THE

FRENCH CONSTITUTION,*

DECREED BY THE NATIONAL CONVENTION, AUGUST 22, 1795, AND ACCEPTED BY THE PEOPLE.

Déclaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, and of a Citizen.

The French People proclaim, in the prefence of the Supreme Being, the following Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, and of a Citizen:

1. THE

RIGHTS.

HE rights of man in society are-liberty, equality, security, property.

II. Liberty confifts in the power of doing that which does not injure the rights of another.

III. Equality consists in this—that the law is the fame for all, whether it protect or punish.-Equality admits no distinction of birth, no hereditary power.

IV. Security results from the concurrence of all to fecure the rights of each.

V. Property is the right of enjoying and difpofing of a man's own goods, his revenues, the fruit of his labour, and his industry. VI. The law is the general will expreffed by the majority, either of the citizens, or of their representatives.

VII. That which is not forbidden by the law cannot be hindered. No man can be conftrained to that which the law ordains

not.

VIII. No one can be cited, accufed, arrefted, or detained, but in the cafes determined by the law, and according to the forms it has prescribed.

IX. Those who folicit, expedite, fign, execute, or caufe to be executed, arbitrary acts, are culpable, and ought to be punished. X. All rigour not neceffary to fecure the perfon of a man under charge, ought to be feverely repreffed by the law.

* The frequent references that are made to the present Conftitution of the French Republic, has induced the editor to include it in this Collection of State Papers.

VOL. III. PART ii.

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XI. No

XI. No man can be judged until he has been heard, or legally fummoned.

XII. The law ought not to decree any punishment but fuch as is strictly neceffary, and proportioned to the offence.

XIII. All treatment that aggravates the punishment determined by the law is a crime.

XIV. No law, criminal or civil, can have a retroactive effect. XV. Every man may engage his time and his fervices; but he cannot fell himself or be fold: his perfon is not an alienable property.

XVI. All contribution is established for general utility: it ought to be affeffed upon the contributors in proportion to their

means.

XVII. The fovereignty refides effentially in the univerfality of citizens.

XVIII. No individual, and no partial union of citizens, can arrogate the fovereignty.

XIX. No man can, without a legal delegation, exercise any authority, nor fill any public function.

XX. Each citizen has an equal right to concur immediately or mediately in the formation of the law, the nomination of the reprefentatives of the people, and the public functionaries.

XXI. Public functions cannot become the property of thofe who exercise them.

XXII. The focial guarantee cannot exift, if the divifion of powers is not eftablished, if their limits are not fixed, and if the responsibility of the public functionaries is not affured.

DUTIES.

I. The declaration of rights contains the obligations of legiflators: the maintenance of fociety demands that those who compose it should equally know, and fulfil their duties.

II. All the duties of man, and of a citizen, fpring from thefe two principles, engraved by nature in every heart :-"Do not to another that which you would not another fhould do to you.' "Do conftantly to others the good you would receive from them."

III. The obligations of every one in fociety confift in defending it, in ferving it, in living obedient to the laws, and in refpecting those who are the organs of them.

IV. No man is a good citizen, if he is not a good son, a good father, a good brother, a good friend, a good husband.

V. No man is a good man, if he is not frankly and religiously an obferver of the laws.

VI. He who openly violates the laws, declares himself in a state of war with fociety.

VII. He who, without openly infringing the laws, eludes them by craft or by addrefs, hurts the interefts of all: he renders himfelf unworthy of their benevolence and of their efteem.

VIII. Upon the maintenance of property reft the cultivation of the earth, all produce, all means of labour, and all focial order. IX. Every citizen owes his fervice to his country, and to the maintenance of liberty, of equality, and of property, as often as the law calls upon him to defend them.

CONSTITUTION.

1. The French Republic is one and indivifible.
2. The universality of French citizens is the fovereign.

HEAD I.

3. France is divided into departments. These departments are L'Ain, L'Aifne, L'Allier, Les Baffes-Alpes, Les Hautes-Alpes, Les Alpes-Maritimes, L'Ardèche, Les Ardennes, L'Arriege, L'Aube, L'Aude, L'Aveyron. Les Bouches du Rhöne. Le Calvados, Le Cantal, La Charente, La Charante-Inférieuré, Le Cher, La Correze, La Cöte-d'Or, Les Cötes-du-Nord, La Creufe. La Dordogne, Le Doubs, La Dröme. L'Eure, L'Eureet-Loire. Le Finifterre. Le Gard, La Haut-Garonne, Le Gers, La Gironde, Le Golo. L'Herault. L'Ille-et-Villaine, L'Indre, Indre-et-Loire, L'Ifére, Le Jura. Les Landes, Le Liamone, Loir-et-Cher, La Loire, La Haute-Loire, La Loire-Inférieure, Le Loiret, Le Lot, Le Lot-et-Garonne, La Lozère. La Maineet-Loire, La Manche, La Marne, La Haute-Marne, La Mayenne, La Meurthe, La Meufe, Le Mont-Blanc, Le Mont-Terrible, Le Morbihan, La Mofelle. La Niévre, Le Nord. L'Oife, L'Orne. Le Pas-de-Calais, Le Puy-de-Döme, Les Baffes-Pyrénées, Les Hautes-Pyrénées, Les Pyrénées-Orientales. Le BasRhin, Le Haut-Rhin, Le Rhöne. Le Haut-Saöne, Saöne-etLoire, La Sarthe, La Seine, La Seine-Inférieure, Seine-et-Marne, Seine-et-Oife, Les Deux Sèvres, La Somme. Le Tarn. Le Var, La Vauclufe, La Vendée, La Vienne, La Haute-Vienne, Les Vofges, L'Yonne.....

4. The limits of departments may be changed or rectified by the legislative body; but, in this cafe, the furface of a department cannot exceed one hundred fquare myriameters, (four hundred fquare leagues, of two thoufand five hundred and fixty-fix toises each.)

5. Each department is diftributed into cantons, each canton into communes. The cantons retain their prefent limits.-Their limits may, nevertheless, be changed or rectified by the legislative body; but, in this cafe, there cannot be more than one myriameter (two leagues, of two thoufand five hundred and fixty-fix

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toifes

toifes each) from the most diftant commune to the chief place of

Canton.

6. The French colonies are integral parts of the Republic, and fubject to the fame conftitutional law.

7. They are divided into departments as follow:--The island of St. Domingo, the legislative body of which fhall fettle the divifion into four departments at least, or fix at moft. Guadaloupe, Marie-Galante, Défiada, Les Saintes, and the French part of St. Martin; Martinico; French Guiana and Cayenne; St. Lucia and Tobago; the Ifle of France, Les Seychelles, Roderigue, and the establishments of Madagascar. The ifle of Re-union; the Eaft Indies, Pondicherry, Chandernagor, Mahé, Karical, and other eftablishments.

HEAD II.

Political State of Citizens.

8. Every man born and refident in France, who, being twentyone years of age, has infcribed his name on the civic register of his canton, and who has lived afterward one year on the territory of the Republic, and who pays a direct contribution, real or perfonal, is a French citizen.

9. Frenchmen who have made one or more campaigns for the establishment of the Republic, are citizens without any condition of contribution.

10. A foreigner becomes a French citizen when, after having attained the age of twenty-one years, and having declared his intention of fettling in France, he has refided there for feven years following, provided he pays a direct contribution, and moreover poffeffes a real property, or an establishment in agriculture or commerce, or has married a French woman.

11. French citizens alone can vote in the primary affemblies, and be called to the functions established by the conftitution.

12. The exercife of the rights of a citizen is loft, ist, by naturalization in a foreign country; 2d, by affiliation with any foreign corporation, which fuppofes diftinctions of birth, or requires religious vows; 3d, by the acceptance of functions, or of penfions offered by a foreign government; 4th, by condemnation to corporal or infamous punishment, until recapacitation.

13. The exercife of the rights of citizens is fufpended, ift, by a judicial interdict on account of infanity, idiotism, or imbecility; 2d, by a ftate of bankruptcy, or being an immediate heir, and detaining gratuitoufly, the whole or part of the fucceffion of *a bankrupt; 3d, by being a domeftic on wages, attending on the perfon, or ferving in the houfe; 4th, by being under accufation; 5th, by a sentence of contumacy, until that fentence fhall be annulled.

14. The exercife of the rights of citizens is neither loft nor fufpended in the two preceding articles, but in cafes pronounced

upon.

15. Every citizen who has refided seven years following out of the territory of the Republic, without miffion or authorization given in the name of the nation, is reputed a foreigner. He becomes not a French citizen until he has conformed to the conditions prescribed by article 10.

16. Young men cannot be infcribed on the civic register, unlefs they prove that they can read and write, and exercife a mechanical profeffion.-The manual operations of agriculture belong to mechanic profeffions.-This article not to operate till the twelfth year of the Republic.

HEAD III.

Primary Affemblies.

17. The primary affemblies are compofed of citizens domici liated in the fame canton.-The domiciliation requifite for voting in these assemblies is acquired by fimple refidence during a year, and is loft by a year's absence.

18. No man can vote by deputy in the primary affemblies, or vote, for the fame object, in more than one of these assemblies.

19. There is one primary affembly at least for every canton.— When there are feveral, each is compofed of four hundred and fifty citizens at least, or nine hundred at moft.-These numbers are understood of citizens prefent or abfent, having a right to vote in them.

20. The primary affemblies are conftituted provifionally, under the prefidency of the oldest man; the youngest fills provifionally the office of fecretary.

21. They are definitively constituted in nominating, by ballot, a president, a secretary, and three scrutineers.

22. If difficulties arife on the right of voting, the assembly decides provifionally, faving recourfe to the civil tribunal of departments.

23. In every other case, the legislative body alone pronounces on the validity of the operations of the primary affemblies. 24. No man can appear in arms in the primary affemblies. 25. Their police belongs to themselves.

26. The primary affemblies meet-1. To accept or reject the constitution propofed by the affemblies of revifion. 2. To make the elections which belong to them according to the conftitution.

27. They affemble in full right on the 1ft Germinal (March 21) of each year, and proceed, according as there may be occafion, to the election-1. Of the members of the electoral affemblies. 2. Of the juftice of peace and his affeffors. 3. Of the prefident

of