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question as one entirely relating to France, and to urge that she would inquire for herself, and, having done so, to pass such measures as would be most conducive to the interests of her own people, irrespectively of other nations. This was the course subsequently adopted.

There were many enlightened men in that country, as I shall hereafter show, who entertained opinions favourable to the desired change, though the prejudice in favour of the ancient laws and customs had become so strong in the minds of the mass of the people, that it would have been all but impossible to remove it, except through the powerful influence of the enlightened monarch then governing France, who readily saw the advantage the nation would derive from Free navigation. Consequently, he in due time appointed a council to inquire into the whole subject. *