Louis Philippe, King of the French, to all present and to come, greeting.
We have ordered and do order that the Constitutional Charter of 1814, such as it has
been amended by the two Chambers on August 7th and accepted by us on the 9th, shall be
again published in the following terms:
Public Law of the French
1. Frenchmen are equal before the law, whatever may be their titles and rank.
2. They contribute, without distinction, in proportion to their fortunes toward
the expenses of the state.
3. They are all equally admissible to civil and military employments.
4. Their personal property is likewise guaranteed; no one can be prosecuted or
arrested save in the cases provided by law and in the form which it prescribes.
5. Everyone may profess his religion with equal freedom and shall obtain for his
worship the same protection.
6. The ministers of the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman religion,
professed by the majority of the French, and those of the other Christian sects, receive
stipends from the state.
7. Frenchmen have the right to publish and to have printed their
opinions, while conforming with the laws. The censorship can never be re-established.
8. All property is inviolable, without any exception for that which is
called national, the law making no distinction between them.
9. The state can require the sacrifice of a property on account of a
legally established public interest but with a previous indemnity.
10. All investigations of opinions and votes given prior to the
restoration are forbidden: the same oblivion is required from the tribunal and from
citizens.
11. The conscription is abolished. The method of recruiting for the
army and navy is determined by the law.
Forms of Government of the King
12. The person of the king is inviolable and sacred. His ministers are responsible.
To the king alone belongs the executive power.
13. The king is the supreme head of the state; he commands the land
and sea forces, declares war, makes treaties of peace, alliance and commerce, appoints to
all places of public administration, and makes the necessary rules and ordinances for the
execution of the laws, without the power ever to suspend the laws themselves or to
dispense with their execution......
15. The proposal of laws belongs to the king, the Chamber of Peers and
the Chamber of Deputies.
Nevertheless every taxation law must be first voted by the Chamber of Deputies....
Of The Chamber of Deputies
30. The Chamber of Deputis shall be composed of the deputies elected by electoral
colleges whose organization shall be determined by law.
31. The deputies are elected for five years.
32. No deputy can be admitted to the Chamber unless he is thirty years
of age and meets the other qualifications determined by the law.
33. If, however, there cannot be found in the department fifty persons
of the required age who pay the amount of taxes determined by the law, their number shall
be filled up fron the largest taxpayers below this amount of tax, and these shall be
elected together with the first.
34. No one is an elector, unless he is at least twenty-five years of
age and meets the other conditions determined by the law....
42. The king convokes the two Chambers each year: he prorogues them
and can dissolve that of the Deputies; but in that case he must convoke a new one within
the space of three months.....
Of The Ministers
46. The ministers can be members of the Chamber of Peers or the Chamber of
Deputies. They have, besides, their entrance into either chamber and must be heard when
they demand it....
Special Provisions
69. The following subjects shall be provided for successively by separate laws
within the shortest possible space of time;
lst. The use of the jury for political and press offenses;
2d. The responsibility of the ministers and the other agents of the executive
power;
3d. The re-election of deputies appointed to public functions with salaries;
4th. The annual vote of the quota of the army;
5th. The organization of the national guards, with the participation of the
national guards in the choice of their officers;
6th. Providons which assure in a legal manner the status of the officers of
every grade in the army and navy;
7th. Departmental and municipal institutions founded upon an elective system;
8th. Public instruction and the liberty of teaching;
9th. Abolition of the double vote and fixing of the electoral and eligibility
conditions.
70. All laws and ordinances, wherein they are contrary to the
provisons adopted for the reform of the Charter, are forthwith and shall remain annulled
and abrogated.......
Source:
From: F. M. Anderson, The Constitution and Other Select Documents Illustrative of
the History ofFrance, 1789-1907, 2d Ed., (Minneapolis, 1908),
pp. 507-513.
Scanned by Jerome S. Arkenberg, Cal. State Fullerton.
This text is part of the Internet
Modern History Sourcebook. The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and
copy-permitted texts for introductory level classes in modern European and World history.
