[FRENCH REVOLUTION, NATIONAL ASSEMBLY; PAMPHLET] “La révolution eft faite, quoi qu'en disent ses ennemis secrets ou déclarés; la constitution eft achevée ou près de l'être; il ne s'agit plus que de chercher les moyens d'en prolonger la durée, d'en tirer le plus grand parti pour le bonheur & la prospérité de la France.” [The revolution is done, whatever its secret or declared enemies may say; the constitution is complete or near to completion; it is only a question of seeking the means to prolong the duration, of making the greatest use of it for the happiness and prosperity of France.] AUGER, [Athanase]. Moyens d’Assurer la Révolution, d’en tirer le plus grand parti pour le bonheur & la prospérité de la France; avec une adresse à la Assemblée nationale, & des Réflexions sur le Pouvoir exécutif. [Means to Assure the Revolution, to make the most of it for the happiness & prosperity of France, with an address to the National Assembly & Reflections on Executive Power], Paris, Chez Garnéry, Libraire, rue Serpente, no. 17, L’an premier de la Liberté [1789]. FIRST EDITION, EPHEMERA. pp. 58. Complete. Stab-sewn wrapper comprising the title page & final leaf; print is crisp and clean, with no issue to the pages. Very minor freckling to title page. The pages have been roughly cut rendering very deckled edges. Overall VERY GOOD condition, especially considering the nature of the object. The members of the Ancien Régime eats brioche while the rapidly increasing population of Paris and the countrysides of France starve. Tensions— over inequality and involvement in the American Revolution— foment, and on July 14th, the People storm the Bastille, and the French Revolution begin and the Ancien Régime ends. In the milieu of figuring out what comes next for France in the face of redefining the nation before the Terror, Athanase Auger turns his attentions from translating Greek and Latin and serving the Church to writing tracts on what France could be. Auger is considered a moderate supporter of the Revolution, evident through his writing, in which he proposes France should proceed with a republican monarchy: “Je craindrois donc que ces mêmes orages ne réduisissent la nation à se rejeter dans les bras du despotisme. Or, il me semble que remettre entre les mains du roi la plus grande force exécutrice, c'est le moyen de se procurer, tous les avantages de la monarchie, & d'éviter les inconvéniens de la démcratie; il me semble que par là nous formerons une monarchie républicaine, le meilleur, felon moi, & le plus heureux des gouvernemens.” [I would therefore fear that these same storms would reduce the nation to throw itself again into the arms of despotism. Now, it seems to me that placing the greatest executive power, in the hands of the king is the means of procuring all the advantages of monarchy, and of avoiding the inconveniences of democracy; it seems to me that thereby we will form a republican monarchy, the best, in my opinion, and the happiest of governments.] He envisioned a France with more freely available education (even for women!), with less of a disparity between the rich and poor, with citizens living a Thucydian ideal of working towards their individual happinesses to support the bonheur and bénéfices of both the individual and the Republic. Auger died in 1792, after the Proclamation of the First Republic, but before the tumbrils carted “the days wine to La Guillotine,” as Dickens would couch it in retrospect. This pamphlet— circulated as an ephemeral method of distributing current thought— provides a moment of reflection during the early stage of the French Revolution, during the First Year of Liberty, when France sat on the precipice of redefining itself, Europe, and the world. SHIPS FROM CAMBRIDGE, U.K. MAY AFFECT SHIPPING PRICE.