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cestors in the . first framing of our constitution , is almost incredible . ' The overthrow of that constitution he attributes to " that great blow it received a hundred years before , from Louis XI ., who , it is manifest , first of all broke in upon the noble and solid
insti tutions of his ancestors . " To allay the u civil dissensions ' which had driven the authox from his country , he recommends a recurrence to tife original free principles of their government , adding , " as our natural bodies , when put out of joint by violence , can never be recovered but
by restoring every member to its true position , so neither can we reasonably hope our commonwealth should be restored to health , till , through divine assistance , it shall be put into its true and natural state
again . On the " state of Gaul" before it became a Roman province , which is the subject of his first chapter , the author maintains from Caesar , that its kingdoms " were not hereditary ,
but conferred by the people upon such as had the reputation of being just men . That these had no arbitrary or unlimited authority , but were bound and circumscribed by laws : so that they were no less
accountable to , and subject to the power of the people , than the people was to theirs ; insomuch that those kingdoms seemed nothing else but magisti acies for life " The second chapter contains " Probable conjectures concerning the
ancient language of the Gauls . " These were adopted by our learned countryman , Brereivood , in his " Inquiries , " published in lo ! 4 . In the following j'hapters , my author brings the Franks wto Gallia , ; md in the sixth inquires whether the kingdom of Francot » allia wns hereditary or elective ? ' Here lie remarks ( p . 44 ) , " I think it
** plainly proved , from all our annals , that the highest power of abdicating their kings was lodged with the peo-Pte . The very first that was created tang of Kranco-Gallia , ; is a remarkable instance of this power ; for when "ie people had found him out to be ( t
profligate lewd person , wasting his l 1 > ie in adulteries and whoredoms , they amoved-him from his dignity by universal consent , and constrained him \ f depart out of the territories of ' ttiuc-e , "
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But I hasten to the tenth chapter on the form and constitution of the Franco-Gallican government . " The author thus describes the origin and design of the Champ de Mai .
" Our ancestors , following the method of a . just mixture of all the three kinds , in the constituting their commonwealth , most wisely ordained , that every year , on the calends of May , a public council of the whole nation should be held : at which
council the great affairs of the nation should be transacted byrthe common consent and advice of all the estates . The wisdom and advantage of which institution , appear chiefly in these three things . First , that in the multitude of prudent counsellors , the weight and excellency of counsel
shews itself more apparently . Secondly , because it is an essential part of liberty , that the same persons , at whose cost and peril any thing is done , should have it done likewise by their authority and advice ; for , it is a common saying , what concerns all ought to be approved by all . Lastly , that such ministers of state as have
great power with the prince , and are in high employments , may be kept within the bounds of their duty , through the awe they stand in of this great council , in which all the demands and grievances of the subject are freely laid open /* Hotomaii soon after makes the
following just remarks , suited to all countries and all times . " Whereas it may be objected that most kings have a constant privy council to advise them in the administration oi public affairs , we answer , that there
is a great deal of difference between a counsellor of the king and a counsellor of the kingdom . This last takes care of the safety and profit of the whole commonwealth ; the other serves the humour and studies the conveniences
of one man only . And besides , these kings' counsellors , being debauched by the luxury of a court-life , are easily depraved , and acquire a lawless appetite of domineering ; are wholly intent upon their own ambitious and
covetous designs , so that at last they are no longer to be considered as counsellors for the good of the kingdom and commonwealth , but flatterers of a single person , and slaves to their own and their prince ' s lusts . Hotomaii thus describes an ancient
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JBoofi-Worm . No . XX // . $ 57
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1815, page 357, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1761/page/29/
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