of the communes was begun. In .January, 1790, France was divided into departments; in April trial by jury was introduced; in May it was declared that the right of war and peace be- longed to the nation alone — that is, to the As- sembly.
The' financial reforms were equally sweeping. It was decreed at the outset that taxes wore to be apportioned and raised without regard to person. A decree of November. 1789, ordered the pulilication of the public accounts; another in December established a national bank. In December, 1789. appeared a law sanctioning the issue of 400,000,000 francs' worth of assignats (q.v.). treasury notes based on the security of the public domain, and in April, 1790, a second decree made the assignats legal tender.
These measures were followed in the begin- ning of 1791 Ijy a series of laws regarding coin- age, taxation, the encouragement of industry and the management of the revenue. Catholicism ceased to be the State religion, tithes were abol- ished, and Church property was confiscated. Church ornaments and valuables were appropri- ated as patriotic gifts to the State; the civil juris<liction of the bishops was taken away, and monks and nuns were freed from their vows. Under the civil constitution of the clergy each department was constituted a see, and the civil authorities controlled and paid bishops and cures. All the clergy were amenable to the civil courts, without appeal to the Pope, or the inter- ference of any ecclesiastical authority wliatever. Every clergyman had to take an oath accepting this constitution — a measure which led to the emigration of very many, and subsequently to enactments of excessive rigor against refractory priests iprctres insermen^s) .
When the new constitution had been accepted by the King, and sworn to by the Assembly, that body closed its sittings, September 30, 1791. From its having framed the constitution (which lasted only twelve months), this assembly is usually called the Constituent Assembly. It made way for the Leyislative Assembly, which was to reform the civil and criminal laws in accordance with the spirit of the new constitu- tion. A decree ])rovided that no member of the Constituent should be returned to the Legisla- tive Assembly: and, as a result, the only men whose ex'iierieiice made them fit to carry on the work of the Revolution were excluded, and the Legislative Assembly was captured by untried and hot-headed radicals. The Assembly, from the very first, began an attack upon the remnants of the royal authority, which culminated in the rising of August 10, 1792, the suspension of the royal power, and the establishment of the Re- public by the National Conveniion in September, 179'2. The constitution had provided for an ap- peal to the nation in extreme cases, and the Legislative Assemlily exercised that right by con- voking a Xdtioiuil Convention (q.v.), which was invested with the powers of the sovereign, was to decide the fate of the monarchy, and remodel the whole political system.
The title of National Assembly has been as- sumed by various other parliamentary bodies, originating in popular commotions, and aiming at radical political changes; as the French Assembly that met after the Revolution of Feb- ruary, 1848, followed, ilay, 1849, by a legisla- tive assembly; the German National Assembly at Frankfort, known as the Frankfort Parlia- ment (1848); the Prussian National (Constit- uent) Assembly: and the legislative body in France, which was instituted in 1871 after the fall of the Empire. Under the existing French Republic, the Senate and the Chamber of Depu- ties tinite to form the National Assembly for amending the constitution and electing the Presi- dent of the Republic.
For further information, consult: H. Morse- Stephens, History of the French Revolution (London and New "'ork, 1886-91); Buchez and Roux, Histoire parlementaire de la revolution franQaise (Paris, 1834-38) ; Thiers, Histoire de la rivolution frwngaise (Paris, 1827); Doniol, Lit revolution et la fcodalit^ (Paris, 1874) : ]Ion- tigny, Mi-moircs de Mirahenu (8 vols., Paris, 1834-43) : Lafayette, Mf moires (6 vols., London, 1837). See France.
ASSEMBLY OF DIVINES', or commonly
called, from their place of meeting, the West-
minster Assembly. A convocation appointed
by the Long Parliament for settling the doctrine,
liturgy, and government of the Church of Eng-
land. It consisted of 121 clergymen and 30 lay-
men — 10 of whom were lords and 20 commoners
— together with 4 clerical and 2 lay commission-
ers from the Church of Scotland. It held its
first meeting on July 1, 1043, and continued to
sit until February 22, 1649, during which time
it had met 1163 times. The Presbyterians
formed a large majority in the Assembly, and
exercised a corresponding influence on its de-
cisions. In doctrine, the members were almost
unanimous: but on the subject of Church govern-
uaeiit, opinions extremely opposite were main-
tained with keenness, especially on the question
toucliing the sphere and limits of the civil power
in matters ecclesiastical. The principal fruits of
these deliberations were the Directory of Pub-
lic Worship, submitted to Parliament April 20,
1644; the Confession of Faith, October and No-
vember, 1646; the Hhortcr Catechism, Novem-
ber 5, 1647 ; and the Larger Catechism, Septem-
ber 15, 1648. These several formularies, wiiich
contain a clear and rigid embodiment of C.alvin-
istic theology and Presbyterian Church govern-
ment, constitute to this day the authorized
standards of the Presbyterian Churches of Scot-
land, Ireland, and England. The Directory of
Public ^yorship was ratified by both houses of
Parliament October 2, 1644, and the doctrinal
part of the Confession of Faith in March, 1648.
An order of the House of Commons, October 13,
1647, ordained that the Presbyterian form of
Church government should be tried for a year,
but no further legislation followed.
Consult: Hetherington, History of the West- minster Assembly (London, 1843) ; that by A. F. Mitchell, (London, 1882) ; and Masson, Life of Hilton, Vol. II. (London, 1858-79), where a list of the members, with brief biographic notices, is given. See Ceeeds and Confes- sions.
ASSEMBLY OF LADIES. A poem, probably
o' the early years of the Sixteentli Centuiy,
copied after Chaucer's Assembly of Foules., and
once attributed to him.
ASSEMBLY, Unlawfui,. See Riot.
ASSEN, a'sen. The capital of the Province of
Dicnthe. in the Netherlands, lo^i miles by rail south of Groningen (Map; Netherlands, E 2).
