Abstract
This study presents the French text, English translation, historical context, and a brief analysis of the speech given at Saint-Lazare on the civic oath-taking in support of the 1790 revolutionary government in France, which every adult citizen had to do publicly. At Saint-Lazare, a group of Vincentians and their neighbors assembled in the motherhouse’s chapel for the oath. This very rare and virtually unknown document is in Richardson Library’s special collections at DePaul University in Chicago. Oath-taking was a way of replacing royal legal authority before assemblies of citizens had been formed. By the time of this oath on 7 February 1790, Saint-Lazare had already been sacked out of the belief that it held grain supplies and ammunition. As one of the few remaining usable spaces there, the chapel may have held about 250 people consisting of three groups: the local Vincentian community, the soldiers stationed adjoining the Saint-Lazare property, and some local (male) citizens. The fifteen-minute speech was given by René-Pierre Devaudichon, the president of the local district. An image gallery of the pages of the original document follows the French text.