“For example, two important decrees have been passed; both concern the tranquillity and the safety of the State. A delay to sanction them awakens defiance; if it is prolonged, it will cause discontent; and, it is my duty to say it, in the present state of excitement discontent may lead to the worst.
“There is no longer time to hesitate; there is no longer any way of temporizing. The Revolution has been accomplished in the minds of the people; it will be finished at the price of blood if wisdom does not forestall the evils that it is still possible to avoid.
“I know that it is imagined that anything can be done by extreme measures; but when force shall have been used to constrain the Assembly, terror spread throughout Paris, and disunion and stupor in the suburbs, the whole of France will rise in indignation, and, throwing herself into a civil war, will develop that sombre energy always so fatal to those who have provoked it.
“The safety of the State and the happiness of Your Majesty are intimately allied; no power can separate them; cruel anguish and certain misfortune will surround your throne, if you yourself do not found it on the constitution and if it is not strengthened by the peace which it ought to bring us.
“Thus the disposition of the popular mind, the course of events, the reason of politics, the interest of Your Majesty, make it indispensable that you unite with the legislative corps and carry out the desire of the nation; that which principle shows to be a duty, the present situation makes a necessity.... You have been cruelly deceived, Sire, by those who have sought to separate you from your people. It is by perpetually disturbing you that they have driven you into a course of conduct which has caused alarm. Let the people see that you are determined to carry out the constitution upon which they feel that their happiness depends, and you will soon become the object of their gratitude.
“The conduct of the priests in many places, the pretext which fanaticism has given the discontented, have led to a wise law against these agitators. Will not Your Majesty give it your sanction? Public peace demands it. The safety of the priests depends upon it. If this law does not go into force, the departments will be forced to substitute violent measures for it, as they are doing on all sides; and the irritated people will make up for it by their excesses.