The
Convention, after ridding France of the institution of monarchy, proposed
to make its armies a means of propagating liberty and reform throughout
Europe. it-accordingly prepared a proclamation to be published in those
countries which already were, or should be, occupied by the armies of
the new French republic.
The French
people to the people of ; brothers and friends:
We have
conquered our liberty and we shall maintain it. We offer to bring this
inestimable blessing to you, for it has always been rightly ours, and
only by a crime have our oppressors robbed us of it. We have driven
out your tyrants. Show yourselves free men and we will protect you from
their vengeance, their machinations, or their return.
From this
moment the French nation proclaims the sovereignty of the people, the
suppression of all civil and military authorities which have hitherto
governed you and of all which the taxes which you bear, under whatever
form, the abolition [Page 450] of the tithe, of feudalism, of seigniorial
rights and monopolies of every kind, of serfdom, whether real or personal,
of hunting and fishing privileges, of the corvee, the salt tax, the
tolls and local imposts, and, in general, of. all the various kinds
of taxes with which you have been loaded by your usurpers; it also proclaims
the abolition among you of all noble and ecclesiastical corporations
and of all prerogatives and privileges opposed to equality. You are,
from this moment, brothers and friends ; all are citizens, equal in
rights, and all are alike called to govern, to serve, and to defend
your country.