56] ANNUAL REGISTER, 1814. 



As Boon, therefore, as the joy of 

 present relief from danger had 

 subsided, there broke out a spirit 

 of discontent, which manifested 

 itself in animosity against the allies, 

 and disaffection to a new govern- 

 ment considered as imposed on the 

 nation by foreign arms ; with 

 which, in the numerous. mihtary 

 class, was joined an impatient 

 desire of resuming their arms, and 

 frequent tokens of remaining or 

 returning attachment to their late 

 emperor. The party thus formed 

 was strong and audacious in the 

 capital, and in some of the depart- 

 ments; and it required all the 

 prudence and vigilance of the go- 

 vernment to prevent its breaking 

 out in acts of mischief. 



The bulk of the people, how- 

 ever, was probabl)' well inclined 

 to admit the prospect of returning 

 quiet and prosperity, and of being 

 freed from the grievous burdens 

 to which they had been subjected, 

 and especially from the dreadful 

 yoke of military conscription. The 

 change from a severe despotism 

 to a limited monarchy, may also 

 be supposed to have been grateful 

 to all whose public principles had 

 not been utterly debased by long 

 habits of servitude. But in the 

 discussions respecting the consti- 

 tution, two opposite parties soon 

 declared themselves ; which were, 

 in effect, the same as those which 

 attend every system of mixed go- 

 vernment, and of which one in- 

 clines to the monarchical, and tlie 

 other to the popular side. To 

 the first of these naturally be- 

 longed all the loyal emigrants who 

 followed the fortune of the Bour- 

 bons, and returned with them 

 into their own country. Educated 

 in sentiments of the profoundest 



respect for the royal authority, and 

 the doctrine of hereditary right, 

 they were disposed to consider the 

 restoration of the ancient royal 

 family, as implying that of the 

 whole power vested in the crown 

 of France. The other party was 

 composed of those who had held 

 any share in the different systems 

 of republican government, during 

 the revolutionary period, or whom 

 the dread and hatred of experi- 

 enced tyranny had convinced of 

 the necessity of setting bounds to 

 arbitrary exertions of authority. 

 Both of these parties apparently 

 coalesced in the idea of a limited 

 monarchy, as the only form of go- 

 vernment adapted to the present 

 circumstances of the time and 

 country ; but it is well known, 

 from other examples, that wide 

 differences may exist as to the 

 nature and extent of the limi- 

 tation. 



The liberty of the press was 

 one of the topics upon which a 

 diversity of sentiments was the 

 soonest manifested ; and different 

 speakers in the chamber of depu- 

 ties had made motions relative to 

 it, when, on July 5th, the Abbe 

 de Montesqniou, and the Count 

 de Blacas, were introduced to that 

 assembly to present, by the king's 

 order, the plan of a law on the 

 Publication of Works. It was 

 prefaced by a speech from the 

 former, in which, after some of 

 the usual observations on the ad- 

 vantages, on the one hand, result- 

 ing from a free communication of 

 opinions, and the dangers, on the 

 other, attending the abuse of such 

 a liberty, he touched upon the 

 particular circumstances of the 

 present period, and the national 

 character, in whicli were com- 



