422 



CONSTITUTION. 



had been drawn up by a committee appointed by him. It esta- 

 blished ii chamber of peers, to be elevted by the king, mid a 

 chamber of deputies, to be chosen by electoral colleges. These 

 two bodies, together with the king, were to form tin- let-Ma- 

 ture. But this instrument left many points unsettled, liirh 

 allowed full play to machinations of all kinds. 9. A It, r tin- re. 

 turn of Napoleon from tlba, the emperor promulgated a new 

 constitutional instrument, as an addition to the imperial con. 

 stitution, April 28, 1815. This WHS adopted by the people, in 

 June, on the occasion of the celebrated Champ de Mai. When 

 Louis XVIII. returned to Pans, the Charte went again inio 

 operation. By the electoral law of June 28, 1820, the demo, 

 cratic element of this fundamental law, as respects the repre- 

 sentation of the people, has been essentially weakened, or 

 rather thrown out ; as, in a population of 35,000,000, there arc 

 liiilv 70,000 electors, and only live or six thousand who can be 

 elected. The law of June 9, 1824, established septennial elec- 

 tions of the chamber of deputies, though the Charts had limited 

 their term of office to five years. 10. The revolution of 1830, 

 though made in support of the Charte, caused a material change 

 in the constitution, besides a change of kings. See France. 



In the Xcthertnndt, similar changes took place. An act of 

 arbitrary power was necessary \M overcome the opposition of 

 the federal party to the friends of union (democrats), before the 

 first constitution of the Batavian republic, fashioned after the 

 French constitution, was accepted, April 23, 1799, by the na- 

 tioniil assembly. The second constitution, of Oct. 16. 1801. was 

 fashioned after the fourth French coustitution, of 1799. Under 

 the influence of Napoleon, the Batavian republic received the 

 third constitution, of March 15, 1805, by which a pensionary of 

 the state was put at the head of the government. Only a few 

 points were necessary to be changed, when the treaty with 

 France of May 24. 1806, connected the new kingdom of H olland 

 most intimately with France. This was done by the constitu- 

 tional law of the kingdom of Holland, of June 10, 180(>, which 

 remained in force until 1810, when Holland was made part of 

 the French empire (July 9). In Dec. 1813, the son of the last 

 stadtholder, the present king William I., was acknowledged as 

 sovereign of the Netherlands. He convoked the notables iu 

 March, 1814, who accepted the constitution proposed by him. 

 Thus the kingdom of the Netherlands, established by the con- 

 gress of Vienna, received its fifth constitution, Aug. 24, 1815, 

 which, in spite of the opposition of the Catholic notables of 

 Belgium, went into operation in the Belgian provinces, in 1815, 

 and was, therefore, the fundamental law of all the seventeen 

 provinces of the kingdom. The recent separation of Belgium 

 from Holland has effected a change in their several constitu- 

 tion?. 



Poland was, until 1791, an aristocratico-monarchical repub- 

 lic ; in fact, it might be called an aristocratic republic, because 

 the king elected had very little power. The first step towards 

 a more popular constitution was the charter given to the cities 

 in April 14, 1791, which gained the favour of them all towards 

 the new order of things. Soon after, the constitution of May 

 '', 1791, was adopted, and it is remarkable that it was 

 finished four months before the first French constitution ; but 

 .he confederation of Targowitr, formed under Catharine II., 

 destroyed this instrument, and re-established the old order of 

 things. At a later period, Napoleon, at the peace of Tilsit, 

 created the duchy of Warsaw, and gave it a coustitution, signed 

 by him, Dresden, July 22, 1807, which, among other things, 

 abolished bondage, and pronounced the equality of all citizens 

 in the eye of the law. After the connexion of the kingdom of 

 Poland with Russia, by the congress of Vienna, the emperor 

 Alexander adopted, April 30, 1815, the title of king of Poland, 

 and gave this kingdom a constitution, Nov. 27, 1815, which 

 established a national representation, in a diet consisting of 

 the king and two houses of legislature. The senate formed the 

 first chamber, chosen by the king; the second chamber con- 

 sisted of 76 deputies of the land-holders and 51 deputies of the 

 communities. The constitution guaranteed, also, the liberty 

 of the press, which, however, has been long since suspended. 



Sweden and Noncau have two entirely different constitu- 

 tions, though both countries are under one king. We made 

 mention of the Swedish constitution above. Norway adopted 

 a constitution of a mixed democratic and monarchical charac- 

 ter, May 17, 1814, after the peace of Kiel, Jan. 14, 1814, had 

 been concluded. The present king of Sweden, after having 

 invaded Norway, and conquered it, assented to the whole con. 

 stitution, with those modifications only which necessarily grew 

 out of the connexion of Norway with Sweden under one mo- 

 narch. These particulars were settled by the ttorthing (diet) 

 held at Christiania, Nov. 4, 1814, so that the present constitu- 

 tion is called the constitution of Nov. 4, 1814. Nobility is abo- 

 lished. The itorttiing, or legislative body, consists of two 

 h oii-es the logthing and the oldetthing. See Norway. 



Spain. The old forms of the Spanish monarchy were first 

 called to life again by the junta (assembled at Bayonne, under 

 the influence of Napoleon), who drew up and adopted the con. 

 xtitution of July 6, 180S, at the time when Joseph Bonaparte 

 became king of Spam. But the regency, which governed in 

 the name of Ferdinand VII., proclaimed a new constitution. 

 March 19, 1812 the constitution of the Cortes which, how- 

 ever, was abolished by Ferdinand VII., on his return to Spain, 

 by bis declaration at Valencia, May 4, 1814, but again accepted 

 and sworn to by him, March 7, 1820. to which he was com- 

 pelled by the army. '1 his instrument not only abolished the old 

 feudal and hierarchical forms of government, but it likewise 

 limited considerably the powers of the king ; so much that 

 a strong party in Spain espoused his cause, and four of the first 

 continental powers declared themselves, at the congress of 

 Verona, in "December, 1822, against the constitution, and main- 



tained that the authority of the king ought to be strengthens). 

 According to the :t7Mh itrtirle of the constitution, liotvrter, 

 such a change could Uke place only alter the constitution hud 

 been in operation for eight years. France declared war against 

 Spain, and abolished the constitution of the cortes in 1823. (See 

 Cartel.) Portugal, likewise, received, by the revolution which 

 began Aug. 24, IS^U, a constitution similar to that of Spain. It 

 limited the power of the king, however, still more. The cortes 

 at Lisbon drew it up, and the king swore to it, Oct. 1, 1822 

 Hut another military revolution (May 27, 1623) abolished thin 

 instrument April i'S, 182(1, don Pedro, emperor of Ilrii7.il, 

 gave a new constitution, which, however, was abolished by 

 his brother, the usurper of his throne, don Miguel, who, in 

 order to surround himself with some of the appearances of a 

 legitimate sovereign, renewed some of the forms of the old 

 e-t:ites. (See Portugal.) In Naples, the army proclaimed the 

 Spanish constitution, which was sworn to by the king, July 13, 

 1820. The parliament of the two Sicilies was convened, Oct. 1, 

 1820, and drew up a new constitution, on the basis of the 

 Spanish, in January, 1821 ; but, in consequence of the entrance 

 of an Austrian army into Naples, conformably to the resolu- 

 tions of the congress of Laybach, this constitution was abolished 

 in March, 1821. The same thing happened in Piedmont, where 

 the Spanish constitution was proclaimed, March 10, 1821, but 

 abolished by the Austrian army which entered Turin, April 10, 

 1821. 



Italy, which, for many centuries, has been the theatre of po- 

 litical conflict ami bloody revolutions, has also experienced more 

 changes, in respect to the constitutional representations of her 

 people, than any other country. Saroy, Nice, and Piedmont 

 were governed, from the years 1796 and 1798 to lsi4, according 

 to the constitutions drawnup for France. Since ISM, the king 

 has governed without the co-operation of popular representa- 

 tives. Genoa lost her ancient aristocratic constitution in 1797, 

 and received, through the influence of general Bonaparte, in 

 the convention of Montebello, of June 6, 1797, a democratic 

 constitution, which liisted from Dec. 2, 1797, to lfc'02, when its 

 place was supplied by a constitution modelled after that of the 

 Cisalpine republic, and signed by Bonaparte and Talleyrand, 

 June 26, 1602; but a new constitutional law of Dec. l, isos, 

 remodelled it again. June 4, 1 805, the Ligurian republic was in- 

 corporated with France; and Genoa did not receive again her old 

 name until lord Bentinck, April 19, 1814, in the name of Great 

 Britain, proclaimed the restoration of her old aristocratic repub- 

 lican constitution ; but the congress at Vienna abolished this, 

 and gave the republic of Genoa, as a duchy, to the king of Sar- 

 dinia, by which an end was put to her representative govern- 

 ment ; but the new duchy received a senate, high court, and 

 provincial councillors, without whose consent no new taxes 

 CHU be imposed. The former Citalpine republic received its 

 first coustitution from general Bonaparte, June 29, 1797. It 

 was fashioned after the French constitution of 1797 ; but, in 

 1798, the French ambassador, Trouve, made essential changes 

 in it; and, in 1799, the whole republic was broken up by the 

 armies of Russia and Austria. It was re-established by the 

 memorable victory of Marengo. in 1800, and governed provi- 

 sorily, and received from a ctate-consulta at Lyons, as an 

 Italian republic, a new constitution, Jan. 28, l^o-j. Its presi. 

 dent was the first consul of France. This constitution pro. 

 vided three electoral colleges those of the land-owners, of the 

 learned bodies, and of the merchants. When the Italian re. 

 public was changed into the kingdom of Italy, and Napoleon 

 had become king of Italy, March 16, 1S05, he gave this state 

 three constitutional statutes, of March 16, March 27, and June 

 5, 1S05, in which the monarchical form was more and more de- 

 veloped. After the downfall of Napoleon, the emperor Francis 

 established here the Lombardo- Venetian kingdom, and gave it, 

 April 24, 1815, that constitution which we have mentioned 

 above. The aristocratic republic of Lucca received, in 17119, 

 from a French general, a democratic constitution, fashioned 

 after that of France of 1795; but it hardly had time to go into 

 operation, on account of the advance of the allied troops into 

 Italy. In consequence of the victory of Marengo, a constitu- 

 tion similar to that of the Cisalpine republic of lt'02, was pro- 

 claimed, Dec. 26, 1801; but, in 1805, the republic begged the 

 emperor to give them a prince out of his own family. '1 his 

 was general Bacciocchi (q. v.), prince of Lucca and Piombino, 

 and Napoleon signed the new constitution, June 23, IM>S. A 

 congress of Vienna, in 1914, gave this principality (still go- 

 verned, in all essential respects, according to the constitution 

 of 1805) to the former queen of Etruria. The States of t/ig 

 Church were changed by general Berthier, Feb. 15, 179^, iiiio 

 a Roman republic, which received a constitution, March 20, 

 1798, drawn up by Daunou, on the model of the French consti- 

 tution of 1795. It expired, with the dissolution of the repub- 

 lic, in 1799. After the pope was re-established, in 1814, he 

 proclaimed, July 6, 1S16, a constituent decree. 'Jhe miniature 

 republic of San Marino continues to preserve its ancient de- 

 ii ocratic representative constitution, iu which there are si.me 

 aristocratic elements. Naples received a constitution from 

 king Joseph, at Biiyonne, June 20, 1SOS, which was confirmed 

 by Napoleon ; but his successor, Joachim, never put it into 

 operation. Joachim (Murat), however,afterhisdefeat,iuisi5, 

 ordered his minister A gar to draw up a constitution ; but this 

 was only posted up at the corners of the street*, and never 

 acted upon. At au earlier period, in IS- 12, lord Bentiuck had 

 established in Sicily (then under the protection of Britain and 

 the sceptre of king Ferdinand IV., soon afterwards under that 

 of his son Francis) a constitution fashioned according to the 

 British, which vested the legislative power exclusively in a 

 parliament of peers and commons, the executive in the ki:i^r, 

 and the judiciary in independent courts. 'Jhe feudal coi:s,uiu- 



