You would have considered it a crime to resist his orders, you will not refuse his prayers." He wrote to general officers, and to commandants of the land forces:--"In accepting the constitution, I have promised to maintain it within, and defend it against enemies without; this solemn act should banish all uncertainty.

The law and the king are henceforth identified.
The enemy of the law becomes that of the king.

I cannot consider those sincerely devoted to my person who abandon their country at the moment when it has the greatest need of their services.

Those only are attached to me who follow my example and unite with me for the public weal, and remain inseparable from the destiny of the empire!" Finally, he ordered M.de Lessart, the minister for foreign affairs, to publish the following proclamation, addressed to the French emigrants:--"The king," thus it ran, "informed that a great number of French emigrants are withdrawing to foreign lands, cannot see without much grief such an emigration.

Although the law permits to all citizens a free power to quit the kingdom, the king is anxious to enlighten them as to their duties, and the distress they are preparing for themselves.
If they think, by such means, to give me a proof of their affection, let them be undeceived; my real friends are those who unite with me in order to put the laws in execution, and re-establish order and peace in the kingdom.