion of the household troops, with fixed bayonets, preceded by a company of sappers with their hatchets on their shoulders, and followed by a body of the Swiss guards.1

57, 58.

Lac. vi.

246, 247. Soul. vi. 189.

états-généraux régulièrement assemblées; l'inamovibilité des magistrats, les coutumes et capitulations des provinces, les droits des cours de vérifier les volontés des rois, et d'en ordonner l'enregistrement quand elles sont conformes aux lois; le droit de chaque citoyen de n'être traduit pardevant d'autres que ses juges naturels, et le droit de ne pouvoir être arrêté que pour être remis dans les mains des juges compétens. Le parlement ajoutait ensuite que tous les magistrats renonçaient à toute place différente de celle qu'ils occupent, et qu'en cas de dispersion de la magistrature, le parlement remettait le présent acte en depôt dans les mains du roi, de son auguste famille, des pairs du royaume, des états-généraux, et de chacun des ordres, réunis ou séparés, représentant la nation."-Protestation du Parlement de Paris, 2 Mai 1788; given in SOULAVIE, vi. 187, 188; and LACRETELLE, vi. 243, 244.

"Do you

CHAP.

III.

1788.

Dramatic

the hall of

"Where are Messrs d'Espréménil and Montsabert?" said D'Agoust, with a faltering voice, as he entered the hall and cast his eye round the august assembly. "We are all d'Espréménils and Montsaberts: since you do not 107. know them, take us all," answered the whole magistrates. scene in D'Agoust, who acted throughout with the most perfect parliament. temper and politeness, withdrew for the night, but returned next morning at eleven o'clock with an officer of the court, who was ordered, on pain of imprisonment, to point them out. "On my honour," said the officer, "I do not see them." D'Agoust was again about to retire to obtain new orders, thinking they were really not there; but d'Espréménil, touched with the devotion of the officer, called him back and said, "I, sir, am d'Espréménil, one of those whom you seek: my honour forbids me to submit to arbitrary orders; if I resist, have your soldiers orders to lay their hands on me?" doubt it," replied D'Agoust, "if you resist ?" "I will follow you then," interrupted d'Espréménil, “to avoid such a profanation of the sanctuary of the laws. Let us retire by a back staircase, to avoid a crowd which might endanger the execution of your orders." He then laid on the table of the assembly a protest against the violence of which he and Montsabert were the objects, and declared that he regarded the orders of which that violence was the result as having been obtained by surprise from a just King. He conjured his colleagues not to be discouraged to forget him, and attend only to the public interest. He recommended his family to their kindness, and declared that, whatever might be his fate, he would glory to his dying hour in professing their principles. Ann. Franc. Bowing then respectfully to the assembly, he descended Weber, i. with a firm step to D'Agoust, followed by Mont- 209, 210, sabert, and was conducted to the Isle of St Marguérite, one of the Hieres.1 The parliament, after protesting against the whole violence, and recording their admi- 191. ration of the courageous patriotism of the arrested

1 Sallier,

192, 194.

and 482.

Droz, ii. 58,

61. Lac. vi.

Soul. vi.

CHAP. members, separated after a continued meeting of thirty

III.

1788. 108.

enthusiasm

excited in

these

events.

hours.*

It is difficult to form a conception of the enthusiasm Universal which these dramatic scenes, and the calm yet resolute conduct of the parliament of Paris, excited over all France. France by That body had now placed itself at the head of the national movement; sacrificing, or not perceiving, its individual interests, it had united with the people in demanding the States-general; and, by declaring that it had no power to register the proposed taxes, it had in effect rendered their convocation unavoidable. The imprisonment of some of its members on account of their patriotic efforts, their temperate yet courageous conduct, excited a universal enthusiasm. D'Espréménil was the object of unbounded interest; his words when arrested were every where repeated: for a short period he was the idol of popular admiration. Alarming fermentation began to prevail in the capital; it rapidly spread to the provinces; the parliaments of Rennes, Bordeaux, Lille, Toulouse, Aix, and other places, passed strong resolutions applauding the conduct of the parliament of Paris, and were assailed by similar military violence; and the whole kingdom was agitated by those mingled hopes and fears which are the food of revolutionary passion.1

1 Lac. vi. 227, 241.

De Stael, i.

125. Soul.

vi. 193, 194.

Weber, i. 208, 210.

109.

tice held at

On the day after the arrest of d'Espréménil the parLit de Jus- liament was directed to assemble at Versailles, where the Versailles. King held a bed of justice. The monarch addressed the magistrates with a mournful countenance, and in accents in which the profound grief of his heart was clearly evinced. "No measure," said he, "has been attempted for the

May 8.

* "La cour, vivement affectée du spectacle accablant de l'enlèvement de deux magistrats arrachés avec violence du sanctuaire des lois au milieu des gens armés qui ont violé l'asyle de la liberté, a arrêté: Qu'il serait représenté au seigneur le roi, qu'il avait été attendri s'il aurait pu être témoin du triste et morne silence qui a précédé, accompagné, et suivi l'exécution des ordres rigoureux faite au milieu de l'assemblée la plus respectable; et de la noble fierté avec laquelle les magistrats enlevés ont soutenu le coup qui les a frappes, et dont les pairs de France et les magistrats ont partagé la sensibilité, comme si cette disgrâce était personnelle à chacun d'eux."-Protêt. du Parlement de Paris, 3 Mai 1788; SOULAVIE, vi. 191.

III.

1788.

public good for the last year, which has not been thwarted CHAP. by the parliament of Paris; and its factious opposition has been immediately imitated by all the other parliaments in the kingdom. The result of their resistance has been the stoppage of the most necessary and interesting improvements in the laws, the suspension of judicial business, the weakening of national credit, even the shaking of the social edifice, and disturbance of the public tranquillity. I owe it to my people, to myself, to my successors, to repress similar attempts. Compelled by stern necessity to punish some magistrates, I did so with regret; and I would rather prevent than repress the repetition of their offences. I have no wish to destroy the parliaments; I wish only to bring them back to their duty, and their legal institution. I would convert a moment of crisis into a salutary epoch; commence the reformation of the judicial body by that of the tribunals of law; promote the rapid distribution of justice to the poor; confide anew to the nation the exercise of its legitimate rights, which are never at variance with those of the sovereign; and impress upon the kingdom that unity of laws, without which the very number of its provinces becomes an evil. The parliament was a single body when Philippe le Bel rendered it stationary at Paris. What is necessary to a great kingdom is a single king, a single law, a single assembly for its registration : numerous inferior courts, to determine summarily the greater number of processes; higher courts or parliaments, for the decision of those of a more weighty description: a supreme court, the depository of the laws common to the whole kingdom; in fine, states-general assembled, not once only, but on all occasions when the interest of the state requires it. Such is the restoration which my 211, 212. love for my subjects has prepared, and which I now consecrate to their happiness."1

Lamoignon, the keeper of the seals, then detailed the intentions of the King in six edicts, which were registered

1 Weber, i.

CHAP.

III.

1788.

110.

Edicts there

proposed, which are

as in a bed of justice without observation by the parliament. Prepared with great care by Lamoignon and Malesherbes, the latter of whom had now been restored to the ministry, they contained the elements of practical good government; and, if accepted by the parliaments, and acted rejected. upon by them in the same patriotic spirit in which they were conceived, they might have prevented the Revolution; for they began the great work of reform at the right end, by the redress of experienced evils, not the conferring of untried powers.* But all was lost upon the parliament: the excitement of men's minds rendered them incapable of appreciating the most valuable practical reforms when brought within their reach, if not accompanied by theoretical innovation and the perilous gift of power. That the changes introduced by the six edicts would have been an immense improvement on the laws and institutions of France, by providing for their uniformity and abolishing their cruelty, will probably be disputed by none who have any practical acquaintance with human affairs; and that they were suitable to the wants of the country is decisively proved by the fact, that they were all, within two years afterwards, adopted by the Constituent Assembly, with the entire concurrence of the nation. But, coming, as they did, from the free gift of the King, they neither excited attention nor Sallier, Ann. awakened gratitude.1 Jealousy of the Cour Plénière 198, 200. which was to be established, irritation at the abridgment of its own jurisdiction, rendered the parliament of Paris

May 1789.

1

Weber, i.

213, 216. Droz, ii. 64, 66.

de France,

* The first edict introduced several valuable regulations for the more rapid administration of justice.

The second reduced the parliament of Paris to one grand chamber, with subdivisions for the different departments of business. It was reduced to seventy-three councillors and nine presidents.

The third introduced the most valuable reforms, long required and loudly called for, in every department of the criminal law. It swept away at once all the cruel punishments which had so long shocked the increasing humanity of the age, and provided against the principal abuses of criminal procedure. The frightful punishment of the wheel was abolished; an interval was provided between sentence and execution, to enable the evidence to be laid before the King; torture, both before and after sentence, was declared illegal ; criminal trials were to be conducted in public, and counsel allowed to the

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