AGAINST MAJORITY ABSOLUTISM[1]
(1791)
Born in 1761, died in 1793; elected a Deputy in 1789; President of the National Assembly in 1790; conducted the king on his return from Varennes in 1791; guillotined in 1798.
It is not enough that one should desire to be free—one must know how to be free. I shall speak briefly, for after the success of our deliberations, I await with confidence the spirit and action of this Assembly. I wish only to announce my opinions on a question, the rejection of which must sooner or later mean the loss of our liberties. This question should leave no doubt in the minds of those who reflect on governments and are guided by impartial judgments. Those who have combated the committee have made a fundamental error. They have confounded democratic government with representative government; they have confounded the rights of the people with the qualifications of an elector, which society dispenses for its well understood interest. Where the government is representative, where there exists an intermediary degree of electors, society, which elects them, has essentially the right to determine the conditions of their eligi-
- ↑ Delivered in the National Assembly on August 1, 1791. Abridged. An old translation revised for this collection.
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