Chap. II.—The republic sanctioned by the will of the people, by
religion, by victory, and by all the Powers of Europe.
Hugues Capet ascended the throne by the choice of the Parliament, consisting of Lords and Bishops, which two classes then constituted the nation. The French monarchy was never absolute; the intervention of the States General has always been necessary for sanctioning the principal acts of the Legislature, and for levying new taxes. Subsequently, the French Parliaments, under the pretence of being States General on a small scale, and seconded by the Court, usurped the rights of the nation. In 1788, the Parliaments were the first to acknowledge them. Louis XVI. convoked the States General in 1789, and the nation exercised a portion of the sovereignty. The Constituent Assembly framed a new constitution for the state, which was sanctioned by the approval of the whole French people, and which Louis XVI. accepted and swore to maintain. The Legislative Assembly suspended the King. The convention, which consisted of the deputies of all the primary assemblies in the Kingdom, and which was invested with special powers, proclaimed the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of the Republic. The adherents of the royal party fled from France, and solicited the aid of foreign arms. Austria and Prussia signed the convention of Pilnitz; and Austrian and Prussian armies, joined by the French royalist forces, commenced the war of the first coalition to subdue the French people. The whole nation took up arms; and the Austrians and Prussians were conquered. The second coalition was afterwards formed by Austria, England, and Russia; but this was destroyed like the first, and all the Powers in Europe acknowledged the French Republic.
1st.—The Republic of Genoa, by an extraordinary embassy, on the 15th of June, 1792.
2d.—The Porte, by a declaration, on the 27th of March, 1793.
3d.—Tuscany, by the treaty of the 9th of February, 1795.
4th.—Holland, by the treaty of 16th of May, 1795.
5th.—The Venetian Republic, by an extraordinary embassy, on the 30th of December, 1795.
6th.—The King of Prussia, by the treaty signed at Bâle, on the 5th of April, 1795.
7th.—The King of Spain, by the treaty signed at Bâle, on the 22nd of July, 1795.
8th.—Hesse-Cassel, by the treaty of the 28th of July, 1795.
9th.—Switzerland, by the treaty of the 19th of August, 1795.
10th.—Denmark, by a declaration, on the 18th of August, 1795.
11th.—Sweden, by an embassy, on the 23rd of April, 1795.
12th.—Sardinia, by the treaty of Paris, on the 28th of April, 1796.
13th.—America, by an extraordinary embassy, on the 30th of December, 1796.
14th.—Naples, by the treaty of the 10th of October, 1796.
15th.—Parma, by the treaty of the 5th of November, 1796.
16th.—Wurtemburgh, by the treaty of the 7th of August, 1796.
17th.—Baden, by the treaty of the 22d of August, 1796.
18th.—Bavaria, by the treaty of the 24th of July, 1797.
19th.—Portugal, by the treaty of the 19th of August, 1797.
20th.—The Pope, by the treaty signed at Tolentino on the 19th of February, 1797.
21st.—The Emperor of Germany, by the treaty of Campo[Campo]-Formio, on the 7th of October, 1797.
22d.—The Emperor of Russia, by a treaty signed on the 8th of October, 1801.
23d.—The King of England, by the treaty signed at Amiens on the 27th of March 1802.
“The government of the Republic sent ambassadors to all the Powers of Europe, and received envoys from those powers in return. The tri-coloured flag was acknowledged in every sea, and throughout the world. At Tolentino, the Pope had treated with the Republic as a temporal sovereign; but he acknowledged and treated with it as head of the Catholic religion, by the Concordat which was signed at Paris on the 18th of April, 1802. Most of the Bishops, who had followed the Royalist party abroad, now submitted to the Republican government, and those who refused forfeited their sees. In short, the French Republic, which was sanctioned by the citizens, and victorious by its armies, was acknowledged by every sovereign, every power, and every religion, in the world, and in particular by the Catholic Church.
“Not only was the Republic acknowledged by all the powers in the world, after the death of Louis XVI., but none of these powers ever acknowledged a successor to him. In the year 1800, therefore, the third dynasty was ended as completely as the first and second. The rights and titles of the Merovingians were extinguished by the rights and titles of the Carlovingians; the rights and titles of the Carlovingians were extinguished by the rights and titles of the Capetians; and the rights of the Capetians were, in like manner, extinguished by the Republic. Every legitimate government supersedes the rights and the legitimacy of the governments that have preceded it. The Republic was a government, in fact and in right, rendered legitimate by the will of the nation, sanctioned by the Church, and by the adhesion of all the world.