the 1st of May, and which I now send you. They
were in like manner enregistered in beds of justice, on the same day, in
nearly all the parliaments of the kingdom. By these ordinances, 1. The
criminal law is reformed, by abolishing examination on the _sellette_,
which, like our holding up the hand at the bar, remained a stigma on the
party, though innocent; by substituting an oath, instead of torture, on
the _question prealable_, which is used after condemnation, to make the
prisoner discover his accomplices; (the torture, abolished in 1780, was
on the _question preparatoire_, previous to judgment, in order to make
the prisoner accuse himself;) by allowing counsel to the prisoner for
his defence; obliging the judges to specify in their judgments the
offence for which he is condemned; and respiting execution a month,
except in the case of sedition. This reformation is unquestionably good,
and within the ordinary legislative powers of the crown. That it should
remain to be made at this day, proves that the monarch is the last
person in his kingdom who yields to the progress of philanthropy and
civilization. 2. The organization of the whole judiciary department is
changed, by the institution of subordinate jurisdictions, the taking
from the parliaments the cognizance of all causes of less value than
twenty thousand livres, reducing their numbers to about a fourth, and
suppressing a number of special courts. Even this would be a great
improvement, if it did not imply that the King is the only person
in this nation, who has any rights or any power. 3. The right of
registering the laws is taken from the parliaments, and transferred to
a Plenary court, created by the King. This last is the measure most
obnoxious to all persons. Though the members are to be for life, yet a
great proportion of them are from descriptions of men always candidates
for the royal favor in other lines. As yet, the general consternation
has not sufficiently passed over, to say whether the matter will end
here. I send you some papers, which indicate symptoms of resistance.
These are the resolution of the _Noblesse_ of Brittany, the declaration
of the Advocate General of Provence, which is said to express the
spirit of that province; and the _Arrete of the Chatelet_, which is the
hustings-court of the city of Paris. Their refusal to act under the
new character assigned them, and the suspension of their principal
functions, are very embarrassing. The clamor