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FRENCH LEGISLATURE.
House of Representatives -- Sitting of June
28
M. Durbach read the following letter from the President of the
provisional government to the Duke of Wellington, dated June 27.
My Lord -- You have just added greatness to your name by new
victories gained over Frenchmen. It is by you therefore, that the
French are best known and appreciated. You will vote for their
rights in the midst of the powers of Europe. In that council of
sovereigns, your credit and influence must be as great as your
glory.
The vows of nations, who neither calumniate nor flatter, have
declared your character. In all your conquests, your law of
nations has been justice, and your policy has appealed to the
voice of your conscience.
You will find the demands which we make through our
plenipotentiaries, conformed to the most rigorous justice.
The French nation wishes to live under a monarch. She also wishes
that this monarch should govern under the empire of the laws.
The republic has taught us, how fatal are the excesses of liberty;
the empire, how fatal is the excess of power. Our desire, and it
is unchangeable, is to see the independence, the order and the
peace of Europe placed at an equal distance from both these
extremes. Every one in France looks to the constitution of
England; we do not pretend to be more free than she is; we will
never consent to be less so. The representatives of the French
people are forming a social compact. The powers will be distinct,
but not divided. It is from their very separation, that their
harmony is expected to arise. As soon as the instrument shall
have received the signature of the sovereign, who shall be called
to govern France, that sovereign shall receive the scepter and
the crown from the hands of the nation.
In the present state of knowledge in Europe, among the greatest
misfortunes of mankind, are the divisions between France and
England; let us unite for the happiness of the world.
My Lord, no man at this moment, can so effectually as yourself,
contribute to the improvement of the spirit and condition of the
human race. I pray your Lordship to accept the assurance of my
highest consideration,
The President of the Government,
The Duke of Otranto.
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