40 - GRÉGOIRE (Henri Jean Baptiste, Abbé). Motion by Abbé Grégoire, parish priest of Emberménil, at the session of July 14, 1789. Paris: Baudouin, 1789. In-8, 4 pp. in folio, without cover.

GRÉGOIRE (Henri Jean Baptiste, Abbé). Motion by Abbé Grégoire, parish priest of Emberménil, at the session of July 14, 1789. Paris: Baudouin, 1789. In-8, 4 pp. in folio, without cover. First edition of this motion delivered by Abbé Grégoire before the National Assembly on July 14, 1789, the day of the storming of the Bastille. In this speech, Grégoire denounces the maneuvers of the ministers and opponents of the Revolution, whom he accuses of having compromised royal authority and threatened the nascent freedom. He proposes the creation of a committee tasked with investigating “ministerial crimes” and bringing them to the nation’s attention. Also included, by the same author: Opinion of Mr. Grégoire, parish priest of Emberménil and deputy from Nancy, on the royal sanction, delivered at the session of September 4. n.d. [1789]. 8vo, 11 pp. First edition of this speech by Abbé Grégoire before the National Constituent Assembly on September 4, 1789, opposing the king’s absolute right of veto. During the debates on the drafting of the future Constitution, Grégoire defended the principle of popular sovereignty and opposed the monarch’s ability to permanently obstruct the will of the nation’s representatives. He advocates for a veto that is merely suspensive, intended to prevent hasty decisions without calling into question the primacy of the legislative branch. “The king can be an integral part of the legislature only by the free concession of the one from whom all the rights of the monarchy emanate: the people.” An interesting document attesting to Abbé Grégoire’s constitutional convictions from the very first months of the Revolution.