The wisdom and prudence of the subsequent alterations, few will be
disposed to question: the system, in its present state, appears to me
admirably qualified to attain the object in view; and such seems the
general character of the French _Constitutional Charter_, which unites
two excellent qualities, great clearness and great brevity. The whole is
comprised in seventy-four short articles; and, that no Frenchman may
plead ignorance of his rights or his duties, it is usually found
prefixed to the almanacks. Some persons might, indeed, be inclined to
deem this station as ominous; for, since the revolution began, the frame
of the French government has sustained so many alterations, that,
considering that several of their constitutions never outlived the
current quarter, they may be fairly said to have had a new constitution
in each year. How far the Bourbon charter will answer the purpose of
serving as the basis of a code of laws for the government of an
extensive kingdom, time only can determine.
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