Idées sur l'espèce de gouvernement populaire qui pourrait convenir à un pays de l'étendue et de la population de la France: Essai présenté à la Convention nationale, par un citoyen
Authors of source text
Contributions
- Anonymous (Jean-Jacques Rutledge)
- author
- Anonymous (Jean-Jacques Rutledge)
- translator
- Mayer & Compagnie
- publisher
Related resources
- is translation of
- The Oceana and other works of James Harrington Esq; Collected, Methodiz’d, and Review’d, with An Exact Account of his Life prefix’d, by John Toland. To which is added, an Appendix, containing all the Political Tracts wrote by this author, omitted in Mr Toland’s Edition has translation
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Notes
This draft constitution, taken from an anonymous author, was submitted to the newly convened National Convention by Theodore Le Sueur, a citizen of the section Reunion and member of the Cordeliers Club, on 25 September 1792. Its resemblance to the one found in James Harrington’s 'The Commonwealth of Oceana' has long been acknowledged. For example, in S.B. Liljegren, 'A French Draft constitution of 1792, modelled on James Harrington's Oceana' (1932, Lund: CWK Gleeys), but no explanation has been offered as to why this was the case, or its background.
It is highly likely that this translation was presented to Le Sueur by his fellow Cordelier, Jean-Jacques Rutledge, who had already published fragments on Harrington in his journal Le Creuset.
For more on these important links between English and French republicanism, see Rachel Hammersley, 'James Harrington's The 'Commonwealth of Oceana': A model for revolutionary France?', Annales historiques de la Révolution française (2005).