Part I, 11

After various disputes on this question, the Tiers Etat, or Commons, as they were then called, declared themselves, on a motion made by the Abbe Sieyes for that purpose, “The Representatives of the Nation; the two Orders could be regarded only as deputies of corporations, and could have a voice in deliberation only when they joined the national representatives in a national capacity.” This act extinguished the name Etats Generaux, or States-General, and gave the body the name it now bears: L'Assemblee Nationale, or National Assembly.

The motion was not made in haste. It was the outcome of calm deliberation and consultation between the national representatives and the patriotic members of the two chambers, who saw the folly, harm, and injustice of artificial distinctions of privilege. It had become plain that no constitution worthy of the name could be established on any foundation less than national. The Aristocracy had until then opposed the despotism of the Court and spoken the language of patriotism. But it opposed the Court as a rival—as the English Barons opposed King John—and now opposed the nation for the same reasons.

After carrying the motion, the national representatives, as agreed beforehand, invited the two chambers to join them as members of the nation and proceed to business. A majority of the clergy, principally parish priests, left the clerical chamber and joined the nation; forty-five members of the other chamber did the same. There is a hidden history to this last event that must be told to explain it. It was not thought prudent for all the patriotic members of the chamber calling itself the Nobles to leave at once. They therefore withdrew gradually, always leaving some behind both to argue the case and to watch those under suspicion. Before long their number grew from forty-five to eighty, and soon to more still; together with the majority of the clergy and all the national representatives, this reduced the malcontents to a very small minority.

The King—unlike most of the class called by that name, a man of good heart—seemed disposed to recommend that the three chambers unite on the terms adopted by the National Assembly. But the malcontents exerted themselves to prevent it and began pursuing another scheme. They consisted of a majority of the aristocratic chamber and a minority of the clerical chamber, chiefly bishops and clergy holding rich benefices. They were determined to stake everything on the outcome, using force as well as stratagem. They had no objection to a constitution, provided they dictated it and it served their own interests and positions. The Nation, on the other hand, would recognize them only as citizens and was determined to exclude all such upstart claims. The more the aristocracy displayed itself, the more contempt it drew. The majority showed a conspicuous feebleness and want of intelligence, a certain je ne sais quoi that, while pretending to be more than citizens, made them less than men. It lost ground more through contempt than hatred, mocked as an ass rather than feared as a lion. Such is the general character of aristocracy—of those called Nobles or Nobility, or rather No-ability—in every country.

The malcontents' plan now had two parts: either to deliberate and vote by chambers, or orders, especially on every question concerning a Constitution—giving the aristocratic chamber a veto over any article of it—or, if they could not achieve this, to overthrow the National Assembly altogether.

To achieve one aim or the other, they began courting the despotism they had previously tried to rival, and the Count D'Artois became their leader. The king, who has since said that he was deceived into their measures, held a Bed of Justice according to the old form. He granted deliberation and voting par tete, or by head, on several subjects, but reserved all questions concerning a constitution for the three chambers to deliberate and vote on separately. He made this declaration against the advice of M. Neckar, who was beginning to see that he was falling out of favor at Court and that another minister was being considered.

The outward form of separate chambers was still maintained, though the division had in substance been destroyed. Immediately after the King's declaration the national representatives returned to their own chamber to consider a protest against it. The minority of the chamber calling itself the Nobles who had joined the national cause withdrew to a private house for the same purpose. By then the malcontents had coordinated their plans with the court, and the Count D'Artois undertook to direct them. Seeing from the discontent and opposition provoked by the declaration that a separate vote would not give them control over the intended constitution, they prepared for their ultimate purpose: to conspire against and overthrow the National Assembly.

The next morning the door of the National Assembly's chamber was closed against its members and guarded by troops, who refused them entry. They withdrew to a tennis court near Versailles, the most convenient place they could find. Resuming their session, they swore never to separate under any circumstances, except death, until they had established a constitution. Since locking their chamber only bound the members more closely together, it was reopened the next day, and public business resumed in its usual place.

We must now consider the formation of the new ministry, which was intended to overthrow the National Assembly. Force would be required, so orders were given to assemble thirty thousand troops and place them under the command of Broglio, a prospective member of the new ministry recalled from the country for this purpose. Some care was needed to hide the plan until it was ready to be put into action. This explains a declaration by the Count D'Artois that should be introduced here.

So long as the malcontents continued to meet in chambers apart from the National Assembly, they could only arouse more suspicion than if they joined it; the plot might be detected. But having taken their position, they needed a pretext for abandoning it. The Count D'Artois supplied one with his declaration: “If they did not take part in the National Assembly, the life of the king would be endangered.” On this pretext they left their chambers and joined the Assembly in a single body.

At the time, his declaration was generally dismissed as an absurdity designed merely to free the remaining members of the two chambers from their diminished position; if nothing further had happened, that judgment would have been sound. But events explain themselves best. This seeming union served only to cover the plots secretly under way, and the declaration was suited to that purpose. Soon the National Assembly found itself surrounded by troops, with thousands more arriving daily. It made a forceful declaration to the King protesting the impropriety of this measure and demanding an explanation. The King, who later said he knew nothing of the secret plan, replied in substance that he meant only to preserve public tranquility, which appeared greatly disturbed.

Within a few days the plot revealed itself: M. Neckar and the ministry were removed and replaced with enemies of the Revolution; Broglio arrived with between twenty-five and thirty thousand foreign troops to support them. The mask fell away, and matters reached a crisis. Within three days the new ministers and their supporters thought it prudent to flee the nation; the Bastille was taken, and Broglio and his foreign troops dispersed, as recounted earlier in this work.

There are curious details in the history of this short-lived ministry and this short-lived attempt at counter-revolution. The Palace of Versailles, where the Court sat, was no more than four hundred yards from the hall where the National Assembly sat. The two places were at that moment like separate headquarters of opposing armies. Yet the Court knew as little of the news arriving from Paris at the National Assembly as if it had been an hundred miles away. The then Marquis de la Fayette, who, as already mentioned, had been chosen to preside over the National Assembly on this occasion, appointed, by order of the Assembly, three successive deputations to the king on the day the Bastille fell and into that evening, to inform him of events and confer with him. But the ministry, unaware even that the Bastille had been attacked, blocked all communication and congratulated themselves on their skillful success. Within hours, however, reports arrived so thick and fast that they had to leap from their desks and run. Each fled in some disguise or other; none fled in his own character. Their only concern now was to outrun the news before it could stop them; fast though it traveled, they traveled faster.

It is worth noting that the National Assembly neither pursued these fleeing conspirators nor took notice of them, and sought no retaliation of any kind. Busy establishing a constitution founded on the Rights of Man and the Authority of the People—the only authority on which Government has a right to exist in any country—it felt none of the petty passions that mark impertinent governments founded on their own authority or on the absurdity of hereditary succession. The human mind has the power to become what it contemplates and act in harmony with its object.

The conspiracy thus dispersed, one of the National Assembly's first acts was not to issue vindictive proclamations, as other governments have done, but to publish a declaration of the Rights of Man. This was the foundation on which the new constitution would be built, and it is reproduced here:

Observations on the Declaration of Rights

Declaration

Of the

Rights of Man and of Citizens

By the National Assembly of France

The representatives of the people of France, constituted as a National Assembly, considering that ignorance, neglect, or contempt of human rights are the sole causes of public misfortunes and the corruption of Government, have resolved solemnly to declare these natural, imprescriptible, and inalienable rights. Thus, with the declaration constantly before the minds of the members of society, they may remain forever mindful of their rights and duties; the acts of the legislative and executive powers of Government may be compared at every moment with the purpose of political institutions, and so command greater respect; and the future claims of citizens, guided by simple and indisputable principles, may always promote the preservation of the Constitution and the general happiness.

For these reasons, the National Assembly recognizes and declares, in the presence of the Supreme Being and in hope of his blessing and favor, the following sacred rights of men and citizens:

One: Men are born and always remain free and equal in their rights. Civil distinctions may therefore be founded only on public utility.

Two: The purpose of every political association is to preserve the natural and imprescriptible rights of man: liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.

Three: The Nation is the essential source of all sovereignty; no individual or body of men may exercise any authority not expressly derived from it.

Four: Political liberty consists in the power to do whatever does not injure another. The exercise of each man's natural rights has no limits except those necessary to secure every other man's free exercise of those same rights; only the Law can determine these limits.

Five: The Law should prohibit only actions harmful to society. Nothing the Law does not prohibit should be prevented, and no one should be compelled to do what the Law does not require.

Six: The Law expresses the will of the community. All citizens have the right to take part, personally or through their representatives, in making it. It must be the same for all, whether it protects or punishes; all are equal in its sight and equally eligible for every honor, office, and employment according to their abilities, with no distinction other than that arising from their virtues and talents.

Seven: No man should be accused, arrested, or detained except in cases established by the Law and according to its prescribed forms. All who promote, solicit, carry out, or cause the execution of arbitrary orders should be punished. Every citizen summoned or apprehended under the Law must immediately obey; resistance makes him culpable.

Eight: The Law should impose only penalties that are absolutely and manifestly necessary. No one should be punished except under a Law promulgated before the offense and lawfully applied.

Nine: Since every man is presumed innocent until convicted, when detention is indispensable the Law should prevent all severity beyond what is needed to secure his person.

Ten: No man should be harassed for his opinions, including his religious opinions, provided that declaring them does not disturb the public order established by the Law.

Eleven: The free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the most precious rights of man. Every citizen may therefore speak, write, and publish freely, provided he answers for abuses of that liberty in cases established by the Law.

Twelve: A public force is necessary to secure the rights of men and citizens. That force is instituted for the benefit of the community, not for the private benefit of those to whom it is entrusted.

Thirteen: A common contribution is necessary to support the public force and meet the other expenses of Government. It should be apportioned equally among members of the community according to their ability to pay.

Fourteen: Every citizen has the right, personally or through a representative, to a free voice in determining whether public contributions are necessary, how they are used, their amount, the way they are assessed, and their duration.

Fifteen: Every community has the right to require all its agents to account for their conduct.

Sixteen: Any community that does not provide for the separation of powers and the security of rights lacks a Constitution.

Seventeen: The right to property is inviolable and sacred. No one should be deprived of it except where public necessity is evident and lawfully established, and on condition of prior just compensation.

After several arguments about this, the Tiers Etat, or Commons as they were then called, passed a motion proposed by the Abbe Sieyes. They declared themselves "the representatives of the nation." The two Orders, they said, were only delegates of corporate groups. They could take part in deliberations only by joining the national representatives as members of the nation. This decision ended the name Etats Generaux, or States-General, and gave the body its present name: L'Assemblee Nationale, or National Assembly.

The motion was not rushed. It followed careful discussion and was agreed on by the national representatives and patriotic members of the other two chambers. Those members understood how foolish, harmful, and unjust artificial privileges were. It was now clear that a constitution worthy of the name had to rest on the nation as a whole. Until then the Aristocracy had opposed the Court's despotism and spoken as if it were patriotic. But it opposed the Court as a rival, much as the English Barons opposed King John. Now, for the same reasons, it opposed the nation.

As agreed beforehand, after passing the motion the national representatives invited the other two chambers to join them as members of the nation and get to work. Most clergy, mainly parish priests, left the clerical chamber and joined the national body. Forty-five members of the other chamber did the same. There is a less-known story behind this last step, and it explains what happened. It was thought unwise for every patriotic member of the chamber calling itself the Nobles to leave at once. They therefore left gradually, always keeping some members behind to argue their case and watch those they distrusted. Soon the forty-five became eighty, and then still more. Along with most of the clergy and all the national representatives, they left the dissenters a very small group.

The King, unlike most people called kings, is kindhearted. He seemed willing to recommend that the three chambers unite on the basis adopted by the National Assembly. But the dissenters worked to prevent this and began pursuing another plan. They included most of the aristocratic chamber and a minority of the clerical chamber, mainly bishops and clergy with wealthy benefices. They were determined to force the issue through both strength and trickery. They did not object to a constitution, so long as they could dictate it to suit their own interests and circumstances. The Nation, by contrast, recognized them only as citizens and was determined to reject their newly invented claims. The more the aristocracy asserted itself, the more people despised it. Most of its members showed a plain lack of ability and intelligence. They had a certain je ne sais quoi that made them less than men while they tried to be more than citizens. Contempt, more than hatred, cost them support. People laughed at them as asses rather than fearing them as lions. That is the usual character of aristocracy in every country—those called Nobles or Nobility, or, more accurately, No-ability.

The dissenters now had two aims. They wanted the three chambers, or orders, to debate and vote separately, especially on constitutional questions. That would let the aristocratic chamber veto any part of the Constitution. If they failed, they meant to destroy the National Assembly altogether.

To accomplish one aim or the other, they began making friends with the despotism they had previously tried to rival. The Count D'Artois became their leader. The king, who has since said that they misled him into supporting their measures, held a Bed of Justice in the old manner. He agreed to debate and voting par tete, or by individual member, on several subjects. But he reserved every question about a constitution for the three chambers to debate and vote on separately. He issued this declaration against M. Neckar's advice. Neckar was starting to see that the Court was losing interest in him and considering another minister.

The three chambers still appeared to sit separately, though their separation had effectively ended. Immediately after the King's declaration, the national representatives went to their own chamber to discuss a protest. Members of the chamber calling itself the Nobles who had joined the national cause met in a private house to do the same. The dissenters had by then agreed on their plans with the Court, with the Count D'Artois in charge of carrying them out. The declaration had caused discontent and opposition. The dissenters saw that separate voting would not give them control of the intended constitution. They therefore prepared for their final aim: a conspiracy to overthrow the National Assembly.

The next morning troops guarded the doors of the National Assembly's chamber. The doors were closed, and its members were refused entry. They moved to a tennis court near Versailles, the most convenient place they could find. There they resumed their session and swore never to separate under any circumstances except death until they had established a constitution. Closing their meeting hall had only united the members more closely. The hall was reopened the next day, and public business resumed there as usual.

We must now look at how the new ministry was formed to overthrow the National Assembly. Force would be needed, so orders were issued to gather thirty thousand troops. Broglio, who was to be part of the new ministry, was recalled from the country to command them. Some maneuvering was needed to hide this plan until it could be carried out. That explains a declaration by the Count D'Artois that belongs here.

If the dissenters kept meeting in chambers apart from the National Assembly, people would grow more suspicious than if they joined it. They might discover the plot. But the dissenters had committed themselves to separate chambers and needed an excuse to abandon them. The Count D'Artois provided one. He declared, "If they do not take part in the National Assembly, the king's life will be in danger." They then left their chambers and joined the Assembly as one body.

At the time, people generally treated the Count D'Artois's declaration as nonsense. They thought its only purpose was to rescue the remaining members of the two chambers from their reduced position. If nothing else had happened, that would have been a fair judgment. But later events explained what was really going on. Their apparent union covered the plotting in secret, and the declaration served that purpose. Soon the National Assembly found itself surrounded by troops, with thousands more arriving daily. The Assembly sent the King a forceful declaration protesting the measure and demanding an explanation. The King, who later said he knew nothing of the scheme, answered in substance that he only wanted to preserve public peace, which seemed badly disturbed.

Within a few days the plot became clear. M. Neckar and the ministry were removed and replaced by enemies of the Revolution. Broglio had arrived with between twenty-five and thirty thousand foreign troops to support them. They no longer hid their purpose, and matters reached a crisis. Within three days the new ministers and their supporters found it wise to flee the nation. The Bastille was taken, and Broglio and his foreign troops scattered, as told earlier in this work.

Some details of this brief ministry and brief attempt at counter-revolution are remarkable. The Palace of Versailles, where the Court sat, was no more than four hundred yards from the hall where the National Assembly sat. At that moment they were like the headquarters of two opposing armies. Yet the Court knew as little about the news the Assembly was receiving from Paris as if it had been a hundred miles away. The Marquis de la Fayette, chosen to preside over the Assembly for this occasion as already noted, appointed three successive delegations to the king on the day the Bastille was taken, continuing into the evening. The Assembly wanted to tell him what was happening and discuss it with him. But the ministry did not even know the Bastille was under attack. Its members blocked all contact and congratulated themselves on how cleverly they had succeeded. Within hours, reports arrived so fast that they had to jump from their desks and run. They fled in different disguises, with none appearing as himself. Now their concern was to get ahead of the news before they were stopped. The news traveled quickly, but they traveled faster.

It is worth noting that the National Assembly did not pursue these fleeing conspirators. It paid them no attention and sought no revenge of any kind. It was busy establishing a constitution based on the Rights of Man and the Authority of the People—the only authority on which any government has a right to exist. The Assembly did not feel the petty passions of arrogant governments that claim authority on their own account or rely on the absurd idea of hereditary succession. The human mind can become like what it considers and act in keeping with its purpose.

With the conspiracy broken up, one of the National Assembly's first acts was not to issue vengeful proclamations, as other governments have done. It published a declaration of the Rights of Man. That declaration would be the foundation for the new constitution, and it follows here:

Observations on the Declaration of Rights

Declaration

Of the

Rights of Man and of Citizens

By the National Assembly of France

The representatives of the people of France, gathered as a National Assembly, consider ignorance, neglect, and contempt of human rights the only causes of public disasters and corruption in Government. They have therefore resolved to state these natural rights, which cannot be lost through time or taken away, in a formal declaration. If members of society keep this declaration in mind, they will always pay attention to their rights and duties. If the actions of the legislative and executive branches can always be compared with the purpose of political institutions, they may be more respected. And if citizens base their future demands on simple, undeniable principles, those demands may always help maintain the Constitution and the general happiness.

For these reasons, the National Assembly recognizes and declares the following sacred rights of men and citizens in the presence of the Supreme Being, hoping for his blessing and favor:

One: People are born free and equal in rights, and remain so. Differences in civil status can therefore be based only on what benefits the public.

Two: The purpose of every political association is to protect the natural rights of man, which cannot be lost through time. These rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.

Three: All sovereign authority comes from the Nation. No individual or group may hold any authority unless it comes expressly from the Nation.

Four: Political liberty means being able to do anything that does not harm someone else. A person's exercise of natural rights can be limited only as needed to let everyone else exercise the same rights freely. Only the Law can set those limits.

Five: The Law should prohibit only actions that harm society. Nothing the Law does not prohibit should be prevented, and no one should be forced to do anything the Law does not require.

Six: The Law expresses the will of the community. Every citizen has a right to take part in making it, in person or through representatives. It must apply equally to everyone, whether protecting or punishing. Everyone is equal before it and equally eligible for all honors, offices, and jobs according to ability. The only differences that matter are those of virtue and talent.

Seven: No person may be accused, arrested, or detained except in cases set out by the Law and according to the procedures it prescribes. Anyone who promotes, requests, carries out, or orders someone else to carry out arbitrary commands should be punished. Every citizen summoned or arrested under the Law must obey at once, and becomes guilty by resisting.

Eight: The Law should set only penalties that are clearly and absolutely necessary. No one should be punished except under a Law made public before the offense and applied legally.

Nine: Every person is presumed innocent until convicted. If detention is necessary, the Law should prevent any harsh treatment beyond what is needed to keep the person in custody.

Ten: No one should be harassed for their opinions, including religious opinions, as long as expressing them does not disturb the public order established by Law.

Eleven: The free sharing of thoughts and opinions is one of the most precious human rights. Every citizen may speak, write, and publish freely, while being responsible for abuses of this freedom in cases set out by Law.

Twelve: A public force is needed to protect the rights of men and citizens. It is established for the community's benefit, not for the personal benefit of those entrusted with it.

Thirteen: A common contribution is needed to support the public force and pay other government expenses. It should be shared equally among members of the community according to their ability to pay.

Fourteen: Every citizen has a right, personally or through a representative, to have a free voice in deciding whether public contributions are needed, how they will be used, how large they will be, how they will be assessed, and how long they will last.

Fifteen: Every community has a right to demand an account of the conduct of all its agents.

Sixteen: A community has no Constitution if it does not provide for a separation of powers and protection of rights.

Seventeen: The right to property is sacred and cannot be violated. No one should be deprived of property except when a clear public necessity, established by law, requires it, and only with fair compensation paid beforehand.