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239 Reprinted from Jared Sparks, The Life of Gouverneur Morris, with Selections from his Correspondence and Miscellaneous Papers (Boston: Gray & Bowen, 1832), 2:512–25. Sparks adds this note: “On the original manuscript is the following endorsement, in the handwriting of Mr Morris; ‘Memoir given to M. de Montmorin on the 31st of August, 1791. He gave it to the King after the step was taken, which this Memoir was to influence. The King returned it with a request to have a translation.’ The King took the oath to accept and maintain the constitution on the 14th of September.” The manuscript has disappeared since Sparks’s day. See Morris, Diary of the French Revolution, 2:248. 1. Armand Marc, Comte de Montmorin (1745–92), had been minister of foreign affairs and the navy. He resigned after the flight to Varennes but continued to advise the king. 18 • Memoir Written for the King of France, Respecting the New Constitution (1791) By mid-1791 the National Assembly had been deliberating a new constitution for France for two years. Along the way, however, it had taken some radical steps, including abolishing the feudal system, issuing the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, and nationalizing the property of the Catholic Church. The Civil Constitution of the Clergy, issued in July 1790, made the church subordinate to the state. At each step, King Louis XVI responded in ways that were ultimately counterproductive. On June 20, 1791, the royal family, who by this time were virtually prisoners in the Tuileries, tried to flee the country. They were captured at Varennes on June 25. After some debate, the king was reinstated July 15. By the end of August, it was clear that the National Assembly would soon finish work on the constitution, and equally clear that the king’s fate depended on how he handled the situation. Most of the king’s advisors favored simply accepting the constitution. Morris advocated a firmer line, accepting the document but making the king’s reservations known. The following two documents were prepared by Morris for the king. The first is a memorandum on the political situation, which according to Sparks was “given to M. de Montmorin on the 31st of August, 1791.”1 The sec- 240 chaPtEr 18 2. Morris, Diary of the French Revolution, 2:246–47. ond is a speech written for the king. Morris records in his diary that he read the speech to Montmorin on August 27, and that Montmorin made it clear he would not use it.2 •• Memoir Written for the King of France, Respecting the New Constitution In the present posture of affairs what is the King to do? This question is important, and, to decide it properly, three things are necessary. First, a retrospect of the past; secondly, an examination of the present; and thirdly, a rational investigation of the future. It may be said, in general, that few Kings have shown a more tender regard for their subjects; and an eloquent discourse might be made, in which some striking incidents of the present reign might be placed in a strong light, but this would be attended with inconveniences. There is little dignity in praising one’s self, and still less in begging future favor on the score of past kindness. Men in general are not very grateful for benefits bestowed on themselves, and no one thinks himself bound, in his own particular, to return good offices performed for a whole nation. All agree in considering the good done as so much gained, and in looking forward for as much more as they can contrive to obtain. A discourse of this sort, therefore, would be attended with no profound effect. The fine phrases in it would be applauded , and at the next moment the speaker might be insulted. Such things have already happened. In reviewing the past, therefore, we must not seek for occasions or means to make his Majesty applaud himself. Still less should he beg the poor pittance of gratitude at the hands of the ungrateful. But it is important for him to show that he has acted consistently. And yet this should be accomplished in such manner, as to produce the effect without appearing to intend it; because such appearance would place him in the situation of one, who defends himself before his judges, and a King should never forget that he is accountable only to God. It is a general fault in his discourses, since the...

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