that were fixed, or rights that were ascertained. The great wars, in which France has been engaged, have obliged the administration frequently to levy great taxes on the fubject. This brought on the neceffity of frequent registers, and, of course, multiplied remonftrances on fo popular a topic, where the parliaments feemed to oppose themselves to all the rage of power, and to ftand as the only bulwark between the people and oppreffion.

The court, in order to induce them to a more eafy registry of its money edicts, and to filence their loud and fometimes harsh remonftrances, has condefcended to many compliances, by which the parliament has gained no little ground on that fide. On the other hand, those remonftrances, and the effect of them, have acquired to the parliaments the deepest reverence amongst the people, and have fecured to them all the weight, which popularity is capable of conferring in a government like that of France. 1

The court, finding that it gained more by the authority and the refpect which attended its acts, when fanctioned by the parliament, than it loft by the occafional oppo

fition of that body, never took any effectual fteps to prevent the growth of their authority. It appeared for a long time as no other than a political contrivance, by which a fhadow of law or liberty was prefented to the people, and they thought that, as they had fet it up, they might take it down at their pleasure. But it is not eafy to remove, upon a pretence of ancient right, a power which has gathered ftrength, without contracting any odium, by a long exercife of uncontrolled jurisdiction. This was vifible enough in the affair of the archbishop of Paris, when he attempted the enforcement of the Bull Unigenitus against the Janfenifts. The court would have filenced that dispute, or have compromifed it. Both parties

and

were, however, obftinate the court being obliged to give way to the one or to the other, thought it expedient to close with the parliament. But the power of the parliaments was ftill more vifible in the expulfion of the jefuits, that strong and politic, but envied and hated order, whom many believed to be countenanced, at the fame time that they could not be protected, by the court.

TH

HE parliaments, having thus brought France into the ap

pearance of a country governed folely by known laws, have fhewn [B] 3

that

that they poffefs a power capable of maintaining it in that condition, by refifting and punishing all thofe, who, under the pretence of whatever orders, or with whatever fupport, infringe thofe rights, which the parliaments claim as conftitutional. A memorable inftance of this power has been given by the parliaments of Thouloufe, Normandy, and Grenoble.

The conduct of these parliaments fhews fo evidently the fpirit of the French judicature, and the character of the court and miniftry, that we shall be readily excused for dwelling upon it for a few pages. The interior difpofitions of the fovereign and people of France are always matters worthy of the attention of her neighbours.

On the 24th of April, 1763, the king iffued an edit for the continuance of fome taxes, which were to have ended, with the war ; and for impofing fome new ones, apparently of no very heavy nature; but other regulations were made of great importance, viz. for enabling the crown to redeem its debts at twenty years purchase of their then produce, excepting fuch as were in the hands of the first proprietors, who had paid the whole capital, or their heirs; these latter, and these only, were not to receive reimbursement below the capital.

Thefe edicts furnished the parliaments, who were ready enough to catch at much lighter occafions of complaint, with matter for the heavieft. They looked on these edicts, all of them as burthens on the people, fome as violations of the public faith. Almoft all the parliaments of France took fire at ence. Without previous concert,

but animated by a participation of the fame fpirit, they all refolved on the most strenuous oppofition; and they determined to take this opportunity, not only of fruftrating the edicts, but of fetting up their authority at so high a point, as to prevent all abuse of the fame kind in future.

They refused to register the edicts, and they prepared the ftrongeft remonftrances. The remonftrance of the parliament of Paris was pathetic, firm, May 19th. full of energy, but temperate and guarded in the expreffion.

1763.

In that of the

parliament of Rouen, the flame of liberty Aug. 5th. which had long lain fmothered, burst out into a full blaze.

"We thought it our duty," faid that learned body, "to re"monftrate to your majesty, that "the regiftering that edict and "declaration is irreconcilable with "your glory, the good of the "ftate, and the rights of man"kind. 'Whatsoever favours of "conftraint, wounds the honour "of the throne. A manly and " refpectful freedom has always "been the glory of every prince, "under whofe reign the fubjects "have made it their guide.

un

"Your people, fire, are "happy; all things proclaim this "fad truth. Your courts of par"liament, the only voice of the "nation, cease not to tell it. No, "fire, it is but too true; and we "cannot too often repeat it, your people are miferable.

"It is not from this day, that we are to date the calamities, "that defolate the feveral parts "of your ftate. Your parliaments have "found themfelves more

than

"than once under a neceffity to "lay before you the fad defcrip"tion of them. Your majesty "could not behold it, without "being affected. But what does "it fignify to the felicity of "Frenchmen, that their fove

"reign fhares, by reflection, in "the evils they really fuffer, if "the mercenary fpirit, which devours them, is fubftituted to "that, which ought to profcribe ❝and punish it?

"The termination of the war “ought to put an end to our mi "fery. Peace fhould have intro"duced in France the fweets, "with which it is attended among "all other nations. The capital "of the kingdom was preparing "to celebrate the return thereof, "and with fhouts of joy to de"dicate a monument defigned to "eternize its fenfibility, and the "memory of a beloved monarch. But, inftead of this, nothing but "fighs of grief appeared.

"It is to promote the happiness "of thofe, who are placed under << your care, that you are invested "with the fupreme authority. "Your subjects have a right to "your beneficence. They have, "therefore, a right to the easiest "and leaft burthenfome method "of contributing to the wants of "the ftate. This right, which is "founded in nature, belongs to every nation in the world, what

ever be its form of governmay It is principally the "right of the Francs, and, in a more especial manner, that of your province of Normandy. "The Norman Charter furnishes, "on this head, the most refpect"able monuments of our national “immunities, and of the juftice

"of the kings, your auguft pre"deceffors. We there find, that 66 no tax can be laid on your sub"jects of this province, unless it be "agreed to in the assembly of the

people, of the three estates. This "charter fubfifts in its full force; "it makes part of your people's

rights, which you fwore to "maintain before him, by whom "kings reign."

In the periods of the most violent contefts between right and prerogative in Great Britain, the voice of freedom was never raised to a higher pitch.

Even the Chambre des Aides of the parliament of Paris, whofe ftile was fomething more referved, clofes one of its remonftrances with this very remarkable request, that, if the king doubts of the fide lity of their reprefentations, he would be pleafed to hear the people themfelves by convoking the states general of the kingdom.

From the fouth they echoed without any diminution the voice of the northern parliaments. "As "often," fays the parliament of Bourdeaux," as we regifter an "edict for laying a tax upon the "people, we, in confequence of "the oath we have taken to the 66 king, bear witness, on the one "hand, to the people, that the "tax is juft, and that we know of

.

no other lefs burthenfome, lefs illegal, lefs tedious way of raif"ing the neceflary fupplies; and we bear witness to the king, on "the other hand, that his people, ever filled with that zeal for his fervice, ever animated with that "patriotic fpirit, which is fo ne"ceflary to be kept up, are still "in a condition to furnish the fupplies demanded. Thefe form [B] 4

"the

"the questions, which the con"fcience of every member puts to "him, who is thus placed be"tween the king and his people, "under the eyes of a God, who "who is the terrible avenger of all "falfehood and prevarication. By. "registering a money edict, every "member makes himfelf anfwer"able to his confcience for the "truth of these affirmations, thus "difcharging the confcience of "the prince from any reproach "of violence or oppreffion, at the "fame time that he confirms the "people in the effential principles of love, gratitude, refpect, "and fubmiffion to their fove"reign."

Nothing can be more juft, or conceived in a more noble manner. At Thouloufe, at Grenoble, at Befangon, they pursued the fame meafures, and held the fame language.

The court was alarmed at this oppofition; but did not, however, immediately give up its point. It had recourfe to the direct power of the crown, which had, not long fince, been, or was at least deemed, irresistible. They fent down the governors, of the feveral provinces with orders in the king's name to regifter the edicts by force, and to cause them to be obeyed.

The duke of Fitz James was fent to Thoulouse; Monfieur du Mefnil to Grenoble; and the duke of Harcourt to Rouen.

The parliament of Thoulouse, firm to their firft refolves, determined to give the governor an early impreffion of their fpirit. They ftrictly enjoined the magiftrates not to pay him any honours as governor of the province, until his

commiffion was first prefented to them, and until his character was by them recognized.

were

The duke, who is the grandfon of James II. of England, took his feat in parliament in quality of peer of France, and caufed the edict to be registered. The parliament, on their fide, paffed an arret, declaring the register void, and forbidding all obedience to the edict. This arret, in his turn, Fitz James caused to be erased. Things now come to extremities, guards were fet upon the houses of fome of the principal magiftrates, and the reft were 'threatened with the fame restraint. But thefe patriots, rather provoked than terrified with this rigour, and animated by the conflict, which now arose between law and military power, were far from remitting of the firmness of their proceedings. On the contrary, they rofe under the oppreffion, and this act of violence drew from them further and more powerful exertions of the fpirit of liberty, than had ever hitherto appeared in France.

Whilft they were ftruggling in this manner, the neighbouring parliament of Provence took fire i and, engaging in the cause of their brethren of Thoulouse, drew up remonftrances to the king, in a ftile glowing with refentment and indignation, and in a ípirit which no words can adequately express but their own. In these they represent "the dreadful fpectacle prefented "to the people: defolation en

tering the fanctuary of justice, "the liberty of the magiftrates

oppreffed, their voices ftifled, "their fafety violated, their for"tunes buried under the ruins of

"the law, and the fupreme right "of registering acknowledged in s< appearance to render them accomplices or victims of a pro"ject of deftruction, and the in"ftruments of arbitrary power. "And, more especially the un"heard of outrage, which, in the capital of Languedoc, the mi"nifters of the laws have expe"rienced, and, in their perfons, "the body of the magiftracy, the "whole nation, and the throne "itself, whofe power and majefty are equally wounded by tyran"nical acts, which exhibit to "aftonished France force armed "against the laws, of which it "fhould be the fupport; juftice "in bondage; a fubject erecting "himself into defpotifm; and all "this under the reign of a mo"narch, the father of his people, "and the protector of mankind.

"That, if his parliament, in "the abyss of their grief and af"fliction, can yet employ them"felves in other objects, it is an "effort of their zeal, fupported "by the firmeft confidence, that "the remembrance of fuch an "event fhall not be tranfmitted "to pofterity, without an example capable of revenging the glory of the king, the public liberty, and the laws."

«

The legal vengeance, which this remonftrance threatened, the parliament of Thoulouse, as foon as it could affemble, began to execute. They came to a refolution of apprehending their governor, acting with the authority, and under the immediate direction, of the crown, and proceeding against him as a Dec. 11th, criminal. An arret ap1763. peared, in which, after a bitter complaint, in the tenor of the preceding remon

ftrance, it is declared, that the faid court has ordered, "that the "faid duke of Fitz James fhall be bodily taken and fcized, where"foever he may be found in the kingdom, and brought to the pri"fons of the court; and, in cafe he "cannot be apprehended, his ef"tates and effects fhall be seized, "or put under the adminiftration "of a legal commiffary, according "to the ordinances, &c."

The proceedings of the duke of Harcourt in Normandy were altogether fimilar to those of the duke of Fitz James in Languedoc; the refiftance on the part of the parliament was equally fpirited, and the arret to apprehend their governor fo exactly the fame, that it would be almost a repetition of the former proceedings to relate it.

Monfieur du Mefnil imitated the conduct of the other two governors, and fhared the fame fortune. The parliament of Grenoble did not in the leaft fall fhort of the brave example of their brethren in Rouen and Thoulouse.

The event of thefe violent difputes, we may almoft call them convulfions, in the ftate of France, is not yet known to the compilers of this work with fufficient clearnefs; nor, if our accounts were more fatisfactory, would it be to our prefent purpofe to relate it more at large, as we mean no more than to exhibit to the reader a faithful picture of the fpirit, which has rifen to fo high a degree in a country hitherto diftinguifhed by a paffive acquiefcence in the will of its fovereigns. From hence the reader may be enabled to form a judgment of the influence it may have upon the political conduct of that great nation.

Much