Louis Adolphe Thiers Quotes
The king reigns but does not govern.
Thiers, Louis Adolphe. Le National, 1830.
In the early 18th century, the succession to the Scottish and English Crowns was unclear. As a safety valve and check, this clause was adopted by the Scottish Parliament. This was one of the most radical and anti monarchy laws ever passed. It took the unilateral power of making war and peace from the king & established the principle of ratification of ALL treaties. The law did not last long. It was nullified by the Union between England & Scotland (1707), and the English Parliament specifically repealed the clause in the “Repeal of Certain Scotch Acts of 1707”. This clause, which only remained in force for 3 years, had a profound effect on the modern democracies. The American founding fathers were totally familiar with the recent English history & this law. So the American’s at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, built the principle into the new Constitution giving the Congress the power to Declare War and the Senate to ratify treaties as a check against Presidential power.
Note that the Queen always used the 3rd person rather than the 1st when referring to herself. This was true of most of the leading public figures in England at the time. Although she detested Gladstone, she gained control of her feelings and did her duty and “sent for” him to form the Government. She was personally delighted when, as she predicted, his government then had political difficulties.
Typical of the times, the king was accountable to no one for anything. 200 years later, most of the world have accepted the principle that no one is above the law and that every leader is accountable to the people.
This was written shortly before he assumed the crown.
The issues of check and balances in the American constitution were radical by world standards of the day. However, it was by no means an new concept and as this quotation illustrates was discussed and debated in England, but although England was far ahead of almost all other countries with respect to eliminating absolute power, they never took it as far as the Americans did. That took a revolution.
This Cahier was the consensus of the Clergy of Blois in 1789. There were cahiers of several provinces of France—some by the clergy, some by the nobles. What is fascinating is the emergence of many of the pre-revolutionary French concepts. The example of the American revolution and its principles was known throughout the educated classes of France.
Many American colonists had relatives and friends in England, and Paine argued that American independence would help and not het the English people.
Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers was a French statesman and historian. He was the second elected President of France, and the first President of the French Third Republic.
