ord and welfare of the people.

If, unfortunately, a due attention should not be paid to these his
Majesty's benevolent and neighborly offers, or if any circumstances
should prevent the Most Christian King from acceding (as his Majesty
has no doubt he is well disposed to do) to this healing mediation in
favor of himself and all his subjects, his Majesty has commanded me to
take leave of this court, as not conceiving it to be suitable to the
dignity of his crown, and to what he owes to his faithful people, any
longer to keep a public minister at the court of a sovereign who is not
in possession of his own liberty.

THOUGHTS

ON

FRENCH AFFAIRS,

ETC., ETC.

WRITTEN IN DECEMBER, 1791.

THOUGHTS ON FRENCH AFFAIRS.

In all our transactions with France, and at all periods, we have treated
with that state on the footing of a monarchy. Monarchy was considered in
all the external relations of that kingdom with every power in Europe as
its legal and constitutional government, and that in which alone its
federal capacity was vested.

[Sidenote: Montmorin's Letter.]

It is not yet a year since Monsieur de Montmorin formally, and with as
little respect as can be imagined to the king, and to all crowned heads,
announced a total Revolution in that country. He has informed the
British ministry that its frame of government is wholly altered,--that
he is one of the ministers of the new system,--and, in effect, that the
king is no longer his master, (nor does he even call him such,) but the
"_first of the ministers_," in the new system.

[Sidenote: Acceptance of the Constitution ratified.]

The second notification was that of the king's acceptance of the new
Constitution, accompanied with fanfaronades in the modern style of the
French bureaus: things which have much more the air and character of the
saucy declamations of their clubs than the tone of regular office.

It has not been very usual to notify to foreign courts anything
concerning the internal arrangements of any state. In the present case,
the circumstance of these two notifications, with the observations with
which they are attended, does not leave it in the choice of the
sovereigns of Christendom to appear ignorant either of this French
Revolution or (what is more important) of its principles.

We know, that, very soon after this manifesto of Monsieur de Montmorin,
the king of France, in whose name it was made, found himself obliged to
fly, wi