Napoleon Bonaparte, as First Consul. l>iivid.) ( Flora a Drawing by I.. C. CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF FRANCE. BY HENRY C. LOCKWOOD, 11 AUTHOR OF "ABOLITION OF THE PRESIDENCY, " ETC. SUPPLE MENTEn P. Y FULL AND PRECISE TRANSLATIONS OF THE TEXT OF THE VARIOUS CONSTITUTIONS AND CONSTITUTIONAL LAWS IN OPERATION AT DIFFERENT TIMES, FROM 1789 TO 1889. Illitstralcd 'mUIi 32 /\>i /rails aiul a Map 0/ Paris. chicago and new york: .Rand, McNally & Company, Publishers 1890. l^ ^0 > ^^ 1/ CorYKiGHT 1889, BY Rand, McNally & Co., Chicago. CONTENTS. I. The REVoi.uTinN and thk First Rept-bmc II n. The Consulate and the First Eiipiiys c; III. The Restoration of Monarchy 1 l.'i IV. The OrleanVst Monarchy V>2 V. The Second RBPrsLic ^., Kiii VI. The Second Empire i.M,- VII. The Third Repvbi.ic .'.':' .;. VIII. cnxcLfsiox .1^.:..?:\ , .\PPENDICES. I. Coiistituti.mof irm .: n. Constitution of 1793 305 in. Constitution of 1795 -n:. lA'. Constitution of 1799. 1.'>I V. Constitutional Cliarttn- of in I J •'id:! VI Ailditional Act of 1815 -ililt VII. Constitutional Charter of 1830 377 VIII. Couslitution of 1S4S. 3S.! IX. Constitution of 1853 307 X. Con.stitutional Laws of 1875 4a3 (5) PREFATORY NOTE. The author of tliis essay has made some attempt briefly to outline the intellectual, social, ami political causes which led to the changes in the form of govern- ment of France, and at the same time to sketch the salient features of her organic law. Parliamentary governments, like that of Great Britain, and presidential systems, similar to that of the United States, have been compared to the parliamentary Repub- lic of P' ranee. Such an extended period of French history has been dealt with that it has only been possible to accord a brief consideration to the many questions of Constitution- alism, which would, under other circumstances, have received a closer analysis than the cursory one which the author has made. However, it was intended to produce a general commentary and criticism, and reference is therefore invited to the Constitutional laws which have been translated and placed in the appendix of this work, in support of the positions assumed. Although the Constitutional life of France lies within the period treated in this essay, still it is true that as early as the time that immediately followed the Middle Ages, society revived and secured popular franchises from the Crown and the nobles. These historic facts disclose the very germs of Constitutional law. In 1302, Philip the Fair summoned the tiers i'tat, being delegates from the towns, to meet the nobles ami prelates (7> VIM PREFATORY NOTE. in Notre-Dame. This meeting constituted tlie first con- vention of the States-general. In 1355 the three estates deliberated together again, and in 1484 the States-general was convoked, in order to ensure a National representa- tion. In Languedoc, Burgundy, Provence, and Brittany, and other provinces, or pays d'etats, the estates retained their ancient Constitutions. Subsequently the parliaments, which possessed legis- lative, political, and administrative, as well as judicial power, were a further check upon the prerogative of the King. The parliaments of Paris and the provincial par- liaments displayed a spirit of independence until they were abolished by Louis XV. Many of these tribunals had already been overcome by Richelieu and Louis XIV. It has been assumed by some publicists that France had a Constitution prior to 1789. The institutions referred to by these writers were largely subject to the relative cruelty or goodness of kings, of ministers, of bishops, and of lords; a mixture of old laws and barbar- ous customs. Maxims of public law and precepts of pri- vate rights marched side by side in the confusion. The contradictory systems with which the earlier part of the eighteenth century was filled, precluded the diffusion of reform principles, responding to the great social needs of that time, and, when placed in the light of the Revo- lution, became the point of departure of the modern law. Many extravagant estimates of the number of Constitu- tions under which the French people have lived since 1789 have been made. This number will be materially reduced when it is remembered that the Constitution of 1793 was suppressed a short time after its adoption, by the revolutionary government; that of 1815 never went into practical operation; that of 1830 was only the char- ter of 1814, with slight amendments; that of 1852 was PREFATORY NOTE. IX substantially a reproduction of the Constitution of the year VIII, and the Constitutional laws which now govern France were never adopted by a constituent assembly. The senahis consultinn of the i6th Thcnnidor, year X, creating the consulship for life; of the 28th Floreal, year XII, making Napoleon I. Emperor; and of August 19, 1807, suppressing the Tribunate, were but modifications of Napoleon's Constitution of 22d Frimaire, year VIII. Napoleon III. governed France for seventeen years by virtue of his Constitution of January 14, 1852, as modified by the senatiis consultiim of November 7, which estab- lished the hereditary empire; of December 25, 1852, which completed the imperial structure; of November 24, i860, which permitted the Senate and Legislative Body to reply by the "Address" to the Crown's message; of January 19, 1867, which acknowledged the right of interpellation; of September 8, 1869, declaring the ministers responsible; and of April 23, 1870, claiming to enact a new Constitu- tion, and to assure the future of the Napoleonic dynasty. The Constitutions which are set forth in the appendix of this book were translated from the text as published in the " Histoire Constitutionnelle des Franqais. Textes et Commentaires," par F, E. Planteau, translator for the Court of Appeal in Paris. In making the translation of the Constitutions of 1793, 1795, and 1799, the author was assisted by the work of Bernard Roelker on " The Consti- tutions of France," as he was also largely aided by the translations of the Constitutions of 1814, 1830, 1848, and 1852, made by Francis Lieber, LL.D., in hie work on "Civil Liberty." Scarcely a page of this book could have been written without reference to the following works, among others, which have been consulted, quoted, or mentioned, and from whose pages expressions, and even sentences, have X PREFATORY NOTE. been made use of by the author. The works referred to are: The works of Thiers, Taine, .Lamartine, Blanc, Mignet, Capefigue, Michelet, Guizot, Morley, Scherer, Lockroy, Hugo, De Tocqueville, and Sir Erskine May. " Histoire de la Civilisation Contemporaine en France," par Alfred Rambaud;"La France dii Centenaire," par Edouard Goumy; "Journal Officiel;" " Les Constitutions de la France," par Faustin Helie; " Les Orateurs de la Constituante, de la .Legislative, de la Convention," par Aulard; " Histoire Parlementaire de la Revolution," par Buchez et Roux; " La France en 1789," par Pezard; "Le Centenaire de 1789," par E. D'Argill; "The Code Napo- leon;" " Les Constitutions Europeennes," par Demom- lynes; "Les Constitutions Fran(,-aises," par Plouard; "La Constitution Frangaise de 1875," par M. M. Bard et Robiquet; "Codes et Lois," par Roger et Sorel; " Droit Administratif," par Aucoc, and " Etudes Admin- istratives," par Vivien. In the preparation of Chapters V, VI, and VH, the author has, in his statement of the historic facts, drawn freely from the work of M. Planteau, but in such a man- ner as not to make that writer in any way responsible for the opinions of others that may have been added, or for the arguments or reflections that are expressed in that portion of this work. On September 22, 1889, the quadrennial elections for deputies took place, under the provisions of the law of July 17, and resulted in a victory for the Government. The re-balloting which occurred October 6 further strengthened the party that favors the continuance of the Parliamentary Republic. CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF FRANCE. THE REVOLUTION AND THE FIRST REPUBLIC. Wheaever an advance in governmental evolution has been suggested, or advocated, by great parties springing from the people, the events of French history, from the time of the encyclopedists to the present day, have generally been distorted by the reactionary forces which usually constitute the opposition to reform; and when, in the last loo years, it was proposed to do away with the remnants of feudalism, abolish slavery, extend the popular suffrage, and establish parliamentary government, by some strange paradox in reasoning, the experiences and struggles of this brave people, in their march from abso- lutism to democracy, have been paraded as furnishing a dreadful example against any attempt for the betterment of mankind. When it was suggested in England to abolish the slave trade, and repeal the Test Act, ghastly references were made to noyades, fusillades, and guillotines; and Sir Robert Peel was warned, in his effort to reform the corn laws, that he was bringing about a catastrophe like that of 1789, while Cobden and Bright were likened to Baboeuf, (11) 12 CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF FRANCE. Chaumette, and Anacharsis Clootz. Robespierre, Dan- ton, and Marat were trotted forth in their sanguinary winding-sheets, and treated as the counterparts and pre- cursors of "modern worthies," and an innocent meeting of voters has recalled to some well-known writers lurid visions of the Cordeliers and Jacobin Clubs. Mr. John Morley has been described as the Saint Just of the English revolution of the present day. " It would have been just as well," says Morley, " to call me Nero, Torquemada, lago, or Bluebeard." The course pur- sued toward this publicist illustrates the general treat- ment of French politics and governmental reform by the English-speaking people. The idea underlying what is known as conservative thought is, that if the French had never had a revolution of their own, and had never been compelled to resort to extreme measures to overthrow bad government in their country, that good government would have grown faster in the rest of the world.