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THE ANCIEN RÉGIMECHALLENGED

Lamoignon on the principles of the French monarchy,19 November 1787

This extract is from a speech delivered by Chrétien-François deLamoignon (1735–89), Garde des sceaux, at a royal sitting ofthe Parlement of Paris, on 19 November 1787. The Garde dessceaux, literally ‘keeper of the seals’, was the Minister of Justice.Earlier in 1787 an Assembly of Notables and the Parlement ofParis had rebuffed ministerial appeals for reform and financialassistance to the State. Lamoignon, a leading Notable and formerpresident of the Parlement, here reminds his peers of Louis XVI’spre-eminence by dismissing their call for a meeting of the Estates-General in return for approval of a loan. The following MayLamoignon issued six edicts aimed at undermining the judicialand political power of the Parlements, provoking rioting in Parisand provincial centres. In July Louis decided that he would, afterall, convoke an Estates-General in May 1789, and Lamoignonwas dismissed.

These principles, universally accepted by the nation, prove:

that sovereign power in his kingdom belongs to the king alone;that he is accountable only to God for the exercise of supreme power; that the

link that unites the king and the nation is by nature indissoluble; that thereciprocal interests and duties of the king and his subjects ensure theperpetuity of this union; that the nation has a vested interest that the rightsof its ruler remain unchanged; that the king is the sovereign ruler of thenation, and is one with it; finally that legislative power resides in the personof the sovereign, depending upon and sharing with no-one.

These, sirs, are the invariable principles of the French monarchy….

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THE ANCIEN RÉGIME CHALLENGED

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It results from these ancient maxims of the nation, testified to on each page of ourhistory:

that the right to convene the Estates-General belongs to the king alone;that he alone must judge whether such a convocation is useful or necessary;that he needs no special powers to administer his kingdom; that a king of

France, in the representatives of the three orders of the State, would findonly a more wide-ranging advisory council, made up of members chosenfrom a family of which he is the head, and that he would always be thesupreme arbiter of their representations or of their grievances….

When our kings established the Parlements, sirs, they wished to appoint officers whoseduty it was to administer justice and to maintain the edicts of the kingdom, and not tobuild up a power to rival royal authority.

Source: Archives parlementaires, 19 November 1787, Series 1, vol. 1, pp. 265–9.

‘Memoir of the Princes of the Blood’, 1788

The ‘Memoir of the Princes of the Blood’ was sent to Louis XVIon 12 December 1788, at the close of the second Assembly ofNotables, which had expressed its anxiety at mounting pressurefor the doubling of the size of the Third Estate representation atthe approaching Estates-General. Five of the seven princessigned the document. While Louis’ youngest brother, the comted’Artois, signed, a notable absence was the next youngestbrother, the comte de Provence, by now building a reputation forthe relative moderation of his views.

Your Majesty has stated to the princes of the blood that, when they wish to tell him what might beuseful in his service and to the State, they may address themselves to him.

The comte d’Artois, Prince de Condé, the duc de Bourbon, the duc d’Enghien andPrince Conti believe it to be their duty to respond to this invitation from Your Majesty.

It is in effect the princes of the blood who by their rank are the first of yoursubjects, who by their position are your born counsellors, who by their rights areconcerned to defend yours; above all, it is their duty to tell you the truth, and theybelieve it to be equally their duty to make known to you their feelings and thoughts.

Sire, the State is in danger; your person is respected, the virtues of the monarchensure the homage of the nation; but Sire, a revolution is brewing in the principles of

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