for， in the speeches he has made he has already condemned the actions he meditates. Yesterday he exaggerated the rights of the governed， even to a suppression of those of the government； to-morrow he is to exaggerate the rights of the people in power， even to suppressing those who are governed. The people， as he puts it， is the sole sovereign， and he is going to treat the people as slaves； the government， as he puts it， is a valet， and he is going to endow the government with prerogatives of a sultan. He has just denounced the slightest exercise of public authority as a crime； he is now going to punish as a crime the slightest resistance to public authority. What will justify such a volte-face and with what excuse can he repudiate the principles with which he justified his takeover？ -- He takes good care not to repudiate them； it would drive the already rebellious provinces to extremes； on the contrary， he proclaims them with renewed vigor， through which move the ignorant crowd， seeing the same flask always presented to it， imagines that it is always served with the same liquor， and is thus forced to drink tyranny under the label of *******. Whatever the charlatan can do with his labels， signboards， shouting and lies for the next six months， will be done to disguise the new nostrum； so much the worse for the public if， later on， it discovers that the draught is bitter； sooner or later it must swallow it， willingly or by compulsion： for， in the interval， the instruments are being got ready to force it down the public throat.[3]
As a beginning， the Constitution， so long anticipated and so often promised， is hastily fabricated：[4] declarations of rights in thirty-five articles， the Constitutional bill in one hundred and twenty-four articles， political principles and institutions of every sort， electoral， legislative， executive， administrative， judicial， financial and military；[5] in three weeks all is drawn up and passed on the double. -- Of course， the new Constitutionalists do not propose to produce an effective and serviceable instrument； that is the least of their worries. Hérault Séchelles， the reporter of the bill， writes on the 7th of June， "to have procured for him at once the laws of Minos， of which he has urgent need；" very urgent need， as he must hand in the Constitution that week.[6] Such circumstance is sufficiently characteristic of both the workmen and the work. All is mere show and pretense. Some of the workmen are shrewd politicians whose sole object is to furnish the public with words instead of realities；others， ordinary scribblers of abstractions， or even ignoramuses， and unable to distinguish words from reality， imagine that they are framing laws by stringing together a lot of phrases. -- It is not a difficult job； the phrases are ready-made to hand. "Let the plotters of anti-popular systems，" says the reporter， "painfully elaborate their projects！ Frenchmen . . . . have only to consult their hearts to read the Republic there！"[7] Drafted in accordance with the "Contrat-Social，" filled with Greek and Latin reminiscences， it is a summary "in pithy style" of the manual of current aphorisms then in vogue， Rousseau's mathematical formulas and prescriptions， "the axioms of truth and the consequences flowing from these axioms，" in short， a rectilinear constitution which any school-boy may spout on leaving college. Like a handbill posted on the door of a new shop， it promises to customers every imaginable article that is handsome and desirable. Would you have rights and liberties？ You will find them all here. Never has the statement been so clearly made， that the government is the servant， creature and tool of the governed； it is instituted solely "to guarantee to them their natural， imprescriptible rights." [8] Never has a mandate been more strictly limited： "The right of expressing one's thoughts and opinions， either through the press or in any other way； the right of peaceful assembly， the free exercise of worship， cannot be interdicted." Never have citizens been more carefully guarded against the encroachments and excesses of public authority： "The law should protect public and private liberties against the oppression of those who govern . . . offenses committed by the people's mandatories and agents must never go unpunished. Let free men instantly put to death every individual usurping sovereignty.
. . Every act against a man outside of the cases and forms which the law determines is arbitrary and tyrannical； whosoever is subjected to violence in the execution of this act has the right to repel it by force. . . When the government violates the people's rights insurrection is， for the people and for each portion of the people， the most sacred of rights and the most indispensable of duties."To civil rights the generous legislator has added political rights， and multiplied every precaution for maintaining the dependence of rulers on the people. -- In the first place， rulers are appointed by the people and through direct choice or nearly direct choice： in primary meetings the people elect deputies， city officers， justices of the peace， and electors of the second degree； the latter， in their turn， elect in the secondary meetings， district and department administrators， civil arbitrators， criminal judges， judges of appeal and the eighty candidates from amongst which the legislative body is to select its executive council. -- In the second place， all powers of whatever kind are never conferred except for a very limited term：